Rob Ford's Toronto

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

John Doyle takes the mayor (and all of us) to task

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...S/Atom&utm_source=Toronto&utm_content=2221510

I must say that Blatchford's column in the NatPost was incredibly catty. My theory is that the right believes they need to defend Ford because he's so incompetant he can't defend himself. Therefore, no one should ever try to attack him, because it's like hitting a baby.

 

[freshcutgrass]

On a less serious note (thank god)....

The Rob Ford ambush: Who is the real victim here? Let the networks decide
MARK SCHATZKER
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Oct. 28, 2011 6:19PM EDT
Last updated Friday, Oct. 28, 2011 6:32PM EDT



Following a botched CBC comedy sketch and an infamous emergency call, the public has questions. Is Rob Ford the victim of left-wing gotcha journalism? Or is he a foul-mouthed vituperative boor? Without the 911 tapes, we’ll never know. But that won’t stop the media. Coming this fall to a TV near you:

On Sun TV:

Upbeat, happy music plays as a montage plays across the screen.

Narrator: He was a fighter for justice…

Rob Ford shakes his fist at a striking garbage worker.

Narrator: He was a man of the community...

Rob Ford coaches football at Don Bosco.

Narrator: Until he encountered a force so evil…

The music switches to a minor key. A tuba blares a fearful theme.

Inside a CBC boardroom, a group of bitterly divorced grey-haired second-wave feminists in pantsuits and Birkenstocks silently nod at one another. One of them picks up a phone and dials. A telephone in Newfoundland rings. Mary Walsh picks it up.

Mary Walsh: I’ll take care of it.

Narrator: Does one man stand a chance against a conspiracy?

Montage: Mary Walsh donning her breast plate. Mary Walsh sharpening her plastic sword on a grindstone. Mary Walsh crouching in the bushes as Rob Ford walks obliviously out his front door.

Narrator: In a culture of lies, does truth stand a chance?

As Rob Ford bends over to adjust a child’s booster seat, Mary Walsh plunges her sword into his back and through his heart, twisting it cruelly as she speaks.

Mary Walsh [sotto voice]rivatize this, Mr. Mayor.

Narrator: This fall…

A wounded Rob Ford weakly dials 911.

Narrator: …on television screens across Canada...

911 dispatchers erupt in howls of laughter and flash the “union power” sign as the mayor begs for help.

Narrator: …Sun TV brings you: The Rob Ford Warrior Princess 911 Cover Up: What Really Happened.



On CBC:

Narrator: It was a cool and moody October morning, when a 911 dispatcher picked up the phone…

The silhouette of a grieving woman appears. Her face is blacked out to protect her identity. The word “re-enactment” flashes at the bottom of the screen.

Narrator: This week on the Passionate Eye, we imagine the phone call that changed a life.

911 dispatcher [her voice digitally altered]: I was working the early shift, filling in for a colleague on vacation.

Narrator: It was a call that would change her life.

911 dispatcher [now sobbing]: There was this middle-aged man on the phone. [sobbing harder] And he was so angry.

Narrator: But this was no ordinary caller. It was the mayor of Toronto.

911 dispatcher: ‘The f-ing mayor. I’m the f-ing mayor.’ [sobbing uncontrollably] It was all he kept saying.

Narrator: Every day, 911 dispatchers receive hundreds of calls. Car accidents. Domestic violence. Accidental decapitations. Murders. And now… inappropriate language.

911 dispatcher: I can’t sleep. I’m having issues with intimacy. It’s ruined my life.

Narrator: This week on the Passionate Eye, we examine the phone call that changed a life.

A professor appears in a golf shirt, with the logo for Trent University stitched on the chest.

Professor: This was a classic case of a Caucasian alpha male going super nova. He’d just been humiliated in front of his wife and children by a middle-aged woman wearing breastplates. He experienced a manic episode of self-destructive impulses that he transferred onto the first available person.

Narrator: The broken dreams…

911 dispatcher: My therapist says it could be days before I’m able to return to work.

Professor: Victim begets victim.

Narrator: And we call into question the culture that demands so much paperwork of those filing workplace grievance.

911 dispatcher: There’s, like, 20 pages.

Professor: Paperwork is the 21st century’s cotton gin. It is this country's most pervasive form of institutional abuse.

911 dispatcher [sobbing again]: My hand got numb by the fourth page.

Narrator: This week, on the Passionate Eye.

 

[voxpopulicosmicum]

You're crazy if you think that distinction would save Blair's career, if it turned out he was covering for Ford....

Yes, but if the tapes are never made public, then no one will be able to call Bliar on his hair-splitting statement. That was my first reaction to Bliar's statement: "We'll never hear the tapes."

 

[voxpopulicosmicum]

AG:

Didn't stop you from using k.m.a. on another forumer on here. Perhaps we should have a little discussion on vulgar language on that score instead?

That said, I do agree that the vulgarities in this thread should be toned down a bit. It is bad enough have to cut through all the f'ing and accusations of b's.

AoD

Didn't realize we had a "no cussing" policy here. It's a bit difficult to enforce on this issue in particular, but if there's a rule against it then I apologize to all for my recent, liberal employment of the "Rob Ford mayoral vernacular".

 

[adma]

I wonder, if the same formula/standards were applied, who would be anointed the best person in the world?

So, best and worst: both sub-genii, in their own way

 

[bobbob911]

Yes, but if the tapes are never made public, then no one will be able to call Bliar on his hair-splitting statement. That was my first reaction to Bliar's statement: "We'll never hear the tapes."

Oh I'm sure we'll hear them at some point, if they were making thier way around the police department.

If we dont hear them soon it wouldnt surprise me if we hear them during his re-election campaign.

 

[voxpopulicosmicum]

Oh I'm sure we'll hear them at some point, if they were making thier way around the police department.

If we dont hear them soon it wouldnt surprise me if we hear them during his re-election campaign.

Fatty Fraud has clearly demonstrated himself to be both unprincipled and stupid enough to shoot himself in the foot in ways that would appear to be impossible according to the laws of physics.

Bliar, on the other hand, is a man of many obvious shortcomings, but he's not dumb enough to have said what he did if there was a reasonable likelihood that it would have meaningful repercussions to him.

The foregoing premises support 2 possible conclusions:

1. The tapes won't be heard in time for Bliar to suffer consequences. Bliar has received the requisite technological assurances that he knows everyone who has a recording of the calls and has sufficiently dealt with them to ensure non-disclosure for the next few days/weeks.

2. The whole thing was a put-up job by the police, the CBC's sources lied and the tapes will surface showing Fatty Fraud not to have been as abusive as we were led to believe.

I'm not giving odds on either, but would place a bet with someone who is.

 

[Jonny5]

One can only hope life imitates sport.

At the final whistle, Mr. Ford looked at the heavens. He’d coached his last game for the season and gone down 41-22. A senior defensive end, Jeremy French, ran crying into his arms. “You’ve been a dominant player for five years, son,” said Mr. Ford, bear-hugging the young man for nearly 10 seconds. “You've had a great career. You played well. You’re out on a high note.”

Jeremy French can be played by Mammoliti.

 

[Electrify]

I'm on my cell so it is hard for me to post the link, but I read on TreeHugger that the city is looking to make it illegal to lock your bike up to anything other than a bike lock post or rack! Regardless of wherever you stand on cycling, doesn't the city have more important things to worry about besides somebody locking their bike up against a fence?

 

[BobBob]

I'm on my cell so it is hard for me to post the link, but I read on TreeHugger that the city is looking to make it illegal to lock your bike up to anything other than a bike lock post or rack! Regardless of wherever you stand on cycling, doesn't the city have more important things to worry about besides somebody locking their bike up against a fence?

Not sure about fences, but locking up to trees should definitely be strongly discouraged. Our trees are already treated fairly horribly without that added stress.

 

[EMP1729]

I'm on my cell so it is hard for me to post the link, but I read on TreeHugger that the city is looking to make it illegal to lock your bike up to anything other than a bike lock post or rack! Regardless of wherever you stand on cycling, doesn't the city have more important things to worry about besides somebody locking their bike up against a fence?

Nope, city needs the money, and you can piss off cyclists. Stone meet two birds.

 

[GraphicMatt]

The amendment is less scary than some are claiming: it basically says that you can't lock your bike to anything except a bike post for more than 24 consecutive hours.

It's still annoying, though. I'd be more accepting if the city were actually keeping pace with demand for posts & rings, but they're not. Finding proper bike parking is often impossible.

 

[TheClamshell]

It's also worth saying that like many bylaws this one will only be enforced in exceptional circumstances. That shouldn't stop it from being criticized, but it's all about the enforcement.

The worst part of the bylaw was how tone deaf Shiner and Minnan-Wong were to the concerns of Layton and Perks at the committee meeting. They were on a completely different wavelength and Shiner clearly didn't consider the impact on cyclists when drafting the motion. That tone deafness is a much larger problem.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

It's still annoying, though. I'd be more accepting if the city were actually keeping pace with demand for posts & rings, but they're not. Finding proper bike parking is often impossible.

Further to that, as bike rings are damaged they are rarely replaced providing even less opportunities for locking up a bike. I've been meaning to go around my nabe and carefully identify where all the broken bike posts used to be (eventually they are carefully sawed off at the concrete, never to return) and file a report. It's a big job but I'll get to it one day when I have some spare time.

 

[Armbruster]

The amendment is less scary than some are claiming: it basically says that you can't lock your bike to anything except a bike post for more than 24 consecutive hours.

Actually, it says you can't lock your bike to anything except a bike post, period. It authorizes removal after 24 hours. The fact that the enforcement mechanism makes it effectively "legal" within that 24 hour timeframe does not change the fact that it is still illegal.

Also, for some people, their apartment's "bike storage locker" is the sign post outside. Such folks regularly leave their bike parked outside for more than 24 hours.