The South Bayview Bulldog

Toronto budget committee met today and according to reports not one of the seven members had a good thing to say about bidding on the 2024 Olympics. Budget Chief Gary Crawford was subdued as he said he has stepped back from the idea of a $50 billion dollar dive into the Olympic black hole. Others were flatly opposed. The committee members are:

• Michelle Berardinetti
• John Campbell
• Shelley Carroll
• Gary Crawford (Chair)
• Justin J. Di Ciano
• Mike Layton
• James Pasternak

INCOMPATIBLE WITH DEMOCRACY?

The games may or may not be affordable but there is continuing evidence of just how unattractive they are the top. The San Diego Times-Union writes that the IOC itself has emerged as the main obstacle to hosting the games in open and democratic societies. It says: “The problem: the organization does not meet democratic norms of transparency. The 2022 Winter Games bidding process offers powerful proof of this. In Oslo, the capital of oil-rich Norway, citizens voted yes to the candidacy for the games during the city’s first-ever popular referendum, and the national government even offered a hefty guarantee to cover any deficits. But the IOC sabotaged the process with impossible, prima-donnish demands: cocktail parties with the Norwegian royal family (where the royals were expected to pick up the bill), open bars during the night, and official-only driving lanes in the city. The investment of billions of tax crowns in such an elite event was too difficult a sell. Oslo had to drop the bid.”  The IOC seems to have lost touch with the real world.

Someone submitted this compelling video to the CBC in British Columbia showing citizens coming upon a man trapped in his car, which had apparently rolled over. It is hard to turn away from the careful efforts made by the amateur rescuers to release the man, whose name is Wally, from his car.

Zach Menley is organizing this year’s Rotary Club of Leaside Community Corn Roast which is set for Sunday, September 20, 2015 at Trace Manes Park  This is the 22nd annual corn roast and it always a hugely popular event. The times are as usual from noon to 5 p.m. Check it out at leasiderotarycornroast.com or if you wish to volunteer or be a sponsor give Zach a call at (416) 897-4820

Toronto has ordered the owners of Trump Tower to get an immediate engineering report on the status of the communications tower at the top of the building at 325 Bay Street.  Until that is done, downtown is inconvenienced by the closure of the street between Richmond and King Streets and Adelaide Street West from Yonge Street to just west of Bay Street. The roads will remain closed until the owner of the building provides a report from a professional engineer that concludes there is no risk to the public. Roads must remain closed until this report is available and that cannot happen before tomorrow, the City said late Monday.

The Economist has simply set down the facts and given it a name. Years of U.S. government scheming to call home subsidiary businesses has been a killing experience for Canada. The Obama years have been especially brutal. Economist

Seriously. A Washington Post know-it-all has written a scolding story about why we must stop eating salads. This (unintentionally) hilarious tongue-lashing is founded on the premise that there are going to be far too many people on earth for salads. It is the quintessential rationale on how we must do with less (in this case no salads) so we can keep on making people  Tamar Haspal

Extension of downtown cycling tracks

Mark Shapiro (right) will be the next president of the Toronto Blue Jays succeeding Paul Beeston. Shapiro is currently president of the Cleveland Indians and has been with that club for more than 20 years. He is said to be a knowledgeable and stable manager. Paul Beeston is retiring at 70 after 40 years with the Jays. The Welland native was the team’s first employee and was renowned for his love of the game. He once declared that he had no other interests than baseball.

Reuters

A 14-year-old boy Scarborough boy has been shot to death at a wake in Hunts Bay, Jamaica. Hunts Bay is a suburb of Kingston. Police identified the boy as Ricardo Williams of Scarborough and said they were looking for a person of interest known as Omar James, also known as Judge, in connection with the fatal shooting. Canada issued a statement saying it is  providing services to the boy’s family in Kingston. Sources said Ricardo was spending the summer in Jamaica

We’ll keep this short. The odd Hollywood notion of the living dead was never a thing to dwell on for most people. But now, even for those who knew Zombie love, it seems this strange phenomenon is — um — dying out. Some 200 people marked the end of the Toronto Zombie Parade in a mock funeral for the event this weekend at the Royal Theatre on College Street. The walk has evidently run out of money. Those elaborate costumes and makeup must have been expensive. You can kind of see why it didn’t catch on with more people. There would have been no takers at the big banks for say the T-D Canada Trust Zombie Walk.