Kudos To Campbell Soups CANADA...

Campbell’s Nourish brand tackles hunger through Canada’s food banks

A Thumbs Up To Those Who Protested...

...and we at least know what is happening in this one particular case but what about the thousands and thousands and thousands of abuses of people in cultures that differ from ours. As a collective we jump at the chance of helping people in need and we allocate billions in foreign aid, have telethons, entertainers put on spectaculars, etc. and this lessens our feelings of guilt but the reality most of don't know whether our efforts are successful. Look back, starting with Haiti, and look at the victims and see whether their lives have changed dramatically. I agree with the basic premise of this column that if you want to change the world start with your own neighborhood helping the senior with routine chores, giving the single working mother help with her kids, getting out and voting, holding politicians feet to the fire, etc.

 

One person matters

Dither on world issues if you must — but realize stoning a woman to death is wrong

By THEO CALDWELL, QMI Agency

Last Updated: July 15, 2010 12:00am

Let’s call it tepid progress.

Last week, I wrote about Sakineh Ashtiani, a woman who has been imprisoned, beaten, and sentenced to death by stoning in Iran for the crime of “adultery.”
Recently, Iranian authorities announced they probably won’t stone Ashtiani after all. But she may yet be hanged and at least 15 other people await stoning deaths in that nation.
Mine is one of many voices calling for Ashtiani’s release, and I am encouraged her supporters include folks from various countries, cultures and backgrounds, spanning the political spectrum from right to left. I am fascinated, however, by those who insist on staying in the middle.
For example, I participated in a BBC radio program about Ashtiani and the brutality of the Iranian regime. Bafflegab was thick on the ground, and at one point the host mused that Iran’s death penalty for homosexuals is a moral judgment akin to the United States banning gay marriage.
Equating two obviously unequal situations is not clever or nuanced. It is idiotic and irresponsible. Similarly, asking the insipid modern question, “Who are we to decide?” only serves to evince moral vacuity but, if you must pose the query, let me help you with the answer.
You are a human being, born with the capacity to determine right from wrong. Further, if you are reading this column, chances are you have the magnificent good fortune to live in a part of the world that allows freedom of thought and expression.
If you grew up in western society during the last generation or so, you have likely been browbeaten into believing there is no absolute right and wrong and even if there were, you have no business deciding which is which, since your ancestors probably owned slaves or didn’t recycle.
There is evil in the world, uncomfortable as that is for people who yearn to reduce any situation to a contest of two extremes, placing themselves in the serene centre.
Certainly, there are issues where the line between right and wrong seems blurry, but bashing people’s brains out with rocks should not be one of them. If it is, though, on what other topics would you demur to pass judgment? Child slavery?
The logical extension of this approach is that folks become open-minded imbeciles, incapable of making a decision.
Or, people want to make a case like Ashtiani’s about something else.
Let’s suppose, for example, you strongly disagree with the State of Israel and consider their treatment of Palestinians to be criminal. That does not mean everything happening in the world, or even the Middle East, pertains to that issue.
Ashtiani’s predicament has nothing to do with Jerusalem settlements, and even if a peaceful two-state solution were achieved in Gaza and the West Bank today, she could still be killed tomorrow.
One person matters. It is easier to love mankind than to love your neighbour, as author Eric Hoffer opined, but if you remember that each person is the most important in the world to someone, it becomes less difficult.
As you read this, Ashtiani is sitting in a cell, not knowing if she is about to die. You have the privilege to be as philosophical as you like, but if you care about what’s right, this woman’s fate really ought to be enough.

theo.caldwell@sunmedia.ca

Reality...

After World Cup euphoria fades, South Africa’s poverty will remain 

...and the west will continue to pour billions of $$$$ in foreign aid into these countries with little success and you have to wonder who this aid is benefiting.

Some Thoughts.....

* how much of the $9.5M raised at the Canadian Telethon came from the Toronto area.

*Add to that amount the amount the taxpayers in Toronto send to Ottawa as income tax, etc.

* I would remind "the mayor's office" we elected councilors to make this decision.

* It makes you wonder if we have the "on-the-ground expertise that helps people struck by disaster to rebuild their lives and their communities" why isn't it used to rebuild lives and communities at home?

Toronto cool to Haiti donation

By BRETT CLARKSON and BRYN WEESE Toronto Sun

Councillor Michael Walker will urge city council this week to approve $1 million in aid for Haiti, but the mayor’s office remains cool to the idea.

Right cause, wrong cash

By PAUL RUTHERFORD, QMI Agency

Five city councillors in Peterborough, Ont. — a beautiful city northeast of Toronto — correctly think their city shouldn’t have given $10,000 of taxpayers’ money to relief efforts in Haiti.