The Plastic Dodo?

Is it time for the plastic bag to go the way of the dodo? San Francisco and Leaf Rapids both seem to think so. You probably know S.F. at least enough to know it's in California. It boasts an approximate population of 780,000, making it a giant beside Leaf Rapids, which is a bustling metropolis located 980 km northeast of Winnipeg that proudly counts a total of 550 citizens in its census. Size aside, they both see the wisdom in helping the plastic bags on their way to extinction. In March, S.F. became the first city in North America to ban the use of "traditional" plastic bags. In April, Leaf Rapids followed suit.
I love the use of the word "traditional" in the newspaper articles that announce these bans. These sins against nature have only been around since the 1970's. It seems sort of a short time in which to earn the label that implies something good. Family is traditional. It's been around since Hector was a pup. Mother love is traditional. It predates family. They both deserve the honorific. Plastic bags do not.
I also love the announcement that plastic will take approximately 1,000 to totally break down in landfill sites. No one knows that. No one can say that with certainty. We have not had the material at our disposal for long enough to gather stats in proof of that claim. It could be around for even longer.
There are things we do know about it, however. They're given away "free" at so mnay stores. It's damn near an accomplishment in itself to get out of a store without a plastic bag. The problem is that although they are free to the consumer, they are not free in any other sense. The Canadian figure is an approximate 17 cents per bag to process them as trash. Multiply that by the 10 billion or so single-use plastic bags used in Canada every year. The manufacture of that 10 billion requires 150 million litres of oil and results in the release of 420 million kg of carbon dioxide into our beleagered atmosphere.
Although the oil and CO2 litany is something most of us have probably heard before, you may not know that they also cost thousands of marine lives each year. When these killers enter their world, marine mammals sometimes mistake the bags for jellyfish and try to eat them. They choke to death on them. It would seem to me there is more than enough reason for all of us to start arming ouselves with a stash of reusable bags.
Sometimes a little officail encouragement has been used to get people on board for this one. South Africe, for instance, mandated that plastic bats had to be more durable and more expensive. Shoppers there are charged 35 cents for each bag they take from a store. In Italy, the "bag tax" is five times the cost of a bag. Ireland imposed a "plastax" of .15 euros per bag and surprise, surprise! the use of plastic bags fell by 90%.
Don't get the wrong idea. People don't always need to have their arms twisted before they climb on board this band wagon. A voluntary program was put in place in Australia. Retailers were urged to make reusable bags available to their customers and people were urged to buy them. The program saw a 45% reduction over four years in the use of plastic bags, and not a cent was charged in taxes.
Returning to Leaf Rapids for a little public feedback on the ban gives an interesting result. John Roach, assistant manager of the town's Co-op grocery store says that customer feedback to the ban is "overwhelmingly positive". He says the store had been going through more than 2,000 plastic bags a week and that abandoned bags had been creating eyesore litter. Now there are very few of the rogue carryalls to be seen anywhere. Voila. Instant town improvement.
Now we need Toronto to get off its ass and do something about this problem. Hell, we need every city and town, everywhere, to get involved. It's not the hardest thing they'll ever have to do.
It doesn't take an inordinate expenditure of effort to keep a reusable bag or two in your car, in your office, and your home. Get yourself into the new habit of always carrying some of them with you when you enter a mall or grocery store. I've been doing it for more than twenty years now, so I can speak to the issue from first-hand experience. You'll forget sometimes, for sure, but you'll also be amazed at just how easy it actually is to do. I have collected a gloriously mismatched set of cloth bags and washed them as needed through the years. They're all still going strong. I keep one collection for the grocery store and another for the mall. The ones that go with me to the mall are the pretty ones, the ones with flowers or cute little animals printed on them - the clean ones. They don't do the really heavy duty the others do so they have retained their presentable-in-public looks. The others are the real workhorses of my collestion, and they show it in different ways, like the one that was on duty when an oil bottle leaked. Poor thing. Into the laundry it went and out it came, stained for life, but clean and reaady to return to the front lines, or at least the check-out lines, where it does its duty with pride.
I've written before about alternatives to plastic bags, like the biodegradable poop&scoop bags now available. If you're interested, click here to see what the US Environmental Protection Agency has to say about using paper, plastic or cloth bags. For a little more food for thought, follow this link to to the World Watch Institute. They'll give you a few facts and figures and a couple of links that could keep you reading for a while. One will take you to the Grassroots Recycling Network while another will take you to the Film and Bag Federation's site. Nothing like listening to both sides before you make up your mind, right?
Give it some thought. Give it a chance. Please.

Oops, Looks Like Limbo Was a Boo-Boo!

Big news just in. Well OK, so it was news a week ago but I just found out about it.
The Roman Catholic church's International Theological Commission has just released a 41-page document titled "The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptized". Authorized by His Holiness Poop Benny the Whatever, the document tosses out on the trash heap the centuries-old teaching that the souls of unbaptized babies are sent to Limbo, forever denied entrance into heaven because of the stain of original sin. For those of you who might not know, the original sin referred to is Adam and Eve's naughty little nibbles on the forbidden apple.
The idea that heaven might be denied to children just because they died without having had supposedly holy water dribbled over their foreheads while some cleric mumbled the ritualistic formula that would allow them to knock on heaven's door is idiocy. Period. Nowhere in any of the quotes attributed to Jesus is there any such a nasty threat. He was the loving and forgiving man who stopped the mob from stoning to death a woman who had committed adultery and thereby sentenced herself to that very punishment, as prescribed by the law of the day. Jesus knew that law and he still overturned it with an act of mercy. If he could extend such gentleness to an adult fully cognizant of her supposed wrongdoing, how could anyone imagine he would ever do otherwise to an infant totally innocent of any and all wrongdoing?
I wonder about those who would accept such teaching. I suspect telling yourself that a god so vengeful as to turn his back on innocents is a god worth believing in is a sign of a mental elevator that doesn't quite go all the way up to the top floor. I mean, shouldn't the big guy be able to get over it by now? So Adam tasted the forbidden fruit; really, what's the big deal? If you accept the existence of the deity as the omniscient being taught to us in Sunday school, then you can't too readily argue with the fact that god set Adam up, and Eve right along with him. He knew way back when exactly what the two humans were going to do and he still plunked them down in the middle of the situation with no warning that they were being set up. Big surprise they goofed, eh? He did purposely create them imperfect beings. Why did he get his nose so out of joint when they acted as they were created to act?
A god who sets up his own creations to fail is a god you could believe would condemn innocent babies to eternity in limbo.
Just maybe, however, there never has been a limbo. Maybe it was just another one of the many constructs put in place by the male hierarchy of the church, like the garden of Eden story and others, in order to better control the general populace and make sure they kept paying the fees charged for the intermediary services provided by the clergy who claimed they could buffer the people against this vengeful deity.
Here's a big surprise. The document, as well as stating that the church has gotten at least one of its teachings all ass-end backward, has also emphasized that its content should not in any way be taken as a questioning of original sin. Whatever you do, folks, don't go having any independent brain activity going on about this one. They want you to remember you are not smart enough to figure out your own relation with god. You must have a clergy planted firmly between you and your creator. You must be willing to accept whatever they say you should believe and act accordingly in a manner prescribed by them. The gentle Jesus of the bible is just a mirage. You can not think to approach him or hope to understand him without the likes of Benny and his confreres. If at any point in time, they come out with the occasional admission that they screwed up, just quietly accept that and forbear any attempt to extrapolate from that one area where they fucked up to any other. They know better than you and they are always right.
Remember, infallibility! You know, just like Pope Gregory IX and his declaration that cats were "diabolical creatures" and agents of the devil. He authorized a total persecution of the animal. By the 15th century, the faithful had taken the European cat almost to the point of extinction. The irony of it was that the more than two thirds of Europe's population who died from the bubonic plague could really have used a few of those cats to keep down the rat population which had mushroomed when one of their main natural predators was killed in order to save good christian souls. Does anyone know who told the faithful that the church had messed up big-time on that one? They probably issued some little tract titled "The Hope of Cats to Survive Christians and the Christians to Survive Themselves" and quietly distributed it to the local clergy to read from the pulpit the following Sunday.
It took the Black Death to bring about that previous one-eighty. What could have caused this one? The document says "People find it increasingly difficult to accept that God is just and merciful if he excludes infants who have no personal sins..." You know how to translate that, don't you? Translate it into money. There must be increasing numbers of people who have defected from the fold, articulating their questioning of that teaching before they left, taking their tithe money with them. Nothing like the dollar bill to get the Vatican's attention.
I suppose, rather than ranting on about the Vatican and their stupidity, I could take this latest announcement as a good sign. Maybe some day in the far-distant future; just maybe they will get around to admitting that they, like so many others (read, fundamentalists of any creed) have been wrong all along, much to the detriment of humankind. Maybe they will even apologize.
What do you think - too much to hope for?

A Green Tidbit or Two

Since it's April, Earth Day's month, I thought I should share a few green tidbits with you.

If you'd like to go organic here in Toronto, but fitting in a trip to a farmer's market is a little difficult for you, here's a few helpful companies that will take on the job of getting "green" produce right to your door for you. The first one on the list makes organic milk and bread available, too. The second one gives 10% of their profits to groups like Oxfam, and the third one donates food to women's shelters.

Front Door Organics are at 416-201-3000, www.frontdoororgaics.com
Green Earth Organics are at 416-285-5300, www.greenearthorganics.com
Organics Delivered are at 416-556-7833, www.organicsdelivered.com


If you live in North America and you're interested in shopping green, check out Grassroots, a Canadian company that delivers earth-friendly products across the continent. Their products cover a wide range, including *bed & bath *baby & mama *natural cleaners * home decor * games & learning *stationery & office supplies, and more. Visit them here and feel good about contributing to the effort we all need to make. As the quote from Arundhati Roy says on their home page, "Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."

Tidbit Time!

Every once in a while, I serve up a few tidbits I think you might enjoy. I like finding little nuggets of info, and assuming that you do too, here goes! Today, I've got some tidbits you can use as conversation starters next time you find yourself in the middle of one of those awkward pauses at a cocktail party.

Did you know hypothermic neuralgia is the proper name for the headache lots of us get from eating ice cream?

The human body is composed of approximately 10 trillion cells. 3 billion of them die every day and are replaced by new ones. The only exception to this cycle of regeneration is in our brains. When brain cells die, that's it. They're gone forever.

Queen Elizabeth II of England may not be someone you would picture with 10W30 under her fingernails, so here's an oily little something to know about Liz. At the age of eighteen, during the Second World War she rolled up her sleeves and learned how to strip and service engines in order to contribute to the war effort.

The only mammal, other than a human, that can get a sunburn is a pig.

Some of the collective nouns for animals can be quite evocative. Ask the other guests at the party if they know any of these - a quiver of cobras; a charm of finches; a leash of greyhounds; a bloat of hippopotamuses; a mischief of mice; a scurry of squirrels.

Who Are We Waiting For?

I am in the process of reading a fascinating book just now. It is "The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community" penned by David C. Korten. Anything but an easy read, it demands time and concentration from its readers, but if you're willing to meet those demands, you'll get an incredible amount of food for thought in return.
Meant to explore the desperately needed change in society from Empire, the organization of society through hierarchy and violence, to Earth Community, a life-centred, egalitarian, sustainable way of ordering society, it looks into areas of history and social understanding that many a fundamentalist would rather shoot themselves in the foot than acknowledge. To do a single book review of this volume would be an incredible undertaking, since there is so very much material packed into its pages. A single review would need to be more like a major essay in order to do the book justice. I'm not quite ready to tackle such a project. I strongly suspect, as well, that readers willing to read such an essay might not exactly number in the legions. I may therefore make reference now and then to a single passage from here and there in the book as it relates to what us currently transpiring. If my doing so were to pique your interest and send you off the Chapters or the library for a copy, I'd feel good about that.
I was out on my balcony today, soaking up some of Toronto's first strong rays of spring sunshine, making my way through Chapter 15 when a single sentence sprang up off the page and grabbed me. Short and sweet, it says only, "We are the ones we have been waiting for."
Only is the right word to talk about how short and simple the sentence is. It is anything but the right word to use to talk about its significance. Four days after the massacre at Virginia Tech, this sentence is a potential powerhouse of inspiration for those trying to make sense of it all. In the midst of all the brouhaha about global warming and how to save the environment, those nine words are a mother lode of guidance for those trying to figure out their part in it.
The question of what part to play in society, what responsibility to assume for the social good is a quandary for so many. Too many retreat from it, hiding under the comfortable banner of "them and us". This view of the world is lamentably divisive. It's such a convenient way for people to excuse their lack of involvement in worthwhile causes; such a convenient way to lay the blame on someone, anyone else, and walk away from the problem feeling a righteous indignation about "them" and their failure to do the right thing.
Who are we waiting for to take responsibility for societal ills that need addressing? Who exactly are the people we label "them"? Whoever it is, you'll notice they're not doing a very good job of ameliorating the alienation and rage that leads to Virginia Tech or Columbine. Could the reason for that possibly be that there is no "them"? Are we "them"?
I have always believed there is no substitute for involvement and no justification for lack of it. Trying to alleviate loneliness by going shopping is never going to work. It still leaves a hole, a vague awareness of something missing that you can never fill up with purchases. Not even the most expensive labels can put a bandage on the wound that is alienation from the others of your species. You're forced to buy more and more, and it never is quite enough.
How can we fill in that hole? How do we go about taming to beast of rampant consumerism? It must be the fault of "them" and their unjustifiably selfish refusal to fix everything that is wrong with our lives. This gnawing malaise that won't go away no matter how many times you go to the mall is the reason why so many go to church. They are there to look for something with which to fill the hole. They may be seeing it right in front of them, too, in the person of the gentle Christian Jesus, or the wise Buddha, or whatever other benevolent being they turn to. They may be seeing it alright, but if it's couched in terms of giving to others, too many turn away. They will purposely fail to put the answer into practice in their life because it puts the weight of responsibility on their shoulders. It takes away the magic wand-waving propensities of "them" and makes "us" the architects of our own satisfaction with life. Especially for so many raised in the context of a religion that demands their strict obedience to an authoritarian father-god, they can not understand the idea of tackling society's ills themselves. If god does not fix everything, they will leave the status quo alone and simply continue to complain about how bad everything is, while they cruise the malls looking for that must-have purchase that is guaranteed to make them more sexy, more smart, more up to the minute and worthy of the envy of others.
"We are the ones we have been waiting for" and until we, as a whole society see that, nothing will change. There will be another Virginia Tech. You can count on it. There will be a decline in the health of our environment, in the health of us all. The only way to stop the gradual decline of our whole world is for all of us to get involved. Society needs a major overhaul and we are the only ones who can do it.

"No Cell After the Bell"

So said a TDSB principal after being told of a cell-phone ban. Effective immediately, a ban on the personal communication devices was announced this morning by the Toronto District School Board.
They are not an essential to in-class functioning for the students. There is no real justification for their omnipresence, but more than one reason to rule them out. Nasty types with cameras on their cell phones have taken footage of both teachers and fellow students in potentially embarrassing situations and posted them on the net in acts of cyber-bullying. Dishonest types have found the text messaging feature to be a great aid to cheating. Violent types have used them to call spectators to watch fights on school property. In-coming calls have interrupted more than one learning situation to the annoyance and detriment of others actually wanting to acquire knowledge. Their proliferation does nothing of note to keep their users safe during their day at school, or help them focus on learning. Since they can be such a big part of interfering with a student's focus, parents who want thier kids to acquire a good education should be pleased by news of the ban. Any parent needing to get a message to their kid can do what has alway worked before, and call the school office. I spent decades in the school system and I never did meet any secretary who refused to forward a parent's message.
There will be screams of protest, I am sure, from parents and kids alike, but this time the schools have done something exactly the way they should. "It's our right" is bound to be something you'll hear repeatedly in among all the spluttering, but let's take a little look at that. The right to life and good health, the right to food and shelter - all of those are real rights and no-one here in Canada is going to argue anyone exercising those rights, but a cell-phone? Come on, folks. Like Ward 11 Trustee Josh Matlow says, "This is a no-brainer."
Good for you, TDSB!

Don't Waste the E-Waste

"Computation" at 2444 Bloor Street West, in Toronto, is the place to get to if you're upgrading your computer and find yourself with e-waste. Approximately 60% of the machines and parts thereof brought to the company each year are sent to different appropriate recycling plants. Any machines that can be refurbished are fixed and sent to various charities, like addiction recovery centres. A company with a social conscience, they will also do community pickups. Data from the previous owner is securely destroyed so no information can be retrieved by techno-pirates. The shop also offers full service and repairs, and holds a place on the Toronto Life magazine "Good Stuff Cheap Guide". Take a minute to contact them at 416-910-4358 if you need something new at a good price or need to get rid of something with minimal environmental impact.

Mylvaganam Vaasuhan is out there loose, somewhere, so lock your doors, Toronto. The man is a mental patient who wandered away from an outing to a Blue Jays game he was watching with others from the Whitby Mental Health Centre. He's a patient there because in 2001 he was found not criminally responsible for his attacks on two girls by reason of mental disorder. Now police are saying they fear for the safety of young children after his disappearance.
I have to ask - what the hell was this unpredictably violent man doing at the game? What are they thinking of, to ever allow him outside of a lock-up situation? He should never be allowed out. Given the reason that he is in there in the first place, it should be a case of too-bad, so-sad but you ain't ever getting out ever again. Why would his getting out to watch a baseball game be considered more important than the safety of our children?

Turn Off the Light!

The Ontario government has announced that it will ban incandescent light bulbs by 2012 as one part of reducing the province's electricity consumption and lowering greenhouse gases. Environment Minister Laurel Broten is quoted as saying the expected effect will be the same a taking 250,000 cars off the road. Enacting the ban will make Ontario the first province in Canada, as well as the first jurisdiction on North America to commit to such a move. Energy Minister Dwight Duncan says the ban will make it illegal for retailers to sell the bulb, but there will be no penalty for homeowners or businesses who use them. That would allow for everyone who has any stockpiled from the last great incandescent sale to use what they paid for before Edison's great idea goes the way of the dodo.

The Green Living Show

It's coming up on the weekend of April 27 to 29 and it might be just the place you want to visit for a few hours if you live in the GTA. The Green Living Show promises to live up to its name by "making every effort to minimize the impact" of the show. One of the steps they're taking to do achieve that end is having the show "bullfrogpowered". Bullfrog bills itself as the first 100% green electricity retailer in Ontario.
More than 200 earth-friendly organizations will be at the show to display their products and services. Order your tickets online for a lower price or pay at the door, but get yourself there if you can. You're bound to come away a more educated, more earth friendly consumer, and we all need more of those.

Do We Need Labels?

I came early to my hatred of labels, and nothing in my years of teaching convinced me I was wrong to feel that way. Quite the oppostite, in fact.
One of the first experiences I had with the damage done by labelling was what it did to me. I was reading before I went to school and my voracious devouring of books quickly led to a vocabulary that was "gifted". The teachers all treated me as someone different than the other students, and that set me apart from them. It was a lonely place to be put into. It gave me the determination as a teacher to help out any child I found dumped in that same place.
Early in my career, I took the position of teaching the English class in an early French immersion school. I attended the late August meeting at which the previous teachers were expected to give an overview of personalities and abilities in the group of students going on to the next teacher. The grade two teacher told me that one girl in the group was "slow". I asked her to explain what she meant, so she told me that this girl couldn't keep up, couldn't do anything at grade level, but that if I just gave her some colouring to do and sat her in the corner, she would be no trouble. I couldn't quite believe my ears - give her colouring? What a way to dismiss an entire year of that child's life; but I wasn't there to educate the teachers, so I said nothing further to her.
When the kids arrived on the first day of school, I immediately set out to get to know the little one, asap. She was reading more than a year behind the grade level. Her spelling in English was still very much at the creative stage, and you could see that she already expected the colouring in the corner to be her lot. I decided right then that she and I together were gong to beat the label that had been slapped on her.
I started with a reworking of the spelling program. Words that you are interested in are words that you can spell, and so they become words that you can read. That was the basis on which I set out to explode their vocabularies. The students were paired off to work together on lists designed ech week by the two of them, with some input from me. They would pick a topic that interested them both and then tell me words relating to that topic, and I would write their list for them to study. They would use those words to tell the rest of us all about their topic after a couple of days of research. When dictation day came, they would give each other the words to spell and then I would mark them. Any mistakes were correctable, orally, if the student still wanted to try for a sticker. Most of them did.
"Perfect" was not the only sticker standard. "Improved" was the other one. Anyone who made mistakes could practise with me at recess and then retry their test. If they got even one previously incorrectly spelled word right the second time around, that was cause for celebration. The announcement was made to the whole class and the whole class would applaud the achievement. In no time the class became one big support group and they began to take their lists outside to the playground to help each other practice the words during more than one recess, much to the amazement of other teachers on staff seeing this happening.
I put up a large square of art paper on which I had drawn the "Spelling Monsters", perfectly horrible creatures that we needed to wipe out. There were no names in a list so there was no way to count a number of stickers beside a student's name. Anyone earning a sticker could put it anywhere on the monsters they chose. I put a weapon in the hands of the children with which to fight the monsters - quite literally - because I taught them the American Sign Language alphabet and we used that as one way to practice our words every week. The kids had the words in their hands and they quite enjoyed teaching the principal different words when we invited her to visit our busy room.
That class was one of the most involved I have ever had and they all benefitted from the approach I had taken to get rid of that label stuck on the one child. We had the monsters covered up a couple of months before the end of the year and we celebrated by having a special class breakfast to which each child could invite a guest. The star of that celebration was the "slow" one, although she never knew it. When we had finished our year together, she had gained more than two whole grade levels, so she wasn't just reading at level; she was actually a little ahead of it.
Years later, I ran into a young lady who recognized me and called out to me. I had to ask her name, because she was no longer a young schoolchild. When she said her first name, I knew her right away. When she left my classroom years earlier, she had an air of self-confidence about her that had been sadly lacking at the beginning of the year. She still had that air now, an aura that positively sparkled about her. She told me of her studies at the University and said that she still remembered the Spelling Monsters. She thanked me for caring, and I thanked her for the pleasure of having had her as a student. She gave me an opportunity she never knew about; an opportunity to toss a label on the garbage heap.
I know the rationale for educational labeling. It is deemed necessary to designate students as slow or gifted, so the argument goes, in order to access the funding that would not be available otherwise. I just don't think it's a system that works as well as the students to whom the labels are affixed need it to. Once a label has been slapped on, it rarely comes off. It is guarenteed to steal years of potential from a child if it is incorrectly applied. Even if it is correct, it can still backfire on them. I've seen too many "special ed" teachers that take their charges nowhere because they're unmotivated and it's just too easy to give the students some colouring and stick them in the corner. The only problem is that a child thus labeled and dismissed rarely makes it to university. Too often they don't even make it to high school graduation.
I hate labels. They can derail a whole life. Why can't the education system simply "label" each child with their own name and take it from there?

Virginia Tech Violence

I'm writing this entry at 5:30 p.m. while the latest headlines read "Virginia Shooting Kills At Least 33". At least 22 were injured, with four of them in surgery and the conditions of three others being described as "undetermined". All anyone can do now is wait and see if any of those injured will join the list of fatalities before this horrendous day is finished in Blacksburg, Virginia.
The identification of the gunman, who killed himself with a shot to the head has been made difficult by the severity of the wound and the lack of ID in his pockets. A federal law enforcement official said it was hoped that purchase records for handguns found near the body would give the answer.
The details of where he struck first and exactly how some of his victims died will be aired over and over in the media for days to come and many a head will be shaken in perplexity, while people ask each other how such a thing could happen. I am sure, however, that attendance at the "shock" movies will not drop off because of this tragedy. I am sure that the box office take for movies like "Grindhouse" will not suffer in the least. It should, though. Dear god, it should.
"Grindhouse" is a double-feature pairing the efforts of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, both directors famed for making blood-soaked shock movies. According to USA Today, "the challenge facing two directors known for pushing the limits of movie violence is finding new lines to cross." Both the directors, in fact, say some parts of the films "deliberately try to go too far in a bid to shock even the most jaded fans." The problem with that, I think, is that when it gets right down to it, you can never show the reality of violence with actors on a movie set. I have to wonder if Tarantino and Rodriguez aren't both a little disappointed that they couldn't have been there at Virginia Tech today with their cameras rolling. Think of the limits they could push by working that footage into their next productions.
The part that bothers me so much is that these men are allowed to continue producing the sick garbage that has them living in style and luxury. It bothers me so much that there is no law against showing the garbage they produce. The latest insult to intelligence to roll from their cameras may be rated "R" but that means basically nothing. Any kid of any age could be out there tonight downloading and watching pirated versions. That means any kid of any age could be using it for a nice little afternoon of entertainment. They could be learning how to be one of those jaded fans the directors spoke of. What is there to stop such a jaded young fan from going out onto the streets and into our schools to look for their own way to push the limits of violence?
What bothers me so very, very much about the fact of these two directors(and any others like them) making the movies they do is the fact that anyone could actually call them entertainment and be willing to sit and watch them. I can not help wondering what goes through the viewer's mind as they watch a killer "murder his buxom female prey with his customized hot rod." What kind of viewing pleasure do they find in such scenes? What are they thinking to go and view such assaults on the general perception of the value of human life?
We live in a society that glamorizes violence. We live our day to day lives surrounded by others who willingly watch portrayals of violence that would sicken the most war-hardened vet if they were to see such a thing really happen. Recently, I saw footage of a Canadian vet who had served in Viet Nam, a war known for its incredible brutality. This man spoke of some of his buddies being blown apart without much show of emotion, but then he began to say what his worst memory was. He choked up and had to wait a moment before he could go on. He said the scene haunts him every day, before he described it. A little girl had walk out of the trees in front of him one day in Nam, a little girl he guessed to be no more than 4 years old. He said she smiled at him just before she stepped on a mine. He said pieces of flesh landed on him and then he could say no more. I am sure Tarantino and the others of his ilk cold make that vet's nightmare into a real money-making scene, if they felt so inclined. Worse, I am sure that people would line up and pay to see the movie they put it in.
When will we, as a society, realize that violence like the tragedy that stalked the campus of Virginia Tech today does not arise out of a vacuum? When we will decide that there has to be a limit placed on the portrayal of violence in the movies and the video games that are devoured with regularity in our homes and movie theatres? To say that my questions are an overreaction is something I expect to hear. Too many people hide their head in the sand when they find themselves facing something they'd rather not acknowledge. Too many people will say that there is no connection and that kids know the difference between movies and real life.
Don't get me wrong. I am fully aware that this is a multi-factor situation of cause and effect. To change this situation, we would need to rethink the discipline in our schools and the attitude of people like Charlton Heston and his gun-totin' buddies, among other things. The movies are not the only cause, but I do believe they are a serious part of it all.
I think the rising incidence of events like the one today at Virginia Tech should begin to sound alarm bells in society's mind. How could there not be a connection? I believe the burden of proof should now be laid on those who want to produce such "entertainment". Why aren't there more people worried about the mentality of those who find such entertainment to be a good way to spend their time and money? When will we connect Columbine, Virginia Tech, and all the other violent rampages that end innocent lives with the glamorization of violence in which our society indulges? We continue to pay for it to be produced and then we wring our hands in horror when someone brings it out of the movie theatre and into the reality of our schools and our own lives.
I am sure that the families of the victims at Virginia Tech will view gratuitous portrayals of violence very differently now than they may have before. Why should it have to take such an occurrence for anyone to stand up and say, this is enough? When will Quentin Tarantino find himself out of business?

Big Brother Under Your Hood

ISA, or Intelligent Speed Adaptation, is a system of in-vehicle speed limitation field-tested last summer by researchers at the University of Leeds. It is similar to the system of Adaptive Cruise Control, already part of many new vehicles in Japan and recently instituted by a number of European manufacturers. Referred to as the "beginning of the microwave era in automotive electronics" the latter system links to the electronic control and braking systems of a car to maintain a safe distance between it and the vehicle in front of it. It still gives ultimate control over travelling speed to the driver. The ISA, however, is a horse of a different colour.
Its Advisory setting will display the speed limit and leave it up to the driver to comply with it. Its Driver Select setting gives the driver the choice to switch the ISA on and off at will. The Mandatory setting will limit the vehicle at all times and remove all possibility for a driver to exceed the speed limit.
The system links to elements of the vehicle's power train, such as the throttle, the ignition, the gearbox and the brakes. It requires the vehicle to be accurately located and provided with info about the speed limit posted on the road it is travelling. Since the driver barreling down the roadway at the highest speed is most likely to be a killer, targeting them and reducing their velocity will bring the greatest reduction in car crash casualties. A reduction of 36% in all injury accidents and of 59% in fatal crashed is the prediction for the ISA's success rate. Obviously, if this system is to fly, governments would have to make development of accurate digital road maps showing speed limits a high priority. That would be a mere technicality in terms of roadblocks erected against the use of the system. The other one would be the attitude of many drivers who would begin to scream about Big Brother climbing into the car with them. I think the owners of Hummers and sports cars might be among the loudest complainers, but I know many an ordinary Joe would join in the chorus, too.
I say why not begin tomorrow to install the mandatory setting on every vehicle to come off the assembly line? While the hollerin' and screamin' might be loud enough to deafen a statue for a while, I do know that none of it would be likely to come from anyone who's been to the funeral of a loved one killed in a car crash.

The Fastest Thing on No Legs

The title is the nickname given to Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee from South Africa who is hoping to compete against able-bodied athletes at the next Olympic games. The International Association of Athletics Federations is scheduled to make the decision this spring on whether or not he will be allowed to compete in the 200- and the 400-meter runs in the Games in Beijing in 2008.
The question is if the carbon-fiber legs he runs on give him an engineered advantage over those running on natural legs. His handlers, in response to this one, invite anyone who thinks that they bestow some advantage to go and have the double amputation done and then strap on a pair of the "Cheetahs" used by Pistorius to check it out.
A reading of the current stats on world records might seem to bear out the theory that the prosthetics do indeed make the runners into bionic competitors. The average track and field world record for able-bodied athletes is nine years old for men and ten years old for women, while the records in the Paralympics can only claim a two year standing. Pistorius has broken his own world records an incredible 22 times. Of course, all the above might also mean, simply, that the manufacture of prosthetics is a little better than it used to be.
Pistorius went home from the last Paralympics with gold and four world records. He went home with silver for the 400 meter in the 2007 South African National Championships, doing so in competition against able-bodied athletes. Maybe the prosthetics have been no more than legs to someone with an attitude that means much more than the carbon-fiber he lands on. When asked about his determination to venture past the Paralympics and into the world of able-bodied competition, he says, "You'll never progress if your mind is on your disability."
The power in the stride of someone running on natural legs comes from their glutes and quadriceps, in conjunction with their calves and ankles. Since nothing below Pistorius' knees is natural, 85% of his power has to come from his hips and the rest from his knees, according to his strength trainer. He's had to work every bit as hard on his technique as any able-bodied athlete does. The prosthetics have given him nothing by magic. It seems an incredible stretch of the imagination, to me, to suggest that artificial legs constitute the same sort of cheating as drugs do. It will be most interesting to see what decision is made by the IAAF.

Idiot Alert

The latest tolerant and open-minded addition to the Idiot Alert Files comes to us from Joliet, Illinois, where Kuldip Singh Nag lives. It seems Mr. Nag had the audacity to have parked in his driveway a van with expired registration tags.
Enter the idiot. One of Joliet's finest was driving past when he realized this criminal, dangerous state of affairs was transpiring on Kuldip's private property. Well, with expired registration tags being openly flaunted in the face of the law, who knows what other dire threats to homeland security could be ongoing inside the house?
The badge-wearing idiot demanded the van be moved inside the garage, and was told first by Mr. Nag's wife that it was impossible for them to comply with the demand, since the vehicle was inoperable. Not to be daunted by petty details, the officer continued his demands. Mr. Nag came to the door next and the scene was repeated, with one variation on the theme. It seems the dastardly Nag actually tried to tell the officer that it was his right to leave the vehicle in the driveway of his private property.
Thank God the officer was there to take appropriate action against this subversive individual. He sprayed Nag in the eyes with pepper spray and when Nag yelled in pain, he pulled his baton and began beating the terrorist until he fell to the ground. Mrs. Nag and her six-year-old son were witnesses to the beating, and also to the language used by the police officer in his defence of the homeland against this perpetrator of evil deeds. Both the adults quote the officer as yelling, "You fucking Arab! You fucking immigrant! Go back to your fucking country before I kill you!"
Although Mr. Nag had to be hospitalized after the assault, we can all rest easier knowing such a stalwart defender of the right is patrolling the streets of Joliet. Certainly Mr. Nag's son will feel better now that he has seen a demonstration of American open-minded fairness as practised by the law of the country. Mrs. Nag may whine a little about the whole thing, but you know, she's just going to have understand that the right to freedom and the pursuit of happiness is not something that can be bought cheaply. Idiots like that officer make it expensive for the wrong people.
The one itty-bitty little snag in all this is the fact that Kuldip Singh Nag is a veteran of the first Gulf War, where he served his country in the U.S. Navy and was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions there. That might be a momentary stumbling block in the explanation the Joliet police department comes up with for the behaviour of their sterling representative with a baton, but they'll manage, I am sure. After all, the arresting officer was white. That goes a long way toward proving the righteousness of his actions and the threatening menace of Nag's claim to having the right to park that van on his own property wherever he wants.
Although SALDEF, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, (a civil rights and advocacy group) seems to have their turbans all knotted up over this one, I'm sure they will see the error of their ways in asking for a legal investigation into the officer's conduct. After all, what's to investigate, guys? I'm sure if Mrs. Nag and her son had just listened carefully while Mr. Nag was being beaten they would have heard a celestial choir humming the "Star Spangled Banner" in the background, as the idiot wielding the baton kept the people of Joliet safe.

I saw a little face today on the TV. It stared at the camera dolefully, while tears trickled down the cheeks. The gender of the face's owner is not as significant as the fact that it was the face of a child in danger of starving to death. I hate to see such images. Each time I see one, it haunts me for weeks. This should never happen. Even one child starving is one too many in this world of plenty.
World agriculture produces 17% more calories per person today than it did 30 years ago, in spite of the growth in world population. There is currently enough food produced to give each and every person in the world approximately 2,720 calories per day, according to the FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The availability figures calculated by the FAO need to be a great deal higher than per person needs in order to compensate for the waste at retail and home level, as well as for the inequitable distribution of food worldwide. Illustrative of this inequity is the fact that the FAO figures show Denmark to have a daily calorie count available for their citizens that is more than twice that available to the people of Somalia. There are 17 countries that are listed as having "severe food supply problems", most of them in sub-Saharen Africa.
The little face I saw today belongs to one of the more than 828 million chronically undernourished people in developing countries. It shouldn't be that way. Why is any child going to bed tonight desperately hungry while there are so many children in the western world who are going to sleep in beds groaning under the weight of their obesity?
Mahatma Gandhi said, "There is enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed." How do we get the privileged ones to understand?

Multiplied by Two and Continued Indefinitely

The title is part of Lieutenant E.M.L. Burns' description of the barrage laid down by almost 1,000 guns aimed at the Germans holding Vimy Ridge. He described this way, "Imagine the loudest clap of thunder you ever heard, multiplied by two and continued indefinitely." After seven days of this murderous fire, the Canadians went over the top on April 9, 1917, in an attack that bested the previously futile efforts of both the French and the British to take the ridge from the Germans who had held it since 1914.
Finally the British commander-in-chief, Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, decided the stalemate could go on no longer, and so he ordered the Canadian Corps to take Hill 145, the summit of the ridge. The assaults on the hill to date had been made by British and French soldiers sent over the top to march toward the Germans, who simply cut down over 190,000 of them with machine gun fire. Either Haig had great faith in the Canadians, or he was using them as cannon fodder.
Julian Byng and Arthur Currie, in command of the Canadians, did not have cannon fodder in mind, however, and so they devised a different plan of attack and prepared their troops carefully for what was coming. Their innovations included taking such steps as issuing every soldier with a map, something never done before, and sending the first wave of 20,000 men out behind a creeping artillery barrage. Their attack was successful, in part due to the repeated rehearsals of what to do when the moment came. The Canadian soldiers distinguished themselves to such an extent on that day, the battle is referred to as the event that gave birth to the nation of Canada.
I watched the televised coverage of the ceremony held today to re-dedicate the newly refurbished memorial at Vimy Ridge. Perhaps the most moving part of the ceremony was near the end when a choral tribute was led by Canada's Susan Aglukark. She fronted a choir singing "I'm Dreaming of Home". The song is from the movie "Joyeux Noel" about the Christmas Truce that took place during the trench warfare of the war to end all wars. The real event it commemorates brought enemies out of their trenches on Christmas Eve, ready to forget for a little while that they were there expressly to murder each other.
The battle at Vimy Ridge was one where the art of murdering each other was taken yet again to new heights, thanks to the strategic maneuvering of Byng and Currie. It saw four Canadians earn the Victoria Cross and 10,000 Canadians fall, 3,594 of them never to rise again. It saw all of this happen in an offensive that was, overall, a failure although the Canadian part in it was regarded as a great tactical victory.
It did not see the end to war.
Although Canada has never yet fought in a war of aggression, we have taken part in war after war where the weapons grow ever larger and deadlier. We will continue our tradition of fighting for the right, but a cost measured in even one human life is a staggering price to pay. Why do the vines bearing the fruit of peace always seem to need human blood to grow? The monument on Vimy Ridge is inscribed with the names of 11,285 Canadians who went missing in action in France and lie in unmarked graves. How many more will Canada have to send off to death in order to stop the dying? Another six fell just yesterday in Kandahar.
How ironic that the battle that birthed a nation was fought on Easter Monday all those years ago, at the time of year when Christians celebrate their god's victory over violent death. How ironic that the six who died yesterday fell on the very day that the gentle, peaceful Jesus rose triumphant over the grasping grave. How many more have to fall into their tombs before humankind learns that war is not the way to end war?
When can we begin to build monuments to peace?

Well, Call Me the Village Idiot!

Easter morning, and all around this little blue planet Christians are celebrating the return to life of their crucified saviour. At least, that's the christian norm for viewing the supposed events of this day. I see it another way.
The Jesus of the gospels was a feminist. We need to get that straight, first. If we define a feminist as someone who believes that women deserve exactly the same treatment as men, by virtue of their birth; someone who preaches the equality of the two genders, practices what they preach, and is willing to contravene accepted social mores to do so, then Jesus was a feminist.
Peruse the accounts credited to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and you will look in vain for a recounting of Jesus treating any woman as an inferior. In fact, he went out of his way to do exactly the opposite. Let me remind you of a few of the realities of the time period in which J.C. lived. Women in his Palestine were, without question, inferior beings treated differently even in terms of prayer. Women, along with children and slaves, were not expected to recite the morning prayer, the Shema. The daily prayer of the Jewish male included the thanksgiving, "Praised be God that he has not created me a gentile; praised be God that he has not created me a woman; praised be God that he has not created me an ignorant man."
The scriptural scholar Peter Ketter tells us that a rabbi regarded it as beneath his dignity to speak to a woman in public. Rabbinic sayings include this gem, "It is well for those whose children are male, but ill for those whose children are female." Women were not to study the scriptures, either. Eliezer verbally rapped the knuckles of anyone who thought otherwise with his admonition, "Rather should the words of the Torah be burned than entrusted to a woman."
As though the restrictions placed on the prayer life of women were not enough, there were also innumerable constraints placed on their public life. They were not allowed to bear witness in a court of law. A man could easily divorce his wife merely by presenting her with a writ of divorce. Women were not allowed to divorce their husbands. If a woman in rural Palestine was raped, she was usually forced to marry her rapist, (no big problem for the animal since Jewish law allowed men to have more than one wife) in order to avoid the family being saddled with "used goods" that no other man would be willing to marry. A Jewish woman who was menstruating was regarded as ritually unclean, and each month had to go to the synagogue to be "cleansed" after her monthly flow. Until she was again clean, she could not touch anything a male might touch, like his bedclothes, and god forbid she should touch him. If she was caught in adultery, she would be stoned to death, according to the injunction of Moses (see Deuteronomy). This punishment, however, was not extended to the man she coupled with, unless the cuckolded husband brought legal complaint of the other man having "misused his property".
The list of societally accepted injustices leveled against the distaff side of humanity in the time of Jesus goes on and on. When you read the gospels, you begin to realize that the instances of his speaking and acting against the inequality also goes on and on. It is perhaps for this reason, among others, that it was decided he had to die. Men privileged to be waited on hand and foot by "servants" made so simply by their lack of a penis are not likely to welcome someone making waves that could capsize their cushy little boats.
Jesus took the restriction against women studying the words of scripture and tossed it on the slag heap when he visited the house of Martha and Mary. He welcomed Mary to the circle of men sitting in intellectual discussion, and even scolded Martha for decrying her sister's lack of "womanly work" in the kitchen, saying that her choice was not to be taken from her.
He took the notion that it was beneath the dignity of a man to speak with a woman in public and trashed that in his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. Since the Samaritans were the universal object of discrimination and scorn for the Israelites, he made this point in the most forceful way by talking to this most scorned of the scorned, a Samaritan woman.
Jesus made his announcement apply to everyone that divorce was not to be used, men included, and insisted on monogamy for all. He called to public attention the woman who had touched the hem of his robe, as told in three of the gospel accounts. This woman had experienced a flow of blood over the span of twelve years and consulted many physicians, none of whom had been able to help her. She felt sure that merely touching the robe of Jesus would be enough to cure her, but because she and her particular circumstance were well known, she attempted to do so under the cover of a milling crowd. Jesus, instead, called her action to the attention of all, but rather than publicly berating her for rendering him unclean by her touch, he treated her with kindness and dignity, and declared her cured.
When the Pharisees brought before Jesus the woman they said had been caught in the act of adultery, they did not bring the man with whom she had been caught. Their murderous intent was directed solely against her, and they hoped to entrap Jesus in breaking either the law of the Romans of the law of Moses with his expected sympathy for her. Instead, Jesus reacted with a pronouncement that transcends the limitation of that situation. Applicable to almost everyone who has ever sat in self-righteous judgment of another, he said simply, "If there is one among you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone."
Three times Jesus called back to life people who had died. Two of them, men, he did not touch. He called then back using only words. The third, the daughter of Jairus, was the only corpse he did touch. In so doing, he violated the laws of his society for ritual cleanliness. It is of note that he did so only for a female.
If you read the gospels, you find yourself encountering one event after another in which Jesus sought to teach the misogynists of his time the error of their ways. There was just too much work for one individual to do, and just too many for whom misogyny was a comfortable way of life. Oppression of women usually goes hand-in-hand with oppression of the weak and the defenseless at all levels of society. This is generally synonymous with a way of life that builds a societal pyramid of privilege, topped off by the few, and held up by the downtrodden many. It was true in the Palestine Jesus lived in and it is still true today, in too many corners of the globe.
Life for women was indeed harsh at the time that the christian god chose to become man. Various rabbinic sayings are more than enough to summarize the state of affairs. To quote a couple: "At the birth of a boy all are joyful, but at the birth of a girl all are sad. "When a boy comes into the world, peace comes into the world: when a girl comes, nothing comes." The excoriation directed against women can easily be changed to read as directed against any group currently targeted by another for hate. It was against all such inequity that Jesus directed the example of his feminist behaviour.
Above all else, he used his own resurrection as one last, bang-up learning opportunity. His first appearance after conquering the grave was not to a man. None of the self-declared important males who had attached themselves to his coat tails were chosen to see him first. In his omniscient wisdom, he chose to appear first to women. Then he took it even one giant step further and in the face of the current law's censure of women being allowed to bear witness, he directed the women at the tomb to go and do just that. Sending them off to tell the apostles what they had just seen, he must have known what would happen when the women reached the others.
It is at this point that my interpretation of the events of Easter morning veer sharply away from the christian norm. I think of J.C. as harbouring hope, against all odds, that he had accomplished his mission; thinking that at any moment the newly fair-minded apostles would come tearing round the corner, eager to see him and speak with him again. In his omniscience, however, he would have witnessed the scene when the women reached the men, and told them the Lord had risen from the dead. He would have heard the men when they told the women they were crazy, and refused to believe them. He would have shaken his head in utter disappointment while the women struggled to convince the men that what they said was true and should actually be believed.
I picture Jesus finally shaking his head in dejected disbelief. He probably said, "Well slap me on the forehead and call me the village idiot", just before he disappeared. I don't believe he had the patience just then to put up with the fools he had wasted all his earthly time on, trying to teach them to be better people. That is why, when the men finally did arrive at the tomb, they found it empty. Jesus, the feminist, had gone elsewhere.

Guluwalk Update

Canadian Adrian Bradbury, co-founder of the Guluwalk, will be a guest on CBC’s ‘Gill Deacon Show’ on Friday, April 20, where he will share the stage with former child soldier Ishmael Beah. During the broadcast, which will air at 11 am and 2 pm, Bradbury will talk about his recent trip to northern Uganda, and discuss the most recent news from the region.
Meanwhile, Ishmael Beah will provide viewers with an inside look at the realities of life as a child soldier. The 26-year-old Sierra Leone native was forced to take part in a war he didn’t understand at the tender age of 13.
Currently a member of the Human Rights Watch Children’s Rights Division Advisory Committee, Beah has recently published an account of his nightmarish childhood in a book titled, ‘A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier’.

Bun-zilla?

When you think of the Easter Bunny hopping by with some Easter eggs, do you think of a cute, floppy-eared rabbit beside a basket filled with foil-wrapped chocolate goodies? It's probably the picture a lot of us form when someone mentions Easter eggs, but we'd have to revamp it just a little after we got a look at the Eaaster egg proudly displayed in Vegreville, Alberta, Canada. This town of just over 5,300 souls may not be the biggest metropolis in the world, but it does boast the biggest Ukrainian Pysanka in the world.
Vegreville is a farming community east of Edmonton that lays claim to Canada's largest Ukrainian settlement. "Pysanka" is the decorated wooden egg Ukrainians made into an art form using a wax-resist method that has the designs written on the eggs with beeswax.
A woman on the Vegreville town council is credited with originating the idea of an "egg monument" when the town was looking for ideas to commemorate the community's early Ukrainian settlement. Professor Ronald Resch, a computer scientist at the University of Utah was brought on board to design the project.
Resch's design involved the first computer modelling of an egg, necessitating new computer programs and nine different mathematical, architectural and engineering firsts before the oversized ovoid was completed. His design is actually a huge jig-saw puzzle containing 524 star patterns, 2,206 equilateral triangles, and 3,512 visible facets. Hiding underneath the 2,000 pound aluminum skin are 6,978 nuts and bolts, and 177 internal struts.
Cessco International Ltd. of Edmonton had the honour of hard-boiling the egg, or fabricating the egg's 3,000 pound internal structure. This particular pysanka needs a 27,000 pound base of concrete to hold it up for display, and is capable of turning in the wind like a weathervane. Since the winds around Vegreville are legend, the egg actually does get turned. All of this adds up to a tourist attraction that brings thousands annually to gaze at the egg.
Responsibility for the egg's decoration was given to Paul Sembaliuk, an authority on traditional pysanka design. He used three colours - bronze, silver and gold - and worked them into a design rich with symbolism. The earth farmed by the community and the christian faith they espouse, are just a couple of the symbolic parts that make up the whole.
The giant egg was dedicated as a tribute to the RCMP on their one hundredth anniversay, with a message written in English, Ukrainian, French and German. It reads in part, "(to) the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who brought peace and secutity to the largest multi-cultural settlement in all of Canada".
Measuring in at 25.7 foot long, 18.3 foot wide, 31.6 foot high, that's one heck of an omelette waiting to be made. Just imagine the size of the Easter Bunny you'd need to deliver that egg!
Bun-zilla, anyone?

The Judge Must Be Kidding

I'm surprised that New Brunswick Provincial Judge Graydon Nicholas could get the words out without breaking into giggles when he sentenced Peter Leon Howe for his lethal actions on the night of July 15 last. That was the night Howe cut short the life of 23-year-old Robbie MacRitchie.
According to the eyewitness account of one of Robbie's friends, he was on his bike cycling to a local store because he was too conscientious to get behind the wheel of a car when he had been drinking. The difference in the amounts the two men had imbibed is ironic. MacRitchie had taken in a minimal amount. Howe, on the other hand, showed 140 milligrams of alcohol in 100 grams of blood on his breathalyzer test. The legal amount is 80 milligrams.
Howe downed a two-four and a half bottle of whiskey before refusing an offer to stay overnight at the Fredericton home of a relative where he was boozing it up. He declared there was no one "big enough" to keep him from driving his car back to his motel room and took off on his mission of murder. After plowing into the cyclist, Howe's first action was to leave the scene of the crime. He did turn himself in, however, within a short time.
I'm guessing Judge Graydon Nicholas might be a drinking man himself; maybe even a beer swilling, good ol' fan of John Wayne. Doesn't Howe's line about no one being big enough to stop him sound just like the kind of lines Hollywood writers used to put in Wayne's mouth, just before he swaggered his pigeon-toed way out to glory in a gun fight? I can just imagine Judge Nicholas slapping his thigh, wiping the suds off his upper lip and declaring "they don't make 'em like that there Wayne no more. We got to encourage more men to follow in his footsteps".
In case you think I'm getting carried away about the judge here, let me tell you the terms he did impose on this self-confessed killer. Howe has been sentenced to two years less a day of house arrest. Yup, house arrest. Two years less a day when he can catch every one of John Wayne's films on DVD and perfect his style; maybe even get Wayne's walk down perfect, while MacRitchie lies in his grave.
The "house arrest" means for that time Howe can not leave his mommy's house. Well, that is unless he's going to work. Or a medical appointment. Or an "emergency". (I wonder who will specify the acceptable definition of emergency? Does it include running out of beer?) Anyway, Howe can not leave the house, except for the aforementioned reasons. Oh, and he can go out for five hours of "personal time" per week. He can also go out for counselling. That's all, though. Well, except for when he goes out to do his ordered 200 hours of community servcice. Otherwise, he ain't getting out of that house no way, no how, not for two years less a day. Nicholas also prohibited Howe from driving for four years and ordered him to pay a $2000.00 "donation" to Chrysalis House. That will really teach him a lesson, huh?
That brings me back to good ol' judge Nicholas, the man who imposed this unbelievably harsh sentence. Apparently, Nicholas was a man on a mission himself when he passed the sentence. He declared that the message has got to go out to the imbibing public that drunk driving is dangerous and will not be tolerated. (emphasis my own, because it sure as hell didn't come from the moron on the bench)
"It's got to be denounced" he said. (This is the point where I imagine him snorting in his efforts to hold back the guffaws.) His denunciation of driving drunk does not match the slap on the wrist he delivered to Howe.
One line in particular jumps off the page for me when I read about the judge. As if the sentence wasn't already enought to do it, he took all the credibility out of his words when he said, "Now mind you, people make mistakes." That's what makes me think maybe Nicholas is guilty himself of indulging a little too much in the frothy brew and then climbing in behind the wheel of his own car. He might well be excusing in Howe behaviour that he indulges in himself. That line of his is the one that makes me think someone made a huge mistake when they declared Nicholas worthy to don the black robes of a judge.
People make mistakes, do they? Nicholas also averred that Howe was properly remorseful for his actions, so that should square it all up with MacRitchie's parents, shouldn't it? I mean, their son is never again going to return to their house, but Howe is sorry, so that's all OK, isn't it?
Make a "mistake" and then say you're sorry. Sounds like a perfect defense for people like mass murderer Robert Pickton, don't you think? Hell, why stop there? Use that line as a defense for every criminal that ever enters a Canadian court room and if any lawyer challenges it, just tell 'em good ol' Judge Nicholas said it.
Those words must be solid gold righteous, pilgrim, or they never would have left the judge's mouth.

Calling You Crafty Types

Want to tackle a project that would "make a difference"? If the answer is yes and you know how to sew, then I've got a suggestion for you. Even if you're not an expert on the sewing machine, you can still get involved on this one, because it requires only straight seams, so it's appropriate even for beginners.
I'm talking about making drawstring bags for the school kits distributed by the Mennonite Central Committee. These kits are the most requested item for the MCC and are given mostly to refugee and displaced children, in places such as Iraq, Liberia and Nicaragua, among others. For those of you who feel that charity should start at home, you should know that the MCC even distributes these kits to poorly funded schools in Canada and the United States. In 2004, the MCC distributed more than 90,000 of these kits.
If you have a little cash to spare, and the time, head off to your local fabric store and purchase a few lengths of the most colourful and playful prints, or the most charming and beautiful prints you can find, and then follow this link to find the super-simple instructions for making the bags. If you're like me, and you really enjoy seeing the craft take shape beneath your fingers, the fun will start for you making those choices at the fabric store.
This is a project that could also be good for group efforts, like for the Pathfinders or school clubs. Challenge the kids to raise their own money for purchasing the fabric, and then take them to the fabric store. This project could fit in to more than one area of the curriculum. If you are a teacher, challenge your group to take the project to the school population in general. They could keep the others informed on how many bags they have made, and get the others busy raising money to buy the contents for the bags. Having kids reach out to help other kids is a always a great way to teach how to be a compassionate global citizen.
You by yourself, or you at the head of a group, once you've finished your bags, simply click here to find the nearest drop-off point in Canada or the States. You can have some fun with this project and come away feeling good about it, too. What more could you ask for?