"Although this level of government has the greatest impact on citizens’ daily lives, it is weak, ineffectual, rudderless and dominated by special interests," writes Garth Turner.
Over the last five centuries, says Frank Lloyd Wright, what humanity has called architecture has been "phony": "It was not innate, it wasn’t organic and it didn’t have the character of nature.”
More than 40 years after the debut of this British farce on the Shaw Festival stage, "One for the Pot" returns with excellent performances that contain the elements needed to make this for-the-masses comedy a laugh riot, writes Penny-Lynn Cookson.
"As a pretentious British boss of mine said many years ago ... 'I have found that around the world, one can get on with two languages: English, and loud English,'" writes Ross Robinson.
"I provided you with an opportunity to do the right thing, which you have obviously declined to do. Please be advised that I intend to pursue this in the appropriate forum(s)," writes Derek Collins.
"THE HOUSE THAT WILL NOT STAND"
*** (out of 5)
Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre, 2 hours 30 minutes, one intermission. Ends Oct 12. Writer: Marcus Gardley....
"The heritage, history and look of Old Town are fundamental and extremely important issues to its residents. Old Town is unique and should be protected by council," writes Derek Collins.
"My message to the lord mayor and the councillors who have supported what I believe are bad development projects for our town remains the same: Reconsider or resign; respect our official plan," writes Terry Davis.
"The lord mayor and council have the duty, responsibility and opportunity to take the high road and restore confidence in our local government. They can do so by fostering transparency and accountability and, most importantly, restoring TRUST, which is, after all, the real subject at hand," writes Paul Kirkconnell.
"As a solution, I encourage the planning department to provide a roadshow or series of workshops at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Community Centre or other venues to provide such education," writes Peter Warrack.
"I suggest that the town should create a Municipal Heritage Legal Defence Fund. All those who feel that money should be spent defending heritage before the Ontario Land Tribunal could donate money to the fund," writes Ron Fritz.
"The submissions from developers may have met planning department requisites but have ignored the residents' concerns and the very reason NOTL is a preferred area to live, not just visit and buy an ice cream and leave the garbage for taxpayers to clean up," writes Jean O'Malley.
"Like the human brain, AI acquires large databases (sets for AI), which cover a broad range of subjects sequestered in different sets. The issue is: how does AI choose from among different sets of data to better focus and solve the problem or question at hand?" writes Dr. Brown.
"Perhaps the anger vocalized by those who protested this week can now be channelled into something positive in working with the town and council toward a better future. Or perhaps the breach between the two solitudes is just too wide," writes Kevin MacLean.
"I find it difficult to comprehend the 180-degree reversal of four of our councillors’ and lord mayor’s election platforms. At the time, they sounded so sincere and convincing," writes Luba Fraser.
"Rates have now dropped twice, with two more chops likely in 2024. In NOTL the market, like the weather, has been uncomfortably sticky," writes Garth Turner
"Sign up for a course and then seek to have your gratuitous grievances paraded. I simply don’t understand how somebody who occupies a property that once was a forest or an orchard or part of an Indigenous territory, can stand there proudly and cry foul," writes Peter Rusin.
"This high-energy white fur ball has always been in great shape — loved long walks, swimming and running These days, Heidi loves walking by the lake, which is where she can become like a puppy again," writes Raffaella Florio.
"I hope that when the courts finally open, the pickleball club relaxes its monopoly on the courts in prime morning times in favour of more public access," writes Mike Fox.
"Every year, growers are coming out with more and more varieties of hydrangeas," writes Joanne Young. "Just when you think that they can’t possibly come up with something different, they do."
"To paraphrase the writer and philosopher George Santayana: one can either learn from the past or be condemned to repeat it," writes Brian Marshall in comparing the decline of NOTL's commercial fishing industry to its present-day development interests.
"Connect the dots and look back; it seems Biden obvious was suffering from some form of dementia, which affected his memory, speech, thought processes and planning — made worse by the bad news piling up on his desk and pressure at home and abroad to look 'in command,'" writes Dr. William Brown.
"The nocebo effect refers to the occurrence of harmful effects from consciously or unconsciously anticipating symptoms, one example of which was the June bug incident of 1962," writes Dr. William Brown.
"How can any neurologist state unequivocally that someone is cognitively impaired without testing? This is especially true in Dr. Brown’s case because as a research scientist his results come from running tests," writes Prof. Merijean Morrissey from Brock University.
"I trust that this council will wake up, return to Earth and heed some of the excellent advice that gets reported in our weekly newspaper," writes Buddy Andres.
"One thing we learned from the Fort McMurray fire is that embers carried by strong winds can travel two to five kilometres before falling and maybe igniting," writes Tony Giordano.
