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I've lived in Montreal almost 10 years, and I've come to the pretty clear conclusion that we have a huge litter problem in the city. I've decided to start a conversation and to try to do something about it, so I'm going to go ahead and gather some thoughts, and I invite anyone interested in the subject to pitch their ideas. Step 1. Admit there is a problem. It seems that this is one of the hardest steps for us to take. Try taking a walk down a couple of residential streets in the Plateau for example, or up Du Parc or Cote Des Neiges. Have someone from another city visit you. A couple of people from Latin America have said to me something like "people here are disgusting" while looking at all the litter in the street. I've pointed out how offensive this is by the way (it's common in some Hispanic cultures, including my own, to say things like this), and I don't think the same way, but it does highlight our litter problem. A friend who lives in New York thinks that Montreal doesn't "need" to be this dirty. Many arguments against the idea that Montreal is dirty are based on comparisons to other cities; "it's the same everywhere." Although I don't think this invalidates the point that Montreal streets are dirty, I'm also sure that it is not the same everywhere. You don't find this much litter in dense neighbourhoods of Chicago for example. Other arguments are about Winter, but then again, just take a walk today. It hasn't snowed in months. You may not notice the issue if you have lived here since childhood, but visitors do notice it, and people from outside of Canada are the most surprised. Step 2. Identify the direct causes of the problem. There are many causes of this problem. I'd like to identify the direct ones, even if they are not to be tackled directly. Let me explain what I mean; Instead of saying "there are not enough garbage cans" I will say "Many people don't wait to see a garbage can before they dispose of their garbage". It is important to understand direct causes because it allows us to break paradigms and think of the problem from different perspectives. Here is the list of direct causes I have noticed over the years (in no particular order): 1) Many pedestrians don't wait to see a garbage can before they dispose of their garbage. 2) Many drivers throw litter from their vehicles. 3) Many residents dispose their garbage outside without using proper garbage bags. 4) Many residents dispose their garbage outside during the wrong hours/days (see the next point). 5) Garbage bags are attacked by squirrels and other animals, as well as by people looking for cans to recycle. 6) Often garbage bins/cans overflow. 7) Garbage collection is often done without care, letting some of the litter fall off the bins and trucks. 8) Many people leave their litter behind in public parks and squares. 9) Sometimes wind blows garbage out of bins/cans. 10) Many smokers throw their cigarette butts on the ground. I'm going to pause here for now, but I'd like this conversation to go on and produce ideas and solutions. Feel free to give me your thoughts!

Contrôler les propos sur les réseaux sociaux, c'est une mesure complètement dépassée. Que vont-ils faire plus tard? S'attaquer aux applications mobiles parce qu'elles ne sont pas en français? Complètement R-I-D-I-C-U-L-E! Quebec language watchdog targets Facebook page Social media the new frontier for agency probing Ottawa-area retail boutique By Joel Balsam CHELSEA, QUE. — The agency in charge of enforcing the primacy of the French language in Quebec apparently has a new target — social media. Eva Cooper, the owner of a small retail boutique called Delilah in the Parc, has been notified by the language agency that if she doesn't translate the shop's Facebook page into French, she will face an injunction, which will carry consequences such as a fine. "Ultimately, to me, Facebook has nothing to do with Quebec," said Cooper, who uses the social media site to inform customers of new products in her boutique in Chelsea, north of Ottawa. The shop has an all-bilingual staff of fewer than 10 people. "I'm happy to mix it up, but I'm not going to do every post half in French, half in English. I think that that defeats the whole purpose of Facebook," said Cooper, who has requested the agency send her their demands in English. Cooper's case represents a new frontier for the language agency, the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF). The agency says probes of social media complaints, which started only recently, are "not frequent." This all comes amid election talk in the province. Diane De Courcy, Quebec minister of immigration and cultural communities, said earlier this week that if her party wins the next election, they will toughen language laws for small businesses. In particular, the Parti Québécois will crack down on bilingualism, such as the "Bonjour-Hi" greeting used in many areas including Chelsea and Montreal. Traditionally, the language agency has targeted non-Francophone businesses that have signs or promotional material in a language other than French, but there have been some instances of small businesses' websites being targeted as well. In 2011, a smokehouse in Chelsea was threatened with a $1,000 fine if it didn't translate its website into French, and earlier this month, a Montreal-based website called "Provocateur Communications" was told it must comply with the French language charter by translating its page. Still, the question of how the agency is able to dictate what goes on social media in particular is "really murky," said Cooper. "Would I be able to do my text in English on (Pinterest or) Twitter?" The notice addressed to Cooper is dated Feb. 7 — almost a calendar year to the day when the "pastagate" scandal made international headlines after a Montreal restaurant was investigated for having the word "pasta" on the menu instead of the French word "pâtes." The fallout led to the resignation of the language agency's president and the launch of a "triage system" for complaints to prioritize cases that had the most impact. "This is not consistent with what the OQLF said after they evaluated their approach last spring around complaints," said Sylvia Martin-Laforge, director general of the Quebec Community Groups Network, which represents 41 English organizations. "She's in Chelsea. (Her Facebook page) has only 602 likes. There is no gravity to this. This is ridiculous," said Martin-Laforge. Jean-Pierre Le Blanc, spokesperson for the language agency, wouldn't comment specifically on Cooper's notice, but explained how Quebec's language law applies to Facebook. "If you talk to your friends, it's not a problem, but if it's the sale or promotion of a product or service, (it must be in French)," he said. "Our demand is this: if you sell in Quebec, it must be in French." Cooper has until March 10 to respond to the notice before she is hit with the injunction that could lead to a fine. If the language agency goes the route of asking Facebook to take down Cooper's page, it would have to prove the page violates Facebook's community standards, which prohibit the use of graphic content, hate speech, spam or harassment. Facebook does have the power to block the IP address of the page in a specific area or country if it violates the law, but this is reserved for extreme circumstances.

I feel a bit nostalgic, last year in December I went to visit my home country for the first time since coming to Montréal. I was shocked the moment I entered the "International" Airport of Damascus, I knew right away I was in a different planet. I thought that my initial shock would pass away, but no, it went from one shock to another. When I left Syria I was 7 years old, and I remember barely anything from there, while being born in Aleppo (second largest city), I lived all my life in a small town (300k) by the name of Al Qamishly on the border with Turkey and near Iraq. That city became slowly invaded by poor and restless Kurds. Everyone was telling me that Damascus was beautiful, modern, etc... well I can tell you that after seeing what Damascus was all about, I was not so thrilled to see the smaller towns and villages. Oh well, here's the tale in pictures of a spoiled Montrealer in Syria: First signs of western influence, laughed my ass off:) It is believed there's something like 4000 mosque in Damascus alone... thats alot of highrises THis is the Parlimant of the Syrian Republic... I took the pic without being noticed by the secret service dudes near me in an unmarked white car:D A pedestrian only street, you can shop all you want My host, Roudain One of the most if not most important shopping streets in Damascus The almighty Ministry of Economy and Trade... aka Mafia ...err Club not Clup Steets in eternal old Damascus: In Montreal we call that a ruelle, but its almost ten time smaller... yes people do live here Notice the black exterior walls, they were white but because of the pollution they became black.... Satelite dishes paradise....... Notice the mountain in the background and the dark area at its bottom... the dark is in reality savage construction done everywhere without any control or restraint... sad, imagine the Mont-Royal like that... Commie blocks Thats inside a restaurant on top of the mountain, sadly its empty because no one goes out in "winter" The patio... Damascus at night from the mountain Day one is over, i will post more in the coming days...