RobertLatimer.net is not a Credible Source

Dear Spartacist/Workers' Vanguard/PDC,

If you are to come across Robert Latimer and his ilk they are likely to refer to site called www.robertlatimer.net. This site, I don't think is credible for the following reasons. First of all, there is no About Us section meaning that one has no idea who is providing the information.

Second, for a lot of the people they site they have no contact information for those people. This makes it impossible to confirm whether or not these people are saying the things that robertlatimer.net alleges they are saying or whether robertlatimer.net is merely making it up.

Third, for things like court transcripts are on the website. There are no links to the original sources such as the Canadian Department of Justice, the Government of Canada etc.

Fourth, for a lot of their "doctors testimony" they do very little in terms of siting respected medical sites.

Another point, I think there a number of factual inaccuracies on this website site. They seem to be describing Cerebral Palsy as "increasingly degenerative". According to more reputable sources such as the Saskatchewan Cerebral Palsy Association (http://members.shaw.ca/saskcpa/Who_What_How_.htm earlier), the Cerebral Palsy Association of BC (http://www.bccerebralpalsy.com/faq.htm#q1) and the Ontario Federation of Cerebral Palsy (http://www.ofcp.on.ca/aboutcp.html##A) Cerebral Palsy is not degenerative, doesn't get worse, isn't life threatening and isn't a disease. The claim that Cerebral Palsy is "degenerative" seems to have been regurgitated by other groups, including groups like the facebook group 'Support Robert Latimer's Release from Prison'.

Finally, they site an individual name Daphne Naegele at one point who they seem, I think, to be claiming is the editor of Transition which is a publication of the British Columbia Coalition of People with Disabilities (BCCPD). However, I recently spoke to the BCCPD and they said that Daphne Naegele was never the editor of their publication Transition. The founder Editor of Transition magazine, apparently, is an individual named Richard A. Watson. In fact the BCCPD is supports the incarceration of Robert Latimer.

Comradely,

M.G.

http://members.shaw.ca/saskcpa/Who_What_How_.htm Saskatchewan Cerebral Palsy Association

http://www.bccerebralpalsy.com/faq.htm#q1 Cerebral Palsy Association of British Columbia

http://www.ofcp.on.ca/aboutcp.html##A Ontario Federation of Cerebral Palsy

What makes the Murder of Tracy Latimer Bigoted and Supporters of Robert Latimer Bigoted towards the Disabled

According to Dick Sobsey head of J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre when Susan Smith a Women in the U.S. murdered her two non-disabled sons there people cried for her blood (including here in Canada). When Robert Latimer murdered his disabled daughter there was a great deal of sympathy for Robert Latimer. Susan Smith's children were dealing with a divorce and the children were separated from their mother. Both Susan Smith and Robert Latimer originally lied to the police about how their children died. Also, in both cases, when it was obvious that Robert Latimer and Susan Smith murdered their children, they both claimed they killed their children out of "compassion". Saying Susan Smith's children were in "continual agony" and that they "needed" to be "relieved of their pain" contains the same logic as Robert Latimer making the same claims about his daughter. It is quite possible that both Susan Smith and Robert Latimer were under stress when they committed their respective murders. The one difference between the two murders is that Susan Smith killed two non-disabled children and Robert Latimer killed a disabled child (see. http://www.normemma.com/artaleof.htm). The common trend is, when a caretaker kills a non-disabled child their is outrage towards the killer. When a caretaker kills someone disabled in their is often sympathy for the killer.

On a related note, I am highly disappointed that the party has not solidarized with the disabled community in this time of crisis. I happen to know that there are people in your party who support Robert Latimer. If this is the party's stance and the party intends to keep this stance and still want to be consistent, then I recommend that you say you are for defending SOME or MOST oppressed people not ALL oppressed people.

Another point, some cadre in your party accused me of "trivializing lynching" because I compared Tracy Latimer's murder to lynching. Frankly, I think that those cadre's remarks, their defence of Robert Latimer and their insistence that what Robert Latimer did was "not an act of terror" can merely be attributed towards their bigotry towards the disabled.

Comradely,

M.G.

http://davehingsburger.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html Chewing the Fat: March 2008

http://www.ccdionline.org/newsletter.php?article_id=26& Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities and Illness: The Catalyst (July - August 2006)

http://www.ualberta.ca/~jpdasddc/INDEX.html J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre

http://www.ualberta.ca/~jpdasddc/abuse/ J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre - Violence, Abuse and Disability

http://www.ualberta.ca/~jpdasddc/abuse/ICAD/digests/murders.html J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre - Violence, Abuse and Disability - Murder

http://www.ualberta.ca/~jpdasddc/abuse/ICAD/ J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre (International Coalition on Abuse and Disability - Listserver)

http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/308119 Latimer ruling 'slippery slope', disabled say

http://www.sacl.org/webapp/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=1&tabid=243 Saskatchewan Association for Community Living - Disability Advocates Alarmed and Distressed by Proposed Changes to the Education Act

http://www.normemma.com/indxadvo.htm Professional Development for Human Services

http://www.normemma.com/artaleof.htm Susan Smith and Robert Latimer: A Tale of Two Murders

http://www.gene.ch/gentech/1997/8.96-5.97/msg00126.html Latimer Watch 5 February 1997 (fwd) by Council of Canadians with Disabilities

http://www.sacl.org/webapp/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=1&tabid=243 Saskatchewan Association for Community Living

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ncfv-cnivf/familyviolence/html/nfntsdisabl_e.html Abuse of Children with Disabilities - Public Health Agency of Canada

http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/article.cfm?id=2300 Panel to Probe Media on Filicide - ExpressNews

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/December2007/04/c7724.html Disability Rights Advocates Monitor Robert Latimer's Parole Decision - Canadian Association for Community Living

http://enablelink.org/include/article.php?aid=94&cid=&pid=&subid= The CCD Scene - EnableLink

http://www.enablelink.org/include/article.php?pid=&cid=&subid=&aid=1070 No Justice for Tracy by Raymond D. Coren - EnableLink

http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2001/0219/pickup021901.shtml Media Ignored Joy of Tracy Latimer

http://www.kacl.ca/Tracylatimer.htm Kenora Association for Community Living - Tracy Latimer Resource Page

http://enablelink.ca/include/article.php?aid=461&cid=&pid=&subid= We Will Survive - Honouring the Memory of Tracy Latimer

http://notdeadyetnewscommentary.blogspot.com/ Not Dead Yet

http://www.notdeadyet.org/docs/press.html Not Dead Yet: The Resistance

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/ideas/story.html?id=94cc7258-aa05-462c-930b-9e25b68c8454 Tracy Latimer's Legacy - Edmonton Journal

http://www.planinstitute.ca/?q=node/181 My Wish for Robert Latimer - Plan Institute for Caring Citizenship