A Tribute to Telnaes

    [Before I move back to the past, where I belong and where we all now wish to be, excuse me again for writing about the present and the THING many of us wish to avoid. But, as newspapers cease publishing and good journalists disappear to subterranean places like Substack, it is worth taking some time to tell you about Telnaes who now resides there.]

Democracy Dies in Darkness and Irony

   The Washington Post just won a couple of Pulitzers. Credit for one of them should go to Ann Telnaes who is no longer with The Post. She also won a Pulitzer in 2001 for editorial cartooning and this one is for "Illustrated Reporting and Commentary." The Pulitzer people say it was "For delivering piercing commentary on powerful people and institutions with deftness, creativity – and a fearlessness that led to her departure from the news organization after 17 years."
   While The Post still gets the credit for the Pulitzer which is based on her work, it should be noted that she felt it necessary to leave that paper after another of her editorial cartoons was 'spiked.' It "showed a group of media executives bowing before then President-elect Donald Trump while offering him bags of money, including Post owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos." She has indicated that it was not published because of what it portrayed. Her editor, David Shipley, said that it was not published because it was somewhat redundant, in that there had already been too many illustrating similar themes. Redundancy in Washington is hard to avoid these days.
   Mr. Shipley himself later resigned after Mr. Bezos indicated that subjects in the "Opinion Section" needed to be restricted in favour of those emphasizing free markets and personal liberties.
   Ruth Marcus left after "she said the newspaper’s management decided not to run her commentary critical of Bezos’ policy." Others left after Mr. Bezos would not allow the Post  to endorse Kamala Harris. Perhaps the Post's slogan, "Democracy Dies in Darkness" needs to be re-evaluated by the marketing folks at that publication. 
   I have kept my subscription because the Washington Post still produces good pieces and writers like Ron Charles need to be supported.
 
   So do the people who have left. The work of Ann Telnaes, along with an archive of her cartoons is found at "Open Windows"(https://anntelnaes.com/") which offers  "A view into an uncertain time of isolation and frustrations, but also one of the resiliency of the human spirit."
   Among the writings on her Substack one finds an article which illustrates that cartoons are important and that one can be even more severely punished for publishing them. Remember Charlie Hebdo? She published a story about that atrocity in the Washington Post and she deserves the credit for it, not the Post. Here is a portion from, "Charlie Hebdo, One Year Later," Jan. 7, 2016:

  "One year ago today two masked gunman entered the Paris offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and gunned down twelve people, including five cartoonists. The murderers claimed they were avenging the prophet Muhammed and by the end of two days of terror, five more people were dead.
   In the days immediately after the attack I did hold on to one hope. Surely now that people had been brutally murdered the world would finally and unequivocally support the universal right to freedom of expression, including cartoonists. But it didn’t happen. Support and solidarity quickly turned to questioning the motives of the attacked cartoonists....
   So attacks continued on cartoonists and bloggers who dare to criticize governments, challenge institutions and traditional thinking. It seems like the quantified support for Charlie Hebdo has only allowed for repressive governments and humorless dictators to establish their own list of offensive images, mainly any criticism which ridicules them and threatens their power....
   The only protection these brave cartoonists have is for the world to speak loudly for their right to freely express themselves....
   Banning offensive images either officially or through intimidation will only end up allowing intolerant individuals and institutions to change drawing a red line for cartoonists into drawing an enclosure for them."

   That the cartoonists were criticized more than the killers was surprising as I noted in this post: The Delicate Subject of Cartoons.

Sources: 
  The Post can be given a little credit for reporting this story about a journalist who chose to leave the paper after being censored. See: 
" Ann Telnaes, Who Quit Washington Post in Protest, Wins Pulitzer for 'fearlessness' in Commentary: A longtime editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post who quit in protest after editors killed her sketch of the newspaper’s owner and other media executives bowing before President Donald Trump, has won the Pulitzer Prize for illustrated reporting and commentary," Lisa Baumann, May 5, 2025. 
  "A longtime editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post who quit in protest early this year after editors killed her sketch criticizing the Post owner and other media chief executives working to curry favor with Trump has won the Pulitzer Prize for illustrated reporting and commentary."

Olde Posts Addenda (3)

     More "Breaking News" to add to the older news items already provided in Mulcahy's Miscellany. 

New Dead Fish
  Back in June 2023, I offered you many "Dead Fish Headlines" (too many) which I suggested were, "More Signs of the Times." I will offer only one more now, but it is a big one:
"Iowa Fertilizer Spill Kills Nearly All Fish Across 60-Mile Stretch of Rivers: Officials in Iowa and Missouri estimated that nearly 800,000 fish had died in waters that flow into the Missouri River," By Mitch Smith and Catrin Einhorn, NYT, March 29, 2024.
   “I refer to this one as ‘the big one,’” said the official, Matt Combes, an ecological health unit science supervisor for the Missouri Department of Conservation. He added: “Calling something a near-total fish kill for 60 miles of a river is astounding and disheartening.” The latest die-off started, Iowa officials said, when a valve was left open over a weekend on a storage tank at NEW Cooperative, an agricultural business in Red Oak, in southwestern Iowa. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources, which learned of the spill on March 11, said this week that 265,000 gallons of liquid nitrogen fertilizer spilled into a drainage ditch and into the East Nishnabotna River, which flows into the Nishnabotna River and then the Missouri River."

What Were the Odds?
   That a lot of people would lose a lot of money when gambling was legalized, wagering made easy over the Internet and actively promoted on your TV. People here in Ontario seem more worried about the selling of six-packs in the 7-Eleven which bothers me not at all. I think, however, that rather than betting you start investing in gambling treatment centres.
  In MM, this subject was discussed in "On Betting" and raised again under the heading "Don't Bet On It" in "Beyond the Palewall (8). Now, in support of my suspicion that things are not going to go well see: "Sport's Betting is Bad for America's Financial Health: New Data Shows It",(sic), By the Editorial Board, The Washington Post, Sept. 14, 2024. Here is the first paragraph:

"The new National Football League season will see plenty of records set on the field — and it’s expected to hit new heights off the field, too: specifically, the American Gaming Association projects that legal wagers on games will reach $35 billion, a 30 percent increase over last season. Most of that betting will involve online betting apps. In part, the growth reflects the fact that three new states — Maine, North Carolina and Vermont — have legalized legal sports betting, raising the total to 38 states and the District. And partly the projected growth reflects new incentives sportsbooks are offering gamblers: in-app live-streaming of games, platform upgrades to allow faster in-play betting, digital wallets and the ability to make multiple bets simultaneously. X is awash with sites offering tips and techniques for increasing the odds."
Here's more:
"In short, legal sports gambling is creating a pathway to financial distress for vulnerable individuals. States that legalized sports betting were often instructed by their legislatures to set aside some funding from the tax receipts to deal with problem gambling and addiction. But reporting and research show a huge disparity between how much states tax the betting industry....
Legal sports gamblers have had their fun for half a decade now — and some have paid a high price. Congress should draw on that experience, and the new data, to design guardrails."

Censorship On Campuses 70 Years Ago
   I gather that if I was to wander up to the campus close by, that I would have to be careful about what I might say, unless it sounded very much like what everybody else is saying. In a post about "Academic Freedom & Free Speech" I indicated I was in favour of both.
   On another occasion, I wrote about an episode at the University of Western Ontario way back in 1953 when the students heckled and interrupted a speech by (are you ready), the Very Reverend, Dr. Hewlett Johnson, Dean of Canterbury. Back then the students didn't like the "progressive" views of the "Red Dean." (See, "Free Speech & Ontario Universities.")
    I thought of this because I just read about a Republican defending free speech during that same year in the United States. Things have changed. Now, both the conservatives and the progressives want to restrict the expression of ideas with which they do not agree.

"In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower — a Republican — told graduating students at Dartmouth College, “Don’t join the book burners.” 

Referring to Americans drawn to communism, Eisenhower added, “Even if they think ideas that are contrary to ours, their right to say them, their right to record them, and their right to have them at places where they are accessible to others is unquestioned, or it isn’t America.”

   The above was written in relation to "Banned Books Week" in the United States which is about the promotion of banned books rather than the burning of them. It was found here: 

"Banned Books Week Begins on Sunday,  With draconian laws jackbooting across the country to suppress books, intimidate librarians and muzzle teachers, this annual commemoration of our freedom to read has never felt more vital. (A Florida school district banned a book about banned books.)"
From: "The Book Club Newsletter," Ron Charles, The Washington Post, Sept. 20, 2024.
For more olde posts that are related to free speech:

"Cowards in Coventry"
"S.W.I.N.E."  "Students Wildly Indignant About Nearly Everything"

"Dawkins Not Talking"

Beyond the Palewall (12)

 

 I have not done one of these for a while and, although no one appears to have noticed, will again offer some news nuggets, this time consisting mainly of quotations

Quotations: 
   Here are some recent ones that caught my attention. Remember, I am only the messenger.

   "For several years, many university leaders have failed to act as their students and faculty have shown ever greater readiness to block an expanding range of views that they deem wrong or beyond the pale. Some scholars report that this has had a chilling effect on their work, making them less willing to participate in the academy or in the wider world of public discourse. The price of pushing boundaries, particularly with more conservative ideas, has become higher and higher.
   Schools ought to be teaching their students that there is as much courage in listening as there is in speaking up. It has not gone unnoticed — on campuses but also by members of Congress and by the public writ large — that many of those who are now demanding the right to protest have previously sought to curtail the speech of those whom they declared hateful." ("A Way Back From Campus Chaos," Editorial Board, NYT, May 11, 2024.)

At Harvard, two members of a task force on antisemitism resigned and one said this: “We are at a moment when the toxicity of intellectual slovenliness has been laid bare for all to see,” wrote Rabbi David Wolpe in his resignation announcement. "Should American Jews Abandon Elite Universities?" Brett Stephens, NYT, June 25, 2024.)

U.S. Politics:
"What would fascism look like in America? A quote long misattributed to Sinclair Lewis says that it would come “wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” The comedian George Carlin said that it would come not “with jackboots” but “Nike sneakers and smiley shirts.” ("How Does Democracy Die? Maybe By Laser Vision: 'The Boys' and Other TV Series Imagine Fascism Coming to American, Whether Wrapped in the Flag or in a Superhero's Tights," James Poniewozik, NYT, June 19, 2024.)

In answer to the question, "What Have We Liberals Done to the West Coast?", Nicholas Kristoff suggests, "Offer A Version of Progressivism That Doesn't Result in Progress" (NYT, June 15, 2024.)
   "We are more likely to believe that “housing is a human right” than conservatives in Florida or Texas, but less likely to actually get people housed. We accept a yawning gulf between our values and our outcomes...
   So my take is that the West Coast’s central problem is not so much that it’s unserious as that it’s infected with an ideological purity that is focused more on intentions than on oversight and outcomes.  
   For example, as a gesture to support trans kids, Oregon took money from the tight education budget to put tampons in boys’ restrooms in elementary schools — including boys’ restrooms in kindergartens.
   “The inability of progressives, particularly in the Portland metro area, to deal with the nitty-gritty of governing and to get something done is just staggering,” Representative Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat who has been representing and championing Portland for more than half a century, told me. “People are much more interested in ideology than in actual results.”

There were many from this article, including some of the words in the title: The Blindness of Elites: Walter Kirn and the Empty Politics of Defiance," Thomas Chatterton Williams, The Atlantic, May 3, 2024.
   "Kirn would never describe himself as a Trump supporter, but he cares less about Trump’s rampage through American democracy, or even the lunacy and violence of January 6, than he does about the selfish and self-satisfied elites—all noblesse, no oblige—who sparked that anger and sustained it. Call him a counter-elite. As he said about Skull and Bones: “That’s our elite. Who wouldn’t want to be counter to it?”....
   What became clear to me in Montana is that his resentment against the tastemakers and gatekeepers is so unrelenting because it’s fueled not simply by dislike but also by real affection—a sympathy for Americans in unimportant places, people without power or influence, whose opinions and lifestyles he believes are often dismissed as retrograde or irrelevant."...   
   On a fundamental level, Kirn is right. This America that he wishes to dwell upon—and force us to acknowledge—is not what most of us who are invested with access or influence care to deal with. We may say the right things, but our notions of diversity, inclusivity, and justice are extremely narrowly defined. And as the polls keep showing in the run-up to November’s election, Kirn is correct to point out that a growing multiethnic assortment of citizens find themselves more repelled by the status quo than they are by Trump’s return."

Closer to Home:
"In reaction to “the bombshell report of the Prime Minister’s national security advisory committee, in which it is alleged some MPs have been conspiring with foreign powers against the national interest,”...
   And a third is our declining sense of nationhood. The case of the traitorous parliamentarians raises an intriguing question: Is it possible to commit crimes against the national security of a country that does not believe it is a nation and makes no effort to defend its security?
   After decades of entertaining the idea that the whole thing could be wound up at any minute on the vote of a single province, and after years of being told that the Canadian experience was, from the start, a crime against humanity, it’s hard to get too worked up about a little light treason.
    If, what is more, we cannot be bothered to defend ourselves, preferring, as we have for generations, to free-ride on the Americans, can we blame other countries for drawing the appropriate conclusions?f we think so little of ourselves, if we ask so little of ourselves, if there is so little here here, is it any wonder that we should ultimately come to see this reflected in the people who represent us? ("What Else Do You Call It When People Conspire Against Their Own Country?" Andrew Coyne, G&M, June 7, 2024.)

   Canada is the subject of this article in The Atlantic: "Canada's Extremist Attack on Free Speech: A Bill Making Its Way Through the Canadian Parliament Would Impose Draconian Criminal Penalties on Hate Speech and Curtail People's Liberty In Order to Stop Crimes They Haven't Yet Committed," Conor Friedersdorf, June 6, 2024.
   "The "Online Harms Act" states that any person who advocates for or promotes genocide is “liable to imprisonment for life.” It defines lesser “hate crimes” as including online speech that is “likely to foment detestation or vilification” on the basis of race, religion, gender, or other protected categories. And if someone “fears” they may become a victim of a hate crime, they can go before a judge, who may summon the preemptively accused for a sort of precrime trial. If the judge finds “reasonable grounds” for the fear, the defendant must enter into “a recognizance.” This is madness."

   These next two articles are not from Canada and surely they express sentiments not held by any Canadian, but one has to ask if they could even be published in Canada in the very near future.

1. "Jordan Bardella, the New Face of France’s Right: Charismatic and clean cut, shorn of the Le Pen name, the young National Rally leader seems poised to take his party to its best showing ever in European elections on Sunday," Roger Cohen, NYT, June 8, 2024.
   “Our civilization can die,” Mr. Bardella told a crowd of more than 5,000 flag-waving supporters this past week, as chants of “Jordan! Jordan!” reverberated around a vast arena in Paris. “It can die because it will be submerged in migrants who will have changed our customs, culture and way of life irreversibly.”.....   
   Mass immigration — some 5.1 million immigrants entered the European Union in 2022, more than double the number the previous year — is the core issue in the European election, polls show, along with the struggles of French families to make ends meet as the war in Ukraine has driven up energy and food prices.
   In this context, the National Rally has successfully portrayed itself as the home of French patriotism, the party of people reasonably concerned that immigration is out of control.
   With his Italian background, Mr. Bardella has been able to argue that the issue is not immigration itself, but the refusal of many migrants to assimilate. On the left, the very word patriotism in France tends to be viewed skeptically, a first step to nationalism and even war."

2. "This D-Day, Europe Needs to Resolve to Get Its Act Together," Brett Stephens, NYT, June 4, 2024.
   "Demographics: What do Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, his predecessor Angela Merkel, President Emmanuel Macron of France, Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands and the former British prime minister Theresa May have in common? They are childless. That’s their personal business (and far from representative of all E.U. leaders), but it’s symbolic of a continent where just under 3.9 million Europeans were born in 2022 and 5.15 million died. A shrinking and aging population typically correlates with low economic growth, not least because entrepreneurship is usually a young person’s game.
   Europe has an additional challenge: a relatively high Muslim birthrate, along with the prospect of long-term Muslim migration. Under a “medium migration” scenario estimated by Pew, by 2050 Britain will be nearly 17 percent Muslim, France 17.4 percent and Sweden 20.5 percent. Those wondering about the ascendance of far-right European parties, who are heavily favored to sweep this week’s elections in the E.U. Parliament and who are often sympathetic to Vladimir Putin, know this is a factor. And they need to be honest that the values of depressingly notable segments of these Muslim populations are fundamentally at odds with European traditions of moral tolerance and political liberalism."

  Words such as these, like certain cartoons, may soon not be allowed in Canada and be beyond the pale.

Censorship By Other Means

 BOOKS NOT BOUGHT
    This post will be shorter than most of mine since it is more serious. My contention is that some books may not be purchased by the  library near you for political reasons. That is hardly a startling statement. It is made more so if you consider this example.
    There is a book published in Canada, about Canada, and some currently contentious issues in Canadian history. It is not just off the press and there has been ample time to order a copy. Although today I could not access the Toronto Public Library, last September, 9 copies were available and there were 33 “holds.” Today, the Vancouver Public Library has 4 copies and 2 “holds” on them
    The book has not yet been ordered by the London Public Library. It is also the case that the book does not show up in the catalogue of the Western Libraries or in any other of the 15 or so Ontario University Libraries included in the Omni academic search tool. The reason the book  has not been ordered is likely found in the subtitle of the book and the irony should be obvious.

   Further evidence for why the book may be unappealing to some librarians is found in this description of the book taken from the Amazon website.

   "From assaults on historical figures such as John A. Macdonald to cancel culture and charges that Canada is a genocidal nation-state, the country that every generation and every immigrant built is now facing routine and corrosive attacks.

   How did this happen?

   In this new book, twenty critical thinkers provide answers: we are awash in relentless grievance narratives and utopians who expect Canada’s history to be perfect. The rise of critical theory, identity politics, and ideological politics in the education system also play a part. The authors challenge the naysayers and their caustic criticisms, but also offer a positive path forward. They show how truth-telling, informed history, and renewing a Canada where citizens reject divisions based on colour and gender, and instead unite around laudable, time-tested ideas will create a freer, flourishing Canada for all."

   Much more could be written about the purchasing decisions at the libraries and one hopes that much more is written about the arguments presented in the book. About the former I will say only that it is highly unlikely that The 1867 Project... was simply overlooked by so many libraries.  After all, the LPL, last year denied space for an author with views now found unacceptable (or perhaps ‘harmful’) and the Chief Librarian at the Niagara-on-the Lake Public Library was fired recently for suggesting  “viewpoints that don’t conform to progressive agendas are rarely represented in library collections and anyone who challenges this is labelled a bigot. But the tide is beginning to turn.”’

The tide may be turning. At least the NOTL Public Library purchased one copy.

Sources:
   The London Public Library refused to host the author Joanna Williams: "London Public Library Refuses to Rent Space to Event Featuring author of How Woke Won: The Society for Academic Freedom Will Host Joanna Williams at Hotel and University Instead," Rebecca Zandbergen, CBC News, May 18, 2023.   
   The unfortunate situation in NOTL has been widely covered. See, for example, "Niagara-on-the-Lake Board Fires CEO Cathy Simpson," Kevin Werner, Niagara-on-the-Lake Advance, March 22, 2024. For the "radical" views of the CEO see, "Opinion:Censorship and What We Are Allowed to Read," Cathy Simpson, special to The Lake Report, Feb. 21, 2024. She writes:
   "Public libraries should be home to many viewpoints, not just progressive ones....

This hidden library censorship takes two forms: the vigorous defence of books promoting diversity of identity, but little to no defence of books promoting diversity of viewpoint, and the purchase of books promoting “progressive” ideas over “traditional” ideas."
    Much of the commentary about The 1867 Project in the press is provided by those associated with the publication of it. There have been some reviews in the Postmedia universe. For example, "Finally, Resistance to the Woke Anti-Canada Narrative," Barbara Kay, Postmedia Breaking News, July 8, 2023 and, "Freedom Reigns in Canada: The 1867 Project Essays Expose Most of Mainstream Canadian Negativism As the Product of Twisted Ideologies and Misunderstandings," Terence Corcoran, National Post, July 1, 2023.

   The 1867 Project was edited by Michael Milke and produced by the Aristotle Foundation For Public Policy. 

Simple Solutions

   I have been busy for a bit and the weather is nice, but it is time to post something. I will again rely on the creativity of others, which you readers will find reassuring since I, myself, so far have demonstrated little of it. Here I will present two solutions to the problem that arises, when people who are more sensitive than I, come across something horrible or frightening when they are reading or watching in the privacy of their home or out walking in the public square. 

Caveat Lector

    I will keep this simple because it is and because I have touched upon it before in, for example, the appropriately titled, "WARNING."  This simple headline summarizes it all: "Only Trigger Warning Needed: Caveat Lector," and it is at the top of an an article in the National Post (June 29, 2023.) The solution occurred to the author, William Watson, who thought of it after watching Casablanca. In it Ilsa refers to the black piano player as the "boy." Since Ilsa (or Ingrid) were likely not racists and since the film otherwise embraces and exhibits values the sensitive will appreciate (anti-fascism, for example), does the movie really need to be banned or severely edited? Mr. Watson, thinks not, and notes that "the harm done by giving offence to some readers or viewers is outweighed by the benefit from the work itself."

  I agree and implied as much when I discussed in "WARNING"  the new propriety pronouncements being produced on Turner Classic Movies.  Mr. Watson suggests that Caveat Lector is better than "Contains Explicit Language" because generally we like language to be clear. I argued that "Viewer Discretion Advised" be placed before all films since now something in them will be offensive to someone. To be safe and to ensure the sensitive are not harmed perhaps all films and books be labeled with all of the warnings: Caveat Emptor, Caveat Lector, Caveat Auditor, Contains Explicit Language and Viewer (Reader) Discretion Advised. And, rather then ban or bowdlerize all older books and films or have librarians affix the above labels, a general public pronouncement, like the one found on beaches, should be widely promulgated indicating that all books or films produced before 2000 are to be approached cautiously: Danger: No Censors On Duty.

                                                     "Retain and Explain"

BEFORE

AFTER

   

   The solution to the problem of what to do with statues in squares or names on buildings which are problematic for those more sensitive than I, is encapsulated in the phrase, "Retain and Explain", which does have a nice ring to it. Rather than eliminate or subtract items and names from the landscape, we should add to them other objects or explanations which provide the historic context, as well as the present one which calls for the change. I will explain that the photos above portray the current view of many who believe that one should "Abolish and Remove." That is the statue of Edward Colston being dumped in the river in Bristol.

  "Retain and Explain" is an English suggestion, but I learned about it in an American article. I will provide the citation here since it helps explain things and because one reader told me they never look at the sources I usually dutifully apply at the bottom: "A Philosopher and a Slaver, But No Longer a Name on a Library: No One Disputes That George Berkeley Was Among Ireland's Greatest Thinkers, But He Was An Unapologetic Slaver. Now Trinity College Dublin Is Taking His Names Off One Of Its Buildings," Ed O'Loughlin, New York Times, May 8, 2023. Although his name is being removed from the library, "students will still encounter Berkeley in the form of a 19th century stained-glass window commemorating his life in the college chapel. The school decided to keep the window in place, but add information about the controversy -- adopting a so-called retain and explain approach." 

   "Retain and Explain" does sound nice, but it is not so simple. An explanatory plaque adjacent to a very large colonizer on a huge horse, would probably not be sufficient and the arguments over the statues would be endless. as would the debates about who should do the arguing. There would be other things to consider, but this day is a nice one and I will leave you to do the considering and will supply the sources to assist, although I know no one will read them. Do have a look at The Bonus, however, since it lists naming problems on the horizon. 

Sources: 

  This quotation -- "We believe that the right approach to statues, however contentious, is to retain and explain their presence" -- is found here: "Listing Controversy II: Staues, Contested Heritage And the Policy of "Retain and Explain", in Law & Place.

"Monumental Error: The Plan to 'Retain and Explain' Statues," Alexander Pelling-Bruce, The Spectator, April 10, 2021.

"The Times View on the Fate of Controversial Statues: Retain and Explain," The Times, Jan. 18, 2021.

"Retain and Explain is a Woke Trap To Rewrite History," Zareer Masani, The Sunday Telegraph, June 20, 2021. Here is his conclusion: 

"What such examples show is the near-impossibility of explaining in short captions what are often complex and contested reputations. Public spaces belong to the public, the vast majority of whom have little appetite for seeing monuments defaced by sanctimonious disclaimers. While most of us would back the policy to retain, must we really suffer it being accompanied by simplistic health warnings similar to those on cigarette packs? By all means let's also explain, but ensure those who do the explaining have the necessary expertise."

The Bonus:

   In the American article that started all of this it is noted that Berkeley came to America and that the University of California, Berkeley is named for him, but that the University is not changing the name. Yet.

  I have produced several posts about names, naming and statues and you likely will have read none of them and I won't bother pointing them out. A related one that you surely did not read was my year-end rant a few years ago. In it, you will note my prescience, in that I predicted that the names of some universities will be problematic for the sensitive ones (remember Ryerson?) Here is that small portion from a post that was too long:

The larger issue relates to the complete university not just the structures on the campus. What if the name applied to the entire university is tainted? I feel that it is my duty to alert you to some possible problems. In short, you would short the following colleges and universities if they were stocks or securities. The alphabetical list by institution includes the name of the person along with the alleged ‘crime’. 

Alcorn State (James L. He was a Confederate. Alcorn is largely black!)

Austin Peay  (Austin Peay. Like Jefferson, fathered a black child.)

Clemson ( Thomas Green. Married Calhoun’s daughter - see Yale above.)

Drake (Francis Marion. Killed a few Pawnees.)

Duke ( James Buchanan. Tobacco.)

Furman (Richard. The slave thing.)

George Mason (George Mason. The slave thing. See my related post - ASSOL)

Hofstra (William S. Lumber business - open to the charge of despoliation.)

Lamar ( Mirabeau Buonaparte. Slave trader AND Cherokee/Comanche killer.)

Marshall (John. His papers are online at the UVA. Find the problem yourself.)

Rice (William Marsh. Guy was a capitalist and died a rather messy death.)

Stanford (Leland Jr. The son of a robber baron.)

Tulane (Paul. Confederate donor.)

Vanderbilt (Cornelius. Rich - “unmannered brute.”)

Yale (Elihu. Corruption charges. Elis may become as rare as Jeffs.)

    Many colleges in the U.S. were founded by religious leaders and those named for such figures may be assumed to be safe from onomastic scrutiny (Wesleyan, for example) or maybe not (Oral Roberts). Otherwise if you are sending your sons or daughters off to college and you want them to have a ‘safe space’ , then perhaps you should consider a plainly-named land-grant university like the University of Iowa where the students are also likely to be less flighty. 

    As far as Canada goes, less work is required if you are trying to choose or avoid a university because of its name. Select one with a geographically-based name like ‘Toronto’, or  ‘Western’ which could exist anywhere and is surely not offensive. You could simply avoid any college that is named for a person unless she is Emily Carr. In the east, for example, I would not choose Dalhousie without thoroughly vetting the Earl. In the far west the choice is easy.  Go to UBC. It is clear that you should avoid Simon Fraser which will likely be attacked in the near future for reasons that are obvious. 

The source for the above, where there is even more, is my cleverly disguised post: "This Is NOT About Mariah Carey."

A Few Bits About Books

    My output has been sparse so I will attempt to come up with something quickly to boost my April production. It is also the case that the weather remains dreary and I am not that interested in hockey.

National Library Week

"National Library Week begins on Sunday, and the timing couldn’t be better. This annual celebration used to feel quaint; now it sounds like an existential rallying cry."(Ron Charles)  

   I noticed that it was a week to celebrate libraries in the U.S. In Canada the month of October is dedicated to them and there are library days, weeks and months throughout this country. As you will know, I am a fan of libraries and books and I suggest we should all be paying more attention to both of them.

Banned Books and Censorship
   One reason to do so is that libraries are under attack and librarians are being threatened. President Biden even mentioned the problem in his recent announcement about running again. Canadians should not be complacent as this headline indicates: "Libraries Are In the Political Crosshairs as They Fight Back Against U.S. Book Bans: Canadians Should Keep an Eye on Efforts to Remove Books From Libraries South of the Border," Nick Logan, CBC News, April 21, 2023. Another headline indicates the situation is the same in the U.K.: "Third of U.K. Librarians Asked to Censor or Remove Books, Research Reveals,"

  The libraries and books are victims of the collateral damage inflicted by the culture wars. There have always been people who wanted to restrict what others read, but generally the focus was on sex and ideology whereas now the concern is mostly  over books about gender and identity. Librarians, usually a liberal bunch, have been resisting, but one hopes they also protect the illiberal items on the shelves as well (even the Dr. Seuess books and the unedited Roald Dahl ones) and keep the other books which are now deemed noxious and continue ordering them.

  There is even a Banned Books Week, during which the American Library Association calls attention to the censorship pressures. The ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom notes that censorship challenges are up nearly 40% over 2021.

"ALA documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 book challenges reported in 2021. Of the record 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, the most challenged and reasons cited for censoring the books are listed below." 

 

  The censorship efforts extend beyond libraries and into schools. The chart above comes from this study: "Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools."

Library Appreciation
   The importance of libraries to some patrons is noted by Ron Charles of the Washington Post, who wrote in this week's newsletter that a fundraiser has been established to dedicate a chair in the New York Public Library to Alfred Kazin who died 25 years ago. Kazin spent a lot of time in the room pictured above. 

"In his 1978 memoir “New York Jew,” Alfred Kazin recalled his early enthusiasm for the New York Public Library:
“Whenever I was free to read, the great Library seemed free to receive me,” he wrote. “There was something about the vibrating empty rooms early in the morning — light falling through the great tall windows, the sun burning the smooth tops of the golden tables as if they had been freshly painted — that made me restless with the need to grab up every book, press into every single mind right there on the open shelves.” 
The library was Kazin’s sanctuary and his laboratory. He started publishing book reviews when he was 19. Before he was 30, he’d written “On Native Grounds,” an instant classic of literary criticism."

  You may recall that another Jewish writer close by in New Jersey spent a lot of time in the Newark Public Library and donated his library to it and a space was dedicated for a room for Philip Roth (see: Actual Libraries.)

Books: Real or Fake?
   That is Lord Black of Crossharbour who is once again a Canadian citizen and the picture was in Canadian papers today. It is here because he appears surrounded by books. Even if you do not like Conrad Black, you would likely agree that he has read a few and perhaps that may be one reason you do not like him. 

  Also in another article where books are featured in another paper, you will learn that some things are not always as they appear. The picture below is from: "Go Ahead, Judge This Book By Its Cover: Already the Norm For Film Sets and Commercial Spaces, Fake Books Are Becoming Common Fixtures in Homes, But if You See One, You Might Never Know," Anna Kodé, New York Times, April 28, 2023. About this phenomena I have already written. See, "Books By The Meter."

Real Books and Book Lovers

  As I have complained, university libraries are getting rid of books right and left and even those in the middle. Spaces are needed for lounging for the students and for the children of graduate students. Sometimes, however, some people have difficulty in throwing out the third copy of a book in their home library unless threatened by their partner who they accuse of being a philistine. The following passage is perfect for those who do not have fake books, but real ones and know how difficult it is to toss them:

"F. Scott Fitzgerald declared in an excellent late story that ‘the second half of life is a long process of getting rid of things’. It is certainly what I am striving to do. I have far too much stuff so I’ve decided a little culling is needed. Some weeding out imperative, deaccessions inevitable. I’ve started with books; I’ll end up with people and finish with me.

I kneel on the floor of my book room with a large cardboard box at my side. Do I really need all those George Meredith novels? Edgar Saltus is harder, but will I miss those duplicates of Purple and Fine Women and The Pace That Kills with the variant dust-wrapper and the misprint on page 43? My shelf of the works of Philip Thicknesse, that querulous 18th-century gentleman, contains nearly all of his 24 books, and if I were forced to sell them I could never sacrifice The Valetudinarians Bath Guide, which contains valuable information on the exorcism of gallstones, and an account of Mrs Mary Toft of Godalming who claimed that she gave birth to 15 rabbits; an assertion Thicknesse plausibly supports. Whatever the demands for space in my book room, I cannot banish my Marmaduke Pickthall, or a single one of my 15 copies of the first edition of The Wooing of Jezebel Pettyfer, which Meredith praised with the mysterious disclaimer: ‘It ought never to have been written.’ Not seldom, when I surrender a book to a rascally dealer, I return to his shop and buy it back."

(That bit is dedicated to my friend on Vancouver Island who has written some books and collected many more. It is from an article in The Spectator, Dec. 17, 2022 by Barry Humphries.)

Post Script:

   As I have noted too many times before, I think it is a mistake for university libraries to sacrifice the stacks for the students. The university libraries where I used to work are doing so. I do have to confess, however, that they had a copy of, Dr. Viper: The Querulous Life of Philip Thicknesse, In my defence, it is in storage, so as to make room for the students, or the toddlers of the graduate students, who will never be aware of its existence. I do also have to confess that although they did not have a copy of The Valetudinarians Bath Guide, it does appear in their catalogue and I (even you) can read it from the comfort of your couch (and right now!)

The Bonus:

   For the few remaining book lovers in London, I will save you time by telling you that I already have out of the library the copy of Dr. Viper. Those of you who are now looking for Purple and Fine Women are on your own, as are those of you who now are asking - "Who the hell is Edgar Saltus?" (But, I do have to be honest and make another confession - there are a couple of biographies of Saltus in the Western Libraries (in storage.) Let's hope they keep them there and do not send them to a storage bin near Toronto.)

Sensitivity Readers

 

   While I was resting after so much blogging, I turned to reading and can now present to you a "scoop", which is an unusual thing to appear in MM. I have just learned that an acceptable book has recently been published. It is pictured above. There is no title to be offended by, nor is there an author of the wrong whatever. It also does not not contain any content which might trouble you. In fact, refreshingly enough, it contains no content at all, so read on.  Given that you are likely the sensitive type, I will say no more. 

Post Script: 
  Back in the "horrific" old days, Penguin books used to actually contain some words. For example, see this post: "Penguin Books." But, A WARNING IS IN ORDER. Only those of you with sufficiently calloused eyeballs should consider even a peek. 
   If you are a reader of MM, you will know that nothing books are not new. If you think you feel safe enough to purchase empty books containing no threatening thoughts, then see my post: "Much Ado About Nothing." (Full Disclosure: If you order such books from the links provided, MM gets a significant percentage which will be used to support the charity of your choice.)

Out In Left Field

  We may have reached a linguistic low point.  At the very end of the year, I indicated that the folks at Stanford had launched the "Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative" and, as a result such offensive words as, brave, gentlemen, seminal and even American, were to be expunged (for more examples see,  "Watch Your Mouth.") Now, some Social Work types at the University of Southern California, suggest that the horrific word "FIELD" has to go and no more "field work" done. I thought perhaps this was a joke by those who wanted to poke fun at the Stanford folks, but that is not the case, since the memo below is legitimate (as well as laughable.)

You Can No Longer Be Outstanding In Your Field

No More Trial Runs

   The Stanford censors said that there should be no more "blind studies" (use "masked studies") and those at USC said that "field work" should no longer be said. Since they have gone that far, they might as well add Trial Run, since the mention of the word "trial" may be traumatic for those who have had unfortunate court room experiences. 

CanCon: 
    There are Language Mounties up here as well. There will be no more Brownies playing in the Fields. Although the Brownies will still exist in the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. and Girlguiding in Britain, in Canada they will be known as Embers. 
"The Girl Guides announced in November that it would be retiring the Brownies name to create a more welcoming atmosphere. A few weeks later, members were asked to vote online for the new name, either Embers or Comets. The organization said it had about 58,000 girl members and about 15,000 adult members, most of whom are troop leaders. The name change will be phased in over the next few months as the organization updates its websites, training sessions, marketing materials and other resources, the organization said. The Embers name is expected to be fully adopted by September."
"Girl Guides of Canada Drops Brownies Name," Amanda Holpuch, New York Times, Jan. 12, 2023.

Watch Your Mouth!!

 

   Six years ago in late December I began a post that stumbled into the new year and in it I warned that the language police were coming. I suggested that you needed to "Be Careful About What You Say" and even about "What You Sing." I also indicated that "Name Calling" would be canceled and that the Moniker Monitors would change the name of your alma mater. All of this valuable information was cleverly concealed under the mystifying title - "This is NOT About Mariah Carey." Many years have passed, but if you click on that link, you can be among the very few who have read it. 

We Will Begin With the Benign

   For many years Lake Superior State University has offered lists of words which should be banned. It is a semi-serious endeavour I support since it suggests eliminating words for linguistic/grammatical reasons, not because of a Directive from the DEI Department. Here are the top ten for this year and this is the opening paragraph:

Stop resorting to imprecise, trite, and meaningless words and terms of seeming convenience! You’re taking the lazy way out and only confusing matters by over-relying on inexact, stale, and inane communication!

The TOP Ten:

1.GOAT

2. Inflection Point

3. Quiet Quitting

4. Gaslighting

5. Moving Forward

6. Amazing

7. Does That Make Sense?

8. Irregardless

9 . Absolutely

10. It Is What It Is

For a full explanation go here: Lake Superior State University. 

For comparison, here is the list from 2022:

1. Wait, what?

2. No worries

3. At the end of the day [this one has made other lists and is still with us.]

4. That being said

5. Asking for a friend

6. Circle back

7. Deep dive

8. New normal

9. You’re on mute

10. Supply chain

[My suggestions for the next list: "speaks to", "unpack" (except when applied to luggage) and "intersections" (except when referring to streets.)

The Stanford Situation

  Elite institutions are more concerned about the words relating to identity than grammar. Stanford administrators have worked hard on the Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative (EHLI). To access the website for EHLI, one has to have a Stanford logon, but the rationale behind it is described here: "Introducing the Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative Website." I found some of the words on the list, listed elsewhere and here are some of them, so you will know how to talk in 2023:

Among the verboten words cited on the "Ableist" master list along with the preferred substitutes are:

"addict," to be replaced with "person with a substance use disorder";

"addicted," to be replaced with "devoted";

"blind study," to be replaced with "masked study"; and

"walk-in," to be replaced with "open office."

Among the verboten words cited on the "Culturally Appropriative" master list along with the preferred substitutes are:

"Brave," not to be replaced but to be dropped from use altogether;

"chief," to be replaced with "the person's name"; and

"tribe," to be replaced with "friends, network, family, support system."

Among the verboten words cited on the "Gender-Based" master list along with the preferred substitutes are:

"'preferred' pronouns," to be replaced by pronouns — since "the word 'preferred' suggests that non-binary gender identity is a choice and a preference";

"ballsy," to be replaced with "bold";

"gentlemen," to be replaced with "everyone";

"he," to be replaced with "person's name of 'they'";

"seminal," to be replaced by "leading, groundbreaking," and

"tranny," to be replaced by "non-gendering conforming folk."

Among the verboten words cited on the "Imprecise Language" master list along with the preferred substitutes are:

"American," to be replaced with "US Citizen" — since this term insinuates "that the US is the most important country in the Americas"; and

"straight," to be replaced with "heterosexual."

Among the verboten words cited on the "Institutionalized Racism" master list along with the preferred substitutes are:

"black hat," to be replaced with "unethical hacker";

"blackballed," to be replaced with "banned, denied";

"gangbusters," to be replaced with "very successful";

"master (v)," to be replaced with "become adept in";

"master list," to be replaced with "list of record"; and

"white paper," to be replaced with "position paper."

   Stanford won (indirectly) a Sidney Award for this effort. The Sidney Awards are awarded by David Brooks of the NYT for good "long-form journalism." They honour Sidney Hook and one of the purposes of the award is to publicize good articles which is what I am doing here. Stanford didn't actually win the Sidney, Ginerva Davis did for writing about Stanford. The essay is found in Palladium magazine and the title of it is - "Stanford's War on Social Life." Stanford has strong allies in the war and their administrative troops are much like others elsewhere. Ms Davis writes:

“Since 2013, Stanford’s administration has executed a top-to-bottom destruction of student social life. Driven by a fear of uncontrollable student spontaneity and a desire to enforce equity on campus, a growing administrative bureaucracy has destroyed almost all of Stanford’s distinctive student culture.”

Even the WWE Is Awake

    World Wrestling Entertainment has suggested that announcers need to be more refined and eliminate certain words. I found some examples in an article that may be (one hopes) a satirical one. Two examples:

Banned term: Western Lariat. Reason: The word “Western” shows implicit bias toward eurocentric value systems and colonialism. Suggested replacement: “Decolonized Lariat.”

Banned term: Camel Clutch. Reason: It implies violence against animals, and reinforces negative stereotypes about the Middle East. Suggested replacement: “The Humble Maker.”

I don't have time on New Year's Eve to investigate this, but I did quickly find this article in WRESTLETALK: "FULL LIST OF BANNED WORDS IN WWE" (UPDATED). Among the words:
War

Interesting

The Business

Feud

Fans

Crazy

Interesting (?), but I am not sure this is all legitimate, but it is very difficult to distinguish between parody and reality these days.

Progress to Report

  Almost a decade ago, those associated with the Liverpool Football Club were given language guidelines and words like the ones above were not to be uttered. Looking at it, one can say that some progress has been made and it is likely that now even hooligans don't say such things. It is predicted here that "hooligans" will soon be eliminated.

("Kick It Out Chairman Welcomes List of 'Unacceptable' Words Issued by Liverpool to Staff: Words Such as "Princess" and Phrases Like "Don't Be A Woman" Are Included in the Guide Issued By the Reds," Independent, July 31, 2013.)

The Bonus: 

When I referred above to "Begin With the Benign", you probably thought of the song "Begin the Beguine" which was written by Cole Porter. If you don't know what "beguine" means, here is the answer: 

The beguine (/bəˈɡiːn/ bə-GHEEN)[1] is a dance and music form, similar to a slow rhumba. It was popular in the 1930s, coming from the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, where, in the local Antillean Creole language, beke or begue means a White man while beguine is the female form. It is a combination of Latin folk dance and French ballroom dance, and is a spirited yet slow, close dance with a roll of the hips, a movement inherited from rhumba.

If you would like to listen and dance to "Begin the Beguine" on this New Year's Eve, here is a version performed by Artie Shaw. 

WARNING

 

YOU WERE WARNED!

  I was riled a while back when I surfed past Turner Classic Movies and was presented with a WARNING about the upcoming showing of Gone With the Wind. The good news is, I suppose, that the movie was still being aired. Apparently HBO stopped showing it until a proper Sensitivity Disclaimer was composed. 

   Similar warnings are now required for other movies, such as Breakfast at Tiffany's (!)  and My Fair Lady,(!) and Disney+ is putting them before all of episodes of The Muppet Show. Sensitive times indeed.  

Disclaimers For Dummies
  Some time has passed and I am less riled now, but I still think the profusion of such pronouncements is excessive and likely to be counterproductive. TCM is probably "Reframing" films, partly to protect itself from the newly sensitized who may start picketing. I like Ben Mankiewicz and generally enjoy the analysis and background he provides. I have also benefitted from the insights of film critics who explained what some complicated movies were all about. But, this new didacticism which re-educates us as to what is right or wrong or good or bad about a movie and needs to "contextualize" it for us and point out that attitudes about such things as race and gender and cowboys and Indians were different back in olden times, assumes that most movie viewers are cretinous. There have always been some warnings and, for example, the Motion Picture Association provided ones for guidance, but they were intended to suggest to potential viewers, whether a film was appropriate for children. 

  There are thousands of films and even entire genres of them that are now unacceptable to the new sensitivity scrutinizers. Propriety Pronouncements are probably being produced as I write so we will know what to think about a film. Perhaps instead, this simple, old generic one can be used and placed before every movie - "Viewer Discretion Advised." 

Sources:

  About the changes at TCM see, "Turner Classic Movies is Changing, and Trying to Stay the Same," David Itzkoff, New York Times, Sept, 1, 2021.

  The piece about the awful, hurtful Muppets is here: "Disney + Adds 'Negative Depictions' Disclaimer to Multiple Episodes of The Muppet Show", Rosy Cordero, Entertainment, Feb. 21, 2021.

Post Script:

  It didn't take long for the conservative folks and Fox News to make fun of all this as the images above indicate.

The Bonus: Someone just paid $25,000 for the book - Gone With the WInd - I hope they know about it. 

Auditing Diversity Everywhere

   

Even in the Stacks

   I occasionally read the Wall Street Journal because one of my sisters reads it regularly. I do so to be prepared when she says something like, “Guess what the idiots have done now?”; the ‘idiots’ being democrats, progressives, etc. And, in fact, much of what she tells me, and what the WSJ reports about those on the left having done or said, does seem often to be somewhat ‘idiotic.’

  Or, perhaps it is better to describe some of the actions and words of the progressives as “Counterproductive.” I have noticed them occurring with more frequency lately and was thinking about constructing a “Counterproductive Index.” I noticed one article just the other day in, unsurprisingly, the WSJ, and was holding it with plans to perhaps make it the first item in the construction of my new index. I knew that the WSJ could be counted upon to continually provide examples of unsmart things done by the progressives. Things that often embarrass those of us who lean left and which are clearly counterproductive if one is interested in furthering the cause. 

   Those in the editorial room at the WSJ certainly lean right, but the paper is full of solid and well-reported stories. Still, I was holding this new article for a few days to see if it could possibly be true, since the action described in it is unsmart and likely to produce more ridicule from those who want to "own the libs", than progress for those who are attempting to change things. I wanted the first example in my forthcoming (maybe) CI to be a solid one. 

   In the title of the article a question is posed: “What Does a Library’s ‘Diversity Auditor’ Do?” (by Faith Bottum, Jan.20.) The answer is found at Bard College, which "recently announced that three undergraduates, funded by the Office of Inclusive Excellence, are working their way through Stevenson Library, "evaluating each book for representations of race/ethnicity, gender, religion, and ability." The conclusion easily reached, is that the stacks were to be culled and the old authors replaced with younger ones (differently coloured, ethnicized and gendered, etc.)

   While "Decanonize the Stacks" or even "Decolonize the Stacks"  is not nearly as upsetting to some as "Defund the Police," it bothered me. Although librarians at many universities are discarding books, it is usually done simply because the university administration thinks the space is better used as an area to entertain students. That librarians could be involved in getting rid of ‘bad’ books is troubling since they are usually enlisted to defend them. 

   I figured that even a WSJ article could go viral and that it would not take long for the conservative magazines and Fox News (not readily available up here) to call our attention to this one. Among other things, they would note the irony in the fact that school librarians and those on the left who wish to introduce young children to books to which parents object, are at least protecting their grown children from having access to books that make them feel unsafe. 

   Luckily for me, the first reaction I found to all of this, provides you with the information you need. You will find the original Bard Library newsletter which discusses the initiative to “decanonize’ the stacks.” I typed ‘original’ because apparently Bard backtracked a bit when all of this came to light. The WSJ article is also discussed and a critique of it all is offered. 
Read this: Bard College Begins “decolonizing” its Library as Pecksniffs Comb the Stacks Searching for Bad Representations of “race/ethnicity, gender, religion, and ability”

Sources: 

The WSJ article is cited in the post. 
The Bard College website is here. 

The critique is from: Why Evolution is True. The blogger is the author, Jerry A. Coyne,  Emeritus Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago, whose website is here. 

The Bonus:

The WSJ article mentioned that Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles also “undertook a similar project.” Although I was not able to find a “project” there, I would not be surprised. This is from the LMU Library "DEIA Statement of Commitment":  

Our vision for the William H. Hannon Library inspires us to create a brave and welcoming space for the students, faculty, and staff of Loyola Marymount University. For that goal to become fully manifest at LMU, we must commit ourselves to the principles of diversity, equity, inclusivity, and anti-racism (DEIA) in our collections, our spaces, our operations, and throughout all our work.
We recognize that structures of power and privilege remain largely in the hands of a few, and that we are part of a system, specifically academia, that perpetuates white supremacy. As librarians, information professionals, researchers, teachers, and practitioners, we aim to redress social and historical injustices through critical examinations of our operations, the development of diverse collections, the creation of inclusive spaces, and by centralizing the voices of historically oppressed and/or marginalized communities. These groups include, but are not limited to, Black, Indigenous, persons of color, LGBTQ+ people, and those with differing abilities, as well as those at the intersectionality of these communities.

Post Script:
   As an aside, the DEIA people at LMU deserve some credit for creating a new "brave" space, since most other libraries are creating only "safe" ones. 

  As for the proposed "Counterproductive Index", I am thinking about using the British spelling and calling it the "Counter Productive Index", since CPI would increase traffic to this blog. My earlier creation, "The Human Suffering Index" (HSI), has failed to gain much attention, which is why I am shamelessly mentioning it here. 

 Those of you who wonder if enough Canadian counterproductive examples can be found to satisfy those who want more Canadian content, I think the answer is "Yes." Tentatively being considered is the "Widdowson Affair." The tenured Professor Widdowson was fired by a university that "unequivocally supports academic debate and will always defend the rights of faculty related to academic freedom." Ex-professor Widdowson has criticized the Black Lives Matter movement and attempted to Disrobe the Aboriginal Industry, so her prospects are dim. Still her firing is likely to be costly for the university and is counterproductive because it will serve to increase resentment and not help, at all, the cause for reconciliation.