Two Toronto high school students got quite a bit of attention by sending a Lego man into near space and filming the entire voyage with an attached camera. Matthew Ho and Asad Muhammad used a weather balloon to carry the plastic figurine holding a Canadian flag more than 24 km above sea level. The video made quite the buzz and celebrities, such as Canadian space pioneer Dr. Roberta Bondar, took pictures with a similar Lego to praise the teens’ accomplishment. Bondar signed the picture “From small ideas grow big dreams.”Ottawa documents reveal lobbying for tar sands oil
Greenpeace Canada released internal federal strategy documents last Thursday showing the extent of Ottawa’s lobbying for the tar sands oil industry. The documents, received through an access to information request, categorize environmental organizations and aboriginals as “adversaries,” and describe the National Energy Board, an independent industry regulator, as an “ally.” Environment minister Peter Kent swiftly moved to minimize the impact of the documents, calling them a “gross mischaracterization of reality,” according to The Globe and Mail.
How do you like them pineapples?
One thing you cannot reproach drug dealers on is their creativity. The RCMP and border officials in New Brunswick got their hands on a scheme to import drugs in cocaine-stuffed pineapples and marijuana-wrapped watermelons. Six people are facing drug-related charges and three more have been arrested in connection with the seizure last August of a total of 28 kilograms of cocaine, at an estimated street value of $3.5 million. The drugs were discovered with the use of X-ray technology and detector dogs.
Ladies only
A Halifax salon is offering a special female-only hairstyling day, in order to offer privacy for Muslim women who choose to cover their hair. On that day, the salon puts the blinds down, locks the door and puts up a sign saying “women only.” Spa owner Lesley Williams said women were better able to enjoy the service knowing that no men were around. Williams told CBC that several dozen women use the service because they can remove their headscarves.