Musings —10.26.2011 08:41 AM
—Rainy, cool October morn bits and pieces
- Ford ambush follow-up: It made him look like a sympathetic figure, per yesterday’s posting. Yep. My question: why does the Ottawa Citizen – which serves, um, Ottawa – think this story about the Toronto mayor is a big deal? Another question: why do people interview Nelson Wiseman all the time for his political insights? This is the guy – along with the provincial trial lawyers’ chief, who told me my “boy” was in trouble – who said McGuinty was as good as gone. So why keep asking him to predict stuff?
- Frankly, my dear… So Frank Klees is running; it doesn’t mean he’s going to win, right? What’s noteworthy, here, is that both Hudak and Horwath ordered their MPPs not to run, while McGuinty said (per the Parliamentary tradition) that MPPs can decide what’ll happen on their own. Whether Klees wins or not, one thing is plain: the Opposition leaders aren’t leaders. They’re weak: as one conservative commentator has declared: “It’s a huge loss of face for Hudak.”
- Qadhafi’s execution: I’m glad Barack Obama has said what needed to be said: the death of the Libyan strongman happened, and Qadhafi himself created the circumstances that led to it – but filming it on cell phone cameras, and broadcasting it, was wrong. And, moreover, it probably engendered sympathy for the former dictator. Never speak ill of the dead, we Irish are taught – and, similarly, don’t film indignities done to the dead.
- Gun registry gone: I’m a gun owner, as revealed previously, and I wholeheartedly support registering it – as I do my bike, my dog and my car. Now that the registry is on its way to being gone, our murder rate – particularly in domestic violence situations – will go up. And the Cons will be held to account for that. Guys like me will be making sure of that.
- Winehouse R.I.P.: At the time of her death, I speculated that her demise had been hastened by junk. I was wrong. It was alcohol. Same church, different pew. It’s a sad loss of life, either way. I wish she hadn’t done it to herself.
- Don’t Walk This Way: sorry, I just can’t help myself. And Stephen’s tumble gives us an excellent excuse to play the best-ever Aerosmith song!
Regarding the candidacy of Mr Klees for Speaker; He proved this morning on the radio that he does not know parlimentary process, and does not understand its conventions. Mr Klees stated that in the event of a tie he would do “what he felt was right for Ontario”. That is in fact not the job of the speaker. The speaker, by convention, votes either to maintain the status quo, or to continue debate. In the event of a tie on a confidence motion, tradition and convention point to the speaker voting with the government. Mr Klees’ failure to understand this principle, and his inability to put the institution above his own partisanship should disqualify him from the job.
But is “voting to maintain the status quo” not effectively a death knell for a bill? (Not defending Klees … I don’t think he looked past the salary bump, apartment, ability to piss Hudak off and likelihood of having his portrait hang at QP.)
Conservative firearms’ owners tell a story about wasteful spending and of the criminalizing of “law-abiding owners”, but neither of these issues is addressed by discontinuing the registration of long-guns.
As it happens, Mr. Harper, the conservative poster-boy de jour, is a terminal wastrel. No leader in the history of our country has blown money like he has. Didn’t he blow ten years of registry costs on a single summer weekend last year? And yet conservatives continue to swoon with delight at the mere mention of his name.
As for the criminalizing of “law-abiding owners”, there is certainly a basis for complaint here, although that is due to poorly conceived and written legislation, and even worse training of law-enforcement personnel. If Mr. Harper was genuinely concerned, he would have amended the current legislation years ago, to prevent the criminalizing of “law-abiding owners”, without in any way diluting the firearms control regime, and thereby facing insurmountable opposition.
But Mr. Harper is more concerned about maintaining control over elements of the right, by the occasional throwing of a small bone, rather than actually fulfilling election promises or improving our society, economy or country. Conservatives are being scammed by this operator, and yet they keep coming back for more. Talk about Stockholm syndrome!
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I don’t disagree that he deserved his fate. What concerns me is the recent tendency to video everything, including deaths. When you watch that clip, it achieves the impossible – it makes you feel a bit empathy for a murderous dictator.
If the crime rate goes up will you admit you’re wrong?
Re: Gun registry. Yes, you register your car, bike and dog. The difference between those things and firearms is that:
1) the police won’t come kick down your door to confiscate them if your license lapses (or if you renew it before it does and the bureaucrats take nine months to process the paperwork…)
2) there is not much danger of the RCMP arbitrarily reclassifying one or more of those items as “prohibited” and then coming to collect them (without compensation) like they recently did with a certain rifle that was purchased by hundreds of law-abiding citizens.
It is the *licensing* that keeps the guns (the legal ones, at least) out of the hands of criminals, the insane and those whose spouses or ex-spouses are afraid of domestic violence, and that’s not going away.
I like to use this example when talking to pro-registry types: How would you like it if a police officer came to your door and confiscated some items that the government had decided you “don’t need” without any consultation or compensation? And not only that, they made a list of other items that you currently own, just in case they decide at some point in the future that you don’t need those either? You’d be (rightly) outraged. Well, that’s exactly what bill C-68 did to gun owners in a nutshell.
Oh please. Can you cite one case where the police kicked down someone’s door and confiscated legally registered (and legal to own) guns? Or do you just repeat Reformacon talking points?
Can you cite one case where the gun registry prevented a murder or saved a life?
Nice. You call me “Reformacon,” I cite facts:
http://news-public.com/index.php/world-news/canada/2634-2000-guns-seized-toronto-police-firearms-safety-program
Conveniently, this was just ahead of the vote last year on abolishing the registry. Toronto Police staged a series of raids and seized a large number of firearms. Now, this would be a good thing if the targets of the raids were actual criminals, right?
Well, too bad they simply went to the computer, ran a few queries and found licensed gun owners whose licenses had lapsed. Then, they did the whole dog and pony show — held a news conference displaying all of these guns that were now “off the streets” when in reality they were seized due to paperwork “crimes.” Guess what? The actual problem guns that were “on the streets” were still on the streets, but those smug police were just so proud of themselves. Made me sick that people with lawful property were are and treated in this manner in a so-called “free” country.
Whatever that news site is, it’s hardly a reliable source of facts, although I did note this quote from a police spokesman: “The whole point of the program is not to make criminals out of law-abiding citizens. It’s to make people more compliant or compliant with the laws as they are now. We are not charging anybody. We seize the firearms for safekeeping,” Teeft said. Source: CBC
Hardly the jackbooted approach you alluded to.
*crickets*
I love this whole “cops kicking the door” little fantasy which gets trotted out by the usual suspects. Completely and utterly untrue of course but the old chestnut still gets some airplay, it seems. Whatever it takes to sell the membership cards I guess.
They’re the same ones who believe people were going to jail for not completing the Census.
I would say firearms are taken into a public setting, crown land for hunting, sometimes private land, shooting ranges where there is public viewing.
A firearm is not a tool like a cordless drill or a hammer, it is not a recreational device in the same class as a set of golf clubs, a fishing rod or a tennis racket, it is not a hobbyist gadget such as a camera or a metal detector. A firearm is a unique piece of equipment, it is designed for one purpose, to facilitate killing and as such it is not like anything else.
To own and employ such a device is a privilege not a right, a privilege that requires compliance to certain social standards such as proper storage, informing the rest of society that an individual has such a device, and finally a high degree of responsibility and mental stability.
All guns used in crime start out as legally obtained firearms. Control of legal firearms will not eliminate illegal guns but will help to minimize the number of guns that fall into criminal hands. Finally, the number one cause of gun death is not criminal activity but suicides, spousal or familial homicide and accidents, particularly involving children caused by improperly stored firearms
My apologies for my wording, improperly stored firearms do not cause children, that is one they can’t be blamed for, they cause accidents.
Let me add that I know of what I speak. I grew up with guns, was on a rifle team and I am a reasonable good shot, often getting 100 and 6X out of a possible 100 and 10X at the range. My uncle, a former Mountie and a redneck had guns all over the house and some were very interesting ones. A .280 Ross, a Boer War .43 Mauser saddle carbine, and a Winchester Model 70 .220 Swift were some of them. As a kid I loved going there and handling them. One day my cousin, younger than me, took a Winchester Model 94, hexagon barrel .32 Special, opened a drawer where cartridges were kept and took a bunch and started chambering them in the rifle. I guess you can say he was lucky to find the right round because instead of having the gun blow up in his face by chambering the wrong one, he blew a hole instead in the side of the house. By the grace of God no one was hurt and most people would say my uncle was particularly irresponsible about storage but it illustrates the fact that criminal activity is not the primary cause of gun injury. Any Hospital ER will confirm that fact.
The mentality behind eliminating the Registry is not really an interest in saving money as claimed, it is a wedge in the door of diluting the very principles of gun control. They won’t stop there.
Good. Faster, please. Relaxation of the draconian “unsafe storage” laws and perhaps some sort of recognition of the Castle Doctrine would be a good next step.
Nice to see Quebec showing some spine with the Harperistas……..The Long Gun Registry could turn into a provincial wedge issue now, If McGuinty wants to go there…………Metro Toronto saved his ass 3 weeks ago and urban dwellers strongly favour gun control. This would also put some heat on the NDP caucus although the Liberals would only need a couple of them to come aboard………….GO QUEBEC AND ONTARIO!
Ontario gun owners should not too worried. One thing we learned from the eHealth debacle is that if McGuinty wants to build a provincial registry the worst that will happen is another billion dollars or more squandered with nothing to show for it!
The people voted to ABOLISH the long-gun registry, not to simply recreate it at another level of government. This is why it is so important the the records be destroyed.
Sorry, Paul, only 39.62% of Canadians voted Conservative and by extension to abolish it, the other parties were all opposed. I’m an Ontario gun owner, with proudly registered weapons, I don’t believe the NRA nonsense that the government wants to take our guns away although sometimes I see brain dead knuckle dragging rednecks like you and think otherwise……….
What has my bee in a bonet and I know the left wing media does not exist, but when Rob Ford wastes the Tax payers money calling 911 on the CBC thats worthy of public scorn. Secondly when he lies about it being dark, and must be given a huge beniifit of the doubt that his daughter was even there, he should not get a pass. What the heck is wrong with the public that he comes out as the wronged party. Sure the CBC should not have gone to his home, but three wrongs do not make a right.
I loved how the Cons had to deal with the Tea Party split idea.
Well, even our host had a problem with how Mr. Ford was treated. In fairness, Warren reacted early on, but maybe, just maybe, Mr. Ford played us all.
I think the Cons in Canada just like the Cons in USA have won on the gun issue. Its may be the right thing to do, but its a loser politically. This is a wedge issue that has consumed far to much oxygen, maybe with it gone many who voted Con will be able to think again. The Wheat Board is going to bite the Cons in the butt and next election is going to be a barnburner even in the west.
Gord attempts to change the channel again. I’m keeping score now.
From teh CBC web site this am. The 911 call: Toronto’s 911 dispatchers are accusing the city’s mayor, Rob Ford, of calling them “bitches” and hurling a string of profanity at them during an emergency call early Monday.