Why?

Because sometimes we need a larger perspective:

Monsanto Sued By Migrant Workers Over Labor, Housing Conditions

It seems the bigger they are, the more intent corporations are on squeezing everything they can out of workers, doesn't it?

H/t GMWatch and Sandra Harris

More on Rob Ford

I hope that I can be forgiven for what might appear to some as either an unhealthy obsession with Toronto's chief magistrate or an Ontario-centric regional preoccupation. It's just that I continue to be fascinated by the fact that Canada's largest city is led by someone so manifestly unsuited for the job. What it says about the current state of democracy in Canada I will leave to you to ponder.

After Ford's 'crime-summit' with Dalton McGuinty yesterday, here is what The Star's Martin Regg Cohn had to say:

The tone was civil, but the bottom line is that Ford brought nothing to the table.

No ideas, no money, no serenity in a time of anxiety for the people of Toronto.

Sadly, that assessment could also be applied to Ford's entire mayoralty thus far.

Chris Hedges On Contemporary Journalism

H/t Disinformation for this:

"We Need Justice"

So says a young Hispanic boy in the following video, a followup of the police brutality in Anaheim I posted about yesterday:

A Success Story Rob Ford and Other Reactionaries Won't Like

Those who see issues in simplistic and absolutist terms will not care to even acknowledge the existence of this letter from a Star reader. It speaks to something that neo-conservatives are loathe to acknowledge, the fact that we live in a society where interdependence and co-operation rather than selfish and exclusionary individualism are key factors in success on many levels:

I grew up at Black Creek and Trethewey. I ran with a tough crowd. I have been in more stolen vehicles than I can count. I hid a gun in my locker in high school for a friend. I was popular — everyone knew who I was. I had parents who seemed to not care what I was doing or where I was. I was playing basketball outside three blocks away on the night police officer Todd Bayliss was shot.

So how did I get out? How am I not in jail? How did I go to university, graduate, get a job, get married, move to Milton and have two kids? Why didn't I get pregnant in junior high like three of my classmates?

I'm not sure I have the definitive answers. I got involved in sports teams and music. I had teachers who cared if I showed up. One teacher asked me what I was going to do with my life. I didn't have an answer. When he asked me about my university applications, I laughed. We didn't have any money, my parents were uneducated and not concerned with school. My situation was not uncommon. After that conversation I was approached by many of my teachers with offers to help with applications, loans and scholarships and a higher paying summer job. Something clicked from there. I was important to people, they didn't want me to fail.

Community and school programs work — maybe not for everyone but they work. We need to show kids that there is hope, that people care what we become, that we can have pride in ourselves and our achievements. Pointing out “immigrants” and trying to deport gang members doesn't work. They come back.

What is the solution? Start young, give kids options, and put money into keeping them off the streets and out of gangs.

It's not a short-term solution, it's a long-term one. There is no quick fix, this takes time and investment. Aren't the kids worth it?

Deanna Churcher, Milton

Another Home Run for Ibbitson

In his quest to become the top scorer in the Harper admiration society and ensure a much-coveted seat in the Red Chamber, John Ibbiston hits another home run in yet one more of his sycophantic endorsements of dear leader in today's Globe.