Comments on The Burd Report: A thought that will not go away

What do we need the police for? Why, to protect u...

2010-07-18T11:54:08.094-04:00

What do we need the police for?

Why, to protect us from pretty young blondes blowing bubbles, of course. Just ask Const. Bubbles, who was famously caught on tape threatening to arrest just such a protester at the G-20.

Thank the good Lord cops like this guy are there to make the world safe from bubble blowers.

here it is from Cramahe: Actually, if you compare...

2010-07-12T10:39:23.875-04:00

here it is from Cramahe:

Actually, if you compare mil rates and average homeowner taxes across the Northumberland board, Cramahe Twp wins hands down as having the highest per capita property taxes in the county. As you'll recall from a recent rant, this township is also run by the same bunch who think they deserve a raise in pay for their stellar oversight of taxpayer's business, AND who insist that a municipality of barely 6,000 souls MUST have a Deputy Mayor to fill in for the sometimes otherwise overworked Mayor Coombs. Hell, Brighton has more than double Cramahe's population, a much better per capita tax situation, and they've NEVER had a DM. Go figure

Ben, re "oops" - it's not to be foun...

2010-07-12T09:42:18.995-04:00

Ben, re "oops" - it's not to be found anywhere. Is it permanently deleted? If so, you might as well delete my response.

The Supreme Court has dealt to some degree with po...

2010-07-11T19:37:36.440-04:00

The Supreme Court has dealt to some degree with police powers of search without arrest in the case R. v Mann. The Court outlines police powers of Investigative Detention. It should be noted without which Colonel Williams would not be in custody and would still be at large.

oops when i looked at the comments i ealised the c...

2010-07-11T16:25:11.059-04:00

oops when i looked at the comments i ealised the comment from cramahe had been moderated in both topics, because thhis topic was about the freedom issues not tax issues I deleted it. I guess if you want to folow it up go to the topic about Port Hope spending recklessly

there was a post here talking about taxes and the ...

2010-07-11T15:41:45.708-04:00

there was a post here talking about taxes and the DM position in Cramahe, where'd it go? My post, beginning with "I'm just guessing here..." was in response to it, and seems rather out of place without the original. Blogger still giving you the gears?

Liking or not liking him is immaterial and unimpor...

2010-07-11T14:01:03.525-04:00

Liking or not liking him is immaterial and unimportant; I don't know Sid Ryan, but I have seen and heard his rhetoric, and it is all self-serving. He has run for political office and I shudder to think what that would inject into our lives, had he been successful. My denunciation was a moment of weakness and had no useful purpose in my post.

If there was a carte blanche operation to have everyone identify themselves at that time, your concern would mean more. The sense I get, not having been there in person, is that the demand for ID was selective suggests that there was a reason for it at the moment. The only ones legally charged with the responsibility to control and contain potential threats to the safety of the 'general' public at large that were assembled in close proximity, are the police. That's one reason, among many, why we have them. Would you have it a different way, and if so, what would that be? If you were accosted and your personal safety were at risk, you might well react as many do, and defend yourself. The police recommend that you call them instead. However, if that situation were to present itself in a massive crowd scenario, imagine the mayhem that would erupt and the potential injuries and loss of life that could happen. We've seen the impulsiveness of people in a crowd when fights break out and we've seen the injuries and deaths that happen because the situation exploded out of control in a matter of moments. If it were your call at the scene as to how to PREVENT that from happening, what would it be? Who's rights would you curtail under such pending circumstances, remembering that once the fuse is lit, there's no place to run to avoid being involved in a calamity of such proportions? To those that were injured and the families of victims, how would you explain your failure to protect their right to safety of person and free assembly? Alternatively, if nothing major happened as a result of your preventative measures, how would you deal with the accusations of charter infringement? It's your call here, show us your astuteness, wisdom and foresight.

how's that for a discussion?

I'm just guessing here, but the role of DM is ...

2010-07-11T13:32:46.028-04:00

I'm just guessing here, but the role of DM is to ensure that, when official business must be conducted at a time when the Mayor is not available, there is a person that has been authorized by council, to sign and seal the legalities that are needed to make the business legal under the municipal act. Without such a position, official business of the municipality would be suspended until the return of the Mayor. I'm pretty sure it's not there just to hold the Mayor's hand.

As for your observation about taxes and mill-rate, just to clarify the nature and role of the 'mill-rate', what do you think would happen if your, and everyone else's mill-rate were simply cut in half, or reduced by any amount you named? What would happen to the amount of tax all of you would have to pay? Assuming you answer that it would go down, where would the rest of the money that the municipality has decided to spend, come from? Reducing the mill-rate does not reduce your taxes - reducing the budgeted expenditures is what does that, and not much else will. Same thing for your, and everyone else's assessment; if it is reduced, what happens to your taxes? Not much if the amount to be collected to cover the expenditures remains the same. The only sensible conclusion is that to reduce your taxes, you must spend LESS, not more; you must give up things that cost your municipality and that it must pay for using tax revenue that you must supply. Simply put, there is no magic wand, no pot of gold, no wizard - just reason and common sense.

What worries me is the number of people who have t...

2010-07-11T13:20:33.300-04:00

What worries me is the number of people who have the attitude that if you've nothing to hide there's nothing to fear from increased police powers.

That misses the point altogether. They're the same bunch who would blame a woman for being sexually assaulted if she was out alone at night, as if women didn't have the same right to be outside as men do.

We are rapidly becoming a police state with the unspoken acquiescence of the slient stupid majority.

I guess you don't like Sid, now discuss the is...

2010-07-11T13:15:57.767-04:00

I guess you don't like Sid, now discuss the issue without the animus and in the light of the right to protest and be free from the need to identify oneself, rights guaranteed in the Charter

let me repeat myself --- "At some point, the ...

2010-07-11T13:05:00.572-04:00

let me repeat myself --- "At some point, the discussion has to address just exactly why we NEED the police. Once we answer that question to the satisfaction of 'the people', we'll be able to define their (police) role and hold them to it.

One BIG problem with that is - those 'needs' do not remain constant and the 'the people' never actually know what they want, as in policy, largely because of their inability or avoidance to look beyond today's issue or annoyance.

It seems that the loudest of the 'aggrieved' are also the loudest, first and foremost to call for action when their personal interests are in jeopardy of being sidelined by other activists. If you saw a clip of Sid Ryan as he stirred the masses yesterday, you got the distinct impression that it was all about his political ambition and how best to use everybody else's passion for his own selfish gain. Just imagine his 'disappearing act' if he were a member of the governing party when this sort of activity explodes upon us. Ryan, that sleeze-bag, is not unique in this, and it's why he'll never earn the respect of 'the people'.