Since it is Sunday, it seems an appropriate time to introduce you to a new marvel - the laying on of pillows:
Mike Lindell spoke at a Christian college and donated My Pillows, which he then called “Prayer Pillows,” and this happened.
I eagerly await the sequel: the resurrection of the bedsheets.
I know that Donnie Jr. has had a rough time, what with his cocaine addiction, limited intellect, hellish girlfriend and an incompetent narcissist of a father. As well, I suspect his acquaintance with 'real work' is peripheral at best and largely informed by second-hand accounts.
But only in Amerika will you see the privileged scion of its chief grifter pontificating about life in the 'real world' as he bashes people 'whining 'about losing their jobs.
Junior says the people just laid off at Washington Post are all Gen Z and Millennials who grew up spoiled rich kids who never had to survive in the real world and make it on their own.
h/t Ron FilipkowskiUPDATE: My friend Gary just dropped me a note pointing out something that had escaped my notice - the bookshelf behind Donnie has no books, only pictures. I wrote back to him that it probably makes perfect sense, given that he is the son of a man who thinks he knows everything.
What a legacy!
Paging P.T Barnum:
H/t Keith Edwards
If you are considering this as a gift for someone who has everything, please make sure they are in possession of a large bucket or a big bottle of Pepto Bismol first.
As a man, should I be embarrassed to admit I didn't know this was a thing?
I guess we can all rest easier knowing that Big Parma is on the job, ridding mankind of one of its biggest scourges. However, one might want to consider the side effects before using.
One thing I know for sure, I will never ever again think of carrots in the same way.
H/t Moudakis
For those hoping my monomania would end after my hiatus, please stop reading now. The depredations of the corrupt Ford government are too much with me.And apparently also with others, as these letters suggest.
That’s rich: Ford accusing Tory of mismanaging the revenue (he) already collects. What a laugh! Of course, Bill 23 hurts cities’ finances. Why should I pay for some urban sprawl somewhere that needs roads, hydro, water, and so on?
What I would really like to know is what do Ford and his developer cronies consider “affordable, attainable homes”?
Dollars to doughnuts, it will not be affordable housing except for those than can afford over $1 million for a home.
Developers are out to make money, bottom line, and they don’t make it with “affordable” housing, and that’s the problem.
You can bet that monster homes will be built with four garages, because the only way to get into the city will be by highway.
Georgia Volker, Toronto
We all know the government of Ontario is not being run the way it was originally designed. All the ministries are made up of professional experts in their fields, so why doesn’t the Ford government use them more?
Would the Deputy Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs want to build houses on Ontario’s No. 1 farmland, which Bill 23 calls for?
Part of the ministry’s mandate is land-use planning. I would imagine that housing would be encouraged on the less fertile lands. Again, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, not to mention the conservation authorities, should be very upset with development plans for the Greenbelt.
It seems to me that the proper way to approach Bill 23 would be for Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark to bring in all the views from affected ministries, such as agriculture and environment, if they haven’t already done so.
I would expect the ministries to work together to find common ground as Minister Clark is dramatically affecting the land-use decisions (that affect) the other ministers.
Greg Prince, Toronto
Former Ajax mayor Steve Parish is right on, (in saying) development charges are not used as a slush fund by our municipalities; they are used to fund the growth-related component of new infrastructure, such as water and wastewater treatment plants, roads and firehalls.
Without development charges, local property taxes are expected to rise significantly in Ontario.
Ratepayers should not be expected to pay for growth-related infrastructure.
Surely there is a better way to build homes faster than to eliminate development charges and destroy municipal planning departments and our conservation authorities, which are essential.
Telling our municipalities that they need to find new efficiencies to make up for lost development charges is a huge pill to swallow, especially for our smaller cities and towns, not to mention that the math does not equate.
As an alternative to Bill 23, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing should be consulting with Ontario’s municipalities to see where proposed housing densities can be increased under local Official Plans.
Jim McEwen, Bowmanville, Ont.
Besides threatening clean water, biodiversity, wildlife and Grade 1 farmland crucial to food security, Bill 23 will gut protection for renters because it will no longer require developers to replace affordable units.
By taking away development charges, it puts money in the pockets of developers at the expense of municipalities which will be forced to drastically cut services or hike property taxes.
The argument that the Greenbelt needs to be encroached upon to build much needed housing is bogus; there is enough land within urban boundaries to build housing and create sustainable communities and many municipalities have already created and put forward excellent development plans ready to implement.
Esther Cieri, Toronto
People are probably getting tired of my monomania regarding the depredations of the Doug Ford government, so this will be my last post on the subject for a while. Indeed, after this, I will be taking a brief respite from blogging to recharge my batteries.
In any event, here are some letter-writers expressing strong views about the provincial government we are currently saddled with, especially their plans for urban sprawl, Greenbelt development and hefty gifts to their developer supporters, aiders and abettors.
Doug Ford’s housing bill has ‘nothing’ to guarantee more affordable housing, says report, Nov. 22
On reflection, I have to say Premier Doug Ford seems to have a gift for being able to make money for his friends on the backs of public crises.
In response to the crisis in long-term-care homes and under the guise of improving the system, he found a way to shovel hundreds of millions of dollars to the very private companies who were responsible for the majority of the deaths among the seniors in care.
Now, in response to the housing crisis, he’s found a way to divert billions of dollars to wealthy developers by eliminating development fees. In both cases, those funds come out of our pockets.
At what point will people in this province begin to understand Doug Ford’s priorities?
Robert Osborne, Toronto
The Greenbelt grab, Nov. 19
In 2018, Premier Doug Ford told his developer friends (and donors) that he would open a “big chunk” of the Greenbelt for development. He tried to walk that back with the public, but in the premier’s own words, “promises made, promises kept.”
The stench around the purchase of Greenbelt lands by Ford’s friends is starting to become overwhelming. These developer buddies also own way too much land along the proposed route of the new and unnecessary Hwy. 413.
Abandoning his plans to build on the Greenbelt would remove some of the odour from our premier. If he is to continue with this folly, at the very least the government should expropriate these lands so Ford’s friends do not obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains.
The final letter suggests a strategy that is already under discussion in some jurisdictions, In my view, it represents the best weapon against Ford's destructive and mendacious ways.
Taxpayers ‘are going to be hit’ by costs, Nov. 28
“Instead of debating Queen’s Park,” Mississauga Coun. Carolyn Parrish, “wants cities to emulate the union that pressured Ford into repealing the law that stripped education support workers of their right to strike and imposed a contract on them.”
That’s easy. In response to Bill 23, all Ontario municipalities should declare a moratorium on growth. In fact, it’s the only fiscally responsible thing to do, given they will no longer have the money required to finance the required infrastructure. Refusing to line the pockets of Premier Doug Ford’s developer cronies by handing the bill for Development Charge discounts to their citizens is the right thing to do.
And there’s a precedent: the Town of Collingwood used an Interim Control bylaw to pause development in that community because of the lack of “water and wastewater servicing capacity.”
Municipalities need to take a stand for democracy, the environment and sound planning principles. Bring on the moratoria!
Susan Watson, Guelph, Ont.
