Buckingham This Week (Friday, Nov. 4th, 2011)

Local police shooting rogue steers reminiscent of a Far Side cartoon but . . .

I have to admit that when one of our faithful listeners by the name of Tanya forwarded the link for the following CBC video in which Gatineau police officers "gun down" rogue steers, my thoughts immediately turned to the famed cartoonist Gary Larson and his depiction of bovines gone wild.  You remember, the single frame image of cows driving a tractor into the farmer's barn?

However, and perhaps reflective of the ignorance of a true city boy, this lighter view of what was a serious situation quickly gave way to an understanding of just how incendiary stories such as these can become in a relatively short time.

This raises a number of questions from both an actual incident standpoint (re was the police response appropriate, how did the cows get loose and should the farmer be held liable), as well as understanding the impact and influence of social media.  Specifically, and similar to last year's video in which a Seattle police officer is shown punching an unruly female jaywalker, does the ease at which everyday life events are catapulted into our collective consciousness through the Internet help or hinder our understanding of an event?

Tonight we will tackle these as well as other questions surrounding the Gatineau story head on.  The phone lines (347-326-9234) and chat room will be open to your calls and questions.

Take our BTW! Poll and weigh in with your vote as to whether the police response was appropriate?