Untested Canadian drug sent to battle Ebola killer

by  • 

Work is going on furiously at private and government laboratories to find a vaccine that will be effective against Ebola. The Canadian government owns the rights to an untested vaccine which, because of the urgent nature of the problem, has been approved for use in African countries where Ebola rages. The Wall Street Journal reports that the World Health Organization (WHO) gave a green light to the use of the drug which was developed at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. The Canadian government said it would donate 800 to 1,000 doses. It has been shown to have promise in animal research. The government has licensed the rights to a U.S. company, BioProtection Systems Corp.

Slow Down signs are at 3 schools tomorrow

by  • 

Roger Cattell the hard-working McRae Drive man who has sustained the Slow Down lawn sign program following the death of Georgia Walsh has sent out an update. There will be a new supply of these signs for the many people seeking to have one at the front doors of three Leaside schools tomorrow evening (Thursday, August 14, 2014). Pick-up time is between 6:30 and 8 p.m. The schools are Rolph Road Public, Bessborough Public and Northlea Elementary and Middle School.  Each location will have 90 signs on a first-come-first-serve basis. An additional 30 signs will be available after 9 p. m. at the Leaside Pub, 180 Laird Drive. Tomorrow is the evening of the pub’s official re-opening. Donations will be gratefully accepted at that time. Mr. Cattell reports that another 200 signs are coming in ten days time. The aim of the campaign is to have as many signs as possible out for the return to school time period as possible. There is now a Facebook page which will provide further updates. You can subscribe at www.facebook.com/leasidekidsatplay. Neighborhoods in the Beach, Yonge and Eglinton and Davisville Village are starting their own traffic calming sign campaigns too.

Semi at 444 Davisville Ave. sells for $834,000

by  • 

The well-maintained semi detached home at 444 Davisville Ave. has sold this summer for $834,000. It fetched a nice $85,000 bonus on the asking price of $749,000. Put another way, that’s 111 per cent of the asking. The home is located at the corner of Davisville and McCord Rd., about midway between Cleveland St and Forman Ave. The previous selling price in 1990 was $249,000. Although it is small (about $1250 sq feet) it has three bedrooms and three bathrooms. It also has many updates like new furnace, air conditioner, roof and windows. The picture shown was taken by Google in the summer of 2013 and shows a considerable amount of pride in the garden by both owners. 

Bogart’s pal Lauren Bacall dead at age 89

by  • 

Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall, the husky-voiced actress whose marriage to Humphrey Bogart was the stuff of Hollywood legend, has died of a stroke in New York. She was 89.   Bacall was born Betty Joan Perske in 1924 and was a little-known 19-year-old fashion model when she was cast opposite Bogart in “To Have and Have Not” in 1944. Her impact was immediate, and with one memorable line — “You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.”  —  she shot to stardom. The next year she and Bogart, 25 years her senior, were married. 

Rare triplet pandas born in Chinese Zoo

by  • 

In China, Guangzhou’s Chimelong Safari Park Zoo has released photos and a video of pink and hairless triplet pandas, the only known such panda babies. The video shows one of the cubs fumbling toward its mother, Ju Xiao. The babies were born on July 29, 2014 and appear to be in good health. They are expected to survive and if so, will be the only known set of living panda triplets.

Kevin O’Leary quits CBC, heads to BNN, CTV

by  • 

Not together again
Entrepreneurial television tough guy and Rosedale denizen Kevin O’Leary has jumped ship at the CBC to go back to CTV’s Business News Network, the  National Post  reports. It leaves the CBC’s Lang and O’Leary Exchange with only Amanda Lang still in place. The two made their earliest reputation in business news at BNN and then resigned to join the CBC. In 1999 Mr. Leary sold a software firm, The Learning Company, to Mattel in a $3.8 billion stock swap. TLC did not prosper and the deal is often cited as an example of the tech boom folly of many large companies. Over the years, some snickered at the Lang and O’Leary brand because frequently the program had neither Lang nor O’Leary at their on-air desks. CBC says the program will be re-branded somehow to feature Ms. Lang. She is the daughter of Otto Lang, a Liberal party MP and federal cabinet member during the 1960s and 1970s.  Her stepfather, Donald Stovel Macdonald, was also a federal Cabinet minister.

Star cartoonist has premonition of the CNE

by  • 

Toronto Star cartoonist Theo Moudakis is looking ahead to that rite of Autumn, the Canadian National Exhibition. He conjures up some wonderful new CNE attractions. His cartoon, published today, cites the Rob Ford Truth Twister, the TTC Streetcar Sardine Squish, the GTA Ebola Scare (we like that one) and the Pan Am Games Super Thriller Zzzz. Yes. See cartoon here on Twitter

Study: we pay more on taxes than necessities

by  • 

According to the Fraser Institute, as published in the Globe and Mail on Tuesday, August 12, 2014, the average family earned $77,381 in 2013 and paid out 41.8 per cent of it in taxes while spending 36.1 per cent on necessities such as food, clothes and housing. Fraser Institute compares that to 1961, when the numbers were $5,000, 33.5 per cent and 56.5 per cent, respectively. Arresting numbers but the story is quite vague as to what is included in taxes and necessities. In 1961, Canadians paid cash out of pocket for their health care. Now we have that thing called OHIP. Is its cost considered as tax by the Fraser Institute? Now we pay separate municipal taxes to have our garbage recycled. In 1961, pooey, out the door. In so many areas, the things that vex us now seemed to be essential as we added them. Every new bureau, task force, department, privacy commissioner and ombudsman is paid for by you. Globe and Mail 

Forecast 10 mm of rain brings flood concern

by  • 

It appears we are in for something like a day-and-a-half of on and off rain. The Weather Channel indicates an accumulation of as much as 20 mm by Wednesday morning with possibly 10 mm tonight alone. Let’s hope not because we don’t need that much for the gardens and 20 mm seems likely to bring the risk of flooding on the lower DVP and Bayview extension.