Honest Ed's

As newly arrived immigrants, and without much coinage, my mom used to occasionally shop at Honest Ed's discount department store. True to its name, you got honest value for your dollar. Sometimes I went along with her and when I got a bit older, perhaps 10 years old, I sometimes went with my friends. You could always find some bargain toy, treat, or game.

Today, the store celebrated 62 years of serving bargains at the same location at the corner of Bathurst and Bloor by serving 15,001 free meals consisting of hot dogs, chips, drinks and pastries. The extra meal went to Police Services equine Honest Ed, named after the late store owner. This isn't the first time Honest Ed's has thanked the public for their patronage. Every Christmas, the store hands out 1,000 free turkeys for those who may otherwise not enjoy a traditional Christmas meal.

In June 2006, Ed and Anne Mirvish marked their 65th wedding anniversary with a party at the Princess of Wales Theatre. The mayor of Toronto, the chief of police and other public figures delivered congratulatory speeches, followed by a program of vocal music by some of Toronto's opera and theatre stars. In July 2006, Mirvish celebrated his 92nd birthday with a lavish party at Honest Ed's. In honor of this occasion, many items in the store were on sale for 92 cents.

(Honest) Ed Mirvish was a longtime Toronto philanthropist until he passed away in 2007. He is survived by his son David and Ed's wife Anne, who was on hand, today, to enjoy the festivities which also included activities for children, surprise gifts and more. Visitors were entertained by Caribana performances and hula dancers.

Ed has been bestowed with the following honours and awards:

• Appointed a commander of the Order of the British Empire


• Named a Freeman of the City of London in recognition of his contributions to British theatre (he subsequently drove a herd of sheep across London Bridge, a right of a Freeman of the city)


• 1978, Made a Member of the Order of Canada


• 1984, Awarded Retail Council of Canada's Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year Award


• 1987, Promoted to Officer of the Order of Canada


• 1999, Awarded Retail Council of Canada's Lifetime Achievement Award


• 2009, One block of Duncan Street in Toronto, near the Royal Alexandra Theatre and the Princess of Wales Theatre in the Entertainment District, is renamed Ed Mirvish Way

Ed won't be forgotten anytime soon. Even my mom, at 88, still harbours fond memories of how far she could stretch her shopping budget thanks to Ed.






Honest Ed's still sports the gaudy Burlesque-like marques from back in the day.





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Macabre Map

This happened two days ago about two miles from my place:

Saturday 2:12 p.m.: A blue car going from Steeles Ave. to Hwy. 410 hit a silver Mazda, causing the Mazda to cross into oncoming traffic and strike a tractor trailer. The blue car fled, leaving the driver of the Mazda to die in hospital and her passenger critically injured.

About two hours earlier, I had used that very stretch of highway.

Last year, when I was driving that same highway, I passed an accident scene that had a car that was almost vertical, nose down between two cars.

When I first saw the story of the more recent tragedy, there was a small map of this on the same page. How nice that people can click on accident sites and read the details of the horrible deaths of their neighbours, friends and family members.


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Toronto to host internation marijuana expo

I was going to go but I forgot about it until this morning, then after I got into the car to drive down, I forgot where it was being held. I hate when that happens.

Marco Renda, who is organizing the expo, said he expects well over 30,000 visitors, including many from the United States and Europe.

Marijuana will not be available at the expo, although registered medical users are welcome to bring cannabis to smoke in a marijuana vaporization room, he said. Vaporization is a process in which hot air is pushed through a chamber containing marijuana. That air is then pushed into a separate chamber, and then inhaled. "Vaporization is a way of using cannabis in a healthier mode because there's no combustion," said Renda, who is a registered grower of marijuana. He is also a registered user of the drug, which he uses to mitigate symptoms of hepatitis C.

"Less than two per cent of the licensed cannabis card holders in Canada actually buy the medicine from the government," he said, adding that many users get the drug from so-called compassion clubs. He said government investment in the growth of medical marijuana is inadequate. As of June 2009, there are just over 4,000 registered medical marijuana users in the country.

Full Story.

The evil weed is de-criminalized in Canada for small amounts for personal use, but IMO it should be made available through government outlets. It would add huge amounts of money to the public coffers and would probably reduce some of the carnage associated with alcohol abuse as I believe many drinkers would opt for pot, instead.

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Born Free - M.I.A.

Born Free - M.I.A.






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Did they have to be so obvious?

I'm sure someone was giggling when they came up with this headline.


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Israeli commandos cleared of wrongdoing

An Israeli military investigation into the raid on a flotilla of Gaza-bound aid ships, has concluded that "the use of live fire" that killed nine activists "was justified".

The investigation, conducted by an army committee, also found that mistakes were made "at quite a senior level" but did not recommend punishments for any of the officers involved in the May 31 raid.

The team determined that the Navy Commando soldiers operated properly, with professionalism, bravery and resourcefulness and that the commanders exhibited correct decision making," the Israeli army said in a statement on Monday.

Full Story.

In other news, the AIG probe into the company's massive losses caused by the creation of worthless mortgage-based assets which required huge infusions of taxpayer money to bail out the company, has found that the executives' actions were justified.

The study, undertaken by the AIG board of directors, also found that mistakes were made "at quite a senior level" but did not recommend punishments for any of the principles involved in the scheme.

The board determined that the executives operated properly, with professionalism, creativity and resourcefulness and that they exhibited "correct decision making".

The Vatican announced today that after examining the evidence regarding twenty-three priests accused of sexually molesting 179 young boys, it was clear the clerics had carried out their duties with honour and selflessness and have all been invited to Rome for "a major shindig" which the Pontiff himself said would "rock this town".


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Just for fun

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Laughter is good for the soul

Enjoy...





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Live women to fill dead air

Notice the lovely symmetry of her...eyes...the contrast between her soft, warm hands, and the hard, cold steel of the socket wrench she grasps almost as a pool cue--almost as if she knows how to use it. Admire the lovely lines of the classic beauty--the young lady has nice lines, too, but unfortunately, she appears to get out less frequently than the machine behind her. She could use a little colour in her cheeks (all of them)--perhaps candy apple red?








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Taking a (big) bite out of crime

I just learned of a new development in community policing. Not so long ago, East Orange, New Jersey had a crime rate that was 14 times the national average. It was clear hiring more police or generally doing more of what they were doing was not going to yield the results needed to make an appreciable difference. They needed to do something revolutionary, and something revolutionary, the did. And in so doing, they reduced crime in the area by a whopping 76%!

But in this once crime-ridden town — at one time, the murder rate was more than four times the national average — police are using high-tech equipment to keep a closer eye on city streets. The new alarm-based automated dispatch system, or ABAD for short, has reduced police response time to mere seconds.

A few months ago, the unit integrated ABAD with gunshot detection, real-time response, and security camera systems as part of one all-encompassing intelligent system that can report crime as it happens.

In 2007, the police department collaborated with Digisensory Technologies for the smart sensors inside them, which can alert officers in the crime division if there’s a gathering of people. The police then inspect the footage to determine if it’s just a group of kids — or a group of kids looking for trouble.

But where it really shines is looking into the future. “The system will predict when the next likely event will occur at these locations during these particular times during this particular day.

If you see a sketchy red car outside your house, you could log on to find photographic stills of your street. You can then tell the surveillance camera to turn toward that location to get a better look, and request that police check out the situation from afar. Police can then respond to the request using a message board, telling you if the owner of the car was previously arrested for drug dealing — or just buying groceries, thanks to a license plate recognition system.

Full Story.





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