Archive for category Multiculturalism
Dizaei Rascal… I Should Say So
Posted by David Conway in Crime, Multiculturalism, Race and Equality on 09/02/2010
Yesterday at the end of a four week trial at Southwark Crown Court, a jury found Metropolitan Police Commander Ali Dizaei guilty of having abused his position as a police officer by wrongly arresting and falsifying the case he brought against a young Iraqi web-designer in July 2008. Dizaei received a four year prison sentence.
The Writing is Back on the Wall for Christianity, Sort Of
Posted by David Conway in Multiculturalism, Religion, Social Cohesion on 22/09/2009
Within the Roman Church, St Francis’ feast day falls on October 4th and is marked by ceremonies to honour and bless animals. When a Catholic church in London’s Kentish Town sought to display in a local public library a poster advertising a forthcoming ‘pet blessing’ there, it was refused permission on the grounds the event was a religious one.
It is Not Just Family Unity or Income that Determines Childhood Well-Being
Posted by David Conway in Education, Family, Marriage and the Culture, Immigration, Multiculturalism on 21/04/2009
Far be it from me to say a bad word about the institution of marriage or the benefits of the two-parent family. However, anyone tempted to hold the vast recent increase of family break-down and single parent families in Britain responsible for the country’s very low place in the European rankings for youth well-being should think again.
Many European countries with appreciably much higher rates of out-of-wedlock births than Britain come much higher than it in those rankings. One other European country, with a much lower rate of out-of-wedlock births than Britain (Lithuania), comes even lower than it does in the rankings.
It’s time to shelve the Equality Bill
Posted by James Gubb in Civil Liberty, Human Rights, Immigration, Multiculturalism, Political Correctness, Race and Equality on 30/10/2008
Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), an organisation armed to the teeth with legal powers to protect groups that claim to be victims of oppression, recently expressed fears that the recession will not only harm ethnic minorities but also some white people.
“It is clear,” he said, “that what defines disadvantage won’t be black or brown, it will be white. And we will have to take positive action to help some white groups”.
Was he saying that we should help people when they need assistance, regardless of their colour? If so, he was spot on.
Continue at the Daily Telegraph Blog.
An Inauspicious Start for the Year of Intercultural Dialogue
Posted by David Conway in Multiculturalism on 18/03/2008
2008 is European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. I bet you didn’t know that.
According to its own dedicated website, the purpose of the year is ‘to encourage all those living in Europe to explore the benefits of our rich cultural heritage and to learn from different cultural traditions’.
A flavour of the sort of thing being aimed at can be gathered from the list of those whom the European Commission describes on its own website as “personalities from the cultural scene from across Europe and beyond who have offered their services as ‘European Ambassadors for Intercultural Dialogue’”.
continued on the Centre for Social Cohesion blog.
It does matter if you’re black or white….if you’re a school kid, that is
Posted by James Gubb in Education, Multiculturalism, Race and Equality on 13/04/2007
The DfES ought to be proud: they’ve cracked the child psyche and come up with the best way to encourage good behaviour in formerly wayward and wild pupils, namely, for schools and teachers to offer ‘prizes’ and increase their use of ‘encouraging language and gestures’. This is some of the guidance offered by the Elton Report (something commissioned 18 years ago – which, incidentally, is a longer time than I’ve been alive!), that the government has just brought in.
The guidance also states that ‘a rewards/sanctions ratio of at least 5:1 is an indication of a school with an effective rewards and sanctions system’ – which makes me wonder exactly what constitutes an ‘effective system’ in today’s society. Though I’m all for teachers being encouraging and supportive, I’d like to point out that whilst we may be children, we’re not ‘dense’. It is painfully obvious when a teacher is being genuine in their praise and when false praise is used. Words may be cheap, but they are more ‘effective’ when used sparingly.