All Purpose Politics and News Thread

[Ciel]

News headlines:

https://www.thestar.com/news/city_ha...19-battle.html

Let's hope CUPE Local 79 gets a deal by tomorrow!

https://www.thestar.com/politics/pro...-province.html

https://www.thestar.com/politics/pro...-covid-19.html

Can anyone verify if the EI program has this no one week waiting period up and running as of TODAY?
https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pm...ines-will-work

[Ciel]

Check online to see if your community centres or public libraries are still open. Some municipalities may have shut them down for three weeks or are open but subject to daily assessment of risk due to coronavirus cases.

[Ciel]

City of Toronto's inside workers' union reached a tentative agreement last night!
https://globalnews.ca/news/6676714/c...entative-deal/

[Ciel]

No more price gouging ads on Kijiji for supplies:

https://torontosun.com/news/local-ne...-ads-from-site

[walkonby]

This is very sad, I know the temptation is to laugh at the incompetence of the President and the Admin's inability to stage an intervention. ( can't they just pin him down and tell him he's a jerk? )

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vnB...ew?usp=sharing

[walkonby]

I am only sharing this because I do love accuracy, and this is spot on!!


Someone asked "Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?"

Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England, wrote this magnificent response:


"A few things spring to mind.

Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.
For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace -
all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.


So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing - not once, ever.

I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility - for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.


But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is - his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty. Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults - he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface.

Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.

And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist.

Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully.
That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a sniveling sidekick instead.


There are unspoken rules to this stuff - the Queensberry rules of basic decency - and he breaks them all. He punches downwards - which a gentleman should, would, could never do - and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless - and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority - perhaps a third - of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think 'Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.


You don't need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.

After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of . His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.


God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.

In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws - he would make a Trump.
And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish:
'My God… what… have… I… created?'"

[walkonby]

this is kinda cute, a small bit of political smarm added near the end!

[heartgirl99]

[walkonby]

I am doubly sad now. CNN anchor Chris Cuomo has tested positive with the " virus " ( who's name I refuse to mention!! )

https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavi...y64-story.html

John Prine who remains in Intensive care has upgraded from critical to improved slightly at last update.

Oops this should be under entertainment thread maybe?

[Ciel]

@walkonby Thanks for sharing this new video about the issue dominating the news for weeks. Very cleverly done lyrics and yes, those vocal flourishes!

[Ciel]

Ontario, sort of open for business:

https://www.thebeerstore.ca/empty-co...ons-to-resume/

https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19...health-advice/

https://www.hamilton.ca/node/98886

https://news.ontario.ca/mcscs/en/202...the-covid.html

TORONTO — People who are being charged with an offence under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA) will be required to identify themselves if asked by a provincial offences officer, which includes police officers, First Nations constables, special constables and municipal by-law enforcement officers. This temporary power was approved by the Ontario government today through an emergency order to better protect people during this COVID-19 outbreak.

http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/newsreleases/46864

The Toronto Police Service is reminding people that travelling, or being parked in a car, with five people or less – including individuals from different home addresses – is not against the law.

https://blog.metrolinx.com/2020/03/1...d-19-pandemic/
No mention if the transit service has suspended pet travel in off-peak periods.
https://www.gotransit.com/en/trip-pl...hedule-changes Cannot use cash to pay fares!

http://www.ttc.ca/Riding_the_TTC/Saf...rus_update.jsp Cannot use cash to pay fares!

[heartgirl99]

[walkonby]

Randy Rainbow....meet this guy!! ha ha

[walkonby]

A very good and accurate but long read!

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...ilures/609532/

[heartgirl99]

A very good and accurate but long read!

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...ilures/609532/

great article but it doesn't mean he won't be re-elected in november. how depressing!