Photo: "The grass called my name tonight" by gardinergirl, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

Your Toronto morning news roundup for Friday June 13th, 2008:

What should we be more afraid of today: taking a bullet to the stomach when answering a knock at the front door, getting cancer from a vinyl shower curtain, or being arrested for breaking copyright laws at Pacific Mall?

Drug and alcohol testing of TTC employees may be implemented by summer's end. A 'fitness for duty' policy is in the works, and aims to shift attitudes toward safety within the organization. Union leader Bob Kinnear is almost certainly planning his response, which I hope doesn't include threats of legal action or job action.

Should it be mandatory for teachers to report fights and bullying at schools to police, or should we let kids be kids and figure out their paths on their own by disciplining them in the traditional way (at school and home)?

--

A committee appointed by the Ontario Legislature has opted to keep the reading of the Lord's Prayer as part of their daily routine. The committee also recommended that in addition to keeping it, they ought to add a prayer from "another religion" and/or a moment of silence (as if doing so should appease everyone who isn't a member of the Christian faith). When morning prayer period ends at lunch time, we'll know we've gone too far, I suppose.

The Toronto District School Board is learning that genocide evokes varied emotional response. A controversial high school course has taught us that in one camp, people insist that we need to learn about it to get passed it, and in another camp, people want it erased from the curriculum so it doesn't evoke more hate.