Media Shows restraint?

Blackout on reporter's kidnapping posed dilemma for media

Abducted CBC journalist released in Afghanistan

Holy smoke. hard to believe. What is more interesting is that the 'comments were closed' for this story. I would like to comment. We see that journalists and, more importantly, editors and policy makers, are able to show restraint.

Could they not show restraint in the face of grieving parents, for example?
I would be ever so grateful if they would not shove microphones in the faces of those who deal with unbearable grief and ask how they are feeling.

This agreement crossed two news agencies: CBC and Global. Can they not agree on some standards in the industry? CBC has a code of ethics, being an agency funded by taxpayers one would hope so! The Media Watch website says: "CBC has developed its own voluntary policies and guidelines for programming, covering issues such as violence, multiculturalism, racism, and the portrayal of genders and the disabled".

They speak to journalistic principles; legalities and ethics: accuracy, integrity (unbiased reporting - hmf); fairness; balance, and protecting the identity of suspects, accused, sex offenders and crime victims.

What is lacking is a sense of humanity.

Journalistic Standards and Practices ought to be upheld more stringently.

In this section:3.2.5 IDENTITY OF CRIME VICTIMS

Broadcasting the identity of a crime victim most often only adds to the person's grief, anguish and trauma.

They will identify a victim if

• the victim consents to the disclosure (in writing or on tape);
• the victim volunteers his or her story for broadcast;
• the public interest is an overriding consideration.

Where do they take into consideration the impact on the victim? Not only that, but victims of similar crimes can experience PTSD when viewing interviews of crying, angry victims who have yet to deal with their emotions.
I find it hard to watch some stories. What is peculiar is when one of their own

Our N.A. Continent is in shock

What a surprise to wake up and hear the challenge not to bear arms, but to stand up for one another.

Ronald Wright says in What is America? A short history of the new world order:

"Few nations have clung so much to their own mythology and historical patterns."

His text follows the development of the USA on the North American Continent. From a tradition of Puritans escaping British rule, and a history of colonization, to ...well, sail over the pond and colonize America. You live what you know. It makes me think of my toddlers running out of the room, plunking themselves down in the yard yelling, "You're not the boss of me!" to their playmates who were there first. I guess I've been reading too much Rick Mercer!) As the Americans trade Presidents, they trade their values and fundamental beliefs fairness and liberty. The pendulum has swung again.

The Puritans, fundamentalists, and evangelical white Christians left the UK in the 1600s in the same sort of protest. Once they arrived, having contributed small pox and measles to the Native population, seeking land grants and rich furs, were assisted by their future victims in surviving and adapting to the extreme winters of North America. The Aboriginal Peoples; the Six Nations in Canada, Creeks and Cherokees further south, with a strong government and agricultural system, and a literacy rate higher than the whites that invaded their territory, proceeded to be decimated by disease, or herded off the land like the now long-gone buffalo that sustained their central brothers and sisters. Their decimated towns and cities were taken over by the invaders. They moved into their homes, ate their winter corn, and planted crops in Native-cleared fields.

The great white hunters needed slaves and workers, in that time-honoured British Class system in which you hired those below you for any job too lowly for you to perform. That the early Americans had to import slaves set them up as the colonizers they long-sought to escape. One of the most powerful books I have read is, The Hanging of Angelique. It follows the early years of the slavery movement in Europe to the hanging of a woman in Montreal. A class system, now applied to those with different colour of skin, were voluntold (Mercer's non-volunteerism word!) that they were inferior and set to work. The great Canadian myth of the Underground Railroad is grossly exaggerated by Canadians who want to believe themselves better than their siblings to the south.

These Libertarians brought with them the sense of personal freedom that allowed them to rape the land as much as the people they found inhabiting this continent. This is the difference between Libertarians and liberals. The Americans who fought so hard in 1812 to escape British rule, created a ruling system that emulated that from which they fled. The American Empire, having ruled their own, have ceased to move into the new millennium as has the rest of the world. European countries have granted independence and divested themselves of their colonies resulting in cooperation, human rights, but the US has yet to buy into this world view. American presidents having exploited the voters, have failed to protect them from the vagaries of the environmental, economic and human issues which we now face.

Small l liberals who are concerned about health care, education, poverty, jobs, foreign debt, increasing numbers of immigrants and migrant workers, who help shape a country, fight with those in central south America who want the right to bear arms. The intellectuals (Jefferson and Franklin) who wrote the American Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, in the more sophisticated cities, liberals fight with the Libertarians who want more. The rich fight to keep their personal freedoms and their wealth, while the poor get sucked into this vortex of haves and have nots. Wright cites "serial relapses" as various presidents suck voters into supporting their aggressive, isolating, arrogant attacks on human and financial resources designed to replicate the wealth and freedom built on the slaughtering of public finances to undermine public programs and give the middle class a tax break.

The power of the almighty dollar and profits remain the bottom line with the previous Administration. I will do with a little less to help those with little reason to have faith in 'The Man.' It is my fervent hope that President-Elect Obama puts an end to the isolation, cruelty, miserly domination of the infrastructure that is based on the backs of the many working class who pay taxes, and demand that the very rich be accountable to their brother and sisters. In this new world order we must be held accountable for our neighbours, our our environmental footprint and the state of this world. Those businesses who take advantage of their power (see the Wal-Mart Effect) to kowtow to investors on Wall Street need to be stripped of their power and held accountable for outsourcing policies that result in cheap goods that poison our children and elders. Our current economic crisis is due to many factors. I blame the recent spike in oil prices, as well. As I worry over those who demand bail outs for the automotive industry, and their unions, who denied the changing nature of this world. We need fewer, smaller, better built dependable vehicles that need not be out of the reach of many. This was seen coming a long way off and it was ignored as greedy bankers gave loans to a failing sector of the economy.

I am haunted by those who are unmoved by the momentous occasion afforded the American people. I am comforted by the young, old, rich, poor, people of many colours and ethnic origins who identify with this fine man. They - no WE around the world - laud this man, no matter our faith, homeland or creed, as a harbinger of hope, who tells us, "Yes, we can."

~~~~~~~~~~~
References

The Hanging of Angelique. by Afua Cooper (2007)

What is America? A short history of the new world order by Ronald Wright

The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works--And How It's Transforming the American Economy by Charles Fishman and Alan Sklar (2006)

US Ballot Measures - 2008

The recent US election included the election of state governors, as well as referendum questions. The result were scary in some ways. Already accepted laws were rediscussed (e.g., Banning gay marriage in California, abortion issues), as well as other human rights that transcend religion and should be the purview of the state.

Canadians for Equal Marriage says that there are about 12,000 same-sex married couples since the laws were changed. Trudeau said, in 1967: 'There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation' and I agree.

There were many discussions in Canada around the same-sex issue. We became the 4th country in the world to legalize it on July 20, 2005. There was much fear-mongering about repercussions and implications for religious institutions who feared being forced to marry same-sex couples. This has not been found to be an issue. The current Canadian law makes sense; it is a matter of equality and human rights.

Mr. Harper, when he took power in 2006, tried to open up the issue again, but Parliament voted 123 - 175 to let it be. he campaigned on this issue, and chose to fulfill THIS promise, but failed to look at other issues such as Senate reform. One wonders why.

Some Americans are fighting Proposition 8 in California. It seems a bit bizarre that one day someone has such an instrinsic, legal human right and the next day it is determined illegal. Egale.ca offered up an intriguing video clip. It hearkens back to the racism of the past, which determined where black and whites could sit, eat, drink and do their business.

Focus On The Family, a US-based group, has made inroads to Canada and began a $1.5 million ad campaign against equal marriage. It is appalling, to me, that this groups purports to know the definition of a family. When I divorced in 1993 I faced a certain amount of ignorance and was ostracised for 'breaking up my family', despite facing emotional abuse. I thought we were beyond that and that a 'family' was redefined by Free To Be.

Arizona Proposition 102: Ban on Gay Marriage 56% voted in favour.

Arizona Proposition 202:Prohibit Hiring of Illegal Immigrants 59% voted against this.

Arkansas Initiative 1: Ban on Gay Couples Adopting Children 57% said Yes.

California Proposition 8: Ban on Gay Marriage a slim 52% margin wanted the ban.

California Proposition 4: Requiring parent's be informed of Abortion on a minor 52% said no.

Colorado Amendment 46: End Affirmative Action 51% said no.

Colorado Amendment 48: Human Life from Moment of Conception 73% said NO.

Florida Amendment 2: Ban on Gay Marriage 62% said yes.

Maryland Question 2: Allow Video Lottery 59% said yes.

Massachusetts Question 1: Repeal State Income Tax 70% said no.

Michigan Proposition 1: Allow Medical Marijuana 63% yes.

Michigan Proposition 2: Allow Stem Cell Research 53% yes.

Nebraska Initiative 424: End Affirmative Action 58% yes.

South Dakota Initiative 11: Abortion Limits 55% disagreed with this notion. They wanted to prohibit all abortions in the state except in cases where mother's life or health is at risk or in cases of rape or incest for pregnancies of less than 20 weeks.

Washington Initiative 1000: Allow Doctor-Assisted Suicide 59% were in favour.

driving safety

Our OPP has sent out warnings to motorists. There is danger in that with moose hunting season wildlife is on the move. In a collision with a moose, we lost one of our finest in 2005. These animals are huge, and you do not always win since moose hunting season is on. Later in the month, once snow covers feeding grounds they have to forage and extend their territory.

One problem is the bright headlights of the vehicles, therefore, at dawn and dusk, when they are on the move, you really must drive more slowly.

Huntsville OPP say,

"There are a number of locations in the Southern Georgian Bay Detachment area where motorists are apt to encounter animals on the roads, including County Road 6, Highways 12, 93, 400 and area roadways that are adjacent to wooded areas."


They like to feed on the edge of a meadow, crossing convenient roadways to find more forage.

• Use eye lead time and be aware when you are in an area that has wildlife, especially if signs indicating animal crossing are posted;
• Do not overdrive your headlights; this will allow you to see an animal and stop in time to avoid hitting it;
• When animals are observed ahead, slow down until safely past them;
• Search for a second animal, close behind, after the first animal has been passed safely;

Yes, we can

We have witnessed an historical moment in this time. Senator Barack Obama has been declared president elect. On January 4th, 2009, he will take office. As a Canadian, I can witness this occasion with great hope and excitement. I heard a collective sigh of relief as he was declared.

Many worldwide have participated in this process. People from around the world have travelled to the USA to assist in campaigning on Sen. Obama's behalf, including Canadians, and those with dual citizenship.

It seems as if the economic crisis, after artificially raised oil prices, the below-prime mortgage collapse, and the slowing of vehicle sales has parted the waters for an intelligent, forward thinking, intelligent man: Barack Obama, to enter the now roiling waters and make change. For a time, the water have calmed and we all watched and held our collective souls motionless. It is only through these changes that we will be able to move forward. If not for the grassroots, the young and old, rich and poor, and a rainbow of people who believed in his message and his methods. The waters have parted and he can move forward to recreate, renew and inspire every person. It was moving to see this united group of people standing before him as he calmly, firmly and carefully prepared US citizens for what will come next. Many will follow him through the path he has cleared. Despite hardships, we can hold fast to dreams and principles of fairness, equity and belief in the human spirit.

What a rousing speech it was. Words meant to adopt a collaborative all-embracing approach.

"to look after ourselves and each other"

"To those who would tear apart our world we will defy you. To those who wonder if America's beacon still burns as bright... Yes, we can."

"Tonight we proved once more that the might of our nation comes not from the might of our arms, or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, hope, opportunity and unyielding faith."

Yes, we can. There is hope and optimism.

catch & release program

We have seen the hunters go by in their boats again. I do not know any hunters personally, but have had many female friends who lauded the November breaks they had as husbands took off with their buddies for hunting camps, or led others in their pursuit of game to fill their freezers.

Our cat, a well-fed sleek little guy, loves to troll the woods for game. Ollie, and his sister, Sady,were bringing home various mice, moles, chipmunks and, lately squirrels. Those little tree-rats of the forest. I was explaining to my husband that Native communities knew about hunting. They would move into an area, live there for 50 years, exhaust the game and move on, leaving the area to regenerate and regrow. It is the cycle of life.

My Ollie goes farther and farther to find his prey. I'd like to convince him to participate in the catch and release program, but he insists on playing with his prey, throwing it up in the air and tenderizing the wee things. But I continue to see new ones moving in. There is a squirrel nest in a near-by tree and the critters have been cruising the bird feeders. The raccoons continue to be patrolling. Their nocturnal antics make us all laugh. The cats do not so much hunt them as have an understanding.

Hunters have been helping the fallow-deer reserve to recapture their missing deer. George and Gulliver returned home, but Ty succumbed to capture myopathy. Such a shame. People have been asked not to interfere. Animal in the wild need to be left alone. In this situation, the reserve should have been notified.

biofuels and renewable energy

We create 75% of Ontario's power from Niagara Falls &Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, according to Ontario's energy Minister, George Smitherman.

They are determined to reduce dependence upon coal-fired generators, which provide about 18% of our power and tons of carbon.

The provincial Liberals campaigned on this principle.

Ontario Power Generation map shows the various stations involved in reducing our dependence on coal-fired energy and moving towards wind turbines and hydro projects, as well as generally reducing our dependence upon electricity by changing our behaviour and attitudes towards energy. One Millions Acts of Green is a good start!

Unfortunately, what is good for the province does not seem to be what locals have in mind. Those living in and around the Scarborough Bluffs are having the same problem with NIMBY as the Dambusters. A Google search brought up over 15,000 postings on the topic! The Toronto Star estimate that the proposed 60 turbines could power 50,000 homes.

John Barber, in the Globe article Not in My Backyard, part 1: Wind farms off the Scarborough Bluffs: Great Lake View. Shame About the Turbines, said, "Aesthetics over infrastructure is always a lousy bet." For our environment's sake, we have made decisions about policy. Those who built the city of Toronto care not a whit about aesthetics. The buildings are huge; they clutter the sky. How on earth does Mr. Barber feel justified making such a complaint?

We are having a similar battle here in our small town along these lines...this must just be the tip of the iceberg! There is a lot of buzz around. This protest has gone long and far! What is amusing is that Bracebridge Council are considering enhancing signage to celebrate their hydro dam and draw tourists while Bala citizens are protesting development.

I have written in my blog 5 times about this project as I tried to come to terms with the issues. There are two Facebook groups around it:
1) Save the Bala Falls & 2) Bala Falls.

The is a major website created by business owners (Savethebalafalls.com) in town. I call them the dambusters, who are hell-bent on not rebuilding the dam. The dam was working until 1957, when it was taken off-line because they thought it too small. In the ways of the current climate, any part helps. The Ontario Ministry is basically outsourcing such projects to bidders. There are medium, small and large private companies, like Swift River Energy, that are keen on getting involved.

Swift River Energy Ltd., who has won the contract through the Ontario Government, is having a hard time getting fair coverage through biased local media. Messages posted on-line by those in favour of the Hydro Project are deleted, and any photos posted are erased.

Things are really heating up around here!

In nearby Gravenhurst, the buildings crowd the shoreline and the beautiful view has been covered up. The new buildings (Grace & Speed; condo developments) obstruct the view. But this, apparently, is progress.

There are many stakeholders in such a process. They must be respected. NIMBY only reflect immediate residents and/or business owners. I am shocked with the power (excuse the pun!) such folks seem to hold over the press.

My Town Monday - Fort George

I thought I ought to look at places I have been. We do not travel far, however! We visited Fort George, as our son was acting in The Stepmother, at near-by Shaw Festival, in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Constructed by order of Lieutenant Governor Simcoe 1796-99, Fort George served as the HQ for Major-General Brock in 1812. In May, 1813, it was bombarded and captured by the Americans who constructed fortifications of their own on the site.
These in turn were retaken by the British in Dec., 1813. Mine, yours, c'mere, get away...

In 1815 Fort George was falling apart and was ordered abandoned.
The Fort is a reconstruction dated 1937-40, it resembles the way it looked in 1733-1813.
Parks Canada offers a 3-D tour of this, and other people, places and things: species at risk, technology, migration, women in history, northern parks, and ethnocultural communities.

These are all my photos from our 2008 trip. Hooray for virtual field trips!


The photos speak for themselves. Our interpreter spoke for those who have passed.

Intolerable conditions, with people divided into classes, cold, poverty and hunger.


The rank and file lived in flea-infested quarters.


The officer's mess was quite lovely. As were their quarters in separate buildings.

Immortalized: King George's lovely wife.

The officer's sitting room.

I wish I had had this photo (below) when teaching gr. 8. I needed, often, to explain:

"Here is where the pot called the kettle black."




The reloading took a long time. They had poor aim, these guns, and could be off by 9 feet!


They stored ammunition in a building outside the wall. This is the 'powder room!'

You're Welcome

You're Welcome is becoming an endangered species.

I have heard...
~waiters, upon being thanked for their service state: "No problem!"

~people being interviewed on radio and TV, responding to "Thank you for being on our show!" with "Okay!" or "Sure!"

Valerie Pringle, funnily enough, was featured as host in Where Are Your Manners? , a CBC documentary. What an excellent show!

It touched issues such as worker incivility, inappropriate language at home, on the road, at work and in public. We hear and see rudeness everywhere we turn. To the man who urinated off his boat in the lake in front of our cottage/home, I say shame. Rudeness is proudly portrayed on clothing, too. To young women with 'princess' stencilled on the butt of their pants, to baby t-shirts that say, "Spoiled, The Brat, or The Boss".

She spoke to Lynne Truss (Talk to the Hand), Miss Manners, Dr. Jean Twenge (Generation Me), and Dr. P. M. Forni, head of the John Hopkins Civility Project.

Dr. Twenge feels that children raised in the 70s were raised with a false sense of self-esteem, and an ability to resist rules. These young people are still questioning authority and disrespecting elders. They were raised by children who were treated by their parents as friends, not authority figures. I have worked with teachers who have made these mistakes: treating students as friends and pals. This is a dangerous enterprise.

This professor found that students would argue with their professors, and I found this in my personal experiences as a part-time lecturer at uOttawa working with student teachers.
Miss Manners, in part of the show, cited bigger battles such as those with sexism and racism, during which time young adults learned to rebel against these entrenched ideas, and continue to battle everyone in authority. This, she says, was the basis of civil behaviour, transferred to interpersonal work-related relationships.

I find that rude behaviour can be experienced in stores, both by surly customers and employees. You find such behaviour in all sorts of places: stores, resaurants, at the gym, in a bus or a bus shelter. It is intolerable. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. I refuse to tolerate such behaviour. I ensure that I speak to managers.

Simply walking along the sidewalk I am amazed at the people who will walk two-abreast, on a space that is only two people wide, who walk without giving people walking towards them any space to exist. We often talk in my family about a 'sense of entitlement' in cottage country, where people act as if you were born to serve them. They are very important and must drive around you, passing in dangerous conditions, and showing little respect for other drivers, traffic laws and speed limits designed to ensure our safety. Boaters are similarly abrasive in their quest to enjoy their holiday at our expense. Bonfires, and obnoxious fireworks all pollute our natural world.

The media is full of poor role models and examples abound of characters acting badly. Renzetti, in an article about "Potty mouthed comics", said it all. Poor taste cannot be taught. Media wants ratings, and does not care what messages it sends us as they lower standards of behaviour, while deconditioning us to intolerable messages and acts.

We have to speak truth to power and let a manager or boss, or business owner know if their employees are being rude. We must turn off the TV, and other media, and write letters of complaint. We have to reward and laud those who exhibit excellent manners. Vigilance is required.

workplace bullying

CBC featured an article about workplace bullying. I am not surprised. Young kids who bully grow up to be bullies. Females are the worst, as males tend to fight and get over it. Saskatchewan has a law against it. It is more common than we know, as I am sure that every classroom teacher can attest.

This is an issue that profoundly affects many people: the victim and his/her family, as well as co-workers. I was bullied by two principals during my career. One never hesitated in finding fault any time she could. Despite being the Shop Steward she was confounded when I would ask her questions on behalf of the staff, in staff meetings. The other nagged me to rise to the performance level she demanded, while I was giving care to my dying father. Notes in mail boxes, e-mail telling me how to improve, and where I lacked. My self-esteem died. I was afraid, fearful, felt powerless and diminished by her harangues.

I was yelled at in hallways by another principal. This one denied me fair Federation representation at meetings, something to which I was entitled when disciplined for any reason. I was harassed and yelled at over the PA system (with students present), in the school office, in the photocopy room and staff room. She was unable to deal with disciplining me for perceived issues without yelling and being acerbic.

I went to the Federation and asked for support. They told me to document the issues. I did. I found the school board's harassment policy and documented each incident as it related to a particular item in the P & P.

I wrote out each event and sent it to the Superintendent. She forwarded the document to the School Board Safety Officer. I met with him several times, told him my stories of verbal abuse, and he said we had options on a continuum of him acting as mediator between the two of us, to having me transferred, to her getting counselling. She refused to speak to him, he told me.

Suddenly, any support he was going to give me was gone. Someone spoke to someone (her husband worked at the Board office). He told me that harassment could only fit the P & P on the basis of age or gender bias, not this woman, in a position of power, ripping me to shreds whenever she could. She ended up changing my assignment to a split grade class, and two new curriculum programs that I had not previously taught. It was the 6th change in 6 years. I was emotionally exhausted. I was facing colitis and other stress issues as I tried to deal with the biopscyhosocial reactions to the stress. I tried yoga, meditation, exercise, and other relaxations techniques to no avail.

I ended up taking time off work (more than a month), at a cost to the students, lost sick days, and at great expense to the Board, without any Board interventions. I went to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for counselling and support. My counsellor was appalled at the story I told of the yelling and bullying and the general diminishing of my self-esteem. She told me that she had several clients with similar stories. I read the book, Principal Mistreatment of Teachers and found I was not alone.
From a review:
Essentially everything regarding teacher abuse is covered:

* personal (anonymous) testimonies from research subjects (i.e., abused teachers),
* personality characteristics of corrupt administrators and their innocent victims,
* lack of support from district office personnel,
* refusal of most teachers who work in foul environments to reach out to abused colleagues,
*inability for abused teachers to find legal assistance,
* failure of unions to support abused teachers,
*strategies used by corrupt administrators to enlist "support" for their sick behavior through favoritism with certain staff members, and developing "spy" networks (weak-kneed teachers and staff who "snitch" on those that refuse to compromise their ethical behavior),
* suggestions for those who are currently, or have been, in abusive situations,
* the devastating short and long term impact upon teachers' physical/physiological/psychological health, and
* the overwhelming detrimental effects on schools and society.

Once the school year finished in June, I was quite happy to be away from school. When school resumed in the fall she was quite a different perosn. Someone somewhere had spoken to her. The school board ended up transferring her that year to another school. It was a blessed relief. There they nicknamed her "The Princess". She had gotten in trouble with the press, the Family Council chair and had not made friends. Such a shame.