City
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.
Discussion
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I guess $300,000+ for a tiny box in the sky with high monthly fees isn't sustainable after all!
Who is in charge of this city, anyway?
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.
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?
Also, Rob Ford is a jackass.
Only insofar as the Toronto protesters "mostly" weren't waving Tamil Tiger flags. ;-p
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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.
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.
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.
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.