Useless Thread

[Kin]

It's been confirmed that the cinder blocks were placed outside his fence (the photographer used them as a stool).Also, it's his neighbor who saw someone in the backyard and went over to rob fords house to tell him.

Nothing's really been confirmed in this. We have Ford's story and Dale's story both of which are quite different.

I don't see anyway to spin this positively for Toronto Star. It seems like a joke, 7:30 at night, taking pictures of the mayors back yard? Extremely excessive and unnecessary. Whether it's for they story Dale claimed or not, either let him know that you're taking pictures, or do it during the day, like a normal person would've.

At 7:30 PM the sun would still have been up. A reporter, especially one on the city hall beat, can't do everything in their job between 9-5 because those are the hours that probably require him to be at city hall. He wasn't some weirdo skulking around someone's backyard in the pitch of night, he was on public land while it was still light out. 

Why is the onus on Ford to put protecting his family second behind making sure the guy taking pictures of his backyard and *possibly* into his house is well-intentioned.

The same reason that the onus is on everyone in existence to put making sure you're actually being threatened before you react as if it were the case.

 

[Corn Flake]

Ford seems, oh I dunno, kind of a reactive sort of chap. I'm not really surprised by his actions but I have to wonder, if that wasn't a reporter and say someone who actually meant to do him harm, wouldn't he just be walking right into it?

Also, is this some kind of record for a mayor having the police called to his home?

..."nuts, nuts, nuts"...

Don't know if he is right or wrong on this latest one but yeah the optics repeated calls to the police for a variety of things both inside and outside his home are really not good at all. 

What amazes me is despite the fact this guy attracts and/or brings upon himself all kinds of noise, it somehow seems to wash off his back pretty easily.  It just seems like an average mayor or even mayoral candidate would have been booted a long time ago for the things Ford has gotten into. 

 

[Kin]

What amazes me is despite the fact this guy attracts and/or brings upon himself all kinds of noise, it somehow seems to wash off his back pretty easily.  It just seems like an average mayor or even mayoral candidate would have been booted a long time ago for the things Ford has gotten into.

Like, via a recall election? I'm not even sure what the mechanism for that would be.

Anyways, I don't know that he's that much more of an embarrassment then Mel Lastman was and he stuck around until the bitter end.

 

[maplesyrup]

Pistachios. - I love you so.

 

[Spare Change]

It's been confirmed that the cinder blocks were placed outside his fence (the photographer used them as a stool).Also, it's his neighbor who saw someone in the backyard and went over to rob fords house to tell him.

Nothing's really been confirmed in this. We have Ford's story and Dale's story both of which are quite different.

Zravko Gagro, Ford?s next door neighbour, reported seeing a man just before 8 p.m. ? about 30 minutes before sundown.

?He looked very fishy, and I went to the Mayor?s house and I told him what was going on,? Gagro said.

That's the neighbour confirming he saw someone poking around the backyard before he went to tell Ford.

I don't see anyway to spin this positively for Toronto Star. It seems like a joke, 7:30 at night, taking pictures of the mayors back yard? Extremely excessive and unnecessary. Whether it's for they story Dale claimed or not, either let him know that you're taking pictures, or do it during the day, like a normal person would've.

At 7:30 PM the sun would still have been up. A reporter, especially one on the city hall beat, can't do everything in their job between 9-5 because those are the hours that probably require him to be at city hall. He wasn't some weirdo skulking around someone's backyard in the pitch of night, he was on public land while it was still light out. 

I won't disagree with the working outside 9-5, but if you're going to the mayors house, knowing there has already been incidents not only with your paper, but incidents at his home with a comedian, does it really make sense to sneak around his backyard at 7:30pm? Also, Ford claims (hasn't been verified yet, so I'll wont state it as fact) that Dale was a big distance away from the land Ford was trying to buy.
He's trying to buy land at the side of the property, not at the back fence where the altercation happened.

Why is the onus on Ford to put protecting his family second behind making sure the guy taking pictures of his backyard and *possibly* into his house is well-intentioned.

The same reason that the onus is on everyone in existence to put making sure you're actually being threatened before you react as if it were the case.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. This isn't the first time the media has caused an issue on his property, let alone the 2nd time he's had to call police.

He's received death threats in the past,which would put any normal person on edge. While I don't think it was smart to go out to see who's snooping, he came out aggressively but never touched the guy. 

 

[TML fan]

It's pretty stupid to aggressively confront a complete stranger snooping around outside your house.

 

[Kin]

That's the neighbour confirming he saw someone poking around the backyard before he went to tell Ford.

Sure, it's been confirmed that Dale was there but you stated as a fact that those cinder blocks had been placed there and that Dale was standing on them. That's not confirmed in the story you link to or anywhere else.

I won't disagree with the working outside 9-5, but if you're going to the mayors house, knowing there has already been incidents not only with your paper, but incidents at his home with a comedian, does it really make sense to sneak around his backyard at 7:30pm? Also, Ford claims (hasn't been verified yet, so I'll wont state it as fact) that Dale was a big distance away from the land Ford was trying to buy.

Again, that presupposes that Dale was "sneaking", which is a loaded word, vs. just standing on public property and taking pictures of it. Dale's admitted that the piece of land he was on wasn't the land Ford was trying to buy but there's no dispute that Dale was, at all times, on public property.

And, no, I don't think it's Dale's responsibility to inform the Mayor as to the stories he's working on to preclude the Mayor acting like a nutbag.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. This isn't the first time the media has caused an issue on his property, let alone the 2nd time he's had to call police.

Again, nobody is making a claim that anything here happened on Ford's property. Ford came out aggressively to confront someone on public property.

 

[Corn Flake]

What amazes me is despite the fact this guy attracts and/or brings upon himself all kinds of noise, it somehow seems to wash off his back pretty easily.  It just seems like an average mayor or even mayoral candidate would have been booted a long time ago for the things Ford has gotten into.

Like, via a recall election? I'm not even sure what the mechanism for that would be.

Anyways, I don't know that he's that much more of an embarrassment then Mel Lastman was and he stuck around until the bitter end.

Like, via resignation.

Mel wasn't exactly an "average" mayor .. but his problem was more about saying stupid things than getting into all sorts of confrontations with the public, media, etc.. some physical or almost physical.

While mayors say and do all kinds of bizarre things in their role (of which Ford has more than his fair share there too), it has gotten out of hand personal with Ford with the after hours stuff, at his home, etc.  A lot he has brought on himself and the rest the media are doing a great job of obsessing over his every personal move.  The combination has caused these confrontations at his home.  This isn't the first one.  The Star seems to have made it their mission to poke the bear as much as possible because they know he is easy to set off.

 

[Manson]

Ford is a bully, plain and simple.  That's why he reacts the way he does.  I can just imagine this jerk with his football jock buddies in high school.

With all the anti-bullying campaigns going on in schools these days it absolutely disgusts me that one of these guys has risen to where he has. 

 

[Kin]

It's pretty stupid to aggressively confront a complete stranger snooping around outside your house.

The thing of it is, Dale isn't a complete stranger to the Mayor. He works the city hall beat.

 

[Kin]

While mayors say and do all kinds of bizarre things in their role (of which Ford has more than his fair share there too), it has gotten out of hand personal with Ford with the after hours stuff, at his home, etc. 

I don't think this qualifies as that. I don't think there's anything personal about a city hall reporter finding out that the mayor wants to buy a piece of public land and taking a look at that land.

 

[TML fan]

It's pretty stupid to aggressively confront a complete stranger snooping around outside your house.

The thing of it is, Dale isn't a complete stranger to the Mayor. He works the city hall beat.

Did Ford know it was him though? If thats the case, then I don't see anything wrong here. It's no secret Ford has a short fuse, so nobody should really be surprised or shocked by this (non) story. I'd be mad if someone was taking pictures of my house too.

The real issue is that the Star has turned this into a personal vendetta against Ford. This isn't the kind of thing that's going to bring him down. The job he's done as the mayor speaks for itself. There are people fighting to keep their jobs and feed their families in this city. Nobody gives a rats behind about Ford's bad temper. At least nobody should anyway...

 

[Kin]

Did Ford know it was him though?

According to Ford, yes.

If thats the case, then I don't see anything wrong here. It's no secret Ford has a short fuse, so nobody should really be surprised or shocked by this (non) story. I'd be mad if someone was taking pictures of my house too.

Well, leaving aside the fact that I'm pretty sure it'd be legal of me to stand on the sidewalk and take pictures of your house Dale, by his account, wasn't taking pictures of Ford's house. He was taking pictures of a piece of public land adjacent to the Mayor's house.

 

[Corn Flake]

While mayors say and do all kinds of bizarre things in their role (of which Ford has more than his fair share there too), it has gotten out of hand personal with Ford with the after hours stuff, at his home, etc. 

I don't think this qualifies as that. I don't think there's anything personal about a city hall reporter finding out that the mayor wants to buy a piece of public land and taking a look at that land.

Ford clearly has some frayed nerve endings right now. The media have been all over the guy, especially the Star. Seeing a reporter or whoever he thought it was at the time poking around on or near his property obviously set him off. 

I can't believe I'm taking his side on this but I think it's fair to say he has had more media digging around his business, at a personal level, than any previous mayor or politician I can recall. 

I don't defend his actions for a second but I get why he would be pissed off.

 

[TML fan]

Did Ford know it was him though?

According to Ford, yes.

If thats the case, then I don't see anything wrong here. It's no secret Ford has a short fuse, so nobody should really be surprised or shocked by this (non) story. I'd be mad if someone was taking pictures of my house too.

Well, leaving aside the fact that I'm pretty sure it'd be legal of me to stand on the sidewalk and take pictures of your house Dale, by his account, wasn't taking pictures of Ford's house. He was taking pictures of a piece of public land adjacent to the Mayor's house.

Well, if Ford knew it was him, then I'm not surprised at all by his reaction.

Did Ford know what he was taking pictures of, before he confronted him?

Finally, why is Ford legally buying a piece of land a news story worthy of special attention that a reporter has to go out at 8pm to take pictures of it?

 

[Kin]

Ford clearly has some frayed nerve endings right now. The media have been all over the guy, especially the Star. Seeing a reporter or whoever he thought it was at the time poking around on or near his property obviously set him off. 

I can't believe I'm taking his side on this but I think it's fair to say he has had more media digging around his business, at a personal level, than any previous mayor or politician I can recall. 

Like I said, I don't think a newspaper investigating any public official's attempt to purchase a piece of public land is outside the normal realm of investigative journalism or emblematic of a personal vendetta.

Clearly something set Ford off here but I'm not entirely sure it was a reasonable something or that he reacted the way a mature adult should. Definitely not the way someone who holds an important public office should.

 

[Kin]

Well, if Ford knew it was him, then I'm not surprised at all by his reaction.

Alright but it undercuts the idea, put forth by a lot of people defending Ford, that he was doing it out of concern for his or his family's safety. If I saw someone I knew near my house I wouldn't immediately think I was in Cape Fear.

Did Ford know what he was taking pictures of, before he confronted him?

Probably not. That's why the reasonable and mature response would have been "Hey Daniel, what are you doing?" as opposed to charging at him with a fist cocked.

Finally, why is Ford legally buying a piece of land a news story worthy of special attention that a reporter has to go out at 8pm to take pictures of it?

Well, for starters, it's fairly unusual for anyone, let alone the mayor, to buy public land if it's not actively for sale, hence the request(and Ford hasn't bought the land. He's just trying to). Secondly, it wasn't a story, it was investigation into whether or not it should be a story. Finally, it was 7:30 and still light out. As mentioned, if someone is working the city hall beat their investigation is going to have to be outside of normal working hours.

 

[Corn Flake]

Clearly something set Ford off here but I'm not entirely sure it was a reasonable something or that he reacted the way a mature adult should. Definitely not the way someone who holds an important public office should.

Absolutely. He behaved in this case and most other situations like a kid with anger problems.  He's way too sensitive for a guy who repeatedly steps in it and gets called on it.

 

[TML fan]

Well, if Ford knew it was him, then I'm not surprised at all by his reaction.

Alright but it undercuts the idea, put forth by a lot of people defending Ford, that he was doing it out of concern for his or his family's safety. If I saw someone I knew near my house I wouldn't immediately think I was in Cape Fear.

Did Ford know what he was taking pictures of, before he confronted him?

Probably not. That's why the reasonable and mature response would have been "Hey Daniel, what are you doing?" as opposed to charging at him with a fist cocked.

Finally, why is Ford legally buying a piece of land a news story worthy of special attention that a reporter has to go out at 8pm to take pictures of it?

Well, for starters, it's fairly unusual for anyone, let alone the mayor, to buy public land if it's not actively for sale, hence the request(and Ford hasn't bought the land. He's just trying to). Secondly, it wasn't a story, it was investigation into whether or not it should be a story. Finally, it was 7:30 and still light out. As mentioned, if someone is working the city hall beat their investigation is going to have to be outside of normal working hours.

Are you really surprised by how he reacted?

Also, if im not mistaken, the land is owned by TRCA, which is not public.

 

[bustaheims]

Absolutely. He behaved in this case and most other situations like a kid with anger problems.  He's way too sensitive for a guy who repeatedly steps in it and gets called on it.

That's part of the reason there's the perception that there's more media digging around his business - his reactions to it are much more newsworthy than any other Toronto mayor is recent history.