Getting Ready For 2014

Just in case we have a Spring election here in Ontario, something which, given Andrea Horwath's fairly poor recent polling numbers, I am not convinced will happen.

How Many Anti-Wind Activists In Ontario?

They can usually bring numbers in the low hundreds to their big protests, but the hard core appears to be much smaller.  From a recent Environmental Review Tribunal hearing:

 When asked, Palmer said he was a party to the appeal against the Enbridge Wind development in Kincardine in 2007.

"I was an appellant," said Palmer. "I was one of 37, three of which maintained full party status, while the rest were represented by one person."

"Many of those people became members of Wind Concerns Ontario?" asked Meuleman.

So the WCO core was about three dozen people.  This is interesting in light of the public response to the Grand Valley Wind Farms Inc. project in East Luther Grand Valley, back in 2012:

A total of 89 comments were received in response to this Environmental Registry notice. Forty-eight responses were form letters which objected to allowing a private developer to harm species at risk and questioned how such authorizations can be justified under the ESA.

As I noted at the time, it looks like the WCO provided that form-letter.  Looks like pretty much their entire membership recopied that letter.

So: several dozen of the committed who can rally a couple of hundred to their big events.  That's the extent of it, it seems.

Toronto Ice-storm, 2013: An Harrowing Eye Witness Account!

This post is reconstituted from notes that were originally written using the ash of a burnt-out candle, smudged onto an old shower curtain that my wife and I tore down and used as a blanket during the height of the blackout.  Hopefully, they will aid historians in understanding the near-calamitous events of these last few days.

Sunday, December 22nd, 10 AM:  The darkened face of my clock-radio alerts me to morning's portending danger.  Soon after, my wife enters the bed-room and tells me the bad news.  Our power is gone, and she's used all of the leftover hot water!

 I brace grimly for the day ahead!

10:45 AM: Our fridge contents have gone bad overnight, so we must venture outside for sustenance. Down in the lobby, other building residents have gathered to swap information and tales of survival! One of them has been up and down to the underground several times during the course of the morning, listening to news on a car radio.  Thus far,  the lift's emergency power source has held out!  She has not been trapped!  Brave woman!  And the guy I thought a weirdo at the last condo Board meeting turns out to be  fairly decent.  He explains that 250,000 customers without power means 1,000,000 people awakening to darkness.   "Holy hell!" I think.  "A million Torontonians inconvenienced!  Talk about a disturbance in The Force!  Margaret Atwood will probably write a whole damn book about this!  Call it Survival or something along those lines."

We  brave the outdoors, but McDonald's is closed.  This day will clearly require desperate measures!

1:15 PM: A long, danger filled shuttle-bus journey takes us to The Pad Thai Palace downtown where we find a wireless connection, and check our emails and update our face-book statuses.  What is the state of my mother-in-law's turkey, which we are supposed to eat on Xmas day?  Has their freezer been secured?  I don't want to get stuck with burgers.  My Pad Thai, incidentally,  is quite delicious, made especially piquant by the thought that this meal might be my last.  Until tomorrow anyway.  And as I eat I think of those less fortunate, for whom a meal and a warm apartment are luxuries beyond reach.  Then my side of shrimp-puffs arrive and I find them a tad meager, and complain to my wife about it for the rest of the afternoon

6:20 PM: We sit in our car in the underground and desperately attempt to recharge my wife's cell-phone, but I have purchased the wrong model of car charger, and nearly set the phone ablaze when I plug it into the lighter.  I near despair, and my wife advises me to think of the nicer things in life.  I realize that the office munchies at work get better as Xmas nears, and that Monday's offerings will almost certainly include chicken wings and sausage rolls.  Later, I go to sleep under a mountain of blankets, and dream of sausage rolls.

Monday, December 23rd, 1:45 AM: The power comes back, goes out 20 minutes later, comes back on permanently a half hour after that.  It seems like our long ordeal is over.

8:45 AM: NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!  My office has been closed!  A day of no real work and little finger foods has been destroyed!  I am forced to purchase a cheese bun at Longos!

But there's an upside!  I can go home and put on Pacific Rim, and watch Gipsy Danger punch it out with "Knifehead" for the 70th time.  And I reminded again of the Spirit of Toronto, that combination of luck, pluck and the old Protestant Work Ethic that has always managed to get us though hard times,  even a whole day without power in the  middle of the first world.  I am proud of my adopted city.  We will rebuild, and probably do some replanting as well.  The Leafs will miss the playoffs, and the Blue Jays, and The Raptors, and probably The Argos, but otherwise we shall once again stand tall on the world stage.

Heatless In Scarberia

Not right now, though.  Wife and I came downtown looking for power sources, Internet access, and food. Pretty much everything between Markham Road and VP is dark, but for a few pockets around Scarborough General and the VP subway station.  Fallen trees everywhere. Passed a little pet-shop while riding the bus. All those poor fish have frozen by now, if they didn't asphyxiate when the aerators stopped. And  I hate to think of the budgies and parrots and etc. sitting in their cages in the cold and dark.

 A kid we met waiting for the bus said he witnessed a transformer station explode and go up in flames early this morning. He said it was as though a lightning bolt came down out of the sky, and then sparks filled the air,  Personally, I slept through all of that.

Next few days will be interesting if, as they are saying, power remains off.  Our food's out on the balcony, but has probably gone bad anyway. The beer should be OK, although it poses a bit of a conundrum: left  on the balcony it freezes, kept in and its on the warm side.  Oh well, at least there's lots of it.  If the local Metro has back-up generators they might hold out, but otherwise all their fresh food will have to be tossed and they probably won't restock until after Xmas. Eating over the next couple of days will be a challenge.

The backup generator in our building is supposed to last for 50 hours, and then the elevators stop working and you can't get your car out of the underground. As for phone and Internet access, somebody ignored all the warnings about power outages and forgot to charge her cell yesterday.  And is now desperately hunting around for a car charger.

Anyway, keep safe fellow T.O. residents.  And remember, there's worse things: you could be in Lethbridge.

A Nice Xmas Card I Recieved Today, Of A Famous House

...which may portend interesting things in the new year.  We shall see.

A Brief Post On The State Of Northern Gateway

Roger Kingkdade is host of Kingkade & Kelly on News Talk 770 in Calgary:

Come get some, tar cowboy.

PS.  NEP = National Energy Program.

Andrew Coyne: The Case For Heartlessness

After coming to the aid of James Moore when the Industry Minister displayed his rabid child eating hating tendencies, Andrew is working up a new column in defense of Canada Post's Deepak Chopra, another Harper appointee, who stated recently that that seniors would welcome the exercise brought about by the discontinuation of door-to-door mail service and the introduction of community mailboxes.

I have recieved a copy of the first draft of Andrew's column, which I reproduce below without comment:

We can argue about the causes and about whether it is a worthy metric, but it is at least worth noting that 76% of seniors in Canada today own at least one gold encrusted walker with an attached jet pack. It is beyond question that we are  dealing with a segment of the Canadian civitas that is swathed in decades of nanny-state entitlement, and which desperately needs to be disrobed before the cold winds of Economic Reality.  

This is not to advocate any sort of truly radical solution.  For example, melting the old down into Soylent Green, which could then be redistributed through the back window of our limosines as a form of edible, if sticky, coinage to those indigent laborors who will later be shipped off to work in the Alberta Tar Mines or wherever required by the iron necessities of Neo-Liberteranian Theory, would strain the social consensus of the day.  Nevertheless, any initiative that can liberate the "stranded labour" of  our elderly, now wasted in the form of trips to Florida and summer evenings spent on the porch "whittling", should not be dismissed out of hand.

In fact, as we near Xmas I would suggest that we owe both Mr. Moore and Mr. Chopra a hearty thanks, for they have brought us the gift of Economic Clarity.  I am reminded of that touching scene in "A Christmas Story" where the venerable Scrooge whips that cripple with his belt: "More?  You want MORE?  While more you shall get, ingrate!"  And then: Smack!  Smack!  SMACK SMACK SMACK!!!  Smack...Smack!!...SMACK SMACK!!!!

I funny thing is, I kind of agree with Coyne on this issue.

Tories On Dope

Justice Minister Peter MacKay is hinting that the government might take steps to "modernize" Canada's marijuana laws:

Fining pot smokers for possession of small amounts is one policy the government will likely consider.

"That doesn't mean decriminalizing or legalizing, but it does mean giving police options, for example, to issue fines in addition to any other sanctions, or as a substitute for other sanctions," MacKay told QMI Agency. "These are things that we are willing to look at in the new year, but there's been no decision taken."

Looks OK.  In fact, looks like Justin may be dragging the CPC left on this issue.  Not so fast, says Ottawa Citizen columnist Dan Gardner:

Keeping pot possession a crime but adding ticket option = major net-widening. Absurd to call it “softening.” http://t.co/soCU6fA0q1
— Dan Gardner (@dgardner) December 18, 2013

Why net-widening? Many now let off with warning because cop thinks charge is too severe will get a ticket. ie. more punishment, not less.
— Dan Gardner (@dgardner) December 18, 2013

I asked after  this, and the following exchange ensued:

Looks better when you click on image.

So, maybe a bad idea.  Although on the other hand, as noted above, it looks as through the CPC thinks it has to play on Justin's field.  I'd suggest this means that JT's proposals on the issue are resonating a bit among the general populace.

Sun Media Getting Out Of Media Business?

Not quite, but they're selling a few weeklies out in Haliburton:

Haliburton-based company Maple Key Media has announced its acquisition of the Haliburton Echo, Minden Times, Bancroft This Week, and Barry’s Bay This Week from Sun Media. It has also purchased The Highlander Newspaper.

Must be nice to be out from under the thumb of PKP.

H/T

It Was Inevitable

And well deserved, incidentally.

Kinder Morgan Pipeline: Might Be A Little Problem With That

Seventy-three per cent of the proposed new routing will follow existing rights-of-way. About 980 kilometres of new pipe would need to be constructed.

According to my calculations, Kinder Morgan will have to buy or otherwise gain access to a strip of land 311 klicks long (about 186 miles) and probably about 25/50 meters wide, if Keystone XL is any guide.  I've written earlier that  the chances of this project happening vary inversely with the amount of new right-of-way Kinder Morgan needs to get hold of.  I would suggest that those chances have fallen somewhat.

A Couple Of Polls On CDN Pipelines

From Forum, so FWIW:

A bit surprising, or at least other polls in B.C. have shown support for NG drifting upward.  And, nterestingly enough, opposition to the Keystone XL line is and remains much higher in Canada than in The United States.

CPC Minister James Moore Talks Poverty...And Pizza

looks good! “@AbelardoGD: I wonder what Minister @JamesMoore_org thinks about his pizza at the Parliament Pub. pic.twitter.com/ctm9adD4Zt”
— James Moore (@JamesMoore_org) September 27, 2013

James Moore, Xmastime 2013:

“Is it my job to feed my neighbour’s child? I don’t think so.”

PS.  If James Moore ever missed a meal in his entire life, please let me know.

Lauten On Dale Vs. Ford

A good piece, especially where he discusses what sounds like it will be Ford's line of defense:

A further distinction without a difference is the suggestion that in speaking with Black Ford was merely "reliving the moment" when he confronted Dale and expressing what he was thinking at the time. The facts as found by the police don't support Ford in his belief that Dale had taken any photos of Ford's children, so it was not a reasonable belief to being with.

It is hard to see how it is any better for a slander action for Ford to say that it was at the time of the confrontation he thought Dale was a pedophile, and in his interview with Black he was just recalling it without saying he no longer believed it to be true. Ford has never apologised for such a mistaken belief and has now repeated it and says that he stands by it. To say that he was merely repeating what he was thinking at some time in the past doesn't excuse a present slander if he leaves the door open for his audience to think he hasn't changed his mind.

IANAL but I think Dale has damaged his own case by rattling on about it again and again in The Star. WK says it here.  Put another way, you either try to win in court, or in the court of public opinion, but not both. Judges don't like you using their courtroom as a means of pursuing your extracurricular activities.  Which is to say they just might agree with the Fords that this whole spat is "all about selling newspapers".

A Brief Note: Winter Storm, December 2013

Passed what must have been one of the city yards where they keep their snow-plow fleet early Friday morning before it all started.  With the plows testing their engines and lights, the flashing red, blue and white looked like Toronto's biggest Xmas tree.

Also, why does Markham do so much better at clearing its streets?  Steeles is like a  border between plowed and un-plowed territory.  Even quiet side-streets like Denison are in better shape than the corner of Markham and Ellesmere.

History Of Paranormal Research In Russia And The Soviet Union: 1917 To Present

Unconventional research in USSR and Russia: short overview is a fascinating document.  I've just excerpted bits below and added a few comments.  Of course the Americans did this kind "research", so you would expect the Russians did as well.  I didn't know they were up to it this early, however:

No further work was done until the beginning of the Cold War:

Most of the recent research is considered pseudo-scientific in The West.  And indeed it seems as though a good deal of  modern day pseudo-scientific beliefs originated behind the Iron Curtain.  Some of us are old enough to remember "pyramid power" from the 1970s.  Interestingly enough:

There is debate over who coined the term "pyramid power." Author Max Toth has claimed he coined the phrase,[20] as has Patrick Flanagan.[citation needed] In the 1970s, both authors released books entitled Pyramid Power.[21][22] This led to a lawsuit by Flanagan against Toth, according to Toth.[20]

However, the term in the context of its current usage first appeared in print in Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroeder's 1970 book Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain.[23] They claim the term was coined by "Czechoslovakian researchers" in the 1960s.[24]

And indeed we see that research on like topics continued even into the new millenium:

In any case, one of the things that first made me love the Internet was Jessica Utts analysis of the Stargate Program .  It was made available as a downloadable document, charts and tables and all, and it made me think that the on-line would become a repository of secret knowledge.   A library of magic, perhaps.   In the end it it turned out to be a repository of hardcore porn, but for a brief moment...

Bruce Hyer Is A Bad...BAD...BOY!!!

Getta load of this NDP presser re Bruce Hyer crossing the floor to the Federal Green Party.  The anger is palpable!  You can feel the heat emanating from your computer monitor.  It is as though Thomas Mulcair's signature emotion

...has infected the entire party, a party run in better days by the man they called "Happy Jack".

PS.  Congrats Green Party of Canada. You are clearly on the march.

Ostrander Point Update

Gilead Power Corporation's Ostrander Point Wind Project was the first one to be rejected on appeal by the Ontario Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT).  This was not due to human health issues, or worries about the effects of nine proposed turbines on migratory birds, though the project is located near an Important Bird Area (IBA).  No.  It was due to the presence on site of a population of humble Blanding's Turtles:

...the problem lay with a road network that would have been built in order to construct and maintain [the project].  This network would have been smack dab in the middle of the turtle's habitat; the beasts would have been forced to cross these roads on multiple occasions and at multiple points during their life cycle.  Since the network would have been publicly accessible, more ATV and other traffic would have been drawn to the area.  Furthermore, available mitigation measures were judged ineffective.  Nobody obeys road signs, for example.  And culverts where the turtles might safely cross under the road depend on the species having crossing "hot spots"--preferred road crossing points--where these devices might be installed.  Unfortunately, Blanding's Turtles do not use their habitat in the appropriate manner.

Gilead Power has appealed the rejection, making what I thought were some rather weak arguments. However, now they are proposing some extra measures to protect the turtles:

On January 20 the developer will seek to present new evidence to the appeal hearing. Specifically it will ask the court to consider a plan to erect a series of gates securing access to the road network it wants to build on Crown land at Ostrander Point.

“Restricting public access to the access roads would also provide enhanced protection for wildlife, including species at risk, from traffic mortality,” wrote Mike Lord to the Ontario Ministry of Resources (MNR) in August.

In September a MNR official agreed it would issue a lease of the Crown land to the developer to enable it to build the fence, pending the approval of the project. The MNR also sought a “Project Access and Control Plan” for the access roads. That plan calls for six double swing gates to be erected at key points, one at the entrance and at five other locations where preexisting trails intersect with the proposed access road. The gates would be locked from May 1 to October 15. Gilead staff will monitor and enforce access restrictions.

I'm not sure this will do the trick.  It sounds from a cursory read that off-road vehicles coming from local trails will be able to avoid the gates and abuse the project's access roads, although Gilead Power staff will be monitoring the area.  Important to note, however, that the danger is not from the turbines themselves but from local Oiks and their ATVs.

OHRT Reform: Randy Hillier Comes Back Small

From his website:

Randy Hillier, MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, introduced a Bill to reform Human Rights Tribunals in Ontario. This Bill would allow the awarding of costs to the defendants in a Human Rights Tribunal if their defense is successful. Currently only plaintiffs are awarded costs. This is inconsistent with all other courts.

Not necessarily a bad idea, though I think the last two statements are incorrect.  Or at least I'm pretty sure that the B.C. tribunal has ordered costs to the defendant, though I can't find the link, and I'm not entirely sure the OHRT is prevented from doing so.  More important, however, is how far Hillier has come in the past four years.  When he ran for PCPO leader he was going to abolish the Tribunal, which inspired a whole orgy of stupidity from the other potentials, including current leader Tim Hudak prior to the 2011 vote.  Years of touting an unpopular cause seem to have evolved Randy towards something approaching civilized thinking, at least on this issue.  Good news, I suppose.

Gimme Shelter: Bernie Farber On Church Sanctuary

From yesterday's G&M:

How is it possible that in Canada in 2013 “Sanctuary,” a medieval concept of Church protection, is still necessary? As we reflect on today, International Human Rights Day, we must also contemplate the fact that desperate, stateless people have come here with a hope that Canada would treat them fairly, would strive to understand the brutal circumstances which forced them to leave their homes and dream of being welcomed in a country with a once proud reputation for kindness and sensitivity. Instead they have had to go into hiding under the protection of a Church with the hope that compassion will in the end win out.

In other news, fans will be sad to note that Bernie will not be running in any Thornhill by-election.  Also, as you can see from the Globe pic it looks like he's got a new 'stache.  Very dapper.

PS.  The site of JRAN, noted in the article, can be found here.