adma
Superstar
So, according to brother Doug, “Rob absolutely loves the Jewish community and they’re supportive, very supportive — they’re business people”. Ah, the ol' "Orientals working like dogs" thing again...
So, according to brother Doug, “Rob absolutely loves the Jewish community and they’re supportive, very supportive — they’re business people”. Ah, the ol' "Orientals working like dogs" thing again...
And remember: the campaign's not "officially" on yet--just imagine how these goofs will handle debates, etc *now*, let alone questioners from the public...
If the deal was so terrible, why did Ford vote in favour of renewing a similar deal for the Western Beaches - and another one for Toronto Island?Ya ya, he got sued for it, but he was right, why were we renewing a deal with someone who runs such a horrible restaurant. Bussin, rightfully so, got turfed for it.
1. People in Los Angeles, Calgary, Portland, Dallas choose to take LRT over driving all the time. And these cities are far more car oriented than Toronto. In Europe, LRT has provided rapid transit for cities like Frankfurt, Hanover, and Amsterdam.
2. That said, I am hesitant to refer to these new lines as LRTs. While they are certainly a step above the current streetcar network, they are currently planned with too many stops to be considered rapid transit. They are more like European tramways like those found in London and Paris, than true rapid transit LRT lines. Unfortunately thanks to people like Ford, the debate has devolved into a strawman of subways versus light rail, rather than what KIND of light rail we should be building.
3. The problem with subways is not only are they too expensive to build unless there is enough density, but that they are getting too expensive to build PERIOD! The only places which are constructing new subways are in Asian cities with poor labour conditions. Everywhere else cities are building light rail or are expanding on their current network at or above grade. Besides the current subway projects in Toronto, the Vaughan extension and the Eglinton tunnel, I am willing to bet that most rapid transit expansion will not occur underground. This includes the Yonge north extension and the Downtown Relief Line.
Mostly agree with your points above, except for the last part of point three. New York is building the Second Avenue Subway and Los Angeles is about to re-start work on the Purple Line. You're correct that the subway boom in the West has ended.
I disagree about your assessment on the DRL. I can't see it being built without most of it being underground, and it has the most political momentum in the last year than it had since the 1960s. I think that the DRL and Yonge North will be the last heavy rail subways built in Toronto, though. The only other heavy rail rapid transit in the States right now is Washington Silver Line, which is mostly in a freeway median with a few elevated segments.
I also think it was a real shame that Spadina North was built entirely underground, with the exception of the last 300 metres into Vaughan Centre, the alignment should have been at or above grade north of York U.
Perhaps a DRL in place of where the Gardiner is today could be an easy sell.
LA is about to start work on extending the Purple? Last I heard it was in the "long term" plans, so it is great to hear that it is going ahead.
And yes, I absolutely agree that north of Steeles, the Spadina extension should be elevated. Could have saved a good billion at least by going that route.
Criminal defence lawyer Leora Shemesh was surprised to hear Mayor Rob Ford’s voice when a listener called in to Newstalk 1010 to discuss the ongoing Richard Kachkar trial.
Shemesh was a panelist on the legal round table of Closing Arguments with Steven Skurka, a program on the Newstalk 1010 radio. The panel was discussing the trial when Ford called in on air.
“I just think that it’s perplexing to have the mayor of the city calling in about this issue, particularly because it’s in front of a jury and he knew that, but more so because he seemed to be uneducated about not criminally responsible and what that means,” Shemesh said.
Out of concern for prejudicing the jury as it’s about to start deliberations, the Star declines to repeat the mayor’s views on what Kachkar’s fate should be. But the fact that he weighed in at all at this critical moment generated criticism among defence lawyers.
“It is truly astonishing that the Mayor of Toronto espouses such a gross misunderstanding of the law and mental illness,” said Toronto lawyer Sean Robichaud. “There is also something unsettling and disrespectful to the justice system when a politician of his position provides his opinion on a verdict that he seems to know little about, the night before the jury is set to deliberate.”
Both Crown and defence agree Kachkar, 46, on trial for first-degree murder and dangerous driving, was the person who killed police Sgt. Ryan Russell, 35, with a snowplow on a late-night street rampage ending on Jan. 12, 2011.
They disagree on whether his mental illness made him incapable of appreciating what he was doing was wrong; his trial hinges on that question.
Ontario Superior Court Judge Ian MacDonnell began his instructions to the Kachkar jury on Friday, after both sides had delivered their closing arguments. The jury’s deliberations were expected to begin late Monday.
Before discussing the case, Skurka offered a warning to any potential jurors who may have been listening, telling them to turn the program off, Shemesh said. “In hindsight, maybe we all shouldn’t have been talking about it,” she said.
She thought it was “politically incorrect” for the mayor to call in. Ford’s office didn’t return a request for comment late Sunday.
“After Mayor Ford called, I think we were all a little surprised and then we just moved to the next topic,” Shemesh said.
“It was interesting, particularly because he was the only person who called in and it’s your mayor. It was a little surprising.”