The South Bayview Bulldog

The new Create Your Taste McDonald’s at Victoria Park and St.Clair Ave. E is graced by a neat and attractive garden that would be the envy of any homeowner, much less restaurant operator. This is the first of the McDonald’s Create Your Taste “kiosk” style restaurants. There are two such large and colourful keyboards inside (as shown in the video below). But it will also be seen that the kiosks are not busy. Most people continue to use the counter. This is only a snapshot taken at about 4.30 p.m. of how things operate at this McDonald’s but so far the modest neighborhood does not seem to be flocking to Create Your Taste.

Work has begun inside the new West Coast Kids children’s clothing and general goods store at the corner of Bayview Ave and Manor Rd.  The foreman in the store said the company hopes to be open in a week. That would have business underway by October 14, 2015. Let’s hope so.

The Globe and Mail says the Competition Bureau is continuing to investigate certain pricing practices employed by Loblaws with its suppliers. In one example of such a policy, says the Globe, Loblaws is able to apply a retroactive discount, meaning it gets the goods for less. All these little devices are built into the transaction when a supplier deals with a retailer as powerful as Loblaws. The practical effect of such a retroactive discount would be that Loblaws is in a position to sell the product for less than others. As any one who shops there will know, Loblaws is very calculated about what gets on the shelf and what doesn’t. In some cases, it doesn’t seem to care much whether popular products disappear. Of course, big suppliers have their tricks too. The Globe article is written by the retailing reporter Marina Strauss. She says that some suppliers, while pleased with Loblaw’s decision, were concerned that the bureau could wind down its inquiry following notice from Loblaws that it will end the discount device. They worry the bureau might close down on its probe without formulating guidelines on the matter.

Arthur McDonald, a professor emeritus at Queen’s University in Kingston and the director of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in northern Ontario, is the a co-winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physics. Professor McDonald, 72, and Japanese scientist Takaaki Kajita, were named for the discovery of allusive neutrino oscillations and their contributions to experiments showing that neutrinos change identities. “The discovery has changed our understanding of the innermost workings of matter and can prove crucial to our view of the universe,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in announcing the award early Tuesday. McDonald called the accolade a “very daunting experience, needless to say.” Speaking to reporters by phone he said “Fortunately, I have many colleagues as well who share this prize with me.” McDonald will. split nearly a million dollars in prize money with his co-winner.  McDonald said there was a “eureka moment” when they were able to see that neutrinos were able to change from one type to another in travelling from the sun to the earth. “Neutrinos are among the fundamental particles (which) we do not know how to subdivide any further. Therefore, their position within the models of physics at the most fundamental level is very important,” he said. “When you do not know whether they have mass, it’s otherwise difficult to understand how to incorporate them into those theories that give us a more complete understanding of the world of physics at the most fundamental level. Discovering this property helps us tremendously in this regard.”

A semi truck driver is seen ploughing up a flooded portion of South Carolina Highway 15 yesterday. The video shows the semi truck submerged to half way up the doors in the community of Sumter as it is filmed from a car on the opposite side of the highway. A child in the car labels the driver “big and bad” for daring to drive through the deep water. “If he makes it, I give him all the credit in the world,” a woman’s voice says. Watch to the end it appears that he makes to a dry portion of the road.

The Government has re-thought the idea of free in-vitro fertilization for all, regardless of age. Today it was made clear that the costly science of in-vitro will only be free for women 42 and under. The National Post is taking some of the credit. It says the decision to limit coverage comes two days after it revealed the province was planning to reject expert advice and open up the service to all women, regardless of their age. But the plan for free in-vtro for all was on the table for many weeks before the minister, Eric Hoskins, intervened. Evidence is clear that there is much less chance of a successful pregnancy beyond the age of 42.