What Science Says About Race and Genetics | Nicholas Wade

2014/05/12 Leave a comment

An excerpt from Nicholas Wade’s book, A Troublesome Inheritance, on the possible links between evolution, societies and genetics.

Racism and discrimination are wrong as a matter of principle, not of science. That said, it is hard to see anything in the new understanding of race that gives ammunition to racists. The reverse is the case. Exploration of the genome has shown that all humans, whatever their race, share the same set of genes. Each gene exists in a variety of alternative forms known as alleles, so one might suppose that races have distinguishing alleles, but even this is not the case. A few alleles have highly skewed distributions but these do not suffice to explain the difference between races. The difference between races seems to rest on the subtle matter of relative allele frequencies. The overwhelming verdict of the genome is to declare the basic unity of humankind.

….

Civilizations may rise and fall but evolution never ceases, which is why genetics may play some role alongside the mighty force of culture in shaping the nature of human societies. History and evolution are not separate processes, with human evolution grinding to a halt some decent interval before history begins. The more that we are able to peer into the human genome, the more it seems that the two processes are delicately intertwined.

A more reasoned and nuance approach that the “triple package” approach. Margaret Wente has a less nuanced summary of Wade’s arguments (What if race is more than a social construct?) but better to read this complete excerpt.

What Science Says About Race and Genetics | TIME.com.

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Women From China, Taiwan Pay $30,000 To Give Birth In Bay Area, Get U.S. Citizenship For Child « CBS San Francisco

2014/05/12 Leave a comment

No hard numbers (“growing numbers,” “dozens of agencies”) but interesting. Certainly parents are thinking ahead; whether the children eventually move to the US when the grow up will depend on the relative opportunities between China, Taiwan and the US:

Women From China, Taiwan Pay $30,000 To Give Birth In Bay Area, Get U.S. Citizenship For Child « CBS San Francisco.

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Guess who’s not coming to dinner: Why Canada’s influential Terroir talks needs to diversify – The Globe and Mail

2014/05/12 Leave a comment

A reminder that we have a way to go. Starts with awareness:

Of the 89 presenters named on Terroir’s 2104 program, I count just eight who might not check the box for “white” on a census. It’s worse if you look at the contingent of Canadian chefs. Of the 28 listed, by my count there are no blacks, no Arabs, no Filipinos, none of the Sri Lankans who staff at least a third of the kitchens in this city – the list could go on and on and on. That program has just three non-white Canadian chefs on it. Only two of them, Torontonian Scott Vivian (his mother is from India), and Duncan Ly, a Vietnamese-Canadian chef from Calgary, have been given speaking roles.

…

And so this isn’t about who’s coming. It’s about who’s not. It is not so hard to find top chefs and restaurateurs with stories and skills worth sharing and who also happen to not be white, especially not when you’re sourcing guests from around the world. It’s not hard at all if you look.

Guess who’s not coming to dinner: Why Canada’s influential Terroir talks needs to diversify – The Globe and Mail.

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Creux historique pour le PQ | Le Devoir

2014/05/12 Leave a comment

Pretty amazing polling results on the PQs fall. Will require much more serious internal PQ reflection than to date:

Les résultats détaillés montrent l’ampleur de la côte à remonter pour le PQ. Ainsi, chez les francophones, le parti est troisième (23 %) derrière la CAQ (33 %) et les libéraux (29 %). Même chose en ce qui a trait au vote des femmes (17 %).

Pire : le Parti québécois est désormais le quatrième choix des électeurs de moins de 45 ans. Québec solidaire recueille en effet plus d’appuis dans les échantillons basés sur l’âge des répondants. Il n’y a que les 55-64 ans qui sont plus réceptifs au message péquiste. « Une question s’impose clairement, dit Jean-Marc Léger : est-ce que le PQ a été le parti d’une génération ? »

La conjoncture — défaite récente, parti sans chef — explique une partie des résultats de ce sondage [quoique le Bloc québécois n’avait pas perdu de points dans le premier sondage suivant sa débandade électorale, en mai 2011]. Mais il y a plus, dit M. Léger. « C’est normal que le parti descende un peu, mais pas aussi rapidement. C’est comme si les gens sentaient que le parti a perdu son âme : on entend des militants et des députés renier la charte de la laïcité, renier l’ancienne chef, renier la démarche constitutionnelle… »

Autre résultat peu encourageant pour le Parti québécois : moins d’un tiers (32 %) des répondants du sondage aurait voté pour la souveraineté du Québec si un référendum avait eu lieu dans les derniers jours. « C’est faible, remarque M. Léger. On a souvent des appuis autour de 40 % en posant cette question. » Et même si le PQ faisait la promesse de ne pas tenir de référendum dans un premier mandat, il ne profiterait « d’aucun impact positif », indique M. Léger.

Creux historique pour le PQ | Le Devoir.

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When Culture Robs Girls of Role Models

2014/05/10 Leave a comment

Good commentary by Amira Elghawaby on the need, within Muslim communities,  to provide more role models and visibility for women in both institutions and in popular culture:

Just take a look at most North American Muslim conferences.  How many women are on stage? From Chicago to Toronto to Ottawa, the answer is, very few. This is not for a lack of successful women leaders in our communities. We have Canadian Muslim women who are doctors, scientists, academics, educators, lawyers, engineers, filmmakers, authors, journalists, activists, editors, entrepreneurs, etc. But for some reason, our community seems unwilling to showcase their talents. Just last year, after praising the success of the Reviving the Islamic Spirit conference which attracts over 20,000 people annually, the well-known American academic, author, and consultant, Dalia Mogahed, nevertheless lamented the dearth of female speakers. Mogahed is one of just over a handful of women who have ever spoken at this immense gathering, now in its 13th year.

What is behind this? Surely, young women and girls deserve to hear from women who are paving the way forward. And, certainly, women were not invisible in Islam’s earliest days as a pioneering faith that recognized gender rights and women’s agency. Why then are our communities today so reluctant in acknowledging and spotlighting female achievements?

There seems to be a disconnect, or, more specifically, confusion around the role of Muslim women in society. There is a deep and ingrained cultural fear about intermingling. That fear is so strong that it has essentially led to the erasure of the female presence from many community institutions.  Take the barriers that have popped up at mosques across North America over the past few decades, making many women feel unwelcome and apart, as chronicled in the 2005 Canadian film Me And the Mosque. While some Muslim women themselves have internalized concerns over intermingling, so much that they cling to the barriers, the fact is that these barriers have come to represent an unwillingness to model respectful interactions between the genders. This emerges out of misplaced concepts of modesty and piety and is perhaps the attitude that led a York University student to famously ask to be exempted from working with female peers.

When Culture Robs Girls of Role Models – New Canadian Media – NCM.

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More Thoughts on Multicultural Church: 3 Things to Consider About Multiculturalism

2014/05/10 Leave a comment

A Christian view of multiculturalism:

For example, a church in Brooklyn may be made up of 100 white-skinned people. On the surface, such a church looks rather homogenous. It is not until you learn that those 100 people are made up of people from the United States, South Africa, Germany, Spain, and a number of other countries that you realize diversity exists despite similar skin tones. The same example works with lots of different ethnicities and cultures.

A multicultural church is not simply about skin tone, but about the intentional, effective engagement of cultures. Racially diverse churches may be as culturally homogeneous as churches that lack racial diversity.

A multicultural church is not one that simply engages a variety of people from different parts of Asia. A multicultural church is one that not only engages with a variety of Asian peoples, but also a variety of Asian cultures.

More Thoughts on Multicultural Church: 3 Things to Consider About Multiculturalism | The Exchange | A Blog by Ed Stetzer.

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International: «L’image du Québec ternie par la Charte»

2014/05/10 Leave a comment

Not surprising that this came up in a meeting with Quebec’s representatives abroad:

Préparant cet énoncé politique avec ses hauts fonctionnaires, la nouvelle ministre des Relations internationales Christine St-Pierre avoue avoir été surprise que la «machine» ait insisté sur cette nécessité «d’améliorer» la perception du Québec à l’extérieur de nos frontières. Bien sûr, les casseroles de 2012 et même l’affaire Magnotta ont contribué à faire mauvaise impression, mais le dossier de la Charte des valeurs a bien davantage terni l’image du Québec, lui a-t-on expliqué. «Le corps diplomatique a eu une rencontre à ce sujet parce que l’image du Québec était ternie par la Charte», martèle Mme St-Pierre.

International: «L’image du Québec ternie par la Charte» | Denis Lessard | Politique québécoise.

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Tackle workplace depression, federal executives plead

2014/05/10 Leave a comment

Not too surprising, in the current context of continued Government distrust of public servants, high-profile attacks (e.g., SCC Chief Justice, Chief Electoral Officer etc.), reduced role for policy advice and cutbacks:

APEX’s most recent study of the health of the government’s 6,560 executives clearly showed the workplace was making some of them sick.

The study found the organizational commitment of executives was on decline – from 64 per cent to 52 per cent. About 32 per cent are disengaged, feeling disconnected from their work and unable to deal with the jobs’ demands.

The survey found that the government’s executives are more stressed than 75 per cent of Canadians. They feel they have little control over their work, receive little support from colleagues and supervisors and get scant recognition for their efforts. They complained about incivility in the workplace and harassing bosses. About one-quarter reported symptoms of burnout, ranging from emotional exhaustion to cynicism and a declining sense of accomplishment and usefulness.

Tackle workplace depression, federal executives plead.

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Jihad becoming ‘as Canadian as maple syrup’ says Calgary man who joined armed extremists in Syria

2014/05/09 Leave a comment

Cult-like and almost cartoonish. While dangerous, it also marks, like the BC couple that converted and were arrested (Surrey couple charged with terrorist plot against B.C.Legislature on Canada Day), the rise of the amateurs, as in the UK film, Four Lions:

A Canadian foreign fighter in Syria taunted the “evil, despotic and Zionist Harper government” on Wednesday, claiming it was losing the battle against extremism and that fighting jihad was becoming “as Canadian as maple syrup.”

In a blog post, Abu Dujana al-Muhajir, part of a small circle of Calgary youths who left for Syria to join armed extremist groups, said “so-called radical Islamists” were gaining in popularity and the number of Canadian jihadists was growing.

He denounced leading Canadian Muslims opposed to extremist violence, naming writer Irshad Manji and imams Muhammad Robert Heft and Syed Soharwardy, calling them “deviant” and saying they were outnumbered by militants.

“Know very well that for every single sellouts [sic] like Tarek Fatah or Mubin Shaikh, we are gaining hundreds of brave Damian Clairmont and Andre Poulin from amongst you who are willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of Allah,” he wrote.

We know from CSIS and the RCMP that the number of violent extremists is estimated to be around 130, with 30 active in Syria. Still cause to be concerned but certainly not “as Canadian as maple syrup.”

Jihad becoming ‘as Canadian as maple syrup’ says Calgary man who joined armed extremists in Syria | National Post.

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UK: Theresa May to seek support for plan to deprive terror suspects of citizenship

2014/05/09 Leave a comment

In light of the Canadian government’s proposed revocation for dual nationals convicted of terrorism or comparable crimes, will be interesting to see whether UK Home Secretary will be able to overcome House of Lords opposition to revocation even in cases of statelessness.

To be followed as the UK has, among Western countries, the most draconian and discretionary approach to revocation (the Canadian government proposals have been questioned by some witnesses on both substantive and process grounds at committee hearings, but this less arbitrary with some due process in contrast to UK):

A former director of public prosecutions, a former supreme court judge and 23 Liberal Democrats were among the 242 peers who supported Lord Pannick’s successful Lords amendment that would delay its implementation. The move was added to the immigration bill in January without any of the pre-legislative scrutiny that the remainder was subject to.

At the time of the Lords defeat, Pannick said: “There are regrettably all too many dictators around the world willing to use the creation of statelessness as a weapon. We should do nothing to suggest that it is acceptable.”

Theresa May to seek support for plan to deprive terror suspects of citizenship | Politics | The Guardian.

Strong commentary against the UK approach by Donald Campbell of Reprieve, a NGO that “delivers justice and saves lives, from death row to Guantanamo Bay.”

In medieval England, those who had been forced to “abjure the realm” and go into exile would be required to walk barefoot, carrying a wooden cross, to the nearest port.  There, they were to take passage on the first available ship; until they were able to do so, they had to wade, daily, into the sea, as testimony to their willingness to leave the country.

This specific provision is absent from the Home Secretary’s proposed expansion of her powers to arbitrarily deprive Britons of their citizenship – expected to be considered again by MPs this week.  But the echo of the medieval punishment of banishment in the modern measure of ‘citizenship-stripping’ is impossible to ignore. It has perhaps been best summed up by the Supreme Court of the United States, which has described the practice of making someone stateless by removing their citizenship as “a form of punishment more primitive than torture.”

Theresa May’s citizenship-stripping proposal is worse than medieval banishment

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