Guidelines or rules and laws?

It seems to me that governments are afraid of controversy and government bureaucrats and the 'power-that-be' would rather err on the side of caution rather than coming down on the side of truth and justice. Those in charge are fearful of pissing off the public. From local problems (drinking, driving, noise and environmental pollution), to municipal issues of propane supervision, right up to Health Canada's lack of supervision for SARS, Mad Cow disease, and this new listeriosis crisis, to International issues around the Chinese government cheating on many levels, including altering public information to falsify the age of participants.

Firstly, we had a big accident here in Muskoka in which a young driver, with citations on his file, is not called to task and he and two of his friends perish. Despite violations of his G2 license, he continues to drive badly and no one calls him to task. We are all accountable for this: his parents for not supervising his actions, the vehicle license bureau for not suspending his license after demonstrating his poor driving habits, his friends for preventing him from drinking and driving on the day in question, the bar for not taking his car keys.

With neighbours drinking and yelling, going out on the lake in boats, blowing up pyrotechnics at all hours of the night, the police arrive, give them a warning and leave. The same thing happens with other neighbours in town and nothing is done. What is with these warnings? It does nothing and violators perceive that they will get away with being a public nuisance and mock the OPP.

The huge propane blast that created chaos in Toronto could have been prevented if people had done their jobs and ensured that proper protocols and procedures were followed. It is important that everyone does their job, no matter how (apparently) small.

When SARS hit Health Canada was incredibly uncooperative. The same is true of the Mad Cow disease that struck the world. By erring on the side of caution many have suffered. With this meat processing plant crisis, I suspect the same thing is true: there were violations and no one wanted to shut down the plant because of the economy and interference by politicians. Listeria is a deadly pathogen. I am sure that White Hat Hackers can find government documents that will demonstrate that they knew about it long before this. More deaths are likely and plant closures will affect workers.

The Chinese government, with a medals at all costs mind set, are inventing of-age athletes. The Olympics is not without controversy, even here in Canada.

"Age falsification has been a problem in gymnastics since the 1980s after the minimum age was raised from 14 to 15 to protect young athletes from serious injuries. The minimum age was raised to its current 16 in 1997. Younger gymnasts are considered to have an advantage because they are more flexible, and are likely to have an easier time doing the tough skills the sport requires. They also aren't as likely to have a history of injuries or fear of failure." Retrieved August 22, 2008, from Globe & Mail.