The cat is getting ready. Apostates are being called out with violence and condemnation. Even the friendly old pope has put himself on the wrong side of the fence: “If my good friend speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others.” The fact is that insulting is allowed (freedom of speech) and punching is not (violence).
The society that condones punching, suppresses any sense of freedom of speech. Punching them is the same as flogging them. Is the same as killing them. As much as one might find these Charlie Hebdos and Larry Flynts a pain, the only thing to be done is eye-rolling and making an appeal for decency. Nothing more.
All of that said, my guess is that a greater conflict is to come in countries that espouse freedom of speech where so many in power maintain the guise of faith simply to avoid a violent reaction from a certain percentage of its citizenry. As personal as the question might be – “Do you believe in God, Mr. President?” – people will keep asking and inevitably the truth will come out. And it won’t be pretty.
Dave Feshuck, Toronto Star sportswriter, made news for himself yesterday by attacking Phil Kessel: “You’re the best player on the team, and the coach is fired…are you difficult to coach?” Kessel turned to the others. “This guy’s such an idiot; he’s always been like this.”
Mr. Kessel is, in fact, quite correct; Feshuck has always been like this. Even as an elementary school student, Feshuck enjoyed baiting others, once demanding of a Grade Four classmate: “You’re the best student here, the school burned down…are you difficult to teach?”
Feshuck gave international reporting a swing after college but had to be escorted back to Canada after he posed the following to Prince Charles, “You were supposed to be king, Princess Diana is dead…are you a difficult prince?” Feshuck had a brief reprieve under Mayor Rob Ford, because he seemed to like these questions. “You’re a heroine user, people laugh at you…are you a difficult mayor?”However Feshuck had to be escorted away again when he demanded of President Obama, “You’re a black guy, the police are killing black people…are you a difficult president?” It is believed that Obama muttered, “This guy is an idiot.”And so, Feshuck, being dumb, aggressive and lazy, found he was qualified only for one thing: reporting on sports.
He went into the oncoming pedestrians, half of them on their phones, and failed to pull his shoulder back, knocking the woman, intent on her messages, sideways. Another was coming right after her, protecting a plastic bag. “What ya got in there?”
“A crystal palace.”
“Looks like some bullshit trophy to me.” “Come on, man, have a heart.” The homeless man was on his knees, hat and sweater askew. “Jesus had a heart for you.” He cut around him and hurried down the stairs to the 5 train.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the most talented teams in hockey, and yet, as CBS Sports wrote,”They are extremely streaky and volatile. You never know which team is going to show up and what exactly is going to happen.”These players know how to play. They know how to pass. They know how to score. They know how to defend. They just need a coach to move them in the same direction.Current head coach, Randy Carlyle, is the one to blame for this inconsistency. As he admitted himself after the team lost recently to Carolina, the team with the worst record in the league: ”I don’t think we were mentally ready to go out and play the type of game that was required. Simple as that.” (Whose job is that? Oh, right, the coach.)
And so as simple as that, Carlyle has to go. Sign Dallas Eakins for the rest of the year and see how that goes. If it doesn’t work out, get Babcock. Now is the time to win.
Wood is good. In the right measure. Wood is good. Wherever you look. Wood is good.(Pictures from Hotellerie de Mascognaz and St. Jacques in Aosta Valley, Northern Italy)