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Rob Ford's Toronto

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Pickles said:
If I were on the Ford campaign team, I'd circulate quotes from UT like these to show how anti-Ford people delight in insulting people who aren't even in politics and making fun of their appearance. This is really low, guys. Cut it out.
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thank you.
 
expat said:
anyone know who the big bearded guy with the camcorder is, in the first picture? he seemed really aggressive and confrontational in the footage i've seen - like he's really raring for a good fight.
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If you mean the muscly guy with designer scruff, blue t-shirt and Canon camcorder, he approached and spoke to me a lot during the event. He was always completely civil. He told me he was a "citizen journalist" (i.e. he posts stuff to Youtube?) and seemed more interested in trapping me saying something stupid about general left vs. right topics with "trick questions". E.g. stuff about identity politics, Wynn, etc. than anything about Ford.
 
EagleEye said:
I can't say I blame The Star. I wouldn't advertise being there if I were Powell or Pagliaro and there is no way I'd send Dale to such an event. Even if they didn't physically hurt him, you can just imagine the things they would do once they recognized him. Pags wrote a very good article about Mikey and even spoke to Kathy the day before so I think they did alright.
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Sorry, I was unclear. I didn't mean to slag the Star, I meant to point out how scary it is that reporters can't freely cover political events in a public park without fear of violence/harassment.
 
Many excellent analyses regarding Ford Nation and its utter devotion to RF. I'm not a psychologist but I believe part of the drive of Ford Nation derives from the feeling of belonging to something...finally. Many of the Nation are and always have been disenfranchised from the main stream of anything...deprived as children (whether by poverty or poverty of thought) or having arrived in this country and encountering the daily doses of marginalization and racism, these sufferers never "belong" to a group . They are, outside of their Nation, just a huge number of individuals all struggling and failing (not their fault!) in this world order of austerity and neo-liberalism.

Ford Nation is the frosh class at University, it is the old style union local, the sports team fans - what's key to the group is that their group, Ford Nation, is recognized objectively as a group, a force, and its members belong. Notice the demographics; outside of Nation activities, many of these people would never cross paths. I'm assuming that outside of Nation activities, its racist members return to intolerance in their daily lives - but during the physical gatherings and in their Nation mode, all differences pale as against those who challenge their group. The group, for which tee shirts are printed, banners are hung, the media covers and to which a Mayor pays homage - imagine!!

I guess I'm glad that this sector of Ford Nation gets some respite from hard existences and feels the comfort of belonging. It's too bad that our policies and attitudes syphoned some angry, frightened and largely ignored people into creating such a malevolent group - I fear it to be entrenched - I also fear that unless other candidates do something (both mayoral and councillor), and we all do something to demonstrate a commitment to the people who are mightily struggling, there may be more joiners to the group.
 
khristopher said:
I was just giving my opinion. I haven't been around since the beginning, just the past 15 years or so.
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I've been hanging out in the Gay Village since 1980 but you know what they say "The older the fruit, the sweeter the juice" er, or something like that. lol

Speaking of gay, sadly, I know of a few gay men who support Ford. I had a casual friend (more of a friendly acquaintance) who I knew for 8 years and I only found out recently, when Ford's name came up in conversation, that he supports Ford and will vote for him. Instantly, my respect and affection for this person vanished. I've never mentioned a word about to this guy but I avoid him now.
 
Torontovibe said:
I've been hanging out in the Gay Village since 1980 but you know what they say "The older the fruit, the sweeter the juice" er, or something like that. lol

Speaking of gay, sadly, I know of a few gay men who support Ford. I had a casual friend (more of a friendly acquaintance) who I knew for 8 years and I only found out recently, when Ford's name came up in conversation, that he supports Ford and will vote for him. Instantly, my respect and affection for this person vanished. I've never mentioned a word about to this guy but I avoid him now.
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Where's the video you promised?
 
Pickles said:
If I were on the Ford campaign team, I'd circulate quotes from UT like these to show how anti-Ford people delight in insulting people who aren't even in politics and making fun of their appearance. This is really low, guys. Cut it out.
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I agree. Some days this thread makes me think of Pogo: We have seen the enemy, and they is us.
 
zang said:
For the record, a friend who's a longtime vegetarian has been overweight for a while.
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Valid points. For a reference there are these links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarians
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegans

Dougie is reportedly an "ethical vegetarian", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_vegetarian, I would not include eggs, etc. in his diet.

That said, Dougie is obese, not just over weight, so I would like to know his diet. We know that Robbie is a stress eater, and usually that was fast/processed food. But how is Dougie staying that weight?
 
kevinsp8 said:
If you mean the muscly guy with designer scruff, blue t-shirt and Canon camcorder, he approached and spoke to me a lot during the event. He was always completely civil. He told me he was a "citizen journalist" (i.e. he posts stuff to Youtube?) and seemed more interested in trapping me saying something stupid about general left vs. right topics with "trick questions". E.g. stuff about identity politics, Wynn, etc. than anything about Ford.
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yep, that's the one - thanks. maybe it was selective editing (?) but he came across as belligerent and confrontational in lots of the footage i saw. getting into peoples' faces with his camcorder (i really don't like strangers recording me) and throwing those sorts of juvenile "it's a simply yes or no question!"-type questions at people.
 
I was thanking her for her post. and prefer not to read those sites - sheesh my eyes just bleed whenever I read that sh!t. There will always be more hateful crap out there - doesn't mean you have to stoop. This forum has excellent stuff on it - physical appearance, families, kids should be off limits. Take the high road.

Videodrome said:
However, like Kat said above you, just look up quotes on that IHTWOMRF page and it negates the effort. They are some of the most homophobic and hateful people around.
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casita said:
Be interesting to see who they support as it comes down to the wire.

The TPA endorsed Mel Lastman for mayor. In 2003 they endorsed John Tory for mayor as well as a slate of city council candidates (including Rob Ford, Frances Nunziata, Peter Milczyn, Mark Grimes, Doug Holyday, and current police board member Michael Thompson). In that race, they published ads alongside the home addresses and phone numbers of candidates, asking the public to call them and ask what they were doing to ensure public safety.
http://www.thegridto.com/blog-post/police-shouldnt-be-making-political-endorsements/
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If the TPA were insane enough to support Ford, any lingering public confidence in the TPS would be blown to bits. Imagine the police union arguing that the man with links to a violent street gang was the best candidate to ensure public safety. I'm still optimistic that they'd see that decision as too toxic.
 
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