This is what Sarah and I been hoping for for a long time. If you’re wondering why, just do a search for “Rob Ford” for a smattering of the crap that the man has loosed upon Toronto.

Unfortunately, the scrutiny and media attention are so fierce (and global), that Sarah has had to diminish her enthusiasm to a great extent (her Multiple Sclerosis takes a big hit with intense emotion). Nevertheless, we’re both keen to see this thing follow through, video evidence and all. (and how about a drug test?)

So needless to say, we discuss Rob Ford regularly, and we try to bounce ideas about his “shortcomings” off each other — the kinds of things big/mainstream media are not willing to touch.

One of the issues, now that the scandal has exploded and the shrapnel is coming back down to earth, is Ford’s refusal to deal with any of the allegations directly. Of course, we’re not the only ones to notice this, but so far nobody’s speculating about why this is the case.

I suppose that’s fine because it gives us something to ruminate over, though it certainly does make the media seem like “lame ducks”.

So the conclusion that we came to is somewhat simple and probably pretty obvious: Ford doesn’t want any additional scrutiny on the scandal because he’s afraid of all the damaging facts that may emerge — and for good reason!

When you consider this in the context of Ford scandals (the Florida drinking and driving charge, the drunken tirade at a Leafs’ game, etc.) it makes perfect sense. No matter how many times Ford tried pointing the finger at the media for unearthing these unfortunate incidents, and moreover, vehemently and aggressively denying them, it eventually turned out that he was the one lying, openly, on camera, and on record. Repeatedly, unapologetically, and overtly.

In fact, there hasn’t really been a single Ford scandal that’s been shown to be untrue — so why are we expected to believe a known public liar like Rob Ford now?

Drug dealers may not necessarily be the most reliable sources, but given Ford’s track record of nearly 100% lies and denials, plus that little thing of the clear-as-day video evidence, not to mention all those additional rumours, make their story seem a whole lot more convincing than Ford’s singular and exclusive rebuttal of “ridiculous!”

So now that the latest scandal has emerged — and let’s face it, this one’s a doozie — it’s no wonder Ford is refusing to answer any questions, launch any lawsuits, or challenge any of the assertions except to call them ridiculous. It also explains why Ford insists that it’s him who should be taken to court when he’s being libeled and misrepresented.

I mean, it’s either that, or the man is a complete idiot. I suppose that could be the case too, but such abject incompetence is yet another reason why Rob Ford is in no way fit to be mayor of what is otherwise a fantastic and thriving city.

It was over a year ago that Sarah and I first heard about Rob Ford’s cocaine habit, and there have been a series of very strong hints since that we were onto something.

But yesterday evening, John Cook of the unabashed website Gawker posted probably the best evidence yet of Ford’s drug abuse. And what’s more, he’s standing behind everything he claims.

If you haven’t read the story yet, I’ll save you the trouble: some time within the last 6 months, Ford was caught on someone’s cell phone smoking crack with a group of people, chuckling at off-colour comments, and just generally being unmayorly.

The tale behind the video is a bit twisted, but basically the guy who shot it and showed it to John Cook wants to sell it for “six figures”, which makes me think it may never see the light of day (see additional comments below). But efforts are afoot nonetheless.

The Taiwanese animated news agency NMA took a few liberties with the story (plus a few other choice Ford incidents), but they’re not far off the mark:

Of course, Ford denied the whole thing right away, taking the opportunity to flaunt his ignorance and demonize the Toronto Star while simultaneously ignoring reporters’ comments that the story actually came via Gawker. But that’s par for the course for Robbie.

A little birdie told me that behind the scenes, Ford has issued a hefty bounty on whoever’s in possession of the video. Considering that one of the people in the recording, Anthony Smith (the guy on the left in the photo above), was gunned down outside a Toronto nightclub earlier this year, that bounty probably has an “alive or dead” rider.

Rumours are also flying that Ford is proving to be too much of an embarrassment to Harper’s Criminal, erm, Conservative dynasty, so Fordo is now feeling the squeeze from both ends. I’m sure Harper isn’t upset that Ford is a law-breaking, rude, incompetent scumbag, it’s that he’s making the Conservative tyranny look bad before it can accomplish its mission.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t really give much of a toss whether or not Rob snorts coke or civet droppings, it’s the fact that he’s a mayor who is openly breaking the law left right and center (not to mention admitting to not knowing how to do his job), that’s the clincher.

It’s time for Ford to go (jail would be a good start), and to take the rest of his Conservative cronies with him.

Well, today’s his birthday, so that’s a good place to start. He turns 59 today, something to genuinely celebrate given the history of one of Toronto’s perennially peripheral figures.

Originally from England, in the early 80s Clarke suddenly found himself unemployed and decided to found the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, a group both vilified and praised for standing up for, or claiming to stand up for, the city’s poor.

Clarke doesn’t mince words or shy away from controversy, often staging demonstrations, sit-ins, and occupations to drive his message. He’s had run-ins with cops, politicians, and even the media aren’t particularly fond of him. Basically, he’s not in it for the popularity.

Although he’s not homeless, Clarke somehow manages to raise a family of two kids and a wife on a budget that verges on poverty. Prior to 1986, Clarke’s biggest investment was a vehicle — a 1980 Lada.

Clarke doesn’t like the word Marxist and instead prefers to call himself a socialist. Personally, I think the title of bellicose advocate for the poor is probably more appropriate– it’s certainly been his raison d’être.

And at the end of the day, even if you disagree with Clarke or his methods, you have to admire the man’s tenacity and willingness to stand up for justice. If the world only had more men like that in it, we’d all be leading much better lives.

Happy birthday, John.

You might be tempted to think that Ford is all about the populism (and being re-elected), what with his sticking fridge magnets on cars outside of an Etobicoke meeting and all. Or maybe he’s about SUBWAYS SUBWAYS SUBWAYS! Maybe it’s still about cutting the gravy at city hall?

Well, you’d be right to think that, but what our illustrious mayor is gunning for now is conservation of the beloved strip malls of his beloved Etobicoke; maybe even elsewhere.

To quote:

You can’t be tearing down this stuff, this is not downtown. This is Etobicoke … Personally speaking, I don’t support changing anything.

Ah yes, only Toronto is for tearing down. It’s not for such vast, beautiful, sweeping vistas as the Humbertown Shopping Centre.

No wonder Robbie doesn’t want such a marvel to be tossed aside like so much outsourced garbage:

But obviously, nothing is going to fly. So, if they want to propose something, an alternative, I’ll support the community. I support the taxpayers. What the taxpayers want, I’ll support.

Interestingly, the same meeting that Rob ran out of in order to put magnets on cars was the same one at which he made these statements.

David Price, Ford’s former high school football coach and his recently named director of operations and logistics, stood between Rob and reporters after the mayor said he would take no more questions, chuckling at the thought of Ford attending the taxpayers’ meeting:

I found it interesting to read what Peter Worthington’s final thoughts were about the paper he helped to found in his auto-obituary:

Of course, there is the Toronto Sun, which was never as good a newspaper as it could have been, but which was always a fun place to work, with good people who seemed to be forever being replaced by other good people.

The Sun was always pretty tolerant of me and, I must say, I was pretty tolerant of it from time to time. We both served each other’s purpose.

Not great, high turnover, and a necessary evil — or am I reading that wrong?

You must know me by now, I’m not exactly what you’d call fond of the Toronto Sun. But I guess it must fill some void out there because it’s managed to stay alive since 1971, and credit for that certainly must lie with Peter Worthington, the paper’s founding editor.

Worthington died from staph complications today, and although I’d probably have nothing polite to say to him (despite him occasionally being right on the money), you gotta give it to the man — he gnarled on that conservative bone until there was nothing left.

It’s been about 6 months now and Rob Ford has not yet responded to allegations that he’s taken control of City of Toronto correspondence by updating the wording at the bottom of City Hall press releases to make Toronto seem like a vigorous young suburb rather than the place you’d want to come to.

Under Miller

• Toronto is Canada’s largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. It is the economic engine of Canada and one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America. Toronto has won numerous awards for quality, innovation and efficiency in delivering public services. Toronto’s government is dedicated to prosperity, opportunity and liveability for all its residents. For information about non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can dial 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

He did manage to kill the bike lockers, so that probably left old Robbie emboldened to try yet another City Hall renovation change. This time around he wanted to make the pool in front of City Hall a wading pool. But that didn’t entirely go over.

On the bright side, Rob called yesterday’s TTC transit debate defeat (or almost) “one of the greatest days in Toronto history”. A city stuck in gridlock, a fool for a mayor, and no way to fund transit — that’s a grand day indeed!

Hi guys! it’s Sarah here trying for the 1,000 time to publish a successful  food review! lol

Now, my Double Date guests are a couple I met on FaceBook! Michael is a trusted friend for quite some time and he arrived in Toronto to visit me with his GORGEOUS wife Luana, a brazillian beauty!

Because I tell him all of the time how much I love this small place down the street called SABAI SABAI & drinks, he FINALLY  came to town! What a friend!

Patrick wondered about this strange dude that his girl talks to all the time! Always the bodyguard, Patrick and I  approached the table cautiously with me smiling like a fool! Seeing my friend Michel in person rocked my world and meeting his superstar wife was brilliant.

After introductions, we ordered. We decided on getting several tapas style sharable dishes to begin with. One Masaman curry with perfectly prepared shrimp delicious gravy, and some red peppers – $7; some sticky rice – $3.  Now, this curry dish is too spicy or my palate, however Luana practically devoured it! Michael then ordered our FAVOURITE  dish  Kal Soi with egg noodles and super tender chunks of beef, curry, veg, and for presentation sake some FLASHED FRIED noodles which gave the dish height, drama, and excitement! 8-11$ :D

To test his heat tolerance, I ordered what is usually the hottest dish on the menu, their Green Mango salad. With Thai Bird chilies and Habanero ones too secretly mixed in to the mélange, Michael claimed that it was not spicy whatsoever… We knew the truth though!

Dessert changes regularly but ranges between $5-7 and have some Thai flavor too, lemongrass frequently takes a staring roll.

In the end, we ordered half the menu many alcoholic drinks at 5-6$ each the total was still under $120  including tax and tip!

Split between 4 people we say, it is THE spot you should check the next time you are trying to make reservations.

Tip from me to you: call ahead because it gets busy! Order as much as you can! ;-)

XOXO

~ SDot.

Whenever we can afford to, Sarah and me like to try out a new place to see how well it sits with our delicate culinary sensibilities.

And, truth be told, we are actually pretty snobby about food. Now that I’m thinking about it, we’re fairly uptight about our drink too.

And for good reason, I figure — now matter where you go, you’re paying for what you get, so why not get the best deal for your money?

When it comes to food, cheapest is hardly the best, but neither is the most expensive. It’s those in-between gems that manage to put together a tasty, filling meal at a great price that we focus on — sensible satiety.

Every once in a while we manage to get a few words in with the owner, or the head chef, or whoever has just delivered a meal worth writing about. Most of the time, though, we sit back unmolested and are thus able to bring you genuine reviews.

Hence the new link at the top of the site ↑↑↑

Just not all the time, cuz that gets expensive.