Are the 'Ndrangheta Responsible for Never-Ending Roadwork in Toronto?

http://www.zooportraits.com/

Update: The werewolf article is up now. You can read it here.

My werewolf list was accepted by Listverse, but it isn't up yet, so no link for now. In the meantime I just handed in an article about the 'Ndrangheta. For those of you who don't know (which is how they like it), the 'Ndrangheta are the world's most powerful mafia.

The most well-known mafia is La Cosa Nostra—these are the guys The Godfather is based off of. But the 'Ndrangheta have overtaken them. Rumor has it the 'Ndrangheta make over 60 billion a year.

The 'Ndrangheta have infested Toronto, Canada. And I have a conspiracy theory that they're behind the never-ending, twelve months a year, roadwork. Seriously, drive down any street in Toronto and you will encounter roadwork. I get that roads need to be maintained, but I've never seen anything like this.

Anyway, wherever the 'Ndrangheta go, they make themselves comfortable by corrupting parts of the local government. They also make a lot of money through legitimate business practices, most of all construction and public works. Also, we know some Toronto officials are prone to corruption, like former crack mayor Rob Ford ('Ndrangheta make most of their money selling cocaine, by the way).

So my theory is: what if they 'Ndrangheta are pressuring local officials to push ahead with unnecessary roadwork to make money off the construction contracts? I can't figure out any other reason why perfectly good roads are being torn up and rebuilt. ALL THE TIME.

New Top Ten List + Upcoming List Preview

My new top ten list about ancient China was posted on Listverse earlier today. Head on over and check it out.

My upcoming list is 10 Epic Tales from the Golden Age of Pirates. Again, if this article doesn't appear on Listverse I'll post it on the blog. In the meantime, since I'm in a pirate mood, let's listen to some sea shanties!

Writing Music + Top 10 List On The Way

I've just completed a new top ten list:

10 Fateful Events in the Fall of the Han Dynasty


I've submitted it to Listverse. They don't normally accept straight-up history lists, but I've gotten them to break that rule before with my article on the Aztecs. We'll see how it goes. Any list that isn't taken by Listverse will be posted on this blog. So either way you'll get to see it.

I mainly write these lists to organize my research for writing novels. I created my list on the Aztecs when I was researching a magical relic that appears in Dark Z Force. The Han Dynasty list may factor into another book, or it might make it into the revisions I'm putting Dark Z Force through. Not sure yet.

In the meantime I'd like to share the writing music I listened to while finishing up the Han list. This song has no lyrics and a steady, driving tempo. It fades into the background when you're focused, but rises to challenge you when you're mind starts to wander.

This upload loops for seventeen minutes. The three minute version fades out before it repeats, which can interrupt concentration.