[META] Writer's Block: The name game

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The user name "rfmcdpei" was originally my AOL Instant Messenger name, something that I picked back in the desperate days of February 2002 so I could chat in real time with lifein2x3. I've never been very good with titles, as you may have noticed, and "rfmcdpei"--Randy Franklin McDonald from PEI--was an easy enough choice.

Am I going to keep it? No. Apart from the name being rather difficult to remember--saying that at least it's not a Mayan glyph is faint praise indeed--ever since October's firebombing of a gay couple's home reminded me of the Island's long (if slowly dying) tradition of communal hatred I've been wondering why I continue to name my blog after the place. I already renamed my Flickr and Twitter accounts. Livejournal is coming later this month. "randyfmcdonald" is nice and memorable, don't you think?

[PHOTO] Toronto City Hall, November 2010

Toronto City Hall, November 2010
Originally uploaded by randyfmcdonald

One grey day last November I'd the chance to spend some time exploring Viljo Revell's iconic modernist municipal headquarters. This image will be the first of a series of photos from that trip posted over the next few days.

[LINK] "The more things change..."

The official explanation for last yeart's pogroms of Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan, Registan's Noah Tucker lets us know, is decidedly unimpressive, if perhaps unexpecpted. A hard-hitting examination of anti-Uzbek bigotries this is not.

The commission, headed by Abdygany Erkebaev, held a high profile press conference on the 11th. Erkebaev announced that after months of “intensive investigation” [scare quotes, not direct quotes] the commission–minus several members who publicly resigned in protest and lodged complaints about sloppy methodology and disagreements with the findings–had discovered that those truly to blame for the the June tragedy were…

everyone the government has blamed at one time or another for the past seven months.

Greedy, fanatic Uzbek nationalists? Check. Bakiev revanchists? Check. A murky alphabet soup of international Islamic terrorist groups with TIES TO AL-QAIDA? Check. International mafia groups? Check. Additional nameless Foreign Instigators attempting to derail Kyrgyzstan’s democratic progress? Check. (U.S. Special Forces? Can’t be ruled out.)

Naturally all these actors were working together in a vast, complex conspiracy that “we totally have evidence for, but we just can’t show it to you right now.”

In a special parliamentary session today with the members of the National Commission, the conspiracy got even better. Tantalizing details were added, the intrepid Mullah Abdulloh (who clearly must have been involved, since he does everything in Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Central Asia) was meeting with Maxim Bakiev himself somewhere in… Tajikistan? And the Taliban were there. But don’t let yourself be distracted even for a second from the known fact that all of this is actually Kadyrjon Batyrov’s fault.

Well, and it’s also obviously the fault of Baxtiyar Fattaxov, the only ethnic Uzbek on the National Commission, whom JK speaker Keldibekov (Ata Jurt) insisted today should be removed from his post because Keldibekov claimed to have secret proof that Fattaxov was a nationalist-separatist who personally asked the UN for advice about how to secede from Kyrgyzstan.

[URBAN NOTE] Here's two (former) TTC drivers texting while driving

Two (former) TTC drivers texting while driving
Originally uploaded by randyfmcdonald

Copied from this blogTO post by Robyn Urback and hosted here for purposes of my blogging, this photo shows two of the three TTC workers known to be texting while driving since passengers took pictures. The TTC didn't like the idea.

The Toronto Transit Commission wants you to quit playing paparazzi with its employees.

The please-don’t-play-gotcha request comes after at least three TTC drivers were caught on camera this week by shocked passengers who observed them texting or chatting on cellphones while operating buses.

“We ask that people not do that,” TTC spokesman Brad Ross said Friday. “We don’t require photographic evidence to discipline drivers. Cameras in the face of operators can escalate a situation that doesn’t need to be escalated.”

Instead of snapping photos, “we ask that they call us, report the bus and route number and date and time of the occurrence,” Ross said.

The TTC has disciplined employees for texting while driving before without pictures. Cellphone records, for example, can be used in internal investigations.

York University student Robert Sauer, who took video of a bus driver apparently chatting on his cellphone while driving earlier this week, worries that without it there wouldn’t be enough to go on to punish drivers responsible for “endangering the safety of the public.”

“Then it really just seems like it’s our word against their word,” said Sauer, who used his iPhone as he rode on the 196 University Rocket from York to Downsview station. “Obviously if there’s an issue with so many people taking videos and pictures of their drivers texting, there’s a huge problem.”

The odds of this happening, given the general lack of faith in the complaints system, is trivial, especially since it turns out that this strategy seems to be producing results.

Three TTC drivers accused of texting while steering busloads of passengers across the city have been fired.

A source close to the investigation confirmed the news Star on Monday night.

The drivers were caught on camera last week steering with cellphones in hand. The photos were taken by shocked passengers who quickly whipped out their smart phones when they saw what the bus drivers were up to.

The TTC launched an investigation after the photos surfaced late last week.

On Monday, officials weren’t commenting on the status of the case.

“We have a disciplinary process that we need to follow,” TTC spokesperson Brad Ross said. “We would never jeopardize the discipline process.”

“What I can tell you is that we take the matter extremely seriously and our actions will be commensurate with the seriousness with which we take this matter.”

The consensus, at the Star and blogTO, seems to be strong approval.

[DM] "Vamonos - Voting with their feet in Spain?"

I've a post up linking to and commenting upon co-blogger Claus Vistesen's post regarding the need for Spain to keep its recently-acquired immigrant population. It isn't; if anything, a new deal has been struck between Spain and Germany for the latter to recruit Spanish professionals.

Go, read.

[URBAN NOTE] On the fatal lack of transparency in the TTC

Marketing Magazine's Jeremy Lloyd was quite right to note that the official and union response to the TTC drivers' texting--even considering their firing--was unhelpful. To wit:

While the TTC said it is investigating the incident and has been vocal in channels such as Twitter, criticisms were renewed when Brad Ross, a TTC spokesman, seemingly chastised camera-wielding commuters.

“We don’t want a repeat of last year where people were taking cellphone pictures and videos of our employees,” Ross said. “That is not helpful.”

The comments appeared in city-wide and national news outlets, including the Toronto Star and CBC.

Scott Reid, senior counsel at Toronto PR firm Veritas Communications, called the TTC response “Dumb beyond description.

“You gotta love the TTC. It is to PR fumbles what Lindsay Lohan is to parole violations: High profile and constant,” Reid said. “One of the great PR lessons that smart organizations are quick to learn is the importance of thinking not from your own point of view but from that of the public. This is not a concept that the TTC has yet mastered.

The request to keep camera phones away from employees seemingly puts the blame for the illegal behaviour on commuters, Reid said, and “perhaps dumbest of all, it is certain to provoke the exact reaction they’re seeking to avoid. You want to get legions of riders taking photos of employees? Try telling them they’re not allowed to do so. This isn’t just a fumble. It’s a fumble in your end zone. Dumb beyond description.”

This segues directly into a major problem, perhaps the major problem, the lack of transparency in discipline. People who lodge complaints with any organization want feedback, proof that they're taken seriously. If they don't, then, well. The title of blogTO's post announcing the firing--"Texting TTC bus drivers will actually be fired"--reflects the disbelief in the idea that TTC workers could actually be punished for doing bad things, while the comments are full of people with specific complaints for fairly egregious behaviour by TTC workers who are upset that they've never heard back.

Is this a matter of complaints against TTC workers not being followed up? Or, is this a matter of the complaints process being confidential? Visiting the Facebook page of the TTC workers' union, ATU Local 113, you can read workers saying that they have been subject to discipline for any number of things. A press release from the union does state that the union doesn't publicize discipline, presumably the TTC following suit.

Recent reports that three Toronto Transit Commission Bus Operators have been terminated for using hand-held electronic devices on the job have prompted a flood of media calls to Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 for comment.

ATU Local 113 has a longstanding policy of not commenting on internal TTC disciplinary processes or legal proceedings related to individual members. Accordingly, the union will not be publicly discussing the status of these cases, either individually or collectively.

[. . .]

[Union head] Kinnear notes that the union has a legal obligation under the Ontario Labour Relations Act to represent members charged with violating TTC work rules or regulations, analogous to the right of any person accused of violating the law to legal representation.

"The fact that we represent our members charged with infractions cannot be taken to mean we condone the behaviour they are accused of. Defence lawyers are not assumed to condone the acts their clients are charged with and it is the same with union representation."

But, alas, Kinnear follows it up with the sort of TTC worker complaint against riders that's spectacularly aggravating, if only because problem passengers make up a small minority of passengers and it's galling to have people who are supposed to provide good customer service not doing that. Oh, and making unrelated complaints so as to detract from unrelated legitimate complaints is equally galling.

Kinnear added that these incidents are distressing to other TTC workers who have experienced a spike in verbal assaults and insults as well as "photo-stalking" encouraged by some media outlets.

"The overwhelming majority of our 10,000 members perform their jobs safely and conscientiously every day under often difficult conditions. It is extremely unfair to generalize the character of an identifiable group, in this case TTC workers, from the actions of a very small number but that is happening."

Kinnear also charged the media with selective indignation about public safety.

"The media are actively inviting people to take pictures of TTC workers who may be violating the law. But no media outlet has ever, to our knowledge, asked people to take pictures of TTC workers being assaulted, something that happens every day. It is certainly wrong to text while driving a bus but it is also wrong, and criminally so, to physically attack bus drivers. But maybe that doesn't sell as many newspapers."

The TTC workers are up for a contract renegotiation soon. In the atmosphere of growing outright hostility towards TTC workers, and given the cost-cutting/anti-union Mayor Ford, can this possibly end well?

[LINK] "How to Keep Your Facebook Secure (by Enabling HTTPS)"

At last.

Facebook recently announced that they're adding full HTTPS support for the site, to keep you protected from attacks like Firesheep. The feature's finally rolling out, and here's how you can turn it on.

HTTPS is going to keep you a lot safer on the net, and after lots of waiting, Facebook finally announced support for HTTPS all over the site. It wasn't available at the time of the announcement, but we've seen it pop up in our settings menus this week, so it might be time to take another look at yours. To enable it, just hit "Account" in the upper-right hand corner of any Facebook window and go to "Account Settings".

Under "Account Security", hit the change button and check the box that says "Browse Facebook on a secure connection (https) whenever possible". Hit save and exit that window. From now on, whenever you connect to Facebook, it will default to an SSL-encrypted connection, keeping you safe on open Wi-Fi networks from Firesheep-like attacks.

[BRIEF NOTE] On the desirability of Al-Jazeera in everyone's homes

A Global Voices post highlighted the new popularity of Al-Jazeerah English thanks to its excellent coverage of the ongoing revolution in Egypt. It's apparently not on most cable packages in the United States, perhaps for the same reasons that it was rather controversial with its alleged anti-Semitism and links to terrorism. Still, here in Canada it got carried my the major cable television networks in May 2010, after it was approved in November 2009 by the federal government regulator. Hopefully American cable operators will bow to the new demand for the channel in the marketplace. As the The Globe and Mail's television critic John Doyle noted, the channel's doing great.

Watching TV coverage of the crisis in Egypt over the weekend was not always such a bizarre experience, but it was a bracing reminder of the limitations of TV news at such times. First, the Egyptian government’s shutdown of the Internet and other communications methods meant that most TV coverage relied on a limited amount of footage being repeated endlessly. Often, on CBC NN, a reporter was on the phone while footage that was not connected to the report aired. CNN went in for punditry over the weekend, having very limited access to knowledge of what was happening on the ground. Sometimes, they were talking to American tourists in Cairo who peered out the window and described what they saw.

This kind of story flushes out the good, the bad and the stupid in TV news. It’s as obvious as a poke in your eye that TV news wants an understandable, familiar narrative to emerge. What’s unfolding has to have a story arc, just like a movie. So, the lack of a discernible opposition leader in Egypt flummoxed everybody. TV news producers and reporters long for a straightforward story about an underdog overcoming obstacles and rising to power on a wave of popular support. That wasn’t happening.

[. . .]

The most incisive coverage came, of course, from Al Jazeera English, which is easily available in Canada, unlike the U.S. market, where it is rarely offered to cable or satellite customers. Here, anyone can get it at a cost of about $2 a month. This is a situation in which Al Jazeera surges to the fore in coverage – it knows the region better than any other broadcaster and is better staffed there than any other outfit. The seriousness of its journalism stands in startling contrast to what CNN and Fox offer.

Will this make it as a global broadcasting of note on the model of CNN?

[H&F] "Toronto's patriotic problems with sports"

I've a post up at History and Futility that takes a look at Toronto's insecurities, especially in regards to its low-achieving sports teams. Is there a point, I wonder, where you can give up on your community's team if only because they're hopeless?

Go, read.

[LINK] "The Revolution Will Not Be Facebooked/Twittered… It Will Be Soccered (Ok, I’m Not Proud of T

The Global Sociology Blog suggests Egyptian soccer--particularly Egyptian soccer clubs--may play a key organizational role in the ongoing events in Egypt. Certainly soccer and soccer fans have played major roles in political tumult before, the former Yugoslavia's dissolution coming quickly to mind.

“Over the decades that have marked the tenure of Egypt’s “President for Life” Hosni Mubarak, there has been one consistent nexus for anger, organization, and practical experience in the ancient art of street fighting: the country’s soccer clubs. Over the past week, the most organized, militant fan clubs, also known as the “ultras,” have put those years of experience to ample use.

Last Thursday, the Egyptian Soccer Federation announced that they would be suspending all league games throughout the country in an effort to keep the soccer clubs from congregating. Clearly this was a case of too little, too late. Even without games, the football fan associations have been front and center organizing everything from the neighborhood committees that have been providing security for residents, to direct confrontation with the state police. In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Alaa Abd El Fattah, a prominent Egyptian blogger said, “The ultras — have played a more significant role than any political group on the ground at this moment.” Alaa then joked, “Maybe we should get the ultras to rule the country.”

The involvement of the clubs has signaled more than just the intervention of sports fans. The soccer clubs’ entry into the political struggle also means the entry of the poor, the disenfranchised, and the mass of young people in Egypt for whom soccer was their only outlet.”

Go, read and watch!