Late night nonsense

Blame the late night news on CTV Toronto for this posting.

1 – There was a double homicide in northwest Toronto in the early hours of yesterday.  This occurred in a townhouse complex, known as Jamestown, that has been known to be a frequent arena for gang activity.  During this past summer, Toronto Police did some community outreach work in this area, which seemed to help.  Residents reported they felt safer and they allowed their children to play outside without worrying too much.

As part of the news coverage, the news crew interviewed some area residents.  One of these residents must be living in Neverland, not Jamestown.  Keep in mind, this area is part of a gang’s turf.  Yet this lady said she couldn’t understand how these murders happened because “nobody here has guns”.  Lady, what you mean is nobody here will admit to having a gun. According to an item on one of the news websites I follow, the local gang is called “The Jamestown Crips”.  Of course there are guns.  It’s just that they aren’t telling anyone who doesn’t need to know, and those who do know, won’t talk.

2 – In a second item, Premier Dalton McGuinty of Ontario is talking about helping Ontario farmers by helping them get their produce into local stores.  As part of an interview, he suggested that if people just spend ten dollars more on their groceries, it would help create thousands of jobs in the province.   Like the lady in item 1, Dalton is so far removed from reality it has passed the point of being ridiculous.

Dalton, I’ll try to use small words here so you might understand me.  People can’t spend ten dollars more on their groceries because they can’t afford to spend ten dollars more on their groceries.  Grocery costs keep going up (I’d have used “increasing”, but I said I’d use small words) and people are having a hard time putting food on the table now.  Rather than encourage people to spend more on Ontario produce, why don’t you try to do something about the already exorbitant cost of food.  Is there any valid reason why a loaf of bread at the discount stores still costs $1.99?   I live alone and don’t buy name brands, except for dish detergent, or unnecessary things, like cookies, yet every month my grocery bill goes up.  If you want to really help people, do something about that.  Yes, it’s great that you’re trying to help Ontario farmers.  After all, you do have a minority government which could be bought down any day, so it’s nice to try to gather votes early.

Okay, I’ve let off some steam over these idiotic statements and think I can probably sleep now.

Enjoy the rest of your week and remember to hug an artist – we need love too.

Cat.

Bring him to justice – media questions

I’m upset.  No, upset doesn’t cover it – I’m pissed.  With the Toronto media.

This past weekend a service station attendant was killed.  Someone pumped over $100 worth of gas into his vehicle, then attempted to flee without paying.  The attendant was struck by this vehicle and dragged some distance.  He later died in hospital.  The police know who they’re looking for and have issued a Public Safety Alert for this man on a charge of second degree murder.  And the media are reporting this search and publicizing the man’s name and picture.

Yes, this was a tragedy and this man deserves to be off the streets.  According to news reports, this wasn’t the first time he’d pulled a “gas and dash”.  His name was also mentioned in reference to some prowling incidents in the west end of Toronto.  Granted this was a very public event and a provincial politician, who frequently used that station, has  said he’ll try to change the law so drivers have to pay before they fill up and there is of course public outrage over the callous behaviour of that driver.

But is this really any different than the search for George Flowers?  George Flowers, aka “Mr Flowas”, according to the Public Safety Alert – and here’s the link: http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/newsreleases/pdfs/24254.pdf has been HIV positive since 1996 and never bothered telling his partners.  How many women has he sentenced to death with his silence?   The police alert was issued August 13.  To my knowledge, a local television news station, CP24, mentioned it once.  The Toronto news radio stations have the bulletin on their websites, as do some stations in western Canada – Winnipeg Manitoba, Edmonton Alberta and New Westminster BC come to mind – but it has not received the general coverage this hit and run has seen.  Why not?  I’ve since been told one of the Toronto papers had a two inch long item buried on an inside page as well.

Is it, as I wrote above, that the hit and run was such a public incident, or that a politician is involved in finding a solution to prevent the problem in the future?  Or is it that the search for a serial killer who used sex as a weapon, for that is what George Flowers is, or will be, less “glamourous” than a hit and run?  Let’s face it.  With this “gas and dash” fatality, the news crews can get footage of the station and the area and speak with people from the neighbourhood.    Other than a news anchor reporting on the search for Flowers, news footage is scarce.  His victims won’t want to appear on camera.  They have spent years in some cases trying to rebuild their lives after getting a diagnosis of HIV positive and being on television would destroy those lives and violate their privacy.  But surely the print media and radio could be doing a better job of publicizing the search for George Flowers.  I’ve been told I’m the only person who has written anything about this matter.  While I have a good number of regular readers as well as many others according to the site statistics, I don’t have the coverage commercial media has. George Flowers is as much a hazard as is Max Edwin Tutiven, the apparent driver of the SUV.  So why isn’t the media doing more?

Cat.

Save some of that for our politicians

Don’t get me wrong with what I’m about to write.  I admire Obama greatly for what he’s accomplished during his first term considering the mess he inherited.  And well, I’ve made no secret of my feelings towards Stevie.  If you’re a new reader “Stevie” refer to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.  And that I call him “Stevie” should tell you all you need to know  about my views.  Simply put, I respect the office of Prime Minister, but not the present occupant of that office.

As do many Facebook users, I have friends from all over the world and am always struck by my American friends’ willingness to express their political views, especially now that the presidential election draws near. I am also amazed at the support many of my Canadian friends show for President Obama, even though they can’t vote for the man.

Granted President Obama is a charismatic man, whereas Stevie has all the charisma of a wet sponge, and in the last election, Michael Ignatieff, the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada at the time, was as dull as Stevie, but surely Canadians could drum up some of the excitement they show for American politics for the Canadian version.  Perhaps if they had we wouldn’t now be saddled with a government that seems intent upon making a mockery of the institution of Parliament.  Perhaps some of that fire people exhibit toward Obama would have prevented Stevie from getting an absolute majority.

To my Canadian readers, I suggest you remember the enthusiasm you are showing for Obama and save some of it for whenever Stevie decides to call a general election in Canada.  If you do, we may get the government we need, not the government our current apathy has given us.

Okay, rant over.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and remember to hug an artist – we need love too.

Cat.

From my television

Time to pick on television again.

Maybe I’m becoming more cynical with age, but I find I question some of the claims made in commercials. I just watched a commercial for Lumosity – the programme that claims to exercise your brain – and one line in it really caught my attention.  An actress says at one point “it’s hard to exercise your brain”.  Excuse me?  “It’s hard to exercise your brain”?  I’ve found simple things such as reading – and you can get books for free from the library – and doing crossword puzzles work well.  They’re available online in the daily papers, again at no cost.  From the Lumosity website, I can’t tell if there is any cost to this, but I somehow doubt it is free.

An item on the early news on CTV Toronto caught my attention and caused some displeasure.  No doubt you are aware of the anti-Islam movie that has caused all the demonstrations in the Middle East that have resulted in the deaths of three American citizens, including the Ambassador in Benghazi, Libya this past week.  According to this news item, the White House asked YouTube to examine the portions of that movie currently on their site with a view to removing them.  YouTube, which is part of that great American company Google, refused to remove it saying it falls within their guidelines.  Obviously common sense is not part of their guidelines.  Think about it.  This is a “movie” that has resulted in American Embassies being attacked throughout the Muslim world – and apparently the Embassy in Sydney, Australia was the site of a demonstration today – and has resulted in the deaths of at least three Americans, but you consider your “guidelines” so sacred you won’t pull a video even at the request of the White House?  How many more embassies must be attacked and destroyed and how many more American lives must be lost before you reconsider?

Now that I’ve vented a bit, I feel better.  To my followers and readers, enjoy your weekend and remember to hug an artist – we need love too.

Cat.

So much for the raise.

On August 30, in my posting “Give him a raise, don’t fire him” I described the plight of a teacher in Edmonton Alberta who had been suspended for giving a student a zero on an assignment the student failed to hand in.  This was in defiance of the school’s “no zero” policy. The principal felt that the teacher should make a comment to encourage the student rather than zero for a mark.  What – teach the kids that not completing tasks is acceptable?

I mentioned that this teacher was to meet with the superintendent of schools this past week.  My stance was that the teacher should be given a raise rather than fired, for his way would prepare students for the world that exists outside school.  The world where incomplete or shoddy work isn’t acceptable.

I just read an article in the online edition of The Toronto Sun that stated the superintendent fired the teacher.  Obviously he didn’t read my previous posting.  The teacher is appealing the dismissal, but it never should have happened in the first place.  The article also states that the Edmonton Public School Board is launching a policy review committee that will look into student assessment practices. It’s a little late for this teacher and should have been done long ago.  If and when the media updates this, I’ll write another post.

To my followers and readers, enjoy your weekend and remember to hug an artist – we need love too.

Cat.

More on blogging

In my recent posting “On blogging and social media”, I commented at some of the differences I’ve noticed between Blogger, where I used to post my rants/raves/reasoned discussions (as always – reader’s choice) and WordPress where I now subject an entirely different readership to my opinions.  I mention some figures in that previous posting, so won’t repeat them here – after all that would be padding my word count for this posting.

The reason I left Blogger is that I wasn’t happy with the response I was getting, either in readership, or interaction with those readers in the form of comments. As I wrote previously, I did tackle a sensitive issue while on Blogger and I noticed that rather than attack my views in that posting, many of the responses chose to attack me personally.  I was accused of sniping at those “better” than me.  Excuse me, but if my name is on the profile, as it is this one, how is that hiding.  I was told I was a loser who got their jollies hiding behind my computer and slagging others.  If I’m a loser, hiding behind my computer all day, why is it I’m rarely home?  Okay, I‘m home today because it’s pouring rain out there.  But the one that I think finally settled my decision to close Cat’s Eye View, the name of my site, was the one that unfavourably compared my intelligence to that of a turnip.  Between you and me, I know I could out-think that turnip two times out of three.

Perhaps it was destined that I abandon Blogger in mid-June and open Catsworld1 on WordPress.  My recent and ongoing series “Bring him to justice”, which, by the way, the  detective handling the case told me she appreciated, has had more readers alone than my entire catalogue of postings on Blogger, according to figures I have here.  That series deals with a Public Safety Alert issued by the Toronto Police Service advising of a man wanted for aggravated sexual assault. He was diagnosed HIV positive in 1996 but never advised his partners of that diagnosis. Here’s the link to that bulletin: http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/newsreleases/pdfs/24254.pdf This series is important to me as I know at least two people who dated that man and, simply put, I want him off the streets.  And to be honest, I’ve found writing those extremely stressful, but for these people I know, I continue.  There will be more postings under the heading “Bring him to justice” once I am able to confirm some information I’ve received.  While these may be opinion pieces, I won’t just post the information because at the moment I consider it to be rumour and, as much as I dislike that man, that wouldn’t be fair to him, nor would it be good journalism.  In the meantime, I try to keep my readers informed and amused with postings such as yesterday’s “Writing 101 by Cat, or what would I say?” and this morning’s “Ford Follies”.  A friend mentioned that “Writing 101 by Cat” is probably the shortest writing course ever, but as I asked in the full title, what would I say?  What else is there to say about writing?

I enjoy writing and even if I didn’t have access to WordPress or Blogger or any of the other sites out there, I’d still be putting words on paper and pestering my friends to read those essays.

Since it’s Friday afternoon, enjoy your weekend and remember to hug an artist – we need love too.

Cat.

Ford Follies

The brothers Ford seem to have the same attitude: rules are for others.  I wrote in “The mantra is wearing thin” that Mayor Robbie is once again in trouble.  This time it stems from his football coaching.  Not only did he miss 5.5 hours of a 9 hour executive council meeting, of which he is the chair, to coach his high school football team, but it seems he has been using some of his office staffers as assistants – during business hours.  And yes, late yesterday a citizen did file a conflict of interest complaint with the city’s ethics commissioner.  But considering Robbie ignored the commissioner’s last ruling against him and that ended up in court, I doubt the complaint will really accomplish much.

According to an article in today’s online edition of The Toronto Sun, an unnamed source (they have to be protected because they aren’t authorized to speak for the mayor, but want the information known) Robbie’s staff mentioned his use of city personnel and equipment, in addition to his sloughing off his duties in favour of coaching, to him very early in his term.  Robbie’s attitude is, as I wrote above “rules, even rules he brought in as mayor, are for others” and ignored their concerns.  Rob Ford was elected on a slogan of “stop the gravy train”, meaning cut the waste at city hall.  However, when it comes to him personally and his football teams, it would appear that slogan should be “pass the gravy”, for his personal use of city property and people is the very thing he railed against during his campaign and called “gravy”.

Brother City Councillor Doug is another loose cannon.  Since the story on the football team broke earlier this week, Dougie has been popping up on various radio stations around Toronto defending his brother and making promises such as “the staff members will be brought forward so the media can speak with them.”  The main problem with his statements is that the only person who may speak for the mayor officially is his press secretary, and that ain’t Doug Ford.  City Hall says “no, the staffers will not be made available for the press”.  So, although Doug is introduced on these shows as “City Councillor Doug Ford”, in reality he’s just a guy trying to defend his brother’s idiot actions.

And of course, this entire folly is accompanied by Robbie’s mantra “it’s for the kids”.

I’m glad I don’t live in Toronto – the mayor here manages to do his job without all the nonsense Robbie seems to create – but at the same time I’m happy Robbie is the mayor because he provides so much fodder for these postings.

Enjoy the rest of your week and remember to hug an artist – we need love too.

Cat.

The mantra is wearing thin

Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto who is currently awaiting a judge’s decision on a conflict of interest case brought by a citizen, seems to have done it again.   And once again Robbie is repeating his mantra “it’s for the kids”.

This past Tuesday, Robbie skipped the last five hours and thirty minutes (approximately) of a Council meeting.  “Why?” you ask, “What could be so important that the mayor of Canada’s largest city would miss the bulk of a Council meeting?”  What was so important was that the Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School Eagles, the high school football team he coaches, had an away game.  As he put it, as quoted in The Toronto Star of today, “If I’m not there, the kids don’t play,” Gee Robbie, perhaps it’s just as well City Council seems to have usurped your authority in Council since you seem to be absent from City Hall more than you’re present because things are still getting done in your absence.

This time though, and another potential conflict of interest should a citizen or councillor choose to file a complaint, is that some members of his staff are involved.  According to the article, Robbie started two summer teams, the Rexdale Raiders.  The article also states that  on the Raiders Facebook page, one of the staffers is shown as a contact with a personal email account given, but the telephone number is that of a city-owned and issued cell phone.  Those phones are to be used for city business only, which as far as I’m aware doesn’t include working for a football club started by the mayor.  The article, relying on an unnamed source, also said that while “one staffer did some constituency work, the staffer usually spent most of his day assisting Ford with his three teams. Using a city car, the staffer regularly picked players up and dropped them off, sometimes at school; took equipment for cleaning; and attended games and practices” according to this source.  The source also said this frequently took place during working hours.

And of course, Robbie being Robbie, he seems to think that what has become a mantra for him – “it’s for the kids” – is reason or excuse enough to once again abuse his office for personal reasons. He seems to use that mantra as some kind of magic shield that will deflect all criticism.  Doesn’t work Robbie. The mantra is wearing thin. I don’t fault the staff members – after all their boss is The Mayor and should be aware of when he’s using city personnel or equipment for personal business.  But  Robbie says “it’s for the kids” so that makes it okay. At least in his mind it’s okay.  Robbie  said during the 2010 campaign that he would quit coaching his high school team if he were elected, but he changed his mind after he took office.  That should have been a warning sign right there – that he placed a higher priority on coaching high school football than he did on being Mayor of Toronto.  One can only hope the judge in the current conflict of interest case finds him guilty and determines he be removed from office.  That should give him plenty of time “for the kids”.

To my followers and readers, enjoy the rest of your week and remember to hug an artist  we need love too.

Cat.

Politically correct is just a PC term for “censorship”

Following is a link to an item in today’s online edition of The Toronto Sun:  http://www.torontosun.com/2012/09/11/durham-region-teachers-given-language-guidelines.

I don’t know what to say about this item other than to quote Arte Johnson from Laugh-in: “verry interesting, but shtupid”.  I mean seriously, have you heard of anything more ridiculous than some of the instructions in this manual?  Not referring to someone from Seoul as “Korean”.  Teachers are encouraged to call them “someone from Korea”.  I’m surprised they even allowed that much and not suggested they be called “Asian”.

And avoiding use of words that contain the word “man”, such as “mankind” also seems more than a little PC.    Such a restriction would have put a major crimp in a discussion of one of my favourite groups of the late sixties/early seventies – Manfred Mann.  I suppose I’d have had to refer to them as “Personfred Person”.  What utter nonsense.

Durham District School Board is, to be politically correct, out of their ever-loving minds collectively trying to enforce this.  Let’s look at the real world for a minute.  Children will hear terms like Korean, or Pakistani (to use examples from the article) or worse at home, or at their friends or wherever they happen to be.  They will hear “mailman” and “policeman” just about everywhere.  Everywhere that is, except in the classroom.  And that will continue until and unless the parents of every child in the school system are given a copy of this manual.  And that will have just the opposite effect of what the Board wants.  Rather than encourage parents to follow the suggestions, I suspect the common reaction will be “WTF is this bull?”  And there will be a firestorm of protest and the Board will quietly scrap the manual.

Once again, political correctness is trying to change the English language as it has been used for generations.  Or should I stop being PC here and say that once again, someone is trying to censor the language we use.

To my followers and readers, enjoy your week and remember to hug an artist, we need love too.  (And I hope saying that is very, very politically incorrect).

Cat.

You own what?

Over the past couple of days there have been articles in the two main Toronto papers, The Star and The Sun, about a man in Hamilton Ontario who is suing the Hamilton District School Board.  He wants advance notice from the school when they will be teaching certain subjects, marriage, family and sexuality are mentioned, which are at odds with his religion – he’s Greek Orthodox. He claims the teachers have dismissed his demands.

In an interview to explain his demands, for that is the best description, he is quoted as saying “My children are my own. I own them. They don’t belong to the school board,”.  Excuse me.  You own your children?  Have I missed something somewhere?  To my knowledge, the only time in history another human being was “owned” by another human being was during slavery and that was abolished long ago.  He also states “I don’t see why somebody else’s discrimination should cause me, should influence where I send my children.”

Oh, now I see.  It’s all right for your discrimination to influence other people, but not all right for other people’s discrimination to affect you. Now it’s perfectly clear – you’re a jerk. Yes, you are.  You are discriminating in the sense that you want your personal prejudices to determine what your own children may learn.  I think one of your problems is that you don’t want your children to learn how to think – you want them to grow up as drones, unable to form an intelligent thought on their own.  There’s a word for people like that, people who only follow the crowd, never voicing an opinion or taking an independent action – that word is “sheeple”.  The world already has too many “sheeple”.

There was an editorial in today’s online edition of The Star that urged the Hamilton District School Board to defend against this suit vigorously. I agree with that stance.  In my view, should this man win his suit, other people will be demanding the same consideration for religious or personal views and nothing will be taught other than two of the three “r”s – ‘riting and ‘rithmetic’.  Can’t teach reading because some parent might object to something in whatever book is used for instruction and have it banned from classrooms (remember Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice”?)

So, this man “owns” his kids and wants to use that dominance to prevent them from learning anything that is at odds with his own religious and personal views.  Can you think of a better way to raise one-dimensional children? And don’t forget – today’s children are the leaders of tomorrow.

To my followers and readers, enjoy your week and remember to hug an artist – we need love too.  And please, teach your children to think for themselves.

Cat.