Monday, July 05, 2010
Mayorality Race...
Why Not!
...the vast majority of Ontarian, including most of those who signed the anti-HST petition, have accepted, and will accept the other two cheques, and are spending the money. No marching on the streets. No Protesting at Queens Park.
Toronto Silly Hall, Queen's Park, Ottawa Don't Walk The Talk...
Early childhood
Relocation of Shaw Street daycare filled with angst
Trinity Spadina Early Years Centre’s move to temporary quarters compromises programs, parents and staff say
Reality...
After World Cup euphoria fades, South Africa’s poverty will remain
...and the west will continue to pour billions of $$$$ in foreign aid into these countries with little success and you have to wonder who this aid is benefiting.
Santa Claus And Shriners Parades More Indicative Of Toronto...
Toronto
Pride parade can’t be ‘everything to everyone’
This year, some members of gay community find they’re not as united as they once thought
and IMHO the Pride Parade's popularity is akin to people's natural tendency to be drawn to gawking at the unusual; ie: bearded lady, two headed man and other attractions.
A Bloody F^$^ing Shame...
Unwelcome policy at recreation centres
July 05, 2010Andrea Cohen
Patrick Corrigan July 5, 2010 illustration
Patrick Corrigan/Toronto Star Let’s say you are a mother of two. You want to register your children for a few programs at the community recreation centre in your neighbourhood. They are 12 and 14, summer is here and you want to make sure they have something to do. Someone — a friend, a teacher — has told you about the city’s “welcome policy,” a program that gives people who fall below Canada’s unofficial poverty line access to a few recreation programs per season. (And, it should be noted, many people don’t find out about the welcome policy in time or at all.)
You walk into your community centre and you say: “I want the welcome policy.” Before May of 2009, a front-line worker at the community centre would have taken your information — a tax return, for example — done the paperwork, and registered you and your family for programs right away. If you did not have proof of income, if you were, for example, a refugee recently arrived in the country or someone fleeing domestic violence, the front-line worker would have had room to consider “extenuating circumstances.”
In May of 2009, the city changed the process, removing the ability to grant the welcome policy from front-line workers in local community centres, and handing it over to staff at North York Civic Centre who work only a few days a week. Since this change, the application process for the welcome policy has mystified community agencies and residents alike. We will, however, attempt to explain how we think it works.
In North York, for example, if you have proof of income, you can go to your local community centre or find your way to North York Civic Centre. However you do it, according to city documents, it will now take up to eight weeks to process your policy. (The city says it’s about two weeks if you have all the required paperwork on your first try.)
If you do not have proof of income, you will not be approved by the city. Those with “extenuating circumstances” must find a registered community agency and get a letter from a settlement worker, a social worker or a case worker. Faith groups can also write welcome policy letters (it must be the leader of the congregation). This letter must recommend you for the welcome policy, and list your exact family income.
The process above was uncovered by a group of community agencies and residents, and it took them weeks, working together, to figure it out. Imagine what it’s like for individuals and families. The process is lengthy, confusing and can be humiliating. We know from experience that many give up. As a result, families, seniors and youth are left without access to recreation programs.
These are not the only obstacles to community recreation in Toronto. As of May 2010, the city is applying user and/or registration fees on some formerly free programs, including leisure swimming in pools. In addition, they are raising some existing user fees.
Some neighbourhoods are squeezed in all directions. Take Bathurst-Finch as an example (officially known as “Westminster-Branson”). Designated a “priority” neighbourhood by the city, the area has no “priority” (free) recreation centres. Its tiny, wonderful library is under-resourced and its tiny, wonderful community centre is bursting at the seams. Now neighbourhood residents are facing increased user fees and, as outlined above, a broken subsidy policy that leaves many people behind.
Across the city, community agencies like Family Service Toronto, Griffin Centre, LAMP Community Health Centre, New Heights Community Health Centres, North York Women’s Centre and York Community Services want to go on record to both the city and the province to say that we are facing a growing crisis in accessible community recreation and one that must be addressed now, with summer upon us.
We are asking that the ability to approve welcome policies be returned immediately to front-line workers at recreation centres across the city. We are asking for a reversal in the damaging new fees at community recreation centres. More broadly, we believe the health of our city would improve with a comprehensive range of recreation programs that are free for everyone, across Toronto.
We are not asking for the impossible. Before the provincial government amalgamated several districts into the “megacity” of Toronto in 1998, all community recreation centres in the old City of Toronto were free.
Parks, Forestry and Recreation is now entering a long-term planning process, and reconsidering all its recreation programs. Toronto is also entering a municipal election. At the same time, downloading and funding cuts continue to affect our daily lives. As workers at community agencies, we cannot do our jobs without looking at the larger structures affecting communities. We are beginning here by articulating a vision for accessible recreation. But that’s just a start. Across the city, community workers and residents are looking past the city they’ve given us to the city we want. We will build it, together.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Light Reading For QUEERS AGAINST ISRAELI APARTHIDE
Could you imagine the uproar if Israel did this???
Hamas tortures Fatah officials...
Hamas's security forces in the Gaza Strip detained over the weekend dozens of Fatah activists in one of the largest crackdowns in recent months, Fatah officials said.
The latest clampdown on Fatah comes after fresh mediation efforts to solve the crisis with Hamas failed.
It also coincides with the third anniversary of Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.
A special committee that was formed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last month to discuss ways of ending the power struggle has been dissolved. The committee was headed by Nablus businessman Munib al-Masri.
Its members were supposed to travel to the Gaza Strip for talks with Hamas leaders on the ongoing dispute between the two parties. However, the visit was called off after Hamas announced that it would not receive the delegation, which consisted of several top Fatah representatives.
The decision to dismantle the committee also came after Hamas refused to sign an Egyptian document that was supposed to end the crisis.
According to the Fatah officials, many of their members in the Gaza Strip were summoned to various Hamas security installations "for questioning and torture. The detainees were also instructed to bring along their passports, the official added.
The detainees included Amal Hamad, member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, Fayez Abu Aitah, a prominent spokesman for the faction and Muhammed al-Talouli, a former deputy minister in the PA government.
The Hamas security forces also summoned a large number of former PA security commanders, including Abu Hilme Dabour and Kamal Abdel Nabi, two former "generals" in the PA's Presidential Guard and "colonels" Imad Shaheen, Ameed al-Haloul, Salah Abu Wardeh and Omar Khadoura.
"Over the past 40 days, the Hamas militias have escalated their offensive against Fatah members," the Fatah officials charged. "Many are summoned [by Hamas] and forced to spend hours in the sun while their heads are covered with bags. Others are tortured and humiliated while in detention. This happens on a daily basis."
A statement released over the weekend by Fatah revealed that over 100 members of the faction have been arrested by Hamas in the past month alone.
Some Light Reading For A Stay At Home Sunday...
Journalists: your moral and intellectual superiors
My new post at David Horowitz's NewsReal blog offers examples of mild but still infuriating journalistic malpractise for your amusement.# Kathy Shaidle
NAACP only objects to certain kinds of 'black holes'
Morons -- or manipulators?When the subject is history, they don't do any better than they did when it was science.
# Kathy Shaidle
Enzo's Rose Coloured Glasses Broken...
G20
In a week of cataclysmic events for Toronto the Good – an earthquake, tornado watch and floods – came another unexpected stir, this one from the mayor’s office in the fallout over the G20.
>> More...can anything be read into selective selection of photo? None were available showing the vandalism and destruction of private property!
How Organized Are Homegrown "Terorists?"
Is the International Resistance Initiative really a group?
The International Resistance Initiative has struck again, setting off a bomb at an army recruiting centre in Trois Rivieres, Quebec.
You might be forgiven for wondering why I said "again". If this is the same IRI that set a car on fire, then it has been four years since their last attack.
Four years? This makes me wonder if the IRI is really just one person.
You might be forgiven for wondering why I said "again". If this is the same IRI that set a car on fire, then it has been four years since their last attack.
Four years? This makes me wonder if the IRI is really just one person.
Click the title to read the whole story...
.Allan Rock's Attack...
Hate-speech laws are themselves hateful
Gunter: They are a windfall to the politically correct who wish to censor other views. What the Anne Coulter controversy points out is how insidious are Canada's hate-speech laws. They permit censorious activists to attempt to shut up those with.. MORE...
Gunter: They are a windfall to the politically correct who wish to censor other views. What the Anne Coulter controversy points out is how insidious are Canada's hate-speech laws. They permit censorious activists to attempt to shut up those with.. MORE...
Putting World Reality Into Perspective...
Humping Jack Trashed
Rolling Stone Keith Richards exposes Mick Jagger in tell-all book. ROLLING Stone Keith Richards is taking an astonishing pop at Mick Jagger - in a book so savage management fear it could split the band for good.
Inside the nasty world of Mel Gibson.. by his secret lover
Paris Hilton in high spirits after wrongful arrest for pot possession at World Cup
Rolling Stone Keith Richards exposes Mick Jagger in tell-all book. ROLLING Stone Keith Richards is taking an astonishing pop at Mick Jagger - in a book so savage management fear it could split the band for good.Inside the nasty world of Mel Gibson.. by his secret lover
Paris Hilton in high spirits after wrongful arrest for pot possession at World Cup
Based On The Beaches Restaurant Fiasco...
Feud brews over Casa Loma
City council to decide whether to maintain partnership with Kiwanis Club, which has managed the castle since 1937
Lesson For Our Regent Park Advocates...
...bricks and mortar don't make a neighborhood; people do!
The Woodward’s Project: Only the beginning …
Laura Leyshon for National Post
Brian Hutchinson, pictured: “The biggest surprise? Almost everything I witnessed in the Woodward’s complex that could be called ‘disturbing’ occurred inside the two private condo towers. They did not involve anyone from the development’s social housing components, or from the neighbourhood’s mean streets.”
July 3, 2010 – 1:00 pm
The Post’s Brian Hutchinson was embedded for a month in the country’s most notorious neighbourhood, Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The Woodward’s Project is an online and print series that chronicles his experiences as part of a unique urban experiment to bring together rich and poor in the most derelict, subsidized and politicized neighbourhood in Canada. This is the last installment in the series.
Read More..
Iggy Moment...
Ignatieff packs rural-specific bag for summer bus tour
Liberal Leader taking rural-specific policies on the road in a... The Case of the Missing Half-Million
Pundits' Guide: A closer look at the party 2009 financial returns reveals that the Liberal Party over-reported their contributions by $500K across their four quarterly reports in 2009, as compared with their audited year-end return.
Honoring The ONLY True Queen...
She's here! Toronto's Royal Tour begins
Queen Elizabeth arrives in Toronto in Toronto late July 3, 2010 after her flight from Winnipeg was delayed. The Royal agenda for Sunday? First church, then horses.
Sun Jul 04 2010
Queen Elizabeth's enduring popularity is in evidence across the country as she thrills crowds.
The Shame Of Heterosexual Toronto...
The shame of Pride Toronto's decision: Editorial
Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of the Gay Pride Parade, a source of justifiable pride for Toronto’s lesbian and gay community.
“Queers Against Israeli Apartheid” declare Canada to be an apartheid state, too
“Thursday, July 1, 2010 at Noon: Instead of celebrating this colonial country (which the apartheid state of South Africa was modeled after), come hang out with us and help prepare for Sunday. We’ll provide materials, but if you can contribute paint, brushes, placards, etc. we’ll take em! Email keli.bellaire@gmail.com for the address.”
Pride-funding review urged
City council will be asked to round up several horses that have already galloped out of the Nathan Phillips barn when it meets next week.
Bad News! Snivelman Will Probably Be Your Next Mayor...
...he appeals to the same downtowners that elected Miller, waterfront condo owners, ndp island squatters, social in-activists and environuts plus he will probably get the undecided in the gay community and you know he will suck up to the city unions.
Mayor's race coming down to Big 3: Levy
Rob Ford has grassroots appeal, but what about those details?
Saturday, July 03, 2010
A Mockery Of The Title Journalist...
...and it is becoming more obvious each day that Bloggers are willing to give up their anonymity to gain that title. You have to wonder how many of them could outline the five Ws.
Self-anointed G20 ‘journalists’ should get real
Walkom: Two things stand out from the street riots and subsequent police actions that swept downtown Toronto last weekend. The first is the state blatantly abused its powers. Summits legitimately require security; but in this one, governments went over the top. MORE...
Self-anointed G20 ‘journalists’ should get real
| Blatchford: Journalists covering the protests were due no special rights, access or protection. Random thoughts on the G20, the Toronto Police, the ongoing protests over the whole shebang: First, journalism is not merely a collective of the self-anointed. MORE... |
| Of a million G20 stories in this taken city, this was mine |
| Southey: If anything, there was less black being worn on Queen than usual. I observed a confrontation between police and protesters last Saturday evening from both sides of the police line. The protesters (vastly outnumbered by the riot.. MORE... |
| The G20 summit’s grim lessons for civil liberties |
Oprah Not Above The Law! If You Believe That...
No 'Oprah' for Elin
Tiger Woods' soon-to-be ex-wife is about to become an independently wealthy woman, but we've learned she's legally prohibited from blabbing about it.
Canada Is Becoming A Two Tier Country...
Adrian MacNair: Welcome to S’ólh Téméxw, home of the S’ólh Téméxw Olympics
July 2, 2010 – 12:17 pm
Ric Ernst/Province
This used to be called a tree. But that's just another example of colonial domination.
The Queen Charlottes was no recent designation either. The archipelago was first visited in 1774 by Juan Perez, and later in 1778 by Captain James Cook. In 1787 the islands were surveyed by Captain George Dixon, and named after Queen Charlotte, then the wife of King George III of England. That makes the name of the islands well over 200 years old.
Read More
Xwayxway
Natives propose new name for Vancouver’s Stanley Park
Negative "Comments" About PRIDE Day And ...
And Who Are The Media Painting As The BogeyMan? The Police!
Poll finds G20 protesters blew it big time
July 2, 2010 – 10:59 am
Tim Fraser for National Post
Hey, c'mon, what's disgusting about this? I'm with the kid with his gut hanging out. Whatever his complaint, I agree!
Here they had a chance to make a political point on some crucial issues at a moment when attention across the world was temporarily focused on Toronto.
So what did they achieve? According to Angus Reid they disgusted the vast majority of the people they were trying to woo:
Respondents were asked about their feelings about the demonstrations that took place in Toronto during the G20 summit. Two-thirds of Canadians (69%) are disgusted, 59% are ashamed, 57% are angry, and 54% are sad. In Toronto, the proportion of respondents who reported negative feelings was higher (Disgust 81%, Anger 74%, Sadness 65%, Shame 61%).Good job activists! Way to seize an opportunity and make it yours!
National Post
Posted in: Canada, Full Comment, Social Issues, World Politics Tags: G20, Toronto, Kelly McParland, G20 summit, Toronto police, G20 protesters, G20 demonstrations
Ultimate Boxing And Reality TV Have Their Fans And..
... it seems like Pride Day is drawing a similar crowd and begs the question whether people are looking to fulfill their fantasies.
Pride parade controversy
Toronto’s gay and lesbian community is celebrating the annual Pride Parade Sunday, but not everyone is a happy.
Marching with Pride
Maggie Nash is one proud lesbian
A True Politician...
Smitherman hatches pool plan
Making better use of school pools could help save lives, says mayoral candidate George Smitherman.
...
Let's Spend Some Time Honoring A Citizen Who Acted...
We now know this brave man's identity
He is not a mystery man anymore.
...in the belief that law and order matters and spend some time on those who acted without any thought of law and order thereby condoning the actions of thugs. Let's put the protest "organizers" in the spotlight, OCRAP, OFL, NGOs, for their failure to control their supporters.
Doing Batman's job
Doing Batman's job
He may not be wearing a cape, but he’s doing Batman’s work.
Friday, July 02, 2010
G20 Protests, Women's And Gay Rights, World Hunger...
...and the list goes on and on and while there is no question there are serious problems in the world it is obvious that these social in-activists have lost sight of;
One dead in strip plaza shooting
Fri Jul 02 2010
A man is dead after a shooting at Keele St. and Wandle Ave. early Friday morning.Toronto Neighborhood Problems
Sharpton Equates Farting In His Presence A Biological Attack...
Al Sharpton worries me more than Mel Gibson
Al Sharpton is after Mel Gibson after a tape was leaked on which Gibson is heard in a screaming rage, making racist comments.
Mel Gibson's comments were nasty, to be sure, but does anyone see the danger to all of us when no one stands up to people who see it as their job to punish someone for what he or she says in the privacy of his or her home?
Mel Gibson's comments were nasty, to be sure, but does anyone see the danger to all of us when no one stands up to people who see it as their job to punish someone for what he or she says in the privacy of his or her home?
Click the title to read the whole story...
...but you have to wonder about Mel's continually putting his foot in his mouth.
A Little More To This Than It Appears...
...and will be discussed not only at the local Timmies but also the espresso boutiques.
Google to Pay Heterosexuals Less Than Homosexuals
The World Has Got Barack's Number...
Saritha Rai - July 1, 2010 07:04
Cities across India are vying for Obama's attention months ahead of a planned state visit.
U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK The Outstanding Public Debt as of 02 Jul 2010 at 11:30:38 AM GMT is:
The estimated population of the United States is 308,666,439
so each citizen's share of this debt is $42,796.98. The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$4.17 billion per day since September 28, 2007!
 |
so each citizen's share of this debt is $42,796.98. The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$4.17 billion per day since September 28, 2007!
How Many Fewer Children Are Going Hungry?...
Tristan McConnell - July 2, 2010 06:58
Q&A: Why African teams stumble at the highest level of soccer.
...How many fewer cases of Aids? How many fewer unwanted pregnancies?And the list goes on and on and on but after the G20 protests in Toronto reality sets in and makes you wonder about the billions and billions poured into Africa in foreign aid and makes the
$$$ expended for G20 security seem insignificant.
Soccer Team Uses Backdoor At Airport And Now...
France has first ‘burka rage’ incident
The Daily Caller reports:A 60-year-old lawyer ripped a Muslim woman’s Islamic veil off in a row in a clothing shop in what police say is France’s first case of “burka rage”.The astonishing scene unfolded during a weekend shopping trip after the woman lawyer took offence at the attire of a fellow shopper resulting in argument during which the pair came to blows before being arrested
Return Of October 31st Celebrations At The St. Charles...
Heteros get their day of Pride
Aidan Johnson
Straight people join the parade of gay rights supporters
Iggy Moment...
First, a few questions for Ignatieff and the Liberals
Strong policy declarations should be avoided this summer
Another Failure, Another Promise...
More gain for those in pain?
World Cup Hysteria Returns Soon...
...but until then:
I went to the G20 and got a soggy cheese sandwich
July 1, 2010 – 8:00 am
Peter J. Thompson/National Post
One of the cells used to hold detainees from G20 demonstrations
Today’s panelists, are Barbara Kay in Montreal, Scott Stinson in Toronto and Kevin Libin in Calgary.
Scott Stinson: Reading about the issue of police conduct in Toronto last weekend feels like watching a tennis match. Opinion swings back and forth from day to day like so many serves and volleys. First, on Saturday, it was thought the police acted like heroes. Then, the next day, it looked like they overreacted. That was still the tenor of much of the coverage on Monday. By Tuesday morning, Chief Bill Blair had trotted out an array of weapons sezied from those who had been detained by way of showing that officers had not simply rounded up a bunch of innocent folks out walking their dogs. I’m generally sympathetic to a police force that was given a difficult job and managed to preserve public safety above all else, but I’m a bit surprised that neither the Chief nor the Mayor has sounded a note of caution or regret that seemingly dozens of people were detained for many hours for no reason other than that they were standing in a group that either would not, or could not, leave.
Read More
The Truth Was Buried By The G20 Protest Organizers...
* failure to admit violence was a foregone conclusion.
* failure to openly condemn the violence.
* failure to have parade marshals control and intervene when "rioting" took place....and now these same people are calling for an inquiry so they can promote their causes which received little press because of the actions of a known group of homegrown terrorists.
One Brave Man! Thousands Of Cowards...
Who's that brave man?
He might very well have been one the bravest people in the whole upside down city.
...made up of supporters of OCRAP, OFL, various NGOs, etc. Happy Canada Day!
Canada Day Celebrated But Not By All...
Home Depot discriminated against guard: Tribunal
A Home Depot manager discriminated against a Sikh security guard who refused to replace his turban with a hard hat, a human rights tribunal has ruled.
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Compare The Freedom Fighters...
...those who lie on the table at the coroner's office and those marching on the streets. The latter are able to do so because of the sacrifices of the former and their family and friends.
Black Bloc interrupted soldier’s cortège: Blair
The coroner’s office behind police HQ is the last stop on a soldier’s return home
Allan Rock...POMPOUS ASS!
... whether you love her or hate her or couldn't care less a live televised meeting would boost ratings. Don't hold your breathing waiting for Rock to initiate it!
Tasha Kheiriddin: Allan Rock pressed for gag on ‘foul-mouthed poltroon’ Ann Coulter
June 30, 2010 – 10:20 am
Julie Oliver/Ottawa Citizen
Allan Rock
Canadian Press has obtained excerpts from an email exchange between Mr. Rock and Francois Houle, the university’s provost. They make clear that Mr. Rock was the guiding force behind Mr Houle’s now-infamous letter to Ms. Coulter warning her not to run afoul of Canada’s hate laws when she was invited to speak at the campus last March.
“Ann Coulter is a mean-spirited, small-minded, foul-mouthed poltroon,” Rock wrote to Houle in a March 18 email. “She is ‘the loud mouth that bespeaks the vacant mind’.”
Read More
What's The Point Sue-Ann...
...we will hear a lot of campaign promises, most them predicated on Queens Park and Ottawa opening their wallets, but unless there is a major change in the makeup of the next city council four years from now we will be rehashing today's news.
Candidates, read financial statements
The city’s consolidated financial statements for 2009 — to be discussed at audit committee Wednesday morning — should be required reading for all mayoralty candidates and would-be councillors.
Hopefully We Will Hear More Answers From Denizens Of Tim Hortons...
...and less from the denizens of Starbucks.
Good intentions astray
As Canada turns 143 years old, we’ve asked some of our top writers to answer the question: Is Canada heading in the right direction? Lorrie Goldstein starts off our series.
Add To The List...No Lineups At Queens Quay Pay Toilet...
...but that's not surprising when you consider the major crap is emanating from Toronto Silly Hall.
Back to 'civilized' Toronto
Welcome back to civilization, Masai Mike — to riots, burning cop cars, Miller, McGuinty, the HST, the DVP, the TTC, the Leafs, the Raps, the Jays, bike lanes .Hey Mihevic And You Other Council Clowns...ARE YOU LISTENING!
Comrade Miller
Clown Coucilors & Beauracrats
Corso Italia businesses say they're hurting
While the St. Clair streetcar right-of-way is officially open for business, many shops along the route say the construction they endured may soon make theirs go bankrupt.
Who Knows Joe...
...the main stream media is being inundated by columnists and not reporters and these reporters seem to get their information from the internet; ie: blogs, facebook, Utube, et al and when they do interview "people" their seems to be a lack of verification.
WARMINGTON: What's right, what's wrong
City needs an inquiry to get at the truth
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About Me
- Unhypentated Canadian
- I lean to the right but I still have a heart and if I have a mission it is to respond to attacks on people not available to protect themselves and to point out the hypocrisy of the left at every opportunity.MY MAJOR GOAL IS HIGHLIGHT THE HYPOCRISY AND STUPIDITY OF THE LEFTISTS ON TORONTO CITY COUNCIL. Last word: In the final analysis this blog is a relief valve for my rants/raves.