Twitter

Today's posting I have decided to dedicate to the new site known as 'Twitter'. What the heck is Twitter!? Until the past couple weeks this is a social networking site that I had never even heard of. It really has seemed to taken off over night. All I read about now in the papers or seen on tv is someone talking about Twitter. I can't pick up a paper without it mentioning some celebrity posting on the site. As a young adult, and one with a background in sociology, this new social phenomena has really peaked my interest. I asked my colleagues what Twitter was exactly, as I had never heard of it before, and from what they explained to me it's simply a site where people can post status updates on what they're doing throughout the day. What a let down! For all the hype it boasts I had at least hoped for something cooler than that! I mean, that's a feature that Facebook has offered for years.

I've decided that in order for me to fully understand what all the rage is about, I need to open my own Twitter account - as soon as I finish this blog that's exactly what I'm going to do! Perhaps by immersing myself in Twitter I can get a better idea as to why everyone has gone crazy over it.

As a sociologist I do have my reservations about the site though. Firstly, with someone laying out their agenda for the day this really poses a huge risk for individuals. I mean, it essentially opens their lives up to potential stalkers or crazy ex's. Secondly, I've heard on at least two occasions that several employees have gotten in trouble with their bosses by posting a negative statement about their job, such as "I love the pay but hate my job". Is Twitter really worth risking your job over? Furthermore, why do people feel compelled to use this site? Is it because they're social butterflies, or perhaps they want to feel important, or are their lives so boring and dull that it's a cry for attention and self-fulfillment?

Well I'm off to go immerse myself in the social spiderweb that is Twitter. If you have your own Twitter account please feel free to post a reply to this blog and tell me what you think of it or why you use it. Until tomorrow everyone...

R.W.B.

HST Tax

Today I'd like to pose a question - how do the rest of you Ontarians feel about the new HST tax?

I for one think it's complete bullshit! After reading an article in the Toronto Star today, what in the hell is the Liberal party thinking?! Is it not bad enough that we're already in the middle of a recession, and now the government wants to harmonize our sales taxes, giving the big corporations a tax break while consumers are going to be forced further into debt! I think it's absolutely ridiculous that we're going to have to pay 13% tax on a hamburger or child diapers! Exactly how is this helping us get out of a recession? So maybe the large, bureaucratic corporations can shave a few dollars off their expenses, but if people can't afford to spend anything, that isn't exactly helping them out either.

I've been a strong supporter of the Liberal party in the past, but it's because of situations like this that made me vote NDP the past two elections. And what about this family tax credit - families that earn less than $160,000/yr are getting $1000 back annually, but single people and/or single parents are entitled to less... does that make sense to anyone here?? It's bad enough that one in 10 Canadians are currently living in poverty, and surely this is only going to increase the numbers. People are losing their jobs and homes left, right and centre at the moment, and with employment insurance in Toronto only covering 22% of unemployed people, what does McGuinty expect them to do? Ontario is soon going to be known as the welfare province of our nation.

What about the aboriginals? I have friends that are native and are exempt from paying PST, but with the harmonization of GST and PST are they going to be exempt from tax altogether or are they now joining the rest of society and paying full taxes? It seems slightly unfair to take this away from them and ignore past events (i.e. the treatment of aboriginals).

I realize that other provinces like Quebec only pay one tax, but it's not 13%. If the government wants to harmonize sales tax so be it, but then they should lower it to at least 10% if not less. I have a feeling come the next election we'll see a real jump in the polls toward the NDP or Conservative party. It seems our socialist liberal party have turned their priorities to the corporations, ignoring the cries for help from the consumers who are suffering the most today. Maybe instead of increasing taxes the high paid politicians sitting in their offices in Ottawa should take a pay cut because obviously their failing the people.

R.W.B

I'm back!!

Wow, so apparently it's been over two years since my last post! No people I did not die. Actually, I completely forgot I even had this account. That said, I'm back now and am going to try to posts updates as often as I can.

So where do I begin - the economy is in the hole, in case you've been living in one and don't know that by now. I FINALLY quit Canadian Tire last year after 5 years of working there and got a job at CAA Travel in Toronto. After a year of working there the company informed us they'd be closing 7 of their stores, including ours, so as of April 30th I'm officially unemployed! Anyone hiring???? On top of that my 'fantastic' university, and I use that tern loosely, went on strike for 3 months and set us back into June before I'll graduate now. Oh how I love the bureaucratic institution that is York. Anyway, enough of this pessimistic stuff.

So I've been trying to decide what I should post on here. I was considering daily updates of what's going on in my life, but let's face it, my life isn't that exciting lol. So I think what I've decided to do is find an article in the newspaper everyday(ish) and critique on here - sound good? If you answered no to that question well too bad because it does to me so that's what I'm going to do!

Anyway, I have some work to finish off for tomorrow so have a good night everyone and check back tomorrow for my first posting!


R.W.B.

How did things end up like this?

How can this love make me feel so rightly complete...

...when it's with the completely wrong person?

Really Random Crap: Day 2

Well yesterday I promised that I would post some really random facts today, so this is officially Day 2 of 2 of Really Random Crap.

R.

-Your odds of getting murdered are one in twenty thousand.

-The odds of being killed by a dog are 1 in 700,000.

-The odds of dying in the bathtub are 1 in 1 million.

-The odds of being killed by freezing are 1 in 3 million.

-The odds of being killed by space debris are 1 in 5 billion.

-The odds of being killed by poisoning are 1 in 86,000.

-In England the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.

-All of the clocks in Pulp Fiction are stuck on 4:20.

-The first Halloween card was created in the 1920s.

-No piece of paper can be folded in half more than seven times.

-Walt Disney was afraid of mice.

-Vincent Van Gogh only sold 1 painting his whole life and that was to his brother!

-Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

-166,875,000,000 pieces of mail are delivered each year in the U.S.

-The odds of being injured by a toilet seat in your lifetime are 1 in 6,500 (LOL I particularly enjoyed this one!!)

**Facts courtesy of www.strange-facts.com

Crazy Lawsuits

Okay so I really didn't know what to write today, but wanted to post something for you all to read...SO here's some really strange lawsuits that have taken place. The info is courtesy of www.strange-facts.com. Tomorrow for your enjoyment, I will post some really random and useless, but interesting facts lol. We shall call this Day 1 of 2 of Really Random Crap!

Enjoy!

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THE PLAINTIFF: Surfer #1

THE DEFENDANT: Surfer #2

WHAT HAPPENED: Two surfers went to court after one allegedly stole the other surfer's wave.

THE VERDICT: The case was dismissed after court officials found it impossible to put a monetary value on the wave.

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THE PLAINTIFF: A California grandmother

THE DEFENDANT: Disney World

WHAT HAPPENED: The grandmother took them to court after she and her grandchildren witnessed Mickey Mouse taking off his costume backstage, causing a "traumatic experience" for her grandchildren.

THE VERDICT: Unknown

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THE PLAINTIFF: Construction worker in Tulsa

THE DEFENDANT: Doctors

WHAT HAPPENED: He intentionally cut his hand off with a circular saw. When he was taken to the emergency room, he told doctors not to reattach the hand, saying that it was possessed. The man is now suing the doctors for not reattaching his hand, claiming that the doctors should have known he was psychotic.

THE VERDICT: Unknown

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THE PLAINTIFF: Donald Drusky

THE DEFENDANT: "God the sovereign ruler of the Universe"

WHAT HAPPENED: In 1999 the 63-year-old Drusky filed suit against God for "taking no corrective action" against an ex-employer who fired him 30 years earlier. He demanded that "God must grant him guitar playing skills and resurrect either his pet pigeon or his mother."

THE VERDICT: Drusky claimed that since God didn't show up for court, he won by default. The judge declared the suit "frivolous."

Did you know??

Did you know that "Listerine was invented in the 19th century as a powerful surgical antiseptic. It was later sold, in distilled form, as a floor cleaner and a cure for gonorrhea. But it wasn't a runaway success until the 1920's, when it was pitched as a solution for "chronic halitosis" -- a then obscure medical term for bad breath. In just seven years, the company's revenues rose from $115,000 to more than $8 million." (Levitt, 2005: 91)

Whoa, I know the saying watch what you eat, but that takes brushing your teeth to a whole new level!! Well, if I ever run out of Mr. Clean or Swiffer solution when I'm cleaning my floors, I'll just run up to my washroom and grab some Listerine lol. Then again who am I kidding, my mom cleans the floors hah, but I'll be sure pass the secret along to her. By the way, that's just a short paragraph out of the book 'Freakonomics' I'm reading right now. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a short, interesting read.

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