Sara a happy toy seller at Loblaws on Moore

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Here’s Sara from the Canadian Property Stars charity arm Charity Fundraising Events (CFE). The busy Sara was selling toys at Loblaws at Bayview and Moore Aves.  She seemed to be doing pretty well.  The Property Stars firm is, as the name hints, a property maintenance company. CFE says it donates 20% of net income from all product sales (in this case it was toys) to CPS chosen registered charities and 100% of all toys purchased and placed by customers in the on-site receptacles which are then donated to established holiday toy-collection charities. CPS has quite a pleasant story. One of their reasons for doing charity work is fun, they say. And also, as their website notes, the seasonal property maintenance industry is super-competitive and involves long, tiring days filled with hard labour, equipment issues and constant logistical challenges. Charity in the off season is an exciting way, they say, for staff to keep working without having to endure “the same wear-and-tear on their bodies that they go through each spring and summer.” Ouch.

Abolish the Senate says the Finance Minister

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Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is a breath of fresh air as he tells the CBC he is an out-and-out advocate of abolishing the senate. Always has been. The unelected upper chamber is an anachronism says the MP from Whitby-Oshawa. Yep! CBC

Eglinton P.S. album is enormous local fun

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All those tens of thousands of people whose lives are intertwined with Eglinton Public School will find the excellent album prepared by The Friends of Eglinton to be enormous fun. It is located on Facebook and is publicly available at the link below. At the right is a tiny portion of this charming collection of pictures of Eglinton P.S. as it celebrates its 100th year. These are kids from the Grade 3 and 4 split class of David Moscoe in 1962. The official centennial day was Saturday and we can only hope that the rain didn’t dampen spirits. In the photo collection are copies of a good conduct certificate given to worthy pupils. There are “progress reports” and nostalgic pictures of the original school which was demolished in 1996. The “last day of the old school” collection catches the spirit of fun at this venerable place of education at Eglinton and Mt. Pleasant. Here’s the link

“No Woman, No Drive” video tops 3 million views

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Saudi musician and singer Hisham Fageeh has become a global Internet sensation after his tongue-in-cheek version of a Bob Marley classic goes viral. He offers a satirical take on the Saudi ban on female driving, poking fun at one cleric’s assertion it could harm reproductive organs. Speaking to Euronews he remained coy about social activism, though his Twitter account cites the haystack for the Women2Drive campaign. “If I’m being ambitious, I’d like it to get to people’s pages, newspaper pages and onto their television sets,” he admits continuing, “and for people to think that Arabs and Saudis can joke and they can laugh. I think that’s what is really important to us – that people abroad understand that.” One of his well-known comedy cohorts was cited as quoting Oscar Wilde when he wrote: “If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.” The group’s YouTube channel garners around 1 million hits a day. Saudi Arabia has one of the highest per-capita use of YouTube in the world, meaning viral videos could be an effective tool for social change, On Saturday, several women risked arrest for defying a ban on driving and posting videos online. YouTube

Toyota, GM and VW are the three top automakers

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CTV

Google doodle recalls movie dresser Edith Head

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Google has fashion recollections on its intro page today and a little caricature of the legendary Edith Head. She designed clothes for Hollywood leading ladies for decades. Since in fashion, there is really nothing new, this may be a fun article for all ages. Telegraph 

Disservice to keep poisoning details secret

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It seems like a disservice to all Ontarians for the Health Department to throw a cloak of secrecy over the deaths of two persons who drank liquid hand sanitizer. We are not suggesting that the private lives of the deceased be made public, but some information would help parents to better address their fears for their children. It is a curious story. The labels on Bodico brand of sanitizer clearly say that the contents should not be ingested. But there is an error apparently in which the active ingredient, methanol, was mislabelled as ethyl alcohol. Ethyl alcohol is made from grain and is usually potable. It is a serious error. But it makes the point that those who drank this sanitizer knew enough about alcohol to believe they might actually consume hand sanitizer and survive. Who would do this?  It is a fair and important question. Ontario residents have a right to know the general circumstances.  

Here’s how to frighten and shock your neighbours

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If you catch them when they aren’t thinking about Halloween, you can give your neighbors a good shock when they see your place is for sale because it’s been condemned. That’s what the high-spirited (spirited, get it?) family on Hudson Drive in Moore Park did when they wrapped the front drive and walkway of their lovely ravine mansion in yellow tape, cobwebs and this sign announcing the end of decent property values nearby. But, of course, it is Halloween. It’s all good. 

Forest Hill loses Heritage Kitchens to Thornhill

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Heritage Kitchens, the custom manufacturer of many installations across Toronto, will move from its location at 369 Eglinton Ave West where it has been for about 20 years. The company says that all things change and it now needs to place its order centre and showroom next to the fabricating facility at 2600 John Street, Markham. 

Ford “salivating” to defend his record in 2014

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Mayor Rob Ford says he is “absolutely salivating” to defend his record in the city’s general election next November. He was speaking on his weekly show on NewsTalk 1010 in response to news that Karent Stintz (Ward 16) has declared for the chief magistrate’s job.  Post below. 

Legendary Lou Reed’s timeless music will live on

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Telegraph 

Tories pondering giving break to “Senate 3”

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Senators in the Conservative majority are pondering whether to amend the motion to suspend senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau, to maybe give them a break. Government Leader in the Senate Claude Carignan says the caucus could craft new motions tomorrow (Monday) as long as there is consensus among party members. The announcement has infuriated  Senate Opposition Leader James Cowan. “Instead of having this thing dealt with in the Senate, where Sen. Carignan has said it should be done . . . now it’s going to be settled in the Conservative caucus in private,” Cowan complained.