{"id":200,"date":"2019-08-29T13:59:54","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T16:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/?p=200"},"modified":"2019-08-29T14:07:22","modified_gmt":"2019-08-29T17:07:22","slug":"a-senseless-saga-of-censorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/2019\/08\/29\/a-senseless-saga-of-censorship\/","title":{"rendered":"A senseless saga of censorship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Censorship<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When Bambi first read this article in the Global News, (https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/5809545\/tareq-hadhad-ppc-billboard\/<\/a>), she had the reflex to clean her *middle-aged* eye glasses, as she likes to call them ?. She honestly thought the article was by the CBC, not the Global news. You will see why in the following paragraphs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\narticle is entitled: \u2018Very hurtful to see,\u2019 Peace by Chocolate founder says\nof anti-immigration billboard in Halifax<\/em>\u201d. Note how this title omits the\nword \u201cmass\u201d. Do journalists or title writers think we are that stupid to be\nable to discern, whether we agree or disagree with the topic? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Hadhad has been here for 3\nyears only and he already speaks the language of the Canadian establishment\n(i.e., video from 2018: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=G4nJwLBllDM<\/a>\n), except that he is funnier, Bambi has to admit ?. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the article above, he even\nallows himself to get *triggered* like this new trend in our society (a real\nproduct of his Canadian or Western times); what an exemplary integration! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Ted Talk video above (from\nlast year), I find it surprising how an Arab businessman (entrepreneur) seems\nto insinuate that earning money is a bad thing… So why is he in business then\nif it is not to earn a living, to begin with? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, of course, for giving back\nto society and for being kind, just like people who have been kind to him and\nhis family. This is a BEAUTIFUL message. Full of humanity. Bravo also for being\ngrateful but no need to lose one\u2019s soul in the process\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Hadhad comes from a country\nthat is tragically torn between a dictatorial ruling party and extreme\nreligious freaks. He also comes from a country that SADLY has seen its\npopulation being massively displaced (over 1.5-2 million in the neighbouring\nLebanon).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Bambi\u2019s humble opinion, he\nshould know better about:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.     \nThe\ndanger of censorship in society (regardless of the message, whether we agree\nwith it or not). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.     \nThe\nchallenges of *mass* immigration in the world to both the migrants themselves\nand overwhelmed host countries like Sweden or Germany where many of his fellow citizens\nrelocated. Of course, and thank Goodness, Canada is not Germany; I agree with\nhim that we do not have mass immigration. We are a cold country, we have oceans\naround and\u2026 whether we like it or not, we are somehow protected (for lack of\nbetter words) by the United States; Except when our Prime Minister invites\npeople to illegally cross the border to our country (to distinguish himself\nfrom the vulgar Mr. Trump). We may not have mass migration (yet) but we are\nheading towards it, with 350K immigrants per year (instead of 150K or so) in\nthe next 4 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, not\nall our Syrian newcomers are as skilled\/resourceful as him (bravo again for his\nchocolaty success!). MANY families are and may remain dependent on the\nGovernment for a living for years to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.     \nGovernments\ncome and go (maybe not in Syria though)\u2026 but countries stay. My piece of free advice\nfor him as an older immigrant (who has voted for the Liberal party almost all\nher life) would be to remember that countries are meant to stay. For that, we\nneed smart policies, including a good immigration plan like what we had in the\npast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To conclude this post, coming\nback to the billboard question, Bambi wonders the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did this company remove its\nbillboards? Because a few people, including Mr. Hadhad, complained? Why is it\nthat spineless? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, who gets to decide what\nbillboards to keep and what to remove? Certain ads may make sense to some\npeople. Other billboards to other folks for different reasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can\u2019t we ignore those we dislike\nwhilst driving or walking? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a democratic country, all\npoliticians should be able to express themselves on any issue, especially when\nit is as important as immigration. This is the essence of a free society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is up to us the citizens to\ndecide for whom to vote\u2026or not. We are smart enough to do so. We do not need\ncensorship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought I left censorship behind\nwhen I immigrated to Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Bambi first read this article in the Global News, (https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/5809545\/tareq-hadhad-ppc-billboard\/), she had the reflex to clean her *middle-aged* eye glasses, as she likes to call them ?. She honestly thought the article was by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":203,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200\/revisions\/203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}