the daily snivel

  I get letters

This one made my morning...

Hi there:

I went online looking for directions. You see, I'm not a big eater, but I wanted pizza. So I bought a Kraft pizza mix I had nostalgic feelings about (my dad could make Kraft pizza and french fries, and that's it). So, one day a couple of weeks ago, I made a pizza and tupperwared (actually glad-ed) up the remaining mix for another day. I thought I was SO smart and thrifty, too, it caused me a natural high for a day or two, but losing the emporer of the world election brought me back down to the statusphere (who wants to be on earth?). Anyway, I decided today I'd make the remainder of my pizza, only to discover I hadn't kept a copy of the directions. So I turned to my trusty...well, my computer, anyway, and went to Kraft.com hoping against hope they'd post directions. They don't. Bastards.
So I googled Kraft pizza mix, directions, and up came your site. All I wanted was a way to feed myself, and I got such a treat. I really enjoyed the couple of moments I spent on your site.
I just wanted to thank you for the directions, congratulate you on your wit and cleverness and inquire if it would be alright to indicate your website's address on my site (a lowly site of blogs and a pictures, mostly for my distant family to keep up on me--and for my friends to make fun of me, but that's something else).

 

  Stupid Sympatico

I have to say, I am strongly offended by the latest advertising campaign by Bell Sympatico, which is a major internet service provider belonging to Bell Canada, our national telephone company. While it might seem that I get offended by something or other on a daily basis, think about the crummy world of Mars and Mammon that we live in before you call me the crazy one.

The television ads feature a hyper-controlling set of parents who subscribe to Sympatico High Speed internet and extoll the joys of being able to censor every little bit of life from their children's eyes with the parental control features. These commercials feature, by way of example, an illustration from a textbook of the female body that has been censored. I thought it was in incredibly poor taste to portray basic anatomy as something even the most repressive parent would want to keep from their children (though I know such sad people exist), though at least it was fairly clear in the commercial how creepy and awful the actors portraying the parents were (I mean, it was clear, wasn't it?).

The print ads are abominable, however. I've scanned them here so you can be outraged in the comfort of your home:

Click on the thumbnail to view full size:



As a man, and someone who loves women and has a shocking fetish for human rights, I'm deeply offended by the implication that femininity is something that has to be surgically eviscerated from the human body. While I personally have crappy, dialup, low-speed, non-Sympatico internet access, I can tell you that I will refuse to use Sympatico when I do upgrade to high-speed internet next year when I'm articling -- unless Bell apologizes. Not just stops running the ads, but apologizes. I'm going to be writing a complaint to them and encourage you to do the same. Here's a link to their corporate feedback to get you started, but as always I recommend sending paper letters because they get more weighted in the hierarchy of public complaints.

The Breast Blog has information about the ad and how to complain:

I subscribe to our daily newspaper, The Mercury. Yesterday's edition included a loose leaf advertisement for Bell Sympatico DSL Basic Service. The caption read, PROTECT YOUR FAMILY. Then offered the following statement. "You'll do anything to protect your kids from inappropriate content. So will we."

So far so good. I know how much pornography fills my in box on a daily basis despite the filters that I have in place. Unfortunately, Bell didn't stop there. Bell added a photograph. And don't we all know that a picture speaks a thousand words.

The photo shows the top of a elementary school desk. On the desk is a pencil and an open text book. According to my friend Katie, a grade five teacher, it is exactly like the textbook she uses to teach health science to her class of 35 students.

The text is open to a page titled "The Female Body". This alone infuriated me. Imagine suggesting that our children should be protected for a grade five text book and specifically from learning about the female body.

But it gets worse.

The Female Body page shows a full frontal drawing of a female body with bones, internal organs and veins visible through the skin. Around that figure are smaller boxes that have featured body parts. The brain, kidney, liver, heart, ovaries and what may be the fallopian tubes. But here's the outrageous part. Someone at the advertising department cut out the image of what appears to be the fallopian tube along with the ovaries. They chopped out the female bodies breasts and pelvic area too.

So here's the message I get from this Bell ad. Our children need to be protected from learning about the sexual organs of the female body in an educational setting and context.

Ignorance is not healthy.

I have already registered an official complaint with Bell's Executive office. I have requested immediate withdrawal of the ad and a public apology in the newspapers that it appeared in. It took me some time to get to the right department, so I'll save you the time by giving you the toll free number if you want to add your voice. 1 866 317-3382.

Here's a good rant about it:

Bell’s new advertisement has made it to my home today. As Nathan, my sweetheart, stepped inside the door, he handed me Bell’s brochure which arrived in our mail today. His comment is that he HAD to show this to me because well… After looking at it, I realized why.

The advertisement is a typical Bell fold-over brochure. This one is promoting its internet service. On the cover is a picture of a textbook (likely a basic anatomy textbook) depicting “The Female Body". The female’s breasts and genitalia are cut out of the page of the textbook. To the right side reads, “You’ll do anything to protect your kids from inappropriate content. So will we.”

Upon seeing this, the first thought in my mind is “What the hell?” Apparently, the female body is “inappropriate content” for our children. So much for the new age of enlightenment. Seeing this ad, I feel like I have been thrown into the dark ages.

There are two important issues that come to mind when I see this ad. First, education about sex (even just the anatomical parts) is a bad thing. It is inappropriate for our children to learn about sex. Second, the female body is a bad thing. It is inappropriate and shameful to see.

...

The second issue with the Bell ad is one I consider to be a more important issue. The message that is relayed to me is, “The female body is inappropriate content.” The issue of kids aside (I’ve already gone over how children already know about sex. By that same token, kids know about the female body, even if subconsciously. So why hide the female body from children? It nurtured the child for 9 months, for goddess’ sake!), the message relayed taps directly into women’s issues about their bodies and further promotes a negative image of women. “Women’s bodies are bad. It is shameful to be a woman. A woman’s body should be covered up. Children need to be protected from the shame that is women.” As a women, I’ve learned over the years to appreciate my body. As a pagan, I’ve learned that the body is each person’s temple and it should be treated as such. Not many women are as lucky. Some women struggle with these issues still. Some cultures still treat women as the personification of evil. Some cultures still force women to cover their bodies because it is shameful to expose them. It has been a long road for women to gain equal rights as men. For some, that time still has to arrive. The Bell ad perpetuates the idea that women are shameful and evil. It perpetuates an idea that I thought would never be seen again in this society (North America). I guess I was wrong.

UPDATE: A good friend of mine has created a site for public discussion of this ad. Please have a gander at Agatha's Apples 

  Rob has a showdown with the vast powers of the criminal justice system, and the criminal justice system blinks.

Just a quick update while I'm on my way to conduct interviews for the summer student hiring committee here at the Legal Clinic to let you know that my trial date finally came around yesterday morning, and I showed up ready and willing to duke it out.

We had a great deal proposed, but at the last minute the Crown tried to up the ante, insisting on more from my client in the same breath as chastising me for trying to renegotiate a better deal for my client (Them: "Don't try to re-negotiate this with us!" Me: "In fairness, that's what you're doing." Them: "That was an offer to treat! It was always conditional!" Me: "Well, I have to advocate for my client's best interest." Them: "Oh, sure, you have to advocate." -- and so on.) So, I took the proposed new, worse offer to my client, who waffled for a bit but eventually settled on taking it to trial.

I wasn't watching the Crown Attorney's face when, a few minutes later, I stood up before the judge and told him that we were prepared to go to trial, but a friend who was watching said the Crown's face just dropped. He then backpedaled and stood the matter down, telling the judge that he believed we could still reach a resolution. An hour and a half of negotiations ensued, mostly involving him storming over to me, reminding me of the peril my client was in if this went to trial, and storming away again as I stood my ground and awaited production of proof of the allegations that were being made. Looking back on it, it was clear he didn't want this trial to run, but I still felt that wonderful euphoria of epinephrine (not adrenaline -- "Why did adrenaline get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks'") filling me in anticipation of the chase, the battle, and fighting the good fight for my client.

In the end, I stood my ground and the Crown blinked, and we got our original agreement on the plea negotiation after all. The investigating officer was hopping mad at the end, insisting that the Crown just run the trial and stick it to my client, but in the end the Crown realized he didn't have the proof he thought he did and he gave me what I wanted. The irritation of the good detective only made me feel more vindicated since, as you know, anything that really pisses off the police can only be good for my client. As much as I would have loved to have gone to trial that morning and cut their witnesses to pieces with what I can tell you were some great cross-examinations and dazzled the judge with the legal arguments that so impressed my supervisors, my client got the best deal possible and in the end I was bound to follow their instructions and not my competitive side.

What makes me happiest and most proud is just realizing I do have that strong, competitive, combative ability, and that I will stand up to bullies and hold my ground when I believe I'm right. I don't think I always would have had the confidence, and it makes me feel good to see how much I've come into my own.

What's more, now that the 12-16 hour days of trial preparation are over and behind me, I have my life back and am starting to do things like go home before 11:30 pm, go out and see friends, return to the gym, and enjoy sunlight. I do have all those classes and other cases to stay on top of, but I really am in the home stretch given that the school year ends in April and graduation comes shortly after that. Good times, here I come!