[PHOTO] Three photos of Air India Flight 182 Memorial, Humber Bay Park East, Toronto

I visited the memorial to Air India Flight 182 for the first time last year when I visited Humber Bay Park East. I stopped by this solemn place again this September, as I walked along the shores of Humber Bay. The central sundial is a beautiful feature, linking this location with a kindred memorial in the Irish village of Ahakista.

[BLOG] Some Thursday links

• D-Brief notes that the opioid epidemic seems to be hitting baby boomers and millennials worst, of all major American demographics.


• Hornet Stories shares one timetable for new DC films following Justice League.


• Joe. My. God. notes a case brought by a Romanian before the European Court of Justice regarding citizenship rights for his American spouse. This could have broad implications for the recognition of same-sex couples across the EU, not just its member-states.


• Language Hat reports on a journalist's search for a village in India where Sanskrit, ancient liturgical language of Hinduism, remains the vernacular.


• The Map Room Blog links to a review of an intriuging new book, Nowherelands, looking at ephemeral countries in the 1840-1975 era.


• The NYR Daily looks at the textile art of Anni Albers.


• The Planetary Society Blog explores the navigational skills of the Polynesians, and their reflection in Moana.


• Roads and Kingdoms reports on the widespread jubilation in Zimbabwe following the overthrow of Mugabe.


• Rocky Planet notes that Öræfajökull, the largest volcano in Iceland if a hidden one, has been showing worrying signs of potential eruption.


• Drew Rowsome reports on House Guests, an art installation that has taken over an entire house at Dundas and Ossington.


• Starts With A Bang's Ethan Siegel looks at the story of how the quantum property of spin was discovered.


• Window on Eurasia suggests new Russian policies largely excluding non-Russian languages from education are causing significant problems, even ethnic conflict.


• Arnold Zwicky considers music as a trigger of emotional memory, generally and in his own life.

[URBAN NOTE] Four Toronto links: Shops at Wilson Station, Scarborough, Andy Byford, Unilever

• The Shops at Wilson Station constitute the first shopping mall owned by the City of Toronto. The Toronto Star reports.


• The delay in publishing estimates of the cost of the Scarborough subway extension until after the 2018 election is unconscionable. The Toronto Star reports.


• Torontoist bids farewell to Andy Byford, ex-TTC chair destined for what may be a tougher job in New York City.


• In a beautiful photo essay, Chris Penrose at Spacing looks at the abandoned Unilever factory and his family's history with it.

[URBAN NOTE] Five notes about change: U of T, Wexford Plaza, Parkdale, Metro, French immersion

• Universiy of Toronto contract staff have voted overwhelmingly for a strike mandate. CBC reports.


• Wexford Plaza, an independent film centered around shopping guards at the Scarborough mall of the same name, has done well in Los Angeles and is set to open here in Toronto. blogTO reports.


• NOW Toronto notes a protest by Parkdale residents for affordable housing at King and Dufferin, where a massive new development is expected to rise.


• In response to the new $15 minimum wage, Metro is cutting service hours at some of its 23-hour grocery stores. blogTO reports.


• I sincerely hope that staffing shortages will not lead the TDSB to cut French immersion from its list of programs. The Toronto Star reports.

[NEWS] Five GLBTQ links: gay Toronto musicians, Roy Moore, police, churches, Pride Toronto

• The Huffington Post has a nice list of some of the more high-profile LGBTQ musicians in Toronto from the 1960s on.


• The virulent homophobia reported of Roy Moore's supporters is upsetting, but not surprising. Global News reports.


• While it is nice that Church and Wellesley is getting four dedicated neighbourhood police officers, some wonder whether these resources could be better spent elsewhere, in mental health for instance. Daily Xtra reports.


• VICE reports on a new app, Church Clarity, intended to help queer people find queer-friendly churches.


• The deficit of a half-million dollars reported by Pride Toronto, revenues dropping perhaps a consequence of last year's controversies, is obviously not good. The Toronto Star reports.

[MUSIC] Robbie Robertson, "Ghost Dance"

The song "Ghost Dance", by Robbie Robertson, is the third track on his 1994 soundtrack album Music for the Native Americans. I first heard the song on MuchMusic, when I saw the video, and was caught by it. This song is as powerful now as it is when I first heard it more than two decades ago, in its promise of survival and rebirth.

Watch on YouTube

You can kill my body
You can damn my soul
for not believing in your god
and some world down below

You don't stand a chance
against my prayers
You don't stand a chance
against my love
They outlawed the Ghost Dance
but we shall live again,
we shall live again