I will be spending this week in New York, in Manhattan, and I have already seen a few things that in the normal course of daily life in Toronto would be “strange”.
> I and Rhea were on our way to my friend’s house in a cab and, not surprisingly, the cab driver almost crashed into a cyclist! If you have been for a ride on a cab in New York, you know what I am talking about. It’s literally a roller coaster ride. Anyway, it was clearly the cab driver’s fault and the shouting match that ensued after the driver stepped out of the cab was bound to end up in someone getting beaten up. I stayed in the cab for a minute or so, with my daughter and asking her to look away as I was sure that, based on the anger of the cab driver and the cyclist, a fight was about to start. But a minute later, both the cyclist and the cab driver were shaking hands and giving each other hugs!!! Only In New York!!
> Went for a run along FDR to Brooklyn bridge and back. It was a super duper hot day but it as it was one of the few hot days in New York (so I was told), the running route was crowded with runners, cyclists and walkers. The funny thing I noticed was almost 7 out of 10 walkers who were dressed like they were out for a power walk, were smoking away!!! It was the strangest oxymoron I ever saw. Out for a healthy walk and smoking at the sametime. Only in New York!!
These fucking people holler and howl when Taliban /Iranians / Saudi Arabians force their populace to adhere to a dress code but then ho-hum when it comes to deciding what people should wear in their own communities.
Stupid and dumb.
Update : At least they had the brains to repeal the ban.
A gay and lesbian arts festival that was told it met all government criteria under a new tourism stimulus program learned today it was rejected for funding.
The news arrived at Montreal’s Divers-Cite a few weeks after tension swept the Conservative caucus over funding for Toronto’s Pride week, and just days before the beginning of their event.
“We met all the criteria – this is a democracy,” said Girard. “They changed the rules as they went along.
“I feel like I’ve been had.”
Clement’s office was not immediately available for comment Tuesday evening.
Clement took over the new tourism funding envelope late last month, after members of the Tory caucus complained that junior minister Diane Ablonczy had approved funding for Toronto’s Pride week festivities.
MP Brad Trost told a socially conservative news website that Ablonczy had been stripped of the portfolio. The government said the plan was to move the envelope to Clement all along.
…….my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be “subservient” to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.
This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths. Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women’s equal rights across the world for centuries.
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I understand, however, why many political leaders can be reluctant about stepping into this minefield. Religion, and tradition, are powerful and sensitive areas to challenge. But my fellow Elders and I, who come from many faiths and backgrounds, no longer need to worry about winning votes or avoiding controversy - and we are deeply committed to challenging injustice wherever we see it.
Personally I think he left religion for the wrong reasons but what the hell, more influential people on our side, the merrier!!
This is on one of India’s leading english newspapers and instead of educating the public, the editors are money hungry enough to plaster this nonsensical article on the front page. Or maybe the editors believe in this crap. I don’t know why this kind of thing really, really bugs me.
I have been getting into scraps with my wife about “religiosity” of Rhea, our daughter. So far, I have been passive about religious ideas that Rhea has been receiving from my family and friends in general. But I think it’s time (she is almost 6 now) I sit Rhea down and explain to her to use her mind and not bow down to indoctrination and superstition so prevalent in Hindu society.
