DSCToronto
Superstar
Though I wonder what use it is, NYC has equipped all their snow plows (ploughs to us) with GPS and you can track them at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/nycsevereweather/weather_plowtracker.shtml
|
|
|
Outsource plowing!
A chunk of the savings in Toronto’s road budget will come through contracting out salting and plowing of local roads and summer-time street sweeping. About 90 per cent of winter maintenance will be performed by the private sector, up from 75 per cent now.
The mayor’s comings and goings are a mystery at city hall. Mr. Ford does not make his whereabouts known and his official appearances are usually kept under wraps until hours before an event. This is a departure from the practice of former mayor David Miller, and Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi posts a detailed list on his website of everyone he meets.
Schedules for the last four months of 2012, obtained by The Globe and Mail through a freedom of information request, show the mayor rarely did official city business after 3:30 p.m. They also show that after The Globe reported on Mr. Ford coaching after-school football practices, his office began labelling time in the afternoon as “private.”
“I personally have no problem with that,” said Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday, when asked about the mayor’s habit of taking personal time during office hours.
And when asked about an auditor's report that — among other things — cited city employees for watching pornography on the job, Ford said: "We got to get rid of these employees. We can't have people being paid to sit there and watch porn. Like, do that on your private time, but not during working hours."
Outsource plowing!
I bet that Rob Ford would prefer to hire the Plow King over Mr. Plow. After all, the stereotypical Ford Nation lifestyle is similar to that of Barney Gumble.
See: http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Plow_King_(song)"Señor Plow no es macho. Es solamente un borracho." - Linda Ronstadt's description of Rob Fo ... errrr ... Homer Simpson.
It's obviously going to be useless Etobichoke councillor Crisanti who gets it out of the three listed above. (Because Etobicoke could always use more representation!) He's in Ward 1, next to the Ford Ward 2. Augimeri and Ford have a lot of bad blood too, Gus Cusimano was Ford's pick for Ward 9. Adam Vaughan has little hope.
Thank you for reminding me of what Homer did. I have a fuzzy memory of the Simpsons. Yes, Homer Simpsons is the Springfieldianite version of Rob Ford.I disagree. Homer Simpson has a job ("Put down a simple guy like me who works hard and plays by the rules!"), pays taxes ("Let the bears pay the bear tax, I pay the Homer tax"), has a family, and votes Republican. (“I don't agree with his Bart-killing policy, but I do approve of his Selma-killing policy.”)
He constantly flouts and breaks the rules, managing to get himself arrested many times, such as for a DUI (convicted, just like our Mayor), parking across three accessible parking spots, and auto theft (though that one he did "for the right reason").
Homer is the epitome of Ford Nation.
There's a new CBC story this morning that describes how an elderly woman died for three hours waiting for an ambulance. Reason for the delay? Limited resources.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/02/12/ambulance-delay.html
I'm tempted to think that the hiring freeze and cuts to paramedics as described earlier in this thread may have contributed in some way to this incident.
. Also, have there been other incidents of extremely long waits (i.e. hours) for EMS in recent memory?