NBA players handed stern punishment

By macleans.ca - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 3:39 PM - 0 Comments

David Stern has delivered a message worthy of its namesake. The NBA commissioner suspended Washington Wizards teammates Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton Thursday without pay for the rest of the season after they brought guns into the team’s locker room. Stern said there was no justification for their actions. Following a dispute back in December, both players pulled out guns they’d kept in the locker room, a clear violation of NBA policy that prohibits firearms inside team and league facilities. Crittenton plead guilty to misdemeanor gun possession and sentenced to a year unsupervised probation, while Arenas awaits his sentencing in March. He could face six months in prison.

Reuters

Will free plastic bags make a comeback?

By macleans.ca - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 3:36 PM - 7 Comments

Grocery chain Atlantic Superstore is bucking a trend and reconsidering their five-cent bag fee. Back in December, the company stopped charging its customers as an “appreciation move,” and it has extended the gesture into January. The fee, designed to limit the number of plastic bags that end up in landfills, was implemented by Atlantic’s parent company Loblaw Cos. Ltd., and no one from at corporate headquarters has commented on its suspension. In an email, the company said the fee was being “evaluated” while some customers have expressed frustration with the bag fees and having to remember their own cloth bags. The company said they have seen a 55 per cent drop in the number of bags distributed when compared to stores that were not charging the fee.

CBC News

'Accountability, ladies and gentlemen, is the prerequisite for progress'

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 3:34 PM - 40 Comments

The prepared text of the Prime Minister’s speech in Davos today.

“It’s great to be here in Davos and to have this opportunity to contribute to your discussions on some of the vital issues confronting the world today.  Some of them are complex and they may, at times, seem abstract.  But for ordinary men and women everywhere, the substance of what we talk about here translates into simple realities like a home, food on the table, or a better life for their children.  So, it’s an important debate that we’re delighted to be part of.

Continue…

Opening Weekend: 'Edge of Darkness' and 'Grown Up Movie Star'

By Brian D. Johnson - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 3:05 PM - 1 Comment

Mel Gibson goes over the edge in 'Edge of Darkness'

You can take your choice between two seriously messed-up, hell-raising dads this weekend. After eight years off the screen, Hollywood’s most notorious anti-Semite, Mel Gibson, is back in Edge of Darkness, and he comes out swinging.  In this violent conspiracy thriller, he plays a Boston homicide detective whose 24-year-old daughter is gunned down by his side, a righteous motive for psychotic vengeance if ever there was one. And Mad Mel seems bent on proving that he’s still the meanest, if not the most mature, movie star on the block. Then there’s Grown Up Movie Star, a plucky tale of family chaos from Newfoundland, which recently had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. It stars Newfoundland native Shawn Doyle (Big Love) as an ex-NHL hockey player struggling to contain his sexually precocious 14-year-old daughter and his own closeted gay sexuality, and it features a powerhouse performance from Tatiana Maslany as the young girl. No contest here. Edge of Darkness, directed by Casino Royale‘s Martin Campbell, is one  slick and nasty piece of Hollywood engineering, and there’s a certain fascination in watching Gibson erase every last iota of charm as he pushes his iconic persona over the edge, into the red zone of unadulterated hatred. But it’s a brutally cynical genre movie that eventually undermines the dead-eyed gravity of its star by veering into camp. Grown Up Movie Star, which skirts the edge of white-trash melodrama, risks running off the rails as well. But driven by strong performances and a sharp script, this bold feature debut by Newfoundland writer-director Adriana Maggs has a winning ring of authenticity. And, more to the point, it has characters you might actually want to spend time with. Continue…

Beware the Gay Canadian Mafia

By macleans.ca - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 2:58 PM - 1 Comment

Memo to anxious and jobless Manhttan media types: beware the Gay Canadian Mafia. The GCM will move to NYC, take over your plum six-figure job and your now-unaffordable SoHo loft, all the while acting politely and modestly. The evidence: according to a recent article in Next magazine, a surprising number of homosexual Canadians have managed to retain their jobs while their straight American colleagues are being chucked over the side. “A loosely organized network of gay Canadian men [is] quietly conspiring to take over New York,” it ominously warns. “It must be.”

Next

Our political class, or distinct lack thereof

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 2:56 PM - 11 Comments

Alison Loat pulls together various strands to consider turnover and experience in the House of Commons.

So is it a problem? Maybe, maybe not. It’s a good thing to have fresh minds and a comparatively open political system. Furthermore, it’s unclear how realistically we can change it even if we wanted to (although better HR management in politics would be a most welcome change). To paraphrase a wiser observer than myself, I guess the real question is whether our Parliament is too transient to properly do its job.

Baggage Restrictions

By Ron Pradinuk, Takeoffeh.com - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 2:37 PM - 7 Comments

After the failed terrorist attempt this Christmas, instant restrictions were announced on what could be carried on board aircraft by passengers.

Over the holidays mass confusion erupted over the regulations and it looked like the permanent carry on allowance would be confined to a small purse, baby needs, medication, and a non-wheeled computer case. Adding to the confusion was a lack of clarity about whether these new restrictions applied to all flights, or only those destined for the United States.

With sun destination flights moving into full swing across the country, and weight and size allowances already more restrictive than scheduled carriers, vacation bound travellers were extremely concerned about how they could pack their holiday needs effectively.

Although publicity reinforced the fact that the new restrictions applied only to flights landing in the United States, CATSA, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, again changed the guidelines for American bound travellers, creating additional turmoil.

Here is what you need to know:

The Official Case
According to CATSA regulations, the size of bag permitted through security must be limited to 55 cm x 40 cm x 23 cm (rounding up slightly, this is equivalent to 22 in x 16 in x 9 in). It is suggested we think in terms of a small gym bag. This can be a small suitcase OR a briefcase, not both.

The Airline’s Bag
Air Canada, whose website also restricts carry on bags to 55 cm x 40 cm x 23 cm, rounds down the imperial equivalent to 21.5 in x 15.5 in x 9 in. They also specify that wheels and handles are included in this measurement. Wheels and handles can take up at least a half inch, which can reduce the allowable bag size by one inch.

US carriers have, up until now at least, allowed what is called by luggage manufacturers a standard 22 inch bag – which is 22 inches in length. The width and height vary slightly by manufacturer.

That is why it is important to check the website of the airline you will be travelling with as airlines have the right to make their restrictions even tighter.

Other Stuff
While a purse, laptop, or camera bag are permitted in addition to the one carry on, it is clearly stated that no more than one of these is allowed as an added item. And, if your laptop bag is the expandable type with many compartments – it will count as your one allowable carry on piece.

Other allowable items in addition to the one carry on are items which are necessary for medical reasons (i.e. cane, oxygen tank), baby items, a musical instrument and your duty free purchases.

How Big Is A Purse?
Thankfully there is now a definition for a small purse which is much clearer than what surely must have been a male driven decision, to originally qualifiy it as no larger than a football. The defined size is a maximum of 24 cm x 30 cm x 14 cm (10 in x 12 in x 5.5 in).

Drink It Up
While there had been talk recently about allowing a more generous liquids allowance, for the near future the current limits still apply: Liquids, gels and aerosols must be placed in a one litre clear bag (1 only), in containers which are no more than 100ml each.

While for many of us the restrictions are a nuisance, those most affected are corporate travellers who detest having to check anything on two or three day business trips. George Clooney in his recent hit, Up in the Air, provides a great example of how road warriors navigate this environment.

Until now, if you were willing to pay the price for the first few rows with the hot dinner and free beverages, you could stretch the rules a long way.

For the time being at least, those days are over.

By Ron Pradinuk
Ron Pradinuk is president of Journeys Travel & Leisure SuperCentre, a travel products retail outlet www.jouneystravelgear.com , as well as Winnipeg based Renaissance Travel. He is past national president of the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies.

Photo Credits: csakisti, catsa.gc.ca

Rights and Democracy: And guest starring the world's busiest ADM as MacGruber

By Paul Wells - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 2:29 PM - 40 Comments

Le Devoir‘s Alec Castonguay has led on the Rights and Democracy story from the start, and he’s still at it. (If you’re new to the story, just order out for food and hit the “Rights and Democracy” tag under this blog post for a good six or eight hours’ reading.) Alec reports that Lawrence Cannon, the foreign minister, has dispatched an associate deputy minister to figure out what’s going on at the benighted Montreal GONGO.

Now, here’s the curious thing. The ADM in question is Gérald Cossette, whom I don’t know but who seems to be highly regarded at Fort Pearson and who has been tested under fire. He was in charge of passports when U.S. security worries led to a policy change that produced the largest ever surge in demand for Canadian passports. So he seems a serious fellow. But what strikes me as odd is that Cossette has also been co-chairing twice-daily meetings of a whole-of-government Haiti Crisis Team since the earthquake there. (The link takes you to a generally excellent overview of government response to the Haiti crisis, from Jeff Davis at Embassy. OK, OK, near Embassy at the Hill Times. )

It’s said that if you want something done, you should assign it to a busy man. Cossette certainly seems to fit that description. He’ll be reporting to the minister, which means the rest of us may or may not ever learn what he finds at Rights and Democracy.

J.D. Salinger dies

By macleans.ca - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 2:02 PM - 1 Comment

J.D. Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye, has died at age 91. In a statement delivered through Salinger’s literary representative, the author’s son confirmed Salinger died of natural causes after living for decades in self-imposed isolation in a remote house in Cornish, NH. Published in 1951, The Catcher in the Rye featured immortal protagonist Holden Caulfield, who went on to become American lit’s most famous anti-hero since Huckleberry Finn. The novel has sold more than 60 million copies worldwide, and ranks among the most important American literary works. Along with novellas Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour — An Introduction, his last published story, Hapworth 16, 1928, ran in The New Yorker in 1965. As a youth, Salinger had a history of trouble in the schools he attended, much like Holden, and was sent to Valley Forge Military Academy at age 15, where he wrote at night by flashlight. He published his first fiction in 1940, in Story magazine. By 1952, he’d moved to Cornish, marrying Claire Douglas, with whom he had two children, Peggy and Matthew, before divorcing her in 1967. He remained reclusive until his death.

Associated Press

Tories have youth justice system in their sights

By macleans.ca - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 1:04 PM - 37 Comments

The Tories are seemingly preparing to reignite the debate over the treatment afforded young offenders. According to a confidential document from the Prime Minister’s Office obtained by the Ottawa Sun, the Conservatives are considering options that include mandating stiffer sentences for violent crimes and lifting publication bans for cases involving serious sex offenders. “We need to better protect our communities from violent and repeat young offenders,” the document reads. As it stand now, the report says, sentences for heinous crimes such as murder or aggravated sexual assault, are “much shorter than Canadians expect.”  Under the terms put forward by the PMO, the provinces and territories would have their own discretion to set the age at which the new laws would apply, and no one under 14 could receive an adult sentence.

Ottawa Sun

Mitchel Raphael on The Girls20 summit and advice about an igloo at Harrington Lake

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 12:50 PM - 0 Comments

IT gets hot, hot, hot when you’re all wearing sealskin
“A Taste of the Arctic,” held at the National Gallery of Canada, kicked off 2010 as the Year of the Inuit. The room, packed with people wearing sealskin outfits, got so hot doors needed to be opened to let in the winter air. Inuit leader Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, was in a new head-to-toe sealskin ensemble complete with caribou antler buttons, made by Victoria Okpik of Nunavik Creations. It was the official debut of the outfit Simon plans to wear for the opening of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. Food at the Taste of the Arctic included dried caribou jerky, agnolotti with muskox tomato sauce, and a shepherd’s pie made with ground seal meat. On the tables were rocks that looked like ice, covered in flowers. At first glance the decorations resembled giant spiders, causing more than a few alarmed double takes. Among the guests at the event were Nunavut’s government leader Eva Aariak and federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, the MP for Nunavut. Laureen Harper, invited by Simon, also attended. Noted Mrs. Harper: “Mary said there would be Arctic char and I love Arctic char.” Over the Christmas break, the Harpers, including the PM, made a snow fort at Harrington Lake; at the event, Mrs. Harper asked the Inuit leader if she could help her make an authentic igloo. “We have lots of snow there,” Mrs. Harper said. “I’m not sure it’s the right kind.” Another guest was former Nunavut MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell. She recently saw the birth of her sixth granddaughter and told Capital Diary she loves spending time with the girls after raising four sons. CBC anchor Peter Mansbridge was honoured at the event with an award for his coverage of the Arctic. It was also announced that several Inuit groups would be donating nearly $100,000 to help Haiti.

SHE’S HELPING Haitians stranded in quebec
The earthquake in Haiti has politicians dealing with a variety of issues. Bloc MP Nicole Demers says her office is working with Haitians who were visiting Quebec and are now stranded here because their homes have been reduced to rubble. Montreal Liberal MP Marlene Jennings says two nuns from the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Anne in her riding are still looking for two missionaries missing in Haiti. Former Bloc MP and current vice-president of the Bloc Québécois, Vivian Barbot, who was born in Haiti, managed to get texts and cellphone photos of the devastation from people. Sadly, while Barbot’s cousin managed to survive, his wife and her entire family were killed. Fortunately, the son of Barbot’s cousin is in Canada studying. Barbot says the Bloc is calling for a Marshall Plan for Haiti.

Bowling for Haiti
Last week, Ottawa NDP MP Paul Dewar had planned to hold a Bowling for Paul fundraiser for his riding association. He changed it to Bowling for Haiti. More than $1,000 was raised for the Humanitarian Coalition (Oxfam, CARE and Save the Children). On Jan. 25 there is a nonpartisan event called Hill Helps Haiti, being organized by the government relations firm Summa Strategies.

Belinda’s 20
Former MP Belinda Stronach’s Belinda Stronach Foundation is planning a special women’s summit in Toronto to coincide with the upcoming G20 Summit. Twenty groups are involved, including the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and UNICEF. It’s being billed as Girls20.

Detroit’s dirty secret: SUVs rule

By Jason Kirby - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 12:40 PM - 2 Comments

At the height of the U.S. economic crisis, one of the most potent symbols of American excess was the gas-guzzling sport utility vehicle. When oil prices spiked and millions of Americans lost their jobs, sales of big trucks collapsed, taking General Motors, Chrysler and nearly Ford with them. Only small cars would have a future in this more frugal, sensible economy, we were told. Well, so much for that.

The SUV is back, and American drivers can’t get enough of them. According to Ford, sales of the Expedition jumped 45 per cent in December, while the Lincoln Navigator was up 60 per cent. GM, meanwhile, has announced plans to spend US$1 billion revitalizing its lineup of full-size pickups. The companies are still heavily focused on smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles, and the next generation of SUVs will undoubtedly do better on gas. But any notion that the SUV would go the way of the Model T is gone.

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Will there ever be a Olympic medal for 'Call of Duty'?

By Tom Henheffer - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 12:33 PM - 9 Comments

"Little Poison" (right) is the youngest professional gamer. (Photo by Tom Henheffer)

Snowboarding made it into the Olympics just over a decade ago. Golf, which is far less physically demanding, will be in the next Summer Games. And it’s a running joke that seniors can win medals now that curling, or “chess on ice” is a medal sport. So why can’t eye-strained video gamers have shot at the gold?

“Gaming has its place in the world stage,” says Ted Owen, CEO of the Global Gaming League, an organization that ranks and provides a social network for players. “Gaming deserves to be an Olympic sport.” In 2008, Owen signed a deal with the Chinese Olympic Committee to include a gaming tournament as an official welcome event in Beijing, and says the International Olympic Committee has expressed interest in making it a permanent part of the Games.

“It’s the same skills as if you were a hockey player or a baseball player, anything like that,” says Matt Wood, a former pro gamer. “Mostly it’s mental. You don’t have a good mental game, you could be the best player, and all of a sudden you’re on stage, on live TV or with cameras in your face, and if you get nervous, you’re going to lose.” Wood used to compete for the first-ever salaried and televised video game league, the Championship Gaming Series (CGS). “They made a league kind of like the NHL or MLB, they tried to make a professional sport. They had a draft, they had general managers and franchises.”

The league seemed to come along at the perfect time. In the U.S. alone the video game industry brought in over $22 billion in 2008—an almost 25 per cent growth over the previous year. That’s more than triple the $6.5 billion made by the NFL over the same period, which was $50 million less than the league’s projected revenue.  Plus gaming’s athletic stature got a huge boost last year—it’s now China’s 99th official sport.

Garrett Bambrough used to play for CGS. He’s a pro gamer who specializes in Counterstrike, a military themed shoot ‘em up. He’s also a six-foot-three personal trainer—and has the build of a pro hockey player. “People see me, they don’t know me as a gamer,” he says. “Everyone has this idea that if you play games your some 30-year-old overweight guy who doesn’t go outside.” He says eSports—as gaming is sometimes called—aren’t physical in a traditional sense, but that they require all the strategy, mental toughness and hand-eye coordination needed to race bobsled or throw a curling stone. “When you’re watching the game you just see a guy shooting the gun. But you are thinking 24/7,” he says. “You do individual practices, you work on your aim, you watch demos of other teams to try to get new moves and to try and get smarter.” Both Wood and Bambrough would love to see gaming in the Olympics, either as a medal or demonstration sport, but acknowledge the resistance.

Ross Rebagliati is the first person to win an Olympic medal for snowboarding, taking home the gold in the 1998 winter games—plus, he was brought up on video games. Yet, he says gaming shouldn’t be considered a sport for anyone  capable of normal physical activity. “It would be like, in the Paralympics, having athletes running in the wheelchair endurance races who don’t need to be in a wheelchair.” Rebagliati started carving the hills before snowboards were even allowed on ski runs, so he knows what it’s like to fight for Olympic recognition. But, he says, the line has to be drawn somewhere. “Sport has to have some kind of physical act.”

Owen’s got plenty of hurdles ahead in gaming’s road to Olympic status. CGS folded when sponsors pulled out as the recession hit. The protests and controversy surrounding the games in Beijing led the Chinese government to cancel non-essential Olympic events, including GGLs tournament. Owen tried to pique the IOC’s interest again for the 2010 games in Vancouver—they wouldn’t bite. But he won’t give up. He says pro gamers are treated like celebrities in Asian countries such as China and Korea, and that the popularity of eSports is growing quickly in Europe. Pro gaming is still in its infancy in the rest of the world, but he says he’ll keep lobbying and that it’s only a matter of time until gamers are up on the podium.

The pivotal paperwork (V)

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 12:26 PM - 11 Comments

For the record, these questions remain unanswered. At last report, the buck was resting with the Justice department.

In the mean time, the Vice Chief of Defence Staff has convened a Board of Inquiry to investigate “the specific details of the incident of 14 June 2006″ as well as “the circumstances surrounding the 14 June 2006 incident and the subsequent passage of this information up the chain of command.” The BOI’s report is due February 12.

Cyber attacks on the rise

By macleans.ca - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 12:16 PM - 1 Comment

As if the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack wasn’t enough to instill paranoia in the masses. According to a new study by the US Center for Strategic and International Studies, a “cyber cold war” is quietly raging. The study, commissioned by the computer security company McAfee, found that cyber attacks or infiltrations by gangs and state-sponsored hackers have hit more than half of the companies operating critical infrastructure like gas and oil supplies and electrical grids. The news, which comes in the wake of Google’s revelation that it among about 30 western companies victimized by Chinese hackers, does not bode well in tough economic times. According to the study, the attacks cost the world economy $2.4 billion annually.

The Guardian

How much for a disgraced financier's can opener?

By macleans.ca - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 12:13 PM - 1 Comment

Going… Going… Gone! On Wednesday, the first batch of disgraced Montreal financier Earl Jones’s belongings were sold at auction. “Drapes, tables, table cloths, everything that was in the house” was up for grabs, said Empire Auctions owner Abe Rogozinsky, who handled the deal. “Can openers, you name it, whatever was in the house. Mixmasters, etc… And we sold all of it.” The auction profits will go to the trustees handling Jones’s bankruptcy. But the hope is that some of the money will make its way back to the many clients who lost everything under Jones’s management. Jones has pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud totalling $50 million. He will be sentenced on February 15.

CBC News

Alomar elected to (Canadian) baseball Hall of Fame

By macleans.ca - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:53 AM - 1 Comment

Roberto Alomar, the switch-hitting Puerto Rican, who spent five seasons wowing Toronto fans with his gold-glove defence and his sweet swing, will be immortalized in the baseball hall of fame—the Canadian one, that is. Alomar will be enshrined later this summer along with fellow former Jay Paul Quantrill, as well as former Washinton Senators/Minnesota Twins owner Calvin Griffith, and statistician Allan Roth. The second baseman, who fell just shy of induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown NY earlier this month, was a key member of the Blue Jays teams that won back-to-back World Series Championships in 1992-1993.

CBC News

Haiti: are we ready to lead?

By macleans.ca - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:40 AM - 4 Comments

As the entire world laments the difficulties of delivering aid and succour to Haiti, one inevitable question hangs in the distance. What will it take to make Haiti function as a country? Canadians are already answering the immediate call for help in a very significant way. But are we prepared to make the same commitment to Haiti’s future?

Haiti is undoubtedly the most benighted country in our hemisphere, with a long history of failed governments and repressive dictatorships. Yet history also shows it once enjoyed a brief period of relative calm and progress. While under U.S. control from 1915 to 1934, Haiti actually functioned in a way that today seems impossible. It is instructive to consider the successes and failures of that time.

Continue…

She Watches Leno On Oprah So You Don't Have To

By Jaime Weinman - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:26 AM - 6 Comments

UPDATE: Here is a full transcript of the Leno/Oprah victimfest.

Also, Gawker TV has its usual collection of clips from the event.

Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune is watching Jay Leno’s appearance on Oprah (which doesn’t air around here until the afternoon) and she’s live-blogging some of his self-defensive comments.

Much of what he says is basically true, albeit one-sided and phrased in such a way to make him sound — as always — like the victim. So while he doesn’t try to sugarcoat the failure of The Jay Leno Show, he also portrays himself as the little guy up against the big behemoths on the other networks:

As for competing in the prime-time arena, it was difficult, Leno said, especially given that other networks banned their actors from going on Leno’s new show.

“It’s a lot more competitive. If I’m in late night, I know I’m competing with Dave [Letterman] every night. … We could book against [other late-night shows]. To book [guests] against the ‘CSI’ evil twin episode, that’s going to be very hard to do.”

“Why do you think the show failed?” Oprah asked.

“I think the show failed because it was basically a late-night talk show at 10 o’clock. You’re competing with dramas that are $3 to $6 million an episode,” Leno said.

The weirdest moment, from reading it, is where he says that he was lying (“a white lie”) in 2004 when he said he was going to retire, and that he always figured he would probably get a job on another network. I don’t know how that makes him sound good, but he seems to think it does.

Ryan is also responsible for the recent long, in-depth interview with Lost creators Lindelof and Cuse, all three parts of which are well worth reading.

The cheque's in the mail

By macleans.ca - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:17 AM - 0 Comments

Diplomat Richard Colvin, the man who publicly revealed that prisoners handed over to Afghan forces by Canadian soldiers were likely being tortured, initially had trouble getting the federal government to pay his legal fees. This led the whistle-blower to claim that the Conservatives were tying to punish him for revealing the abuse. However, an official with the Foreign Affairs department says the government has paid two invoices totally $20,000 to Colvin’s Toronto lawyer, and has set aside up to $50,000 for further fees. It’s not clear, however, whether the committee charged with investigating Colvin’s claims will be resurrected once Parliament reconvenes in March given that the unanimous consent of all parties in the House of Commons would be needed to re-establish it.

Canadian Press

Is Avril Lavigne happy with her life?

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:14 AM - 26 Comments

Herein, the third in a semi-regular series chronicling the ninth season of American Idol. You can read the first instalment here and the second instalment here.

Wednesday night’s episode of American Idol, covering auditions in Los Angeles, was largely unremarkable, save for what might’ve been the most profound moment in Avril Lavigne’s public life to date.

In the lead-up to Ellen DeGeneres’ arrival as Idol‘s fourth judge (replacing the famously incoherent Paula Abdul), the early episodes of this season have featured a series of celebrity guest jurors. Wednesday night’s duties were split between Katy Perry’s cleavage and Lavigne. Perry’s cleavage proved a fair and constructive critic, but it was Lavigne who managed to introduce to the Idol paradigm an entirely original meditation on the precedence and value of the family unit in Western civilization.

We were first introduced to Jim Ranger, a hairy, bearded worship pastor and family man with three young children. He proceeded to sing, not badly, a song he had written himself. Randy asked Simon for his opinion. Simon deemed Ranger’s voice to be “authentic.” Randy asked Lavigne. She was apparently conflicted.

“You know, you have three children and you’re a pastor,” she observed. “To become a pop star, you know, you have to travel and you have to leave everything. It’s difficult out there on the road. But I do think that you have a good voice.”

When asked for her verdict, Lavigne responded in the negative. “I’m sorry I think I have to say no,” she said.

Kara, apparently seeing something in Lavigne’s argument, expressed some trepidation, but ultimately said yes, joining Randy and Simon to advance Ranger to the next round. Mr. Ranger celebrated excitedly.

There are perhaps two ways to look at this.

1. Avril Lavigne, a girl from a small town in eastern Ontario who sang in the church, who signed a record deal at 16, became a global pop star by the age of 18, was on the cover of Rolling Stone before she could legally consume alcohol in Canada, married her rock star boyfriend before her 22nd birthday, had divorced her rock star husband by the age of 25, at some point befriended Paris Hilton and showed up for the taping of this episode, at the age of 26, wearing a hooded sweatshirt with devil horns, is nearly the last person on earth who should be deciding who is and is not capable of maintaining a normal life while pursuing pop stardom.

2. Avril Lavigne, a girl from a small town in eastern Ontario who sang in the church, who signed a record deal at 16, became a global pop star by the age of 18, was on the cover of Rolling Stone before she could legally consume alcohol in Canada, married her rock star boyfriend before her 22nd birthday, had divorced her rock star husband by the age of 25, at some point befriended Paris Hilton and showed up for the taping of this episode, at the age of 26, wearing a hooded sweatshirt with devil horns, is precisely the person to be warning others about the potential perils of pop stardom.

The first option is possibly more ripe for mockery, but also, somehow, less plausible. However emotionally stunted Lavigne may otherwise be as a result of her early accomplishment in the entertainment industry—even by generous standards, the devil-horned hooded-sweatshirt should probably not be worn by anyone over the age of 21 who wishes to be taken seriously as a human being—she seemed genuinely concerned by Jim Ranger’s situation. Or at least the concern seemed too odd to be contrived. And while a deluded pop star might not have noticed the irony of her concern, a truly deluded pop star probably wouldn’t have cared enough in the first place to say so.

So maybe the second option makes more sense. Maybe she meant it. And maybe she knew of what she spoke. And maybe she is one of those few who can know what that life is actually like to live.

Unfortunately, if all that is true then the unavoidable conclusion would seem to be that Avril Lavigne is sort of sad. Or at least that she hasn’t always been all that happy, that she has struggled with her life as we’ve known it. This is maybe not all that surprising. In fact, it’s impossible to believe she hasn’t struggled. But it is still sort of heartbreaking to see it vaguely implied on national television under the guise of warning another human being against pursuing her line of work, lest he somehow damage what she perhaps sees as an already rewarding, or at least important, life. It is entirely possible, in this scenario, that Avril Lavigne sort of envies Jim Ranger.

Granted, it is possible to over-think this. But if one of the defining pop stars of the last decade has just conceded that stardom should not necessarily be the ultimate and all-consuming goal in the life of the vocally talented, then this truly is the end of American Idol.

Ontario hospital goes ‘mini’

By Kate Lunau - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:10 AM - 3 Comments

For most Canadians, long waits at emergency rooms are a familiar complaint. Now, a new project in Orléans, a suburb of Ottawa, aims to address the problem: a Family Health Hub, as it’s being called, will ease the strain on nearby hospitals by offering some similar services in a local setting. Dr. Robert Cushman, CEO of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), which coordinates health services for the 1.1 million people in the region, goes so far as to say this mini-hospital is “the future of health care” in Ontario.

Instead of travelling into Ottawa to access some primary care services—the nearest hospital, Montfort, is 15 km away—residents of Orléans will now be able to visit the Orléans Family Health Hub for a range of services all under one roof, including minor surgical procedures, cancer care, mental health care and dialysis. (The government of Ontario has announced a $1-million grant to get the planning phase off the ground; construction is to begin next year.)

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If you can't beat 'em… pay 'em?

By macleans.ca - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:08 AM - 3 Comments

It would seem that some politicians have come to the realization that guns and bombs are not enough to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan, and that a new tactic is needed to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Thursday that a new international fund is to be established to reintegrate Taliban fighters back into Afghan society, and to offer them an economic incentive to abandon terrorism. Brown also said that any insurgents who refused the terms of reintegration would continue to be pursued militarily. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he supports the idea, and hopes it can help to bring in “disenchanted” citizens.

CBC News

Many more students, less funding

By Tom Henheffer - Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 11:00 AM - 3 Comments

Nova Scotia’s universities want more federal cash. The province is a net importer of university students—students from the rest of the country who go there to attend schools outnumber Nova Scotians who leave to study elsewhere. The student populations at two Nova Scotia universities, St. Francis Xavier and Acadia, are made up of 40 per cent or more out-of-province students, and more than half of the student body at Dalhousie University comes from outside Nova Scotia. “The amount of funding that the province of Nova Scotia receives from the feds is less than what we require to adequately fund the students that are here,” says Ken Burt, vice-president of finance at Halifax’s Dalhousie.

Canadian universities receive federal transfer funding on a per capita basis, which doesn’t factor in how many students from other provinces are studying there. Instead, those students are counted in their own province’s census, so federal money that should account for them actually goes to their home province. For years, academics and politicians from Nova Scotia have been calling for a per-student model of funding instead, but it’s a difficult fight.

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