I'm Gonna Call Bullshit on this one! Cop causes sisters to miss funeral By JOE WARMINGTON, QMI Agency

This is some incredible Journalism on the part of QMI. Joe Wamington has really gotten to the root of the issue, without sounding biased or unintelligent.

Article Here: Canoe.ca

To Summarize:
A car-full of sisters were en-route to a Funeral. They got lost, and had the driver of the car use a phone to call and ask for directions. The story claims that the direction-giver didn't speak the same language as all the sisters, and the driver had to translate. While translating, driving, and holding a phone, the car was pulled over for contravening the Ontario Law, banning the use of handheld devices while driving.

The sisters are upset because the cop caused them to be late for the funeral.

You really have to be kidding me on this!

The situation sucks, but in the end, only the driver is to blame for this incident.

1) The Cop didn't cause them to be late. They were late because they didn't get proper directions before leaving.
--Was this a surprise funeral? Were attendees only notified of the funeral details minutes before the service? I would think not.

2) There were more option available than to have the driver talk on the phone.
--I can't think of many phone that don't have built-in speaker phone
--The person giving the directions could have passed the phone to someone who spoke English, or another language one of the sisters would have understood
--They couldn't call the Mosque for directions?

3) Receiving a ticket only takes a few minutes. How late were these girls?
--I was pulled over in the past, and I have been issued tickets. It doesn't take more than 5-10 minutes. If the 5-10 minutes it took to write a ticket up made them late, then they most likely would have either arrivedjust in time, or would have beeen late on their own.
--They should have left earlier. There's nothing worse than being late for a funeral.

4) Everyone in Ontario, who hasn't been living in a cave knows about the ban on the use of wireless devices while driving.
--She took her chances and lost.
--She tried to talk her way out of it and couldn't.. Tough luck

Yeah, the situation sucks, but there were many reasons why these sisters were late for the funeral, and neither were the Cops Fault. There were many ways to avid this situation altogether, and neither was taken.

Don't blame the Police for your own mistakes.

Readers may wonder why I'd defend the police in this story. The answer is that the Officer who issued the ticket wasn't at fault. It was the driver.

Sucks, but it could be a lot worse.

I’ll buy your soul for a holiday!

So, going against my initial decision to never talk about religion or politics, I really feel the need to discuss the upcoming Ontario provincial elections.

I’m not about to point out the differences between the two front-running parties, as I’ve already decided who I’d like to win the provincial election, and know my opinion will be biased.

I’d like to address the “Promise” of a holiday if the Liberal party is re-elected into power. Now, normally, this would sound like a whiz-bang idea. Hey, who doesn’t want an additional holiday? Holidays benefit almost everyone from carnies, to alcoholic beverage producers to students. My issue with the “Promise” involves the timing of the announcement. During Dalton’s 4-year tenure as premier of Ontario he never once hinted at the inclusion of an additional holiday. So, why now? Could it be the last grasp at a political straw? Well, this promise comes with incredible timing, as an election is set for this upcoming October. I feel cheapened by the promise as it bears very little forethought and skirts many of this year’s big political issues. I would compare this election “Promise” to giving a sucker to a screaming child. The sucker doesn’t address the issue as to why the child is screaming, nor does it offer any long term resolution to the screaming child’s ailments. All this equates to, is an attempt to divert attention for just enough time to squeak out a minority election win. I cannot and will not be bought or placated like this. It makes me feel cheaper than the time I had a dream about sleeping with a Bangkok whore.

So, you may ask yourself why I used quotations around the word “Promise”. Well, if this years election mimics the last election, we can assume that most of the promises will be broken or greatly modified form their original intent upon instatement into office.

PS> If you need to add any fuel to the Dalton fire, he’s a rabid Sens fan.

Please do some research and vote. I really don’t care who you vote for but please make an educated decision this October 10, 2007