Over the decades I have written many letters to the editor and articles that have appeared in both local and national publications; never once have I hesitated to use my complete name, as required by almost all publications, my logic being that I am not ashamed of anything I write for the public record.
Since the advent of online newspaper commentary, there has been a debate raging over whether people should be allowed to hide behind pseudonyms, the argument in defense of such practices being that anonymity ensures full and vigorous debate of a plethora of issues without fear of sanctions or reprisals.
I have never been in favour of anonymity or the use of pseudonyms because they frequently allow the cowardly to post vile and hateful comments with little restraint, the main reason I rarely even bother reading online remarks anymore.
Jack Layton's announcement of yesterday that he is facing a new cancer battle is the catalyst for this post. While the overwhelming majority of online comments have been positive, supportive, and sympathetic, a minority has issued forth with hate-filled attacks on the NDP leader, wishing him nothing but sickness and death because they disagree with his politics. I can't help but wonder how many of these cowards would have posted such a vile stream had they been required to identify themselves.
At a time when many newspapers are changing their policies governing online commentary, is is time for Canadian publications to follow suit.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
How Useful Are Food Banks In The Longterm?
As a volunteer at one of the local foodbanks for the past few years, I have often felt ambivalent about their existence. While there is no question that they are heavily, even exhaustively used, they were never intended as a long-term solution to the problem of hunger in our society. And while I have met many people sincerely dedicated to feeding the poor, I can't help but wonder if there aren't better ways of addressing the problem, if we have the political will to do so, a big question given the current selfish emphasis by the right on the good of the individual over that of the collective.
Skimming over the Globe website, I came across an article written by Elaine Power entitled It's time to close Canada's food banks, which makes for some instructive reading.
Skimming over the Globe website, I came across an article written by Elaine Power entitled It's time to close Canada's food banks, which makes for some instructive reading.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Star Readers 'Weigh In' On Rob Ford's Performance
Although not a resident of Toronto, I always find it difficult not to pay attention to the goings-on in 'The Big Smoke,' as its citizens are fond of calling their city. Much has already been written by bloggers evaluating the disparity between the rhetoric and the truth of Ford's much-bruited 'gravy train,' but a series of letters in yesterday's Star under the heading of Where's the beef? which I have just gotten around to reading, are well worth perusing.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Stephen Harper: Pay No Attention To The Stats Can Man Behind The Curtain
The other day I wrote about the fact that statistics show serious crime in Canada to be at a 40-year-low. Despite this, of course, the Harper Government is marching headlong in its pursuit of measures to combat crime, including, of course, the building of super prisons that we neither need nor can afford.
In today's Globe, Jeffrey Simpson, in an incisive column entitled Tories judge evidence of falling rates inadmissible, explains why such statistics have no impact on our Conservative overlords. If you get a few moments, check it out.
In today's Globe, Jeffrey Simpson, in an incisive column entitled Tories judge evidence of falling rates inadmissible, explains why such statistics have no impact on our Conservative overlords. If you get a few moments, check it out.
Friday, July 22, 2011
The Star: Police Strip Searches On The Rise
As reported in today's Toronto Star, "Toronto police strip searched roughly 60 per cent of the people they arrested in 2010, compared to 32 per cent 10 years ago, according to police statistics."
Given recent high profile incidents of this practice, some have suggested that the authorities are using the searches as a tool of intimidation and humiliation, yet another indication of a creeping authoritarianism insinuating itself into our social fabric.
But there may be another explanation. Given the high profile evidence of faltering police facial-recognition skills, and since we all come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and endowments, perhaps they are merely employing an adaptive strategy to more definitively and completely identify us for future reference, whether that be in a court of law or elsewhere.
Given recent high profile incidents of this practice, some have suggested that the authorities are using the searches as a tool of intimidation and humiliation, yet another indication of a creeping authoritarianism insinuating itself into our social fabric.
But there may be another explanation. Given the high profile evidence of faltering police facial-recognition skills, and since we all come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and endowments, perhaps they are merely employing an adaptive strategy to more definitively and completely identify us for future reference, whether that be in a court of law or elsewhere.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Canada’s crime rate at lowest level in almost 40 years: StatsCan
Thus reads the headline in a story posted online by The Globe and Mail.
Amongst the latest Statistics Canada findings, the following facts are worth noting:
There were 554 homicides in 2010, down 56 from the year before. The decline in the homicide rate was largely driven by a decrease in British Columbia, where the rate hit an all-time low.
There were 693 attempted murders last year, down from 801 in 2009. This resulted in the lowest level in more than 30 years.
Nearly 93,000 vehicles were reported stolen last year, representing a 15 per cent drop and continuing a downward trend that started in the mid-1990s.
Nearly 153,000 youth between the ages of 12 and 17 were accused of a crime in 2010, almost 15,000 fewer than a year earlier. The youth crime rate declined by 7 per cent.
Three cities had increases in their crime severity index, which measures the seriousness of crimes: St. John’s, Sudbury, Ont., and Peterborough, Ont. The cities with the lowest crime severity indexes were Guelph, Ont., Quebec City, Toronto and Ottawa.
Of course, before we make the mistake of feeling reasonably safe, I suspect the Harper regime will remind us of the 'fact' of unreported crime lurking beneath the statistics like a great white shark trolling offshore for the unsuspecting - that is, if they even bother to comment after having achieved a majority in the last election with their wealth of scare tactics.
Amongst the latest Statistics Canada findings, the following facts are worth noting:
There were 554 homicides in 2010, down 56 from the year before. The decline in the homicide rate was largely driven by a decrease in British Columbia, where the rate hit an all-time low.
There were 693 attempted murders last year, down from 801 in 2009. This resulted in the lowest level in more than 30 years.
Nearly 93,000 vehicles were reported stolen last year, representing a 15 per cent drop and continuing a downward trend that started in the mid-1990s.
Nearly 153,000 youth between the ages of 12 and 17 were accused of a crime in 2010, almost 15,000 fewer than a year earlier. The youth crime rate declined by 7 per cent.
Three cities had increases in their crime severity index, which measures the seriousness of crimes: St. John’s, Sudbury, Ont., and Peterborough, Ont. The cities with the lowest crime severity indexes were Guelph, Ont., Quebec City, Toronto and Ottawa.
Of course, before we make the mistake of feeling reasonably safe, I suspect the Harper regime will remind us of the 'fact' of unreported crime lurking beneath the statistics like a great white shark trolling offshore for the unsuspecting - that is, if they even bother to comment after having achieved a majority in the last election with their wealth of scare tactics.
Police Facial Recognition Skills Continue To Decline
Whether it is a food, air, or water-borne virus, or a strange and hitherto undocumented brain condition, there is no question that police facial recognition skills are declining, calling into question their ability to accurately testify in criminal cases.
Perhaps the most public example of this dysfunction was evident in the case of Adam Nobody, the young Toronto man who was viciously assaulted by Toronto Police during last year's G20 Summit in Toronto. Despite the fact that he was swarmed by up to 15 officers, only one, Const. Andalib-Goortani, has ever been charged, the rest of the officers apparently unable to identify other colleagues who took part in the assault.
The affliction's latest known victims are members of the Hamilton Police Service who took part in a botched drug raid in May of 2010. Having broken into the wrong apartment (perhaps number recognition failure is a symptom of the disease's progression?) in their efforts to arrest a 36-year-old black cocaine trafficker, (colour-recognition problems?) they instead arrested a 5-foot-7, 130-pound 59-year-old refugee from Burma, Po La Hay, who wound up with facial lacerations, three broken ribs and a fractured vertebra.
As reported in today's Hamilton Spectator, Hay was the key witness Wednesday at the opening of the assault causing bodily harm trial of Hamilton police officer Ryan Tocher, who has pleaded not guilty. Despite Hay's testimony that he had been kicked in the ribs two or three times, and despite the fact that five officers were in the kitchen where the beating took place, no one seems to be able to identify Tocher as the assailant.
I can only hope, for the sake of peace, order, and our security, that Canada's best medical minds are currently and urgently researching this terrible malady that seems to be targetting our boys and girls in blue.
Perhaps the most public example of this dysfunction was evident in the case of Adam Nobody, the young Toronto man who was viciously assaulted by Toronto Police during last year's G20 Summit in Toronto. Despite the fact that he was swarmed by up to 15 officers, only one, Const. Andalib-Goortani, has ever been charged, the rest of the officers apparently unable to identify other colleagues who took part in the assault.
The affliction's latest known victims are members of the Hamilton Police Service who took part in a botched drug raid in May of 2010. Having broken into the wrong apartment (perhaps number recognition failure is a symptom of the disease's progression?) in their efforts to arrest a 36-year-old black cocaine trafficker, (colour-recognition problems?) they instead arrested a 5-foot-7, 130-pound 59-year-old refugee from Burma, Po La Hay, who wound up with facial lacerations, three broken ribs and a fractured vertebra.
As reported in today's Hamilton Spectator, Hay was the key witness Wednesday at the opening of the assault causing bodily harm trial of Hamilton police officer Ryan Tocher, who has pleaded not guilty. Despite Hay's testimony that he had been kicked in the ribs two or three times, and despite the fact that five officers were in the kitchen where the beating took place, no one seems to be able to identify Tocher as the assailant.
I can only hope, for the sake of peace, order, and our security, that Canada's best medical minds are currently and urgently researching this terrible malady that seems to be targetting our boys and girls in blue.
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