The South Bayview Bulldog

Canada’s medal booty from the Beijing Olympics is a bit heavy on the bronze side but the Maple Leaf performance and conduct was more than good enough to make any Canuck proud.

Police intend to hunt down Ottawa squatters

This is an interesting interview done with a criminologist by the CBC on Sunday.

Some in Europe don’t want Ukraine to join NATO

The state of things in Ukraine is tense. It’s a country fractured by a huge Russian-speaking population. Moscow is looming next door as the government in Kyiv insists that it wants to join NATO.

Starbucks at 43 Eglinton/Google

The Starbucks at 43 Eglinton Ave E at Holly St will close Sunday after many years of operation. Like the location at 1545 Bayview Ave., the Eglinton and Holly Starbucks was among the busiest of stores before the LRT inspired a construction frenzy in the area. But also, like the Bayview shop, Eglinton and Holly has been pounded by C-19 fearfulness and changing coffee habits. Among other things, many consumers now drink their favorite Starbucks coffee at home by way of a Nespresso machine. And corporate planning seems set on planting new coffee bars inside places like Loblaws and other existing businesses. It’s interesting to note that the former Starbucks at 878 Eginton (at Laird) remains vacant. Is it even for lease?

The end seems near for the Ottawa truck squatters as police continue their slow and quite civilized clearance of people and trucks from the capital. Those resisting this action by the police continue to defend their actions by calling it a peaceful protest in the name of freedom. That interpretation seems oblivious to the easily understood reality that the right to peacefully protest does not, nor has it ever, included shutting down a City for weeks on end. Theirs is a selective notion of freedom that some have called delusional.

Can’t get in, can’t get out

In what appears to be the beginning of a strategy to finally get rid of the truck convoy occupation of downtown Ottawa, police have created a so-called secure zone around the encampment. Only those who can prove they have employment or a residence inside the zone are allowed to enter.

The third big snowfall of the season will challenge all of us who are out and about. It looks like it fell to about seven to ten cm. But as always (below) it depends on how you see it.

The Bayview extension from Moore Ave to River St reopened Thursday afternoon as the threat of flooding stabilized. Snow is predicted tonight with yet another 15 to 20 cm drop forecast. As seen in a capture from the AccuWeather Canada Radar, Toronto’s mid-afternoon precipitation is a mix of rain and ice.

As seen about 2.45 p.m. Thursday

It’s the thesis (or pretext) of this story that love in the Twitter age makes the heartache even more painful (or something).

Elon Musk revealed as truck convoy lover

Elon Musk

We know he’s among the more unpredictable of billionaires but now Elon Musk has tweeted a picture of Justin Trudeau and Adolph Hitler in some sort of complaint about Canada’s vaccine mandates. Go figure.

Uber Schmoober

It appears that some people actually care about what Uber thinks of them. Oh, the shame!

Bayview extension at Pottery Rd

See later story.

Police are tweeting that the Bayview extension is closed at River St because of flooding and that rising waters threaten the Don Valley Parkway Thursday. City road maps show that Bayview Ave southbound is blocked at Moore Ave. The City is said to be closely watching the Bloor ramp to the Gardiner Expressway.

Traffic camera shows Don River creeping towards the DVP Thursday morning

Thursday will be another day of Spring-like temperatures but Friday and Saturday will see temperatures plunge again. Icy patches will make walking tricky.

Not cheap

Statistics Canada says the rate of inflation year over year has topped five percent for the first time in more than 30 years. Overall, prices leaped 5.1 percent in January over 2021. Excluding gasoline prices, Statistics Canada says the annual rate of inflation would have been 4.3 percent in January. Prices for groceries increased year-over-year by 6.5 percent for the largest yearly increase since May 2009. Food price increases in particular are attributed to supply chain issues. Everything from absenteeism to cross-border slowdowns of all sorts is cited.