Tag Archives: Rob Ford

FORD NATION: the game (a Roundtable Exclusive)

December 2, 2013 Wayne K. Spear Leave a comment

Game requirements: Two to four players, one die, play or real money (you only need 100s and 500s), player pieces, rule sheet, beverages. To play: Cast die and advance clockwise, or west to east, beginning at the lime green Etobicoke circle. Follow instructions on circles as you land. Only collect/pay on the four city circles (Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and Downtown) when you land on them, not if you pass over. Be the first to collect $3,000 and you get to go to the crack house at 15 Windsor Road (WIN!) Enjoy.

Toronto

So Rob Ford Wants a War? Let’s Make Sure He Gets It

November 18, 2013 Wayne K. Spear Leave a comment

ROB FORD, henceforth the pro forma Mayor of Toronto, delivered a short statement just before Toronto city council moved to deplete his staff, privileges, budget and authority. After a brief introductory flourish, congratulating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for their recent victory, came a patchwork of personal anecdote, Bible verse and self-justification lumped together in an effort to discredit Ford’s fellow municipal councillors. His closing was of special note, striking as is so often the case with a Ford self-defence that irritating mixture of self-pity and belligerent menace:

Podcasts

The Roundtable Podcast 55

November 17, 2013 Wayne K. Spear Leave a comment

• Week of 17.11.2013

Rob Ford: The week that was | Councillor not ruling out snap election to oust Mayor Ford | Rob Ford-coached football player charged in Christopher Skinner murder | Russian artist nails his genitals to Moscow’s Red Square in front of tourists to protest ‘police state’ | Recommended Article: Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei built vast US$95B business empire through systematic seizure of properties | Quiz: Finish the Headline | Study urges privacy policy before widespread use of drones | Music: Songs: Ohia – “Just Be Simple” | Palestinian officials: Israel only suspect in Arafat death | Experts Rule Out Homicide in Death of Pablo Neruda | Florida Man Gets Stuck In Chimney Trying To Rob House | Scientists recreate genome of giant Ice Age animals, including huge cave bear, using new technique

Download entire podcast (320 kbps mp3) | Visit The Roundtable on Facebook.

Podcasts

The Roundtable Podcast 54

November 10, 2013 Wayne K. Spear Leave a comment

• Week of 03.11.2013 | “THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING” Alvy Singer

How one video dragged Rob Ford into the dangerous world of gangsters | Conservatives condemn sex-selective abortion, assisted suicide as party convention winds down | Fifteen Tory motions to know about from the convention (and the Top Ten Conservative Motions that Didn’t Make it to the Floor) | New galaxy ‘most distant’ yet discovered | Recommended Article: Ben Franklin’s Daylight Saving Time Proposal Was Written as a Joke | Jailed Pussy Riot Member Missing Following Prison Transfer: Nadya Tolokonnikova’s relatives have had no contact with the jailed punk rocker for 10 days | 10-Year-Old Boy Discovers a 600 Million Year-Old Supernova | Music: Arcade Fire – “Flashbulb Eyes,” from the Album Reflektor | Hakimullah Mehsud, charismatic and ruthless leader of the Pakistani Taliban, killed by U.S. drone strike

Download entire podcast (320 kbps mp3) | Visit The Roundtable on Facebook.

Toronto

The Rob Ford Apology: A Bit Churchill, A Bit Lincoln

November 4, 2013 Wayne K. Spear Leave a comment

toronto_skyline

WITH SO MANY items from which to choose, it was inspiring to see the great Rob Ford, Canada’s bestest mayor ever, taking the courageous and principled course by candidly admitting guilt in what is doubtless his most outrageous crime. On his radio program this weekend Rob Ford admitted that he drank a touch too much on St Patrick’s Day (something looked upon with horror and disgust in this city and elsewhere) and that he’ll try to slow it down a bit, that is if he plans afterward to leave his basement. No promises, people, because who on earth can promise not to get hammered and make a public ass of oneself. Be realistic. Even the best mayor Toronto has ever had (Rob Ford, obviously) can’t promise you unicorns and sunshine and your own private Idaho.

Toronto

Rob Ford and the Mammoliti Way

October 17, 2013 Wayne K. Spear Leave a comment

I HAD TO LAUGH – a morbid laugh, please note – when I read Robyn Doolittle’s article revealing that a Toronto city manager had tried to keep the hazardous condition of the Gardiner Expressway a secret. You see, long before then I’d walked under it and thought “the Gardiner Expressway is coming down.” You can’t miss it.

Podcasts

The Roundtable Podcast 50!

August 25, 2013 Wayne K. Spear Leave a comment

• Week of 18.08.2013

Califone

Egypt mulling Muslim Brotherhood ban as forces storm Islamist-held mosque | The U.S. government has finally confirmed the existence of Area 51 | Canada’s military forced to accept fatter, less educated recruits as demographics change, audit reveals | Senators are partisans, appointed for life. How could that not go wrong? | Recommended Article: 4 biggest myths about crack | Chinese zoo accused of trying to pass off dog as African lion | Meet the Mayoral Candidate Who Believes Russia Will Vanquish the Antichrist | Music: Califone “A Thin Skin of Bullfight Dust” (from the album Stitches, out September 3) | Police probe Mayor Rob Ford friends who sought crack video | Extensive Timelines Of Slang For Genitalia | H&M pulls headdresses from Canadian shelves after complaints | B.C. bedroom dentist was headed to Toronto, officials say

Download entire podcast (320 kbps mp3) | Visit The Roundtable on Facebook.

Podcasts

The Roundtable Podcast 48

July 21, 2013 Wayne K. Spear Leave a comment

• Week of 21.07.2013 Rolling Stone Cover

Boston suspect Tsarnaev ‘manhunt photos’ leaked | Detroit bankruptcy: Is it a warning sign of things to come? | President Obama: “Trayvon Martin could have been me thirty-five years ago” | Recommended Article: Makers of War, by Matthieu Aikins | War not part of human nature: Science study | Russian Security Now Using Typewriters to Thwart the NSA | Russian band Pussy Riot release new anti-Putin video | ‘Pink Mass’ Has Made Westboro Baptist Church Founder’s Mom Gay In Afterlife, Satanists Claim | Charities should reject Gawker’s ‘Crackstarter’ funds

Download entire podcast (320 kbps mp3) | Visit The Roundtable on Facebook.

Podcasts

The Roundtable Podcast 45

June 9, 2013 Wayne K. Spear Leave a comment

• Week of 09.06.2013

U2 at Red Rocks

Conservative MPs Used Like ‘Trained Seals’ | Benjamin Franklin, Canada Post’s Founding Father | Calgary Man Fined for Fossil Trafficking | Thirty Years Ago This Week: U2 Live at Red Rocks | Recommended Video: VICE: High Country | Man, 66, Goes to Doctor and Finds He’s a Woman | Rob Ford | Pamela Wallin

Download entire podcast (320 kbps mp3) | Visit The Roundtable on Facebook.

Podcasts

The Roundtable Podcast 44

June 2, 2013 Wayne K. Spear Leave a comment

• Week of 01.06.2013

Dr. Henry Morgentaler

How to Get Rob Ford to Call You a Racist | Henry Morgentaler | Town in Northern Ireland Turns into Virtual Potemkin Village Ahead of G8 | The Zombie Plan for Middle East Peace | Recommended Article: How the Rob Ford Crack Scandal Could Save Toronto | Game: “The Puffster” | The 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee | Nigeria Lawmakers Pass Bill Banning Gay Marriage | 32 Killed in Iraq Attacks as May Toll Crosses 600

Download entire podcast (320 kbps mp3) | Visit The Roundtable on Facebook.

Toronto

Rob Ford is an Effect, Not a Cause, and We’ll Survive Him

May 27, 2013 Wayne K. Spear 1 Comment

Rob Ford

AS I WRITE this it is impossible to say whether the drama surrounding Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s alleged new high constitutes an actual new low, but drama does seem to be the word of the moment. Exactly one year ago I moved to this city, and in the time since I have witnessed the restless strut and fret of local municipal politics, the principal player of the stage forever availing himself to fresh tales full of sound and fury.

Podcasts

The Roundtable Podcast 43

May 26, 2013 Wayne K. Spear 2 Comments

• Week of 26.05.2013 —

ai-weiwei Download entire podcast (320 kbps mp3) | Visit The Roundtable on Facebook.

Podcasts

The Roundtable Podcast 42

May 22, 2013 Wayne K. Spear Leave a comment

• Week of 19.05.2013 — Is Rob Ford’s New Low His New High? | A Lashing For Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | Retired NFL Players Endure A Lifetime Of Hurt | Kim Jong Un Knows Turf | Drunk Man Cuts Off His Penis, Flushes It Down The Toilet | Hot In Japan: Human Doll Cloning | The Canadian Senate’s Growing Independent Party | Building the Starship Enterprise