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Missing boys found in … Kipling

Zachary Miller, the 10-year old boy kidnapped by known pedophile Peter Whitmore, has been found in Kipling. As of this writing, Whitmore is thought to be inside a house with the other 14-year old boy, Jordan Bruyere.

Two thoughts:

  1. Kipling. I’m starting a category.
  2. WHY WAS THIS PERSON OUT OF JAIL??!? Check out his history with the law:

“Whitmore is well known in Ontario for a string of high-profile sex assault convictions against children. He was first convicted in 1993 of abduction and five sexual offences involving four young boys and spent 16 months in custody.

Nine days after his release, he took an eight-year-old girl from Guelph, Ont., to Toronto, and was sentenced to 56 months in prison.”

Less than a month after his November 2000 release, he was found in a downtown Toronto motel with a 13-year-old boy. He was sentenced to one year in jail.” (from the ctv.ca story at time of writing)

See a pattern here? There’s more if you want to continue reading.

What do we do with these people? You don’t want them living beside you, but they have to live somewhere. Some have paid their dues and will not re-offend. Some have been punished by their time in prison but will offend as soon as they get out, like this guy.

Florida tracks every sex offender via GPS. They have a registry where you can search your area for predators.

Near as I can tell, Canada has nothing remotely like this. We have a vague RCMP website that sounds like they’re doing something, but provides no information for the average citizen.

Why are we so behind? Will this case spur us to action?

(Thanks to Sonja for the tip)

August 2, 2006 - 8:33 am

Kris - I heard this on the radio this morning and thought “hey…Kipling…red paper clip…isn’t that where Dan’s from?”

It’s getting a lot of press…is there something about Kipling that you’re not telling us?

August 2, 2006 - 10:27 am

Ben - Yeah, pretty wild stuff. Wasn’t it just this past winter that a young guy from New Brunswick, maybe 20 years old, accessed one of those “convicted predators” list for somewhere in New York and went on a vigilante rampage, killing two sex offenders before taking his own life?

There is defintely a flaw in the system. This guy in Kipling received pathetic sentences for his previous crimes (56 months for kidnapping an eight year old?!). But it is difficult to say if any punishment, save permanent removal from society, would have kept him from re-offending. If changes can’t be made to the judicial system, if the red tape is too thick and the politicians too affraid to take a stand, then major public awareness and education programs are needed. The list is an effective tool, but people also need to be taught how to react to the knowledge of one of their neighbours being on it.

August 2, 2006 - 2:38 pm

mark - “But it is difficult to say if any punishment, save permanent removal from society, would have kept him from re-offending.”

castration.

I’m somewhat serious. The guy in question is clearly beyond help – if he gets out of jail, he’s going to re-offend. There’s no rehabilitation happening – if he’s going to be let back into society, why not remove his drive to commit these heinous acts?

Travel sites and the relentless march of technology

I like booking travel. I like digging around online, playing with options to find the absolute best deal. I book my own business travel – partially because we’re short on admin support at work, but also because I enjoy it. I started way back in 1998 living in Calgary scoping out the cheapest flights back to Saskatoon for friends’ weddings and such. The best sites back then were expedia.ca and travelocity.ca. Great deals to be had.

Trouble is – I never moved on. I got stuck in that expedia-travelocity rut and became comfortable with them as my travel search destinations. For 8 years.

I found a very cool site today when looking for the cheapest flight between Ottawa and Urumqi. Don’t ask. But *do* check out www.kayak.com. It’s amazing! In the buzz section, enter your home airport, your max price, and see on a map where you can go. In the normal search, click or unclick options, change dates, and see your search results change instantly. I’m sure there’s a ton more to be discovered.

I’m excited. But also a bit worried: I let online travel get away from me. I was left behind by developments in the field, my expedia and travelocity becoming outdated slide rulers.

It makes me wonder – in the years ahead, what else will leave me behind? Especially as we have kids, what doodads will they have that I simply cannot understand?

What’s left you behind? What other whizz-bang gadgets have you found that made you feel this same way?

August 2, 2006 - 8:03 am

Kris - http://www.usedottawa.com – as I blindly purchased shelving and other furniture items that EVERYONE has, it simply never occurred to me that people enjoy getting rid of the stuff too…at a fraction of the cost.

My father got his first DVD player last year. His VCR became Expedia and the DVD player has taken it’s place…he vowed never to be the last to jump on a bandwagon again, as far as technology is concerned.

Ordering pizza online. Hello…brilliant. That way, there’s printed proof if they get something wrong (which, in my online experience so far, they haven’t).

Actually…doing anything online. When something comes up and I’m given the choice, I almost always e-mail. It may make me antisocial in the long run…but it’s so convenient!

August 2, 2006 - 10:11 am

Ben - Had a terrible experience last night. My girlfriend’s roommate asked me to have a look at her PSP, she had bought a memory card and couldn’t figure out how to get it all set up. Let’s just say things have come a long way from the four button, one direction pad, grey-toned Gameboys of the 90s. I didn’t even know where to start. Managed to find a USB cable to hook up between the system and the computer but hit a roadblock after that. I’ve never really been into computers and their accompanying challenges, and I’m defintely starting to pay the price. Pretty sure those systems are geared to twelve year olds. Sigh.

August 2, 2006 - 10:29 am

dread pirate lindsay - i agree with the whole comment on the world of PSP, PSP 2, gamecube, sega genisis 85…whatever they are. i don’t understand them…and i suck at playing them. i grew up with atari and that was all. and it was awesome. you got a joystick and one button to jump or shooot! there was no cofusion what so ever! this ‘new and improved’ video world is too hard to understand and has taken away from the joys of reality and nature. however, after recently starting a new job where i design bikes – i have discovered how much bikes themselved have evolved…cruisers, mountian, road cruisers, dual suspension, hybrid, electric… man its confusing. yet, i encourage all videogamers to get a bike and see the world (esp. if its one of my designs!) !!!!! 😀

August 2, 2006 - 2:10 pm

mark - dan, you must try to stay on top of all these tech advances, or you’ll end up like the old guy I work with who refers to his computer as his “confuser”, then laughs like a jackass everytime he says it. serenity now.

August 2, 2006 - 10:24 pm

Gary - sadly, i run into this in my job. it’s my job to support test equipment for wireless phones. The complexity of the wireless standards is mind boggling. I’m thinking of starting a petition to have everyone go back to analog phones. they were a lot simpler; and who doesn’t those old car phones back?

It’s hot Chez Fullerton.

Desperate times call for desperate measures…

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Roxy is the only one smart enough to stay in the basement. I just may follow her lead.

August 1, 2006 - 8:32 am

dan - We had our 30 day inspection of the house yesterday. Minto provided a humidity / temperature gauge with the house, because hardwood is happiest between 35 and 45% RH. If it stays too high for too long, wood absorbs moisture, then in the winter when it dries out, it curls and creaks. Who knew? Anyway, she took one look at the gauge yesterday and saw 63%, and recommended we buy a dehumidifier or air conditioning as soon as possible.

A dehumidifier isn’t as dainty as a humidifier – it’s basically a refrigerator that sucks air, cools it off, and wrings the water out of the cold air. I’ve emptied it 3 times since installing it at 7pm last night, and the RH was at 67% when I left this morning.

Summer 2006 is disgusting.

August 1, 2006 - 9:42 am

Shannen - CBC.ca’s weather page gave Ottawa a reading of 78% relative humidity today.

The air is so hot and wet that you could probably steam veggies by just leaving them on your counter…Well, we could anyway.

I start to sweat just thinking about my bus ride home this afternoon.

August 1, 2006 - 1:35 pm

Kris - Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

I hate humidity. I hate what it does to my hair. I hate how it feels in my nostrils. And I HATE the bus ride home. Sticky people are no fun.

Today is so hot that our building actually sent a warning around, saying that Ottawa is expecting a record use of energy from air conditioners, etc.

Yuck!

I dig cottage life.

Thanks to our friend Gary’s office lottery win, we were able to spend the hottest weekend of the summer (July 14-15) up at Elbow Lake, Ontario. Just a couple of hours from home, this little cottage resort provided just the rest and relaxation that we desperately needed after a super busy month.

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Since we haven’t been camping yet this year, we jumped at the chance to escape the city and head into the woods, even if it was in a cozy cottage with all the amenities. Though somehow we still ended up meeting the most bizarre insect I’ve ever seen – on the inside of the cottage. It still gives me the willies. It was tiny and non-threatening, but so unexplainable and totally disgusting. (We keep meaning to research it, but fear of looking at pictures of strange creepy-crawlies keeps me from actually going through with it). Oh yeah, and we had near fatal encounters with the local wildlife both nights we were there. Sort of.

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All in all, the weekend consisted of plenty o’ drinks (blended and bottled, and unfortunately for me, non-alcoholic), games, FOOD (if you haven’t ever tried Boursin cheese, you have to), swimming, and lounging. I couldn’t have asked for more from doing almost nothing. I actually felt like I had been to a spa as we walked to our car on Sunday, a feeling which slowly slipped away as we merged onto the highway on our way back to the city. Looks like we are going to have to reconsider our decision to wait to buy a cottage…

A few snapshots for your enjoyment…

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July 31, 2006 - 11:33 am

Kris - Looks like an awesome time! I miss my family cottage SO much in the summer. They are the best escape.

And…I can’t thank Sonja enough for introducing me to Boursin cheese. WOW. Good times.

August 1, 2006 - 8:35 am

dan - Boursin Cheese Website
I’m waiting impatiently for our friends to buy/build their own cabins/cottages so we can mooch.
C’mon folks, get on it!

August 2, 2006 - 8:48 am

Angela - http://www.whatsthat bug.com

To aid in your creepy crawley findings…

August 2, 2006 - 12:48 pm

dan - Thanks Angela – great link! I went to what’s that bug and our friend was the first worm listed.

I give you the horse hair worm. Looks just like a wire, has no discernible head, and has a hard un-mushy body.

More info here.

August 2, 2006 - 12:54 pm

Shannen - Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!

August 2, 2006 - 2:41 pm

mark - the worm we had wasnt that long – it must have been a baby… which begs the question: where was the mother?!?

(yes, I’m just trying to freak out Shannen)