Cynics Unlimited

Ever have a time when your mind simply shut down? Unfortunately it’s been that type of month here. There is much going on in the political and social world today, but most of it frankly doesn’t seem that interesting (or at least not as interesting as my job, which is an analyst’s heaven). Here are some random thoughts on what’s “hot” these days –

Topic:
Jackson, Miss., mayor acquitted

Excerpt:
The mayor of Mississippi’s largest city and two police bodyguards were acquitted Thursday of using sledgehammers and sticks to demolish a duplex he considered a drug house.
…
The first-term mayor was elected by a landslide in 2005 on promises to root out the crime problem that is blamed for suburban flight and an evaporating tax base in Mississippi’s capital city.
But it wasn’t long before his unorthodox tactics, including carrying guns and cruising the inner city in the police department’s mobile command center, landed him in the sights of the district attorney’s office.
[Associated Press]

Comment:
It is wrong to support vigilante action, as its most extreme implementation is anarchy (with no central body deciding what is “right”, everyone will apply their own definition and possibly enter into an endless cycle of revenge action. Romeo and Juliet comes to mind). That said, I’d love to buy Frank Melton a drink. Right or wrong, his action is inspiring and it’s very refreshing to see an elected official taking action on the ground floor instead of setting up committees from his office or shouting slogans to the camera. The only way to approach the war on drugs is to fight it as an actual war, and if nothing else Melton seems to get results. Are you watching, Mr. Miller?

Excerpt:
The door was firmly closed on the Kyoto treaty Thursday as the Conservative government heralded its own wide-ranging environmental plan, one that it says will save billions in health costs and only marginally affect the Canadian economy.
…
The strategy has two major components: dealing with the major industrial emitters of greenhouse gases, and clearing the air of smog and other pollutants. The government predicts that improving air quality will save the country $6 billion annually in health costs.
Companies that belch smog-producing pollutants will face tougher regulations than those that emit greenhouse gases. Reductions of sulphur oxide, for example, will have to attain a reduction of 55 per cent by 2015 and the targets will be firm limits. The provinces already largely manage such pollutants.
Meanwhile, industries that emit a lot of carbon dioxide will face a reduction of 26 per cent by the same year, and targets will be based on their level of production rather than a firm limit.
[Toronto Star]

Comment:
Environmentalists and the (un)interested public will lynch the Tories as anti-environmental cowboys. However, what sense is there in endorsing an international policy without honoring its tenets? In the year 2000, Canada signed the Kyoto agreement and promised to reduce greenhouse gasses by 6% by 2012. By 2005, emissions had risen 2.1% over the previous 4 years. All the sloganeering and purchases of “An Inconvenient Truth” won’t compensate for the fact that Canadians like to sell oil, drive SUV’s and … how shall we put this… keep their jobs.
The only certainty about the CPC’s environmental plan is that consumers will have to pay more for necessities and near-necessities. Whether this translates to a measurable decrease in greenhouse gas emissions or merely supplements the government treasury remains to be seen. I’ll be waiting to hear the results of this initiative, but in the meantime, a dubious “maybe” still trumps a measured failure – trendy environmentalism be damned.

Excerpt:
The first person convicted in connection with the fatal shooting of Jane Creba will not have his subpoena tossed, which means he will be called to testify against those charged with killing the 15-year-old.
…
After the decision was handed down, Steele launched into a profanity-laced tirade, telling the judge “You just opened up my family to danger you don’t understand…you just helped them kill me,” The Globe and Mail reported.
Steele then called the crown attorneys “a piece of shit” before he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
[CTV]

Comment:
“Live by the Sword, Die by the Sword”
Richard Steele is the son of Valerie Steele, former head of the Jamaican Canadian association. It is not unreasonable to believe that, given the elevated position of his mother and the better facilities that entails, Richard could not have guessed this might happen if he ever got caught up in the drug game. Obviously these risks weren’t important, as Steele was convicted earlier this year on drug and weapon charges. If Richard was so concerned about his safety and the safety of his family then he should have used his elevated position (being the son of a prominent activist) within the black community to get a good education and a sustainable career. Alas, he wanted to take the thug route so now he has to deal with thug problems. Steele perhaps deserves even LESS sympathy than the average ragamuffin, due to his family background. Steele has but two saving graces –

1. Selwyn Pieters is his lawyer. Pieters, who deserves partial credit for striking down Ontario’s Safe Schools Act, has a “gift” for turning even the most benign infraction into a racial issue on the magnitude of Plessy vs Ferguson. In the current political envrionment, law & order types (or anyone so bold as to punish a “disadvantaged youth” for misbehaviour that only recently became excusable in black political circles) wilt under threat of the dreaded racism charge.
2. His mother’s standing within her community will likely lead to more lenience than the average impoverished child (who cannot afford expensive counsel) would receive. After all, class and all the resources it can procure influences sentencing more than race (which will become a focal point due to #1) or silly things like the seriousness of the crime.

Excerpt:
As of yesterday, this site has three new faces who will appear periodically “as the mood strikes” writing on issues and topics which interest them.
…
Each of these people I have come to know well through their visits to this website and in order to assist them in getting their views out I opened my site up to them. Hopefully they will add much to the ongoing “chit chat” here in the days ahead and I look forward to their entries.
[Jack’s NewsWatch]

Comment:
Jack and I crossed paths accidentally when The Toronto Sun mistakenly attributed a quotation from Cynics Unlimited to Jack’s original Newswatch site (I believe it was hosted on WordPress). Right away, Jack impressed me with his diligence in tracking down the real source of quotation and attributing the proper credit, so I started reading his site. Though his politics appeared a bit right-leaning for my tastes, his delivery was direct and honest while providing a platform for serious debate. Steadily his audience grew and it seemed the big-box blog hosting was holding him back, so I offered him some space with a standalone WordPress installation. The transition was not so smooth but we resolved the issues and carried on with building the site (he from the editorial end and myself technically). As Jack’s audience grew, I noticed that his Google traffic was not so great relative to the number of daily visitors. This was almost certainly due to the fact that it was a “news watch” – heavy with links and not enough original material. It took some coaxing to get Jack to write more editorials, but as he did he gained a loyal following of readers. The closure of a larger news aggregator led to a burst of traffic that Jack’s Newswatch has skillfully maintained. Now, Sandy (of the now defunct Crux of the Matter) and Mac (of Enig-Mac) have joined as co-editorialists. It’s great to have them both aboard not only because they add more perspective but because I think Jack also needs the occasional break! Take it easy, sir. And yes, I will come up with something for the site eventually.