Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Ezra By The Balls

Over at The Western Standard Ezra Levant and his followers are blaming the death of Kathelynn Occena, who was involved last week in a fatal bus crash, on Muslims, believe it or not, and multiculturalism, and the notion of "reasonable accommodation".

Why? Because the bus-driver (pictured left) may have been Muslim, maybe was wearing a hijab, and possibly had her vision impaired by her head gear--whatever the proper characterization of that head-gear might be. But even if she's not Muslim and it isn't a hijab, that poor child died due to Muslims because uppity Muslims have demanded that we let them wear their ridiculous scarfs, and so this woman (non-Muslim though she might be) and her ridiculous scarf were allowed to slip through the cracks, as it were, and she was allowed to drive a school-bus.

Or such is the reasoning of Ezra et al.

So lets go through this one more time.

1) The scarf she is wearing does not look like a hijab (see post below for pictures) as these do not usually get tied in a knot under the neck. Instead it looks like an Eastern European Basbushka or платок.

2) The scarf is clearly not impeding her view in any real fashion, and is certainly not "like blinders", as Ezra would have it (and as a few brave souls at the Western Standard blog have probably risked expulsion by pointing out:
Your pictures prove that Ezra is off his nut again. You can clearly see that her eyes are not blocked at all. Leave it to the neo-nazis ... er neo-cons to make this into an exercise in bigotry.)

On the sides the garment is well back from the eyes, and above well back from the brows. This would impair her vision no more that a toque might.

So what is fogging up Ezra's specs? What could possibly motivate his utterly tasteless intervention in what is already a painful situation for everyone involved, including the families of the bus driver and victims? Well, I don't want to delve too much into personal psychology here, but remember, the print version of The Western Standard has just gone tits up, and no less a prominent personage as David Frum has blamed this failure on the thousands of dollars spent responding:

...to an Alberta Human Rights Commission investigation of its decision to reprint the Danish Muhammad cartoons -- making Canada the only Western country in which the publication of the cartoons was effectively punished by an agency of the state.

So has Ezra, racked by the collapsed of his magazine, developed a hard-on against Muslims or anyone that even looks like one?

28 comments:

Mike said...

I know lots of women with Hijabs. they do not block vision, they are designed not to. The woman in the picture clearly does not have her vision blocked. Indeed, the firefighters on the scene from the video likely have their vision more obscured by their head gear than does the woman (or a Muslim wearing a hijab).

No pretty clearly Ezra is a hate-filled bigot who is using the tragic death of a child in an accident to attack Muslims. He is a n opportunistic pig and needs a good slap upside his head.

JimBobby said...

Whooee! I see you figgered out how to grab a youtube frame. Good goin'.

Since readin' yer boog yesterday, I been lookin' at various hijab pitchers. The ones I seen all was pulled back a bit and tight to the head just beside the eyes. I reckon a hijab is less visually restrictive than a babuska and a lot less restrictive than a parka with the hood up.

It is a great tragedy that a little girl died on a schoolbus. Driver error appears to be the cause. Anybody who's ever driven with even 3 or 4 kiddies in the vehicle should know how distracting their boisterous screamin' an' playin' can be. I'm a good driver (42 years accident free) but I wouldn't wanna drive a busload of unseatbelted schoolkids.

There are other factors that probbly were at play, too. The lack of seat belts on school buses has been an issue fer decades. School boards and bus companies have fought any attempt to implement safety features that have been mandatory in private passenger vehicles fer years.

Strange how Ontario now requires that all children under the age of 8 must be seated in CSA-approved carseats when traveling in private passenger vehicles but 60 7-year-old kids can be bouncin' around like jellybeans on a schoolbus.

Collisions are bound to happen. Seatbelts, protective padding and additional adult supervision can mitigate injuries. We know it but cash-strapped school boards and the provincial legislatures that fund 'em don't do anything about it.

JB

Anonymous said...

I see that essay composition was not your strong suit, bcl. Take a deep breath, compose yourself, and re-write that whole piece. It'll help everybody if you make sense.

Jay said...

Jeez, I saw Ezra ranting on tv the other day over this. He looked to the average viewer to be a crazy old coot raving about immigrants this and that. Strange how Ezra Levant's name doesn't sound like a first nations persons name. Wonder how he got to Canada (or his family).

My old Sottish grandmother wore one of those everyday. She couldn't have been bothered to fix her her to do daily chores so she covered it with a hankerchef. NO a hijab or necessarily any head gear. Just some lady covering her hair because she was lazy. Didn't know that was a crime.

Wonder if Ezra is worried about the wigs orthodox jewish women wear to cover their heads (they use a wig instead of hijab). Does he worry it will slip off and blind these people as well? Doubt if Ezra will rave about that.

Ti-Guy said...

I see that essay composition was not your strong suit, bcl. Take a deep breath, compose yourself, and re-write that whole piece. It'll help everybody if you make sense.

Ezra?

Anyway, the other point Lerant was making was that Canadians have become so politically-correct or live in fear of a politically-correct tongue-lashing that no one in the media dared mention the head-covering.

The muslim-hating bigot Ezra Levant has constructed a complex edifice of hysteria and paranoia to propose an analysis of this issue that, unsurprisingly, has nothing to do with evidence.

What a digusting human being.

Anonymous said...

So Levant's rag fell because he had to pay his lawyers' bills? Doesn't that just show that lawyers are good for something!

I wonder if he tried to sell his Hummer? I bet no one wants to buy it. I wonder what the sight lines are for it?

Anonymous said...

How come KKK can drive buses and their vision is lot more obscured. This Ezra guy must be blind and deaf or wears KKK hood.

Anonymous said...

Look at his work history and you'll see that he had a three month span as communications director for Stockwell Day during those fateful days in Ottawa.

Is he a Zionist with a persecution complex? Is this just another episode of his continuous implosion.

Zorpheous said...

God, what a bunch of retards over at the SnotGun. Can't wait for Ezra for fold up his webpage next.

Oldschool said...

How does one drive a school buss into a stopped dump truck on a multi-lane highway . . . Ezra may speculate about the headgear . . . but I would say it's more about incompetence!!!

JimBobby said...

How does one drive a school buss into a stopped dump truck on a multi-lane highway(?)

Fatigue maybe?

After almost any collision, someone could ask "how could it happen?" Until all the facts are known, it is impossible to say what happened.

What is known is that better safety equipment like seat belts, air bags, padded features and additional adult supervision can prevent injuries and save lives. Instead of all the finger pointing at the driver, how about looking at vehicle safety? Unsafe practices that are standard procedure on school buses carrying thousands of children every day would be traffic act violations and grounds for serious fines in private passenger vehicles.

JB

Mike said...

Pierre Poilievre, boy wonder of the CPC, worked for Ezra out in Calgary as his press secretary when Ezra was refusing to give up his plan to run in Calgary so Harper could.

Explains a lot about Petey's thought process, doesn't it?

Ti-Guy said...

How does one drive a school buss into a stopped dump truck on a multi-lane highway...

The Christian God willed it. There is no other, reality-based explanation possible...except the one that insists this Islamofascista's many-layered, complicated and un-Judeo-Christian chador was blocking her view.

Ti-Guy said...

Levant and Poillievre...separated at birth.

BCL...do a side-by-side comparing their images...they really do look quite a bit alike...especially after Levant hired that image consultant who told him to lose the fright-wig and coke-bottle glasses.

Anonymous said...

If I were a completely dispassionate reader of both the Shotgun and BigCityLib (I must admit I am not a completely dispassionate reader as I am a sometimes contributor to the Shotgun)I would judge that there is far derogatory comment and borderline racism in the postings and comments on BigCityLib than Ezra Levant by any stretch could be accused of. His whole posting on the Shotgun was aimed not at the bus driver but at the reporting on the incident that semmingly deliberately avoided the possibility that the drivers clothing be it hijab, niqab. babushka or headscarf may have impaired her peripheral vision. Ezra did not to me exhibit any interest her racial origins.

Ti-Guy said...

and borderline racism in the postings and comments on BigCityLib

Examples?

As for derogatry comments, I thought you Shitgunners worshipped free expression?

Anonymous said...

S o bob wood, do you observe the racism in this remark?

"what the hell are we doing allowing any muslim male or female drive a bus load of children anywhere? damn we are one stupid nation.

Posted by: old white guy | 23-Oct-07 8:41:02 AM"

How about this?

"...Was that woman on a personal jihad or what?

Posted by: Werner Patels (THE SPADE) | 23-Oct-07 10:31:41 AM"

And Werner again, in the Tuesday thread "It looks like that silly bitch was waging her own personal jihad -- wouldn't be the first time..."

How about this one by John?
"Muslims have no business in a free secular state. Their core values dictate that they cannot assimilate....Stop the immigration of Muslims into Canada now, before it's too late, if it isn't already..."

The most recent thread
http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2007/10/how-long-will-t.html

Looks pretty damned racist to me. What a bunch of scum. Aren't you embarrassed to be associated with them, bob?

And for Ezra's own racist assumptions made in the first of the three threads, try this:
"...To me, it's obvious why: because the subject matter clearly touches on the debate about "reasonable accommodation" and how far we're willing to let Muslim culture trump Canadian culture, when the two clash..." So he was assuming that the cause of the crash was driving while a Muslim female. Ezra's a racist and a sexist pig; and a very bad lawyer. He should be disbarred for ignoring the basic principal that everyone is innocent until proved guilty.

Ti-Guy said...

Notice how Bob Wood didn't bother responding to the questions put to him.

Typical Shitgun loud-mouth.

Anonymous said...

The Calgary Sun has since pulled that column from its online edition, without any explanation and/or apology.

Also, I heard on the news today that the driver (allegedly) was using her cell phone at the time of the accident (according to some of the children present). If true, that would make more sense as a cause - rather than a tight-to-the-head scarf, IMO.

bigcitylib said...

diane,

I've heard that too (and may update tomorrow). I think there is no question that this incident will boil down to some variety of "driver error", perhaps severe enough to justify criminal charges.

Ezra's intent was to whomp this up into another battle in the War on Terror. That's what I object to.

Anonymous said...

I agree completely, BCL (about Ezra trying to stir the pot). That's what he does. I have never met anyone so self-absorbed and egotistical in my life (and I'm pretty old). His main reason for everything he does is to draw attention and publicity to himself. It's his schtick.

Having said all that, he is a loathsome man.

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