A Geography Lesson in the New York Times

It's always fun to tweak the nose of New York Times editors. Their latest foray into chasing their own intellectual tail appeared in an editorial "Pesticides in French Wine (Jan 12, 2014). \

The offending  sentence: "Despite this progress, France is still the third largest user of pesticides in the world after the United States and Japan, and the highest user in Europe..."

If France is the third largest user in the world, then obviously it is the largest user in Europe. The writer felt it necessary to inform the reader that neither the United States nor Japan is in Europe. Worthy instruction,

Practical Restaurant Operation versus Ephemeral Human Rights

The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has once again muddied the waters of reason in awarding $100,000 to disgruntled employees (December 18, 2013).

This award was based in part on the dismissal of an employee for refusing to taste the food he had made. The food pork, the employee Muslim.

An employer cannot refuse to hire due to one's religion.  What if the prospective employee's beliefs render him unqualified for the job?  Is it unreasonable to expect the head chef to taste the food from his own kitchen?  Does this conviction give prospective employees the right to be hired along with the right to set the menu?

To accommodate the chef's beliefs, say, the employer appoints a non-Muslim taster.  Should the latter prove wrong, who is reprimanded, the taster or the chef responsible for the meal's creation?

At human rights trials, the accused is presumed guilty and must prove innocence.  He must pay for his defence, while the costs of the accuser are borne by the taxpayer.  If awards were paid into general revenue, rather than being a cash cow for for the disgruntled, tribunal workloads would decline dramatically.

An e-mail of December 20, 2013 to the Toronto Star expressing these view was not published.

Animals are not Humans

"Cousin, we need to talk."  So begins a full page advertisement in local newspapers, under a photograph of a chimpanzee.  The chimp continues, "It's been seven million years since we shared a mother, but we still share almost 99% of our DNA. Since we're family, I'm asking for your help."  This is a well-intentioned request for funds for the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada.

Unfortunately, the attitude inherent in this advertisement contributes to the current campaign to demean the human species.  The incentive to de-humanize humans, or humanize animals, has a long history. In his 1975 book, Animal Liberation, Princeton professor Peter Singer argued that highly aware animals, such as the chimp, are owed more respect and protection that mentally-challenged humans, more than babies unaware of their existence.

Animals and their environment deserve protection, as the well-intentioned ad advocates, but not at the cost of equating animals to human beings.

The Little Guy Fights Back

Wounded marines booed and hissed John Wayne when he visited them a hospital ward in Hawaii during the Second World War. Wayne, who never served in the military, wore a fancy cowboy outfit that included spurs and pistols. The marines grasped the manipulation and deceit of celebrity culture.
                                                  --- Empire of Illusion by Chris Hedges

At Easter in the year 2010, a few months after the earthquake, Haiti received a grand gift from Monsanto: sixty thousand bags of seed produced by the chemical industry. Farmers gathered to receive the offering, and proceeded to burn every sack in an immense bonfire.
                                               
                                                     --- Children of the Days by Eduardo Galeano

To End All Crime

On December 10, 2013, the Romanian parliament considered "super-immunity" to parliamentarians, the president, and to more than 100 mayors, their convictions for corruption notwithstanding. The parliament relieved them of their crimes by abolishing the the law that declared them corrupt. Parliament is also considering decriminalizing conflict of interest laws. The goodies continue, Also on the agenda is amnesty and pardon for politicians already in prison.

Here's the lesson for the world at large. To abolish all crime, simply declare void all laws that define crimes. No matter what one does, no crime can be committed.

Thank you, Romanian parliament.

http://euobserver.com/justice/122424

 Legally corrupt: Romanian politicians chase 'super-immunity’

New York Times, Dec, 27, 2017.  In Romania, the governing Social Democrats have revived efforts to decriminalize some corruption offences amid a series of measures that critics say undermine the rule of law

Endless Happiness etc.

I am being overwhelmed with the prospect of happiness, fun and joy.

Coca-Cola invites me to "open happiness". All I need do is lift the cap off one of their products and wonderful things will gush into my life.  

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) proclaims itself the "sponsor of fun," fun that can be mine by simply buying a lottery ticket. 

Indigo Shops (formerly book stores) offer office supplies that will help me wish "bye bye to boring," and "hello to happy." 

The Ford Motor Company promises "Endless Joy" motoring in their latest product.

When next I sip on a Coke of happiness, fantasy on my lottery ticket, deploy those boredom-destroying Indigo office supplies, and have endless joy in my Ford, I'll express due gratitude to their providers.  If only I could still my beating heart.

Democracy not for Everyone

Unpublished letter to the Toronto Star:

The clamour about Justin Trudeau's comment of Chinese success is misplaced (Rookie mistakes still hamper Trudeau's chances, Nov. 14). The complaint is based on the belief that democracy is the best form of government for all people everywhere and at all times.

Does anyone believe that, if China were a democracy, so many millions of its citizens would have been pulled out of poverty, and so quickly? To achieve such success in so short a time, those in charge had to be ruthless. (Thomas Hobbes would agree.) China is the envy of Western democracies because it is a tyranny, a tyranny with which those same defenders of democracy are most anxious to do business.

The noise extends to Trudeau’s admiration for Cuba’s American-inflicted struggling to get out of its economic and political past. Complainers object to the torture perpetrated on that island. Yes there is torture, but it is done by the American military in Guantanamo naval base. Does that mean one cannot express admiration for the United States?

Rogers Uncommunications Ltd.

Exactly what is Rogers Communications communicating?

A recent promotion brochure shows a young couple snuggling, well, sort of. Why are they are not looking at each other? Each is on their own smartphone, their thoughts elsewhere. Why they are smiling? Is it because they need not communicate with each other? Or prefer to talk to someone else? They are alone together.

The relevant website tells us that smartphones help"turn down time into data time." Rogers considers being together as down time?  "Data," whatever that may encompass, is more important than talking to the person beside you? Rather than communicate with the person in front of you, the website suggests the user "socialize on Facebook" or "invite a buddy to the new bar".

This promotion was followed by others which promised: "Share your data like never before (BF mine). And "Discover like never before."" Again the question, What is data? Like what you had for breakfast? Like that your dog is sick? Like what is there is to discover?

The Internet has led to "the death of distance," proclaimed British economist Frances Cairncross. In  the Rogers promotion, technology has created distance between people in the same room.

A recent issue of The Atlantic correctly observed, "Social networking has alienated us." Like yea Rogers?

Alienation is not what Marshall McLuhan had in mind for his Global Village. With contemporary technology, the more we connect, the less connected we are, the lonelier we become.

To the Rogers promotion, I suggest a caption: "I am never so lonely like as when I am with you."

Should you phone Rogers, you will be put on a 15-minute waiting priority. This is the multi-billion-dollar company that brags about its speed of communication.

Speculation is not journalism

An unacknowledged note to the Editor of the Toronto Star:

Your report of September 13 "Court decision could reveal gang links to Ford" is questionable journalism. The word "could" equally means "could not."  This same sentence begins "If the judge ..." You do not state what would happen "if the judge does not."

You insist on regurgitating that hoary item about the video that "appear to show ..." It may or may not. Let's wait and see.

This is not news but self-serving speculation given the over-wrought Punch and Judy show (or is it vaudeville?) between you and Mayor Rob Ford.

*     *     *

It is not my mission in life to be picking on the Star, but the editors do have a way of provoking negative reaction. (Actually, too many journalists do that, not only at the Star.) The September 19 issue featured an invitation to "make this column come alive."  To do so, simply wave one of those electronic devices over the indicated item.

By coincidence, I am on the Star's survey list. They asked my reaction to this innovation. I replied that good writing does not require a mechanical instrument to make the story come alive. Good writing makes the words jump off the page.

Nor do I expect an acknowledgement of this message.

Come As You Are From Quebec

 "Come as you are" Ontarians should scream to the soon-to-be-oppressed minorities of Quebec. Under the guise of Quebec Values, the separatist government of Pauline Marois will soon outlaw anyone in a government-funded organization wearing any clothing or symbol of a religious nature. That includes the Muslim head scarf, the Jewish kippah, Sikh headdress, "conspicuous" crosses of Christians, and so on.

The province is already well known for its language police. Make way for the religious police

Premier Marois should be having second thoughts about this ill-founded initiative. Already one Ontario hospital has invited Muslim women doctors to join their staff. The hospital's advertisement reads, "We don't care what's on your head. We care what's in it."

The premier dismisses any objection as "opinion."

The campaign should be Ontario-wide. We should invite devout people of any religion to join the exodus that began several years back. Fearing an independent Quebec, large corporations left that financially uncertain province, and moved to Toronto. Up to that time, Montreal was Canada's largest city, since then, Toronto.

It doesn't register on Marois supporters that their policy of a Quebec separate from Canada will doom their people to third-world status. A French-only nation of some six million in an English-speaking continent of 360 million is a non-starter.

Note how well supports of an independent Quebec speak English. They can afford to send their children to out-of-province English universities. At the same time, they restrict the teaching of English at home. Ultimately, this policy will produce a impoverished unilingual population at the mercy of their bilingual masters.

Do they really believe the new Quebec can use Canadian currency and have a say in the decisions of the Bank of Canada? The Quebec peso will be accepted only in exchange for Canadian Tire money, but at a discount.

Come one, come all. Welcome to Ontario. And yes, come as you are.

An e-mail to the same effect was not published by the  censorship-prone Toronto Star.

Environmental destruction

Unpublished letter to the Toronto Star, Sept 3, 2013

The reclamation of the Sydney tar ponds at public expense illustrates a weakness in the law (Sydney tar ponds site gets 'dramatic transformation', Aug 31).  

When a company in the course of business damages the environment, it should be made liable to repair that damage. The company should not be allowed to disappear and hang the restoration cost on the taxpayer. 

The oil companies in Alberta, for example, must be ordered to create a fund sufficient to restore to their original state the waters and lands they are at this moment desecrating.

Is the media gay-obsessed?

Letter to the Toronto Star, May 2, 2013 

Only someone on politically correct steroids would object to someone else favouring the traditional family (Realtor under fire for anti-gay brochure, May 2). Shame on the Star for claiming such expression as "anti-gay."

One may differ from the many reports that prove the superiority of the traditional family. To declare them hateful or anti-anybody is an attempt to suppress opinions with which one may disagree. Unfortunately, the media, less than unbiased in this matter, refuse to defend free speech, preferring to indulge in name-calling.

 * * *

Letter to The Globe and Mail, August 8, 2013

The Globe editorial about the press conference aboard the pope's aircraft claimed that Francis's statement "made history" when he said, "A gay person who is seeking God, who is of goodwill, well, who am I to judge?" It  made history only to those who haven't been listening. The pope said nothing new.

The basis of this common media error is the idee fixe that promotion of the traditional family is anti-gay. 

Recent pro-family protests in Paris were described as anti-gay. The legislation that provoked the protest was deemed an attack on the traditional family in a nation that values the family more than we do. Thus, the protest. 

A report in the Toronto papers told of a tenant in public housing. He posted a pro-family sign in his window, just pro, not attacking anyone. Someone complained. He was threatened with eviction. No one in the media defended his freedom of expression.

That Hated Monsanto Company

From Children of the Days by Eduardo Galeano: 

Suicide Seeds

For about three hundred and sixty million years, plants have been producing fertile seeds that generate new plants and new seeds, and never have they ever charged anyone for the favor.

But in 1998 a patent gave its blessing to the company Delta and Pine to produce and sell sterile seeds, which meant new seeds had to be purchased for every planting. In the  middle of August 2006, Monsanto, blessed be thy name, bought out Delta and Pine and its patent.

Thus Monsanto consolidated its universal power: sterile seeds, known as "suicide seeds" or "terminator seeds," form part of a very lucrative line that also obliges farmers to buy herbicides, pesticides and other poisons from the genetically modified pharmacy.

At Easter in the year 2010, a few months after the earthquake, Haiti received a grand gift from Monsanto: sixty thousand bags of seed produced by the chemical industry. Farmers gathered to receive the offering, and proceeded to burn every sack in an immense bonfire.

For more on the Monsanto Company, read Monsanto's Harvest of Fear, Vanity Fair, May 2008.

Outsiders Beware

Before the courts of Ontario, there is an application to exempt certain citizenship applicants because they object to the nature of the required oath. My letter to The National Post.

Re 'Repulsive' oath to Queen assailed, Jul 13:

Three non-Canadians complain about our laws. Common among them is their insistence on imposing their values on us.  One of them admits to an unresolved distaste of things British.  Immigrants must not seek to impose their values. The Jamaican applicant's religious values cause her to describe our head of state as "the queen of Babylon." Canadians don't need that kind of talk, especially from an outsider.

These people have accepted the invitation to our house. But will enter only on condition that we tune our television to programs they prefer, only if we say things they want to hear, only if we change our laws to suit them.

I trust our courts will refuse this brazen imposition of outsiders' conditions on our way of life. Conditions of entry are established by Canadians, not by wannabes.

Should one day, the oath to the Queen be dropped, it will be done by Canadians, not by those at the gates.

Big Oil Must Ante Up

The people of Alberta recently suffered the worst floods in their history. My June 26, 2013 letter to The Globe and Mail, unpublished. 

The great presence in this time of crisis for Alberta is Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.  Alberta Premier Alison Redford will be major player in the province's recovery. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made a cameo appearance prior to, we trust, a massive infusion of federal aid.

Missing from this scenario are Stephen Harper's supporters in the oil patch. Over the years, oil companies have sucked billions from Alberta's soil. If the province can offer one billion dollars in aid, Harper should be able to cajole his oil friends to commit at least that amount. It's pay-back time.

Distinguish Person and Behaviour

Letter published in The Catholic Register pointing out a lesson the common media seem unable to learn:

Re "Despite our differences, I still prayed for Dr. Morgentaler (June 9, 2013):

Jim Hughes is correct in praying for Henry Morgentaler. Hughes rightly distinguishes the individual from that person's behaviour. We are obliged to see God in everyone even when possibly loathing what he or she did in their lifetime.

In the field of art, we can enjoy a beautiful painting or piece of music without expressing approval of the artist's behaviour. Philosopher Jacques Maritain said that if the work enriches the spiritual treasure of the world with its beauty, forget everything else.

We must always separate the person from his or her actions.

* * *

On May 24, 2012, the Toronto Star published a waffling editorial concerning blood donations by gays.  The blood agency had recently revised its policy to accept donations from gays on condition they have been celibate for five years. My letter, intended only for the enlightenment of the editorial writer, was published May 31.

Your editorial, Lifting an outdated ban (May 24), makes a common error. You state that "the majority of gay men are locked out of donating blood on grounds of sexual orientation."  Not so. They are locked out, as you term it, because of sexual activity. One must never confuse the person and that person's behaviour. There's a significant difference.

Non-denial means agreement?

What leads media people to presume the right to question anyone?  And if the citizen refuses to answer, to publish their own conclusions? Salient in this regard was a report by Toronto Star columnist Rosie DiManno. My unpublished letter to her editor.

In her report (What Chief Blair didn't say about Ford speaks the loudest, June 14), Rosie DiManno implies lack of evidence to be proof, and non-denial to be agreement. Police Chief Blair stated his duty and responsibility when investigating a crime. DiManno's reaction was a report full of innuendo, speculation and supposition laced with negatives, e.g. Blair did not say, did not deny, did not refute, did not confirm, and so on for half a page.  I have many times complained about reports in the Star. May I conclude the editor's many non-denials to be agreement?

Back in  2008, Toronto Star reporter Dale Brazao wrote a front-page report about an inn-keeper alleging exploitation of a foreign worker. The inn-keeper is now suing the Star for defamation. 

The point of this post is Brazao's defence, as reported in the Star of June 18, 2013. Before the Ontario Superior Court, he claimed to have tried "every which way" to be fair and convince the inn-keeper of the seriousness of the allegations against her, but she refused to answer. "I do not know what else I could have done to get this lady to speak to me," he told the court. 

As in the DiManno incident concerning the Police Chief, did the inn-keeper's non-denial justify publication?

HR Tribunal Overreaches Again

For 150 years, the Saguenay City Council has opened its meetings with a 20-second prayer.

Citizen Alain Simoneau complained that the prayer to an "all-powerful God," as well as the crucifix in the council chambers infringed on his rights as a non-believer. He complained to the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal that the prayer forced him to "embrace a concept of recognizing a form of divine supremacy." The Tribunal ordered council to stop saying the prayer, remove the crucifix, and pay moral and punitive damages of $30,000 to atheist Simoneau.

In its decision of June 2013, the Quebec Court of Appeal thought differently. Among other things, the Court ruled that neutrality does not require "that society be cleansed of all denominational reality, including that which falls within its cultural history." There was no evidence the prayer imposed religious views on citizens or shaped government actions. Simoneau did not get his pot of gold.

Questions remain: Is it the possibility of a great payout that inspires such complaints to human rights commissions? If such awards were payable to the government, would there be any complaints at all?

Race to the Bottom Revisited

At the height of the Great Depression, Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical Quadragesimo Anno  in which he advised that " the right ordering of economic life cannot be left to free competitive forces."  

The recent disaster in a garment factory in Bangladesh should cause Western nations to re-examine their overseas purchasing policies. Chinese coastal factories are moving menial labour westward into the nation's interior. The workers in the eastern factories went on strike, got raises, then saw their jobs move inland in a kind of insourcing the outsourced.  

This story appeared in an 800-word report in The Globe and Mail, but nowhere did it mention "outsourcing."   In the spirit of euphemism, it's now "manufacturing movements" or "moving operations offshore."

China, the world's largest recipient of outsourced business, is itself outsourcing to even lower-wage nations such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia.  One can imagine the leaders of these nations making their presentations to rich Western corporations: "Our people are poorer, more plentiful, and more exploited than the other guy's people."

Vying for poor country status constitutes a race to the bottom.  The result is seen in that November 2012 fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh sweatshop that killed 112 women working in unsafe conditions.  They are part of the 300 workers who have died in garment factory fires since 2006 in that country.

Tazreen Fashions made Mickey Mouse sweatshirts for Walt Disney, Faded Glory children's shorts for Walmart, and items with the ENTCE label for Sears.  These corporations claimed ignorance of conditions in the source of their products. Of course, if one closes one's eyes, one cannot see.

The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights stated that nothing will change unless clothing companies protect workers as vigorously as they protect their brands.  "The labels are legally protected," a spokesperson said, "but there are no similar protected rights of the worker."   That might increase the price to the Western merchants by an estimated 25 cents per garment.  Cheap clothing comes at a high cost.

When Disagreement BecomesTreason

Treason may be defined as a breach of allegiance to the state. American law more broadly and less vaguely holds it to be any serious injury to the United States. That's why there's greater freedom of expression in the U.S. than in Canada.

Philosopher Umberto Eco: "The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture the scientific praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge. For Ur-Fascism, disagreement is treason." (his italics.)

It is not difficult to see fascism in today's society.  In Germany, any questioning of received history of the Holocaust warrants imprisonment. This law, and a similar one in Canada, has turned Ernst Zundel, previously a nobody, into a celebrity. Also in Germany and in several other European countries, homeschooling is a crime. Parents who insist on asserting their primary right of education are jailed, their children seized by the state, and given out for adoption. The anti-homeschooling law was enacted by Adolf Hitler, never repealed, but still rigourously enforced. Violation is treason.

In Canada, to speak in favour of the family is as it has been for thousands of years is deemed hateful and worthy of punishment. Treason in Ontario is any disagreement with the government forcing its views of family, sexuality and society on the public. The government has undermined parental authority by declaring teachers to be "co-parents" of their children. This language manipulation allows educators to withhold from parents information of what their children are being exposed to at school. Any objection is called hateful, and may have parents banned from entry onto school property. Surely a sign of fascism?

The suppression of any questioning of authority has a long history. The high priest warned early Christians, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in his name." For their efforts, Peter and Paul were executed. Throughout the Middle Ages, violators of  what society considered acceptable were punished, occasionally by death.

That spirit continues today. Anyone standing any distance from the accepted norms of speech may be jailed, fined, or lose their job. This leaves little room for disagreement as Umberto Eco describes it. Fascism reigns in one form or another and punishes non-acceptance of the agendas of governments, activists and other controllers of popular expression.