The South Bayview Bulldog

Canada is showing frustration with the refugee system that has permitted one of China’s most wanted men to stay here for 11 years. Foreign Minister John Baird today made it clear he has no doubt about the guilt of Lai Changxing (inset) who is accused by China of a multi-million dollar smuggling operation in the southeastern city of Xiamen. As many will know, a principal of Canadian extradition requires the government to receive assurance that the receiving country will not execute the individual. While compassionate, many criticize the idea that Canada should routinely tell other countries who they may execute. It is also said to have made Canada a haven for serious criminals. China has until recently executed those found guilty of many crimes which would not bring the death penalty in countries like the U.S. or other lands where execution is still legal. And although executions have been frequent, there has not yet been a documented case of a miscarriage of justice. Reuters.

The CBS billboard at the east end of the Sunnybrook Plaza has an intriguing customer in the form of People for Good.ca. There’s a catchy slogan too: Let’s Make Man Kind. It’s the creation of two men, Mark Sherman, Executive Chair of Media Experts, a media strategy and negotiation company and Zak Mroueh, President & Creative Director of Zulu Alpha Kilo. What’s it all mean? On the website people are urged to put aside their “hectic lives” and do something nice. Some suggestions:

Here’s something nice from nearby Moore Park. This gracious centre-hall home is being re-built. While it’s still too early to tell exactly what’s going to be done, you can bet those lovely stone lintels and arches will remain. But wait, there’s more. The best part is seen at the right. Two fine mature Gingko trees stand guard in front of this house. Much care has been taken to see that they are not damaged during the work. As expert sources say, Ginkgo trees will likely only be found in the very southernmost parts of Ontario. They are not native to Ontario, but to China. They are easily identified by their distinctive leaves.

This Sunday brings word in the Detroit Free Press that Cadillac is inching closer every day to a decision to build a big, powerful and expensive luxury sedan similar to the XTS Platinum vehicle seen last year at the Detroit Auto Show. The new luxury sedan would compete with icons like the BMW 7-series and Mercedes-Benz S-class.The car would be Cadillac’s flagship, larger, faster, more powerful and luxurious than the elegant XTS sedan that goes on sale next year.This new top-of-the-line Cadillac will not, however, be the fanciful 1,000-horsepower V16-engined Cadillac Sixteen concept car that wowed auto show audiences in 2003. The Sixteen was a vision of a $300,000-plus Rolls-Royce competitor. The new car could share some of the Sixteen’s styling and features, but prices should top out at less than half that. The flagship, whose name remains shrouded in mystery, is unlikely to go on sale before 2015. r. The project could still die, but well-informed insiders are said to expect GM’s top brass to green-light it shortly. The flagship is the next step toward Cadillac’s goal of competing in every volume segment in the global luxury-car business.

This thing sort of makes you want to swear off, even if you don’t drink. But it’s real. And on July 30, 2011, this 1939 Ghost Pontiac made of Plexiglas will be auctioned off at the RM Auction known as St John’s in Michigan. They expect to get somewhere between $275,000 and $475,000 for it. Here is what RM writes about this incredible oddity: Visitors to General Motors’ “Highways and Horizons” pavilion at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair came away awed by a vision of the future. The work of renowned designer Norman Bel Geddes, GM’s “Futurama” exhibit foretold the communities and transportation systems of 1960, many of which came to pass. Other peeks at the future included “Previews of Progress,” inventions that seemed like magic: “Yarns made of Milk! Glass that bends! The Frig-O-Therm that cooks and freezes at the same time! The Talking Flashlight transmitting speech over a light beam!” exclaimed the exhibit’s guidebook. Sharing top billing with the Futurama and Previews of Progress, however, was the “Glass’ Car – The first full-sized transparent car ever made in America.” Here.