Comments on: I love Toronto, pt. 4835

By: Dalton48

Dalton48 — Sat, 16 May 2009 04:28:00 +0000

Also, on the “sympathy for the cause”, the Tamils have the math exactly right: for every 3 people they are pissing off, another one has now informed his/herself about the conflict and may even be contacting his/her MP’s office. Before they stepped the action, the ratio was 0:0.

By: Dalton48

Dalton48 — Sat, 16 May 2009 04:25:47 +0000

Also, worth noting that a protest that inconveniences no one is 100% ineffective — if it’s not in people’s way, no one cares. Until the Tamils started blocking University Avenue instead of standing dutifully to the side, no one (myself, two blocks away, included) paid any attention to them; until they showed up on the Gardiner on a Sunday night (could there be a less busy time to occupy?) they — and the story they wanted to highlight — didn’t make headlines in Canada.

This idea that protests that take place in convenient, prescribed zones have any impact whatsoever is farcical. Much of the recent history of the world would not have happened if people had adhered to this myth. How it’s caught hold of the Canadian public, I really can’t fathom.

By: MoreCoffeePlease

MoreCoffeePlease — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:58:27 +0000

It was harmless, they were hurting nobody, and so yes: democracy says they get to inconvenience others a bit. I don’t think we’re guaranteed a life free from minor inconvenience in the service of public expression or protest.

By: Riho Kalda

Riho Kalda — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:47:56 +0000

So any organization, even terrorists (I know this is complex issue,but he Tigers are so defined by our government) can block any roadway…or airpoort access, or port?. Great was to garner sympathy for thier cause.

By: gigantichound

gigantichound — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:54:12 +0000

Hearty cop humour from the Traffic Services Twitter feed follows:

# Southbound University now open come and enjoy the full open roadway!!6:13 AM Apr 30th from TwitterBerry
# Everyone should be driving on University northbound it really is good route! Lots of sights to see5:46 AM Apr 30th from TwitterBerry
# Northbound University is a graet option for traffic re-opening now. Come on over and drive on it. The more traffic the merrier!!!5:24 AM Apr 30th from TwitterBerry

By: Dalton48

Dalton48 — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:09:33 +0000

Also interesting — some of the Tamils were waving American flags yesterday (haven’t checked today), because they are not actually protesting anything the Americans are doing, they just want them to get involved. The Tamils shut down Ottawa a week or two ago and got nowhere, so are now moving to enlist the help of the Big Guns.

By: Dalton48

Dalton48 — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:06:45 +0000

Ah, the beauty of the sudden shift into passive voice…