In Honour of our Fallen Reporters - Why I will No Longer Hesitate to Write Articles on Any Topic I Want

This is an article I wrote during the pre-election discussions in 2015 when people were debating whether it's right or wrong for a woman to wear a face covering.  While that issue is thankfully dead, I believe we need a fully open discussion about the threats in this world. 

I hesitated discussing it and writing about this topic given the climate we live in these days.  However, it has been brought to my attention with a violent strike of lightening, that this will not work.  This article that outlines how many journalists have DIED trying to report the ugly truths of this world makes me ashamed that I even hesitated writing any article on any subject.  2015 Deadly Year in Journalism Put to Daily Sword 

I will no longer hesitate to write what I want to write.  

Why I fear the Niqab

By Melissa R. Knive

This is my attempt to begin a conversation about the Islamic faith in an era hijacked by terrorism and the lack of understanding in the Western media I follow.

I’m a born Canadian which means that, while I’ve spent some time in church and attended a high school in the separate (Catholic) system, I grew up in a largely secular society.  I have had many discussions about religion, but I’ve never truly believed in an all-knowing, omnipotent “God”.  I’ve lived with the comfortable, privileged ability to say that life has mysteries that I don’t understand but not being committed to a devotion to faith since birth.

Since this is my reality, I am part of the world’s population that doesn’t understand the Muslim faith.  I’ve read that people who follow Islam live life according to and fully encompassed by their religion.  As I live in a free society where my rights are guaranteed, I can appreciate that this could give a person a certain level of comfort in this often unfair world.  I may not understand dedication to organized religion, and I may use casual expressions like “God damn it” when I’m frustrated in a way that would offend some people, but I can surmise that Islam provides a sort of tapestry that people can weave their lives on.  However, as much as I can appreciate the value this faith adds to many people’s lives, I don’t understand it.  Typically to humans, what I don’t understand, I automatically fear as part of an innate reaction.  

Since it is such an all encompassing subject, I can’t simply Google Islam and understand what it means to follow this faith; it’s way too complex.  

Even asking questions have put people at risk in this time of ISIS and Boko Haram.  

My lack of knowledge is regularly highlighted as I watch the nightly news and I have many questions, specifically in regard to women.  In an originally peaceful religion, how has Islam been misappropriated by so many criminals? Why are there so many restrictions on women’s lives in certain populations and yet many women here choose to practice the religion?  How is it that the veil, burqua, and niqab are required clothing with some practitioners, and yet other people say that these are more cultural than religious?  The news tells us about women who are harmed for leaving the house without a male relative; kept from education, travel, and driving; have little access to proper sanitation and medical care (even during their menses); Sharia Law punishments like lashes and stoning; and modesty laws that many of us in the West don’t understand - often in the name of Islam.

On the other side of things, the news talks about women who live a “regular” life as I see it - living, working, driving, and travelling freely and choosing to wear a simple veil.  Like turbans, yarmulkes, and tiecls, they simply cover the hair and you get used to seeing them.  The Niqab and Burqua, on the other hand, cover way more, stick out in a crowd, and disallows you to see the woman’s full face.  To those like me who have minimal exposure to this clothing choice, it makes no sense and stirs up that same, innate distrust of the unfamiliar I mentioned earlier.  Whether it is the woman’s desire to cover herself this much, or a man’s decision, we don’t know… and feel it’s rude to ask… so our minds trigger a fear response.  Is she trying to hide?  Is she regularly beaten?  Is she a terrorist?  Does she need to be rescued?

What about when an immigrant wants to wear this full covering when taking a citizenship oath or doing other business with the government?  Is there something she’s hiding?  Or is there a lack of sincerity in the vow because she (or her family) wants to have more women cover themselves and practice this version of Islam?  

This is the opener of a dialogue I would like to begin with those open to discuss these things.  I’ve purposely refrained from mentioning specific regions and the few terms I do know because I’d rather someone else tell me exactly how they are supposed to be used, rather than accidentally using the term incorrectly because I read the wrong internet source.

Thank you for being open minded.

Trolls of Depression

I'm deeply concerned about the comments I read and hear about people with depression and other psychological conditions like Nicholas Brendon. It is important to realize that getting treatment - something that isn't accessible to everybody - is just one step:

Talk therapy can feel useless and infantilizing, pharmaceuticals can have a nightmare load of side-effects (physical pain, trouble sleeping, stomach and intestinal issues, night terrors, headaches, et cetera), the stigma around your condition can make you feel like hiding away from the world (or make the world not want to interact with you) which only makes things worse, and then there are the everyday responsibilities like paying bills, eating properly, and taking care of others and if you aren't able to do those things, you can feel even worse. So if people would stop being so damn judgemental and consider the war that is trying fix your brain when your brain is the problem, maybe they would have a little compassion. ‪#‎BellLetsTalk‬

Canadian News - Default USA and The World

Now is surely the winter of my discontent - I have had enough of the odd bubble that surrounds Canadian news.  Frequently, stories from the United States and other countries take over the headlines.

One of the reasons I love social media is that I can somewhat control the stories I see.  I can add local information, follow companies I like, read about issues I care about.

But there is a danger in getting your news from favourite sites and social media - you don't read everything that is going on that you might care about but simply aren't aware of yet.  If you don't think about a topic to search for, it likely won't appear.

It is well known that Facebook filters your content so you only see a fraction of what your "friends" and contacts are sharing.

On Twitter, while superior in many respects, stories you don't know about appear - but only if they are "trending".

I also follow issues on Reddit, Google News, and various publications.

My main concern is that I know I'm missing things that I care about.  Yes, it's true that no one can follow every important story; nobody can effect change on every issue.

But if I'm a Canadian who isn't able to travel much and, therefore, is mostly in Canada when I'm doing research on Canadian issues, why does Google always given me American and other international results to my searches?  Why must I put "Canada" in every search so I don't get top results from other countries?  Don't get me wrong, I care very much about international issues, but why can't there be more Canadian content?

I looked up online versions of various Canadian newspapers - several have websites that are not very sophisticated, many links are broken, and most well-designed sites require a paid subscription.  So, I can read about what's happening in downtown Chicago for free but not the Rankin Inlet?

Then there is the issue of our multicultural perspective - we are meant to embrace all of our Canadian friends from every province and territory, from all roots and outlooks - this is the Canada I believe in very strongly.  So why am I familiar with dating lives in Hollywood (even when I actively avoid those sites) but am not able to mention anything I've seen from Quebec cinema?  I grew up watching shorts produced by the NFB and Histori.ca Minutes, but these aren't regularly produced anymore.  CBC no longer has a physical or online store like it used to have - it sells through Amazon and other companies.  Much of their older content is difficult to find and probably filed away in some warehouse or archive that can't be accessed by everyday Canadians.

I love my country deeply and I am very worried that we must take better care of our past and current talents.  Yes, our neighbour to the south is very large and highly populated and they are mostly a benign and friendly giant - but it threatens to roll over and smother us.

Justin Trudeau, our Prince Valiant

Participating in a poll by The Hill Times: Who was the year's most valuable politician in 2015?

My response: It's a tie between Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau

As the system works, we collectively got angry with The Liberal Party of Canada | Parti libéral du Canada over the Sponsorship Scandal and other infractions of trust, so we brought in the The Conservative Party of Canada - Parti conservateur du Canada for 10 years. While encouraging our economy through some dangerous waters, there was a systemic shift attempted in the shutting down of public debate, use of omnibus bills, discussion over how scientists inform us about their research and goals, and the silencing of MPs and Cabinet Ministers in front of the press... So we got angry and gave the reins of power back to the Liberals. In this past election, Stephen Harper made a perfect villain - dower, forceful, driven, enigmatic, and dedicated to his message. Justin Trudeau was made Prince Valiant - the optimistic friend who'd stop and talk to you about your troubles, the leader who would rescue Canada from darkness and superstition. The gallant captain who would smite negativity with his winning smile and openness to discourse. 

The media and the voters ate it up, the NDP fell in the polls, and (when Trudeau won... I mean... when the Liberals won...) the CBC News was particularly smitten with Trudeau's victory. As I was driving to work the morning of his swearing in, the CBC morning show was chattering about how people were crowding around waiting for the ceremony to begin - and then they started talking about the weather - they mentioned how lovely it was, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, "It's as if Helios blessed this morning's events...(paraphrased quote)"... Helios!!! They talked about Helios!!! Gone was any possible prospect of non-partisan journalism, they were so enamoured with the thought of Prince Justin having defeated the dragon Harper.

Sunny Ways, indeed.

I have made a discovery for anyone who has migraines - a community of migraineurs describing how they feel in actual (not clinical) words:

What do migraines feel like?

Here is my contribution to the comments:

This is fantastic!  I'm so tired of clinical terms like "discomfort" and "tender"... I have a few different types of migraine attacks:

(1) My brain is a washcloth being wrung out
(2) My skull is in a vice - this is generally the more "mild" type where I can still do things, it just feels awful.
(3) My brain is suddenly claustrophobic and is trying to escape my skull
(4) My brain has been replaced by a ball that rolls back and forth whenever I move and somehow stabs the side of my head if I move too fast
(5) Ice Pick migraines - sudden and over quickly

I have issues with a lot of medication and get "rebound" migraines when I'm on something.  I can sometimes stop them with Advil gel caps (since I normally feel them coming on) but since I get several in a row, this only works for the first few.  Also, since there are liver issues in my family, I don't like taking medication.  If I don't "catch" a migraine before it gets worse, I get the usual light/noise sensitivity, exhaustion, dizziness, and nausea that many people mention - I also get a sort of numb pain down my arm.

Thank you for setting this blog up and giving us a space to share symptoms.  It often feels like I'm losing my mind when they get bad.

Skewed Numbers

So, I subscribe to newsletters from all the governing political parties in Canada, so I'm used to seeing pleas from all of them for donations and promises about what they would prefer to do when they are in power/what they're doing now that they've won... but the Conservative Party of Canada - Parti conservateur du Canada have gone nuts bashing the other parties so much while they were in power and now it's even worse since they lost.

Here is their latest attempt to make the Liberal Party of Canada | Parti libéral du Canada look like they're trying to destroy Canada and my response (which I cc'd to my MP, Kent Hehr):

Melissa,

The Liberals gave a fiscal update on Friday ... and it's a worrying sign of things to come.

The facts are grim. While our Conservative government left a surplus of over $1 billion as of the end of September, the Liberals are claiming to find themselves $3 billion in deficit already!

While Liberals rush into big deficits, our Conservative Party will fight for responsible spending and balanced budgets. Help us in the fight with a small donation today!

Melissa, it's more than a little concerning how the Liberals want Canada to go into deficit so incredibly quickly.

Canada's finances are too important. We will continue to closely watch their spending, and we will call them out for trying to recklessly plunge Canada back into the red.

I'm going to be blunt: this is what we're going to be up against for the next four years.

We will fight tirelessly for accountability and transparency -- but we're going to need your help. Do your part with a $35 donation today!

Thank you,

Lisa Raitt
Critic Responsible for Finance

My response:

What’s concerning is how fast they found this discrepancy in the numbers - Both the Liberals and the Conservatives have a history of presenting numbers in the most palatable way possible before elections and then the other party comes up with completely different figures. 

I don’t believe either party fully.

I’m tired of seeing Canadian companies sold off and our everyday living not getting better. I’m tired of skewed numbers making the sow’s ear look like silk.

And I’m tired of these notes with Conservative letterhead telling me how untrustworthy everyone is - guess what? I can decide that for myself.

You guys screwed up and limited communication and debate while you were in power, so you get to sit down for a bit while the Liberals hold the reins of power.

Why don’t you take this time to think about how you can make Canada stronger and stop knocking the Liberals as they announce what they are attempting.

Politics isn’t just about saying “No” - You have to say “Yes” occasionally.

Melissa Knive

A Global Citizen

Every day, the world challenges us.  It shows us darkness and violence that we cannot comprehend - and then it shows you a glint of light in a beautiful sunrise, a great work of art, or the success of your "betters".  It throws down the gauntlet and it is our job to pick it up and slap the darkness.  Pull the curtain back to show the light to someone else and prove yourself to be the better - Because if we're all better, we arm ourselves to defeat that darkness that constantly threatens to overwhelm and smother us.