Sliding by

It’s a bold move to include a new song on a greatest hits album but that’s exactly what Paul Simon did with Greatest Hits, Etc. And like Babe Ruth calling a home run, he was right. Slip Sidin’ Away was a top 10 hit, and remains a staple of his songbook. 

Baseball season is well underway now, with plenty of players slidin’ into bases. But have you heard about the latest trend? Sliding mitts protect players’ hands from getting stepped on, and they’re being used as a major fashion statement. 

Pretty in any colour ;)

(Love nostalgia? Play today’s trivia below for a chance to win a $25 Tim Hortons eGift Card!)

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Celebrating 1000 issues

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Shout out Zenbev for sponsoring our milestone 1000th issue and giveaway.

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IN THE NEWS

Mending the Canadian social fabric

While most in Ottawa were preparing for an election, senior officials at the Department of Canadian Heritage were attempting to bridge the gap-turned-chasm that’s become of Canada’s social fabric.

Organizers asked participants to arrive with ideas on how to stem the tide of polarization in the country in a way that would restore trust in government and its institutions while combating the growing threat of misinformation and disinformation.

While it’s a tough nut to crack, the organizers noted other like-minded countries are seemingly in worse shape on the same topic.

Their approach? Instead of navel-gazing ideas like trying to overhaul the country’s relationship with social media echo chambers, the paper instead pointed out the simple reality that sentiment towards government is highly correlated with the person’s last interaction with the government, and that making each of those touchpoints a healthy experience could help bring wayward citizens back into the democratic fold.

“In the thousands of daily instances when somebody files a tax return, applies for a grant, renews a passport or receives a vaccine, we are creating experiences that influence their social attitudes and institutional trust,” it said.

No word yet on when Heritage will move ahead with a plan.

POLITICS

Protest group aims to put 200 names on Poilievre ballot

The Longest Ballot Committee is a protest group responsible for adding 85 names to the ballot in Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s Carlton riding, which he ultimately lost by 4,315 votes to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy after holding the seat for nearly 20 years.

The group says it received dozens of emails after driving Poilievre out of the riding, and in response, is now aiming to stack the ballot in the Battle River—Crowfoot byelection with 200 names.

Poilievre is running as the Conservative candidate in the small and deep-blue Conservative Alberta riding after MP Damien Kurek agreed to vacate the seat on Friday. Kurek won the seat with 82% of the vote, suggesting any manipulating results with ballot stacking will be difficult to pull off again.

The group says its intentions aren’t necessarily about keeping Poilievre from winning, but to protest Canada’s electoral system.

“It would benefit voters if politicians recused themselves and passed decisions about election rules to a permanent, independent, and non-partisan body such as a citizens’ assembly,” the group said in its email to CTV News. “The long ballots give us a platform to advocate for this and have a lot of fun doing it.”

CONSUMER

Ontario Beer Stores start shutting down

Ontario premier Doug Ford’s plan to privatize a great deal of the province’s alcohol sales came with a stipulation that it would pay $225 million to The Beer Store to help prevent store closures as a consequence.

The Beer Store was previously under contract with the provincial government to be its exclusive seller of beer, and the $225 million was the price for the province to get out of the contract early.

The company promised to keep at least 300 stores open during the duration of the contract buyout period (which ends at the end of the year), and though it’s holding true to that, it’s slowly starting to phase out locations that it no longer wishes to keep afloat.

A total of 11 stores will therefore close their doors for good on July 6, 2025, including two in Toronto, two in Oakville, and two in Windsor.

“The Beer Store is modernizing operations to meet the needs of the marketplace — this means making the difficult decision to close some stores. We know this will be disappointing to many customers and our valued employees,” Ozzie Ahmed, the organization’s vice-president of retail, said in a statement.

You can view the full list of store closures here.

THIRSTY THURSDAYS

Four cups a day keeps the doctor away

A new study published in the European Journal of Nutrition suggests drinking four cups of coffee a day can have a positive impact on the human aging process.

Previous studies have linked coffee consumption to lower rates of age-related conditions, such as cognitive decline or various forms of inflammation. The new study builds on previous ones by concluding a routine of 4 to 6 cups of joe a day will lead to less frailty in older adults.

The researchers used Fried’s frailty phenotype to establish their understanding, which defines frailty as the presence of three or more of the following symptoms: weight loss, weakness, exhaustion, slow gait speed, and low physical activity.

“Drinking coffee is a key part of many people’s daily routine, and as people age they are constantly looking for ways to maintain their health,” said lead author Margreet R. Olthof, Associate Professor at the Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

“Our findings highlight the possible beneficial association between daily coffee consumption and reduced risk of frailty in later life in the older population. Coffee consumption may thus enhance healthy aging, but it is important we also explore further dietary interventions, to ensure older adults can continue to live fulfilling lives.”

HEALTH

How fast are your reflexes?

Reaction time reveals how quick one’s reflexes are. They typically start to wither as early as our 30s, but scientists and fitness gurus are always at work looking for ways people can stay both physically and mentally sharp into their golden years.

In fact, reaction time is partly an indication of cognitive function, so the older we get, the more important it becomes to have some sort of regular check on our reflexes.

"Some people just tend to be faster than others, even before ageing effects really kick in," says Simon Cox, professor of brain and cognitive ageing at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. "But a decline in reaction times probably indicates an accumulation of age-related degradation. It's a marker which tells us a lot about the combined functioning of quite a lot of biological systems."

Reflex testing can be done at home on your own, and there are tons of different methods for doing so, including the “ruler drop test,” which you can read the steps for here.

Reacting to a physical stimulus requires a collaborative effort between dozens of parts of the body and mind. Maintaining quick reflexes is a good way to keep everything functioning correctly.

TECH

Would you fly on a self-landing plane?

That’s a question commercial passengers may one day soon be able to answer, as the Federal Aviation Administration has approved the autonomous safety system built by Cirrus Aircraft.

While the system—called “Safe Return”—is currently only approved for the aircraft manufacturer’s SR Series G7+, it’s a proof of concept that could revolutionize airplane safety.

The way it works is slightly cartoonish. There’s a red button near the back of the aircraft that can be pushed in case something prevents the pilot from landing the plane. If that’s the case, someone on the crew would be tasked with pushing the button.

“The first thing it does is it makes a decision,” said Ben Kowalski, senior vice president of
sales and marketing at Cirrus Aircraft. “There’s an algorithm that decides: ‘Where should we go? What it’s doing is it’s making a choice, almost just like a pilot would.”

There’s an initial grace period of ten seconds in case the button was pushed by accident, but after that, Safe Return starts leveraging the plethora of information it has about the aircraft’s current state, and makes its decision, with air traffic controllers on the ground also being made aware that the plane is making an autonomous emergency landing.

MUSIC

Guitar gods reunite

It’s hard to fathom how the sound you’re hearing when you listen to a Steve Vai or Joe Satriani song was generated by a human. Both are in a league of their own when it comes to the six string, so when they join forces to put out music together, it’s always a big deal.

With former Deep Purple frontman Glen Hughes on vocals, Satch and Vai have come together to form the simply-named SatchVai Band, and their first single is fittingly titled I Wanna Play My Guitar.

"This song depicts all that Joe and I used to think about as teenagers. All of the things we loved about pounding rock and roll and the glorious guitar,” Satriani said in an interview with Guitar Player. “It is an absolute phenom for us to be able to present to you now our teenage aspirations in this song.”

“I remember those days and how absolutely exciting it was to play the guitar,” he continued. “Our whole world revolved around it as if it was a mysterious monolith, as it is, and I know that there are teenagers right now that are feeling the same thing about this sacred instrument when they play it.”

You can listen to the first what will hopefully be many bangers here.

STAKE TRIVIA

It’s the real thing

Well folks, it’s National Have A Coke Day! 🥤 Whether you love the classic cola or not, there’s no denying that Coke has been a fixture of pop culture for decades.

We’ll be quizzin’ you on some of their iconic ads, slogans and products with today’s trivia! Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 Tim Hortons eGift Card ;)

Winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon—keep an eye on your inbox!*

Have a great day ahead Staker!

Today’s issue written by Michael Cowan, Joey Cowan, and Maureen Norman.


*SEE FULL STAKE TRIVIA CONTEST RULES HERE.

**SEE FULL 1000TH ISSUE GIVEAWAY RULES HERE.