The Commons: "To all our parliamentarians, where are you?"

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 6:21 PM - 31 Comments

The Scene. Aside from the lonely man in religious garb who often spends his days pacing in front of pictures lamenting abortion, the sight of a public protest on Parliament Hill is perhaps rarer than you might assume. Yesterday, a couple hundred young people sat in circles and smoked pot, though this seemed less an act of defiance than a lazy way to spend a spring afternoon.

For a week now though, crowds of varying size have lined Wellington Street, near the imposing Langevin Block that houses the Prime Minister and his staff, and chanted incessantly about the civil war in Sri Lanka. This afternoon, in perhaps a climactic show of force, more than 30,000 Tamils filled the front lawn, waving black flags, denouncing violence and generally insisting on the world’s attention.

Not that many noticed. Or at least seemed interested in noticing. Indeed, for all the politicians in the immediate vicinity, only the NDP’s Jack Layton was reported to have addressed the crowd. In the midst of the demonstration, the matter merited just three queries in Question Period—ministers Lawrence Cannon and Bev Oda compelled to offer answers for a situation without an obvious solution. Afterwards, Liberal Jim Karygiannis rose on a point of order and requested that the House schedule an emergency debate on the matter. He was promptly shouted down. Continue…

Episodes That End At the Climax

By Jaime Weinman - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 6:19 PM - 3 Comments

A follow-up to my last post: there are some TV episodes that don’t have an “aftermath” scene, a scene where the pressure is lessened and we get either a light or reflective moment. I’m not talking so much about episodes that end with cliffhangers (in many of these shows, if you break down the structure, there actually is some kind of breather in between the climax and the cliffhanger) as episodes that end with the climactic scene — as soon as the story is resolved, we fade out or freeze-frame.

One procedural show that sometimes did this to good effect was Columbo. Some episodes would end later than this, but I recall that a typical ending of a Columbo was as follows: Columbo explains the one mistake that the murderer made, the murderer realizes he’s caught and glares at Columbo, and then there’s a freeze-frame and credits. (The episode where Robert Conrad is a murderous health guru ended like that: Columbo says “you made one mistake, and it’s that mistake that’s gonna hang you,” and that’s the end of the show.) Now, those endings may have been done out of necessity: if they’d gone on for even a minute longer, the murderer would have had time to realize that Columbo’s circumstantial evidence would never hold up in court against the high-priced lawyers that the wealthy bad guys could afford.

Another show that used this kind of ending brilliantly was Cheers, which as it went on, had some of the most abrupt endings in the history of episodic television. It was extremely common Continue…

UPDATED: Setting the record straight

By Bruce Parkinson, Takeoffeh.com - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 5:12 PM - 1 Comment

In the wake of the latest travel debacle, the failure of 37-year-old tour operator Conquest Vacations, there are calls for stricter oversight of the travel industry. Much of the clamour is in Ontario, home to the vast majority of travellers affected by the Conquest closure.

It’s important to know that regulations protecting consumers vary from province to province. In Ontario, B.C. and Quebec, travel agents and operators fall under provinicial regulations that include the provision to compensate consumers under specific circumstances. 
Continue…

Back In the '40s When Everyone Cared

By Jaime Weinman - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 5:07 PM - 2 Comments

In the category of “Theme songs from shows you’ve never heard of before,” I can safely say that I never have seen and probably never will see an episode of this 1980 flop from ABC and Paramount: Goodtime Girls, about four women who have to share an apartment together in the ’40s during World War II. The premise sounds like a combined knock-off of Laverne and Shirley and M*A*S*H. This being another production of the incredibly prolific Miller-Milkis-Boyett, it had a mostly young, mostly unknown cast, including some unknowns who went on to bigger things like Annie Potts, Peter Scolari and, er, Adrian Zmed. It doesn’t look like anything I would want to see, but somehow I always like coming across theme songs/intros I hadn’t seen before. Even though this Gimbel/Fox theme song kind of stinks

If you’re looking for a broader cultural explanation of how shows like this came about, maybe you could tie the open nostalgia and flag-waving of this intro to the cultural transition from the ’70s to the ’80s. However, while Reagan won, this show lost, so bang goes that explanation.

Tamil protesters, yes. George Galloway? Keep out.

By Andrew Potter - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 3:55 PM - 61 Comments

Canadians have free-speech bipolar disorder. On one side of our brains, we consider the right to freedom of assembly, conscience, and expression to be part of the constitutional heritage inherited from the British. On the other side, we recoil from the sort of free speech absolutism of the United States that—in an infamous case—holds that white racists burning a cross on the lawn of a black family is a protected form of speech.

This national hemming and hawing about free speech finds direct expression in the Charter of Rights, which takes away in its first clause—“only to such reasonable limits”—the very freedoms it goes on to grant in the second. It also manifests itself in the behaviour of free speech tribunes like Ezra Levant, whose current crusade against Canada’s censorious human-rights tribunals is undermined by his long-standing penchant for filing suit against anyone who says something he finds even slightly defamatory.

Continue…

Gangsters’ children need not apply

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 3:16 PM - 0 Comments

For the second time, a private school in one of Vancouver’s toniest neighbourhood, has been surprised by the news that a slain gangster is part of their community. Betty “the Loan Shark” Yan, who last week was found shot, and slumped over the wheel of her silver Mercedes, had three children enrolled in West Point Grey Academy. The school has been inundated by calls and emails from angry parents, fearing their children were exposed to possible danger. And while Yan’s children have now left the school, West Point Grey has hired a media consultant and is currently reviewing policies relating to “admission and composition of the school community.”

The Province

Abraham Lincoln's terminal illness

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 1:55 PM - 0 Comments

An American cardiologist is contending that Abraham Lincoln was suffering from a genetic disorder and would have died from cancer within a year had he not been assassinated. John Sotos says that Lincoln had multiple endocrine neoplasia, type 2B, which would explain his tallness, the lumps on his face and his well-known gastrointestinal problems. He wants to test the pillow on which Lincoln’s head rested after he was shot, which is preserved in a Philadelphia museum. There are blood stains on it and a DNA test would reveal the truth about whether Lincoln had the fatal disorder.

WBBM 780 Chicago

Two girls for every boy

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 1:53 PM - 4 Comments

The fact that more girls than boys are born worldwide is one that’s baffled researchers for more than a century. But a new study finds that proximity to the equator narrows the gap. Using a decade of data on sex ratio at birth and annual variations in day length and temperature, along with the latitude of 202 capital cities, Kristen J. Navara of the University of Georgia found that European and Asian countries had the highest sex ratios (51.4 per cent boys), which African countries had the lowest sex ratios with 50.7 percent boys.

New York Times

Team Obama considering prosecuting Bush lawyers

By Luiza Ch. Savage - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 1:14 PM - 12 Comments

Barack Obama has said that he intends to “look forward, not back” when it comes to demands that Bush administration officials be held accountable for the kinds of interrogation techniques they used against detainees. Yesterday, he assured CIA officers that anyone who followed legal advice from the Bush White House would not be prosecuted. But now after renewed demands for investigations, Obama is keeping the door open to going after the lawyers who crafted the advice. The decision is now up to his attorney general, Eric Holder, Obama said at a press conference this morning at the Oval Office with King Abduallah of Jordan:

QUESTION:  I want to ask you about the interrogation memos that you released last week; two questions.  You were clear about not wanting to prosecute those who carried out the instructions under this legal advice.  Can you be that clear about those who devised the policy?  And then quickly on a second matter, how do you feel about investigations, whether special — a special commission or something of that nature on the Hill to go back and really look at the issue? Continue…

Remember the 80s?

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 12:53 PM - 28 Comments

Next viral attack ad: Michael Ignatieff, he’ll take away your TV remote.

Completely irrelevant, but mildly amusing, clip after the jump. Continue…

“Recession-proof” food brands are scrambling

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 12:37 PM - 0 Comments

Conventional wisdom has long held that popular packaged food brands such as Kraft, V8 and Campbell are virtually recession-proof. But even these companies are scrambling to adapt to changing spending and eating habits, reports the Wall Street Journal. In the last quarter of 2008, consumer spending on food fell by an inflation-adjusted 3.7 per cent from the previous quarter—- its steepest drop in 62 years. Last summer, consumers were apprehensive about rising food and gas prices. Today, “they’re worried about their ability to support their families at all,” said Charles Vila, Campbell’s vice-president of consumer and customer insights. In response, Kraft is busy developing  iFood Assistant, an iPhone app which provides recipes and manages shopping lists. And Campbell is busy “creating more sophisticated recipes that mimic restaurant offerings, such as Braised Beef with Shallots, made with the company’s Swanson beef stock.”  It’s also  discounting its already low-priced soups, which suggests things are worse than we thought.

Wall Street Journal

Come to Jamaica

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 12:28 PM - 7 Comments

A dispatch from the Jamaica Observer.

Sandals Resorts International yesterday offered a one-week all expense paid vacation to the 159 passengers and eight crew members of the CanJet airline that was hijacked at the Sangster International Airport Sunday night…

Yesterday, Prime Minister Bruce Golding, as well as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who were present when the announcement was made, commended the hotel chain for the gesture.

Both leaders expressed the hope that the passengers and crew would take up the offer.

Going negative

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 12:23 PM - 1 Comment

The bank of Canada cut its key lending rate to 0.25 per cent this morning and pledged to keep it there for the next year or so. Although it seems like interest rates in the U.S. and Canada couldn’t go much lower, Harvard economist Greg Mankiw, says it may be time for the economic establishment to consider breaking new ground with “negative” interest rates. Under Mankiw’s proposal, an interest rate of, say, negative three per cent would make it so that borrowing $100 today would mean paying back $97 next year. It’s a clever proposal aimed at getting people to start spending again. But even Mankiw admits there’s a problem: Why would banks agree to hand out free money? That’s where central banks would have to get creative. Mankiw proposes two solutions: the central bank could choose a random number between zero and nine, and make all legal tender with a serial number ending with that number null and void; banks would therefore prefer to lend at minus three per cent rather than lose 10 per cent of their holdings. Or the Federal Reserve could push effective interest rates below zero by producing inflation; if people knew the dollars they borrow are worth way more now than they will be when it comes time to repay a loan, then it becomes worthwhile to borrow-and-spend rather than hoard cash.

New York Times

Bloomberg

Comrade Fidel sends his regards

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 12:21 PM - 3 Comments

In Cuba, he is known as the “eminent Stephen Harper” or, if you prefer a different translation, the “illustrious Stephen Harper.”

So, Stephen, which one's the half?

By Philippe Gohier - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 12:19 PM - 19 Comments

Isn’t it fun that both the current opposition and government leaders were doing interviews on referendum night in 1995?

In the video below, Stephen Harper answers a question about whether the rest of Canada is willing to recognize Quebec, “not as a distinct society, but as a people”:

“I have some difficulties with that. I have some difficulties with the idea of a people within a people. I prefer to build a new federation. I have difficulty imagining the constitutional structure of a country-and-a-half.”

Separate the sexes?

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 12:15 PM - 0 Comments

Boys no speak English good when girls around. At least that’s the conclusion of a new British study which found boys’ English grades drop when they are in a classroom with a high number of girls. While science and math grades for both boys and girls go up in mixed classrooms, the researcher says authorities should consider gender separation for English. Girls it seems are unaffected by the number of boys in the room.

The Guardian

Pakistani Taliban expand their control

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 12:13 PM - 0 Comments

Pakistani Taliban who promised to disarm after signing a deal with the government that gave them effective control of the Swat region of Pakistan have— surprise, surprise—kept their weapons and used them to push into neighbouring Buner district, about 100 km from the capital, Islamabad. The supposed offenses against Islam that have now been banned in areas under their control include playing music in cars.

BBC

Tamil protesters descend on Ottawa

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 12:05 PM - 1 Comment

Despite the wet weather, members of Canada’s Tamil community are packing Parliament Hill to demand that the Canadian government impose sanctions on Sri Lanka. Tens of thousands are expected to arrive in Ottawa today to protest the heavy-handed approach of the Sri Lankan regime throughout the 25-year-long civil war that has left an estimated 70,000 people dead. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) want an independent state for Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil community. Leading up to today’s protest, the demonstrators have been criticized for flying the flag of the LTTE, which is designated a terrorist group in Canada.

CTV

'A better joint'

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 12:00 PM - 7 Comments

Scientists in the U.S., have discovered a protein manufactured by the brain that acts like marijuana to relieve pain and stimulate appetite. The protein, known as a peptide, was found in mice. Like another peptide known to bind to the THC receptor affected by marijuana, this peptide does too—and it activates the receptor as well. The researchers hope to develop a drug that activates and blocks the receptor like this new peptide, while avoiding the hazards of marijuana use. Said one: “The next step is for scientists to come up with new medicines that eliminate the nasty side of pot—a better joint, so to speak.”

Science Daily

The threat in Ahmadinejad's raving

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 11:55 AM - 7 Comments

The rantings of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the UN Durban Review Conference have offended Jews around the world. But some are scared as well as angry. Writing in today’s Montreal Gazette, Keith Landy of the Canadian Jewish Congress says Ahmadinejad’s tirade casting Israel as a genocidal regime—and the root cause of all racism in the world—is more than a mere reprise of the anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli sentiment that tarnished the first Durban conference in 2001. “History shows that evil words lead to evil deeds,” Landy says. “Or was it merely a coincidence that the Durban World Conference Against Racism concluded just a week before Sept. 11, 2001?”

Montreal Gazette

The key to good health: Friendship

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 11:53 AM - 0 Comments

Friendship has a huge impact on overall health, according to several studies that emphasize the importance of social ties. In one Australian study, older people with a large circle of friends were 22 per cent less likely to die over a 10-year period than those with fewer friends. And in 2006, a study of almost 3,000 nurses with breast cancer found those without close friends were four times as likely to die from it as women with 10 friends or more. The proximity and amount of contact with these friends wasn’t associated with survival—just having them was protective. In another six-year study of 736 Swedish men, only smoking had as large an impact as social support on the risk of heart attack and fatal coronary disease. People with friends seem to have better access to health services; but it also has a psychological effect—for example, those with strong social bonds are less likely to come down with colds, maybe because of their lower stress levels. In a 2008 study from the University of Virginia, 34 students were taken to a steep hill and instructed to wear a weighted backpack, then asked to estimate the steepness of the hill. Some stood next to friends, and others were alone. Those with friends gave lower estimates of the steepness of the hill, and the longer they’d known each other, the less steep they thought it was. “People with stronger friendship networks feel like there is someone they can turn to,” Karen A. Roberto, director of the center for gerontology at Virginia Tech, told the New York Times. “Friendship is an undervalued resource. The consistent message of these studies is that friends make your life better.”

New York Times

The controversial crime bill that isn't

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 11:51 AM - 5 Comments

According to Canadian Press, there is no timetable for S-5, the Conservative legislation that surfaced in the Senate, and, in the meantime, the Canadian Police Association has come forward to oppose both those changes and a private member’s bill proposed by Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz. “We consider the licensing of firearms’ owners and the registration of firearms to be a valuable public-safety tool for front-line police officers,” CPA president Charles Momy wrote in a letter to Michael Ignatieff. “It would be irresponsible to suspend or abandon any element of this program now that it is starting to deliver the intended results. Bill S-5 and Bill C-301 will compromise public safety.”

Toronto Star

A Sea Of CBC TV To See

By Jaime Weinman - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 11:23 AM - 0 Comments

The CBC has announced its shows for the upcoming season. Renewals are the expected ones (Being Erica‘s renewal has been expected since it was on the list of CBC shows that would have fewer episodes next season). The three new scripted shows are, with links (where possible) to the original pilot announcements:

THE RON JAMES SHOW showcases the talents of renowned comedian Ron James and his always entertaining, poetically charged observations on life in the modern world.

18 TO LIFE is the highly anticipated domestic comedy about a couple that does the unthinkable: they get married at the tender age of 18. Obviously their parents and even their friends disapprove, but they are determined that love will conquer all.

THE REPUBLIC OF DOYLE is a one-hour comedic drama about a father-son team of private investigators. Set against the rugged beauty of St. John’s Newfoundland, it’s an original, entertaining glimpse into the dynamics of the dysfunctional Doyle clan.

The description of The Ron James Show is so vague that I don’t know yet if it’s the same show as the “Ron James Show” pilot CBC was considering last year; that was described as a “family oriented sitcom.”

Unsurprisingly, the lineup is skewed in favour of shows that are either comedies or have a strong feel-good element. That’s what networks seem to be going for at the moment, due to the perception that audiences want to laugh during hard times.

Discussion topic

By Paul Wells - Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 10:50 AM - 49 Comments

Jack Layton has discovered that Parliament may actually be good for something besides voting “No” on every single government bill. This is close to what I advised him to do three months ago — well, actually, it’s the opposite of what I complained he was doing, which was voting “No” on every single government bill.

But anyway. Is the NDP getting cold feet? Will this move enhance the NDP’s position in the Commons, weaken it, or leave it flatlining? Will this make it impossible for Michael Ignatieff to force an election? Discuss.