On Page 2 in Saturday’s paper: “Notice to Subscribers: The Waterloo Region Record will be increasing its prices for home-delivery subscribers… Even with these price increases. The Record remains a great value.” No comment.

Craig Wallace is a Hamilton author who has written a number of op-eds for the Hamilton Spectator. A few of his columns have also been published by TheRecord since I guess it’s cheaper to copy a sister publication’s article than to go out and pay for your own. But no matter how much money the Editors at TheRecord saved today, I really think that they should at least read the columns published in other TorStar controlled papers before they simply reprint them here. The title of his column today is: “We must prepare for American election violence”. He reminds us of (the very few) riots that have occurred in the last 55 years or so on both sides of the border and then suggests that Canada should invoke the Emergencies Act – you know, just in case a bunch of Democrats decide to riot in Canada. Yea, right. The third paragraph in his op-ed is rather telling: “Riots have broken out in various cities such as Portland Oregon, New York City, and Seattle Washington, just to name a few. There are concerns of even more heated violence/civil unrest depending on the outcome of the Nov. 3 Presidential election.” First of all, it’s too bad that Mr. Wallace forgot to remind us that all of the city mayors, city councils and governors of the places he mentioned are controlled by Democrats – and have been for some time. So are Republicans in these Democrat controlled cities the ones that are rioting? Ummm… no. They are too busy trying to pay their massive tax burden caused but the outrageous social politics of the cities and states. It’s rather hard to take off work in the middle of the day to go and burn down a building or to battle the police. Secondly, he implies that there may be riots depending of the Presidential election. Again, if Trump is re-elected, would the Republicans or Democrats riot? If Biden gets in, would Republicans riot – have they ever rioted in the last 50 years? And I find it rather strange that Wallace would actually trust Trudeau with the big stick of the Emergencies Act. Is there anything he has done in the last few years that would convey a sense of self control or restraint? Ummm… no.

That’s all I’ve got for today. I really wanted to comment on the main front page story, but I’ll save that for another time since I’m sure there will be way more Burn, Loot and Murder stories from TheRecord. See ya tomorrow.

I think the Community Editorial Board (CEB) is a great idea – a platform where various members of the local community can give us their thoughts on a wide range of topics of interest to readers of TheRecord. The current CEB members were introduced to us on 11 July 2020. They appear to be a rather unique collection of writers. But reading their bio’s I found something rather strange. One has a degree in Social Sciences. O.K. good. Another holds a bachelor of arts degree in Social Development Studies from UofW. O.K. Another worked for the Social Planning Council of Kitchener-Waterloo. Ummm… Sure. Still another member has a degree in Social Work from Renison. Really??? Another person has interests in “social justice”… And finally, one person is a member of a “circle” involved in Civil Rights and Social Action. So, six out of the twelve current members of the CEB either have a degree in Social Whatever or is involved in some kind of Social group. And the “Social” group they belong to isn’t the local bridge club. Are you kidding me? I’ll bet if you stopped a hundred people at the Waterloo Farmer’s Market on any Saturday, you couldn’t find two people with a Social Fill-In-The-Blank degree. I’ll also bet that you couldn’t find five people who could actually describe what a Social FeetShuffling degree is or why any one would actually spend four years of their life getting one. Yet 50% of our oh-so-representative CEB members are involved in something “Social”. O.K. O.K. Everyone knows my opinion on getting a degree that will make you almost unemployable. But I’m willing to give the new members the benefit of the doubt. Maybe being “Social” is good. Maybe…

Donalee McIntyre has an CEB opinion piece in TheRecord today. She is the person with the B.A. in Social Work from Renison. The title of her article is: “For racialized peoples, wellness in the outdoors is an act of resistance”. I read the title 3 or 4 times because I didn’t understand what it meant. Maybe if I read the next few paragraphs, it would help. Her first sentence: “The spring and summer months brought us all outdoors more, and for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of colour) communities there is a need for continued engagement.” Huh??? I’m not exactly sure what race has to do with being outdoors. Wouldn’t it have been better just to say: “Hey – everyone, go outside!!!” I guess not since her next sentence says: “Being outdoors through fall and winter will positively contribute to our physical and mental health as we observe blatant disregard for justice in our global and local communities, police violence, and the inequities compounded by COVID-19.” Well, that explains a lot. I was going to stop reading right there. I was hoping there might be some small trinket of insight – seeing that she has a Social Degree. Then I read this logic gem: “The pandemic creates even more need for those who control outdoor spaces to hire Black, Indigenous and racialized staff, and redistribute power and resources. These actions can start to bridge accessibility gaps, because access to outdoor spaces for people of colour is a priority.” O.K. – I’m not going through her entire 804 word nonsensical diatribe, but I do want to look at these two sentences. Whenever I hear someone suggest that some race should get priority over another race, I think we should call it for what it is: racism. How can Editors at TheRecord print such trash? Comments like this make me think of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous line: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” I guess Ms McIntyre didn’t get that memo in her SW studies… I’m also not aware that non-white people can’t go outside for some reason – due to “accessibility gaps”. Really??? Parks are now restricted based on race? You can’t canoe on the Grand if you are not white? The Iron Horse trail is… Forget it. Maybe someone should have a quiet word with Ms McIntyre regarding the very active cricket league in the Region that has a huge majority of non-white players (as if anyone in their league really cares what colour you are on the pitch). Since Ms McIntyre is so concerned that “access to outdoor spaces for people of colour is a priority”, maybe see should visit any soccer field in the Region on a Sunday afternoon. Maybe it’s time she got outside and opened her eyes… I certainly hope her column is the low bar for the other CEB members. But I’m not holding my breath…

I get mad when I don’t finish the 5-star Sudoku. I’m really mad today.