[PHOTO] Log Cabin Restaurant, Actinolite, Hastings County

The only rest stop on Greyhound's five-hour-long route connecting Toronto and Ottawa is at The Log Cabin Restaurant, located on Ontario Highway 7 in the community of Actinolite, located in the Municipality of Tweed in Hastings County on the ill-defined border between the regions of eastern and central Ontario. The community's history is described by John Hopkins' October 2011 article in local publication Country Roads, "After the fire", describes how the community of Actinolite took its current form after a devastating forest fire in May 1889, morphing from the lumber town of Bridgewater to a mining town named after an asbestos-like mineral to a tourist stop (the earliest incarnation of the Log Cabin Restaurant appears to date to 1933) to a retreat for artists and the spiritually-minded.

The Log Cabin Restaurant is a perfectly serviceable rest stop, something hopefully conveyed in its Yelp review: clean, well-stocked and well-tended, with friendly service. Its nondescript scenery is itself scenic, the restaurant being surrounded by wilderness. It was something of a novelty to be so surrounded, actually; I've spent so much time in cities.

There are other pictures of the Log Cabin Restaurant on Flickr, like this colour picture and this black and white picture, both taken in August 2007.











( Seven more photos )

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• Daniel Drezner has to point out that the comparisons some Israelis like Netanyahu are making between Idi Amin's Uganda and modern Iran, with the implication that a successful strike against Iran's nuclear facilities will discredit Iran the way the Israeli commande attack at Entebbe did Amin is just, well, argh.


• Eastern Approaches is decidedly unimpressed with Romania's education system, and not only because it prompts many talented young people to leave their country to pursue their dreams.


• Far Outliers' Joel quotes from Christopher Clark's Iron Kingdom to describe how post-German unification Prussia's Kulturkampf against Roman Catholics--at least partly a campaign against potential separatists--ended up backfiring and consolidated German Catholics behind their faith.


• Geocurrents' Asya Pereltsvaig documents how the words sounding like, alternatively, "tea" and "chai" have diffused around the world into different languages following patterns of culture, history, and geography.


• Language Hat is intrigued by a New York Times story describing how a Spanish felt hat factory is kept afloat by orders from the couple hundred thousand Satmar Hasidim.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money's Erik Loomis commemorated on the 4th the creation in 1942 by the United States of the bracero guest workers program with Mexico, criticized for its poor treatment of the guest workers but in so doing preparing the ground for later Chicano rights movements.


• New APPS Blog's John Protevi starts with Plato's suggestion in the Republic that suitably capable women could belong to the class of protectors in his ideal polity to consider the complexely-gendered presentation of women athletes and the significant variations in performance within gender.


• Registan's guest blogger Navruz Nekbakhtshoev reports from Tajikistan's recently conflict-hit Badakhshan region, noting that the recent conflict wasn't an ethnic conflict mobilizing different groups on ethnoreligious lines but rather something more limited.


• Towleroad reports on Gaymercon, a proposed con for gay geeks that could conceivably take off.

[URBAN NOTE] "Mapping 'Global Cities'"

Geocurrents' Martin Lewis takes a look at the nebulous problematic question of how to rank a "global city", taking as a starting point the relevant Wikipedia article which refers to no less than five different systems which each produce substantially different results away from the topmost tier.

The Wikipedia article in question pays particular attention to the scheme developed initially in 1998 by the World Cities Study Group and published in GaWC Research Bulletin 5, which ranks cities from “Alpha++” (London and New York) down through “Gamma-” (which includes the likes of Muscat, Ljubljana, and Guayaquil). New versions of this ranking system continue to appear; the Wikipedia map posted here shows the 2010 account. The GaWC rankings often appears in Wikipedia articles—the one on Wellington, NZ, for example, notes its status as a gamma-level global city. In the Wikipedia map that illustrates the “global cities” article (reposted here), the higher levels are poorly differentiated, making hard to tell an alpha+ ranking from a beta+, let alone an alpha-. I have therefore remapped the alpha and beta cities, showing their respective categories by circle size.

As both maps indicate, the “global cities” in the GaWC scheme are heavily concentrated in North America, coastal Asia, and especially Western Europe. The European domination of the list is especially clear in the GeoCurrents map. Both maps also indicate the paucity of world cities in Africa. The Wikipedia map illustrates this pattern especially well, as the region has only two third-level (or “gamma”) world cities, Accra and Durban.

Like any numerical index, that of the World Cities Study Group does not capture all aspects of global urbanism. Certain features are selected for measurement but others are by necessity ignored. As a result, some cities seem much too low—or high—on the list. Is the capital of Mauritius, Port Louis, with all of 148,000 residents, really a more “global city” than St. Petersburg, with a population of 4,879,000? Yet the scheme gives St. Petersburg a gamma status, two categories below “beta-” Port Louis (Denver, San Juan, and Casablanca are also ranked at beta-). St. Petersburg’s standing is probably depressed by Russia’s obstacles to globalization. Yet Moscow does rate an “alpha” standing, placing it just below the top ten (which is composed of “alpha++” and “alpha+” cities). In most other raking systems, Moscow’s position is lower. In the Global Cities Index it is bested by San Francisco, Madrid, and Vienna, and in the Global City Competitiveness Index it comes in 58th, between Lisbon and Tel Aviv.

Disparities among the “global cities” listed in the different ranking systems covered by the Wikipedia article are pronounced. All agree that New York and London occupy the top slots, and all place Paris and Tokyo in high position, but beyond that they differ greatly. Cities such as Dubai, Seoul, and Los Angeles occupy highly variable positions.

A map features in Lewis' creation of a scoring system drawing from all five, with New York City ranking first, followed by London, then Paris and Tokyo, more distantly Hong Kong and Singapore and then by various of the variably ranked cities. (Toronto at least features on Lewis' map.)

[CAT] Two links for World Cat Day

The City of Toronto has a cat adoption special on the occasion of World Cat Day.

The City of Toronto on Wednesday is marking World Cat Day, "a celebration of the love and companionship that cats provide to people," by allowing would-be caregivers to adopt two felines for the price of one.

"In celebration of World Cat Day, Animal Services is encouraging the introduction of kittens and cats into life-long, loving homes," the city said in a release.

From today until next Wednesday, two cats can be had for the regular $75 adoption fee. Licence fees of $15 per cat may apply.

Those who want to take advantage of the offer can visit the following shelters between 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.:

146 The East Mall (Highway 427 and Dundas Street West).
821 Progress (Markham Road. and Highway 401).
1300 Sheppard Avenue West (Keele Street and Sheppard Avenue West).
140 Princes' Boulevard (Exhibition Place, Horse Palace).

A Torontoist commenter is right to wonder why the emphasis in the press material is on kittens to the exclusion of adult cats.

Meanwhile, io9 linked to a Los Angeles Times story revisiting the data returned by the Kitty Cams Project. Cats which roam wild in North America are quite efficient killers.

That soft and fluffy ball of fur that is cuddling up on your bed at night may be wreaking carnage in your backyard during the daytime, researchers reported Tuesday. Using cameras attached to the collars of your friendly neighborhood cats, researchers at the University of Georgia found that the feline fighters kill much larger numbers of wildlife than previously thought. That may be because such earlier studies didn't consider animals that the cats ate or simply left behind, said biologist Kerrie Anne Lloyd, who presented her findings at a Portland, Ore., meeting of the Ecological Society of America.

In cooperation with the National Geographic Society's CritterCam team, which attaches cameras to animals to record the activities of a variety of species, Lloyd and her colleagues recruited 60 cat owners in Athens, Ga. The owners attached the tiny cameras to the cats' collars every morning when the animals were let out, then dowloaded the day's images every night. Each animal was followed for seven to 10 days.

The team found that about 30% of the cats killed prey, an average of two animals per week. The cats brought home nearly a quarter of the animals they killed, ate 30% and left 49% to rot where they died. About 41% of the prey were lizards, snakes and frogs; mammals such as chipmunks and voles accounted for 25%; and birds only 12%. The low percentage of birds may be because they can fly, but with an estimated 74 million cats in the country, the total carnage is high.

The cats were also not very careful. About 45% crossed roadways, 25% ate and drank things they found, 20% entered storm drains and 20% entered crawlspaces where they could easily become trapped. Male cats were more likely to take risks than female cats, and younger animals were more likely to do so than older ones.

[BRIEF NOTE] On the Wawra affair, or American violence in a Canadian city

james_nicoll linked to a rather remarkable letter sent to the Calgary Herald by Walt Wawra, a Kalamazoo, Michigan police officer who had a very unsettling experience in Calgary while visiting that Albertan city with his wife, one that made him regret Canada's restrictive firearms legislation.

I recently visited Calgary from Michigan. As a police officer for 20 years, it feels strange not to carry my off-duty hand-gun. Many would say I have no need to carry one in Canada.

Yet the police cannot protect everyone all the time. A man should be al-lowed to protect himself if the need arises. The need arose in a theatre in Aurora, Colo., as well as a college campus in Canada.

Recently, while out for a walk in Nose Hill Park, in broad daylight on a paved trail, two young men approached my wife and me. The men stepped in front of us, then said in a very aggressive tone: "Been to the Stampede yet?"

We ignored them. The two moved closer, repeating: "Hey, you been to the Stampede yet?"

I quickly moved between these two and my wife, replying, "Gentle-men, I have no need to talk with you, goodbye." They looked bewildered, and we then walked past them.

I speculate they did not have good intentions when they approached in such an aggressive, disrespectful and menacing manner. I thank the Lord Jesus Christ they did not pull a weapon of some sort, but rather concluded it was in their best interest to leave us alone.

Would we not expect a uniformed officer to pull his or her weapon to intercede in a life-or-death encounter to protect self, or another? Why then should the expectation be lower for a citizen of Canada or a visitor? Wait, I know - it's because in Canada, only the criminals and the police carry handguns.

This letter has triggered huge response online. Some commenters have suggested that the two men may have been just trying to make friendly conversation about Calgary's signature cultural event, that they might even have been giving tickets away. Most have responded to the apparent belief of Wawra that being asked a question by strangers is motivation enough to want to carry firearms, and by extension, enough to make shooting someone seem ethical. Gawker's "American Becomes Laughingstock of Canada After Letter to Editor Lamenting Lack of Handgun During Mild Confrontation" isn't an atypical reaction, as is Naomi Lakritz's reply in the Calgary Herald to the letter--a real one, she assures us--is typical.

Wawra wrote that he speculated the men did not have good intentions. He claims the men spoke in an “aggressive, disrespectful and menacing manner.” Menacing? A question about the Stampede is construed as a menace? Or, as someone commented on the Herald’s website: “... for asking if you had been to the Stampede? Since when is that grounds to be dead?” Another commenter wrote: “I can see why they were frightened. If you rearrange the letters in ‘been to Stampede yet?’ you get “a beset potted enemy’.”

Most likely, the men noticed something about the Wawras that indicated they were tourists, and were trying to make conversation. Maybe they themselves were enjoying the Stampede’s centennial celebration and wanted to let these tourists know that their visit to Calgary wouldn’t be complete without a day at the Stampede. The fact that the young men looked bewildered by Wawra’s response indicates that their intentions were indeed friendly ones and that they were quite puzzled at being rebuffed.

Wawra did not return my call requesting an interview Tuesday afternoon. Too bad. I would have liked to ask him why an American visitor to Calgary would treat a friendly encounter in a city park here as if it were a midnight stroll through a drug-dealer infested alley on the south side of Chicago. One can only stand open-mouthed at the knee-jerk mindset of suspicion, fear and loathing on the mean streets — which is so ingrained in Americans that they can’t leave it at home when they visit another country.

Americans argue that they need to carry guns, because having a concealed weapon makes them feel safe. Their thinking seems to be that at any given moment, they could be under attack from the very next person they meet on the street, and they’ll need to shoot in self-defence. Whereas, when you walk down a street in Canada, you don’t assume that you’re at risk of being suddenly assaulted or killed. You just see ordinary people going about their day and you give their motives no further thought.

Wawra's hometown newspaper has also noticed the fuss

All that I can add is that all this reminds me of Kieran Healy's post of the 20th of last month showing how the United States easily has by far one of the highest rates of violent death of in any OECD country, far exceeding Canada. Not to say that Canada doesn't have its issues, but Wawra's response isn't intuitively comprehensible to me.

(Help?)

[URBAN NOTE] "Toronto schools too full for some condo kids"

I reported here last month Toronto Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday's statement that downtown Toronto wasn't a suitable place for children, Holyday making particular references to the burgeoning condo developments of the downtown core as not safe places for children.

As reported by CBC, though, in the most basic sense Toronto's condo developments are inhosptable places for children: Toronto's education system might not have the capacity necessary to include the children leaving in these developments in existing schools.

The Toronto District School Board has started posting notices in some communities warning buyers of new condos that there may not be room for their children at schools in the area.

One such sign has been erected in the Davenport Road and Lansdowne Avenue area, prompted in part by the situation facing nearby Regal Road Public School, said Maria Rodrigues, the school trustee for the area.

The board has already had to ask a nursery school at Regal Road to move out in order to make space for the rollout of full-day kindergarten there.

"We want parents to be aware that there is a possibility that their children may not be enrolled in the local school and they should do their research before," Rodrigues said in an interview on CBC's Metro Morning.

Meanwhile, 3,200 new condo units are in various stages of approval and development in the High Park area.

Local trustee Irene Atkinson says that will mean 400 new elementary students in her ward over the next few years.

"We have nowhere to put these kids," she said.

Atkinson says several of her schools are already over capacity, and about 270 kids are already being bused to schools in neighbouring wards.

The TDSB is in the process of expanding several schools. But Atkinson says the school board has no say in how the city of Toronto approves condo developments.

"We write back and say, 'Sorry, there is no room in the local schools.' And they go ahead and build," she said.

"So there is absolutely no planning and co-ordination on the part of the city planning [department]."