G8 and G20

After just being hit by a minor earthquake, today is the day the world watches Toronto. Today marks the start of the G8 and G20 summits. From today, until Sunday, 20 of the worlds most powerful individuals are gathering to discuss critical issues. Here are some of the topics on this weekends' agenda.

• Maternal Health
• Child Health
• Climate Change
• Haiti

Some interesting G20 tweets I've stumbled upon:

• Now that the leaders have arrived, there seems to be fewer cops patrolling the downtown area. Maybe they've all gone to the security fence to try and catch a glimpse of Obama.
• Asked police "What is success to you?" Answer: "Ensuring you get to protest and go home safe." 
• Whispers of a surprise visit by U.S. President Barack began circulating but Obama disappoints the with no walkabout
• 
  
  Toronto businesses suffering customer drought during G20 summit

I love what social media is doing to the summits. I much prefer scrolling through Twitter to find what I want to see rather than watching half an hour of news to see a 2 minute clip of the topics of my interest. This way I can take a look at what I want to and skip through the rest.

I also find it a little ironic that these summits are here to try to solve world issues and if you look at the big picture they really are to try to create world peace, yet there are anticipations of massive riots through the streets of Toronto. There are thousands of protesters who have migrated to Toronto to support their various causes from animal cruelty, environmentalism, women's rights, the BP oil spills and gay rights. I do recall only a few days ago reading a tweet  that said "I would not be surprised if Toronto was in flames by the end of this weekend".

So far in Toronto:  
• A 37-year-old Toronto man was charged for carrying explosives thought be part of a plot to bomb the G20 summit 
• A 53 year old man arrested in G20 traffic zone with possession of a chainsaw
• The wife of a Toronto man charged with possessing an explosive device is now being charged with similar offences
• A young was arrested while exploring the G20 perimeter with his friend, when they were stopped by police who told them he was going to have to place them under arrest if they didn't show identification

It makes me sad to think of all the good that's trying to be done here, but not without all this bad trying ever so hard to get in the way.