Finally, Canada has made a statement to the international community: ”We’re not as soft as you might think” Surely, Canada is coming of age. They may not have the courage to mess with more aggressive minorities like fundamentalist Muslims yet but they can always go for a Pole and Taser him to death. And when he falls down dying and writhing in pain the brave Canadian men of RCMP (Which Stands for ”Royal Canadian Mounted Police”, The Canadian Scotland Yard in other words) can be heard shouting war slogans and here is what they say and do, ”A voice is heard yelling, “Hit him again, hit him again.” The four officers clamber on top of him, restraining his arms and his head, as Dziekanski twitches. Finally, he is still.”
You can CLICK HERE to READ THIS STORY-”Questions arise after Polish man Tasered by Canadian Mounties dies ”- by Associated Press from Daily News which carries the account in writing and also the video of Canadian toughness.
The Poles and the one who recited Pushkin in New Zealand
Poland’s poverty has driven Poles out of Poland in search of employment all over the World especially to the rich Western European countries; Germany, UK and even Ireland. CLICK HERE to read another interesting article, ”SHOCKED TO DEATH” from The Los Angeles Times on the Polish immigrants that also mentions the Canadian hospitality. Today, The Poles work under very hard conditions, for very low wages and do jobs that no one in their ”host country” would do, certainly not for that kind of money. Just last night I left a comment on an Irishman’s blog who lives in Poland and blogs on the life in Poland. I talked about how I met a young Irish guy here in New Zealand who was on a working Holiday visa and I barraged him with questions about Ireland’s recent economic boom, the consequent flow of immigrants and Irish society’s reaction to it. Ireland has always been the nation of emigrants not immigrants.
He informed me that probably the biggest group of immigrants to Ireland is of Polish folks. Scores of them work like mules for peanuts but what is worse, large sections of Irish society resent them and even hate them for – the oft cited crime in immigrant countries- immigrants taking up their jobs. It is indeed a great irony that Irish people– in their less fortunate times– faced grave discrimination, hatred, prejudice, racism in the new lands during the time of great Irish exodus and mass immigration for better life in countries like America.
About 2 years back I met a Polish guy here in New Zealand who lived in our private student accommodation over Christmas break as the rents are cheap. He was a tall and handsome man of nearly 40 with a very warm personality but with some aggressiveness and impatience, especially when discussing something. He was educated and could talk about European history, politics and so on. He scared most people but I managed to strike friendship with him as I showed interest in knowing things about Poland.
One morning I found him in the common kitchen scrubbing the sinks and the slabs all by himself. He told me he had nothing better to do so he thought of cleaning up the really messy kitchen. He also mentioned that someone has been stealing his food and meat from the common refrigerator (a common crime). I expressed my indignation and said, this kind of thing makes one so angry. But he just smiled warmly as he scrubbed the sink, ”Oh no no…!!! So what, maybe someone needed the food. Let’s say, I donated the food. I’m a Catholic and you gotta show compassion for the needy and hungry.” Of course there were bits of sarcasm but he took it quite well and concentrated on cleaning the kitchen.
It was a warm sunny December (summertime in Southern Hemisphere) in New Zealand and the place was really peaceful as most international students (mostly Chinese) go to their homes for summer holidays. To divert his attention to pleasanter things I asked him questions about Polish and Russian culture. He seemed to know a good deal about Russia. So I asked him whether he knows anything about Alexander Pushkin. He put his scrubbing pad aside and with passionate gestures and gregariousness this gentle Pole broke into a poem by Pushkin in his booming voice. I had never seen him so happy.
