The Green P parking garage across the street from the Pleasant Blvd subway entrance was pumping out invalid parking tickets Tuesday afternoon. It caused a nice handful of drivers who couldn’t get out even after they had paid. “It does that sometimes” said a City worker.”We’re not sure why.” His arrival among the trapped motorists was hardly less welcome than the second coming. His advice? Push the help button that lurks among the many messages on the terminal at the exit gates (who knew?)  Even so, the presence of invalid tickets seemed a mystery to the person at the other end of the intercom. Green P: “What does it say now?” Driver: “Invalid ticket” Green P: “Try again. What does it say now?” “Driver: “Invalid ticket”  The gates were opened most quickly by a polite  “Please let me go home.”

The president of Beck Taxi is getting plaudits from civic officials, including local (Ward 22) rep Josh Matlow, for urging drivers not to participate in a strike to protest against Uber during the upcoming NBA All-Star Game in Toronto this weekend. Gail Beck-Souter (inset) wrote to drivers: “Some may want to convince you a protest that upsets this big event would help us get our message out. They are wrong. It would only hurt our valued customers and give Uber exactly what they want.”  Driver have a complaint however. The City has been feeble in dealing with international mammoth as it tries to take overs taxi functions without being regulated. Cabbies have complained they can’t compete with Uber, which they say is operating illegally while they’re forced to play by the rules.  Militant cabbies vow to paralyze City on NBA weekend

TSX was down 252 points or 2 per cent as lowly oil makes banks crazy with talk of negative interest rates. That’s when you put your money in the big cookie jar to avoid paying for having it in the bank. Somebody stop this crazy thinking. Best read is Reuters. BNN

Sportsnet 

As the Jian Ghomeshi trial resumed Tuesday morning a divide among women writers began to  appear about the validity of the process. Writers like Anne Kingston in MacLeans and Christie Blatchford seemed deeply cynical about the evidence. Margaret Shkimba in the Hamilton Spectator on the other hand, was worrying about the abuses that will be visited on women by men and go unpunished because women will fear being grilled in court.  All leads 

JUDGE ALLOWS STATEMENT

Judge William Horkins has allowed the Crown to submit a statement from the so-called fourth witness which it hopes will. corroborate the accusations of Lucy De Coutere against Jian Gomeshi. The judge is hearing the case alone and made the point that there is less jeopardy to the defense in such an arrangement. He said he would read the statement, consider it, and decide its “probative value.”

It is  reported that Josh Donaldson’s salary arbitration hearing with the Toronto Blue Jays on February 15 has been cancelled. Donaldson is said to have settled for a two-year contract worth close to $29 million US. Below, other things the American League MVP is doing  It is a good life.

Starbucks in Canada and the U.S. has launched three new chocolate drinks to mark Valentine’s. There’s no pink in these drinks but we get the connection — Molten Chocolate Latte, Molten Chocolate Frappuccino Blended Beverage and Molten Hot Chocolate  Honey, you could not be sweeter but these are calorie carriers beyond belief. Oh yeah, the little cookie is to nibble on.

HERE’S THE BLOW BY BLOW :

Molten Chocolate Latte: Chocolaty chips are melted into espresso, then topped with steamed milk combined with bittersweet mocha sauce. This latte is finished with mocha and espresso-infused whipped cream and an espresso mocha drizzle. It’s available hot and iced.

Molten Chocolate Frappuccino® Blended Beverage: Coffee with rich mocha sauce and chocolaty chips blended with milk and ice. This beverage is finished with mocha and espresso-infused whipped cream and an espresso mocha drizzle.

Molten Hot Chocolate: Bittersweet mocha sauce and chocolaty chips melted into steamed milk for a smooth and creamy taste. Mocha and espresso-infused whipped cream and espresso mocha drizzle tops off the beverage.

The chocolate-inspired special runs through Valentine’s Day at participating Starbucks venues in United States and Canada.

The prime minister has said that Canadian jets will stop bombing ISIS by February 22, 2016 and withdraw from the coalition of air forces attacking ISIS. Mr. Trudeau outlined a response to the cutthroat actors in Iraq and elsewhere as an opportunity to “train, advise and assist” others. His rationale is carefully phrased. “We think we ought to avoid doing precisely what our enemies want us to do: they want us to elevate them, to give in to fear, to indulge in hatred,” he told a news conference Monday. “The lethal enemy of barbarism isn’t hatred, it’s reason. And the people terrorized by ISIS every day don’t need our vengeance, they need our help.” The question that may be asked however is whether bombing ISIS commends itself as far more reasonable than not. Hatred isn’t part of the discussion except on their side.

New evidence based on statements made late last week and early this week from the third accuser of Jian Ghomeshi has placed his defense in “the twlight zone” says his lawyer Marie Heinen. Court was in closed session to discuss information provided by the Crown’s third witness against Ghomeshi after what she heard about last week’s testimony. What she told police and the Crown is not yet known. Toronto Star

The City will officially open the Flemo City Media Lounge and Recording Studio as a youth space at the Dennis R. Timbrell Resource Centre tomorrow in Flemingdon Park.  Jon Burnside (Ward 26) will join City staff and representatives from the United Way, Jays Care Foundation and Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office along with local youth at a ceremony between 5 and 7 p.m. Dennis R. Timbrell Resource Centre is at 29  St. Dennis Drive. .

A male leopard wandered into a school in Bangalore India and the ensuing attempt to capture it resulted in the mauling of six men. The injuries are relatively minor, it is said. No students were hurt. Leopards are numerous and fairly common in parts of India. The video is rather hair-raising however. The leopard was eventually tranquilized.  BBC

Tomorrow is Shrove Tuesday and there will be pancake suppers at a number of churches locally. One is at Northlea United Church  from  6 until 7 p.m. and another at St. Cuthbert’s Anglican from 5.30 to 7.15 p.m. Leaside United will start its pancake dinner at 6 p.m. There are many others. The entertaining video below is posted on the St. Cuthbert’s Facebook page. It is an easy primer on this ancient Christian ritual.