Category: Travel

A guaranteed basic income for all Canadians has emerged as the top policy choice of Liberal MPs, just as the Trudeau government is crafting its plan to help people weather the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and rebuild the ravaged economy.The Liberal caucus is calling on the government to adopt the idea in a priority policy resolution for consideration at the party’s upcoming national convention.

Source: Guaranteed basic income emerges as top policy priority for Liberal MPs amid COVID-19 – National | Globalnews.ca

TORONTO — Scientists have examined fossil records from the past 126,000 years and predict an “unprecedented magnitude” of mammal extinctions in the near future.A new study from the U.S. journal Science Advances looked into the impact humans had on past and present extinction of mammals. Researchers found that human population size in many parts of the world will “undoubtedly pose a serious challenge for the future conservation of biodiversity.”Researchers suggest that human activity is almost entirely to blame for the extinctions of mammals in past decades, and will likely be the cause of at least 558 extinctions within the next century.

Source: Scientists predict ‘unprecedented magnitude’ of mammal extinctions in near future | CTV News

Kenosha’s Historic Lunch-Car Diner In 1917, the Jerry Mahoney Diner Company began manufacturing roadside diners. The long and narrow prefabricated buildings were trucked on railroad flatcars to various locations across the United States, and were often confused with actual railroad cars. One such diner arrived in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 1926, and it’s now the oldest continuously-operating lunch-car diner in the country. READ MORE

A new record sized fleet will compete in the 2020 edition of the Vendée Globe as 33 competitors are now registered to be on the start line off Les Sables d’Olonne on November 8.

Source: 33 solo sailors set to start the Vendée Globe as entry record is broken

The best way to trap a Vancouver Island marmot is with peanut butter — and not the healthy kind. Marmots use beaver-like incisors to chow down on an alpine meadow buffet of more than 40 species of grasses, herbs and wildflowers. The starfish leaves of alpine lupins are a favourite dish. But place a teaspoon of peanut butter, preferably containing sugar and hydrogenated fats, near a marmot that is fattening up after six or seven months of hibernation and it will quickly eschew the salad bar.For wildlife veterinarian Malcolm McAdie, feeding dozens of captive marmots at the Tony Barrett Mount Washington Marmot Recovery Centre, where marmots are bred and released into the wild, is a daily preoccupation. One entire room at the centre is devoted to food preparation. The marmot youngsters, McAdie jokes, are “eating us out of house and home.”The Vancouver Island marmot, Canada’s most endangered mammal, is only found in the wild on Vancouver Island mountains. The heaviest member of the squirrel family, marmots are about the size of a large house cat, have dainty ears like their chipmunk cousins and sport chocolate-brown fur with splashes of cream. Like other marmot species, Vancouver Island marmots are highly social; they live in colonies, rub noses in greeting and play fight like boxers.

Source: Bringing the endangered Vancouver Island marmot back from the brink | The Narwhal

Three Canadians into Grand Slam fourth round for the first time.

Canadian tennis has been on the radar for several years, from Milos Raonic climbing to a career-high No. 3 in the FedEx ATP Rankings to Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov shining under the #NextGenATP spotlight. At this US Open, Canadians have been doing better than ever, with three men from the country reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.Shapovalov rallied from the brink of defeat to oust Taylor Fritz on Friday, while on Saturday Auger-Aliassime cruised against Corentin Moutet and Vasek Pospisil battled past eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut. Before this tournament, no Canadian trio had reached the third round of a major.“I think tennis is already booming now in Canada over the last few years with Genie [Bouchard], Milos and myself and now Felix, Denis and Bianca [Andreescu], so we are definitely in a bit of a golden era for tennis in Canada,” Pospisil said. “Tennis has obviously been a huge and incredible part of my life. It has given me so many amazing memories and opportunities for the rest of my life, so I am thrilled that it is doing so well right now in Canada and I do think now that a lot of kids are picking up racquets over hockey sticks. Maybe there is a little bit of a shift.”

Source: Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov & Vasek Pospisil Make History In ‘Golden Era For Canadian Tennis’ | ATP Tour | Tennis

RATHSKELLERS ORIGINATED BENEATH GERMAN TOWN halls. These restaurants and beer halls let parties debate upstairs, then come downstairs for a few drinks and restoration of camaraderie. German immigrants brought the tradition to the United States, including a striking example that lies hidden beneath the Minnesota State Capitol. Recently, architects and consultants have employed paint remnant analysis and two photographs to restore the 114-year-old beer hall.After an art conservator removed 22 layers of old paint from the rathskeller walls using a scalpel and tweezers, designs emerged that had been hidden for 70 years. This included 29 German mottoes, such as “Drink, but don’t indulge in drinking; speak, but don’t pick quarrels” and “Today for money, tomorrow for nothing.Architect Cass Gilbert designed the building in 1905 with Minnesota’s German immigrants—the state’s largest foreign-born population at the time—in mind. He also added rathskellers to two of his other projects, including the Woolworth Building in New York City.But between the anti-German sentiment that resulted from World War I and the onset of the temperance movement, German drinking holes took a hit. In 1917, Minnesota’s then-governor had the walls painted over. In 1930, a new governor attempted to restore them, but temperance leaders lobbied to have slogans such as “Better be tipsy than feverish” be replaced by “Temperance is a virtue of men.” Seven years later, the rathskeller became a cafeteria—serving line and all. Evidence of German heritage once again disappeared from the space.Today, visitors see the rathskeller as it was in 1905, from the light fixtures to the furniture to the olive-brown wall paint. All traces of the 1937 cafeteria remodel were erased. Most notably, the artwork, which includes text, animals, plants, and scrolls, has been restored. Original paintings reference the founding of Minnesota, both a territory in 1849, and a state in 1858. A small exhibit offers insight into the room’s tumultuous history.In 2000, the professionals who took on the restoration project (which began in the 1980s) were awarded honorary plaques by the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota. The rathskeller itself also received special distinction. And as a functioning restaurant, the Rathskeller Café seems to be performing well. One reviewer described the setting as charming and unexpected, mentioned friendly and helpful staff, and absolutely raved about the cheeseburger. Know Before You GoThe restored Rathskeller Café is open only during the legislative session (check this calendar for upcoming dates and times). The Minnesota State Capitol also offers free 45-minute guided tours that allow participants to see more of the building.

Source: Rathskeller Cafe – Saint Paul, Minnesota – Gastro Obscura

Remember the giant, human-controlled Prosthesis mech suit? We first saw the design back in 2014. It’s a 4,000-kg (8,820-lb), 4-meter-tall (13-ft), chromoly steel-framed monster that uses some 170 kW (225 hp) worth of electric motors, hydraulics, springs and suspension units to move its four giant legs individually in response to the movements of a pilot’s limbs.

Source: US$1,515 will let you drive the beastly Prosthesis mech suit