Ding Jinhao, a teenager from China, was shamed internationally on social media after he carved his name into the face of a 3,500-year-old temple relic he recently visited as a tourist in Egypt. Ding's parents were forced to contact local media and apologize for their son, admitting that they hadn't properly educated their child and pleading for society to give him a chance. (Kongyouwuyi/Newspoint)
The Little Mermaid statue, an icon of Copenhagen, Denmark, has been vandalized numerous times. The statue's head and arm have been sawed off, it's been blasted off the rock, possibly with dynamite, and has been covered in various shades of paint. Each time, the statue has been restored. (Fotolia)
Jim Morrison's grave at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris is splashed with graffiti by admirers. A statue of the late singer was placed by the grave, but stolen, as was a flat shield Paris officials put over the grave. (Postmedia Network)
Visitors to England's Stonehenge are kept at bay by ropes. Tourists were once able to approach the stones, but after many began chipping away bits of the rock for souvenirs, protective ropes were erected around Stonehenge. (iStock Photo)
Unknown vandals have previously splashed an oily substance over names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 2007. This covered or corroded the names of many people who died in the war. (Fotolia)
Marko Kulju, a Finnish tourist, tore the earlobe off one of the Moai statues, carved of volcanic rock, on Easter Island in March 2008. The damage is seen in the above photo. Kulju faces seven years in prison and a fine of nearly $20,000. (Postmedia Network)
Tourists have taken to writing soccer chants and the names of their love interests on the walls of Peru's famed Sacsayhuaman fortress. Sacsayhuaman was built in the 1100s. (Wikipedia/Håkan Svensson)
Michelangelo's "Pieta" is now behind bullet-proof acrylic glass after a mentally disturbed geologist attacked the Virgin with a hammer and shouted "I Am Jesus" in 1972. In 1991, a vandal attacked Michelangelo's "David" statue, damaging its toes with a hammer before being restrained. (Wikipedia/Stanislav Traykov)
In 2007, five people, thought to be intoxicated, broke into Paris' Musee D'Orsay and punched holes through Claude Monet's "Le Pont d'Argenteuil" painting.
Tourists behaving badly is nothing new, as these famous incidents of vandalism prove. Some of the world's best known art and landmarks have all suffered vandalism at the hands of tourists over the years. After years of various species of trees being cut down on New Zealand's One Tree Hill, a lone pine tree stood next to the obelisk. In 2000, it too was cut down, making One Tree Hill, "No Tree Hill." The government has yet to replant any trees on the hill due to uncertainty over the species to be planted. (Wikipedia)
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- Tourist John Gleason crept through the grass, four small children close behind, inching toward a bull elk with antlers like small trees at the edge of a meadow in Yellowstone National Park.
"They're going to give me a heart attack," said Gleason's mother-in-law, Barbara Henry, as the group came within about a dozen yards of the massive animal.
The elk's ears then pricked up, and it eyed the children and Washington state man before leaping up a hillside. Other tourists -- likewise ignoring rules to keep 25 yards from wildlife -- picked up the pursuit, snapping pictures as they pressed forward and forced the animal into headlong retreat.
Record visitor numbers at America's first national park have transformed its annual summer rush into a sometimes dangerous frenzy, with selfie-taking tourists routinely breaking park rules and getting too close to Yellowstone's storied elk herds, grizzly bears, wolves and bison.
Law enforcement records obtained by The Associated Press suggest such problems are on the rise at the park, offering a stark illustration of the pressures facing some of America's most treasured lands as the National Park Service marks its 100th anniversary.
From Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains to the Grand Canyon of Arizona, major parks are grappling with illegal camping, vandalism, theft of resources, wildlife harassment and other visitor misbehaviour, according to the records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
In July alone, law enforcement rangers handled more than 11,000 incidents at the 10 most visited national parks.
In Yellowstone, rangers are recording more wildlife violations, more people treading on sensitive thermal areas and more camping in off-limit areas. The rule-breaking puts visitors in harm's way and can damage resources and displace wildlife, officials said.
Often the incidents go unaddressed, such as when Gleason and the children approached the bull elk with no park personnel around. Gleason said he was "maybe" too close but felt comfortable in the situation as an experienced hunter who's spent lots of time outdoors.
These transgressions add to rangers' growing workload that includes traffic violations, searches for missing hikers and pets running off-leash in parks intended to be refuges of untrammeled nature
"It's more like going to a carnival . If you look at the cumulative impacts, the trends are not good," said Susan Clark, a Yale University professor of wildlife ecology who has been conducting research in the Yellowstone area for 48 years. "The basic question is, 'What is the appropriate relationship with humans and nature?' We as a society have not been clear about what that ought to be, and so it's really, really messy and nasty."
Recent events at Yellowstone grabbed national headlines
-- A Canadian tourist who put a bison calf in his SUV hoping to save it, ending with wildlife workers euthanizing the animal when they could not reunite it with its herd.
-- Three visitors from Asia cited on separate occasions for illegally collecting water from the park's thermal features.
-- A Washington state man killed after leaving a designated boardwalk and falling into a near-boiling hot spring.
The flouting of park rules stems from disbelief among visitors that they will get hurt, said Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk. "I can't tell you how many times I have to talk to people and say, 'Step back. There's a dangerous animal,' and they look at me like I have three heads," he said.
Inconsistent record keeping, including a recent switch to a new criminal offences reporting system, makes it difficult to identify trends that apply uniformly across the major parks.
But the records reviewed by the AP reveal the scope of visitor misbehaviour is huge. In Yellowstone, administrators and outside observers including Clark say the park's problems have become more acute. That threatens its mission to manage its lands and wildlife "unimpaired" for future generations.
Beyond incidents that lead to citations are many more that result in warnings. More than 52,000 warnings were issued in 2015, up almost 20% from the year before.
Washington state resident Lisa Morrow's son was among the children Gleason led toward the elk. Despite safety advisories -- and numerous examples of visitors getting gored by bison, mauled by bears and chased by elk -- Morrow declared herself unafraid of the park's wildlife. She said she was eager to see a grizzly up close.
"I want to see one right there," Morrow said, pointing to a spot just feet away. "I'd throw it a cookie."
The top 10 parks by visitation collectively hosted almost 44 million people last year, according to National Park Service figures. That's a 26% increase from a decade earlier, or more than 9.1 million new visitors combined at Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite and the other national parks on the list.
Yellowstone boasts the most large, dangerous carnivores among those parks, but each has its risks. In Rocky Mountain National Park, it's elk that become more aggressive during mating season. In Yosemite, it's towering waterfalls where visitors insist on swimming near the edge. In the Grand Canyon, it's squirrels habituated to humans and sometimes quick to bite an outstretched hand.
Wenk said the rise in popularity of social media complicates keeping visitors safe.
"You take a picture of yourself standing 10 feet in front of a bison, and all of a sudden a few hundred people see it, and it's reposted -- at the same time we're telling everybody wildlife is dangerous," Wenk said. "They get incongruous messages and then it happens. They get too close, and the bison charges."

Tourists shamed for bad behaviour in national parks


Tourist John Gleason crept through the grass, four small children close behind, inching toward a bull elk with antlers like small trees at the edge of a meadow in Yellowstone National Park.


Dear Amy: My mom is nearly 90 and is in great health.
She is living with my husband and me -- and we all get along well in our small home.
My older sister had been taking care of her but called nearly two years ago and proclaimed that Mom had to move in with us, as she could take NO responsibility for her because she had her own life to live.
Big Sis moved across the country to be with a man she met online -- one in a long line of "soul mates."
She now hates this man, but is scared to leave due to ruined credit, no job and nowhere to go.
She calls Mom daily with tales of how awful her partner is, but how she can't leave.
All of her friends and her counselor have advised her on ways to exit, but she seems to prefer to stay and whine about her life. I understand it is scary to start over.
These calls are very stressful for Mom; and when she is stressed I am stressed, as stress for her often leads to illness.
Should ask Sis not to call, or if she does call, to just pretend everything is fine? Mom's radar regarding her children is legendary and she would then worry about why Sis is no longer talking about her miserable life.
Is there a middle ground? -- Trickle Down Stress
Dear Trickle Down: You cannot ask your sister not to call your mother.
Instead, you should do two things: Ask your sister to be aware of the impact her daily narration has on your mother. Tell her, "She worries excessively about you and ruminates on your situation. This is affecting her health. Can you be more mindful of this when you talk to her?" She needn't pretend that her life is perfect, but she could change her tone if she wanted to.
Your second focus should be on helping your mother to manage her own stress. Continue to reassure her that your sister has options, and that she is just blowing off steam. Simple meditation techniques could help both of you: Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and visualize releasing these stressors as little balloons or butterflies that flutter skyward.
Dear Amy: My husband and I have been friends with two other couples since we were all young parents.
Twenty years later, we are in our early 50s and our children are busy tackling college and careers. The problem is that one couple seems to be aging less gracefully than the others.
They have become increasingly judgmental, self-righteous and hypocritically condescending. They are like a bad caricature of spiteful old curmudgeons, constantly finding fault. Our adult children are regular targets of their barbed comments.
We enjoy getting together with the other couple. But with such a long history, meeting without the grumpy couple (even if they have been invited and declined to attend) leads to hurt feelings, and they then express even greater levels of bitterness.
Is there a way to address this without exacerbating their behavior? I am afraid that bringing it up will just add fuel to their negative feelings. I can't see moving into the next decade, if being with them means constantly feeling judged. -- Flawed Friendship
Dear Flawed: Why do these people hold so much power over you, even to the extent that you worry about their hurt feelings when they themselves have declined an invitation?
They are responsible for their own feelings. They are responsible for their own behavior.
Some friendships simply run their course. It sounds like you need to break up with these people.
Breakups are hard. Feelings do get hurt. If you have tried mightily to have a positive friendship and these people can't play, then you should stop spending time with them. The other couple might choose to maintain the friendship, but you will feel liberated if you exit, respectfully and deliberately. You can say to them, "We're at different points in our lives now, and we can't seem to find a way to spend time with you that is positive and enjoyable."
Dear Amy: "Perplexed" described a familiar dynamic for people who write to you. Her (adult) daughter was being a pill, but Perplexed didn't know what to say to her!
Why are people so afraid of their children? -- Unafraid
Dear Unafraid: It can be very hard to offer criticism to people you love. And yet, when you really love someone, that is exactly what you have to do.

Elderly mother is stressed by Sis' calls


Dear Amy: My mom is nearly 90 and is in great health.


MAYFIELD, Ky. — A McDonald’s franchisee says he’s been unable to substantiate claims by two customers who reported finding worms in food at the fast-food chain’s restaurants in two Kentucky communities.
Michael Love, owner-operator of the two restaurants, says inspections of the restaurants by health officials did not uncover any of the problems raised by the customers.
Mayfield resident Madison Stephens told WPSD-TV that she visited the local McDonald’s on Sunday and purchased food for her and her one-year-old son. She says that as she was about to bite into her hamburger, a live worm fell out.
At the McDonald’s in Draffenville, about 25 miles away from Mayfield, Lacey Jo Lovett says she also found a worm in her burger on Tuesday.
Stephens says she contacted McDonald’s about the incident, and they sent her a US$10 gift card.

Worms found in McDonald's burgers in Kentucky, customers claim


A McDonald’s franchisee says he’s been unable to substantiate claims by two customers who reported finding worms in food at the fast-food chain’s restaurants in two Kentucky communities.


A helmet-cam video shot last Friday of a confrontation between an Ottawa motorcyclist and a distracted SUV driver has gone viral, with more than 1.1 million views since being posted on Facebook.
Erik Hanna, who was riding his Yamaha R3 near Woodroffe Avenue and Baseline Road on Friday afternoon, shared the video after a woman driving in front of him in an SUV with Newfoundland license plates had failed to advance through a green light, opting instead to attend to matters on her mobile phone. When she became similarly distracted at the next set of lights, Hanna began recording.
In the video, Hanna drives up alongside the woman’s Toyota FJ Cruiser and taps on the car window. The woman can be seen locking the door, but otherwise ignores Hanna as she continues to use her phone. Hanna then pulls ahead of her and passes through the intersection on the green. But moments later, the SUV enters the frame again as the woman accelerates from behind and cuts Hanna off.
Hanna, who has faced criticism in online comments for both approaching the woman and passing her in the lane she occupied, defended his decision.
“I pulled ahead because in my mind it was the safest thing to do,” he said Monday. “I’d rather not be behind her when someone else doesn’t notice that she’s not going through the green.
“But then I guess she decided to use my lane to pass by me, to prove some sort of point. She came within about three inches of hitting my side-view mirror. It was a scary moment, and just gut instinct that kicked in to go follow her.”
Hanna managed to get the woman to pull over and roll down her window. When he informed her that he had recorded the incident on camera and intended to follow up with the police, she replied: “Don’t you have something better to do?”
“No,” he said. “That’s dangerous to my life. It’s dangerous to other people’s lives. This is the best thing I can do right now.”
Hanna asked the woman to accompany him in finding a police officer, but she ignored him and drove onto Highway 417, where Hanna followed her briefly before giving up the chase. “She started weaving in and out of traffic, and I’m not doing that,” said Hanna.
He filed a police report online Friday night. According to Ottawa police, the matter has been sent to traffic investigators.
Hanna notes he regularly motions distracted drivers to put down their phones. In this instance, he’d like to see the woman charged with distracted driving. “I don’t want this woman to come under any harassment. I really don’t want to see anything like that happen, but I do want to see charges laid. What she did endangered my life and the lives of others.
“I’d like to bring awareness to motorcycle safety and why something like that is not OK to do. If I’m stuck behind her and she decides not to go on a green light … and I get rear-ended, that’s my life, gone.”
You can view the video on Facebook here.

Helmet-cam video of distracted driver attracts more than 1M views


A helmet-cam video shot last Friday of
a confrontation between an Ottawa
motorcyclist and a distracted SUV
driver has gone viral, with more than
1.1 million views since being posted
on Facebook.


MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Hillary Clinton says Donald Trump has unleashed the "radical fringe" within the Republican Party, including anti-Semites and white supremacists, dubbing the billionaire businessman's campaign as one that will "make America hate again."
Trump is rejecting Clinton's allegations, defending his hard-line approach to immigration while trying to make the case to minority voters that Democrats have abandoned them.
The back-and-forth accusations came Thursday as the two candidates vie for minorities and any undecided voters with less than three months until Election Day. Weeks before the first early voting, Trump faces the urgent task of revamping his image to win over those skeptical of his candidacy.
In a tweet shortly after Clinton wrapped up her speech in the swing state of Nevada, Trump said she "is pandering to the worst instincts in our society. She should be ashamed of herself!"
Clinton is eager to capitalize on Trump's slipping poll numbers, particularly among moderate Republican women turned off by his controversial campaign. "Don't be fooled" by Trumps efforts to rebrand, she told voters at a speech in Reno, saying the country faced a "moment of reckoning."
"He's taking hate groups mainstream and helping a radical fringe take over one of America's two major political parties," she said.
Trump tried to get ahead of the Democratic nominee, addressing a crowd in Manchester, New Hampshire just minutes before Clinton.
"Hillary Clinton is going to try to accuse this campaign, and the millions of decent Americans who support this campaign, of being racists," Trump predicted.
"To Hillary Clinton, and to her donors and advisers, pushing her to spread her smears and her lies about decent people, I have three words," he said. "I want you to hear these words, and remember these words: Shame on you."
Trump tried to turn the tables on Clinton, suggesting she was trying to distract from questions swirling around donations to The Clinton Foundation and her use of her private email servers.
"She lies, she smears, she paints decent Americans as racists," said Trump, who then defended some of the core -- and to some people, divisive -- ideas of his candidacy.
Clinton did not address any of the accusations about her family foundation in her remarks. Instead, she offered a strident denouncement of Trump's campaign and the so-called alt-right movement, which is often associated with efforts on the far right to preserve "white identity," oppose multiculturalism and defend "Western values."
Clinton's campaign also released an online video that compiles footage of prominent white supremacist leaders praising Trump.
Trump, who also met Thursday in New York with members of a new Republican Party initiative meant to train young -- and largely minority -- volunteers, has been working to win over blacks and Latinos in light of his past inflammatory comments and has been claiming that the Democrats have taken minority voters' support for granted. "They've been very disrespectful, as far as I'm concerned, to the African-American population in this country," Trump said.
Many black leaders and voters have dismissed Trump's message as condescending and intended more to reassure undecided white voters that he's not racist.
Cornell William Brooks, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" Thursday that Trump has not reached out to the organization for any reason. He added that Trump refused the group's invitation to speak at its convention.
"We're going to make it clear: You don't get to the White House unless you travel through the doors of the NAACP," Brooks said. "More importantly, you don't get to the White House without addressing the nation's civil rights agenda."
------
Lerer reported from Reno, Nevada. Jill Colvin contributed reporting from Washington.

Trump says 'shame on you' to Clinton for racist accusations


Donald Trump confronted head-on allegations that he is racist on Thursday, defending his hard-line approach to immigration while trying to make the case to minority voters that Democrats have abandoned them.


Nathan Deslippe was an ambitious entrepreneur with a thriving career and promising future.
William Joles was looking for work and a place to crash after returning to London after an unsuccessful stint out West.
The two men, both 27, had known each other for years, bonding over a shared passion for leadership and life coaching.
Joles sometimes showed up for dinner at the Deslippe family home, where he earned a reputation for having a huge appetite, while Deslippe had some of his friend’s furniture in his downtown apartment.
Deslippe’s parents weren’t surprised when their son opened his home to Joles and tried to get him a job with the technology company he worked for.
But the friendship took a tragic turn when Deslippe was found dead inside his downtown London apartment over the weekend and Joles was charged with killing his roommate.
“He refused to give up on his friend,” Deslippe’s mother, Mona Lam-Deslippe, said Monday.
“He had so many friends because he cared for so many people. It was unfortunately this caring that caused this situation.”
The homicide — London’s third of the year — left Deslippe’s family, friends and colleagues in shock.
“We’re just not able to make any sense of it,” said Deslippe’s father, Tim Deslippe. “It just seems like such a senseless death.”
Police found Deslippe’s body in his 18th-floor unit after receiving a 911 call to 323 Colborne St. Sunday around 10 a.m. Joles was arrested at the scene and charged with second-degree murder Monday.
Lawrence Field, a friend of both men, said Joles called him Sunday morning, asking him to come to Deslippe’s apartment.
Field said he arrived around 6:30 a.m. to find Joles and a woman in the lobby. The three started to go upstairs, but when the elevator didn’t work Field opted to go home rather than climb the 18 flights.
As he was leaving, Field said Joles, who smelled like alcohol, embraced him.
“He was like, ‘This is the last hug you’re going to get,” said Field, whose boss called him a few hours later, saying police had showed up looking for him.
Field said he met with investigators and turned over his phone.
Joles is also charged with forcible confinement, assault and uttering threats. The charges stem from a related event at the same location, London police said.
A woman who lives in the unit directly below Deslippe’s said she didn’t hear anything strange Saturday and Sunday morning, but saw men hanging out and drinking on the balcony sometime during the night.
Police hadn’t revealed how Deslippe died and were awaiting the results of an autopsy.
Friend Amir Farahi said he last talked to Deslippe shortly before midnight Saturday.
“He was just telling me he’s chilling,” said Farahi. “It seemed like he was just settling down, relaxing.”
Friends remember Deslippe as a community-builder who was close to his father, a principal with the London District Catholic school board, and his mother, the founder of MLD Solutions Inc., a technology and consulting company, and a prominent member of London’s technology community.
“Her son was a heck of a lot like her,” technology analyst Carmi Levy said of Deslippe. “He was a good soul.
“Things like this don’t happen to people like him.”
A graduate of Catholic Central high school, Deslippe worked as an account manager at Voices.com, a London technology company, where his co-workers covered his desk with flowers and messages scrawled on Post-it notes Monday.
“He was dearly loved . . . Every time you go by his desk, there’s more things piled on his desk. It’s sad,” said company spokesperson Trisha Beausaert, who confirmed Joles had interviewed with the company.
Moving back to London nearly two months ago, Joles was staying with Deslippe but had found his own place for October, said Deslippe’s family.
Joles, who attended Central secondary school, studied police foundations at Fanshawe College before enrolling in criminology at King’s University College for two years. He worked as a security guard for private companies and at a London bar before going to Western Canada.
Visitation for Deslippe is Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Forest Lawn Funeral Home and Cemetery.
The funeral is 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Peter’s Basilica in London
— With files by Free Press reporter Jennifer O’Brien
dcarruthers@postmedia.com
twitter.com/DaleatLFPress
--- --- ---
Nathan Deslippe of London is remembered as an ambitious young man who hoped to open a business combining yoga and craft beer
Dreamer found dead “was going to go far”
A dreamer who made things happen.
That was Nathan Deslippe, say those who knew him.
Besides working for a London tech company, teaching yoga, running two of his own start-ups and volunteering in the community, Deslippe was toiling away at his most ambitious project yet.
The 27-year-old, found dead Sunday in the downtown London highrise where he lived, had planned to open a wellness centre that offered a yoga classes, life coaching and served craft beer.
He was busy developing a business plan with his mother, Mona Lam-Deslippe, and even had yoga instructors lined up.
“He was a big vision guy,” said Arthur Gonzales, a friend since high school. “We need to have more people like Nathan.”
Networking came easy to Deslippe, whom friends say was at ease mingling with young professionals as he was with politicians and business leaders.
“He lit up the room, that’s why he was good at networking,” said friend Rob Anderson, who had planned to work out with Deslippe at the gym on Monday.
“He offered so much to London. He was proud of this city,”
News of Deslippe’s death prompted a massive show of support on social media Monday.
A sharp dresser with a taste for bow ties, Deslippe devoured self-help books by gurus like Tony Robbins. His social media feed was peppered with inspiration quotes.
But Deslippe’s top passion was yoga.
“He literally tried to get everyone into yoga,” said friend Amir Farahi.
Deslippe had recently started teaching a Thursday night yoga class at Anderson Craft Ales, where participants gathered for drinks in the brewery’s bar after their sessions.
“He wanted to test it there and prove the concept,” Anderson said of his friend’s idea to pair yoga and suds.
Lam-Deslippe, an accomplished London businesswoman, had complete confidence in her son’s concept of building a culture around nurturing the body and mind.
“It was a very well-rounded holistic approach,” she said. “That’s why I believe that he could have made it work by building that culture.”
Deslippe was even ambitious when it came to pet ownership. He created social media accounts for his beloved Gyzmo, a chihuahua- pomeranian mix, in the hopes the dog would become the next online star.
The word friends and family used most to describe Deslippe? Inspiring.
“He always tried to motivate people to do their best,” said father Tim Deslippe.
“He was going to go far.”
Dale Carruthers, Free Press Reporter

'Such a senseless death'; Friendship takes tragic turn as roommate charged with


Nathan Deslippe was an ambitious entrepreneur with a thriving career and promising future.


SASKATOON -- A 26-year-old man is recovering in hospital after he was attacked in northern Saskatchewan by a lone wolf.
The man, a shift worker at Cameco's Cigar Lake uranium mine, was walking between buildings shortly after midnight on Monday when the attack occurred, said Cameco spokesman Rob Gereghty.
"He is a kitchen worker, on lunch break at that time. He may have been headed back to his room."
That's when the wolf made what Gereghty called an "unprovoked attack."
"A single wolf basically pounced on him. The injured contractor received immediate medical attention from a security guard who interrupted the attack and scared the lone wolf away."
The worker was flown to Saskatoon where Gereghty said he is recovering and in good spirits.
The wolf remains at large and wildlife officers are on the site. All workers have been told to use vehicles to move from building to building.
Gereghty said the company takes pains to keep a clean site. All food is either buried, or burned and buried. Two fences ring the landfill.
Nevertheless, wildlife is a reality at the remote mine, about 675 kilometres north of Saskatoon.
"Bears, wolves, they are prevalent," Gereghty said. "We do our best to work in harmony with wildlife and the environment, but occasionally interactions do take place."

'A single wolf basically pounced on him'; Sask. mine worker in hospital after 'u


A 26-year-old man is recovering in hospital after he was attacked in northern Saskatchewan by a lone wolf.


In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, tourists and residents walk across Tromostovje bridges in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia. Over the past two decades since Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, left her native Slovenia and married American billionaire Donald Trump after pursuing an international modeling career, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no night life, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and night clubs packed with foreigners. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this April 16, 2013 photo, a church is seen on the shore of Lake Bled, northern Slovenia. It was at the lakeside Grand Hotel Toplice in Bled where Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, introduced Donald Trump to her parents during their brief visit to Slovenia in July 2002, two years before they engaged. It is believed that it was the last time that the former model visited her native country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, a limousine is parked in front of a casino in Portoroz, Slovenia. It was in Portoroz in 1992 where Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, got a big break in her modeling career when Slovenia's womens magazine Jana staged its Look of the Year contest. She took second place that gave her the invitation to cast for an international modeling agency in Milan, Italy. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, tourists walk on the seafront in Portoroz, Slovenia. It was in Portoroz in 1992 where Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, got a big break in her modeling career when Slovenia's women magazine Jana staged its Look of the Year contest. She took second place that gave her the invitation to cast for an international modeling agency in Milan, Italy. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, a group of tourists drink beers in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia. Over the past two decades since Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, left her native Slovenia and married American billionaire Donald Trump after pursuing an international modeling career, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no night life, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and night clubs packed with foreigners. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, souvenirs are offered for sale in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia. Over the past two decades since Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, left her native Slovenia and married American billionaire Donald Trump after pursuing an international modeling career, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no night life, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and night clubs packed with foreigners. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, tourists and residents walk by a statue of a dragon, a symbol of the city, in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia. Over the past two decades since Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, left her native Slovenia and married American billionaire Donald Trump after pursuing an international modeling career, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no night life, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and night clubs packed with foreigners. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, padlocks left by couples hang at a bridge in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia. Over the past two decades since Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, left her native Slovenia and married American billionaire Donald Trump after pursuing an international modeling career, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no night life, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and night clubs packed with foreigners. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, tourists and residents walk over Tromostovje bridges in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia. Over the past two decades since Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, left her native Slovenia and married American billionaire Donald Trump after pursuing an international modeling career, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no night life, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and night clubs packed with foreigners. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Over the past two decades since Melanie Trump left her native Slovenia, became a model known as Melania Knauss and married American billionaire Donald Trump, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no nightlife, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and nightclubs packed with foreigners. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — When Melanija Knavs drove around Ljubljana in a fluffy skirt on a metallic blue Vespa with her boyfriend in the late 1980s, the Slovenian capital was a sleepy town that offered little excitement to rare visitors.
Over the past two decades since she left her native Slovenia, became a model known as Melania Knauss and married American billionaire Donald Trump, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no nightlife, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and nightclubs packed with foreigners.
The heart of the city has been closed to traffic, though, so Mrs. Trump would no longer be able to ride by scooter to her favorite cafe, then called the Horse's Tail, near Tromostovje — the charming stone triple bridge in the heart of the city decorated with small dragon-like statues.
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She would also hardly recognize the renovated downtown since she last visited.
The city is dominated by a majestic castle on a hill by the river Ljubljana that splits the town into two. At night, the castle is lit bright green, the city's traditional color. A boat cruise along the river reveals spectacular architecture while street artists play music and perform for visitors.
The city's center on the banks of the river offers romantic dining and other excellent culinary offerings, including an open kitchen on Fridays when chefs prepare international dishes on makeshift stands that serve as an open-air market the other days of the week.
Slovenia, which has become one of Europe's hottest nature destinations after splitting from Yugoslavia in 1991, is privileged to have both an opening onto the Adriatic Sea as well as chunks of the Alps. It is also known for tasty wines and food specialties such as Kranjska klobasa, a juicy pork sausage, or struklji, a traditional Slovene pastry with various fillings.
Slovenia has often been confused in the past with another small central European state, Slovakia. But since Donald Trump joined the presidential race in the U.S., his wife and potential first lady have come into public limelight, along with the country where she was born and raised.
"Whatever you think of Melania, she put Slovenia on the map of the world," said Janez Bosnjak, a Ljubljana resident.
Born in the hilly industrial town of Sevnica in 1970 when Slovenia was part of Communist Yugoslavia, Mrs.Trump's early life has come under media scrutiny — especially after her official biography had her graduating from the Ljubljana university.
Rok Bogataj, who knew her when they studied at the Faculty of Architecture, said she regularly attended lectures but did not graduate.
"I had an impression that she had serious ambitions to finish her studies, but one day she simply disappeared. We heard that she decided to become a fashion model and that she went to Milano," Bogataj said.
For tourists, Ljubljana is the perfect jumping-off point for daily trips to other attractions. The city is the eco-friendly European Green Capital for 2016, and it's located in central Slovenia. The country, which has 2 million people, offers an abundance of contrasting landscapes and cultures and is proud of being the only country in the world with the word "love" in its name.
More than 2.4 million tourists visited in 2014, according to international arrivals statistics cited by the World Bank, more than triple the number who visited in 1995.
One must-see destination northwest of Ljubljana is Lake Bled where emerald-green waters create a spectacular landscape, with a lush, tiny island and a church tower peeking out of evergreens surrounded by the rocky Julian Alps.
It was at lakeside Grand Hotel Toplice in Bled where Mrs. Trump introduced Donald Trump to her parents during their brief visit to Slovenia in July 2002, two years before they engaged. It is believed that it was the last time that the former model visited her native country.
Not far from Bled are the seaside towns of Piran, called the Venice of Slovenia because of the colorful Venetian gothic mansions, and Portoroz, a French-Riviera style resort with luxurious hotels lining along a sandy beach.
It was in Portoroz in 1992 where Mrs. Trump got a big break in her modeling career when Slovenia's women magazine Jana staged its "Look of the Year" contest. She took the second place that gave her the invitation to cast for an international modeling agency in Milan.
"Melania was one of the girls who participated at the event," said Jana's editor Bernarda Jeklin. "I wouldn't say that Melania was outstanding. She was quiet, introverted. But what I remember were her dangerous, tiger-like green eyes."

Melania Trump's Slovenia has become a tourist hotspot


When Melanija Knavs drove around Ljubljana in a fluffy skirt on a metallic blue Vespa with her boyfriend in the late 1980s, the Slovenian capital was a sleepy town that offered little excitement to rare visitors.


TORONTO -- Canadian IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe is taking a lap around the dance floor.
The 29-year-old Oakville, Ont., native will appear on the upcoming season of "Dancing with the Stars."
"Oh boy, we are really doing this!" the star driver tweeted Tuesday. "Trading Stop n Go boots for dance shoes!"
Oh boy, we are really doing this! Trading Stop n Go boots for dance shoes! Any tips, @h3lio? @DancingABC #DWTS https://t.co/XN9bIkp74r — James Hinchcliffe (@Hinchtown) August 30, 2016
ABC says Hinchcliffe's partner will be Sharna Burgess.
Other stars on the roster this season include controversial American swimmer Ryan Lochte, former NFL receiver Calvin Johnson Jr., former "Brady Bunch" star Maureen McCormick, former Texas governor Rick Perry and rapper Vanilla Ice.
The season premieres Sept. 12.
Hinchcliffe was the 2011 IndyCar Series rookie of the year and has four victories over six seasons.

Canadian IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe taking a spin on 'Dancing with the Sta


Canadian IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe is taking a lap around the dance floor.


FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett says quarterback Tony Romo has a broken bone in his back, and there is no timetable for his return.
Garrett made the comments on Saturday during a conference call. He said an MRI revealed the break, but the coach did not provide further details.
CBS had reported the MRI showed Romo had fractured his vertebrae and would likely be sidelined for six to 10 weeks. But during the call Garrett said there’s no timetable but that the quarterback would play this season.
During Thursday night's 27-17 preseason loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Romo was tackled from behind by Cliff Avril on the third play from scrimmage as Romo scrambled from the pocket.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, left, is tackled by Seattle Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril during the first half of a preseason NFL football game Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
He immediately grabbed at his back, crumpled on the field while trainers sprinted from the Dallas sideline and images of Romo’s injury problems from last year immediately flashed to mind. But he had managed to walk off the field without assistance.
Romo, 36, has had back surgery twice before. His latest injury occurred on the third play of Thursday night’s exhibition game at Seattle. He was hit by Cliff Avrill and was rolling in pain before taken off the field and replaced by rookie Dak Prescott. Later, Romo said he was OK.
The Cowboys open the season Sept. 11 at home against the New York Giants.
- With Files from Postmedia Network

Cowboys' Tony Romo broke bone in back during preseason game: Coach


Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett says quarterback Tony Romo has a broken bone in his back, and there is no timetable for his return.


What cultural or spiritual notions have led to the current fascination with Artificial Intelligence?
The idea of a man-made being that eventually surpasses its creator was the subject of at least four movies last year — and comes up again in Morgan, a sci-fi thriller opening Friday.
What’s the deal on our fixation with robots?
And why are they so often the bad guys?
Perhaps stories about robots and Artificial Intelligence reflect our own ideas about consciousness or free will.
Or what it means to be human.
Maybe A.I. represents one way to see human-like beings behave in inhuman ways — a sort of 21st century puppet show. Then again, humans might well feel like God when they help create a new life form, especially a robotic life form that can represent a type of immortality.
And the ongoing problem is this: How do you make sure that machines smarter than people don’t figure out ways to seize power away from their creators?
In a 1942 story, Isaac Asimov spelled out the three laws of robotics:
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Interesting — but Science Fiction is full of stories about robotic creations rebelling against those very laws, unwittingly or otherwise. And nobody loves a recalcitrant robot more than Hollywood.
Morgan is the latest example from the robot genre. Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) stars as Morgan, a human-like artificial intelligence; some of the scientists working with Morgan are played by Toby Jones, Michelle Yeoh, Paul Giamatti and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
The humans involved in creating Morgan have great affection for the machine and hope for its progress. They refer to Morgan as ‘she’ and want to continue to observe her development, but something happens to suggest Morgan needs a risk-management assessment. A corporate consultant (Kate Mara) is sent in to decide on Morgan’s future.
It’s not a pretty picture.
To help you brush up on your A.I. movies in advance of Morgan, here are 10 of the best:
ROBOCOP (1987)
An indestructible cyborg (Peter Weller) that’s part machine, part hero cop’s consciousness, appears to be the future of police work. It doesn’t quite work out that way. This action drama/social commentary is directed by Paul Verhoeven.
BLADE RUNNER (1982)
An ex-cop (Harrison Ford) working as a blade runner — an assassin of rogue androids — grapples with his feelings about the human-like replicants. Ridley Scott directs Sean Young, Rutger Hauer, M. Emmet Walsh, Daryl Hannah.
youtu.be/_19pRsZRiz4
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015)
Evil A.I. Ultron (James Spader) dukes it out with Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow et al in this particular Marvel adventure.
EX MACHINA (2015)
Alicia Vikander is terrific as the A.I. who may or many not have her own ideas about becoming part of the human race. Sci-fi thriller also stars Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac.
THE MATRIX (1999)
Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss star in this futuristic thriller (from the Wachowskis) as rebels who dare go up against the machines that have imprisoned human minds. Can they escape the artificial reality created to lull them into cooperating?
A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001)
A robotic boy (Haley Joel Osment) wants his human mother to love him. Then her human son comes home. Steven Spielberg directs Frances O’Connor, Jude Law, William Hurt.
THE TERMINATOR (1984)
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as a cyborg sent from the future to kill a woman (Linda Hamilton) in the present. The idea is to prevent the birth of the woman’s son — who will grow up to one day lead a rebellion against the machines. James Cameron directs.
MOON (2009)
Astronaut Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) has a solo stint on the moon, where isolation is either causing him to go mad or keeping him from finding out the truth about his origins. Duncan Jones co-wrote and directs.
HER (2013)
Joaquin Phoenix stars as a writer who falls in love with the A.I. operating system that runs his life. Well — the machine does have a fabulous human voice (courtesy Scarlett Johansson). Spike Jonze directs; also with Amy Adams.
ROBOT & FRANK (2012)
Frank, an aging jewel thief (Frank Langella) is given a robot butler by his son (James Marsden) to help around the house. Frank retrains his robot to assist in heists. This is sci-fi for the non-sci-fi-fan; also with Susan Sarandon and Liv Tyler, and that’s Peter Sarsgaard as the voice of the robot.
Twitter: @LizBraunSun
LBraun@postmedia.com

Kate Mara's 'Morgan' and the 10 best movies about Artificial Intelligence


What cultural or spiritual notions have led to the current fascination with Artificial Intelligence?


TORONTO -- Canada's insatiable appetite for the Tragically Hip sent the rock band's entire discography back onto the Billboard charts last week.
All 17 Hip albums, ranging from their debut EP to their most recent "Man Machine Poem," found spots on the Billboard Canadian Albums in the wake of the much-anticipated national broadcast of their final tour stop in Kingston, Ont.
Topping the list was the band's 2005 release "Yer Favourites," a greatest hits compilation that was chosen by their fans through a vote on the band's website. The album saw its total consumption rise 238%, pushing it up a spot from second place a week earlier.
Also finding positions in the Top 10 were this year's "Man Machine Poem," holding steady at No. 6, 1992's "Fully Completely," which climbed to eight from 39, and 1989's "Up To Here," which shifted to ninth place from 28 last week.
The Hip's other albums, which include a number of live concert recordings, also found spots on the chart.
Billboard's Canadian album chart is tallied by Nielsen Music and based on album sales, digital song sales and audio on-demand streams.
Interest in the Hip skyrocketed earlier this year when frontman Gord Downie revealed he has terminal brain cancer, but planned to launch a tour across much of the country anyway.
Tickets to the shows sold out almost immediately, leading to CBC picking up a national broadcast of the final tour stop in Kingston. The concert quickly became a major event as fans made plans to host viewing parties and some local communities organized their own public screenings.
CBC's broadcast of the concert averaged just over four million viewers, according to the network.
Overall, the band's total album sales rose 157% from the previous week, Nielsen Music reported, while digital song sales were up 342% and online streams are up 185%.

All 17 Tragically Hip albums land on Billboard's Canadian albums chart


Canada's insatiable appetite for the Tragically Hip sent the rock band's entire discography back onto the Billboard charts last week.


Dear Amy: My best friend and I are high school seniors and I strongly dislike her boyfriend.
He treats her horribly, tells her "no promises" about cheating on her when they're arguing, entertains other girls and doesn't shut it down and then makes jokes about it. Recently she asked who the girl he was texting was, and he said, "Oh, I don't know. I have three."
When I told him he's made her cry, he bragged to his friend about how cool that is. She doesn't open up to him because she says he doesn't care. They fight over the same things over and over. She knows she should leave, but she can't imagine her life without him and she wants more time with him.
She used to tell me that since he doesn't cheat on her it's fine, but now she says things like she doesn't know if he's cheating or not. At this point, I don't think she'd leave him even if he did cheat. She puts up with this and I don't know if it's because she does love him or if it's because he's her first boyfriend. No matter what I do I can't make her see that he's not good for her and she deserves so much more. She doesn't believe that there's someone out there who's going to show her what she's been missing.
I hate watching her hurt herself. I get so angry over this, I've even cried because she was crying over him.
Do I stay out of it or do I help her? Nothing I say or do changes her mind. How can I be a better friend and help her out? -- Sad Best Friend
Dear Sad: According to the very helpful website loveisrespect.org, 1 in 5 teens report being in a toxic or abusive dating relationship. Based on what you say, I would put your friend in this category.
Continue to support her, but understand that she may continue to stay with him, even though he is an emotionally abusive jerk. Understand that on many levels she knows this, but she is making a calculation: She would rather have stale crumbs from this guy than be on her own. You can help make sure she knows she deserves better.
She sounds vulnerable and insecure. You should continue to be her supportive friend but you can stop urging her to leave (this choice needs to come from her). Only continue saying to her, "You deserve so much better..."
Some abusive relationship patterns start with that first relationship, and, unfortunately, if she thinks this is acceptable or "normal," she may continue to have relationships with guys who bully and treat her badly.
You cannot change this, but you should continue to be her loyal friend, even if this is incredibly frustrating and hard for you. Urge her to do some research about relationships; loveandrespect.org offers a very helpful online chat, as well as a free texting hotline: text loveis to 22522 or call 866-331-9474.
Dear Amy: I'm almost divorced. I've known my daughter's boyfriend's mother since we both were teenagers.
She has been divorced for five years. We've had this unspoken thing for each other for more than 30 years. We met for drinks and hit it off, just talking about our kids. Is it wrong to take this relationship to the next level? -- Wondering
Dear Wondering: You say: "I'm almost divorced." I say: On some level, all married people are almost divorced.
When you are all-the-way divorced, you should feel free to take this relationship to the next level.
Dear Amy: In your column, you commented about the "subtle and shifting hurts" that you have experienced on Facebook.
I'm a 61-year-old attorney. I'm married with three children. You would think I would be immune to the "hurt" you mentioned. I'm not. Facebook can really be a hurtful venue. And your usage of the words "subtle" and "shifting" was, in my opinion, an exact description of how it feels.
I think I have learned a ton about myself and other people over the course of the last two years, as a result of that hurtfulness. Well said!
Thank you. -- Big Fan
Dear Fan: Social media expands our circles, increasing the number of people who have access to us. These people can easily make (or break) our day.
Because this is a new way of interacting, we all need to arrive at new ways of coping. I'll happily pass along suggestions from readers.

High school friends face boyfriend tension


Dear Amy: My best friend and I are high school seniors and I strongly dislike her boyfriend.


All David Bolland did in Chicago was his job.
Ask him to check, he checked. Ask him to scrap, he scrapped. Ask him to occasionally score, he would occasionally score.
That included a bang-bang, last-minute, Stanley Cup-winning goal with Chicago, his last game with the Blackhawks.
That was three years ago. Now Bolland, at age 30, has become something of a punchline, not a person or a player of any consequence in hockey, just salary cap space. That’s how he’s looked at by too many in the hockey world. His rather large contract was dealt from Florida to Arizona, not because anybody wanted him, but because the Coyotes would take prospect Lawson Crouse and the price of doing so was to accept Bolland’s contract. The value of salary cap space in today’s NHL.
Knowing Bolland, I imagine there is nothing he would like better than to be playing healthy and proving his worth to whomever was paying his way. That’s unlikely to happen anymore.
What he shouldn’t be in this case is anyone’s punchline. He’s put in his time. He deserves better than that.
THIS AND THAT
Sometimes, Hockey Canada does the right thing, like adding leading playoff scorer, Logan Couture, to Team Canada’s roster to replace Jamie Benn for the World Cup of Hockey. And then it follows that by doing the wrong thing, adding Jay Bouwmeester to replace the injured Duncan Keith on defence. The choice here was left-shooting defenceman Mark Giordano, but coach Mike Babcock, in particular is a comfort zone coach and Bouwmeester played a solid role for Babcock in Sochi. That kind of looking-back logic has hurt Team Canada in the past ... Wasn’t sure why Team Sweden left Dallas defenceman John Klingberg off their initial World Cup roster. Now not sure why they haven’t added him as an injury replacement to their very strong defence. Sweden ended up inserting Anaheim’s Hampus Lundholm to take Niklas Kronwall’s spot. On a scale, this is equivalent to Canada leaving P.K. Subban off its roster ... Brandon Prust and Matt Martin are both considered left wingers. One can play for the Leafs. Two not likely ... Darryl Sittler is only the eighth NHL player to be called for Canada’s Walk of Fame. The list is rather impressive. The other seven: Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Mario Lemieux, Jean Beliveau, Rocket Richard, Johnny Bower. To separate them, that’s six all-time greats, and maybe the six greatest ever, and two Hall of Fame Leafs greats ... What I’d love to have seen: Sittler going in with Lanny McDonald at his side, the way Don Cherry went in alongside Ron MacLean.
HEAR AND THERE
Should the Blue Jays make the playoffs, this will be Russell Martin’s sixth straight season in the post-season. And if the same happens, it will be Josh Donaldson’s fifth straight post-season. Or every one of his big league years ... Strange Blue Jays season. They are in first place. And I don’t sense they’ve played really complete baseball with an uncertain lineup and so many injuries to date ... Michael Saunders before the all-star game: .298, 16 HR 42 RBI, an OPS of .923. Saunders since his surprising election to the game: .174, 5 HR, 8 RBI, an OPS of .647 ... Marco Estrada pre-all-star break, 2.93 earned run average. Post all-star break: 5.18. Pre: Batters were hitting .173 against him; Post: .279 ... If the Blue Jays don’t pick up a left-handed reliever between now and Wednesday, that role will likely go to Francisco Liriano for the post-season, who may or may not be able to throw strikes ... Justin Smoak is having a rather dreadful season. He’s hitting .227 with 14 home runs. This is Jose Bautista’s free-agent season. He’s hitting .226 with 15 home runs ... Can’t speak for anyone else, but I like the idea of Dioner Navarro in the Blue Jays clubhouse ... What an odd CFL season: The home teams in the East have a 4-13-1 record. The road teams are 11-5 ... The Dallas Cowboys are 24-24 over the past three NFL seasons. They’re 23-11 when Tony Romo starts at quarterback 1-13 when he does not ... I see Danny Valencia is as charming as ever with the Oakland A’s ... If I was young and ambitious, I would quit my job, move to Brazil, go into the concessions business and become filthy rich. But instead, you get the Sunday notes ... Congrats for former Argo Noel Prefontaine and NBA star Kawhi Leonard, both elected to the San Diego State University sports Hall of Fame.
SCENE AND HEARD
Twenty-two medals in Rio was terrific for Canada. Twenty-two medals at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta was even better. Why? There were 306 medal events in Rio, just 271 in Atlanta. Same number of medals. More than 12% more events and no more medals ... Impressive in Rio: Canadian women, who out-medalled Canadian men 16-6 ... What stings: Canadian men not named Andre De Grasse (or part of his relay team) won three Olympic medals. That’s all ... You know Paul Beeston is no longer running the Blue Jays — and Americans are — when neither De Grasse nor Penny Oleksiak has thrown out the first pitch at a Blue Jays game yet ... Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan may never win a championship with the Raptors, but boy they were little-kid excited about their gold medals in Rio. Most excited I’ve ever seen either of them ... When the Florida Panthers inexplicably fired Scott Luce, I wrote he wouldn’t be out of work for long. He wasn’t. Luce, whose father Don was close friends with Tim Horton, is the new scouting director of the Las Vegas NHL franchise ... The worst thing that could happen to Las Vegas hockey: The Raiders and NFL moving to Las Vegas ... I’m looking forward to Ryan Lochte, the mini-series. Or at least the next several episodes of Saturday Night Live.
AND ANOTHER THING
Is there anything more Yankees than this? Kid slugger Gary Sanchez has 32 hits in his first 23 games in Pinstripes and 11 home runs in 80 at bats. Before this, the young Dominican never had more than 18 homers in a minor-league season ... If the Kansas City Royals make the playoffs, look out. Their bullpen hasn’t given up a run in 39.2 innings, a luxury John Gibbons wouldn’t know about ... Can the B.C. Lions please settle on one uniform and one logo so we know who is playing when we see them and don’t have to guess? ... Is it too much to ask to get a decent instant replay, in reasonable time, on a pseudo inside-the-park home run by Melvin Upton Jr.? ... If you missed this Olympic story, you missed something special. American water polo coach Adam Krikorian left Brazil when his brother passed away just days before the Olympics. He then quickly returned to Rio after the funeral to coach the team, which went on to win gold. Coaches do not get rewarded with gold medals. But the women’s team lined up in front of the coach after the medal ceremony and one by one, each player placed their gold medal around the neck of the coach. It was the Rudy moment of the Olympics, but in this case, it was all tears and truth ... Kudos to colleague Gare Joyce, whose part-hockey, part-detective novels were turned into the television series, Private Eyes with Jason Priestley, which has been now renewed for a second season ... Happy birthday to Bismack Biyombo (24), Lou Piniella (73), Robert (Sgt. Slaughter) Remus (68), Shania Twain (51), Ron Guidry (66), Pierre Turgeon (47) and Don Denkinger (80) ... And hey, whatever became of Dave Steen?
BROOKE NEEDS BETTER ADVICE
It seems odd to say this because she’s 18 years old, but Brooke Henderson needs to grow up.
Or failing that, she needs to get better advice than she happens to be receiving these days.
At the Olympics, Henderson didn’t impress a whole lot of people with the way she bypassed her press responsibilities and pouted after a poor third round in the women’s golf event. There is a certain protocol that goes along with being an Olympic athlete and a professional golfer, for that matter. At the Olympics, all competitors must go through a mixed zone area which includes journalists at the conclusion of their round.
Henderson chose not to. She did partake in her media responsibilities after finishing up well on her final round, just missing the podium.
Then in Calgary at the Canadian Open, Henderson, the No. 1 golf attraction in Canada, was working on the practice green when a car pulled up, she slid under the ropes and left the course without a word. Wayne Gretzky, at 18, never missed a day of his media obligations.
It isn’t about talking to me or my colleagues, it’s about talking to you and your television sets and your radios. Part of the responsibility of being a high-paid athlete in an individual sport is making yourself available. Being available only after good rounds is not an image or a reputation young Henderson should want.
AA HAPPY IN L.A.
The job looks perfect from the outside: Alex Anthopoulos, general manager, Minnesota Twins. How would the Twins find anyone better than the man who traded for Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki and Marco Estrada, drafted Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman, and signed Russell Martin as a free agent.
Except for one thing: Anthopoulos is in the process of moving his family from Toronto to Los Angeles. And he’s perfectly happy, he says, in his role as vice-president of baseball operations with the Dodgers. He loves the team, the people he works with, the way in which the front office operates for the first place Dodgers.
The assumption was when Anthopoulos left the Blue Jays that he would be the leading candidate for whatever GM job would come up in baseball, but he seems to like the idea of living in Los Angeles and doesn’t relish the thought of picking up and moving his family again.
If the move out of Toronto proved anything, it showed Anthopoulos doesn’t always do the obvious. He could have stayed with the Jays for long-term and great money and chose to leave for personal reasons. He could now seek out GM work elsewhere, but won’t do that either. Being in baseball matters to Anthopoulos, so long as he’s working with people he believes in. Being in charge doesn’t matter as much and you might have thought.
WHO IS SAFE WITH THE JAYS?
The Blue Jays fired Sal Fasano.
Why anyone in baseball would find a reason to fire Fasano is a head-scratching matter. Spend five minutes with Fasano and you’ll understand why. He looks like baseball. He sounds like baseball. If you want to talk about pitching, about catching, about the intricacies of the game, or just listen to some good old stories, he’s your guy.
And with the firing of Fasano as minor league pitching coordinator comes another question: Who is safe in the Blue Jays front office that preceded the hirings of president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins?
And another question: How much uncertainty is there right now for those whose seasons are about to end, coaches and minor league managers, coaches at the major league level, anyone in scouting and player development?
As the Blue Jays approach the playoffs, those who played a part in player development at various levels are either being let go or must be concerned about their security.
The thinking around baseball: If a baseball lifer like Fasano can get fired, after the firings of scouting director Brian Parker, cross checker Blake Davis, field coordinator Doug Davis, pretty much anyone can and will be let go.

Bolland has earned the right to be more than a punchline


All David Bolland did in Chicago was his job.


A baby born on a plane operated by Philippines' Cebu Pacific airline in August 2016 is destined to become a global explorer after winning one million air points. The infant girl, dubbed Haven, was delivered by cabin crew on Cebu Pacific and two nurses on board the plane as it was en route from Dubai to Manila. To celebrate, the airline awarded the baby a million of its in-house loyalty points, which can be used for free travel on its flights and can be shared with Haven's family. (Getty Images)
Passengers aboard an Air Transat flight coming from the Dominican Republic to Montreal were shocked to discover two tarantulas aboard the plane. According to CBC, flight attendants advised passengers to put on shoes and cover their legs after the loose tarantulas were spotted on the April 2016 flight. One of the spiders was captured by a passenger in-flight, while the other was recovered after the plane landed in Montreal. (Getty Images)
Air Malta shared a little love in the skies in April 2015. Flightradar24.com, a live air traffic tracking website, caught an Air Malta plane drawing two hearts in the sky via its flight path over the Mediterranean, before it returned to the island. The website posted updates on the 'love flight' to its Twitter account, which drew the attention of users from around the world. Air Malta later confirmed to the U.K.'s Sky News that a pilot and flight attendant had been married at the airport earlier in the day and were enjoying a post-nuptial flight. Read the full story here. (Flightradar24.com screenshot)
Four koalas took to the skies in Qantas Airways' business class for a posh trip from Australia to Singapore. The koalas - named Paddle, Pellita, Chan and Idalia - were sent by Australia to Singapore to mark that country's 50th independence anniversary. The airline photographed the cute foursome being served eucalyptus and other refreshments by flight attendants before they were safely returned to their specially built climate-controlled containers for the actual flight. Read the full story here. (Twitter/Qantas Airways)
A Penn State-Abington professor was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct in Miami after smoking a cigarette and going on a rant about U.S.-Venezuelan relations on a flight from Nicaragua to Miami. In videos posted to YouTube by a fellow plane passenger, Karen Halnon can be seen smoking a cigarette and also rants about President Obama and oil. Halnon told New York's Daily News that the cigarette was a symbol for a smoking gun and her show of support to cigarette-smoking revolutionaries like Fidel Castro. "I know that might sound somewhat esoteric to other people, but I’m an intellectual, so that’s what I intended," she told the Daily News. (Courtesy Miami-Dade County Corrections)
A flight attendant provided passengers with a little in-flight entertainment in March 2015 when she started dancing to Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' hit song Uptown Funk. According to the YouTube user who posted the video, the flight attendant is his sister and former break dancer. (YouTube)
Delta Airlines was forced to apologize after their Facebook page was apparently hacked. An article linking to a joke about oral sex, featuring a photo of Urechis unicinctus - a Chinese marine spoon worm - was posted to the airlines' Facebook page for about an hour before it was pulled down. Delta posted an apology for the hack to their Twitter account shortly after. (Delta Airlines Facebook)
A 29-year-old man faces charges for allegedly stealing a megaphone on a Saskatoon-bound WestJet plane Monday night. Saskatoon police say they were called by staff at Saskatoon's John G. Diefenbaker International Airport about a passenger who stole the device from the galley of the plane. Police boarded the plane after it arrived from Toronto at about 9 p.m. and arrested the suspect. Read the full story here. (Al Charest/Postmedia Network)
Photos of Mexican singer Esmeralda Ugalde sitting behind the controls of a Magnicharters plane mid-flight have gone viral -- and have cost the pilot his job. The U.K.'s Daily Mail reports the singer and a friend were let into the cockpit during a flight from Cancun to Mexico City by the unnamed pilot. Ugalde posted photos of herself holding the plane's controller and wearing the pilot's hat to Twitter, but has since deleted the images. Read the full story here. (Twitter.com/EsmeOficial)
A flight attendant who showed off her curvy body in modelling shoots has been fired by Turkish Airlines. Airline brass decided that Zuhal Sengul, 31, went a little too far in wearing far too little in a photo shoot with an Italian magazine. The head of the airline's union says Turkish Airlines is trying to "shape the company to fit its own political and ideological stance," and the full-figured Sengul, a vegan who has a black belt in karate, isn't portraying a proper image. Read the full story here. (Facebook)
On the day before American Thanksgiving, U.S. airline JetBlue made a game of picking up bags at New York's JFK Airport and adding prize panels to the luggage belt. Suitcases that landed on winning panels from the chute won their owners everything from gloves to a free round-trip flight. Read the full story here. (YouTube)
Siberian air passengers had to get out and push their plane after its chassis froze on Nov. 25, 2014. Passengers pushed the plane until it was able to turn and then a tow truck took over. The flight then took off and went smoothly. Social media was buzzing about the feat, especially after video emerged of the passengers pushing the plane. See the video here. (YouTube)
Dutch airline KLM brought some flyers to tears recently by enlisting their loved ones to write personal messages that were then left on the headrests. After scouring the departures terminal for teary goodbyes, KLM staff took friends and relatives aside and invited them to write a final surprise message that would be attached to flyers' seatbacks. Read the full story here. (YouTube)
Hey Twitter, do you know Katie? Katie from Nova Scotia, Canada? That was pretty much how a global search for an Irishman's crush started. And in a true testament to the power of the Internet, Jamie Kelly has found his airplane seatmate in a love story that's gone viral. They met on a Ryanair flight from Barcelona to Dublin last month. They hit it off and chatted the entire flight. Sparks flew. But the two became separated at the customs line, with the Irishman queuing in the EU-only lane, and Katie Moreau, of Riverport, Nova Scotia, taking the non-EU line. Read the full story here. (Twitter)
US Airways was -- eventually -- embarrassed and apologetic after tweeting a pornographic photo of a woman lying on a bed with a plane inserted into her vagina. The image link was sent to a Twitter user with the message: "We welcome feedback, Elle. If your travel is complete, you can detail it here for review and follow-up." Read the story here. (Twitter)
A U.S. airplane almost collided with an unmanned drone in March 2014 when flying in Florida, according to reports. "The pilot said that the UAS was so close to his jet that he was sure he had collided with it," an FAA official said, according to CNN. "Thankfully, inspection to the airliner after landing found no damage. But this may not always be the case." See the full video here. (Screenshot)
Two violinists broke our their instruments on the tarmac after they were asked to leave a U.S. Airways flight over a dispute on where to store the violins. Zach De Pue and Nicolas Kendall say they haven't had any issues flying with their instruments before and when they refused to store them in the cargo area, they were asked to leave the plane. Waiting for a reslution on the tarmac, the pair took out their instruments and started playing. See the video here. (YouTube)
U.S. customs inspectors at Los Angeles International Airport seized a shipment of several dozen live giant African snails, considered a delicacy in Nigeria but also voracious pests that can eat paint and stucco off houses, officials said. Read the full story here. (U.S. Border Patrol/Handout)
A Chinese traveller was detained in South Korea this weekend after trying to board a plane with a passport that had been seriously defaced by his creative four-year-old son. The child had entertained himself over the family holiday by drawing in his dad's passport with a black pen. Read the full story here. (Courtesy Weibo)
Canada Boarder Services Agency detector dog Max helped find three Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoises in a traveller's suitcase in Edmonton in May 2010. The luggage came on a flight from London, England's Heathrow Airport to Edmonton. Read the story here. (Shutterstock)
In late summer 2014, legroom wars broke out on three flights over a two week period. First, United Airlines said flight 1462 from Newark to Denver diverted to Chicago and two were passengers ejected owing to a disturbance after one of the passengers used a $22 gadget dubbed the "Knee Defender" which blocks the seat in front from reclining. Then, a Frenchman was arraigned in Boston after becoming disruptive when the passenger in front of him reclined their seat on American Airlines flight 62 from Miami to Paris. Finally, a 32-year-old woman trying to snooze on a tray table on a flight from New York to West Palm Beach, Florida became the latest offender Monday when the woman in front slammed her seat back, bashing her alleged victim's head at the end of the Labour Day holiday weekend. Read the full story here. (Shutterstock)
Resourceful drug dealers tried to smuggle 11 kg of heroin through Montreal's Trudeau Airport by sewing the drugs into imported rugs. Canada Border Services agents discovered $4 million worth of heroin after they examined a shipment of rugs from Pakistan. The drugs had been hidden inside the hand-knotted woollen fibres of the rugs. Read the story here. (Shutterstock)
It was a shock for everyone when one traveller's bag ripped open on a luggage conveyor belt at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and 95 live boa constrictors spilled out into the airport. Read the story here. (Shutterstock)
A pillow fight broke out on this August 2010 flight. The flight attendant was just as involved as the passengers! Watch the video here. (Screenshot)
Rapper Kanye West took over a Delta Airlines PA system on a November 2010 flight and performed part of his hit song "Gold Digger" for a surprised, but very receptive, audience of his fellow passengers. Watch the video here. (YouTube)
The funny in-flight safety instruction speech of a Houston-based Southwest Airlines flight attendant named Martha "Marty" Cobb went viral. "If we could pretend to have your attention for just a few moments, my ex-husband, my new boyfriend and their divorce attorney are going to show you the safety features," Cobb says during the pre-departure safety demonstration. See the video here. (YouTube)
A budget Vietnamese airline says photos of flight attendants in lingerie were leaked from a test shooting and spread online, but are not official promotional photos. VietJet Air was slammed on social media for the photos of the scantily clad ladies. Read the full story here. (Facebook)
A Transport Canada intelligence alert from November 2010 said a passenger thought to be an elderly white man who “appeared to have young looking hands” boarded a flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver, and later emerged from the washroom as an Asian man in his early 20s. After landing in Vancouver, the man claimed refugee status. Read the story here. (Canada Border Services/Handout)
A Sunwing flight bound for Cuba was turned back to Toronto Wednesday due to "two unruly female passengers," the airline says. The Varadero-bound plane, which departed Toronto at 4:30 p.m., was escorted back to Canada by CF-18s. Sunwing said in a statement that the two women drank "a significant quantity of their duty free alcohol purchase in the lavatory and lit a cigarette, triggering the smoke detector alarm. Read the full story here. (Postmedia Network)
An editor for the television show Modern Family live-tweeted her experience with "the worst person in the world" on an American Airlines flight from New York to L.A. Sunday night. The woman, identified as Nadia, was apparently quite drunk. At one point, when her seatmate asked her to turn down the volume on her movie because he could hear it through her earphones, she yelled at him, "Sorry, it's my first time not in first class." Read the full story here. (Twitter)
Authorities investigated how gun parts and bullets ended up stashed inside a four-year-old boy's Mickey Mouse doll and stuffed animals he was carrying aboard a plane in Rhode Island. The father, whose name was not released, told authorities he didn't know the weapons parts were in his son's bag. They were allowed to fly after the items were confiscated. "It appears to be the result of a domestic dispute," Airport Police Chief Leo Messier said in a statement. Read the story here. (TSA/Handout)
An Australian pilot had to make an unplanned landing only 20 minutes after takeoff after a snake slithered out of the dashboard into the cockpit. Pilot Braden Blennerhassett spotted the snake about 20 minutes after takeoff from the Darwin Airport on an Air Frontier cargo flight in April 2012. Read the full story here. (Shutterstock)
A 49-year-old Oregon man became so fed up with airport screening that he stripped naked at Portland International Airport security checkpoint, police said. Some passengers covered their own eyes, as well as their children’s, during the April 2012 incident, while others “stepped out of the screening lanes to look, laugh and take photos.” Read the full story here. (Multnomah County Sheriff's Office/Handout)
A 10-hour United Airlines flight from San Francisco to London took off without restocking one important passenger item — toilet paper. ABC News reported staff improvised and provided cocktail napkins for passengers to use in stalls when the toilet paper ran out and labelled a dispenser so passengers knew why the napkins were in the bathroom. Read the full story here. (Postmedia Network files)
A porn company has offered Air Canada pilots free porn for however long they're employed by the airline. Recently, the CBC reported Air Canada pilots have been told to stop taking porn with them into the cockpits. A memo was sent to staff last year warning of possible criminal charges or being fired for bringing inappropriate material to work. In a letter from the website Brazzers, the company offers pilots free porn. Read the full story here. (Postmedia Network)
Passengers got quite a scare Wednesday when a man on their flight sneezed and declared "I have Ebola" - as a joke. Health officials in haz-mat suits escorted the man from US Airways flight 845 Wednesday when it arrived in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, from Philadelphia. Read the full story here. (Handout)
A fight broke out at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport last week after a man began hurling homophobic slurs at another passenger in the airport's terminal. The incident was caught on video and posted to YouTube by Andrew Kennedy, who wrote in the video's description that it shows "an extremely troubled unnamed man gets upset, starts a fight and then gets taken down hard." Read the full story here. (YouTube)
If you're worried about the flight you're about to board with your charming but lung-tastic baby, take cues from the parents of Madeline and consider launching a preemptive charm offense with a goodie bag and an advance apology. The strategy did more than mollify Reddit user Ninjashares, who posted a photo of the bag on the online forum: "A baby just handed me this on my flight. I ain't mad." Read the full story here. (Imgur)
A Delta Airlines passenger caused a stir on social media when he decided to live-tweet a flight that had only one other passenger on it. The flight to New York took off with just two passengers after other flyers were re-booked on other flights due to weather related delays. See the full video here. (Twitter)
A video posted by a British TV host has gone viral for capturing the "disgusting" conditions of his pricey first class seat on British Airways. Owen Thomas said he just wanted to show others "...what first class in BA is really like." See the full video here. (YouTube)
'Hangin' With Mr. Cooper' actor Mark Curry was left fuming at an airport in Dallas, Texas in May 2015 after an airline employee randomly confronted him about carrying a loaded weapon. The actor tells TMZ.com, "(I) just walked to (the) first class Delta counter in Dallas. The first thing the lady said to me (was), 'Do you have a loaded weapon?' What? Delta, all black people don't have loaded weapons! That's the first thing she said to me at (the) first class (desk). She didn't say hello, she said, 'Do you have a weapon?' She was black...!" Read the full story here. (WENN.com)
This photo of a lizard on a tray of airplane food, reportedly taken on an Air India flight from Delhi to London, went viral and had the airline issuing a statement that it was nothing more than a hoax. Air India said it had received no complaints about a lizard surprising passengers in-flight, though one source told the Times of India that "a flight attendant got the said meal from the galley and soon after it was placed on to the tray, the passenger was heard screaming." Watch the full video here. (Twitter)
A United Airlines captain threw bullets in a trash bin accessible to passengers and later flushed them down a toilet on board a flight that he was piloting to Germany. A United spokeswoman said that the pilot should not have thrown the bullets in the toilet. She said the pilot hasn't been fired but that the incident is still under investigation. Airline spokeswoman Karen May said the pilot is allowed to carry a gun on domestic flights under a post-9-11 federal program. Read the full story here. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
A WestJet flight attendant's funny in-flight safety demonstration has made him a viral sensation. In video posted to Facebook by a Saskatchewan veterinary clinic, flight attendant Michael McAdam can be seen acting out the safety demonstration. Click here to watch the video. (Facebook)
Malaysia Airlines barred passengers from checking in baggage on flights to Paris and Amsterdam in early January 2016 due to "unseasonably strong headwinds" on a longer flight path it is taking. Malaysia Airlines said the longer flight path consumes more fuel and this, combined with "temporary unseasonably strong headwinds, is limiting the airlines' ability to carry baggage in cargo." The airline later changed the policy after social media backlash. Read the full story here. (AP Photo)
Delta Air Lines had to apologize to passengers after a confrontation between two flight attendants in January 2016 led pilots to make an unscheduled landing halfway through the trip. The Aviation Herald, a website that tracks accidents and other incidents involving planes, said Delta flight 2598 was headed from Los Angeles to Minneapolis on Jan. 22 when two flight attendants got into a fist fight and the captain decided to land in Salt Lake City. The Herald said the plane stayed on the ground for more than an hour before resuming the flight to Minneapolis. Read the full story here. (Associated Press files)
A large bulge in a man's pants turned out to be nearly 1 lb. of cocaine, according to reports. Authorities at the Madrid airport in Spain noticed a passenger on a flight arriving from Costa Rica who had "a suspicious package between his legs," according to the official Twitter account of the national police. The man had tucked the drugs between boxers and another pair of underwear. He remains in custody for drug smuggling. (Twitter)
A Endeavor Air flight attendant allegedly stole 1,500 mini bottles of alcohol from flights she worked on and has since been charged with theft, unlawful sale of alcohol and unauthorized transportation of alcohol, according to the Associated Press. Endeavor Air is an affiliate of Delta. Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission investigators say Rachel Trevor sold the bottles for $1 each on Craigslist. (Getty Images)

Baby born on Cebu Pacific flight given one million air points


A baby born on a Philippines aircraft earlier this month is destined to become a global explorer after winning one million air points.


Thugs prevented the first day of the National Energy Board’s Energy East pipeline hearings from going ahead in Montreal on Monday.
“Oh, no,” you say. “They weren’t thugs. They were deeply committed environmental activists expressing their passionate opposition to the $15.7-billion pipeline from Alberta’s oil sands to refineries and ports in New Brunswick.”
Look, if you prevent a lawful, democratic process from going ahead in an attempt to ensure your view is the only one heard, you’re a thug.
The henchmen of dictators who seek to silence opposing opinions are thugs, and so are “green” radicals who prevent testimony at legitimate hearings.
And if you doubt the logic of that, try replacing environmental protestors in the equation with a group you are less sympathetic to, perhaps abortion protestors.
If pro-lifers stormed into an abortion clinic and prevented doctors from performing a legal procedure that they vehemently disagree with, would you think the anti-abortionists were thugs, or well-meaning protestors who passionately oppose reproductive rights?
The irony is the thugs prevented Denis Coderre from giving testimony to the National Energy Board (NEB).
Coderre, the mayor of Montreal, has been Energy East’s most vocal political opponent.
He was at the hearings to tell commissioners he and other Montreal-area mayors are against Energy East on safety, environmental and economic grounds.
The way one of the “green” bullies got in Coderre’s face and verbally assaulted him, you have to think the disrupters don’t even know who their allies are.
The eco-protestors were upset by the revelation last week that two NEB commissioners had met in private with former Quebec premier Jean Charest.
They also met privately with several Quebec leaders, including Coderre, to figure out how best to engage Quebecers and Quebec leaders.
At the time they met with Charest, he was a registered lobbyist for TransCanada, the company seeking approval for Energy East.
Charest and the NEB insist the meeting was short and strictly about process.
Still, Coderre and the green protestors used the meeting to call into question the legitimacy of the NEB’s hearings.
But the biggest loser wasn’t even there and doesn’t have any role in the proceedings.
It was Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley.
Notley is imposing the most rigid environmental regulations in the country and implementing a new carbon tax commencing Jan. 1 that will squeeze $3 billion annually out of Albertans' pockets, at a time when the province’s economy is shrinking and tens of thousands of tradespeople and energy professionals are out of work.
Notley’s Climate Leadership Plan is supposed to earn Alberta “social licence” to ease the approval of projects such as Energy East.
In other words, if Albertans absorb a lot of regulatory and financial pain in the name of reducing greenhouse gases, then supposedly “greens,” First Nations and politicians from other jurisdictions (such as Coderre) will agree to let pipelines be built that will take Alberta oil to better markets.
Hah! As the disruption of the now-suspended NEB hearing in Montreal proves, there is no amount of social licence that will buy the approval of “green” protestors or politicians.
As the American eco-group the Natural Resources Defense Council has said in preventing other pipelines, “it’s not the pipeline, it’s what’s in the pipeline” that has to be stopped.
Simply put, no amount of regulation and taxation – no Climate Leadership Plan – will change attitudes like that.
Notley’s plan is all pain, no gain.

Radicals will never agree to Energy East


Thugs prevented the first day of the National Energy Board’s Energy East pipeline hearings from going ahead in Montreal on Monday.


BERLIN -- Scientists have found evidence to support what many dog owners have long believed: man's best friend really does understand some of what we're saying.
Researchers in Hungary scanned the brains of dogs as they were listening to their trainer speaking to determine which parts of the brain they were using.
They found that dogs processed words with the left hemisphere, while intonation was processed with the right hemisphere -- just like humans.
What's more, the dogs only registered that they were being praised if the words and intonation were positive; meaningless words spoken in an encouraging voice, or meaningful words in a neutral tone, didn't have the same effect.
"Dog brains care about both what we say and how we say it," said lead researcher Attila Andics, a neuroscientist at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest. "Praise can work as a reward only if both word meaning and intonation match."
Andics said the findings suggest that the mental ability to process language evolved earlier than previously believed and that what sets humans apart from other species is the invention of words.
"The neural capacities to process words that were thought by many to be uniquely human are actually shared with other species," he said. "This suggests that the big change that made humans able to start using words was not a big change in neural capacity."
While other species probably also have the mental ability to understand language like dogs do, their lack of interest in human speech makes it difficult to test, said Andics.
Dogs, on the other hand, have socialized with humans for thousands of years, meaning they are more attentive to what people say to them and how.
The study was published in the journal Science.
Andics also noted that all of the dogs were awake, unrestrained and happy during the tests. "They participated voluntarily," he said.

Dogs really do know what you’re saying, study suggests


Scientists have found evidence to
support what many dog owners have long
believed: man's best friend really does
understand some of what we're saying.


OTTAWA — A Coquitlam woman says she has incurred $135,000 in damage to her rental property due to a medical marijuana grow-op licensed by Health Canada without her knowledge or consent.
And she says the federal government’s new regulations leave the door wide open to continued abuses, especially in B.C. where the number of state-sanctioned grow-ops has increased exponentially.
“I don’t want this to happen to other property owners,” said the woman, who shared documentation of her plight but spoke on condition of anonymity.
She said she’s convinced there are many other victims who won’t report the problem due to fear that their home’s property value will plunge.
Urging landlords to amend their rental agreements, she said they should insist on bimonthly inspections and clauses prohibiting the manufacture or storage of drugs, whether legal or illegal.
“The government has taken the position that homeowners do not have the right to prevent their homes from being turned into commercial-scale grow-ops, or even know about it,” she said Tuesday.
“People need to protect themselves.”
A B.C. lawyer who successfully fought the former government’s attempt to crack down on state-sanctioned home grow-ops, meanwhile, said the lack of a requirement for landlord consent is a “defect” in the new regulations.
But Abbotsford lawyer John Conroy, lead counsel in the Allard vs. Canada case that led to the new regulations, amended his comment in a subsequent e-mail exchange, saying a consent requirement could have an “unreasonable” impact on renters.
He said he hopes the Trudeau government, which said the August regulations were an interim step en route to pot legalization, will resolve the dilemma.
“It seems to me there are valid concerns on the part of the owners and tenant-patients in the current market that will hopefully ultimately disappear in a legal market.”
Health Canada’s new regulations, which took effect last week, were in response to the Federal Court of Canada’s Allard decision in February.
The case involved four B.C. residents who challenged the former Conservative government’s 2013 requirement that patients buy pot from government-regulated suppliers rather than grow it.
Justice Michael Phelan concluded the restrictions violated their charter rights, and dismissed the government’s argument that they were justified for health and safety concerns — from fires to violent break-ins to severe mould.
A Health Canada official said Tuesday that the government’s regulations strike “an appropriate balance” between the rights of patients and public safety.
The new rules are nearly identical to those of the 2001 regime, and that’s a problem for the Coquitlam resident.
She complained that the new system doesn’t require the owner’s knowledge or consent when a tenant makes a successful application. (Consent is only required if the licence-holder doesn’t live in the rental property.)
The second is that the regime, relying on the recommendations of the patients’ physicians, allows for quantities vastly higher than what a typical user requires.
In her case, the grow-op she discovered last year in her two-storey rental home — located across the street from an elementary school — contained 400 plants that were being grown for illicit sale, generating $20,000 a month.
It was operating under the authorization of a Health Canada licence obtained not by her tenant, who shared the upper floor with his young son, but by two individuals who were paying him to run the grow-op in his basement.
(Because the applicants didn’t obtain her consent she plans to sue Health Canada for failure to enforce its own rules on disclosure requirements.)
Health Canada statistics produced during the Allard case said the number of production licences in Canada soared from 83 on Dec. 31, 2001, to just under 9,000 in 2011.
The total then more than tripled to a little over 28,000 by the end of 2013.
More than half — 16,010 — involved successful B.C. applicants even though the province has roughly 13 per cent of the Canadian population. The data also showed that on Nov. 13, 2014, the B.C. applicants grew just under 1.7 million indoor plants — a staggering 69 per cent of the national total of a little over 2.4 million plants.
And the average amount Health Canada authorized patients to use was 18.2 grams of dried marijuana, or between 18 and 37 joints, a day.
Justice Phelan, in his February decision, said experts “largely agreed” that the recommended daily amount of medicinal pot ranged up to five grams a day for most patients.
poneil@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/poneilinOttawa

B.C. renters' grow-op leaves woman's home with $135,000 in damages


OTTAWA — A Coquitlam woman says she has incurred $135,000 in damage to her rental property due to a medical marijuana grow-op licensed by Health Canada without her knowledge or consent.