the jimmymac attack!

In the USA there have been over one thousand people executed by the government since 1977. If the government kills people is it murder? I think it is murder and the state should operate on a higher level and to a higher standard than this. It is a peculiar policy for a country that is supposedly run by Christian people. A key tenant of Christianity is, 'thou shall not kill'. I am opposed to the death penalty and Canada does not have the death penalty. It seems to me that the death penalty implicitly suggests that it is ok to kill 'sometimes'. By using this logic then how does someone decide when it is ok to kill? I'm sure that in the mind of most murderers they have some twisted reason it is ok to kill their victim. Maybe they think, 'this guy is really bad or stupid' or whatever. Supposedly the state is doing the same thing but they think it is justified. Similarly murder is justified in the mind of many murderers. I came across an interesting poem about this subject. I asked the writer what inspired him and here is the answer and the poem.

"On June 10, 2001 Timothy McVeigh was put to death in Indiana. He was responsible for the bomb in Oklahoma City which killed 168 people. I guess many people thought he deserved the death penalty. However on that day I thought the American people were just perpetuating the cycle of violence. It's a society where there is murder, death, revenge... murder, death, revenge... and it goes on and on and on without end. I thought what if something broke the cycle?
All changes in the world by mankind begin with some thought or idea. It can take many years for an idea to take hold and become reality. So I wrote this poem with that in mind. I wrote it from the perspective of someone living in the future who is looking back on changes in the world. So imagine if someone living in 2105 or 2205 is looking back and wrote this poem. Imagine if the world was different than it is today."

The Killing Stopped

The nation believed in punishment,
Those who committed murder were executed.
And this went on for years and years,
And the murders went on and on.

Then some began to say,
"This is a contradiction.
We say, 'do not kill',
but we are killing"

So someone presented a new approach,
"Sentence them to life in prison.
They will have to reflect on their deeds,
for years and years. This is a just punishment,
what could be more tortuous?"

Executions were ended.
Years went by, but slowly, the murders decreased.
Murder was no longer acceptable, or condoned by anyone,
and one day, the killing stopped.

this poem and other writings are at www.geocities.com/jllade

It is exactly one week since the politicians tried to sneak through a big raise for themselves and also grab a gold plated pension plan. Funny thing that last week before that happened the front page news was 700 children had died in British Columbia and no investigations had been done. The files were filed away without any inspection. It was an outrage. So instead of working on that the politicians voted themselves a 15% raise.
Today in the news is the story about how British Columbia has the highest percentage of children in poverty in Canada. There's about 23% of the children in B.C. living in poverty! It is an astounding figure. In the country so proud of being in the G8. One of the richest countries in the world. What is going on? Basically I think it is the horribly unfair way the wealth is distributed. Rich people keep getting richer. Poor people get poorer. Focus is put on maximizing profits and efficiencies. Shareholders must get good return on their investments. So what if people suffer?
The only way things will change is if there is a shift in values. I think focus should be put on good jobs for everyone. Business should be there for profit but also to benefit the employees and owners and customers. Everyone should have the opportunity to work and thrive and have a home. Of course profit is good but it is not the ultimate thing to focus on. What good is money if peoples' lives are horrible? I think its the ethically right thing to do. It might also benefit the 'Haves' too. With less poverty there would be less crime and social unrest. It would be a better country.

Life in Canada can be very good or very bad. I suppose its like that everywhere. I think Canada is divided into 'haves' and 'have-nots'. Then there are many people somewhere in between but leaning more to one side or the other. Apparently 49% of new immigrant children live in poverty. Some disillusioned immigrants made a web site called www.notcanada.com
Life here was so bad they could not find jobs or just shitty jobs. Many come with high hopes and leave again. Many Canadians are left out too. Just ask the native people. Systemic racial prejudice has thrived in Canada for 150 years. Many Canadians like to say its not true but it most certainly is true. The world is evolving and I hope life will get better for everyone. In the meantime our society is obsessed with money. People are not a priority.

The politicians in the capital Victoria reversed the pay increase. Like criminals who get caught they were very sorry. Very sorry they got caught. Most of them still want the raise but 99.9% of the population think they are scum and so they reversed their decision. They had also given themselves a new pension better than anybody else and they did it all in secrecy trying to sneak it in. No wonder people are so cynical about politicians. We can only hope and dream things will get better. Hopefully people will vote and remember the good and the bad. These guys must be watched like children and held accountable.

Almost one month in Vancouver. It is good. It does rain here a lot but not every day. Sometimes the sun comes out. Other times its cloudy and there's been some foggy days lately. There are a lot of homeless people here and drug addicts. It is a very sad reality here. However it seems to be a systemic on-going problem that will not go away soon. For example there are about 1,000 young people living on the streets. Many of these young people will probably become the homeless and addicts of the future. And the old ones die off or end up in slums or whatever. And so the beat goes on and on. The problem is often sighted by politicians and citizens as a high priority. But there doesn't seem to be any solution in sight. I have a friend who went back to college for two years to become an addiction counsellor. He knows a lot about the subject and would make a great counsellor. He cannot get a job in that field. Why? No jobs. There are thousands of homeless and addicts and no jobs for people who want to work to help them.
Our society is obsessed with money and making money and acquiring more material things. People are not important. Let them live on the street and go through garbage to try to survive. Who cares? I think that drugs should be made legal or decriminalized. They should be regulated and taxed. Then the millions of dollars spent and made from drugs would not go to the criminals. The tax money could be used to fund treatment for the addicts and education so young people do not get hooked.

There's an old Woody Allen movie called "Bananas". In it Woody is the nerdy New Yorker who becomes the President of a tiny Central American country. When this happens he goes from a liberal, caring person to a dictatorial, arbitrary ruler over night. One of his new laws for the country is to have everyone wear their underwear on their heads.
So sometimes fiction is not far from the truth. What is it about politicians that makes them go wacko? Maybe it is the flunkies around them. Maybe it is the high pay and perks. Maybe it is the flexible hours where they can work or not work when they want.
This week in British Columbia the politicians made another unbelievable move. They gave themselves a 15% pay raise. And they try to sneak it in as if no one would notice! Inflation is at about 3%. They also just recently ruled striking teachers back to work and gave them a 0% pay raise. The teachers got zero, zero, zero. No raise, no nothing. Other workers have even had pay decreases! So how do the politicians get 15% ? That is the big question here now. Most people in B.C. are really upset. There's been many letters in the papers about it and I have not seen one on the politicians side. What were they thinking? Like in the Woody Allen movie they must lose their minds in those stuffy offices they occupy at taxpayers expense.
I think the only answer is to vote out all incumbents except those few who really show good leadership. Also they should not be allowed to vote for raises for themselves and raises should be no more than the rate of inflation. Then teachers and nurses and other workers should get the same raise the politicians get. Sounds fair to me.

November 1 I came to Vancouver. It's often rated by international agencies as the number one city in the world to live. It is a beautiful city with mountains and ocean on all sides. I really like it and it's in my own country! So why not live here? I'll give it a shot.
There's a bit of culture shock coming here from Canada's biggest, most hated and unfriendly city. The big adjustment for me will be the friendliness. To me Vancouver is like a city with a small town personality. The other day a bus driver said "good morning". Wow! In Toronto the bus drivers are not only unfriendly they are often rude. I've often thought the Toronto bus drivers should be given lessons in public relations. In fact it seems like they are trained to be grumpy and unhelpful. They often drive away with riders running after them. Do they care?
So in Vancouver when bus drivers are actually friendly and helpful it is a shock to me. Being a life long Torontonian I have developed the gruff, unfriendly exterior to an art. It will take a while to let the shield fall. Maybe I can become a friendly person too? Miracles could happen.