"SPEED KILLS" - WHAT A SILLY SIMPLIFICATION

There was an article/Letter To The Editor in today's Waterloo Region Record titled "Speed kills, so please slow down". I beg to differ. It isn't speed that kills, primarily it's stupidity, mental laziness and inattentiveness. A two car head-on collision at a speed limit of 80 km per hour is just as fatal as a two car head-on collision at 95 km. per hour. Dead is dead. The fifteen km per hour excess speed above the limit does reduce the drivers reaction times slightly. In the case described the author states that she had a precious few seconds to swerve onto the shoulder of the road and get out of the way. Good for her in that clearly she was paying attention.

Her assertion that the oncoming driver's speed was the cause of the near collision is a generalization at best. Was he sober or drunk? Was he talking to his passenger when he pulled out to pass? Was there all of one car going slowly in front of him or was there a lineup of eight cars all going slowly and bunched together? Were there two slow cars with numerous car lengths of empty space between them (eg. ten car lengths or more) until he pulled out to pass and then the immediate car in front of him stepped on the gas to close the gap between himself and the next car?

It is possible, perhaps likely, that the oncoming car in her lane was 100% at fault. Possibly he had been speeding constantly for the past hour and simply pulled out without first carefully and attentively observing both oncoming traffic plus the number of vehicles immediately in front of him. Or in the alternative there might have been a three car line up due to the first car driving below the speed limit while under perfect road and weather conditions. Then the next two cars decided not to pass him regardless of an empty oncoming lane. Did he pull out to pass without any observable oncoming traffic only to have one or more of the three cars ahead of him take umbrage at his nerve in passing and intentionally and aggressively block his safe return to the right lane after passing either the first car or the first two cars?

Blaming speeding out of hand fails to recognize all the dynamics that may have been going on.

KUDOS TO MIKE RAMSAY WRDSB TRUSTEE

The May 5, 2016 Waterloo Region Record carried this story titled "Trustee "embarassed" that high schools fall short by 269 diplomas". While I say kudos to Mr. Ramsay regarding his embarassment that the Waterloo Region District School Board seem incapable of performing their core duties, let us not also forget that Mr. Ramsay is a longtime school trustee. He knows the reasons that the WRDSB are not sucessfully educating and graduating a larger percentage of their students. That said his comments about it being "unacceptable" are true as well as his frustration that the Board are "...unable to explain why our students are not keeping pace with other students across Ontario". Keep this in mind however that explanations are not necessarily solutions. Explanations are also sometimes just a little too close to excuses. Let's see the Board determine the reason why and then act on it appropriately in the best interests of the students. This of course is always difficult when students come a distant third to teachers' unions and Board staff in the hierarchy.

YET ANOTHER ARTICLE ON DISTRACTED DRIVING & TEXTING

Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys this story titled "Ontario considers promoting safe texting zones". I'm kind of shocked at this article. Basically a private member of the Ontario legislature is promoting a Bill that would have the provincial Transport Ministry post signs on provincial highways advising drivers to hold off on their texting until the next upcoming rest stops or exits. I'm appalled doubly that members of our legislature seem to believe that Ontario drivers are that stupid in the first place and secondly that they might be right. Good Lord if we have to go so far as to post signs to get drivers to postpone their texting and receiving of messages until they are stopped then I think we have passed the point of no return. If car drivers are so suicidal and homicidal that they need to be babysat and reminded not to drive and text then I think as a species we are at long last on our way out. Human beings certainly have learned how to kill each other in great numbers and for ridiculous reasons but this latest warning suggestion is over the top.

THE TRUTH COMES OUT AT LONG LAST: TEACHERS UNIONS & THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

Funny how the Dishonourable Robert Reliiy was able to make his decision allegedly based upon the "balance of probability" in favour of a teacher who sued parents two decades ago. I would be curious to know if he was appointed to the bench by the federal government or by the provincial government ie. Ontario. If he was a provincial appointee then clearly he could hardly be called any more unbiased than those who appointed him. Afterall what exactly is the credibility of one appointed by the incredible, dishonest or corrupt?

The Waterloo Region Record have their own Editorial titled "Liberals, teachers' unions too cosy". It is a damning indictment of two groups who's own self-interest is paramount while both hypocritically espousing the public's interest. The taxpayer handouts to the teachers' unions are shameful and should be illegal. The teachers' unions donations right back to the provincial Liberals smell like kickbacks. The record are right in that the two groups can be friends but they should not be bed partners.

ISOLATION/SEGREGATION/ PUNISHMENT/TORTURE

Back on May 11/16 the Waterloo Region Record carried the following story titled "Too many inmates sent to isolation: ombudsman". Even the United Nations have recommended abolishing any segregation longer than fifteen days with no inmates in isolation for more than 60 days in a year. Thus it would seem reasonable that enlightened Ontario would reflect those humanitarian principles. To date not so much. Keep in mind that this is the same province who were responsible for the death of Ashley Smith in Kitchener primarily due to her unlimited time in segregation combined with some mental health issue that were only exacerbated by being in isolation on an ongoing basis. Her alleged "crimes" were primarily in house rule breaking not on the street crimes for which she had received a trial and due process. Instituional charges were one of the sticks with which correctional service employees exercised their authority and control over inmates.

EDUCATION: IS IT ALL A POLITICAL SCAM?

Worse yet is education or the lack therof simply an excuse for governments who neither can nor want to maintain full employment? Is it a simple way to blame the victim when there is "unacceptable" unemployment, along the lines of "Oh if we had more better educated young people then their unemployment rates wouldn't be so high." Last Tuesday's Waterloo Region Record carrys this story titled "Sandals untroubled by weak test scores, graduation rate".

Education Minister Liz Sandals seems capable of ignoring Waterloo Region's bottom third graduation rates in Ontario as well as our elementary students being in the bottom half for English and Math across the province. Furthermore she appears to justify this by suggesting that the University of Waterloo's excellent reputation somehow negates the prior issues. Talk about comparing apples to oranges.

The reality is that far more young people are going farther in school than ever before. When I entered and departed university we would be lucky to have two Grade 13 classes with a half a dozen Grade 9 classes. Nowadays a degree in something is becoming the norm to the point that employers are all about credentialism in order to weed out applicants. An office job requiring brains, common sense and hard work does not require a Bachelor of Arts degree.

DISTRACTED DRIVING = HUA

The polite term is "distracted driving". My term is and has been literally for decades "HUA" which stands for Head Up Ass. Today's Waterloo Region Record Editorial is titled "We are all distracted drivers". First off that's primarily bullshit. Not much more than 55-60% of us are routinely not paying attention when we drive. If it was anymore then none of us would still be surviving after decades of driving. Secondly it's crap that suddenly now distracted driving has surmounted drunken driving as the leading cause of death on our highways. It's always been the leader but police officers etc. simply haven't marked it down on accident reports as such. It is simply so much easier now if you find a turned on cellphone at the scene of a fatal accident. There are probably the usual number of fatal accidents from drivers talking to passengers, gawking at the scenery or other accidents or simply day dreaming. The evidence of the old standby HUA driving is simply not available hence for decades police would suggest speeding among other red herrings.