Canadian Toy Testing Council Shut Down After 63yrs For Insolvency

Children play during a 2010 Canadian Toy Testing Council event to announce its top toy picks. (Pawel Dwulit/CP)

The Canadian Toy Testing Council known for testing toys for children since 1952 has shut down after members were unable to secure financial backing. The council operates through a network of through families in the Ottawa region who would take the toys home and judge them on design, durability, safety and playability.

The group also produced an annual pre-Christmas list of top toys and books.

But last year the volunteer-run organization did not operate its toy testing program or produce its annual list because of what it described as funding challenges.

In a news release Tuesday, the organization said it had been under financial stress for several years.

Canada Revenue Agency filings for the council show the organization's revenue was cut in half from 2011 to 2012, to $52,328 from $98,743, and the group could not recover. The council reported revenue of $46,101 in 2014.

Wow! British Family Welcome Baby Girl After 200 Years Of Having Only Male Children

It was joy galore for the family of Lawrie when they welcomed a baby girl four months ago, after about 200 years of not having one. The last time they had a baby girl in their family was in 1809. 

“When little Myla Lawrie was brought home from hospital four months ago, a veritable sea of pink greeted her, with clouds of balloons filling the sitting room, along with cards, bunting and ribbons in every shade of girliness.

For this was a very special event in the Lawrie family. When Myla was born in October, she was the first girl to be born in her family since 1809. The last time a midwife announced ‘It’s a girl’, the Napoleonic war was still being fought, the motorcar was yet to be invented, and ‘mad’ King George III was on the English throne.

OMG! Kenya school children tear-gased for protesting against a developer who 'grabbed' their playground

Pupils of Langata primary school in Kenya were this morning tear-gassed by Kenya Police following their protest against a certain land developer who they say 'stole' part of their school's land which is their playground. The land developer wants to turn it into private property.

According to reports from Kenya, the school authority had written to the government asking for help to stop their land from being taken over by the developer but their letters were not attended to. Seeing that their teachers were helpless, the school children decided to hold a protest in front of their school this morning.

 

They however got more than they bargained for as the police tear gassed them, which caused a stampede. Five of the children have been rushed to the hospital at the moment. More pics below

Aww! Children Channel Star Looks from the 2015 Golden Globe Awards

George Clooney & Amal Clooney

Every year, Toddlewood channel the best looks on the red carpet during the awards season – giving us absolutely cute results.

The first one for the year is the 2015 Golden Globe Awards.

We get to see little George Clooney, Kerry Washington, Emma Stone, Kevin Hart, Kelly Osbourne and more. see more pics after cut

Disgusting! American Woman, Boyfriend, 4 Children, Lived At Home With Decaying Dead Babies For Years

A mum in America has been charged with two counts of murder after the remains of three babies were found in the filthy, vermin-infested home she shared with her boyfriend and four other children. Erika Murray, 31, was charged with foetal death concealment, witness intimidation and permitting substantial injury to a child.

Her boyfriend, Ray Rivera, is charged with offences including assault and battery on a child and reckless endangerment of a child.

Prosecutors described the horrific conditions that four children - aged from six months to 13 years - were found alive in at the house.


Authorities said there were piles of dirty diapers, rubbish strewn everywhere, and remains of dead animals. The children were removed from the address in August after a 10-year-old boy went to a neighbour's house, and asked for help in quieting a crying baby.

Yet another, eight children killed, mother stabbed, in Australia

Women put flowers near home in Cairns, Australia where 8 children were found along with a woman police think is the mother of 7 of them on December 19, 2014

KRISTEN GELINEAU AP
Eight dead children and a woman suffering from stab wounds were found inside a home in a northern Australian city on Friday, police said.

Police believe the 34-year-old woman with chest wounds is the mother of seven of the children, and the eighth child is believed to be one of her relatives, Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said. She was receiving treatment for her injuries and was in stable condition at a hospital.

Queensland state police said they were called to the home in the Cairns suburb of Manoora on Friday morning after receiving a report of a woman with serious injuries. When police got to the house, they found the bodies of the children inside, ranging in age from 18 months to 15 years.

After Massacre Of Innocent School Children Pakistan Declares 3days Of Mourning

Flags are flying at half-mast across Pakistan today as the nation marks three days of mourning of the 141 people, which included 132 children (ages 12-16) who were killed in a brazen attack on a military school yesterday in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced it was a brutal attack that was regretful and declared three days of mourning for the slain children.

The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) who have claimed responsibility for the attack have also warned civilians to distance themselves from security personnel or be killed alongside them, as they intend to attack more.

Touching Photo shows the footwear of one of the children killed by the Taliban at a Pakistan Military

Photo shows the footwear of one of the children killed by the Taliban at a Pakistani Military run primary school earlier today. 

OMG! Over 100 children believed killed in Taliban attack on Pakistan school

Pakistani rescue workers take students injured in the shootout to hospital. Photograph: Mohammad Sajjad/AP

The Guardian
At least 126 people, more than 100 of them children, have been killed in a Pakistan Taliban attack at an army school in Peshawar, according to provincial officials.

Many children escaped but some are still being held hostage. Hours after the initial assault, reporters at the scene said they could still hear firing and explosions.

Pakistan helicopter gunships hovered above the school but were unable to open fire because children were still being held.

Six or more attackers, dressed in army uniform, mounted the assault on the school for the children of army personnel shortly after 11am. Hundreds were in the school at the time.

Actress Jennifer Aniston hurt over talk that she's too 'selfish & career-driven' to have children

Jennifer Aniston was with Brad Pitt for about 7 years and they didn't have children. When Brad Pitt started having children with Angelina Jolie and said his dreams were finally coming through, many assumed Jennifer didn't have kids with him because she was more interested in fame and fortune in Hollywood than motherhood. The speculations have followed the actress ever since.

Speaking about it in an interview with Allure magazine, Jennifer said it hurts her that people think she chose her career over children and that it is wrong for people to assume that women who decide not to have children are somehow perceived to have failed in life.

Hollywood Actress Angelina Jolie Reveals Her Children Want Tattoo But Husband Brad Pitt Is Horrified

Tattooed Hollywood star Angelina Jolie says that her young children have horrified their father Brad Pitt - because they want their own inkings. The couple are parents to six children, six-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox, Shiloh, eight, Zahara, nine, Pax, 11 and Maddox, 13.

                     
       
Jolie, 39, is thought to have about 17 different designs, including an inscription on her arm which she got just last year, inked all over her body. Despite his aversion to tattoos for his children, Brad has up to a dozen of his own inkings.

Tragic! Saskatchewan family loses three children in farm accident

 Sean, Blake and Lyndon Arnal pose with a rugby ball in this undated family handout photo. Courtesy Arnal family

Chris PurdyThe Canadian Press
When one of her children was killed six years ago, Anne Arnal never dreamed she would have to go through the same pain again.

And again.

Three of her six children – her freckle-faced, youngest boys – have died in separate accidents on the family’s farm.

Arnal says most people can’t fathom the grief she and her family are suffering. “I could never imagine how or why I would be asked to have to do this,” she says.

“You try to figure out whether you’re supposed to gain something or whether you’re supposed to change somehow or what you’re being tested for … and I don’t have the slightest idea.”