City
Morning Brew: Green Tobacco, Tamils on the Subway, Junk Food Blockade
Photo: "All Aboard!" by Daifuku Sensei, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):
Bang, bang, bang [City]. Have you become desensitized yet... to the recurring, nearly daily realities of gun violence in Toronto?
Is the TTC subway system the next target for Tamil protesters [G&M]? Based on the (often less than sympathetic) reactions to the escalation of the protesters tactics, coming from anonymous (often outright infuriated) commenters on the web, this would not bode well.
Make them eat lettuce - at school! The Toronto District School Board is toying with the idea of disallowing middle school students from leaving the school during lunch time [NP], to effectively prevent them from wandering off to the nearest convenience store to get fat and unhealthy on potato chips, chocolate bars, and doubly caffeinated cola.
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Think about how much potato chips, chocolate, and doubly caffeinated cola a teen could buy after robbing a bank with his buddies. Something tells me that the 5 kids who held up a CIBC in Pickering [Star] would choose to spend their take on something less benign.
Poor handing of finances and redundancies come hand in hand for many larger organizations (think universities, large corporations, and the government). Ontario's health care system is looking to take prescription records electronic, and is under the microscope because they've invested over $67 million on consultants, on top of the 166 (many very well paid) staffers assigned to the task [Sun].
Tobacco companies are getting on the green bandwagon [Star], but if you use their products, you're sure to have nothing but black in your lungs. Perhaps they should advertise that smoking is a green activity because it puts you in the ground faster, thereby speeding up the cycle of life when insects and decomposing bacteria return you to the soil.
Discussion
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I used to watch the owner of the convenience store close to my home at lunch time. Poor man could barely keep his mind on making change for watching the kids try to steal from him in the isles, and then confronting them when he caught them. The verbal abuse he'd have to take. Really, totally not worth it.
I agree on keeping them at school over lunch, but not to keep them from getting fat.
People get very angry and very anxious when kept in a small space like that for long periods of time.
I doubt theft causes more losses than what is brought in from those kids. Besides, theft can be easily dealt with. Aprehension is one option, deterrance is another.
There is no such easy solution for replacing repeat customers.
Their goings-on in recent times have done nothing to
further their cause. Indeed, many of us are further
angered at them than at their situation in Sri Lanka.
I remember lunch counter sit-ins in the US in the
1960s but this taking over of a city is in a far different league.
Seriously, the law has already been broken. How far must things go before some arrests are made?
Bad idea.
I wasn't stuck in traffic when they blocked the Gardiner, nor do I take the TTC whatsoever, but in both these instances, I get angrier and angrier to their tactics. Lack of sympathy and anger is all they're gonna get even from people who aren't directly affected by their protests.
Re: Gun violence
Listen, both residents and the police KNOW where all the drugs/gangs/guns are, but they do nothing about it. Residents stay mum cuz they're scared of retaliation, and cops don't move in cuz they figure the scum'll kill each other off anyway, so why bother? And cuz they're scared of the liberal/bleeding heart/racist/etc consequences if they do strong-arm those areas.
<i>P.S. Jerrold, I love your comment on the new & eco-friendly cigarette packages LOL<i/>
Yeah, hooray for cancer.
Tonight and 7pm
Better still, almost no terrorist Tamil Tiger flags in sight! Maybe I was wrong and they are listening.
Just trying to think outside the box here...
I don't think anyone here (or at least anyone rational an humane) is in favour of anyone being killed. However, this isn't something that's happened in the last few hours. Its been going on for many, many years. Isn't it funny that it becomes a huge issue once the tigers are "losing"?
We are all human beings and our opinions should be at least respected if not accepted.
Re the kids at schools, we should not blame them but educate them to better choices and for us to do that we have to create and give them the opportunity.
I had the chance to visit Village by the Grange food court in downtown Toronto and guys I tell you.
This kitchen is called "Karine's" and what they have done in there is totally out of this world. They cater to OCAD students and nearby schools and what they serve is unbelievable. Fresh, Delicious and student friendly prices for such quality and quantity.
Maybe u should all check their website karines.ca and take your children to try.
It's worth every penny. You all deserve to know that some restauranteurs have already made changes for our kids. We just need to know where they are.Let's not blame the kids or anybody.
Let's work together to build and not brake.
Peaceful, permitted protests in front of a government building (one that can actually take action in the matter) is one of them. Threatening to shut down major transportation arteries and transit lines while using children as unknowing shields in a matter that I am convinced they do not fully understand, is NOT.
Furthermore, protesting in Canada is less than effective due solely to the fact that it is not a voting member in the UN council that can actually do something about the matter. If anything, this group should head down to NYC and protest in front of the UN. Or Moscow, or Paris, or London, or any of the key voting members on the Security Council.
Lets get this straight, nobody here is saying that genocide is a good thing. What we are all tired of is the constant 'attacks' from a group of people, who for all intents and purposes are acting like a bunch of children who aren't getting what they want.
If terrorists are your only hope, your cause is not one that Canada shares.
And badboy, you're complaining that a.) I'll ignore this AND b.) that I keep on discussing this - all in the same post! Neat trick.
No, if you've been paying attention, you'd know that we're mad at a group of people who are trying to evade losing a civil war, even if it means killing the people they supposedly represent.
"In two weeks the Tamil population will be entirely eradicated. And you still won't give a shit."
No, some 3 MILLION Tamils live in other parts of Sri Lanka, and watching the fighting on TV. Over 60 MILLION Tamils are living peacefully in India, and another 2.5 MILLION live in Malaysia and elsewhere.
In the war zone, over 200,000 Tamils have escaped the LTTE and made their way to Sri Lankan government refugee camps under the watchful eye of UN observers. Still at risk in the war zone are some "tens of thousands" more Tamils who have as much to fear from the LTTE as they do the Sri Lankan army - if not more.
That's an awful situation, but it's not "genocide" or the end of the Tamil population. And it could end today if the LTTE surrender, as Canada and the UN have been calling for (which is the opposite of what these protesters want.