A Saturday Night Special

While I plan to do more with this topic tomorrow, the following video, via The Raw Story, offers some interesting insights on the minimum wage in the United States. All of the points made, moreover, are equally applicable to Canada.

Another Victim Of Police Violence?

Although not nearly as public an event as the killing of Sammy Yatim, largely because no video exists to indict police behaviour, the shooting death of Steve Mesic at the hands of Hamilton police on June 7 is no less tragic and unfathomable.

Mesic, released from observation for an anxiety disorder at St. Joseph's Hospital, called his pregnant fiance that fateful day and began walking home via The Lincoln Alexander Parkway. Reports came in of a man walking in traffic; police were called, and Mesic went off into a public walkway where an angry confrontation with two unnamed police officers resulted in his being gunned down.

You can read the full story here, along with the complete police silence public demands for information have been met with.

Because there is no video record of this lethal confrontation, I have no faith that we will ever learn the true circumstances behind what some would describe as the police murder of an unarmed man.

Sammy Yatim: A Guest Commentary

I received the following as a response to one of my blog posts on Sammy Yatim, the young man gunned down a week ago by the Toronto Police. Anon's comments and insights are more powerful than anything I could have written:

Sammy...
I've wanted die...Only I was to scared to do it myself.
I pushed everyone around me to edge, silently hoping they would save me.
That night on the bus, those girls most likely ridiculed you, pushed you...as you felt you have had enough. New to Toronto, trying to fit in, left home...and nowhere to go. I know what it's like...No one understood...You allowed everyone off the bus. If you wanted to hurt someone, you had plenty opportunity...you did not. You wanted to say your're angry, and had no other means of expressing, I know...I've hurt too.
When the police arrived and you yelled obcenties, I picture myself. "what are you going to do!?" It always escalates. In my past at least. And then I am left feeling..."What have I done" It's as if I black out in rage. I still feel that way when an officer is in my rear view. I have done no wrong, yet feel complete anxiety. That night when confronted by so many officers, you realize you have really done it this time. You know your in trouble and your scared. I know. I know, because I could never control my anger. I know, because at that moment, you come slowly come back to reality.

As I watched you back up, move forward, and unsure of what do. It all seems cloudy. Your still angry, and hoping the other party realizes, I know you new they would never hurt you. You know they were going to calm you. And faced with guns pointed at me, I know I would need somebody to whisper it's okay. You were waiting for that moment, the moment when you could release the knife, as that was your only armour. I could only imagine the thoughts going through your mind. I can remember at my darkest moments of rage, coming back to reality only once I had pushed it too far, I remember thinking..."Gawd...what have I done".

Eighteen is such a young age, and so very tough. So much pain, learning love, life, and mean kids. I am always amazed at the students who say" Hey he went to my school" and shed tears, and the ones who always thought he was such a nice guy, yet probably never spoke to him as he passed in the hall. They gather at the funeral and form huddles of tears, yet while alive he was alone.

We all suffer from mental health, EACH AND EVERY HUMAN.

It's how we deal with it that seperates us from a patient. Some report it, some deal with it, some ignore it, some medicate it. We all have issues in our lives.

It's how each individual handles their stress or depression. I hope other teens feeling left with no other options are confronted with options and not left with death. RIP Sammy.

A Battery Recharger

Still trying to get my psychic energy back, I thought I would take this opportunity to post an interview of Neil Turok conducted a few months ago by Alan Gregg. Turok, the currrent head of the Perimiter Institute, delivered this year's Massey Lectures on The Universe Within. While some of what he discussed is beyond me (the world of quantum physics) the first and last part present a man who is deeply humane, the antithesis of the kind of arrogance embodied by people like Richard Dawkins.

I especially appreciated two things about Turok: his surprising optimism ("The problems we face were created by humans, and they can be solved by humans.") and the respect he has for various pursuits of knowledge, including religion which, along with science, he acknowledges as seeking utimate answers. If you want to skip the heavy topic of quantyum physics, I would recommend you watch the first several minutes of the interview, and then skip ahead to about the 16:00 minute mark for more comprehenisble and relatatble fare as he talks about Africa's potential and his respect for a variety of disciplines, including religion.

Please note there is a slight glitch at the start of the video, with several seconds of silence.

Kids, Don't Try This At Home

The multi-talented Pat Robertson offers two solutions to what I am sure is a common household problem:

A Break From The Grimness

The last few days, with all of its bad news, have left me feeling just a little depleted, so I offer the following both as a change of pace and to lighten the mood. Enjoy:

Sammy Yatim: A Petition From Change.Org

A petition has been established at Change.org. seeking justice for Sammy Yatim. At last count it was closing in on 27,000 signatures. Here is how it reads:

In the early hours of Saturday, July 27, 2013, Sammy Yatim was shot dead by a Toronto Police officer as the 18-year old man stood alone in a stationary TTC street car with a 3-inch knife in his hands. His death has caused an uproar in the community and oridnary people are asking, "Why did Sammy Yatim have to be shot dead by the Police?"

In the last 25 years, a number of people have been shot dead by the Toronto Police who claim to be acting within the law. After every such tragedy, inquiries and inquests are held that make recommendations, but it seems none of these policies and procedures have succeeded in preventing the death of men and women who need help, not harm.

In 1996, a medical student Edmund Yu was shot dead as he sat alone in the back seat of a TTC street car, armed only with a tiny hammer.

Now, Sammy Yatim has been killed by a police officer firing not one or two, but nine bullets and all within a few minutes of his first encounter with the young man who was alone inside a stationary TTC street car.

An inquiry is taking place. However, we fear this inquiry too will end up like earlier such exercises and no will be found responsible for the death of this young troubled man who had all his life ahead of him.

If the police constable who shot Sammy Yatim dead is not charged, once more we will send a message to ordinary citizens that Police forces are above the law.

For the good of communities and for better civilian-police relations, let a court decide whether any laws were broken in the death of Sammy Yatim.

This petition is not to bring disrepute to the fine men and women who serve in the Toronto Police and who we consider the world's finest police force.

Having said that we feel the SIU and the AG of Ontario should intervene in the interest of justice and also to assure the citizenery who feel they have no voice in this matter.

We acknowledge that despite the many videos, we do not know the entire story. However, based on the video and the reaction by Police Chef Bill Blair and Police Chair Alok Mukherjee, where they immediately suspended the officer in question, we feel there is enough evidence for us to conclude that something awfully wrong happenned that resulted in the death of Sammy Yatim.

In view of the above, we feel if an apporpriate charge is not filed against the police constable who caused the death, the citizenry will lose confidence in the legal system and the men and women who have been entrusted to deliver justice.

If you are interested in adding your name to the growing numbers seeking justice, click here.