200626 news

friday 26th.

news.

  first something good. toronto's mayor tory is proposing police reforms to be debated starting monday. among his suggestions are non-police response teams, and increased use of the police force's current mobile crisis teams when a situation does not require the heavier hand of the police. "sensible, meaningful policing change must happen." says mr tory. he is also asking that funding be prioritized for "social supports and services... in 'Indigenous, Black and marginalized communities' ". he also demands full implementation of recommendations from various past reports and inquests. well, yes! what are they waiting for?

 the article i reference is on the bottom half of page 6 in today's globe and mail, which brings me to the bad news. why was this article considered to be so low down in importance? we are getting "bad news", if we are not hearing about events that we should be aware of. i talked about the papers dropping stories of the deaths of black people involving police in my june 20 post. and the protests: i wonder, are they still active? where? there has been almost nothing in the star. then this: it was the 24 of june before i heard about seattle's capitol hill autonomous zone (chaz). i scan the star's online news most mornings and have seen nothing about protests in the states, only one or two articles on events in canada. i hadn't seen news about seattle since early june. so why? how is this good reporting? several city blocks, including an abandoned police station, barricaded and declared autonomous, is newsworthy! and trump is pressuring seattle to deal with the protesters with a firm hand. (but i seldom read about trump, so maybe that's how i missed the story.) a higher profile of these and other protest and police stories would help us understand how bad things are in the us. it feels like a perfect storm of social upheaval: protests and conflicts possibly, probably ongoing, as the united states approaches the presidential election. a deeply divided citizenship is already charged to flashpoint by pandemic, unemployment, desperatation, a drained economy and a very scary leader.

  perhaps these things are old news and new stories draw readers. however when protests are not written about they are silenced. and we cannot object to a violence or hurt to a person or a people if we do not know about it. it is kept, intentionally or not, a secret. secrecy and silence start to sound like news manipulation (but by whom? - perhaps several groups). the less combustible news is brought out like shadow puppets. look over here, don't look where that trouble is, it's nothing. silence and secrecy are the weapons of the unethical, the tyrants and bullies.

  it is our right and privilege to read what we wish, from any source, but it is also our right to have available to us all the news, un-filtered through some political or social bottleneck. this is a world of disease and climate change and soon, hardship. i want to know where i can look for true untwisted news from an ethical source. i want to know if a reporter who writes a truth will be allowed to publish it. 

  this is itself such "old news"! how long have people fought for freedom and truth (and equality!), not in all of history, just in american, north american history? almost every sci fi novel i have read features the same fight for justice and equality.

  

  yes, change now, as we move into a new world, a new normal (hence sci-fi). let it be a sea change, to a world where we continue to act as we have acted in this pandemic, kind and helping. we have seen differences put aside while leaders and countries navigate a common enemy. i have to believe they are acting in good faith, who are putting people before money.

i am looking about for better newspapers and info sources. please pass on any of your favorites. this is one reason i am trying the globe and mail for a few weeks. some of you are laughing at my unimaginative and microscopic leap to the "glob and mall" as a "better" choice! baby steps.