Rational Radical

There’s so much news and I can’t work myself up (thanks for all the stories, CM!).  Okay, so here goes:

1) Fortunately, that little monster, MT - Melissa Todorovic, has been sentenced as an adult for arranging the murder of Stephanie Rengel. I don’t know why, but this picture disturbs me:

JIM RANKIN/TORONTO STAR

Ian Rengel is hugged by his mother, Patricia Hung, after reading a statement outside court following the July 28, 2009 sentencing of his sister’s killer.

And to have this young boy (age 13) read the family statement just seems wrong.  Is it just me?

2) Speaking of wrong, go to The Star and you can read many stories about all of the screw-ups Mayor Miller has managed regarding the strike. He essentially caved completely and is trying to spin it as something it isn’t.  I said it since Day 1: Miller is an Arrogant Argument for Birth Control who is so far out of touch with reality that it’s scary!  Here is one story you can check out.  And in case anyone didn’t know, the union is demanding that any criminal act committed by the scumbags on the picket lines will be completely forgotten.  Yes, Miller caved in to that.  Yes, he gave them a small raise.  And yes, he essentially let most of the union members keep their sick days.

3) And speaking of Arguments for Birth Control, yet another Vaughan councilor (and former budget chief Bernie DiVona) has been caught stealing public funds.  The audit found campaign funds were used for a variety of purchases, including repairs to his home, an $818 suit, $227 in clothes for his wife, a $1,710 espresso machine and $1,300 to fix his vandalized car.

4) Returning to the Star, Tamie Dolmy, that little spoiled 16 year-old with an attitude and no clue, wrote her last column (this link will stay active for a while) the other day.  As always, it provides absolutely no insight into the strike.  And some may think this is harsh, but the picture of Tamie smiling is creepy.  That’s not a normal smile. It’s a forced smile from someone who does not smile easily.  Sure, it could simply be an awkward smile, but to me it really looks like someone struggling to make a face that’s not natural for her:

ADRIEN VECZAN/TORONTO STAR

Tamie Dolny, at the York Civic Centre, is happy to be going back to work as a lifeguard for the City of Toronto once the strike is officially over. (July 28, 2009)

1. So, while Miller, McGuinty, and the unions do crap-all to resolve the ongoing strike, the COMMENTS below provide information from The Star on the effect this strike is having (thanks, CM).

2. Read the Tamie Files and COMMENTS in this link to see her latest piece of crap.  As I said before, totally manipulative and I’m not sure if she realizes how obvious it is.

3. I’m not saying she shouldn’t take responsibility for her own actions, but look at what this woman went through as a kid, see how good intentions ended up becoming a nightmare of crap, and see how the government is now sending her back for more crap in a land she does not really know, after this land helped screw her up.  That is:

After 22 years in Canada, orphan ordered back home
(Nicholas Keung  — IMMIGRATION REPORTER)

At age 12, an adoption agency brought Fatima Desrosiers to Toronto from a Brazilian orphanage, with the hope of finding the abused child a home.  She was taken to the Don Mills area, where she met her prospective new mother. Desrosiers recalls a confrontation; the woman yelled at her, but at the time Desrosiers did not understand English. She also remembers the woman holding a knife and ordering her to leave.  Desrosiers ran out into the street, stopping what she thought was a cab. It was, in fact, a police cruiser and officers immediately placed her in the care of children’s aid.

That was 1987. For years after, Desrosiers was a Crown ward, bouncing from foster home to group home, under a temporary resident permit. She was never adopted or sponsored to become a permanent resident, and her numerous criminal convictions over the years – theft, drug trafficking, prostitution, assaults – meant she couldn’t get landed status.

Now, 22 years after Desrosiers was brought here for a better future, she has been ordered to return to a country where she has no ties and no longer speaks the language.

Desrosiers, 34, has vague memories of growing up in a small shack with 11 adults and seven children in Tiete, before she was removed and taken to an orphanage at age 5.  “I have never stayed anywhere for a full year. I never really attended school. I can’t read or do math,” added Desrosiers, who has three sons and two daughters, none of whom lives with her.

Readers of this site know I’ve followed this story since the beginning (my latest post can be found a few blogs down), and let me make it 100% clear that this girl does NOT take full responsibility for the murder of Stefanie Rengel.  Even the psychiatrist hack hired by her lawyer admits that!  What’s most important–and I hope the judge understands this–is that having body image disorder is NOT correlated with arranging someone to murder another person!!  This is the kind of crap that gives psychology a bad name–of course, it should give psychiatry a bad name, but most people can’t tell the difference, so psychologists will get associated with this idiot psychiatrist hired by MT’s lawyer. I know he’s only doing his job, but I wish more psychiatrists and psychologists would refuse to whore themselves out unethically.

I’m sorry, tearful M.T. says — Teen tells sentencing hearing she takes ‘full responsibility’ for killing of Stefanie Rengel

Jul 17, 2009 (Peter Small)

ALEX TAVSHUNSKY FOR THE TORONTO STAR: M.T., top right, hears the jury’s guilty verdict March 20, 2009, with her family in the courtroom, including her younger brother.

The teenage girl who goaded her boyfriend into murdering Stefanie Rengel has made a tearful apology to the victim’s family and claims she would never commit another offence. “I am very sorry for everything I’ve said and done to contribute to Stefanie’s death,” the 17-year-old girl who can only be identified as M.T told her sentencing hearing today. “I want you to know that I take full responsibility for my part and I know it’s hard for you to believe me when I say that.”

This is a continuation of the previous thread, to which FunkyMe72, Sarah, Jason, Tiiu, and Lily commented.  Lily, I think you’re in the minority here, although you do seem to agree with the points raised by myself and others.  I understand why you feel I am being harsh to Tamie because I am being harsh to her.  But she deserves it.  Anyone who puts him/herself out there in such a manner must accept the responses, as long as they are “legitimate.”

And just as it’s not fair for people to dismiss her merely because of her age, she cannot expect to hide behind her age. Therefore, she speaks crap, she gets called on it.  She wants to defend the union via her “column”–which many readers of the Star say is more appropriate for a blog or twitter–she has to expect people to attack that very union.

I know you disagree with me on that, Lily, but I believe in reactions matching the action.  That is, she wrote certain things in a certain way, thus she gets responded to in that manner.  Her column was very “in your face” and her picture says it all.  She says, “bring it on,” and I (and others) bring it on.  I think it’s great that young people are expressing their opinions.  I used to do that too, although in those days it was in person, rather than internet.  If I said something worthy of respect, I got that respect.  If people disagreed with me, I argued my point.  If I said something full of crap, I got called on it.  The same applies here.

As someone who knows something (okay, a lot) about the psychology of language, I can tell you very clearly that she has an extremely manipulative writing style, whether she’s aware of it or not.  Look at the intro to her latest piece, part of which you cited yourself.  I’m not going to analyze it in as much depth as I could, but I’ll give a brief analysis:

Life certainly can be unfair.  However, that doesn’t mean it’s time to give up.

Starts off fine; she’s conveying a message of “hope.”  Heck, in case someone didn’t get it, she even mentions “hope” below.  But she’s also throwing in “resilience” in the face of adversity.  Who could argue with such sentiments?  Good start.

Maybe I’m young, maybe I’m inexperienced, maybe I’m a bit too raw … but I still believe that if you’ve got enough guts, enough cheek, enough nerve, you can change the world.

Again, she’s got the hope thing, but she prefaces it with acknowledging her possible shortcomings; personally, I think the “Maybe I’m young…” bit is trite/cliched and, at this point, it’s manipulative.  What does changing the world have to do with this strike?  She’s incorporating valid, laudable principles into this issue, where none of the parties involved–not the city and it’s spineless mayor/council (and the ever testicularly challenged Premier of Ontario) and definitely not CUPE–gives any evidence of even a modicum of such values.

That is the thought that kept me going as I walked in a circle for four hours yesterday morning as a member of CUPE Local 79.  Hope.

Again, tying in beautiful ideals/principles with a very ugly reality.  MANIPULATIVE.  She’s also trying to garner a bit of sympathy: “I walked in a circle for four hours…waaa…”  Don’t think she’s doing that?  Read the next few lines:

I had been awake since 5 a.m., when my father, a manager for the City of Toronto, headed out for another 12-hour shift. By 6 a.m., I’d managed to drag myself out of bed and into the bathroom, where I sat on the floor and promptly fell back asleep for another 15 minutes. Most of my friends were still sleeping, snug in their beds, and by the time I finished my shift, they were probably still snug in their beds. Not that I was bitter. I would have had to get up at 6 for my summer job as a lifeguard instructor.

This is, in fact, manipulation via “passive-aggressive” tactics (I’m using the term more colloquially than clinically, since I believe she knows what she’s doing here, hence it’s not truly passive-aggressive).  That is, she’s showing what a “hero” she is, overcoming such adversity, just like her father…while her peers are snug in their beds.  Wow, she’s an inspiration…And of course, she finishes it off with the passive-aggressive “not that I’m complaining or anything…” as she tries to put on a stoic face, since she would have been up this early anyway.

I know that might seem harsh and over the top, but in my field, language is everything.  And her language is very telling.  Of course, one could simply say that this is the immature writing of a 16 year-old drama queen, hence her motives are not nearly as nefarious as I make them out to be.  Well, if that is true, then it has no place in a national newspaper.  And once it’s in a newspaper, it is open to criticism, refutation, ridicule and/or derision just like any other piece, especially when it is as biased, uninformed, misguided and detached from reality as her piece is.  I’ll leave it at that for now.

I’m a pretty good conservationist so I haven’t had to endure the line-ups at the dumps yet.  However, for those of you who HAVE had to do so, two things to keep in mind:

1) A labour lawyer has stated that what the strikers are doing is ILLEGAL, unless the CITY lets them do it.  That is, nobody has the right to detain you in a public or private space if you are doing nothing illegal.  The picketers have a right to stop you for one second to give you literature and that’s it.  Seriously.  The only way they can get away with their bully tactics legally is IF MILLER AND HIS INCOMPETENT AND SPINELESS BUFFOONS LET THEM DO IT.  Fuck Miller.  Fuck everyone on council who has allowed this to happen.  And, although she’s only 16, fuck Tamie Dolny. 

2) Who is Tamie Dolny?  She’s a 16 year-old picketer who wrote an idiotic column in the Star on Wednesday, which has landed her a column there for the duration of the strike.  I’m not going to slam her for her age.  I’m going to slam her for sheer stupidity or disingenuineness.  If you read the comments below, you’ll see her original post and her follow-up.  The part that makes me say fuck you, Tamie Dolny, is her plea for people to put up with the minor inconvenience of waiting 15 minutes to throw out their garbage.

Really?  Is that what our school system is churning out?  The idiot did not think that 15 minutes times 10, 20, 0r 50+ cars is a lot longer than 15 minutes.  If anyone thinks I’m being harsh on her, given her age, fuck you too, since she has put herself out there with that idiotic piece she wrote.  Really…15 minutes???

RICHARD LAUTENS/TORONTO STAR

Tamie Dolny, outside her Old Mill home, is on strike with CUPE instead of working as a lifeguard. Her father works as a manager for the City of Toronto. (July 14, 2009)

I haven’t personally assessed this little sociopathic murderer, but for the court to pay likely tens of thousands of dollars for INTERVIEWS is criminal!  That is, psychiatric interviews are far less valid than proper psychological testing–this has been demonstrated clearly in research.  But the courts hear “psychiatrist” and they think there’s value in what they think.  Throw in “forensic” and they wet their pants even more. 

I don’t begrudge the defence team’s psychiatrist because he’s a paid hack, whoring himself out to the team and saying whatever they want.  Read the “assessment” below and roll your eyes along with me.  The prosecution’s lawyer may be closer, but using a label like “borderline personality disorder” means very little.  He has to describe her actual (mal)functioning.  Now, that may be part of the report, but again, basing it on INTERVIEWS is stupid, since she’ll say what she wants to say and he can rely on only his talent in tripping her up and asking the right questions. I’ll stop now before I lose my lunch….

Rengel killer plagued by anxiety, MD testifies –

RICK MADONIK/TORONTO STAR

Patricia Hung (Stefanie Rengel’s mother) and husband James Hung leave court after the first-degree murder conviction against 17-year-old M.T in the stabbing death of Stefanie. (March 20, 2009)

Forensic psychiatrist contradicts previous testimony about ‘borderline personality’ disorder

Jul 15, 2009 (Peter Small)

The teenage girl who pressured her boyfriend into murdering schoolgirl Stefanie Rengel suffers from deep anxieties that lead her to be preoccupied with her body image and desperate for a boyfriend, a forensic psychiatrist says. “This is part of a serious problem of self-perception,” Dr. Julian Gojer, who was retained by the defence, told the sentencing hearing for the 17-year-old girl who can only be identified as M.T. Her anxieties stem from neurological development problems in early childhood (BULLSHIT…) which led to symptoms like bedwetting, he said. While the physical symptoms have gone, the deep anxieties remain, Gojer testified.  Even in her preteen years, she worried about her body, thinking herself too fat, and wanting surgery for her nose, he said.(JUST LIKE 40-70% OF GIRLS THAT AGE, SADLY...)

Her anxiety over self-image propelled her to seek a boyfriend, to validate her as a female, he said. “She wanted to compensate for her feelings of anxiety.” Treatment for M.T. could include medication for the anxiety, and psychological sessions for her identity issues regarding her physical attractiveness, he said.

Yesterday, a court-appointed forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Philip Klassen, testified that she has “borderline personality organization” disorder, which in extreme adult examples is like the jealous lover played by Glenn Close in the movie Fatal Attraction.

But Gojer said that at her age it is likely too soon come to such a diagnosis. It should be reserved for those for which the traits are ingrained in a number of areas of her life, which was not the case with M.T. Gojer interviewed the teen on four occasions for a total of 11 hours. “What you see is what you get,” he said, explaining that she was honest in her answers. (FUCKING ASSHOLE IDIOT…RETURN YOUR MAIL-ORDER MD!)

In March, a jury convicted M.T. of first-degree murder. Over several months, at age 15, she pressured her boyfriend, D.B., into killing Stefanie, 14, whom she had never met but regarded as a rival. D.B., now 19, has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and will be sentenced in the fall. He admits to luring Stefanie from her family’s East York home on New Year’s Day 2008 and stabbing her six times, leaving her to die just steps from her door.

One of the issues to be argued is whether M.T. is to be sentenced as a youth or an adult. The Crown is seeking an adult term, under which she would be sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility to apply for parole for five to seven years, depending on what the judge decides. The media would also be able to identify her. If sentenced as a youth, she would serve no more than 10 years – six in custody and the rest under conditional supervision.

Someone I know, who was recently doing many things to improve his health and his life–he really was enjoying life this past year more than he had in a long time–suddenly died today of a brain aneurysm (it was actually somewhat different but close enough) at the age of 45.  He fell ill on Friday and by Sunday afternoon passed away.  He leaves behind a wife, two relatively young children, and a shocked neighbourhood and many friends.

I’ve said it before and I’ll it again: Even though most of us will not live every day as if it’s our last, we should at least cherish life and try to do as much as we can to grow as people and to help others.  You really never know when this kind of tragedy can suddenly strike you down.

I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: Transparency is essential in a democracy.  We’ve seen PM Harper try several things to stifle transparency, including getting rid of free speech, which is also a cornerstone of democracy.  Check out what he’s trying to do to our Budget Watchdog–with no opposition from the other parties..assholes–and realize that it’s one more step toward becoming a dictatorship.  Sure, I’m exaggerating about the dictatorship part, but the erosion of transparency at all levels of government is a very scary sign of where we’re heading.

The publication last week of new deficit forecasts by the Parliamentary Budget Officer came as a timely reminder of why we need the independent watchdog. The office, headed up by Kevin Page, was created in 2006 by the Conservative government as part of its accountability legislation. Modelled after the Congressional Budget Office in Washington, it reports to Parliament, not the government. It is meant to provide a check against the finance department’s monopoly on information about the government’s books.

Back in January, for example, the finance department forecast a deficit of $34 billion for this fiscal year (ending March 31, 2010), improving gradually to a surplus of $700 million by the 2013-14 fiscal year. The department has since revised its forecast deficit for this fiscal year to $50 billion, but it has left unchanged its forecast for subsequent years, including the surplus in 2013-14.

Along comes Page this week to say, in effect, balderdash. According to Page (a former finance department official himself), the deficit is going to be more resistant to reduction than finance has predicted and the budget will remain at $17 billion in the red in 2013-14.

The government immediately tossed cold water on Page’s gloomy deficit outlook. Ted Menzies, parliamentary secretary to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, sniffed that Page did not take into account the government’s plans – as yet unannounced – for spending cuts and asset sales to bring down the deficit.

This is an old Conservative trick. In 2003, a provincial election year, the Ontario Conservatives – many of whom are now working in Ottawa – used phantom spending cuts and asset sales to claim falsely that the budget was balanced. When the Liberals won the election and took office at Queen’s Park, they discovered a $5.6 billion deficit.

Given that 2009 could well be a federal election year, the Ottawa Conservatives should be telling us now what spending (health care?) they plan to cut and what assets (the CBC?) they plan to sell to bring the budget into balance within five years. Likewise, the opposition parties should be revealing their own plans for coping with the ballooning deficit.

And the voters should thank Kevin Page and his staff for providing them with the necessary information to judge the parties’ responses.

The government is beginning to wish it had never created this Frankenstein-like watchdog. Page’s budget has already been slashed, and there is now talk in Ottawa that his office will be abolished.

Surprisingly, the opposition parties have not rushed to the defence of the office. In May, Page made a direct appeal to MPs of all parties: “The Parliamentary Budget Officer, to be effective .. must be subservient to Parliament but independent in the provision of analysis so that it can carry out its legislated responsibilities free from political and bureaucratic interference.” But the obtuse opposition sided with the government in voting to rein Page in. Now there are fears that Page will quit in frustration.

This would be a major blow to our democracy.

I don’t mean to appear callous and the victim below may have been the nicest man in the world.  However, this running of the bulls and subsequent bull slaughter for sport is barbarous and just as bad as dog fighting, which most civilized countries have banned.  I’m surprised that this is the first fatal goring in 15 years.  Anyone who participates in this “macho” event deserves whatever happens to him.  Simple. Click here to see this pathetic “tradition” and see why many of the gored people deserve it.  It’s a cliche, but you play with the bull, you get the horns.  

Man gored to death in Pamplona bull run

Man killed in running of the bulls Organizers of Pamplona’s running of the bulls say a man has been gored to death, the first fatality since 1995. The man was gored in the neck after a rogue bull that separated from the pack. Some of the video may be considered graphic. (July 7, 2009)

PEIO H./AP PHOTO

Daniel Jimeno Romero, 27, is taken away July 10, 2009 after being gored. He died later in hospital.

Jul 11, 2009 04:30 AM

PAMPLONA, Spain – A charging bull gored a young Spanish man to death yesterday at Pamplona’s San Fermin festival, the first such fatality in nearly 15 years. Nine others were injured in a particularly dangerous and chaotic chapter of the running of the bulls.

Pamplona officials identified the man as Daniel Jimeno Romero, 27, from Alcala de Henares, outside Madrid. He was on vacation with his parents and girlfriend.

The San Fermin festival website said Jimeno Romero was gored in the neck and lung during a run in which a rogue, 515-kilogram bull named Capuchino separated from the pack. Isolated bulls are more likely to get disoriented and start charging at people.

Photographs showed Jimeno Romero lying on a stretcher moments after the goring, his face and neck stained with blood and his eyes only half-open. An emergency medical worker was leaning over him, applying what appeared to be gauze to his neck wound.

Amateur video broadcast by a Spanish TV station showed Jimeno Romero trotting backwards, facing the oncoming bull, when he trips over other runners and goes down. The Spaniard then tries to squeeze feet-first under a wooden fence serving as a protective barrier, when the bull comes up and gores him in the neck with its right horn. Jimeno Romero instantly bled profusely.

Capuchino was later the first animal to be killed by a matador in the afternoon’s bullfights.  Three other people were gored during the run, and six people suffered other injuries.

I love this guy…I am notorious for fighting many big companies/organzations until I get what I deserve.  This guy puts me to shame… (Click this link to see the video if you haven’t yet)

Busted guitar blues is sweet YouTube revenge

Halifax band overnight web sensation Halifax’s Dave Carroll is one of YouTube’s newest stars thanks to a song he wrote called “United Breaks Guitars.” Carroll wrote the song with his band in response to his experience with United Airlines last year, when his $3,500 custom-made guitar was severely damaged during a trip. (July 9, 2009)

PAUL DARROW FOR THE TORONTO STAR

YouTube star Dave Carroll with the guitar damaged by United Airlines. (July 9, 2009)

Jul 10, 2009 04:30 AM - Jesse McLean

Dave Carroll’s ode to a broken guitar has turned into an Internet tempest and become a cause célèbre for any musician who has ever had a maddening flight experience.

The Halifax-based singer-songwriter’s music video “United Breaks Guitars” – an overnight hit on YouTube – chronicles his year-long battle for compensation after a United Airlines baggage handler broke his guitar.

But there’s one woman who isn’t tapping her toes to the 4 1/2-minute folk ballad – and that’s because she is named in the second verse.

“I am not pleased with that. I did my job and upheld company policy,” the now notorious Ms. Irlweg said from an airline office in Illinois. (She asked that her first name not to be used for fear she might be bombarded with hostile calls.)

“I know Mr. Carroll wasn’t happy with the outcome, but that wasn’t the way (to go about it),” she said.

It’s about to get a whole lot more unpleasant for her. Carroll has already written and recorded the song’s sequel, which takes a closer look at the exchanges between him and the baggage claims representative. A music video is in the works. “One day I’d like to meet her. I have a feeling she’s a funny person,” he said. “She was a worthy adversary.”

The pair’s battle began in the spring of 2008 when his band, Sons of Maxwell, flew to Nebraska for a one-week tour. As the aircraft sat on the tarmac in Chicago, a fellow passenger spotted a baggage handler tossing instruments. Carroll later discovered the neck of his $3,500 Taylor guitar had been snapped. He was bounced from one employee to the next until reaching Irlweg, who eventually told him he would not be compensated.

He promised her he would write songs about his experience with the airline and share it with the world. And did he ever. The video has gone viral, racking up more than 466,000 views since it was posted on YouTube on Monday. Since then, Carroll has appeared on CNN, ABC and a handful of radio stations. In fact, the Timmins-born performer’s life is now managed by a public relations agent. The Star was initially given 10 minutes to talk to him. Then five minutes. The PR guy cut it off after four.

It all comes as a surprise to Carroll’s mother. “He’s becoming quite the star but he deserves it,” Sharon Carroll said from her home in Halifax. “When I heard this one, I sat there and my toe was tapping. I said to him, `This one is a goody.’”

Carroll has been slugging it out as a musician alongside his brother, Don, since they moved to Nova Scotia in the mid-1990s. Their extensive touring and brand of pop-folk music has carved out a dedicated fan base. In 2006, the band was nominated for Group of the Year at the East Coast Music Awards. All that pales in comparison to the online following their video has attracted. Their YouTube page is filled with comments, many applauding Carroll’s gall in knocking a big corporation. Scores of people are flocking to anti-United Airlines groups on Facebook. Meanwhile, the Canadian local of the American Federation of Musicians is using the performer as a flag-bearer in its efforts to make it easier for musicians to travel with their instruments.

James Norrie, associate dean of the Ted Rogers School of Management, feels Carroll’s success has little to with his musical talents. “This is really more about creativity,” he said. “He got the video picked up early by the crowd that really matters, people in their late teens to early 30s.” Norrie warns if Carroll’s next two songs employ the same formula, viewers will grow bored and his online fame will fizzle.

But in many ways, the video has already completed its intended purpose, the songwriter said. A United Airlines spokesperson said the company is reviewing its policies and will use the video to train staff. “I’m not really looking for compensation anymore,” said Carroll. “I just wanted change. I thought: what would Michael Moore do if he was a singer-songwriter? And wrote the song.”