Men's rights versus children's safety: BA deals with the possibility of perverts

BA Airline has been in a spot of trouble for its handling of a delicate social issue. My response here is mainly to the National Post article on the subject - 'You’re male. You must be a pervert,' by Barbara Kay.

I almost didn't respond to this in the section following the article, but I did, in response to another commenter, then got drawn into the topic of discussion - men's rights versus children's. I found the title to be unsettling - an exaggeration of a social problem men don't like to discuss.

I thought this was worthy of telling about here as it is an example of men who cannot see beyond their own needs and their own egos.

It was also an example of how women (one woman - Barbara Kay) can dismiss anyone else's concerns in order that her favourite cause - men's rights - be upheld. I say, Good for the airline for doing what they can to protect children travelling alone!

Finally, it is an example of how rules should not always be followed blindly (though they are good as guidlelines, in certain circumstances, letting them go is best for everyone). There can be extentuating circumstances which following the rules leading. (I know; I came to Oshawa as a stranger and was treated like a criminal, a threat, as someone worthy only of second-class treatment, or less, often by people doing their jobs which means followng the rules without thought.) In this case, the man had been travelling with his pregnant wife and they had switched seats so that she could be more comfortable by the window. The flight attendant was either unable or unwilling to consider the situation in its entirety. He ordered the man back to his original seat.

According to the Daily Mail, the male passenger said "I was made to feel like a criminal in front of other passengers. It was totally humiliating. Neither myself or my wife dared to speak to the boy in case the cabin crew forced us from our seats. The poor child must have thought we were extremely rude and unfriendly."

The male traveller backed off, which was the only thing he could do without looking like a - well - pervert, demanding to be seated next to the unaccompanied child. He did the right thing, and was recompensed for it later, so I fail to see why the situation is still being treated as problematic. The rule itself was not the problem, but the way the situation was handled. He was lucky to be able to sue and recieve justice. There are many people in this world - in Canada - who get treated badly every single day, who dare not speak for fear they will be punished, or who get blamed for anything bad that happens.

The discussion itself raised another issue, of conflicting rights. Sometimes, one person's rights (or one group's) can be stepped on by another person (or group) demanding theirs. In the discussion following the article, one of the commenters argued that if he had been accosted by airline staff about sitting next to an unaccompanied child he would have loudly complained then and there that he was being discriminated against, for being a man, or as news articles have put it - a pervert. Quite a lesson for the boy travelling alone to have to contend with. The male passenger did the only thing he could - he backed off, and was able to sue later.

My final comment on the National Post article was one I had submitted earlier in the discussion but which had been ignored, the commenter accusing me of being a "feminist propagandist" and needing a psychiatrist. So I will leave readers with this.

"I don't know how much feminists have had to do with such rules being created, but there has been increased awareness in society of how boys and girls can be taken advantage of, sexually, when they are left in close quarters with men who are sexual predators. Do you have a better way that the airline can deal with this?" (Sue McP)

Added June, 2012

Another good article explaining the fiaso is one by Dhruti Shah (BA seat policy, 2010). And finally, BA announces a change in policy! (Mirko Fischer winds again, 2010). A third piece, posted onto a Men’s equality website, is included, even though I think their perspective needs to be a bit broader than simply seeking ‘equality’ (Mirko Fisher is a men’s equality hero, 2010).

I have often said and will continue to say, about feminists, and now about men’s rights activists, that there never can be complete equality. Women need to listen to men’s concerns, and men need to listen to women’s (looking at it from a gender perspective.) Rules are made, or decisions made, then something comes up that puts the rule into question, and further adjustments are made. That’s how it works. And I see this case as being an example of that process. I imagine the people who made that policy weren’t doing it to intentionally embarrass men or make flying more difficult, or to lose customers. They were just thinking of the children.


BA seat policy made man 'feel like a child molester'
By Dhruti Shah
BBC News
June 24, 2010
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10182869

Businessman sues BA 'for treating men like perverts'
By Sophie Borland
Daily Mail UK
Jan 16, 2010
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243625/Businessman-Mirko-Fischer-sues-British-Airwars-treating-men-like-perverts.html

Mirko Fisher is a men’s equality hero as British Airways continues its sexism against men
Posted by Skimmington
The Rights of Man
June 25, 2010
http://therightsofman.typepad.co.uk/the_rights_of_man/2010/06/mirko-fischer-is-a-mens-equality-hero-as-british-airways-continues-its-sexism-against-men-1.html

Mirko Fischer wins again
By NB, Washington, DC
The Economist, Gulliver
Aug 22, 2010
http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2010/08/british_airways_seating_policy

You’re male. You must be a pervert
By Barbara Kay
National Post Full Comment
July 2, 2010
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/07/02/barbara-kay-youre-male-you-must-be-a-pervert/#more-5616

Links updated June 2012

Lost in Translation: theories of breasts and breast milk of Saudi women

A story from Saudi Arabia has people amazed at responses of high-up clerics to the problem of women and their 'foreign' drivers in this land. Traditional law seems to state that the women shouldn't be on such a familiar basis with men who are not part of their family. In order to rectify this problem, a high-up cleric has issued a fatwa stating that by sharing her breastmilk with her driver, the women, who are not permitted to drive themselves, can ensure that all is on the up-and-up and not a matter of questionable behaviour, with a foreigner (stranger?).

In the Los Angeles Times, and in many comments online following the National Post article, the emphasis is on the right of women to drive themselves. Saudi women have taken the gist of the fatwa one step further and said they will breastfeed their drivers if they cannot be permitted to drive the cars themselves.

The AOL article refers to the discussion between the two Saudi clerics. Sheikh Al Obeikan, "adviser to the royal court and consultant to the Ministry of Justice", stated that the women "ought to give them their breast milk so they will be considered relatives". But another high-profile sheik, Abi Ishaq Al Huwaini, then apparently announced that "men should suckle the breast milk directly from a woman's breast."

At this point I am wondering if it is a matter of miscommunication, of something lost in translation, as it just doesn't seem to make sense that a cleric would advocate women allow men to suck at their breasts. More detail is given in the articles, but not specifically about what the clerics meant.

The second cleric, Al Huwaini, sounds as though he is stating hypothetically that, if a man is to be considered a member of the family, then the men "should suckle the breast milk directly from a woman's breast." I don't see that as a directive, or even a suggestion. It looks more as though he is discussing traditional laws and what they mean, and the significance of them - these were simply two scholars discussing the theoretical implications of women and family, and laws on sharing breast milk versus actual breastfeeding.

Added June 2012

Writing from her perspective, Anushay Hossain concludes, “These women should be congratulated for using the issuing of yet another insane fatwa and flipping it into an opportunity to maybe one day, finally winning their right to drive” (What’s Up Saudi?, June 2010).

Saudi Clerics Advocate Adult Breast-Feeding
By Dana Kennedy
AOL News
June 5, 2010
http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/saudi-clerics-advocate-adult-breast-feeding/19504280
http://www.aolnews.com/2010/06/04/saudi-clerics-advocate-adult-breastfeeding/

Saudi women threaten breast-feeding revolt [plus comments]
By Kelly McParland
National Post, Full Comment
June 23, 2010
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/06/23/saudi-women-threaten-breast-feeding-revolt/#more-4581
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2010_June_SaudiWomenThreatenBreastfeedingRevolt.doc

Women threaten to breastfeed drivers if they aren't allowed to drive
Los Angeles Times, Babylon & Beyond
June 22, 2010
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/06/saudi-women-use-fatwa-in-driving-bid.html

What’s Up Saudi? The Kingdom Insists on Keeping Women in the Stone Age
By Anushay Hossain
Anushay's Point
June 24, 2010
http://anushayspoint.com/tag/saudi-women-threaten-to-breastfeed-drivers/

links updated June 2012

Domestic Violence’ narratives: the murders of Lois Mordue and Dave Lucio

'Violence against women' came to be a women's issue when feminists realized the term for violence between intimate partners - 'domestic violence' - did not acknowledge the differences from men that women who were abused experienced in their relationships. I first learned about this in the mid-eighties, doing women's studies at university, at UWO in London, Ontario. Since then, the subject of violence in relationships has arisen once more, in the context of two separate homicides, first of Lois Mordue, second, that of Dave Lucio, both of whom had been in an intimate relationship with their killer.

In 2005, I read about the homicide of Lois Mordue on August 8, 2005, had taken place in my hometown, Woodstock, Ontario. At that time I wrote letters to the editor of the Sentinel Review in response to the articles, giving my own views on the murder and on the subject of domestic violence in general. As time went on, I saw that it was being referred to as domestic homicide, woman abuse, and domestic violence, as Robert Alexander, Lois Mordue’s brother, increasingly became involved, claiming that “violence against women won’t stop until both sexes are involved.” (Moving forward, April 19, 2007).

More recently, an article in the National Post (Myths of Domestic Violence, June 2, 2010) brought to my attention another case of homicide, of Dave Lucio, in London, Ontario, on June 6, 2007, which may or may not have been ‘domestic violence.’ A second article reinforced the idea that Doug Lucio, the father of the victim, was referring to the killing of his son as domestic violence (Lucio vigil, June 7, 2010). “Violence is violence, whether it’s men or women. There is no difference” he was quoted as saying. Once again, I felt compelled to write in, to the comments section of the article, as much of what I was hearing, just did not ring true to me.

To summarize, these were two homicides, one male, one female, both killed by individuals with whom they were in intimate relationships but both of which had ended before the murders took place. In the Mordue case, one article refers to the victim's brother, stating "While the Crown prosecutes an alleged domestic homicide, Alexander is trying to find some answers to why domestic violence is happening." (In Honour, Dec 28, 2005). Doug Lucio, the father of Dave Lucio, the male homicide victim, not happy at the way the Police handled the murder case, has been quoted as saying, "there needs to be more equal treatment in cases of domestic violence" (Vigil, June 6, 2010).

Controversy surrounds the Dave Lucio/ Kelly Johnson murder-suicide, apparently due to the neglect of Chief Faulkner to name this a 'domestic' homicide (Myths, June 2, 2010). Erland Mordue, however, was apparently alleged to have committed 'domestic' homicide (In Honour, Dec 28, 2005), although whether that stuck or made any difference to local statistics is not known to me. As it happens, Erland had intended to kill himself also, making that a murder-suicide, but failed in his attempt. He was convicted of first-degree murder and is now serving his sentence.

Both these men - Doug Lucio and Robert Alexander - have turned to domestic violence narratives as a means of dealing with the trauma of the violent deaths of their family members. Yet I wonder how well the circumstances of the cases fit into any version of this narrative. The term narrative is used to suggest a theme, a cultural understanding or norm that is accepted in society as a way of explaining a social phenomenon. When survivors ask themselves Why?, they seek some kind of explanation, and domestic violence is a term that adapts fairly easily to a number of different situations. But I wonder how good the fit is.

Cases that are placed in this category due to the fact they immediately fulfil a basic definition of domestic violence will become subject to the wider implications of domestic violence - domestic abuse, for one, or 'violence against women', the kind of situation women have had to endure historically as the second-class person in the relationship.

Killing one's intimate partner might well be seen as an example of domestic abuse to the extreme - violence resulting in death. But if the relationship had not been abusive earlier, does the end result of murder make it fit the description, on looking back?

If one believes that power has a lot to do with it, and that abuse only happens if one partner has control over the other - financially, emotionally, psychologically, sexually - is it possible to determine whether or not the victims had previously been abused in their relationship, forced to comply with the wishes of the abusing partner? Seeing the misuse of power as the underlying basis of an abusive relationship, we can ask whether the perpetrator of violence, as seen by investigators, might actually be the partner fighting back from their position of powerlessness against a more subtle or insidious form of domestic abuse. Sometimes only the ones involved know whether coercion or other forms of abuse were being used as a means of control. If the killer had also planned to die, making it a murder-suicide, does that change the way they are viewed, as victims as well as victimizers?

Dying a violent death doesn't mean one has been a victim of domestic violence, except in a very narrow meaning - a police definition, or a statistic to be included in a particular set of stats. But on its own it isn't proof that the victim was in an abusive relationship. If domestic violence is used as an excuse - a reason for a murder taking place, the real reason it happened might not be being recognized. So when the victims are happy, fulfilled, independent and financially secure, and not noticeably vulnerable, one could look to other reasons for problems in the relationship and the end result of murder.

Violence against women came to be a feminist cause because any woman who was vulnerable in her relationship was at risk of being subjected to controlling, abusive behaviour from her partner if he didn't know how to act with maturity in the relationship, or chose not to. If not financially independent or holding down a job it might be difficult for her to leave. Now, in Canadian society, more women are working and able to support themselves. Staying in an abusive relationship would no longer be necessary if the man wasn't agreeable to changing abusive behaviour. Hence we have such programs as the White Ribbon Campaign and Changing Ways, for men.

The other side of violence against women has now turned out to be the growth of men's groups aimed at assisting men who are the victims of women's acts of violence in their intimate relationships. If this was a problem previously, it received virtually no attention, but since the growth of the women's movement, and possibly due to increasing numbers of women gaining financial independence and working outside the home, some men have become vulnerable to abuse by their female partners. The pendulum has swung from one side completely over to the other. Thus, as well as groups and programs geared towards assisting women in particular, there are now the same kinds of groups, etc, formed to assist men. One emphasis of such groups is on the legal side of it. Where once women needed feminist lawyers to comprehend and fight for their rights, now men need to have lawyers who can understand the issues addressing their particular circumstances.

But even where there is no abuse, unresolveable relationship problems happen. Not all problems get to be labelled abuse even if they are. If Kelly Johnson hadn't killed herself after killing Dave Lucio, no doubt she would have ended up serving time for murder. But it still would not have meant that Dave Lucio had been a victim of domestic violence, except in the narrowest sense of the term, apparently used in Police Department stats, according to Barbara Kay (London, Jan 28, 2010). Although the definition of domestic violence used by the London Police Dept indicates that a single act of violence by one spouse towards the other constitutes domestic violence, as well as multiple incidents, I wouldn't agree. One incident might be an indication that an abusive relationship has begun, or it might simply be one isolated incident.

There was no indication that the relationship between Dave Lucio and Kelly Johnson had been abusive. The 12-page report (Report, 2008) put out by the London Police Department does not suggest that the relationship between Dave Lucio and Kelly Johnson was characterized by domestic violence. That the two were both members of the London Police Department obviously has made a difference to the way their relationship and deaths were perceived. But any omissions or errors in judgment made by Police Chief Faulkner, or favouritism in treatment of his officers, cannot change that aspect of the relationship between the two involved in the murder-suicide, that it did not involve systematic abuse. One spouse committing adultery, making unreasonable demands regarding sex, work, community activity and friendships, spending, and /or committing repeated physical acts of abuse, are the kinds of behaviour that make a relationship abusive, not the extreme act of homicide only.

In one of the first newspaper articles, it was stated that there was no history of abuse between the Mordues (Murder investigation, Aug 11, 2005). Later, however, it was implied that Erland Mordue was abusive, at least on one occasion, the week before he killed his wife Lois, phoning her several times, according to Lois’s new boyfriend, Zeke Postma, so that he offered to drive her to the Police Station to get a restraining order (Tears flow, April 05, 2007). A separate article mentions what is possibly related to that same incident, one of information-gathering’ the only one on record (Mordue wrote, March 28, 2007). The suggestion is that Erland Mordue was an abusive, controlling husband, creating a threatening, unhappy environment for his wife who was powerless to change her circumstances and leave. Luckily, Lois was not affected greatly by his treatment of her and quickly began a fulfilling life, with a job she enjoyed, a new home purchased for her by her son, and a new boyfriend, resulting in a questionable assessment that she had ever been a victim of abuse during her relationship with Erland Mordue. Abuse generally has an affect on the one being abused. But Lois appears to have been a well-adjusted person (Mordue’s zest for life, Aug 12, 2005). Normally, if a person is lacking family or community support, the potential for abuse is greater.

The world is filled with abuse and violence. Abuse affects a person's psyche, but how can we tell if it's due to the pitfalls of everyday life, of doing a difficult job, unthoughtful colleagues or an uncaring community, or illness, isolation, unfulfilled dreams, or fear of the future?

There was some resistance from women’s advocates and local citizens to Erland Mordue being allowed out on bail, due to his propensity towards cold-bloodedly planning murder, apparently (Mordue granted bail, Feb 13, 2006; Justice System, Feb 28, 2006; Erland Mordue, Sept 19, 2006). But if it is being argued that Erland was guilty of domestic homicide, of murdering someone he was in an intimate relationship with, then that would reduce the likelihood of him committing further acts of violence while out on bail. Women’s activists seem to want men who kill women they are in relationships with to be treated the same as any other murderer (Debunking stereotypes, Mar 13, 2006), though I argued against that line of reasoning (Murder cases, Mar 22, 06). However, it does appear, from the murder-suicide case in London, that treating cases individually instead of generalizing towards them, regarding granting bail, for instance, might be a more compassionate approach. Had Kelly Johnson lived, I wonder if she would have been treated the same as Erland Mordue was. As it is, Kelly Johnson is being pictured as a troubled woman, rather than as a cold-hearted killer.

The references listed below, which are those I have mentioned in this article, are included in the longer Bibliography list, which will be available on my website but not on my blog. For readers interested in this subject of domestic violence, Statistics Canada provides online a document on Violence Against Women (see Measuring violence, 2006), which provides valuable information that goes beyond the purely physical aspects of domestic violence, and that may also be of interest to men who are victims. The Comments sections of some newspaper articles can provide insight from everyday readers in the community and not just journalists. Local news articles about the Mordue case may be available through the archives of the newspaper if no working link is available. Links to letters I wrote to the Sentinel Review - Compassion (2007), Murder cases (2006) and Domestic violence (2005) - are also included here. Academic Jessica Eckstein has done some relevant work in the area of abuse and intimate relationships, a link provided below to one on men who experience violence from women (Masculinity of Men, 2010). Lastly, by chance, an article just out now announces a program intended to help women become aware of abuse in their relationship, apparently, though it does make one wonder, not just about the controlling effect it will have on how women will start to think of themselves, routinely, but the effect on men in their lives (Groundbreaking, June 2010).


List of References

Compassion and Humanity (Response to 'Guilty', S-R, Apr 13, 2007, and 'Society . . . humanity', S-R, Apr 18, 2007)
By Sue McPherson
Letter to the Editor
Woodstock Sentinel Review
submitted April 20, 2007
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/LetterstoEditors/2007AprCompassionandHumanity.doc

Debunking stereotypes
By Susan Houston
Letter to the Editor
Woodstock Sentinel-Review
Mar 13, 2006
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2083927 Link unavailable
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2010_Mar_DebunkingStereotypes.doc

Domestic Violence: the Mordues (Response to 'In Honour of Lois', S-R, Dec 28, 2005)
By Sue McPherson
Letter to the Editor, submitted Dec 28, 2005
Woodstock Sentinel Review
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/LetterstoEditors/2005DecDomesticViolenceMordue.doc

Erland Mordue back in jail
Woodstock Sentinel-Review
Sept 19, 2006
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2085150 Link not available
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2006_Sept_ErlandMordueBackJail.doc

Family Violence in Canada: a Statistical Profile
Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics
2000
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-224-x/85-224-x2000000-eng.pdf

‘Groundbreaking’ project helps abused women
By Kate Dubinski
The London Free Press
June 8, 2010
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/06/08/14314781.html

In honour of Lois
By Jon Willing
Woodstock Sentinel-Review
December 28, 2005
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2083435 Link not working
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2005_Dec_InHonourofLois.doc

Justice system in need of change
unnamed author
Letter to the editor
Woodstock Sentinel Review
Feb 28, 2006
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2083832 Link not available
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2006_Feb_JusticeSystemNeedChange.doc

Lucio vigil meant to draw awareness to domestic violence
By Geoff Turner
The London Free Press
June 7, 2010
http://www.lfpress.com:80/news/london/2010/06/05/14280126.html
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2010_June_LucioVigilMeantToDrawAwarenessDV.doc

London, Ontario Police statistics on domestic violence show classic signs of abuse
By Barbara Kay
National Post, Full Comment
January 28, 2010
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/01/28/barbara-kay-london-ontario-police-statistics-on-domestic-violence-show-classic-signs-of-abuse.aspx Link no longer working
http://oped.ca/National-Post/barbara-kay-london-ontario-police-statistics-on-domestic-violence-show-classic-signs-of-abuse/

Masculinity of Men Communicating Abuse Victimization
By Jessica Eckstein
Western Connecticut State University
2010
http://www.ncdsv.org/images/Eckstein_MasculinityOfMenCommunicatingAbuseVictimization_5-5-2010.pdf
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/MaleVictimizationEck.pdf

Measuring violence against women
Statistical Trends 2006
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-570-x/85-570-x2006001-eng.pdf

Mordue granted bail
Woodstock Sentinel Review
Feb 13, 2006
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2083731 Link no longer works
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2006_Feb_Mordue_Granted_Bail.doc

Mordue’s zest for life never surprised family
Woodstock Sentinel-Review
Aug 12, 2005
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2082573 Link no longer available
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2005_Aug_MorduesZestForLife.doc

Mordue 'wrote it all down in letters'
By Carla Garrett
Woodstock Sentinel Review
March 28, 2007
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2086560 Link no longer works
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2007_Mar_MordueWroteItAllDown.doc

Moving forward
By Carla Garrett
Woodstock Sentinel Review
April 19, 2007
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2086746 Link not available
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2007Apr19_MovingForward.doc

Murder cases must be handled differently (Response to Debunking Stereotypes, Mar 13, 2006)
By Sue McPherson
Letter to the Editor
Woodstock Sentinel Review
March 22, 2006
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/LetterstoEditors/2006MarMurderCasesResponsetoDebunkingStereotypes.doc

Murder investigation continues
Woodstock Sentinel-Review
Aug 11, 2005
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2082563 Link no longer available
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2005_Aug_MurderInvestigationContinues.doc

Myths of domestic violence
By Barbara Kay
National Post, Full Comment
June 2, 2010
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/06/02/myths-of-domestic-violence/#more-2377

Report to the deaths of David Lucio and Kelly Johnson
By Antoon Leenaars, Peter Collins, and Deborah Sinclair
for London Police Dept
May 28, 2008
Report-to-the-london-police-service-and-london-community
http://www.police.london.ca/Newsroom/PDFs/luciojohnsonreport.pdf

Tears flow at Mordue trial
By Carla Garrett
Woodstock Sentinel Review
April 05, 2007
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/News/298996.html broken link
http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2086649 link unavailable
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2007_Apr_TearsFlow.doc

Vigils marks Lucio death
By Geoff Turner
The London Free Press
June 6, 2010
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2010JuneVigilsMarksLucioDeath.doc


Links updated Apr 12, 2012

See also, for further information, the bibliography following 'Domestic Violence Narratives' at http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/EssaysandWriting/2010_June_DomesticViolenceNarrativesRefBiblio.doc

Myths about money and health: who should pay for health-care, and who should be getting it

Revised June 2012

The article I have based this blog comment on is this, from the Globe and Mail - 'Make rich seniors pay for drugs, report says'. A secondary issue is the "cost-effectiveness" of the care given by doctors, which I don't believe is quite the same meaning as "improve the quality of patient care."

So, first of all, I would like to say this: There are certain myths in society that need to be dispelled. The idea that the wealthy are worth more, in their very humanity, than the poor, is one of them.

There are other myths in society that are just as commonly believed, or rather, simply not questioned, but first things first. Some people having more wealth than others is not a good reason why they should be treated better, though of course, in some circumstances, having money enables a person to buy better treatment and health-care.

The slippery slope of the myth of the greater 'worthiness' of the wealthy leads not just to more choices given to them, but also more advantages in their health-care, to the extent that all other things being equal, the wealthy will still receive better treatment than the poor, even when it is available to all, apparently, regardless of class or wealth. Why?

The myth is that the wealthy are internally 'better' in character, in work ethic, determination, decision-making, and all other traits that make for a better citizen in Canadian society. Thus, more is given to them, and more is taken away from the poor. This is how our just society works.

Added June, 2012

According to this article, altering the way ODB (Ontario Drug Benefits program) is carried out could affect “universality of access.” Of course it would. That would be the whole purpose of having those who are better off pay for their own drugs. The only “alarms” likely to be raised would be those in the heads of the wealthy who might be thinking What next? The fears of the rich are so great they can’t help pushing down those in need farther down just to protect benefits they surely know they don’t deserve, much of the time, or need.

In addition to the idea to “overhaul the way doctors are compensated by paying them, not only for treatment, but care that is cost-effective.” If we leave this up to health care staff to determine, there’s no limit to how they might interpret this need. Cost-effectiveness might mean that care and treatment given to people in society who are not contributing in the way they would like, or not reproducing, or not providing various other tasks and functions seen as valuable, or do not own their own homes, might find themselves on the dnt list – do not treat.

It could be requested that staff and doctors treat all patients the same – *objectively* - meaning give each one the same quality of care as another, except that stands the risk of being interpreted as treating the patient as an object (unless of course, they are known to you), with no fair assessment of their needs or what treatment might be best for them.

Finally, the matter of sustainability, or as the article says, “Without such profound changes, suggests a report released Thursday by TD Economics, public health care as Canadians know it is unsustainable.” Yet we can afford F35s, full day kindergarten, sending financial help to countries like Haiti? I don’t see the government telling Michael Ferguson, or the Ministry of Education, or Michel Jean that’s there no money for their causes.

Some people in society have more care given to their needs. And that’s not likely to change, when the cuts come. Many of these would be able to pay for health-care not only for themselves but the healthcare of others. They will never come to see themselves as having enough money to share the wealth because they want to be able to leave a nice inheritance to their children.


Make rich seniors pay for drugs, report says
By Lisa Priest and Karen Howlett
Globe and Mail, and in Social Policy in Ontario
May 27, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/make-rich-seniors-pay-for-drugs-report-says/article1582236/  not working

http://spon.ca/make-rich-seniors-pay-for-drugs-health-care-report-says/2010/05/27/


http://suemcpherson.blogspot.ca/2010/05/myths-about-money-and-health-who-should.html
Links updated June 2012

If Michael Bryant should be judged on his merits, shouldn't we all?

The wealthy and powerful don't always get to know what is meant by the saying, 'life isn't fair,' or 'shit happens.' It's remarkable that the editorial board of the National Post still don't understand what is meant by this. They still seem to believe that bad things don't happen to good people, that sometimes - one more time - life just isn't fair.

And what is this language - militant cyclists? class warriors? Look who are the class warriors in this piece - the journalists, the lawyers and judges, and the politicians who enabled this decision to happen and who decided to blame the guy from the lower class in society and let the privileged one off.

"But no one’s career should be derailed forever by an incident such as this" write the editors of the National Post, as though this kind of tragedy, that forever alters the course of a person's life, doesn't happen very often at all, as though this is an exceptional circumstance, and that it just shouldn't happen. Life is fair, after all, and the good and intelligent always get what they deserve! Right? Wrong. It happens to people all the time - you just don't notice it until it happens to one of you.

Take note of the more than 500 comments on the Globe and Mail article by Christie Blatchford. Not everyone thinks Michael Bryant should have gotten off as lightly as he did - or is it that most people think justice should have been permitted to take its course, through a trial.

Added May, 012

In ‘Michael Bryant should be judged on his merits,’ 2010, The National Post refers to Darcy Sheppard as having engaged in “outbursts of primal madness,” as though that couldn’t have also been explanation for the behaviour of Michael Bryant – reverting to the ‘fight or flight’ syndrome, and in this case choosing a bit of both – attempting to get Mr Sheppard to let go of the car, while trying to remove himself and his car from this situation.

Furthermore, the same piece concludes that “Mr. Bryant should be judged in future — politically or otherwise — according to his merits, or lack thereof.” If this bit of wisdom could also be applied to other people who found themselves in unfortunate, adverse circumstances, instead of having the event used forever as proof of personal, internal failings, the world might be a more just place in which to live.

Christie Blatchford writes,

“He [special prosecutor Richard Peck] went out of his way to speak kindly about the dead man, noting that he brought up Mr. Sheppard’s unlucky background (aboriginal, probably undiagnosed fetal alcohol syndrome, seized by child welfare and placed with his brother David in a staggering 30 foster homes before being adopted) and highlights of his criminal record “not to demonize Mr. Sheppard or for anyone to suggest he somehow deserved his fate,” but rather because in a case where self-defence was claimed, these were relevant facts” (For Mr Bryant, an extraordinary, 2010).

In other situations, bringing in relevant facts may be seen as an attempt to discredit the honourable person being discussed, not as an attempt to discover the truth of the matter. And it’s not simply the words one speaks; it’s the tone in which they are uttered that matter. Running Darcy Sheppard down in a “kindly” fashion, while simply ignoring many of Michael Bryant’s actions that day, can lead others’ understanding of the situation in a certain direction, and not to one that is fair judgement of what happened that day. Bringing in the personal background and past history of Mr Sheppard, knowing that Michael Bryant’s credentials were near perfect, is an unfair comparison. Is this what Mr Peck did, and by doing so imply that the questionable actions taken by Mr Bryant that day were an aberration, unusual considering his personality and background, ie. if he did anything wrong at all?

This must be one of those situations that fit within the realm of the moral dilemma – how to bring justice to this situation. It’s too bad that justice for Michael Bryant could only be achieved by placing the blame on Darcy Sheppard. I suppose, in our world, especially in our legal system, there is no place for matters that fall in between right and wrong, that really are unusual circumstances that need an unusual resolution (and I imagine a lot of cases fall with in that grey area). Whatever Darcy Sheppard’s faults, he didn’t deserve to have this case dismissed so early in the judicial process, leaving Michael Bryant not simply ‘not guilty’ of the charges laid, but completely innocent of anything untoward.

The Toronto Star is right, that Michael Bryant “deserves public understanding,” that “What happened to him could happen to anyone” (Justice in Michael Bryant case, 2010). But the newspaper is not correct in concluding that what happened in the aftermath of the tragedy speaks well of the legal system. For one person involved, the legal system worked well, but not for Darcy Sheppard.

In a similar manner, Franco Tarulli writes, “Ontario did exactly the right thing in this case, and the result is exactly what ought to have happened” (Michael Bryant: “Extraordinary” justice?, 2010). Justice may have been served, for Michael Bryant, but the way the special prosecutor handled the case doesn’t appear to have been fair. Bringing up Darcy Sheppard’s past failings and personal background as evidence that this was what caused the incident to happen was premature. There was no trial, and this should have no more place in the public’s mind than the damage committed, for whatever reason, by Bryant and the car he was driving.



For Michael Bryant, an extraordinary kind of justice
By Christie Blatchford
Globe and Mail
May 25, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/christie-blatchford/for-michael-bryant-an-extraordinary-kind-of-justice/article1580911/
http://www.caledoniawakeupcall.com/updates/100525globe3.html
http://lists.von.ca/pipermail/fasd_canadian_link/2010-May/001763.html

Justice in Michael Bryant case
Toronto Star
May 26, 2010
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/814268--justice-in-michael-bryant-case

Michael Bryant: “Extraordinary” justice?
By Franco P. Tarulli
The Ethical Lawyer
May 30, 2010
http://tarullilaw.com/ethicallawyer/2010/05/30/michael-bryant-extraordinary-justice/

Michael Bryant should be judged on his merits
By National Post editorial board
National Post
May 25, 2010
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/05/25/judge-michael-bryant-on-his-merits/#more-1516

Links updated May, 2012

Robin Hood: class warfare

Conrad Black writes: "If the richest Americans are to be enlisted in the fight against poverty, it should be in the form of private-sector anti-poverty projects that wealthy taxpayers could design and administer themselves. This would involve the best financial minds in poverty reduction and would give the wealthiest people an incentive to eliminate poverty, as the rate of tax would decline as poverty declined and would vanish when poverty, as reasonably defined, vanished."

Why does Conrad assume that the wealthiest are the smartest. How is it that myth persists?

Usually the wealthiest are those who conform the most, jumping through the hoops and doing whatever it is that our society wants, and values. Take Lady Gaga, for instance. She knows, as did Madonna, when she started her career.

On another level are the practically mindless folk who actually do attempt to 'shortchange' their customers. Getting their jobs because of some relationship they have formed certainly doesn't lead them to be grateful, it would seem. Stealing from the poor is the other side to all this - including money, careers, educational opportunities.

In 'Robin Hood or the Pope' Tom Cosgrove mentions Father Larry Snyder and the website about Poverty in America, Think and Act Anew. One would think 'Reclaiming the dignity of work' is what our society needs, but I imagine that only works when the worker has earned the right to the job.  'Collateral damage' seems to be the effect, when people are denied the opportunity to earn a living. They don’t really matter.

Conrad himself believes that "we must banish to the proverbial dustbin of history the heirloom of Fabian attitude that any benefit to society’s short-changed must be wrung from the sweat of the diligent and transformed into the penalization of success." Perhaps that statement would make sense if all the wealthy did actually earn what they were paid - according to the time and energy and knowledge they put into their work, instead of the value of work being based on some extraordinary needs of our society, with those who need it most being cast out as virtually unemployable.

Together with nepotism, favouritism, and a sexualized society, these excessively-paid celebrities, entertainers and some might add, politicians, do nothing to help turn our society into a fair and humane place for those struggling for something better.


Collateral Damage
By Fr Larry Snyder
Think and Act Anew website
May 12, 2010
http://www.thinkandactanew.org/think-and-act-anew/2010/05/index.html

The Lady Gaga guide to capitalism
By Conrad Black
National Post
May 22, 2010
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/05/22/the-lady-gaga-guide-to-capitalism/#more-1330

The real Robin never robbed the rich
By John Ridpath
National Post
May 19, 2010
http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/05/19/the-real-robin-never-robbed-the-rich.aspx link no longer works
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2010_May_RealRobinNeverRobbedRich.doc
Contains original comment made online by Sue McPherson

Robin Hood or the Pope: Who Really Cares About the Poor?
By Tom Cosgrove
Huffington Post
May 18, 2010
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-cosgrove/robin-hood-or-the-pope-wh_b_580417.html

Stealing From the Rich: Four Different Approaches
By Dave Kehr
May 21, 2010
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/movies/homevideo/23kehr.html

Links updated April 17, 2012

Michael Ignatieff: leadership potential in Canadian politics

Revised May 29, 2010
Updated June, 2012

It's astounding that Michael Ignatieff is being treated the way he is, when you look at all he has to offer.

In our society, continuity is seen as normal, and better than discontinuity or separation. The lengthy, continuous career is looked upon as a model for a good work history, while travelling and working in diverse occupations, and in more than one country, can be viewed as a sign of flightiness. In reality, this kind of life can make a person 'more of a Canadian,' (a term attributed to Ignatieff in recent news articles, and not kindly eg ‘Michael Ignatieff thinks,’ 2010), more understanding of different ways of living and working, more able to stand back and look at the entire picture, but it can be detrimental when one comes to trying for a new career in a country that doesn't understand this. Ignatieff was probably right when he said the Conservatives were "provincial" in their thinking - the Conservatives and many Canadians (Michael Ignatieff accuses Conservatives, 2010).

After all Ignatieff has done in his life - teaching, journalism, writing books, serving as professor at universities, he is sometimes criticized for not doing anything substantial, for not showing Canadians what he is all about. But isn't what it's all about is having the "trust and confidence" of the people, and "vision for Canada," as this article claims? Could the problem, in part, be the people working for the Liberals. See this, from the article, apparently a comment by "one senior insider" : “Ignatieff hasn’t unveiled any substance yet and until he does, he can’t move anywhere" (The pressure is on Ignatieff, 2010).

So now we're back to having to have something of substance to convince the people of Canada that Ignatieff would make a good leader, not just knowing that he is able to think, write, do the work, act with determination, and do all the things a leader must be able to do. He actually has to show proof, and not proof gained while working in other countries for non party-political jobs.

To say it's up to Ignatieff to stop the freefall, if that's what it is, is unfair (The pressure is on Ignatieff, 2010).  According to this article, "Mr. Ignatieff has already fired one group of top advisors yet his poll numbers are still dropping." He must wonder what is going on too.

He may be the best thing to happen for the Liberals, and our country, but if people can't change their perspective on his travels out of Canada and return to it, and all the qualities he has proven (though not to us), he may not ever get the chance to be PM.

Ignatieff is not only being blamed for the Liberal freefall, he's the one being forced to take responsibility for stopping it. I think that's not so. It's got to come from the people themselves. If, when one is absent, one takes the time to look at what is going on in Canada, one might see things about it that are truly disquieting. and so, I'm not sure this would make one a "better Canadian" (as Rex Murphy claims Ignatieff said), when being a good Canadian often seems to mean keeping quiet about the norms of our society and the injustices committed here.

In his May 29th column, Rex Murphy becomes rhetorical, saying, "We learn our country by living in it, by absorbing the flow of its events, by acquiring an emotional as well as an intellectual grasp of its rhythms and moods. We inhabit this country, and it returns the favour: It inhabits us" (Michael Ignatieff’s out-of-country, 2010).

In reality, the ideas expressed in this sentence are nonsense. Being that close to a country or a person can make us take its qualities for granted, so much so that people are often advised to take a break from it - a vacation or a separation, to reflect and enable rational thoughts to emerge, where once feelings guided all decisions. No one can know the entire country, or all its people. We all live in our own little worlds, sometimes of our own making, sometimes not. We latch onto pieces of it that we recognize as being 'ours', as Canadian. But most importantly, it is the leaving that enables a person to get a better picture of what is going on - and the returning that holds the promise of something better for the country.

Ignatieff's absence is no obstacle to his ability to do well at the job of PM. In fact, I know that staying away will have given him so much more. Besides having been able to look upon Canada from a distance, he has now undergone critique by his fellow Canadians, who seem unable to grasp the significance of his time abroad. I have said before that leaving and then returning does leave one out-of-touch with prices, and changes in laws, but a read-up of these is usually enough. Does one ever forget how to ride a bike?

Rex asks, "There is an essence to this country. What we have in common, the core, is that which enables the embrace of diversity in the first place. Mr. Ignatieff may understand some of this, but does he feel it? Does he perceive the strength and depth of the common endeavour which has been and is this country since its founding? "

Perhaps not, Rex. I don't feel it. Perhaps it takes something from one's countrymen, after having spent time away, before one can feel it again. Perhaps one does have to take some time going through the motions before people start to see how unjust their behaviour and criticism is.

Added June 2012

In ‘Beyond Workaday Worlds’ (2005) I draw on the work of Mary Catherine Bateson, who wrote:

“continuity is the exception in twentieth-century America, and that adjusting to discontinuity is not an idiosyncratic problem of my own but the emerging problem of our era...In may ways, constancy is an illusion” (Composing a life, 1989).

As I state in that essay under the subtitle Unity, Continuity, and Contradictions, “her aim was to make sense of interrupted and discontinuous lives of the “composite life,” illustrating the importance of responding to change and learning to adapt (p 7). To illustrate what I had discovered about work and about such concepts as continuity, as they apply to real life, I incorporated aspects from life stories of five individuals I had written following interviews and research.

More often than not, in the past, it was men who had the careers that established continuity for them, thus a form of respectability and earned trust, I imagine. In the fairly recent past, it was more often women whose careers lacked that kind of continuity, and not just over childbearing. In some ways, it seems as though this is what’s bothering some people about Michael Ignatieff, that he didn’t have a long continuous career, or keep his focus on politically-oriented positions, instead branching out to academia and tv broadcasting, for instance, thus must have the ‘stability’ factor lacking in his character, I believe they must think.

If so many really are against Ignatieff, then it may be that they hold old-fashioned ideas about work, as well as about what it means to be a Canadian. For his own thoughts on this, see the 2011 article ‘My name is Michael Ignatieff, and I am Canadian.’ As for Rex Murphy’s question, “Does he perceive the strength and depth of the common endeavour which has been and is this country since its founding?,” this is not the way our country is going. The common endeavor has been lost, as people with diverse backgrounds and goals vie for their own place in society and to have their own culture recognized. What chance is there of having that unity back now that Ignatieff has left? See Adrienne Redd’s informed perspective that acts as counterpoint to all those who have expressed doubts about Ignatieff’s ability (Ignatieff, the Best Prime Minister, 2011).

There is no 'essence' to this country, and demanding that a PM encompass traditional values of work and continuity, rather than travelling and working abroad at more than one occupation places a stifling limitation on what a prime minister can or should project to the people.

Michael Ignatieff is currently teaching at the University of Toronto.


Beyond Workaday Worlds: Aging, Identity, and the Life Cycle
By Sue McPherson
SAMcPherson.homestead.com
2005
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/EssaysandWriting/BeyondWorkadayWorldsSMcPherson.doc

Composing a Life
By Mary Catherine Bateson
New York: Plume.
1989

Ignatieff, the Best Prime Minister Canada Will Never Have
By Adrienne Redd
TheTyee.ca
May 7, 2011
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2011/05/07/Ignatieff/

Michael Ignatieff accuses Conservatives of “divide in order to rule” politics

By Linda Diebel
Toronto Star
May 18, 2010
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/810818--michael-ignatieff-accuses-conservatives-of-divide-in-order-to-rule-politics

Michael Ignatieff thinks he's more Canadian than you are
By Matt Gurney
May 18, 2010
National Post
http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/05/18/matt-gurney-untitled-ignatieff.aspx

Michael Ignatieff’s out-of-country experience
By Rex Murphy
May 29, 2010
National Post
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/05/29/michael-ignatieffs-out-of-country-experience

My name is Michael Ignatieff, and I am Canadian
By Michael Ignatieff
Globe and Mail
June 29, 2011
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/time-to-lead/my-name-is-michael-ignatieff-and-i-am-canadian/article2079267/?service=mobile

The pressure is on Ignatieff to stop Liberal freefall
By John Ivison
National Post, Full comment
May 20, 2010
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/05/20/the-pressure-is-on-ignatieff-to-stop-liberal-freefall/
http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/05/20/john-ivison-the-pressure-is-on-ignatieff-to-stop-liberal-freefall.aspx
http://www.nanosresearch.com/news/in_the_news/National%20Post%20May%2020%202010.pdf

Links updated June, 2012

Compulsory heterosexuality, sex education in schools, and multisexualism

Sex is political, not just pleasure-driven, the idea of 'compulsory heterosexuality' being the foremost lifestyle on which our society hinges. What everyone is required to do, regardless of their sexuality, is to reinforce the compulsory cultural norm of heterosexuality, at home, work, and school, and at volunteer activities.

Pressure is put on young men and women to conform or if not, to uphold the one accepted major sexual lifestyle in our society in the 21st century - heterosexuality. Even lesbians have to abide by the desires of straight men, and find a way of living in this world alongside them; not so difficult for gay men, whose brains, and the location of them, aren't so far off that of straight men.

Is it possible for society to raise respectful men and women, when so much hinges on their support for an ideology that places at its centre not just the old stand-by 'family,' but the ideals of 'pleasure' and 'work'? Heterosexuality has little to do with respect. Rewarding those who conform to or uphold heterosexual demands leads only to a false respect. It's about power and subordination, rather than co-operation and respect for one's own body and the choices of others. Men's desire for sex, and women's for a career or the chance to do their life's work, seem to involve the necessity to 'fake it', each in their own way, as their agendas collide.Barbara Kay argues in her recent article that 'multisexualism' refers to the idea that "all sexual behaviours and lifestyles are of equal social worth, except those that refuse to detach morality from sexuality." This has been the way sex education has been presented in schools, as something matter-of-fact, instead of sexuality being recognized as value-laden and deeply personal (at least for some). Time for change!

What is needed, rather than a school curriculum about sexual practices, is for boys and girls to become aware from an early stage how our society indoctrinates them into becoming men or women. Instead of sex classes, an emphasis on masculinity and femininity in the social context of life could be a valuable addition to the school curriculum. Teaching 'sex and gender' classes at an earlier age would give young people the resources they need to examine the social situations they find themselves in as they grow older, and possibly make more informed choices.

And then there's the argument that heterosexuality is normal, that it's how our civilized society has evolved, that there's nothing 'compulsory' about it. But surely female animals don't always want sex with the males but do have to coerced, sometimes. Do the males just have to line up, or do they have to preen and display their maleness to attract the females.

Girls no longer have to wait for estrus, as their female animal counterparts have to, but that doesn't mean they want it all the time. Heterosexuality is fine, as a lifestyle, or a cultural norm. But it's through women having to look sexually attractive, having to do sex in order to be 'real' women, or though being coerced or having to put up with men's unwanted advances as well as putting up with women's acts of persuasion,' that the term 'compulsory' takes its meaning.

The original mention of the new sex education curriculum mentioned sexual orientation and gender identity. Could it be these terms that scared parents, the public schools, and the Catholic schools) off just as much as the mention of anal sex? It looks as though most parents just want their kids to know the basics, but not have any further understanding of their own sexuality.

Added June, 2012

It looks like things are changing rather quickly. Note links to 5 additional articles added - Anti-bullying bill a front (2011); Anti-bullying bill passes (2012); Birds, bees and poisonous rhetoric (2011); Hudak says McGuinty keeps parents in dark (2011); Sex-ed game featuring penis-armed 'Sperminator' (2012).


Anti-bullying bill a front for ‘sex ed’ agenda, groups say
By Tanya Talaga Queen's Park Bureau
The Star
Dec 6, 2011
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1097682--anti-bullying-bill-a-front-for-sex-ed-agenda-groups-say

Anti-bullying bill passes final reading
The Canadian Press
The Record
Jun 6, 2012
http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/737846--anti-bullying-bill-passes-final-reading

Birds, bees and poisonous rhetoric on sex ed in Ontario
By Emma Teitel
Oct 25, 2011
http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/10/25/birds-bees-and-poisonous-rhetoric/

The cult of multisexualism
By Barbara Kay
National Post
Apr 28, 2010 http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/04/28/barbara-kay-the-cult-of-multisexualism.aspx  link not working
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/04/28/barbara-kay-the-cult-of-multisexualism/

Hudak says McGuinty keeps parents in dark on sex-ed curriculum
By Keith Leslie, The Canadian Press
Global Toronto News and The Canadian Times
Sept 23, 2011
http://www.globaltoronto.com/hudak+says+mcguinty+keeps+parents+in+dark+on+sex-ed+curriculum/6442488232/story.html
http://www.canadiantimes.ca/CMS/index.php/word-tv/77-news-news/830-hudak-says-mcguinty-keeps-parents-in-dark-on-sex-ed-curriculum

McGuinty says he was in the dark about sex-ed plan
By Karen Howlett Toronto — Globe and Mail Update
Published on Wednesday, Apr. 28, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ontario/mcguinty-says-he-was-in-the-dark-about-sex-ed-plan/article1549547/
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2010_Apr_McGuintyInDarkAboutSex.doc

McGuinty’s sex-ed surrender
TO Star
Apr 29, 2010
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters/article/802560--mcguinty-s-sex-ed-surrender

Ontario premier defends sex-ed curriculum
By Linda Nguyen, Canwest News Service
National Post
Apr 20, 2010
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2930506
http://www.globaltvbc.com/ontario+premier+defends+sex-ed+curriculum/74305/story.html

Sex-ed game featuring penis-armed 'Sperminator' sparks controversy
By Jonathan Sher, QMI Agency
Toronto Sun
Jan 20, 2012
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/01/20/sex-ed-game-featuring-penis-armed-sperminator-sparks-controversy

Links updated June 2012

Project Hero: Free university tuition for children of deceased soldiers

Revised June, 2012

A new policy, begun in 2009 by Retired General Rick Hillier and Honorary Lt. Colonel Kevin Reed, provides scholarships to children of soldiers who have died while in service. Project Hero has been introduced at several colleges and universities across Canada. Some professors at the University of Regina have objected to the program, however, claiming that the program glorifies military action, as does the name itself - Project Hero, and would rather their university had no part in it.

The program appears to be a tuition waiver, with grants for books and tuition presumably supplied by the Canadian Hero Fund. It looks as though the Canadian Hero Fund originally provided the funds for such endeavors, including spouses of the deceased soldiers being eligible as well as their children. Being so closely associated with the universities puts a different slant on the program, however. If the universities voluntarily waive the tuition fees, they will give the impression of taking sides, despite what the universities say.

“Our decision to do this was not at all meant to suggest endorsement of or lack of endorsement of something such as military action. It is purely to support the education pursuits of those for whom it might have been challenging to access post secondary,” said Barb Pollock, spokeswoman for the University of Regina. (Globe and Mail, Mar 26, 2010). But of course it is an endorsement! If they provided free tuition to white supremacists, wouldn't people notice, and wonder? Do we really want our universities to set objectivity aside and become politically associated with this side or that?

It's understandable that the University of Regina would sign up to the program without giving it much thought. They could see how other respected universities had agreed to the program, and at face value, it must have seemed like a good idea. It's just too bad that experts in the field weren't asked for their opinion first, before this step was taken.

The title given to the project is another issue. The old-fashioned idea, especially among military personnel, might well be to think of war and death in war as heroic, but our aim should be, and I thought was starting to be, to perceive war as a necessity, and being a soldier as a career, not mainly as a noble way to die, a means to becoming a hero.

The children and spouses of our fallen soldiers will be provided for, by programs initiated by the military or former military personnel, with ways of donating made easily accessible through the internet. It is not a rejection of the men who served in the military, or of their children, to turn down this request to join Project Hero. But it will be maintaining the purpose of universities, to turn down such a request. Universities should stay away from being seen to take sides, even if that is not their intention. They should avoid stepping into controversy by appearing to take sides.

It is difficult to turn down requests to assist children, the innocent victims of war. But doing so, in this manner, can lead to the kind of society we would rather not have. "Setting up the military as something special leads to a militaristic society" says Art Campbell, retired Wing Commander (see comments following Adrian MacNair blog). He also does not want to see the spouses of deceased soldiers being left out, with diminishing pensions to support them as they grow old.

The emphasis in society is always on youth - children and youth. In February this year, John Babcock died, at the age of 109. He was the last known survivor of WWI, and there was a call for a state funeral to be held for him. He wasn't a hero, in the traditional sense, and he didn't see himself as one, so he declined the offer, previously made to him. Links to four articles about his death are included below - Canada’s last World War I vet, The enduring legacy of an old soldier; How inconvenient the veterans' wishes; and John Babcock's passing. Check for comments by readers about the significance of his life and death. I wouldn't want to see the focus of 'remembering' to be mainly about money - about scholarships to university for the children of soldiers who died.

Added June, 2012

In one of the articles, the words of one veteran are included - a grandfather, Jeffrey Scott Walsh, “who considered the Hero Project a ‘gift’ that the ‘university’s initiated.” He says, “I don’t think it was the families who asked for this help . . . But it’s not fair to students who need financial help and don’t have soldiers in their families.” (Professors slam scholarships, 2010).

Not only that, but the soldiers whose families are being helped through such scholarships are not ones who made it through and returned alive. Only the children of deceased soldiers are eligible. As the daughter of a veteran of WW II, who did return from the war alive and healthy, my experience tells me that financial situations of soldiers and their families don’t automatically improve just because dad comes home. In fact, that is one of the reasons my family emigrated to Canada in 1957, because good jobs were not always easy to find in England after the war.

Besides that, singling out particular groups of individuals to receive assistance is a political gesture, as comments in the National Post articles suggested, though unfortunately, the National Post presumably deletes its comments section of each article soon afterwards, leaving only the article itself available to be read.

The death of John Babcock was symbolic of the sacrifice that soldiers have often been ready to make, for their families and country. Even though he never went to war, he was the last remaining WW I soldier from Canada. He was made a hero of sorts, against his will, but one doesn’t have to die to be a hero. He became a celebrity, but not of his own making. His longevity – and being part of a particular historical period in history now gone forever – has made him someone to remember.


Blood of Heroes Blogspot
http://blood-o-heroes.blogspot.com/2008/04/rick-hillier-man-myth-legend.html

Canada’s last World War I vet, John Babcock, dies
By Nicolaas van Rijn Staff Reporter
Toronto Star
Feb 19, 2010
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/767925--canada-s-last-world-war-i-vet-john-babcock-dies

Canadian Hero Fund: keeping their dreams alive
http://www.herofund.ca/

Criticism of scholarships for children of fallen soldiers draws sharp rebuke
By Jennifer Graham
Globe and Mail (Regina — The Canadian Press)
Mar 26, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/criticism-of-scholarships-for-children-of-fallen-soldiers-draws-sharp-rebuke/article1512784/
http://www.globecampus.ca/in-the-news/article/criticism-of-scholarships-for-children-of-fallen-soldiers-draws-sharp-rebuke/

The enduring legacy of an old soldier : He survived!
By J.L. Granatstein
Montreal Gazette
Feb 24, 2010 http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/enduring+legacy+soldier+survived/2604717/story.html

How inconvenient the veterans' wishes are to our mythology
By Noah Richler
Globe and Mail
Feb 23, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/how-inconvenient-the-veterans-wishes-are-to-our-mythology/article1478845 /

Ignorance on display at the University of Regina
By Adrian MacNair
Full Comment, National Post
Mar 25, 2010
http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/03/25/adrian-macnair-ignorance-on-display-at-the-university-of-regina.aspx
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/03/25/adrian-macnair-ignorance-on-display-at-the-university-of-regina/

John Babcock's passing
By Wilfred Edmond
Special to The Windsor Star
Mar 18, 2010
http://www.windsorstar.com/opinion/reader-comments/Gallery+Remembering+John+Babcock/2583336/John+Babcock+passing/2695738/story.html
http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/news/editorial/story.html?id=79a811ee-cc9e-4de6-aca4-89a2ecc1c23e

McGill Scholarships
http://www.projecthero.ca/
McGill Scholarships
McGill University
http://www.mcgill.ca/studentaid/projecthero/http://www.mcgill.ca/studentaid/projecthero/

Professors slam scholarships for children of dead soldiers
By Josh Campbell
National Post
Mar 25, 2010
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2722557
http://www.globaltvbc.com/professors+slam+scholarships+children+dead+soldiers/2725039/story.html

Project Hero: Gifting Education to children of our fallen soldiers
http://www.projecthero.ca/

Sask. premier disappointed by Project Hero critics
CBC News
Mar 25, 2010
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2010/03/25/sk-wall-scholarship-1003.html

The University of Ottawa offers free tuition for children of Canadian military parents killed in action
University of Ottawa
June 30, 2009
http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/news-details_1709.html

Links updated June, 2012

Dutch man sees it his right to have nurses serve his sexual needs

I can't help wondering why we don't see similar articles about this kind of thing, in Canada. Surely it's not only the Netherlands that have had this sort of problem. A disabled man apparently expected one of his nurses to provide sexual relief. The nurse had noticed other nurses doing so but refused as she did not see it as part of her job. It must be difficult to be disabled and male, but was this the best response, for him to try and get her fired from her job? It's hard to believe that the man felt so strongly that this was his right. Hasn't our society progressed at all?

The nurse took her complaint to the nurses union. The result was a campaign called “I Draw The Line Here." The union also reported the case to the police, according to an article in the Toronto Star.

As usual, I left my comments online, at the Globe and Mail article. There were a lot of nonsense comments, and a lot from men who seemed to have the same attitude as the Dutch man. Not a lot of analysis, otherwise. I shall include an excerpt of what I wrote, and would welcome comments from readers with their own perspectives.

" . . . what you will find is that some women are catering to the needs of the men who ask/expect/pay for it. There are some women in every workplace who have no problem doing this kind of work. And they probably have no trouble finding work in their area when they want it, just as you say - health care workers too, who provide sexual relief for men. I would think that any woman who gets that close to the physical aspect of caring for male patients - such as massage therapy, too - might get more advances that women who don't work in such areas.

If these male patients are requesting sexual relief from female workers, I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't asking it from female patients too, or anybody they can get away with asking. That is traditional behaviour for men, after all. Just ask women. What is problematic, and what this article is getting at, is that women shouldn't be expected to do this kind of work. Men shouldn't expect that all women are keen on serving them sexually. Or even reluctantly. Some women would rather not at all.

We do realize that men like sex so much that women's ability to get work could depend on her willingness to comply. This is one of the greatest problems in the world of all time. The fact that we have access to contraception in the west helps, but it doesn't help those women who do not wish to serve men in this way, or who cannot, or who want to but won't for whatever reasons."


Dutch man tried to fire nurse who wouldn’t provide sex
Globe and Mail - Amsterdam — Reuters
Mar 11, 2010
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/dutch-man-tried-to-fire-nurse-who-wouldnt-provide-sex/article1497574/
http://samcpherson.homestead.com/files/Miscellaneous/2010_Mar_DutchManTriedFireNurse.doc

Dutch nurses say `no' to sexual healing
Toronto Star - Amsterdam — Reuters
Mar 12, 2010
http://www.thestar.com/living/article/778650--dutch-nurses-say-no-to-sexual-healing


Links updated June, 2012

The two-career family - profs in the ivory tower

A couple of things I see problematic about favouring couples are first of all, it perpetuates the norm of coupledon as being the more acceptable marital status. Candidates who are single are probably finding it more difficult to find jobs that lead to academic careers, although once they get a foot in the door they may find that finding a partner with similar goals is easier. All in all, what this emphasis on marriage is leading to is a wider economic division in society, as those already advantaged in the workplace (through marriage or social network) take up more of the scarce resources, leaving less for those struggling to achieve higher levels in their career. It's favouritism to have the needs of some couples looked after by the university, if places are not available for both within one institution, or within one city. Out in the real world, that's what it's like - two people, two careers, and compromises so that both get some of what they want out of life. Making it too easy for some, while ignoring the plight of those who get left behind - worse yet under the guise of merit - is unforgivable.

I did submit this comment this morning to the Montreal Gazette but was told, when I inquired, that it might be a tech problem, relating to my own computer. So I placed another comment to another article there, with no problem. This seems to me to be rather a controversial issue, about spouses being encouraged to take up professorships at the same university, and I was surprised to see only one response posted.


Universities see benefits to hiring spouses as profs
By Misty Harris, Canwest News Service
Montreal Gazette
February 16, 2010
http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Universities+benefits+hiring+spouses+profs/2571425/story.html