The Ballad of Larry O.

In Ottawa, Ontario
A city justly famed,
A man called Larry came to try
And play polit'cal games.

Refrain:
Sing hey-down-derry for Larry O, Larry
Confident, certain, and true
"If I can run a business, I
Can run a city too!"

He said, "I think that I'll be mayor,"
And set about to win.
But did he say "Kilrea, retire,
And I'll get you somethin'"?

(Refrain)

He told the people all forlorn,
"No taxes will you pay!
"For I'm a businessman, you see,
"And I've a special way!"

(Refrain)

"I'll keep your services entire,
"Nor cut a single job,
"For business management will save
"You money by the gob!"

(Refrain)

His words were sweet upon their ears
For zero's zero yet.
The right-wing vote belonged to him
No Kilrea ran to split.

(Refrain)

So soon he had the jewels and robe
And rule (not absolute)
The wand of business management
He'd wield to bring us loot.

(Refrain)

He cancelled transit plans because
They weren't quite right, he said.
And then there was a lawsuit raised
Upon the city's head.

(Refrain)

For cities are not businesses
And Larry's magic failed
And soon police investigate
If they should have him jailed.

(Refrain)

For it turns out in politics
You're not supposed to say
To your opponent, "Please withdraw,
"And here's what I can pay."

(Refrain)

But Larry still is resolute,
The city's on his side!
At least his friends and family are,
And some in the wool dyed.

(Refrain)

While zero, it turns out, is not
Quite zero after all.
At least we didn't vote for one
Who'd tax us one and all!

(Refrain)

So what will be our Larry's fate?
It's too soon yet to tell.
But to the end he's resolute
That he has led us well.

(Refrain)

If others disagree, it's that
They're biased against him.
If they don't see our Larry's light,
They must be slightly dim!

(Refrain)

Violence against women isn't cultural

One of the things that's so distressing about the death of Aqsa Parvez (and there's plenty to be distressed about) is the way it's being interpreted in the media. Reading the stories, listening to the radio, you'd think this was all about culture -- speficially, Muslim/immigrant/'other' culture.

It's not. This is about violence and control.

Muhammed Parvez didn't kill his daughter because she wouldn't wear a hijab; he killed her because, for whatever reason, he felt he could. That's not a characteristic of Muslim culture. That's a characteristic of all patriarchies. There are plenty of white, 'western' men who've killed or hurt women because they felt they could.

It would be nice to talk about the fact that Aqsa felt threatened by her family, that she said she was being beaten, that she had to flee her home more than once. It would be nice to talk about the background and how we can stop this from happening again.

Instead, all the stories lead with this idea of a cultural clash.

This isn't about a hijab. This is about patriarchy and violence.