Petition backs store owner charged after thief tied up
This is an outrage. If the police must exercise "triage," as they put it, to such an extent that criminals are allowed to victimize local businesses on a regular ongoing basis, then obviously there are not enough police on the force or else they aren't doing their jobs. Citizens trying to make an honest living are thus left with no other recourse than to perform a citizen's arrest. If this right is removed as well, criminals will rule the streets!
I know about neighbourhood blight from personal experience. I lived in Southern California (including Los Angeles) for many years, and most of the entire region has descended into gangland central over time. The first step necessary for this nasty downward spiral to occur in an area is for police to be too understaffed and/or apathetic to perform proper neighbourhood patrols when local crime is on the rise. The second is for its citizens to fail to take action against it, either due to not realizing the severity of the problem in time, ignorance of their rights (such as citizen's arrest), being stripped of their rights (as in this case), or later, hopelessness and/or fear of retribution from the criminals. This is how it starts. And frankly, I have found it impossible to explain to Canadians who have lived in Canada all their lives, just how truly bad it can get.
If you're not shocked and dismayed by this recent turn of events with Mr. Chen, you should be. His stripped rights are your stripped rights should you ever be victimized by crime. Even an effective, well-staffed police force can't have an officer on every corner - so if victim's rights are taken away, and the police continue to be ineffective, that's the beginning of the end for your neighbourhood. Take it from someone who knows.
God help us all if we're going to be expected to stand idly by while we or other law-abiding citizens are being victimized.
If you haven't yet signed the online petition, I encourage you to do so. It calls for a clearer definition of citizen's arrest, defence of victims' rights, and for the charges against Mr. Chen to be dropped, amongst other things.
07 June 2009
05 June 2009
We are not the U.S.' clean-up crew - part 2
My other half said some things about the previous post which are worth sharing; I've paraphrased them here.
Send the detainees to George W. Bush's big ranch in Texas, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld's mansions, and John McCain's eight houses. There's plenty of room.
They created the problem; surely they won't mind being part of the solution.
Besides, Bush told President Obama "if you need anything I'll be right here." Looks like it's time to make that phone call, Mr. President.
We are not the U.S.' clean-up crew
Canada refuses U.S. request to accept Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo
Once in a great while, Harper actually does the right thing.
These Guantanamo Bay prisoners, who have been found innocent, cannot go home (for reasons I will expound on in a moment) but the U.S. doesn't want them either. So, Obama requested that Canada take them... but Harper refused to help the U.S. dump its self-created Gitmo problem on someone else, and for this I have to applaud him.
Some Canadians have a "send 'em back!" attitude toward these prisoners. But this problem is not as not that simple for a number of reasons... not the least of which is that many of these prisoners would be wrongfully persecuted a second time if they were sent back to their country of origin. In addition, many of them weren't in their home country at the time of arrest precisely because they were trying to escape wrongful persecution there.
This is a problem of the U.S.' own creation so the solution needs to come from them too. If these prisoners have been found innocent, then the U.S. needs to take them in, compensate them for the atrocities committed against them, give them counselling to help them overcome the trauma they endured, and provide full services to help them integrate into American society. Expensive? Yes! Messy? Yes! But it is the right thing to do for anyone who is wrongly convicted and brutalized. And it will teach American politicians and voters to think twice about this idea that it's okay to flout U.S. and international laws and run roughshod over human rights as long as you feel justified in doing so. This lesson is long overdue. I lived in the U.S. for many years - so I know from whence I speak. I have many American loved ones, don't get me wrong... but a lot of Americans need to smarten up.
You don't create a disaster of this magnitude and then dump it on someone else's doorstep. You made your bed, now sleep in it.
And don't think we missed the irony that a mere 2 weeks ago the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security was wrongfully accusing Canada of letting the 9/11 terrorists into America, and now here's the U.S. President asking us to take people they deem unfit to stay on their soil. Unbelievable.
Good on ya Harper, for telling them where to stick it.
Once in a great while, Harper actually does the right thing.
These Guantanamo Bay prisoners, who have been found innocent, cannot go home (for reasons I will expound on in a moment) but the U.S. doesn't want them either. So, Obama requested that Canada take them... but Harper refused to help the U.S. dump its self-created Gitmo problem on someone else, and for this I have to applaud him.
Some Canadians have a "send 'em back!" attitude toward these prisoners. But this problem is not as not that simple for a number of reasons... not the least of which is that many of these prisoners would be wrongfully persecuted a second time if they were sent back to their country of origin. In addition, many of them weren't in their home country at the time of arrest precisely because they were trying to escape wrongful persecution there.
This is a problem of the U.S.' own creation so the solution needs to come from them too. If these prisoners have been found innocent, then the U.S. needs to take them in, compensate them for the atrocities committed against them, give them counselling to help them overcome the trauma they endured, and provide full services to help them integrate into American society. Expensive? Yes! Messy? Yes! But it is the right thing to do for anyone who is wrongly convicted and brutalized. And it will teach American politicians and voters to think twice about this idea that it's okay to flout U.S. and international laws and run roughshod over human rights as long as you feel justified in doing so. This lesson is long overdue. I lived in the U.S. for many years - so I know from whence I speak. I have many American loved ones, don't get me wrong... but a lot of Americans need to smarten up.
You don't create a disaster of this magnitude and then dump it on someone else's doorstep. You made your bed, now sleep in it.
And don't think we missed the irony that a mere 2 weeks ago the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security was wrongfully accusing Canada of letting the 9/11 terrorists into America, and now here's the U.S. President asking us to take people they deem unfit to stay on their soil. Unbelievable.
Good on ya Harper, for telling them where to stick it.
12 May 2009
Watch out, Cheerios are a "drug"!!
Popular cereal is a drug, US food watchdog says
Gee... Maybe instead of wasting time on insipid crap like this, the FDA should concern itself with why drugs like Phen-Fen and Vioxx get expedited through their approval system, despite evidence of their dangerous side effects and permanent organ damage... while drugs that have been used safely in Europe for many years are still awaiting approval. But it won't, because the pharmaceutical companies have plenty of $$$ to keep the FDA in their back pockets for years to come. Expect to hear about more "drugs" in your groceries as the FDA tries to look like it's actually doing its job.
I know Obama has his hands full with the many disasters at hand, but I sincerely hope he gets his hands on the FDA sometime during his tenure. The whole thing needs to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch, with full transparency and independent review of their decision-making process.
Gee... Maybe instead of wasting time on insipid crap like this, the FDA should concern itself with why drugs like Phen-Fen and Vioxx get expedited through their approval system, despite evidence of their dangerous side effects and permanent organ damage... while drugs that have been used safely in Europe for many years are still awaiting approval. But it won't, because the pharmaceutical companies have plenty of $$$ to keep the FDA in their back pockets for years to come. Expect to hear about more "drugs" in your groceries as the FDA tries to look like it's actually doing its job.
I know Obama has his hands full with the many disasters at hand, but I sincerely hope he gets his hands on the FDA sometime during his tenure. The whole thing needs to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch, with full transparency and independent review of their decision-making process.
09 April 2009
Republicans becoming a 'regional party'
Apparently, the Republicans are petering out in all but the Deep South. This is fantastic news! And we have Rush Limbaugh - and other loudmouthed right-wing asshats like him - to thank for accelerating the demise of their party.
After all, Rush Limbaugh et al are doing us all a favour. They are coming out and showing the ugly undercurrents so often thinly veiled by the Republican party - contempt for non-whites, women, non-Christians, environmentalists, and the poor, for starters. It's always been covert, of course, almost never being spoken but seen very clearly in the policies it implements. For once, with Rush and his ilk at the helm, the Republican party's actions actually match its words.
It's my fondest hope that, faced with the threat of extinction, the Republican party will be dragged - kicking and screaming, no doubt - into the 21st century. And with it, the Reform Alliance -- oops I mean Conservative Party of Canada. It's time to dump racist, sexist, classist, xenophobic notions and get with the program.
After all, Rush Limbaugh et al are doing us all a favour. They are coming out and showing the ugly undercurrents so often thinly veiled by the Republican party - contempt for non-whites, women, non-Christians, environmentalists, and the poor, for starters. It's always been covert, of course, almost never being spoken but seen very clearly in the policies it implements. For once, with Rush and his ilk at the helm, the Republican party's actions actually match its words.
It's my fondest hope that, faced with the threat of extinction, the Republican party will be dragged - kicking and screaming, no doubt - into the 21st century. And with it, the Reform Alliance -- oops I mean Conservative Party of Canada. It's time to dump racist, sexist, classist, xenophobic notions and get with the program.
08 April 2009
Silly pervert, tits are for kids
Woman inundated with hate mail over poolside breastfeeding
It seems there is no shortage of right-wing whackjobs who don't get the concept that the first and primary purpose of breasts is NOT sex, but rather, feeding one's young.
Humans are mammals. That starts with m-a-m-m-a, as in...
...aw gee what's that word again??...
...oh yes... MAMMARY.
That means "boobies," for those of you who missed Biology 101. That's right, just like every other mammal we are equipped with these for the purpose of feeding our babies.
If you have, in your mind, sexualized breasts to such an extent that you have lost sight of their entire reason for existing in the first place, there is something seriously wrong with your mindset. It takes a pervert in the extreme, to see a breastfeeding mother and think "pedophile." Just what do these folks think people did to feed their infants before artificial baby formula came along? They do realize they probably nursed at their own mothers' breasts at one time themselves... don't they?
But then, it's easy to confirm such perversion, since such individuals have taken to sending this woman hate mail calling her a pedophile and specifying the obscene acts they would perform on her. These people need counselling, and fast. Even for the ones who didn't threaten her with such acts, their sexual mindset is obviously so twisted that we can no doubt expect a high percentage of sexual offenders in this group. I hope this woman presses charges against each and every one so we can get them off the street.
I personally think it's a beautiful thing when a mother does not resort to allowing her baby to go hungry, or feeding it artificial baby formula, out of fear of offending some ignorant twisted pervert. First and foremost, boobs = baby food. And it's the best baby food, above and beyond any substitute humankind can concoct. So perverts, get over yourselves. Boobs were not made for you.
It seems there is no shortage of right-wing whackjobs who don't get the concept that the first and primary purpose of breasts is NOT sex, but rather, feeding one's young.
Humans are mammals. That starts with m-a-m-m-a, as in...
...aw gee what's that word again??...
...oh yes... MAMMARY.
That means "boobies," for those of you who missed Biology 101. That's right, just like every other mammal we are equipped with these for the purpose of feeding our babies.
If you have, in your mind, sexualized breasts to such an extent that you have lost sight of their entire reason for existing in the first place, there is something seriously wrong with your mindset. It takes a pervert in the extreme, to see a breastfeeding mother and think "pedophile." Just what do these folks think people did to feed their infants before artificial baby formula came along? They do realize they probably nursed at their own mothers' breasts at one time themselves... don't they?
But then, it's easy to confirm such perversion, since such individuals have taken to sending this woman hate mail calling her a pedophile and specifying the obscene acts they would perform on her. These people need counselling, and fast. Even for the ones who didn't threaten her with such acts, their sexual mindset is obviously so twisted that we can no doubt expect a high percentage of sexual offenders in this group. I hope this woman presses charges against each and every one so we can get them off the street.
I personally think it's a beautiful thing when a mother does not resort to allowing her baby to go hungry, or feeding it artificial baby formula, out of fear of offending some ignorant twisted pervert. First and foremost, boobs = baby food. And it's the best baby food, above and beyond any substitute humankind can concoct. So perverts, get over yourselves. Boobs were not made for you.
Same-sex marriage and ignoring Canada, in America
Gay marriage supporters watch historic vote in Vt
Great! Now the Republicans won't have to bitch about "activist judges" any more. It's been through the legislature. One long-time tactic by the social conservatives when things don't go their way is to say judges shouldn't have a say in such matters (never mind that the courts are precisely where civil rights matters should be decided, both in principle and by precedent). Then they fight to have the legislature decide. If that doesn't go their way either, they say that was never the right way to begin with and it should be voted on by the people. Or they will skip the legislature and take it to the voters (such as has been done in California), and if that doesn't go their way, they'll say it should have gone to the legislature. It seems they're running out of excuses and options, which is good news because their legal shell games are getting downright boring.
It's very disappointing, however, that the writers of the AP article mentioned above left something out of their list of countries allowing same-sex marriage. Hell-l-ooo-oo-o.... Canada?? No wonder most Americans don't know anything about Canada! Once again, Canada has been ignored in American media.
No, I'm not an American-hater. See this post - I spent most of my life in the States so I know what I'm talking about. Americans routinely ignore Canada in the media and this is just the latest blatant example. It's become even more readily apparent to me upon moving to Canada, just how consistent and thorough this ignorance really is. One needn't wonder why American media pisses Canadians off.
I've written a sternly worded message to the writers of the article, both for their lack of research integrity and for the systematic ignorance of Canada in U.S. media. I'll report back with the results, but to be honest I'm not getting my hopes up.
Great! Now the Republicans won't have to bitch about "activist judges" any more. It's been through the legislature. One long-time tactic by the social conservatives when things don't go their way is to say judges shouldn't have a say in such matters (never mind that the courts are precisely where civil rights matters should be decided, both in principle and by precedent). Then they fight to have the legislature decide. If that doesn't go their way either, they say that was never the right way to begin with and it should be voted on by the people. Or they will skip the legislature and take it to the voters (such as has been done in California), and if that doesn't go their way, they'll say it should have gone to the legislature. It seems they're running out of excuses and options, which is good news because their legal shell games are getting downright boring.
No, I'm not an American-hater. See this post - I spent most of my life in the States so I know what I'm talking about. Americans routinely ignore Canada in the media and this is just the latest blatant example. It's become even more readily apparent to me upon moving to Canada, just how consistent and thorough this ignorance really is. One needn't wonder why American media pisses Canadians off.
I've written a sternly worded message to the writers of the article, both for their lack of research integrity and for the systematic ignorance of Canada in U.S. media. I'll report back with the results, but to be honest I'm not getting my hopes up.
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