PAUL MARTIN'S FREE LUNCH FOR THE ONTARIO MEDIA
With the exclusion of some independent talk radio hosts, some in the Sun Media, few in the National Post, few in Can West-Global, and all the CTS (100 Huntley Street) media that were no-shows - former Prime Minister: Paul Martin invited all the web, newspaper chains, radio, and television media people to a free luncheon on Parliament Hill. CTV's Craig Oliver was sitting next to Paul Martin:
Waiter: 'Allo, Mr. Prime Minisder, I'm Jokes Credin - your waider. 'For 'da endrée, whad will you have?
Paul Martin: (Slamming his fist on the table): I'll have steak!
Waiter: 'For 'da vegedables?
Paul Martin: (Slamming his fist on the table): They'll have steak too!
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This truly defines how I really feel about the media - especially in Ontario in regards of some pivotal issues. The silence is deafening in these nine issues (there are many others) as follows:
1. Recently (Friday, March 12th & Tuesday, March 16th), Metro News Toronto (www.metronews.ca/toronto) dug up an obscure story about a lesbian teen trying to take her ‘partner’ to the prom and an ACLU hearing set in lesbian teen's lawsuit to force Mississippi school district to hold prom.
Update! That particular High School cancelled the prom.
First, who cares?
Unless Mississippi had a major weather or natural disaster, what does this have to do with Toronto Ontario, Canada?
Tongue-in-cheek, we may actually be interested if the U.S. State of Mississippi obtained a professional hockey team. Mississippi Ice Dogs?
What ever happened to support local media?
2. Canadian media were ignorant and/or unwilling to report the verbal and physical abuse by the California homosexual community against perceived supporters of Proposition 8, as follows:
AOL News: American media outlets such as Is Anarchy the Answer in Proposition 8 Protests? and The N-bomb is dropped on black passersby at Prop 8 protests by: Pam Spaulding
Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 16:15:00 PM EST
UPDATE: the openly gay president of People for the American Way, Kathryn Kolbert, has released a statement. It's below the fold.
You could see this coming, and this is what I'm talking about when you ignore the elephant in the room. Rod McCullom of Rod 2.0 blogs reports on the escalation of the "blame the blacks" meme that has been swirling about the blogosphere and the MSM.
A number of Rod 2.0 and Jasmyne Cannick readers report being subjected to taunts, threats and racist abuse at last night's marriage equality rally in Los Angeles.
Geoffrey, a student at UCLA and regular Rod 2.0 reader, joined the massive protest outside the Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Westwood. Geoffrey was called the n-word at least twice.
It was like being at a Klan rally except the Klansmen were wearing Abercrombie polos and Birkenstocks. YOU N*GG*R, one man shouted at men. If your people want to call me a F*GG*T, I will call you a n*gg*r. Someone else said same thing to me on the next block near the temple...me and my friend were walking, he is also gay but Korean, and a young WeHo clone said after last night the n*gg*rs better not come to West Hollywood if they knew what was BEST for them.
Los Angeles resident and Rod 2.0 reader A. Ronald says he and his boyfriend, who are both black, were carrying NO ON PROP 8 signs and still subjected to racial abuse.
Three older men accosted my friend and shouted, "Black people did this, I hope you people are happy!" A young lesbian couple with mohawks and Obama buttons joined the shouting and said there were "very disappointed with black people" and "how could we" after the Obama victory. This was stupid for them to single us out because we were carrying those blue NO ON PROP 8 signs! I pointed that out and the one of the older men said it didn't matter because "most black people hated gays" and he was "wrong" to think we had compassion. That was the most insulting thing I had ever heard. I guess he never thought we were gay.
The backlash is upon us, and it's going to get uglier unless our organizations step forward and say something. The desire to scapegoat blacks for Prop 8's defeat has exposed the now not-so-latent racism in our movement.
I have already blogged a lot about why the lack of effective communication (and I'm not even talking about outreach on gay issues to socially conservative blacks) between white people in general and people of color. That dearth of understanding and mutual respect for difference, and lack of desire to seek common ground through personal relationships ultimately leads to what we are seeing here.
People took to the streets throughout the U.S. last weekend to protest passage of California's Proposition 8 - which bans same-sex marriage.
Protests were held from California to Nevada, to even North Carolina, with gay-rights activists arguing that gay couples deserve the same marital rights and recognition that heterosexual couples enjoy. But some of the protests are getting downright nasty, and, by some reports, are turning into sheer anarchy.
There are reports (Chuck Norris has a little list) that: Prop 8 protesters in California shoved a 69-year-old woman who was bearing a cross, spit on her, and stomped on the cross; Prop. 8 supporter Jose Nunez, 37, was assaulted while distributing yard signs to other supporters after church services at the St. Stanislaus Parish in Modesto, Calif.; a 25-year Mormon artistic director of the California Musical Theatre was forced to resign because of his $1,000 donation to the campaign to pass Prop 8; and non-Latter Day Saints Hispanic women were beaten up for cleaning up vandalism at an LDS temple. (The Mormon Church, by the way, rounded up about $20 million to spend on getting Prop 8 passed.)
In Palm Springs last Friday night, a woman showed up carrying a Styrofoam cross and a scuffle took place. The crowd even turned on the KPSP Local 2 news crew. You can see that video here. (More video below).
"They began grabbing me. It was like a dog pack," said Phyllis Burgess, a Prop 8 supporter who had expletives and slurs yelled at her. "The crowd was very angry that someone was here that they felt didn't belong here ... But I've lived in this city for 30 years."
The video shows one protester grabbing the Styrofoam cross from Burgess' hands. Another protester is shown stomping on it. Burgess says she was struck on the head and spit on.
"I don't want to keep it peaceful anymore," one protester yelled. "We should fight! We should fight!"
The area's Calvary Chapel Chino Hills was spray painted by vandals after they learned that the church served as an official collection point for Prop. 8 petitions.
African Americans, 70% of whom voted yes on Prop. 8, according to a CNN exit poll, are also targets of the gay hate. Racial epithets have been used against African Americans at protests in California - with some even directed at blacks who are fighting to repeal Prop. 8. Gay rights activists are now publishing lists online exposing individuals and organizations that have donated money in support of Prop. 8. This is sometimes resulting in violence.
And by many accounts, these actions are turning more people off to the movement.
For example: one LA Weekly writer who was marching with the Proposition 8 opponents over the weekend says: "I can also see that we are quickly coming to a point where reckless protesting may turn off all kinds of people, whether they are gay and new to activism or they are straight and new to walking alongside gay activists. If that happens, we will miss the chance to build newer, stronger, and broader coalitions and movements for decades to come. We will need these coalitions because the fight for equality is far from over, and our opponents will continue to attack one way or another. We, the gay community, can go our own way, but we will probably squander the goodwill that Proposition 8 has now handed us."
Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic argues that the gay-rights movement is lacking a strong leader to rally the troops in productive ways, and that the Human Rights Campaign certainly isn't doing the job. Daily Kos says the organization to defeat Prop 8 just wasn't there.
Regardless of the reason for Prop 8's success, the conclusion is: the voters of California have spoken - for better or worse.
Does berating a near-elderly woman who supports Prop 8, and spitting on her for having beliefs different than you, help the cause? I don't think so. Yes, there's frustration, but funneling that frustration into more productive, effective methods of pushing your cause will do a lot more good than just further alienating those whose support you could use. If the idea is to encourage others to be more open-minded and accepting of those different from them, beating them into submission (metaphorically speaking, hopefully) might not be the best route.
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3. On Friday Nov., 5, 1999 - a UN High Court ruled against Canada and Ontario regarding religious school funding. That particular day was the most quiet ever (with the newsworthy exception of the ONEX failed takeover bid of Air Canada). With the exclusion of some talk radio hosts; there were hardly any mainstream media follow-up coverage. Unless one as a parent with school age children was directly involved in the issue, there is a considerable number of Canadians who are not even aware of this ruling.My research indicates that there have been only seven UN rulings against Canada so what gives with the lack of continuous media follow-up?
4. In March or April 2000, on the CHCH Hamilton Ontario Television based: Jane Hawtin Show, the discussion was based on HRDC Employment Insurance grants financial irregularities. Surprisingly, the debate turned into unification! The Hamilton Board of Trade and the various unions including CUPE mutually were of one accord regarding the HRDC financial irregularities! Unfortunately, when that happened, the station immediately went off the air because of ‘experiencing technical difficulties’!!! The weather in Toronto, GTA, and Hamilton was not a factor! The weather was cold (approximately -2 degrees Celsius) but clear with no wind! What was also perturbing, after the time slot of the Jane Hawtin Show, ‘normal’ programming immediately resumed! This lack of media coverage should have told the Toronto Star and the Canadian people something! Why wasn't this covered?
5. Although the CBC documentary: A Place Called Chiapas is commendable in highlighting the civil war between the Mexican military and the Zapatistas - there was very little information on the religious persecution of Chiapas Evangelicals, Adventists, and/or other Chiapas religious minorities especially on the Toronto Star. Here is an earlier (1997) article of what was expounded:
E; Persecution of Evangelicals in Chiapas, March 1
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To: chiapas95@mundo.eco.utexas.edu
Subject: E; Persecution of Evangelicals in Chiapas, March 1
From: owner-chiapas95@mundo.eco. utexas.edu (Chiapas95)
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 22:30:26 -0600 (CST)
Reply-To: Chiapas 95 Moderators
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This posting has been forwarded to you as a service of Accion Zapatista de Austin.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 1 Mar 1997 15:06:28 -0600 (CST)
From: "Serv. Internacional por la Paz"
To: chiapas@mundo.eco.utexas.edu
Subject: E; Persecution of Evangelicals in Chiapas
Did you know that there is religious persecution in the highlands of Chiapas that has been going on mostly unchecked by local, state and national authorities for more than 30 years?
The persecution has included withdrawal of public services (education, water, telephone) of the evangelicals, beatings, forced expulsions, and even death. More than 30,000 evangelical Christians have been expelled from their villages. Some have made successful returns to their villages while others have taken refuge in the nearby city of San Cristobal de Las Casas and other nearby towns and cities. As recently as February a family was expelled from the municipality of San Juan Chamula (infamous for its repression of evangelicals), and in many villages there still is severe consequences for converting to Protestantism.
The authorities have very often chosen not to get involved, thereby giving the persecutors a free hand to continue repressing and persecuting the evangelical population.
The organization CEDECH (State Committee for the Defense of the Evangelicals of Chiapas) works with these persecuted communities. Anyone interested in knowing more about the work of CEDECH and the region's religious persecution
can access CEDECH´s homepage: http://www.geocities.com/ Athens/9294
Any specific question or communication can be sent to CEDECH by E-mail: atovilla@sancristobal. podernet.com.mx
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International Service for Peace (Servicio Internacional para la Paz or SIPAZ) is a response from the international community to the shared sense among many Mexican sectors that international opinion can contribute to the search for peaceful solutions, through dialogue, to the conflict in Chiapas.
El Servicio Internacional Para la Paz o SIPAZ es una respuesta concreta al consenso existente entre muchos sectores mexicanos de que esta participacio'n internacional puede contribuir positivamente a trave's del dia'logo, para alcanzar una solucion paci'fica y justa en el conflicto de Chiapas.
SIPAZ Servicio Internacional para la Paz
Calle Dr. J. Felipe Flores, 38
Santa Lucia, San Cristobal de las Casas
Chiapas, 29250, Mexico
Tel/Fax (967) 80381
E-mail sipaz@laneta.apc.org
6. In July 2004, the London Free Press and the Toronto Sun (both of Sun Media) reported a story regarding the RCMP and the Halifax Port Authorities fortunately finding two duffel bags (83 kilograms) of cocaine on Paul Martin's steamship: The Sheila Ann. The Toronto Star offered minimal media coverage and no follow-up on this very newsworthy story.
7. The Toronto Star's coverage of the infamous "Beer and Popcorn" statement made by Liberal Strategist: Scott Reid was commendable but what is disturbing is that there was no commentary by any Toronto Star journalist on how alone this Freudian sexist anti-woman statement showed that the Liberal party was not worthy of any votes from any woman and/or their partners who had to use daycare. Previously, I went out with a single mother (three kids) who used daycare services so I wouldn't have hurt her by being a male chauvinist in voting for any Federal Liberal candidate in Elections 2006. I am surprised that any feminist, lesbian, and/or women's-rights Toronto Star journalists did not poison-pen and/or picketed Federal Liberal electoral offices. How can any woman involved in daycare (in justification for voting for Federal Liberals) moronically spout, "He (Scott Reid) apologised. (H'yuk...h'yuk. Bounce...bounce")? I know that if Conservative Strategists: Line Mahieux and/or Hugh Segal made exactly the same Freudian slip - the lesbian, feminist, and women's rights advocacy groups would have attempted to torch every Federal Conservative electoral office in Toronto and/or other major Canadian cities! Recently, minimal Toronto Star response against the anti-woman sexist Greenpeace and the Sierra Club agenda of making fun of Environmental Minister: Rona Ambrose's hair. I am sure that the Italian-Canadian community feels put out.
8. The lack of objective media regarding Israel as indicated by Honest Reporting Canada www.honestreporting.ca insofar as making Israel out to be the villain in most cases.
9. Finally, in a lighter note, why isn't there any Toronto Star media coverage pertaining to the hypocritical bias against cigarette smokers and yet no objective media criticism against the allowance of Cuban cigar smoking lounges in Toronto?
The coverage and media is grievously inadequate and biased on the point: how dare does the homosexual community compare themselves with visible ethnic minorities.
If I am wrong that there has been objective Toronto Star coverage then I apologize but if not - most of you are not doing your job.
Feel free to e-mail me back your impartial viewpoints but somehow I feel that I am not going to receive an objective response but some politically-correct media dog droppings. There is such a thing as "heterophobia".
Please reassure me that not all of you slept through your ethics of journalism class and that, again, all of you will respond objectively. (Miracles can happen).
A Concerned Canadian,
Mike Researcher
(Please withhold my name by request)
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