Statues In The News

 

They Come and They Go -- and Then They Come Back
  Enough has been written in Mulcahy's Miscellany about the elimination of statues and the erasure of names. Briefly stated, I think the statues should be allowed to stand and the names on things should remain. For one sample among the many posts about these subjects see: "Simple Solutions". 
  Just because I have chosen to remain silent about statues and names does not mean that others are not concerned about them, and here I will simply offer a bibliographic synopsis of the statue news over the last few days from three countries. My coverage does not extend to the municipal level, but I will note that one guy's name was erased from a street here in London, but you will still be able to locate Plantation Road on a map.

Russia
   The stimulus for this post is Stalin, who has been restored to a proper pedestal at a station in the Moscow Metro. He is not alone since there are 120 other Stalin statues elsewhere, 105 of which have been erected over the last quarter of a century. To refresh your memory:
   "Stalin was responsible for mass purges, including the Great Terror of 1936 to 1938, when more than 700,000 people were executed, including military leaders, intellectuals, members of ethnic minorities, landowning peasants and others. Under his leadership, entire ethnic groups, like Crimean Tatars, were expelled from their homelands. His policies contributed to mass famine across the Soviet Union, including in Ukraine."
BUT, nostalgia for the Soviet era is strong, especially among older generations traumatized by the painful transition to capitalism, reinforcing memories of Stalin as a strongman who imposed order on a sprawling country and led it to victory against Nazi Germany. His admirers see purges, famines and mass deportations as “excesses” for which overzealous local officials were mostly responsible."
   There is real value in reading about foreign examples of issues which concern us and in this case one finds a suggestion for the names problem. Simply alternate them, for example, "Volgograd" and "Stalingrad." ("Volgograd itself briefly reverted to its former name on May 8-9 for Victory Day celebrations and will be temporarily renamed five more times this year to mark related wartime anniversaries.") I suppose this solution works for electronic signs, but it must be problematic in most cases.

The United States - Plant A Garden Full Of Statues
  In all the musings about names and statues in MM, I admit that I never thought about the simple switching of names to satisfy the S.W.I.N.E. ("Students Wildly Indignant About Nearly Everything"), and many others. Nor did I think of creating a large garden of statues, an idea taking root in the U.S. I have to admit that this is a very efficient solution, which will be clearly evident during harvest time. 

Canada
  About statues and names in our country, you will likely know everything, but I will offer a few sources for Stanley Cup watchers who may have missed them. Basically, interest in statues has surged because Sir John A. Macdonald is being let out of his box. Names are again in the news since an attempt is being made, in Toronto at least, to slow down the erasing of them. It is too late for the old Ryerson Public School here in London, but I suppose the old and new names could be switched on occasion, although the new one is rather bland - "Old North Public School.' 

Sources:
  For Russia this will do: "Stalin’s Image Returns to Moscow’s Subway, Honoring a Brutal History," Ivan Nechepurenko, NYT, May 29, 2025. 
  For the Garden in the U.S., see this press release and the following article: "NEH Announces Grant Opportunity to Create Statues of Iconic Americans for the National Garden of American Heroes," April 24 and:
"Trump Administration Seeks Artists for ‘Garden of Heroes’ Statues: Those selected would receive up to $200,000 to create one of the 250 sculptures, which will be paid for in part with canceled grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities," Jennifer Schuessler, NYT, April 24, 2025. 
  "The garden, which was announced during Mr. Trump’s first term, will feature life-size renderings of “250 great individuals from America’s past who have contributed to our cultural, scientific and political heritage,” according to a news release. The endowment is now requesting “preliminary concepts” for individual statues from artists who must be American citizens; those who are selected will receive awards of up to $200,000 per statue, which must be made of marble, granite, bronze, copper or brass."
   For Canada, there have been many about the Macdonald statue and this recent benign piece by the G&M editorial staff, still elicited over 300 comments: "Sir John A. Macdonald’s Statue Should Stand, but Not Alone, May 5, 2025:
  "The statue of Sir John A. Macdonald in front of Ontario’s legislature is expected to return to public view this summer after being vandalized five years ago. That’s a good move, but it does not go far enough.…To reflect Macdonald’s legacy properly, remove the protective box now hiding his statue – and erect an equally prominent memorial to the victims of residential schools."
  The folks over at The National Post wouldn't agree and selected pieces from that paper are provided below. If you don't have time, there is even a Wikipedia entry which offers a summary of Monuments and Memorials in Canada Removed in 2020-2022.
- Ontario Decides to Let Sir John A. Out of Box; Comment Decision to unbox queen's park statue of Canada's first pm marks significant reversal of current government thinking, Tristin Hopper, National Post, May 29, 2025.
- "Is Sir John A. Macdonald Being Set Up For a fall? We won't stop the statue-botherers without proper enforcement and prosecution," Chris Selley, NP, May 30, 2025.
- "John A. Macdonald's return to Queen's Park an Opportunity for Historical Literacy: The reappearance of his statue at the Ontario legislature is not the end of the conversation. It should be the beginning,"  Greg Piasetzki, NP, June 4, 2025. 
  About the names of schools in Toronto: "Ontario Education Minister Steps in to Prevent Erasure of Sir John A. Macdonald, Ryerson and Dundas from Toronto Schools: The new legislation, introduced by Ontario education minister Paul Calandra will require a board to apply before changing the name of an existing schools," Stewart Lewis, National Post, May 30, 2025.

"Murder Insurance"

Tort Boards
   I will get to the subject of "Murder Insurance" in a few sentences, so if you are in a hurry, jump to the next sub-title. 
   Back in the last century (and not that far back in it), it was seen as both undignified and unprofessional for lawyers to pitch their wares. That is now not the case. On a recent car trip to the United States, bulletin boards for personal injury lawyers blotted the brief spots of landscape, not already obscured by tattoo shops and weed and dollar stores. (As an aside; given that travel to that country is now discouraged I will offer as an excuse the fact that it was an "oblication" - an obligation to which we tacked on a brief vacation.) On our next trip, if the political situation allows one, there are likely to be more bulletin boards by lawyers offering "Murder Insurance", which is no longer just a niche market.

Finally - "Murder Insurance"
   The word "murder" was assigned to this new insurance product by the critics of it, who may have considered, the words "homicide' or "manslaughter". Those selling it prefer "self-defense insurance" and, if it existed up here, it would be called "self-defence insurance", but it is unlikely to be on sale in Canada because our lawyers are less enterprising and we have far fewer guns. 
  I learned all of this from the following article, the title of which reveals two reasons why the market for self-defense insurance has grown to over two million customers:
"Did You Shoot Somebody in Self-Defense? There's An Insurance Policy For That: Insurers Cover Self-Defense Shooters - Rise in Gun Ownership and Stand-Your-Ground Laws Drives a Lucrative New Market," Mark Maremont and Tawnell D. Hobbs, The Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2025.
   The major purveyors of this new product are listed below, along with additional information should you have concerns about protecting your own castle. Like, State Farm, I suppose, call and they will be there like a good neighbor, to provide such things as defense assistance, civil litigation support and money to cover the costs for cleaning up the mess that usually results when someone is stopped dead. They may be busy since it has been noticed that, "the industry’s expansion coincides with the growth of permitless concealed carry laws, stand-your-ground statutes, and increased firearm purchases, particularly during periods of social unrest..." It is also the case, as the critics of "Murder Insurance" suggest, that the existence of such a product may incentivize the use of force in even trivial or accidental acts of trespass.
  Loyal readers of MM will appreciate the irony (there is usually some around) if they recall my post of last May when I noted that homeowners in many states were having difficulty getting insurance for protection against natural disasters. See, Your CASTLE.

Some Self-Defense Insurers:
U.S. Concealed Carry Association - "Keep Your Family Safe"
Armed Citizens' Legal Defense Network, Inc. "Can You Survive the Legal Aftermath of Self Defense?"
U.S. Law Shield. The website is there, but you will likely be blocked as a Canadian and have to contact them.

Post Script: 
  I went looking for the origin of the term, "Murder Insurance" and found usage of the words together, but they generally related to people being murdered for insurance or those who had received insurance payments when someone was murdered. Teachers got murder insurance back in 2001 and parents in New York city bought murder insurance for their kids back in the early 1990s. Some municipalities also sought murder insurance to help with the costs associated with bringing murderers to trial.
   The first occurrence, I found, of "Murder Insurance" used as it has been in this post, was back in 2017. The NRA was selling it.
  " 'Murder Insurance' or Protection in Self-Defence Cases?" Lisa Marie Pane, AP. Oct. 19, 2017.
"ATLANTA — The National Rifle Association is offering insurance for people who shoot someone, stirring criticism from gun-control advocates who say it could foster more violence and give gun owners a false sense of security to shoot first and ask questions later.
Some are calling it “murder insurance,” and say that rather than promoting personal responsibility and protection, it encourages gun owners to take action and not worry about the consequences. And, they say, it’s being marketed in a way that feeds on the nation’s racial divisions.
Guns Down, a gun-control group formed last year, is running an ad campaign to criticize the NRA’s new insurance. It’s just the latest group to take aim at the NRA’s offering.
“The reason I call it murder insurance is because if you look at the way this is marketed, it’s really sold in the context of ‘There’s a threat around every corner, dear mostly-white NRA member,’ and that threat is either a black man or a brown man or some other kind of person of colour,” said Guns Down director Igor Volsky.
“So when you inevitably have to use your gun to defend yourself from this threat around every corner, you have insurance to protect you.”
Carry Guard insurance was launched this past spring by the NRA. Rates range from $13.95 a month for up to $250,000 in civil protection and $50,000 in criminal defence to a “gold plus” policy that costs $49.95 a month and provides up to $1.5 million in civil protection and $250,000 in criminal defence. The coverage kicks in if a court finds the person lawfully shot someone in self-defence or the case is dropped.
The NRA isn’t the only gun lobbying group offering such insurance. The United States Concealed Carry Association has been in the business much longer and provides up to $2 million in civil costs and $250,000 for criminal defence. But the NRA is the most prominent gun-rights group in the country and it offered similar insurance previously. And Carry Guard is more comprehensive and being marketed more aggressively than it has been previously. It’s drawing attention to a type of policy that was relatively obscure until now."

Post Script:
   The very clever term, "Tort Boards",  was constructed by me to describe the bulletin boards constructed for lawyers. Those who use the expression "tort boards" without acknowledging MM, will be charged with first-degree plagiarism and a tort board will be used to track down a lawyer who will sue you on my behalf.