The last mile of equal rights is the hardest – Saunders

2014/12/04 Leave a comment

Doug Saunders on the challenges of reaching the last holdouts on equal rights:

Likewise, after several decades of extremely difficult activist struggles and hard-fought public-opinion victories, getting 80 or 90 per cent of the population to embrace the concepts of racial and sexual equality, and to stop tolerating discrimination and abuse, happened surprisingly quickly and easily. A generation came of age who were nearly unanimous in those beliefs.

But that last 5 or 10 per cent pose a set of very different challenges: These are the hard cases that actively defy majority opinion.

Economists Laurence Chandy and Homi Kharas noted recently that poverty is such a problem: Half as many people are in absolute poverty as 30 years ago, but halving the last bit will be much tougher: those “persistent pockets of poverty” are in economies and cultures far more resistant to change.

Their advice for poverty should be ours for equal rights: The last bit won’t take care of itself. New movements, and new and tougher government initiatives, will be needed. It’s time for a final civil-rights movement. The last mile is always the hardest, but it’s also the most important.

I suspect, however, the idea that we will attain 100 percent eradication of poverty, or 100 percent eradication of racism and sexism, is unrealistic.

Not an excuse not to try, but just to be realistic in expectations.

The last mile of equal rights is the hardest – The Globe and Mail.

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Joining ISIS has left them bored, disillusioned and afraid, French jihadists write in letters to home

2014/12/04 1 Comment

Not surprising that the reality provokes reflection and regret for some (and the trivial but nevertheless importance of an iPod and the music it represents):

Le Figaro reported Islamist commanders had noticed some of the French were beginning to want to leave. One Frenchman was rumoured to have been beheaded when he explained to his commander he wanted to follow his friend who had already left.

“Everyone knows that, the longer these people stay there, the worse it will be because having watched or committed atrocities, they become ticking time bombs,” said one lawyer, quoted in the newspaper.

“But, when it comes to having a discussion about whether France is ready to accept repentants, no politician is willing to take the risk. Imagine if one of these ex-jihadists is involved subsequently in an attack?”

‘I’m fed up. My iPod doesn’t work any more here’

A group of lawyers in France is acting on behalf of the families of the jihadists to try to persuade the state to allow them to return. They told the newspaper they were trying to make contact with anti-terrorist police, the directors of internal security and the office of the interior minister,

Bernard Cazeneuve.The lawyers said nothing was agreed in advance on behalf of the jihadists — and the advice was always: “Present yourself at the French consulate in Istanbul or Erbil [in Iraq]. And then we will see.”

Joining ISIS has left them bored, disillusioned and afraid, French jihadists write in letters to home

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Reasons To Hope On Race – More residential mixing and marriage

2014/12/03 Leave a comment

PrintInteresting data and situating Ferguson in a broader context:

William H. Frey marks the slow, steady decline of segregation:

The average white resident, for example, lives in a far less diverse neighborhood—one that is more than three-quarters white—than residents of any other group. Nonetheless, the average white person today lives in a neighborhood that includes more minorities than was the case in 1980, when such neighborhoods were nearly 90 percent white. Moreover, the average member of each of the nation’s major minority groups lives in a neighborhood that is at least one-third white, and in the case of Asians, nearly one-half white.

He expects the continuation of these trends:

Population shifts that are bringing Hispanics and Asians to previously whiter New Sun Belt and Heartland regions will most certainly continue to alter the neighborhood experiences of these groups by bringing them into more contact with whites. The nation’s blacks are moving onto a path that more closely follows that of other racial minorities and immigrant groups as more blacks move to more suburban and integrated communities. The broader migration patterns are moving in the direction of greater neighborhood racial integration, even if segregation is far from being eliminated.

Reasons To Hope On Race « The Dish.

The following chart on mixed marriages (the equivalent Canadian figures include common law relationships, with the total being 4.6 percent):

Print

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Chris Alexander’s rocky journey from Kabul to cabinet | Toronto Star

2014/12/02 Leave a comment

A largely sympathetic portrait of Minister Alexander, balanced with supporters and critics (Konrad Yakabuski’s earlier portrait was sharper in tone Chris Alexander balances his portfolio and power):

But even the brightest and most independent minds must work within the party system in Parliament. “The best ministers are always independent of spirit,” says [ Former PM Joe] Clark. “That doesn’t mean they take on their party or their leader regularly in public debate. I think it’s a characteristic of really any strong minister I’ve encountered and I think Chris brings that capacity to the table.”

Alexander’s response to the question about whether his independent spirit chafes under the parliamentary and party system is deliberate. “We go into caucus, into cabinet, and not everyone agrees. And no one who has been part of a team expects their vision or their priorities to prevail. But this is a strong team because we do work together; we do support each other and we have moved a huge number of issues forward, especially in the area of immigration.

“I have to say there is nothing more satisfying than to be part of Canada’s democracy . . . I think this is the best government we’ve had in Canadian history. And I’m proud to be part of it.

”So does Alexander think he’s reached political superstardom?

“I will leave it to others . . . Voters get the chance to do that every four years.”

Listening to his more inclusive language at the recent Canadian Race Relations Foundation symposium was an interesting contrast to some of his more churlish language when defending government positions (e.g., refugee claimant healthcare coverage, Syrian refugees).

Chris Alexander’s rocky journey from Kabul to cabinet | Toronto Star.

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Pope says it is wrong to equate Islam with violence

2014/12/02 Leave a comment

Much more productive approach than his predecessor:

The Argentine pope, who has been trying to foster cooperation with moderate Islam in order to work for peace and protect Christians in the Middle East, said it was wrong for anyone to react to terrorism by being “enraged” against Islam.

“You just can’t say that, just as you can’t say that all Christians are fundamentalists. We have our share of them fundamentalists. All religions have these little groups,” he said.

“They Muslims say: ‘No, we are not this, the Koran is a book of peace, it is a prophetic book of peace.”

Francis said he had made the suggestion of a global condemnation of terrorism by Islamic leaders in talks on Friday with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

“I told the president that it would be beautiful if all Islamic leaders, whether they are political, religious or academic leaders, would speak out clearly and condemn this because this would help the majority of Muslim people,” he said.

Francis several times condemned Islamic States insurgents during his three-day trip. On the plane, he said some Christians had been forced to abandon everything: “They are driving us out of the Middle East.”

Pope says it is wrong to equate Islam with violence | Reuters.

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Cleese and Maher on Political Correctness

2014/12/02 Leave a comment

John Cleese and Bill Maher on political correctness (at the 2 min mark):

Money quote from Cleese:

Any kind of fundamentalism is terribly funny.

Of course it is. I particularly liked Cleese’s comment about the condescension involved in ruling certain groups as impermissible targets of humor. There’s this deeply patronizing idea that minorities are fragile, terribly vulnerable, unable to laugh at themselves, and incapable of the to-and-fro of democratic debate and conversation. One reason I find the latest upsurge in identity politics on the left so dispiriting (and boring) is the assumption that minorities of a few kinds are so vulnerable, so oppressed, so burdened by majoritarian prejudice that they have to go through life demanding safe zones from “micro-aggressions” and other terrible assaults on their delicate sensibilities. Members of a minority are reduced to quivering recipients of “hate”, rather than actual living, breathing, thinking people who can surely give as good as they get in public discourse. But it appears an entire generation has now been educated into this mindless, maudlin mush.

The Best Of The Dish This Weekend « The Dish.

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How an ethnic-sounding name may affect the job hunt

2014/12/01 2 Comments

More waves from the 2011 study by Oreopoulos (blind cv test showing how ethnic-sounding names screened out candidates):

It’s a dilemma with no easy solutions for job applicants, Dr. Oreopoulos said. “You could change your name, but your name is a significant part of your identity. I definitely wouldn’t recommend changing your name to get a higher chance of getting a job,” he said.

He suggested one tactic might be for a job seeker to put his or her name in a smaller type size or in a less visible location on the résumé, while playing up language skills and other necessary experience.

Another approach would be to take advantage of the trend toward video résumés, which can make it clear that you have the language and presentation skills to do the job, he added.

As for employers, he suggested that one way to reduce potential bias among hiring managers would be to specifically ask for résumés that mask the applicant’s name, similar to what is done for orchestra rehearsals in which the musicians play for the vetting committee behind a screen.

For example, in a job application the name and contact information could be on a separate sheet at the back of the résumé rather than on the cover page, he suggested.

Ultimately, “I think the onus is much more on employers to be aware of their potential bias and look beyond names, so they take advantage of the quality and experience of the best candidates,” Dr. Oreopoulos said.

“If our theory is correct, it’s in the employers interest. If it is subconscious, then employers are missing out on good candidates.”

And the comments from HR managers confirm the bias – only the last comment acknowledges the problem:

“Foreign sounding names may be overlooked due to a perception that their English language skills may be insufficient on the job.”

“When you’re calling someone with an English-sounding name, you know what you’re getting into. You know you can call Bob Smith and can talk to him as quickly as you want to …”

“I personally am guilty of gravitating toward Anglo names on résumés, and I believe that it’s a very human condition – [a result of]resistance to change.”

“… It’s difficult to imagine hiring someone with a long first name, as it might be impractical in terms of answering the phone and saying it. People with easy-to-use shorter names are easier to hire and work with.”

“I’m down to about seven seconds to vet a résumé … I do realize how unfair the whole process is.”

How an ethnic-sounding name may affect the job hunt – The Globe and Mail.

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Jonathan Kay: Jihad’s amateur hour

2014/12/01 Leave a comment

I think Jon Kay has it right:

In at least one case, the 9/11 masterminds apparently recruited, and then rejected, a jihadi because they lost confidence in his terrorist tradecraft: This was Zacarias Moussaoui, often referred to as “the 20th hijacker,” who reportedly met with KSM in Afghanistan in 2000. Examine Moussaoui’s methods, and you find that he was an infinitely more dangerous, methodical and sound-minded killer than Zehaf-Bibeau.

There’s the fact that lies at the heart of my optimism: Today’s most deadly domestic terrorists do not even rise to the level of yesterday’s al-Qaeda rejects. Just because we use the same broad term — terrorist — to cover both species of killer, doesn’t mean that the threat they pose is comparable within even several orders of magnitude.

AA Flight 11 hijacker-pilot Mohammed Atta stares out at the world from photos like a sort of robotic jihadi Terminator. He did not give fiery public speeches, or offer lurid manifestos, or seek social approval. All he wanted to do was kill and die. And it seems highly unlikely that the lone wolves who try to follow his example will — even taken collectively — ever inflict a significant fraction of the death and destruction meted out on September 11, 2001.

Jonathan Kay: Jihad’s amateur hour

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Ex-student of ultra-orthodox Jewish school system in Quebec wants compensation for poor education

2014/12/01 Leave a comment

Interesting, and not particularly surprising, when a fundamentalist philosophy prevails:

Yonanan Lowen can read and write in Aramaic, the 3,000-year-old language that likely served as the mother tongue of Jesus Christ.

But despite being raised and schooled for most of his life in the cloistered Hassidic Jewish community of Boisbriand, north of Montreal, the 37-year-old cannot read or write in French, stumbles through English texts and is confounded by the most basic tasks asked of grade-school students.

Lowen’s years of frustration have led him to denounce Quebec’s education ministry, a local school board, the province’s director of youth protection and his two former schools, with demands for $1.25 million in compensation by Dec. 15. Through their collective actions, or failures to act, he argues, he has been deprived of his right to an education under Quebec’s charter of rights and the province’s education law.

“I feel like a child of six years old, alone in the world, who doesn’t have parents, who doesn’t have somebody to take care of him. A child is helpless. He can do nothing by himself and this is how I feel,” Lowen said in an interview, adding he is prepared to launch legal action if necessary.

Despite all of Quebec’s existential debates about laïcité, Quebec provides funding to faith and community based private schools.

Ex-student of ultra-orthodox Jewish school system in Quebec wants compensation for poor education | Toronto Star.

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Leaving anti-Semitism and unemployment behind, French Jews make Montreal home | Haaretz

2014/12/01 Leave a comment

Interesting:

Although up-to-date data on French Jewish immigration does not exist, Monique Lapointe, director of Agence Ometz, Montreal’s primary Jewish social services and resettlement organization, told JTA she has noticed a significant increase in newcomers, especially over the past year. Inquiries, Lapointe said, have poured in through Ometz’s email system and Facebook page — including from French Jews currently living in Israel.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a huge number of [immigrants],” Lapointe said. “But it’s a trend. We’ll be anticipating more.”

Lapointe described the average immigrant as single, between the ages of 25 and 35, “very well educated and looking for a new kind of life.”

The wider Montreal Jewish community, Lapointe said, is now in the early stages of crafting a coordinated approach to handle the inflow. Thus far, it has been difficult to track newcomers, she added, partly because French Jews keep looser ties to Jewish community organizations than do their North American counterparts.

“In France, people don’t talk about Jewishness,” Lapointe said. “They’re not used to community organizations. Some will never come to see us. They don’t have this reflex.”

…The data, however, suggests that Quebec anti-Semitism is on the wane. Last year the province saw its number of reported anti-Semitic incidents fall to 250, a nearly 26 percent drop from 2012, according to B’nai Brith Canada, which tracks anti-Semitic activity across the country.

Leaving anti-Semitism and unemployment behind, French Jews make Montreal home – Jewish World Features Israel News | Haaretz.

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