JUSTCAWS

  Often it takes some quiet reflection for things to become clear. This time it was a long drive back home after taking my son to school after the holidays. On the way we went under numerous overpasses in the GTA covered with Palestinian flags. I recalled this being done for fallen soldiers during the war in Afghanistan. Back then it put a lump in my throat. Now it gets me hot under the collar, but not for the reasons you might think.  I have been annoyed by a number of protests in my life when they disrupt my day to day.  The most egregious being when the First Nations blocked the rail tracks near Belleville. That action cost me both considerable time and money on more than one occasion. I may have fired off a disgruntled tweet, but there is a part of me that respects the cries of injustice or pleas for justice and the legitimate personal sacrifice protesters make to demand change.    I may not always agree with their cause or methods, but I will take pass...

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  Trust but verify, was a line from former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. I have heard it being used more now as there seems to be an erosion of trust in global affairs. It is a line I believe our news media needs to follow in a world where deciding between what is fact and fiction is only going to get more difficult. I have been an avid consumer of news for decades. Whether it be from watching a nightly newscast or getting the daily paper to now streaming and digital subscriptions - I will follow. Obviously, the evolution in the distribution model is what people will point to when discussing change in the news media, but I believe a more profound transformation has taken hold. Some argue that once the U.S. News became a profit centre for networks that the decline in journalism began. Just take a look at this prophetic article from 1986 in the LA Times that predicts pending doom . The onslaught of social media was the next salvo to hit the news as more people discovered they could b...

  Protests in support of Palestine are growing here at home and across the world. This is not surprising when seeing images of war and brutality coming out of Gaza. There has also been a call for a ceasefire in the region getting louder as well. I would support this call, if I thought it meant the hostages would be freed and Hamas would also stop its attacks. Our own Liberal government does not believe that would happen, so you can pray or shout for it, but any type of peace in Gaza is not happening anytime soon.    This current conflict and the accompanying protests also serve as examples to why what JFK referred to as "genuine peace," remains elusive.     Too many Palestinian supporters do not believe in the right for Israel to exist. Their numbers are too great and their voices are too loud to ignore. Even in places miles away from the Mideast, support within protest movements of organizations like Hamas, that seek to destroy Israel, show symbols of hate...

As I write this, all the top seeds in the MLB playoffs have been bounced early and teams with good, but not great seasons that barely made it into the playoffs are advancing.  Winning a division and getting home field advantage doesn’t seem to provide much of an advantage.  Just getting in is all you need to do.  Does this matter?  To some, not at all, but if your regular season doesn’t matter - why watch. I know plenty of sport fans who now only watch the playoffs - “when it matters”.  Leagues and their broadcast partners should be concerned.  Fandom is about passion not apathy.  Upsets do happen - and they’re not necessarily the issue.  Having a compelling regular season where every game matters is key. The NFL, the gold standard league gets it right.  With only 17 games and  only 44% teams who qualify, it makes game matter.  Due to the grueling nature of football - a bye is really an advantage and the top seeds usually win. ...

Are you really surprised?  If you're reading this I doubt it. Hard core Blue Jays fans saw this movie all year.  Wasted starts, questionable managing, bad base running, and an inability to hit with runners in scoring position.  What made this season, so frustrating - is there is a lot of talent on this roster.  Rogers has told me so. Okay, maybe not as great as the baseball heads at Sportsnet and the organization put out there, but still on paper good.  So yeah it's frustrating watching a team play well below expectations. If not for the other pretenders in the American League choking themselves, this team doesn’t even make the playoffs.  The fanbase doesn’t need answers as to why this happened.  They want to know is who going to be let go?  Sorry fans, but don’t expect major changes. The team really did what it’s supposed to do in Shapiro’s model - contend.  The stadium was full and ratings were solid.  Yes, fans are angry right now - b...

  I find stalemates frustrating at the best of times. Arm wrestles and tugs of war that don’t end quickly seem to go on forever.   Sadly, for the citizens of Ukraine these are not good times indeed.  The months of this war risk spilling into another year and no one sees an end to this conflict coming anytime soon.  Ukraine’s latest offensive has not been the success once hoped. It is becoming increasingly clear that without the West’s continuing supply of weapons and equipment, Ukraine can only hold the line.   The idea that Russian citizens will someday soon realize the madness of their leader and turn on Putin was doubtful right from the start. Now with drone attacks coming from Ukraine bringing the war to Russian soil - good luck with that. Russia is in this for the long haul. They are now well aware that they cannot prevail with the West’s long distance support of Ukraine.  Their only hope is that the resolve among the citizens of Western demo...

With the recent decisions from the Saskatchewan and New Brunswick governments regarding parental consent, I wanted to go back to a post I made when Florida was pushing back with its own sets of education policy changes. As you can read I did see this coming. As for this issue, my hope is that balanced solution will emerge that can respect parents rights and protects vulnerable kids. As always I try to see both sides of an issue as I have questions for both concerned parties. To those who support parental consent of name or pronoun change - I ask why? If you are even a semi involved parent - wouldn’t you be aware if your child was having identity issues. If not, perhaps it is because the child is not comfortable discussing them with you in fear of reprisal. If your kids know they grow up in a house of unconditional love - you shouldn’t need a note from school telling you what name your child goes by. For those opposed, can a child not express their concern of their parents expected or s...

Recent post brought this up - so I decided to post this article with the paper's headline and original newspaper clip below as the link has since been removed.  There sure has been enough “union bashing” going on during this economic downturn. Unionized autoworkers seem to be taking the brunt of the abuse this time around. Many observers have credited the “bloated” workforce of GM and Chrysler with contributing to their demise.   That point may be debatable, but it has got a lot more people talking about the merits of private sector unions in a competitive, global economy. Achieving great pay packages, improved working conditions and fantastic benefits don’t mean a whole lot if the company you work for closes shop because it can’t compete. As someone who became a teacher because of my passion and strong belief in the importance of public education, I have repeatedly questioned the role of entrenched teacher unions. Now as we move from the industrial to the information a...