news
Newsstand: September 29, 2010
Illustration by Matt Daley/Torontoist.
Greetings, news-loving pagans, and welcome to Wednesday, in bolder, bloodier, bygone times known as Wōdnesdæg or Woden’s day. In the news, your alley will be clear, store sorry for kiddie thongs, and keep an eye out for thugs carrying stained glass windows.
An Iranian-Canadian blogger and former Toronto resident has been sentenced to nineteen and a half years in prison in Iran for online dissidence conducted from Canada. Hossein Derakhshan avoided the death penalty that prosecutors had sought, but still received almost twenty years for “crimes” including “spreading propaganda and insulting Islamic thought”. Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon has called the situation “unacceptable,” the first strong message to come from the Canadian government since Derakhshan was arrested. Derakhshan had been a critic of the Iranian regime until 2008, when he became a vocal supporter of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Which doesn’t seem to have bought him much.
A court of appeal has upheld a ruling which found the city “grossly negligent” in not clearing alleyways in the same way that they do sidewalks. The ruling goes back to a pedestrian who fell and broke her wrist in an uncleared alley near the Greenwood subway station back in 1999, and whose lawsuit has been wending its way through the courts ever since. It’s been estimated that it could cost the city about $21 million per year to clear approximately 250 kilometres of lanes. Guess Rob Ford’s gonna have to get rid of some more city councillors.
Outgoing TTC Chair Adam Giambrone is offering a few final words of advice to the city, releasing a video and report entitled “Moving Transit Forward” which highlights achievements, offers recommendations, and makes a strong plea for increased funding. There’s probably a T.S. Eliot reference here about going out not with a bang but with a whimper, but it would be tasteless and a little pretentious so we’re going to take the high road.
Retailer Giant Tiger is apologizing for advertising Playboy-branded thongs in a flyer under “back-to-school specials.” Giant Tiger said the ads should actually have appeared in the “Junior Hooker-wear” section. On an unrelated note, why would you call a store Giant Tiger anyway?
In an act of uncommon scumbaggery, thieves have stolen four stained glass windows from a heritage building owned by a group of nuns. The John F. Taylor house in East York was under construction when the theft occurred, as the Sisters of St. Joseph are converting it into a combined hospital and assisted-living facility. Police say that professional thieves are likely responsible so it’s not likely anyone’s going to try and sell them to you out of the back of a van, but if they do, call the cops. Hopefully God’s already on this one.
Heart-rendingly implausible headline of the day: “Rocco Rossi insists Smitherman-Thomson alliance will help his campaign.”