Hero or traitor? Tech leaker hiding in Hong Kong

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Edward Snowden

Is Edward Snowden a hero or a misguided traitor? The young American is just 29 and has so far led what must be called a rather undistinguished life. Fresh as this story is, millions will already have made  their judgement on the former employee of the CIA. Last month, Snowden gathered up secret documents at the restricted premises of his current employer in Hawaii and communicated them to the Guardian newspaper in Britain. The paper’s story revealed that the U.S. National  Security Agency was keeping track of phone calls and Internet traffic of all the customers of the wireless giant Verizon. It has since been revealed that the NSA monitors effectively all such transmissions in the U.S. The Government says the NSA does not listen to phone calls or record them. The purpose of the program appears to be to identify interaction between numbers that are known to be used by terrorists and others who may be communicating with them. A warrant is required to listen to any phone conversation. The video embedded on the special page called Snowden contains  a sympathetic interview with Mr. Snowden by Guardian reporters. Tonight, it appears that the NSA is preparing to charge Mr Snowden with treason. If this is done, he will  have to be extradited from China. In the video, Mr. Snowden says, “I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions,” but “I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant.  I really want the focus to be on these documents and the debate which I hope this will trigger among citizens around the globe about what kind of world we want to live in.” He added: “My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.”  The U.S. Congress had been briefed on this program for some time. Video 

Fewer, safer gas stations is a good thing

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White Rose station in Toronto 
The completion of the renovation at the Petro Canada station at Moore and Bayview Ave. recalls just how useful this location is to local drivers. And an article by Jill McIntosh in Autos by Sympatico reminds us that the day of a gas station on every corner is long over. Some may remember when there were no fewer than nine stations on Bayview between Eglnton Ave and Moore. The most recent disappearances were at the corner of Millwood Rd and Bayview where a Cities Service, Esso and Shell station were all torn down in slightly more than a decade around the 1980s.  Today there is but one, the Bayview-Moore Petro Canada.  This is not a bad thing however as service stations, no matter how their owners may try, are seldom things of beauty.  

“Pop-up” symphonic quartet on delayed jetliner

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Occasionally the uncertainties of travel deliver a welcome surprise. So it was in recent days for travellers on a Chinese flight from Beijing to Macao. It was stuck on the tarmac for three hours when members of the Philadelphia Orchestra organized an impromptu concert. The amateur video here shows this enchanting interlude. The orchestra’s nine member delegation was part of  the  2013 Residency & Fortieth Anniversary Tour of China. It is 40 years since the Philadelphia Orchestra became the first American symphony to perform in China. Their visit was made possible by the historic diplomacy of Richard Nixon to the then-isolated land a few months earlier. This time a quartet of musicians decided to provide an on-board “pop up” performance. They played a selection from Dvorak’s “American” string quartet. Nixon incidentally is remembered fondly in China even today for his decision to reach out to the Communist government. Enjoy the concert. Don’t try to count the smartphones, cameras and blinking tablets etc. Video

Ford visits Thorncliffe to combat “cash grabs”

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Mayor Ford met with the members of the Thorncliffe Park Tenants Association Friday afternoon. A release from the association says that Mr. Ford  listened to what appears to be long-standing complaints from the tenants including such things as extra payment for their conditioning, light bulbs, fuses and visitor parking. The buildings are privately owned. The association president Abbas Kolia calls the charges “cash grabs”. The release also says there are security issues and delays for what should be routine maintenance.  Storage lockers for tenants have been removed without consultation. “Tenants deserve better and we thank Mayor Ford for his time and support,” added Mr. Kolia. “We went to the mayor because we don’t think there is anyone else at city hall that can help us.”  This meeting, and others being held by the mayor, seem to go to his strategy of addressing his core supporters both as good government and an investment against the next election.  Today (Saturday, June 8) Thorncliffe tenants demonstrated outside buildings that they are poorly maintained and not clean. They are threatening a “rent boycott” in which rent is not paid to the landlord but into some type of trust. 

Busy Cody Spring Fair climbs to new heights

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The Maurice Cody Spring Fair was mobbed today with kids, parents, bargain hunters and the plain curious. The flea market and ticket selling got underway at 10.30 and the Cleveland Street playground was still jumping by mid-afternoon. The event ended at 3.30 p.m. One of the most striking attractions was the climbing challenge in which harnessed kids got to clamber up the side of what appeared to a replica of an Easter Island statue, but maybe not. In the days to come, we hope to update the events of the Cody Spring Fair. 

Carolyn Bennett (St. Paul’s) and Canadian colours

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The post below records the red, white and blue paint job of the prime minister’s Airbus. That colour-scheme has drawn this snicker on Twitter from the much-loved MP from St. Paul’s, Dr. Carolyn Bennett.  “O my … since when are Cdn colours red, white [and] BLUE.”  Yes, colours are political.  Mr. Harper said as much as he recalled his childhood in Leaside when he spoke here late in April.  He recalled that the country was gripped by a debate over whether the new Canadian flag should contain two stripes of blue down each side to symbolize the Atlantic and Pacific. Harper’s mother and father wanted the red, white and blue flag. In the end, Lester Pearson the (ahem) Liberal Prime Minister accepted the present flag, which is very nice but just coincidentally is red on white. Mr. Pearson appears to have been a stand up guy, as they say, but we don’t know whether he would be as frank about his political appreciation of red as Harper is in his preference for blue. Politics aside, there is an awful lot of Canadian blue in our flags past and present. In fact we have lived under and saluted a national red, white and blue flag for many more years of our history than otherwise. Flags of blue from Alberta, Nova Scotia and Quebec are shown. There are lots more, including Ontario’s flag and you can see all the flags of red, white and blue at Wikipedia. 

13 charges laid in Downsview stage collapse

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An engineer died in the collapse last June. He was working on the set up for the Radiohead concert at Downsview Park. The stage came crashsing dwown shortly before the crowd was pemritted into the area. Sheer luck averted a large human tragedy. The charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act name Live Nation Canada Inc., Live Nation Ontario Concerts GP Inc., Optex Staging and Services Inc., and an engineer. CTV

Media musings to fill your summer — don’t scoff!

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Here are a few media musings we can let wander around our noodles over the summer. You may say the Bulldog is on North Etobicoke Gold  but think of this.  If we had told you last week that Rogers would  throttle City News Channel after just 20 months in business, you would have scoffed. Scoffed!  Let’s start with an easy one. It cannot be that Christine Bentley wishes to live in quiet seclusion forever. We really hope not and assume that her absence from the public eye is all about a so-called no-compete deal that accompanied her generous settlement from CTV last September. Non-competes usually forbid a talented person like Christine from taking another anchor job within a year of her dismissal. So let the guessing begin. Where will Christine Bentley show up this coming fall? Which raises speculative question number two. Can CTV News Toronto long resist the success of CP24? You can be sure that the railroad builders are Bell Media have fully analysed the economics of folding the Agincourt newsroom into its all news local channel on Queen Street. The argument for the status quo may outweigh that for a change, but we’re not betting. Of course the CRTC would have something to say about. And finally, with even the Ford brothers wondering about the future of Toronto’s rickety newspapers, we’ll take this moment to say that the most money-losing of the lot is the National Post. Pity. The Fords say one or more of the four dailies will be gone within five years and that seems possible. 

Red, white and blue colours for Canada’s aircraft

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Canada’s official airbus has been given a new paint job and you have to like it. Until now, Canadian officials  — the prime minister, governor general and sometimes members of the royal family — arrived in foreign lands looking like mourners. The aircraft that was painted in two tones of gray. The new colour scheme is not only happier, it may suggest to those we visit that Canada is not quite as glum a place as the plane would suggest. 

Urban Nature has gypsy moth traps, spray

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Paul Oliver at Leaside’s Urban Nature store in the Dawsco Mall on Brentcliffe Rd. notes that Moore Park and Rosedale tree owners may wish to know about his excellent stock of gypsy moth traps and tree bands. The tree bands are very useful at catching the gypsy moth caterpillars. Urban Nature also sells the btk spray which homeowners can safely use on their own to combat this enemy of the neighborhood’s heritage of Oak trees.  You can give them a call at (416) 646-2439  

Happy Days! We create more than 95,000 jobs

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Canada created 95,000 new jobs last month, a huge gain over what was expected. It is, officials said, the biggest monthly gain in nearly 11 years, Even better, these were mostly full-time positions in the private sector. The jump in job creation is the largest since August, 2002, and sent the country’s unemployment rate down 7.1 per cent in May. The numbers come as a antidote to the persistent view that western economies were slipping into a “summer slump”. 

Home cited as scene of “crack” picture

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The excitement on the CBC tonight (Thursday, June 6, 2013) was the identification of a home in Etobicoke that is said to be the scene of the picture showing Mayor Ford allegedly doing crack cocaine. The home is owned by a family named Basso and the CBC says that the inset man, Fabio Basso, is a friend of the mayor. The house is on Windsor Road in northwest Toronto, near Kipling Avenue and Dixon Road. Reporters asked Ford about the house but he refused to respond. CBC said the beige brick bungalow appears to have exterior details that match those in the photo.