Monday, October 22, 2007

Ezra Levant Shrieks "Muslim! Muslim!"

Ezra demonstrates why the Western Standard couldn't find enough readers to make a good go of it. He writes of last weeks Calgary bus crash:

"Every detail was examined [by reporters] except one: The woman who was the school bus driver was wearing a Muslim-style head covering that blocked her peripheral vision. "

He concludes:

What matters is that a school bus driver was allowed to operate while wearing a hood.

Clearly, that is an unacceptable risk -- and something that should be banned by common sense.

Ten years ago, to say that head scarves on bus drivers should be prohibited would have been uncontroversial.

But to say so today is to be called Islamophobic -- even if the bus driver in question was not a Muslim.

So, the logic is: the bus driver was wearing head-gear that vaguely resembles a hijab, and if reporters didn't note this fact, its out of political correctness.

Well, there's a couple of other possibilities.

One is that the reporters involved spent five minutes with google. I did: the pretty gal up top is wearing a babushka, the lady below a hijab. Now, at one minute 35 or so of the youtube video below, the bus driver in question appears, and from the knot under the chin I'm betting heavy that she's wearing the former variety of headscarf.

The other explanation is that our hypothesized reporters viewed some version of the video in a less fevered state of race hate and paranoia than little Ezra, and noted that the headscarf, whatever type of headscarf it might be, seemed wrapped pretty close to the skull and did not really seem to be impeding the bus-driver's vision.
PS. Anyone know how to grab a frame from a youtube video and save as a .jpg.?

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very good post. Indeed paranoai.

Reality Bites said...

Things that actually have been banned by common sense:

The Western Standard.

JimBobby said...

Whooee! Getcher jpg from a youtube like this:

Play youtube video.
When it's at the correct frame, press the PrtScn key (Print Screen key) on yer keyboard.

Open photoshop or similar prog.

Ctrl+N, Enter(create new document)

Ctrl+V (Paste clipboard contents into new doc.)

Crop.

Save for web as jpg.

hth,
JB

Anonymous said...

The video CLEARLY shows her inner scarf obstructs her vision.Also,watch how she moves her head to see around her. This woman should not have been driving like that.If you cannot see this from your own link,I suggest that you have blinders on also.

Gayle said...

Well I for one hope that Ezra gets behind banning drivers from using cell phones while driving - though white people do that too so I highly doubt he will see the need...

Ti-Guy said...

The video CLEARLY shows her inner scarf obstructs her vision.

The video doesn't show the state of her head covering while she was driving, junior detective.

bigcitylib said...

Try throwing on a scarf and/or a hoody. Peripheral vision is entirely not effected.

bigcitylib said...

Wally, She seems to be gazing kind of blankly ahead of her as far as I can tell. You're making stuff up.

Anonymous said...

Junior detective here,I do not know what she was wearing at the time of the accident,but a reasonable person would conclude that she was dressed as she was in the cruiser. Unless she donned it afterwards,highly unlikely,esp.considering she was in a state of hysteria.BCL.are you kidding me about the hoodie not blocking your vision?Hoodies are favoured by the crackers in this city because they obstruct a clear view of a person's face. If you cannot see in,then you cannot see out either. As for staring blankly ahead,go back and watch the video again,she has to move her head moreso than someone with unobstructed vision would. Great video,but it disproves your point completely and will probably be used to convict her for driving without due care.Gayle,I am with you on the cellphone ban,all the way,get rid of them and I won't be honking at so many honkies.BTW,asians are most likely to use cellphones,oops.

bigcitylib said...

Wally,

I wasn't suggesting you pull the hoody down over your face.

And her head kind of follows the movements of the cop, but her eyes don't really seemed focused on him. You're wanking it two fisted.

Ti-Guy said...

BTW,asians are most likely to use cellphones,oops.

Ah, the usual unsubstantiated assertion.

We're breeding really dumb these days.

Gayle said...

ti and BCL - wally is over posting at Joanne's site that the facts I have supported my argument with are, well, nothing I guess, because he hates liberals so they must be wrong and Harper must be right.

Can't you see the logic?

Anonymous said...

Well, maybe it's a conservative thing. Apparently, Muslim are upset the Harper didn't send them greetings on their high holidays...hmmm.

Ti-Guy said...

ti and BCL - wally is over posting at Joanne's site that the facts I have supported my argument with are, well, nothing I guess, because he hates liberals so they must be wrong and Harper must be right.

Well, that's the usual wingnut obsession with divining truth through sheer force of will. Wally hates Liberals, therefore, the woman's head covering must have been obstructing her vision.

Conservatives truly are special.

Anonymous said...

I cannot believe that liberals on this site, can seriously look at that video and not think that maybe her peripheral vision was blocked. Yes I can believe it. They are liberals. Gayle, enlighten us as to how asking people to come to canada and leave their racism, gay bashing, and sexism behind is racist??

Ti-Guy said...

I cannot believe that liberals on this site, can seriously look at that video and not think that maybe her peripheral vision was blocked.

And yet, here we are. Maybe the disbelief will cause you such severe emotional turmoil that you'll be thrown into shocked silence?

...One can only hope.

Anonymous said...

Sigh,first off,my comment about asians being more likely to be using modern technology is true. It was written in response to an assinine comment about whitey using cellphones. But hey,crapping on white people is alright because it shows your tolerance and how you are so close to the minorities and love everyone,just like Jesus.Ti-guy,I do not hate libs,I just wish "progressive" people would not judge an issue by colour or religion like this issue has become.A child died,Ezra was right to question the woman's sight lines.The accident was on a clear road,the gravel truck was well off the road,flashers on, so we must ask why did it happen? Are we so politically correct that we will sacrifice our children to avoid the "appearance" of being intolerant? I won't.

Anonymous said...

Geez, anybody here hear of shoulder checks? Anybody hear of turning your head to check your side mirrors? Do rightwingers drive with rigid necks, staring straight ahead?

The police are still trying to figure out how it happened. Levant should keep his fat racist mouth shut.

bigcitylib said...

Wallyj,

You're saying Ezra did not judge this one by color and religion? He has, in essence,said Muslims are responsible for this kids death EVEN IF no Muslims were involved. Add 2+2, sonny.

Anonymous said...

Sorry,I made a slight error in my last post. It seems that is Gayle that is asserting that I am dumping on her facts at Joanne's site and not ti-guy who wrote that.My apologies. I don't know what Joanne's site is called but if it is not Dust my Broom or the Shotgun,then it is not me. BTW,so far on this site,I have been called a wanker,wingnut,dumb,my parents have been insulted,etc. It is great to be debating with such a tolerant crowd.

Ti-Guy said...

Stop crying...

Anonymous said...

ahhhh Liberals squealing like stuck piggies

Soooooooo eeeeeeeeee

Anonymous said...

You lefties are pigs.

A child is dead.

Why?

Any insertion of religion or politics is disgusting.

You do not accurately report what Levant said or implied. He may be racist, he may be a dog, but this column does not show that. If your lies inhibit a full enquiry, may you burn in hell.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry. I apologize for my outburst. Like most Conservatives, I have no real manners or impulse control.

Again, I'm sorry.

Anonymous said...

I don't know what's worse. The automatic "racist!", "pig!", "bigot!" cries of the the people on the left or the silly trolling by those on the right.
Ezra questioned her sight lines and the meat of his commentary was that reporters may be avoiding the whole question of the driver's sight-lines because the scarf she may have been wearing while driving was for religious reasons. BCL. It may be a babushka. That doesn't change the possiblity that her vision may have been obscured.
Oh, and all of the really nasty comments about Levant only prove his point. Bring it up and you're a racist. Or maybe you've just made a valid point and your liberal opponent has no rebuttal available.

Ti-Guy said...

Oh, and all of the really nasty comments about Levant only prove his point. Bring it up and you're a racist.

Obviously, you know nothing about Ezra Levant. He *is* a racist and a bigot. Has he ever speculated wildly on the use of cell-phones while driving?

It's within the realm of possibility that I might have speculated about head-covering impeding someone's vision, but Ezra's history informs the rest of us that, coming from him, this is just another campaign in his anti-Muslim jihad.

MgS said...

Writes "MistahTibbs":

Ezra questioned her sight lines and the meat of his commentary was that reporters may be avoiding the whole question of the driver's sight-lines because the scarf she may have been wearing while driving was for religious reasons.

Bull. Levant framed his entire argument in terms of a supposition that the driver was a muslim woman.

His sophistry about "obscured vision" is window dressing on his normally narrow-minded, borderline racist views of Islam.

If this were the first outburst on Levant's part, I'd be more inclined to agree with you. Sadly, the man has a long track record - and it isn't pretty.

Ben (The Tiger in Exile) said...

If you're using Vista, search for "Snipping Tool", which lets you 'snip' screenshots.

For XP, what JimBobby said.

***

Looking at the headscarf on the video... to me, it looks like it's just enough to block some peripheral vision, whether it's a babushka or a hijab or whatever else.

That said, I don't see how banning headscarves on drivers will do anything. People who are sensible enough to keep their vision clear will, people who aren't, won't. People in the latter group are extremely unlikely to keep up on the regulations closely enough that it will do anything. It'd be like banning sunglasses at night.

Tempest, teapot, story stirred up by senseless tragedy.

Anonymous said...

In Toronto I've seen women wearing the full burka driving school buses.

http://medianet.news.com.au/adv.research/nyt_burka_large.jpg

Who in their right mind would want to sit in a car driven by a woman wearing a burka, let alone have their children?

How can this be safe?

Anonymous said...

Who in their right mind would want to sit in a car driven by a woman wearing a burka, let alone have their children?

Probably safer than riding in a bus driven by your mother, who's likely hungover and over-tired from pulling train the night before.

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