Toronto Islands Bike Ride and Picnic

Toronto Cyclists Union Newsletter: Share your love of cycling with a newcomer to Toronto!
Join CultureLink and the Toronto Cyclists Union for a Toronto Islands Bike Ride and Picnic on Saturday September 11.
This event will launch CultureLink's BIKE HOST program. BIKE HOST builds on the province-wide HOST program which matches newcomers with established residents. Volunteer Hosts help newcomers get comfortable in Toronto, by introducing them to their social networks and fun activities. In turn, Hosts have the opportunity to learn about other cultures. The BIKE HOST program will be focused on cycling as a shared activity. If it’s successful, the BIKE HOST program will help make the cycling community stronger and more inclusive.
This event is open to:
•    newcomers
•    established residents who are interested in BIKE HOST
•    experienced cyclists who can help make the event fun and accessible!
DATE & TIME: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1:30PM
In case of rain, we will reschedule for one week later, Saturday September 18.
The group returns to the mainland by 9pm. (You may leave anytime).

WHERE: MEET AT THE ISLAND FERRY DOCKS
At the foot of Bay Street, south of Queen's Quay
We take the Centre Island Ferry.
For directions and a map click here. For more information about the Toronto Islands click here.
On Centre Island, you can find us at our picnic site in Area 26. Ask Park staff.

SPACE IS LIMITED. PLEASE REGISTER NOW!

Contact Barbora at bgomezova@culturelink.net, 416-588-6288 x210
For more information visit the Partnership for Integration and Sustainable Transportation: bikeunion.to/partnership
or the Host Program at CultureLink Settlement Services: welcomingcommunity.ca

Gay Scientists Isolate Christian Gene

A thought for today.

Writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you make the whole trip that way.

Helping the Environment Through Recycling and the Use of Bamboo

Author: nealon52@aol.com

Bamboo is world reknown for being the fastest growing wood on the earth. Bamboo can grow to maturity in seven years as opposed to an American Oak or Maple that take over twenty years to reach a harvestable growth. In addition to how fast it grows, it's geographic coverage is expanding as well, since it can grow in virtually any climate. It is a tough, durable wood, that can be stained to resemble most other hard woods or at the same time it can be a natural color that is very popular with today’s modern designs. So why else should bamboo be apart of your house? And will it really help with the environment and consumer recycling?
First you should realize that bamboo is being used in many of today’s products without us even realizing it. Even though bamboo shoots are relatively skinny, the material is being used in everything from flooring, to cabinets, to doors. As mentioned before, bamboo can be stained and it then resembles almost any other wood – from this it has been substituted in many wood products. What this means is that since people are not doing their part to help the environment, bamboo can be used as a “stop gap” until the recycling idea catches up with everyone.

Tar Wars (Greenpeace spoofs Star Wars)

Happy Labor Day!

I was looking around the interweb to find a bit of background information about Labor Day and came across a blog called Today's Inspiration and it had this handy post that will tell you all you need to know!  Enjoy your day off everybody.

Green Transportation: How It Helps the Planet Against Climate Change

Author: ashlysun

So you've decided to make the planet a better place to live in by going green, and now you've decided that you want your everyday travelling to be more eco-friendly and less harmful to the environment. Then it must be time to make the switch to green transportation. Green energy transportation is a type of sustainable transport that involves human power, public transportation, smart design and renewable energy.


Usually, public transport and car pooling is considered a green mode of transport, compared to private vehicles, although for some people a better definition of green transport is one that does not involve non-renewable energy.

(Image copyright the Daye. 2010)

Punk is Not Dead

Quebec City, August 2010, Mark Daye

ALL CAN! Community conversations with Pride Toronto board applicants

I received an invitation to this event and I thought it was an interesting follow up to the earlier post about the new appointment of Chad Simon to the Pride Toronto board.


An all-candidates-style discussion with those who want to join Pride Toronto's board of directors, hosted by Janne Farrow.


Join the Pride Coalition for Free Speech and Xtra as we get to know future Pride Toronto board members and quiz them in an all-candidates meeting format.

Public. Transparent. Accountable.

We all want a strong, vibrant Pride. Be part of the solution.

CNE Air Show Cancelled

Last week I posted this link to a petition to cancel the air show at the Canadian National Exhibition (The EX). If you haven't signed it, I hope you will consider doing so and make this image (courtesy of thestar.com) a permanent fixture.

The petition states;

The Toronto Coalition to Ground the Air Show is a group of Toronto citizens who are concerned about the massive impact of the CNE's annual Canadian International Air Show on civic life.
Every Labour Day Weekend the skies over Toronto are filled with the ear-splitting, window-rattling sounds of low-flying warplanes.
This is an unnecessary and unwarranted intrusion into the lives of young children, people who have experienced the horror of war, those who work nights or are ill, or anyone who simply wants to enjoy the last weekend of the summer.
Airshows over urban areas are a gratuitous source of noise and air pollution, a threat to public safety, and idealize war.

 

See the petition here.

Kiva - Amos Beit from Kenya has a loan fundraising on Kiva

Here at the Daye. we just made our 11th Kiva loan to Amos in Kenya. Please check out Kiva and help an entrepreneur.
Kiva - Amos Beit from Kenya has a loan fundraising on Kiva

Location:	Litein, Kenya
Activity:	Dairy
Loan Use:	To purchase and insure a dairy cow

Montreal Rally For A Clean Energy Future

Greenpeace and more than a dozen other groups are organizing a rally in Montreal to send a m

ssage to the world’s energy leaders during the World Energy Congress; September 12 to 16.

Another Pride Toronto Judgement Error.

In a story by Scott Dagostino Xtra.ca reports another misstep by Pride Toronto;

"After enduring months of harsh criticism that it is unresponsive to the queer communities it serves — particularly from black and trans groups — Pride Toronto has baffled supporters and critics alike by abruptly appointing a new board member, who quickly came under fire for transphobic comments he made in 2008."

"It is standard practice in board governance to try to fill a vacancy as soon as possible or at the next scheduled AGM. This is why the timing of the appointment is now of concern... Open and transparent governance is what the community is expecting and what I have been suggesting since the sign-vetting debate."  Writer- David Demchuk

On the surface of it it would appear Pride Toronto has made yet another error in judgment and had appointed Chad Simon to the board without much due diligence. If the position has been vacant all year, I don't see why the big rush to fill the seat with someone as reportedly uninvolved and ill informed as Mr. Simon before the AGM unless you are attempting to stack the board for some reason.

I guess we'll have to wait and see.

350.org's Bill McKibben on The Late Show With David Letterman

 

Eaarth 

Corrie Crazy

Update: The show has now aired and is available online here.

Tonight we had a very fun time participating in the documentary currently being filmed by the CBC. Corrie Crazy will air on CBC on December 9, 2010 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the British soap opera Coronation Street.  

SPOILER: The above icon links to the ITV Coronation Street Site.

 The CBC crew setting up. Me on the right in the black t-shirt.

My good friend "Muffin" set this all up so myself, David, Andrew and Darren had pizza, beer and watched Coronation Street in the climate controlled comfort of our living room in downtown Toronto with a great CBC crew. We talked Corrie, discussed our favourite characters and storylines and ranted about the characters we love to hate (Sally Webster).

Of course as true Corrie fans we also bitched about the:

totally

unnecessary and ridiculous

   9 month delay

from the original ITV air dates!

   DO YOU HEAR ME CBC?

 I SAY,

DO YOU HEAR ME?

 (Fred Elliot reference)

Okay, I've said my piece about that.... So, I did a Google search for "Corrie Crazy" and found this post from the Coronation Street Blog (SPOILER SITE, BE CAREFUL!)

(Side note to Coronation Street Blog: you could make it clear that you are a spoiler site... bad karma is now headed your way, and deservedly so now that I know something I didn't want to know about Fiona Brown!)

When all was said and done we had a great evening and are eagerly awaiting the airing of Corrie Crazy in December. I also strategically wore my Greenpeace Tar Sands t-shirt, which I'm hoping will make the cut and be seen by tens of people across the country.  

Editors Note: The preceding sentence make this entire post relevant to this blog.

And I'd like to end this post with a great big THANK YOU to Corrie Canuck for their dedication, non-spoilerism and filling in of the blanks when it comes to obscure Corrie references and truly heavy northern accents, yes I mean you Sophie Webster!

Corrie Canuck, your hard work is appreciated and enjoyed by hundreds, if not thousands or even hundreds of thousands of Canadian Coronation Street fans!

  Here's a couple of pictures from tonight;

 Terry & the CBC Crew. Oh, and Muffin in the foreground and of course Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II in the background (inspired by Jack and Vera).

Muffin writing on the Bhudda Board

Activists stop Cairn Energy rig drilling in the Arctic

 

Greenpeace campaigners have evaded a huge security operation and have scaled Cairn Energy's controversial oil rig in the Arctic seas off Greenland, shutting it down.

Edinburgh-based company Cairn Energy is actively drilling in the Arctic and holds eight oil exploration licenses off western and southwestern Greenland right in the middle of the Davis Straits - better known as 'iceberg alley'. Companies like Cairn and BP are desperate to pursue the last drops of oil on Earth, even if that means risking our environment and climate in the process.

Arctic drilling has got to stop! Tell Cairn's boss, Bill Gammell to stop drilling now.

Green Party urges NDP to vote for long gun registry.

The Green Party of Canada is urging members of Parliament to vote in favour of keeping the long gun registry, which the Conservative Party wants to scrap.  This week, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police voted unanimously to start an educational campaign about why the registry is so important to police officers and why they want to keep it. Other organizations such as the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians are chiming in with support for the registry.

"There is ample evidence that the long gun registry has been successful and is valued by those working in the field," Eric Walton, Member of  the Green Party Shadow Cabinet and nominated candidate Kingston-The Islands. "The ideology of the Conservative Party is the only motive behind scrapping this useful program.  Instead, Parliament should be working to improve our entire strategy for dealing with guns in Canada." 

60 Richmond

Alex Bozikovic has posted an informative article and very nice pictures of the new Toronto Community Housing building on his blog; nomeancity. The post is also featured on the Spacing Toronto blog. It is expected the building will attain Gold LEED certification, which is great news for the city and the environment. Along with being visually interesting the building features a centre atrium that will eventually be covered with green vines and such, bright hallways with windows and a couple of very nice courtyards. According to Toronto Community Housing 59 of the units are designated Regent Park replacement units. The building features one, two, three and even some four bedroom apartments.

Home (Trailer)

In 200,000 years on Earth, humanity has upset the balance of the planet, established by nearly four billion years of evolution. The price to pay is high, but it's too late to be a pessimist: humanity has barely ten years to reverse the trend, become aware of the full extent of its spoliation of the Earth's riches and change its patterns of consumption.

Website

Innu groups launch bid for injunction to block Hydro -Quebec's La Romaine project

Native groups have launched a legal bid to block a major hydro development in northeastern Quebec.

The Innu of Uashat and Mani-Utenam have filed a request for a temporary injunction to halt the Romaine River project.

They say the proposed development, and especially the planned transmission lines, run right through their ancestral territory and they never gave their consent.

The Innu describe their bid in Quebec Superior Court as an emergency move, while that same court prepares to hear the request they filed in 2009 for a permanent injunction.

The native groups do not want compensation; they are asking for the project to be scrubbed.

Hydro-Quebec says the project, located near Labrador in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, could be completed by 2020 and add more than 1,500 megawatts to the grid.

Let Voters Fire The Mayor; Rossi

Citing the need to restore trust between angry voters and City Hall, Toronto mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi threw a curve into the mayor’s race today by announcing he would allow Toronto voters to recall their mayor and members of city council if they fail to live up to their promises.

Rossi said that within six months of his election, Toronto City Council would forward a motion to Queen’s Park requesting the implementation of voter recall legislation in the city.

“How we do it — what it looks like — and how it works — will all be developed by the citizens of Toronto in town halls and panels across the city,” said Rossi. “So let’s start talking about it — now and for the rest of the campaign. Voter recall is a tool to channel our disappointment into action — because action is what is needed at City Hall.”

Toxins Increase In Athabasca River

The Globe & Mail is reporting today that elevated levels of toxins have been found in the Athabasca River. A study, to be published today has found elevated levels of lead, mercury and 11 other toxins. The Athabasca River is the main fresh water source in the region of the Alberta Oil Tar Sands.