UNLV Studying the Social Capital Influence of Blogs

I recently received an unsolicited comment on the Blog from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas departments of Management Information Systems and Sociology inviting me to participate in a survey investigating the effects of Blogs on “Social Capital.”

I check them out and took the survey and have received a preliminary report on the findings of an early study the UNLV did. I have undertaken to keep the results confidential so far because the results will be published in an academic journal first. I can tell you, based on early reports; the influence in both instances is significant. I can tell you they are a fascinating insight into who blogs and relates to blogs and how they use them.

I am very interested in the influence blogs have both on the institutions who “run” our society from government to the voluntary sector. I am equally interested in the influence they have on individuals. My suspicion that the Internet and Blogs are two inter-related elements in a new revolutionary form of communications is beginning to be proven correct.

I will keep you advised of the developments on this work of UNLV.

Calgary MLA Richard Magnus Announces Retirement From Politics

Richard Magnus (Calgary North Hill) announced today that he is the next PC departee from de PC party. So another veteran that has decided to move on and out of politics. We can expect many more similar announcements like this over the next few weeks I imagine.

Renewal and revitalization of Alberta politics requires it. The Progressive Conservative Party definitely needs to address the issue of political renewal. The party undertook a half-hearted attempt after the less than stellar 2004 election. But that was under old leadership. Now we have new leadership and that brings new opportunity.

The Harper Adscam is Heating up

Kudos to the Ottawa Citizen for delving into the details of the Cons version of Adscam and lets hope they keep up the good work

Citizens better get behind the people at Elections Canada and demand no political interference by the Harper Cons in this investigation. They need to be independent and able to pursue this issue without political pressure or interference.

Remember Jean-Pierre Kingsley? He used to be the Chief Electoral Officer and he “suddenly resigned” last December when he took on the Harper Cons over donor status of convention fees. That decision caused Mr. Harper himself to be caught as contributing over the legal donation limits. I am sure it is merely coincidental that the Chief Electoral Officer resigned shortly after that decision. But you have to wonder.

How Accountable has the Harper Con government been around their much vaunted Federal; Accountability Act? Check out Democracy Watch for some background.

Small wonder we feel we can’t rust this government.

Lessons Learned From Steven Truscott

Let the Steven Truscott story be a warning to those who see the death penalty as unquestionably justified. Let the Steven Truscott story be a warning to those who would blithely try children in adult court and subject to adult sanctions.

The Canadian justice system is a human construct and consequently mistakes get made. Appeals are there to try to minimize their incidence and correct them when they occur.

Systems are like people, they develop cultures, attitudes, patterns and blind spots. Judges are the flesh and blood stuff of human frailty and the judgements they make are mostly honest efforts at rational assessment. They reach their conclusions by weighing evidence and that is based on their experience, insights and a pursuit of practical wisdom. This is all within the laws written for us by our politicians.

The Truscott story show just how wrong and misdirected our systems and judgments can be sometimes. There is a manifestation of this misdirection epitomized in the point made in today’s Globe and Mail editorial. It notes that the original trial judge approached the then federal Minister of Justice (one Mr. Trudeau) attempting to have him launch a prosecution against an author. The author’s offence was that she wrote a book alleging Truscott’s innocence in 1966.

Trudeau declined the invitation to politically interfere in the judicial system as well he ignored the judge’s interference in the political system. We need the judiciary to be feistly independent of politics. We need politicians who value, honour and respect that necessary distance between themselves and the courts.

Steven Truscott finally has seen the benefit of that independent judiciary and lawyers who are well trained and dedicated to protecting citizens from abuse by the state. In light of these events I wonder if Steve Harper is having second thought about his plan to politically interfere with the judicial appointment process. I doubt it. Too bad!

The big lesson from this story for citizens – be careful who you elect and be wary of who they appoint to the bench. Your freedom demands your vigilance.

Congratulations Steven Truscott – too long in coming but Free at last, Free at last!

The Court’s decision is too long to digest quickly so here is part of the “Conclusion” which says enough about the injustices done to this man:

“[776] For the reasons set out above, we are satisfied that the fresh evidence and the new material before this court have significantly undermined the strength of each of the four factual pillars of the Crown’s case. In contrast, much of that material has given added force to the evidentiary foundation of the defence case.
[786] Finally, then as now, the crime scene continues to raise serious questions about the Crown’s theory as to how this crime was committed. While the evidence does not exclude the possibility that the appellant was the killer, aspects of the scene of Lynne’s death seem inconsistent with the theory that the appellant was the perpetrator.
[787] For these reasons, dealt with in considerably more detail above, we have concluded that, while it cannot be said that no jury acting judicially could reasonably convict, we are satisfied that if a new trial were possible, an acquittal would clearly be the more likely result. Having regard to the highly unusual circumstances of this Reference, we have determined that the most appropriate remedy is to enter an acquittal. Accordingly, in the words of s. 696.3(3)(ii) of the Criminal Code, the appeal is allowed, the conviction for murder is set aside and an acquittal entered.
[788] We wish to thank all counsel for their assistance in this unique and difficult case. We have already referred to the determination of Mr. Truscott’s counsel, who diligently pursued every possible avenue and presented their case with candour and great skill. Likewise, Crown counsel were extremely thorough and, as one would expect, candid and helpful in their presentation of the Crown’s case."

Damn I love it when the system works. We citizens all owe a debt of gratitude to Steven Truscott and David Milgard before him for their persistence and patience and especially their strength of character in pursuing justice.