Global swine flu deaths hit 700

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 11:01 AM - 1 Comment

With more than 700 people around the world dead from swine flu since the outbreak started four months ago—an increase of at least two-thirds from the last official death toll of 429, published July 6 by the World Health Organization—swine flu could be the biggest flu pandemic ever seen, says Margaret Chan, director-general of the WHO. Luckily, most cases are still only producing mild symptoms like headache, runny nose and sneezing; the great majority of people won’t even require medical attention before recovering, the BBC reports. About 125,000 confirmed cases have been reported globally, although the number certainly exceeds that; but the WHO says it’s pointless to identify every new H1N1 case, as the pandemic is developing so fast. In past pandemics, flu viruses took over six months to spread as widely as this virus is spread in under six weeks. School closures are among several recommendations being looked as, as the flu is expected to surge in the Northern hemisphere in the fall, when the weather cools.

BBC

The feel good read of the summer

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 10:52 AM - 4 Comments

The Security Intelligence Review Committee released its report into CSIS’s handling of Omar Khadr last week, the full text is here. Strangely, despite the PMO’s assurances that the United States did not participate in torture and the Prime Minister’s findings that Khadr did not qualify as a child soldier, the SIRC seems rather preoccupied with issues of human rights, mistreatment and age. Continue…

Also, they're all on drugs

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 10:33 AM - 10 Comments

Time for another round of “Why don’t the kids like the politics?”

With hindsight, we now see that the identity of the 19th-century farmer was being transformed into the 20th-century city dweller. Governments responded with a wide range of new initiatives to help people adjust to the new world, such as mass education, new labour laws, health care, career planning, unemployment insurance, and pension schemes.

Such initiatives redefined the role of government by redefining the identity of citizens; and, in the process, reshaped the political discourse of the day. By contrast, it is not even clear that governments today recognize the special identity challenge facing young people.

Well that or young people don’t particularly see anything worth believing in.

Tori Stafford’s remains identified

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 10:17 AM - 1 Comment

Police have confirmed that human remains found Sunday in a secluded area 130 kilometers northwest of Toronto belong to Victoria ‘Tori’ Stafford – the Woodstock Ont. third-grader who has been missing since April. The remains were identified at the Centre for Forensic Sciences in Toronto, using dental records, but a cause of death has not been determined. The body appears to have been left out in the elements for “quite some time, quite a number of weeks,” police said. It is believed the girl was killed the same day she disappeared from school. Police say they can now focus on bringing the case to court. “As much as this is a very tragic event, no doubt, but the end result is a gratifying result that we can put before the court to see that justice is done,” said OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino. Fantino credited the finding with dedicated police work from the approximately 80 officers who have been working on the case. Tori Stafford would have turned nine last week.

Ottawa Citizen

The Weatherill Report on listeriosis makes 57 recommendations

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 10:00 AM - 11 Comments

ITQ is off to the Chateau Laurier this morning to stake out a good seat to await the release of what we are, somewhat stubbornly, going to continue to refer to as the Weatherill Report, which will reveal the results of “a six-month investigation into a tragedy that cost 22 Canadians their lives”, and which – depending on which draft of the media advisory you read – was either an “outbreak” or a “preventable incident”.

We can get a preview — an teensy weensy preview, but a preview, nonetheless — via CTV News, which “obtained” (don’t you love that word?) the “key points” from the Embargo Fairy last night:

Among the key recommendations: food companies must report all public health threats to the government, and federal inspection reports should be published. [...]

Other recommendations in the report include:

• Meat plants must report any public safety threats to the government, not just those stemming from positive bacteria tests.
• Manufacturers must design meat processing equipment that is easy to clean and will limit the spread of bacteria.
• Canada’s chief public health officer must take the lead in any future cases of food-borne illness, lessening any potential political diversions.
• Provinces need to follow more strict safety rules.
• Ottawa should review the training of federal inspectors, in addition to reviewing inspection resources.

Since this is Inside The Queensway, after all, and not Inside The Meat Packing Plant or Picnics Weekly, ITQ will likely be focusing her attention on findings and recommendations related to ministerial actions and responsibilities — that bit about “lessening any potential political diversions” intrigues us particularly — although as is her sacred duty as a liveblogger, she will, of course, cover the entire press conference as it transpires, albeit with none of her usual gripings about sandwiches. Well, not many, anyway.

Oh, and it turns out, there is a half-hour pre-release lockup-ish thing after all,  although I’m not sure how many of my gallery colleagues realize that’s the case, since neither the original advisory nor the revised version made reference to it; it only shows up in the CNW release. I know that sounds like a whiny nitpick, but honestly, it does change the dynamics of a press conference when the people asking questions have actually had the chance to at least do a quick scan of the report, so I was glad to see the late addition to the schedule.

Anyway, check back at 11am for all the action!

10:45:15 AM
Okay, so — apparently, this is a real, official, give-us-the-BlackBerry-and-nobody-gets-hurt lockup which means that ITQ must now choose between sacrificing her sneak preview of the report, or entering — The Liveblogging-Free Zone. (Insert Tales From The Darkside theme here.) After mulling over the options before her — and a conversation with the obliging media registrar — she went with the former, which means you won’t get any particular insight from here on the innards of the report until *after* the official release at 11:00am. What can I say — the vision of reporters mobbing the Holder of the Berries as the newser was getting underway, and a quick assessment of the likelihood that I’d be able to elbow my way to the front of the line was enough to make my choice for me. Hope y’all appreciate.

So far, it’s a fairly good turnout — not quite as many reporters as I’d expected, although that may be partly due to the confusion over the pre-release peek. No sandwiches, alas — or even meat-laced muffins.

10:55:37 AM
Continue…

'Restate our position'

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 12:48 AM - 10 Comments

Paul Koring delves deeper into the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik.

The Harper government was warned shortly after it came to office in 2006 that Sudan’s notorious military intelligence agency was ready to “disappear” Abousfian Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen, unless Ottawa allowed him to go home, The Globe and Mail has learned. Sudan wanted to “deal with this case for once and for all: we judge as significant their verbal reference to a ‘permanent solution,’” Ottawa was bluntly told by Canadian diplomats in the Sudanese capital, according to documents now in possession of The Globe.

Instead of protesting the threat or warning Sudan – a regime notorious for its human rights abuses – that Ottawa would hold it responsible if harm came to a Canadian citizen held in one of its prisons, diplomats in Khartoum were ordered by a senior Canadian intelligence official to deliver a non-committal response “notwithstanding the expected displeasure of the Sudanese.”

'Let me hit you with a fastball here, maybe a little bit of a curve on it'

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 10:34 PM - 16 Comments

Ujjal Dosanjh attempts, via satellite, to treat Rick Sanchez’s fevered confusion.

The Republicans' Obama experiment

By Paul Wells - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 9:25 PM - 36 Comments

This ad from the Republican National Committee, which at this writing has drawn only a teeny number of viewers, is part of the Republicans’ attempt to torpedo Obama’s health-care reform. Here, let’s triple its audience:

Now. Two things about this. Frankly the second is more interesting, but I gotta walk you through the first. Continue…

Fear and loathing in Montreal

By Philippe Gohier - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 6:45 PM - 62 Comments

I can’t figure out if it’s hilarious or depressing that this story has made the rounds as quickly as it has.

First, a recap: The Théâtre Ste-Catherine is, despite appearances, an Anglo theatre in Montreal. Like most other local venues, TSC has an email list which it uses to spam inform subscribers about upcoming events. Last week, a local theatre troupe, Les Sages Fous, wrote to TSC asking to be removed from said mailing list if TSC was going to send its missives in English only. Eric Amber, the owner of TSC, sent back the following reply, which has quickly made its way around the interwebs since it was posted on Louis Préfontaine’s blog:

Continue…

What's Toronto Mayor David Miller doing with his garbage?

By Tom Henheffer - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 5:57 PM - 70 Comments

David Miller’s garage stinks. It should—it’s full of trash.

The Toronto city workers’ strike has already dragged on for a month. As a result, municipal services like pools, daycares, kids camps, and garbage collection have been shut down. (Grab a copy of this week’s Maclean’s for more on the strike.) If residents want to get rid of their refuse they have to take it to one of the city’s management-run temporary dump sites, 19 of which are still accepting garbage. But the Miller family has held on to their trash, and plan to continue adding to the garbage heap until the strike ends. Hauling it to a temporary dump site isn’t an option. “That’s sort of like giving in to the strikers,” says Miller.

Continue…

The Get-Together

By Jaime Weinman - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 5:24 PM - 3 Comments

You may have heard that next season’s Big Bang Theory will feature Leonard (remember him?) and Penny “pursuing a relationship,” which could mean anything from three episodes to a full season. (Big Bang seems to have a habit of making announcements that don’t completely pan out; remember the announcement about this time last year that Sara Gilbert would be a semi-regular in the second season?)

What interests me more is the habit some shows have of clinging to the remnants of their original premise, even when that premise has become irrelevant. Leonard/Penny thing has never worked, but it’s been in the show since the pilot and the writers can’t quite give up on the idea that it’s an important aspect of the show, even though Leonard’s relationship angst continues to provide most of the weakest moments. This is the flipside of the idea that shows often abandon their original concepts: sometimes a show, even a successful one, will keep on trying to milk the original concept even after the audience has moved on. It doesn’t bode particuarly well for hopes that BBT will make the leap from “good” to “great” in its third season.

While I’m on the subject of BBT, the show’s lukewarm Emmy reception — Jim Parsons got nominated, of course, but hardly anyone else did — is interesting because it is sort of a reality-check to the idea that traditional sitcoms are on their way back, at least in terms of the prestige/admiration they get from the industry. BBT is pretty well-respected by insiders, but in a strange reversal for a Chuck Lorre show, it may actually be more popular with critics (particularly younger critics to whom the stripped-down, minimalist storytelling comes as a refreshing change from over-plotted single-camera shows) than with insiders. Penny’s actress, Kaley Cuoco, was probably the most unfortunate Emmy omission; since the Sheldon/Penny relationship is at the heart of what makes the show work, she deserves recognition almost as much as Parsons does, and the very fact that she’s created a likable, reasonably intelligent female character on a Lorre show is achievement enough.

The new Siskel

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 5:12 PM - 1 Comment

The Heritage Minister recommends (scroll down slightly) some documentaries. Likely disqualifies himself from ever presiding over tourism portfolio with selections of Jesus Camp and Religulous.

Michael Jackson rehearsal footage could become a film

By macleans.ca - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 5:10 PM - 0 Comments

Sony Corp. has reportedly made a $50 million bid for the global rights to about 80 hours of Michael Jackson rehearsal footage. The rights to the tapes — several studios have reportedly shown interest — will allow the winning studio to co-produce a film with Jackson’s estate and his concert promoter, AEG Live, which had poured about $30 million into Jackson’s world tour before it was cancelled following his death last month.

Associated Press

Connie Booth Re-Emerges (As a Talking Head Anyway)

By Jaime Weinman - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 4:50 PM - 0 Comments

The BBC’s upcoming re-re-release of its cash cow Fawlty Towers has one promise somewhere in their blurb about new special features:

There are new interviews from when the cast got together last spring, including the first time Cleese’s co-writer and former wife, Connie Booth, has spoken on the record about the series.

The interviews were done for a two-part British TV special called “Fawlty Towers Re-Opened,” They were  Booth’s first interviews about the show since she retired from acting; in 2007, she said a few things about her refusal to take part in an earlier Fawlty reunion, but all actual quotes about the writing and production of the show came from other people, mostly Cleese. The special, which is available on YouTube in 11 parts, doesn’t offer a ton of insight, but at least allows us to learn more about her part in the creation and writing of the series; because she retired early, and because her only writing credits are in collaboration with her then-husband Cleese (plus, because she wrote herself the least-flashy part on the show), her contribution hasn’t always been as clear as it might be, and it’s maybe a little bit clearer now.

Cleese has also recorded commentaries for the 12 episodes, and it doesn’t say whether Booth will be involved in any of them; probably not.

Obama's ratings "come back to earth"

By macleans.ca - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 4:14 PM - 2 Comments

A USA Today poll found that there is a growing gap between Obama’s personal popularity and the public’s support for his policies. While his overall rating is 55 per cent (the lowest since taking office), fewer approve of the way he’s handling the economy (47 per cent) and healthcare (44 per cent). Of those surveyed, 59 per cent say his proposals call for too much spending. One pollster, quoted by U.S.A. Today, said “His ratings have certainly come back to earth in a very short time.” Still, Americans are more likely to pin “a great deal” of the responsibility of the country’s economic woes on George W. Bush.

USA Today

UPDATED: ListeriosisReportWatch: Wait, hang on a second here.

By kadyomalley - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 4:09 PM - 41 Comments

SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATES

Okay, so you know how usually, when the gallery sends out a revised media advisory and ITQ gets all excited, only to find that it was just to correct a spelling mistake or translation error? Well, it’s safe to say that isn’t the case here.

Below the jump, the two releases — original, and updated. See if you can spot the difference!

(Hint: You can. Seriously, you can’t miss it.)

Continue…

Heirs apparent

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 4:02 PM - 2 Comments

Video evidence of the talk between Catherine Clark and Justin Trudeau is here. Judging from the comprehensive, cross-section coverage in the Saturday Globe, it is terribly important that you see this.

Autonomous robots eat (almost) everything

By macleans.ca - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 3:28 PM - 4 Comments

The Eatr, Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot, is a steam-powered machine that eats twigs, leaves and plants for fuel. It’s only in testing stages now, but advanced models could power themselves for months, and work as roving turrets or front-line ambulances. The military use of autonomous, organic material-devouring robots has led to rumours that Eatrs might approach battlefield-strewn corpses. But its developers have put that idea to rest. They say the Eatr has special sensors which only allow it to eat certain types of material.

The Guardian

UPDATE: ListeriosisReportWatc … : Oh, wait, never mind. There it is.

By kadyomalley - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 2:59 PM - 12 Comments

Huh. We didn’t even have time to whip ourselves into a frenzy over the outrageous lack of transparency. Way to ruin a perfectly good 24 hour news cycle, minister:

MESSAGE FROM THE INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR

July 20, 2009 (Ottawa) – Today, I submitted my final report on the August 2008 Listeriosis outbreak to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.  This report concludes a six-month-long investigation into a tragedy that cost 22 Canadians their lives.

[...]

At the request of the Minister, I will publicly release my report tomorrow at a news conference. The report will also be posted to the Listeriosis Investigation website for public viewing at: http://www.listeriosis-listeriose.investigation-enquete.gc.ca/

Sheila Weatherill

Independent Investigator

UPDATE: PMO reassures us, via Canadian Press, that there will be no “tinkering” with the report overnight:

The Harper government says it won’t tinker with an independent investigator’s report into last year’s deadly listeriosis crisis before releasing it to the public.

Sheila Weatherill has handed in her report to Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. She was expected to hold a news conference Tuesday in Ottawa to discuss her findings.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the report won’t be edited or altered in any way before it is released on Tuesday.

“We’re looking at the report right now and she’ll present it to the public tomorrow,” Kory Teneycke said Monday.

WELL, SOMETHING’S CERTAINLY UP-DATE: Um, y’all? Maybe I spoke too soon. Check out what just came down the wire — a corrected press release, which is missing rather a lot of the contents of this one.

The social construction of taste II

By Andrew Potter - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 2:57 PM - 0 Comments

From the palaces of Saddam Hussein to the drug pad of Tony Montana, the preferred aesthetic of bad boys everywhere has always been something we can calll “haute douchebag.” Today’s wsj has a piece demonstrating that in the desire to surround themselves with pure velveeta, Mexican drug lords bow to no one:

The three-story house is like Hansel and Gretel meets Pablo Escobar, replete with gingerbread-like carvings featuring Christian and Buddhist figures, goats, fish and other animals. The grounds are a labyrinth of garden trails among man-made ponds fed by waterfalls. The compound also has stables, a suit of armor and a disco with stripper pole.

If you dig this kind of stuff, here’s the book for you.

The social construction of taste

By Andrew Potter - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 2:49 PM - 1 Comment

NYT foodie-turned social critic Frank Bruni had a fun piece on Sunday about the way increasingly sophisticated mass taste is being directed at increasingly low-brow gastronomy. The nadir (zenith?) is the recent comparison of Timbits vs Dunkin’ Munchkins. When rarified taste meets economic downturn, what happens? The only solution is “to apply one’s powers of discernment to doughnuts. To mull the nuances of burritos and cupcakes. To assess rival burgers as if they were rival brasseries on the Left Bank.”

This is not exactly new. One of the funner aspects of the NYC food scene is the rapid but totally preposterous turnover in cool foods. One week it is all about meatballs, then suddenly everyone is into lobster rolls. Lobster rolls? That’s so yesterday, surely you want ramen noodles. Then it’s mini-burgers, then tapas, then cupcakes… on it goes, in a perfect collision of conspicuous consumption and Adam Smith’s observation that the division of labour is determined by the size of the market.

(BTW, the cupcake truck has a twitter feed. )

'The whole side of the mountain was glowing red embers'

By macleans.ca - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 2:39 PM - 1 Comment

With two raging wildfires spreading over 550 hectares in West Kelowna, B.C., the city’s mayor, Doug Findlater, declared a state of emergency, prompting government agencies to kick their emergency preparedness plans into high gear. So far, some 11,000 residents have been told to leave their homes, with another 6,000 on evacuation alert. At least three homes have been consumed in the fires. One evacuee, who fled with his wife and daughter, said he “grabbed our pictures, our house insurance papers, found the cat and pretty much dumped as much as we could in the truck.” Another said “the whole side of the mountain was glowing red embers.” Fire officials confirmed that a third fire at Terrace Mountain, west of Okanagan Lake, was human-caused. Though it hasn’t threatened any homes, the fire at Terrace Mountain has already spread to 850 hectares. Meanwhile, police have stepped up their presence in the evacuated areas to prevent looters from taking advantage of the situation. (Source: Vancouver Sun)

About those no good taxes

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 2:18 PM - 49 Comments

Adam Radwanski sees anarchy in the PM.

Perhaps Harper was oversimplifying; maybe he didn’t fully think through what he was saying. But this is the prime minister of the country, not some guy who’s had one too many drinks at a cocktail party and begun railing against the evils of government. So it seems to me we’re obliged to consider the fact that the person running the country, by his own account, thinks all taxes are bad.

If taken to its logical conclusion, that would also mean that all government spending is bad. Not just equalization and grants and other things that Harper would have taken offence to back in his National Citizens Coalition days. We’re also talking about defence, and law enforcement, and any public infrastructure whatsoever – stuff that even the most libertarian members of Harper’s party would concede that we need.

More from Jeffrey Simpson, Terence Corcoran, Fazil Mihlar, Doug Bell and Lana Payne.

A summer of discontent

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, July 20, 2009 at 1:46 PM - 6 Comments

Glen Pearson’s spent the break wrestling at some length with his existence, such as this.

In May, I walked through the restaurant at the Marriott Hotel and was summoned to a table of Conservatives who were celebrated the anniversary of their election.  ”Come on, have a drink with us,” they entreated.  I was glad to do it and they were great to be with. At one point in the evening, one of them expressed frustration at how difficult it was for the average MP to speak their mind in the House. One of the women present lamented that the same had to be said about parliamentary committees. All chipped in with the understanding that we couldn’t mention of this to the media lest they take it out of context and our respective party establishments take offense.