Public safety, Online scams, Media monitoring

Roseman: Online scams abound

Craigslist is a popular website, where you can sell your stuff without paying for listings.

But some buyers are more interested in scamming you than in scoring a great deal.

Alan Munro posted an ad on Craigslist to sell a windsurfer board. He got a quick response from a man who wanted to buy it sight unseen and would send a cheque for the full amount. Continue to read: Toronto Star. Similar stories of online scams, using Kijiji, Craigslist: here
See also: Online car buyers warned of scams
By KERRY DIOTTE, LEGISLATURE BUREAU CHIEF
The Edmonton Sun

Public safety alert, Fraudulent moving companies

The Toronto Police Service would like to make the public aware of some moving companies defrauding customers. It is reported that: – these moving companies post advertisements in local papers, free news papers, and online, – they have been targeting the South Asian communities throughout the GTA. continue reading: Voice of Toronto see also: Similar stories @ Google

Fans of Toronto Public Library 's post on Deskilled staff: Is that like deveined shrimp?

Strike Averted: CUPE library workers reach a tentative agreement with the Toronto Public Library Board ~~ (November 4, 2009)


Extract. Info courtesy: Connie Crosby

20 October 2009 — Joe Clark

Quote: "I walked out of Danse Danse Évolution and saw a couple of guys handing out flyers. Efficient library outreach! I thought. Nope. UNION!

I must say, the library union isn’t doing a very good job of scare mongering.

Unions are great sometimes and lousy other times, and neither of those things some other times. That’s my opinion. It’s probably your opinion. Only right-wing assholes think unions are never a good idea, and not even union stalwarts think they always are. (Be honest.)

I talked to the guy who handed me this leaflet. When I told him I write this blog, he took a quarter-step back and started treating me like I was radioactive. “Yes,” he said warily. “I have heard about it.” Well, good – you shoulda.

The leaflet makes the claim that the TPL Board “wants to… stay open to midnight with no professional librarians and many more part-time staff [and] get rid of reference desks.” I have asked around and concluded this is wilful exaggeration, reiterated in a union blog post." Unquote.

TPL Union news update:

• The Library Board's Vision / Toronto Public Library Workers Union's Vision
• STRIKE VOTE: Toronto Public Library at a Crossroads PR-USA.net (press release) Oct 12, 2009‎
  
• Library staff votes to strike, but talks continue, Globe and Mail - Jennifer Lewington - ‎Oct 10, 2009‎
• 2,400 library workers vote to walk out Toronto Sun - Oct 10
• Library workers give union strike mandate, October 09, 2009, John Spears, Toronto Star

True Torontonians invited to test their knowledge of city

Source: National Post , October 01, 2009

1 Toronto has an island. What's the name of Toronto's island?
2 How many families does Mel Lastman have? (Hint: He was a Bad Boy).
3 When was the last time Toronto won the Stanley Cup? (Hint: No, it wasn't before the dawn of time)
4 Who is the Stanley Cup named after? a) Mayor Stanley bb) Another guy named Stanley c) A guy named Cup
5 What country do most Torontonians originally come from? a) China b) Ital
c) Montreal
6 What is the name of the big lake just south of Lake Shore Boulevard? a)What lake? b) South Lake c) Asking me that question is lakeist
7 Other Canadians admire Toronto for: a) Its sophistication b) Good governmen
c) Successful sports franchises d) Its inexplicably high regard for itself despite having none of the above
8 The Red Rocket refers to: a) A streetca
b) Maurice Richard with a sunburn c) The Toronto Star launched into space
9 A streetcar is
a) A Ford on Yonge Street b) That big vehicle parked outside Tim's every mornin
c) A slow-moving anachronism used as a justification for permanently tearing up St. Clair Ave.
10 The traditional dividing line of Toronto is
a) Yonge Street b) The Don Valle
c) David Miller (pictured)Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/toronto/story.html?id=2052614#ixzz0Snemy6JH

Michael Ignatieff Delivers Greetings for Eid

Michael Ignatieff delivers greetings for Eid on behalf of the Liberal Party and the Official Opposition.



Info courtesy: Abdul Hai Patel

A tale of two countries' libraries - Canada vs USA

In recession-wracked U.S. cities they are being targeted for closure. Not so here

Sep 20, 2009 Toronto Star

Lynda Hurst
Feature Writer

EXTRACT: "What Canadians won't be seeing in the years ahead is outsourcing, which is happening in several U.S. states, most famously in Jackson County, Ore.

In 2007, it re-opened the doors to 15 public libraries after a lack of funds had forced them shut, the largest library closure in U.S. history. In the interim, the county outsourced them to a company called Library Systems & Services which now privately manages more than 50 across the U.S.

The American Library Association opposes creeping privatization, calling libraries "not a simple commodity but an essential public good that should be directly accountable to the public they serve."

"That trend," says a thankful Pyper, "is invisible up here." One thing librarians know for sure: The future is going to be expensive, but ensuring that people are literate – in all forms and formats – will pay big dividends, economic and otherwise, down the line."

Driver wouldn't give him the time of day - in English

• Police called, riders kicked off bus when immigrant passenger persists, By JASON MAGDER, THE GAZETTE September 5, 2009
  

• Bus driver made us a laughing stock

• Montreal bus driver celebrates 40 years of official bilingualism by throwing English-speaking passenger off her bus, By debaron@illinois.edu @ The Web of Language

• Montreal bus driver refuses to speak English, calls police

Info courtesy: yesat100@yahoo.com

Healthcare debate in Canada: Media monitoring

• David Frum: Why Americans love their health care system
  August 20, 2009, by National Post Editor, 14 Comments
• Extract: A child has a fall from a slide. There's blood in his urine. The parents race him to the emergency room. Two hours later, the boy's having a CAT scan. (An American is twice as likely to use a CT machine in any given year as a Canadian, four times as likely as a Briton, and seven times as likely as a Dane.) A car driven by an illegal immigrant smashes into a tree. The driver and his family are horribly injured. They are raced to the nearest emergency room and treated, no questions asked, no bill presented.
• Why I'd rather be sick here than in U.S. Bob Hepburn Toronto Star: Aug 20, 2009; Comments on this story (38)
• Extract: Why is our system superior?
  First, it's universal. Second, I visited doctors twice in the last week and never had to haul out my credit card or chequebook before I could see them. Third, the quality of care I got in the last week was unparalleled. Fourth, many of our medical outcomes top those in the U.S....

See also:

Video: Can we please admit that the Europeans can teach us something about health care? August 20, Political Buzz Examiner Ryan Witt

Dignity of labor (Oops: Labour): Australian PM once worked as toilet cleaner

"Recalling his worst job experience, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he cleaned toilets and scrubbed floors on his way to country's top political job." source

"I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living." Rockefeller, John D.

see also: K Rudd's cruddy job - cleaning loos

Happy to be here in Canada

By ABUBAKAR KASIM, GUEST COLUMNIST, Toronto Sun

Extract: "I made the right decision to make Canada my home.
Despite its unstable winter season and shortened sunny summer period, in spite of the challenges in trying to adjust to the new environment, and regardless of the imperfectness of its justice system, I still firmly believe I have come to the right place and at the right time. " continue reading