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Rob Ford's Toronto

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Hipster Duck said:
OT but sometimes I wonder if there's a link between the success of a politician who uses catchy but brainless sound bites ("hug-a-thug" is brilliant even if the content is moronic) and our society's use of things like Twitter where people send out endless streams of communiques that are 140 characters or less.

Marshal McLuhan would have loved being alive today.
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Ronald Reagan and lots of US political figures played off these same kinds of soundbites for many years before Twitter could ever be imagined, so I'm not sure if a real connection can be made there.
 
Now Ford says he got what he wanted, extended funding indefinitely for the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS) which was set to expire next year - no cash for cops. So, a "hug-a-thug" program. Make any sense? Read on... http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=187869
 
FACT: This summer of the gun happened during his watch and therefore it is the failing of his policies and mayoralty. No BS, no excuses. Got to love Fraudlogic.

AoD
 
Of course, I meant it in a sarcastic way - that the simplistic logic that is the hallmark of this mayor can easily be applied against him in the same manner as he used it as talking points on others.

AoD
 
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ttk77 said:
If you ask me, the biggest thing we could do to curb the gang problem would be to legalize pot (and maybe even all other street drugs). Remove their source of income and they won't be as attractive to youth any more, nor will they be able to afford to import their guns. Not that it's his decision, but I doubt that our mayor would be in favour of that either.
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While that would be a positive move for several reasons, that would be a very small influence on the gang issue.

It was very well illustrated in one of the weekend papers... they explained how if these young men grow up either isolated, ignorant or poor (fill in development problem of choice here) - that they are on the outside looking in in terms of the standard currency to measure their success or value with. All of us use some standard by which to judge ourselves, so in the absence of what we would consider "middle class western morals/standards", what they do is seek an alternate currency with which to establish status, get women, heirarchy etc... and this 'currency' is largely influenced by both status within the gang and by pop culture.

That's a hard thing to change.

This piece from DiManno is pretty go as well. Cuts through the crap on all sides.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/art...rals-behind-gang-violence-isn-t-easily-solved
 
Marko said:
If the Sun is a tabloid, NOW is a tabloid. The Star and Post and broadsheets, but you know this already.
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I honestly didn't! I thought of tabloid as junky or sensational journalism, not paper size. Learn something every day :)
 
Marko said:
While that would be a positive move for several reasons, that would be a very small influence on the gang issue.

It was very well illustrated in one of the weekend papers... they explained how if these young men grow up either isolated, ignorant or poor (fill in development problem of choice here) - that they are on the outside looking in in terms of the standard currency to measure their success or value with. All of us use some standard by which to judge ourselves, so in the absence of what we would consider "middle class western morals/standards", what they do is seek an alternate currency with which to establish status, get women, heirarchy etc... and this 'currency' is largely influenced by both status within the gang and by pop culture.

That's a hard thing to change.

This piece from DiManno is pretty go as well. Cuts through the crap on all sides.
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/art...rals-behind-gang-violence-isn-t-easily-solved
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By no means am I suggesting that legalizing street drugs alone would solve the problem. Much of the money/status kids gain by joining gangs though comes from the drug trade, and with that removed it would be much harder for them to operate. Pour the money we're currently spending on drug enforcement into programs that will help end the disenfranchisement and help them become more engaged in the rest of society. We need to encourage and make it easier for these kids to be positively involved with their community while at the same time making it harder for gangs to get their funding.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
I honestly didn't! I thought of tabloid as junky or sensational journalism, not paper size. Learn something every day :)
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Many tabloids tend to be that- cheaper printing, therefore poorer quality.

Examples:
- The _____ Sun (Quebecor)
- NOW
- The News of the World (Rupert Murdoch)
- The Sun (Rupert Murdoch)
- The New York Post

There are a few decent tabloids out there, like the GridTO, for example.
 
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