Historicist: "The city that nobody loves"
Elsewhere in the Ist-a-Verse
TTC workers may opt for a work-to-rule or slowdown campaign rather than an out-and-out strike—moves which could include actions such as refusing to collect fares, adhering to rules of the road, and not wearing uniforms. Union President Bob Kinnear's comments indicate that they'd prefer the less drastic action so as not to antagonize the public. Hmmmm, let's see...empty pier...tearful relatives waving goodbye from the wharf...yep, sorry, Bob, that ship has definitely sailed.
Controversial city councillor Rob Ford vowed to be back on the job today after being arrested on charges of assault, reportedly brought by his wife. It's not known whether the legal trouble will interfere with plans to cast Ford in the lead role for an upcoming Chris Farley biopic.
A study has found that people in their 40s who have large bellies are more likely to suffer from dementia in later years, with the probability increasing with belly size. So if you're already middle-aged and fat, there's a good chance you can look forward to being old, fat, and demented in a few years. Mother Nature, you merry bitch of a prankster.
Buddhist monks yesterday interrupted a Lhasa press tour that had been carefully orchestrated by Chinese authorities, bursting in and shouting that the government was lying about the situation in Tibet. The assembled journalists, who already knew that, applauded politely until they realized it wasn't a scheduled demonstration of traditional Tibetan yelling, but an unscripted event.
In related news, the Chinese ambassador to Canada responded angrily to some very mild Canadian government criticisms of China, claiming the Dalai Lama was a "liar" and that it was "irresponsible" for Canada to interfere in Chinese internal affairs. He went on to say that Tibet had been part of China for centuries, and Canada should probably shut up before the Chinese government remembered that British Columbia was also traditionally Chinese.
Photo by leontjr.
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Refusing to collect fares? All of a sudden, I'm supporting the TTC Union.
Okay, I'm probably not the first one who thought that accompanying photo was meant to depict Rob Ford, you cheeky devils you...
I understand that when there was a transit strike in Lisbon, the workers didn't wear uniforms, didn't bother to collect fares and didn't stick to any timetable. Service was rather sporadic but there was service but no fares.
The strike quickly ended.
Maybe they could do the same thing here.
Could Bob Kinnear possibly be getting the grip of how pissed off citizens are with his antics? Of how much bad PR a trasit strike could bring?
Mmmh, I don't think of.
Instead of wearing propagandistic TTC T-shirts that say drivers are "Worth a Million," maybe riders should wear one with Bob Kinnear's face on a target saying "Have you horked on Kinnear today?"
Wow -- an embarassing photo and a Chris Farley reference... we get it: never mind that Rob Ford's family is in crisis, you just make fat jokes. Grow up.
As if the public isn't antagonized by the TTC on a daily basis anyway.
" an embarassing photo and a Chris Farley reference... we get it: never mind that Rob Ford's family is in crisis, you just make fat jokes. Grow up."
I don't want to come off too thin-skinned, but just for the record I grabbed the photo last night after I decided to use the story about belly weight and dementia; it had nothing to do with the Rob Ford reference that I threw in this morning. That was a lucky coincidence.
Secondly a Chris Farley reference isn't a fat joke, it's a celebrity lookalike joke. If he looked like Sigmund Freud or Celine Dion I would have said that.
That said, you should probably stop reading what I write because you're almost certain to get offended again.
We desperately need more groups to mock, the overweight are taking on too much of a load lately.
Re: TTC coverage - Has anyone else noticed the incredible laziness of newspapers -- the Star, in particular -- when it comes to covering the "looming TTC strike"? Jesus Christ, did the Star's so-called "transportation reporter" run her story through the Cliche-O-Matic? Here are gems from just one of today's Star stories:
1. TTC workers "brought the city to its knees"
2. "strike deadline approaches"
3. "tough-talking union president"
4. "walked away from the bargaining table"
5. "refusal to budge"
6. "bull-in-a-china-shop"
7. "bigger and better things"
A perfect example of how NOT to write, kiddies.
I cannot comprehend how Rob Ford is allowed to behave like this! Doesn't this asshole infuriate anyone as much as me?
So for their work-to-rule, TTC union members are going to act like assholes? What exactly is different about this from their day to day routine?
Doggiez: I agree that all of the cliches should be avoided, save one. "Strike deadline approaches" isn't a cliche. It is simply an accurate description of what's going on. The rest are definitely cliched embellishments/choices of words. Alternatively, I'd call "looming strike deadline" a cliche that should be avoided.
Yeah, refusing to collect fares? How is this any different from how employees routinely don't even look up when people put change in the boxes?
re: 8
Not offended at all, just disappointed and hoping for better in the future.
I for one thought the Chris Farley joke was gold. There is a resemblance beyond the weight factor.
I didn't think the accompanying pic had anything to do with it.
What gets to me most about this is that we are getting so hooked on the a tabloid, gossip, mean style of journalism and reporting that turns a story like this into just a punchline or a reason to throw insults at someone we may not like.
But if you look at it from a human perspective, you have a family in trouble with a child as the victim, maybe a woman afraid for her safety. I guess it's not as fun, but every once in a while, it would be nice to see even the people we might not care for treated as people.
Doggiez, FYI, the old Cliche-O-Matic is like, so 1.0.
It's the Cliché-a-Tron 5000 that is this year's gotta-have amongst media types.
Luckily there is an enhancement for labour conflicts, which allows you to predict who will say what before they've said it.
.
Life seems to move in repeating loops and waves, and force-of-habit rules. Some programming just happens to more noticeable...
Cliché-a-Tron 5000? Everyone I know uses klshé beta.
And if you write for Eastern European media, it's the Kasha-O-Matic :)
"...actions such as refusing to collect fares, adhering to rules of the road..."
Whoa, does that mean refusing to adhere to the rules of the road?? Am I reading that correctly?
I have a mental image of myself white-knuckled as I pass through an intersection, wondering if the enormous streetcar perpendicular to me is going to plow through the red light as a strike protest.
lol - no, it's not refusing to adhere - that's apparently what they do now. According to a Bob Kinnear in a different Star article "bus scheduling almost requires drivers to speed", so obeying the law would involve slowing down.
lol - that's still weird. A bus puttering along at 50km, in a 50 zone, would be fine by me as either passenger or driver sharing the road.
Maybe they can continue the campaign by greeting passengers and distaining schedules for regular consistent service.
Hopefully they will extend the subway delays a little longer so that everyone else on the train will have time to run down to Gateway and grab a snack, too.