At Home: CBC facing lawsuit over Taser coverage
When Robert Dziekanski was Tasered by RCMP offers at Vancouver International Airport, the incident was widely covered throughout the media. Now, one of the RCMP officers involved is suing the CBC for libel.
Constable Kwesi Millington was one of four officers who confronted Dziekanski at the airport. According to the CBC, Millington ?fired a stun gun at the man within seconds of arriving on the scene.? Dziekanski died shortly after.
Millington now claims that the CBC’s coverage of the incident (and subsequent inquiry) has defamed him, and he has filed for damages with the BC Supreme Court.
Among Millington’s claims are that ?his reputation has been seriously injured, he has suffered embarrassment and distress,? and he has been ?brought into public ridicule.?
None of his claims have been proven in court, and his lawsuit is not the only one surrounding Dziekanski’s death. Dziekanski’s mother, Zofia Cisowski, filed a lawsuit last month for damages against the Vancouver Airport Authority, the Canada Border Services Agency, and the RCMP, including the four officers directly involved in the Taser incident.
The incident led to the Braidwood inquiry, in which officers? testimony often contradicted video proof of Dziekanski’s death.
In Foreign News: Many American youth not fit for military
With no end in sight to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, US military recruiters face a hard enough time encouraging young people to enlist. And according to a new report, American’s ?poor education system and the worsening obesity crisis? are making it even harder to find suitable new recruits.
As the Washington Post reports, poor education, being overweight, and other physical ailments have made as many as 75 per cent of US young people ?unfit for the armed forces.? The study’s focus is youth between the ages of 17 and 24. Add in those who are unfit because of criminal records, drug use, and mental health issues and the country could soon be facing a threat to its ability to defend itself.
Although 2008 saw both the numbers and quality of recruits rise, senior military officials are concerned about future recruitment needs. Currently, about 25 per cent of potential recruits in the study’s age group do not have their high school diploma. Many of those who do ?still fail the military’s version of the SAT, known as the Armed Forces Qualification Test.? As well, poor physical fitness and weight issues rule out about ?a third of all potential recruits.?
Educators and military personnel are trying to combat the problem by advocating for more early-education programs. For young people already in the 17 to 24 age group, many recruiters are finding themselves in the roles of coaches and tutors, ?helping with homework and whipping kids into shape.?
