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Toronto-Age |OT2|

Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this the first era (in a long time, at least) to introduce partisanship to municipal politics? Never in my lifetime do I remember hearing things about 'fascist, commies, pinkos, lefties, righties' as much as I do now. If there's one thing I hate about Ford, it's this. It's juvenile and it shows when you see council 'at work' (both sides are particularly childish).

That said, my councillor Mihevc is really doing a good job--probably his best efforts yet.

From what I understand we had party politics in Toronto municipal elections (and by extension Council) until sometime in the 70s. That's a limited reading of history though, so if someone's got something more definite I'll stand corrected.

The trend of using left-right monikers as epithets, however, is a newer phenomenon. Way back when, politicians just called each other morons (and other less classy things) and were done with it.
 
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/30/its-all-about-subways-rob-ford-tells-city-hall-scrum/

Reporter: Mr. Mayor, some people at 11 o’clock are discussing the legal standard of scrapping Transit City and they are saying you may have overstepped your boundaries. What do you say?

Mayor: I didn’t overstep my boundaries, I did what the taxpayers want. They want subways, that’s it. They don’t want streetcars. I was out in Scarborough over the weekend, people came up to me and said, they want subways. That’s it.

Reporter: Is there any wiggle room for you on this issue?

Mayor: It’s the taxpayers. The taxpayers want…I was elected on subways, they want subways, I was out on Saturday, people want subways. That’s it.

Reporter: Do you think you’ll win this vote? It doesn’t seem like you have the votes.

Mayor: It’s all subways. It’s all about subways.

Reporter: What are you going to do though if council votes against that?

Mayor: All about subways. So, it’s the taxpayers that elected me to get the subways in and that’s what we’re going to do.

Reporter: So, you think that gives you authority to, if council votes against that.

Mayor: It’s like winning an election. So if they voted me in, that means [stutters a bit] I don’t win an election? It doesn’t make sense.

I think he's imploding.
 

daemonic

Banned
Mayor: I didn’t overstep my boundaries, I did what the taxpayers want. They want subways, that’s it. They don’t want streetcars. I was out in Scarborough over the weekend, people came up to me and said, they want subways. That’s it.

I really need to avoid reading these interviews to maintain my sanity.
 
Also, here's what I picture happening:

A bunch of people approach Rob Ford in public.

Person 1: "Go back to the old plan."
Person 2: "Go back to the old plan."
Person 3: "Go back to the old plan."
Person 4: "Go back to the old plan."
Person 5: "Go back to the old plan."
Person 6: "Go back to the old plan."
Person 7: "Go back to the old plan."
Person 8: "I WANT SUBWAYS! HURRRRRRR!!!"

Ford: "Taxpayers come up to me and tell me they want subways."
 

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
Also, here's what I picture happening:

A bunch of people approach Rob Ford in public.

Person 1: "Go back to the old plan."
Person 2: "Go back to the old plan."
Person 3: "Go back to the old plan."
Person 4: "Go back to the old plan."
Person 5: "Go back to the old plan."
Person 6: "Go back to the old plan."
Person 7: "Go back to the old plan."
Person 8: "I WANT SUBWAYS! HURRRRRRR!!!"

Ford: "Taxpayers come up to me and tell me they want subways."
Or they just want a sandwich because they can't afford one with Ford's cuts.
 

Kuro Madoushi

Unconfirmed Member
People in Scarborough > people everywhere else!

Quiet, Carlton! :mad:

Scarberia is so cold, I wouldn't be surprised to find a polar bear there either!

(Civil war in Leafs Age OMG!)

I keep hearing from people that this weather is 'normal' for this time of year. I always remember Januarys as snow filled. Usually, I see snow around Xmas and it stays here til around April/May.

10 C weather outside right now! :D
 

Roto13

Member
If anyone's planning on buying SoulCalibur V, it comes with the Dampierre DLC at Game Centre. Also at Best Buy but it's a couple bucks more expensive there.
 

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
Quiet, Carlton! :mad:

Scarberia is so cold, I wouldn't be surprised to find a polar bear there either!

(Civil war in Leafs Age OMG!)

I keep hearing from people that this weather is 'normal' for this time of year. I always remember Januarys as snow filled. Usually, I see snow around Xmas and it stays here til around April/May.

10 C weather outside right now! :D

I don't know about twenty years ago, but for the last few winters, we've had plenty of snow. I mean, we set a record just a couple years ago for snow fall. Of course, February is still to come, so we might be eating all these words a week from now.
 

Oppo

Member
I keep hearing from people that this weather is 'normal' for this time of year. I always remember Januarys as snow filled. Usually, I see snow around Xmas and it stays here til around April/May.

10 C weather outside right now! :D

It's not normal by historical standards. My weather app that I use shows the historical stuff every day and we've been above normal for nearly the whole winter so far.
 

Kuro Madoushi

Unconfirmed Member
I don't know about twenty years ago, but for the last few winters, we've had plenty of snow. I mean, we set a record just a couple years ago for snow fall. Of course, February is still to come, so we might be eating all these words a week from now.

Getting worried at this point. In my experience, a mild winter means a scorching summer. :(
 

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
Quiet, Carlton! :mad:

Scarberia is so cold, I wouldn't be surprised to find a polar bear there either!

(Civil war in Leafs Age OMG!)

I keep hearing from people that this weather is 'normal' for this time of year. I always remember Januarys as snow filled. Usually, I see snow around Xmas and it stays here til around April/May.

10 C weather outside right now! :D
There are, at the zoo. ;)
 

Quick

Banned
To update everyone that cares (read: no one :p), I've booked my G2 test for next week at Port Union. I'm pretty nervous about it.

I've been driving for a long-ass time, and I've developed my own habits when driving, which aren't driver examiner friendly. Not that I don't signal or check my mirrors and blind spots, but I'm talking about driving with one hand without really thinking about it, or forgetting to check my mirrors every 8 seconds (really, who does this outside of driving tests?).

I've sort of been practicing and I've been trying to get myself used to driving with two hands on the wheel again and checking my mirrors, etc.
 

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
To update everyone that cares (read: no one :p), I've booked my G2 test for next week at Port Union. I'm pretty nervous about it.

I've been driving for a long-ass time, and I've developed my own habits when driving, which aren't driver examiner friendly. Not that I don't signal or check my mirrors and blind spots, but I'm talking about driving with one hand without really thinking about it, or forgetting to check my mirrors every 8 seconds (really, who does this outside of driving tests?).

I've sort of been practicing and I've been trying to get myself used to driving with two hands on the wheel again and checking my mirrors, etc.

You should really try to exaggerate your head movements when you're looking in the mirror. They can't see you if you just look with your eyes and they're really strict about this. Gotta move your whole head.
 

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
Ford is scared. fufufu

http://www.thestar.com/news/article...row-ttc-chair-karen-stintz-under-the-bus?bn=1

Toronto’s transit plans are in tatters after the mayor’s allies on the TTC board moved to seize control of the transit agenda and block an attempt to halt Mayor Rob Ford’s demands that all Toronto transit be built underground.

The move, which blindsided TTC chair Karen Stintz, handcuffs transit staff who had been planning to publicly release a report next month showing the pros and cons of burying the entire Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown LRT.


The transit commission vote came within an hour of the release of a strongly worded letter from Metrolinx chair Robert Prichard pleading with the city to get its act together on the transit file.

But a visibly shaken Stintz suggested the vote passed by Ford loyalists Denzil Minnan-Wong, TTC vice-chair Peter Milczyn, Frank DiGiorgio, Vincent Crisanti and Norm Kelly has actually cast more confusion on the city’s plans.

Metrolinx will soon have to choose between Ford’s transit vision, contained in a memorandum of understanding between the city and province, and a compromise being suggested by Stintz.

Ford wants Eglinton to run underground all the way from Black Creek Dr. to Kennedy Station. Stintz has been rallying support to return to the old Transit City plan, tunneling only as far as Laird Dr. in the east and then running the LRT on the surface to Kennedy. That would save up to about $2 billion money that could go to other transit developments.

“Absent council’s endorsement of the MOU, the city is not bound by the plan and it is increasingly difficult to implement it. We believe both you and council must soon confirm the direction the city wishes to take,” wrote Prichard.

“The purpose of the letter is to provide clarity on the need to have direction from council, the mayor and the TTC,” explained Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig.

But Tuesday’s vote signals to the province “That we’re not interested in getting our act together,” said an angry Stintz, who walked away from reporters to compose herself.

“There are so many fundamental issues that need to be addressed not just for this commission but for the next 50 years of the city,” she said. The commissioners, she said, are shutting the door to a full airing of those issues.

Stintz, who was picked by Ford to head the TTC, acknowledged that she can be removed with notice by the commission. However, she said, “I don’t see any reason why I would quit.”

The vote prompted some city councillors to suggest it’s more important than ever to put the mayor’s transit plans before city council even if it means calling a special council meeting.

“It’s clear that a majority of council doesn’t think this administration and its few allies on council any longer represent the interests of Torontonians,” said Councillor Gord Perks.

“My understanding was the mayor was going to bring the MOU and Gordon Chong’s report (on financing the Sheppard subway extension) to executive committee. If that happens, it will end up on the floor of council. It’s not clear we need a special meeting,” said Stintz.

But Milczyn said commissioners who voted against allowing the TTC to continue discussing issues on Eglinton with the province are simply taking charge of the discussions themselves.

“We’re not preprepared to give staff a blank cheque to take their positions to Metrolinx,” he said.

TTC staff have expressed concerns about operating Eglinton if its design is administered entirely by Infrastructure Ontario, although Stintz confirmed Tuesday that the TTC would be running the LRT. There’s also disagreement about the appropriate vehicles and tunnel length for the project.

Milczyn said he received no direction from the mayor on how to vote. But Eglinton is a provincial project, he said, and it’s up to Metrolinx to decide how to build it.

“Starting to have a whole debate about what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, … that’s the perfect way to slow down the process,” he said.

TTC chief general manager Gary Webster admitted he was confused and would be seeking clarification on the commission’s directive. Staff were told to report back on the design, construction and operation of Eglinton, and in a seemingly contradictory directive, told they are not to report on the tunneling route or the vehicles.

At Queen’s Park earlier Tuesday, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak backed Ford over council and darkly suggested the Liberals may be meddling in municipal politics.

“Mayor Ford campaigned on a very clear position to end the waste at city hall and to put an end to Transit City and move to subways instead,” said Hudak.


“Premier McGuinty then agreed to that plan. That’s the path we’re on today,” he said.

“I certainly hope there’s no mischief here at Queen’s Park trying to take us down a different course,” he said. “That kind of chaos is not helpful to address gridlock problems here in the city of Toronto or in the GTA.”
 
To update everyone that cares (read: no one :p), I've booked my G2 test for next week at Port Union. I'm pretty nervous about it.

I've been driving for a long-ass time, and I've developed my own habits when driving, which aren't driver examiner friendly. Not that I don't signal or check my mirrors and blind spots, but I'm talking about driving with one hand without really thinking about it, or forgetting to check my mirrors every 8 seconds (really, who does this outside of driving tests?).

I've sort of been practicing and I've been trying to get myself used to driving with two hands on the wheel again and checking my mirrors, etc.


Wear a baseball hat. You don't move your head much, it will look like you are.
 

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
To update everyone that cares (read: no one :p), I've booked my G2 test for next week at Port Union. I'm pretty nervous about it.

I've been driving for a long-ass time, and I've developed my own habits when driving, which aren't driver examiner friendly. Not that I don't signal or check my mirrors and blind spots, but I'm talking about driving with one hand without really thinking about it, or forgetting to check my mirrors every 8 seconds (really, who does this outside of driving tests?).

I've sort of been practicing and I've been trying to get myself used to driving with two hands on the wheel again and checking my mirrors, etc.
I do and it allowed me to escape an accident on a couple of occasions. I guess learning to drive a motorcycle made me more aware of other drivers.

Wear a baseball hat. You don't move your head much, it will look like you are.
That's actually a pretty good idea.
 

Quick

Banned
You should really try to exaggerate your head movements when you're looking in the mirror. They can't see you if you just look with your eyes and they're really strict about this. Gotta move your whole head.

Oh yeah. I exaggerated to hell with it before.

Wear a baseball hat. You don't move your head much, it will look like you are.

Wouldn't they just ask you to remove it? Good idea, though.

I do and it allowed me to escape an accident on a couple of occasions. I guess learning to drive a motorcycle made me more aware of other drivers.

Fair enough. Every 8 seconds, though. I check my mirrors, but not that constant. I'd say every 30 seconds or every minute.
 

Tiktaalik

Member
The number one bad habit for you to be aware of that every driver seems to pick up is not properly stopping behind the white stop line at an intersection (not the crosswalk, the white line before the crosswalk). Neglecting to fully stop before this line could well earn you an instant fail.
 

Deraldin

Unconfirmed Member
Unless you wear your hat so far down over your eyes that it's obstructing your vision, I don't see why they would make you remove your hat before the test. It's a great idea. Wish I'd thought of it when I took my G the first time around.
 

Kunohara

Member
Another bad habit is not stopping completely at a stop sign and waiting 3 seconds. Alot of people just slow down at a stop sign and keep going. Actually fully stop the car, and wait 3 seconds. Even my first time driving doing that felt like an eternity. My sister actually got caught on a busy side street for not stopping completely on a sign and got a ticket.
 

daemonic

Banned
Another bad habit is not stopping completely at a stop sign and waiting 3 seconds. Alot of people just slow down at a stop sign and keep going. Actually fully stop the car, and wait 3 seconds. Even my first time driving doing that felt like an eternity. My sister actually got caught on a busy side street for not stopping completely on a sign and got a ticket.

Yeah my friend failed because of this. He claims he stopped at the sign, though only for a second, which I guess wasn't long enough. The tester saw it as a rolling stop and ended the test immediately.
 

Azih

Member


Does the man not realize that Stintz was trying to save his ass?

Who do I write letters to to get Metrolinx to just ignore the guy? Seriously. I've got a Liberal MPP. I think I'll go visit. Got to do SOMETHING.

I mean god damn Hazel McCallion is bashing the dude.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/0...-to-cancel-transit-city-hazel-mccallion-says/

Seriously Transit City could very easily have been extended out to the West and cut down on congestion in a major way helping the entire GTA. I'm fired up to write letters. But to WHO?
 

Kave_Man

come in my shame circle
To update everyone that cares (read: no one :p), I've booked my G2 test for next week at Port Union. I'm pretty nervous about it.

I've been driving for a long-ass time, and I've developed my own habits when driving, which aren't driver examiner friendly. Not that I don't signal or check my mirrors and blind spots, but I'm talking about driving with one hand without really thinking about it, or forgetting to check my mirrors every 8 seconds (really, who does this outside of driving tests?).

I've sort of been practicing and I've been trying to get myself used to driving with two hands on the wheel again and checking my mirrors, etc.

Start practicing now, I waited until near the end for my G test and had to spend a good week "remembering" how to hold the steering wheel with both hands and exaggerate my looking at mirrors.
 

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
Ontario Place to be closed until 2017. John Tory will be heading the revitalization

It's nice that they are going to revamp the place since it hasn't been sufficiently updated in years.
I find it strange though that they are closing it before even figuring out what exactly the new park will be or look like.
My uncle works there fixing motors and things. I guess he's pretty fucked now.

I remember going there like twenty years ago when it had Legoland and that Nintendo place. Since both of those are long gone, I don't understand the appeal of it aside from the amphitheatre and the festival of lights maybe. What's the point of it anymore? IMAX?
 

Takao

Banned
Ontario Place was always weird. I think I've only been there because as a kid I got free passes. Wonderland ate its lunch.
 

Kunohara

Member
I remember going there like twenty years ago when it had Legoland and that Nintendo place. Since both of those are long gone, I don't understand the appeal of it aside from the amphitheatre and the festival of lights maybe. What's the point of it anymore? IMAX?

Oh fuck, I remember the nintendo place. First time I ever tried the super scope, and boy was it shitty. Thing must've been used to hell and back cause most of the time it never registered any hits. Awesome place though.

I used to always go through this maze they had at Ontario Place, as well as the log ride down the waterfall. Also the water park. There was alot of shit to do there years ago.

Having it close for 5 years is crazy though.
 

krae_man

Member
Ontario Place was always weird. I think I've only been there because as a kid I got free passes. Wonderland ate its lunch.

All I remember is they had an arcade with Virtual boys in it. Oh and a pitch black maze.

Edit: Nintendo Place, yeah that's what it was called.
 

Rinoa

Member
I remember going there like twenty years ago when it had Legoland and that Nintendo place. Since both of those are long gone, I don't understand the appeal of it aside from the amphitheatre and the festival of lights maybe. What's the point of it anymore? IMAX?

The Power Pod! Friend used to work there and we still have tons of leftover SNES controllers complete with the gray anti-theft ridged thing at our house.

That was just about the only interesting thing about Ontario Place when I was a kid. Even the newer installations of waterpark-ish stuff was always lame.

I really wonder what they plan to do with the place though, it's a nice stretch of space but for decades it's been the same old.
 

Dyno

Member
Ontario Place was always weird. I think I've only been there because as a kid I got free passes. Wonderland ate its lunch.

It's also ridiculously expensive for what is there. Ontario Place is like the Science Centre: massive, massive footprint - devoid of activity or energy. Both are what happens when government projects run rampant.
 
6796612739_c92fb98315_b.jpg


This awesome photo reminds me that there is an article in the Toronto Star about them doing this stuff:

RIGHT HERE

Be sure to click on the photos part.
 

Appleman

Member
Start practicing now, I waited until near the end for my G test and had to spend a good week "remembering" how to hold the steering wheel with both hands and exaggerate my looking at mirrors.

Ugh, yeah, I've been procrastinating on my full G despite being eligible for almost two years now... Should probably just get it over with. Is it just a highway test, or more like a G2 + Highway test?
 

Azih

Member
It's also ridiculously expensive for what is there. Ontario Place is like the Science Centre: massive, massive footprint - devoid of activity or energy. Both are what happens when government projects run rampant.

Hey, I like the Science Centre.
 
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