My brother-in-law made people feel safe. What greater gift?Tuesday July 16th, 2019
A curiosity of our culture is that the word “in-law” tends to trigger associations with people you’d rather not have in your life. Mothers-in-law come in for particular abuse, but the word “brother-in-law” also features in innumerable cartoons and jokes, with the common theme of brothers-in-law as the epitome of bumbling incompetence.
This always seemed a bit odd to me. My cherished brother-...
Let’s have some truth about the situation in GazaTuesday July 9th, 2019
In late June, the Globe and Mail published a front-page feature article by former Mideast bureau chief Mark MacKinnon concerning the depressed situation of Palestinians and Gazans under Israeli rule. It was extremely one-sided. Israel was portrayed as the source of all woes. The article was accompanied by seven photos illuminating Palestinians’ poor health conditions, lack of city infr...
Antifa needs to be called out for what it is — a movement of violent totalitarian thugsTuesday July 2nd, 2019
The “entartistes” of the 1990s were a group of Quebec-based mischief-makers who threw cream pies in the faces of political and corporate elites. Amongst their victims: Jacques Parizeau, Stéphane Dion, Jean Chrétien, and BMO head Matthew Barrett. Their motto was “You work for us. You can’t be too big for your britches or you’ll get a pie in the face...
When gender identity education and theory goes wrongTuesday June 25th, 2019
In his recent commentary in these pages on the risks associated with the teaching of gender theories to elementary schoolchildren, Jordan Peterson referenced a column I wrote in another publication. The column concerned a human rights complaint, filed by Pamela and Jason Buffone on behalf of their daughter, “N,” against the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board for discrimination...
How a television show might help to bring peace to the Middle EastThursday June 20th, 2019
For riveting entertainment, Israeli dramas rule. Several of them deal with the paradoxical realities of life in a flourishing, prosperous society where Jews, both secular and ultra-Orthodox, co-exist in (occasionally uneasy) peace with Israeli Arabs, but one that is shadowed by a siege mentality, with eyes and ears constantly alert to threats — or reports — of terrorism.Most Isra...
Kay: Transparently exploiting Jewish history and ritualsThursday June 20th, 2019
A recent CJN cover story mourned the passing of Jewish TV’s “Golden Age” (“The end of the Golden Age of Jewish TV,” May 30). I’ve watched three of the series singled out for special praise: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Girls and Transparent.
Mrs. Maisel’s tone is Jewishly sunny. It’s faithful to the buoyantly optimistic worldview of 1950s Jews who were in the process of “making it” in America, wh...
Why Quebec’s immigration and secularism bills get it rightTuesday June 18th, 2019
Quebec’s Bill 21 is finally law. Premier François Legault’s government invoked premature closure to end fierce debate over the weekend, and it passed 73-35, the Parti Québécois in support, the Liberals and Québec Solidaire opposed. The law enjoys overwhelming support amongst ethnic québécois, but almost none amongst minority groups, who r...
Ontario family files human rights complaint after six-year-old girl upset by gender theory in schoolMonday June 17th, 2019
The following story has its source in an application filed before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario by Jason and Pamela Buffone, on behalf of their daughter “N,” against the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board for discrimination on the basis of gender and gender identity in contravention of the Human Rights Code.
In January of 2018, in a Grade One class at Devonshire Community...
‘Genocide’ appropriation makes reconciliation harderTuesday June 11th, 2019
I won’t pretend to professional detachment in my reaction to the MMIWG report’s deployment of “genocide” to characterize disproportionate violent crimes suffered by Indigenous women. The word cut to the quick, and Justin Trudeau’s endorsement of its use — slightly delayed while he calculated the political cost of refusing — added salt to the wound.Ye...
The many faces of modern anti-SemitismTuesday June 4th, 2019
The other morning, I received an email from the president of my synagogue, an invitation for the membership to attend a town hall, where “a comprehensive discussion on safety and security” would be discussed.
It struck me when I read the email that my grandchildren have never known a time, as we did, when synagogue doors did not have guards. The town hall may reveal that additional...
Abortion should be about medical ethics, not Liberal politicsTuesday June 4th, 2019
U.S. vice-president Mike Pence made a trade-mission call on Canada in late May, fully inclined to emphasize the ties binding our countries. Justin Trudeau repaid his courtesy with criticism of new, restrictive state abortion laws, which are irrelevant both to U.S.-Canada trade and Pence’s federal status. Trudeau had much to lose if President Trump took this insult personally. Why did h...
In a world of sex dolls and robots, ethics are hard to pin downTuesday May 28th, 2019
The older I get—and I am already pretty old—the more I struggle to find the bright line that existed in my youth between written words that meant what they said and words that were meant to be read as parody or satire.
For example, I just read a tweet by a transwoman who asserted that women can have penises, and anyone who disagreed with that statement “can just suck my dick....
I read The Siege of Tel Aviv, the novel they don’t want you to readTuesday May 28th, 2019
Pretty soon you’ll need some good summer reads. Do you like techno/action thrillers? I recommend The Siege of Tel Aviv (hereafter Siege), by former journalist Hesh Kestin, a darkly humorous and reality-inspired “what-if” Middle East scenario.Plot teaser: Under cover of a bogus pan-Islamic peace initiative, Iran leads five Arab armies in a surprise attack on Israel. The enti...
Kay: The unmentioned hotbeds of anti-SemitismThursday May 23rd, 2019
One of my niche subjects is the epidemiology of dog bite-related injuries and deaths according to canine breed.
Epidemiology, which Wikipedia defines as “the study and analysis of the distribution and determinants of health and disease conditions in defined populations,” is a beautifully incorruptible science because it is entirely data-driven. I have learned from my sojourn down the rabbit hol...
Herman Wouk’s work didn’t just speak to me, it sangTuesday May 21st, 2019
Mathematicians’ creativity, I often hear, peaks before age 30, and that of historians before 40. Artists are luckier, some remaining creative into old age. Even so, American writer Herman Wouk, who died last week at 103, was uniquely blessed, having written his first book in 1947, and his last in 2015.
Paradoxically, his name will likely produce instant recognition only amongst my own ge...
Twitter bans prominent doctor for stating factsSunday May 19th, 2019
Twitter has been in our lives for 13 years. But its practice of suspending and banning upright citizens for no other reason than holding incorrect views only got underway about four years ago. Today, the practice is so frequent and widespread that I daresay anyone reading this can point to someone they know, or follow on Twitter, who has suffered punishment by Jack Dorsey in this way.
Most of ...
Germany takes a startling new pro-Israel lineTuesday May 14th, 2019
On May 11, 1949, the United Nations adopted the motion that admitted Israel as a member state. To mark its anniversary, Germany’s Foreign Office issued a startling statement: “The Federal Government would like to take this 70th anniversary as an opportunity to reiterate the fact that Germany stands at Israel’s side in the UN.”Berlin, the Foreign Office continued, was ...
My brother-in-law made people feel safe. What greater gift?
Tuesday July 16th, 2019
Selina Soule is fighting for justice for women in sports
Monday July 15th, 2019
Kay: Transparently exploiting Jewish history and rituals
Thursday June 20th, 2019
