A story that needs to be read

The shocking death of Tim McLean last summer has generated the predictable torrent of blood lust on the part of the general public (check the comments section of pretty much any news story on the case). Given that climate, the Winnipeg Free Press is to be commended for running this story about the history and application of the legal finding of "not criminally responsible". Of course, many of the people leaving comments continue to decry the possibility of such a verdict:

Yes, the mentally ill definitely need treatment. However they also deserve some form of punishment to allow justice for the victim(s) and protection of society... at least keep them away from society for a couple years.

The whole idea of punishment makes sense given the premise that the person punished was aware, in some capacity, that they were doing a bad thing, and therefore needs to be taught a lesson. But the whole point of a verdict of "not criminally responsible" is that the court is convinced that the accused did not have that awareness, and that therefore punishment is not the appropriate approach to the problem. It is not a denial of the existence of a problem, simply the recognition that the problem at hand is a different sort of problem than the criminal justice system is designed to deal with.

And what the heck does the above poster mean by "to allow justice for the victim"? Now "protection of society" I can understand, and many (perhaps even most) people found to be "not criminally responsible" do need to be kept away from the public. But "justice for the victim"? Excuse me, but the guy is dead. He ain't coming back, no matter how much you torture and torment the killer. Unfortunately, a public raised on daily doses of CSI and Law and Order is very easy to whip up into a bloodthirsty frenzy when the discussion turns to crime.

Dates set for provincial budget and two by-elections

Not a big surprise here:

Voters in Elmwood and The Pas head to the polls March 24, Premier Gary said today.

The two provincial by-elections will see two new MLAs elected in ridings long held by the New Democrats.

Doer also said his government will table a new budget for the coming fiscal year on March 25, the day after the vote.

From the Winnipeg Free Press. I'm going to be working on the Elmwood by-election, and possibly doing some calling for the other one as well. Additionally, I'm working on the muncipal by-election in River Heights-Fort Garry, not to mention a convention in Brandon in two weeks, so I'm going to be pretty busy most evenings for the next while. It looks pretty good, and from what I hear the government is still doing well in the polls.

More economic chaos...

More trials and tribulations in the US auto industry:

Chrysler LLC may be sending a message to President Barack Obama’s autos task force by saying the “best option” for survival is a merger with General Motors Corp. that both sides have labeled dead.

Chrysler, propped up like GM with federal aid, is suggesting a new appraisal of a tie-up in hopes that the auto panel meeting for the first time today might force a “shotgun marriage,” said Brian Johnson, a Barclays Capital analyst in Chicago.

“I can’t imagine GM doing that without being forced into it by the government, but that’s a possibility,” said Kimberly Rodriguez, a principal at consulting firm Grant Thornton LLP in Southfield, Michigan.

Obama’s task force will start reviewing $21.6 billion in new loan requests that include Chrysler’s comment on the advantages of a GM combination. GM, the biggest U.S. automaker, abandoned merger talks in November and said it is focused on its own survival, not hooking up with No. 3 Chrysler.

From Bloomberg. Meanwhile, other big industries aren't much better off:

New York Times Co., the third-largest U.S. newspaper publisher, will stop paying a dividend for the first time in its 40-year history as a public company.

The publisher said in a statement today it suspended its quarterly dividend of 6 cents a share to help reduce debt, three months after slashing the payout. It joins McClatchy Co., owner of the Sacramento Bee, and Media General Inc. in halting dividends.

The suspension will save New York Times about $34.5 million annually, based on shares outstanding. The publisher is cutting jobs and selling assets as advertising dwindles. It’s seeking buyers for its stake in the Boston Red Sox baseball team and is in talks about a sale-leaseback on its Manhattan headquarters.

“It’s going to be very challenging for them to generate much free cash flow even after this cut,” said Mike Simonton, a credit analyst at Fitch Ratings. “It’s certainly a prudent move to preserve liquidity in light of the difficult credit market and their heavy debt burden.”

From Bloomberg once again. I guess companies at all levels are slashing their advertising budgets, which is bad news for commercial media. It's happening in Canada too:

Leonard Asper is scrambling to secure a financial lifeline for CanWest Global Communications Corp. before the end of the month to prevent his family-run media empire from sliding into bankruptcy protection.

Yet even if he is successful, the price of that lifeline could be steep. Some potential investors - including Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.- want to take control of CanWest away from the Asper family in exchange for any cash infusion.

At least one investor weighing a proposal said it would insist that Mr. Asper step aside as chief executive officer and that he and his siblings eliminate the dual-class share structure that gives them control of the company, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Officials at some of CanWest's main creditors believe that if the company cannot find access to hundreds of millions of dollars in new credit within the next few weeks, it could be forced to seek protection from lenders and restructure under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. CanWest, which owes $3.9-billion, and its primary adviser, RBC Dominion Securities, have approached numerous institutional investors to gauge their interest in a deal.

The response from potential backers has been lukewarm, not merely because of CanWest's economic woes brought on by the recession, but because several creditors are jockeying for protection in any restructuring process.

CanWest's borrowing capacity was put on a tighter leash this month when a senior credit facility was cut back to $112-million from $300-million by Bank of Nova Scotia. The new limit is about $20-million above what CanWest has already drawn.

From the Globe and Mail. Can't say I'm shedding too many tears for the Asper family, and in any case I don't think they're going to end up living at the Main Street Project or anything. On the other hand, it would be a shame if Manitoba's second largest city were to lose its only TV station:

Another local Canadian television station has been tossed on the auction block, and could be shut down if a buyer isn't found by next month, signalling major changes in the broadcasting industry.

This time it's CTV Television Inc. that's putting CKX-TV Brandon in western Manitoba up for sale, while warning that it will pull the plug on the station if another broadcaster doesn't fork over the sufficient cash.

The announcement follows a decision by Canwest Global Communications Corp. to place five of its local E! network stations on the market after eroding advertising sales dashed its profits.

"Whether we like it or not, we are seeing the beginning of the end for small market TV stations in Canada," said Kaan Yigit, an media analyst at Solutions Research Group in an e-mail.

"They are costly to run and maintain and were having difficulty providing a decent return on investment even in good times."

From the London Free Press. I'd like to see some local media co-op form and buy the station, but I wouldn't bet on that happening.

GM, Chrysler buy a bit of time

How much is a matter of debate, though:

U.S. automakers are calling on the government to provide even more funding to ensure the survival of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.

General Motors on Tuesday said it could need up to $30 billion from the U.S. Treasury Department to continue operating.

Included in that amount is $13.4 billion the company has already received. Previously, GM had said it could need as much as $18 billion.

GM said it could run out of money by March without the new funds from the government.

From the CBC. So they're staving off bankruptcy for the time being, though they're cutting things to the bone. For instance, check out what's happening at GM:

A total 26,000 of the cuts will come from outside the U.S. as GM downsizes its global operations. It is not yet clear what the impact will be in Canada. The cuts are expected to be made by the end of 2009.

The company may be eliminating its Hummer brand and said it will make a final decision by March 31.

GM is also considering selling its Pontiac and Saab brands and the Saturn brand is being phased out, officials said. The Saturn plant will remain in operation until the end of its current life cycle in 2011, officials said.

The changes will see GM focusing its efforts on Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick.

Kind of a shame about Saturn actually; I kind of liked some of their lineup (though Phil Edmonston and others question their quality control). I know my friends in Waterloo who are on their third Saturn will be disappointed. Saab might well get taken over by the Swedish government (which wouldn't be a bad outcome actually). As for Hummer, good riddance. Meanwhile, at Chrysler they're doing the same:

It plans to cut 3,000 jobs and three models — the PT Cruiser, Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen — as part of its restructuring plan. None of Chrysler's job cuts are expected to impact its Canadian operations.

No great loss lineup-wise, though it's a bit of a surprise that the PT Cruiser is on the list given the number of the things I see on the streets. Maybe sales have fallen off more dramatically than other vehicles in their lineup, or maybe they never sold as well in their core markets as they have in Canada.

Speaking of the PT Cruiser, one of my disreputable friends once told me she had an idea to get a black PT Cruiser and tell people it was a hearse for midgets. Her original idea was to say it was a hearse for babies, but she figured that would annoy too many people.

On a clear day you can see General Motors...

...spiralling inexorably earthwards:

General Motors Corp [GM-N], nearing a Tuesday deadline to present a viability plan to the U.S. government, is considering as one option a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing that would create a new company, the Wall Street Journal said in its Saturday edition.

"One plan includes a Chapter 11 filing that would assemble all of GM's viable assets, including some U.S. brands and international operations, into a new company," the newspaper said. "The undesirable assets would be liquidated or sold under protection of a bankruptcy court. Contracts with bondholders, unions, dealers and suppliers would also be reworked."

Citing "people familiar with the matter," the story said that GM could also ask for additional government funds to stave off a bankruptcy filing.

GM declined to comment, the story said.

From the Globe and Mail. Of course, talk of bankruptcy might be simply another tactic to scare the government into handing them more bailout money, but it's noteworthy that Ford has not yet asked for money. But then, Ford's product line of late has been better than GM's, especially in Europe (a lot of people lament the fact that the European version of the Focus isn't sold on this side of the pond).

Even if GM files for Chapter 11, the company might continue running, though that would likely render their contracts with the UAW null and void... not a good situation if you've been working for them for 25 years and were hoping to retire on your pension. But consider this comment to the story:

Allan VCR from Vancouver, Canada writes: Best Option;
Chapter 11 for GM & Chapter 7 for Chrysler

Chapter 7, of course, means liquidation. It's possible under such circumstances for some divisions (e.g. Jeep) to be sold off as units and thus stay open, but the effect of this would still be dramatic, to say the least. And this sounds decidedly plausible; I bet the folks at Cerberus are kicking themselves for buying it, at least.

Thing is, though, the car industry is going to have to shrink, whether we like it or not; we can't afford the energy that goes in or the pollution that comes out. Too bad, but as Ray from Trailer Park Boys would say, "That's the fuckin' way she goes."

Darwin's 200th

In honour of the occasion, here's Richard Dawkins on why Darwin matters:

Charles Darwin had a big idea, arguably the most powerful idea ever. And like all the best ideas it is beguilingly simple. In fact, it is so staggeringly elementary, so blindingly obvious that although others before him tinkered nearby, nobody thought to look for it in the right place.

Darwin had plenty of other good ideas - for example his ingenious and largely correct theory of how coral reefs form - but it is his big idea of natural selection, published in On the Origin of Species, that gave biology its guiding principle, a governing law that helps the rest make sense. Understanding its cold, beautiful logic is a must.

Natural selection's explanatory power is not just about life on this planet: it is the only theory so far suggested that could, even in principle, explain life on any planet. If life exists elsewhere in the universe - and my tentative bet is that it does - some version of evolution by natural selection will almost certainly turn out to underlie its existence. Darwin's theory works equally well no matter how strange and alien and weird that extraterrestrial life may be - and my tentative bet is that it will be weird beyond imagining.

From the Guardian. On a somewhat more mundane note, Terry and Marcy were talking about Darwin's birthday on the radio this morning, and it was commented that there's a resemblance between Darwin and Harvey Smith. I suppose there may be some resemblance:

Judges accused of jailing kids for cash

Yes, you read that right:

For years, the juvenile court system in Wilkes-Barre operated like a conveyor belt: Youngsters were brought before judges without a lawyer, given hearings that lasted only a minute or two, and then sent off to juvenile prison for months for minor offenses.

The explanation, prosecutors say, was corruption on the bench.

In one of the most shocking cases of courtroom graft on record, two Pennsylvania judges have been charged with taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers.

"I've never encountered, and I don't think that we will in our lifetimes, a case where literally thousands of kids' lives were just tossed aside in order for a couple of judges to make some money," said Marsha Levick, an attorney with the Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, which is representing hundreds of youths sentenced in Wilkes-Barre.

Prosecutors say Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan took $2.6 million in payoffs to put juvenile offenders in lockups run by PA Child Care LLC and a sister company, Western PA Child Care LLC. The judges were charged on Jan. 26 and removed from the bench by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court shortly afterward.

From Yahoo, via World Traveler in this iTulip thread.