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02:11 - 11.05.07
Golden Snitch
I saw a t-shirt on the front page of the newspaper yesterday that concerned me a bit. It was being worn by a young drug dealer who eas emerging from court. The slogan read "stop snitching - kill rats". Of course within the gangs that is their code of conduct, but it now seems to permeate the whole of society. Whether it is corporate, or entertainment/celebrity, political or community based there now seems to be an attitude that whatever someone chooses to do that is illegal should be ignored and even actively hidden by those who witness it. The outrage expressed by those who are caught by authorities whether they are stealing, dealing drugs, bullying or causing danger to others is that it is the fault of the reporters of the crime rather than their own fault for breaking the law to begin with. I agree that some legislation is not well thought out nor is it always evenly applied across society, but that doesn't give one permission to break those laws either. If one feels strongly enough about judicial reform there are a lot of legal means available to force change. Write your elected representatives. Work with committees set up for that purpose or read a book such as "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau. It was good enough to act as a texbook for Mahatma Gandhi and the civil rights movement in the US half a century ago and it was effective, was it not? I'm really tired of hearing the law breakers blaming the police or the co-workers/neighbours/media or whoever who tries to stop them, for the perpetrators own freely made choices. Most especially galling is when the politicians and bureaucrats who draft the laws, break them with impunity and then attack the whistleblowers with the full power implicit in their positions. They are no different than that young drug dealer other than the choice of clothes they choose to wear. Accountability and responsibility as well as ethical behaviour seem to be somehow only meant for everyone else - sort of like the laws for driving, eh? A good example today was the calculator one of the watchdog organizations created to show motorists how much they were being overcharged for gas for their vehicles. The reaction of the oil industry was to attack the non-profit organization for having the bad form to bring it up. I guess we could all go back to horse back riding. Suit me just fine.

Usually my television is only on for the news of the day. Last night I had extended conversations on the phone with my Dad and one of my sisters so I forgot to turn it off. The upshot was that I was transfixed when I saw Barry Gibb singing live on American Idol. Some people just get better with time don't they. His voice may not be as powerful as it once was, but he was singing "Words" from the heart and it showed. Hmmmmmmmm.

The upshot with the conversation with my sister was that my brother-in-law arrived at my home this morning just after my youngest had left for work. I had been explaining some of the problems I was having maintaining the structure of my home and the role that the neighbours had played in the issue. He wanted to assess the damage and the amount of work and materials needed to get everything back up to scratch. I don't think that what I have been describing to the family over the past few years really registered before. Two jobs and six sons to raise over a decade by myself doesn't leave any time, energy or money for the poor homestead. He was very eager to get the entire place done within a very short period of time - bringing in a team of family and friends - and I appreciate his kindness, but I don't have a job and I don't have the money to pay for all the things he was listing off. Besides that the amount of time and physical energy required to prepare for all those repairs that I would have to expend is something that I need to have some control over. Right now just lifting and shifting the buckets of water I'm using to wash down the floors and windows is causing me a lot of back pain. I can only work for a couple of hours at a time and then I need an additional day to recuperate. I have no problem with that, because over time I will build up both muscle strength and endurance too. Weight lifting 101, you see. However,I don't want to get as sick as I was again so I have to set the pace. I also have to take care that the dust stirred up doesn't overwhelm my lungs either. truth is is that my primaary goal has to be getting a new job and I need to look both healthy and rested when I go to interviews to even have a chance of being hired - don't I? Besides the cats are finding the constant changes a little unsettling and they don't have the capacity to understand my explanations of same. Besides it is the nasty neighbours I want to throw off balance. I explained to my brother-in-law what a profound effect just rebuilding the fence had on reducing their verbal assualts on me and their physical assaults on the property. If i can get a new storm door and repair all the damage from their vandalism outside then I think my sense of safety will increase. The stress of continually being afraid of their actions has been a major contributor to my illness I think and it's time to turn the tables a bit. He said he would get back to me in a day or two with a proposed plan and I'm hoping it will be something that we will both be happy working out together along with my sons.

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