tag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650A Bit More DetailAssorted Personal Notations, Essays, and Other Jottingsrfmcdonald2020-05-08T20:11:22Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5841771[PHOTO] Niagara Falls on my screen in Toronto2020-05-08T20:11:22Z2020-05-08T20:11:22Zpublic0<center><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rfmcdonald/49864174697/in/dateposted/" title="Niagara Falls on my screen #toronto #niagara #niagarafalls #niagarawhirlpool #satelliteimage #googleearth #googlehome #television"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49864174697_bee7a6c77e_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Niagara Falls on my screen #toronto #niagara #niagarafalls #niagarawhirlpool #satelliteimage #googleearth #googlehome #television"></a></center><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5841771" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5817922[URBAN NOTE] Fifteen Niagara Falls, Ontario links (#niagarafalls, #niagarafallscanada)2019-12-14T11:50:16Z2019-12-14T11:50:16Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>A new storyboard in Niagara Falls displays the importance of railways to the city. The Niagara Falls Review <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/9740059-storyboard-recognizes-history-of-railways-in-niagara-falls/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Niagara Falls city council is considering the idea of linking casinos by aerial car. The Niagara Falls Review <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/9774243-falls-council-wants-fresh-look-at-linking-casinos-by-aerial-car/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Global News <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6273090/niagara-falls-drug-bust-2/"><u>reports</u></a> on a drug bust that saw two people arrested in Niagara Falls.</li><br /><li>The Niagara Falls Review <a href="https://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/news-story/9773655-number-of-niagara-homicides-at-least-triples-in-2019/"><u>reports</u></a> the number of reported homicides in Niagara Region tripled in 2019, to six.</li><br /><li>The immersive live nativity hosted by a Niagara Falls church sounds interesting. More is <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/9746684--immersive-live-nativity-hosted-by-niagara-falls-church/"><u>here</u></a>.</li><br /><li>A recent discussion at Niagara Falls city council was dominated by discussion of housing issues and of homelessness. The Niagara Falls Review <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/9774237-housing-homelessness-dominates-strategic-priorities-discussion-at-niagara-falls-council/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Most revenues from the casinos of Niagara Falls have been directed to the infrastructure of the city. The Niagara Falls Review <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/9772858--bulk-of-niagara-falls-casino-hosting-revenue-committed-to-infrastructure/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>City council in Niagara Falls has approved the construction of a 72-storey hotel. Construct Connect <a href="https://canada.constructconnect.com/dcn/news/projects/2019/12/niagara-falls-council-approves-72-storey-build"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>In November, the mayor announced the old city hall and courthouse in the downtown of Niagara Falls was scheduled to be demolished. The Niagara Falls Review <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/9710161-153-year-old-niagara-falls-building-is-coming-down/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>The Bath House Hotel once was intended to be a centrepiece of local tourism. The Niagara Falls Review <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/whatson-story/9773103-niagara-falls-public-library-bath-house-hotel-was-to-have-been-city-s-star-attraction/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Carrie Bosco writes about the experience of a customer service associate working at the Niagara Falls Public Library, <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/whatson-story/9764186-niagara-falls-public-library-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-customer-service-associate/"><u>over</u></a> at the Niagara Falls Review.</li><br /><li>The Niagara Falls Public Library in winter is a happening place for locals. The Niagara Falls Review <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/whatson-story/9703608-niagara-falls-public-library-the-place-to-be-on-a-friday-night/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>A Chinese developer hopes that a proposed $C 1.5 billion dollar project in south Niagara Falls will still go forward. The Niagara Falls Review <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/9771270-chinese-developer-not-giving-up-on-niagara-falls-project/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Niagara Falls is going to have a hard time replacing city historian Sherman Zavitz. The Niagaa Falls Review <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/9731147-city-of-niagara-falls-to-take-our-time-in-finding-next-historian-diodati/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Niagara News <a href="https://www.niagara-news.com/festival-of-lights-kicks-off-again-in-niagara-falls/"><u>reports</u></a> on the Winter Festival of Lights in Niagara Falls.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5817922" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5666148[PHOTO] Looking north at a ship on the Welland Canal near St. Catharines2019-04-29T15:35:12Z2019-04-29T15:35:12Zpublic0<center><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rfmcdonald/40760406103/in/dateposted/" title="Looking north at a ship on the Welland Canal #ontario #niagara #stcatharines #wellandcanal #ships #boats #canal #evening"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/40760406103_3587511e51_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="Looking north at a ship on the Welland Canal #ontario #niagara #stcatharines #wellandcanal #ships #boats #canal #evening"></a></center><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5666148" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5625726[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Mississauga, St. Catharines, Montréal, Milwaukee, Boonsboro2019-03-24T20:06:30Z2019-03-24T20:06:30Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>The City of Mississauga hopes to secede from Peel Region, becoming an independent city like Toronto. Global News <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5080940/mississauga-secession-peel-region-bonnie-crombie/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Urban Toronto <a href="http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2019/03/commercial-opportunity-master-plan-new-mixed-use-community-st-catharines-%E2%80%94-city-within-"><u>notes</u></a> the remarkable scope of a plan in St. Catharines to build a vast new mixed-use development on neglected lands.</li><br /><li>Plans to build a new beach for an east-end Montréal neighbourhood have been put into motion. CBC <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/5-million-beach-montreal-east-end-1.5069006"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>CityLab <a href="https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/03/milwaukee-socialist-mayors-history-hoan-seidel-zeidler/584674/"><u>reports</u></a> on the success of self-described socialists in Milwaukee civic elections.</li><br /><li>This Jezebel article <a href="https://jezebel.com/welcome-to-noraville-the-small-maryland-town-rebuilt-b-1832961839"><u>reveals</u></a> the remarkably prominent role Nora Roberts has taken on in Boonsboro, Maryland, a small town substantially sustained by her investments and that bears her mark.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5625726" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5565576[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Niagara Falls, Montréal, Vancouver, Lisbon, Naples2019-02-01T22:12:55Z2019-02-01T22:12:55Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Gilbert Ngabo writes about how Niagara Falls, New York, would love the GO Train to cross the border into his city, his article <a href="https://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/news-story/9152147-niagara-falls-n-y-mayor-says-he-wants-a-go-train-across-the-border/"><u>featuring</u></a> in the Niagara Falls Review.</li><br /><li>Michelle Da Silva <a href="https://nowtoronto.com/music/concert-reviews/igloofest-montreal-2019-review/"><u>writes</u></a> at NOW Toronto about how the Montréal Igloofest is such a great idea.</li><br /><li>The tax on empty homes in Vancouver may yet be increased, to discourage speculation. Global News <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4887432/vancouver-empty-homes-tax-increase/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Guardian Cities <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jan/31/lisbons-bad-week-police-brutality-reveals-portugals-urban-reality"><u>notes</u></a> how tensions between police and locals in the Bairro do Jamaico in Lisbon reveal problems of integration for African immigrants and their descendants.</li><br /><li>CityLab <a href="https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/01/my-brilliant-friend-naples-rione-luzzatti-tourism-gentrification/581179/"><u>notes</u></a> how the popular novels of Elena Ferrante may drive gentrification in the Naples neighbourhood of Rione Luzzatti.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5565576" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5521688[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links: GO Transit, rent, land transfer tax, books, Viaduct2018-12-16T00:04:40Z2018-12-16T00:04:40Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Transit Toronto <a href="https://transit.toronto.on.ca/archives/weblog/2018/12/14-go_introdu.shtml"><u>notes</u></a> that GO Transit has introduced regular weekday train service to Niagara Falls.</li><br /><li>Average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto has hit #C 2260. blogTO <a href="https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2018/12/average-cost-one-bedroom-rental-toronto-hits-2260/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Revenue from the much-needed land transfer tax that supplies City of Toronto budgets is below expectations, the <i>Toronto Star</i> <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2018/12/10/city-of-toronto-land-transfer-tax-revenues-miss-target-for-first-time.html"><u>reported</u></a>.</li><br /><li>NOW Toronto <a href="https://nowtoronto.com/culture/books/toronto-public-library-most-borrowed-2018/"><u>shares</u></a> a list of the most-borrowed books from the Toronto Public Library system in 2018.</li><br /><li>Spacing <a href="http://spacing.ca/toronto/2018/12/12/the-bloor-street-viaduct/"><u>celebrates</u></a> the 100th anniversary of the Prince Edward Viaduct, also known as the Bloor Street Viaduct, arcing across the Don River.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5521688" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5476339[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Montréal, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Fort Worth, Dundee, Shenzhen2018-11-08T22:56:49Z2018-11-08T22:56:49Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>The City of Montréal is now following Québec provincial laws on flag displays, requiring the Québec flag to be flown most prominently alongside the Canadian and Montréal flags. CTV News <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montreal-to-conform-to-provincial-flag-law-1.4166843"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Former Toronto city councilor Betty Disero is now mayor of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The <i>Toronto Star</i> <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/11/03/longtime-toronto-councillor-lands-top-job-in-niagara-on-the-lake.html"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>CityLab <a href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/11/texas-midterm-election-democratic-voters-cruz-orourke/575020/"><u>reports</u></a> on how the famously conservative Texas city of Fort Worth is now learning towards the Democratic Party.</li><br /><li>VICE <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/439ygn/why-this-scottish-city-is-known-as-the-drug-death-capital-of-europe"><u>takes a look</u></a> at the reasons for the very high overdose rate among users of illegal drugs in the Scottish city of Dundee.</li><br /><li>Guardian Cities has a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2018/nov/07/urban-mountains-shenzhens-green-rooftop-project-in-pictures"><u>nice photo essay</u></a> looking at some of the new green roofs in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5476339" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5425929[URBAN NOTE] Five city links: Beechwood, Saint John, Moncton, Niagara Falls, Baltimore2018-08-27T22:09:17Z2018-08-27T22:09:17Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>The Nova Scotia community of Beechwood has been recognized as being of historical significant for its African-Canadian links. Global News <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/4374835/beechville-historically-significatn/"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>This Sunday saw the final Masses delivered at three churches in Saint John, new Brunswick, closed down due to rising costs and falling attendance. CBC <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/churches-final-mass-1.4799674"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>The leaders of New Brunswick's major political parties appeared in Moncton for that city's bilingual Pride festivities. Ici Radio-Canada <a href="https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1120042/campagne-election-nouveau-brunswick-defile-fierte-moncton"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>An Ontario NDP MPP has been the latest to complain about the sewage being injected by Niagara Falls, NY, into the Niagara River. CBC <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/sewage-discharge-in-niagara-river-an-environmental-catastrophe-says-ndp-mpp-1.4799418"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Guardian Cities <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/22/addicts-crooks-thieves-the-campaign-to-kill-baltimores-light-rail"><u>reports</u></a> on how what can only be interpreted as paranoid, even racist, hysteria against outsiders in greater Baltimore's Anne Arundel county is driving a push to reduce service on its light rail system.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5425929" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5242216[NEWS] Five links: meat tax, Civilization VI, Mount Washington, Niagara Falls, Soviet fall2018-01-08T21:37:56Z2018-01-08T21:37:56Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Is a sin tax to discourage meat consumption a good idea, at least environmentally? CBC <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/meat-sin-tax-1.4472222"><u>considers</u></a>.</li><br /><li>The use of Chief Poundmaker and the Cree as players in the new game Civilization VI is controversial among the Cree, who wonder why they were not asked first. The <i>National Post</i> <a href="http://nationalpost.com/news/saskatchewan-first-nation-outraged-as-video-game-depicts-legendary-leader"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Mount Washington, in New Hampshire, sounds like a particularly frigid place. <i>The New York Times</i> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/05/us/winter-storm-bomb-cyclone.html"><u>describes</u></a> the environment.</li><br /><li>Despite appearing frozen, water still flows underneath the ice of the Niagara Falls. CBC <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/niagara-falls-at-winter-flow-rates-1.4473433"><u>explains</u></a>.<>/li><br /><li>How could the fall of the Soviet Union, and the inclusion of successor states in the international order, have gone differently? What was possible? Transitions Online <a href="http://tol.org/client/article/27437-russia-soviet-union-collapse-reagan-gorbachev.html"><u>considers</u></a>.</li><br /></li></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5242216" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5091932[URBAN NOTE] Five Toronto links, from Stepgate to Emanuel Jaques to mass transit2017-07-23T01:19:37Z2017-07-23T01:19:37Zpublic0<ul><br /><l>Torontoist's <a href="http://torontoist.com/2017/07/stairway-stardom-stepgate-put-toronto-map/"><u>feature</u></a> on how Stepgate went viral internationally is a mustread.<br /><li>The <i>National Post</i> <a href="http://nationalpost.com/news/toronto/egregious-police-cover-up-alleged-in-pipe-attack-on-teen-that-left-him-blind-in-one-eye/wcm/bb0f3d92-3edd-4e49-bb88-361cbdc9ca9c"><u>covers</u></a> a disturbing report about claiming a police officer maimed a teenager. If the Toronto police have been actively trying to cover up criminal assault by one of their members ...</li><br /><li>Global News <a href="http://globalnews.ca/news/3616699/metrolinx-bombardier-court-appeal-go-trains-bid/"><u>notes</u></a> that Metrolinx has opted to remove Bombardier for consideration in operating GO Transit.</li><br /><li>A high-speed ferry link between Toronto and Niagara--St. Catherine's--is imaginable. Economically viable? <i>The Globe and Mail</i> <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/ontario-man-surfaces-idea-of-a-waterway-link-for-toronto-commuters/article35773532/?cmpid=rss1"><u>reports</u></a>.</li><br /><li>Simon Lewsen <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/how-a-childs-murder-led-to-the-rebirth-of-torontos-yongestreet/article35769399/?cmpid=rss1"><u>describes</u></a> in <i>The Globe and Mail</i> how the 1977 murder of Emanuel Jaques led, eventually, to the transformation of Yonge Street.</li><br /></l></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5091932" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5090641[NEWS] Five links about Canada, from #Canada150 travel to cultural visibilities2017-07-22T02:26:38Z2017-07-22T02:26:38Zpublic1<ul><br /><li>In <i>The Globe and Mail</i>, Ian Brown and Nam Phi Dang's <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-150/in-photos-a-journey-from-toronto-to-pei-and-back/article35512122/?cmpid=rss1"><u>photo essay</u></a> tracking the adventures of a bus of Chinese tourists who went from Toronto to the Island and back is insightful and amusing. <br /><li>Alex Ballingall's <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/07/03/what-i-learned-on-my-long-lovely-limp-along-the-trans-canada-trail.html"><u>account</u></a> in the <i>Toronto Star</i> of his week-long trek along the Trans-Canada Trail from Niagara to Toronto is enlightening. Would I could do this ...</li><br /><li>Mark Milke in <i>MacLean's</i> <a href="http://www.macleans.ca/opinion/we-should-celebrate-canadas-british-influence-not-denounce-it/"><u>argues</u></a> that, regrettable excesses aside, Canadians should be proud of our British heritage.</li><br /><li>The <i>Montreal Gazette</i>'s Brendan Kelly <a href="http://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/music/brendan-kelly-english-canada-continues-to-ignore-the-countrys-franco-culture"><u>wonders</u></a> why a supposedly Canadian music compilation does not include any French-language songs.</li><br /><li>In the <i>Toronto Star</i>, Emma Teitel <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/07/20/why-prime-ministers-and-business-floats-matter-at-pride-teitel.html"><u>points out</u></a> that visibility, including corporate visibility, is hugely important in Pride.</li><br /></li></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5090641" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5071196[URBAN NOTE] Five links about Toronto, from old TTC cars to Island architecture to the Palace Arms2017-07-02T19:31:19Z2017-07-02T19:31:19Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Steve Munro <a href="https://stevemunro.ca/2017/07/01/canada-day-1967/"><u>shares</u></a> some vintage photos of TTC streetcars from Canada's centennial in 1967.</li><br /><li>Spacing Toronto's Chris Bateman <a href="http://spacing.ca/toronto/2017/06/30/story-toronto-islands-modern-architecture/"><u>describes</u></a> how the Toronto Islands became a test-bed for architectural modernism.</li><br /><li>Global News <a href="http://globalnews.ca/news/3568416/hovercraft-service-proposed-for-lake-ontario-from-niagara-to-toronto/"><u>notes</u></a> the proposal for a hovercraft service across Lake Ontario, connecting Toronto with Niagara.</li><br /><li>The <i>Toronto Star</i>'s Emily Mathieu <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/06/30/suspected-ghost-hotel-temporarily-shuttered.html"><u>notes</u></a> that a Kensington Market apartment complex made into a ghost hotel has been temporarily shut down by Airbnb. </li><br /><li><i>NOW Toronto</i>'s Paul Salvatori has a <a href="https://nowtoronto.com/news/think-free-blog/touring-what-remains-of-the-palace-arms-one-last-time-photo-/"><u>touching photo essay</u></a> on the Palace Arms, a soon-to-be-gone rooming house at King and Strachan.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5071196" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5062500[URBAN NOTE] Four links on Toronto transit, from buses and streetcars to Union Station and Niagara2017-06-23T21:43:52Z2017-06-23T21:43:52Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>Steve Munro <a href="https://stevemunro.ca/2017/06/19/a-slow-trip-to-express-buses/"><u>reports</u></a> on the many problems associated with implementing new express buses, in Toronto and elsewhere.</li><br /><li>Global News was one of many sources <a href="http://globalnews.ca/news/3528212/increased-technical-failures-on-toronto-streetcars-just-growing-pains-says-ttc/"><u>reporting</u></a> on the high rate of failure of the new Bombardier streetcars.</li><br /><li>Ben Spurr <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/06/20/union-station-tenants-owe-city-10-million.html"><u>notes</u></a> the astounding failure of the City of Toronto to do basic things at Union Station, like collect rent.</li><br /><li>Transit Toronto <a href="http://transit.toronto.on.ca/archives/weblog/2017/06/21-go_trains_.shtml"><u>notes</u></a> that GO Transit's seasonal routes to Niagara have started today and will go until 4 September.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5062500" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5054662[BLOG] Some Tuesday links2017-06-13T15:27:19Z2017-06-13T15:27:19Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>blogTO <a href="http://www.blogto.com/city/2017/06/york-u-opening-campus-markham/"><u>reported</u></a> that York University plans on opening a satellite campus in York Region's Markham. This is a first. </li><br /><li>Dangerous Minds <a href="http://dangerousminds.net/comments/a_new_posthumous_release_from_suicides_alan_vega"><u>notes</u></a> a new, posthumous release from Suidide's Alan Vega.</li><br /><li>The Dragon's Gaze <a href="http://thedragonsgaze.blogspot.ca/2017/06/are-niven-rings-around-pulsars.html"><u>links</u></a> to a paper considering the detectability of Niven ringworlds around pulsars. (Maybe.)</li><br /><li>The Everyday Sociology Blog <a href="http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2017/06/this-is-your-brain-on-sociology.html"><u>considers</u></a> burnout among sociology students, and suggests that engagement with issues is key to overcoming it.</li><br /><li>The Great Grey Bridge's Philip Turner <a href="http://philipsturner.com/2017/06/12/rhode-island-getaway/"><u>photoblogs</u></a> his recent Rhode Island vacation.</li><br /><li>Joe. My. God. <a href="http://www.joemygod.com/2017/06/12/christian-activist-arrested-pulse-memorial-video/"><u>reports</u></a> on the arrest of a Christian activist protesting outside of the Pulse memorial in Orlando.</li><br /><li>The LRB Blog <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2017/06/12/daniel-finn/a-joke-in-very-poor-taste/"><u>shares</u></a> considerable concern that the Democratic Unionists of Northern Ireland are now national powermakers.</li><br /><li>Spacing Toronto <a href="http://spacing.ca/toronto/2017/06/12/reid-transforming-buenos-aires/"><u>shares</u></a> the ambitious plan of Buenos Aires to make the city better for cyclists, pedestrians, and mass transit<br /><li>Transit Toronto <a href="http://transit.toronto.on.ca/archives/weblog/2017/06/12-metrolinx_.shtml"><u>notes</u></a> that starting Friday, Metrolinx will co-sponsor $C25 return tickets to Niagara from Toronto.</li><br /></li></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5054662" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:5014874[URBAN NOTE] "Now you can take the bus to the Shaw Festival"2017-03-02T22:36:01Z2017-03-02T22:36:01Zpublic0<i>NOW Toronto</i>'s Shantal Otchere <a href="https://nowtoronto.com/stage/now-you-can-take-the-bus-to-the-shaw-festival/"><u>reports</u></a> on how the Shaw Festival is overseeing a $25 bus shuttle connecting downtown Toronto to Niagara-on-the-Lake, for festival attendees.<br /><br /><blockquote>If you bring them they will come.<br /><br />At least that is the hope for the minds behind this year’s Shaw Festival. On the heels of this season’s lineup revamp, courtesy of new artistic director, Tim Carroll, the Shaw Festival is introducing a shuttle service for festival attendees between Toronto and Niagara-on-the-Lake.<br /><br />The service, which costs $25 for a round trip – theatre goers do not have to return same day – launches in April. <br /><br />“It’s a new alternative for some people who are already coming but it’s also a way to get and attract more folks who can’t or aren’t anymore,” says Tim Jennings, the Shaw fest’s executive director.<br /><br />The shuttle service had been in the works for quite some time – at least as long as Jennings had taken up post as the Executive Director last year. After sorting out the matter of funding, the fest’s team is excited to roll out the new service for the first time this year in a bid to draw in a more diverse audience and encourage more social interactions between festivalgoers and programmers.</blockquote><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=5014874" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:4934966[URBAN NOTE] "Spillover from Toronto’s hot housing market is now driving up prices as far away as Ni2017-01-25T22:31:01Z2017-01-25T22:31:01Zpublic0The <i>Financial Post</i>'s Garry Marr <a href="http://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/mortgages-real-estate/spillover-from-torontos-hot-housing-market-is-now-driving-up-prices-as-far-away-as-niagara-region"><u>describes</u></a> how the Toronto real estate boom is driving up prices elsewhere in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and beyond, as far as Niagara.<br /><br /><blockquote>Canada’s largest city just keeps getting bigger — at least in terms of what constitutes “Toronto” real estate.<br /><br />Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Tuesday it is seeing a so-called spillover effect as far away as the St. Catharines-Niagara region after already witnessing the impact in places like Guelph, Hamilton and Barrie.<br /><br />“Our evidence indicates that increasing single-family home prices in the GTA are motivating buyers to purchase more affordable homes in nearby centres. In turn, this purchasing behaviour is driving up house prices in these markets,” said Jean Sébastien Michel, principal, market analysis with CMHC.<br /><br />The Canadian Real Estate Association said in January the average price of a home sold in Niagara reached $317,861, up 16.1 per cent from a year ago.<br /><br />The Crown corporation maintains the impact on price has been greatest in Hamilton, where it says there is strong evidence of overvaluation. “The growth in house prices persistently outpaced economic and demographic fundamentals,” according to the report.</blockquote><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=4934966" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:4808674[URBAN NOTE] "Niagara Falls gets $4M lighting makeover; LED brightens view"2016-12-03T23:28:45Z2016-12-03T23:28:45Zpublic0CBC Hamilton <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/niagara-falls-ligthing-1.3875950?cmp=rss"><u>gives me</u></a> one more reason to go to Niagara Falls this year.<br /><br /><blockquote>A $4 million lighting makeover is dialling up the wow factor of Niagara Falls at night.<br /><br />Officials say energy-efficient LED lighting unveiled Thursday will provide brighter and more robust colour than the halogen technology that's been used to cast the Falls in rainbow hues after dark for the past 20 years.<br /><br />The Niagara Parks commission streamed the event live.<br /><br />The light beams emanate from banks of spotlights on the Canadian side of the Falls, lighting up the Horseshoe and American Falls that, along with the Bridal Veil Falls, make up the bi-national tourist attraction.<br /><br />The Falls were lit for the first time in 1860 with 200 lights like those used to signal for help at sea. Electricity was first used in 1879. The Illumination Tower where most of the lights are located was built in 1899.</blockquote><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=4808674" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:4801493[BLOG] Some Wednesday links2016-11-30T15:15:52Z2016-11-30T15:15:52Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>blogTO <a href="http://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2016/11/niagara-falls-get-amazing-new-light-show/"><u>notes</u></a> Niagara Falls' new light show.</li><br /><li>Body Horrors <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bodyhorrors/2016/11/29/mrsa-detroit-ivdu/"><u>reports</u></a> on a 1980 epidemic of MRSA among Detroit drug users.</li><br /><li>Centauri Dreams <a href="http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=36703"><u>describes</u></a> the final orbits of Cassini around Saturn.</li><br /><li>The Dragon's Gaze <a href="http://thedragonsgaze.blogspot.ca/2016/11/beyond-extraordinary-claim-tabbys-star.html"><u>links</u></a> to a paper suggesting Tabby's Star is being star-mined.</li><br /><li>Language Log <a href="http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=29538"><u>looks</u></a> at an element of Chinese slang regarding telecommunications.</li><br /><li>The LRB Blog <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2016/11/29/rachel-shabi/stop-blaming-migrants/"><u>argues</u></a> against blaming migrants for problems on the left.</li><br /><li>The Planetary Society Blog <a href="http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/marc-rayman/20161129-dawn-journal-maneuvering-for-science.html"><u>discusses</u></a> the continued Dawn mission around Ceres.</li><br /><li>Savage Minds <a href="http://savageminds.org/2016/11/29/were-in-crisis-time-to-slow-down-discernment-in-a-trumpian-age/"><u>talks</u></a> about the need to slow down in a time of crisis.</li><br /><li>Seriously Science <a href="http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/2016/11/29/scientists-finally-figure-out-why-whales-like-to-jump-out-of-the-water/"><u>notes</u></a> research suggesting whales jump out of the water for purposes of communication.</li><br /><li>The Volokh Conspiracy <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/11/29/no-you-couldnt-strip-flag-burners-of-citizenship-even-if-flag-burning-could-be-made-a-crime/"><u>notes</u></a> that, in the United States, flag burners cannot be stripped of their citizenship.</li><br /><li>Window on Eurasia <a href="http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.ca/2016/11/russians-want-west-to-make-up-with-them.html"><u>suggests</u></a> Russians would like the West to make up on Russia's terms and <a href="http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.ca/2016/11/not-just-facade-federalism-russias.html"><u>looks</u></a> at the embassies and delegations of Russia's component regions.</li><br /></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=4801493" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:4572742[URBAN NOTE] "New flight service connecting Toronto and Niagara to launch in the fall"2016-08-12T20:28:38Z2016-08-12T20:28:38Zpublic0<i>The Globe and Mail</i> <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/new-flight-service-connecting-toronto-and-niagara-to-launch-in-the-fall/article31334800/?cmpid=rss1"><u>carries</u></a> Madeline Smith's Canadian Press article describing the new direct air route between Toronto and Niagara.<br /><br /><blockquote>Starting Sept. 15, charter flight company Greater Toronto Airways will run two round trips between Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport and the Niagara Regional Airport every weekday.<br /><br />David Nissan, vice-president of operations for Greater Toronto Airways, says the flights will run about 15 minutes, with capacity for eight passengers.<br /><br />“We hope that it will connect the communities,” he says. “We can cut down commuting times from two hours to 15 minutes.”<br /><br />Nissan says the company is starting out by targeting business travellers, and flights will cost $85 one way and $149 for a round trip.<br /><br />Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati says people in Niagara need more options to get to Toronto and back, and finding a way to cross the lake instead of going around it could be a good solution. He says traffic congestion on the highways is becoming “unbearable and unreasonable” for commuters.</blockquote><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=4572742" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:4437406[URBAN NOTE] "The story of the Niagara River: The water wonder of the world"2016-05-24T01:34:00Z2016-05-24T01:34:00Zpublic0Roy MacGregor's <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-story-of-the-niagara-river-the-water-wonder-of-the-world/article30117458/?cmpid=rss1"><u>latest</u></a> in an installment on river valleys of note in <i>The Globe and Mail</i> takes a look at the Niagara River, a wonder of nature shared by two countries. (I do have to get there, and soon. It is in Toronto's hinterland, after all.) <br /><br /><blockquote>[T]he falls have moved, a remarkable recession chartered by scientists to have shifted 11 km upstream in the past 12,000 years. Every year, more breaks away, sometimes rock chunks the size of a sixteen-wheeler.<br /><br />“The shape of the falls is always changing,” says Environment Canada’s Aaron Thompson, who also serves as chair of the International Niagara Board of Control. “The rate has slowed down because so much of the flow goes to the power plants.”<br /><br />And this, it turns out, is what separates the falls the tourists photograph today from the falls that First Nations knew, which so impressed the likes of Hennepin and Lincoln.<br /><br />The power of Niagara was such that it created the first great industrial centre of North America. By diverting the water into tunnels leading to turbines, industrialists were able to create electricity, first of all direct-current. Once Nikola Tesla invented alternating-current – a discovery Thomas Edison campaigned against as being too dangerous – it allowed for electricity to travel distances and the great industrialization of the Niagara region spread.<br /><br />Increasingly, more and more water was diverted into such tunnels. Lord Kelvin, the famous Irish inventor and engineer, said he looked forward to the day when every single drop in the river would be used to create electricity.<br /><br />Fortunately, wiser heads prevailed. One early suggestion had the power companies ransacking the Niagara as much as they wished six days a week but doing nothing on Sundays so that the tourists could enjoy the falls. That idea, luckily, went nowhere. In 1950, the Niagara Diversion Treaty signed by Canada and the United States specified how much each country could draw for power – roughly half the flow that Hennepin and Lincoln had witnessed.<br /><br />“They could see that one day there would be no water going over the falls,” Mr. Thompson. says</blockquote><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=4437406" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2012-10-31:1786650:3079942[BLOG] Some Thursday links2014-02-27T17:55:59Z2014-02-27T17:55:59Zpublic0<ul><br /><li>blogTO <a href="http://www.blogto.com/city/2014/02/that_time_when_the_ttc_went_to_niagara_falls/"><u>chronicles</u></a> the time when Toronto bus transit went as far as Niagara Falls.</li><br /><li>The Burgh Diaspora's Jim Russell <a href="http://burghdiaspora.blogspot.ca/2014/02/the-era-of-dying-places-everyone-is.html"><u>notes</u></a> that falling global mobility is combining with low fertility rates to produce labour shortages.</li><br /><li>Centauri Dreams' Paul Gilster, thinking of pulsar planets, <a href="http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=30045"><u>starts a discussion</u></a> about science fiction set in extreme environments.</li><br /><li>The Dragon's Gaze <a href="http://thedragonsgaze.blogspot.ca/2014/02/is-it-possible-to-detect-exoplanets.html"><u>notes</u></a> the complexity of discovering exoplanets around young--hence very active--stars.</li><br /><li>The Dragon's Tales, meanwhile, <a href="http://thedragonstales.blogspot.ca/2014/02/indus-valleyharappan-civilization-fell.html"><u>observes</u></a> evidence that the Indus Valley civilization collapsed because of climate change.</li><br /><li>Far Outliers <a href="http://faroutliers.blogspot.ca/2014/02/1918-quick-collapse-on-all-fronts.html"><u>observes</u></a> the speed with which German and Austro-Hungarian fronts collapsed in 1918 and <a href="http://faroutliers.blogspot.ca/2014/02/1918-respect-for-german-gunners.html"><u>comments</u></a> on American respect for their German counterparts in the First World War.</li><br /><li>Marginal Revolution <a href="http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2014/02/does-immigration-undermine-public-support-for-social-policy.html"><u>notes</u></a> a paper claiming that immigration doesn't undermine public support for welfare states.</li><br /><li>Livejournal's <b>pollotenchegg</b> <a href="http://pollotenchegg.livejournal.com/176304.html"><u>maps</u></a> the distributions of Russians and Crimean Tatars in that autonomous--and contested?--Ukrainian peninsula.</li><br /><li>The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer <a href="http://noelmaurer.typepad.com/aab/2014/02/is-venezuela-a-democracy.html"><u>thinks</u></a> that, though things are bad in Venezuela, they aren't nearly as bad as one database on democracy claims.</li><br /><li>Peter Rukavina <a href="http://ruk.ca/content/my-879-gallbladder-attack-or-how-it-took-me-3-years-find-out-how-much-i-cost-healthcare-syst"><u>shares</u></a> the story of how much he cost the Prince Edward Island health system and how he found out.</li><br /><li>Towleroad <a href="http://www.towleroad.com/2014/02/british-men-banned-from-becoming-queen-or-princess-of-wales-in-advance-of-marriage-equality-law.html"><u>goes into greater detail</u></a> about the changes in royal nomenclature forced by same-sex marriage.</li></ul><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=rfmcdonald&ditemid=3079942" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments