Methinks he doth protest too much

Yes folks, it's a two-in-a-row day, cause I have a burr in my ass after watching a Global National report (clip position 7:16-9:48) on a Parliamentary review of Tasers. If you followed the link , you saw that the report begins with a study by a Cook County Team of researchers (the Cook County Electrical Trauma Study Group) on 11 sedated pigs. The pigs' hearts were monitored during two blasts with the a taser, and it was noted that cardiovascular damage was being seen, and in fact two of the pigs died after the procedure.

In the whole news piece prepared by Global National's Jacques Bourbeau, one thing stood out above all else...in the parliamentary committee investigating the case of the Polish immigrant who died in Vancouver International Airport in November of last year, guess who decided to show up to defend tasers? That's right, the President of Taser International (and co-founder), Tom Smith. Gee, I wish I could say I was shocked that he would show up to defend his company's product.....no, let's be real...sarcasm won't do justice to what I think about this.

At one point, Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh posed this question to Tom Smith: "Are you suggesting that while 300 people have died in North American, 17 of them in Canada, subsequent to them being tasered, that tasers have not played any part whatsoever in those deaths?"

Tom Smith replied: "In terms of the studies that have been done, we have not seen anything conclusively that has come back scientifically that has said a taser has killed."

Later, he also stated: "There are less than 30 cases where the taser has been listed as a contributing factor, meaning it's listed along with other devices."

Folks, what's the first lesson in marketing and Damage Control? Let me spell it out for you...D-U-H. The great thing about subjectivity is that it means you can cherrypick! Don't like the results in one study? Discount it, or even try to discredit it! It's easy to produce your own study of studies on your product that make it seem almost totally safe and beneficial (just as it's easy to produce a study against).

And why do such claims fall upon mine own deaf ears? Because not for one ridiculously-minute fraction of a second do I ever believe anyone who tells me something (especially a weapon, defensive or otherwise) is ONLY or almost only safe and beneficial. It's a crock of shit. Don't pardon my language. I spare nothing for fools who try to sell me a bill of goods that earns higher praise than God Almighty Himself (yes, I'm being sarcastic obviously...after all, I'm bringing in concepts I don't believe in to prove the utter ridiculousness of such claims). 300 people dead, and you're telling me that less than 30...less than 10% could be the only cases related to tasers Yeah, hmmm. No. I understand that there are a host of other contributions to a death in the event of a tasering, such as medical background issues, drug/alcohol use, etc. but let's get real for once and stop painting Tasers are an innocent and safe product, and finally discuss it in real terms, as a significant and real contributor to death in no small number of deaths.

Only when we stop viewing tasers in relatively rose-coloured glasses, and see the real potential (good or bad) of this product, can we finally have a real dialogue on the necessity or value of this product in our country.

Salespeople, beware. You want to peddle bullshit, you just keep peddling your ass right on down the road to some other sucker. Just ask the people at Club Fit.

Lights off, Lights on

This picture was taken at Lori's House, New Year's Eve 1998. A few days earlier, I emailed Rod and asked him just what exactly we were...dating...messing around...just friends, what? Turns out, we were dating, which suited me very well. I just wonder...what exactly was the idea that just didn't seem to take at the time?

This picture was taken by Gail when she was in town over the holidays of 2007. This fantastically accidental shot shows that nearly nine years to the day, Rod got whatever the idea was.

Harry Thomas Chudyk, 1936-2008

My father-in-law passed away very suddenly on Friday, January 18, 2008 at his home in Vegreville, AB. He was 71 years old. Survived by wife Irene, son Rodney (Fancy) and daughter Marie (Randy), mother Frances, Brothers Eugene (Olga) and Mike (Theresa), several nieces and nephews, and numerous other family members and friends who loved him.

I was honoured to deliver his eulogy at the funeral last week. I am home now, but Rod is still in Vegreville, helping his mother and uncles deal with the details of his life and business.

Rest in Peace Harry.

Mourning

I had started an introspective look back at 2007 and a look forward to 2008 last week, but then something happened. I got a phone call.

My mother told me that a family member had been killed in a motor vehicle accident on a highway around Revelstoke. At first, I was in shock, and the first thing I thought of was trying to reach at least one of the kids to let them know they had my condolences. After the shock wore off, the grief set in. I managed to reach the girls, and I found myself talking to the youngest, and my heart is broken for those kids.

Suddenly the introspective takes on a different meaning.

Rest in Peace Karen and Dennis.