Category: News

A little transit strike with your coffee?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

There were some last-minute warnings last night from news outlets about a surprise TTC strike; this morning, lo and behold, the operators walked off the job at midnight. The mayor is royally pissed, as he should be; he’d asked for 48 hours of notice before any strike, but the union made up some bullshit story about fearing for the drivers’ safety in the face of angry commuters. ‘Cause, you know, a snap strike will have us feeling all kumbaya when the Premier forces you back to work (as he’s expected to do) in the next couple of days.

Transit expert Steve Munro has a lot more to say on his site, but the general feeling right now seems to be that the union has played this one very poorly indeed.

On a personal note, given that we live downtown it shouldn’t really be a big deal for us to get around anywhere, including up to the Bloor Theatre later for a documentary (looming thunderstorms notwithstanding) so it’s only a mild inconvenience for us. Not like the thousands of club kids who came downtown last night with no warning that their ride home would throw a hissy at midnight.

[tags]ttc strike[/tags]

Thought police anyone?

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

From the Globe and Mail: Hiding in plain website.

Killers from Columbine to Dawson College have broadcast their intentions online long before going on their murderous rampages. One criminologist thinks mass school shootings can be averted with cyberspace sleuthing

Teenagers who discover a fondness for The Cure (or whoever today’s version of The Cure is), prepare to be patted down.

[tags]columbine, dawson college, kacper gradon[/tags]

In which Al Qaeda inadvertently locates some morals

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From the BBC: Al-Qaeda accuses Iran of 9/11 lie.

Al-Qaeda’s deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has blamed Iran for spreading the theory that Israel was behind the 11 September 2001 attacks. In an audio tape posted on the internet, Zawahiri insisted al-Qaeda had carried out the attacks on the US.

So let me see if I’ve got this straight…Al Qaeda are pissed at Iran for trying to steal their terrorist street cred and give it to Israel? I have now, officially, seen everything.

I wonder if it occurs to Al Qaeda that they’re indirectly criticizing Iran’s anti-semitism…

[tags]al-qaeda, iran[/tags]

In which Dan briefly contemplates buying another TV

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

The statistics in this Washington Post article just baffle me:

  • The Pew Center on the States released a study in February showing that for the first time in [American] history, more than one in every 100 adults is in jail or prison
  • According to the Justice Department, 7 million people — or one in every 32 adults — are either incarcerated, on parole or probation or under some other form of state or local supervision
  • Today one in nine young black men is behind bars
  • African Americans now comprise more than half of all prisoners, up from a third three decades ago
  • The U.S. incarceration rate is five to 12 times that of other industrialized countries as well as being the highest in the world

I can offer no insight or perspective. I’m still in shock from that first number.

.:.

The Canadiens held on for a tough win tonight. That game was like a war. The Bruins forced them to play their kind of game, but a superb goalie and a good power play (which finally clicked tonight) was enough to get them the 3-1 series lead.

The Canadiens should finish them off at home Thursday night, and I soooooooo wish I could be in Montreal for it. I wouldn’t even need tickets to the game, I’d be happy just being in the city and absorbing all the energy.

Between work, the NHL playoffs, Hot Docs (which starts Thursday), my assignment and everything else, I’ve kind of forgotten about the Raptors. They’re limping into the playoffs, but will face Orlando in the first round and should have a legitimate shot if they can throw enough big men at Dwight Howard. This is the first time since 2002 that both my teams have made the playoffs in the same year. People…I only have so much attention span!!

[tags]washington post, prison, incarceration, montreal canadiens, boston bruins, toronto raptors[/tags]

Some days it's pretty easy to be an almost-vegetarian

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

From today’s Globe and Mail: Ottawa to pay farmers $50-million to slaughter hogs

In an unprecedented move, the federal government plans to pay hog farmers up to $50-million in total to slaughter as many as 150,000 breeding swine.

Farmers will receive $225 for every hog they kill, so long as they agree to wipe out their entire breeding herd and stay out of the hog business for three years. The government hopes the program will reduce a glut on the market that has helped drive down prices.

I understand that farmers tend not to be experts in economics, but any farmer so oblivious to the market in which they operate that they can’t understand “falling price + rising cost of feed = losing money” deserves to go out of business. Of course, this is the classic argument against bailouts, that they reward the stupid and non-competitive; they’re never done for economic reasons, only political. Apparently Big Pork* swings a big stick in Ottawa.

Another point: if we assume the slaughtered pigs are to be sold for meat, farmers and the government might as well brace for another price drop as 10% of the pork supply (and probably not the highest quality pork either, as I don’t think they’ll cull the best pigs) plops into supermarkets all at once. If, on the other hand, the slaughtered pigs aren’t to be sold as meat but simply done away with, that seems overly wasteful. Starving kids around the world and all that. Just give it to some food banks, for chrissakes.

* if there’s not a lobby called “Big Pork” there really ought to be

[tags]pork farmers, pig cull[/tags]

Et le but

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Last night I went straight from work to the Auld Spot, to meet up with Nellie & CBGB. A good unwinding was exactly what I needed, and a few pints of Dennison’s took care of that. However, I ate way too much yesterday (big breakfast, team lunch, big dinner, beer) and I still feel gross. Clearly I can neither eat nor drink like I used to.

I got home just in time to see the end of the Montreal-Buffalo game. Montreal was down 3-1 with less than three minutes remaining in the game, but scored twice late to tie it and then won it in OT. It’s a pleasant, if strange, feeling to see my team playing so well.

.:.

The plan for today: summon enough energy to go run some errands and buy some food, and then welcome CBGB over for Earth Hour this evening. We’re still not sure what we’ll do, short of turning off all electrical draw. I don’t expect a major difference in the appearance of downtown Toronto, but there are some promising signs.

.:.

A shooting occurred last night on board a TTC subway car, near where I used to live. Crazy.

[tags]auld spot, montreal canadiens, buffalo sabres, earth hour, toronto, ttc shooting[/tags]

What, no genocide? Howzabout some prison torture?

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I picked up our Hot Docs tickets today. After our abridged outing last year we got a full slate (five films) this time around:

So, to recap: terrorism, bleak antarctic landscapes, serial killing, a plane crash & ensuing cannibalism, and we wrap up with violently dysfunctional children. It’s the feel-good film festival of the year!

.:.

I know a few people who should have a Death Star grill. Like, uh, me.

.:.

As if I needed them, the Cameron’s Brewing Co. blog lists 8 healthy reasons to drink beer. Granted, this is not unlike McDonald’s telling you why it’s healthy to eat a Big Mac, but I choose to ignore this particular equivalence. [via]

.:.

Today my Google News page showed me something odd. It was an eCanadaNow (whatever that is) story about internet stalkers, but it was the picture that caught my eye. Here’s a screen grab:

Ummm…unless I’m mistaken, that’s Ellen Page in Hard Candy (imdb). And yes, in that film, Page does play someone who’s stalked online, but…well, clearly the real-life scenario does not play out like the film. Also, why wouldn’t this site indicate that they’d lifted a scene from a fictional film to use in their news story? Weird.

[tags]hot docs, death star grill, cameron’s brewing, beer, google news, internet stalking, ellen page, hard candy, ecanadanow[/tags]

A confederacy of dunces

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Had dinner and a quick drink with CBGB last night at Volo. I needed to unwind after a long week at work (which isn’t done yet…see below) and a quiet, snowy evening with some friends and tasty beer was a proper way to do it.

.:.

Before I sacrifice what’s left of this weekend on the altar of work and the MBA, I thought I’d throw up a couple of thoughts. It may be the last you hear from me for a few days.

  • This just in: Toronto city councilor Rob Ford is a screaming idiot. Not just for this latest nonsense, which shows that his approach to debate is roughly that of a six year old. The man is in the hall of fame for terrible elected officials. It’s embarrassing to live in a city where people continually vote for him.
  • Holy crap…my Canadiens are leading their division! Meanwhile, here in the land of altered reality, people are still talking about the Leafs making the playoffs.
  • I find this map of religious majorities in America very interesting. Anyone know of a Canadian version? [via Richard Florida]
  • I’d used Bloomex a few times for flower delivery and thought they were ok, but they messed up my most recent order — and the customer service followup — something fierce. Luckily Nellie’s an understanding wife who doesn’t demand flowers on/near Valentine’s Day, and so she just laughed it off. I won’t bother going through all the details; I’ll just leave it at this: do not, under any circumstances, use Bloomex. The service they gave me was truly one of the worst customer experiences of my life, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. It didn’t cause me harm or anguish or anything…it was just staggeringly, monumentally incompetent. Avoid them at all costs. Warn your friends.

.:.

Guns scare me. Texas has adopted the “castle doctrine,” which means you’re now justified in shooting someone if you feel threatened in your home; there’s no longer much expectation that you take reasonable measures to avoid the threat. You can just shoot it. Some have gone vigilante and extended this to their neighbourhood, like this guy who shot two men in the back because they robbed the house next door, despite the imminent arrival of police and the pleas of a 911 dispatcher.

Militarism scares me. When the Chief of Defence Staff says democratic debate on Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan is emboldening the terrorists to attack our troops, it reeks of the same low scare tactics we’ve heard from the United States in recent years. As POGGE put it when this story came out last week, “I think we’ve just been told to shut up and salute.”

American military integration scares me. While a recent deal struck between Canada and the US is intended to let troops from either country cross the border in case of a civil emergency, the potential ramifications of misuse are staggering. There was also no debate on the topic — the deal was signed a week before the story broke — which strikes me as unusual and troubling. This could be a very big help in an actual emergency, or a very ugly tool used for political/military purposes.

[tags]bar volo, rob ford, montreal canadiens, toronto maple leafs, bloomex, castle doctrine, joe horn, rick hillier, american military integration[/tags]

No wonder every smart person I know would like to work there

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Via Beyond Robson (the Vancouver equivalent of BlogTO) I read this story today:

Google Gives All SF Homeless Free Voicemail

Google has made an announcement that could help hundreds of homeless people in San Francisco get back on their feet. Every single homeless person in the city will be given a life-long phone number and voicemail, should they choose to accept it, NBC11’s Lisa Bernard said.

More details here at Google’s blog. Google does this using GrandCentral, a technology they acquired a while back. I’ve played around with it some, and my brother’s a big fan.

Anyway, I’m sure some people will read this and laugh/sneer, saying “Don’t you think there’re things that homeless people need more than voicemail?” Well, yeah, of course there are, but Google can’t provide those things directly, so it’s doing this. Good for them.

By the way, $5 says this came out of a 20% time idea.

[tags]google, grandcentral, homeless, san francisco, project homeless connect[/tags]

Bling When You're Minging

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Definitely the most confusing headline I’ve read all day: Dustin the Turkey plucked to represent Ireland at Eurovision. OK then.

.:.

Today’s been a great Sunday, for one simple reason: I have done dick all. Having finished my marketing assignment yesterday, I decided today would be a rest & mental health day. I took it easy all morning and watched a movie (After The Wedding, a pretty good Danish drama) while Nellie slept, then went to have some brunch at a nearby pub. Brunch turned into a veggie burger and three beers each, and now we’re home finishing up the last little errands before Nellie starts her annual Oscar freak-out. I had a nap (this is a freakish occurrence; I never nap) on the couch before we called my niece for her birthday. I ate some ice cream. That’s as exciting as it got today.

Lazy Sunday = awesome.

[tags]dustin the turkey, eurovision, oscars, academy awards, after the wedding[/tags]