Showing posts with label G8. Show all posts
Showing posts with label G8. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Something about the G8 that made me SMILE

My friend posted this on my fb wall and it just made me smile - the only thing probably about the G8 that made me smile

G8 through students' eyes at Spruce Glen:
What is G8?
1) "G8 is a thing where eight of the richest countries come together to talk about stuff"
2) "They are leaders of the G8 countries. Toronto is one. They are walking around Huntsville to see if things go well...."
3) "G8 members are coming to talk about the town keeping clean."
4) "The G8 is a group of people from eight countries. Canda is one of them. US is one. They are president and prime ministers. Queen Elizabeth is the only woman."
5) "G8 is leaders who protect our Earth"

What would you ask the G8 leaders?
1) Is your limo VIP proof? (my personal favourite)
2) How old are you? Are you marFor results of the Toronto District School Board's vote to close schools, see thestar.com.ried?
3) When did you start the G8?
4) How do you keep cities and countries safe?
5) Does your clothing match?


Since I'm in a hurry to take a quick pre-run nap my own G20 analysis will have to wait - didn't do it this morning b/c I got biten by a bug last night at the corner of my eye and it's all swollen and when I woke up I could barely open and close it.

but want to share an account of the G20 protest by a U of T professor with you - I don't really agree with everything he says (I think he's amping it up a bit) but it's a good read for good prospective

http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/theagenda/index.cfm?page_id=3&action=blog&subaction=viewpost&blog_id=43&post_id=12972

Saturday, June 26, 2010

G8 Outcomings

Regardless of the protests downtown Toronto I do have to pick apart the issues of the G8.

First of all, why can't the leaders use Skype instead? - as suggested by a Twitter user.

$5 Billion was committed to maternal and child health programs - $1.1 billion, over 20% of the overall amount, was committed by Canada. I'm happy that we are doing this for the third world countries and the people there but I can't help but think the $1 Billion used for the hosting of the G20 can be used toward this instead. Also, why is it that ONE country is committing over 20% of this? If this is the occurrence then whey are we hosting such an expensive and disruptive event? It's evident this $5 billion could have been raised without having all these 8 leaders in one room - waste of time and money if you ask me.

The sanction on Iran was discussed again and it seems like the G8 leaders are moving toward sanctioning Iran (the UN & Iraq - The Sanction). This is stupid A SANCTION DOES NOT WORK. The only thing that will happen during a sanction is the normal-everyday people will suffer. Remember that these rich leaders have Swiss bank accounts, they will still be able to get the materials they want for nuclear weapons. However the average person does not have a Swiss bank account and they will not be able to get materials they need for a healthy life - including chlorine which is necessary for clean water.

I'm not too happy with the fake lake built for the G8 nor the fake grass used for the photo. The cost of these summits is disgusting. And it seems evident that less work is being done. A hell of an expensive photo-op.

Also would like to add that Toronto and Canada has become the laughingstock of the world. France has already stated that when they host the G20 next year they are going to use 1/10 of the money we are using. Let's not forget when America hosted the G20 last year they spent $17 million - we are spending over 51x as much. Don't host the G20 in a diverse city is all I'm saying....

Also, Huntsville G8 was rather peaceful - why did the PM pick Toronto for the G20? If the G20 was in Huntsville I highly doubt as much damage would exist right now. I mean the non-Canadian protestors probably don't even know where Huntsville is.

This was a stupid idea.

As far as I know of there is no planned clean up yet for the Toronto streets,
but I am calling upon all the people living in the GTA to come out and help clean up this mess on Monday.

***skipped run tonight b/c I have a long one tomorrow
***more adequate post will be posted later - have a 28k at 5:30am