Teenage runaways, a boy 16, and a girl 13, from the Ottawa area have been captured in Maine after a two-day on and off chase which saw the two steal several vehicles as well as crash a U.S. border crossing. They are in custody and okay after abandoning a truck and fleeing down a steep embankment. True love. Story
Brave Malala to receive honorary citizenship
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Malala Yousafzai will join five other courageous and historic figures this fall when Canada confers honorary citizenship on the 16-year-old Pakistani girl. Wednesday’s throne speech will include that special detail. Malala will join the distinguished ranks of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, Nelson Mandela, The Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi and The Aga Khan. “Our government will bestow honorary citizenship on Malala Yousafzai who courageously advocates for human rights and freedom against the backdrop of Taliban extremism and oppression,” a government source told the CBC. The appointment will surely be well received by proud Canadians who remember the cruel gun attack on Malala as she made her way home from school. The announcement of such decisions indicates that the matter is fully settled and Malala and her family have agreed to accept the honour. UN offers no solutions to aboriginal poverty
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The linked report from Reuters tells of a scolding from a UN “rapproteur” (story teller) about the sub-standard lives of many of Canada’s aboriginals. The issues of crime, poverty, broken families and the frequent mistreatment of woman have been the burden both of the First Nationa and successive Canadian governments of many different political stripes. Countless Canadians, men like former prime minister Paul Martin, have made it a labour of their lives to try to raise up the aboriginal population as a whole. It would appear that the very most that can be said about the UN story teller’s report is that he sees what every Canadian sees. Unlike Canadians however, he has never had to try to actually change life on the reservations. His report apparently had not a single useful suggestion, if Reuters is to be believed. No doubt many in Ottawa would be glad to see volunteers from Switzerland and Sweden offer to help out on the ground. No such luck. Reuters
Study says bacon can lower a man’s fertility
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Smack in the middle of the television campaign that curiously seems to equate bacon with sunshine, a Harvard University study suggests that men who eat it daily may damage their fertility. Telegraph
Annual Ghoulish Giveaway is this weekend
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| Charlene and her girls |
The 5th Annual Ghoulish Giveaway sponsored by Charlene Kalia will take place this Saturday, October 19, 2013, as usual at Tremblett’s Valumart on Bayview Ave. It goes from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and as many will recall it’s a great time to catch a family portrait (all together) in a Halloween setting. Including the free pictures there will ge free pumpkins, hands on animals with Positively Pets, face painting, BBQ, candy floss and more. Don’t forget to enter the pumpkin carving contest 1st prize – $200 RBC Visa Card, 2nd prize – $100 Scholar’s Choice and 3rd prize – $50 Cineplex Gift Card. See you there.
Spiking apples on fence at Moore and Lumley
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The bus stop at Moore Ave. and Lumley Ave at the top of Bennington Heights is an idyllic area where apples grow in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. A recent TTC client had some time to waste while waiting for the 88 Leaside bus to the subway station so it was spent picking up apples and spiking them on the sharp rods of the cemetery’s fence.
CIBC, parking return to South Bayview Ave.
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That construction Nightmare on South Bayview was worse than anything Freddie and his frightening fingers could have caused. But Tuesday has dawned, bright and full of parking spots on your favorite high street. Another bit of news: the CIBC is back in business. From the image above you can some see of the neater appointments like the sliding glass doors on the offices.
Ainslie calls Ford a bully for robo-call tactic
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Paul Ainslie (Ward 43) has called Mayor Ford a “bully and liar” for the mayor’s decision to “carpet bomb” the councillor’s ward with robo-calls. Ainslie defended his vote against the most recent subway plan calling it “not transparent” as to financing. It is at this point that many citizens will plead insufficient knowledge to make a decision on how to judge Mr. Ainslie for that. What most people probably can say is that the Mr. Ford’s recorded calls to thousands of Scarobrough residents seems, legal or otherwise, like cheap politics. The mayor has many ways to be heard and in this matter he was on the winning side at council. The suppertime calls to criticize Ainslie seem like overkill. And they were no doubt intrusive.
Gov’t seeks votes among phone, cable users
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The Conservatives will be looking for votes among disgruntled cell phone and cable TV users as they prepare Parliament’s agenda in the coming Parliamentary session. The next general election is in 2015. Prime Minister Harper will focus generally on consumer issues in the Speech from the Throne tomorrow marking the opening of a new legislative session in Ottawa.
Canary neighbourhood to grow on the Don Lands
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CTV is profiling the imminent construction of buildings that will accommodate athletes and others attending the Pan Am Games two years hence. The area will be called the Canary neighborhood, it is said, and will take its name from the familiar but seldom frequented Canary Restaurant at the corner of Front and Cherry Streets. The place has been closed six years now but its memory clearly lingers. To complete the story of the Canary neighbborhood it would be good to know not just about the restaurant, but by what odd and highly personal way it got this name. It seems possible however that this might never be known. CTVUS Senate leaders upbeat on debt negotiations
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Markets in North America seem set to leap upwards Tuesday in expectation of a breakthrough in the debt ceiling impasse. Fox News
Banksy an unkempt gentleman kissing bandit?
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Oh dear Banksy. You are such a wonderful mystery darling to your fans. So secretive that even a sniffing Bulldog could not know for sure if you are the unkempt gent who set up and presided over an art stall on a Manhattan street. You (if it was you) were selling what is said to be authentic Banksy counter-culture spray art for as little as $60 a canvass. No matter, it is Banksy, you mysterious unnamed graffiti icon, that fascinates us. If that was you (and Stan Schroeder of Mashable says it was) then you are an older cat who yawned and burgered-munched his way through a day on the stall, selling a total of about $460 in art work at these cut rate prices. You showed the confidence of a world-renowned artist as you stole a kiss from the attractive New Zealand lady who stopped and bought two canvasses. Then there was the young man who liked that rendering of a kid throwing a Molotov cocktail. Not our first choice frankly for warming up a room. But hey, what matters to Banksy-watchers is that you gave your customer a hearty macho hug and sent him on his way with a special memory of his street art idol (if that’s really you). YouTube