See the article for print-ready versions: http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/toronto/archive/2010/04/23/a-ttc-etiquette-campaign-the-ttc-doesn-t-know-about-with-printable-posters.aspx

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But will tax increases ever be enough?  What we need is a smarter solution to this, and the answer is telecommuting.

So you want less cars on the roads in Toronto? Well, how do you want folks to get to work?  I guess you expect them to take the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission or fondly known as Take The Car)?

Ha!

Try taking the Yonge line downtown in the morning and let me know how many trains you have let pass you because they are too full.  Try waiting on a bus in the winter and count how many unfrozen toes you have left when you finally get on a bus with enough space.  And fares are going up, again.

Telecommuting is the perfect solution to Toronto’s congestion issues.  We’ll reduce traffic congestion, increase worker productivity through the reduction/elimination of travel time, and have a potentially profound positive impact on the environment.  Hey, we might even be able to fit riders on a subway car in the mornings.  There are plenty of other benefits, including increased work/family balance, increased job satisfaction, and reduced stress.

I’m sure there are many ways Toronto can encourage companies to adopt telecommuting as a standard way of operating their business, either through tax cuts or other incentives.  It would just take a little creativity instead of just taking the easy way out by just taxing more and more.

If you drive, would you pay added tolls or taxes and continue to drive to work?  What do you think about the idea of working from home?

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Read the rest here on my guest post at PulseAndSignal.com.

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National Anti-Poverty Organization
The mission of the National Anti-Poverty Organization (NAPO) is to eradicate poverty in Canada by promoting income and social security for all Canadians, and by promoting poverty eradication as a human rights obligation.

Daily Bread Food Bank
Providing food and resources for hungry people; mobilizing greater support, involvement and action; Creating social change to reduce poverty through research, education and advocacy.

North York Harvest Food Bank
The North York Harvest Food Bank works towards the relief of hunger in communities throughout northern Toronto. The Food Bank supports emergency food programs, partners with perinatal programs, advocates for change on issues affecting food bank use and works with like-minded organizations to develop innovative and respectful ways for our clients to access culturally appropriate and personally acceptable food at no cost.

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When going through the process of adding / friending / following in social media, we often look for a common characteristic in our ‘friends’.  These characteristics can be anything, from the love of tech, design, political affiliation or religion or any other type of culture.  Why do we do this?  It’s an attempt in the perpetual battle of finding the the signal amongst the noise, but on that journey, are we falling prey to too much narcissism?

Here’s my concern:

If we only encourage interactions with people who are like ourselves by religion, politics, language, industry, etc., and shy away from everything else, will that not enclose us in a bubble?

Some Effects of the Bubble

One effect is that we end up with groupthink and an increasingly larger echo chamber.  A false reality is created by the purposeless regurgitation of ideas, everyone sheepishly agreeing with everyone else, and the ensuing lack of perspective due to isolation from the rest of the space.  Being open-minded isn’t enough.  What good is it being open-minded if there aren’t encounters with other perspectives?

Another effect is a related to the echo chamber: just pure boredom. Hearing about the same old topics over and over again can result in social media fatigue and blogger burnout.  Personally, I’d rather comment on someone else’s post rather than perpetuating a worn-out topic.  Sometimes, a comment can be just as meaningful as a post. (Heck, Disqus even thinks comments are blog posts)

Other effects include the suppression of different points of view which pushes folks to hold back on their level of engagement; and the isolation of those who dare to share all of the topics they like.

My Advice

• Diversify your friend subscriptions
• Encourage constructive discussion
• Backup your opinions with facts
• Empathize so you can be open-minded to see other viewpoints — you will learn more and appreciate others, and have others appreciate you for understanding them
• Being open-minded also involves welcoming a variety of topics from unexpected sources
• Be patient, you may have to endure some noise to gain more signal

In the end I think this will help you have more meaningful interactions, bring an added excitement to learning, and achieve greater satisfaction in your social media journey.

Is following a diverse group of people important to you?

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Race and racism are two concepts deeply entrenched in Western society, yet they are so commonly misunderstood. Racism describes prejudice or discrimination based on skin colour whereas race is merely an imaginary concept that segregates people into distinct social groups based solely on the colour of their skin. The existence of racism rests entirely upon this ‘reality’ of race. Consequently, the truth of racism is also a lie.

The Illusion of Race

We live in a multicultural, multiethnic world in which it has become normal to identify ourselves by our race. However, despite variations in skin tone, hair texture, and cultural practices today’s geneticists will tell you that race does not exist biologically. In fact, there is far more genetic variation found within a race than between different races.

This supports what sociologists have been saying for decades: that race is not real; it is a socially constructed phenomenon based solely on visible physically differences. Race is so fictitious a concept that in the post-emancipation U.S. a man could be considered Black in one state, and White in another!

The Very Real Consequences

Although race is not real, the effects of racial differentiation; however, are very real. Not every racial group experiences racism in the same manner or to the same degree. Racialized groups (those who society labels “visible minorities”) continually face institutionalized, racial discrimination based solely on stereotypes attached to our skin tone.

Non-racialized groups (most people who self-identify as White) also face the effects of institutionalized racism. By this statement I’m not referring to the concept of ‘reverse racism’ — which, like race, is baseless.

While racialized groups face many disadvantages from racism, on the other side of the coin non-racialized people enjoy the many benefits of being free from the racialization process. These advantages are otherwise known as White Privilege.

It’s easy, or should be easy, for us to point out racist stereotypes and blatant forms of racial discrimination. Where things become more difficult is identifying areas of institutionalized (or normalized) racial discrimination — this has been especially hard for non-racialized people to understand. This is where assessing White Privilege is most helpful. Although understanding the concept of White Privilege remains elusive to most of us, it illuminates the nature of racism by showing the other side of the coin. Where one group suffers, another gains.

To make this process easier, Social Theorist Peggy McIntosh in her piece, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack outlines 50 daily effects of White Privilege she herself experiences.

According to McIntosh:

I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege. So I have begun in an untutored way to ask what it is like to have white privilege. I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was “meant” to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.”

Her 50 daily effects of White Privilege are listed below. I encourage you to read through these, take a look at your life and add your own experiences to the list:

1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
2. I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.
3. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.
4. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.
5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
6. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
7. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
8. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
9. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.
10. I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.
11. I can be casual about whether or not to listen to another person’s voice in a group in which s/he is the only member of his/her race.
12. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can cut my hair.
13. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.
14. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.
15. I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.
16. I can be pretty sure that my children’s teachers and employers will tolerate them if they fit school and workplace norms; my chief worries about them do not concern others’ attitudes toward their race.
17. I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color.
18. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.
19. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.
20. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
21. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
22. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world’s majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
23. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.
24. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge", I will be facing a person of my race.
25. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race.
26. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children’s magazines featuring people of my race.
27. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance or feared.
28. I can be pretty sure that an argument with a colleague of another race is more likely to jeopardize her/his chances for advancement than to jeopardize mine.
29. I can be pretty sure that if I argue for the promotion of a person of another race, or a program centering on race, this is not likely to cost me heavily within my present setting, even if my colleagues disagree with me.
30. If I declare there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn’t a racial issue at hand, my race will lend me more credibility for either position than a person of color will have.
31. I can choose to ignore developments in minority writing and minority activist programs, or disparage them, or learn from them, but in any case, I can find ways to be more or less protected from negative consequences of any of these choices.
32. My culture gives me little fear about ignoring the perspectives and powers of people of other races.
33. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing or body odor will be taken as a reflection on my race.
34. I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.
35. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.
36. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it had racial overtones.
37. I can be pretty sure of finding people who would be willing to talk with me and advise me about my next steps, professionally.
38. I can think over many options, social, political, imaginative or professional, without asking whether a person of my race would be accepted or allowed to do what I want to do.
39. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.
40. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.
41. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.
42. I can arrange my activities so that I will never have to experience feelings of rejection owing to my race.
43. If I have low credibility as a leader I can be sure that my race is not the problem.
44. I can easily find academic courses and institutions which give attention only to people of my race.
45. I can expect figurative language and imagery in all of the arts to testify to experiences of my race.
46. I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.
47. I can travel alone or with my spouse without expecting embarrassment or hostility in those who deal with us.
48. I have no difficulty finding neighborhoods where people approve of our household.
49. My children are given texts and classes which implicitly support our kind of family unit and do not turn them against my choice of domestic partnership.
50. I will feel welcomed and "normal" in the usual walks of public life, institutional and social.

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Just as Wayne Sutton and Corvida started their interview this afternoon, the chat area was bombarded with a flurry of racial slurs, bigotry, and malicious prejudice. I’ve been through this before in many past years of chat rooms, discussions boards, and such.  Unfortunately, each time, I think it just desensitizes you a little bit.  One positive: everyone else now has the opportunity to see that racism isn’t a myth; it isn’t just something that ended with slavery; and the neither the blogosphere nor the web are exceptions.

I applaud Wayne and Corvida for the level of class and professionalism they held during the interview.  They are great role models for other Black Tech Bloggers, including myself. 

Personally, I’m way too feisty to put up with that kind of stuff and it makes me tense.  I never want to be desensitized to it because; unfortunately, I think many of us have — Black and White, old and young.  So when folks hear stories about possible racist activity, what are the reactions? “Oh stop playing the race card”, “Aren’t you being a little sensitive?”, “That’s just how the world is *shrug*”.  I’ve had all these things said to me at some point in my life.

Louis Gray has a blog post describing his experience and reactions to the interview and I’m thankful he’s speaking up about it, and not shrugging it off.

Here’s a screenshot I took after the interview was over.  Yahoo Live, is this the kind of community you want representing you?

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Loren wasn’t making fun of black people.

Loren was making fun of bloggers.

Wrong. That’s just one video — what about "Black People Can’t Get It Together" and "Black People Are Lame"? Reverse racism? Don’t even get me started on that. Put the pieces of the puzzle together.

So yeah, he could have picked on anyone — but he didn’t — he picked on a race of people that have had a troublesome history with racism in North America. And everyone is aware of that history, at least to a superficial extent. Here is where the “political correctness” whining should fall apart. Chances are, you are not a minority and have no idea of what racism feels like. If you did; you realize there’s a difference between saying something mean, saying something controversial, and participating in bigotry. Not only is he mocking Black folks with a horrible stereotype — he uses a historically derogatory label — and please don’t counter back with the "Well Black people use the N-word all the time" argument. Please.

If he’s so creative, so intelligent, so awesome — why couldn’t he have found a less idiotic way to bring his point across? I’ll tell you why: there’s no talent in being offensive. There’s no talent in gaining fame at the expense of others. There’s no talent in pretending and saying that you’re all that and not backing it up. I’m sure he’s got a talent somewhere — but it isn’t in being awesome and it isn’t his breed of creativity — it’s just in being a fool. It’s easy to be an idiot and to get publicity by offending someone; he’s proven that more than once. Why are you standing up for him again?

Up until his gig got cancelled I’ll bet he loved all this attention — yeah I get why he did it. Easy fame — no such thing as bad publicity, right? Except karma came back to bite him.  Deep down, it upsets you Loren, probably as much as you upset me.

So why do some still defend this guy? I don’t know, I can’t say for sure. Yeah he has the right to say whatever he wants — but when you defend the actions of someone who’s being an idiot, what does that say about you?

Here are some quotes I’ve run into regarding the situation:

I hadn’t seen the Tech Nigga video until today, and I must say…it was pure genius. Truly I wish there were a series of them. It’s sad that everyone’s taking it so poorly

People should be JUMPING to defend Loren. They don’t agree with him today, they won’t agree with you tomorrow. Then what?

@1938media What’s every tech nigga got with you? They’re so cray about the hole thing.

These are the thanks you get when you try to bring edgy, new media content to companies like CNet and Verizon

I am so sick and tired of all the Political Correctness bs in this country. It makes me sick that Verizon would cave to a bunch of people with too much time on their hands and no jobs over a video from a year ago.

Oh and you gotta watch this: Can you appreciate the irony? (WARNING: Foul language)

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Man this is nuts!

UPDATE: Got a comment that this is actually in Japan and not China.

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1. Jamaicans know no fear.

We don’t care if you’re a rabid raccoon, hungry grizzly bear or mountain lion, we’ll take you on. We thump first, ask questions later. We also don’t know anything about North American forests; we don’t really know what poison ivy is and don’t think anything could be worse than getting juk by macka.

So if you don’t want to waste your time taking us to the hospital or worse, reconsider that Algonquin Park invitation.

2. No matter where we are, we WILL try and cook something.

Look, we don’t like other people’s food. Where ever we go we must cook up our fried dumplings, boiled green bananas, and rice & peas. Of course, this makes the camp more likely to:

1. Burn down if we forget to put out the fire
2. Attract all kinds of animals looking for food
3. Which leads to point #1

3. We only know Jamaica survival skills.

We know how to start a fire (so we can cook), but if you get bitten by a rattlesnake or any other animal — you’re pretty much done for. Without our Jamaican bush, we’re worthless, and may end up doing more harm than good, like rubbing poison ivy in your open wound. Don’t ask us which berries or mushrooms look non-poisonous or which star is the North Star; we don’t know. If I tell you that I know, don’t believe me, I’m probably lying.

There you have it. For all who are going camping with me in July and are reading this, now you know what you’re in for. But hey, don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll all have a great time. Right?

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