Cartoon aftermath (Canada's Western Standard, 2 weeks later)

The Calgary Sun ^ | Mon, February 27, 2006 | Ezra Levant

[fanfan]

Canada Ping!

Please FReepmail me to get on or off this Canada ping list.

[fanfan]

I agree.

I'm glad he did it.

It really was the right thing to do.

[Fred Nerks]

"...and Amnesty International, actually came out against the freedom to publish the cartoons..."

Not surprising - the Secretary General of that organisation is a muslim woman:


Irene Khan - Biography

Irene Zubaida Khan joined Amnesty International as the organization’s seventh Secretary General in August 2001.

Taking the helm in Amnesty International as the first woman, the first Asian and the first Muslim to guide the world’s largest human rights organization,

http://web.amnesty.org/library/print/ENGORG100102002

[NRA2BFree]

They were lucky. I would still be careful everywhere I went. One of those militant koranimals offered a million dollars to anyone who killed those who published the cartoons. Our local paper only published two and they had rocks thrown through the paper's windows.

[Billthedrill]

Good for them. I am very concerned by how few newspapers capitulated to political correctness in this. If we can't count on them to defend freedom of speech, what can we trust them for?

[fanfan]

Yuck.

[fanfan]

Our local paper only published two and they had rocks thrown through the paper's windows.

Let me guess, no one was caught for that particular act of bravery.

[fanfan]

Not much.

I suspect they will continue to collect paycheques in any event.

:-(

[sam_paine]

By contrast, not a single hostile person presented himself to our office and not a single protest or demonstration was organized. Give credit where it is due --

Hey Ezra.....maybe this just means nobody reads the Western Standard, eh!?!??!

[davisfh]

"We sold several hundred new subscriptions,..."

Three of those new subscriptions are mine. I bought one for myself and two, anonymously, for institutions of Western Standard's choosing.

[fanfan]

Three of those new subscriptions are mine. I bought one for myself and two, anonymously, for institutions of Western Standard's choosing.

Wow, That's great!

History will thank you!

Meanwhile, take the thanks from me.

:-)

[Clive]

Chapters-Indigo which has almost a monopoly as a chain book seller ordinarily carries the Western Standard but not only did it not display this edition, it did not even have it for sale under the counter.

The reason was pusillanimity, not politics.

[fanfan]

It still surprises me.

Did chapters think they'd get firebombed, or something?

[Philistone]

My ex-wife was actually going to join Amnesty International (in France) until she went to her first meeting.

She was told (in no uncertain terms) that they were not there to "debate" or even "think" about different types of repression (her thing was the Muslim oppression of women) but simply to sign the petitions that the leadership put out.

She never went back.

[RightWingAtheist]

Here's what the president of (bull)PEN Canada had to say about the cartoons:

PEN Canada often defends speech with which many of us strongly disagree. If we did not, the principle of free speech would be meaningless. Healthy debate has been the way of our society, within the bounds of decency and the law. PEN Canada supports the right of a free press to publish these cartoons, but also believes that a wise consideration of the principle of voluntary restraint would have led to better decisions. Finally, we urge all Canadians as they enter into dialogue on this matter to support two great principles on which our democracy depends: the right to free speech and respect for the dignity and beliefs of others. Both must be upheld.

Someone fetch me an Air Canada barf bag...

[Fred Nerks]

Congratulations! Your wife is a treasure. Amnesty International has the same odour as the UN...IMO.

[Nicholas Conradin]

Chapters-Indigo which has almost a monopoly as a chain book seller ordinarily carries the Western Standard but not only did it not display this edition, it did not even have it for sale under the counter.

I wonder what their policy is regarding Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses." Is it displayed on the open shelves?

[Clive]

"I wonder what their policy is regarding Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses." Is it displayed on the open shelves?"

I have not looked for it in the shelves lately but it is in their web site in both hardcover and trade paperback format with an estimated shipping time of 24 hours.

Use search term "Satanic Verses"