Morning Brew: June 9th, 2008

Photo: "LuminaTO-7" by dcooper..., member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

Your Toronto morning news roundup for Monday June 9th, 2008:

$4million worth of fake $20 bills were seized in what the RCMP are calling the largest counterfeiting bust in two decades. Apparently the bust came before the money went into public distribution, but I find it a little hard to believe that the suspects wouldn't be testing and spending during what must have been a long, ongoing printing effort.

Imagine this: your neighbour dies, but for the next four years as many as 30 cats continue to fend for themselves and live in the home, turning it into a stench- and cockroach-ridden hole. Why the neighbours/city allowed this go on for four years is astounding.

The City began its annual war on mosquitoes today. An estimated 150,000 storm drains and countless other pools of standing water will see doses of chemical larvicide and mosquito-killing bacteria introduced. How many people die annually from West Nile in Toronto every year? Or are we doing it more for the birds?

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Eating junk food and living a sedentary lifestyle do more than make our hearts weak and bellies fat. An extensive study involving students at Ontario schools reveals that those attending schools that place an emphasis on healthier eating and physical activity are... get this... significantly smarter.

In related news, McDonald's Canada has taken off their menu the only ingredient they use that actually has any nutritional value. A temporary moratorium on tomato use, citing Salmonella concerns, means that... wait, do they even put tomatoes on their hamburgers?