Obama’s Inauguration — in pictures

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 12:24 PM - 0 Comments

Click here to see all the photos we’ve collected from Obama’s Inauguration.

A different tradition of speech-making

By John Geddes - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 12:11 PM - 8 Comments

The durable importance and appeal of set-piece oratory in American political life, even in the age of television’s ersatz intimacy, is a remarkable thing. It’s tempting to see all the attention being paid to Barack Obama’s inaugural address as a sort of artifact of an era when formal political rhetoric—delivered from platforms, rather than on talk shows—was of central importance.

But the inauguration speech isn’t really a throwback event, at least not in the U.S. Between elections, the tradition of the state of the union address goes a long way toward ensuring that presidents must, at least once a year, attempt an encompassing speech. In Canada, there’s no comparable moment when a prime minister is called upon to compellingly sum up both the country’s temper and the government’s business.
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On that clarinetist

By Paul Wells - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 12:08 PM - 1 Comment

He’s from Chicago too, apparently.

London's finest crumble

By Michael Petrou - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 11:35 AM - 0 Comments

London police confront pro-Palestinian demonstrators shouting “Kafirs!” [an Arabic slur referring to non-Muslims], “Allah Akbar!” “Run, you swine!” and “Run, you f—king cowards!” And the police do run away.

Conservatives, All-Bran and pizza

By Mitchel Raphael - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 11:01 AM - 11 Comments

Towards the end of the Tories’ first caucus meeting following the holiday break, staffers were seen bringing hot pizzas into the room as journalists outside the door salivated.

Earlier, a cart with All Bran bars and peanut-free chocolate chip Chewy bars was seen going in.

Peter Van Loan, Minister of Public Safety, shows off his environmentally friendly shopping bag.

Conservatives almost never use the mic set up on the Hill after caucus meetings. This time Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, used it to talk to the media. He was even on crutches.

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Whiting Out Climate Change (one easy solution)

By Alex Shimo - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 10:56 AM - 6 Comments

It sounds almost too good to be true doesn’t it? Reducing climate change through a lick of white paint? Actually scientists have long known that white roofs leads to lower cooling costs because they reflect, instead of absorb, heat. According to a study released at the annual Conference on Climate Change by the California Energy Commission, painting a single 1,000 square-foot dark roof white would reduce carbon emissions by 10 metric tons. Changing the color of roofs and pavement in 100 of the world’s largest cities could reduce global emissions by 44 billion metric tons, says Hashem Akbari, a scientist at theLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, who has a campaign to whiten the world’s roofs. Just to compare, the world produced 49 billion metric tons of emissions in 2004, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

A number of cities have already started implementing this solution: California has mandated all commercial properties with flat roofs be white, and New York is whiting roofs as part of the greening of its transit system. White roofs could cut energy use by buildings by 20 percent, the researchers said. The equivalent energy reduction would save the U.S. $1 billion a year in energy costs.

One concern with this solution is glare. Shiny surfaces are fine for flat roofs, which most people never see, but for other buildings or roads, it might start looking like the Arctic in the summer time, with harsh white light bouncing off bright surfaces. Leading the way, Japanese researchers has tried painting roads with different paints: one’s that reflects infrared light which helps keeps surfaces cool, yet reflects a small proportion – just 23 per cent – of visible light, according to The Guardian. They’ve even done tests with pedestrians, having them stand on the different types of painted roads, and the research subjects seemed to prefer the reflective streets because they were cooler.

Of course, this isn’t a complete solution – emissions are still rising. But a lick of paint for the roofs of 100 of world’s biggest cities would wipe out the expected rise in emissions over the next decade, says Akbari.

Obama’s Inauguration – in pictures

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 10:27 AM - 3 Comments

Obama’s first 100 hours

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 10:21 AM - 0 Comments

Everyone is focused on the inauguration parties—and Michelle Obama’s hideous lime dress!—but the 44th American president is anxious to get down to business. As soon as he’s sworn in, his top aides plan to hop in a van and head to the White House while their boss enjoys the parade. On Wednesday—“Day 1,” as the Obama team has dubbed it—the new president is scheduled to meet with his economic team to talk stimulus, then with his national security advisors to discuss “next steps in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Don’t be surprised if Guantanamo Bay is no more by the end of Day 1.

Politico.com

UPDATED: InaugurationWatchWatch: Party Leader Edition

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 10:20 AM - 5 Comments

Before heading off to the Embassy, ITQ had the bright idea of conducting an impromptu survey on where the party leaders are planning to watch – or not watch, as the case may be – today’s festivities.

Wait … not watch? Today? Hard as it may be to believe, that may be the case for Stephen Harper.

According to PMO director of communication Kory Teneycke, his boss is in Toronto today, where he will be attending “private meetings related to the budget,” but assures ITQ that that the PM will still get to see history being made — eventually. “I am sure that he will see the coverage tonight when he returns to Ottawa.” Meanwhile, NDP leader Jack Layton joins caucus and staff members for a speech-watching party at the NDP’s Queen Street office.

UPDATE: According to an OLO spokesperson, Michael Ignatieff – or someone in his office, anyway – somehow managed to arrange his schedule so he would be on a plane to Toronto smack in the middle of the Inaugurathon. Maybe he and the PM can get together later and watch a few hours of Tifo’d CNN.

We haven’t heard back from the Liberals or the Bloc Quebecois, but as soon we get an answer, we’ll post an update.

Ignatieff will say no to Obama

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 10:20 AM - 6 Comments

He’s been condemned as a hawk for his initial support of the Iraq invasion, but according to an interview in today’s Sun, the new Liberal leader has gone public with his view that Canadian mission should end as scheduled in 2011 — even if President Obama asks us to reconsider. “We want to stay involved on the political side; we want to stay involved on the diplomatic side,” he told the Sun in an wide-ranging pre-budget interview. “But we feel we’ve made a decade-long contribution and we think it’s time to come home … my short answer is ‘No.’

Ottawa Sun

Inauguration Day: Live from Washington

By Luiza Ch. Savage - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 10:16 AM - 0 Comments

10:16 AM
I have finally made it to the media security line on the hill after 1.5 hrs of walking through the biggest crowds I have ever seen. The mood is buoyant and happy and the body heat of the masses seems to be taking the edge off the cold — or at least blocking the wind. We’re like penguins here — penguins huddling and waddling along in Obama hats.

10:50 AM
I made it to the media seats after two metal detectors and a walk through the basement of a goverment building. The view is amazing from here. Looking behind me I can see the view Obama will have. It’s breathtaking. The National Mall is absolutely full and crowds fill the streets. Obama’s podium is surrounded by what looks like bullet proof glass. The United States Marine Band is playing and the program officially begins in 45 minutes. There are helicopters circling overhead. VIPs are taking their seats. NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg walked by our row a few minutes ago.

Getting here was one thing. It will be interesting to see how we manage to get OUT.

11:07 AM
I took some time last night to go back and listen to Obama’s speech to the 2004 Democratic Convention — the speech that launched his national political career. Chunks of that speech — and it’s core message of Obama’s personal life story as the incarnation of the American dream remained the same through his campaign speeches. But it was striking to see how much his delivery had improved, how fluent he has become in telling the tale, at improvising. Today’s speech is the most anticipated of the year. He had ditched a lot of the lofty rhetoric in his convention speech to talk bread and butter economic issues. There is an expectation here for some soaring, uplifting words at a time of crisis. This is a moment when oratory can help rally the spirit of the nation. The pressure is immense and it will be interesting to see what he delivers. No doubt he will talk about Lincoln. But will he make mention of himself as the first African American president — the reason so many people are here today? He tends to avoid that in favour of talking about unity. I’ll have a lot more on Obama and race in the forthcoming issue of Maclean’s.

11:21 AM
Will the president be booed or applauded when he makes his entrance? His father was just applauded.

11:34 AM
Michelle Obama has arrived clad in a bright yellow dress. The only explanation I can think of is she’s trying to be be bipartisan and not wear blue or red.

11:37 AM
Dick Cheney arrived in a wheelchair, having hurt his back.

George W. Bush just arrived. I heard a smattering of applause and some booing from the crowd—all drowned out by the band playing.

11:55 AM
Aretha Franklin has the crowd riled up, but I am looking at cellist Yo Yo Ma and thinking his bare fingers must be freezing.

12:01 PM
Justice John Paul Stevens swore in Joe Biden. It’s likely that Obama will be naming Stevens’s successor. He is a liberal justice and getting on in years but managed to avoid retiring until a Democrat was back in the White House.

1:15 PM
As I fight my way through the crowds, I get an urgent email from the fashion cognoscenti informing me that yellow is THE colour for spring. See, we can all learn from Michelle O.

Yes but what's Snoop Dogg's take on the inauguration?

By Scott Feschuk - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 10:13 AM - 3 Comments

UPDATE: I’ve looked for this on YouTube but so far no dice, so someone is going to have to back me up that this actually happened but… my favourite memory from the entire inauguration marathon came just before George W. Bush boarded that helicopter to fly off into history and also Texas. At that point, they rolled out Dick Cheney in his wheelchair. Everyone else was all fake-smiley – the Bushes, the Obamas, the Bidens (especially the Bidens) – but Dick, in a beautifully appropriate farewell, directed his wheelchair-pusher to get a move on and blow by the lovefest. Then he gave what just might be the most dismissive wave in the history of half-heartedness. And just like that he was into his limo and out of our lives until he builds a fortress inside a dormant volcano from which he can hold the planet to ransom.

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I’m watching today’s inauguration coverage on TV for my column in this week’s magazine. The highlight so far? Getting up early enough to hear CNN’s John Roberts begin an interview with a hip-hop star by uttering the words: “You know, Bow Wow, this is an historic…” (You’re probably curious to know Bow Wow’s take on things. I’m here to serve. “Man, it’s beautiful. It’s just a beautiful situation. This is just a beautiful situation… It’s beautiful, man.”)

In the meantime, you can read George W. Bush’s (alleged) letter of welcome to Barack Obama here.

Is Michelle Obama’s Inauguration day outfit an olive branch to Cuba?

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 9:40 AM - 0 Comments

Michelle Obama’s sparkly gold-yellow lace ribbon-closed coat and dress with a bejeweled collar by New York-based designer Isabel Toledo is receiving rave reviews—and being avidly dissected for its deeper political meaning. Newsday notes that the colour, which has symbolized hope and renewal since the Elizabethan Era, echoes “the platform on which Obama based his campaign.” The surprise choice of the Cuban-born Toledo is even being seized upon as a signal that her husband’s new administration will seek improved relations with that country. Also noted is the new first lady’s nod to frugality in her green leather gloves from J. Crew, which also supplied Malia and Sacha Obama’s royal blue and pink coats.

Newsday.com

Liveblogging Obama's Inauguration from the US Embassy

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 9:30 AM - 25 Comments

Hey, if we can’t be in DC with Colleague Luiza, this seems like the next best place to watch history unfold.

11:02:46 AM
I’m here! Here, in this case, is a rapidly filling hall at the US Embassy, a quiet corner of which I am currently haunting, because for some reason, this doesn’t seem like the kind of event at which one can merrily tap on one’s BlackBerry in the middle of the action, even if one is liveblogging history.

I have to admit that so far, I don’t recognize many of the guests – not the usual Hill crowd. Oh, other than Rob Anders, who I just this instant spotted at the buffet. There are other reporters here, of course — apparently, we all had the same idea vis a vis the next best place to be — and a few other familiar faces, like NDP MP Paul Dewar, who must be doing a drop-by before heading back to Queen Street for the caucus-watching party, huh?

Anyway, I’ll post an update as soon as I have the lay of the land, as it were. And yes, in case anyone wondered, the mood is downright jubilant – not a long face in the crowd.

Continue…

Key things that New Guy needs to know. By George.

By Scott Feschuk - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 9:20 AM - 12 Comments

On Jan. 20, Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States. Later that day, another quiet ritual will unfold as Obama arrives at the White House to find a welcome letter from George W. Bush on the Oval Office desk.

Dear New Guy:

So this morning’s newspaper tells me it’s time to move out. Also, that Marmaduke has got himself into another spot of mischief. Ha ha. Will that dog ever learn? Doesn’t look like it, but I’ll keep you up to date.

Anyway, they tell me it’s a tradition for the outcoming president to leave a letter of advice for the ingoing president. All I got from Clinton was an annotated stack of Hustler, but fine.

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Curse of the ‘Zombie’ companies

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 9:10 AM - 1 Comment

The problem with throwing billions of dollars at struggling companies is that some of that money will be used to prop up companies that should be allowed to die. There’s a big difference between a company with a thriving core business which is temporarily suffering because of the frozen credit markets, and a company like General Motors which has been in a decade-long death spiral, only to be resuscitated at the last moment by a cash infusion. As this Business Week article points out, keeping sick companies on life support with government money just turns them into life-sucking zombies that hungrily consume scarce resources even though they have no future. The faster such companies are allowed to collapse, the faster those resources can be redeployed to new, growing companies with the energy and creativity to pull us out of the recession.

BusinessWeek

Polygamists to open same-sex powder keg

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 9:05 AM - 2 Comments

Will gay marriage work in favour of the polygamists? The mere suggestion stirred strong emotions when same-sex marriage was at the top of the national agenda. Now it’s no longer academic. In emails and interviews with Canadian Press, Winston Blackmore and his lawyer confirm they will cite the decisions extending marriage to gay couples as part of their defence. Blackmore, is accused of having 20 wives at his home in Bountiful, B.C., while his co-accused, James Oler, who faces one count of polygamy. Their legal gambit may backfire, though. Experts have said that same-sex marriage is as likely to work against Blackmore and his co-accused because the court decisions affirm the value of monogamous marriage.

Canadian Press

Poor kids don’t measure up—literally

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 9:02 AM - 1 Comment

A study of almost 2,000 Quebec mothers has found that poor children are more likely to be shorter than their wealthier counterparts. Researchers at the Université de Montréal found that regardless of the mother’s own height and education level, long-term poverty (defined as more than two years) is a determinant for a child’s height. The study is the first of its kind in Canada.

Canadian Press

Inauguration Day timeline

By Luiza Ch. Savage - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 9:00 AM - 7 Comments

9:00 am : VIPs begin arriving

9:45 : Platform seating begins

11:03 : Former Presidents announced and seated

11:20 : President Bush and VP Cheney announced and seated

11:25 : President-elect Obama is announced and seated

11:30 : Program begins

11:46 : Vice Presidential Oath administered by Justice Stevens

11:49 : Performance by Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill, Gabriela Montero, Itzhak Perlman

11:56 : The Presidential oath is administered by Chief Justice Roberts

12:01 pm : Inaugural address

12:27 : Benediction given by Reverend Lowery

12:32 : Departure ceremony

12:36 : President and Mrs. Bush depart from the East plaza in a helicopter

12:52 : Presidents Room signing in

1:05 : Statuary Hall luncheon

2:32 : Review of the troops

2:36 : POTUS leaves with parade

Mac under attack

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 9:00 AM - 1 Comment

While shareholders have been spooked by founder Steve Jobs’ illness, there’s a greater threat out there to the company’s long-term prosperity. Apple’s success in recent years has been with innovative but premium-priced products–iPods, iPhones and Macbooks. But the “netbook,” a smaller and cheaper version of competing Windows-powered notebook computers, is cutting into Apple’s revenues. Macbooks have been responsible for much of Apple’s profits in recent quarters, but as the economy has turned worse, netbook sales have beaten Apple market share down from 9.5 per cent to 8. One netbook winner: Taiwan’s Acer, which displaced Apple as the fourth-largest purveyor of portable computers in the U.S.

Forbes.com

Russia turns the gas taps back on

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 8:40 AM - 0 Comments

The deep freeze between Russia and Ukraine thawed a bit today, after Russia resumed gas supplies to Ukraine – and from there to much of Europe. Russia had blocked gas flow on January 7 because of a dispute over pricing. The move left millions of Europeans without heat. Russia and Ukraine have frequently rowed over energy supplies since the “Orange Revolution” swept the pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych from power in 2005.

Telegraph.co.uk

So your daughter says she wants to be a vegetarian

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 8:35 AM - 4 Comments

What do you do when your nine-year-old says she doesn’t plan to eat meat anymore? It’s a remarkably common situation. This article surveys the possibilities, from eating disorder, the worry over weight, to pickiness, to a sincere and genuine choice. (Hey, it’s possible.) The question of nutrition is a serious one, since girls tend to toy with vegetarianism just when their need for protein and iron is peaking at the onset of puberty.

Today’s Parent

Barackin' in the Free World

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 8:35 AM - 4 Comments

CBC Radio 2 invited listeners to assemble a playlist for Barack Obama, featuring 49 songs from north of the 49th parallel. Drawn from over 130,000 votes, the results are fairly predictable. Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Oscar Peterson and the Tragically Hip all have two numbers each on the list. But only Leonard Cohen has three, if you include two of his own recordings—Suzanne and the prescient Democracy (is coming to the U.S.A.)—plus k. d. lang’s rendition of Hallelujah. One dark horse winner was the Parachute Club’s Rise Up, a spot the band’s singer, Lorraine Segato, won after a vigorous email campaign, urging that this 1983 anthem of social change was tailor-made for the new president.

CBC Radio

Turning salt water into fresh

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 8:33 AM - 0 Comments

Most of the world’s surface is water, but unfortunately it’s saltiness makes it unsuitable for drinking or agriculture. Yet as global warming aggravates conditions that cause droughts, desalination plants are becoming more prevalent. There are now 13,000 such plants in 120 countries—in the Middle East, North Africa and the Caribbean. The Australian state of Victoria has just approved a $2.5 billion desalination plant but “anti-desal” groups are warning that if it has poor environmental safeguards it could end up like the ones in the Persian Gulf, where the sea runs red. That’s because desal plants have huge underwater intake valves that vacuum up everything nearby: plankton, fish eggs, small plants, larvae and other precious sources of nourishment at the bottom of the food chain. Victoria’s capital, Melbourne, is under severe water use restrictions, owing to drought, but one potential cost from the new plant will be the Orange Bellied Parrot, which feeds on the sea life near the plant.

The Herald Sun

Scientific American