Some late-night thoughts on Mayor Stupid with @thekeenanwire and @UnionSt | #TOpoli

Storify: great for aggregating tweets, but you can go blind putting them in order if you're dealing with more than a handful.

If only there were a sort function ...



Tips of the chapeau to @AureliaCotta and @timfalconer and @HiMYSYeD as well.

Team Ford's malignancy: It's not just the Jarvis bike lanes | #TOpoli #bikeTO

By now so much has been written and blogged and tweeted about today's clusterfuck at Toronto Council that there's no point in rehashing it. Go read Matt Elliott's summary at Ford For Toronto if you want a recap.



For Christ's sakes. This isn't just about the lack of any coherent policy justification, or the Machiavellian political gamesmanship, or the schoolyard-bully dynamic evident on the council floor, or the Speaker's obvious bias and procedural cluelessness. It's about all of those, but something worse as well.

Core Services Review: Rob Ford is a hazard to Toronto's public health / #TOpoli

I'm sorry, I had to give my head a shake.

Fluoridation?

Look, we've all seen the passage in Dr. Strangelove where General Ripper talks about what an insidious Communist plot it is, but the thing is, that's not just satire. Fluoridation of our drinking water has been a touchstone for conspiracy-minded whackjobs since the 1950s, but now Mayor Stupid wants to get rid of it under the guise of the "Core Services Review."

Kate's royal ass cheek: #sunmedia triumphs again, @davidakin makes sure we all know about it

Sad, isn't it. When this is what occupies our imaginations and dominates public discourse, is it any wonder that so many people don't bother to take the responsibilities of citizenship seriously? Look at the energy it's consuming, for Chrissakes.  (Yeah, I know. Mea culpa. Now piss off.)

Friday night

If the last Friday-night music post was something that aged well over four or five years, well ... give this a spin.

Garrett Styles - The Blue PR machine spins up again | #policeculture

From teh Tumblr.

Lives on the line.

Sudden tragedy.

A sobering reminder.

Heroes in blue.

Gave his life in the performance of his duty.

Officers coming from all over to pay tribute to a fallen comrade.

It’s a mythology with a lot of miles on it. You can practically write this shit in your sleep.

Just one question: even if we allow for the sake of argument that this mindless fetishizing of men in uniform is a good thing, how come we don’t see this kind of blanket, wall-to-wall, 24/7 coverage whenever a Canadian soldier gets killed in Afghanistan?

Yeah, I know. I’m an insensitive bastard.

Related posts:

• Now watch as a couple of Star reporters get the evidence ...
• That whole 'deserve' thing
• Police chief furious at publication of dying cop's SOS call; wants apology - Winnipeg Free Press »

Evaluating Mammoliti, redux | #PrideTO #TOpoli

But let's at least give the guy a chance to speak for himself.

Yo, Georgie? You want to tell us what you think your video proves?

Related posts:

• On second thought, Rob, stay at the cottage | #PrideTO
• How to hold them accountable: let them embarrass themselves | #policeaccountability
• 'Respect for Taxpayers' is a load of crap