The South Bayview Bulldog

A man was rescued Monday morning from a malfunctioning mechanical chair on the face of the Imperial Plaza condominium at 111 St. Clair Ave. West at Oriole Rd. This graphic pictures was tweeted by Trevor Heywood @hey_trev. Traffic was stopped for about an hour but has now resumed.

It has been announced that for security reasons Canada will permit only women, children and families to emigrate here from Syria. No single men will be accepted. It is not entirely clear just how much additional investigation will done among those men who who are nominally eligible for entry.  CBC

John Masterson of the 132^nd Toronto Scouts has written to remind everyone that  the annual Christmas Tree Sale is two weeks away and you can reserve an extra tall tree by emailing John.  This year the Scouts will have a limited supply of 9-foot Fraser Fir trees available at $ 100 (HST & delivery included). The 132^nd.Toronto Scout Group is at Leaside Presbyterian Church 670 Eglinton Avenue East at Hanna Road. You can write to John at johnmasterson@rogers.com

Drug mammoth Pfizer is poised to acquire Botox maker Allergan Plc for more than $150 billion, says Reuters. It is a deal that will create the world’s biggest drug maker, according to people familiar with the matter. And it follows the pattern of the expansive Pfizer to buy seemingly every viable drug firm around. Last year Pfizer gave up on a plan to buy the huge British firm Astrazenca when it was told it would not be permitted to elude U.S taxes by doing so.

Katie Mowbray

Leaside goalkeeper Katie Mowbray kicked out 23 of 26 shots on goal Sunday afternoon at Leaside Arena in a losing 3-1 struggle against a strong Stoney Creek Sabres team. The opposing goalie, Serena D’Angelo, faced nine shots in total, letting but one past her. The game was a festival of penalties  (six for the Wildcats and five for the Sabres). Early in the third, Leaside was hanging on with three players to five. Remarkably, there was no power play scoring.  The Wildcats won their 13th game of the PWHL season Saturday in Mississauga beating the Chiefs 3 to 0. Sunday’s boxscore

There has been a fairly lively debate about the nature of Islam in general between University Rosedale MP Chrystia Freeland and television personality Bill Maher. CBC

At times of crisis, it is a parent’s duty to keep children safe and make them feel safe. We all know this and parental skill at such important reassurance of kids will be pretty high right across Toronto neighborhoods. Licensed psychotherapist Tom Kersting was offering advice to Andrea Grymes in New York today. He made the distinction between younger kids who probably aren’t too aware of the horror in Paris and elsewhere. Older kids may pick up on television reports and ask about why such things happen. The essential duty is to ensure children, both young and teens, that they are safe, that their home is safe and that Canada is safe. Happily all this is entirely true. Kersting especially suggests parents try to avoid projecting fear while being realistic. Keep images and sounds of terrorism to a minimum in the home. Endless 24-hour repetition of events both abroad and at home is enough to depress adults unnecessarily, much less children.

Many utility agencies are on the scene as a sinkhole has opened up at Yonge near Wood-Grenville Sts causing concern for services. There is no word on just how long this will take. Pictures on Twitter  are only distance shots.

Unknown millions of people have crossed over and travelled under the Dunn and Dowling Ave. bridges in Parkdale in their 114 year history. Now they are coming down and some people are saying whatever will we do without them. The plan is to put temporary structures there in the New Year and ultimately to replace the worn out overpasses. But the date for that is murky. Today the demolition seen above is causing slowdowns both on the Gardiner Expressway and the GO line. Previous 

Bell Media will require its CTV television anchors in Ottawa to record newscasts for playback on the Bell-owned CFRA radio station. CTV and CFRA occupy the same building.  The decision is the first such known broadcasting curiosity in Canada.  It is being called a kick in the teeth for the radio news staff, who will still have to write the news. The Ottawa Sun runs the story Saturday. The practice will start Monday and following the retirement announced in recent days of long-time radio anchor Steve Madely. Ottawa Sun