Megan Kinch
@meganysta
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electrician/writer of journalism and creative non fiction. New column in @CDN_Dimension, contributor to @westendphoenix @TheGrind @meganysta.bsky.social
Toronto
Joined June 2009
This is what i really do as a writer- hard-hitting literary journalism about lives in our city. I talked to homeless construction workers in the west end about the struggle to stay working in tough conditions, hopfeully long enough to get housed.
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My 11 year old got lost and asked for help at a library. They told her she couldn't call her mom from the phone and should use a payphone. She said she didn't know how. They said they couldn't help and she ended up crying alone on the street corner @torontolibrary.
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Kids who get lost should be able to get help at the public library. Shes fine because a random person waiting for the bus let her use thier phone.
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additional facts: we also live downtown, here in toronto canada where middle school kids routinely walk around a bit. she was in a day youth program that ended two hours early for some reason but for various reasons they are less guilty so i'm going to deal with that offline.
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more notes: I love libraries, I'm a serious writer and I worked at one for a year (different library system) before becoming an electrician- I think libraries should be a lifeline to people in the community including lost children and youths.
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@Eddie_Gravity @torontolibrary The one by gerrard and broadview. I taught her the library is a safe space to ask for help.
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@illovetrickss @torontolibrary Apparently the phone said "insert card" so she tried to pay with my debit card that she had.
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@Scandalous @torontolibrary Yes everything is always the moms fault thanks and no other community members or city emoloyees have any responsibilities whatsoever. Very helpful 10/10 comment.
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@arthur_mp @torontolibrary that would have been ok honestly tho calling me as well would probably been fine.
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@practicethewild @torontolibrary @CityofEdmonton @yegmuttart @UalbertaDoS Thats a terrible and touching story. Disabled people and kids and everyone deserve better.
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My child attends a school that is being used as an excuse to shut down our local safe injection site (in kensington market). This is not something we've asked for, or something that will make our kids safer. This is a very dense area with lots of stuff happening in a dense area. .
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@hockeyesque @torontolibrary thanks. we are all ok thanks for a random lady waiting for the bus who was secretly an angel apparently.
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@SamanthaDarby In portugal there is a general rule that elderly people, disabled, and people with small children go first in any line because they are less able to wait and that is what any sensical society would do. not everyone has equal ability to wait in line.
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@Scandalous @torontolibrary Im a bad parent, yep, got it thanks, extremely useful comment there.
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Incredible turnout here by the community in Kensington Market at the west neigbourhood house safe injection site. Just incredible.
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As a former Canadian soldier who worked in a recruiting centre for three years (on the IT side), let me assure you that no one wants this, *especially* the military. A thread:.
Should young Canadian adults be required to perform some type of of national service.
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A librarian told my lost kid she couldn't use the library phone. It went viral. Got almost 17 million views here, and hit the other platforms. Here is why I think it touched a nerve, in my own words:.
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@Princessxmel @torontolibrary she was in a youth program that ended two hours earlier than the time it was supposed to - i'm also upset with the people who run that program but for various reasons they are less at fault so i'm not going to call them out publically on the internet.
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@AITA_reddit Really it’s better when the bridesmaids wear the same colour/fabric with different cuts because finding something that’s gonna work for several different women’s bodies is not gonna happen. Let her be modest and let other people wear the one shoulder one.
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Ran into a disabled homeless friend of mine and said hi. He asked for change and I said the reason I was walking was that I didn't have change for the bus. Guy offered me his change from his cup. This is the type of amazing person society has decided to throw out in the streets.
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@ItsRebekahStar 1. she obviously knew my number that's how she was trying to get the library to call me. 2. i taught her how to use a payphone tho they are extremely rare but the phone said "insert card",she thought was a debit card w but did not work because it wants a phone card.
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We lost a young electrician to violence from his landlord. Really terrible news here. Highlights the increasingly precarious positions of even younger people who have good trades jobs. How many are staying in awful situations because the housing market it so tight?.
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@marksaunders_TO I am a mom in a downtown neighborhood. Once I was walking and found a young woman overdosing. I'm glad another neigbour had nalaxone. In her wallet with her ID was a blood donor card and a picture of her baby. I'm glad I was able to help save her life, with 911 help.
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if you shut down workplaces that have outbreaks and there are no paid sick days and no protections against reprisal you are incentivizing workers to hide outbreaks and not get tested.
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There's no point in building new housing to solve the housing crisis if none of that new housing is rent controlled. Rent control for new builds/rentals is the very first step and without that it doesn't matter how much you build (esp when "affordable" is tied to market rents).
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I got a Canada arts council grant. This is a very big deal for me. I'm not just an electrician pretending to be a writer, I'm really a writer. Now it's time to actually write the thing.
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@ellulie_ a lot of people can't access it still. People in my industry (construction) who start work at 6:30 AM basically can't use registered childcare of any kind unless they have someone else to drop of the kid later for them.
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@griffonatrix @DilettanteryPod @AlanaFeral And I read somewhere (can't remember where) about an anthropologist who told the people he was with about the moon walk. They were impressed. When he returned 20 years later and no more moon walks or progress had been made they were like why not what's wrong with you people.
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It is nonsense that some new global regulations, regardless of local control are used to shut down a safe injection site the community wants. Meanwhile the local 7-11 is set to become a bar bypassing liquor licence proccess.
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@amysuiterclarke @seananmcguire I remember being in a coffee shop and talking to the owner about some serious problems i deal with as a woman in construction, and this bro interrupts the conversation to talk about how hard it is as a white man in *editorial photography*.
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The @agotoronto has no self reflection on their members-only "art is for every body" Keith Haring exhibition. @KeithHaringFdn
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@Respexy @redditships Unless it’s empty yogurt containers. They should give up the empty yogurt containers.
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@tombielecki @slumberenjoyer @mynamebedan They also eat a lot of semi aquatic plants and bushes. Creating lots of ponds creates habitat for them. Pre European contact and mania for beaver pelts there were a ton of beavers everywhere.
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Read this whole thread. Listen to the story and also this is a great example of how to act in a situation like this - there’s a second set of witness/bystanders too. Reading stories and talking about is how you get ready for when it’s time for you to do this in your life.
I almost got arrested tonight defending a 12 year old from police.
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@griffonatrix @DilettanteryPod @AlanaFeral There a bunch of examples from the 60s of anthropologists being in remote places during the space race. In one of then the !kung interpret sputnik as an omen of war, and the anthropologist (Richard lee) was like ya that's about right.
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My latest in @Spacing from my perspective as a both urban nerd and and someone who has been working on transit infrastructure the last few years. Lots here, but basically I argue that cuts to service *are* cuts to public safety
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closing down the safe injection site is likely to case more, completely unsupervised drug use in the alleys and streets and stairwells which are right by the school and on the way where kids walk.
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@ONlabour I’m an Electrcian. You realize that technical trades like mine need high school math and physics and that this government has cut funding to high school so that those courses are no longer availible to all students?.
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Like this is the the 7-11 next to the CAMH. It is already a shitshow and should absolutely *not* become the trashiest bar in town. No one wants that.
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there's a reason some stuff needs to be regulated at a more granular level than "the entire province". a 200 m ban on safe injection sites near schools seems reasonable in the suburbs but where i live 200 m already has literally *everything*.
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City has a very bad plan for Kensington market. It's hard to follow the latest, but the current plan calls for no pedestrian zones, pavers- but most importantly limited parking and *rolled curbs*. This convo is dangerous and *will* cause pedestrian fatalities. (thread)
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it's the tragic schrodinger's cat of adulthood when the 16 year old who got murdered on the subway recently is referred to as a "man" in the newspaper article but then its debated if he is old enough to be on transit by himself.
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im hearing from people who are working on construction sites right now that they are covid disaster. disincentives to get tested, repression of outbreaks, teerivld contact tracing, crowding and resistance to mask wearing, safety theatre. .
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@cityoftoronto sorry i don't have a balcony or any outdoor space whatsoever. these tickets are a tax on the people who can least afford to pay- people who live in small shitty spaces without access to the outdoors. not to mention homeless people.
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Things i have learned from working at union station for two days: .1. like, 1/3 rd of trains are cancelled due to staffing due to covid.2. union station is very full of homeless people who are pretending to wait for trains and deserve way better.
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The other new not-safe drug use site is literally in the park in the tent city by the playground. So idk what kids are supposed to be protected by this crappy, anti public health, anti neighbourhood legislation.
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@sarahmary @ElyKreimendahl That's OK, like it's not like flowers are forbidden it's just not the usual thing (which is food). Passover is a whole holiday about not eating bread. I think you can forgive yourself. People sent flowers when my FIL died and it was fine and we appreciated them.
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Guys, a ragtag coalition of neigbourhood folk found my bike. Led by an *old* neigbourhood character (who seems homeless but isn't) who *saw the guy steal the bike right behind me* tailed him, saw where he stashed it, and stole it back.
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@melani_fuller @phoebe_bridgers ya i also read the book. its kind of like cosby's early comedy routines- it was all right there the whole time.
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Happy to announce that I have a new gig! I am the new publicity and promotions manager for Between the Lines books (@readBTLbooks ). I have always been a big fan of their work and I love books so am really excited about this.
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And here it is, my cover story in this issue of @OurTimesMag . The construction industry is being hit hard by the second pandemic, the overdose crisis. Hear from workers, worksites and those on the front lines. #construction #canlab
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plus drug users are people, they are part of our community too. Esp in construction industry where i work drug use is super common and harm reduction of all kinds is super important.
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I look into my crystal ball and i see the new not-safe injection site is going to be in and around the new 7-11 / bar with indoor drinking that bypassed all liquor laws and community control and is right by CAMH. Thanks Dougie.
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@aajshanibar @torontolibrary the day youth program *was* hosted by a different organization in a different building.
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I often take transit to my trades jobs, however the late start of the ttc in the morning makes this difficult even if you live downtown. Very hard to make a 6:30 am or 7 am start.
“Trades people can’t take public transport!” Meanwhile I’m looking at a dude with a huge toolbox who seems to be getting on just fine on the bus and subway here in Toronto, and he doesn’t even have to worry about parking when he gets on site!.
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So @cityoftoronto the lane is open for cars to park but not for cyclists who are urged to dismount rather than take the lane, which legally they are allowed to do? Today on college there are several of these. @TheBikingLawyer @CycleToronto
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My upcoming piece on homeless construction workers is going to be in this issue. @westendphoenix has published and commissioned the best writing of my life. They made me a writer again after years of being simultaneously ground down and built up by construction work.
NEW ISSUE ALERT!. In December, WEP is launching HOME, an issue that explores housing in Toronto from all sides, from the policy pieces to the deeply personal. SUBSCRIBE NOW FOR GUARANTEED DELIVERY.
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Got laid of yesterday. My kid's dad got laid off the day before, and my brother the same week. Construction and food workers are the canary in the coal mine. recession is here.
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@darafaye @CathrynIsland @PalmBayPD if anyone is interested in the actual tragic reasons behind these kinds of incidents there is a really deep dive investigative piece that explains why this happens as well as prevention.
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additionally, the Canadian military remains unable to secure the safety of women members (as well as other minorities). Conscripting people into a system where they have a very high chance of being assaulted and discriminated against: even more unethical than regular conscription.
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My family is from an Irish/Acadian fishing village and includes lobster fisherman. Mi’kmaq have a right to fish their traditional territory. If we feel any attachment to the land we should understand that their attachment and history is so much greater.
Mi’kmaq lobster boats surrounded by Acadian commercial fishing vessels as traps are stolen, cut
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In addition, I really feel conscription is morally wrong. Press-ganging people to serve in the military, where one has to follow any number of random rules that no civilian would, is a form of indentured servitude and deeply immoral. Especially in peacetime.
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nobody who lives in this community wants, or asked for this.
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Just walked through alexander park. They've cleared it and also blocked off access to the pool and playground. Saw a dad with kids get turned away on this extemely hot day. All summer last year and this i took my kid to the pool/splashpad!encampment residents were no trouble.
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@dieworkwear As a construction worker I am super happy that carhardt and blundstones and dickies came into fashion. Now I can stop by a pub or a coffee shop on the way home from work and fit in fine. I like the ambiguity: hipster or HVAC installer? Only her boss knows for sure.
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@SarahTaber_bww There’s this thing in Latin American history where agronomists keep becoming leading communists and it’s because an actual evaluation of the economic system of farming leads to conclusion that things are fucked and radical change is needed.
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@paulericmorris @jimjameswhelan @polo_man404 its like whoever drew this bear was the same guy who drew these medieval cats
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@mikemwilson @Brttnyblm Dudes talking about this is so important. These dudes are only gonna listen to other dudes. Thanks for talking about it, you are reaching some guy who would *never* listen to me.
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and it takes people months and months to access rehab. most people give up before they get a spot.
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@a_h_reaume Thanks for this. I've literally been told by supposed feminists in my industry that my childcare issues for not being able to go union things "sounds like a personal problem.".
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@SebBoucher @ProfSmithSask @titocurtis There is a whole alt- universe of publications. Not just @TheTyee, there's @briarpatchmag @OurTimesMag @thismagazine @rabbleca @TheLocal_TO @TheGreenLineTO @TheHoserMedia @rankandfileca etc! Find your favorites and throw 'em some cash so they can continue their work.
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@LibraryLydia He still has his real carpenter muscles from like, actually doing real work and stuff.
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Estimates are that the Kensington market area is losing 2-3 people a week to overdoses.
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City is threatening to clear the encampment this morning. I wrote about the ongoing struggle for the @TheGrindTO in the current print issue. There is a honest to God media circus right now, is kind of ridiculous.
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Now even a job like infantry in Canada has no use for the unskilled and unmotivated to serve in the military. Unlike other countries, Canada has long specialized in producing highly skilled infantry where each solider can read a map, do patrols, use a scope, work in peacekeeping.
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Matlow is showing and telling the truth about the Gardiner. Regardless of who becomes mayor, he is right about what needs to happen.
As Mayor, I will rebuild the crumbling Gardiner Expressway east of Jarvis Street at ground level. Torontonians deserve the fastest, cheapest option that will free up money for other priorities and reduce congestion. Watch this video.
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@MorganJerkins My boyfriend is English as a second language and doesn’t read English, but he takes care of my kid while I do writing work and engages in the process and talks with me about it and generally supports my writing. So I guess that counts. He doesn’t read it tho.
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@briggityboppity My high school gradiation photos say "property of jostens" on them because they were samples.
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While i worked as a sysadmin for recruiting, my trade was a combat engineer- sort of like a military construction worker, but also with a lot of infantry stuff. This is me at 18, one of of the only photos i have
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There's also a lot of problems with conscripts vs volunteer. dumping a ton of conscripts who don''t want to be there very much destroys morale and professionalism. Ton of literature on this from the US from the Vietnam era.
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@JoshLekach Why is this guy not being there for his friend when he's going through emotional shit? Why does he care so little about his sister her doesn't even know where she works? Gossip is different than knowing basic facts about someone's life and being there for them.
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Plus in Canada every time they have tried to do conscription historically it has caused major issues with Quebec, and could well destabilize the whole country.
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So the recruiting problems of the Canadian military tend to be trouble attracting specialists who are qualified for or can be trained for highly technical military jobs, especially as its hard to compete with private sector pay and conditions those in IT or skilled trades.
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I used to hear people say that every Canadian infantry soldier (this is like, a basic "soldier" job for those not well versed in military lingo) is trained equivalent to the lower levels of special forces in other countries, like a US army ranger or something like that.
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So this copy-paste idea from the Britain and the states about compulsory service, just makes no sense in the context of the Canadian military. (I'd argue its also a bad idea in those other places as well). Canadian military has no ability to absorb that many people, and no need.
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@clhubes When my tweet about my 11 year old got lost and asked for help at the library people went viral, people also assumed she was 8, and not like, a tween person who walks around by herself on occassion. People postrd about how their 4 year old wouldn't be out by themselves.
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The military does do a lot of training of people who don't currently have skilled qualifications, but most occupations in the military require a pre existing high level of math skills, ability to read charts, plus high physical fitness and desire for a military lifestyle.
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@Komaniecki_R but remember it might not be rich parents, it might be a totally legit source of income like dealing drugs or sex work or cash construction.
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The city of toronto chose this day, during a storm warning, to disassemble half this encampment-on church land not city land. That small figure by the door is the minister @MaggieHelwig. City won't help, won't let anyone else help.
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So firstly, the Canadian military is very small compared to the population. There are 68 K full time and about 27 K part-time, with another 5K in the rangers. Compare that to the size of the population at almost 40 million. .
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