"Stay Classy, Toronto"

This is a re-post from Steve Paikin's TVO program The Agenda from June 7, 2013.

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"Stay Classy, Toronto"
Steve Paikin hosting the program The Agenda
Video can be viewed here

TVO's Steve Paikin has another one of his stellar programs. The June 7 program was on the urban/inner suburbs differences. The term inner suburbs is used for low-income neighborhoods within urban areas, which are usually located in the peripheries of the urban areas, and closer to urban areas than suburban ones. The urban and inner suburb areas rarely meet, mingle or use the same services. The inner suburbs are usually populated by government-dependent, poor, often unemployed or under-employed groups. The majority of the inner suburb population is of immigrant origin. Urban communities are wealthier than the inner urban groups. They are mostly white.

This new "class" division that is occurring in Toronto, and apparently in other Canadian cities from the information in the video above, has been acerbated by the high level of immigrants that Toronto has been accepting over the last thirty years. It is clearly a class issue, but it is primarily an immigration issue, which is turning into a racial issue.

The discussion below barely touches on immigration, and if the panelists do bring it up, it is a word buried amidst a forest of others, or it is alluded to. For example, the inner urban areas such as Scarborough and North York which have the highest population of poor, social assistance-dependent groups are the areas with dense immigrant groups, from Third World countries.

Paikin tries to bring this out in the open, and asks for solutions to the problem. But each time, the panelists blame the problem on evil politicians who don't dish out enough money to improve these conditions by providing the necessary social infrastructures, or social assistance funds.

In the end, all Paikin could do was to thank the panelists. I think his problem is that partly he is a nice guy, and partly he has to toe the line to keep his job at the leftist TVO. But, at least he brought the panel together, and gave us plenty of information to think about. I would think that he would be called a "white wine-sipping elite" by these two women, and by others. He lives a few blocks away from the TVO station, in an elite neighborhood called Forest Hill. How long before he takes insult?

This will be the phenomenon of the upcoming decades. People with values, abilities, religions and cultural and social structures very different from the original Canada (which is still being maintained by the "white wine-sipping elites" as they are now being disparagingly labeled) are populating the country. The net effect will be a society more inferior than the one that existed before they arrived (how can we expect more, since the societies they left were of inferior standards, which they will be replicating here thanks to the leniency of multiculturalism?). There will be other dangerous elements to contend with, one of which is the Muslim aggression which will precipitate Jihadist/terrorist behavior, and make the country less safe for all its inhabitants.

Below is a transcript of the video from between the 25 - 36 minutes point, where the immigration issue, in conjunction with poverty (clearly referring to the poor immigrants that are populating these inner subarbs) is subtly explored.

Karen Stintz
Chair, Toronto Transit Commission:
25:38 - 26:24
There's no question Toronto is growing and that's presenting challenges. But I think it's also important to recognize the reason we're growing and the rate that we are is because we are the largest city in Canada, because we have a diverse population, because Toronto is home to many people. And people who come to Toronto and chose it, I don;t think they're choosing North York, Scarborough or Etobicoke. They're choosing the city of Toronto. And when we think about the fastest growing city, I think about the fastest growing city I think we're now fourth in North America, we're hosting the Pan Am Games. We've got so many attributes that big cities can brag about, we've an arts community, the medical community, the universities that are now connected by mass transit. There's so many things we have going for us by virtue of the fact that we're such a big city, but we just have to consider ourselves that big city.

Steve Paikin
Host of The Agenda:
26:35 - 26:40
They used to call Toronto (thirty years ago] the city that works. And I don't hear people saying that as much anymore. Does the city still work given how big and clunky it is?

Stintz:
26:41 - 27:13
Yeah! Every day 1.7 million people use the TTC [Toronto Transit]. There's pressures on our system no question. But with the budget that we have, we provide a lot of services, from water to roads to sewers to snow clearing to snow plowing to leaf collection to parks and rec[reations], camps, the zoo. You know, there's the question that are we doing too much. I think that's a legitimate question. Are we doing the core things that we should be doing as well as we could be doing, I think those are legitimate question that the public has of us. But in terms of a city that works, as to a city that works, absolutely I think that we work.

Paikin:
28:10 - 28:30
But again I keep hearing this, that the values of the people who live in the Old City of Toronto the legacy city of Toronto, and the values of city of Toronto, Old Toronto, and the values of the people who live in the inner suburbs, Etobicoke, Scarborough, North York, East York, York, as they then were called, are different. And it's too hard to shoe-horn everybody into one shoe nowadays. That's what you hear.

Paikin:
30:40 - 30:45
The needs and desires of those living in Scarborough and Etobicoke are really different from those living downtown [Toronto]

Paikin:
31:30 - 31:46
What you would hear was...The people in the inner city, they get the subway because they are the white wine-sipping elites, and you folks living in Scarborough, you know, a street car is good enough for you. You're not entitled to a subway. I mean that kind of class warfare was played out on a daily basis when the city debated that, right?

Stintz:
32:50 - 33:00
There's lots of messages that resonate with people who again are not well-served by transit, who are feeling that they're paying more because they tend to be in the outer areas of the city because they're economically disadvantaged...

Paikin:
33:08 - 33:15
To the extent that those cleavages existed, do you think they are much worse now that Mayor Ford has been mayor for the last, almost, three years?

Stintz:
36:31 - 36:35
I don't think we're divided as the current administration would like us to believe.

Stintz says: "But in terms of a city that works, as to a city that works, absolutely I think that we work."

This is not wishful thinking, or a myopic view of the situation. I think she really believes this. What could be better than to have a city full of vibrancy? Toronto, and its "white wine-sipping elites," and all those other whites, can only gain from a city full of "ethnics" with charming accents, exotic restaurants, colorful holidays, and wise and wonderful ways.

Yet, when we go to the areas most densely populated by these "ethnics" all we see are deteriorating restaurants and dull, colorless houses. So much for vibrancy. Even those areas where reasonably well-to-do (these days they are "Asians" - i.e. Chinese, Koreans and Filipinos, and the South Asians - i.e. Indians and Pakistani) immigrants reside, we find generally inferior homes, with no landscaping or maintenance of the surroundings. Dull and lusterless places.

Stinz of course, being the "white wine sipping elite," lives in the affluent Forest Hill, where she has her ward, where she also resides. There are no photos of her home, but she has posted some scenery of beautiful houses surrounded by lush greenery.

Steve Paikin was kind and generous towards her. He should have simply demolished her illogical ramblings with devastating logic. He could have set a precedent for other journalists.


Left: A home in a woody cul-de-sac in Stinz's affluent Forest Hill ward
Middle: A housing complex in Scarborough's West Hill
Right: A detached pre-fabricated house with a bare lawn in West Hill Scarborough
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Update: "You Stupid Man"

Prashant Ajmera:
Indian immigration Attorney
with specialisation in foreign investment
and related masters


Facebook page screenshot

I looked up the lawyer (or lawyer candidate in Canada via Canada's multicultural immigration policy) that I mentioned in my previous post (originally from a 2012 Camera Lucida post - my pre-Reclaimaing Beauty commentary blog) and here s what found (short story I was right).

Prashant Ajmera has since started his own law office in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Qebec, but also runs an office in Gujarat, India (his home town).

Here is what he says about his firm's services:

Ajmera Law is an official web site of Indian law office of Prashant Ajmera & Associates which is a boutique law firm in India providing unique legal services to businessmen in India and outside India.

Our law firm was established in 1984 and as an Indian law firm pioneered in providing services in the area of immigration and visa services since 1993 to professionals and businessmen from India and around world.

Over the years, firms have developed association with law firms around the world and has specialize in the services of assisting businessman from any country in the world to other country in the world in making investment for residency and citizenship. This are of practice of the firm brought new opportunity to the firm in the area of international trade and investment which firm is capable of providing thought their in house lawyers and professionals.

Nothing in this man page about the firm's Canadan services.

But in the middle of "professional" information about the firm and its employees (and founder), here is what we have:

An Indian lawyer (Gujarat Bar Association), Canadian citizen and a NRI since 1988, with more than 18 years of experience in international immigration and visa matters, including several years of experience in corporate migration law and international trade. Started law practice as an Assistant Advocate in the High Court of Gujarat, Ahmedabad, India, in the Office of the Additional Central Government Standing Council (Federal Government Attorney).

So Canadian citizenship is not exclusive to one's "nationality." An "Indian Lawyer" can also be without any equivocation a Canadian citizen! There you have it!

And true to his Indian Nationality, Ajmera's major work at his law firm concerning Canadian issues is...drum roll...:

Indian Immigration, Work Visa, Residency and Sponsorship.

If your are interested in going to India to work (a great opportunity for all the Indian Diaspora), all the details are here.

If you are a wealthy ndan you can also get asssantce from Mrl .... to:

Invest...in foreign country [i.e. Canada for the purpose of obtaining residency and citizenship

There you have it. Your one-stop-shop to make it out here.

His Facebook page is more direct. He identifies himself as an EB-5 Visa Consultant.



More on the EB-5 visa.

The EB-5 visa, employment-based fifth preference category or EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program, created in 1990 by the Immigration Act of 1990, provides a method for eligible Immigrant Investors to become lawful permanent residents - informally known as "green card" holders - by investing at least $1,000,000 to finance a business in the United States that will employ at least 10 American workers." Most immigrant investors who use the EB-5 program invest in a targeted employment area (TEA): - a rural area or area with high unemployment - which lowers the investment threshold to $500,000. The EB-5 program is intended to encourage both "foreign investments and economic growth." The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program is one of five employment-based (EB) preference programs in the United States. [Source]

And just follow the global enterprise:

"You Stupid Man"

Post from 2012 at Camera Lucida, my blog before (and including) Reclaiming Beauty:


An Indian immigrant in Canada, with wife and child.
Eventually, this family will grow considerably.
And the "Canadian-born" children will pine after
a country - Indian - which they never knew, but
which they cannot separate themselves from.
Such is the multicultural invasion that is
occurring in Canada.

The story behind this photo is here.
The story behind this photo is here.

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I've written before about a changing Canada, a really transforming Canada, where almost everyone I walk by in the streets, in the malls, in the restaurants, is a non-white, Chinese or Indian (there are actually very few blacks in the major city centers, since most blacks stay in their neighborhoods either in the northern part of the city or in the Scarborough township of the Greater Toronto Area. Plus, there are much fewer blacks compared to other non-whites in Canada).

Yesterday, I was in my local Walmart. I like Walmart. It is a store established for cheaper goods, and even has a reasonably good grocery. Many of the products are Chinese made, but right now we have to survive, and boycotting Chinese goods will come with time (I can assure you).

I notice that these Chinese and Indian immigrants have no real etiquette. They talk really loudly, walk around in large groups taking up whole sidewalks, have no consideration for "side walk" etiquette of moving aside as someone comes towards them. And the men have no courtesy toward women.

Yesterday, I refused to cede my "path" to an approaching Indian man, as usual. He walked right into me. I just kept walking on.

The man ran after me with, "You stupid woman!" He had a distinct Indian accent. I turned around and said, automatically, "You stupid man!" He was red-hot furious, and lunged towards me as though to attack me. I was standing in line by then, and just turned around away from him.

In a flash, he realized what he was doing. Did he really want a scuffle in Walmart? I was clearly standing there ready for his confrontation. He skidded into a halt, stood for half a second watching me, then went about his way.

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I've said before that we are going to have to do a lot of fighting as we figure out what to do with this invasion of Indians and Chinese "immigrants" who have no intention of assimilating, and are working now decidedly to change the country and culture to their advantage.

One obvious strategy is of course to reduce all immigration into Canada, including the so-called "education" and "economic" immigration, where candidates are accepted by the amount of financial investment they bring with them, and the level of education they have acquired. This should be strictly kept with Asian immigrants (Indian and Chinese), who seem to be the highest applicants for this kind of immigration, and less so for European immigrants (British, and even Polish and Russian). Refugees from Africa and Latin America can be accommodated in nearby countries (Somali refugees in Kenya or Ethiopia for example), and eventually returned to their countries of origin when war and other crisis situations have subsided.

How about the ones already here? And not only the ones already here, but their offspring who now call themselves "Canadian"?

One proposal I've made is to find incentives to send these immigrants and especially their "Canadian" children back to their original countries, either through monetary gifts, or by inter-governmental arrangements through employment centers and universities. And to make their stay in those countries permanent. In other words, once they accept these incentives, they cannot return back to Canada without a formal re-application for immigration. The acceptance of re-applying immigrants can be fine-tuned to reduce the re-acceptance level to a minimum, and preferably to zero.

The other strategy is to phase out and eventually remove "multiculturalism" in Canada, both legally and culturally. The Canadian documents which profess Canada to be a multicultural country should be revised, and state the Western, British nature of the country. All multicultural programs, whether on television or in other media institutions, schools, employment centers, and even business areas like shopping centers and restaurants, should be phased out. If a business wants to go "multicultural" as in a French restaurant wanting to be "French," then it is up to the business to make that happen, and not some special government fund.

This true Canadianness will either be accepted or rejected by these immigrants, and their descendants. I would say that the majority of non-whites will reject it. This unwelcoming environment will eventually become difficult for them. And with the combination of strategies provided above, they will start to leave on their own. Already, Chinese and Indian immigrant off-spring are "re-acquainting" themselves with their ancestral countries by traveling there for vists, and some are staying and re-establishing their lives there.

The alternative is that there will be a confrontation between immigrants (this is now a generic word I will use for all non-white immigrants - first, second, third, etc. generation) and whites. Immigrants will refuse the white, European and Western nature of Canada, and will fight to have it resemble their own conditions. Whites are now beginning to realize what they've lost, or are losing, and will begin to start to reclaim their land and culture, since especially after their decades-long acceptance of these others, all they are getting is epithets of "racist" and "prejudiced" by these same immigrants.

This may take some time, but with incremental changes, and a combination of all the strategies and scenarios above, it may be sooner than we think.

Can Canada Become Canada Again?

From Laura Wood's The Thinking Housewife blog: January 2, 2013.

My arguments and the ensuing comments.

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AT Camera Lucida, Kidist Paulos Asrat, who lives in Toronto, offers a plan for reversing the mass influx of Asian immigrants that has culturally transformed Canada:

I’ve said before that we are going to have to do a lot of fighting as we figure out what to do with this invasion of Indians and Chinese “immigrants” who have no intention of assimilating, and are working now decidedly to change the country and culture to their advantage.One obvious strategy is of course to reduce all immigration into Canada, including the so-called “education” and “economic” immigration, where candidates are accepted by the amount of financial investment they bring with them, and the level of education they have acquired.

This should be strictly kept with Asian immigrants (Indian and Chinese), who seem to be the highest applicants for this kind of immigration, and less so for European immigrants (British, and even Polish and Russian). Refugees from Africa and Latin America can be accommodated in nearby countries (Somali refugees in Kenya or Ethiopia for example), and eventually returned to their countries of origin when war and other crisis situations have subsided.How about the ones already here? And not only the ones already here, but their offspring who now call themselves “Canadian”?

One proposal I’ve made is to find incentives to send these immigrants and especially their “Canadian” children back to their original countries, either through monetary gifts, or by inter-governmental arrangements through employment centers and universities. And to make their stay in those countries permanent. In other words, once they accept these incentives, they cannot return back to Canada without a formal re-application for immigration. The acceptance of re-applying immigrants can be fine-tuned to reduce the re-acceptance level to a minimum, and preferably to zero.

The other strategy is to phase out and eventually remove “multiculturalism” in Canada, both legally and culturally. The Canadian documents which profess Canada to be a multicultural country should be revised, and state the Western, British nature of the country. All multicultural programs, whether on television or in other media institutions, schools, employment centers, and even business areas like shopping centers and restaurants, should be phased out. If a business wants to go “multicultural” as in a French restaurant wanting to be “French,” then it is up to the business to make that happen, and not some special government fund.

This true Canadianness will either be accepted or rejected by these immigrants, and their descendants. I would say that the majority of non-whites will reject it. This unwelcoming environment will eventually become difficult for them. And with the combination of strategies provided above, they will start to leave on their own. Already, Chinese and Indian immigrant off-spring are “re-acquainting” themselves with their ancestral countries by traveling there for vists, and some are staying and re-establishing their lives there.
The alternative is that there will be a confrontation between immigrants (this is now a generic word I will use for all non-white immigrants – first, second, third, etc. generation) and whites. Immigrants will refuse the white, European and Western nature of Canada, and will fight to have it resemble their own conditions. Whites are now beginning to realize what they’ve lost, or are losing, and will begin to start to reclaim their land and culture, since especially after their decades-long acceptance of these others, all they are getting is epithets of “racist” and “prejudiced” by these same immigrants.

This may take some time, but with incremental changes, and a combination of all the strategies and scenarios above, it may be sooner than we think.

—- Comments —
Michael S. writes:

“Immigrants will refuse the white, European and Western nature of Canada, and will fight to have it resemble their own conditions.”

Then why do they immigrate, if they just want to make their new place like their old place? What’s the point?

I’ve heard enough Puerto Ricans gush about how lovely Puerto Rico is. Couldn’t have been THAT lovely, if you live in the Bronx. Just sayin’.

Ireland is beautiful, too, but I can see why my ancestors left.

S. Li writes:

I never thought of writing to you until I read this post, “Can Canada Become Canada Again?” today. I thought that I might have a few words to add.

I am Chinese and I have been reading your blog for quite a while. Previously I tried to learn English from CNN/NYT, then I gradually found them boring and spiritually and intellectually suffocating. After finding your blog, I have made your blog my daily/weekly read instead. I like your blog design and picture choices in the first place, which are really pleasant for reading. I like your posts about English literature, which are nourishing for the soul. I like your posts about traditional Christian values, which I believe are the real foundation that made the West great. (I wish the West had exported more of traditional Christian readings to China such as C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton, and I never regretted when Chinese government banned ‘artists’ such as Lady Gaga etc., or art such as most ‘Hollywood movies’).

In China, we call Chinese born in Canada/U.S. “Banana” (yellow outside, white inside) as very obviously they are culturally Western in our eyes. (Second-generation Chinese immigrants usually speak English even while they visit China, as they either do not speak Chinese well or do not bother to speak Chinese, and they almost always like to remind us that “I am American/Canadian, not Chinese” upon introduction). And we can easily spot that they are different from local Chinese by their appearance (maybe due to more dairy consumption), and because their knowledge of Chinese classics is close to none. It would be a blessing if they could spell their grandparents’ names in Chinese. I find it hard to believe that they could ever possibly “culturally transform Canada.”

Let us take Jeremy Lin, the NBA basketball player and a Chinese American, for example, even though he might look like Yao Ming (Chinese basketball player who also played in NBA previously), we Chinese do not find anything similar with regards to the ways they talk, think and act. Even though they both look Chinese by skin color, we can almost spot Jeremy Lin as “not from China” at first eyesight. The same is true to for Patrick Chan, the Canadian figure skater.

Also, I find the example Ms. Asrat used to support her “Chinese and Indian immigrants have no real etiquette” comment a little naive. We can easily substitute her “rude Indian” story to another “rude non-Asian” story, plus Ms. Asrat was not without fault (at least inconsiderate) at the confrontation.

Ironically, I found it hard to believe that Miss Asrat put her own picture along her post, as she looks Asian to me. Is the post or the picture a joke?

Laura writes:

Thank you for writing. Your command of English is good. I made a few grammatical corrections, but not many.

I understand that Chinese immigrants to the West are not fully Chinese in the cultural sense and have many Western mannerisms. However, that does not mean that they fully identify with the West or consider themselves Canadians in the sense that those whose ancestors came from Britain do. Many Chinese Canadians probably consider themselves a distinctive combination of East and West. In other posts, Kidist has more fully described what she sees as the differences between Asian immigrants and white Canadians. For some Asians, Canada is more a place to get ahead than a place to feel fully at home. When Kidist, who is Ethiopian, speaks of Asians culturally transforming Canada, I don’t think she means they are making it exactly like China or India. That could never be. Nevertheless, the influx of Asians into Canada has been enormous and however much prominent Asian Americans or Canadians may seem Westernized, there is no question that Canada is changed by the presence of large numbers of Asians and their distinctive characteristics, just as China would be transformed if millions of white Canadians settled in its major cities, even if those Canadians adopted many of the local customs and spoke the language.

News

I will be self-publishing my memoir: Western Bound: Western Bond.

Man Power

Very funny post (yes I will tell you it's funny) from Nina Byzantina. Only a Russian could post this.

Barrie's New Logo

“Barrie is youthful and bold,” marketing and communications manager Cheri Harris said. “It is a community deeply connected to its past, the parkland and the adventures it provides. The city is innovative and entrepreneurial. With borrowed elements from the past, and the strength of the corporate colour preserved, Barrie looks forward to its future.” [Source]

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

Innisfil Beach Road, Simcoe County
[Photo By: KPA]

The Lake Isle of Innisfree
By William Butler Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

Culture Watch: Burning Down Western Culture

I have started a new topic I've titled "Culture Watch."


Nafiseh Emadmostofi
Do it Yourself: Coffins II, 81cm x 101cm
Oil on Canvass

Art is one of the first ways that we get indications of the directions a culture is taking. That is because it is hard to lie with art. Your authenticity is revealed firstly through your technical dexterity. And having invested so much time learning the techniques and processes, what you present becomes a labor of love. You do the very best that you can do.

And images are more primal than words. One can mask meanings and intentions with words, but pictures are more direct.

We have now in Canada (and specifically in Mississauga) artists who have gone through - so far - the exemplary schools that the region have to offer. Even in this era of postmodernism, there are first class traditional schools of painting and drawing available to anyone who wants to attend. Many are at very low cost or even free. Public secondary and post secondary school systems in Ontario have them in their curricula, with skilled art teachers on their staff.

Many times these artists are second generation immigrants who may have been born in Canada or came to the country as very young children. They maneuver through "Canadian" culture with expertise, speak fluent English, and often also their own languages.

They go through the usual rigorous screening systems, first for admissions into these post secondary schools and even secondary schools. For example The Etobcoke School of the Arts is highly selective in admitting its high school students.

Then, as they complete their studies, these artists start their rounds of galleries and museums to submit their works for exhibitions. Some venture out into the commercial world, but that comes much later.

The fascinating thing is the themes they chose to represent. Without fail (view work by students and alumni of Chinese or other ethnic backgrounds at the Ontario College of Art and Design here, or here at the University of Toronto ), their works reference their own cultures. Often there is a sense of alienation in their works. And where these works intersect with other cultures, and specifically with white, western culture, there is an amorphous sense of doom. This may be representative of the postmodern era of doom and gloom in art, but this doom and gloom is specifically Chinese, or Indian, or some other ethnic group's where the artists pull from their own cultural vocabularies to represent such worlds through their art.

Multiculturalism has really brought out their unique demons.

But there is another interesting layer. While each culture represents its imagery, in its own way, with unapologetic references to its "identity," whites are not allowed to do so. For if they do, then they are channeling into their "oppressor" history, their legacy of "racism" where they prevented the ancestors of these non-whites (some only as far back as 1/2 a generation ago) from participating and fully living in this land. Whites cannot be genuine artists because of the crimes that have been allocated to them. They will only make more of the same art, "alienating" and "oppressive."

What could be further from the truth!

But all these "ethnics" cannot be true artists either, for their inauthentic methods of "copying" their oppressors.

So where does that leave us in the world of art?

We get to watch the burning of the Western tradition, painted in the immaculate tradition of Western art.

Nafiseh Emadmostofi channels back to this tradition, having nothing else to emulate. Yet her deepest desire is to see it go up in flames, to vanish, so that she can once again return to her true, authentic self, her true authentic art.

The Art Gallery of Mississauga will exhibit Emadmostofi's works in the XIT-RM from June 29-August 27 2017 under the title Burning Desire. She will also participate in an "Artist Talk" on June 29, the opening night.

What is Emadmostofi's burning desire? I have answered that question above: "...her deepest desire is to see [this Western culture] go up in flames, to vanish, so that she can once again return to her true, authentic self, her true authentic art."

The gallery's communication describes Emadmostofi's work thus:

Nafiseh Emadmostofi’s bold figural paintings offer up representative and allegorical examinations of ideological conflict, and the power of art to inspire protest, incite censure, and yet also speak to a collective (and contested) desire to envision a better world.

And we get this "better world" after we get rid of the "old" and "corrupt" one.

There is nothing more exhilarating than utopian visions.

More on the Prime Minister

In Above His Head

Along with Steve Paikin, host of TVO's The Agenda, Don Martin on his CTV flagship political program Power Play tells us like it is.

Martin's most recent episode discussed Trudeau's "Appointments paralysis [as] internal dysfunction."

He elaborates on his blog:

...this PMO is failing miserably at filling important positions with strong people in a timely manner.

[...]

But the most pressing and perplexing is this government’s appointment paralysis.

Judicial appointments are glacial, commission chairs are empty, boards like the CBC, Canada Post and Export Development Canada are depleted while top jobs at the RCMP, CRTC and Elections Canada are on the verge of being vacated.

[...]

The efficiency of a government, even one with a friendly face, should be judged by the way it staffs itself and treats its people.
There are clear symptoms of internal dysfunction by Liberals failing to get that basic job done.

He jokes that it might be time to get Sophie Trudeau to pillow-talk her husband into assigning appointments. But that is probably happening already and perhaps one of the reasons for this paralysis.

The main reason is of course, as many quietly and some clearly, including myself, have observed: Trudeau is in above his head with his new role as leader of this country.



He must be asking himself by now: "When will this dream-job-turned-nightmare end?!"

The Perfect Coordination: Urban Decay Takes on Decadent Art

Vice-loving AND Cruelty-Free, Urban Decay's new store in Ontario

A cosmetics store called Urban Decay opened up recently at the slickly renovated Square One mall. I walked in yesterday to see all the decay. I wasn't disappointed.

Urban Decay has teamed up with "artist" Jean-Michel Basquiat to make the perfect co-ordination of imagery and makeup. In our era of anti-beauty, which is now reaching a nefarious satanic state (and where else does deliberate embrace of ugliness take us), Jean-Michel Basquiat's legacy becomes the perfect "artistic" expression for contemporary fashion and "beauty."

Here is what Urban Decay says about the UD/J-MB link-up:

We’ve been fans of Basquiat’s art since before the early days of UD; so when his estate approached us about a collaboration based on his artwork, we couldn’t wait to start creating. From the colors and shade names to the packaging, EVERYTHING in this collection evolved from Basquiat’s art. Like Urban Decay, Basquiat was an outsider who challenged the status quo and used color in nontraditional ways. From his informal graffiti work and the way he mixed mediums and colors to the way he spoke out against social injustice

Urban Decay Jean-Michel Basquiat Tenant Eyeshadow Palette: $39
Shades included:
- Studio (pale pink matte)
- 1960 (bright pink matte)
- Neo (rich aubergine w/micro-shimmer)
- Les (charcoal-black matte-satin)
- Graffiti (deep metallic green)
- Exu (bright green shimmer)
- Boom (bright teal matte)
- Untitled (rich deep blue matte)

OK, the "untitled" is funny.


Jean-Michel Basquiat
Self-Portrait, 1982
Media: acrylic, crayon
Dimensions: 239 x 193 cm
Private Collection
© The Estate of Jean-Michel Basquia

Art critics dare not expose the emperor as having on no clothes because they would be exposed as having on no clothes either. So we get endless repetitive art-talk admiration for truly ugly horrors.

And it takes someone who has no stake in the postmodern art horrors either financially or intellectually to expose the nakedness of these. One such is a blogger, short-lived and anonymous (probably has a real job to protect, where he doesn't earn even a tiny percentage required to pay for these multi-million dollar doodles) whose post I've posted in full below.

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I don't get it: Jean-Michel Basquiat
By: Daily soup
June 4, 2011
[make sure to read the comments]

I once dated this fine art major from the academy of art college. she was a bit introverted at times but tended to emerge from that shell with a bat outta hell fury when angered or passionate about an issue. So her and I are on the haight and we go into this poster shop. she stops and and asked me; do you know jean michel basquiat? asking me in a tone that seemed to indicate irrevocable damage to our relationship was at hand should I answer poorly. not wanting to be erroneously outed as a liar, I simply said no, I am not familiar with jean michel basquiat. surprised, she looked at me as if I had looked in the mirror and said: you know what? I hate you niggaz. In an ever so sexy low tone, she explained a short history of this painter and then she gentility grabbed my wrist and led me to a stack of posters.

I was expecting to see some undiscover 20th century new york answer to leonardo du vinci or vincent van gogh.Instead I get these.....





If star wars came out in Shakespeare's day, I would imagine this is what the darth vader of his day would look like.

AFTER MY EXPOSURE to these...umm...yeah...I asked her, oh wow! was he insane? At this point, my girl was clearly offended. she went on into a whole discussion about not "getting it" and how I shouldn't be in art school because I lack the vision to see beauty in the abstract and so forth and so on.

I retorted by asking her has she ever seen the paintings they found made from serial killers and mass murderers? well these would definitely fit in the lot for sure.This led to an intense yet low decibel trade off of passive aggressive quips.I swear even arguing with that girl was a strange venture down the rabbit hole.
A day later, I went back to that store alone and for almost 15 minutes (and after fighting off the strong compulsion to make the sign of the cross numerous times before those painting) I went from a strong silent and contemplative stone pillar stance to a loud and eruptive THIS SHIT IS GARBAGE! WHAT THE FUCK IS THE DEAL WITH THIS OVERRATED SPLASH OF SHOCKING AND DISTURBING VOMIT OF QUASI ARTISTIC INSANITY WORTH ONLY THE CANVAS IT WAS PAINTED ON!?

Surprised by that flood of seldom used vernacular and vocabulary, I stopped myself. Then was asked to leave the store, NO SWEAT, I've BEEN KICKED OUT OF BETTER PLACES THAN THIS. I guess word got back to my girlfriend because she broke up with me that evening.

Look, I'm not ashamed of the fact that I could stand in an art gallery scratching in perplexity. Wondering what one sees in abstract expressionism. I'm not insecure about my uncultured and unrefined nature. I'm proud of my blue collar, sports bar self.

yes I do miss the GF from time to time, although we aren't talking, we do past each other and say hi. But I still get pretty peeved when I realize that our relationship came to an end over JMB. It couldn't be a micheal angelo?

I guess our relationship was less fine art and more chicken scratch.

Tieless Trudeau

The Prime minster of Canada comes out to press conferences looking like this:



He's not only tieless but has also ditched his jacket.

But even what passes for ties now is a thin black strip, usually leather. Gone are the days of paisley designs with matching pocket squares. Men have become as emasculated as their fashion shows us.

This past section was written BEFORE I looked up "Men's Tie Fashions" in google (without quotes).

And I found this on GQ's April 3, 2017 issue:

Notice along with the Thin Black Tie ^TM, the top button is unbuttoned.

It was one of the images for the article: Justin Trudeau Just Nailed This Ryan Gosling-Approved Style Move

The article is written by an adolescent thirtsomething, who fawns over celebrity men (including Canada's celebrity Prime Minister), and who has a degree in Fine Arts from Boston. I guess looking at pretty men now counts for an artist's task.


Men in the 1950s
Gregory Peck advertising for Eagles Clothes

For more on men and ties, read The Necktie by The Thinking Housewife.

"I am grateful to live in a country where diversity is welcomed and celebrated." But...

Amira Elghawaby
Journalist and human rights advocate in Ottawa

"I am grateful to live in a country where diversity is welcomed and celebrated. Canada is a country which provides me with opportunities to be an active and caring citizen, open to others, and committed to social justice, fairness and human rights for all."

Above is a quote from "Egyptian-Canadian" Amira Elghawaby, who is presenting her case alongside the Multicultural Act of Canada, as an unapologetic, non-multicultural, non-hyphenated Muslim.

But she is being authentic. Non-Multiculturalism now applies to Hindus, Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims and every single ethnic and racial group, except for Whites.

The future is with "Non-Multiculturalism." Groups will be authentic to their races and ethnicities. But if Whites do so it will be called "racism."

Elghawaby is only following the cultural trend, and her "true self."

She is telling the truth.

That Ye May Be Perfect

[Photo By: KPA]

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James 1: 1-4
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

The Lesbian Vs. God and Other Stories

Hernandez (middle) performing Future Folk with her
Sulong Theatre Collective, which is a play based on:
"The experiences of Filipino women who come to Canada to work as nannies.
They send their wages back home, and hope after 24 months of employment
to become citizens and bring their own families to Canada."[Source]

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Our Neighborhood Filipina Story Teller portrayed in my recent post Catch Them When They're Young has quite a resume writing for "minors":

Kilt Pins

In a Catholic high school in Scarborough, Ontario, amidst low-income housing, difficult race relations, and poverty, a young woman struggles to find her sexual identity. In this sincere portrayal of high-school kids pitting the voice of God and thousands of years of scripture against the voice of their own bodies, Kilt Pins cheekily asks “Is your kilt pin up or down?”

Scarborough

Scarborough is a low-income, culturally diverse neighbourhood east of Toronto, the fourth largest city in North America; like many inner-city communities, it suffers under the weight of poverty, drugs, crime, and urban blight. Scarborough the novel employs a multitude of voices to tell the story of a tight-knit neighbourhood under fire: among them, Victor, a black artist harassed by the police; Winsum, a West Indian restaurant owner struggling to keep it together; and Hina, a Muslim school worker who witnesses first-hand the impact of poverty on education.

And then there are the three kids who work to rise above a system that consistently fails them: Bing, a gay Filipino boy who lives under the shadow of his father’s mental illness; Sylvie, Bing’s best friend, a Native girl whose family struggles to find a permanent home to live in; and Laura, whose history of neglect by her mother is destined to repeat itself with her father.

And more on Arsenal Press

Arsenal Pulp Press is a book publisher in Vancouver, Canada with over 300 titles currently in print, which include literary fiction and nonfiction; cultural and gender studies; LGBT and multicultural literature; cookbooks, including vegan; alternative crafts; graphic novels; visual arts; and books in translation. We are interested in literature that engages and challenges readers, and which asks probing questions about the world around us.

Of course these welfare artists insist that they get their financial sources from tax payers money courtesy of the Canadian Government (don't let the meek word "suggests" deceive you):

Catherine Hernandez suggests several strategies to redress...deep-seated inequities: hiring more diverse teaching staff; educating teaching staff in anti-oppressive values; implementing a “much more aggressive diverse application process to ensure the student body is multicultural”; and diversifying the curriculum beyond the canonical (white) narratives that dominate it [Source].

Here is one such publisher which has produced Hernandez's children's book, that petitioned successfully to get LGBQT children's books into the school curriculum through the Toronto District School Board:

"Flamingo Rampant is a micro-press with a mission – to produce feminist, racially-diverse, LGBTQ positive children’s books. This is an effort to bring visibility and positivity to the reading landscape of children everywhere. We make books kids love that love them right back, bedtime stories for beautiful dreams, and books that make kids of all kinds say with pride : that kid’s just like me!" tells us the publisher

Hernandez has had a lot of practice with her own daughter who is now around thirteen years old. Hernandez appears to have been married to a male from whom she separated soon after her daughter's birth. She writes: "I parented Arden with little to no help from friends, family and my spouse at the time." She says that her children's book M is for Mustache: A Pride ABC Book was inspired by her daughter.

"Based on my many marches with my own child during what she called “Rainbow Time”, the book will follow in an ABC format, a small child as she gets ready to march alongside her mama at Pride.“

Previously-married-to-a-male Hernandez has a daughter now thirteen

Just shy of Arden’s 12th birthday, she approaches my partner, Nazbah, in the kitchen. “I’m so glad you’re my stepparent,” she says. Nazbah considers spearing a fork into their own heart in order to stop the tears of joy.[Source]