Ontario Teachers

This whole thing is a mess.

The employers (school boards) were negotiating with their employees (unions) until the government stepped in and made a law overruling their contracts.
That's FUCKED UP.

Now for the teachers crying poor me, shut up! And I'll tell you why.
1. It isn't because you have a good job. (which you do)
2. It isn't because you get decent pay. (which you do)
3. It's because you spent the last election working to elect this government.

If it weren't for the efforts and funding from the teachers unions, we very well might not have this Liberal government. You guys got them elected, you deal with the consequences, the rest of us have to.

Oh, and if you say that was your union, not you, well you voted to unionize and for those leaders.

Tolerance

I see a lot of people whining about tolerance, but they don't really understand what tolerance is.
They also complain about one group forcing their values on them and them being not tolerant.

They really are two sides of the same coin.
We as in society, individuals or groups go through the following process.
I don't like it when you do X, is this something important enough that I should try and stop you, or is it something I can tolerate.

When people complain of others not beign tolerant, it's because they want to do something others don't approve of, and those others think it's sufficiently bad that it should be stopped.

Often people tolerate stuff that doesn't affect them or affect them too much, which is the point. If it doesn't affect you, it's easy to tolerate. If it does affect you, it runs the chance of getting to be too much.

Noise bylaws are a good one. People don't like unreasonable noise, but they all have different ideas.
Some people like loud music, others don't like others loud music. We even acknowledge the different noise levels and try to codify the balance into bylaws. You can have animal detering noisemakers "bird bangers" if you're in a rural spot, you have to remain reasonably quiet in residential areas, commercial areas are permitted to be a bit noisier, and you can get permits for exceptions.
Do we tolerate unwanted sound? Do we try to control and limit unwanted noise?
Obviously yes to both.

Replace noise with any other issues and you'll have people begging for more tolerance, and complaining about the control and limits that others are trying to force upon them.

It's part of being in a larger social group. Deal with it.

Lower Speed limits

So someone thinks lower speedlimits is a good idea.

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120424/medical-officers-suggests-toronto-speed-reduction-120424/20120424?hub=TorontoNewHome

30km/h -20mph is SLOW.

People don't drive the speed limit (50km/h) in my subdivision now, they will completely ignore a lower limit.

Why not ENFORCE THE LIMIT we have now.

Iggy doesn't understand Canada

Apparently he still doesn't get Canada.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/a-year-after-running-for-pm-ignatieff-warns-of-quebec-separation/article2411663/

If he doesn't understand provincial and federal responsibilities, he shouldn't be running the country.

We were right to get rid of this dork when he was trying to be the PM. 

I guess the old saying is true, those who can't, teach.

(BTW I hate that saying, I had many amazing instructors who could do what they taught)

Secrecy for Reputation protection?

The TTC isn't perfect, but they're not too bad.

They have a minor problem with distracted drivers, I say minor because people are watching them like hawks, complaining about every incident (with video evidence) and there really aren't that many.

The TTC has a new solution to help instill confidence.

They'll be restricting information, that's not going to help.



"Brad Ross told the Sun recently that the TTC would now be restricting information it makes public on investigations in order to protect the reputation of both its drivers and the transit commission."

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2012/04/22/19664456.html

It's a small problem, but a serious problem. These are highly paid drivers and operators who are violating not only TTC regulations, but also Ontario law. I expect that public transit drivers will drive legally at all times, if not, the sanctions should be harsh.

Texting or talking while driving doesn't just happen by accident. It's a decision they're making, and it's the wrong decision. If their judgement is that flawed, that they'd risk lives and their jobs for a text, maybe they shouldn't be driving a TTC vehicle, with tens of passengers, in a major city.

There are thousands of people who could do the job, and would be glad to so for a lesser salary too.

Low Voter Turnout is Good

I don't see the problem with low voter turnout.

If people don't care enough to vote, they probably haven't bothered to learn about the issues enough to have an informed opinion.

Given the choice between a self selected group of "informed voters", and a group that couldn't care less about the results, I'd prefer the informed voters.

Personally I've voted in most of the elections I've been eligible for, but I've often left it blank when I didn't know or didn't care. For example school trustees are elected, I didn't vote for them, because I don't know who they are, or what they stand for.

CBC

Canadas not quite state broadcaster pisses me off.

I do watch CBC television, it's generally decent and they have some decent shows.

I am not sure if a national broadcaster really makes sense, making sure there is a minimum TV and radio network made sense years ago, but now I think we only need internet access everywhere.

As far as Canadian content, I'm not too concerned. There are many companies creating first rate, competative Canadian content.

The thing that gets me is we give them over a billion dollars a year in subsidy, but we have no idea what they're spending it on.

I'm just wondering what do they need this money for, they have ads on their shows, in fact it seems that the CBC is pretty much like all the private networks in Canada. If they can survive without a government subsidy, can't the CBC?

Rich and Poor

Not a bad article, but it makes me a bit upset.
http://www.therecord.com/opinion/letters/article/704856--reduce-the-gap-between-rich-and-poor
First of course is correllation and causation.
How does having rich people result in relatively poor people making bad decisions?
Remember these "poor" in first world countries are still astonishing rich by global standards.

Second simply taking money from the "rich" and giving it to the poor doesn't work. I grew up in a lower class neighbourhood, and I live in an upper/middle one now. The mindset is different, and I think that's the cause.

What we need is for the "poor" to change to a different mindset and act more like rich people, and make better life choices. Handouts don't do this.
I'd argue handouts have the opposite effect, why bother putting in effort to improve things if they'll just hand it to you?

It's a sad way to live, and I don't think the government should encourage it.

Democracy is compromise

I'm not happy with my government and elected representative.

But really in most democracies you can't be happy.

Generally you're presented with just a few potential candidates, if you're lucky one may reflect some sort of vague agreement with you.

That's the best you can hope for, people who on occasion might make decisions similar to yours.

We all kinda hope they just don't screw it up too bad.

Abortion

I've got to hand it to some anti abortionists. They've basically lost the fight in Canada, we have pretty unregulated access to abortions in Canada.
I see them almost every day on the weekend at the major intersection by the hospital with their disgusting signs.

There are a lot of protesters about less important things (like money) that protest in a much more aggressive and antisocial way. Here were have a group literally fighting a life and death issue, and most of them aren't violent or physically harrassing people.

You've gotta respect that.

You've got it good kids

Quebec students, you've got it good.
There are many first rate schools in Quebec.
You've got the cheapest tuition in North America, even when it's doubled over the next several years (you'll be gone by then) it will still be a bargain. Most likely it will still be the lowest tuition in Canada or at least less than the average Canadian tuition.

It's already heavily subsidized.
Now get back to class and benefit from the education the rest of the province is paying for.

Clue by Four

Read another bit of news about a small child getting killed on an ATV.
ATVs can be dangerous, a 3yr old shouldn't be driving one.

I'd be devestated if it happened to me, and no doubt they're very upset. But just knowing that there are parents who let their child get into such obviously unsafe situations makes me want to let loose with some righteous anger on the.

I am sorry for their loss, like anyone who experiences a tradegy, but part of me wants to scream I told you so. Unfortunately that won't bring the little guy back, won't help them, and won't really make me feel better to dump on mourning parents.

I just hope I never do something so bone headed.

Be a hypocrite

It's easier said than done.

It really is, we often know what we should be doing, and we're not doing it. 

You're reading this blog, which is currently a very lame blog, but you know you should be doing something more productive.

That's ok. We're not perfect, we shouldn't try to be perfect.

Sure try to improve yourself, think about how to be the best you can be, share it with others.

But don't beat yourself up if you're not always doing what you know you should.

So go out and exercise, because we both know you should. I'm gonna go watch TV. See it isn't that hard to be a hypocrite.