Reality TV isn't real, folks

The death this week of GTA resident Richard Code in the Muskoka wilderness is tragic because the poor man gleaned what outdoor skills he had from reality TV - Survivorman, to be precise. Officials said he died from hypothermia.

Is it really possible large numbers of people watch the glut of reality TV shows - The Bachelor and Bachlorette, Big Brother, The Amazing Race, Survivor and Survivorman - and believe what they are seeing? I thought everybody knew they weren't real, these highly produced and manipulated shows - the furthest thing from reality. How can a show be called Survivorman when he's got, at the very least, a video crew with him? In the case of Code, it's so regrettable (and sympathy is extended to his family), but as for others out there who think there's value (other than camp) in reality TV: get a grip.

Do swooning viewers really believe those fantasy dates on mate-for-life shows spring from the imaginative brains of the latest Mr. or Miss Right? "I want to spend the rest of my life with him/her," say bubble-brained contestants in endless promos. Oh please, it is to gag.

Even the thought people are busy shaping their life values or "learning" social and survivor skills from reality TV is a terrifying thought.

Now, where's my soulmate?

Shame on female ski jumpers for embarrassing Dick Pound

Governor-General Michaëlle Jean gave Canada's female ski jumpers a boost recently by apparently having a discreet word with International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge about their inclusion in the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Team member Atsuko Tanaka ,18, said Jean told her about the conversation with Rogge during a reception with atheletes at Canada House in Whistler. The GG reportedly said the Olympic head appeared positive about prospects for women's ski  jumping at the next winter games.

Canada's female jumpers fought in B.C. courts to have their event included at the Vancouver Olympics. However, they ultimately failed when the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear their appeal of the B.C. decision to keep them out of the games.

After encouraging signals from Jean, leave it to Canadian senior IOC member Dick Pound to add his opinion.

In commenting on their recent legal battles, he noted: "I don't think the IOC had very much pleasure being convicted in absentia of discrimination against women athletes. It was a lot of bad publicity for the IOC. I know they don't appreciate it and I don't appreciate it.”

How unfortunate Mr. Pound doesn't appreciate the publicity.

Seems like the Canadian women didn't appreciate being kept out of the Vancouver Olympic Games based on their sex - in a country that guarantees gender equality in its Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Tish-tosh. Rights, schmights.

* * *

Australia, here I come (or another Olympic perspective): I'm thinking of expanding my horizons beyond journalism with a bid to produce Australia's next big national celebration.

I've got it all worked out: big floating kangaroos, digeridoos and choruses of Waltzing Matilda. Crocodile Dundee hosts, natch.

Don't know much about Australia, but my father's closest mate was from Sydney. Surely those are good enough bona fides to put on an Olympic-scale show.

* * *

Speaking of being embarrassed: It's worth watching the March 2 episode of The Agenda when it's posted on TVO's website. (Should be soon.) A big giggle. Steve Paikin's topic was the closing ceremonies in Vancouver, with lots of tasty comment on the hilarious banality of it all.  Seems like everybody thought the only thing missing was Monty Python's Lumberjack Song.

* * *

Mea culpa for a dearth of postings: Decoder readers may have noticed there have been no posts for, ah, a rather long time. (I certainly hope it's been noted.)

Investigative assignments kept me away from blogging. I keep promising to advise readers when that happens and, next time, will try to actually do so.

And the clocks were striking thirteen: the tale of two dogs

We're all trapped in 1984.

Or what do veterinarians know about dogs, anyway?

Two dogs, Brittany and Rambo, are in the care of Brampton animal services after being seized from their owners in mid-January. These dogs who know nothing but life with their families, face execution or being sent outside the province under the terms of the "Bryant" law (the Ontario Dog Owner's Liability Act) that bans pit bulls in Ontario. 

In the case of these two-year-old animals (from the same litter of nine pups), there were no threats, no bad behavior, no complaints. Rather, Brampton animal service officials spied Rambo standing atop his doghouse in the backyard of the Gaspar family and hauled him in because they believed he was a pit bull. They also picked up his sister who lived with the Branco family in another part of town. Veterinarians have sworn these dogs aren't pit bulls. In fact, in Star reporter Jim Wilkes' story today, Brittany's owner Rui Branco, who also owns their mother, Jersey, says she is a purebred boxer and their father, Tyson, a boxer/American bulldog mix. The story says:

"But Branco and Joe Gaspar, whose family pet Rambo was also seized Jan. 13, have letters from four veterinarians and a company that inserts microchips under a dog's skin supporting their claims there is no pit bull in either dog.

One Brampton vet wrote that he would stake his 51-year veterinary reputation that Tyson was an American bulldog-boxer mix."

Further, said Gaspar of Rambo:

"He's never hurt a soul. Kids come by and pull his ears, play with him all the time," Gaspar said. "I don't know what more we can do to prove that Rambo isn't a pit bull.

"They say it doesn't matter what we show them. In their eyes, he's a pit bull, so these papers mean nothing to them. We've got nothing to hide. He's just a sweet dog."

Brittany's vet, Dr. David Kirkham, told the Globe: "I don't understand why (city officials) are fighting me so hard on this. Brittany doesn't look anything like a pit bull."

Neither, it would seem, does Rambo, pictured here with his red collar.

 

Apparently, there was an error with Tyson's registration in 2006 and, despite lawyers hired to straighten out the matter, Brampton officials aren't budging in their insistence the pups are pit bulls. 

I guess there's something to be learned here. Next time Brampton residents want an animal neutered or a pet's elimination problem investigated (especially that), head straight for City Hall. Don't waste time with your vet.

* * *

Here are a few contacts if you are aware dogs don't have have  Blackberries and sympathize with the predicament of Brittany and Rambo:

- Mayor Susan Fennell, Office of the Mayor, City of Brampton, 2 Wellington St. W., Brampton, ON L6Y 4R2

The salutation is, "Your Worship."

Phone - 905-8742600; fax - 905-874-2620; email - mayor@brampton.ca

 - Here's a link to city councillors and their contact information: http://www.brampton.ca/en/City-Hall/CouncilOffice/Pages/Welcome.aspx

- And, finally, Brampton animal services: http://www.brampton.ca/en/residents/Animal-Services/Pages/welcome.aspx

 

Poor princely behavior, Harry

Prince Harry took a tumble playing polo in a fundraising match in Barbados Monday, after he turned his horse abruptly and the animal slipped and went down. The prince flung his mallet to the ground in anger, not exactly a show of sportsmanship. What really stood out, though, was his apparent lack of concern for his mount. The horse was soon back up but Prince Harry didn't even give his horse a glance. And here we thought the Royals were animal lovers. Guess they're more foxhunt than concern-for-creature types. Pity, that.

How they make TV news

I challenge readers of Decoder to watch Charlie Brooker's video and watch tonight's television newscasts in the same way. You've been warned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtGSXMuWMR4

* * *

Is it possible the Grammys could lay on one more layer of production on a song?  Grammys forego taste for spectacle is right, as the headline on Ben Rayner's story says.

* * *

There are serious things to write about today and less serious things. I interviewed Toronto mayoral candidate Adam Giambrone Sunday and learned he has a cat named Fluffy. But it's a Monday in winter - Monday - and anything but a funk seems inapprorpriate. So I'll be funking until tomorrrow when a cheerier blogger will return.

A tip for GTA pedestrians in that surging metal jungle out there

At the risk of making the Decoder sound like Pollyanna, I'd like to pass on an idea that occurred during a personal experience a couple of days ago. The news on the streets of Toronto (and the GTA) has been tragic this year, and we've even had a story suggesting jaywalking is part of the Toronto culture. In the past month, 14 pedestrians have been killed trying to cross streets around the GTA.

Here's what happened to me: At dusk, I was waiting for the light to change to cross Danforth at a light, heading south. An elderly couple stood beside me, he with a cane, she with a fur collar and cheery little hat. I pushed the button to hurry the green light along (you know, the one that doesn't do anything) and, some time later, the light began the countdown, 9,8, 7, etc. When it got to 0, I slid by foot forward awaiting the imminent "Walk" sign. At that moment, the man threw his arm around my shoulder and the woman croaked, "Stop, stop, you'll be KILLED!"

Now, I wasn't going to cross on a red but they didn't know that. What had happened was the light counted down to 0, but  instead of turning amber, then red, went green again to allow more east-west traffic. There are no streetcar tracks on the Danforth, so it couldn't have been a TTC driver changing the light back. We had to wait through an entirely new cycle of traffic. Thanks a lot, TTC.

Meanwhile, the couple talked about how horrible the pedestrian deaths have been until the light finally changed and we headed across. I heard them calling after me, "Now, be careful."

Here's a thought: Maybe we could keep an eye out for each other. Now, nobody wants some strange alien grabbing at them at crosswalks. This isn't an invitation for safety vigilantes to roll up their sleeves and go to work. But if you see someone you think is about to head into traffic against the light or preparing for a dangerous dash without crosswalk or light, perhaps a fast, loud word of warning would be helpful. If you're wrong, no harm done. It was sweet of old couple to be so solicitous; I didn't mind at all.

Plea for Haiti's future from hemisphere-wide grassroots organizations

A petition asking for debt relief for Haiti post-earthquake, as well as an end to the historical pattern of mistakes by foreign powers, has been sent to Foreign MInister Lawrence Cannon. Canadian signatories include the Council of Canadians, Common Frontiers and other non-governmental organizations. It's worth a read for the ideas put forward to work with Haitians at the grassroots level and take concrete steps. Here's the link..

Anderson Cooper fan

With all the brave Canadian reporting out of Haiti, it seems unpatriotic to compliment a U.S. journalist but I've wanted to laud CNN's Anderson Cooper for some time (and certainly not because he's Gloria Vanderbilt's son). Besides, I don't think the Haiti earthquake is the kind of story where people keep score (or I hope it's not). Cooper stood out in the coverage of Hurricane Katrina because he was the first broadcast journalist to angrily criticize the lack of help for New Orleans. He stood there, facing the camera, incredulous it was happening in the United States of America and saying so from his heart. It was as if he'd seen his country for the first time and he reacted like a normal person. His humanity showed.

It's been the same thing since he landed in Port-au-Prince a week ago, arriving so quickly due to CNN's immense resources and contacts. He was the first journalist I saw to get across the immensity of the tragedy of human beings being tossed in mass graves to remain anonymous, as if they had never existed. These are human beings, he said more than once. Simple but enough said. Sometimes he stumbles around, seemingly bewildered, but it's a sea change from his colleagues, all the brash and polished graduates of broadcast school. What he has can't be taught and I hope he never loses it. Here's a taste of how he reacts: http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/18/anderson-in-the-midst-of-looting-chaos/

 

Massachusetts GOP win: Follow the money from health care industry

Even before Republic state senator Scott Brown won the late Ted Kennedy's seat in Massachusettes Tuesday, health insurance stocks were rising. Brown defeated Democrat Martha Coakley in a result that threatens to derail President Barak Obama's health care bill in Washington. The day after the vote Big Pharma and health insurance stocks soared again. No surprise.

 Ad money poured into the state from both sides, but it's a sure bet a hefty chunk can be traced back to the health care industry and their lobbyists on Capital Hill.

Can what's good for Big Pharma be good for the people?

Sad but true - labour at the bottom of the heap

When Stephen Harper shuffled his cabinet today, Lisa Raitt went to labour from the natural resources ministry. The move is regarded as a demotion, which is an accurate perception in the federal cabinet. Is it any wonder working people are behind the eight ball in Canada?

In a similar vein, when Dalton McGuinty shuffled his provincial cabinet Monday, aboriginal affairs went from being a separate portfolio to an extra responsibility for Attorney General Chris Bentley. Guess all the simmering problems with the province have been solved.

Madness Personified: Pat Robertson blames Haitian "pact with the devil."

A friend comments on the above: "Right.out.of.his.mind."

Others agree:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-rowe/the-never-ending-horror-o_b_422615.html

On Robertson and Rush Limbaugh:

I especially like the description of Robertson spouting, "dripping self-satisfied, holier-than-thou, senile crap."

The forgotten man in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa

This should be a novel, although even the great GG Marguez might find too much surrealism for a novel. It's worth noting as we move briskly forward into 2010 - the 12th already? - that Manuel Zelaya, ousted president of Honduras, still sits behind the protective walls of the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, little more than a niggling problem for president-elect Porfiro Lobo. As the Canadian Press reported from Honduras this week, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case against military leaders for removing Zelaya last June. However, as the report notes about the Honduran court:

"The prosecutor's case doesn't question Zelaya's ouster itself, only whether the military went too far in flying the ousted leader to Costa Rica after he was arrested by armed soliders in a dispute over a constitutional referendum."

So much for the brave new world of Latin America where coups don't happen like they did in the bad old days.

Are we surprised? Of course not. Still, it merits a sad update before Decoder plunges into the new and exciting year of 2010. This is my official, if tardy, return.

Happy New Year!

 

Read it and weep - today's the day top CEOs outpace the average annual salary of the nation

You should be sitting down for this one.

By 1:01 p.m. today, January 4, the top 100 CEOs in the country earn what the average Canadian pulls in during a year. Hugh Mackenzie, research associate for the Canadian Centre on Policy Alternatives, makes the calculation based on his new study analyzing wage breakdowns in 2008 and the preceding decade. In 2008 - the year "recession broadsided the nation" - he found the top 100 executives made 174 times more than the average Canadian wage. Says Mackenizie:

“To put that in perspective, Canadians will work full-time throughout the year to earn the national average of $42,305. The top 100 CEOs pocket that amount by 1:01 p.m. on January 4 – the first working day of the year.”

The report, entitled Soft Landing, shows these executives pocketed an average total compensation of $7.3 million in 2008. The CCPA website summarizes his report under the heading: "Top CEOs Still Raking it in."

“Between 1998 and 2008, Canada’s top 100 CEOs’ average compensation outpaced inflation by 70 per cent,” says Mackenzie. “In contrast, Canadians earning the average income lost six per cent to inflation over that period.”

You'll find a link to the full report at the CCPA website, as well as a link to a handy-dandy chart so you use the CEO pay calculator to figure out how long it takes one of their number to pocket your salary.

Or not. It may all be just too depressing.

Here's an idea. Figure it out over a brew after tomorrow night's hockey game if - and only if - Canada's Juniors beat the U.S.

 

 

A tribute to Esther Chavez

Esther Chavez, who dedicated her life to fighting for justice for the murdered women of Juarez, died Friday, on Christmas Day, of cancer in Ciudad Juarez. Her death at 76 is a huge loss to her country, expecially the women of Mexico, and to people everywhere who believe in justice. In 1993, Esther was an accountant in the border city, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, when she began clipping newspaper accounts of women fround dead in the desert, whether buried in shallow graves, stuffed in barrels full of acid or mutilated. She began to notice patterns. Gradually her file became so thick, she went to the authorities, first municipal, then state and national, but nobody took her seriously (at least nobody in authority) as the death toll mounted. In fact, Francisco Barrio, who as governor of Chihuahua where Juarez is situated and who once told the Star the deaths should be considered "normal," is now Mexico's ambassador to Canada. It is estimated that well over 300 women have been murdered or disappeared over 16 years - a gruesome count that seems only to mount.

Police have done little - after all, these women are poor, often nameless coming from all over Mexico to work in the border plants and without heroes to fight for them - except Esther. She began a shelter - Casa Amiga - where she offered solice to families whose daughters, mothers, sisters and aunts had disappeared, prodded the authorities and expanded to do what she could for the dispossessed of Juarez,  offering a rape crisis centre and food and supplies when she could. The photo above by the Star's Carlos Osorio (taken in 2006) shows Esther in a typical pose, giving comfort. She was a powerhouse and ignored death threats. She was ascerbic, opinionated, kind, funny, warm and possessed the tremendous energy of those who see a problem and, instead of turning away, devote their lives to trying to solve it. She was, perhaps above all, humble; she saw it as privilege to be able to serve. Not for her the fame and little luxuries of those who sometimes mix human rights with spiritual pride. She was never too busy to sit down with a journalist, going over accounts of this case or that and making phone calls to arrange interviews, no matter the hour, if it meant publicity for the lost women of Juarez. She often commented on the response she received from Canadians.

Rest in Peace, Esther. You are hugely missed. May your work continue at Casa Amiga.

casa_amiga@prodigy.net.mx

http://www.casa-amiga.org/

Best Wishes for the Holiday Season

There's too much feasting in store this week for Decoder and a brief respite - until December 29 - is in order. 

TO THE SOURCE ON KAIROS

What many people realize on their own, I learned in university: it's  more useful to go to primary sources than to rely on second-hand material to determine what's closest to the truth (at least for the protagonists in any situation). It's more illuminating, for example, to read Napoleon's letters to the Directorate than to read others' accounts of his Italian campaigns. Problem is, busy lives don't always offer that luxury. (I do see the irony in that, as a journalist, I get to go directly to primary sources for a living, while those who read my work are reading  second-hand accounts. In my defence, I always give as much context as space allows and, increasingly, we use our website to offer first-hand information - whether minutes of meetings, international reports, transcripts, video or links to primary sources - to accompany our stories.

In that vein, I offer a copy of the speech Jason Kenny made last week in Jerusalem in which he explained why KAIROS lost funding. It's worth a read because it gives the full context of the immigration/multiculturalism minister's speech, including other examples he cites. (It's taken from Conservative MP Rick Dykstra's website.)

Here is my colleague Les Whittington's story on the reaction from KAIROS.

* * *

My question is not original: Why didn't CIDA - or more appropriately Minister Kenny - tell Canadians the real reason funding was being cut for KAIROS? Instead, International Development Minister Bev Oda blamed CIDA's "shifting priorities."

Surely a decision apparently taken on priniciple doesn't require flimflammery. It rather debases the point, don't you think?

What Tiger Woods didn't know about Swedish women: Everything

There probably aren't too folks of any nationality who would marry a sports god without having the names of a few celebrity divorce lawyers at the ready. But a Swede?  No country's perfect, but Sweden is hardly a nation with a poor record on women's rights. It's been my experience Swedes are rather advanced in that department. I could point to many scholarly reports, but let's remember Swedish women went so far as to run "Just Breasts," a successful campaign to go topless. A spoof, but they got their tanning rights.

I'm not saying Erin Nordegren is the only women who'd be seeking divorce after this kind of nonsense from hubby Tiger Woods. But Decoder suggests the biggest blunder by Woods wasn't allegedly leaving voice mail on a lover's phone but in choosing a Swedish woman to cheat on in the first place - one from a wealthy and privileged family no less. As she's said, she's no "stand by your man" kind of gal. Reading about the decision by Nordegren (whose photo was taken with Woods by Reuters in happier times) to lay down a couple of million for an island just outside the harbour in Stockholm reminds one of the fierce Lisbeth Salander in The Girl who Plays with Fire.

She, too, bought posh harbour property, although closer than a two-hour ferry ride from Stockholm. I suppose there are other differences, like how Salander made her money through computer crime (however justified) and how she includes murder among options for revenge.  Nordegren merely appears to be seeking a few truckloads of cash.  

Canadian Indigenous groups protest at UN climate summit in Copenhagen

 
While government officials appeared to go to ground, non-governmental organizations have had a high profile - or at least as high as Danish authorities would allow. One website worth tracking for Canadian grassroots participation at the Copenhagen summit is pitchengine. Several organizations joined indigenous groups earlier this week in a day of protest against Canada's record at the Alberta tar sands. Among comments at their rally outside the Canadian embassy:

Fossil fuel extraction from the tar sands are killing our people with cancer, killing our culture by destroying our traditional lands, and killing our planet with CO2,” said Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, member of the Athbasca Chipewyan First Nation and Tar Sands Campaigner for the Rainforest Action Network. “It seems that Canada is more committed to fossil fuels than human rights or real action for the climate. Mr. Harper – We welcome you to Copenhagen because we want real action on climate, and that means shutting down the tar sands and a moratorium on new fossil fuel development.”

"The tar sands are a key reason why Canada has failed to take climate action. In the same timeframe that Harper promises to cut Canada's emissions a paltry 3 per cent, tar sands emissions are expected to triple,” said Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians.

 

 

It's all buddy-buddy in the land of the Liberals

And I have some land in the Everglades you might like . . .

On Friday, Rocco Rossi, national director of the federal Liberal party, said he couldn't talk about the annoucement he would make today (Monday) because he'd made a promise and he would keep his word. Later that evening, he called back to say he'd kept his word but others hadn't. Therefore, he'd decided to confirm he would announce his candidacy for mayor of Toronto at a City Hall presser Monday morning, and talked about his reasons. He didn't sound happy about the position he found himself in, but insisted all's well with the Liberals, noting leader Michael Ignatieff had wished him the best, enthusing: "Mayor Rossi sounds pretty good."

Hmm, would the unnamed promise-breakers be staffers in Ignatieff's own office? Friday evening, Ignatieff made public a letter in which he told Rossi: "I salute your dedication to serving the public good and your desire to seek to the support of the electorate." Et cetera.

That sure looked like a cat scampering out of the leader's bag. Who're ya gonna trust?

* * *

Today, Rossi joined the mayoral fray, although not officially until registration in January.

Loss of political strategist bad timing for Ignatieff

The news that Liberal mastermind Don Guy is leaving Pollara- Dalton McGuinty gearing up for another run in 2011 - has repercussions beyond Queen's Park. Guy, the former McGuinty chief of staff and provincial election wizard, played an important strategy role for the federal Liberals during the 2008 campaign, along with his partner at Pollara, pollster Michael Marzolini. Despite reports Guy informed Ignatieff earlier this year he wouldn't be available next time, there's been speculation among Liberals he might be coaxed to change his (master)mind come election time. His recent email to friends and colleagues that his appointment as campaign director for the 2011 provincial campaign, plus other commitments, means he's leaving Pollara, something he's done before for ethical reasons during the political season. This time, however, according to friends, it's differrent. He's "dedicating himself to Dalton" because it appears the Premier will be facing a far tougher time in 2011 than in the last two campaigns and "there's a lot of work to do" - beginning next year.

There's no way Guy could lend a hand to the federal Liberals in 2011. But - and this is probably more important - it also means he won't be around next year either. With Peter Donolo in the OLO as chief of staff, Liberals are now talking about playing the long game, as Chantal Hébert has recently observed.

 The question is: will they get the chance? Will Stephen Harper give Ignatieff and the Liberals until 2011 to get their act together?

Barring a political meltdown for the Conservatives, 2010 might be looking particuarly scrumptious to Harper, what with the rosy glow expected from the Olympic Games and goodies that can be crammed into one last budget before the post-recession bell tolls for the next budget. Serious problems the government faces over Afghanistan don't appear to be sticking with voters - and they may not down the road.

Nope, no Christmas joy for Ignatieff, not this year anyway.

.