Blazing swim time raises drug speculation
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The IOC reacts to calls for a doping test for 16-ear-old Ye Shiwen, who swam faster than anyone thought possible..Ye astounded the world Saturday when she completed the final 50 metres of the 400 IM — her weaker event — in a blistering 28.93. Report by Sophie Foster.
Contract opens way for AC budget carrier
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They’ve been battling it out for 19-months and now the Air Canada pilots have lost. Their new government imposed contract seems like little solace. It includes wage increases of 2% in the first year, 5% in the second, 3% in the third, and 2% in the following two years, and is retroactive to April 2011 when the previous contract expired. Gov’t forces settlement on Air Canada pilots, opens way for AC’s new low cost carrier
Gov’t will not allow delay of school year
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The Ontario government will use legal compulsion in contract talks with the province’s teachers if school board trustees are “unwilling or unable” to negotiate accords by Aug. 31. The education minister is quoted as saying: “We will not allow the start of the school year to be delayed or interrupted,” Ms. Broten said at a news conference. “We are giving school boards the opportunity to finish the job we started.” Globe and Mail.
Chatting away, man walks off subway platform
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The camera catches what might be called a cell phone suicide attempt. This took place in a Philadelphia subway station. Fortunately, the dopey guy shown here escaped serious injury from his fall onto the tracks. He scrambled out before a train came through.
“Ranked Ballots” an election game-changer
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| Daniel Dale |
A story tonight in the Star by Daniel Dale says that there is a lot of support at City Hall for an electoral system of so-called Ranked Ballots for the municipal election of 2018 Briefly, this system permits voters to rank candidates by number, one through whatever, according to the number of candidates. In some Toronto wards there are frequently many candidates, leading to a victor who has only a plurality of the ballots. The Ranked Ballots would give voters a winner with a majority.. As explained by Dale, if there is no majority winner, the last place candidate is eliminated and his/her second place votes are distributed as marked to the remaining candidates. This continues until there is a majority winner. The South Bayview Bulldog finds it interesting to guess how this system would have effected the results of the 2010 municipal election in local wards here. In Ward 26, Councillor Parker was elected with a plurality of only 6,203 votes out of a total of 19,832. The field in Ward 26 contained seven candidates. Equally interesting is Ward 27 where Kristyn Wong-Tam was elected with a plurality of 7,527 out of 26,619 votes cast. The riding had an astounding 15 candidates. Story by Daniel Dale.
Flower Nook “re-opening soon” at 1542 Bayview
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Friends and patrons of The Flower Nook will be pleased to see the sign in the window that the business will be “re-opening soon”. It’s been a long haul for owners Jennifer and Margaret since the fire that drove them out of their store at 1542 Bayview on October 14, 2011. But now it appears they are close to opening the doors again. Work continues on the premises of their next door neighbor, Leaside Cleaners, which is where the fire originated during an electrical storm the same day.
Moore Ave. looking east in 1912
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Reader Rudy L. has sent along this fascinating picture of Moore Ave in approximately 1912 looking east north east from the bridge which ran across Mud Creek and the Belt Line Railway. The house is long gone as is the road it was on known in a 1910 map at Owen Street. This map is a treasure of Moore Park history, showing many now bygone aspects of this area. Survey map dated 1910Funeral processions dangerous for jaywalkers
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A fatal accident on Highway 27 today has replayed a little known dangers for pedestrians trying to slip across the street between stopped cars in a funeral procession. Today, as was nearly the case last year on Mt Pleasant Rd., the pedestrian is hit by a speeding police cruiser rushing to leap-frog another cruiser controlling traffic at the intersection just ahead. The police cars have to speed to get ahead of the funeral to be able to stop traffic at lights further up the road. Witnesses say the victim in this case was crossing from east to west while looking for oncoming cars from the opposite direction.. She was blind-sided by the speeding cruiser heading the same way as the funeral in the outside lane. Previous post on Mt Pleasant incident on 2011
Flirty virtual assistants in U.S. airports
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U.S. airports are being taken over by good-looking, flirty young women who aren’t real. They’re video-projected “virtual assistants” who help passengers at various posts in the airport. Above is Libby, recently installed at Newark’s Liberty Airport. As the television story from which these frames are taken said, she looks great but she’s rather shallow (about three inches) and two-faced (one on each side).
Social media “bubble” troubles analysts
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Social media companies, once hailed by their Silicon Valley boosters as world-changing businesses with limitless potential, are instead proving a sobering reminder of how investors can be seduced by Internet hype. Reuters
Queen did James Bond skit “in one take”
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Her Majesty has said via a spokesperson that she greatly enjoyed her little joke about arriving at the Olympics yesterday by parachuting out of James Bond’s helicopter. Buckingham Palace officials said the Queen did her part in the skit “in one take.” Video of the skit which had been posted on YouTube has since been taken down. One British newspaper called the Queen’s participation in the film her debut as “a Bond girl”. Billions watched worldwide as James Bond, played by actor Daniel Craig, was summoned to Buckingham Palace to accept his latest mission to take the Queen to the Olympic stadium. The two are seen leaving the palace and boarding a helicopter. It makes a picturesque flight over London to patriotic music and then, as it hovers over the stadium, stunt doubles playing the Queen and Craig, leap from the chopper (right). The short film is called Happy and Glorious.