Eternal sunshine of the Globe and Mail mind

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 12:47 PM - 18 Comments

October 10. Whatever you think of him, the Stephen Harper of today is not the Stephen Harper of 2004 or earlier. The “firewall” temperament has largely subsided, despite the odd recurrence on matters such as artists who choose free expression over popularity. He is in better control of his emotions. He is smart enough and adaptable enough to recognize that his tendencies toward pettiness and hyper-partisanship hold him and his party back.

Today. Instead, the Prime Minister should focus this fall – and beyond, if he has the opportunity – on developing policies to help rebuild the economy and allow it to emerge from the recession stronger than it entered it. That, more than the familiar pattern of political gamesmanship, would help Mr. Harper make his case the next time Canadians go to the polls. (It is probably not a coincidence that his polling numbers tend to improve when he is seen to be statesmanlike in his international travels, rather than taking potshots at his opponents in Ottawa.)

Fighting graffiti, with more graffiti

By Kate Lunau - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 12:40 PM - 2 Comments

Seen through the eyes of a graffiti artist, a clean brick wall is like a blank canvas. In Montreal’s Notre Dame de Grâce (N.D.G.) neighbourhood, though, those blank canvases are becoming increasingly rare. Tired of finding spray-painted tags on their buildings, local business owners have decided to fight fire with fire: they’re letting a professional graffiti artist adorn their walls, before the amateurs have a chance to.

Once a graffiti magnet, the wall at Snowdon Bakery (famous for its challah) now features a white-hatted baker surrounded by colourful abstract shapes, says owner Abie Gmora. It’s only been a couple of weeks since the mural went up, but so far, “youngsters or oldsters” have refrained from “scribbling” all over it. Would-be taggers won’t draw over murals, Gmora believes, because it’s the unwritten code of “the underground, the overground, whatever.” Continue…

Muhammad cartoons redux

By macleans.ca - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 12:30 PM - 47 Comments

The prestigious Yale University Press plans to release The Cartoons that Shook the World in November, not only without any of the 12 caricatures that sparked violence in which 200 people died in 2005, but without any other illustrations of the prophet. (The book was originally supposed to include a drawing for a children’s book; an Ottoman print; and a sketch by the 19th-century artist Gustave Doré of Muhammad being tormented in Hell, an episode from Dante’s “Inferno” that has been depicted by Botticelli, Blake, Rodin and Dalí.) Its author, Jytte Klausen, a Danish-born professor of politics at Brandeis University, in Waltham, Mass., reluctantly accepted YUP’s decision not to publish the cartoons. But she was disturbed by the withdrawal of the other representations of Muhammad. All of those images are widely available, Klausen said, adding that “Muslim friends, leaders and activists thought that the incident was misunderstood, so the cartoons needed to be reprinted so we could have a discussion about it.” Klausen, who is also the author of The Islamic Challenge: Politics and Religion in Western Europe, argued that the cartoon protests were not spontaneous but rather orchestrated demonstrations by extremists in Denmark and Egypt who were trying to influence elections there and by others hoping to destabilize governments in Pakistan, Lebanon, Libya and Nigeria. The cartoons, she maintained, were a pretext, a way to mobilize dissent in the Muslim world. Although many Muslims believe the Koran prohibits images of the prophet, Muhammad has been depicted through the centuries in both Islamic and Western art without inciting disturbances.

The New York Times

Are you good enough for Wikipedia?

By macleans.ca - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 12:26 PM - 0 Comments

Within the next few weeks, Wikipedia is expected to reach a significant milestone when it hits the three-million mark for the number of English articles it features. But despite being one of the world’s biggest open knowledge banks, according to researchers, the site has become “a most exclusive place.” Though it is still growing, the number of articles being added daily is down to 1,300 a day from an average of 2,200 a day in July, 2007. Further analysis by scientists at the Palo Alto Research Center in California shows that casual editors to the site are much more likely to have their changes reverted than they were in the past. Increasingly, it seems, control over the content resides in the hands of an inner core of editors.

The Guardian

He is… the least uninteresting man in government

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 12:08 PM - 14 Comments

Jim Prentice canoes the Nahanni, drinking scotch and reading R.M. Patterson’s tale of murder, gold and frontier adventure.

This July, I canoed Canada’s “Dangerous River”—the majestic Nahanni of the Northwest Territories. I brought with me my dog-eared copy of R.M. Patterson’s Canadian classic of the same name. The Nahanni is described by many as the world’s best canoe trip. It was inspiring each night to pour over Patterson’s writings, comparing his observations to our own as we explored the geography and mythology of the great river that he chronicled more than 80 years ago … Dangerous River has now been restored to its shelf in my house—the most dog-eared, rumpled, scotch- and water-stained book in my library. It is also now the most loved.”

The Republicans' responsibility to American democracy

By John Parisella - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 12:06 PM - 74 Comments

In recent days, Democrats have charged that the Republicans are behind an organized faux-grassroots movement aimed at derailing the healthcare initiatives of the Obama Administration. Some evidence, disputed by the GOP, has surfaced supporting this claim. The meetings are well-attended, but individuals are often seen shouting down supporters of healthcare reform. Some have been arrested, others have been assaulted, and there have even been cases of people showing up with firearms. The television pictures have occasionally been downright alarming, leading House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to write a devastating Op-Ed charging that those shouting shown proponents of the Obama plan are acting in an “un-American” fashion.

Right-wing talk-show hosts have countered with charges that Democrats are stifling debate and using scare tactics to prevent any real dissent by inciting citizens to report on reform opponents. They argue further that the Obama campaign apparatus is in full force to boost turnouts at these town hall meetings and that other leftist groups are exploiting the Internet to falsely discredit the “grassroots” groups. The situation is increasingly chaotic just as the Congressional summer recess is beginning.

Continue…

The easily impressed vote

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 12:03 PM - 15 Comments

According to a Canadian Press poll, 13 percent of “NDP-inclined” voters will be more likely to vote for the party if it drops “new” from its name.

Mitchel Raphael on the cabinet minister who loves Elvis

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 12:00 PM - 0 Comments

Unfortunately Rahim Jaffer was busy that day
Helena Guergis, minister of state for the status of women, has been a regular at the annual Collingwood Elvis Festival in her Ontario riding. For three years, she says, the Elvis impersonators she rode with in the opening parade coincidentally all went on to become champions in various categories later in the festival. This year, though, she rode with a past winner, Gino Monopoli. The first album Guergis ever bought was one of Elvis’s. When she was young, Teddy Bear was her favourite Elvis song. “As I got older it was Devil in Disguise,” she says. Guergis now owns a huge collection of Elvis cassettes—her uncle gave them to her after he put the music onto disks for himself. Guergis says she wanted her husband, former MP Rahim Jaffer, to come to the festival and dress up: “I tried to get him to be the brown Elvis in this year’s parade.” She says if Jaffer will do it next year, she’ll go as Priscilla Presley. Jaffer, who lost in the last election, decided not to run again. The new Conservative candidate in his Edmonton riding will be Ryan Hastman, who used to be an aide to Stockwell Day.

Gandhi, Chavez and Trudeau gather
Members of the Gen II Global Peace Initiative held their second formal meeting in Toronto. The group is made up of activists who are the children or grandchildren of peacemakers and human rights leaders. The Toronto meeting included Martin Luther King III, the son of Martin Luther King Jr., Christine Chavez-Delgado, granddaughter of labour icon Cesar Chavez, and Montreal MP Justin Trudeau. After the group’s first meeting in London in 2007, Trudeau says he has kept in touch with Dalia Rabin-Pelosoff, daughter of the assassinated Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin, and Nadim Gemayel, son of the assassinated Lebanese president-elect Bashir Gemayel. Rabin and Gemayel did not make it to Toronto, but Trudeau did meet for the first time Tushar Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Trudeau says while his name can be a blessing and challenge in Canada, Gandhi has an international reputation to live up to. He says the two discussed the situation in Sri Lanka. (Trudeau has a large Sri Lankan community in his Papineau riding.) Gen II is still trying to build itself up. “We are all working with the legacies our ancestors left us,” notes Trudeau. “What we are trying to see is if there is a collective power. These are people who have worked hard to live up to the responsibility of the names they have been given.” Immigration Minister Jason Kenney addressed the group and welcomed them on behalf of the Canadian government. He also managed to add a little sparkle to the proceedings: just before entering the room, he opened a gift from a friend who had used gold glittery wrapping paper. The glitter clung to Kenney’s suit and was so fine it floated onto the garments of a few Gen IIers. Continue…

Yes, the peerless ruminator is back

By Scott Feschuk - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 11:40 AM - 12 Comments

“The only good thing I can say about bad weather and lots of rain is it allows me to sit at home and think thoughts here.”—Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff on Ottawa’s dreary summer.

I warned Stephen Harper. I warned him. I said to the Prime Minister, “Damn the cost in public money and human lives—you need to construct a sinister weather machine capable of fending off the rain, and you need to do it now! As God is my witness, sir: you give Michael Ignatieff one wet summer and that man is going to sit at home and think thoughts—THOUGHTS THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!!” Continue…

The 14-day $59,000 walking tour

By Julia McKinnell - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 11:20 AM - 0 Comments

A Canadian travel company, Butterfield & Robinson, tried something new this year that surprised others in the travel industry. It introduced a two-week “Grand Journey” tour through Indochina with the super-luxury price tag of $52,000. Travellers are ferried between countries by private jet and then choose whether they want to walk or bicycle or do a mix of both. In January, the trip sold out and had a wait list. “Absolutely bar none, yes, it is the most expensive trip ever in our catalogue,” says trip planner Kristi Elborne from the company’s headquarters in Toronto. “Travellers need to get themselves to Hong Kong and home from Bangkok. That is not included in the price.” Guests on the guided tour arrive at their first hotel by elephant and stay at “exquisite” lodgings such as the Four Seasons and two Aman resorts.

Still, why so expensive for a trip that’s mostly walking and biking? Starquest Expeditions in Seattle charges the exact same price for a luxury “Around the World” tour on a private jet that departs from Washington and is three weeks long, not two. And its price includes jetting clients from North America to Peru, then on to Easter Island, Samoa, Australia, Vietnam, India, Tanzania, Egypt and back to Washington again. Continue…

Chalk River down until spring

By macleans.ca - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 11:06 AM - 1 Comment

Atomic Energy of Canada officials announced that the nuclear reactor, which produces about 30 per cent of the world’s medical isotopes, needs so many repairs that it will not be able to run again until spring 2010. The delays will prolong a shortage that has the government scrambling to find new sources of medical isotopes. Doctors have had to pay bills up to $30,000 higher than normal to get isotopes for cancer and heart disease tests, and some hospitals have had to go into debt because of the shortage.

CBC News

Could running improve your knees?

By macleans.ca - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 11:05 AM - 4 Comments

It’s accepted wisdom that running with ruin your knees, degenerating kneecap cartilage and reducing its shock-absorbing capacity. Yet a recent study suggests runners might not be prone to degenerating knees after all, the New York Times reports. In the 2008 study, a team from Stanford University followed distance runners over 20 years, starting in 1984, when most were in their 50s or 60s. Among the group, 6.7 per cent of the runners had severely arthritic knees, while 10 per cent of the control group did. After 20 years, the runners’ knees actually improved: only 20 per cent showed arthritic changes, versus 32 per cent of the control group’s knees. About two per cent of the runners’ knees were severely arthritic, compared to almost 10 per cent in the control group. Running could shield against arthritis, it seems, partly because the knee develops a motion groove. Another Stanford study, published in February, showed that walking or running can “condition” the cartilage to the load, making it accustomed to the movements. But if it’s disturbed, generally by an injury, loading mechanisms shift and a degenerative pathway opens.

The New York Times

EKOS Weekly: "If our vote intention tracking chart was a national cardiogram, it might be time to pull the plug."

By kadyomalley - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 10:59 AM - 40 Comments

Oh, come now, Mr. Graves — surely, there’s hope. The latest numbers can’t possibly that relentlessly, unyieldingly unchangi — oh. Right, then. Carry on:

Conservatives: 32.7 (-2.2)
Liberals: 31.0 (-0.9)
NDP: 16.5  (+2.7)
Bloc Quebecois: 9.7 (+1.1)
Green: 10.1 (-0.7
Undecided: 15.4 (-1.8)

So, let’s recap, shall we? The Conservatives drop more than any other party, but still manage to lead the pack, as the Liberals bleed out quietly in the corner. At this rate, they’ll be under 30 by fall — just in time for that election-triggering confidence vote that they made sure to add on as a rider to the blue-ribbon panel deal! Man, that was some crafty strategizing, wasn’t it? (Confidential to OLO: You’re absolutely positive that your leader didn’t come up with that brilliant idea after chatting with an oddly helpful gentleman with a distinctly Scottish accent who just happened to be hanging around outside Langevin, right? Just checking.)

Continue…

'We have our problems too'

By macleans.ca - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 10:57 AM - 2 Comments

Republicans are rejoicing over what they see as another gaffe from Hillary Clinton’s troubled trip to Africa. The U.S. secretary of state criticized the Nigerian government, saying its legitimacy was ‘eroded,’ and then went on to compare it to American elections. She slammed the 2000 Florida recount, saying “you know we had some problems in some of our presidential elections…in 2000 our presidential election came down to one state where the brother of one of the men running for president was governor of the state. So we have our problems too.” Democrats say Clinton is simply speaking the truth about a contentious issue, while Republicans claim her trip has been full of blunders. In any case, Clinton heads to Liberia today and will finish the tour in Cape Verde.

The Guardian

'New Democrats are serious about victory'

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 10:56 AM - 18 Comments

Jack Layton lets slip the NDP’s secret plan to win the next election.

Premier Dexter’s victory is an inspiration to New Democrats from Halifax Harbour to Vancouver Bay. But the road to victory in Nova Scotia – just like Premier Doer’s in Manitoba – was long.

They built slowly with good candidates, sound new policies, and focused discipline. Critics often said they had no chance of winning. They say the same thing about federal New Democrats.

But we know that victory will not happen overnight. We are pursuing a similar strategy of incremental growth.

McRetirees

By macleans.ca - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 10:48 AM - 0 Comments

McDonald’s has always been predominantly staffed by the young. Those who are filling part-time jobs flipping burgers to make some money in between classes. But that could soon change, given the results of a recent British survey. After reviewing the performance of 400 McDonald’s franchises in Britain, Lancaster University Management School found that customer satisfaction was 20 percent higher at stores with some workers over the age of 60. McDonald’s says that the experience, work ethic and people skills of older workers is behind the boost in profit at those stores. One company official said McDonald’s would like to add more 60-plus workers. But it won’t be easy. The over-60 set represents only about one per cent of McDonald applicants.

The Telegraph

In France and Germany, the worst may be over

By macleans.ca - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 10:36 AM - 0 Comments

Between April and June, the French and German economies experienced something new for a change: growth. Both grew by 0.3 per cent, bringing an end to year-long recessions. Experts stress that both countries have been able to capitalize on the export market. Notably, exports in Germany grew seven per cent in June – the greatest jump in nearly three years. The countries have also been successful in boosting consumer spending. Still, experts warn that the recent growth is unexpected–and fragile. “Investment is down [and] we still have surprisingly low stock levels,” Marie Diron, senior economist at Oxford Economics explained. Diron also suggested that growth figures could have been skewed by a trade imbalance. “Growth is boosted by the fact that imports fell sharply.” The eurozone region as a whole is still in recession, but things there are also improving. Between April and June, there was a only a 0.1 per cent contraction-compared to 2.5 per cent for the first three months of the year.

BBC News

Oops

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 10:34 AM - 31 Comments

July 2. The Harper government has denied an Alberta man’s bid for a transfer from a U.S. jail to a Canadian prison on the grounds that he may one day commit a crime … Van Loan has signed a rejection letter saying that because Curtis’s role was a “money man” and “transporter” in the drug conspiracy, he has “already taken several steps down the road towards involvement in a criminal organization offence. Given the nature of the applicant’s acts, I believe that he may, after the transfer, commit a criminal organization offence.”

August 13. When Peter Van Loan denied Brent James Curtis a transfer from a U.S. jail to a Canadian prison in May, the public security minister said he believed the one-time elite hockey player would return only to stoop to organized crime — a belief that is at odds with his own staff’s review of the case, federal documents reveal. In fact, an assessment that tapped security and intelligence agencies concluded Curtis, 28, would likely not commit a crime if transferred.

There’s a new black Barbie in town

By Katie Engelhart - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 9:20 AM - 14 Comments

It took Mattel some time to get it right. The behemoth behind the Barbie brand made its first black doll in 1967: “Colored Francie,” a version of Barbie’s white cousin that did not sell well and was soon discontinued. A black friend, “Christie,” was introduced a few years later, but it was not until 1980 that a black Barbie—not a friend or a relative, but a Barbie in her own right—hit stores. Mattel has since produced a steady stream of the dolls, including missteps like 1997’s Oreo Fun Barbie, the fruit of a partnership with Nabisco, inadvertently named after a slur for African-Americans. The question of how “black” these Barbies really were has remained contentious. Early critics charged that black Barbies were simply “dye-dipped versions of archetypal white American beauty,” with Caucasian features. Later dolls like “Soul Train Shani” drew fire for promoting racial stereotypes.

This time around, Mattel wanted to nail it. And if early buzz over its new So In Style Barbies is any measure, they may have. Collectors are in a tizzy over the new line of black dolls, which launched in the U.S. this summer, and sport wider noses, larger lips, curly hair and a range of skin tones. Barbie bloggers are lauding them. A fashion supplement in July’s Vogue Italia features them in place of human models. And stores are scrambling to buy them up. “We don’t usually bring in playline Barbies,” says Margaret Matsui, owner of Mississauga, Ont.’s My Favourite Dolls, which specializes in high-end collector models. But “this one’s really unique.” Continue…

Bestsellers

By Brian Bethune - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 9:00 AM - 0 Comments

Top-selling fiction and non-fiction titles (week of August 11th, 2009)

Fiction

Non-fiction

LAST WEEK (WEEKS ON LIST)

King of beer sales, amigo

By Kate Lunau - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 8:40 AM - 8 Comments

Freeing a trapped bear, leading a midnight hike through the jungle, playing a rousing game of jai alai—it’s all in a day’s work for the Most Interesting Man in the World, the star of the current ad campaign for Dos Equis beer. Featuring veteran TV actor Jonathan Goldsmith in a gloriously rumpled tuxedo, the ads have made Dos Equis into a household name, no small feat in the current recession.

Launched in Canada in 2008, the ads (which have appeared in some U.S. markets since 2006, and went national there this year) show our protagonist engaged in various acts of derring-do as a narrator recites facts about him: “The police often question him just because they find him interesting.” “He once had an awkward moment, just to see how it feels.” Sunburned and silver-haired, Goldsmith’s character dangles a bottle of Dos Equis from thumb and forefinger, presumably unwinding after his latest escapade. “I don’t always drink beer,” he rumbles. “But when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.” Continue…

The most interesting man in the world

By Jonathon Gatehouse - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 8:20 AM - 22 Comments

Some years ago, one of Italy’s best-known journalists was summoned to a meeting with Silvio Berlusconi at the billionaire media magnate’s villa on the Riviera. Walking around the grounds, he stumbled across Veronica Lario, his boss’s (now soon-to-be ex-) wife, sunbathing nude while reading a philosophy book. Encountering Italy’s first lady in the altogether surely counts among life’s more awkward moments, but the late Indro Montanelli had made a career out of speaking truth to power. “Don’t worry,” was his infamous response. “You’re not showing me any poses I haven’t seen in the photographs your husband showed me.”

There’s no shortage of similar stories about the legendary libido and crassness of Italy’s 72-year-old prime minister. So when Lario wrote a series of open letters this spring detailing her unhappiness with her husband’s penchant for schwingy female candidates, and then announced she is seeking a divorce because of his extracurricular “consorting” with ever-younger women, there wasn’t much public sympathy for her plight. The 52-year-old former actress is, after all, Berlusconi’s second wife. And the story of their own love might have functioned as a cautionary tale. They met in 1980, when Lario was appearing in a play called The Magnificent Cuckold in Milan. Berlusconi, then married with two school-age children, tumbled head over heels while sitting in the audience. Although it’s never been clear what impressed him most—Lario’s acting, or the scene where she took off her top. For years, she was his very public mistress (Berlusconi divorced in 1986), and all three of their children were born before they finally tied the knot in 1990. Continue…

Fashion learns to make itself ‘useful’

By Barbara Amiel - Thursday, August 13, 2009 at 8:00 AM - 10 Comments

My fashion life got off to a rocky start in January 1949, with the purchase of a nasty off-white wool coat from the famous London department store Selfridges (now owned by Canada’s Galen Weston). Everything about the coat was wrong in my eyes. It wore me, though that was not a phrase an eight-year-old would actually use. The coat was trotted out on every “occasion,” and I was forced to wear it to my school’s annual Founder’s Day when everyone else wore mud-brown macs. “But darling,” said my mother, fussing over the ribbons in my plaits, “it took all your clothing coupons and some of Grandma’s. This coat will last. Look at the hem: real value.” The hangover of that particular incident, etched like a dagger in my psyche, is a lifelong aversion to clothing of “value.”

What goes around comes around. The theme song of the rag trade today is value, value. Luxe is “value.” Brands are value and most of all dirt-cheap clothes are. This is to strangle the newborn thrift that consumers have discovered and to reinvent spending as a value-enhancing enterprise. While Canada seems immune to the world’s economic meltdown, in big cities like New York consumers are sitting on—and in—their old purchases. The air is full of phrases like “shopping in your closet,” a destination that horrifies retailers and manufacturers. And so the gang-up has begun. Continue…

What the heck is going on in Kenya? (II)

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 7:21 PM - 85 Comments

Dalton McGuinty gets angry. The Canadian Press tries to sort out what Messrs Van Loan and Cannon are doing.

So far, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan have avoided comment about Mohamud’s case.

Chris McCluskey, a spokesman for Van Loan, would only say that the minister has asked the Canada Border Services Agency and his department for a full account of what happened.

An agency spokeswoman said Mohamud’s case has been transferred to Foreign Affairs.

According to CBC, Cannon hasn’t entirely avoided comment. On July 24 he told reporters there was “no tangible proof” of Mohamud’s citizenship and that “all Canadians who hold passports generally have a picture that is identical in their passport to what they claim to be.” The Star has quoted him as having said that “the individual … has to let us know whether or not she is a Canadian citizen.”