The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Road Rage and Strange Bills Have you ever been involved in a 'road rage' situation? People have been injured and killed by drivers who feel affronted by something the other driver did Ñ drive too fast, too slow, cut in, gave 'the finger', etc. A few years ago in south Florida, an elderly driver was driving too slow in front of a gentleman going to work. At a red light, the gentleman hopped out of his car and pounded on the elderly driver's side window. The driver shot and killed the 'road rager', then calmly drove off as the light turned green. Recently, a 31-year-old man was enraged by a woman driving her children to school because she had a Bush/Chaney bumper sticker on her car. The man, waving an anti-Bush sign, chased the woman, ran into her car and continued to terrorize her until she was able to get safely to the school, call police on her cell phone, and give them his license plate number. The 'rager' was arrested and jailed. Ironically, the woman was a registered Democrat who voted for President Bush. Incidents of this violent type of behaviour are very uncommon in Manitoba and even Canada for that matter, where drivers are generally polite, more or less obey traffic laws and are generally not armed. Contrast this with the Tampa Bay area, where a lot of motorists ignore traffic signs and red lights, drive too fast, are constantly on the cell phone, and may not even have a driver's license or insurance. This area has the most accidents and highest insurance rates in the USA. A fine example is ex-NHL enforcer Rudy Poeschek. On a Sunday in mid-March, Rudy had a bad day. While driving his five-year-old daughter in his Lexus SUV, the ex-defenseman hit a sewer drain, several palm trees and three mail boxes. He then ran and hid in a garage, and then ran from police until he was stopped by a stun gun and arrested. The charges were "being a habitual traffic offender, having a suspended license, resisting arrest, etc." Poeschek has been arrested eight times since 2002, mostly for driving with a suspended license. How about a few tips for driving in an area like this? First of all, always defensive drive. Take for granted the other drivers will not signal (only the tourists signal), will not stop at red lights, will cut you off, tailgate, etc. When your light turns green wait a few seconds to be sure that those at the red light will stop, and never provoke anyone into road rage. Never drive aggressively, give obscene gestures or blow your horn. Remember, it is estimated that 75% of southerners have guns! Speaking of guns, there is a law in place in "The Sunshine State" that if a home invader threatens to harm the victims, he/she can be killed with no charges laid. This law is being expanded to include incidents outside the residence, such as being mugged or threatened on the street. Soon, if you shoot a mugger or one who "threatens" you, no charges will be laid. Imagine the possibilities of 'getting even', gang confrontations and imagined threats. Doesn't this make gun control attractive? By now, everyone on the planet has probably heard of the "right to life", or "right to die" case of Terri Schiavo. Terri was a 41-year-old Florida woman who 15 years ago suffered a heart attack, caused by a chemical imbalance, and was in a vegetative state ever since. Her family sued the doctors and hospital for malpractice and received a million dollar settlement which paid for her tube feeding and hospice care ever since. Terri was declared brain dead, and her husband and guardian tried for seven years to remove the food tube and let her die in peace. He was stymied by her parents, their lawyers, the "right to life movement", and even Florida governor Jeb Bush, who a couple of years ago had an obviously unconstitutional law passed to keep her being fed. The husband and the Florida courts claimed she had the right to die and set the date for removal of the tube. The Florida Legislature tried to rush through a law requiring all vegetative people to be fed and cared for unless they left a living will. In other words, the guardians and family will have no say. The law did not pass. The U.S. Congress then rushed to pass a law "For the Relief of the Parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo" which ordered a Federal Court to review the case and make a judgment. Experts on government say this law is also obviously unconstitutional, with one professor declaring, "The U.S. Constitution prohibits laws that impinge upon things that have already happened." Also the question is, is this the right thing to do? A Florida columnist and bureau chief for a major newspaper claims it is not right. She relates the case of her 91-year-old mother, a stroke victim who was bedridden for years, who even had a Living Will that forbade anyone giving her a feeding tube or prolonging her life. In spite of this, the nursing home continued to keep her alive and continued to bill Medicare for her care. The family had to go to court to enforce her mother's wishes, and the nursing home collected more than $30,000 for the last two months of the elderly woman's life. The writer is very suspicious that under a new law, the terminally ill will become a "cash crop" for nursing homes and others in the health-care industry, and of course will strip family members of any say in the case of a hopelessly ill family member. Another question is should bills be allowed to be retroactive? By the way, the Schiavo case was not about money. There is less than $50,000 left of the million dollars, and Terri's husband turned down offers of $10 million and $1 million to give up his guardianship and just go away. As we all know, the courts prevailed and Terri died after the feeding tube was removed. The president and Congress backed off when polls showed that 70% of Americans disagreed with government interfering in the private lives of its citizens. How about a lighter hearted bill, presented in March by a Florida Democrat? Unlike in Canada, private members or opposition bills are quite often adopted by the majority party if it is in their interests or popular. This happens rarely here, although the Manitoba anti-smoking bill was proposed by PC Dennis Rocan and adopted by the NDP. The Florida legislator proposed with a straight face, a 2-cent tax on each roll of toilet paper sold in the State, with the revenue to help pay for replacing the aging sewer systems. The Republicans, who dislike any new taxes, were not impressed. "It's a crappy idea," said the House speaker, again without a smile!
