tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54465030032673301082024-02-19T06:34:11.233-05:00Stephen Lautens' Parking SpaceWhere I park scraps of columns and political stuff from my Twitter account for general consumption...Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comBlogger232125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-80495406675591185852022-01-19T13:31:00.005-05:002022-01-19T13:33:30.071-05:00The Arts and a sustainable future<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For the past few years I've belonged to a group of lawyers, academics, businesspeople and former politicians that meets once a month to engage in friendly debates. They call themselves the 'Muddy York Debating Society.' </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A few months back I was invited to debate on the subject of "Are the Arts essential to a sustainable future?" I argued in the affirmative. Here's what I said:</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">******<br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <br />As
we all know, these debates always come down to definitions, and lawyers love to
play with definitions. As they told us in law school, definitions make the
difference between fly poop and pepper. </span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSzeuPLq4bLN6eC-mvRml0X5T-bDNbeDTT92Q9RGHWsApKbJ-OSXvzcleddjmijPzNW08-S1iYqy6tFg2tY-5HpfCKrNP_wv0I2kMgsa0jQbR0Rk81cCGFxk4GqelQSYYs7YEgiRgCMi6l8qNygqk6bKEH_P2AYZ7mKgONez4tBWNYH7EuEwecQ27mTg=s400" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="283" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSzeuPLq4bLN6eC-mvRml0X5T-bDNbeDTT92Q9RGHWsApKbJ-OSXvzcleddjmijPzNW08-S1iYqy6tFg2tY-5HpfCKrNP_wv0I2kMgsa0jQbR0Rk81cCGFxk4GqelQSYYs7YEgiRgCMi6l8qNygqk6bKEH_P2AYZ7mKgONez4tBWNYH7EuEwecQ27mTg=s320" width="226" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“The
Arts are essential to a sustainable future.” The three key words for definition
in this short sentence are “arts”, “essential” and “sustainable”. Let’s deal
with each of them.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
common parlance, “sustainability” has become just another sociological and feel-good
marketing flim-flam. Your yoga mat has to be made of “sustainable” materials.
Your morning coffee has to be “sustainable”. Your investment portfolio has to
be composed of “sustainable” investments in “sustainable” corporations. Like
“organic”, ‘fair trade” or “free-range’, “sustainable” has become all but
meaningless, making a debate about whether something is “sustainable” as
slippery as a politician’s promise. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A
good working definition of sustainability is the capacity to endure in a
relatively ongoing way across various domains of life. It has a narrow
environmental meaning, but sustainability is larger than that.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But
if we go back to the simplest meaning of the word – enduring – then there is no
doubt that the arts are the most enduring and therefore sustainable part of the
human past, and therefore of our future.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Art.
What is art? Is it like pornography – we know it when we see it? Or is it defined
in the negative? As The Edge of U-2 once commented, "We don't know what it
is, so it must be art." Leaving aside such philosophical questions, the
seven arts are traditionally agreed to be: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting,
Music, Poetry, Dance, and Performing.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When
we look at the long story of recorded human history, what is it that endures?
Art. The oldest known cave painting is a red hand stencil in a cave in Spain.
It has been dated to older than 64,000 years. In fact, it isn’t even human – it
was<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>made by a Neanderthal. In the end,
Neanderthals were not sustainable, but their art was. It endured longer than
they did.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Architecture
is one of the most enduring and therefore sustainable of the arts. We can still
stand on pyramids and ziggurats built thousands of years ago. Egypt's Old
Kingdom era tombs were constructed some 4,500 years ago, making the mosaics of
Pompeii look positively youthful at only 1900 years old. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can still stand in the Roman Forum and
Nero’s box at the Coliseum. We can still shop and discuss at the Acropolis at
Athens and the Agora, from the 5<sup>th</sup> century BC, where Plato and
Aristotle taught.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sculpture.
How many people have stood before the Venus de Milo, or the Winged Victory? The
Venus de Milo was sculpted sometime between 150 and 125 BC. The Winged Victory
of Samothrace dates from 200 BC. Both are mere babies compared to Venus of
Hohle Fels, an Upper Paleolithic Venus figurine made of mammoth ivory dated to
between 40,000 and 35,000 years ago. It is the oldest undisputed example of a
depiction of a person. This isn’t even Neanderthal – it is from the beginning
of the Upper Paleolithic from the earliest presence of Cro-Magnon in Europe.
Now that’s sustainable.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
mentioned Plato and Aristotle. We can still read their literature – along with
other plays and philosophies of Ancient Greece. The Histories of Herodotus is
considered the founding work of history in Western literature written almost
2500 years ago. Who hasn’t struggled through Chaucer, or Spenser’s Fair Queen, or
Beowulf? Literature is an enduring art.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Poetry
is one of the seven arts, from Homer’s 8<sup>th</sup> century Iliad and the
Odyssey, to the Song of Solomon, and TS Elliot’s Love Song of J. Alfred
Prufrock. For those who think poetry is dead art form, consider National Youth
Poet Laureate Amanda S. C. Gorman, who spoke at the inauguration of US
President Joe Biden, and moved a nation with the power of her poetry. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Performing:
Who among us didn’t have to read Antigone, one of Sophocles's trilogy of plays written
in 441 BC. The Roman historian Livy wrote that the Romans first experienced
theatre in the 4th century BC, with a performance by Etruscan actors. The
Greeks had theatres centuries before that. Shakespeare entertained packed
houses 400 years ago, and continues to today. In fact, there are no fewer than
525 feature films which give William Shakespeare some form of writing credit -
although no royalties - including The Lion King and West Side Story. No doubt
people acted out the hunt around campfires since the origins of the human race.
Mozart, Wagner and Verdi still draw crowds. Theatre and performances are one of
the great communal activities humans enjoy – and one we have sorely missed
during Covid. Surely the performing arts are “sustainable”.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sustainable
may also include the idea of relevant or relatable. Can we relate to ancient
art? Can we see ourselves and our humanity in art from persons and
civilizations long dead? Yes. It still moves us.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lastly,
let’s look at “essential,” as in “the arts are essential to a sustainable
future.” The essentialness of the arts is proven by its very endurance. That it
has been present since literally before we were human proves its essential
nature to our humanity. It is clear to see that creating art is a natural,
innate, primal behavior. Children instinctively make art. It exists in every
culture. It is a fundamental human behavior. It is part of who we are.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Art
is an essential part of human communication. It helps us share ideas, emotions
and concepts that are otherwise difficult to express in words. Art extends the
way we are able to communicate.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There
is a contemplative and spiritual aspect to art that transcends ordinary
communications. Some would argue that it allows us to connect with the divine.
Jung thought the artist was “one who carries and shapes the unconscious,
psychic life of mankind.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Freud, argued
that it taps into deeper human psychological forces that allow us to better
understand ourselves. Aristotle believed that art purges the soul of dangerous
thoughts and gives a pleasurable relief to the strongest of emotions. It is
cathartic.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Art
is a history lesson, an historical record, a preservation of culture, and a
human autobiography all in one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Art
reflects cultural values, beliefs and identity, and records our own lives and
experiences over time. Surely that is essential. It is not only sustainable –
its sustains us.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Experiencing
and creating art is a social activity, whether we fight through the crowds to
catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa, sit at an opera, ballet, play or concert.
Being part of an audience connects us not just to the art but to each other. As
social animals, this connectiveness is indeed essential.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What
would our future be without the arts? It is impossible to imagine. Humans have
always been creative. There is a deeply ingrained impulse to create and share,
tell stories, build monuments, sing and compose. The question is, can there
even be a future without the arts?</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You
get it – the arts are old. From an unknown Cro Magnum man or woman carving a fertility
goddess from mammoth ivory 35,000 years ago to Picasso and Banksy. But remember
that we are now living in their future. In some cases, their distant future.
That is proof that the arts have been and are sustainable, and there is no
reason to think that they will not be in our future as well.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One
of the things the arts have been used for is to help us imagine the future.
From Thomas More’s Utopia to Star Trek, authors, painters, actors, and movie
makers have created a vision of the future. They have imagined flying cars and
moving sidewalks, rocketships and alien races. They have also imagined perfect
societies, and more recently a raft of dystopian worlds. These stories help us
ease into the future and spur us on to discoveries and technological
breakthroughs. They also use futuristic settings to teach us lessons about
ourselves – often they are parables about race and war and environmental
degredation. They also show us the consequences of taking the wrong path –
about futures that are not sustainable.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">To
use the most narrow of definitions of “sustainable”, fiction and movies
routinely warn us about the perils of environmental devastation. From Soylent
Green to the Handmaid’s Tale, or even those artistic masterpieces, Planet of
the Apes and Mad Max, the arts in popular culture caution us about what an
unsustainable future could look like. The arts help us imagine and therefore
create the future we will live in, and the consequences of living unsustainable
lives. They are a glimpse into the future, and a way to vividly imagine the
results of bad choices.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I’ll
conclude with a statement from Patrick Kabanda, author of The Creative Wealth
of Nations: Can the Arts Advance Development? On the 75<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of the founding of the United Nations he wrote:</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Data is important, But data alone doesn’t
necessarily change people’s minds. On climate change, for instance, we have the
science, but still there are many people who do not accept it, even when we
throw numbers at them. So what do we need? We need stories. We need poetry. We
need an emotional connection.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/commentary/guest-articles/at-the-un-the-arts-emerge-as-a-force-for-sustainable-development/"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://sdg.iisd.org/commentary/guest-articles/at-the-un-the-arts-emerge-as-a-force-for-sustainable-development/</span></a></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What
Kabanda is reminding us is that the Arts are indeed essential to a sustainable
future.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></span></span></p>Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-24761964631352680802020-10-14T10:39:00.005-04:002020-10-14T15:56:18.589-04:00What an Original thought about Constitutional "Originalists"<p> I have never understood American "originalist" legal theorists like Amy Coney Barrett and other "strict reading" constitutionalists who believe the American Constitution is forever perfect and can never be re-interpreted by the courts to meet modern challenges. </p><div dir="auto"><div class="ecm0bbzt hv4rvrfc ihqw7lf3 dati1w0a" data-ad-comet-preview="message" data-ad-preview="message" id="jsc_c_5m2"><div class="j83agx80 cbu4d94t ew0dbk1b irj2b8pg"><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa fgxwclzu a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"><div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">Canada has them too, generally on the right who decry "judge-made law" and courts interpreting Charter protections to address emerging social realities.</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">For the "originalists" like Amy Coney Barrett who believe that the American Constitution is perfect and forever frozen in amber (never mind that slavery thing, or women voting), the best critique is actually from an "original" - Thomas Jefferson, founding father and primary author of the Declaration of Independence, who wrote in 1816 the following:</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"></div></div><blockquote><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">"Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment. I knew that age well; I belonged to it, and labored with it. It deserved well of its country. It was very like the present, but without the experience of the present; and forty years of experience in government is worth a century of book-reading; and this they would say themselves, were they to rise from the dead. I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions. I think moderate imperfections had better be borne with; because, when once known, we accommodate ourselves to them, and find practical means of correcting their ill effects. But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors..."</div><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;"> </div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q"><div dir="auto" style="text-align: start;">"By the European tables of mortality, of the adults living at any one moment of time, a majority will be dead in about nineteen years. At the end of that period, then, a new majority is come into place; or, in other words, a new generation. Each generation is as independent as the one preceding, as that was of all which had gone before. It has then, like them, a right to choose for itself the form of government it believes most promotive of its own happiness; consequently, to accommodate to the circumstances in which it finds itself, that received from its predecessors; and it is for the peace and good of mankind, that a solemn opportunity of doing this every nineteen or twenty years, should be provided by the constitution; so that it may be handed on, with periodical repairs, from generation to generation, to the end of time, if anything human can so long endure."</div></div></blockquote><p>By the way, some of the above was considered so important that it appears on the wall of the Jefferson Memorial.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8AiCZe57ROmVTx9a-POQgnV7t37hK4wnavFKE-n87LWrwQzQqpeOatBTB_PZrbX2uRcX-DM7RPjeE3L62iB91avAI8T0Rqj86YtBp-_TcV2gYNQo-7o9COtyBg5JRSD-0dxnLW3kyhis1/s1478/Screen+Shot+2020-10-13+at+7.18.25+PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1478" data-original-width="890" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8AiCZe57ROmVTx9a-POQgnV7t37hK4wnavFKE-n87LWrwQzQqpeOatBTB_PZrbX2uRcX-DM7RPjeE3L62iB91avAI8T0Rqj86YtBp-_TcV2gYNQo-7o9COtyBg5JRSD-0dxnLW3kyhis1/s320/Screen+Shot+2020-10-13+at+7.18.25+PM.png" /></a></div></span></div><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa fgxwclzu a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"> </span></div><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa fgxwclzu a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto">Source: <a href="https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/letter-to-samuel-kercheval/">https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/letter-to-samuel-kercheval/</a></span></div><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa fgxwclzu a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"> </span></div><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa fgxwclzu a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto">In Canada, our Constitution (and Charter of Rights, which is part of the Canadian Constitution) has been interpreted more expansively since the 1929 "Persons Case", where Lord Sankey ruled:</span><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa fgxwclzu a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"> "The British North America Act planted in Canada [is] a living tree capable of growth and expansion within its natural limits." </span></div><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa fgxwclzu a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto"> </span></div><div class="qzhwtbm6 knvmm38d"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa fgxwclzu a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto">The "living tree" doctrine has ruled our constitutional interpretation since. Conservatives have preferred the "frozen concepts" (originalism) doctrine, but in the 2004 "same sex marriage" case, the Supreme Court of Canada stated:</span><blockquote><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql oi732d6d ik7dh3pa fgxwclzu a8c37x1j keod5gw0 nxhoafnm aigsh9s9 d3f4x2em fe6kdd0r mau55g9w c8b282yb iv3no6db jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id hzawbc8m" dir="auto">"The "frozen concepts" reasoning runs contrary to one of the most
fundamental principles of Canadian constitutional interpretation: that
our Constitution is a living tree which, by way of progressive
interpretation, accommodates and addresses the realities of modern life."</span></blockquote></div></div></div></div>Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-16790493257302001652020-09-02T18:15:00.002-04:002020-12-13T12:14:57.717-05:00China's swagger wins few friends.<p><span style="font-size: small;">A new article from me about how China's heavy-handed tactics win them few friends and influence people - the wrong way. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">I frequently travelled back and forth to the PRC on business from 2000 to 2012. It was a time of great transition for China. Those were the formative years when it emerged as a world economic powerhouse, but now it is finding its uniquely Chinese version of Manifest Destiny doesn't breed trust or love in the West.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;">*** </span><br /></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">As the 21st Century
began, the investing West discovered China. It was often referred to as the
‘Marco Polo Syndrome’ as North American investors and mineral explorers rode
into China to seek their fortunes and show the Chinese ‘ how it’s done.’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">For a brief while
China also felt it needed the West’s cash and expertise to catapult it to
prosperity. It welcomed and even was deferential to the army of foreign
investors and joint ventures in mining, technology, telecom, manufacturing, and
a host of infrastructure projects. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">There were bumps
along the way. Like the dot com boom and bust, projects that should never have
been funded had money thrown at them in the rush to grab a piece of the China
gold rush. With no experience of western business relationships, there were misunderstandings
and some outright cash grabs by Chinese partners, with little recourse to
western safeguards like courts or regulators. It was easy to blame the Chinese
for early business failures, but many of the failures were made in North
America because corners were cut by the people in New York, Toronto and London
who feared missing the boat in the rush to establish a foothold in the massive
Chinese market.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">There were a number
of great successes too, from mining to Volkswagen to Apple, as well as hundreds
of other projects big and small. UBS recently estimated that Walmart imports
26% of its merchandise from China, while Target imports 34% of its products
from China (<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/23/business/china-tariffs-trump-trade-walmart-retail/index.html">https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/23/business/china-tariffs-trump-trade-walmart-retail/index.html</a>
). As China became more prosperous internally, it became even more of an
attractive a market.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">But then a seismic
shift – both financial and psychological – occurred in 2008 that changed the
West’s relationship with China. The market meltdown started by the collapse of mortgage-backed
securities crippled the hedge funds and other financial institutions of London
and New York. For the first time, China saw the West’s weakness and its own
strength. It had found its swagger. The ancient Chinese belief in ‘tianxia’ - that
China was the rightful center of the civilized world – was back. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">In the late 20th
century the Chinese Communist Party realized limited capitalism was the key to
prosperity, and opened up to foreign and domestic trade and investment. Almost
overnight they became “capitalists in a hurry” going through rapid expansion
most like the rough-and-tumble late 19th century robber baron capitalism of the
US.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">China, like Russia,
takes advantage of chaos and distraction in other countries. China took
advantage of the 2008 economic crisis to expand its influence into Africa and
elsewhere to secure needed raw materials. It is currently taking advantage of Covid-19
and the domestic turmoil in the United States and England to forcefully push
back on the promised “two systems, one country” policy of Hong Kong
semi-independence, the border with India and hegemony in the South China Seas.
In Canada, the detention of Hauwei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou for extradition at the
US’s request resulted in the retaliatory arrest and arbitrary detention of two
Canadian citizens.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">This is a good
example of how China’s regaining its swagger has recently backfired internationally.
In a global economy, bullyboy tactics in trade rarely produce good or lasting results.
China’s general belligerence on the international stage has, among other
things, disqualified Hauwei’s otherwise good 5G technology in the West, with
countries opting instead for alternatives from Sweden’s Ericsson or Finland’s
Nokia. Not being able to break through the suspicion, Hauwei only derives about
6% of its revenues from the West.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">Outward bound
Chinese investment is received with the same wariness, with concerns about
security. And while Western projects and investments inside China have been
generally more secure than the investing public gives it credit, it can’t help
feel the chill caused by China’s bull in a china shop reputation in the West.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">Can China break this
cycle of jockeying for the upper hand with more stick than carrot? It’s unconditional
demand for respect and obedience – a product of not just years communism, but
deep-seated in its ancient self-image as the literal center of the world –
makes it unwilling or unable to do what is necessary to be welcomed into
western markets.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">Until then, China’s
swagger makes it its own worst enemy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">_________</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">This article originally appeared on investorintel.com.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh98OOkGm70c0yMzkpezaPnNihyezleqffplJyU0gUHyra8HLvu5eehUGJEuogszZfFgDIqPaqZpZhNmFDM7OXEcacj6Y2xWKDZk5KlYMpkTuWv1qYtPcnsKR17123G8peGzcHa18skvhc/s1280/wall+cigar.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh98OOkGm70c0yMzkpezaPnNihyezleqffplJyU0gUHyra8HLvu5eehUGJEuogszZfFgDIqPaqZpZhNmFDM7OXEcacj6Y2xWKDZk5KlYMpkTuWv1qYtPcnsKR17123G8peGzcHa18skvhc/w400-h300/wall+cigar.jpg" title="Stephen on the Great Wall" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-38213097724550225522020-05-05T12:51:00.000-04:002020-05-10T14:26:24.530-04:00Guns, Guns, GunsI think the Supreme Court of Canada said it best.<br />
<br />
In 2005 (R<i>. v. Wiles</i>,
[2005] 3 S.C.R. 895 at 901) the Supreme Court of Canada said:
"
The state interest in reducing the misuse of weapons is valid and important. The sentencing judge gave insufficient weight to the fact that possession and
use of firearms is not a right or freedom guaranteed under the <i>Charter<span class="decisia-reflex2-icon"><span class="icon-external-link"></span></span></i>,
but a privilege."<br />
<br />
The SCC said the same thing in<span class="text_exposed_show"> <i>R. v. Hasselwander</i> [1993] 2 S.C.R. 398:</span> "<span lang="EN-GB" style="letter-spacing: -.15pt;">Canadians, unlike Americans
do not have a constitutional right to bear arms. Indeed, most Canadians prefer
the peace of mind and sense of security derived from the knowledge that the
possession of automatic weapons is prohibited."</span><br />
<br />
Pretty much the end of it.<span lang="EN-GB" style="letter-spacing: -.15pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span class="text_exposed_show">In 2010 the Ontario Court of Appeal in R. v. Montague, 2010 ONCA 141 said:<br />
</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[16] Moreover, contrary to the Montagues’ contention, the
Supreme Court of Canada has addressed the question of whether the
possession and use of firearms is a constitutionally protected right and
has rejected the notion that Canadians have an absolute constitutional
right to possess and use firearms. See R. v. Wiles, [2005] 3 S.C.R.
895, at para. 9; R. v. Hasselwander, [1993] 2 S.C.R. 398, at para. 414.
Although s. 7 of the Charter does not appear to have been expressly
invoked in those cases, the Supreme Court stated in Hasselwander at
para. 414 that, “Canadians, unlike Americans, do not have a
constitutional right to bear arms.” In Wiles at para. 9, the Supreme
Court said: “[P]ossession and use of firearms is not a right or freedom
guaranteed under the Charter, but a privilege.”<br />
<br />
[17] The
Montagues submit that the above-quoted comments are obiter, as ss. 7 and
26 of the Charter were not engaged in Hasselwander and Wiles or any
related jurisprudence.<br />
<br />
[18] We disagree. The Supreme
Court’s comments in Hasselwander and Wiles apply with equal force to s. 7
of the Charter.<br />
<br />
[19] The Supreme Court has also
recognized that the possession and use of firearms is a heavily
regulated activity aimed at ensuring peace, order and public safety: see
Wiles, at para. 9; Reference re Firearms Act (Can.), [2000] 1 S.C.R.
783</blockquote>
By the way, the decision of the Court in Montague was delivered by
Moldaver J.A., who Harper later appointed to the Supreme Court.<span class="text_exposed_show"> </span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><br />
Some people point to some ancient English common law right to arm yourself. Not any more. Not even in England. They point to section 26 of the Charter that the "</span><span class="text_exposed_show">guarantee in this Charter of certain rights and freedoms shall not be
construed as denying the existence of any other rights or freedoms that
exist in Canada," which they say includes the common law "right" to bear arms. That was specifically shot down in </span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show">the 2010 case of R. v. Montague (above, para. 17). </span>The common law of gun ownership was completely eclipsed by the
enactment of the Firearms Act and regulations. When comprehensive
legislation comes, it replaces the common law, which was again affirmed in </span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show">R. v. Montague (above, para. 19)</span></span>. The common law only
continues to exist in areas not covered by legislation. The field of gun regulation is pretty well covered.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">Of
course, property can't be taken without the authority of law. The current regulation suggests that</span></span></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"> owners of the 1500 variants and mods of the
dozen or so newly-prohibited guns will not have to turn them in. It specifically refers to them being "grandfathered" to current owners (page 65 of the OiC). Government officials
(and the published Order in Council regulation) have said this new regulation will <b><i>not</i></b> require owners of these now-banned guns to hand them over. They just won't be able to buy any more or </span></span></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">sell them to anyone but the government. They will apparently no longer be able to take them to gun ranges either to target shoot as they have been moved into the prohibited class of weapons. They become museum pieces. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93omUHbxWCskuZVAY6XuanOXDUW6yiDKkmBR77V4gwRUEcVLgYE619CL7vhyphenhyphenq_N_8cx_YhRq_Fzflk3yBD3ejcIA9Ev3RnWt4DkTi2jOQrpMb-rDYyGsi2_OINiQ8WfQ6eos5MkCSGhQ0/s1600/Grandfather.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="948" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93omUHbxWCskuZVAY6XuanOXDUW6yiDKkmBR77V4gwRUEcVLgYE619CL7vhyphenhyphenq_N_8cx_YhRq_Fzflk3yBD3ejcIA9Ev3RnWt4DkTi2jOQrpMb-rDYyGsi2_OINiQ8WfQ6eos5MkCSGhQ0/s320/Grandfather.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Even if<span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"> owners of these guns had to turn them in, that would not be without precedent either. There are many examples of things that were once legal and then became illegal. Lawn darts were legal in Canada until 1989. You could get </span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">toothpaste containing both radium and thorium in the 1920s. Even drunk driving in and of itself was not a criminal offence until 1921. Then it was. At one point, citizens could possess dynamite and explosives without a permit or license. To make this point I even did a tongue in cheek (but legally correct) Facebook post about when it was legal to own a bear in Canada - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/stephen.lautens/posts/1330220000522420" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/stephen.lautens/posts/1330220000522420 </a></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="text_exposed_show">But what about my "property rights?" some gun fanciers cry.</span><span class="text_exposed_show"> There are lots of
examples of regulating, banning and even expropriating property by the government.
Think of large capacity magazines and silencers, or moving some
short-barrelled pistols from the restricted to the prohibited lists. The
reality is, governments regulate property rights all the time, the
result of which is sometimes you can't own something anymore. Governments also have the right to seize personal property under the law. </span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show">No province requires that individuals whose property is targeted by
civil forfeiture proceedings be convicted of or even be charged with
committing an illegal act. </span>There are all kinds of examples of expropriation of personal property and land. In the case of </span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><i>Quebec (AG) v. Laroche</i> [2002] the court ruled that there was no "constitutional guarantee of property rights, which was deliberately not included in the Charter."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">I've had non-lawyers (but somehow constitutional experts nonetheless) also try to shoehorn gun ownership rights into Charter sections 7 (liberty) or 8 (</span></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">unreasonable search or seizure). Nope. Section 15 (equality rights), because it's unfair that First Nations have an exemption for firearms (which they have historically have had for a long time). Nope again. Section 26 (common law continues)? Nope. See above about Canadian firearms laws and regulations covering the field.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">And it's interesting that some of the people arguing for an expanded interpretation of the Charter are the same ones who complain about "judge-made law." </span></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><br /></span></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">And they all forget about section 1 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms: "</span></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">The <cite class="XRefExternal">Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms</cite>
guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such
reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a
free and democratic society." The key phrase here is <i>"</i></span></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><i>subject only to such
reasonable limits prescribed by law..."</i>. No freedom is absolute. We live in a society here. I have a hard time imagining this firearm ban would be found to be unreasonable by a court.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">Canadian law is shaped more by "peace, order and good government" than "stand your ground."</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><i>"But this won't solve the gun problem,"</i> is the other complaint.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-1qd0xha r-ad9z0x r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show">Legal
guns do end up in the hands of criminals. Every gun starts life as a
legal gun. Then they get stolen, smuggled or lost, or an otherwise "legal" gun owner suddenly undergoes a crisis and crosses the line to illegal by his actions. Most gun owners are
responsible and law-abiding, but that in and of itself does not create
an entitlement.</span></span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="text_exposed_show">I don't see this as a solution to crime, but rather a policy statement
about where Canada is going. Unlike our southern cousins, we do not want
to become a gun culture. They are all past the point of no return in
terms of firearm saturation (120.5 guns per 100 Americans in 2017, and
rising). As for crime, it is pretty much steady in Canada. Youth crime
was down 10.5% in 2018 while violent crime wa<span class="text_exposed_show">s
up 1.4%. There is a slight trend upward, but hardly a crime spree as the Conservatives like to fearmonger. And we are already pretty tough on crimes involving firearms, contrary to what </span></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show">the Sun chain likes to proclaim</span></span>. I
expect it will be down substantially when the new numbers come out
because of the decriminalization of marijuana. <br /> </span></span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show"> I
have had a PAL for over 30 years. I don't get emotional about guns.
They are fun to shoot but they are just things, not a lifestyle or
religion. They don't represent some long out of date mythology of
freedom or Wild West idea of self defence. That isn't part of Canada's
culture. Traditional subsistence hunters still have access to the guns
they use as tools. No hunter uses any of the guns listed (except maybe
the M14). These are hobby guns. Target, range and "collector" guns - just an expensive version of lawn darts. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show">Restricting the future availability of some kinds of guns may
not have any effect on our crime rate, but it says something about what
we aspire to be as a society.</span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FaFIeIXA8aWRAvDwZJSwyuB4BTcoHInmZJ633bMAcZ5-z9z9NnH55HhxZcA-TxkPkhhReAMYwywthz7Jpch_RVzTjK8xYsa31mr6Sz_5czQLMd05l6E6H3IG1Q6w494li_9CLvAi4r9L/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-05-05+at+1.27.58+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="863" data-original-width="1600" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FaFIeIXA8aWRAvDwZJSwyuB4BTcoHInmZJ633bMAcZ5-z9z9NnH55HhxZcA-TxkPkhhReAMYwywthz7Jpch_RVzTjK8xYsa31mr6Sz_5czQLMd05l6E6H3IG1Q6w494li_9CLvAi4r9L/s320/Screen+Shot+2020-05-05+at+1.27.58+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"And a phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range..."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="text_exposed_show"> </span> </span>Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-35753029650810406692019-06-04T12:44:00.000-04:002019-06-05T08:26:05.463-04:00Tails Between His Legs - What The Hell Is Trump Wearing?There are far bigger issues in the world right now, but Trump's 'formal wear' at the State Dinner given by The Queen at Buckingham Palace simply is a sartorial monstrosity.<br />
<br />
I have worn 'white tie and tails' a number of times. It simply makes you feel amazing. It makes you want to dance like Fred Astaire while sipping champagne and negotiating a treaty between warring Balkan countries.<br />
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So when I saw Trump - a man supposedly with money and his own clothing line - wearing his formal wear at Buckingham Palace, I felt the need to deconstruct everything wrong with it. And there is a lot, so buckle up...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2HwlEFhuc4EdaSW4W6ztuFJAW_7NVw0dLOV5rO4TyvciYHqXx1CdW616p7vCKIcbxYwAkDAK_3D67_OMWQ-Bwi1VzV5ECHEtejJTDEbkV7lLFsWz0bumkzbNqebhrGr6Vpia-p0qScQ_b/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-06-04+at+12.10.54+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1421" data-original-width="1600" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2HwlEFhuc4EdaSW4W6ztuFJAW_7NVw0dLOV5rO4TyvciYHqXx1CdW616p7vCKIcbxYwAkDAK_3D67_OMWQ-Bwi1VzV5ECHEtejJTDEbkV7lLFsWz0bumkzbNqebhrGr6Vpia-p0qScQ_b/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-06-04+at+12.10.54+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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First, the vest. Oh my God, the vest. When wearing tails the vest should not hang down below the jacket. At most, there should only be a sliver of white showing below the jacket, and some consider even this heresy. Here, Trump's vest has a good four inches of real estate below the equator. The vest is too long and the jacket is too short.<br />
<br />
Next, the shirt is all wrong. Trump is wearing a turn-down, plain shirt collar instead of a stand up wing collar. Not only that, the shirt has pleats in the front like a tux (not tails) shirt. A shirt for white tie should be plain front, either a piqué or a plain starched front.<br />
<br />
Then there's the tie. Every man should know (or should know someone who knows) how to tie a bow tie. This little white tie is clearly pre-tied (one up from a clip on).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-XVrX5I93RHc3tZkMvgmD_7xVRldx4Ea43enEWKO_VdHJAkFwPoG9Ef9cRXZbs8efQjePeM52Xr6I9eNRwTFr5Uv44Na_49ooBcOChs6byn5lXlGX8vxuIfwsSB6QXS09Xa9OvwIXUAX/s1600/wing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="871" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-XVrX5I93RHc3tZkMvgmD_7xVRldx4Ea43enEWKO_VdHJAkFwPoG9Ef9cRXZbs8efQjePeM52Xr6I9eNRwTFr5Uv44Na_49ooBcOChs6byn5lXlGX8vxuIfwsSB6QXS09Xa9OvwIXUAX/s320/wing.jpg" width="275" /></a></div>
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Last, Trump's jacket sleeves are far too long. You should see about a half inch of shirt cuff, but these sleeves come down to his knuckles. (Insert tiny hands joke here.) You are not supposed to wear a wristwatch with white tie either, but it is impossible to tell if there is one under there.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0uxs1AuaIazV1gNGFHoSAoO5UKCV7P1sGSfV3q0poew-Ofyxu6r8V_UL6mPImuAdeZbtKgGZU-fcwphqbr0ZeW-Xi7uqE7rlWa7z5WMQ6sKar89m9Nl3xG9Z12aZIV2q6bKy4_jMDUfc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-06-04+at+12.21.46+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="1600" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0uxs1AuaIazV1gNGFHoSAoO5UKCV7P1sGSfV3q0poew-Ofyxu6r8V_UL6mPImuAdeZbtKgGZU-fcwphqbr0ZeW-Xi7uqE7rlWa7z5WMQ6sKar89m9Nl3xG9Z12aZIV2q6bKy4_jMDUfc/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-06-04+at+12.21.46+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Still, the problems with Donald Trump's white tie and tails pale in comparison to those of his sons. Eric and Don Jr. seem to have dressed themselves as extras in The Wild, Wild West...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimHJsXieg4hsLdpfd0uxgpGogfG18X8X0xPYL4aRVxStEEP5GTpjTpkyUsitSPmOCMONnNejFnq5_KWteCJ2Mps1pKdtMn7ElcLgJVR7BLKXnjdeE4sbIUZssUlTKifp4v50NmfojE7AxS/s1600/Ivanka-Trump-1899287.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="590" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimHJsXieg4hsLdpfd0uxgpGogfG18X8X0xPYL4aRVxStEEP5GTpjTpkyUsitSPmOCMONnNejFnq5_KWteCJ2Mps1pKdtMn7ElcLgJVR7BLKXnjdeE4sbIUZssUlTKifp4v50NmfojE7AxS/s320/Ivanka-Trump-1899287.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Both boys are wearing jackets with square cut fronts and backs instead of actual "tails". I've never seen this cut of jacket before - anywhere. I can only imagine they were found somewhere in the back of a prom rental shop. Don Jr.'s is in bad need of a pressing and Eric's has some weird front closure that covers the vest. A closer look shows Eric and Don Jr. are wearing the same jacket (2 for 1 sale?) and the jacket is meant to be buttoned. A button and buttonhole can be seen on Don Jr.'s jacket below. Eric has his actually buttoned in the above photo, covering the vest except for two weird little points showing. A tail coat is never meant to be buttoned. It is meant to hang open. I expect the powder blue stretch limo is just out of shot.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpPa_OLD4hyQjCDcd7jN0FTmwNmUKaUr9D8nGGmxwqc31s2dylkqlMay5wmdsGLct1GIhbUkNShRcLe31OtNpJ00E4kRdzwOWgK_19BCFjilI8qHEDXH7qam9sq_varTJ4-ebIcNnt3i7Y/s1600/don+jr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1208" data-original-width="1600" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpPa_OLD4hyQjCDcd7jN0FTmwNmUKaUr9D8nGGmxwqc31s2dylkqlMay5wmdsGLct1GIhbUkNShRcLe31OtNpJ00E4kRdzwOWgK_19BCFjilI8qHEDXH7qam9sq_varTJ4-ebIcNnt3i7Y/s320/don+jr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The only one wearing proper white tie and tails is (shudder) Jared, showing the right amount of cuff, a sliver of vest, and correct shirt and tie. The rest look like the Clampetts, which is amazing considering the resources and advice available to the Trumps, or even a <a href="https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/white-tie-dress-code" target="_blank">quick internet search</a>.<br />
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If you want to see white tie worn properly, I give you Benedict Cumberbatch...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi57qnLNhUUaNvRIW9sGkrZplIdWmP22jVYdW8WJX8lzv8HyqH3ZaQ0bwhCqYKVeYZPjP37POdWaodTgUIFx8X3s231jTBl8LCtXu5JA7sFEIqHAA8Jf5jxqXdPuo94WpgZfXPDCKbr7Lbx/s1600/bc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1530" data-original-width="1020" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi57qnLNhUUaNvRIW9sGkrZplIdWmP22jVYdW8WJX8lzv8HyqH3ZaQ0bwhCqYKVeYZPjP37POdWaodTgUIFx8X3s231jTBl8LCtXu5JA7sFEIqHAA8Jf5jxqXdPuo94WpgZfXPDCKbr7Lbx/s320/bc.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
Or even (blush), my slightly younger self...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih3BAPvIn5ipC-ozxoNkqf-3U1R6gH9b-LBwRpUzD_M1RV4bb2PxYogvaxTNKzF0mpX9-5aDUqy-vB_NzmjWtGJLstXCzs6r-qe3aJpE7ZgDt14OJP3o0QuYTdhNkpmo9y4yQnVk08gmPN/s1600/Herald+2005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1597" data-original-width="1125" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih3BAPvIn5ipC-ozxoNkqf-3U1R6gH9b-LBwRpUzD_M1RV4bb2PxYogvaxTNKzF0mpX9-5aDUqy-vB_NzmjWtGJLstXCzs6r-qe3aJpE7ZgDt14OJP3o0QuYTdhNkpmo9y4yQnVk08gmPN/s320/Herald+2005.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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I'll leave you with a final thought - who wore it better? Trump or Frankenstein's monster?<br />
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<br />Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-26415235218257594782019-04-08T12:26:00.001-04:002019-04-08T12:26:31.049-04:00My Toronto Star Op-Ed Piece on the Jody Wilson-Raybould Affair<b>Bismarck Had A Point</b><br />
<br />
<i>Toronto Star</i><br />
<i>April 4, 2019</i><br />
<br />
<i>By Stephen Lautens</i><br />
<br />
Bismarck once supposedly said: “You should never watch while your laws or sausages are being made.”<br />
<br />
<div class="text_exposed_show">
The realities of what goes into both of them can be distinctly off-putting.<br />
<br />
Canada has had a front row seat in the SNC-Lavalin sausage factory for
the past two months and it has distinctly spoiled our appetites.<br />
<br />
Starting with a leak, a narrative emerged that then Attorney General
Jody Wilson-Raybould was under siege, holding out like the Alamo against
an onslaught of attempts to persuade her that she should use her
extraordinary powers as AG to change the already decided course of the
criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin and allow them to enter into
negotiations for a plea deal. The plea deal may be on terms more or less
onerous than a roll of the dice on the outcome of a criminal trial, but
it comes with the ability of SNC-Lavalin too keep bidding on Canadian
contracts. A conviction would not.<br />
<br />
SNC-Lavalin is on trial for
what was at one point systemic corporate corruption. Because of
institutionalized bribery and kickbacks, they were banned by the World
Bank from bidding on any of their contracts, and if convicted in Canada
could face a similar 10-year ban here as well.<br />
<br />
Well and good. The
Prime Minister, his office and various other departments thought a deal
was in the best interests of Canada, investors (including Quebec
pension funds), employees, and would be generally popular in Quebec.
Except the independent prosecutor in the Attorney General’s office said
no deal. The AG backed her prosecutors and said that was the end of it –
prosecutorial independence, cornerstone of our justice system.<br />
<br />
Except it wasn’t. The government pressed, pleaded and argued. Some
experts say that is acceptable, as long as the final decision remains
with the Attorney General. Others are stricter and say no means no.
Trudeau and others pressed on and the AG said their attempts at
persuasion were unwelcome. Buzz off.<br />
<br />
It is an accepted rule that
if an Attorney General feels their independence has been compromised,
they have to resign – immediately - usually with a short statement in
the House of Commons as to why. The few times it has happened, it has
been devastating to a government.<br />
<br />
But that didn’t happen here.
Instead of a bombshell we’ve had a brush fire. The Attorney General
didn’t resign. At least not as Attorney General. Someone else became
Attorney General, she was shuffled to another portfolio and after a
month resigned.<br />
<br />
For two months there have been arguments,
speeches, leaks, taped phone calls, tweets, hearings, statements and now
expulsion from caucus.<br />
<br />
So the question is, are we better or worse off having seen the sausages being made?<br />
<br />
© Stephen Lautens 2019<br />
<br />
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Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-55871958533542835852019-04-08T12:21:00.001-04:002019-04-08T12:21:10.465-04:00SNC-Lavalin, Deferred Prosecution Agreements and the Whole Ball of Wax.I was doing the rounds last ween after a tweet
thread of mine took off about the duty of an Attorney General to resign
if he/she feels pressured (not secretly tape record government
officials, be the subject of leaks, letters, and tweets). Here's my
appearance on the Jon McComb Show, a Global affiliate radio show in BC, chatting about the Liberal caucus expulsions, the SNC-Lavalin
mess, and what's next.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://omny.fm/shows/the-jon-mccomb-show/trudeau-boots-out-wilson-raybould-and-philpott-the">https://omny.fm/shows/the-jon-mccomb-show/trudeau-boots-out-wilson-raybould-and-philpott-the</a><br />
<br />
I also managed an appearance on CTV, a local show in Cobourg and a column in the Toronto Star.<br />
<br />
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Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-45621046120426842682017-09-29T08:23:00.000-04:002017-09-29T08:23:36.037-04:00Playboy - End of an Era
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8uzsDgQ0fW2RxgkQ6jX9vy8yfLinMDRJ9t9z7C20dXorwPhgQh8x-Hw7F62hGrawgpgckEiEB5VmdUBaEEFknEIAZR4dfnkxjAcutXknky0BOmRfP9rUNJpbCq1PxHFc8TtIV3XqGHm-N/s1600/Playboy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1227" data-original-width="1004" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8uzsDgQ0fW2RxgkQ6jX9vy8yfLinMDRJ9t9z7C20dXorwPhgQh8x-Hw7F62hGrawgpgckEiEB5VmdUBaEEFknEIAZR4dfnkxjAcutXknky0BOmRfP9rUNJpbCq1PxHFc8TtIV3XqGHm-N/s200/Playboy.jpg" width="163" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The passing of Hugh Hefner makes me remember one of my prize possessions - a collection of vintage Playboy magazines I inherited from my grandfather. They are now in the 'library' of my own cottage and lest you think I keep them for prurient interests (an innocent Google search of an ambiguous word will bring up infinitely worse images) I consider them interesting historical documents. Yes, I read the articles.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I wrote about them back in 1999. Here's that column... </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /><b><span>Angel In The Centerfold</span>
</b></span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">by Stephen Lautens</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We celebrated my Grandfather’s 85<sup>th</sup>
birthday last week.<span> </span>He shows no signs of
slowing down.<span> </span>He goes shopping every
day, and although legally blind he still won his local mini-golf tournament.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It’s a good thing I’m not counting
on any inheritance.<span> </span>His mother kept
going well into her nineties.<span> </span>I’ll be in
the next room at the retirement home before I’m likely to collect a dime.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Besides, I already have the family
treasure.<span> </span>Packed away in the basement is
Grampa’s vintage Playboy collection.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The hundred or so magazines run
from the late 50s to the 70s, and were the highlight of my summers at the
cottage, where Grampa maintained his library.<span>
</span>He kept them in the attic, along with a couple of nudist volleyball
magazines.<span> </span>The nudist magazines caused
great confusion during my formative years.<span>
</span>In the 50s everyone’s bodies were so highly airbrushed that they were as
featureless as Barbie dolls.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Looking back though the old
Playboys is like opening a time capsule. The men’s fashions start off looking
like Drew Carey in the fifties, and end up in with the velvet capes and ruffled
shirts of the seventies.<span> </span>It would be
funny except for the fact that most teenagers are now wearing the same
clothes.<span> </span>Not to mention Austin Powers.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I get hours of fun looking at the
ads. Bob Dylan’s greatest hits are for sale on 8-Track or reel-to-reel tape for
$2.50.<span> </span>And who could resist Ravi Shankar
Live at the Monterey Pop Festival, or John Davidson singing Georgy Girl?</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The 1963 Volkswagen Beetle looks
interesting, especially with a new one selling for $1,500.<span> </span>I wonder if they'll ever catch on?<span> </span>The same goes for these new home computers
they kept talking about in the 70s.<span> </span>I
can't imagine anyone ever needing one of those things.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It’s not all funny.<span> </span>There’s a letter to the editor by the mother
of Lee Harvey Oswald saying she doesn’t believe her son was a lone gunman,
spawning decades of conspiracy theories.<span>
</span>An American Senator writes in 1968 questioning the wisdom of waging war
in Vietnam.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And of course, there’s the sex.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Looking through the back issues it
seems like there was less nudity in Playboy than you now get in an evening of
television.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What really surprised me was how
the centerfolds looked.<span> </span>In a word, they
looked normal.<span> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While certainly not chubby, make no
mistake - these are full-figured gals. No skinny stick insects with plastic
additions that today inspire a generation of girls to develop eating
disorders.<span> </span>These days they would be rushed
off to a weight clinic and fed nothing but sprouts and low fat yogurt.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The models aren’t airbrushed to
perfection.<span> </span>Tan lines are there for all
to see. So is every mole and imperfection.<span>
</span>In short, while pretty, they didn’t set up standards that are impossible
to meet.<span> </span>They are real people. The girl
next door.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Somehow that seems like a healthier
attitude towards beauty than we have today with liposuction, cosmetic surgery
and trying to squeeze a size 12 body into a size 2 dress.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">By my calculations, Miss November
1966 will be fifty-five sometime this year.<span>
</span>I hope she's aged gracefully and naturally. No matter what, according to
Grandpa's library she'll always be twenty-two. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(c) Stephen Lautens </i></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;">
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Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-41685659702025837782017-08-15T17:54:00.000-04:002017-08-15T17:54:11.603-04:00S+S Podcast - August 15, 2017Another new podcast from Stephen + Steven. Prophetically, after Trump had a public meltdown today, we talk about America losing its way and why when Nazis (neo or otherwise) are involved, they are automatically in the wrong.<br />
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<a href="https://soundcloud.com/stephen-steven/white-supremacists-whats-the-best-way-to-fight-them-is-the-us-too-far-gone-to-fix">https://soundcloud.com/stephen-steven/white-supremacists-whats-the-best-way-to-fight-them-is-the-us-too-far-gone-to-fix</a><br />
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<br />Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-68552120751238436332017-08-15T16:40:00.002-04:002017-08-15T17:17:26.544-04:00Why It Is Impossible to Have A Reasonable DIscussionEven after all that, after the killing and maiming at Charlottesville, the unrestrained hate, bigotry and symbols of mass murder on display for all to see, there are still people like this...<br />
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<br />Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-25256512440917525172017-08-08T13:32:00.002-04:002017-08-08T13:35:42.417-04:00Another New Podcast - S+S Are Back!Or is it S+S <i><b>is</b></i> back?<br />
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Whatever it is, the Stephen + Steven podcast is back after a long hiatus. We try to catch up on what's going on - Trudeau's persistence in the polls, social conservatives on the boil, the Omar Khadr settlement (again). We were so busy the hour went by and we didn't even get to Trump being busy making America something again. Something for next week.<br />
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Here it is on iTunes: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/stephen-steven-talk-politics/id1115988749?mt=2">https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/stephen-steven-talk-politics/id1115988749?mt=2</a><br />
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Here it is on Soundcloud: <a href="https://soundcloud.com/stephen-steven/stephen-steven-august-7-2017-aac-for-audio-podcasting">https://soundcloud.com/stephen-steven/stephen-steven-august-7-2017-aac-for-audio-podcasting</a><br />
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Don't forget to follow us on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/stephenstevenshow/#">https://www.facebook.com/stephenstevenshow/#</a><br />
<br />Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-28542676364074660502017-08-03T09:36:00.000-04:002017-08-03T09:37:47.036-04:00New Podcast!The audio archive of my appearance last night on #TheViewUpHere is now available.<br />
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I talk about "The Rule of Law" as the basis for a free and democratic society, but how neo-conservatives in Canada and the USA fight, resist and wilfully ignore the law in implementing their agenda through government. I call it "Law & Order Without The Law Part".<br />
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I run through the defeat in the courts of various key platform pieces of Harper and Trump's legislation for unconstitutionality, the attacks on judges and courts, and conservatives' claims that they report to a "higher power" than the courts and the law - the people.<br />
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Finally, I'll unpack the Omar Khadr case from capture to $10.5 million settlement, looking at it as a study in governments' willingness to ignore, sidestep and deny various basic human and international legal rights in the pursuit of ideology, and why it puts democracy and everyone's rights and freedoms at risk.<br />
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<a href="http://d1at8ppinvdju8.cloudfront.net/1/017/show_10172061_2017_08_03_03_55_47.mp3?cId=448b0d7b-0129-4fd4-8b9e-9ecb747bb594" target="_blank">Have a listen.</a><br />
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<br />Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-78718870269920916612017-06-18T10:31:00.002-04:002017-06-18T10:31:52.252-04:00Lessons in Fatherhood - The Newborn Years<h2>
Lessons in Fatherhood</h2>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The author, about to do something <br />terrible to his own father.</td></tr>
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<br />There are things that no baby book can prepare you for as a new parent. You can read all you want, but it's like learning to drive a car by looking at the owner's manual. Nothing beats getting behind the wheel. <br /><br />So, for the benefit of anyone who either is considering adding a tax deduction to the family or already has one but has no idea if it's normal, I've put together a couple of things they never tell you about having a baby in the house. <br /><br />A baby has the ability to sense the exact moment when dinner hits the table, your wife gets that receptive look in her eye, or the five part murder mystery you have been watching for the past two months is about to end and explain who did it and why. It doesn't matter how fast asleep the baby is or how quiet you are, it knows when you are in danger of enjoying yourself. At that point, it will shriek like it is on fire, making you run upstairs in a way that would cause your insurer to cancel your policy. When you arrive, the little darling will be quietly smiling and looking at you like you've interrupted something important that they were doing. <br /><br />A baby will not just spit up on your tie as you are heading out the door to an important business meeting. That is far too obvious and they know you are ready for it. Instead, a baby will fake you out with a small, cute drop of drool. Don't fall for it. It's only bait. If you do cautiously approach its slobbery face with a tissue, while your attention is focussed on the top end it will take the opportunity to silently whiz on your tie, shirt and shoes. You will not even feel it until it is too late. Then, while you're using a bath towel to dry yourself off, it will barf down your collar or up your sleeve. The first rule of infants is that they have an inexhaustible supply of revolting bodily fluids. <br /><br />No method of calming down a baby will ever work twice. If you find the magic solution that makes him happy and puts him to sleep, the next night it will have the same calming effect as tying a large bat around its neck. Stuffed toys that previously delighted them will instantly have the same effect as garlic on a vampire. <br /><br />Everyone with a baby near the same age as yours will instantly enter into competition with you. If yours sleeps for six hours, theirs sleeps for eight. If yours sleeps for eight, theirs is hibernating and will probably wake in time for college. By the time your baby has learned to roll over, the others are allegedly doing triple backflips into a full pike and sticking the landing. These are all lies, the proof of which is how their babies behave like rather large potatoes when you run into them at the park. <br /><br />Mothers will insist that babies have to wear both socks and a dopey hat before they can be seen in public. Men as adults would just as soon do without either hats or socks, and don't understand why babies should be made to wear them. There just seems something terribly wrong about making anyone who can't defend themselves wear a floppy plaid hat. Regardless, it is a universal rule that socks that took fifteen minutes to put on a baby will be off and lost forever in less than thirty seconds. <br /><br />So take heart. You are not alone. <br /><br />And besides, they'll be teenagers in a blink and you'll be clueless once again. I think it comes with being a parent. Our own parents were just better at hiding it.<br />
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© Stephen Lautens 2002</h4>
Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-70889187435465268952016-09-18T10:36:00.000-04:002016-09-18T10:38:45.559-04:00S+S Podcast: Minimum Wage, Canadian Values & Lobsters Down Your PantsThe new Stephen + Steven podcast is now available on <a href="https://t.co/Wbq7dv3wW3" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a> and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/stephen-steven-talk-politics/id1115988749?mt=2" target="_blank">iTunes</a>.<br />
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This week we talk about a $15 minimum wage, reminisce about our own first jobs (Steven's involved painting fish and mine had me chasing a man with a lobster down his pants), and discuss what 'Canadian values' mean.<br />
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If that doesn't pique your interest, I don't know what will. <br />
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<br />Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-87540000885043665352016-09-08T09:25:00.000-04:002016-09-08T11:23:13.421-04:00Radio Appearance on "The View Up Here"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTbEF0i_N1bocd7I3egcKYw6nua05Ka0jFXEeir9NPGcYYC3rHeKqy8jgjS3bXxbJbOMAe4SepjlQAMID9k3P0TSE25gGcgu_0hhthT3XjML__pVStWAGq8zADawP5VquNWFdEnE4eSNc/s1600/cpc+black+hood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTbEF0i_N1bocd7I3egcKYw6nua05Ka0jFXEeir9NPGcYYC3rHeKqy8jgjS3bXxbJbOMAe4SepjlQAMID9k3P0TSE25gGcgu_0hhthT3XjML__pVStWAGq8zADawP5VquNWFdEnE4eSNc/s200/cpc+black+hood.jpg" width="200" /></a>I was delighted to be asked back (for a 5th time) to @CanadianGlen's "The View Up Here" to talk about the future of the political Right in Canada and the US. Has the Right in both countries selectively bred the moderates out of their conservative parties leaving only the extremists and nuts?<br />
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Can they get back to the centre or are they now captive of the Alt-Right and its media machine of the Breitbarts, Alex Jones, Hannity and Fox News? Is Trump the fever that will finally break the Republicans from their Tea Party delirium? How long will the ghost of Harper and the Reform party keep Canadian Conservatives in the wilderness?<br />
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<a href="http://blogtalk.vo.llnwd.net/o23/show/9/283/show_9283237_2016_09_08_03_39_39.mp3">http://blogtalk.vo.llnwd.net/o23/show/9/283/show_9283237_2016_09_08_03_39_39.mp3</a><br />
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<br />Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-68934967057588909932016-08-07T12:39:00.002-04:002016-08-07T12:39:53.179-04:00Memories of Rio<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hotel balcony in Rio at Copacabana Beach</td></tr>
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The Olympics make me remember my time in Rio in 1983 on a government trade visit (we were selling Brasil Canadian wheat). It was so foggy you could hardly see anything. The hotel warned us to always carry $50 to give to robbers, because if you didn't have enough when they robbed you they might kill you.<br />
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The other thing I vividly remember was the drive in from the airport. The 4-lane highway had 5 or more cars driving across. No one paid attention to lines. The result was the cars often "touched" at high speed, bounced off each other and all kept going. The driver told me they had highway cars and "good" cars because if you drove on the highway, you were going to get dents. No one stopped - they just merrily honked after a hit and kept driving. In town people rarely stopped at stop lights for two reasons - one, they didn't care, and two, if you stopped at an intersection you could well be set upon by robbers.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Embassy party, wishing I had brought my bathing suit.</td></tr>
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<br />Still, a beautiful country, and I can report I was never robbed once, although the car I was in was merrily bumped several times by other drivers who honked, waved and drove off.<br /><br /> And where else are you addressed as "The Illustrious Doctor..."?<br />
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Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-41433677416509122162016-07-28T23:22:00.000-04:002016-07-28T23:23:31.448-04:00A Visit To The Gary Lautens Archives<br />
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Earlier this month the Lautens family made a visit to the McMaster University Archives in Hamilton to deposit a poster that hung in the window of the iconic Honest Ed's in Toronto for 30 years. The archivists do a great job maintaining his over 12,000 original columns, letters, photos and even his trophies and many awards for writing. You can read about it here in the <a href="http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/article/how-a-piece-of-honest-eds-found-its-way-to-mcmaster/" target="_blank">McMaster Daily News</a>.<br />
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It was great visiting it and seeing again many of the things that were around the house growing up.<br />
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I also got to have a look around their spectacular archive and hold both Bertrand Russell's Nobel Prize and Galileo's original 1632 "Dialogo".<br />
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Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-2095211786058642472016-07-23T14:24:00.002-04:002016-07-23T14:24:57.007-04:00The old CRA scam.Not a very convincing CRA/IRS scammer who says all he can do if I don't call back is to "wish me luck".<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyhLpanQJ1bO5XLKjpIpzm1_UWlMNJoQOsJNim9WKzv52xRzpppos8SPjNjflJd_kO2BT4L9ap-ERswy-3ePw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-72459025335956220902016-07-04T16:10:00.000-04:002016-07-04T16:10:35.480-04:00New S+S podcast on iTunes - Brexit, referendums and the madness of crowds. Join Steven Kerzner and me as we pick through the rubble of the #Brexit vote in the UK, and reflect on the wisdom of giving weighty and complex issues to the people via a referendum.<br />
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iTunes version: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/brexit-why-democracy-can-no/id1115988749?i=1000371602205&mt=2">https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/brexit-why-democracy-can-no/id1115988749?i=1000371602205&mt=2</a><br />
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Soundcloud: <a href="https://soundcloud.com/stephen-steven/the-brexit-and-why-democracy-can-no-longer-be-trusted-to-ignorant-voters">https://soundcloud.com/stephen-steven/the-brexit-and-why-democracy-can-no-longer-be-trusted-to-ignorant-voters</a><br />
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<br />Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-15102789303838464332016-06-06T15:35:00.000-04:002016-06-06T15:36:00.136-04:00Now on iTunes - the Stephen+Steven Podcast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You asked for it. Some of you positively whined for it. Okay - here it is. Our popular Canadian current events podcast is now on iTunes, available for listening or download and treasuring for ever.<br />
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All our past podcasts are available in the archive and new ones are published as soon as they come out, so subscribe and never miss another one.<br />
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/stephen-steven-talk-politics/id1115988749?mt=2">https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/stephen-steven-talk-politics/id1115988749?mt=2</a><br />
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<br />Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-41410909003482666082016-04-30T10:53:00.001-04:002016-04-30T10:53:16.838-04:00Dad and Honest Ed's Yesterday I spent the day with my family and theatre impresario David Mirvish and his GM Russell Lazar. A poster of my one of father's columns has been in the window of Honest Ed's for more 30 years. When in the neighbourhood I used to pass by and enjoy seeing his slightly faded face looking down at me from behind the glass.<br />
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With Honest Ed's slated for demolition, my mom asked what was going to be done with the column poster. David Mirvish (Ed's son) kindly offered it to the family to be deposited in the Gary Lautens Archives, housed at McMaster University.<br />
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Yesterday we had a little ceremony to hand it over. I and brother Richard (Jane couldn't make it) joined mom and a couple of grandkids for a little photo op and a walk down memory lane. Afterwards David Mirvish took us on a tour of his/his late father's office which is more like a museum with a lifetime of theatre and personal memorabilia.<br />
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The Toronto Star sent a photographer and wrote up the little presentation:<br /><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/04/29/beloved-gary-lautens-column-gets-new-home-with-the-end-of-honest-eds.html" target="_blank">http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/04/29/beloved-gary-lautens-column-gets-new-home-with-the-end-of-honest-eds.html</a><br />
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Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-85419343735388093902016-04-02T23:40:00.001-04:002016-04-07T23:46:09.286-04:00New Stephen + Steven Podcast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The newest installment of my podcast with Steven Kerzner (aka: Ed the Sock's human alter ego). This week we conduct a post-mortem on the Ghomeshi trial - what the verdict means, when and if a vigorous defence crosses the line, and how "not guilty" is different than "innocent."<br />
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Plus, following the Rob Ford funeral, what is the future of Ford Nation and the Ford political dynasty? In our estimation, not much.<br />
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Have a listen as the book is closed on these two chapters.<br />
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<a href="https://soundcloud.com/stephen-steven/stephen-steven-ghomeshi-verdict-marie-henien-rob-fords-legacy">https://soundcloud.com/stephen-steven/stephen-steven-ghomeshi-verdict-marie-henien-rob-fords-legacy</a>Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-68879765486500934192015-11-11T11:59:00.000-05:002015-11-11T12:02:38.793-05:00How To Remove a Federally-Appointed Judge in Canada<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">With the shocking behaviour of <a href="http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/judge-apologizes-for-keep-your-knees-together-comment-1.2652482" target="_blank">Alberta Provincial Court Judge Robin Camp</a>
(since appointed to the Federal Court by Peter MacKay in a last gasp
list of 2015 judicial appointments before the election), there is much
confusion about how to actuallt discipline and/or remove a sitting
federally-appointed judge. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The long-standing
traditional of judicial independence that goes back to 1703 means judges
are secure from arbitrary dismissal or political interference. That is
an important safeguard of both justice and democracy.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
what happens when a judge's behavour questions their fitness to remain
on the bench? The following is an extract from my article in <a href="http://lautens.blogspot.ca/2015/03/article-justice-lori-douglas-and.html" target="_blank">Canadian Lawyer Magazine from May, 2015</a> that discusses the procedure in Canada.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">*** </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Canadian Judicial Council was created in 1971 under the
Judges Act with “the mandate to promote efficiency, uniformity, and
accountability, and to improve the quality of judicial service in the superior
courts of Canada.” The most significant part of the CJC’s legislative mandate
is to review any complaint or allegation made about any of the more than 1100
federally appointed judges. It created a procedural framework for dealing with
complaints. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Canadian Judicial Council is chaired by the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, who presides over 38 other Council members, who are the
chief justices and associate chief justices of Canada’s superior courts, the
senior judges of the territorial courts, and the Chief Justice of the Court Martial
Appeal Court of Canada. There are no lay members on the CJC.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Complaints against sitting judges come from a variety of
sources. In the age of self-representation, a number come from litigants or the
criminally accused, unhappy with their up close and personal encounters with
the pointy end of justice. Some come from members of the public unhappy with
the actions or comments of judges as reported in the media. Others come from
members of the legal profession unhappy with their interactions with the judiciary.
Under the statute, requests to review a judge’s conduct can also come from a
provincial Attorney General or the federal Minister of Justice. Complaints can
be made anonymously. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The CJC has a published complaints procedure policy.
Frivolous or meritless complaints about a judge are weeded out shortly after
intake by the Executive Director. These may be complaints about things other
than the judge’s conduct, or complaints that do not fall under the CJC’s
jurisdiction. Of the 555 complaint letters received by the CJC in 2013-14, some
222 were classified in their Annual Report as “mandate” letters, indicating
they were not about matters within the CJC’s jurisdiction or mandate. A further
19 letters received by the CJC were simply deemed “irrational”. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The CJC received fewer than 25 complaints a year in its
first decade, rising steadily to pass 100 per year in 1990-91. For the next
decade it averaged 167 complaints a year. That number hasn’t changed
dramatically since 2002.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Complaints not rejected at intake are passed to the
Chairperson of the CJC, or one of the Vice Chairs, who can close the file as
without merit, with or without the input of the judge complained of or his or
her Chief Justice. Alternately the Chairperson can refer the complaint onto the
next stage, a Review Panel of three or five judges, which can decide to refer a
complaint to a full inquiry. It can’t call witnesses or compel the production
of documents, but can ask for the assistance of outside counsel. It too can
close the file and write a warning letter to the judge about any concerns
regarding his or her behaviour but otherwise cannot take any disciplinary
action.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If the Review Panel feels the “matter may be serious enough
to warrant removal” it will refer a complaint to an Inquiry Committee, which
can investigate, and hire its own and independent counsel to assemble and
present information. This has only been done 8 times since 1971. The Inquiry Committee normally holds a public hearing,
where the judge and the complainant can attend and give evidence about the
matter that led to the complaint. The Inquiry Committee prepares a report,
which goes to the full Canadian Judicial Council for discussion and decision as
to whether it will recommend the removal of the judge by Parliament.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Canadian Judicial Council has only recommended three
times to remove a judge from office since it was created in 1971. In reality,
however, as the CJC’s website points out, “Parliament has never had to face
such a situation, but sometimes a judge will retire or resign before that step
is taken.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>© Stephen Lautens 2015</i> </span></span></div>
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Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-35910589850982810052015-11-09T14:42:00.000-05:002015-11-09T14:46:29.357-05:00The Man Who Enjoyed Vimy RidgeAs far as I know, we only have one war hero in the family - my great great uncle Harry Ellwood George. He was my paternal grandmother's uncle. His family were the Georges, who came to Canada in the 1840s from Hessen, Germany. By 1914 they were Canadian enough for Harry to volunteer in Saskatoon for active service to fight against his parents' homeland (having changed their name from "Georg" to the more British-sounding "George").<br />
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And serve he did - Hill 60, the Somme, Paschendaele and Vimy, and a lot of places in between. He was wounded, declared dead for a week and rose from private to the rank of Lieutenant before retiring a Captain and dying in the 1950s as a reservist Colonel. He constantly survived the middle of the various meat grinders of The Great War while others weren't so lucky, and as the most senior man left standing he rose through the ranks. No shirker, he picked up a bullet and a piece of shrapnel that left one arm almost useless at war's end. And he was "mentioned in dispatches" for something gallant, although we don't know what.<br />
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One quote from his letter home after being in the thick of the fighting at Vimy Ridge gives you a sense of the man: <br />
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"Vimy Ridge was the best fight I have been in. Our casualties were light and I really did enjoy it. We made three attacks in the week. It was great to go over the top at them, and there seems to be no thought of danger.”<br />
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So there you have it - a relative of mine actually enjoyed the battle of Vimy Ridge.<br />
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Through it all he didn't have any animosity towards the Germans. They were just doing their duty trying to kill him as he was trying to kill them. They cheerfully waved at each other over the parapets when a shot went wide to let the enemy know they had missed. He was full of less love for the French villagers, who he saw as sullen, unhelpful and willing to jack up the price of an egg when the buyer was in uniform. <br />
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I never knew him, but he came home and readapted quickly to civilian life. Was he tormented by the war that took most of the friends he had signed up with? Who knows? It was before my time, but people who knew him said he remained kind and funny until a heart attack spectacularly took him away while driving, and he and his car went over the side of a bridge.<br />
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Here's to you Harry.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1fE3VIhWA0N_0-QUpgIEJmbNdCHRG-FKrgYUWHk6pcin-jKIKYk-_snkx_DS8bjoV1eDmoR4twQjlAglpzwrDrFxVHtLMC_sny7N5hsxlFrvZYEC4gyXJVt01mBKhD2C9IjiaWwxLBNU3/s1600/George+HE+-+1918+medal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1fE3VIhWA0N_0-QUpgIEJmbNdCHRG-FKrgYUWHk6pcin-jKIKYk-_snkx_DS8bjoV1eDmoR4twQjlAglpzwrDrFxVHtLMC_sny7N5hsxlFrvZYEC4gyXJVt01mBKhD2C9IjiaWwxLBNU3/s400/George+HE+-+1918+medal.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5446503003267330108.post-85321787813839644502015-11-03T11:31:00.001-05:002015-11-03T11:31:38.395-05:00Women in Politics<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">With the ridiculous fuss being raised about Justin Trudeau seeking gender parity in his new cabinet, I remembered I wrote a column back in 2008 about the value of women politicians. It was in the wake of Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime
Bernier leaving sensitive documents at his girlfriend's house. It was also before Bev Oda and her $16 orange juice and stay at the Savoy proved me wrong...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">*****</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Vote For Your Local Woman</span></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The resignation of former Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime
Bernier has been splashed all over the papers, with the predictable denials,
half-apologies, accusations of a witch-hunt, frame-up and cover-up.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The whole thing has led me to one sad conclusion – men are
not temperamentally suited for politics. Let’s face it, men have never really
been good at getting things done. We’ll start a lot of things, but how many do
we actually finish?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The part of politics that involves strutting around and
making promises we don’t intend to remember let alone keep, that part we’re
good at. We’re also good at standing in the Commons or Legislature and
insulting other men, and then challenging them to say it outside. Photo-ops, self-congratulatory
speeches, we’ve got that covered. In short, any of the peacock-type aspects of
politics, men are your man, so to speak.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But if you want anything of substance done, we all know you
have to give it to a woman. If it is difficult, dirty and thankless, a woman is
your man. And if it’s a question of judgment, my money is on the opposite sex
any day of the week.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And back to the topic of sex, I bet we’d have a lot fewer
sex scandals in politics if women ran the show. Can you imagine Margaret Thatcher
with a boy toy, or Indira Gandhi? Do you think Hillary would have been caught
with a frowsy political aide in the Oval office like husband Bill Clinton? Most
of the time men have one thing on their mind – two if it is dinnertime. In
spite of movies like “Sex in the City”, most women of my acquaintance
unfortunately are not consumed 24 hours a day with thoughts of a frisky nature.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now, I know a woman was involved in the current “Mad Max”
scandal, but no one is questioning her judgment. Okay – maybe dating a
Conservative cabinet minister doesn’t show the best taste, but secret
government documents weren’t the kind of political briefs at the heart of her
relationship.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I think women politicians would also be less likely to
forget sensitive documents and leave them lying around. Women know where things
are and where to find them in any household, and since men are lacking in their
domestic duties, it’s unlikely we’ll find any lost items while cleaning.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One thing is for sure, women also have a clearer sense of
what is actually needed. I have no doubt that a government run by women would
solve more of our social problems in a month than the last ten governments
combined. You can bet that the healthcare and education crises would be fixed,
and we’d have a national system of daycare by next Thursday at the latest. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Corruption in high places? Not in a female government. Once
you take sex and booze out of the equation, I think you’ll find that drops off
too. High priced travel junkets? Not going to happen. When was the last time a
woman took a selfish vacation when everyone catered to her instead of her
ending up in a kitchenette in another country?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The justice system would be cleaned up in a hurry as well. I
think most families were like mine – if you had to confess to some minor
infraction, you tried to get dad to deal with it before mom found out. No one
liked to face the wrath of mom. She could have run on a law and order ticket.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The problem is getting men to vote for someone who is that
good for us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">© Stephen Lautens 2008 </span></i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span>Stephen Lautenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04386829588926959048noreply@blogger.com