One of the most important seminars I attended this week had to do with Public Safety. There is no such thing as being safe in public places anymore. If a crazed or motivated gunman like the one at Virginia Tech, or at Dawson, or Ecole Polytechnic, is on a killing spree there isn't a blessed thing an ordinary citizen can do, other than run, or hide. And pray, if you are so inclined.

Even the everyday beat cop is trained to call for reinforcement in most circumstances, we were told. In an anxious audience of 300 or more I wasn't inclined to stick up my hand, clear my throat, identify myself as a blogger, and challenge the expert speaker. But I knew from Thursday Next's piece, TNA comments, and the Montreal Gazette online, that Montreal cops Marco Barcarollo and Denis Cote did not wait. They were part of a rapid response strategy that terrible autumn day at Dawson College.  This just isn't my area. I listened intently.

Unfortunately the promotion of fear is good for the security industry. The proposed solutions (Closed Circuit Cable TV etc.) are only helpful after the fact, and not very helpful, at that. It is easy and frightening to see how many people are relieved to be relieved of their human rights in the name of security. And no, the end of the seminar wasn't exactly the time to discuss esoteric theoreticals like habeus corpus and propriety of spying on citizens as a matter of course. Many of us had questions about how these incidents might be prevented. Isn't there something that can be done to identify and control risk factors? Prevention apparently isn't a growth industry, nor is it sexy. You don't get to use cliches like "handcuff" or "silver bullet" in the human potential and opportunity industry. But I did learn a few things. For example, did you know that during a major emergency cell phones are often useless? Emergency services can commandeer the entire cell broadband spectrum in an area for their own use. Ok, I've probably said enough.

As you know the drinky diary is always a bit personal, a bit idiosyncratic, a bit flakey. Today's diary took a completely unexpected direction when one of my colleagues, Jay, had a medical incident this morning. Apparently he wasn't feeling well. Then he lost his vision, became confused and asked for help. Everyone in the area swung into action. Within 10 minutes the ambulance had arrived, Jay's wife had been notified, and people were covering his responsibilities. We got an initial report that he's in the hospital and comfortable. I'm grateful we had people here who knew first-aid, that they provided good care with their first response. I'm grateful Canadians have a system that started to treat him without regard for the status of his bank account.

A minute ago I heard Jay did not have a stroke. That's good news. We feared the worst. He's going to be OK. The early word is that he had a problem called TIA, or Transient Ischemic Attack for those inclined to dig a little deeper. It looks like he's going to get some further diagnosis, treatment and a lifestyle makeover. A friend and colleague just told us Jay's 64th birthday is today.

Happy Birthday Jay! May you have a speedy recovery and many more birthdays to come. There's more than one way to dodge a bullet, buddy.

Cheers!