Let's Take ISIS Down -- Now!!

Recently, I wrote about those living among us who want to change things to suit themselves, as opposed to adapting to 'the Canadian way'. I suggested that perhaps we need to review our approach to something that's traditionally worked quite well but may now have developed some kinks...multiculturalism. So, this blog post is an offshoot of that because it asks the question: what happens when some of our own decide they don't like the way we do things; decide to leave the country for indoctrination and training in a different way of life; decide to re-enter Canada as Canadians (because they are) except with a new goal of radically changing our customs and laws?

Right now, there is a ceasefire in place between Israel and Hamas and we hope that this now takes the focus away from Gaza. We can hope, as well, that Israel remains at peace for an extended period and that Gazans will begin to build their own country. I'd have used the term "region" instead of naming two specific areas, but the Middle East is certainly not a region at peace. That said, now is the wrong time to take our eye off the ball...and the "ball" I'm referring to is ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria).

No one in our part of the world had heard of ISIS a year ago. Emerging from the chaos that was/is Syria and from the instability of Iraq plus surrounding failed states, we must now contend with a well-financed, highly organized, training-reliant, social media-savvy terror group and it isn't a great time to look away and disregard this new threat. Terrorists who instigate and create religious war in the name of their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam which, they suggest, motivates their quest for an all-Muslim world are a dime a dozen. We've met the Taliban, Hamas and Hezbollah, Al Quaeda, Al Shebab...and so many more. But now, we have become very concerned with ISIS. Why? Because they appear to like publicizing their actions (atrocities), all committed in the name of Allah. One can only assume it's because they can inspire fear by posting videos of their heinous acts on the internet for the rest of the world to see. 

Recent questions have arisen on public panels in which I've participated and elsewhere about whether Canada should consider becoming involved, in the event western nations collaboratively conclude that ISIS needs attention. Well, it does need attention and quite urgently. So, I have gone on record as being in favour of some of my tax dollars being used to kill the snake. I feel strongly enough to say that, if it were required, they could raise my taxes to do it! I believe we need to act now and you should too.

ISIS is a growing organization and it is made up of 'in-situ' Muslim fanatics PLUS tens of thousands of the disaffected and crazy from all over the world, Canadians included. They are trained to kill and to show no mercy in using techniques designed to shock and revolt normal human beings...I draw this distinction because it is my belief that our views of the world are completely at odds and are non-negotiable. We see equality and human rights as a basic concept and they do not. No god figure in the history of human religious practice has ever called for the eradication of every non-believer the world over and, by the way, that includes the God of Islam, Allah. To suggest otherwise is to misinterpret, twisting words in order to make them fit with one's own agenda.

These people are just plain out of their minds, however, they should never be dismissed. Rather, they need to be dispatched. I have never proposed violent behaviour as justifiable in dealing with any group or person anywhere. In this case, however, ISIS needs to be totally eradicated -- eliminated from the planet, never to be be heard from again. If we do nothing and just watch, this scourge will surely come to us.

Imagine if it were the late 1990's and the world had been sensitized and was fully aware of camps used for training willing terrorist warriors in Afghanistan under the control of Osama bin Laden. What would we be doing? Back then, governments knew...but everyday people were oblivious. Governments made half-hearted attempts to derail bin Laden but we paid little or no attention. We woke up on September 11, 2001. That was the day we got to know Al Quaeda. 

Let's remember the late 1990's example and apply what we know to today's situation. Al Quaeda was, by comparison, a group of fun-loving guys when measured against the perverse creatures now trying to set up a state or caliphate in what currently is the landmass known as Syria and Iraq. Both of these countries are unstable enough that, if left unchecked, it could actually happen. And ISIS is said to operate a number of serious training camps specifically designed to build bodies and minds, turning young believers into merciless killing machines to dispense their particular brand of jihad to men, women, and children not conforming to their lopsided view of what is right.

At least a hundred (and possibly more) Canadians are part of that group. There will come a time, not too far off, when they will attempt to begin their work here in Canada, the United States, the UK, and elsewhere. In fact, we have heard this week that a severe threat already exists in Britain as I write. ISIS will kidnap, will brutally murder, will destroy. Our complacency and silence now would be their enabler! We must be vigilant and we cannot stand idly by. The way to put a halt to their future plan is to seek them out where they are and to put an end what they do.

Extraordinary situations demand extraordinary action. This is not a group that limits itself in any way. There are no defined territorial lines, no specific religious targets, no one government in their focus...they want to create a caliphate/state in a defined geographic area and, at the same time, they believe in the supremacy of Islam and show complete intolerance towards anything or anyone else. Even within the Muslim world, they draw lines of distinction. The fact is that if you do not conform to their ways and are not of their background, you are not considered worthy of life and a brutal death is your eventual fate. Since ISIS views its mission as changing the world, I suggest it would be in the world's best interests to deal with that threat with appropriate haste. In a battle to the death, the choice is clear -- it's your opponent or you.

Peter
   

No Country for Old Values - Multiculturalism Revisited

Multiculturalism, as we practice it in Canada, has been in the news lately. Events involving various parts of the Middle East have been the driving force. I’ve been revisiting what I once believed about how the diverse pieces of our Canadian puzzle fit together and I am questioning our laisser-faire approach. So, for me, our multiculturalism is now in a state of flux.

You should see a remarkably informative and horrifying film called "Honour Diaries". It is the work of a woman named Raheel Raza, a Muslim Canadian lecturer and author of some note. She and eight other brave and brilliant women are the mainstays behind this feature-length documentary and, on camera, they expose the so-called 'cultural' issues confronting women within (primarily) the Islamic world. I use the single quote marks around the word cultural because, while the issues discussed do fit that description technically, they are examples of intolerable inhumanity forced on unwilling girls and women. I describe these remarkable women as brave because speaking out against female subservience, female circumcision, or undesired marriages is, for all intents and purposes, heresy…in some countries, death would be the end result for simply questioning practices that tie in directly with so-called family honour and are simply accepted there. Here in Canada, we reject them and we applaud the bold, public stance of these female heroes…what else can we do?

That question has an answer. We deplore these practices but we don't interfere. Indeed, we can do little about what customs are observed by others living thousands of miles away. But we must certainly speak out forcefully against human rights abuses on Canadian soil and we can find ways to stop such abuses here - and they do occur here! We have seen honour killings in Ontario and in  other parts of Canada…and we're appalled, but we aren't discussing the Canadian multicultural invitation we extend that tacitly allows these practices to continue in Canada.

I see a conflict between the acceptance of multiculturalism (which is a positive work in progress) and the absolutely nonsensical pretzel-twisting we seem to engage in because of the religious dictates of certain newcomers. This is not healthy multiculturalism. It's about immigrants with values counter to Canadian ones who want broad accommodation - even changes to common law, if possible. It is not discriminatory to say "here is how things work in Canada - if you have special needs, address them privately in your community...but respect our laws".

Meanwhile, the activities in question do occur behind closed doors in Canada. We tend to take the 'live and let live' approach, culturally. Sounds fair on a superficial level but it’s not – because that attitude doesn't address suffering, humiliation, and subjugation here at home and around the world. Because  something is a cultural tradition dating back centuries does not make it right. Female circumcision, for example, is not excusable under any circumstances which is why the non-participating world correctly calls it Female Genital Mutilation. 

Women in Canada and women everywhere must have a full and equal entitlement to dignity, self-determination, and to basic human rights. Women are not trying to be men…but women are fully equal under our laws and in the view of all thinking people the world over.

I tire of the convenience we afford groups practicing tribal rituals when, cast in another reality, such rituals would justify imprisonment. And so it is in this context that I question what Canadian multiculturalism really means today. Are  we to welcome anyone to our country and either tacitly or overtly acknowledge  certain practices of their religions or customs even when they challenge our Canadian beliefs and laws? I don't think so. When we began to discuss multiculturalism 50 years ago, I believed, along with most people, that we’d benefit from the contribution of newcomers who would offer the best of their backgrounds to our bright and multi-faceted mosaic. Generally, that has been the positive result.

Multiculturalism was, for me, never about restricting or changing existing broad common practice to suit newcomers. I've never thought of multiculturalism as having been designed to change mainstream Canadian life based on one group attempting to impose its' ways on others. In fact, my own immigrant background and how it meshed with Canadian reality has informed this view. I am from a generation when kids attended public and high schools under a Protestant school board. In the late 50s and early 60s, after saluting the Union Jack and singing God Save the Queen each morning, we recited The Lord's Prayer and sang hymns I can still remember...Onward Christian Soldiers, Jesus Loves Me, and others. Somehow, no one complained and our parents didn't object...they thought it was appropriate if this was, indeed, Canadian custom. I grew up to be a reasonably well educated non-Christian with a good grasp of Christian culture and, while no longer practiced, it probably helped reduce the divide.

I have been reading about efforts in France, Britain, the Netherlands to put the brakes on tolerance. That is sad because tolerance goes a long way towards correcting much of what is wrong around the world. Perhaps it's a slingshot effect following a lengthy period of allowing new immigrants to rewrite the rules instead of asking that they follow those already existent. I'd prefer we not go that route in Canada.

Here, all people of all religions, colors, social backgrounds, and sexual orientations are equal in fact and in law. No person may rule or dominate  another. If your culture forces young girls to accept a chosen (by you) husband, Canada may not be for you. If you force your wife or daughter to cover herself, Canada may not be for you. If you think that sex is entirely for procreation and that the choices of where, when, and under what circumstances are not a choice and right of the female partner, Canada may not be for you.

I support multiculturalism. I don’t support forced physical mutilation; forced marriage; forced servitude…or forced ANYTHING. My country is Canada and Canada has successfully built multiculturalism into its fabric. But it has also put human rights first and I believe human rights always supersede everything else.

If you are here in Canada now and not free to live as you wish, reach out to a support group, a law enforcement officer, a shelter, a trusted friend, anyone…and seek help. And if you are an abuser, I invite you to leave our land…this is not your home because you don't accept Canadian values, and you are no countryman of mine. 

Peter

Neo-Tribalism, Jews, & our Future

Have you ever considered that the ‘civilized’ ways of the West are just camouflage for the ingrained tribalism of mankind? Animals are tribal…so, why not humans? Well,we are! But now, in our intricately and elegantly connected world, we may want to call it “neo-tribalism”. Whatever the descriptor, 'A hates B because A thinks he is superior' has been around for all of recorded history...and still is.

Before you conclude this post is about the Middle East, it is only in part. Tribalism is alive and well pretty much everywhere among most religions and backgrounds. We humans strongly relate to our tribal roots and are sometimes accepting or tolerant of others…but not always. The patriotism we demonstrate for our now richly diverse countries masks the primal part of our humanity, our tribes.

Recently, I had a ‘eureka moment’…a crystal clear vision when it struck me that, while incredibly complex to unravel, the Middle East is actually quite simple. It’s entirely about tribes. Here’s the dictionary definition of tribalism:

“loyalty to a tribe or other social group especially when combined with strong negative feelings for people outside the group”.

Do you recognize any personal tendencies? This is precisely the same driver that, through millennia, has seen one group set upon another group, disparage it, and often engage it physically. There is likely no single more identifiable target these days than the Jews. After all, Judaism was the first monotheistic religion and has been around for a very long time. The current conundrum facing us is that our western nation-state mentality demands we intellectualize differences we prefer to think come from the distant past, are quite rudimentary, and that draw on our basest instincts whenever conflict rears its head…as it invariably does. Intellectualizing tribalism is almost oxymoronic.    

There is nothing new, for example, about the ‘flavor’ of the tribalism that sets Muslim Arabs against Jews in Gaza (Hamas). It's not really any different than the tribalism that separates Shia and Sunni Muslims, or that causes ISIS to crucify or behead Christians.

Writing on American political tribalism, former US Secretary of Labor (under Clinton) Robert Reich said this about tribalism generally…

Separatist movements have broken out all over — Czechs separating from Slovaks; Kurds wanting to separate from Iraq, Syria, and Turkey; even the Scots seeking separation from England.

Reich points out that modern nation states are only a few hundred years old and that prior to their creation, tribalism was an open matter of fact rather than a conveniently deniable one.

Nations are becoming less relevant in a world where everyone and everything is interconnected. The connections that matter most are again becoming more personal. Religious beliefs and affiliations, the nuances of one’s own language and culture, the daily realities of class…are providing people with ever greater senses of identity.

If you take issue with that last paragraph, just check out Facebook or Twitter. These and other social media provide incentive and empowerment to stick with your tribe and allow you to breach borders as communication so easily does. 

Why are Israel and the Jewish people so internationally pivotal that we hear more reporting on some ceasefire that's actually holding in Gaza than we do about tens of thousands being massacred and butchered in Syria and Iraq?

My conclusion is that modern Israel is the ultimate Jewish symbol of success. It happens to be situated like an island in the middle of an ocean of failure in a region known contemporarily as the Middle East but which was the starting point for modern man. The Jews have sustained more annihilation attempts against them than any other group/tribe in history...no surprise because that’s what happens when you stick around for thousands of years. Add to that the fact that Jews have a vastly disproportionate profile in the world compared with any other group. Jews are a Caucasian sub-group numbering a scant 15-million total in a world population of some 8-billion people – Jews are statistically irrelevant - but that’s why statistics never reveal the complete truth. 

Jews are at once feared and envied. The fear comes from other ‘tribes’, none more prolific or savage than fundamentalist Islam. Islam is burdened by the dichotomy of the Qu’uran where it dually suggests that Jews are to be considered as brothers, though indeed they are AND that Muslims must eradicate all Jews from the earth. Why is there this fear factor? Well, what if the opposing belief system suggests that Jews got something right because their God has never failed them? That idea is also within the purview of non-Islamic Jew haters and has been seen the world over for centuries.

This type of undercurrent is palpable among people of many religions who are so inculcated with their own tribal belief structure that they worry about a non-existent Jewish mysticism to be feared or eliminated or both...but no such thing exists! And in 2014, with all of our education and communication, it doesn't matter. Jews have excelled in the arts and the empirical sciences…medicine, physics, chemistry, music, literature, banking, business, and education are all obvious fields where Jews remain prominent. Is that to be applauded or mistrusted?

Are there reasons to revile every Jew? Through the ages we have borne witness to the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust, Russian pogroms, Jewish blame for Jesus’ Death, Christian ire for rejection of Jesus as Messiah, the Crusades…and so much more. Why? Is the rift any different than what separated Hutu and Tutsi tribes in Rwanda to a point that called for mass extermination of one side by the other? What was the basis for ethnic purification in Kosovo or, even now, in Sudan? Historically, tribes of North American aboriginals warred incessantly as did tribes in the wilds of Australia and New Zealand…and still it is thus across Africa. Mistrust, division over differences, need for superiority are all manifestations of tribalism and evident in all of these conflicts. Some have just lasted for a very long time.

This is not the diversity of humanity we discuss intellectually over Chardonnay and claim to cherish in the West when we seek to resolve world conflict. It is facile to send an envoy from a neutral organization or from another country to “broker” peace amongst long warring tribes who really want only to eliminate an ancient foe. Tribal alienation was and remains the driving force for mass violence on a world scale owing to irrational, ancient fears and the ultimate need for threat elimination.

When does this end? Let's ask the Irish! Catholic and Protestant  Christians killed and maimed each other for centuries until people of good faith concluded that they had more similarities than differences. And they grew tired of watching their loved ones and countrymen die for no discernible reason. When people decide that raising a family securely, educating young people, attracting industry and working in it for family sustenance are basic to making the best of the 80 (or so) years we get, tribal differences might be set aside. I fear that, in some places on this planet, most people living in 2014 (even infants) will never see that peace and security in a world where all human beings should legitimately expect it.

Peter

Islam and Gaza: Negatives with a Positive Opportunity

As I write this, people in Toronto are preparing for what is being billed as an 8000-person rally outside the Israeli Consulate. It's a protest against Israeli actions in the Gaza conflict which continues even now. Well frankly, I'm damn tired of incredibly stupid people who seek to wrongly assign blame for what has happened to anyone BUT the actual perpetrators...Hamas. Bottom line...if you think there's any blame to be assigned to Israel, go and find another whipping boy. Israel, Jews and so many others worldwide have had entirely enough of that warped thinking. The conflict is not a run-of-the-mill war. It is about hatred and denial. Hamas hates Israel and all Jews and is committed to the destruction of every last Jew on earth. It's driven by a misguided belief that land never owned nor worked nor developed by Arab or Muslim residents of the area is somehow Palestinian. Then, there is the fundamental loathing of Jews, no matter where. It is all  connected to the dark side of Islam and shared by the likes of Hezbollah, Hamas, ISIS and other Islamic terrorist groups.

Yesterday, I received a link to a video that shows an actual beheading somewhere in Syria. The man whose life was taken was a Christian, forced to convert on the spot to Islam. His knife-wielding captors told him he wouldn't be shot because he was now a Muslim...and then hacked off his head from front to back as he struggled and died in agony. That was about the same time I heard a newscast saying that a couple of dozen rockets had been fired from Gaza as soon as the ceasefire ended. Today, it was death by crucifixion and stoning (for adultery) in Syria and Iraq. I thought...what kind of perverse religion does these things in God's name? Meanwhile, so many simply avoid the truth. My Muslim friends and acquaintances see the world just as I do...but they and many others recoil in stunned silence. Who will bring these animals to heel? It's certainly not the secular world or people of other beliefs. So, I'm sick of hearing that Islam is a wonderful, peaceful religion and that it's just a few bad apples ruining things for everybody else because it just isn't so! If you say nothing, you condone inconceivable actions and behavior by your silence. Videos have emerged from Gaza showing mass executions of "collaborators" - these are people who spoke out against purposely placing innocents in harm's way. From Iraq and Syria, we see photos of heads in boxes and mounted atop stakes...so-called non-believers. ISIS has ordered all women and girls to undergo female circumcision or, as we in the civilized world call it, female genital mutilation. What more do you have to hear before you say to yourself "these people are insane"? And who is marching to the Consulate of Israel in Toronto to protest precisely what??

Every religion has zealots. None that I know of murder non-adherents or spew venom  about non-believers. There is, quite simply, no religious group like this anywhere. Radical Islam is unique in the world. And 'radical' or not, it is unique to Islam. So,  to Muslim readers and friends I say "stand up and speak out!" There is an expression..."if you're not with me, you're against me". The reciprocal is "if you're not against me, you're with me". That means people of good faith in the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds alike must step up and publicly challenge what these lunatics are doing in the name of Allah and tell them that co-existence is the only workable way.  

Look at the fallout from the current situation in Gaza. Death, maiming, and massive dislocation of families and children. And let's be crystal clear -- the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza is entirely the work of an insane and genocidal terrorist group called Hamas, no other entity...and it is born of the incomprehensible hatred described above. These hostilities are not between Israelis and Palestinians. They were initiated by Hamas terrorists and demanded retaliation by Israel. This is not debatable and has been widely verified by impartial journalists and observers. 

There is other fallout beyond the region, some unpleasant and some quite welcome. The negative side is the increase in overt anti-Semitism the world over including demonstrably anti-Semitic acts like the destruction of stores in the Jewish quarter of Paris and cries of “gas the Jews” and “Hitler was right” at rallies in support of Hamas in different cities. But, as noted, there is also good news from this chaos and it is that more people everywhere have finally heard the message from Gaza loud and clear -- the one that points directly to those truly guilty of murdering defenceless children.

Have you listened as Hamas' apologists accuse Israel of using disproportionate force? Are Jews (of all people) actually guilty of genocide? If the objective were actually to destroy Gaza's people, Israel could have done that in moments. The unwitting and subjugated people of Gaza are pawns, abused as “camouflage” to shield rocket launchers which must necessarily be targets. In other words, their leadership expects them to die as 'martyrs'  for the cameras. Israel, takes on a self-imposed duty to advise them they’re in harm’s way. The good news (if there can be any in such a perverse operation) is that the world now knows it! 

Hamas is a cowardly organization with disdain for its own people. None of its  neighbours has been even mildly interested in assisting or supporting this pariah's efforts against Israel - but still, they haven't spoken out. The people of Gaza (quite distinct from Hamas!) have a clear choice. Leave Hamas in place and risk the  engagement continuing at their peril or remove Hamas and set about building a homeland. There’s help available, especially from Israel, which has had more than a little success at nation building. People of Islam the world over need to be shouting from the rooftops that there are indeed 1.5-billion co-religionists who do want peace in a world of complementary races and religions...it's the only way to force an end to this and so many other conflicts.

Let there be no more death, no more innocent children maimed in an invented battle designed for worldwide television consumption. There exists a ray of hope...it resides in the belief by many that Hamas is indeed the guilty party. This needs to be leveraged to create a groundswell of public pressure underscoring the truth that a future of conflict is a tragic waste of human life…this groundswell must be carried to the long-suffering people of Gaza who, with clarity, can decide that it’s time for Hamas' reign to end and for Hamas to be relegated to the trash heap of history on which it so rightfully belongs.

Peter

Everyone is Entitled to an Opinion - Even When it's Crap!!

I read an article in the July issue of Playboy written by the unlikeliest of people, comedian Gilbert Gottfried. It's entitled 'The Apology Epidemic'. He was talking, to stretch a point slightly, about the issue of social media affording everyone a form of equivalency that's really not justified. His best example, though he uses several, is his much heralded dismissal as voice of the AFLAC duck following several highly offensive jokes he made, and the corresponding reaction to them, on Twitter following the Japanese tsunami.

The point he was making and that I'm picking up on here is that Gilbert Gottfried has made a good living for several decades being a tasteless comedian. You can choose to laugh (as I often have) or you can be embarrassed (as I also have) that anyone would have the nerve to use the suffering of others as grist for the comedy mill. 

What has Gottfried got to do with opinion and social media? Well, I have no problem with everyone having an opinion. I don't even have a problem with many or even most people believing they are as smart as anybody else (even though they're not!). But I have a huge problem with a 140 character medium affording any goof with 3 'followers' the ability to publish outrageous statements about anything and/or anybody with little, if any, concern about potential recourse - because there is none. Social media is a somewhat dark and Dickensian place...simultaneously "the best of times" and "the worst of times".

If not for social media, for example, how would anyone be directed to the very words you're reading now? So, taking as a 'given' the fact that these words are worthwhile and of interest, this would be the best of times. However, movie or music  stars (for example) with nothing but their public platforms and no informed background whatever to support their claims can equally easily post or promulgate screed on Facebook or Twitter. That tells me it's also the worst of times. Selena Gomez, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem...take note.

Do you remember the old saying "if you're so smart, how come you ain't rich?" -- well, by today's standards of media freedom, one might well ask "if you're so rich, how come you ain't smart?" Needless to say, one does not necessarily go hand in hand with the other, no matter which version you elect to adopt!

When world events dominate the news cycle (as has been the case this summer), I tend to read voraciously...almost anything I can put my hands on, I'll devour. That is how I inform myself of what all sides are saying. I read not only trained journalistic reporting but also opinion pieces by remarkable columnists or experts but also by nobodies. So, I can look at The New York Times, The (London) Daily Telegraph; The Jerusalem Post; SKY News; CNN and Fox; NBC; Rabble, The Toronto Star; The Daily Forward; Pravda...really, I'll digest any posting with a catchy title that piques my interest. Is every publication or post reporting fact? Actually, very few are letting fact get in the way. Many report fact as spun by their reporters and editors. Others report opinion as fact. Others take fact and create opinion. The reader's part in all of this is to digest, to weigh, and to conclude what is to be believed and what is not.

When the Malaysian flight was shot down over Ukraine, the pains taken to distort and hide the facts very quickly revealed that this was a Russian action...by surrogates perhaps...but Russian nonetheless. When the military engagement began in Gaza, it became clear that this was a Hamas-initiated move and not an Israeli, Palestinian, or Gazan one (see...four corners to this one, not two). The Oscar Pistorius trial has been featured across the summer months and is about to conclude...do you believe he is innocent and that his story holds up or do you think he's one of the world's greatest actors ever? Depends on what/who you read and that now includes anyone's tweeted opinion about everything.

By now you should have discerned that you are reading a substantial opinion piece coming from me on the subject of others' opinions. So, why am I necessarily correct and why are many others necessarily wrong? I haven't an answer because I am not the arbiter of all that's good and holy. Maybe it is I who puts the garbage out and everyone else who gets it right on any issue. I, however, don't think so...and maybe that's why you're still reading at this point.

Several weeks ago, I met a young man in person who, in very short order after being introduced, made no bones in announcing that he had opinions on most things, as was his privilege. I told him he also had, as part of that privilege, the right to be wrong. That was met with a series of personal shots at me in which he questioned my qualifications over his on virtually any subject. My inside voice wanted to say "well, you are indeed entitled to your opinion but you speak as a middle-aged man who drives a car your daddy bought you, who doesn't really have a job...much less a pot to piss in, who doesn't read anything but feels entitled to think anything but base it on nothing". That was my inner voice! My outer voice chose to keep silent, lest I "make a scene", as my wife might say.

So back to Gilbert Gottfried and his Playboy article. The reason he called it 'The Apology Epidemic' is because he contends that the "one-to-many" social media pervasiveness in which we now find ourselves has led us to anyone putting pretty much anything out there and then, often receiving a barrage of "I am offended" responses. Why? Because, regardless of what anyone says, someone else will always take offense to it. The standard response to that, when pressured, is to produce an apology reading something like this:

     "I wish to apologize to anyone who has taken offense to my remarks about
      (insert subject here). In saying what I did, I was simply offering my view. I        
      did so with no intention of impugning yours. Again, I am sorry for any pain  
      or discomfort I may have inadvertently caused."

Was that actually a real apology? No, it was a nod to people who were sitting there, reading your words, and cursing you because they didn't like what you said. But we all want to be loved and we 'apologize'. Your opinion hasn't changed. 

What's the bottom line? If you have an opinion, relate it to a series of facts you can invoke to back it up. If you do that and put your opinion out there, never justify it by just saying that merely having an opinion is your right. And finally, don't apologize for your opinion unless you have actually caused injury because you were unaware of certain factual information you should have known before you posted.   

Final thought...I enjoy self-limited use of Twitter. Some people I know, meanwhile, appear to have given up life as they knew it in order to free up extra  time for posting 140 character crap. Maybe it's now appropriate to do a reset on responsible use of a precious resource. In closing, let me say that I want to apologize to anyone who has taken offense to my remarks.....

Peter