Morning Brew: Albino Raccoon, Late Frost, Condo Bubble Popped, Another Child Shot Dead
Photo: "High Park - Duck Family " by 04deveni, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):
For what reasons could someone possibly be willing to fire three bullets and take the life of a 14-year old boy [City]? Whether drugs were involved or not, it just doesn't make sense to me. This isn't the kind of thing that tougher sentences will remedy.
With tall silhouettes of cranes being a prominent visual on Toronto's skyline, during what's turning out to be a significant recession, does this mean that the sun has finally gone down and the condo boom has gone bust [NP]?
Toronto-based charity The Children's Emergency Foundation (CEF) has had its license revoked after it was determined by auditors that they participated in tax shelter schemes and paid significantly more money to professional fundraisers than they did to the charitable causes themselves [Star]. It's sometimes really difficult to tell a good charity from a bad one.
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"Impatient gardener" sounds like an oxymoron to me (someone who generally prefers the immediacy of buying plants and produce rather than cultivating my own). But it being early in the growing season, and with an abnormally late spring frost warning in effect, those who planted early were scrambling to protect their green babies [Star].
Much like response from the general public, response from politicians to Sunday night's overtaking of the Gardiner by Tamil protesters has been emotional and varied [Sun]. Mayor Miller spoke tough and highlighted lawfulness and safety as the number one concerns, councillor Rob Ford claimed that if he were mayor he'd have removed them immediately and hinted at having kids taken into the care of Children's Aid, and Dalton McGuinty invited protesters to set up camp on the front lawn of Queen's Park.
And although it's rare (one in half a million), an albinio raccoon was discovered at a construction site near Yonge & Eg [City]. I can see it now... a dozen burly construction workers drop their shovels and jackhammers to huddle around in a circle to ooh and ahh over the little guy/gal's undeniable cuteness.
Comments (18)
Re: condo bust
I guess $300,000+ for a tiny box in the sky with high monthly fees isn't sustainable after all!
Not for someone who bought in July, lost their job in September, and is running out of EI and options. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there in situations like that.
Wait -- ANOTHER youth gunned down on the street? Oh man.
Who is in charge of this city, anyway?
Re: Impatient Gardeners.
There's a rule of thumb that you shouldn't start planting before the May long weekend. I've worked in a garden centre and I can attest that people should -really- follow this rule.
Albino raccoons are good luck. Get one to topple over your trash can and you'll be blessed for life.
RB - but how can you be sure it was an albino raccoon and not the normal ones who topple your garbage every other week of the year? I'm sticking with my rabbit's foot ;)
Rob Ford talking sense - you know he wasn't at a licensed venue before that sound bite. It's bad enough to dragoon your kids into your protests if they're not old enough to decide for themselves (at least high school), but to drag them into an incredibly dangerous situation like a highway occupation so they can act as human shields??? But what can one expect from a group that uses children as soldiers and perfected suicide bombing?
Moving the protest on to the Gardiner was rather a dick move, in my opinion, and certainly not the best place for kids. But I think people are bringing their families to these (so far still largely peaceful) rallies for the same reasons people brought their kids to, say, the pro- and anti-coalition rallies back in December (a belief the issue is important, practicality, to look cute for news cameras...). The suggestion that it's a deliberate ploy to use their children as "human shields" is unfounded, and conflating the Toronto protesters with the terrorist aspects of the Tamil Tigers is simplistic and (mostly :P) inaccurate.
Also, Rob Ford is a jackass.
There is an albino squirrel that lives in the north side of Trinity Bellwoods Park. I've seen him on numerous occasions when out for my early morning runs.
"and conflating the Toronto protesters with the terrorist aspects of the Tamil Tigers is simplistic and (mostly :P) inaccurate."
Only insofar as the Toronto protesters "mostly" weren't waving Tamil Tiger flags. ;-p
\
There used to be a family of albino squirrels in Trinity Bellwoods. It's nice to know that one (or more?) are still there. Thanks!
Something like that. I find the use of the Tiger flag at these rallies quite distasteful. I've heard it claimed that it's a "Tamil" flag, not a "Tamil Tiger" flag, but certainly that's not how a lot of people view it.
Nevertheless. There's a big difference between attending a protest where Tamil/Tiger flags are flown, and condoning (let alone participating in) the atrocities the Tigers are accused of. People have been using the "terrorist(-supporter)" epithet towards the protesters, which I think is a mighty lazy way of dismissing their concerns about a very real humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka.
Loozrboy, I agree. If anyone actually believed that the protesters who were waving the official flag of the LTTE (the one with the pictures of automatic weapons on them) were themselves Tamil Tigers, the RCMP would be obligated under Canadian and international law to arrest them as terrorists.
But, at best, this practice shows those protesters to be seriously disconnected from the reality of the issue they are protesting about, rather like teenage skinheads waving swastikas.
And if they are not simply misguided, this practice suggests that they are calling for ceasefire to save the LTTE rebels, who are on the verge of losing their 25-year-long civil war, rather than to save the non-combatants from behind whose backs the LTTE are shooting at government troops.
Funnily enough, a commenter on the Star web site was suggesting just that (arrest and deportation of the flag-waving "terrorists")... but then people on the Star web site have been suggesting mass deportations for the crime of blocking traffic. Buncha douchebags over there is what I'm saying.
But I think we can all agree that the protesters have been doing a shitty job of PR. Between the "loaded" flags and the occasionally-disruptive tactics and the vague and scattershot demands (trade sanctions? UN peacekeepers? strongly worded diplomatic letter?), they certainly don't seem to be winning much support from the general public. Which is a shame, 'cause lots of innocent people are dying while the world nonchalantly whistles and looks in the other direction.
a lot of people can afford the condos, esp immigrants.. the fact that torontonians can't afford it doesn't mean that nobody wants it.. condos are dirt cheap here..it is good news, as investors can buy more..homebuyers can afford a bigger place.. and there will be shortage in a few years when the market rebounds.. so what's so bad about this?
"Funnily enough, a commenter on the Star web site was suggesting just that (arrest and deportation of the flag-waving "terrorists")..."
Well, I have suggested that Tamil protesters complaining about oppression in Canada while waving the flag of a terrorist group try doing so in another country - like the U.S. or the U.K. for example - and see whether Canada is really that intolerant.
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