[PHOTO] Giant silver koi, Allan Gardens

I love this guy.

[BLOG] Some Tuesday links

• blogTO notes that April has been the snowiest month this year.


• D-Brief notes that we are on the verge of a literal explosion in gravitational wave astronomy detection.


• The Dragon's Tales examines Maya water management.


• Far Outliers notes the 1709 rescue of Alexander Selkirk from a desert island, one of the inspirations behind Robinson Crusoe.


• Geocurrents speculates that Crimean Tatars may follow North Caucasians in supporting radical Islam.


• Joe. My. God. notes that a Republican co-sponsor of an anti-trans law has been quarantined as a danger to female co-workers.


• Language Hat examines how one language deals with the representation of time.


• The Map Room Blog links to a beautiful topographic map of Mars.


• Marginal Revolution links to a new book by Joel Kotkin that seems somewhat anti-cities.


• The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer wonders if Irish independence could have been avoided.


• Peter Rukavina contrasts and compares public spending and revenues on Prince Edward Island in 1915 versus 2015. The changes--particularly the increases--are notable.


• Une heure de peine looks at the idea of the insider, in French.


• Window on Eurasia notes that Eastern religions are now seen as threatening by some Russians and looks at the construction of Russian influence networks in France.

[NEWS] Some Tuesday links

• Bloomberg notes how an economic boom will let Sweden postpone hard decisions, looks at the popularity of the Korean Wave in China, suggests that subsidies are going to be a big issue for cash-short Arab governments, looks at the investigation in Bulgaria of groups which arrest refugees, and looks at the long-term problems of the Russian economy.


• CBC reports on a Saskatchewan woman who has a refuge for pet rats.


• Global News illustrates the dire social conditions in the Ontario North, hitting particularly strongly First Nations groups.


• The Guardian reports on speculation that Neanderthals may have died in significant numbers from African diseases brought by human migrants.


• MacLean's notes a study of handwriting styles in ancient Israel which suggest that literacy was reasonably common.


• The Mississauga News reports on a new PFLAG support group for South Asians in Peel.


• National Geographic notes the strong pressures on island birds towards flightlessness.


• Science Mag notes subtle genetic incompatibilities between human women and male Neanderthals which would have hindered reproduction.


• The USA Today network has a story examining the recent HIV outbreak in Indiana.


• Vice reports on the huge cleavages within the NDP, something also examined at the CBC.

[ISL] On the problematic future of Newfoundland's Bay de Verde

The Newfoundland village of Bay de Verde had a devastating day yesterday, when the Quinlan Brothers' fish plant there was destroyed by fire. The owners are promising to rebuild, which is good.

There's hope for the future in the Newfoundland fishing community of Bay de Verde, where the company that owns a fish processing plant razed by a dramatic fire Monday says it plans to rebuild.

Officials with Quinlan Brothers, who met with town representatives Tuesday, made the announcement while touring the ruins of the plant that had employed 700 workers at the peak of the season.

Company executives Wayne Quinlan and Robin Quinlan and longtime plant manager Barry Hatch, who appeared to be visibly shaken by the tour, turned down interview requests, but said they will rebuild "bigger and better than ever."

In a statement late Tuesday afternoon, Quinlan Brothers said it will still buy seafood from harvesters.

It is working on a plan to divert the seafood to other processing plants, which should result in some work for people normally employed at the Bay de Verde facility.

"The company is working round the clock to put in place arrangements with other producers to add capacity, increase shifts, etc. that will ensure the seafood landed is processed in a timely and high-quality manner," said the statement.

"The company's staff at Bay de Verde will be co-ordinating the transition of workers together processing facilities and they will keep in touch with the workforce to inform them of these developments as they are established."

This episode brings to mind how the eastern Prince Edward Island community of a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souris,_Prince_Edward_Island">Souris never recovered from the 1993 Usen fish plant fire. There, they did not rebuild. Without reconstruction, I cannot expect a much smaller community will do nearly as well as the larger Souris.

[URBAN NOTE] "Toronto sign, now 'wildly popular,' needs legacy plan, staff report says"

CBC's Andrew Lupton shares a city staff report on the Toronto sign on the grounds of City Hall that makes perfect sense to me.

The unexpected but widespread popularity of the Toronto sign at Nathan Phillips Square has city staff recommending it be protected with a legacy plan and a ban against its use for commercial purposes.

Originally created as a temporary installation for last summer's Pan-Am Games, the multi-coloured 3D sign beside the City Hall reflecting pool/skating rink has quickly reached iconic status, according to a staff report before the city's economic development committee Tuesday.

"The installation proved to be wildly popular with locals and visitors alike," the report reads. "Both inspiring and highlighting the passionate civic pride that continues to build in Toronto."

Its popularity has perhaps been most profound on social media, where the background of city hall has assisted in "branding the city internationally — an interactive post card/photo opportunity to share online."

The report calls for $150,000 to be set aside to keep the sign in place this year and for the city to consider finding money in next year's budget to keep it in place beyond 2017. Eventually the city will have to devote more money to keeping the sign in place long-term. The current sign has only a three- to five-year life span.

[URBAN NOTE] "Toronto driver who hit young streetcar rider wants to say sorry"

I am correct in thinking this supposed apology, by a car driver who hit a streetcar user, an actual non-apology by a self-obsessed asshole, right?From the CBC:

A Toronto driver charged with careless driving after allegedly hitting a girl who stepped off a streetcar in Regent Park wants to apologize for his actions.

"A moment of inattention caused a lot of pain," he said. "I hope the family calls me. I would really like to talk to her and let her know that I'm truly sorry."

Toronto police say the girl was taken to hospital but suffered no serious injuries from the March 25 accident. The girl, believed to be about 12, had stepped off the stopped streetcar through the rear doors when she was hit at about 12:24 p.m. The streetcar, eastbound on Dundas Street East, was west of Parliament.

The driver, a father of three children, told CBC News there is something to learn from the accident and he would like to urge the Toronto Transit Commission to remind riders to watch for vehicles, to pay attention when getting on and off and not to use cellphones when doing so. CBC News is not identifying the man because it agreed to conceal his identity.

"The streetcars, I've never liked them. As a driver, you always want to pass it and get ahead of it because you don't want to deal with any issues. But sometimes they stop abruptly and the doors just swing open and people just run out."

The man, who calls himself a pedestrian and a driver and a "person who cares," said the incident happened quickly as he was driving eastbound on Dundas Street East in the curb lane. He was on his way to see his children.

He said he didn't see the streetcar.

"For a moment, something caught my eye on the sidewalk. I don't know what it is exactly but I turned my head for just a moment, and when I looked ahead again, there was somebody in front of my car. And I hit my brakes immediately and I swerved. But the person hit my car, hit my windshield and they bounced off," he said.

I'm sure you won't be surprised that he is contested the dangerous driving charges.

[URBAN NOTE] "Harbourfront’s drab towers go contemporary - but there are still the Three Ugly Sister

The Toronto Star's Ashante Infantry wrote about the planned upgrades to these towers. I hope they follow through.

Once maligned as among the worst examples of a concrete curtain dividing Toronto from Lake Ontario, the residences at the Maple Leaf Quay complex have gotten a facelift.

In the last year, the ’80s-built towers at 350 and 390 Queens Quay, just east of Lower Spadina Ave., have been overhauled from drab, puke-coloured edifices to contemporary-looking buildings painted in shades of grey with red accents.

The look is more befitting a skyline rife with newcomers kitted out in glass, steel and eye-catching lightworks. And it’s one of the most noticeable enhancements in the ongoing beautification of Queens Quay, which got a major boost with the unveiling of a new streetscape last spring.

“All of us are a little envious of what’s happening over there; it gives it a real contemporary vibe on a building that was looking really sad,” said Randy Craig, a board member at neighbouring 260 Queens Quay, part of the HarbourPoint trio known as the Three Ugly Sisters for their detested early modernist architecture.

“These are maybe first cousins of those three ugly sisters,” said Les Klein the architect overseeing the Maple Leaf Quay project. Even in infancy, 30 years ago, this family of buildings raised artistic ire.

[URBAN NOTE] "John Tory's racial blind spot"

NOW Toronto's Jonathan Goldsbie is critical of John Tory's attention to structural racism, highlighted most recently by the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Black Lives Matter movement has never been ambiguous about its primary focus: anti-black racism as it manifests in policing and other instruments of the justice system. For John Tory, mayor of Toronto and member of its police services board, to jump straight to "underachievement" and unemployment when discussing the group is alarming.

If he's unaware of Black Lives Matters' aims and concerns, then he's irresponsibly disengaged from one of the largest and most pressing conversations in this and most other cities. If he is aware of its aims and concerns but instead chooses to shift the question to one of academic and economic failure, then he's implying that until black people's circumstances improve, the way that police treat them won't change. Either way, he seems to suggest that "trouble finding employment" stems directly from "underachieving" or "dropping out of school," rather than a combination of social barriers including race.

This attitude might have been adequate 10 years ago. It probably would've been acceptable 20 years ago. And it could've been downright progressive 30 years ago. But it is simply not good enough for a mayor to espouse this now.

During the 2014 election campaign, Tory was famously asked by a Global News reporter whether white privilege exists. Tory, known for his tendency to pile qualifications on top of qualifications, was unusually definitive in his answer: "White privilege? No, I don't know that it does."

It was a bad answer then, and it's only become a worse answer since.

[URBAN NOTE] "An insider's guide to Hamilton: the fall and rise of an industrial powerhouse"

Articles like Seema Nerula's in The Guardian are why I will be making at least a day trip to Hamilton this year.

The public image of Hamilton has historically been one of industry, factories and smokestacks. But most people don’t know that it is also home to the sound of more than 100 waterfalls, tucked into the forested area that surrounds the city’s core.

[. . .]

Cannon (Chipman-Holton) Knitting Mills is a 110,000 sq ft industrial factory complex, currently abandoned and awaiting rebirth. Established in 1854, it used to house a foundry and textile mill (two leading industries of the era). Most people now walk by without knowing its beauty: an internal courtyard, a sun-lit factory atrium and an ornate rounded corner window. It’s a total dream.

[. . .]

Hamilton and “green city” are not typically words that you hear together. The steel manufacturing that has dominated much of Hamilton’s economy for the better part of a century contributes to the city’s bad green rap. But Hamilton is undergoing an urban renaissance that is helping to contribute to a new vision of the city, and some emphasis is being placed on public transportation and walkability/bikeability. There has been some progress in creating dedicated bike lanes and just last year SoBi (a bike-share programme) launched, becoming a convenient and easy way for downtowners to move around.

This new greener vision is not entirely embraced by the city as a whole, though, and it often pits downtown dwellers against suburbanites. But despite Hamilton’s green image being tainted by its steel mill skyline, the city is surrounded by green spaces, nature reserves, and some of the largest farming/agricultural lands in the province.

There's much more, including photos and more specific recommendations, at the article.