Friday, August 5, 2011

Weekend Update - Volume 32

Note to Readers
I've renamed the ever-popular (ahem?..) "French versus English " column, which will now go under the very un-original name of Weekend Update.
The column will become a regular feature, usually appearing on Friday and will include the usual French versus English type stories as in the past, as well as interesting tidbits that you may find of interest.

French-only sign offers English services.
A letter to the editor in the Montreal Gazette caught my attention for its unintentional irony.
" Re: "Health Care in English" (Your Views, July 22). These signs are on all wards at the Centre Hospitalier Régional du Grand-Portage in Rivière du Loup, where I work as a dépanneur-locum."- Jeffrey Brock, Baie D'Urfe
I won't bother directing you to the online version of this story, it doesn't attach the picture of the sign that is included in the print version of the Gazette. I had to use my camera to capture it, so the quality is a bit lacking.
For those without any French, the French-only sign tells English speakers that they can get service in English by just asking (in French?)

Do you need service in English? Better read French!
It reminds me of a highway sign along Highway 20 near Quebec city that informs motorists that they can tune into an English radio station for tourist information. The whole sign was in French!
INFORMATION TOURISTIQUE - ANGLAIS - RADIO 104.9...really.

Complaint smacks of  false concern
A letter on vigile.net from a member of the Reseau de resistance du Quebecois is a classic example of a concern troll, a contributor who pretends to be sympathetic, whilst actually trying to stir up trouble.

Read this bullshit....
"A sad situation persists for months in the riding of Sherbrooke, where the sign of Premier Jean Charest on King Street West, is in an extreme state of disrepair"...(blah...blah..blah) ....Sherbrooke residents deserve a little more respect from their MP, so we ask him to remedy this deeply deplorable situation." LINK{FR}
Sylvain Meunier -Reseau de resistance du Quebecois
Now I'm not making any accusations, but aren't those black stickers on the defaced sign a signature of the RRQ?
And who exactly is the likeliest culprit to have defaced the sign.

Methinks of the arsonist who pulls the fire alarm...

Air Canada - French Fine Breeds hate  
The French media was taken aback to reaction in the English community over Air Canada's fine for not having a bilingual employee available to serve a bilingual  francophone passenger in French.

An article in a French news site ran a story entitled "Air Canada triggers a stream of hate by Anglophones towards the French speakers" The article claimed that in light of the ruling that Air Canada pay $12,000, anglophones unleashed a stream of hate in the comments section under a story published online in the Globe and Mail. LINK{FR}

That ever trustworthy site Ameriquebec, translated some of the more salty missives for the benefit of their readers. LINK{FR}

By the way, the original complainer is none other than Michel Thibodeau, an Ottawa federal government employee who is a serial language complainer, who launched among other things,
"a complaint against OC Transpo public transit company, demanding that it enforce its policy of treating francophones and anglophones equally. That entails greeting passengers, calling out stops and making announcements in both languages, he said.
"So that francophones don't feel left out," he added."

I wonder if riders in Montreal feel left out when metro and bus announcements are made in French only?

The Law is the Law
Here is an interesting letter to the editor that I came across;

It was Thursday of last week, the day of my son's prom.... As we were invited to a pre-cocktail in the afternoon hosted by the parents of one of his friends, I stopped at the nearest branch of the SAQ, not to arrive empty-handed. My son asked me to buy him "something special" to drink late at night with friends after the prom. Dressed in his beautiful rented tuxedo and bow tie slightly askew, he accompanied me in the store and we agreed on a 10 oz bottle of dark rum - to share in the form of rum & coke - I laid it on the counter next to a bottle of Italian sparkling. The clerk immediately asked for an ID card for my son. I intervened by saying that I was his mother and was the one purchasing these products. "No, madame, the law is the law." which an austere supervisor confirmed. Taken aback, I first insisted that I approved this purchase and then that I loved the dark rum. Nothing worked: They just wouldn't let me purchase that bottle and I had to raise my voice for them to let me finally leave with the one destined for the cocktail party. I was shocked and insulted at seeing my right to grant a privilege to my son violated...
My son turns 18 in a few months, he finished high school with an average above 80 and is a quiet boy. Moreover, he does not have a driver's license and as he takes a taxi to return home when it's late and so I feel comfortable in allowing him to get pasted on prom night! Maybe a little alcohol in the blood will help him overcome his shyness and allow him to flirt with the girls. The corporation has decided to interfere in our family life, to absurdly treat me as a child, much as my boy. I could have gone alone to any branch and get a 40 oz bottle of gin for my son and there's nothing the nanny-state would have been able to do about it. However, in all innocence, I went with him to the SAQ, discussed drinking, put on limits and finally agreeing with him on a small plastic bottle. Ultimately, I was denied my parental authority. My maternal authority has been completely devalued in an episode of ridiculous political correctness. It is the drug dealers that are far more damaging, rubbing their hands in glee at the great ethical concern of the SAQ. What rigidity and most importantly, what hypocrisy! -Chantal Mantha .............Read the original letter in French
I'm sure many of us sympathize with the mother, but how many of us would write a letter to the editor, describing our attempt to flout the law?
And what kind of newspaper would print such a letter?

It's summer in Montreal = Flooding!
An underpass at L'Acadie boulevard remains Montreal's most dangerous spot to be when it rains hard.  The drainage system is unable to cope with copious amounts of water and floods rather badly, a couple of times a year.
We're used to seeing pictures like the one on the right and aren't particularly surprised anymore.

But even hardened Montrealers were taken aback by this flooding incident, which one would assume could only happen in a third world country.

After a summer downpour, a manhole cover exploded on Wolfe Street, between Ste-Catherine Street and René-Lévesque Boulevard. YIKES!


(Video submitted by Michael Vidde, Montreal.)

Here's an old one, but one of my favourite flooding stories;



Farmer needs fishing license to clear flooded farm

"SABREVOIS, Que. - Bureaucrats have added insult to injury for a corn farmer south of Montreal whose fields have been damaged by near-record flooding.
Martin Reid says he's been forced to buy a fishing licence to remove carp that are swimming in a metre of water on his flooded-out fields.
He says he bought the permit to avoid the problems he faced the last time he was forced to remove fish from his flooded farmland. In 1993, Reid was fined $1,000 for illegal fishing.
"My father and I ... were charged by Fisheries and Oceans Canada," Reid recalled. "We were jointly responsible for having caused the death of fish for reasons other than sport fishing."
Reid says the fine will jump to $100,000 if he's cited a second time."
More of the story in the TORONTO SUN

Quebec Emergency Room Wait times grow longer

Florida billboard- 15 minutes wait!
Emergency room wait times in Quebec hospitals grew half an hour longer, reaching an average of 17 hours and six minutes.
Average wait time in the USA is about four hours.
In Ontario wait times are much, much better, with the only problem being Toronto where the time wasted in the ER waiting room is up to 12 hours..
The longest wait times in the province were at the Gatineau campus of the Gatineau hospital, where the average wait time was 25 hours....yup more than one whole day!
Ontario has set a goal of eight hours while Quebec is setting a more modest target of 12 hours.
Good luck!
If you still think US health care stinks compared to our Medicare, read a comprehensive comparison by one of Quebec's best francophone bloggers. READ IT HERE
Even if you don't speak French most of the article is in English and the charts are easy to follow.
Very eye-opening!

Union opposes progress

Hydro-Quebec is advancing a plan to install intelligent meters that can be read at a distance, thus eliminating up to 800 meter readers. Clearly the union representing employees doesn't see it as progress.
Said a union spokesman "We are not against progress, but we find that spending $1 billion and with the resulting  loss of 1,000 jobs on a project based on a presumption, is unacceptable,."said the president of the Quebec wing of the union Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE-Quebec), Lucie Levasseur
Hydro has already promised to re-integrate a least 500 of these employees elsewhere in the company, but it's not good enough for the union which is demanding nothing less than a public inquiry.


Journalism 101..duh!

Metro Montreal- proves you get what you pay for (the newspaper is free)



Big Headline:     HEATWAVE CLAIMS TEN VICTIMS
Little Headline: Ten people died during the heatwave, but the causes of the deaths are unknown.

Gilles Proulx -Anglophobe
Gilles Proulx has spent a broadcast career flinging the most offensive and racist insults at any and all groups in Quebec that are not francophone. He has a particular hate-on for anglophones and Natives.
His latest missive is a rant against Bell Telephone who had the audicity to send him an English speaking installer who allegedly spoke no French.
These type of 'speak white' stories are prone to exageration, but we will for arguments sake take this blowhard at his word.
It seems that the demand for service on July 1 is very heavy due to Quebec's nonsensical policy of having all residential leases start and end on July1st.  It creates an unbelievable burden on movers, Bell, Hydro etc.
But a universal moving day seems to make sense in Quebec, especially when it is scheduled on Canada's national holiday, another sad attempt to denigrate Canada.

In the past, because of the heavy demand created by so many moves, you'd have to wait a couple of days to have a new phone connected, but recently Bell started bringing extra help from other provinces to cope with the craziness of Quebec's moving day.
Some of these extra workers don't speak French and I guess they are assigned to Montreal where most people are bilingual.
To Mr. Proulx, this of course is an outrageous insult and bitter betrayal. He ranted and raved in a newspaper column over the injustice.

The question remains, is it more important to have a Francophone installer a few days later or an Anglophone installer right now? Especially when one is bilingual.
Mr. Proulx went on to tell readers that when he retold his story on television, the crew were rolling their eyes at him, as if he were a "hysterical mental patient, obsolete."  LINK{FR}

Gilles Duceppe won't  go away
In an interview on RDI, June 21, Gilles Duceppe justified Quebec sovereignty in these terms:  
"If Quebeckers, within 15 years, will not move, they will inevitably be on the same slope as the Franco-Ontarians and the Acadians." It is a rapid assimilation, we should not hide from  the truth." 
 It seems that in order to remain relevant Mr Duceppe is upping the rhetoric, in a sad attempt to rekindle the separatist debate that has been firmly placed on the backburner by Quebec voters. The trouble for Mr. Duceppe is that he is yesterday's news, with little or no chance at a political comeback. He has come to symbolize failure and for a politician, it's the kiss of death.

You'd think he'd get a reaction after making the above statement and he did. It wasn't what he expected.

In an article in Le Devoi, Michel Paillé, took Mr. Duceppe to task. Using statistics, instead of emotion, the demgrapher showed that Mr. Duceepe's assertion is nothing but hot air.
According to him, in fifteen years there will be more French-speaking Quebeckers than there are now, hardly the road to assimilation.

Even if Quebec's proportion of Canada's population declines, Quebec's French society is still growing and is no danger of assimilation.  LINK{FR}

Quebec Anglo ex-pats remain loyal
McGill sweatshirt on House M.D
Over the years hundreds of thousands of anglophone Quebeckers made the trek to greener pastures to find opportunity or to escape the maddening language situation.
New York, Toronto, Calgary and Los Angeles have large communities of ex-Montrealers  who have made a new life for themselves not without certain pangs of regret for the old hometown.
Hollywood has a slew of Montrealers toiling in the movie and television industry and it is always nice when they slip a Montreal reference into a television show or movie, tip of the hat to their old hometown
Here's a scene of Thirty Rock;



48 comments:

  1. Re the last post: There is often something said about Montreal or Quebec. The first one I remember as a kid was an episode of Get Smart where Max was put on a plane "to Canada", and in the airport, it was mentioned the plane was going to "Kwee-bec". Max was wearing gloves the size of a hockey goalie's blocker pads, and a coat looking so heavy it was a wonder his body could support it!

    On Kate and Ally, Montreal ex-pat Paul Hecht, occasionally seen as Ally's ex-husband, a physician, mentioned a medical convention he was attending in Montreal; on LA Law, there was a case discussed during their weekly episode-opening meeting about the Quebec Nordiques and Law & Order has mentioned Montreal (Drolet St., Bordeaux "Prison" (Jail, really) and Archambault Prison) on a number of occasions. Too, buses have been stopped by the L & O detectives en route to Montreal. One involved intercepting a getaway in Plattsburgh. I'm sure there are countless others I just can't think of.

    Peter Lenkov, a writer and executive producer of the reincarnated Hawaii Five-O is a Montreal ex-pat, so I'm sure somewhere along the way that show will give his hometown special mention.

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  2. Gilles Proulx is just a rambling, cranky old Quebecois racist. No one cares what he has to say and trust me, no one will care when he drops dead (remember Pierre Bourgault?). Someone should pluck that pen out of his hands and insert a Crayola crayon. Imagine if the tables were turned and a Toronto columnist went off on a Francophone Bell Canada installer going to their home? Odds are he would be treated as a human being and with with respect.

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  3. Haïti chérie dit : Le dernier commentaire est à côté de la plaque comme d'habitude...Comparer Gilles Proulx et Pierre Bourgault démontre votre ignorance et laisse tranparaître le brun de votre chemise de zelote !

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  4. Regarding Gilles Duceppe's comment that the fate of the francophones outside of Quebec is in peril, see the rebuttal from the Ontario Minister of Francophone Affairs:

    http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/canada/327655/franco-ontariens-notre-avenir-n-est-pas-menace-m-duceppe

    My comment: burn!

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  5. - Wait, they complain about a damaged sign; a damaged sign that has RRQ stickers all over it; and they make the complaint on behalf of the RRQ? Are they retarded? And I'm not saying that to be mean, I'm legitimately concerned.

    - "one of Quebec's best francophone bloggers. READ IT HERE"

    I don't understand how I didn't know this guy existed. One of Quebec's best bloggers indeed. Everyone should give him a glance.

    - Lol, I love Proulx. An uncontested master of the sport of taking offence to any old thing.

    - It's completely absurd that he was awarded as much as he was, but like it or not Thibodeau was right in his accusation. We brag about being a country with two official languages, well then let's act like it.

    - I agree 100% with the lady with the SAQ story. I can't undertsand who that retarded policy is supposed to protect or what it's supposed to prevent. I once took my cousin to an SAQ to get him some booze for his 18th birthday which was in a few days (I was going to be out of town for his birthday). A similar scenario emerged as with the lady but I remained calm. I asked "What if he leaves and waits in the car. He won't be here right?" They said no good. I then asked how long I'd have to wait before I can purchase liquor at this SAQ without my cousin being present with an ID. They litterally told me that I'd have to wait 24 hours before returning. I said "You realize that I'm just going to come back tomorrow with my cousin waiting in the car and buy the very same bottle I was going to buy today right?" They said that's fine. I just don't get it.

    - "Haïti chérie dit:
    "Comparer Gilles Proulx et Pierre Bourgault démontre votre ignorance et laisse tranparaître le brun de votre chemise de zelote !"
    August 5, 2011 9:06 AM"

    Ok a) he wasn't comparing them, you decided that on your own. He just mentioned Bourgault (in parentheses no less) in a statement about Proulx. If he was comparing them there would be comparisons in his sentence that would contrast the similar points between the two individuals, which there aren't. And b) even if he was comparing them, how would comparing two individuals who fought for the same cause make one a zealot? Please don't draw conclusions out of thin air to suit your agenda. It isn't very becomming

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  6. The absurdity of this province is astounding.

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  7. Haïti chérie dit: Vous avez raison Adski, l'absurdité de la province doit cesser et la nécessité de devenir un pays s'imposer ! À Jason, lorsqu'on parle d'un individu et qu'a la suite on place le nom de quelqu'un d'autre, c'est normalement parce qu'il y a continuite dans l'idee (desole pour les accents, j'ai un probleme de clavier...)Et Diane Francis et Stephen Harper, meme cause meme profil ? Vous voyez bien que vos raccourcis intellectuels sont scabreux...

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  8. The great big phony expensive bilingual scam.

    The simple facts are as more francophone’s get hired for all government positions less and less English speakers are working for their own governments across the country. Don’t believe me; Go check the stats for yourself. Francophone’s are over-represented in all levels of government including hospitals, law, policing...etc. No fairness, no representation by population. They call it bilingualism, yet the term is never defined on purpose and believe me it doesn’t mean fluency in 2 languages in Canada, at least to the French it doesn’t. No political party will speak for the English speaking majority in this province and country. Practical bilingualism, where numbers warrant… is never defined on purpose. In Ontario, NB it now means segregation. The French (they are actually metis, a mixed race, not french) are demanding French only facilities all over the province, not bilingual, French only. $ Bilingualism is really nothing more then a hiring quota for francophone’s and that is a fact…just ask yourself, why are francophone’s over-represented in all government jobs and how come more and more positions are being designated bilingual all the time? And just as important, how come they are NOT fluently bilingual? Some can barely speak English!

    Go learn our proud, real BNA and UEL history. These were the builders of our country since 1763, not this phony, revisionist lie, spin, nonsense, this bilingual, multicultural,2 founding nations, linguistic duality lie, spin, propaganda that we’ve been living with since Trudeau and Kebec (original spelling) forced this upon the nation. We’ve been part of the British Empire since 1763 and officially and English speaking country for over 200 years, again just the facts...We were never a bilingual country. This is one big expensive lie/fraud that’s been going on for over 5 decades now. Yes 5 decades of changing our history, changing the names of towns, bodies of water…, street names… all over the country, not just Kebec any more. They are revising, falsifying our real BNA, UEL history. Wake up people!

    So while Quebec bans the English language (bill 22, bill 178, bill 101…), wipes out its real BNA, UEL history, while ethnic language cleansing is going on in Quebec, the rest of the country is forced to fund whatever the French (metis) demand. This is going on in every province. Go check.

    See what’s really going on? What are they really up to? - “First Quebec, then we take over the rest of the country, one step at a time…through bilingualism…” PT, “How to take over a country through bilingualism…” SD. How? First comes the right to communicate with gov't in a minority language (ie French),then comes bilingualism, then comes the right to work in the language of choice(ie French), then comes a bilingual boss,(ie French) then comes a exclusively French department and on it goes until its all French. Its happening all over the country, Ontario, New Brunswick… Go check the stats for yourself.

    See what’s really going in Canada? It’s a real mess that no one in public office will deal with.

    Where do we turn?

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  9. While I have total disdain for those separatist racists, Pierre Borgault was far more refined than Proulx the Shrew will ever be.

    Borgault was somewhat to be pitied because he spoke and wrote English so well. I can only conclude he had some bitter experiences in his youth that embittered his outlook and judgment of everything English. Either that, or Lionel Groulx and that other racist preacher that Mordechai Richler mentioned in his book got into his head.

    It's the endless stupidity that goes on in Quebec that at times infuriates me to no end! Collapsing overpasses, protectionism in the construction industry (small wonder, because it seems everybody outside Quebec is better than they are at construction), an inept civil service at the municipal and provincial level and a haven for organized crime and puppy mills.

    On top of that, their scapegoats are everyone who isn't of their own «pur laine» kind. The police intimidate the non-white communities of Montreal North and elsewhere, and burqas, turbans and other religious garb are looked upon as voodoo and don't belong in THEIR society. Nutso!

    Businesses are way overregulated, unions run businesses and tenants tell landlords what to do. Small wonder Shell and Electrolux high-tailed it out of Quebec leaving those well-paying jobs as lost and gone forever. Whatever happened to Hyundai in Bromont? They left after their subsidies were up, and why not? Notice how Camaros are now made in Oshawa and no longer in Ste-Thérèse? Yo, player, there are reasons for all this.

    Whether you like it, or don't like it, what MacLean's wrote about corruption in Quebec is spot-on. The French language media, in their usual hypocritical way, scorned what MacLean's wrote, then pretty much parroted what MacLean's wrote. Then again, that media has always been vicious, deceitful and two-faced. All a big part of the reason a lot of hockey players don't want to come to Montreal to play for the Canadiens. The better francophone players avoid Montreal like the plague. Where the media problems end, English language schooling and tax problems begin.

    The way I see it, Montreal and Quebec altogether are not the best places to do business anymore what with language legislation and high taxes. The Montreal Canadiens, the most storied hockey franchise in the NHL, cannot attract the players they used to. How many head offices have left Quebec since the language nonsense of the mid-70s?

    Speak of the language nonsense, those signs written in French offering accommodation in English. This has been going on forever. I remember Quebec tax return forms used to be written in French on the contents envelope how the forms in the envelope were English. After a few years, they wrote the notice in English.
    As long as there are language zealots running the place, the stupidity will never end.

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  10. ...to Anon @ 12:15PM: I believe there was a publication entitled "Bilingual Today, French Tomorrow" that talked about all that. I never read it, only heard about it.

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  11. "démontre votre ignorance et laisse tranparaître le brun de votre chemise de zelote !"

    "Vous voyez bien que vos raccourcis intellectuels sont scabreux..."

    Me thinks somebody has quite the high opinion of herself. And no there's no intellectual shortcut in my argument. If you really want to argue semantics I'd be oh so glad to oblige. In my opinion (which apparently isn't as valid as yours) I would say that he was "comparing" the general public's reaction to an eventual death of Proulx to the feeling (he believes) of indifference towards the already deceased Bourgault. This is no way a comparison of the two men but rather a comparison of his opinion on the feelings people would have regarding their deaths. Happy, your highness? I layed out the scenic route for you so that your mighty mind would not have to put up my feeble intellectual shortcuts.

    And by the way, of the two of us, you're the one who made an assumption regarding someone's post, and I believe that that better qualifies as an intellectual shortcut. Check and mate.

    And just out of curiosity, why do you fight so "valiantly" for a nationalistic movement that isn't even of your own heritage? As a Haitian, do you not realize that your pushing to make a country out of the provinve/state in which blacks have the hardest time finding employment in North America (minus Mexico)? I'm not insinuating Quebecois hate blacks or that they're all racist, I'm just presenting a fact because I want to know your honnest reasoning behind your alliegance.

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  12. A mon avis, Loi 101 n'est pas la solution, mais il faut dire si on ne peut pas lire "Avez vous besoin de service en anglais?" en français, on doit apprendre le français, c'est simple.

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  13. Haïti chérie, le Québec ne deviendra jamais un pays, c'est bien trop tard - et c'est mieux pour toi, parce que sans le Canada, le fait français a l'Amérique du Nord disparaitrait.

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  14. Editor said:

    "I'm sure many of us sympathize with the mother, (attempting to buy booze for her under-aged son) but how many of us would write a letter to the editor, describing our attempt to flout the law?
    And what kind of newspaper would print such a letter?"

    This is almost as ridiculous as a letter to the editor of a French newspaper in the Outaouais, where the writer identified himself and complained about someone raiding his illegal outdoor marijuana grow operation. Only in Quebec...

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  15. @ Haiti cherie:

    "Comparer Gilles Proulx et Pierre Bourgault démontre votre ignorance et laisse tranparaître le brun de votre chemise de zelote !"

    A brown shirt would look very good on you. It is not Quebec Anglos who are calling for bans on languages or restrictions on access to schools. The Quebec nationalist movement would do Hitler's SA proud.

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  16. Je ne considere jamais les separatistes comme les Nazis; c'est un peu trop

    ReplyDelete
  17. Jacques Beau Vert said...@1:15 AM

    "Je ne considere jamais les separatistes comme les Nazis"

    Open a history book, start reading about
    Ernst Rohm's Sturmabteilung (SA) and tell
    me the RRQ (and others in Quebec) aren't
    the same human shit.

    By the way, the SA became the SS.

    DD

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  18. "The absurdity of this province is astounding."

    Vous qui êtes si "intelligent",que faites-vous donc encore ici?Vous êtes comme ce stupide poisson qui n'aurait qu'a bondir hors de son bocal afin de rejoindre l'océan.

    Seriez-vous un de ces anglos de mauvaise qualité aux capacités réduites n'ayant aucun moyen de quitter ce milieu anglophobe afin de rejoindre,enfin,le paradis des anglos?

    J'attend de vous une réponse digne de votre "logique supérieure" a la moyenne.

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  19. Here are a few links regarding the slaughter and consumption of horses in Quebec. Apparently the Quebecois are just about the only people in North America who will eat these noble and beautiful animals.

    http://www.foodreference.com/html/arthorsemeat.html

    http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1032379/--dirty-little-secret-s-slaughter-industry-under-fire

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  20. Québécois gobeurs d'anglouillesSunday, August 7, 2011 at 6:16:00 PM EDT

    Les Indiens vous diront que c'est la vache qui est sacrée...Question de culture.

    http://www.stophorseslaughter.com/

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  21. "The Quebec nationalist movement would do Hitler's SA proud."

    K can we please stop saying Quebecois are Nazis. It's a needlessly inflammatory reference that does nothing but exacerbate an already endless and pointless debate. Let's stick to the issues.

    Bill 101 may be outdated, but it was an excellent bill as far as saving the French factor in Quebec and possibly throughout Canada and if you deny this you're deluting yourself. But now, 35 years later, it seriously needs to be restructured to better fit our ever evolving society.

    "Here are a few links regarding the slaughter and consumption of horses in Quebec. Apparently the Quebecois are just about the only people in North America who will eat these noble and beautiful animals."

    Unless the animals are being sorely mistreated, you're denegrating the Quebecois based on a choice of food consumption that differs in no way from my and possibly your preference for cow meat or chicken. I agree that the horse is a beautiful and noble animal that I personally would never eat, but I certainly would never hold it agaisnt someone if that's what they chose to eat. Free country, remember?

    "Les Indiens vous diront que c'est la vache qui est sacrée...Question de culture."

    Vous avez entierement raison. But now you have to counter-measure this demand for respect of your own culture with a respect for other cultures and their new and strange customs, and with a name like gobeurs d'anglouilles, I have a feeling that mutual respect won't be your strong point.

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  22. Les américains ont le sens des affaires et bravo pour l'initiative!

    http://tinyurl.com/3c8ghl8

    J'avais déja remarqué l'effort de certains pour s'adresser a nous en français,même au N-H.

    Destination pour nos prochaines vacances?

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  23. Jason the Montreal Anglo said...

    "Bill 101 may be outdated, but it was an excellent bill as far as saving the French factor in Quebec and possibly throughout Canada "

    If you believe that lad, you're deluded.

    "The Quebec nationalist movement would do Hitler's SA proud"

    Why do you assume this insult is intended at
    every French Canadian in Quebec (quebecois -
    would include every person living in Quebec
    regardless of ethnic background ie: quebecker)?

    Says quite clearly " Quebec nationalist
    movement" - the sepperheads.

    DD

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  24. "Destination pour nos prochaines vacances? "

    Careful, Press 9. You start vacationing there en masse, and that might be the end of their openness to you.

    Also, it says that it is only a resolution to be presented at a municipal council meeting. So first of all, it might get voted down, second of all, politically this kind of stuff will never get beyond municipality level, and thirdly, it will not go beyond signage. You don't expect these people to actually speak French to you, do you? I mean, besides "bonjour" and "merci" (that they'll pronounce as "mercy").

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  25. @adski

    Vous devriez lire les nouvelles de plus près.La proposition est déja adoptée.Lisez donc la liste des comportements suggérés par la ville de Burlington.

    Cela vous fait si mal de voir des anglos ouverts aux autres?

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  26. ""Bill 101 may be outdated, but it was an excellent bill as far as saving the French factor in Quebec and possibly throughout Canada"

    If you believe that lad, you're deluded."

    - Yes clearly. The Montreal of the 60s where everything was in English and where French people spoke to each other in public spaces in English and where every single new immigrant was sent to English school clearly wasn't a threat to the French language. Try sticking your head out of that little insulated box of yours and realize that the nationalist movement isn't ENTIRELY wrong. I'm not saying I support them and what they stand for today or at any point (regarding seperatism), but they did save the French language whether you accept and/or like it or not.

    ""The Quebec nationalist movement would do Hitler's SA proud"

    Why do you assume this insult is intended at
    every French Canadian in Quebec (quebecois -
    would include every person living in Quebec
    regardless of ethnic background ie: quebecker)?"

    - I didn't assume you were refering to every QuebeCOIS. You were refering to the seperatists and I completely understood that. What your brain doesn't realize is that while you think you're being noble by not generalizing all Quebecois together, you don't even realize that you're generalizing all seperatists together, which is just as bad. Because while the nationalist movement probably does include a few retards that are Hitler-esque, a good portion of them constitute nice humble people who simply want their specific heritage to be represented in a country, and I feel it's unfair that these people be referred to as Nazis. And by the way, just because someone is federalist doesn't mean they aren't racist and couldn't be compared to Nazis. I know many blacks, muslims, asians and whites who are all federalist but yet are very racist towards one another and would salivate at the chance of racial superiority.

    "Says quite clearly " Quebec nationalist
    movement" - the sepperheads."

    - Wow. Sepperheads... really? You really want to demean yourself to the likes of Press 9 and other such morons by using childish nicknames like they do. And you know how stupid they sound when they use terms like "colonise" and "empire britannique" and when they assume we all get a boner for Kate and William? Well you sound just as assenine when you spout your Nazi rhetoric; you just don't realize it (or don't care) because it stems from your perspective which you assume is 100% accurate. Doesn't hurt to open your mind and act like an adult you know.

    "Les américains ont le sens des affaires et bravo pour l'initiative!

    http://tinyurl.com/3c8ghl8"

    - This is excellent

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  27. @Jason the Montreal Anglo

    Good post Jason!

    Même si tu m'écorches au passage et oui j'adore les expressions chocs.

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  28. "Good post Jason!

    Même si tu m'écorches au passage et oui j'adore les expressions chocs."

    Lol well I'm glad you took in with good humour. Mais j'aimerais retirer le mot "moron" de mon post. Tu n'etais pas implique dans la conversation et donce ne meritais pas de cheap shot. Je suis moi-meme tomber dans la mentalite que je critiquais et j'en suis desole. Tu a entierement le droit a tes "expressions chocs", meme si je ne suis pas d'accord avec.

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  29. Jason, you fail to realize that "protection of language and culture" can be a nicely-sounding euphemism and an excuse for a much more nefarious policy. And you have to analyze each measure for what it likely is. For example, did a complete ban on non-French signage (in effect from 1977 to 1993, overturned only after a UN condemnation) serve to save the French language, or was it a petty and retaliatory measure?

    In the analysis of the Quebec nationalist movement, it also must be noted that around that time the entire western world has lit up, and various movements sprung up to the surface that aimed to overturn the domination of white Anglo-Saxon men. So civil rights, feminism, Franco rights, etc...Much of it was good and aimed to reverse an injustice that lasted far too long, but its nefarious side was that soon rights evolved into privileges, and the oppressed became self entitled and greedy (like the Jews circa 1945, who went from being the persecuted and weak to being the persecutors of the weak from whom they stole the land).

    You also can't ignore the so-called Baby Boomer period of the 50'/60's and the self-esteem movement of the 1970's when parents started raising children with a goal of making them believe that they were special and could do no wrong. These people run our governments and our corporations today. Quebec is no different. Quebeckers claim their uniqueness comes from the language and culture, while Americans/Canadian inhabit the "best countries in the world". So it's the same thing expressed in a different way.

    Other than that, Quebec is just another western consumerist society, where everyone thinks they're special, but in fact they're just obese ugly junk food eating fucks on their way to a shopping mall to buy shit they don't need, but the tv commercial said they do.

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  30. @Adski

    Je suis allé faire un petit reportage photographique il y a 3 jours aux É-U portant sur la mauvaise alimentation.

    Voici une des dizaines d'images prise au N-H.

    http://tinyurl.com/3z6qmx2

    Le type sur l'image doit avoir environ 15 ou 16 ans.

    J'ai vu,entre autres, des obèses en quadriporteur au supermarché incapables de se lever de leur engin.Des services a l'auto a la pharmacie pour y acheter du "slim fast" et des "all you can eat" en quantité que nous ne voyons (pas encore) ici.Je suis allé dans un retaurant "chinois" ou les entrées contituaient déja un repas très lourd ,point de vue calories.

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  31. "Haïti chérie dit : Le dernier commentaire est à côté de la plaque comme d'habitude...Comparer Gilles Proulx et Pierre Bourgault démontre votre ignorance et laisse tranparaître le brun de votre chemise de zelote !"

    Keep in mind that a Quebec nationalist, "Haiti cherie," began this whole commentary about brown shirts and Nazis. The fact is that Quebec is a neo-fascist society, where languages other than French are restricted or banned, where access to schools is restricted based on heredity and ethnicity, and where citizens are encouraged to anonymously inform on their fellow citizens regarding language violations (to the Oqlf).

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  32. @Anonymous 1:12

    Et ou le béton jadis destiné aux infrastructures routières est maintenant utilisé a la construction d'immenses camps de concentration et de fours ultra-performants pouvant contenir bon nombre d'anglos.La stupidité de certains est parfois sans limite.

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  33. adski

    I agree with many things in your post, if not most of it. I wasn't defending 101 and the nationalist movement to justify the many wrongs in our society. I just think it's wrong for people to say Bill 101 was pointless and that Quebecois are Nazis. These things are obviously not accurate and people just seem to love saying them for impact value, and that, to me, is the lowest thing a person could in a political discussion. For instance, to me, the last sentence in your post will only serve to widen the gap between both sides, ultimately making the problem worse. Points can easily be made without such grave stereotypical insults accompanying them.

    If you look at Bill 101 from a francophone's perspective (seperatist or not), it saved the French language (which it did). From an anglophone's perspective (particularly in the 60s and 70s when anglos controlled everything), it's a removal of our status as superior, and this seeps into our heads whether we realize it or not. But it also is a violation of choice of education and freedom of expression and this is what the U.N. condemmed. Now when you combine these factors it can yield bitter anglos who emotionally wave the U.N.'s verdict in the face of bitter yet newly self-confident francophones which causes francos to once again feel like they're persecuted agaisnt even though they might not be necessarily (and this is understandable). Such a situation could easily be rectified if both sides weren't so a) arrogant, b) delusional, and c) petty and immature.

    Here, let's try this. I don't know if people really check this particular thread anymore but here goes. To any resident seperatist who may read this. If I was in a negociation between Quebec and Canada on terms to protect French in Quebec while maintaining equal rights for everyone in the province regarding the English language, I may (and this is just off the top of my head) propose something like this to modify Bill 101.

    - Quebec residents (including new immigrants) can choose to be educated in English or French. This would create equal rights for all Quebecois in regards to Canada's two offical languages. However, since Quebec is a province with a mostly francophone population and was founded by their New France ancestors, if one chooses to be educated in English, one MUST complete an intensive French program that ensures they be fully functional in the French society of Quebec. This ensures that Quebec remain a functioning French society (which is only normal). Another benefit of all this is a potential for very high billingualism rates.

    - Regarding signage, all signs should be in French AND English (unless the name is the same for both obviously), with French on top or to the left and English below or to the right. This demonstartes equality while also putting French as the primary language. Any other language that is not an official language of our country should be added in smaller.

    - Regarding the usage of languages at work, people should be able to speak whatever they wish while on the job, but must first greet clientele in the primary language of the province followed by an English greeting. This again yields equality while maintaining French as the primary language. I mean if we can't even bring ourselves to say "bonjour" before "hello" out of respect, then we really are a big part of the problem.

    If such bill modifications were accepted by the Quebecois, I would recommend a similar if not identical English Bill 101 for all cities and/or provinces throughout Canada with decent sized French comunities as a sign of mutual respect

    Now tell me what you would think of that. Don't hold back. Critisism is necessary to solidify the foundation.

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  34. “If you look at Bill 101 from a francophone's perspective (seperatist or not), it saved the French language (which it did).”

    Jason, if you look at the Patriot Act from the perspective of an average obese ignorant American fuck who never picked up a book in his life, the Patriot Act saved America from an “inevitable” Al Qaida take-over of America and the abrogation of the American “way of life” (which amounts to no more than a daily trip to the local strip mall). But what it really amounted to was that the government, under the guise of protecting its people, gained access to the sphere of private life it could have only dreamed of before 9/11. So was Al Qaida a real threat, or an excuse?

    So the fact that Quebeckers thought this or that is not testament to the truthfulness of the presupposition. It is rather a testament to the fact that governments can so easily mindfuck people and make them believe anything.

    In the end, you'll have to think about it for yourself and come up with conclusions independent of the Quebecois masses, many of whom are either brainless or have selfish interests of their own. You have to think whether 101 benefited an average Quebecois (who today can only hope for the "openness" of the Burlington residents, or else he's screwed), or did it benefit the Outremont elite who effectively neutralized the Anglo competition (with the help of the majority), and then proceeded to educate their sons and daughters in English while leaving others to fend for themselves?

    And what is more likely: that a law (any law) is passed to afford protection to a language and culture (or serve some public interest), or is it passed to serve the interests of a narrow group of people? Think about it, mate.

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  35. Hmmmmmmm. I can definitely see your point as it is a legitimate explanation as all masses are prone to brainwashing (not just Quebecois). Yes I do believe that the elite francos are screwing their countrymen over for their own benefit, but I don't think the Quebecois have come to realize it so blatantly yet... but I think they're getting there (just look at the craziness in Quebec politics right now). It's hard to turn on something you so fervently believe in (especially when it concerns your cultural heritage) and I think that that is something everyone should appreciate and be sensitive to. Change doesn't happen over night. If you believe that the Quebecois are simply ignorant (not ignorant as in stupid but ignorant as in they've simply been denied the chance to learn for themselves) then you shouldn't hate, you should educate and participate.

    Now even though I believe Quebec elites are screwing us over, it is a seperate notion from the language issue because the French language truly does deserve to be protectetd. It's just had the misfortune of being represented by the wrong people. Imagine if the PQ had come in with a fiscally responsible leader speaking of reconciliation with anglos while at the same time wanting to preserve their language. We wouldn't hate Quebec elites, but the language issue would remain because, if you truly think about it, if you remove it from its current cancerous host, it is still a noble goal.

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  36. "It is rather a testament to the fact that governments can so easily mindfuck people and make them believe anything."

    Nous avons des exemples concrets et mesurables d'assimilation des francophones aux Nouveau- Brunswick,dans le roc,aux É-U et ici même au Québec.Que viens faire al qaida dans le propos qui nous intéresse?En passant 30% de la population du Vermont...Was French!

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  37. Jason the Montreal Anglo said..

    "where every single new immigrant was sent to English school clearly wasn't a threat to the French language"

    Anyone who doesn't speak/learn my language is
    a threat - is that your idea of an open mind?

    "you're generalizing all seperatists together"

    In my experience (over 35 years) talking to
    separtists (during political discussions) I've
    found they 'generally' fall into one of three
    groups.

    1. Bigots - doesn't need explanation
    2. weasels - think they will gain (financially)
    from seperation
    3. The lemmings - the people who actually
    believe Bill 101 was to "protect" French (for
    example).

    When bill 101 was passed, my budds father said
    "I understand why they did it", his son's
    response was "but Dad, repression is
    repression". The opinion of two French Canadians
    that day.

    Insofar as the people who don't recognize this
    sterile topic is to distract from the elites
    financial raping of this provice...

    DD

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  38. "Anyone who doesn't speak/learn my language is
    a threat - is that your idea of an open mind?"

    Lol you make me laugh. It has nothing to do with my ideal of an open mind. A government oblgiating new immigrants to learn a language that is not the primary language of 81% (at the time) of a province is just so wrong in so many ways. I love how're you're so quick to rip on Bill 101 for forcing immigrants to learn French and then call me out for saying forcing someone to learn English (in a French province no less) isn't right. This is blatant hypocracy on your part.

    And for Christ's sake I'm not defending Bill 101 as it stands in today's society as a seperatist would. Bill 101 as it is today is backwards in so many ways. I'm simply saying that it did (whether you approve of the motives behind it or not) save the French language, and that is a good thing no matter what you say. I agree that the elites may have done it for shadowy reasons. I concede that. But to say people delusionally believe that it didn't save the French language just because you have emotional build-up towards the elites that instituted the law is fales logic in its most glorious form.

    "In my experience (over 35 years) talking to
    separtists (during political discussions) I've
    found they 'generally' fall into one of three
    groups.

    1. Bigots - doesn't need explanation
    2. weasels - think they will gain (financially)
    from seperation
    3. The lemmings - the people who actually
    believe Bill 101 was to "protect" French (for
    example)."

    There you go. By your own admission, there are more categories of seperatists that aren't so for racist reasons.

    There is no "actually" believing it saved the French language. It DID save the French language (in Quebec anyways)! It also brought on many other problems but don't insinuate that Bill 101 did sweet f***k all, because it did. Again, I agree the elites probably had their own reasons for doing it, and yes we should hate that, but then to go and associate corrupt morons with one of the most beautiful languages in the world is racist or prejudice in a stereotypical sense. It's the equivalent of associating all Americans with Glenn Beck or George Bush, which is a very backwards way of thinking.

    "When bill 101 was passed, my budds father said
    "I understand why they did it", his son's
    response was "but Dad, repression is
    repression". The opinion of two French Canadians
    that day"

    This statement describes perfectly the crossroads Quebec stands at today. The positives of Bill 101 that francophones were seeking have had their effect. French is once again established in Quebec as the dominant language. It is now time to review the negatives of the Bill while ensuring the positive parts stay as they are. People say, "Oh Quebec don't leave! Let's work it out!". And if we weren't such hypocrites we'd say "Fellow anglos and francos, let's not simply ditch Bill 101 nor accept it it in current form, let's work on it together to make it better for everyone."

    "Insofar as the people who don't recognize this
    sterile topic is to distract from the elites
    financial raping of this provice..."

    Nothin to say to this because I do believe the elites are using la question nationale to divert our attention from the bum-f*****g of our province.

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  39. Bill 101 is a fascist law cooked up by a fascist sympathizer (Camille Laurin), plain and simple. One of its un-intended (or intended) consequences has been the subjugation of les Quebecois. They are essentially a captive tax base unable to function outside of Quebec's borders. While to many that may seem perfectly normal its actually quite alarming. For they are a population that cannot vote with their feet. While it could be argued that Bill 101 actually saved Canada by essentially neutering the main argument of the Separatist's of the day, I think that we as a society have grown more mature and respectful of each other since the 1960's-70's. Its time for this law to be put to sleep.

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  40. Jason: "you should educate and participate"

    I have no stake in any of this anymore. I share my thoughts on this blog, but I'm not going to go around preaching and participating. People have to draw their own conclusions, and most happen to draw self-serving ones. You can't change that.

    I do enjoy watching the circus from the sidelines though. Sometimes it's real fun, sometimes it's sad.

    "When you're born into this world, you get a ticket to the freak show. If you're born in this country, you get a front row seat" - George Carlin

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  41. Jason said:

    "There is no "actually" believing it (Bill 101) saved the French language. It DID save the French language (in Quebec anyways)!"

    What a line of bulls*@t. The French language survived for over 200 years in Quebec with no special laws to protect it. If Bill 101 or the OLA had not been passed, French would still be spoken in Quebec today.

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  42. "The French language survived for over 200 years in Quebec with no special laws to protect it."

    Up untill the English sector took over big business and implemented the English language on signs everywhere and obligating francos to talk in English while at the same time flooding immigrants in and teaching them English. You're telling me that if such circumstances had continued for the past 50 years Quebec would still be majoritarily French? If you answer yes to this question you're answering out of complete and total bias. Even if you have complete and utter disrespect for the other camp, can't you not be a sheep and just question the dogma of your camp for a second? I'm an English Canadian federalist who has many issues with Bill 101 but even I admit that Quebec was on its way to being English, slowly but surely, especially in Montreal.

    "If Bill 101 or the OLA had not been passed, French would still be spoken in Quebec today."

    Probably, but much much less.

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  43. Jason MA: "while at the same time flooding immigrants in and teaching them English"

    The immigrants were unwelcome in French schools until Bill 101 was passed, which is when Quebec did a 180 degree turn. I guess they figured that from an unwanted bunch of ethics that they kicked to the other side, they could keep them on their side and try to make a political use of them.

    -----------

    Jason MA: "I admit that Quebec was on its way to being English, slowly but surely, especially in Montreal."

    What has changed? You must have noticed that the rhetoric of fear hasn't gone away. We still hear on daily basis how "Montreal s'anglicise", and the whole of Quebec too. This is with Bill 101 of 35 years, not without Bill 101. So all these laws have been passed over 3 decades ago, with fanfare and enthusiasm, and have been defended staunchly to this day...only for Quebec to remain in the persistent state of total insecurity. Still, today. Hey, something doesn't add up here. Either 101 worked and saved Quebec, or it didn't. Of two contradictory assumptions, only one can be true.

    The truth is that French Quebec is not in danger, but must co-exist with English simply because of demographic reality. If that scares anyone, well, that's tough shit. Demographics is what it is. Can't mess with it or change it just to alleviate the fears of a few frightened people, who may also happen to be not so frightened to begin with, but more of exploiters of the issue (what is more likely, a person walking around fearing that any day now his language will cease to be spoken, or a person walking around thinking, shit, this situation is rather convenient, we can use it to our advantage).

    The truth is exactly the opposite to the nationalist mantra - which flip flops from "French is about to die tomorrow" to "French is the official language of the majority" (i.e. politically strong enough to secure official status in Quebec and even within the rest of the country, not all languages get to have that). The truth is exactly in the middle of the 2 extremes. French is neither in danger (unless 7 million people walk away from it, in which case it's their choice), and it's not a particularly crucial language given the context (yes, it is dominant in the regions of Quebec, but Quebec is a small part of this continent, and this world). Quebec nationalists prefer to loudly promote logically irreconcilable contradictions (important official language...that will cease to exist any day now), when the truth quietly lies in the middle.

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  44. Jason MA, one thing you must have noticed is the security/insecurity card that's being played. One minute, 101 is the law that brought security to the Quebecois people, the next minute it's about how frightened and insecure they all are. Something doesn't add up.

    As for 101, that law was rather taxing on a lot of people (50,000 or so couldn't put up and left). But for those who stayed or came after, don't you think that they would appreciate if at least the disgustingly manipulative insecurity card was taken out of the equation? How do you think these people feel, after deciding to compromise, to find out on daily basis that it was all in vain (because the Quebecois people are still insecure)?

    Isn't it also possible that many of these people are not so insecure, but have learned that privileges come from playing the insecurity card? Isn't that within the realm of possibility too?

    And for those who are genuinely worried, are they worried that French is disappearing off the face of the earth, or worried that French has to co-exist and compete with another language? Because there is a big distinction between the two.

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  45. @La douzaine d'anglos frustrés de ce blogue

    Êtes-vous les mêmes qui étiez a la manifestation(sic) contre la loi 101?

    Je voulais simplement savoir c'est pour quand la prochaine manif?Question d'archiver le tout.

    Quand le Québécois insécure que je suis est en crise,je regarde la vidéo sur youtube et mon insécurité disparaît comme par magie.

    Merci de crier haut et fort votre mécontentement!

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  46. Jason, your pro 101 arguments are false. Francophones in Quebec weren't kept down by the big bad Anglo but by their own church. Prior to 101 immigrants streamed into English schools not by choice but because they weren't allowed to go to French schools by their administrators ( ie. the church). You should also note that before the 1960's, Quebecois post secondary education graduates were practically non-existent. We're talking maybe a couple of hundred university graduates a year. Higher education was a value that simply didn't exist among les Quebecois back then and you can blame the Church for that one as well. Now, rewind back in time, imagine yourself a owner of an American or British company that sets up shop in Montreal in the first half of the last century. Are you going to hire managers with post secondary degrees (Anglos) or would you hire someone w/o any formal management training just because they are Francophone? That is why Anglos got the best jobs back then. Times have changed, the Church (in Quebec) is dead and Francophones are some of the best and brightest graduates out there capable of landing the top jobs because of their training.

    Jason, your pro 101 arguments are false. Francophones in Quebec weren't kept down by the big bad Anglo but by their own church. Prior to 101 immigrants streamed into English schools not by choice but because they weren't allowed to go to French schools by their administrators ( ie. the church). You should also note that before the 1960's, Quebecois post secondary education graduates were practically non-existent. We're talking maybe a couple of hundred university graduates a year. Higher education was a value that simply didn't exist among les Quebecois back then and you can blame the Church for that one as well. Now, rewind back in time, imagine yourself a owner of an American or British company that sets up shop in Montreal in the first half of the last century. Are you going to hire managers with post secondary degrees (Anglos) or would you hire someone w/o any formal management training just because they are Francophone? That is why Anglos got the best jobs back then. Times have changed, the Church (in Quebec) is dead and Francophones are some of the best and brightest graduates out there capable of landing the top jobs because of their training.

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  47. "Jason, your pro 101 arguments are false. Francophones in Quebec weren't kept down by the big bad Anglo but by their own church. Prior to 101 immigrants streamed into English schools not by choice but because they weren't allowed to go to French schools by their administrators ( ie. the church). You should also note that before the 1960's, Quebecois post secondary education graduates were practically non-existent. We're talking maybe a couple of hundred university graduates a year. Higher education was a value that simply didn't exist among les Quebecois back then and you can blame the Church for that one as well. Now, rewind back in time, imagine yourself a owner of an American or British company that sets up shop in Montreal in the first half of the last century. Are you going to hire managers with post secondary degrees (Anglos) or would you hire someone w/o any formal management training just because they are Francophone? That is why Anglos got the best jobs back then. Times have changed, the Church (in Quebec) is dead and Francophones are some of the best and brightest graduates out there capable of landing the top jobs because of their training."

    Hmmmm... allot of this makes sense. Althoug a)I'm not pro-Bill 101, I'm pro keeping the French language alive. b) Whether we like to admit it or not, the anglos were rough on the francos. Yes the church may well be the ones that trampled the Quebecois down to the level they were at, but anglos took advantage of that level and basically trated francos like they were dispensable and interchangeable cheap labor. You'll never convince me that anglophones respected francophones and treated them right pre-101.

    "Francophones were in essence victims of bungling up the colonial war. Coming over and stealing land from other people, and then letting someone else beat you at your own game leaves you royally screwed. It makes you lose the status of the dominant power, but you also lose the sympathy vote (because you’re not a conquered Native Indian, you are a loser colonialist).

    It’s like a bully on the playground that loses to another bully. He’s no longer number one, but people don’t forget that essentially he is a bully too. The fact that you are a weaker bully doesn’t change the fact that you are a bully."

    Now THIS makes 100% sense. One of my personal favourite arguments to use.

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