Rational Radical

To follow up on some recent posts, I just had to put this link of Bill O’Reilly up here.  I love it because he’s ranting about someone (Bill Moyers) doing the exact same thing he always does.  And given O’Reilly’s popularity, you know there are millions of cognitively challenged right-wingers swallowing every lie of their hero, even as he is doing exactly what he is denying doing!

Thanks C.M.:

Teachers can pack heat in tiny Texas town - Board okays concealed weapons for educators (New York Times - Aug 30, 2008)

HARROLD, TEX.–Students in this tiny town spent much of the first couple of days in school this week trying to guess which of their teachers were carrying pistols.  “Everybody knows everybody here. We will find out,” said Eric Howard, 16, a high school junior.

Leaders of the state’s major teachers unions have expressed outrage, while conservative Republican governor Rick Perry has endorsed the idea. Thweatt, a self-described “contingency planner,” believes Americans should be less afraid of protecting themselves.  The county sheriff’s office is 27 kilometres away, he says. Teachers have received training and will use ammunition designed to prevent ricocheting, he added.  Thweatt said the board discussed the proposal for nearly two years and considered tranquilizer guns, beanbag guns, Tasers, Mace and armed security guards; each was found lacking.   Longtime residents were hard-pressed to recall a single violent incident at the school.

Yes, it does still happen all too frequently. And yes, no matter how many people oppose this horrific practice, there are enough Traditionalist Arguments for Birth Control who will continue to condone and commit these acts of torture and murder. And yes, it happens in the new countries these savages infest (I’m not calling all people from certain countries “savages,” only those who condone or engage in this barbarism).

But NO, it’s not ethnocentric nor racist nor cultural insensitivity to call this practice savage/barbaric/evil. What am I talking about? Read on from today’s Star/Associated Press:

Women buried alive in ‘honour’ killings

A Pakistani lawmaker defended a decision by southwestern tribesmen to bury five women alive because they wanted to choose their own husbands, telling stunned members of Parliament this week to spare him their outrage. “These are centuries-old traditions and I will continue to defend them,” Israr Ullah Zehri, who represents Baluchistan province, said Saturday. “Only those who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid.”

The women, three of whom were teenagers, were first shot and then thrown into a ditch. They were still breathing as their bodies were covered with rocks and mud, according media reports and human rights activists, who said their only “crime” was that they wished to marry men of their own choosing

Zehri told a packed and flabbergasted Parliament on Friday that Baluch tribal traditions helped stop obscenity and then asked fellow lawmakers not to make a big fuss about it. Many stood up in protest, saying the executions were “barbaric” and demanding that discussions continue Monday. But a handful said it was an internal matter of the deeply conservative province.

“I was shocked,” said lawmaker Nilofar Bakhtiar, who pushed for legislation calling for perpetrators of so-called honour killings to be punished when she served as minister of women’s affairs under the last government. “I feel that we’ve gone back to the starting point again,” she said. “It’s really sad for me.”

The incident allegedly occurred one month ago in Baba Kot, a remote village in Jafferabad district, after the women decided to defy tribal elders and arrange marriages in a civil court, according to the Asian Human Rights Commission. They were said to have been abducted at gunpoint by six men, forced into a vehicle and taken to a remote field, where they were beaten, shot and then buried alive, it said, accusing local authorities of trying to hush up the killings.One of perpetrators was allegedly related to a top provincial official, it said.

What should one do with meat that has been tainted with listeria that has killed at least 9 people so far?  This article in today’s Star (thanks, C.M.) provides the irrational answer:

Feed recalled meat to animals? Oh, that makes sense

Paul Mayers, a senior manager at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, says some of the recalled meat might be fed to animals. “I’m not suggesting that that is an option in this case. When product is recalled, then a range of options can be employed,” he said, including destruction. However, he added: “Product may go to rendering … and through rendering, then that product can be reworked, the listeria would be destroyed and that product could then be used in the production of animal feed provided that the product meets our requirements.”

Where does that leave us? You can’t test all the meat but apparently it’s not reliable to test the environment at the plant either because positive results are common. Bummer. Overall, McCain seems to be moving to the maybe-we’ll-never-know approach.  If they can’t do better than that, maybe the public should take the maybe-we’ll-never-eat-processed-meat approach.

I love watching how American conservatives distort reality so much.  There are literally thousands of examples to choose, but I’m taking this one.  Forget about what you think about infidelity.  Just take a look at the conservatives’ argument here–which you may agree with–and then see how they become all flustered when confronted with reality.

Now, the fact is that this is not a simple black and white issue without extenuating circumstances.  However, just watch the conservatives’ tactics, childish behaviours, and inability to produce cogent, coherent arguments (although Hannity almost comes close at the very end–too bad he had to resort to the idiot school-boy taunting, which ruins his credibility).

What am I talking about?  This…Enjoy… 

Did anyone ever believe that PM Dolt McGuinty or Mayor Milquetoast would have the brains, guts or heart to fix a problem that has plagues the health of Ontario cities and all of their residents since Mike the Axe Harris fucked up the province during two successive majority governments?  I didn’t.  And now we have the evidence:
Cities back to begging for crumbs

Ontario cities are now doomed to fiscal ruin – locked in a paternal relationship that forever binds them to their masters, the provincial government. That’s the inescapable conclusion after Premier Dalton McGuinty yesterday failed to deliver the promised freedom that seemed so possible two years ago. McGuinty went to the gathering of Ontario reeves and mayors and councillors bearing gifts, as usual. He received thunderous applause when he delivered $1.1 billion in goodies for infrastructure, a windfall possible when the provincial surplus netted out higher than projected. But the room fell silent when McGuinty said, in effect, that this could be the end of the gravy train.

Already, McGuinty had dampened expectations by saying the results of a provincial-municipal review of the funding relationship between the two would not be released that day. It needs more work, provincial officials say. The economy is tanking. Don’t expect that the province can do much repair any time soon. Lower expectations. Yes, the Liberals promised to fix all the dastardly damage former premier Mike Harris inflicted on municipalities, but his hands are tied.  And the municipal politicians swallowed it. They took the crumbs when what they need is the loaf. They did what their predecessors have done; what the province was hoping they’d do.

Yesterday was supposed to be Emancipation Day, a municipal celebration greased by a permanent plan that would see the province take back at least some of the financial burdens dumped on cities in the 1990s.  The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) pegged the required take-back or upload at $3 billion across the province, if Ontario is to treat its municipalities like they are in the rest of Canada.

Relief was not pegged to a definite date, only a timetable reasonably outlined by the premier himself.  Now, it might never happen. For sure, the relief will not approximate the extent of the download. And, if the economy worsens, it may be abandoned altogether.  So, the cities got snookered. Again. This was their last great chance to fix their fiscal woes. The provincial economy was humming. McGuinty appeared in their corner. He admitted it was wrong to burden municipalities with the cost of welfare and housing and dental plans for seniors. And he was going to fix it.

Spring of 2008 was a convenient timetable to get the issue past the provincial election last fall. Municipalities obliged and the provincial Liberals received a free ride on the issue. Imagine: For years, government of every political stripe cheated the cities out of their tax dollars and, instead of making it an election issue, the municipal politicians kept quiet, hoping that McGuinty would fulfill his promise.  Now, instead of rewarding them by removing the burden, McGuinty put a Band-Aid on it yesterday, sending some much-needed cash to soothe the pain. But it is another one-time grant, subject to the good graces of the masters at Queen’s Park.

Toronto Mayor David Miller accepted the gift yesterday with a prepared statement, unavailable to answer reporters’ questions. Just as well. What’s there to say?  Miller could’ve recalled how he absorbed a political beating last year by imposing new taxes on Toronto ratepayers – a sign of good faith to the province. But what’s the use? On this plantation, once a slave, always a slave.

I know it’s an ugly stereotype and I know that many Americans are as intelligent as people in other developed countries.  But when you see half of the voters being fooled time and again by lies, slander, and other ugliness that the Republicans are masters of, you really have to wonder just how stupid, ignorant, apathetic and/or paralyzed with fear the majority of Americans appear to be.

Only in America could a proven war vet hero be made to look like a coward by a man (well, his team) whose daddy made sure that he never saw any combat or even hard training–and most of Bush’s gang avoided any active military service by similar means.  And now, only in America could some of the richest, most elite, most out of touch old white men make so many of their serfs believe that they are “just one of them.”

I mean, the Republican candidate, McCain, doesn’t even know how many houses he owns–as he proved last week–and has supported every bill that gave massive tax cuts to the rich and penalized the middle and lower classes.  Yet, all he and Karl Rove–a true psychopath by all definitions of the term…a “man” so vile that he actually looks, thinks, talks and acts like the most stereotypical “evil villain” in any 007 story or similar movie–have got America thinking that only Obama is some rich, out of touch “elitist,” whereas Bush, Cheney, McCain, etc. are all just “good o’l boys.”  Only in America will we likely see half of the voters fall for that crap.

By the way, before anyone tries to correct me, I know that Rove’s team and supposedly not Rove himself  is helping McCain, since Rove supposedly resigned last year after being busted for some of the crap he’s pulled.  But I’m certain he’s still as involved as he ever was, and we know for a fact that, thus far, he has faced no repercussions for the evil he has committed and has refused to testify at any of the hearings that Congress has begged and pleaded for him to attend.

And lest we forget, yes, the Democrats have done a pretty good job of blowing most elections they should have won, especially since Clinton’s presidency.  And yes, the Democrats are no better than the Republicans in many ways.  But when you actually listen to the ignorance of so many Americans with respect to the issues facing them and the candidates they have to choose from, you really get a sense that the average American is one of the most ignorant creatures in the developed world.  Of course, the average Canadian isn’t that much better, as has been proven time and again these past few decades…

I know it’s a bit late, but I forgot to comment on that jerk Chretien’s recent criticism of Harper for skipping the Olympic Opening Ceremonies.  As has been pointed out by others elsewhere, Chretien skipped all of the many winter/summer Olympic Ceremonies he could have attended while PM except for one in the US, so what right does he have to chastize Harper for missing one?  More important, Chretien is part of an organization that would benefit from increased trade with China, hence his concern about pissing off the Chinese–never mind China’s disgusting record on human rights, environmental destruction, etc.

I have nothing but contempt for Harper–contempt that grows every day he tries harder to turn Canada into his fiefdom.  But his decision to miss the Opening Ceremonies is the first time I had any praise for our Prime Argument for Birth Control.  Fuck Chretien for his hypocrisy and his record of putting $$$ before humans, both in Canada and China.

The only good thing about the following story (thanks C.M….I already saw it and was the first commenter :)) is that every person who wrote to the Star was as livid as I was that this repeat-offender piece of shit was given only 7.5 years for slaughtering two innocent people.  With time off for good behaviour, this Argument for the Death Penalty will likely serve less than 2 years.  Remember his name.  If you ever see him out in public, do the right thing, whatever you think it is, because obviously our just-ass system obviously wouldn’t know what the right thing was if it came up behind it in a 2-tonne automobile and pushed it into an oncoming train.
A “habitual drunk driver” whose vehicle pushed a Rockwood, Ont., couple into the path of a GO train has been sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison.  Andy and Nettie Miller, who were 66 and 65, were stopped at a level crossing in Milton on July 19, 2007, when Ingram Bakhsh struck the rear of their vehicle, forcing it onto the tracks. The Millers died instantly when the train hit their car.  Bakhsh’s car continued through the crossing and struck another vehicle on the opposite side of the tracks before it came to rest.

Ontario Court Justice Richard LeDressay called Bakhsh, 29, a “habitual drunk driver” who had killed two people after an “egregious” sequence of events.  At the time of the crash, he was awaiting trial for two previous drunk-driving related incidents, including a collision with a tractor-trailer on Highway 401, and was prohibited from being behind the wheel of a vehicle and consuming alcohol under bail conditions.  On the night of the collision, he had been driving at a high speed and had a breathalyzer reading almost four times the legal limit. He pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death and breach of his bail conditions.

Look at these two headlines from today:

Fewer impaired driving charges laid across province

Hospital stays shorter for mentally ill (thanks, C.M.)

Now, if you didn’t read any further, you might think that fewer people are drinking and driving and that mentally ill people are receiving more efficacious treatment–and possibly getting better help/support in the community.  However, reading a bit further also reveals:

- The number of provincially funded RIDE spot checks have fallen off. Police checked 505,000 cars, boats and snowmobiles last year, compared with 616,000 checks in 2001.

- Robert Solomon, professor of law at the University of Western Ontario, said impaired driving charges may be going down but there has been little change in the number of deaths and injuries at the hands of impaired drivers (estimated by Mothers Against Drunk Driving at 60,000 people per year in Canada)

- Police are laying fewer formal charges because the laws are too complicated and leave officers drowning in paperwork, Solomon said. It takes police almost three hours to process a single case, only to watch the charges get backlogged and pleaded down in court, he added.

- “So basically what you have is a growing de facto decriminalization of impaired driving,” Soloman said. “What is supported by the research is the growing reluctance of police to lay the charge and the incredible burden on Crowns.”

- Other countries, particularly in Europe, do a better job than Canada, Solomon said. Many have lower blood alcohol limits, conduct random roadside breathalyzer testing and automatically test for alcohol following a serious accident, he said. “They take drinking and driving seriously and they enforce it rigorously,” Soloman said. “We don’t do that.”

As for the mental health issue:

- Drop (in hospital stay [for psychiatric patients]) reflects greater pressure on health system and is not a good-news story, officials [physicians and consumer advocates] warn

- There are fewer mental-health patients admitted to hospital per capita than five years ago. For those who do seek treatment, the average stay has plummeted 55 per cent, to 16 days in 2005-06 from 36 days in 2000-01.

- While the report did not include data to indicate levels of patient health at the time of release, it did reflect significant changes in the treatment of mental disorders, which have largely shifted from the realm of psychiatric-specific care facilities, where the most common length of stay is 26 days, to general hospitals, where the most common stay lasts eight days.

- “If people don’t understand what’s behind the numbers, they’ll think this is a good-news story. That worries me,” said Phil Upshall, national executive director of the Mood Disorders Society of Canada.

- Patrick White, president of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, said the drop in patients’ length of stay reflects overall “pressure on the system.” Because of hospital bed shortages - or inefficient use of beds allocated for psychiatric care - patients are being discharged more quickly even though they are sicker and more unstable than in the past, he said.

- While 16 days may seem like a long time to spend in hospital…for a patient with chronic schizophrenia who suffers a relapse, it is much too short…It should probably be a least 30 days, but there is pressure to free up the bed for someone else.

- Hospitals and hospital administrators have traditionally discriminated against mental-health conditions and people with them. That’s principally because of, in my view, the stigma attached to mental illnesses,” he said.

- “They’re discharging people into the community without the necessary supports. You would never discharge a patient with a broken back in need of a wheelchair without a wheelchair.”