![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Waiting inside the north entrance doors of the College Park complex atop the College subway station, all at Yonge and College, I amused myself by taking some pictures of the flurries outside. I'm fond of this one, though the glare in the upper left from the streetlight isn't something I am happy with.
Mar. 4th, 2011
[OBSCURA] "Church & Wellesley"
Mar. 4th, 2011 10:04 amFlickr's Andrew Karagianis took a nice picture of the building occpupying the entire northwestern block of the northwestern block of Church and Wellesley, nucleus of the gay village.
I can't imagine this building standing for much longer--a roof shouldn't sag so much!
This was taken at the intersection of Church & Wellesley, an area of town I had heard about in the previous few years. I was on the Yonge subway line, and I figured I'd check it out. I was expecting everyone I saw to be flambouyant and outwardly gay, like a party in the streets, but it was just like any other district -- just a bunch of people eating at restaurant patios -- although the buildings may have been a little more interesting to look at than those in the rest of downtown!
I can't imagine this building standing for much longer--a roof shouldn't sag so much!
The last person in the 2006 Toronto terrorism plot to be convicted off an offense was given a lengthy sentence today.
Regarding Abdelhaleem's claims to not want to hurt anyone, the plot did involve plans to detonate truck bombs on Bay Street--Toronto's financial district--and to occupy the Canadian parliament building in Toronto with the aim of decapitating the prime minister if the chance arose. (They weren't sure who he was, the former Martin or the current Harper, but still.)
This Toronto Star extended investigation is worth reading, providing good background as to who, what, when, where, and why. Overall? Laughable lack of competence, but definitely a strong interest.
I wonder: what if one of their planned attacks, say, the Bay Street bombing, actually went off? Toronto 2006 along with London 2005 and Madrid 2005 as a short term for terror and crime? Lucky us.
Shareef Abdelhaleem, a member of the so-called Toronto 18 who was convicted of participating in a bomb plot, was sentenced Friday to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Fletcher Dawson said Abdelhaleem didn't show remorse for his role in a plan to set off three one-tonne fertilizer bombs, including two in downtown Toronto.
"Mr. Abdelhaleem exhibits no genuine remorse or insight into his behaviour and has so far not accepted responsibility for his dangerous actions," Dawson said.
Abdelhaleem, 35, was found guilty in February 2010 of participating in a terrorist group and intending to cause an explosion.
Dawson said in the Brampton, Ont., court that even though Abdelhaleem claimed he wasn't a major player in the plot, he was instrumental in helping ringleader Zakaria Amara.
Before Dawson's ruling, Abdelhaleem gave a 30-minute statement saying he never intended to hurt anyone.
"I am not denying what I did was wrong," he said. "I am sorry."
He said he loved Canada, and he had never been discriminated against because of his religion or skin colour, but added the system was blatantly unfair.
Regarding Abdelhaleem's claims to not want to hurt anyone, the plot did involve plans to detonate truck bombs on Bay Street--Toronto's financial district--and to occupy the Canadian parliament building in Toronto with the aim of decapitating the prime minister if the chance arose. (They weren't sure who he was, the former Martin or the current Harper, but still.)
This Toronto Star extended investigation is worth reading, providing good background as to who, what, when, where, and why. Overall? Laughable lack of competence, but definitely a strong interest.
I wonder: what if one of their planned attacks, say, the Bay Street bombing, actually went off? Toronto 2006 along with London 2005 and Madrid 2005 as a short term for terror and crime? Lucky us.
[CAT] Gender and cat ownership
Mar. 4th, 2011 09:23 pmGay Guy, Straight Guy had a post taking a look at stereotypes of gender and sexual orientation in cat ownership.
My favourite of these ads is the one featuring the biker.
Gay Guy (the original poster) wondered if there was a greater tendency for queer men to have cats as pets than straight men. That seems possible, and me, I'd support the existence of another, broader stereotypical tendency of cat ownership, for catowners to be disproportionately women, not men. I mentioned a recent study emphasizing the attachment of cats to people that said that women had a closer relationship to cats than men, and some months earlier I linked to something of a grassroots tendency for men to come out as cat owners, their Flickr group being here. There's some definite gender coding in regards to pet ownership, cats tending to the feminine and dogs to the masculine.
I wonder why? When you think about the case of the cat, in many ways it lives up to traditionally masculine norms better than dogs: emotionally autonomous and content to have substantially transactional relationships with their owners, they're independent-minded and more than capable of surviving independent of their owner. (Shakespeare, I've not mentioned, purely an indoor cat, has two kills.) Or do dogs fill, for the stereotypically masculine male pet owner, a necessary emotional relationship, an enthusiastic partner in an emotionally open relationship?
The Much Love Animal Rescue team in southern California has launched the "It's OK To Be a Cat Guy" campaign, which emphasizes that cats are not just for lonely ladies. They are also for tough guys -- with or without social skills.
Other versions (biker, bartender) are also on our gayads/straightads Tumblr.
I have to admit, I've known many single straight guys with dogs. I've only ever known one who had a cat. And, yes, he communicated with the animal in "baby talk." Nice guy. But that was a little unsettling.
My favourite of these ads is the one featuring the biker.
Gay Guy (the original poster) wondered if there was a greater tendency for queer men to have cats as pets than straight men. That seems possible, and me, I'd support the existence of another, broader stereotypical tendency of cat ownership, for catowners to be disproportionately women, not men. I mentioned a recent study emphasizing the attachment of cats to people that said that women had a closer relationship to cats than men, and some months earlier I linked to something of a grassroots tendency for men to come out as cat owners, their Flickr group being here. There's some definite gender coding in regards to pet ownership, cats tending to the feminine and dogs to the masculine.
I wonder why? When you think about the case of the cat, in many ways it lives up to traditionally masculine norms better than dogs: emotionally autonomous and content to have substantially transactional relationships with their owners, they're independent-minded and more than capable of surviving independent of their owner. (Shakespeare, I've not mentioned, purely an indoor cat, has two kills.) Or do dogs fill, for the stereotypically masculine male pet owner, a necessary emotional relationship, an enthusiastic partner in an emotionally open relationship?