And now for the completely ridiculous...

What a mess in Gaza. It’s a total disaster. You’d think I’d have something insightful (or at the very least obnoxious) to say about it, but I don’t. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent too much time thinking about it in my professional life. Or maybe it’s just that I’ve become so cynical about the whole thing that any opinion seems utterly futile.

Anyways, in lieu of insightful and intelligent commentary on the Middle East, I will instead partake in immature and idle gossip. I want everyone to know that I’m calling it now: within the next 12 months Peter Mackay and Condoleezza Rice will hook up. That’s right folks- you heard it here first. Now that Pete’s all healed up from those nasty Stronach wounds, he’s raring to go. I had my suspicions back in April when Pete first met Condee in Washington…the guy was gushing like a little schoolgirl! After blubbering on about being such a fan, he went on to gush some more about how he’s followed her career for years, and how he’s grateful to have met her… (click here for the whole juicy story)

I’m not saying they’ll be like boyfriend and girlfriend or anything…I’m just saying they’re gonna be doing some hanging out. Mark my words- sure as I predicted the celebrity mullet- we’ll be seeing many more shots like this in the future.

Canadian Multiculturalism- sucking and blowing at the same time.

It’s World Cup time, and one can’t help but think about multiculturalism. We Canadians love to pride ourselves on our multicultural mosaic. Here in Toronto, we have taken to thinking of ourselves as Canada’s multicultural mecca. In many ways, World Cup soccer can be understood as a metaphor for Canadian multiculturalism; dozens of different cultures coming together, tolerant of each other’s differences, exhibiting cosmopolitan sportsman-like behaviour as fans toot their horns and wave their flags in appreciation.

The thing is, we Canadians haven’t been doing so well in the multicultural department of late. Subsequent to the arrests of 17 alleged Muslim terror suspects, our politicians and pundits have been preoccupied with the task of trying to understand what motivated a group of Canadians to do such a thing. Angry Canadians are demanding to know how and why fundamentalist and extremist attitudes have taken root in our society. Funny thing is, the Canadian Islamic Congress has been trying to determine the same thing; three years ago they requested (and were denied) federal funding to answer this very same question. It seems that while we demand that our Canadian multicultural values be adhered to, we don’t care to support the kind of research that might offer insight into why some groups reject this most treasured Canadian value. For all the hot air being spent condemning the alleged terror plot (and the communities who supposedly allow such extremism to foster), the government’s decision not to support the Muslim community’s research proposal seems all the more ironic. As the great philosopher Bart Simpson remarked, “I didn’t think it was possible for something to suck and blow at the same time”.

Which brings me back to soccer and our preoccupation with (the illusion of?) our Canadian multicultural paradise. I live in little Portugal, and it seems that amidst all the jovial celebrations after Sunday’s game (the horns were honking for 6 hours), 30 to 40 of these happy Canadian Portugal fans broke into a massive fight and several people were stabbed.

If indeed World Cup soccer stands as a metaphor for multiculturalism, perhaps Canada is the soccer hooligan.