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BAD WEATHER DIDN’T STOP SATURDAY's MOTHERS’ PEACE MARCH By Stephen Weir: Last Saturday morning, when Louis March looked out his window and saw storm clouds over the city, he went into action, The organizer of that day’s Mother’s Peace Walk – against Gun Violence and recognizing the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Homicide, immediately to Social Media to let everyone know that rain or shine there would be a march down Yonge St at 3pm. Louis March, Founder of the Zero Gun Violence Movement, and one of the organizers of Saturday’s street demonstration, did indeed get the word out and later that day over 400 people, along with a group of motorcycle guardians took to the streets of downtown Toronto. “Bullets don't stop in the rain so there is no such thing as a rain date when our mothers are crying and our children are dying,” explained Mr. March. Mothers from across the city and province, impacted by the tragic loss of children due to gun violence walked, chanted and c

Eulogy for a friend - Linda Crane

Linda Ruth (Crane) Williams  September 17,1952 - February 13, 2021 Hello Friends.    Stephen Weir here, I am writing to you today (September 17, 2021) from Toronto. In my heart of hearts I wish I could be there with all you to celebrate the life of Linda Williams but I unfortunately can’t. Although my soul says go, my body doesn’t agree.  I am currently receiving Chemotherapy at home and in Sunnybrook Hospital. I know Linda, my friend, my confidante, my associate, my employer and sometimes my employee, would forgive my absence. And while Linda would be the first to tell me to just get better and not worry about her, I know that she is also wagging a cosmic finger at me and reminding me of that old adage we both adhered to – The show must go on. And if Linda were alive at today’s tribute it would indeed be a show planned with military precision. Alphabetical guest lists. Parking information. Canapé’s. Drinks. Nothing would be left to chance. Somehow I am sure she would also make sure it

American Public Library of Science’s PLOS One publishes Canadian researcher Dr. Krissy Doyle-Thomas

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  New Canadian Study by Dr. Krissy Doyle-Thomas looks at if pain can be detected in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders by just looking at their brain.       By Stephen Weir    A new peer-reviewed study by Canadian researcher and professor   Dr. Krissy Doyle-Thomas titled “ Investigating Sensory Response to Physical Discomfort in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy” has just been published   by the American Public Library of Science’s   PLOS One   peer-reviewed open access scientific journal.     This ground-breaking study looks at how well a portable, inexpensive, brain imaging tool was in measuring discomfort in children with ASD, without the children having to say they were uncomfortable. There is not a lot of published research in this area. However, such research can have a major impact on clinical care for people with communication challenges. Dr. Doyle-Thomas   is one of the first researchers to explore the use of Near-Infrared Spectro

Litton’s Law – Give a terrorist dynamite and he/she will do something stupid.

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SMALL THINGS MATTER Litton’s Law – Give a terrorist dynamite  and he/she will do something stupid.  CBC Nonfiction February 28, 2021. By Stephen Weir   All the Canadian terrorists I’ve known turned out to be idiots. No let me go one step further. They are all fucking idiots with blood on their hands.   I am talking about the uber cool revolutionaries who somehow hit the wrong targets, cripple the wrong people and always always get caught. Oh yes, I almost forgot, they always get forgotten by everyone but the people who bled in the streets.   I studied the terrorists who took out the plant where my office was some 39 years ago. There were five of them. I won’t mention them by name.  They were the King of the World types who eagerly traded in their personal Titanic for bad music and 550 lbs of  dynamite.   Canada’s first home-grown English speaking terror cell destroyed a West Coast Hydro installation, stole a load of mining dynamite and came to Toronto to change the world.  They might h