We should probably breathe.

via David Mack’s great article and good reminder for us on Egypt, on ForeignPolicy.com :

Given the high degree of euphoria and romanticism in the coverage by both Western and Arab media of recent popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, it would be useful for everyone to take a few deep breaths and remind ourselves that revolutions often look very attractive in the beginning. Then they usually go through some really bad periods; the French reign of terror and the decade of political turmoil that followed, the crushing oppression of Soviet communism in Russia, and the unfinished misery of Iranians.

I would like to be optimistic, and there are some positive signs in Tunisia and Egypt. Both countries have strong traditions of national pride, histories of constitutionalism, cultural riches, and a middle class of educated men and women. So far, the armed forces in both countries have shown a degree of professionalism and discipline that have earned the respect of both popular forces and key civilian government institutions. Both have had respectable economic growth rates at a time of global economic distress. Regrettably, however, there are also major factors working against a happy outcome in the next several years.

 

Toronto mayoralty race.

In the words of Toronto psychogeographer (barf title) Shawn Micallef:

The true believers behind candidates, as well as ideologues and utopians, who would not benefit from strategic voting will tell you it’s a bad idea. Sure, it’s depressing and it breeds political cynicism like nothing else. It’s awful, not being true to what both your heart and mind is telling you. But then there’s reality: across the political spectrum, we’re left with candidates who haven’t excited us. The left-of-centre Miller regime put its succession faith in weak candidates who either committed spectacular political suicide or have failed to grab the wider public’s attention, and the right-of-centre haven’t been able to field a candidate who they could fully get behind (this is why John Tory’s name was tossed into the ring over and over).

So, who to endorse in this critical but meh-inspiring election? Vote for number two. That is, whoever is polling behind Ford on election day is who I’ll vote for. Then I’ll go say a little prayer, take a walk, and remind myself why we’re called Toronto the Good. With the anti-Ford vote at risk of being split, this is the only way to coalesce the opposition votes. It’s not pretty. A smart city like Toronto deserves better and it feels hard to do, but anything else leads to a split.

Should have voted in the advance polls last weekend, I hear voting takes awhile with the electronic ballots.  Either way, I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Micallef.  It breaks my valves a little bit, but I’m voting head and not heart for the election.  Polls are showing the majority of Mr. Smitherman’s support comes from the exact same place.  Toronto deserves better, but at least we can coast.

Late September links.

I have Twitter now, so if you follow me (you probably don’t), then these links are like… so 5 minutes ago.

News and Politics

• Massachusetts school proves large classes can still mean improved student performance – [NYT]
• Drug decriminalization in Portugal – many think it’s working – [Time]
• Friedman: China is spending $25B on highspeed rail and biotech.  The US spends $25B on Afghanistan – [NYT]
• A primer on the U.N.’s Millenium Development Goals – [GOOD]

Science

• What happens if you put your hand in the Large Hadron Collider? – [YouTube]
• Why the brain doubts foreign accents – [Scientific American]
• Hand sanitizers will not keep you from getting sick – [Salon]

Food

• The lowdown on foodie elitism
• How food writers got High Fructose Corn Syrup wrong (aka stop the fearmongering) - [Atlantic]

Environment

• Interview: Bjorn Lomborg, the “Skeptical Environmentalist” – [NewScientist]
• Beautiful maps of race and ethnicity in big American cities (and see the divisions) – [Flickr]
• Evergreen BrickWorks opens in Toronto – [Star]

Late July links.

Toronto

• 2010 Nuit Blanche program released – [NuitBlanche]
• Vaughan – gridlocked in suburbia – the worst [worst) - [National Post]
• Best cheap drinks in Toronto – [BlogTO]
• Giambrone vs. Presto cards – TTC and Metrolinx argue over future transit payment systems – [Toronto Life]
• Little Italy gets a hookah bar- [BlogTO]
• Bixi Bash hopes to get itself off the ground in Toronto – [blogTO]
• Toronto: mobile app centre of the universe – [Toronto Life]
• Toronto lands a big NYC chef – and the s-storm begins – [JamesChatto]
• Toronto through the eyes of mayoralty candidate Sarah Thomson – [blogTO]
• How to be cool in Toronto – have a 416 number – [Star]

Food

• Grilling corn on the BBQ – [NYT Mark Bittman]
• How to make perfect ribs – [Toronto Life]
• 13 of Toronto’s best doughnuts - kind of disappointing, almost all super high end spots – [Toronto Life]
• More on the raw milk debate – the adventurous flavour purists vs. the milk lobby

Politics/News

• The Tea Party is Perverted and Irrelevant - [Matt Taibbi - Rolling Stone]

Miscellanium

• Where do currency symbols come from? – [Slate]
• Are we naturally lazy? – Happier when busy but inclined towards laziness – [via NYT]
• Watch Jack White butcher Beatles tune “Mother Nature’s Son” in front of Obama and McCartney - but all the Jack White disciples will love his “unique style”. [Pitchfork]
• One cup of coffee per day ok for pregnant ladies – [CBC]
• E-book sales outpace hardcovers at Amazon – [CBC]
• Bill Murray GQ Interview – [GQ]

Jarvis bike lanes.

One small spoke for Toronto. One small leap for simple ideas?  muh.  Jarvis got a bike lane today, going from 5 lanes to 4.   We’ll see how it goes, but I think it will be nice for those cyclists.

ergo de facto, I’m your boss.   Capacity 2,100.  Busiest traffic much less.  Even with margins of error, still looking good.  Numbers don’t politicize, you disappointingly poor mayoralty candidates you.

via Twitter @larrylarry.

mid-July links.

Environment

• Learn more about the eco-fee – It’s not a tax, it’s run by an arms length organization, no money to government – [Globe]
• New rules threaten future of US wood waste biomass power industry – [NYTimes]
• Arid Australia turns to desalination plants for water supply, despite costs - environmentalists often seem to omit desalination from their brains when it comes to the “water crisis”- [NYTimes]
• NYC launches a large tap water promotion campaign – [NYTimes]

Food

• How to make béarnaise sauce – Everyone has their own tricks w french sauces – [Globe]
• Take a (food) day trip to Beamsville – [TasteTO]
• Servers can now type in orders to the kitchen on their iPhones – [TorontoLife]
• David Lee from Nota Bené discusses ‘terroir’ for vegetables – [Globe]
• Linking the farmers to the foodies – [Globe]

News/Politics

• Learn more about your new DJ Governor General – I bet lots of Waterlooians have stories, I’ve had many solid interactions with him as a semi-official UW apologist (aka student ambassador) – [Globe]
• Learn more about why Harper deserves credit for making his Governor General search non-partisan – Canada 1 – [Globe]
• Don’t mess with the census, statisticians tell Tories – [Globe]
• The federal government is senseless on the census - [Globe ed.]
• Huffington Post’s advice to American jobless – move to Canada – [Globe]
• Tim Hudak cops out – [Globe]
• Kabul rocked by guitars – [Globe]

Life

• The true cost of living in the city vs. the suburbs – [NYTimes]
• Wedding expenses that aren’t worth it – [NYTimes]
• The paradox of parenting – parents are less happy than non-married peers – [NYT Freakonomics Blog]
• Gen-Y’s tough choice between entrepreneurship and corporate world - [Globe]
• You can be too rich – [Globe]

Toronto

• TTC Stations could get cell service – [CBC]
• City of Toronto makes an excellent road construction (interruption) map
• Bellevue Cafe – 3 guys who make crazy, disparate, but tasty sandwiches - [NOW]
• Susur Lee’s new Toronto restaurant - [Toronto Life]
• Toronto road tolls go from abhorrent to approved: how’d that happen? - [Toronto Life]
• Ideas for Toronto: Personal Rapid Transit – [Spacing]

Science

• Laws of hurricane power discovered – [New Scientist]
• Mass transit encourages exercise and weight loss – [New Scientist aka Duh! Aficionado magazine]
• Prozac prawns, cocaine crabs, trace elements of drugs in our waste water - [New Scientist]
• Learn more about what’s

HST mud.

You just noticed gas is 10 cents more.  You’re probably pissed.  Maybe you’ve seen the list.  The list of what’s getting taxed and what’s not.   Gas realistically should cost way more anyway, because (almost always) the environmental costs are externalized.

Before you go on an Atlas Shrugged tirade, know some things.  Based on reductions in your income tax (which we probably didn’t notice), the nominal HST rebate cheques, and upcoming HSTness, the burden on the average consumer is minimal.  Rich people will pay more, boo hoo.  It’s true that some new costs are burdened on the consumer’s shoulders.  However, lower income status Ontarians will face the smallest brunt.

The thing that really rubs wrong is how Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak is vehemently opposing the HST.  This guy is supposed to be a pro-jobs, pro-business, economy-centric conservative.  When economists from around the world believe it’s the best way to maintain competitiveness and help Ontario businesses, completely inane politicization ensues.  Don’t tell me you’re an NDP man of the people Mr. Hudak.  He is disagreeing simply because political parties should never actually agree right?   The infuriating, terrible 2s, GOP method of NO.

I totally gave Hudak a chance.  If he was reasonable, this would be an interesting political race.  But this HST opposition is proof that he’s exactly the worst person for the job.  When you instantly contradict yourself right out of the gate, I’m out.  Read a great Globe article on the HST here .  This is your education.  Then if you want, read why economists like it here and here.   Happy wading.

This weekend.

Toronto – “a changed city”.  One side completely fueling the other.  The postitive feedback loops of completely excessive and addictive media coverage, massive government spending and isolation, and public anger.  More obvious – everyone is to blame.  A few hundred angry idiots smashing and burning.  A few hundred cops way too eager to assault and arrest.  All the while the press coverage is literally fuelling the fire with 95% chaos, 5% ACTUAL G20 policy.  And we’re all not that surprised.  Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhh sigh.

Follow Steve Paikin on Twitter, you know who he is.  The host of Ontario’s best television program, The Agenda.  One of our best interviewers/journalists.  He witnessed very undemocratic protests last night downtown.  I’m sure he’ll be throwing down on The Agenda on TVO tomorrow night.

Newspages.

I’ve decided my links are the best on this side of Somerset.  Happy reading.

Toronto

• Banksy comes to Toronto, people deface his loveliness – [Torontoist]

• Toronto the good?   Try great – [Globe]

• Markham votes to build over “best farmland in Canada” – [Toronto Life]

• Bixi Toronto bike sharing program starts May 2011 – [National Post]

• Human towers – NFB documentary project showcase Toronto’s high rises - [Eye Weekly]

• TTC wants you to meet your new ride – [Spacing]

• Turning the Gardiner Expressway into a park – an idea becomes safe for Toronto when New York does it first – [Toronto Life]

• Richard Florida – 10 things I can’t live without – [Toronto Life]

Energy/Environment

• U.S. Climate bill arrives in Senate – cap and trade by 2025.  Yay?  – [Scientific American]

• Securing the smart grid – [Scientific American]

• Privacy concerns surround Ontario’s Smart Grid plan – [CBC]

• Environment backlog puts Jim Prentice at risk of contempt charge – [Globe]

• Google’s energy foray: what’s up? – [New York Times]

• Protesters ask for wind turbine moratorium – [CBC]

• Polluted water kills more than all violence: UN – [Globe]

• Cactus gum could make clean water cheap for millions – [New Scientist]

Science

• Did humans and dogs become domesticated together? – [Globe]

• What are dark matter and dark energy? – [HowStuffWorks]

• Southpaws – the evolution of handedness – [New Scientist]

• Water ice found on the surface of an asteroid for the first time – [Scientific American]

TV/Music

• CBC execs head to L.A. to poach Canadian writers – [Toronto Life]

• Watch Conan’s visit to Google Headquarters – [Gizmodo]

• The Guardian profiles Brian Eno – [Guardian]

Politics

• Anti-consumer copyright bill on way: expert – [CBC]

• Liberals, Tories agree: MP expenses aren’t for the public to see – [Toronto Life]

• Liberals promise national food policy – [CBC]

• All the Obama 20-somethings – [New York Times]

• Electoral dysfunction: why democracy is always unfair – [New Scientist]

• Beating up the CBC is like beating up a sick puppy – [Globe]

Food

• The man who is responsible for your love of the cheap Malbec Fuzion – [Globe]

• Mark McEwan tapped to be head judge of Top Chef Canada – [Toronto Life]

• The rebirth of booze – [Toronto Life]

man towers

A new NFB documentary project looks at our neighbours in the sky

Conrad Black’s mayoral endorsement.

[photo via limepunch]

From jail, Conrad Black discusses our fair city of Toronto.  Read the article here, it’s very interesting.  He talks about Toronto’s sheer lack of drama – no bloody wars, no hosts of genocide, no tea parties (real or bastardized).  Of course this is mostly a fantastic thing, but some would argue it makes Toronto seem forgettable, normal, bland.  Even as a modern city, it’s still up against some unforgettable players.

So Connie writes an article about  Toronto’s mayoral race… !  Who knew that the Toronto mayoral race was such a big deal.  This is as dramatic and scandalous as small-scale politics can be.  Local media covers the mayoral race multiple times each day.  They’ve been doing it for at least a few months and will continue until the end of the year (!!).  National elections get 2 months of coverage.  I get it though – this person is in charge of a multi-billion dollar organization.  A CEO’s pipe dream.  The intensity from such a local entity.  Only one debate has been staged, yet polls have been going for months.  We know nothing about these candidates, but somehow people have made up their minds months before the election.

I still am a Toronto outsider.  This city is funny.  One quickly realizes that the cosmopolitan stoplight has only been switched on this city for a small period of time.  Truly the understudy of Montreal in the 70s, eventually booming from manufacturing, and here we are.  Still in an imperfect state of city adolescence.  Numbing GTA sprawl, mediocre transit, the worst commute time in the world, impossibly expensive housing, and few memorable public spaces.  5 million people in a sea of grids and elegies to concrete.

But.  Amazing neighbourhoods, real diversity, life-altering food, some of the world’s best rock band exports, enlightening cultural events, and a growing sense that citizens can truly build a better city.   Yes bike lanes, yes Transit City, yes MaRS.  The one complaint I have about all of these great things is that most people don’t even think about these cultural amenities, let alone take advantage of them.  They take none of the good, and are forced to take all of the bad.  The lines, the rudeness, the congestion.  People are so driven to elbow through the masses just to get home that they’ve exhausted themselves, without the reserves to dust off and sharpen the elbows again to actually enjoy what the city has to offer.  That’s not just Toronto, I’m guessing that’s almost all big cities.

Anyway.  I have no idea who I’m voting for, and I’m very happy about that.

Adult talk media.

[photo credit: Megan O’Toole, National Post]

Canadian-borne conservatized talk media. Guilty pleasure. As an altruistic guy, this common sense revolution free-market individualism is a worthwhile exercise for my way of swamping through the centrism gray.

CFRB 1010 AM Talk Radio.  John Tory and his 5 pm rush hour show.  See some of his political errors online, and see one side.  Hear his 9-5, sensible conservative views for the other.  The key to hearing a reasonable conservative is when he or she is pro-transit expansion. I value having the conversation about limited government and privatizing almost everything.  We may disagree, but both sides get to learrrrrrrrrrn.  You want to have strong arguments for your beliefs, this is your life. !

I think the Michael Coren show is undoubtedly worth watching – not for his insufferable guests, but for him as the fibrous moderator.  Religious and (but?) often sound, except his distaste for Romeo Dallaire.  That’s a bit extreme, although one should question Dallaire’s new cushy senator job.  Coren asserts he doesn’t look left or right, but up… ?  Don’t get me wrong, everyone should like Jesus.  Just maybe not a whole powerful institution with infallible leaders and a very mixed track record.

Given that statement, it is unsurprising my favourite guest is Justin Trottier.  He’s the head of the Centre for Inquiry, a science/logic/reason/secular humanism organization.  He embodies the ethos very well, and he doesn’t overly judge agnostics.  Aggressively curious agnostics are the only reasonable ones in the religion debate anyway.  Maybe I’m just reflecting.

Toronto/Canadian media is funny to look at.  Even Classified mentioned amateur media in his awful O’Canada song.  Now being in Toronto and listening to local media for almost a year, I can start to feel the big city bubble slowly starting to smother.

The link assault.

Toronto

• Inside the Toronto Coffee Conspiracy – [Globe] – Indie cafes join forces.

• Toronto given strong credit rating: Miller dodges money management – [National Post]

• Renting in Toronto – from modest to magnificent – [Globe]

• Margaret Atwood’s Twitter Page

• John Tory to moderate first of three TTC town hall meetings – [Globe]

• Toronto’s water main mess – [Toronto Life]

• Subway etiquette primer – dos and don’ts of the TTC – [National Post]

• Toronto sewer explorers get arrested – [Toronto Sun] – I shouldn’t be sad about this, but I am sad about this.

• Toronto braces for G20 logistics crunch – [Globe]

Food

• Unearthing the sex secrets of truffles – [NYTimes]

• Revolutionary modern kitchen eliminates the need for pots and pans – [MailOnline]

• Junk food and cocaine pretty much the same thing – [Toronto Life]

• Senegalese man given the title of making ‘the best baguette  in Paris’ – [Globe]

• The pros and cons of induction cooking – [NYTimes]

Science/Environment

• The science of climate change: the clouds of unknowing – [Economist] – Thanks be to Eric.

• Earth struck by most powerful space storm in years – [New Scientist]

• New “gene bandage” rejuvenates wasted muscles through mutations – [New Scientist]

• Coal fuels much of the “Internet cloud”: Greenpeace – [Globe]

• Incineration – a recycling killer? – [Star]

News/Politics

• I’m with the intolerant Quebecers – [Maclean's]

• Three lessons Liberals should learn from Montreal – [Globe]

• Mile End – Montreal’s neighbourhood – [Globe]

• Many homeowners should have rented – [Globe]

Music

• Hear Thom Yorke’s new band, Atoms for Peace – [Spin]

• Watch Wilco do a Take-Away Show – [Pitchfork/Blogotheque]

• Read an interview with The National and their new record, High Violet - [The Quietus]

Weekend links.

• Ten years of our impatience – hilarious article on the tech trends of the ’00s, and some nice snarky editorialism on our growing impatience as a culture. [Globe]

• Top baby names of the decade – you know you’re curious.  In short – bible names for guys, and grandmother names for girls.  Best news – no more Mike!  Oversaturation wins! [Globe]

• No one blames Canada for Copenhagen – we may not have helped matters, but we all know it’s U.S. and China that needs to lead.  And our reputation is turning into blue slime. [Globe]

• How to debate a climate change skeptic – learn more about their traditional arguments, and hear how Scientific American rebuts those arguments. [Scientific American]

• Montreal’s BIXI bike sharing program coming to Toronto – more talks coming, but I think changes to Toronto’s bike infrastructure and culture need to be improved before it can be as successful as Montreal.  Here’s to hoping. [Urban Country]

• New microscopes show the true shape of atoms – humans are amazing at some things.  Atomic and sub-atomic science can be truly spiritual. [New Scientist]

• 10 basic HST myths – learn more about our business friendly and electorate-somewhat-unfriendly tax. [Globe]

• Everything you know about going green is wrong – some valuable perspective for those who mean well but still buy into the greenwashing. [The Daily Green]

• The cap and trade critique – watch the trailer of a new movie critiquing cap-and-trade.  Us environmentalists are never happy are we?  if only it was politically palatable to implement a revenue neutral carbon tax.  Too bad Stephane Dion was one of the worst spokesmen to push said tax.  Siiigh…. [New York Times]

Low risk, low returns.

Hellooooo.  Here are some more of those links on a white webpage, just for you.  It’s been a little while, but I trust this will tide you over.  Just insert those witty comments you already have in your cultured, educated grey matters.

Science

• How tone deafness works – this has always fascinated me because it’s something we get or we don’t get.  Most of us are lucky.  Plus watch a video on the science of singing.  I still sing way too much.  I’m like the fifth member of Here Comes Treble.

• I am more of a man than you – Turns out testosterone does not lead to aggression and risk taking, but rather could lead to qualities like fairness.

• The psychology of social status – and why it continues to be the largest motivator of human behaviour.

• Taking bets on the God particle – LHC scientists are betting on when they discover the infamous Higgs boson particle.

• Ask a physicist about time – interesting questions about that crazy dimension.

Environment/Energy

• Electricity from space – California gives the green light to beam solar power from space.  It’s a bit unsane that unsane news comes from our typing boxes every single week.

• Environmental assessment virtuosos rejoice – Amongst environmental moustache tweakers, the Mackenzie Delta pipeline has been a monumental case study for environmental assessment.  Looks like things will not be moving forward any time soon, if at all.

• Tar sands pollution worse than expected – water pollution equivalent to a big oil spill, every year.

• Gategate – scientists responds to those climate emails.   THOSE.  The press needs to stop using two words – crisis, and gate.

• Oregono – Oregon advances use of wave power off their coastline.

• 100% renewables by 2030 – California professors say it can and could be done.

Politics/News

• Google ready to be a phone maker – the next cool step is when they let you talk on Voice over IP for free.  That means no more cell phone minutes, just a device that can connect to the internet so you can talk on your phone via Skype for free.  I’m worried and excited.

• Stephen Harper – nation builder of the decade ? – For some the answer is yes.

Food

• This is going to be my market – on St. Clair West, a retrofitted heritage building, local seasonal food.  Hello to you, Wychwood Barns.

• Lord Kitchener, made entirely of meat – for the K/Wers and the mustard fans.

• The local food debate – more proof that local food isn’t always better for the environment.  It’s always grey kids, je me souviens.

• Q&A with the yoda - top American chef Thomas Keller stops in to chat about his new book in Toronto

Music/Entertainment

• The lists are in.  Oh they’re in – Rolling Stone outlines their favourite albums and songs of the decade. I WUV WOO RS!  The crowning of Kid A across the board makes me so incredibly giddy.  Because I get it, and so do millions of others, and that is something to celebrate.

• The renaissance of Kids in the Hall – they’re baaaaaaaack and they look funny!  Kids in the Hall – Death Comes to Town.

• Jason Reitman – an independent voice that Canada can claim as 50% their own.  Maybe.

• The Yellow Bird project – thanks to friends, you can check buy tshirts designed by your favourite musicians, and proceeds go to charity.

Andrew Sullivan.

Great writer, big politico of the smart conservative variety, smart guy.  Here’s his latest blog post about why he’s leaving the traditional conservative movement:

I cannot support a movement that holds that purely religious doctrine should govern civil political decisions and that uses the sacredness of religious faith for the pursuit of worldly power.

And increasingly, I’m not alone.

I cannot support a movement that is deeply homophobic, cynically deploys fear of homosexuals to win votes, and gives off such a racist vibe that its share of the minority vote remains pitiful.

I cannot support a movement which has no real respect for the institutions of government and is prepared to use any tactic and any means to fight political warfare rather than conduct a political conversation.

I cannot support a movement that sees permanent war as compatible with liberal democratic norms and limited government.

I cannot support a movement that criminalizes private behavior in the war on drugs.

I cannot support a movement that would back a vice-presidential candidate manifestly unqualified and duplicitous because of identity politics and electoral cynicism.

I cannot support a movement that regards gay people as threats to their own families.

I cannot support a movement that does not accept evolution as a fact.

I cannot support a movement that sees climate change as a hoax and offers domestic oil exploration as the core plank of an energy policy.

I cannot support a movement that refuses ever to raise taxes, while proposing no meaningful reductions in government spending.

I cannot support a movement that refuses to distance itself from a demagogue like Rush Limbaugh or a nutjob like Glenn Beck.

I cannot support a movement that believes that the United States should be the sole global power, should sustain a permanent war machine to police the entire planet, and sees violence as the core tool for international relations.

Does this make me a “radical leftist” as Michelle Malkin would say? Emphatically not. But it sure disqualifies me from the current American right.

To paraphrase Reagan, I didn’t leave the conservative movement. It left me.

Of course the left has its issues – messy political correctness, interventionism, sometimes even lacking common sense.  But he’s 100% right and he said everything I’d want to say to an unaware hard righter.  I’m glad someone like Andrew Sullivan can call out the spade on his back.