$7 a gallon in US? So like $2 a litre in Canada?

OOOH Snap! I guess not having a car because of having no money all these years was really the smartest idea after all. That's right. Snap.

As oil hits $140, a new low for Detroit

GREG KEENAN

From Friday's Globe and Mail

June 26, 2008 at 9:02 PM EDT

Chrysler LLC trotted out celebrated retired chairman Lee Iacocca to rally employee spirits on Thursday, but investors were more interested in bankruptcy rumours that continued to haunt the auto maker and yet another fresh high for energy prices that are pounding the entire industry...

...The Detroit auto makers are reeling from a collapse in sales of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles in the U.S. market amid gasoline prices above $4 a gallon and the U.S. real estate collapse.

It could get even worse, CIBC World Markets Inc. economists Jeff Rubin and Benjamin Tal warned Thursday, saying that gasoline could surge to $7 a gallon, which will cause Americans to abandon some of their vehicles and send sales through the floor.

What we need here is some real initiative and imagination.


That's the one. Only the best news gathering skills.


And so what if I was gone for a few days.

A possible answer to the sneaky sea sneakers... with feet in BC?

I bet the B.C. Coastal feet come from Russia. I've heard the mob over there is particularly brutal.

Check this out.

Cows Ice Cream named Best in the World.

Chewing the frozen cud...

Cows Ice Cream -- an Island staple since 1983-- was recently named "Best in the World" by Tauck World Discovery.


Notice the description of why it's better than the others.

The ice cream has "high-quality ingredients and a lusciously high butterfat content (16%) to craft rich, whimsically-themed flavors."




Mmmm, I loves me some butterfat. That sounds so appetizing.

In fact, me gonna have some right now.

The last thing Obama needs is to discriminate.

by jgr80

Given the charged debate around racial and gender lines during the primaries, Obama might be treading on thin ice with this...

Workers Bar Muslim Women From Obama Backdrop

Posted Jun 18, 08 2:53 PM CDT in Politics

(Newser) – Two Muslim women were barred from sitting behind Barack Obama during a rally Monday, with campaign volunteers concerned about headscarves appearing on TV and in pictures, Politico reports. (continue...)

Isn't he campaigning on the promise of change?! This seems like the status quo political positioning. What kind of change is he looking for if not an end to stereotypes? What about the stereotype that a black man can't be President? Just a little hypocritical.

Although he is still the lesser of two evils.

Man caught bringing 9 grams of marijuana into prison wrapped around penis claims misunderstanding.

Every once and a while, there is some interesting news in Nova Scotia.

Police catch man who hid marijuana around penis

PAUL MCLEOD, METRO HALIFAX

June 17, 2008 05:00

Getting caught with marijuana by police is bad enough. But the drug arrest of John Christopher Williams, 34, was particularly embarrassing.

Williams has a lengthy criminal record and had failed to show up for court dates more than once, leading to a warrant for his arrest. When police found and arrested him they didn’t find any drugs on him and Williams didn’t say anything.

It was only when he was being checked in to prison that guards discovered nine grams of marijuana wrapped around his penis. Williams says it was all a misunderstanding.

He appeared yesterday in Dartmouth Provincial Court under charges of smuggling drugs into prison.

His lawyer said Williams now realizes he should have told police about the pot sooner. He was sentenced to thirty days in prison.

Hhhmmm... a clever one-liner to appropriately make fun and demonstrates insight....

'During the frisking, guards found the drugs when Williams got a spliffy.'

Yup, that oughta do it.

I always heard the best pot was in jail, anyway. Listen to Ricky about 30 sec into the clip.

The coolest thing ever contest has a winner.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

This has to be a joke.

Another foot finds its way to the BC shoreline.

CNEWS reports:

Fifth human foot in one year washes ashore along B.C. coast

By THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER - A fifth human foot has washed ashore in southwestern B.C., and this time it's a left one.

Police say two people out for a walk spotted a left foot floating in water off Westham Island on Monday morning. Four other feet have washed up on shorelines along islands in B.C. in the last year; all have been right feet wearing socks and shoes. (continue...)

Looks like they will have to reopen the case of the sneaky washed up sneakers... with feet.

"If you build them, we will put them in jail."

by jgr80

The International Centre for Prison Studies released this graphic last week in their annual report. The darker the red, the more citizens incarcerated per capita.

Four regions have more than 500 prisoners per 100,000 people: Bahamas, Belarus, Russia, and the United States.

The first three have political issues that really put them in a different class than the United States. Democratic and human rights are hurting in the first three countries. So much so, that it might not be surprising to see so many people arrested within their borders.

This doesn't explain why the U.S. has so many prisoners.

What the graphic doesn't show is that the U.S. could be in its own category. A year ago, Glenn Loury reported:

"According to a 2005 report of the International Centre for Prison Studies in London, the United States—with five percent of the world’s population—houses 25 percent of the world’s inmates. Our incarceration rate (714 per 100,000 residents) is almost 40 percent greater than those of our nearest competitors (the Bahamas, Belarus, and Russia)." (continue...)

Could it be that there is an angry, overly-aggressive, inherently different citizenry south of the border? Unlikely.

Loury continued,

"imprisonment rates have continued to rise while crime rates have fallen because we have become progressively more punitive: not because crime has continued to explode (it hasn’t), not because we made a smart policy choice, but because we have made a collective decision to increase the rate of punishment."

It's fairly well-known that crime rates in the United States have fallen in the last two decades. Not only has it been reported on widely in the news, but incredibly thoughtful analyses have appeared in The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell and in Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner.

The rising number of prisoners has also been reported on, but not nearly with the same vigor.

Loury continues,

"We have a corrections sector that employs more Americans than the combined work forces of General Motors, Ford, and Wal-Mart, the three largest corporate employers in the country, and we are spending some $200 billion annually on law enforcement and corrections at all levels of government, a fourfold increase (in constant dollars) over the past quarter century."

Money.

The money has given rise to private interests in the corrections system. I first heard about this last year in a documentary, although it's not the newest of developments. The documentary cited the stiff penalties for drug violations as the primary reason for the rise, while also saying that the privatized prison industry is the fastest growing industry in the U.S.

The privatization of U.S. prisons became significant in the early 90s. It's just been kept on the down-lo because of the obvious shady politics involved. (The same process has begun in Canada in the last few years.)

The incarceration system and process is paid for by the federal government in the U.S. The profits are gained by the private sector. No wonder there are more prisoners than ever before.

In December 1998, Eric Schlosser wrote in The Atlantic:

"The prison-industrial complex is not only a set of interest groups and institutions. It is also a state of mind. The lure of big money is corrupting the nation's criminal-justice system, replacing notions of public service with a drive for higher profits. The eagerness of elected officials to pass tough-on-crime legislation -- combined with their unwillingness to disclose the true costs of these laws -- has encouraged all sorts of financial improprieties."

Privatized prisons raise concerns about treatment, facilities, and staffing.



I wonder who thought this was a good idea... mixing the public good with private interests. The more jails the U.S. builds, the more people they put behind bars.

Further Reading: The Washington Post

The Incredible Hulk

by jgr80

The Hulk, in terms of a superhero character, is, by all means, incredible. As a character.

The current manifestations of the Hulk on the big screens, however, are anything but. These movies are clear examples of why screen adapters should not stray from the comic book storylines with this character. Other comic book movies generally keeping the plot of their comic books.

The Hulk's generally accepted powers include: a) Superhuman strength, stamina, and durability; b) a Regenerative healing factor; and c) genius level intellect (in certain incarnations).

One of his powers has never extreme temporary gigantism or extreme acrobatic ability. The special effects in the movies make the character silly.

Exhibit A:

The new Edward Norton movie trailer:


Exhibit B:

The 2003 Eric Bana movie trailer:



The charm of the older character to the imaginations in us all was that it was somewhat believable that some unknown scientific experiment could create a Hulk.

Note that a clear sign of a growing shit-factor in these movies is that Marvel is making two completely different movies based on the same character within 5 years of one another. The first one couldn't have been farther off the mark. The new one doesn't go far enough from the first one.

Exhibit C:


The land of cartoons has no rules. They don't agree with gravity. They don't agree with physics. And even without such rules, there were not ludicrous growth spurts or mile long jumps with the original character. The Hulk is not supposed to be 30 feet tall. He's not supposed to be able to jump across counties.

The new incarnations just don't have the same charm, nor nearly as catchy a theme song.

Tax Freedom Day

From today's Globe and Mail:

Saturday is Tax Freedom Day

The Canadian Press

June 13, 2008 at 7:31 AM EDT

VANCOUVER — Tax freedom day — the day average Canadians have paid off the year's tax load and begin working for themselves — arrives Saturday, according to the Fraser Institute.

The free-market-oriented think-tank said today that governments are letting the citizenry keep four days' worth of earnings more than last year. (continue...)

I don't want to say too much about this article. Most of the comments are positive. But look at the paragraphs near the bottom of the article.

The Fraser Institute calculates that the average Canadian family of two or more will earn $90,678 this year and pay $40,667 in taxes — 44.8 per cent of total income.

Nearly half of the work we do all year goes to the government?!?! That's half way to communism. What a racket.

To Be Sleep Deprived

by jgr80

I'm an insomniac. Yawn.

It comes and goes. Usually for not much longer than a week. It can downright awful. Days sometimes ooze into one another painfully, both physically and mentally. Or sometimes it's just annoying. I try to sleep and it just doesn't work, although the next day I feel fine. Except for the constant yawning that follows me around. Yawn after yawn.

People think I'm not paying proper attention to them. Yawn. That they are boring me or something. Yawn. I have to explain that I didn't sleep well, which always sounds like a lie to someone who thinks they are boring you. But yawns are contagious, so they usually yawn, too.

My most recent bout of insomnia came earlier this week. After a quite successful band practice, my ears were ringing with the sound of bagpipes and flat drums well into the night. I was feeling energized. And then it was time to sleep and I was still energized. I didn't sleep that night. Yawned all the next day. Yawn after yawn.

Have you yawned yet? That's what I was going for by repeating 'yawn' so many times. And for the pictures.

Anyhow, the insomnia went on for a few days until last night. I was at the point yesterday afternoon where I couldn't do much of anything. So I vegged on the couch and went to bed real early.

During these few days, I noticed a few articles that popped up on Digg and Delicious. Having never gone to the doctor about my insomnia I figured reading something might be useful.

It was not.

These internet 'lifehacks' can be profoundly amusing in their deliberate obviousness.

Here is such a self-help article from EurekaAlert.org. Just in case you have no interest in clicking on the link, one of their tips for the insomniac is to "get a full night's sleep every night" ?!?!?!?!?! (Multiple interrobangs added for effect).

I wonder if the author had to go to Yale for that topical gem.

Here is another one I found from Time Magazine. Again, if you aren't interested in clicking on things despite surfing the internet, the gist of this article suggests that it's healthy to have between 6.5 and 7.5 hours of sleep a night and that veering to either side of this window is bad.

Memories of digital clocks blinking "12:00" race through my head. I've never felt so energized as the moment I wake up and realize the power went out the night before and my alarm clock has reset. One time, I got to my first year philosophy exam an hour and a bit late.... I ended up nearly failing the class. However, showing up late to the exam had no bearing on this since I was well finished ahead of the bell. One of the first ones finished actually, as I recall. Maybe this is why I almost failed. I didn't like philosophy until my fourth year.

Regardless, since we've already established that clicking on things is too difficult for the sleep depraved, I will embed this video. I find it unhelpful to the insomniac, self-proclaimed or not. It is quite funny though, even if it's not trying to be. Especially the wallpaper images at 1:34 and 2:17... they just don't make sense. Enjoy.

More Cell Phones

As a follow up to yesterday. This was in the New York Times today. My phone (Motorola V3c) must be somewhere in the middle as it's not on either list.

How Much Radiation Does Your Phone Emit?

The technology news site CNET has compiled two interesting lists showing which cellphones give off the most and the least radiation.

In publishing the information, CNET editors note the data aren’t meant to imply that cellphone radiation poses a risk, nor is it meant to say that the phones are safe. As I recently reported in my Well column last week, the data on cellphone safety is mixed, although a few recent international studies have suggested a link with three types of brain tumors. The Food and Drug Administration also says there’s not enough information to determine conclusively whether cellphones are safe or unsafe.

The charts focus on the specific absorption rate, or SAR, of a cellphone, which is a way of measuring the quantity of radio frequency energy that is absorbed by the body, according to CNET.

For a phone to pass F.C.C. certification, that phone’s maximum SAR level must be less than 1.6 W/kg (watts per kilogram). In Europe, the level is capped at 2 W/kg, while Canada allows a maximum of 1.6 W/kg. The SAR level listed in our charts represents the highest SAR level with the phone next to the ear as tested by the F.C.C. Keep in mind that it is possible for the SAR level to vary between different transmission bands and that different testing bodies can obtain different results. Also, it’s possible for results to vary between different editions of the same phone (such as a handset that’s offered by multiple carriers).

Four Motorola phones top the list, with the V195s putting out the maximum 1.6 W/kg. The popular BlackBerry Curve 8330 rounds out the No. 5 spot. To see the full top 10 list, click here.

The list of lowest-radiation cellphones includes the LG KG800 and the Motorola Razr V3x, which put out 0.135 W/kg and 0.14 W/kg, respectively. To see all the lowest radiation phones, click here.

If you don’t see your phone on the list, the site includes lists of cellphones by brand name. My iPhone was listed under “other” brands, but I was interested to learn that its SAR number is 0.974.

None of this seems like enough radiatin to pop popcorn in a non-enclosed space. I wonder how they pulled that off.

This is your brain on cell phones

This is your brain.















This is your brain on cell phones.


hmm... these might not be the best things to put next to your head after all.

Amusing bush Pole

MSNBC is conducting a poll about whether or not President Bush should be impeached. Check it.

MSNBC seems to be becoming more and more leftish as we get closer to a Democrat being in the Oval office. Too bad the Dems aren't left enough themselves to ever impeach a President, even with such a clear mandate.

Here's Olbermann

Fox News

Rupert Murdoch is basically Conrad Black on crack. Whether he meant to or not, in this video he admits that he tries to shape news content to fit an agenda rather than to tell a story the way it happens.




Here is a documentary about the Mr. Murdoch, and more than enough reasons to question everything he stands for.

A New (U.S.) Order?

by jgr80

If you are age 46 or less and from the United States, you have never voted in a Presidential election that has not had a Bush or a Clinton running on the ticket.

With Creepy Hilldog out of the race, the 2008 Presidential election in the United States puts an end to two incredible dynasties. That is, if Barack doesn't choose her as his veep.

It's taken its effect on voters.

"Obama picked the right campaign slogan talking about change. I think the US is in desperate need of change not just in relation to who is running the country but also in rebuilding its identity on the world stage," says Liam Hyland, 31, of New York, NY.

Somehow two of the most dysfunctional families under the media spotlight continue to have a stranglehold on world affairs. I mean, clearly, they are full of integrity,they are honest, they are articulate, and honest.

In the early '70s, universal voting age in the U.S. was entrenched as 18 years old (it would have been interesting if it had been 8 years old).

If you were 15 years old in the last election without a Bush or a Clinton, that would be the youngest age you could be and still in the next election. Senior Bush first ran as veep to Reagan in 1980 (and won). So if you were 15 in 1977, today you would be 46. That's a long time with very little in the way of democratic choice. Heck, even if they had Blacks and Hispanics and Women and no Bushies or Clinties on the tickets before now, you still only have two parties.

The CIA estimates that the median age in the US is 36 point something. Get rid of all the youngins and that number jumps to around 43 ("youngins" denotes those aged under 15. Quite obviously, since we're talking about voting age, 18 would be a better number to use... but the CIA doesn't have that info as readily available. So there is a bit of an aberration here). The average voter in the United States doesn't know life without a Bush or a Clinton on the ticket-- without Bush or a Clinton at the head of the table.

This data is not scientific by any means, but by these statistics, it seems that the US is one of the most politically inexperienced countries in the world. This couldn't be exemplified any better than the last eight years under the current president... Junior Bush.

In Canada, for example, the CIA numbers suggest the median voting age is around 49. If you are 49 from Canada, you've been able to vote since around 1977. That's 8 federal elections, all of which had more than 2 parties-- and several new and viable parties emerging during that time, with plenty of leaders coming and going.

The U.S. has had 7 federal elections. Each controlled by two parties. All of them with a Bush or a Clinton.

The U.S. system is a recipe for political apathy (not that the constant change in Canada is a better recipe against apathy [although it's certainly better for democracy]). Everyone 46 and under has seen the same old same old every election. It's supposed to be democracy. Looks a lot like a shared monarchy.

People have been talking about change in the U.S. for a long time--say 12 years or so-- but haven't been changing the people they send there.

NHL coverage - CBC vs. NBC

by jgr80


Full disclosure: I'm upset that there's no more hockey.

I suppose it's time though. I cheered on a lot of losing teams this year. And not because of any particular affinity for underdogs. It started the awful Maple Leafs... I won't comment any further about them.

I jumped on the Penguins bandwagon early on. They were always my second favourite team. I was wearing the Crosby jersey I bought in Korea for every game they played. They were still winning at that though.

Then there was Team Canada at the World's. They won every game I watched in person, which was incredible to see. Ended up losing the big dance though.

Then back to the Pens for the rest of the playoffs, only to come up short in the finals. The three teams are all lovable losers. Still... a disappointing year for hockey.

Speaking of hockey losers... how about the CBC's coverage of the NHL versus that of NBC. In previous years, the American stations just never seemed to get it together. CBC was always the station to watch.

Not this year. NBC melted the ice right out from under CBC when it came to live coverage. I'd still give a slight edge to CBC for intermission coverage since still they have Cherry.

Let's compare... Here's NBC highlights from last night. Mike Emerick and Eddie Olczyk are on the announce team.




And here is an example of CBC's coverage. I wasn't able to find anything from last night. But it's almost as though Bob Cole isn't watching the game or that he doesn't care or something. He's especially bad whenever the whistle blows and there's no action on the ice. He just kind of keeps talking (about nothing) until the puck drops again instead of letting the color guy come in with interesting tidbits about injuries or stats or whatever.



I was surprised. NBC stepped up their game. You can decide for yourself. I know this is a controversial thing to say in this country. I've always liked CBC HNIC, but NBC wins this round.

Bonne Annivairsaire, La Bolduc

by jgr80

Today is the birthday of Mary Travers, La Bolduc's. She would be 114 years old. I know of La Bolduc from this:


This was always one of my favorite Heritage Moments because I noticed she sings over an Irish pipe tune.

The gal had no formal musical training. She got the tunes from her dad who taught her the instruments he knew how to play by ear. She could never read music.

Despite my fondness of the vignette, there are quite a few gaping holes in this heritage minute. The song in the video was from her 3rd recording. By then, Mr. Beaudry already knew her despite the surprise on his face.

Her first two recordings flopped. Then a 3rd recording, which had "La Cuisiniere" as the main song, changed everything. It was released for the Christmas shopping season, and before the holidays were over, she was a household name in Quebec. In the middle of the depression, on her first tour, she earned $2000.

In 1994, she was honored with a stamp by Canada Post. My first "when-I-was-your-age" moment... Stamps were 43 cents back in 1994?!




These commercials were dangerous. I remember sitting in front of that TV for hours waiting for them to come on during The Racoons...


In stead of sitting in front of the TV, I shoulda been out in the driveway practicing my slapshot...


Hmm... all this talk about what I was watching when I was a kid and I still haven't said anything about the greatest ongoing television commercial theme song ever... the Hinterland Who's Who...


Sssssplendid

Numb... nut?!

I'd like to draw your attention this CBC online article.

'Guerdon' rewarding word in spelling bee

Sameer Mishra won the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington on Friday by correctly spelling the word guerdon, which appropriately means reward.

Sameer Mishra, after winning the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington on Friday. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press)

Mishra, 13, from West Lafayette, Ind., won $35,000 in cash, a $2,500 U.S. savings bond and thousands of dollars worth of reference books.

He's a reader, enjoys video games, has played the violin for four years in his school orchestra and wants to be a neurosurgeon.

It was his fourth appearance at the bee, after moving up the rankings from ties for 98th, 14th and 16th place in the previous three competitions.

He beat first-time contestant Sidharth Chand, 12, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Sameer was coached by his sister, Shruti, a high school student and three-time bee contestant.

The last seven Canadian contestants were eliminated earlier Friday for flubbing such words as accordatura (the notes to which a stringed instrument is tuned), tonneau (an early style of touring car) and otacariasis (an infestation of the ear with mites).

"Seven up, seven down," said Pam Penny of Ancaster, Ont. Her daughter, Veronica, was one of the seven.

Frank Neuhauser, 94, who won the first bee in 1925 with gladiolus (a flower), said : "It was a lot easier back then." He only had to beat seven others; Mishra vanquished 287. " I'd never make it now," Neuhauser said.

He won $500, and was honoured with a parade in his hometown, Louisville, Ky.

There's nothing inherently special about the article. It's fairly well-written and all, it provides some decent background info, tells a heartwarming story...

But I'm not sure why a spelling bee story doesn't mention the word "numbnut." Watch the video...

(UPDATE, JUNE 2) Covered Poverty

by jgr80

(Update at the bottom of this post.)

How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but in the wretched bellies of his children? You can't scare him--he has known a fear beyond every other.
John Steinbeck - The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 19

May 22nd

I recently made a documentary about poverty. It started out as a documentary about the homeless, but we decided to broaden the scope.

Making this movie was an eye-opening experience in more ways than one. Obviously, making my first movie had difficulties in and of itself. But getting to know the life that is being led by people so much worse off than myself and most people I know was a humbling experience.

We decided to cut the tape we had of people living on the street. There were some ethical concerns that just didn't seem to make the tape usable. The focus of the piece is more to-the-point as a result. This is not a movie about poverty, so much as it is a movie about how the media interprets poverty.


Covered Poverty on Video.ca


The film is only ten minutes. I made the film for a class, which was using certain film festival requirements. Had there been more time, the focus of the piece would have been larger to encompass some of the other interviews.

Probably the most powerful moment in the film making process for me didn't even make it in the film. I met one person living on the streets who left his family because of a drug problem. He had been on the streets for years. He's described the mob mentality there is out there between the different street people. For whatever reason, he was not well liked among other panhandlers and squeegeers in the city.

He was having a very difficult time getting off the streets. He had lost contact with his family. And the money he did make went to feed an addiction. He truly hated himself and most people around him.

When I met him, he showed me the slip from the detox centre he had gotten out of that morning. They kept him just long enough for the dilaudids to clear his system. What they didn't do was stitch up the gash on his wrist from when he attempted suicide while in their care. It was about three inches long and perpendicular to the veins running up and down his arm. They gave him about a foot and a half of gauze to tie around the wound. He pulled the gauze back to show me. The natural movement of pulling back the gauze opened up the cut a little bit. It was noticeably a few days old, and oozed pus. His veins were clearly visible. It's amazing he was alive. He had just been in the hands of government-employed medical professionals-- and they left his wrist open.

I don't understand why people find it so hard to help people in need. Sure, bad things happen everyday, and many stereotypes are there for a reason when it comes to dangerous people. But refusing someone help who needs it isn't going to help bridge the stereotypes or help get people off the street or help... anything at all.

I haven't again seen the homeless guy that showed me his cut wrist. I've been looking around for him though. I don't know that I ever will see him again. If I don't, I hope he made his way back to his family in the valley.

UPDATE: June 2
The city has just passed a controversial new panhandling bylaw.

I noticed this a few days ago. I decided to wait on posting about it because the city of Halifax has avid comment posters when it comes to news items. I wanted to see what people were saying first.

From the Saturday Herald:

An amendment to the Motor Vehicle Act making it an offence for panhandlers and squeegee kids to ask for money on roadways takes effect Sunday, and fines for breaking it range from $50 to $200.

Effectively, this new law criminalizes people on the fringes of society asking for help. Yeah, they have to pay a fine, which isn't 'criminal,' but where is that money going to come from? What happens when they don't pay fines if they don't have any other assets? More fines. Then jail. Short time to start off, then you get another fine. And the time gets longer.

This doesn't help.

Let me parallel this with a common situation from adolescent life. I recently graduated university in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia having some the highest tuition rates in the country, I couldn't pay for it by myself, even with student loans and lines of credit. I asked for help. Parents, family, friends... whoever I could get it from. I'm asking for way more money than anyone on the street and I already have a lot more money than they do.

We both need to ask for help. I knew I was going to get it; they don't.

For some reason, this is much more of a hot-button issue in Halifax than it needs to be. There needs to be more compassion on all sides of this issue-- the police, the pandhandlers, the media, but most especially the law makers.

There are basic needs that aren't being met. People on the street aren't going to go looking for a job without an address or a steady meal. I'm broke as a joke, but I know those two things don't cost as much as the city is making it seem. HRM has enough resources to divert enough to put some folks in housing.

This always seems like such a progressive city on some topics... there are well-attended marches and vigils and protests going on every other week for international aid efforts or against the shady dealings of government. Other issues that are just as important to moving society forward, like poverty, always have the same group of people conducting any protests. But it seems like more and more people are against helping out.

There are 90-some comments listed after the article. I didn't read all of them. But check out the vitriol in some of these posts:

voiceofreality writes:
The panhandlers can collect tickets all day, they'll have little intention of paying them and the cops will have little intention of jailing them over it. What should have been done was to ticket those that give them money. Those people don't want tickets. Take away the scraps and the seagulls and rats always leave.

JDM writes:
If they get caught begging for money, let them beg for their freedom. I, for one, am sick and tired of these people harassing me at every red light in the city. We have the right to be free of this crap, so let em get fines, go to jail etc. If not go to work like the rest of us or get on social assistance programs. You don't see panhandling squirrels in the park, this kind of behavior is not normal or acceptable. It's time it came to a stop.

VESLER writes:
These people do interfere with traffic. This is a good law, it is like getting rid of mosquitoes.

Thankfully, not everyone supports the law.

Guy writes:
This is police harassment. Simple and plain. Leave them alone. They never hurt anyone. You may not like the squeegee kids. You may find them annoying. You may be full of self-righteous indignation. But that shouldn't make what they do illegal. Just wave them off and go about your day. Or maybe even... you know... say hi. Chat for a few seconds. They're not vermin. They're human beings. Like you (arguably). It's not a big deal. I'm amazed at how put out people are by these kids. It's unreal. Lighten up. And this has NOTHING to do with safely. That's a smoke screen. What they are doing is making it illegal to be poor.

We need compassion, people. Compassion.

I think the Bible said something about it.