Shocking murder in German courtroom racially motivated?

This murder case is as shocking as it is remarkable for where it occurred - in a courtroom during another less serious dispute. The Islamic couple were bringing a defamation charge against a Russian-born german man in Dresden GER over a school-yard altercation when the wife was fatally stabbed before her husband knew what was happening. He was also injured in the attack as he tried to come to his wife's defense.

The Nanny State of Ontario

I celebrate the popular decline of Premier Dalton MCSPENDY, Chief Nanny of Ontario - although it can't happen fast enough. I suspect he will leave the clean-up to someone else. Even as he just got "smoked" by Federal Court for unreasonable restrictions on smoking by federal inmates within Ontario jails, I see on the news that he just announced a Nursery School and Kindergarten Daycare Plan to be rolled for to 35,000 4&5 year olds NEXT SEPTEMBER at a estimated cost of $1 bn!

No doubt he is preparing the way for an election over the issue - given the hammering he will have to endure in the next 2 years while he figures out a way to fund this years (2009/10) anticipated $24.7 bn deficit, next years (2010/11) $21.1 bn deficit and the forecasted 2011/12's $19.4 bn deficit (excluding the Daycare figures) - before he can cut costs and balance the provincial budget!

Combine this with growing unease about Ontario MPP's behaviour, notably Former Attorney General Michael BRYANT and recently, Kuldip KULAR - both involved with "leaving the scene of an accident".

U.S Newspaper Circulation down

Not a surprise, it just confirms much of the anecdotal evidence we have known for months. Major newspaper's circulation is now 44 million copies a day - fewer than any time since the 1940's. Ad revenue has collapsed down 28% in last 6mths to Sept 30, 2009. Circulation figures do not include online audience - except for 400,000 paid subscribers at the Wall Street Journal, mostly because very few newspapers are charging for online access. Unique online visits are up 20% to 72 million over 2007.

However I would characterize it as - the large well supported urban decision makers grow stronger while the "wannabe" franchise media outlets get weaker. This is mirroring the traditional movement of individuals to better resourced urban area's (although with the Real Estate meltdown, that contention is taking a beating). One online blog echo's these concerns by noting that he fears that "newspapers are offering less".

Two market anomaly's are Denver and Seattle where Rocky Mountain News and Post-Intelligencer closed to the benefit of remaining competitors.

Fragmentation continues - but what is the answer?

WWI - Battle of the Somme

In May, I got this message via www.ancestry.com (I have entered family genealogy file so all members can search.)

Hello, I have been doing some research into my own family tree and whilst talking to my grandparents, the subject of my grandfathers name came up-he was called Cedwyn Owen Williams and the story goes that he was named after your relative. My Cedwyns father was called John Williams and he served with your Cedwyn in the Battle of the Somme of WW1. Your Cedwyn pulled my great grandfather back to the trenches when he had been injured in no mans land and hence he lived on to have two sons-one of which was my grandfather. Sadly from research, it appears that your Cedwyn died on 1st July 1916 but I just thought you would like to know of the extreme bravery of your relative without which I may well not be here! My grandfather was named after him as a mark of respect and gratitude from my great grandfather. Regards, Heather Williams

Cedwyn was Tudwal's (my grandfather) youngest brother, and he died in July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, which is the largest and bloodiest battles ever fought taking lives of 1.5 million men. It epitomized the grinding campaign of attrition that WWI became know for and many battalions - like the Royal Newfoundlander Regiment - lost 91% of it's 801 men in one advance into German machine guns. The Somme Offensive lasted until November 18 1916.

Cedwyn is memorialized by an entry into the Commonwealth War Graves Commission monument at Thiepval FRANCE. It is likely that he died during one of the many additional attacks that were taken during that 4½ month campaign.

To catch a Thief

I am very sympathetic to the incident involving new Canadian, David CHEN in Toronto. As a friend of mine likes to say "Police are into Crime Management, not Prevention". The serious implication is that they are happy to let property crime go as it is too hard to catch and is very time consuming. Anyways, our insurance covers most of it (not to mention that we end up subsidizing the theft as our premiums rise).

I also think Lorne GUNTER has it right. The justice system seens David CHEN as the problem, not the annoying petty criminal Anthony Bennett.

The Crown is more determined to discourage citizens from getting involved in local justice than it is in stopping thefts. It is more interested in the rights of criminals than the safety of ordinary Canadians and their property.

When citizenry takes control of the right to self-defense it means that the system is not functioning as it should.

[This also bears mention, the vigilante action of Andre BAMBERSKI in taking the restrained action of capturing the man who was convicted of his 14 yr old daughters murder, Dieter KROMBACH - after 27 years of inaction by the police.]

Bury my heart at Wounded Knee

December 29, 1890 was the Wounded Knee Massacre, Wounded Knee SD. This video compilation provides a haunting - and not necessarily accurate - viewpoint of the incident that marked the end of the "Indian Wars" across the American West. Of particular note is fact that this 2007 HBO TV movie (from which these images were taken) was shot near Calgary and with a number of Aboriginal Canadian actors. (I also like the accompanying soundtrack "Lithium" by Evanescence)

WildRose Change is Coming

As I was locked in the ballot count room for 8hrs I did not get to partake in many of the wonderful activities that were held for members throughout the day. I did manage to stagger into daylight to hear Danielle SMITH's acceptance speech - and that was a pleasure as she is an excellent speaker. Here was her Acceptance Speech.

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Happy Birthday Joan COOK

This happened a few weeks ago (Oct 6) but it marks the coincidence of 3 Senators having been mentioned to me in a matter of one week. That is remarkable.

Joan COOK was 75 years old on Oct 6. Hence, she will be retiring from her place in the Senate. She has been a representative of Newfoundland and Labrador since March 6, 1998 and was appointed by Jean CHRETIEN.

Dennis PATTERSON (Nunavut) is a former Premier of the Northwest Territories and one of the new crop of Senators appointed by PM Harper in August. Patterson was mentioned by a friend as having been the reason Nunavut is "going green" (or at least more green). They have had a housing boom up there with the new government, and he has had requests for control systems for diesel genset/PV/Wind system's. That is unique.

The other Senator I found was Elaine MCCOY. I was surprised to see her listed as a Progressive Conservative! (even though she was appointed by Paul MARTIN). I am very interested to see how she has voted in the past. As we have such a concentration of Liberal Senators up here in Edmonton (BANKS, TARDIFF and MITCHELL) I have not had cause to find the other ladies (MCCOY and FAIRBAIRN) . She may find herself "courted" more often now.

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Woody GUTHRIE - America's Folk Ballad Hero

Woody GUTHRIE (1912-1967) was an unusual character, but he was a remarkable folk-hero for many emerging folk singers in the 1960's. Famous folk singer Pete SEEGER and Bob DLYAN among them. DYLAN made a special effort to immortalize his works and was clearly drawn to GUTHRIE's evocative ballads and perhaps bohemian, if not erratic, personality. Woody (named after soon to-be Democrat President, Woodrow WILSON) was eventually diagnosed with Huntington's Corea, but others felt he exhibited some serious symptoms of schizophrenia and alcoholism.

His enduring legacy has to be his many folk songs about America in the 1930's and 1940's - especially the traumatic era that involved the Dust-bowl and late Depression era, 1934-40. Woody was also a keen social observer and itinerant entertainer through the 1950's and developed what would be known as "Hillbilly" style. His association with many Communist elements in LA and California caused him a certain amount of official notoriety. Yet, among his most revered songs must be "This Land is Your Land" written as a counterpoint to Irving BERLIN's "God Bless America" that Woody believed was jingoistic and unreal.

"This Land is Your Land" - by Woody Guthrie

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me that golden valley
This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
While all around me a voice was sounding
Saying this land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
A voice was chanting, As the fog was lifting,
This land was made for you and me.

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

[There were at 2 other stanza's dropped from the traditional arrangement, likely as they were too controversial at the time. Woody wrote "This Land" in 1940 but it was not published until 1951 - which would have overlapped the period of political hysteria raised by Senator McCarthy's "Committee on Un-American Activities" and Woody was suspected of Communist sympathy. Here are copies of FBI records on Woody.]

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;
Sign was painted, it said private property;
But on the back side it didn't say nothing;
That side was made for you and me.

In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I'd seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?

Or this variant:

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

For Canada, this was our change

This land is your land, This land is my land,

From Bonavista, to Vancouver Island

From the Arctic Circle to the Great Lakes waters,

This land was made for you and me.

Google Flu Trends

Ok, this is pretty cool. Live "Flu trends" derived from real-time data by Google scientists. The have been developing these time series tracking data for awhile on a number of different statistics - most recently Retail Sales in the US.

I think that has been working well too.

Ephemera and the web

On Oct 26, 2009 - Yahoo's Geocities free website service will shutdown. Slaw.ca had a post about how ephemeral and questionable information on the web has been in the past, but morns the loss of that early idealistic period. I just think of the $3.5 bn that it cost Yahoo to buy the service got vaporized over 10 years.

But alot of people took to using this free useful service, and for many it was an entry in the internet. I dare say that it led to the popularity of web-search services like Google as I remember the frustration in trying to find anything useful with Yahoo's search as impossible.

I myself think that this "ephemeral" nature of the web is one of the biggest opportunities. How can we keep track of this exploding information birth and and death? I have found that The Wayback Machine has been one of the most useful services out there. It scours the web archiving well known and traveled sites before the disappear. Sometimes they will be the only place you can find that old web-page you forgot to keep years ago.

However it is this "disappearance of data" that has led me to archive the old ECMAS.org website before it is disconnected. For those who are interested, you can find the 2001 data here (others in process). Here is list of Articles (2001) It is too bad that quite a bit is missing but I am hopeful that others will be able to fill in the blanks as they become aware of this minor project to recover the information.

Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.

George Santayana (1863-1952)

WRA gets more members

WRA announced that membership has passed 11,000 by the cut off for ballots for the leadership.

I hope alot of those people are going to vote for Danielle SMITH, here is an editorial about her in Calgary Herald by Nigel HANNAFORD last week and her piece in Calgary Sun today. Here is Mark's rather sour reply.

Danielle will be in Edmonton this Thurs Oct 8 @730 pm at the Four Points Sheraton, 7320 Argyll Rd. Edmonton AB - everyone is welcome. [Otherwise we will see everyone for the Leadership Nomination on Sat Oct 17, Holiday Inn 4520-76 Ave Edmonton AB]

Should the RCMP be regionalized?

Today the Dzienkanski Inquiry was given the final submission of lawyer Walter Kosteckyj, representing Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski. He urged the inquiry commissioner, Thomas Braidwood, to recommend that the RCMP's use-of-force training model to be scrapped.

Two weeks ago the B.C Police Chief Association asked for Independent Reviews of Police Complaints similar to Alberta’s SIRT (Serious Incident Response Team).

Two months ago, a Crown Prosecutor resigned from the Braidwood Inquiry because she failed to realize she has "exculpatory" evidence in her possession since April 2009 that contradicted a senior RCMP officer's sworn evidence to the inquiry. His email claims the 4 officers at the scene had planned to taser Mr. Dzienkanski before arriving at the situation at the Vancouver Airport.

In his sumation, Lawyer Walter Kosteckyj suggests that more than anything the employees at the Vancouver Airport have been taught to ignore passenger questions (a typical bureaucratic passive-aggressive mannerism) and that a single odse of common-sense anywhere in the tragic farce that led to Mr. Dzienkanski would have gone a long way to saving his life.

Post Zaccardelli , can there be any doubt that the RCMP has ceased to accountable and effective to the many citizens who need their services.

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