Yeeeerrrrr OUT!
One of my best friends asked me about the Three Strikes law being proposed by newly re-installed leader of the loyal opposition. Wouldn't that be a good thing to support? Three strikes (serious crimes) and you "come out (of prison) in a box" to invoke Conservative language. It sure sounds like a good idea? I suggested I did not know and would do some digging. Here is what I found (and think).
Crime is reported in two ways:
Against Property (more of a feeling within the community, locally reported)
Against Persons (usually violent and makes the headlines)
Statistics show both types have jumped since COVID; you are not imagining it. Funnily enough, both types of crimes and the more draconian solutions that sound good on paper run right up against the Constitution in the U.S. and the Charter in Canada, specifically Section 33.
Property Crimes
The growth in property crime is perhaps an easier fix, but politically impossible. Here is Guelph, one factor would seem to be the closing of the homeless encampment downtown. They didn't leave. They just scattered throughout the city. The pain felt for years by our downtown businesses is now being felt in the "burbs" You see homeless people scattered throughout the city and the property crime associated with their presence is now shared by everybody. All politicians in Canada should be made to watch "Seattle Is Dying" on YouTube. Every Monday morning. First thing. Without fail. Seattle, long a liberal bastion for the ethical treatment of everything ... has tried pretty much everything! You want the short version? Homelessness has nothing to do with house prices. Period. It has nothing to do with shelter space (although that certainly helps). Homelessness has almost everything to do with untreated mental health issues and the drug abuse that results from that. Full stop. The sanitariums are all closed. Hospitals are slammed. The police are too busy. And, the charter prevents us from dragging them off the streets and putting them in treatment. You gotta fix that. Homeless people have cell phones. They talk among themselves. If ... your city supplies tiny homes, soup kitchens, injection sites, sleeping bags and tents ... your homeless population will explode! End of story. Please watch the video.
Crime Against Persons
A tougher nut to crack. Three strikes laws have been tried in 28 states down south. As usual, that's where Mr. Polievre is getting his talking points. It's been a winner politically for the Republicans. The sound bite is just the correct length for smartphone users. In every jurisdiction that has tried it, it has failed to reduce violent crime. What it has done is spike the murder rate and fill prisons. If you are committing a crime (and have a record), better to just kill the store clerk or the homeowner, rather than take a chance on a live witness giving you a life sentence. While supposed to be for serious felonies, the programs have "grown" to include non-violent crimes. Black single mothers doing fifteen years for marijuana possession. That sort of thing. So judges are now giving out longer sentences (because they have to by law) while early release programs are springing up everywhere. To reduce the load in brutally overcrowded prisons. I doubt Pierre will put the fifty billion in his legislation for the prison construction that is going to be required? Building and operating Supermax prisons has become a privatized growth industry in the U.S. Why would Trump be offshoring the immigrant incarceration portion? I thought he was bringing jobs back to America? There is no room in any U.S. prison for thousands of new inmates! Our Supreme Court has already ruled that to use the notwithstanding clause even once would require both the House of Commons and the Senate to vote in favour. That's a five year fix that would require multiple landslide election wins for party that wants to do this. I can't see that happening soon? That is the only way PP is going to get past Section 33 of the charter. Don't be fooled. This is about politics, not about policy or public safety. It is about looking tough on crime. He is a lightweight. Here is some additional reading and a link to the documentary.
https://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-hamilton-spectator/20250419/281646785987189 (paste this link into your browser)
My Optimum Week
At the last minute, I relented and cashed in some points at the Bonus Redemption Event. Shoppers had a pretty good flyer last week, and it took about twenty minutes to fill three carts with $347 worth of staples (and a few goodies). My cost was $27. We are now stocked until the snow flies. Even though I haven't totally organized my new pantry yet, you can get an idea from this picture. The space I cleared in the basement allowed me to consolidate my canning efforts into a new corner in the basement. I like to call it pickle heaven. That picture a little later.
Your Optimum Week
OMG! What a flyer combined with a four day Bonus Redemption Event! Zehr's WANTS your Thanksgiving shopping. I would give it to them. Usually, I am picking the best deals from the first few pages of the flyer? This week, of the first 25 items in the flyer, I would buy 21 of them! Hopefully, you have 250 or 500 or 750 thousand points to redeem? Back up the bus!
BTW
Shoppers have that mystery points event. Spend $60 to get $20 in points. That's a straight third off. Every fifty or so customers (no one knows) the system generates an extra 10,000 points. I have it on good authority (cashier) that it happens with some regularity. Not to me, of course. Pricks. Perfect if you need a larger single purchase. Make-up? Cold medicine?
Frog Balls
I promised to come back with the recipe when Brussel sprouts came on sale. There are in your list. I will be making these later today or tomorrow.
Fixing PC Mac and Cheese
We used to love this product, and you simply cannot make it for what PC sells it for. Having said that, the taste has been flattened in recent years. It's an easy fix. When it's half cooked, pull it and remove the plastic. Give the whole thing a liberal shot of salt. Add a cup and half of grated cheese. Use a spatula to push that down into the half cooked mixture a bit. Cover with foil and return to finish. My first choice would be whatever block of cheese you have in your fridge that has gone mouldy. Scrape that off, and grate the rest. Second choice would be old white cheddar. I would pick grated Parmesan third. Fourth is that Kraft shit in the cupboard. Fifth, a handful of sawdust. You get my drift?
I Am Reading
Neal Stephenson
I tell anyone who will listen that an online subscription to The New York Times is the best deal in online journalism. Two bucks a month. I thought I would get a Canadian equivalent, but The Star wants $27.95! Last I checked, they didn't have 140 Pulitzer Prizes. I get a daily dose of Canadian content from Flipboard (MG) and have links turned up for The Sun, The Star, The Western Standard, Maclean's and the Winnipeg Free Press. I was a religious Sun reader for twenty years. It is amazing how far they have fallen into what is basically a far north version of Breitbart. Anti-Trudeau to a fault, they just scratched out his name and have continued with Carney. Utter garbage. The reason I mentioned The Times is they have a weekly online quiz where they give you two historical events and ask to place them in chronological order. The first question is always a no brainer. Egyptians built pyramids. Brittany shaved her head. Which came later? That sort of thing. Trust me, they get harder. I am not sure I have ever had a perfect score, but it is the additional reading that I really like. When they point out the gaps in your historical knowledge, they provide a link to an archived full length article from the Times on that subject. This is rabbit hole exploration of the highest order. I strongly recommend both The Times and this weekly quiz.
We Are Watching
I turned on our Sportsnet subscription. The Blue Jays are in the playoffs, and Leafs are starting up. Plex is metering out Slow Horse episodes, and BritBox is doing the same with Lynley. The new seasons of The Diplomat, Lioness and The Landman are still just around the corner. We needed something. We found another BritBox cop show we like. Scott & Bailey on Britbox is about two female detectives who are partners in the Manchester Major Crimes Unit. They have lots of chemistry and lots of drama in their personal lives. We inhaled season one.
In Case You Care
Purists will not like this. I'm not sure I care. Fifty years ago, I was driving a Buffalo BOMAG compacter for Miller Paving. We were building the Finch Avenue extension, west of Victoria Park (it used to deadend there for you youngsters). One of the city inspectors was a bit of a gourmet and heard that I was interested in cooking. We were talking about scratch spaghetti sauce, and he gave me some advice that has stayed with me ever since. He was talking about spaghetti sauce, but I routinely use this trick for lots of things. Soups, stews, chili, curries, salad dressings. Add about 10% (a can, a cup, a dollop ... depending) of the store-bought stuff that you are trying to improve on. My pot of chili gets a can of Stagg. My scratch Ceasar dressing gets a heaping tablespoon of Renee's. When we order in Chinese food, the leftover rice is always stretched into all the rice we eat for the following week. Doing this fills a hole in the flavour profile that subconsciously you expect ... when you eat that food. Trust me, it makes a difference. It can be our little secret.
Mitch & Maddie