what the fuck is wrong with this stupid ass city, with the real crime going on here on a daily basis the cops here are out harassing kids trying to get some exercise, in the one place we’ve been shoved into, so we would be out of the public eye, and now we can’t even go there without fear of being dicked around by these cops, who i guess have no bigger problems to take care of here in Halifax….i’m talking about the daily sting operations the cops have taken such a shine to at the commons skate park. is this where our tax dollars are best spent, treating kids like criminals? do you think it’s creating a good relation between the kids you harass?in a city where kids are obviously bored and have started to resort to crime to pass the time don’t you think the kids who are actually finding something constructive to do with their time could be at the very least just left alone?…..if the cops wanted to take care of the real problems that happen around the skatepark they might want to start by targeting the dipshits that are sitting there without a skateboard, they’re the problem, not the kids who use the facility the way it was intended to be used when the city finally built it.
This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 2, 2008.
I saw an unmarked Intrepid parked on the grass next to the skatepark, as I got closer I saw that it was 2 undercover cops, loading a little guys bike into the back of their car and I wondered 2 thingsWhat are groups kids gonna do when you discourage sports activities?hmmmmmmmmmm……nothing good for surewhen did my personal safety become the responsiblity of the police?? and i know that sounds ignorant, but Im a 25 year old man, I should be able to choose whether or not I want to risk an injurythis needs to be more than a bitch, it needs to be brought to city council
Don’t you know, Travis, we’re Dumb Canadians unable to think for ourselves. What you need is an almighty bylaw declaring yourself an adult living in a free country… yeah! that should work, right?People! When you refuse to talk to each other (ie. talk to your children about helmet safety) and let the state do it for you ALL of our hands are tied. THIS is the result.Welcome to our dictatorship.
Helmet laws are fucking retarded. I’m much more likely to die of heart disease or stroke if I’m inactive than I am to die of a head injury while exercising.Look out, the day we have to start wearing helmets while driving or going to the grocery store or doing yardwork is not far off!!
Helmet laws are fucking retarded. I’m much more likely to die of heart disease or stroke if I’m inactive than I am to die of a head injury while exercising.Look out, the day we have to start wearing helmets while driving or going to the grocery store or doing yardwork is not far off!!
Fuck off kay you troll…!!!
Its all fun and games until some kid cracks his head and mommy and daddy out in Fall River sue the city….Don’t like the rules of the HRM funded playground? Play at home. Pabst Blue Ribbon!
Floyd! I think this board has gotten to you, you never were so…undiplomatic with your retorts.
If im old enough to vote, die for my country , get drunk ,and gamblecertainly im old enough to choose not to wear a helmet arent I?
Fuck off Christopher…. You Troll…!!!
Travis there is nothing I feel more strongly about than YOUR right to not wear a helmet… Just don’t ask me or any other taxpayer to pay your medical bills when your head hits the wall… (assuming you survive in the first place)
I’m going to argue with Floyd now.If I smash my head and require medical treatment, your tax dollars most certainly will pay for it, just like they would pay for my bypass surgery if I eat too many donuts, my lung transplant if I smoke too many cigarettes or my neck brace if I motorboat too many nursing moms in the food court.*sigh* I hope this doesn’t mean the honeymoon’s over…
No Qwerty, that was just for Travis…You can use my tax dollars for anything you like…Just be careful with that motorboat… And the honeymoon is never over…
The difference between failing to wear a helmet and eating or smoking too much is that eating and smoking both have many, many, complex and intertwined psychosocial influences that we cannot hold the individual entirely responsible for. The only reason I don’t wear MY helmet is that I feel like a fucking dork in it.
Why is forcing people to wear a helmet when cycling/skateboarding any different than making people wear a seatbelt when they’re in a car? It’s for our own good. No one’s trying to turn HRM into a police state. They (the lawmakers and the medical community who supported the passing of the helmet bylaw) just want to keep us from becoming an unneccesary burden on our health care system.
burden to the health care system???? cmon, the gov’t keeps making money cigarettes and alcohol,if this where a bet, what is more likley to cost the tax payers moneyan ADULT on a skateboard for 15 yearsan ADULT on booze/cigs for 15 yearsbelive me bitchers, I think that kids should have to wear helmets and req’d to go to a helmet safety course if they are caught without onebut an Adult is capable of making choices can you guys tell I got one of these fines last year????
‘Daily sting operation’? If this is true I’d have more questions for the police about its effectiveness. Is their presence keeping away the bullies and the dope smokers or are they causing small Canadian citizens to fear them while they take away their bikes, criminalize their friends and generally fuck up their (healthy) play time? Finally I’d like to know who is NOT getting policed while our cops are passing out bylaw BS day in and day out? Aren’t there are enough thieves and murderers in the region to keep them busy? Maybe it’s just that HRM is POOR and it’s citizens are getting SCREWED in the pocketbook so the police are just gathering their share of quota?Floyd… such a masculine name. I think I know who you are now. Big man? I know you’re BIG, but “man”? hmmm *rolls my eyes*
Kay I have many of the same questions about how the police spend their time. Have a look at the Violence article in this week’s edition. You see how some of the commentators are so focussed on the bars downtown? And do you ever go downtown and see how many cops are down there threatening people eating pizza and maybe knocking over a newspaper bin or something? Or do you ever see how many are buzzing around Citadel Hill and environs? Or buzzing around skate parks, especially at night if a few kids set off a couple of flares? Or staging mass raids on squeegie kids who had the nerve to camp out on the commons? But where the hell are they when teenage girls are being tortured or murdered in Dartmouth and Sackville – by people who can’t get into bars? Where are they when god knows how many people are mobbed and beaten by the teenage things in the North End – who can’t get into bars? Where are they when crack and other garbage is being sold openly in certain other neighbourhoods, and stabbings are happening related to this trade?Why are they so focussed on a few dumb drunk university students and a few sad old men lookin’ for a piece, when real violent crime is happening all around? i just don’t get it.(Dear readers, please don’t make assumptions based on my observations. I am not defending drunken vandalism, nor the solicitation of anonymous sex in public parks. But I live on an upper floor in the perfect spot in central Halifax to see all of this from my balcony on a regular basis and, based on where I see the flashing lights and read about the arrests, am just puzzled at the apparent priorities of our brave protectors.)
OK kay… I’ll call your bluff….Who am I..??
Travis, I’m with you. Only if Haligonians actually act on it. I’ll go protest at the police station, city hall, you name it, to stop these arrogant bastards from harassing people who mind their business. Kay, thanks, I thought some countries i visited were bad. I’ve never seen such a horrible form of dictatorship in my life.
Floyd, Why do you even exist?!
Jennie, I think i know what’s good for me. It’s nothing but a money grab! I’ll wear my seatbelt because i don’t want to fly out of the windshield, none the less, the steering wheel will still crush my chest, big save there. The helmet on the other hand doesn’t really do you much good. If you’re going at such a speed and you’re really reckless, you’re risking breaking your neck and there’s no helmet in the world that could prevent that.
Why indeed Coyo,,, Why indeed…I exist it seems only to have to straighten you out,,, and believe me when I tell you its exhausting…. A troll hunters work is never done..BTW the point of a MC helmut is not to protect your head ,,, fuckwad… its so they have a BUCKET to carry your brains in,,, when they cart your parts off to the medical waste dump…
THANK YOU. The cops came to the park and gave me a ticket on Go SkateBoarding Day along with a few other people who were minding their own buisness using the park. The city is so worried about all of this voilence and drug crime going on lately, but the cops don’t seem to care. They weren’t there the night before when a 14 year old kid got his head beaten in by a 30 year old man at the skatepark over something as worthless as a few grams of pot. No, instead they come there in the daytime the next day on Go SkateBoarding Day (of all days) and give us all tickets for doing something productive with are time. Fuck you HRM police force, you wonder why no one in this city takes you seriously.
quick question for those that think the police should do other things……its law now that you are to wear a helmet. You chose not to. Your parents did come to do shit, so who should?