The Courage of Aqsa Parvez

Islam kills girls and women all the time. Kills them, beats them, cuts off their clitorises. So it came as no surprise that Aqsa Parvez had the life strangled out of her.

When 16 yr. old Mississauga high school student, Asqa Parvez, stood up to her fundamentalist Islamic father, Muhammed Parvez, over his insistence that she wear a hijab and succumb to other religious restraints, she risked being killed. And according to her friends, she knew it. She knew Islam.

Aqsa’s friend, Dominiquia Holmes-Thompson, 16, recalled Aqsa saying that it was possible that something could “happen” to her. Asqa was afraid of her father, according to friends, who say he strictly controlled her and would not allow her to go out. She was seen at school with bruises. She began staying at the home of a high school friend, defying her father. “He said that if she leaves, he would kill her”, Holmes-Thompson says.

Asqa was willing to stay in a shelter. But she returned home one last time, reportedly after her brother saw her at a bus stop and offered to take her home to get a change of clothing. It is not uncommon for a brother in a Muslim family in Pakistan — where Asqa was born — to lure a girl to a place where the family can make her the target of an “honor killing”, an angle now being investigated by police. It was after Asqa returned home that her father called 911 and said, “I killed my daughter.”

When Asqa -- Al Asqa is the name of a Muslim Holy site -- stood up to her fundamentalist Islamic father, she was doing a favor for women everywhere at risk from Islam. Like those who fought Sharia law in Ontario, did all women a favor. And like a few female teachers in Ontario did all women a favor a few years back when they said they did not want girls to wear the hijab in their classrooms because it was a sign of the subjugation of women.

And now Asqa’s dead, which underscores just why Islam has to be stood up to, instead of being coddled by the great Canadian multi-culti bear hug.


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Guess who else had an Islamic father who believed women should be subordinate? Marc Lepine, aka Gamil Gharbi, who massacred 14 women at L'ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. (See "Wet P*ssy Benches" Commemorate Murdered Women on this blog.)

Butt-Grabber Busted

At a dance in the Carnegie theatre on Saturday night, a man helped himself to the butts of several women on the dance floor. He just started grabbing their butts.

Police came and he was handcuffed and arrested.

Nine women gave statements to police. At 2:30 a.m., some of them were still at the police station giving statements.

Jail for Grandson of Medicare

Booking photo of Keifer Sutherland taken Dec. 5, 2007 and released by the Glendale Police Department.


Keifer Sutherland started his 48 day jail sentence for his third drunk driving conviction on Dec. 5th. Sutherland is known as the character, Jack Bauer, in the television series '24'. But Canadians know who he really is.

Keifer Sutherland is the grandson of Tommy Douglas, father of Canada's universal medicare system.

Keifer Sutherland was born to Shirley Douglas, the only biological child of Tommy Douglas. An actor herself, Shirley Douglas gave birth to Keifer and his twin sister, Rachel, when she was married to actor Donald Sutherland.

Keifer Sutherland is not the only star in the family. Tommy Douglas was voted "The Greatest Canadian" of all time in a televised contest hosted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 2004. And he had been dead for decades.


Douglas was known as a modest man. He wasn't above giving a speech standing in the back of a farmer's manure spreader, although he did joke that he was standing on the platform of the opposition. And he always took the position that if it wasn't for the hard-working grassroots people promoting him, he wouldn't be in the position he was in. Some of that was his Saskatchewan upbringing: in Saskatchewan, you never act like you're better than anybody else.

You can see that lack of snobbery in Keifer Sutherland. Autograph collector Michael Wehrmann told the New York Post newspaper that until his arrest, Sutherland had not snubbed people seeking autographs: "He was one of the best. He would always stand and sign for a half hour...."

It was when Sutherland's grandfather became leader of North America's first socialist government, the New Democratic Party government in Saskatchewan, that he pushed for a universal medicare program. As a child, Douglas had injured his leg and it would have been amputated if a doctor, who saw the condition as one his students could learn from, had agreed to give him free treatment. But that experience solidified Douglas' belief that health care was a right, not something that should be dependent on the generosity of others.

Douglas pushed for a Canada wide medicare program when he left provincial politics and became leader of the federal New Democratic Party, a party which claims to be committed to improving the lives of the working class. That was the class that famed Canadian writer Alice Munroe grew up in, and she says it wasn't all bad. Now in her 70's, Munroe says there was a freedom in growing up in the working class, not a lot of pressure about what you did with your life, as long as you stayed out of jail.

"Wet P*ssy Benches" Commemorate Murdered Women

Yesterday was the 18th anniversary of the murder of 14 women at L’ecole Polytechnique in Montreal by Marc Lepine. Last night there were lit candles and fresh flowers on each bench in a large circle of 14 pink granite benches in front of Pacific Station in Vancouver. The benches are a monument to murdered women in Canada, prompted by the Montreal massacre.

Downtown Eastside residents have been known to refer to this monument as the “Wet P*ssy Benches”.

That’s because each stone bench has the shape of a vulva carved into the top of it. What do you get when you carve that shape into a stone bench in rainy Vancouver? A puddle.

Benches that you discover you can't actually sit on are not the only misleading aspect of this monument though. This monument is part of a Canada wide censoring of the real story: the fact that the killing of these 14 women was at least partially a product of the misogyny of Islam.

Media avoid mentioning during events commemorating the Montreal massacre, that Mark Lapine’s name was Gamil Gharbi, until he changed it at the age of 14. That’s a Muslim name. His father was an Algerian-born follower of Islam, whose Canadian-born wife discovered, as she told a divorce court, that he "had a total disdain for women and believed they were intended only to serve men." It’s not an accident that he had that attitude. That’s what Mohammed taught, the prophet who spoke for Allah.

And it may not be an accident that his son Marc Lepine was yelling “alla akber or something…” as he gunned women down, a female witness told a radio station on the day of the massacre. That was reported by writer Mark Steyn, whose source was a good friend in Montreal. But that radio interview was never to be heard again. Censored.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somalia-born devout Muslim who became a feminist and has written about Islam’s misogyny, says that Islam, unlike other religions, is determined to push the world back into the 7th Century. Islam responded by issuing a death order. She now needs 24 hr. guards. That’s the way Islam deals with feminists. It’s hardly surprising that Marc Lepine yelling, “feminists!” as he gunned down women at L’ecole Polytechnique.

Where the monument gets misleading is on a pink granite track on the ground encircling the benches. On the track are carved the names of hundreds of women murdered by men. This is the treacherous track to moral equivalance. No distinction is made between Marc Lepine and murderers from cultural backgrounds which view the killing of women as an aberration that should not go unpunished. Lepine was socialized under Islam, which teaches that it is acceptable to murder uppity women. Hirsi Ali lived in terror of being murdered by her father when he sent her to Canada for an arranged marriage and she instead detoured to Holland.

In front of the circle of benches is a pink granite arch that reads, "Marker for Change". Come on. Things aren't going to change until people can talk about the contribution of Islam's misogyny to the massacre of the Montreal women without being afraid of the politically correct types -- some of whom were no doubt involved in the planning of the monument -- dismissing them as racist. Until we can commemorate the murdered women by being honest about what victimized them, monuments like the one in front of Pacific Station are just useless wet p*ssy benches in the rain.

Mike Quits Carnegie Board

Last night at the Carnegie Center Board meeting, a decision was made to remove Grant Chancy from the Board as he has not shown up at a meeting for some time. This means that a by-election to fill Chancy's seat will have to be held.

Michael Read, Secretary, did not want the Board to remove Chancy as it would increase his stress level. Read announced that if the Board did this, he would have to resign too. And he did.

The Carnegie Board is having trouble keeping seats filled. Two weeks after a homeless man, William Simpson, was elected to the Board last June, Carnegie Executive Director Ethel Whitty delivered him a letter from the City barring him indefinitely. He was accused of operating a website which "features links" to a blog which criticizes Carnegie staff. Simpson stands on the sidewalk out front during Board meetings. The incident lead to international news coverage of Vancouver's "blog burning" City staff.

Board member Sophie Friegang wanted a review of the barring of her fellow Board member, Simpson, saying a "terrible mistake" had been made. No luck though. So she resigned too. She submitted a letter stating something to the effect that she couldn't work with a people who did not respect human rights.

Man Throws Soup, Gets Arrested

On Sunday night, a French guy who sometimes volunteers as a dishwasher at Carnegie Center in exchange for food vouchers, got into an argument with Anthony, a kitchen supervisor and CUPE member.

The French guy was heard yelling near the cash register while buying soup. He then walked into the larger cafeteria area which was crowded with people sitting at tables eating their dinner. it was roughly 6:30 p.m.

Security guards, all CUPE members, were already in the cafeteria. It is possible that Anthony had called them when the argument started. Carnegie staff are quick to call security when an argument erupts.

The French guy threw his ceramic bowl of soup at Phil, a veteran security guard. There was soup on the floor, spread across the length of the room. Phil and a new security guard grabbed the guy. Phil called John, a security guard who was in an adjacent dining area, to come and help.

The three guards held the French guy down. One was holding his legs, one his arms, one his shoulders. A witness said, "It was like everybody was remembering the tasering [death] at the airport and they made sure to give this guy space to breath."

Security called Vancouver Police who arrived in less than 5 minutes and put handcuffs on the guy.