In memory of Fred's Stella

Fred, so, so sorry about Stella. And your Mom. Please don't stay away too long. Toronto needs your voice! http://www.onebarkatatime.blogspot.com/

(Repeating this for a separate post)

Police leave protestors vulnerable without gas masks

G20: I saw a few police officers removing gas masks from protestors' bags in Allan Gardens and others saw the same thing elsewhere on the weekend.  We're not talking about black-garbed thugs in bandanas, but young people, as well as volunteer street medics, who'd bought the masks as a precaution (as did most journalists). Why? It's illegal to carry a gas mask to a demonstration with the potential for tear gas?

Re-opened Toronto Humane Society, looks good, no verdict

An animal lover friend toured the refurbished Toronto Humane Society today and sends a cautiously optimistic report:

Derrick - Disease control and sanitation
Alyx - animal care worker?

- all questions were answered in detail - no "not sures" or vagueness

- not much mention of former board/processes/practices although when we were shown the boardroom/staff lunch room that have been made out of Trow's former office, Derrick mentioned that one of the most satisfying things for him in this whole process was tearing out Tim Trow's walls etc.

- Total number of dog cages has been halved so that each can be expanded in size with "guillotine" door in middle to make cleaning less disruptive for dogs and easier for staff

- Entire facility has been steam-cleaned several times and totally repainted

- Much more natural light

- Indoor/outdoor area for dogs (connected to the dog rooms) that has shady trees, chicken wire across top about 10ft up so birds/raccoons don't get in. this hasn't been completed yet as they need to replace the brick on external walls as there had been raccoons on it etc

- Dog and cat "enrichment" rooms with furniture, plants etc to test them out in homey environment and gauge things like furniture/plant chewing etc

- Dog washing room

- kitten nursery will reopen - no kittens in it yet but shortly

- Before the shutdown they had added a dish- and cage-cleaning machine (made by Steris, huge floor-to-ceiling stainless thing that looks like an elevator) because of the high occupancy, but now that there will be no overcrowding they can sell the extra one

- Bowls and dishes are stored in  closed cabinets now so less dust etc (formerly were out on open shelving)

- new holding room for stray cats, with building access from back entrance so no exposure to main cat population

- Hoping to stop using paper to line cages, use towels/linens instead - this will be tested out soon

- Looking into a recycling program (for food tins etc) but it's not in place yet, is one of the long-range goals

- Changing to stainless steel litterboxes instead of cardboard

Now in basement garagey area. Lots of cages stacked for reconfiguration.

Intake process now more involved - consultation with intake coordinator to explain alternatives to owner: not just suggesting rescues or asking friends/family to take animal, but offering information on how owner might try to make it work without surrendering animal

essentially lots of big changes but lots of small ones too

saw quite a few reunions of volunteers with staff - hugs and cries of delight "this is wonderful!" "can't wait to get at it!" etc

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so yeah overall I came away with a feeling they're ready and eager to start  and they're very determined to do things differently.

Statement from the THS: http://www.torontohumanesociety.com/news_events.htm?newsstories/jun28_2010_1.htm

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Fred, so, so sorry about Stella. And your Mom. Please don't stay away too long. Toronto needs your voice! http://www.onebarkatatime.blogspot.com/

 

Oil industry blooper of the day

John Hofmeister, former president of Shell's U.S. operations, decried the potential of more government regulation in the wake of BP's Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf. Wrote Shawn McCarthy in the Globe:

Industry supporters fear the Democratic administration will impose “regulatory overkill” as Mr. Obama and his supporters in the Congress face a backlash from their supporters.

“Politics and energy don’t mix – it’s like water and oil,” said John Hofmeister, former president of Shell’s U.S. operations and founder of public interest group, Citizens for Affordable Energy.

“We’re now seeing the politicization of this disaster in ways that can only be harmful for the industry and, ultimately, the American consumers.”

Hmmmm, oil and water. Maybe not the best image to use in arguing against regulatory oversight.

 

 

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Lisbeth Salander is back in my life

They will be brief, and I will treasure every moment, but I have blissful hours ahead reading the last book in Stieg Larsson"s crime trilogy with its maverick protagonist, Lisbeth Salander. This one, The Girl who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, just came out in hardcover in English, and my anticipation was so great, I broke my library or paperback-only rule. How enticing is this passage about Salander in Chapter 1?

I think you're right," Erlander said to Blomkvist as they walked back to the farmhouse. "An analysis of the blood will probably establish that Salander was shot and buried here, and I'm beginning to expect that we'll find her fingerprints on the cigarette case. Somehow she managed to survive and dig herself out and - "

"And somehow get back to the farm and swing an ax into Zalachenko's skull," Blomkvist finished for him. She can be a moody bitch.

I took Larsson's death after handing in three manuscripts to his publisher as a personal loss. I haven't seen any of the Swedish movies about the series, or the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which was made into a film in English because I don't want to be disappointed. I will, of course, give in.

 

 

One bright spot in BP oil spill - Washington freedom of information law works

There's not much good news coming from the accident on BP's  Deepwater Horizon rig and the deadly oil leak choking the Gulf and spreading by the hour. However, journalists in Canada can only look with envy at how quickly the New York Times was able to access BP documents through the the Freedom of Information Act.

In the subsequent story, reporter Ian Urbina wa able to show BP had  serious safety concerns on the rig before the accident and that problems included loss of "well control." BP execs ignored its own internal reports about concerns that occurred far earlier than Congress had been led to believe by the company.

In Canada, requests most often turn into weeks, months, even years, of delay. Moreover - and more envy here - Congress said no a few weeks ago, when BP tried to turn off the underwater video feed showing the spewing oil. Hard to imagine Canadian politicians showing similar grit -  although one can always hope.

The walls around Parry Sound-Muskoka's Tony Clement - even media people don't talk

Last week, Industry Minister Tony Clement press secretary didn't bother to return my repeated phone calls on a story. I'd been in Sudbury to report on the 11-month-old strike against the Brazilian mining giant, Vale, by some 3,000 Steelworkers (not including strikers in Voisey's Bay and Port Colborne) and was told they had questions for the industry minister about his reported comments about Vale. He'd said he had concerns and would investigate the terms of the company's 2006 purchase of their former employer, Inco. They'd been counting on him to determine if Vale had broken its commitments and were perplexed when Clement suddenly shifted gears.

 I've always considered a reporter's job to be the privilege of asking questions on behalf of a larger citizenry who can't all crowd into, say, a politician's office. Their salaries and those of their staffers are, after all, paid by that citizenry.

I first called the industry minister's communications department and explained what I needed to know. Not insignificantly, I wanted to  find out for starters if his reported comments were even accurate.  Moreover, I sought a brief telephone interview with the minister (highly unlikely!) and, barring that, some time with his press secretary. I was told to call that person, Lynn Meahan, and did so, repeatedly, over three days. Each time, I was told she would get back to me. Nothing.

Reporters don't expect politicians to be easily available (unless they want something). But they do expect courtesy from the people they hire to communicate with the media - and by proxy, voters - on their behalf. Ms. Meahan's actions, or lack of, suggest an attitude of arrogance and non-transparency in the office of the industry minister.

Perhaps Mr. Clement thinks of himself up on Parliament Hill as far removed from the rough-and-tumble of everyday life.

I suppose he's not alone. A recent investigation by the Canadian Press revealed the mechanics of the PMO's information control. This report makes good reading.