sabotabby | Only the beginning

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Only the beginning

All right, so the next four years are kind of going to be shit for Toronto. Be prepared to kiss goodbye functional transit, Pride funding, arts funding, community housing, parks and rec. Be prepared for this city to become the cold, hateful place that the rest of Canada thinks it is. Be prepared for open bigotry in public discourse, crackdowns on free speech and free expression, cops on the street getting all up in your business. This nightmare might not unfold as I fear, but it might, so get ready.

As a precautionary measure, I suggest preciseness in speech. Don't just call him Ford*. Call him "Our Honourable Wife-Beating Mayor." Call him "Ford, That Guy Who Was Arrested for Drunk Driving." Refer to his frequent bouts of racism and homophobia. Remind your friends, relatives, and co-workers of his history. Shift the discourse so that we may, over the next four years, put him on the defensive.

On this blog, our new Honourable Wife Beating Mayor, Who Said That Gay Men Deserve to get HIV, "Orientals" Work Like Dogs, and Who Was Once Arrested for Drunk Driving and Then Lied About It, will from now on be known as the Beast.*

P.S. THE GREEN ROOM GOT CLOSED. It's official; Toronto sucks.

* And for the love of kittens and puppies, do not call him "that fat fuck."

** Why is Spider Jerusalem not a real guy? This is unfair.

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If a rather appalled expat can chime in?

Also remember that Ford has a reputation as Someone Who Does Not Play Well With Others. Remember that the mayor has no executive powers beyond a title. Bug your councillors, lobby them and remind them that they don't have to let the mayor send your city down the toilet.

And remember too, the city survive Mel Lastman. I won't say "Be of good cheer", but I will say, "Don't despair!"

(Meanwhile, I need to figure out how bad things are here in our Nation's Capital and decide whether I should move to Calgary.)

My councillor at least seems decent. The person I voted for got in.

...ever read "On the Beach"? Every time someone says, "Don't despair," I think of that book, and its brutal punchline.

Calgary?!

I haven't read it, but I have the impression that On the Beach was the downer version of Doctor Strangelove. In which case, I take your point, yet reiterate mine. If you take the long view (ie, the past coupl'a hundred years, the trend-line is actually running for those crazy ideas like peace and freedom and mutual respect.

The Beast is just a (rather, ahem, largish) lump in the road.

Why not Calgary? They just elected an openly Muslim mayor (who is single and an intellectual and also, allegedly, "somewhat effeminate", make of that innuendo what you will).

You should read it. I won't spoil the ending for you. It's very good.

Calgary's new mayor sounds rad. Too bad he lives in Calgary.

I'm still pretty sure I know the ending, but that never spoils a good book. And you've got good taste, so it's gone on my list.

Calgary's new mayor sounds rad. Too bad he lives in Calgary.
He's actually centre-right, politically (somewhat more right-wing than our previous mayor), but as he hadn't previously held political office nor been linked to a federal or provincial political party, he managed to confuse enough people that he both garnered an endorsement from the Calgary Sun (tabloid-y, racist right-wing paper) AND won the university and downtown wards by absolutely huge margins.

But he defeated our Rob Ford type, so. I can't stay too annoyed.

"On the Beach" is the best post-apocalyptic novel ever.

I can't think of one I liked more, if "like" is the right word.

There's a fantastic BBC radio adaptation. I cried my eyes out. Not that that is hard to cause these days.

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If you can't find it I have mp3s

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Two episodes. 55MB each.

Shute is a much underrated writer

Re: executive powers, I think he can choose heads of committees. This has an incredible amount of power to immobilize city council unless he gets what he wants.

I didn't say it would be easy, only that a defeat is no reason to stand down and stop fighting. The mayor does have power, but it's far from infinite; and with a gutsy city council it can be much more easily reigned in than the power of, say, a Prime Minister.

ugh.
just... fuck that guy in his stabbed out fucking eyes.

This.

it's two thousand and fucking ten, it's time to not be ruled by tyrants, anymore.

Ooooooo! I'm in! I'm in!

I know you can be relied upon for a scathing turn of phrase.

I won't let you down!

My I steal your icon?

But of course!

** Why is Spider Jerusalem not a real guy? This is unfair.

Clearly we must re-enact the gospel of Bastard Journalism in order to bring about his existence by collective action.

As Spider Jerusalem does not presently exist, it becomes necessary to invent him.

Well technically he was a real guy, but that guy is dead and shot out of a cannon. Woe!

Wait has anyone checked Ford for the Mark of the Beast? It might be there!

I don't think he's that cool.

It's true. Plus the real antichrist is supposed to have like 11 heads and most of them are animal heads. I don't think even Toronto's Ford voters would fail to notice that.

I doubt he even eats kittens

That's because the Prime Minister keeps the kittens for himself.

yeah, my team sure as shit doesn't want him.

All that in four years? I'm not sure things really move that fast. I also get the feeling his opposition on the council will make it pretty hard for him to get anything really sweeping done.

Could just be "oh shit I'm living there in a month optimism", but...I'm not super-worried. Annoyed.

Also, I'm coming from Edmonton, so transit will be going downhill for a while before I'd ever notice.

I may be pessimistic but it's a lot easier to wreck a city and throw future generations into debt than it is to make things better.

I like how you used the word "may". :P

oops! That was me.

Dear me, sounds even worse than Britain!

I'm not sure. There's significantly more diversity of opinion tolerated in Britain. But it's pretty bad.

As far as I'm aware diversity of opinion is normal here and more than tolerated, but I think that will be in jeopardy with the Tories in government as more people get resentful of immigrants and the poor. Well, people are already resentful of immigrants and the poor, of course, but now the government of choice of those people is in the resentful people will feel more able to impose their views. Aaargh. Why do we tolerate it?

I don't know if it works, but it's what went through my head.

And a dash of Glenn Beck to boot.

:(

My dad said he can see why Ford got elected because he was the only candidate who wanted to cut spending.

I'm like... and he wants to cut spending by doing things that will cost the city more money in the long run and/or make people suffer. And this is somehow good?

I think Ford was very good at stoking people's resentment. Smitherman had practically the same ideas but phrased it in a very genteel liberal way, so no one outside of downtown would want to vote for him. Pantalone had good ideas that made sense, but zero charisma.

Sorry, but from the various times that Green Room got closed for health code violations, I'm not surprised (or saddened) by its closure. (See history here.)

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