Chimney fire returns on Melrose Ave. to cause roof damage

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Platoon Chief Turner

Toronto Fire has been called to 271 Melrose Ave. twice Sunday evening (March 22, 2015). Platoon Chief Gary Tuner explained on CP24 that TFS responded to a call of a fire in a fireplace chimney early in the evening, perhaps about 6 p.m. They put the fire out but as the Platoon Chief explained, fire somehow crept into woodwork behind the chimney tiles and started a two alarm blaze that badly damaged the roof of the home between Elm Rd. and Avenue Road. Homes on Melrose Ave. would date from the 1920s. Many fire units and as many as 45 firefighters were at the second fire and they remain on the scene looking for spots that are still smoldering. No one was hurt.

Should governments like Ontario’s harangue us to gamble?

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This is an exceptionally well done feature by Public Broadcasting in the U.S. It is of both general and local interest in Canada — particularly Ontario. It explores the wisdom of sports gambling (now illegal) and of gambling in general. The two main areas discussed are sports gambling as an invitation to game-fixing, and the moral question of whether governments (as is the case in Ontario) should be haranguing poorer citizens to spend their money on what will be a losing proposition for the vast majority of them. In this discussion, the point is made that people ought to be free to gamble locally (bingo, horse racing, poker etc) but not under the urgent advertising campaigns launched by government. In this province the elaborate and insistent advertising from the Ontario Lottery Gaming Corporation is well known.

Police safety meeting recalls rescue of woman, 94, last year

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A meeting today in Thorncliffe Park is a reminder that families and friends should always be watching out for elderly citizens, especially if they live alone.This meeting was held by PC Alex Li of the 53 Division Crime Prevention Unit to review strategies for Senior Safety/Frauds/Elder Abuse. It was organized by the Community Unity Alliance with funding from New Horizons for Seniors Program. In April, 2014, a Thorncliffe senior was saved by the alert work of a pharmacist Selina Chan-Ying and a deliveryman who works for her from bullying and theft of people who had forced their  way into the senior’s apartment. Citizens save Thorncliffe Park woman from elder abuse 

Starbucks CEO has delusional hubris of the successful

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hudrisinset

Starbucks announced today that it has told employees at its U.S. stores to stop writing #RaceTogether on the cups. The company’s CEO Howard Schultz claims the campaign to discuss race in Starbucks locations will go on but most observers see this as a way to quietly put the ridiculed idea to bed. It drew withering criticism from many corners of society including editorials in newspapers. The Washington Post wrote “Dear Starbucks, can we just have a cup of coffee” while the Portage Daily Register said “Shut up and sell your coffee.” Some have recalled the particular strain of hubris that sometimes infects highly successful business people. It is slightly delusional and somehow persuades its victims that they know the answer to everything.  This was briefly true of Henry Ford who having built a workable automobile thought that he could order the Kaiser to halt WWI. Many successful musicians, like the Beatles, have unwisely embarked on giving advice to world leaders about the state of things. Paul McCartney later conceded this foolish behaviour. “We thought we were statesmen,” he said, “when all we were was good rock musicians.”  Then, it appears, there is the successful coffee salesman Howard Shultz. Photos from top: Howard Schultz, Paul McCartney, Henry Ford

 

It would be big news if the subway was open some weekend

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It would be big news if the Toronto subway was fully open on a weekend.  Once again broadcast media are offering “need-to-know” news that the subway, or some part of it, is closed. Of course, if you are into working out travel plans that involve taking the subway between the places where it’s shut down and where it’s not — knock yourself out. There is an “unexpected” shut down today on the Bloor line (2). Unexpected by whom? Anyway, it may not last too long. The Yonge line (1) was shut down for track work between Bloor-Yonge and Osgoode stations on Saturday, March 14. The TTC is closing that section of the line to allow crews to work on the unfinished platform at Union Station. Trains will turn back north at both Bloor and Osgoode stations until Sunday morning. However, shuttle buses will be available from Osgoode to St. Andrew stations and from Rosedale to King stations. Today there will be a two-stop closure between Union and St. Andrew stations. All trains will turn back northbound at Union and St. Andrew, so if you’d like to get downtown without setting foot outside, make sure to hop on the Yonge line. No shuttle buses will be provided from St. Andrew to Union on Sunday. A temporary lift device from the subway level to the concourse level will be available for those on wheelchairs, scooters or other mobility devices.

 

B.C boy asks CSIS for a “kid’s spy club” — and gets a reply

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A six-year-old British Columbia boy has written to the Canadian spy agency CSIS asking it to start a kid’s spy club for him and his friends. Jacob St. Jean is enthralled with spies and their exciting work. He begged his mother Erin for help to write a letter. She did and for four months Mrs. St. Jean had to explain to her son that it takes time for busy spies to reply to a little boy. Finally a bulky package arrived with a letter from the CSIS regional office. The letter said the agency was sorry to have taken so long to reply but the first letter had been written in invisible ink and had been lost. The second letter had been written in code but had to be discarded because the spies realized Jacob didn’t know the code. So finally, it was explained, they just decided to write it in plain English.  It was a thrilling reward for the long wait. The package included everything Jacob needed to become a junior secret agent: a cap with a CSIS patch, a CSIS pin and a CSIS medallion etched with his own, unique number. “There’s a code on it,” Jacob says. “Special for me … I don’t think I should tell it.”

Please don’t come to Toronto Comicon without your clothes

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Looking good ladies

The Comicon Phenomenon is back. Officially it’s Fan Expo, an annual gaudy celebration of private enterprise and self-promotion held at the Toronto Convention Centre. Prices are quoted at $15 to 45, so it appears there is entry-level and some kind of first class passport. Cosplay — or playing around with costumes — is the thing at Comicon. Everybody wants to dress up. Many people are conventionally costumed to look like Mr. Spock. But inevitably, Comicon attracts some people who are further out there. This is reflected in the event’s harassment and costume policy. The first no-no is that you may not come to Comicon with no clothes. That’s not a costume. Hey, and you know what, you can’t wear a costume that makes you look nude. Any costume that is too revealing in the sole judgment of the management will get you sent home, so to speak. You really get an insight into Comicon culture however when you ponder its “weapons” policy. Of course there are no real weapons allowed but you can’t have anything too sharp or pointy. You can’t go around like a yahoo with Yaoi paddle either. That’s the device used by people who think it’s fun to whack others on the bottom out in public. Yeah. All in all you have to know you want to be at Comicon, costumed or otherwise.