Rob Ford: Not happy just killing social programs

                I haven’t done a Rob Ford love-fest post in a while and figured hey he’s done something boneheaded again, let’s blog about! This just blew up on my Twitter through news agencies, where Ford obviously has no concept of, “just stop talking.”

                Photos on Twitter surfaced of big bad Ford driving his Escalade, deeply engrossed in the document that he was reading while on the Gardiner Expressway. Of course the media went after him for this having already been in trouble for driving past a streetcar when its doors were open as well as flipping off a woman and her son who gestured at Ford to hang up his cell phone will driving downtown. What was his response?

                “I was probably reading.” Thank you, Captain Obvious for that statement. That’s not the worst part, it gets better. Ford then goes on to say that “it didn’t affect his driving.” What? Flying down the highway paying the upmost attention to just your driving while simultaneously looking through and reading a document doesn’t affect your driving? I call bull. I’ve read documents; most people can’t even stand on the TTC and read through documents without diverting a large portion of attention. So is he spending that little effort actually reading through important city documents or that little attention to driving and not potentially killing someone?

                Hold on to your pants, because it gets EVEN better. Ford then goes on to tell the media that he’s a busy guy and uses his morning commute to catch up on work and said that “he still kept his eyes on the road.”

You're right Rob, your eyes are

totally on the road...

            Welcome to the real world, Mr. Ford. We’re in Toronto, everyone is busy, everyone has a million and one things to do and everyone has a deadline to get them done by; do not confuse that with giving people a cause for putting others lives at risk for the completion of tasks. Growing up in northern Ontario, I’ve made the trek on the highway from Timmins to Toronto many times, and now living here, I’ve driven the highways around here. There is nothing more terrifying than driving by someone engrossed in reading a book or the paper while driving 100 km/h +. You are not Superman, you cannot react that quickly. This apathetic view on thinking there is nothing wrong with commuting on the highway reading “because your busy schedule,” is crap. You are needlessly putting the lives of people at risk on the roads because you’re too damn lazy to care about other people. There have been COUNTLESS studies down supporting that distracted driving causes preventable injury and deaths with motor-vehicle accidents. If people can’t carry on a simple conversation and not be distracted then how is someone supposed to read a document and still keep his eyes on the road and have it not affect his driving?

                The answer is simply, they can’t.

                Rob Ford, cut the apathetic attitude and directly protect the people of this city and many other cities. Take responsibility for your actions and realize that you can kill someone. YOU. Nobody else in that vehicle. You.

UPDATE:
For a full account of the conversation please see the CBC News story:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/08/14/rob-ford-chicago321.html 

Story taken from the Canadian Press as published by the Vancouver Sun

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/fp/yourmoney/Toronto+Mayor+Ford+admits+probably+reading+wheel/7088554/story.html 

Photo taken from @CTVToronto

https://twitter.com/#!/search/Rob%20Ford/slideshow/photos?url=https%3A%2F%2Fp.twimg.com%2FA0RT6I3CMAAkKnr.jpg 

GPOF- Gratuitous Post of Ford (again)

I’m really thinking that this blog needs to have a Rob Ford section, it just seems like every time he opens his mouth he needs to be smacked upside the head by reality.

Although he voted no to all social funding programs calling them “hug-a-thug” programs, Mr. Ford seems to think it’s perfectly ok to milk $5-10M out of the government because we need more cops! He was quoted in the Star article saying, “I think $5 million would hire a lot of officers and it would make this city a lot safer and we would get these guns and gangs off our streets, and that is exactly what I want.”

Why don’t we spend a little less money on mass hiring cops to Toronto and spend a little more money actually having them build relationships in the communities they police. I think a huge reason for a lack of communication between police and community is that police still are not trusted. Ford seems to think that you stick any person in a vest and multiply by ten and you’ll have a safer city. That didn’t work in Star Wars for the Clone army, it will not work here. People need to have relationships with the police in this city, why not put that money towards I don’t know, a social program?

I know that paragraph comes across as coming down on TPS, I’m really not. I think that they do a fantastic job of working with what they’ve got. Rob Ford wants a quick-fix and hiring $5M worth of police officers is his way of doing that.

I think it’s funny because after he was under fire for his “hug-a-thug” programs comment he was quoted saying, “How do you measure this stuff? You’re throwing a lot of money at it but at the end of the day you can’t measure exactly how many people are being helped by that,” Ford said. “I’m just saying I don’t want to throw good money after bad and just say, you know, we’re going to throw money at the problem.”

Followed immediately by, “Money talks and BS walks, I’m not going to sit there and listen to some BS and some reports and yadda yadda,” Ford said. “I’ve got a busy city to run, I’m going to go in there, I’m going to ask for $5 million to $10 million, and I want to be able to give that to Chief Blair and tell the chief go hire police officers and let’s get the city cleaned up.”

Your damn right BS walks Ford, I’m suspecting you’ll be walking right out of that meeting with the sound of laughter behind you.

All information and Ford quotes from the Toronto Sun article Toronto mayor to ask premier for up to $10M for more cops by Don Peat.

Rob Ford: Using immigration laws to get gang members out of TO

I…I actually don’t have a good witty remark for this opening statement because Rob Ford is just that much of an idiot. Piggy-backing on my earlier post about gun-violence; Rob has developed a strategy to curb gun violence and gang violence in Toronto; use immigration laws to kick gang members out.

I really really hope that this man is not as dumb as he sounds because what person in the politics in their right mind, in a city as culturally diverse as Toronto, says that the best way to curb gang violence is with immigration laws! No one! Almost all of these shootings have happened in low-income, community-housing areas of Toronto and what does Rob Ford do; says he wants to do something about the gangs by getting rid of the immigrants!

Are you out of your cotton-picking head!? Of course Ford then refused to elaborate on anything in typical Rob Ford fashion, allowing everyone time to go; wait..what? No doubt more people will start speaking up about this soon!

Rob was the only council member to vote against $16 million community grant last week saying social spending doesn’t actually do anything to solve youth violence - HA! Ford aptly named these social programs directed towards at-risk youth “hug-a-thug” programs and stated that have done nothing to help. If I’m interpreting this properly no wonder they don’t, we just need to deport them, because obviously gangs are perpetuated by immigrants.   *FACE PALM*.

According to the TO Star article, Ford’s actually wrong, homicides were at their highest in TO in 2007, and after these “hug-a-thug” programs came into effect there has been a steady decline of homicides in relation to increase in grants given. Obviously these facts are ignoring immigration laws.

This is a huge reason Rob Ford burns me so much, he doesn’t show up to Pride when the CANADIAN MILITARY makes an appearance, votes down almost every social program and then decides that immigration laws make the most sense for gang issues.

Yes, I assume that there is some level of gang activity in at least one of these deaths, statistically it’s probably but the issue is gun violence NOT gang violence. They can be at times tandem but they are not totally exclusive! This idiot of a mayor is the exact reason that people will not be able to feel safe in this city because the tool at the wheel thinks it’s a better idea to throw money into a weight-loss gimmick and ignore obvious problems.

Goodbye Rob Ford, where can we send you away to?

Information taken from the article Mayor Rob Ford wants Ottawa to use immigration laws against convicted gang members by Daniel Dale

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/cityhallpolitics/article/1228864--mayor-ford-wants-ottawa-s-help-to-deport-convicted-gang-members

Ford to give key to city to McDonald's Canada founder

Before I get into this article, for clarities sake, I am not referring to George Cohon (Founder of both McDonald’s Russia and Canada) being undeserving of the honour he is being giving. This article is solely dealing with decision made my Rob Ford in the current health environments. For the record, George Cohon is very deserving of recognition for all of the work that he has done in the charity world.

                It is widely known that Canada and Ontario specifically are dealing with a surge of obesity and health-related issues. Public Health Ontario’s Taking Action Report and the 7 More Years report both outlined steps that need to be put in place for a healthier, happier Ontario; with a large focus being on healthy eating habits. Now, what does that have to do with the key to the city? Those golden arches are widely known and marketed for the fast-food that has become a staple to drunk/hung over young adults and kids and their families everywhere. Although McDonald’s has made a big push for ‘healthy’ options, films like Super Size Me and health studies have shown negative images of these health-filled options.

                Rob Ford’s decision is puzzling, after very publicly not doing well with his “Cut the Waist” challenge and having more than one meltdown over it; his next move is to honour an affiliate to one of the largest and fast-food organizations in the world. The first key to the city sets a precedent, this precedent gets muddled up in the slew of pro-health research that has very recently been brought to light.

                What’s best to be described as a string of very terrible PR blunders, Rob Ford still makes very, to put it bluntly, stupid decisions and then is upset at public uproar. The jokes and ridicule for this decision the day after the major flop of the Cut the Waist challenge has Rob Ford almost literally painting a yellow arch shaped target on himself. Here’s waiting for the next one.

Information has been taken from the Toronto Sun Article by Don Peat.
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/06/21/ford-to-give-key-to-city-to-mcdonalds-canada-founder