[anonymoose]

Something that hasn't popped up in the jaywalking incident is that perhaps Ford calling someone a B was aimed at the driver, not the officer.



http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/#!/content/1.2522144

Honestly, I don't think it matters to his fans. The driver happily took a pic with Ford and did a gushing interview with CBC about Ford.

(Here's the non-mobile version of the page you linked:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...-ford-nearly-run-over-by-noz-kazemi-1.2522144)

Watch her interview and you can see how she goes on and on about how he's a relatable, normal guy (especially compared to all those other politicians who try to live "perfect" lives), and the jaywalking thing actually made him even more relatable to her. If he called her a b----, I'm sure she wouldn't blame him, since she was about to swear at him, until she realized it was Ford.

 

[Torontovibe]

according to an earlier post here, norm kelly told cp24 the people behind today's flag raising went through proper channels and had their request approved. I seem to recall one our mayors saying a while back that "not following process" was his definition of "corruption." so what exactly is rofo being right now?

A miserable prick!

 

[SunriseChampion]

As he was leaving City Hall a few minutes ago, Rob Ford, again, reiterated that he wants the Pride flag removed.

Sure, we'll remove the flag if you remove yourself, Mr Ford.

 

[John_Dee]

I too lean towards drama queen Ford using this as a diversionary tactic either to play the victim card for today's antics or the Star's Vancouver article tomorrow.

Hell, how do we know he didn't stage the whole thing?

 

[SunriseChampion]

The 45% is a total of definitely/probably/somewhat approve, right? Or would definitely/probably vote for him?

If by that you mean definitely/probably/somewhat mentally incompetent, then, yes.

 

[RC8]

As off-topic as this is, I think I can tackle this, because I have been thinking about this argument myself. Putin said it himself, "There are countries the west is allied with that execute, imprison homosexuals." (paraphrasing) I saw this one Russian bureaucrat in a Vice video defend the law by saying, "It is like being forced to live in a closet - but a very big and comfortable closet." So, true, when Saudi Arabia and Qatar and most of the countries in Africa have even MORE corruption, even MORE human rights abuses, even STRICTER laws against LGBT populations, how do we get on the moral high ground to criticize Russia so heavily?

...

So this is why we don't care as much about human rights in Saudi right now as in Russia. We expected more. At least in Saudi women can vote and run for office now, so they are taking steps forward. It's the step back that hurts, and of course it hurts those affected more.

I fundamentally agree with this, but it's also true that Western countries want to stand up to Putin anyway, and that Putin wants to solidify his power by defending what I'm sure is a hugely popular law.

The point is that while raising the pride flag in Toronto for the duration of the Olympics is a completely understandable and even commendable thing to do, it is unfortunately still an act that makes a large percentage of the people in this city uncomfortable. Right now that's not a massive problem because of Rob Ford's sheer incompetence, but if he wasn't such an idiot I have no doubt episodes like this would tilt the balance in his favour.

By all means do it, fly the flag, but throw a bone at those who may (rightly or wrongly) feel excluded. It's not that hard and makes it a lot harder for the likes of Ford to throw a fit.

 

[LordWanker]

RoFo's Non-Informative Whatever.......

Week of February 7 2014

Dear Friends, I have been clear on my position on the Gardiner Expressway since day one. The Gardiner is a vital piece of Toronto's transportation infrastructure network that we must invest in and maintain. Every day, this vital transportation artery carries tens of thousands of commuters and millions of dollars in goods into and out of the downtown core. My administration has set aside over $500 million to maintain the Gardiner for decades to come. Tearing down the Gardiner would increase commute times, reduce productivity, and hurt business in our great city. I encourage you to contact your local Councillor and let them know about your views on this extremely important issue. Click here to find their information. As always,

Rob Ford
Mayor of Toronto

 

[ParkdalePetunia]

Interesting exchange between these too. Lorrie is such a fence sitter, it drives me bonkers, but at least he's taking a position against the thing known as sue-ann.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Downtown has enough highways. Build them in Scarborough. I'm tired of downtown elitists getting all the highways.

 

[uptown]

Rolleyes all you want. Skinhead gangs are a problem in Russia but they don't make the laws and they don't represent the majority. We've had some violent scuffles with First Nations in Canada ourselves, haven't we? Culturally, Russians can be distrustful of outsiders (same as Japan) but it's not about race. Learn the language and act like a Russian and no one cares what colour you are. There are definitely strides to be made, but again, it's nowhere near as bad as treating your foreign workers as de-facto slaves. I am talking about extremes here, after all. We haven't quite solved race violence here either.

Sorry this thread is about Rob Ford and I'm not about to debate these farcial attempts at proving a ricidiculous conclusion. There is no comparison between racism in Russia and Canada, zero, nada, nilch, the end.

 

[greenegg]

Downtown has enough highways. Build them in Scarborough. I'm tired of downtown elitists getting all the highways.

We're getting a couple of highways out in Durham. Burbs are great. Props to downtown elites, too.

 

[basic]

True. I guess one small difference is he apparently has the booze on him in these pics.

This is going to be damaging. Remember his story about only having drank Diet Coke? I think a fair number of ignorant people came to about his substance abuse issues after the Steak Queen. They finally felt betrayed because Ford had *gasp* lied to them. This will bring the lying patterns to light even more clearly to the casual observers of this mess.

 

[RC8]

Highways are great for business. After all, they helped Ford secure funding for the largest development in the history of this city: Woodbine Live.

 

[anonymoose]

This is going to be damaging. Remember his story about only having drank Diet Coke? I think a fair number of ignorant people came to about his substance abuse issues after the Steak Queen. They finally felt betrayed because Ford had *gasp* lied to them. This will bring the lying patterns to light even more clearly to the casual observers of this mess.

Ford already lied about a lot of things, such as the existence of the crack video. That doesn't stop commenters all over the internet (e.g. youtube, Toronto SUN, etc.) from gushing about how honest he is, and saying that they "don't care if he some problems with drugs or booze as long as he does a good job."

If those pics of Ford with booze on that night come out, here's my prediction of how things will go down:
Ford: "Yeah, I had a couple of drinks. So what? What I do on my personal time is nobody's business."
Ford Nation: "He's so honest and down-to-earth! I feel sorry for him because the media won't leave him alone."

 

[ThinkRicky]

By all means do it, fly the flag, but throw a bone at those who may (rightly or wrongly) feel excluded.

Nah, they're stupid bigots so they should feel bad and be made to feel bad at every availible oppertunity no matter how many of them there are because that's the right thing to do.