Detroit Bad Boys, a Detroit Pistons community

First the great maple syrup heist, now this: Police in Canada have sniffed out a large-scale cheese-smuggling ring involving a serving police officer, an officer who resigned this summer, and an American accomplice. Cheese is a lot cheaper in the US than it is in Canada, and officials believe the trio bought at least $200,000 worth of the American stuff and sold it to Canadian pizzerias and other restaurants for a profit of $165,000, the Toronto Sun reports. The men have been charged with conspiracy, smuggling, and other violations of customs law. Smugglers bringing cases of cheese across the border can make up to $2,000 a trip if they can find a buyer, reports the CBC. "We get all our stuff legit," says one pizzeria owner who was questioned by police. "We thought it was a joke at first. Who is going to go around trying to sell smuggled cheese?" http://www.newser.com/story/154864/canadians-bust-cheese-smuggling-cops.html

Dentist Sandy Crocker (28), from the Pacific coast province of British Columbia, flew more than 8,000 miles to track down the Irish woman. He is determined to find her and is criss-crossing Ireland searching for a woman in her mid to late- 20s with freckles and reddish brown hair. His unusual odyssey began last summer when the avid surfer and rugby player popped into An Teach Bia cafe in Ennistymon, Co Clare, on his way to visit the Cliffs of Moher. After the chance encounter on July 9, he realised that the woman had captured his heart. "She was eating and I didn't want to interrupt her meal so I waited until she was leaving and I asked her for directions to the Cliffs of Moher," he said. "I was leaving Ireland a day later so, at first, I didn't see the point in pursuing things -- but after she left I decided I had to. "Maybe it's a shot in dark but if it is meant to be, if it's fate, then who knows what might happen?" He is prepared for the worst if she turns out to be married or otherwise involved, or simply not interested, he added. He will be travelling around Clare for the next few days before heading to Cork. If he hasn't found his mystery woman by then, he plans to return to Co Clare before going to Belfast. In the meantime, he is hoping the woman will learn of his search and contact him via dating site www.pof.com under the username Travel-bug-4u. http://www.independent.ie/national-news/lovestruck-canadian-puts-life-on-hold-to-search-for-irish-woman-he-met-for-just-two-minutes-3234097.html

Canada’s francophone province is the Saudi Arabia of the syrup world, producing some three-quarters of the world’s output. With the global market under stress—U.S. production is down 32 percent this year to 1.91 million gallons, according to the Department of Agriculture (PDF)—perhaps it was only a matter of time before thieves targeted Quebec’s rich reserves. The puzzle is how the culprits managed to siphon off almost C$30 million ($30.4 million) of syrup. That’s the equivalent of 10 million pounds or roughly 15,000 barrels of syrup. And the stock didn’t vanish somewhere in the supply chain of a major city. It’s missing from a warehouse in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, a tiny town of 903 people, according to the 2011 Census. They’re usually more focused on cranberries, whether it’s harvesting them or celebrating them in cranberry festivals. So imagine the surprise when a "routine inventory check," as the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers (FPAQ) calls it, revealed evidence of a massive heist. Row after row of barrels were empty, filled with nothing but sweet-smelling Quebec air. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-31/maple-syrup-heist-leaves-quebec-in-a-sticky-mess

"I think men have always felt emotion and been emotional, but they haven’t had an outlet to express it," says Andrea Doucet, who holds the Canada research chair in gender work and care at Brock University. "My father was a very emotional man but he relied on my mother to do all the emotion work, which I think that’s what has happened in generations past." Now that men take a more active role in caring for their children, however, "that allows themselves to acquire or express more emotional literacy," Prof. Doucet says. .... Men of earlier generations didn’t have the luxury of spending much more time with their children – if a decade or more ago you told a new dad he should go on paternity leave he probably would have looked at you like you were speaking Martian. Which is a good reason – one of many – to do more this weekend than hand over some perfunctory gift along with a card that expresses only acceptable generic sentiments. On Sunday, I’ll get my dad a card and a small gift. He usually just asks for a Tim Hortons’s gift certificate. But I will also hug him and thank him for being such a great dad, even if it does make him squirm like he’s covered in fire ants. STORY: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/fathers-day/why-im-a-weepy-dad-and-my-dad-wasnt/article4264924/ Happy Canadian Father's Day, MFGE!

It takes political transparency to a whole new level. Canadians got an eyeful Friday as images of a painting depicting the prime minister in the nude went viral. The large oil on canvas, which Stephen Harper did not pose for, is by Kingston, Ont.,-based artist Margaret Sutherland. It shows the prime minister reclining on a chaise lounge wearing nothing but a subtle smile, surrounded by people in suits, whose faces can't be seen. A dog rests at his feet as a woman in business attire offers him what looks like a Tim Hortons cup on a silver platter. The piece appeared to draw out the art critic in many Canucks. STORY: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/baring-painting-prime-minister-nude-causes-stir-161037709.html VIDEO: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/canews-22424922/nude-harper-portrait-makes-a-stir-29342442.html

Unexplained Noise Spurs Diplomatic Fracas At Detroit Border; Americans Can't Hear It WINDSOR, Ontario—Last month, Bob Dechert, a senior aide to Canada's foreign minister, was dispatched to Detroit with an important diplomatic mission: To stop a highly annoying noise. The so-called Windsor hum, described as a low-frequency rumbling sound, has rattled windows and knocked objects off shelves in this border community just across the Detroit River from the Motor City. Locals have said it sounds like a large diesel truck idling, a loud boom box or the bass vocals of Barry White. Windsor residents have blamed the hum for causing illness, whipping dogs into frenzies, keeping cats housebound and sending goldfish to the surface in backyard ponds. Many have resorted to switching on their furnace fan all season to drown out the noise. Even weirder, Americans can't seem to hear it. Canadians find that suspicious—especially since their research suggests the hum is coming from the Yankees' side—and accuse U.S. officials of staying silent over the noise. "The government of Canada takes this issue seriously," Mr. Dechert said after his recent fact-finding trip, which included a visit to a heavily industrialized area on the American side of the river that some Canadian scientists believe is to blame for the hum. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303990604577370182557339816.html

Canada penny drops in federal budget as Jim Flaherty signals end of one cent coin The penny coin, loved by some but an annoyance to many, will be withdrawn from circulation this year because it costs too much to make and is a pecuniary pest. "The penny is a currency without any currency in Canada," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Thursday. Ottawa said the penny retained only one twentieth of its original purchasing power. It costs 1.6 Canadian cents to produce each one cent coin and stamping out the penny will save around C$11 million ($11 million) a year.