"The Department of National Defence doesn't make policy. Only the government does that."

Peter MacKay squashes efforts by military higher-ups keen on starting talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Let's not bother to listen to those who are actually slogging it out on the front lines. Worked for the Americans in Iraq, right?

Riverdale roundup

It's no consolation to architectural types trying to save Riverdale Hospital from the wrecking ball, but last week the Heritage Cana­da Foundation placed the semi-circular Modernist marvel on its nationwide top 10 endangered buildings list. Toronto's neglect of this masterpiece has been particularly glaring. It served up publicly owned lands to clear the way for Bridgepoint's megaproject at Broadview and Gerrard. The city's preservation board has ignored repeated calls over the years to have the building declared historically significant. How's that for throwing a curve?

Shudder to think

Like a tour of Toronto's bad neighbourhoods, cop cameras placed at Dundas and Sherbourne back in October are moving west after that roundup of dozens with no fixed address a few weeks back. Next stop: Bath­urst and Queen. “The value of CCTV cameras has been demonstrated countless times,” says Deputy Chief Kim Derry, even as the latest research from the cop-camera-crazy UK suggests they do next to nada to prevent crime. The cops are chasing their tails like overworked drug-sniffing dogs with this crime-fighting (?) technique. Hmm, dogs. Now, there's an idea.

Tag 'em and sell 'em

Two-wheeled heaps rusting out on bike posts across the city are being tagged for removal by the city. Too bad those that are salvageable are being handed over to the cops for sale at auction. We can think of a few better recipients – maybe bikeshare networks, or homeless people who now have to travel to the inner burbs to get to shelters cuz those in the core are overcrowded.

Wipeout in the square

The folks from Cottonelle (yes, the toilet paper people) were offering massages at Yonge-Dundas Square this week as part of a PR push for their latest paper products. Soft as a puppy, we're told. Cute, right down to the paw-shaped massage chairs. We'll let our minds wander and forget for the moment that Cottonelle maker Kimberly-Clark is stripping our planet of old-growth so we can get that warm, fuzzy feeling when we wipe our ass.