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Toronto-Age |OT3| Going Off the Rails on a Gravy Train

zroid

Banned
I've been meaning to go. Do you think it's worth the admission?

Yeah, I'm curious about this too.

How long is it running?

OSC admission is pricey, but I got in with the student rate ($16) so the pill was a bit easier to swallow. It was a good experience. I was a '90s kid so I got to see (and play) a lot of old consoles which I'd never even heard of, let alone played before.

They have some cool set-ups as well, like Child of Eden (Kinect controlled) projected on a big wall, an old playable vertical racing game projected on a screen near the entrance, and a special nook just for holding Johann Sebastian Joust matches (they have like 8 PS Move controllers). Unfortunately some of the set-ups aren't functioning, and in some cases even those which are have faulty controllers or another hindrance. I was most impressed really with the selection of Japanese games which were never released overseas. Not a ton of them, but just getting a chance to play that stuff made my day.

If at all possible, I would recommend trying to find a time when it'd be less crowded -- yesterday afternoon there were a whole bunch of school groups crowding the place; even so, it wasn't that busy, but you do sometimes not get a chance to try out a game you'd like to. I think the exhibition's on until September 2nd.
 
So Wynne is doubling down on taxes to fund transit:
http://www.thestar.com/news/queensp...n_wynne_wont_shy_away_from_raising_taxes.html


You know what Kathleen Wynne has that almost every Toronto City counciller doesn't? A spine. I like her.

There's no spine when you raise taxes on poor people while giving a $2 billion tax break to your corporate buddies. I used to like her, but I'm starting to despise her. HST is one of the worst taxes (it's so bad she's letting her best friends write it off!), this is going to hurt poor people the most. It doesn't help that Toronto, Oshawa and Hamilton are suffering from horrible poverty problems.
 

Azih

Member
HST is one of the worst taxes
Let's not forget that it dropped from 15% to 13% over the last few years, bumping it back up to 14% and dedicating that extra 1% to transit is AWESOME with justified caps. Hell if I was McGuinty I would have kept bumping the PST (and later the HST) up by one as Harper kept dropping the GST by 1 and dedicated it to infrastructure. Ontario would have been much better off over the last few years if he'd had the courage to do it, but he didn't.

Look I agree that all of these taxes are aimed at individuals and that's not right but 1% on sales tax isn't much of a burden and will allow for a lot of investment collectively. I'm really hoping that Howarth can push Wynne to shift some of this to corps or, even better, get corp taxes raised in addition so we can generate even more revenue for infrastructure investment. Minority Libs pushed by an aggressive NDP is a great govt combo.
 

Oppo

Member
I thought the Science Centre game exhibit was surprisingly fantastic. The range of stuff there was pretty astonishing. Whomever curated the thing really knew what they were doing. I mean there was a FM Towns there. FM Towns.
 

Lurkee

Neo Member
Let's not forget that it dropped from 15% to 13% over the last few years, bumping it back up to 14% and dedicating that extra 1% to transit is AWESOME with justified caps. Hell if I was McGuinty I would have kept bumping the PST (and later the HST) up by one as Harper kept dropping the GST by 1 and dedicated it to infrastructure. Ontario would have been much better off over the last few years if he'd had the courage to do it, but he didn't.

Look I agree that all of these taxes are aimed at individuals and that's not right but 1% on sales tax isn't much of a burden and will allow for a lot of investment collectively. I'm really hoping that Howarth can push Wynne to shift some of this to corps or, even better, get corp taxes raised in addition so we can generate even more revenue for infrastructure investment. Minority Libs pushed by an aggressive NDP is a great govt combo.

Here, here!
 
Let's not forget that it dropped from 15% to 13% over the last few years, bumping it back up to 14% and dedicating that extra 1% to transit is AWESOME with justified caps. Hell if I was McGuinty I would have kept bumping the PST (and later the HST) up by one as Harper kept dropping the GST by 1 and dedicated it to infrastructure. Ontario would have been much better off over the last few years if he'd had the courage to do it, but he didn't.

Look I agree that all of these taxes are aimed at individuals and that's not right but 1% on sales tax isn't much of a burden and will allow for a lot of investment collectively. I'm really hoping that Howarth can push Wynne to shift some of this to corps or, even better, get corp taxes raised in addition so we can generate even more revenue for infrastructure investment. Minority Libs pushed by an aggressive NDP is a great govt combo.

When Harper reduced the GST, people had more money in their pockets, when they had more money in their pockets, they spent more. McGuinty saw substantial increases in revenue from PST but he spent it all on corporate tax rate cuts (and Wynne used to be a transport minister in his government, this is just as much her fault). Then he brought in the HST, so everything that had 5% GST now has 13% HST. So any gains won by reducing the GST from 7% to 5% at this point has disappeared. Wynne is not doing us any favours by increasing it from the 13% (which behind all the smokes and mirrors, is actually HIGHER than the 15% we used to pay) to 14%.

It's getting pretty tiring that we have to have the NDP to be the voice of reason. It is supposed to be the leader that is supposed to be coming up with doable ideas, and the opposition is supposed to be changing the legislation to benefit their special interests. Instead we have a follower for a leader, the NDP keeping the Liberals in check. Can she come up with any piece of legislation that doesn't cause a huge backlash and has to be changed all the time?

Anyway, I think we should take this to the PoliGAF thread since it seems too heavy for a light hearted thread like this :p
 

Willectro

Banned
Let's not forget that it dropped from 15% to 13% over the last few years, bumping it back up to 14% and dedicating that extra 1% to transit is AWESOME with justified caps. Hell if I was McGuinty I would have kept bumping the PST (and later the HST) up by one as Harper kept dropping the GST by 1 and dedicated it to infrastructure. Ontario would have been much better off over the last few years if he'd had the courage to do it, but he didn't.

Look I agree that all of these taxes are aimed at individuals and that's not right but 1% on sales tax isn't much of a burden and will allow for a lot of investment collectively. I'm really hoping that Howarth can push Wynne to shift some of this to corps or, even better, get corp taxes raised in addition so we can generate even more revenue for infrastructure investment. Minority Libs pushed by an aggressive NDP is a great govt combo.

Agreed, but I guess the fear is that the tax will increase (and apparently be used for transit), but I'm sure fares will still increase as well. And I'm aware that the money needed won't be found by reducing spending, but I feel the TTC still needs to make some cuts and I don't mean cutting staff. One simple example I've probably mentioned before is the $80k+ SUVs the TTC supervisors needlessly drive. Need to make the public feel that the money isn't just getting pissed away.

Should a system similar to New York's sales tax model be introduced (no tax on purchases such as clothing under $110, iirc)?
 

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
I went to New York two weeks ago and their subway system is super gross and insane. Then again, they aren't still using scratch off cards from the fifties for passes.
 
I went to New York two weeks ago and their subway system is super gross and insane.

I'm a fan of the mystery green slime that oozes from the ceiling there. The general smell of feces in some of the Brooklyn stations really adds charm on those hot summer days as well.
 

Fugu

Member
I went to New York two weeks ago and their subway system is super gross and insane. Then again, they aren't still using scratch off cards from the fifties for passes.
I'll take the MTA over the TTC any day. Cheaper, better coverage, 24 hours. Smell be damned.
 
Should a system similar to New York's sales tax model be introduced (no tax on purchases such as clothing under $110, iirc)?

If they introduce RST (regional sales tax) then yes, they could. But they want to increase HST by 1% instead (so corporations can write it off), so they can't do that since HST applies to everything.
 

Azih

Member
When Harper reduced the GST, people had more money in their pockets, when they had more money in their pockets, they spent more.
I saw studies that showed the amount of money saved for the average family per year was pretty pathetic. The amount of revenue lost by the federal government though was substantial.
(and Wynne used to be a transport minister in his government, this is just as much her fault).
Eh, I'll see what she does as leader as opposed to a cabinet minister before passing judgement on her.

Then he brought in the HST, so everything that had 5% GST now has 13% HST.
That's misleading, everything that had 5% GST + 8% PST now has 13% HST. I'm not very aware of the detail of the differences between the HST as opposed to GST+PST, but considering dropping 2% of GST didn't make much difference at all to the pocketbook of Average Canadians I think the differences between PST and HST is minor.

Anyway, I think we should take this to the PoliGAF thread since it seems too heavy for a light hearted thread like this :p
Fair enough, if you want to respond to this post there then that's cool with me.
 
I can't even begin to comprehend the NYC subway system. It's the most confounding thing.

Last time I was there I figured it out after a day. You need to plan out your destination if your not a native but once you have it down it's not that confusing.
 

Azih

Member
I can't even begin to comprehend the NYC subway system. It's the most confounding thing.

I spent three weeks in NYC for work and you get used to it. It's amazing when you do. EXPRESS SERVICE.

One of the smells I smelled in there was like something that I have never smelled before and hope to never smell again though, and I grew up in Pakistan.
 
I can't even begin to comprehend the NYC subway system. It's the most confounding thing.

Whoever designed the NYC subway map is fucking stupid. It's the most difficult thing to read with the terrible spacing and layout. They also do a bad job highlighting changes and things like that.
They could learn a lot from the London, England subway map which is simple to read.
 

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
I'll take the MTA over the TTC any day. Cheaper, better coverage, 24 hours. Smell be damned.

Mmmmm probably. They were smart enough to build an extra rail so trains could bypass stations if there was a problem.

Whoever designed the NYC subway map is fucking stupid. It's the most difficult thing to read with the terrible spacing and layout. They also do a bad job highlighting changes and things like that.
They could learn a lot from the London, England subway map which is simple to read.

Yeah that map is an insane mess.
 

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
Tokyo is definitely interesting because of the size and because they have multiple transit companies using the same stations and tracks.

edit: This is one of the cleanest looking maps of the system.

ibtIDd9txELUPt.gif
 



10 subway lines and a lot of them seem to go off in random directions, and the stations are gigantic so it takes a few minutes to walk from one line to another, and a lot of the trains seem to be really old
 

zroid

Banned
For some reason, I find the Tokyo map surprisingly readable and logical, despite being a monster. It's also cool how the pink line circles back on itself.

Paris, on the other hand... I don't even know where to begin
 
For some reason, I find the Tokyo map surprisingly readable and logical, despite being a monster. It's also cool how the pink line circles back on itself.

Paris, on the other hand... I don't even know where to begin


Thank god for the offline tripadvisor Paris app
 

lucci

Neo Member
I noticed some of you were requesting higher resolution photos from my flickr stream to use as your wallpaper. This was a while ago (I can't believe it took about a month to get registered here). I'd figured I can post some of my more recent work here in high res, if you wish to use them.



we waited for this. by ronnie.yip, on Flickr
 
I noticed some of you were requesting higher resolution photos from my flickr stream to use as your wallpaper. This was a while ago (I can't believe it took about a month to get registered here). I'd figured I can post some of my more recent work here in high res, if you wish to use them.

haha amazing! I've been posting your photos in here for over a year! I'm a big urbantoronto and skyscrapercity person, so having you post in here is like having the streams cross! :)

awesome.
 

Kave_Man

come in my shame circle
So what's this report that Ford knew of the video?

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/05/30/rob_ford_video_scandal_mayor_ford_said_he_knew_where_video_was_sources_say.html

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford told senior aides not to worry about a video appearing to show him smoking crack cocaine because he knew where it was, sources told the Star.

Ford then blurted out the address of two 17th-floor units — 1701 and 1703 — at a Dixon Rd. apartment complex, to the shock of staffers at a city hall meeting almost two weeks ago, the sources said.

The mayor cited “our contacts” as the source of his information, according to insiders familiar with the unusual May 17 session in his office.
 

thabiz

Member
so he basically admitted to senior staff that he smokes crack? it really does explain all the craziness the last week.

it also explains why the sellers went silent and the tape hasnt been released. should probably check to see if any police showed up at these locations around this time.

i dont even care anymore about the crack. im more concerned about Ford(s) abusing power and city resources to cover this up.

what lengths have they gone to, to cover this up? they are destroying email and phone records of these departed staffers. you only do that when you have something to hide.
 

Azih

Member
I noticed some of you were requesting higher resolution photos from my flickr stream to use as your wallpaper. This was a while ago (I can't believe it took about a month to get registered here). I'd figured I can post some of my more recent work here in high res, if you wish to use them.



we waited for this. by ronnie.yip, on Flickr

A month is actually not bad, and that's a great shot! Welcome!
 

zorbsie

Member
Thinking of going to the science centre with my 5 year old this weekend. Bad idea? It's either that or not go to school one day during the week. It's kindergarten so I don't feel that bad about doing it.
 

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
It's not too bad so far. We've avoided putting up the AC. Once we have people over though, AC is going up. Small apartment and a lot of bodies means it'll be able 10 degrees higher inside than out.

And this isn't even the muggiest day we've had so far. But 36c with humidity doesn't look so great this afternoon.
 

LevelNth

Banned
When Harper reduced the GST, people had more money in their pockets, when they had more money in their pockets, they spent more.
It was a stupid idea by a stupid Prime Minister (and party) that I voted my damnedest against, but alas the country didn't agree.

The savings per family was insignificant to the loss of revenue to the government; this was a typical Conservative ideal aimed at alleviating taxes for high income earners. Giving families an extra couple hundred bucks a year won't stimulate the economy, it is too frivolous. This is why when you want to cut taxes you don't start with consumption taxes.

How anyone thought the reversal of Liberal plan to lower income tax and instead lower consumption tax was a good idea for anyone but the wealthy is beyond me.
 

Roto13

Member
It's not too bad so far. We've avoided putting up the AC. Once we have people over though, AC is going up. Small apartment and a lot of bodies means it'll be able 10 degrees higher inside than out.

And this isn't even the muggiest day we've had so far. But 36c with humidity doesn't look so great this afternoon.

Right now I'm totally fine in my apartment with just a fan, a t-shirt, and a pair of sweatpants, but it's early yet.
 

thabiz

Member
think i had the ac on twice last year. probably will be the same this year. im up high enough that i always have nice cool breeze.
 

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
I've had the AC on several times already and I wish my building had turned it on at least three weeks early. Having giant windows that face the afternoon sun makes my office room unbearable without AC :(
 
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