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Toronto Icestorm of 2013

PinkLucy said:
When they run out, they run out. So yes, if a welfare recipient is at the back of the line, he/she loses out.

Sure need is subjective to a certain degree, but there are definitely those with greater need, so yeah, I totally blame the government for this. Trusting in people's good nature doesn't generally work. They could have distributed the gift cards differently, but that would have taken more time to organize, and I expect they just wanted to get them out there, but it really sucks for people to whom $100 is a LOT of money.
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Yea. I just don't like how the media has turned these "evil doers" into public enemy number one. I sure as hell wouldn't want my face plastered all over the news because I thought I was eligible for a GC.
 
TheKingEast said:
I agree, but from what I heard they made it seem as though anyone was eligible for it. They could have easily set some requirements which would have weeded out a lot of people.
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Yea. I just don't like how the media has turned these "evil doers" into public enemy number one. I sure as hell wouldn't want my face plastered all over the news because I thought I was eligible for a GC.
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Without a means check, any ancillary requirements (which aren't really going to be effective) will probably be bypassed - people are remarkably smart about this kind of thing. I think when a benefit is scarce, there is (and should be) a public expectation that it goes to individual who really needs it. Eligibility and should are two very different things.

AoD
 
Jonny5 said:
I heard loud bangs on Christmas Eve and then read the story on frost quakes the following day, but I didn't put the two together. It sounded very much like the bang was coming from in my condo building, not from outside. I thought someone was banging on the walls, or maybe Santa was on the roof. Then the same thing happened last night, and this morning I see the frost quake story again, so I have to assume that's what it was.

It puzzles me how I don't recall ever hearing this phenomenon before or anything about it, nor anyone else I know. It must require some very precise conditions to develop otherwise I would expect it to be widely known in local folk lore. I also really don't grasp the mechanics of how it can be so loud. I understand that ice is expanding, pressure builds, and the bang is the ground shifting to release the pressure; but how much is required to have so many people here it? Or is it a rather localised sound but happening all over the place at once?

EDIT: The ventilation systems in my building can make it a bit tricky to pin down the source of a sound, however, reading comments on the news sites, I see many other people expressing the same disbelief that the sound is coming from the outside. It's a very distinct noise I can only compare to someone banging on a wall or door.
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The noise does sound like someone banging on the wall or in my case something falling on the roof. I was in my kitchen on my laptop Christmas eve when i heard the first boom. The first thing i did was run up stairs and see if my desk or dresser somehow fell over? Saw nothing so i went outside to check the roof, also saw nothing. The guy across the street from me also came out looking up at his roof.

My parents in Waterloo also heard it at the exact same time. Very strange.
 
gabe:

Yup, though I am not sure if it is a frost quake or something localized in the house - apparently temperature differentials can also create banging and popping noises.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
gabe:

Yup, though I am not sure if it is a frost quake or something localized in the house - apparently temperature differentials can also create banging and popping noises.

AoD
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Wood does expand and pop but people's houses wouldn't pop and crack simultaneously. People are hearing these loud booms at the same times. My old house is always letting out cracks and pops. This sound was something different. it actually shook my house like an earth quake.

Cryoseisms ( frost quakes) are very rare natural phenomenons

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryoseism
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Without a means check, any ancillary requirements (which aren't really going to be effective) will probably be bypassed - people are remarkably smart about this kind of thing. I think when a benefit is scarce, there is (and should be) a public expectation that it goes to individual who really needs it. Eligibility and should are two very different things.

AoD
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At least they should give some guidelines for who is eligible. For example, an announcement that:
Food Cards are for individuals making less than X and families making less than Y will be given out. Those picking up the cards will have to sign a statement attesting to this.
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maybe a BMW owner with huge car payments is actually in a more difficult immediate situation than someone on welfare who has family assistance, but at least this way it would have been reasonably fair and known to the public.

As it was, the entire program was an embarrassment and Ford comes off looking the best throughout the ice storm. I keep wondering how people support Ford, but when there are so many other bozos in public office, the question begins to answer itself.
 
ChesterCopperpot said:
Last two places I rented required proof of renters insurance
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Same as where I live, however when a lease is renewed going into year two and beyond (or continuing month-to-month, without a lease) the landlord doesn't request any evidence of insurance coverage.
 
BurlOak said:
At least they should give some guidelines for who is eligible. For example, an announcement that: Food Cards are for individuals making less than X and families making less than Y will be given out. Those picking up the cards will have to sign a statement attesting to this.
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Signing a statement without the means to check for the factual basis is patently pointless. It would cost more to administer a system to go through the signatures and verify the veracity of the claim than the amount given out. The problem is with the people - not the government trying to help out.

As it was, the entire program was an embarrassment and Ford comes off looking the best throughout the ice storm. I keep wondering how people support Ford, but when there are so many other bozos in public office, the question begins to answer itself.
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Yeah, just what did he do, exactly? His performance (in the artistic sense of the word) is about as meaningful as his last rainstorm episode - patently useless.

AoD
 
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Hopefully nothing bad goes down with this next storm on its way. Yonge/Bloor subway had to shut down today because of the water main break. Messed up things a bit downtown. We'll see.
 
While surfing the net today, went to my furnace maintenance dealer website, and discovered that they do residential standby generators. They range from 6 Kw to 60 Kw. Maybe I'll call them up in August, after the A/C rush, to get me an estimate for my house.
 
W. K. Lis said:
While surfing the net today, went to my furnace maintenance dealer website, and discovered that they do residential standby generators. They range from 6 Kw to 60 Kw. Maybe I'll call them up in August, after the A/C rush, to get me an estimate for my house.
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Where would you put a generator for a typical Toronto house - unless your one of the few with a standalone garage. Or are they designed to be all-season, and you just run them outside in the storm?

Looks like the ice storm of 2014 may give us a miss for much of the precipitation. 5:10 pm today for King City:
 
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