“Underwear bomber” may not have been alone

By macleans.ca - Friday, July 16, 2010 at 12:12 PM - 0 Comments

The attempt by Umar Abdulmutallab to light a bomb hidden in his underwear on a flight en route to Detroit may not have been the only terror attack planned for Christmas Day 2009. Extremists also discussed an attack on restaurants and nightclubs in New York City, according to an FBI report obtained by Fox News Channel. The alleged NYC plot involved smuggling an explosive device from Nairobi, Kenya to London, England in a shipment of khat before passing it on to a “Caucasian British Muslim,” who would bring it to a Somali man for detonation in New York. An anonymous FBI official suggested that the attempted underwear bombing on the Northwest Airlines flight may have been a back-up plan for a larger terrorist attack in New York City. However, FBI spokesman Bill Carter said it would be wrong to suggest the December 4 report would have helped prevent the attempt by Abdulmutallab. Carter said the report was based on “raw intelligence, unsubstantiated, uncorroborated information.” Another expert agreed, saying that there are “hundreds” of similar reports about potential attacks in New York City each month.

New York Post

U.S. Senate to hold hearing on Lockerbie bomber’s release

By macleans.ca - Friday, July 16, 2010 at 11:38 AM - 0 Comments

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on July 29 to discuss the release of Libyan Abdelbaset al Megrahi, the man convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The bombing killed all 270 people on board the plane, including 11 on the ground in Lockerbie. Al Megrahi was convicted in 2001 and served eight years of a life sentence. Senator John Kerry said the hearing will discuss the circumstances surrounding the release of al Megrahi in August 2009, who Scottish authorities said was terminally ill when they allowed him to return to Libya to live out his final days. Al Megrahi is still alive almost a year later, and news reports have questioned how ill al Megrahi actually is, and whether oil company BP may have played a role in lobbying for the release of al Megrahi after a doctor testified he was dying of cancer. British officials and BP said that the oil company’s interests–it was seeking a huge deal to drill for oil in Libya–were a consideration in those talks, but denied that al Megrahi’s release played any role in the deal.

CNN

Baskin-Robbins to freeze out five flavours

By macleans.ca - Friday, July 16, 2010 at 11:36 AM - 0 Comments

Baskin-Robbins will send five of its 31 flavours to the deep freeze to make way for new additions on Sunday to celebrate the U.S.’s National Ice Cream Day and the company’s 65th anniversary. Caramel Praline Cheesecake, Campfire S’mores, Apple Pie à La Mode and Superfudge Truffle are leaving the list. French Vanilla, a classic that’s been available at Baskin-Robbins since 1945, is out too. Baskin-Robbins chief brand officer Srinivas Kumar said the company has consigned several iconic flavours to the deep freeze over the years, but never five at one time. Ice cream lovers in the U.S. will probably miss the flavours the most. The U.S. ice cream industry generates more than $21 billion in annual sales and is the world’s top ice cream-consuming nation, according to the Illinois-based National Ice Cream Retailer’s Association. There’s no word on what the new flavours will be, but fans can fill up on the soon-to-be-axed flavours until the end of July.

CNN

Get out the vote

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, July 16, 2010 at 11:30 AM - 0 Comments

Eric at 308 takes a shot at adjusting polls for voter turnout trends.

First, I looked at the last week of polling in the three last elections. In 2008, the average result of that last week was 34.2% for the Conservatives, 26.6% for the Liberals, 19.5% for the NDP, 9.6% for the Bloc Québécois, and 9.6% for the Greens. The actual election results were 37.7%, 26.3%, 18.2%, 10.0%, and 6.8%, respectively.

In other words, on election day the Tories had 110% of their average polling result, compared to 104% for the Bloc, 99% for the Liberals, 93% for the NDP, and 71% for the Greens.

200 Sri Lankan refugees headed for Canada: report

By macleans.ca - Friday, July 16, 2010 at 11:23 AM - 0 Comments

Canadian authorities are monitoring a ship that’s believed to be smuggling 200 Tamil migrants from volatile Sri Lanka. The Sun Sea was last seen off the Gulf of Thailand. Sri Lanka’s Sunday Observer newspaper reported that experts now believe the ship is headed for Canada, rather than Australia as originally suspected. If it lands, it will be the largest number of migrants ever smuggled into Canada at once, according to the Vancouver Sun. The Ocean Lady, which carried 76 Tamil asylum seekers, arrived in B.C. last October. They are now making their way through the refugee claim process. “This could end up being a prime example of individuals trying to take advantage of our generous immigration system,” said Celyeste Power, spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

Vancouver Sun

MarineTraffic.com (Image)

Ice cream for fewer calories

By Julia Belluz - Friday, July 16, 2010 at 11:03 AM - 0 Comments

While this summer’s heat waves may seem like a good excuse to cool off with an ice cream cone, you might want to think twice next time you’re peering through the glass at an ice cream parlour. These frozen confections can hold more than 1,000 calories—about half a day’s worth. We’ve highlighted some of the worst offenders at Canada’s most popular ice cream chains, and suggested lighter alternatives. Linda Gillis, a registered dietician at McMaster Children’s Hospital, warns that consumers shouldn’t be fooled by ice creams that are reduced in calories, fat and sugar. “They are still quite unhealthy,” she says. The real key to beating the heat without packing on the pounds is to have ice cream in moderation. “It’s important to remember that treats can be part of a healthy diet, it’s just how often you go for them.” Still, it couldn’t hurt to ditch your old standby and try something just a little less sweet.

Baskin Robbins
Instead of: Jamoca Almond Fudge Ice Cream—a 4 oz. scoop contains 270 calories, 15g fat, 28g sugar; or the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Sundae—one serving contains 1220 calories, 80g fat, 92g sugar
Try: Baskin Robbins line of reduced-fat, no-sugar added ice creams, such as the Premium Churned Mocha Blackberry Chip—a 4 oz. scoop has 190 calories, 9g fat, and 6g sugar

Ben & Jerry’s
Instead of: Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream—one scoop contains 220 calories, 11g fat, and 22g sugar
Try: Chocolate Fudge Brownie Low Fat Frozen Yogurt—one scoop contains 160 calories, 2.5g fat, 22g sugar

Cold Stone Creamery
Instead of: Oreo Crème Ice Cream—medium contains 710 calories, 49g fat, and 61g sugar
Try: Sinless Cake Batter Ice Cream—medium contains 300 calories, 1.5g fat, 23g sugar

Dairy Queen
Instead of: Georgia Mud Fudge Blizzard—medium contains 1000 calories, 55g fat, 85g sugar
Try: DQ Chocolate Cone—medium contains 340 calories, 10g fat, 34g sugar
Even better: Treats on a stick tend to be lighter, such as the Vanilla Orange Bar, which has 60 calories, 0g fat, 4g sugar

Marble Slab Creamery
Instead of: White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Tasty Creation—medium contains 729 calories, 42g fat, and 51g sugar
Try: Strawberry-Reduced Fat Ice Cream—medium contains 383 calories, 18g fat, 45g sugar

A very funny mass monkey escape

By macleans.ca - Friday, July 16, 2010 at 11:02 AM - 0 Comments

JOE KLAMAR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

ZOO STORY: LIFE IN THE GARDEN OF CAPTIVES
Thomas French
The cynosure of humanity’s current angst about the natural world is the modern zoo. Are they sanctuaries or prisons? French superbly captures the paradoxes of our thinking about them, by centring on the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Fla. He offers an intriguing cast of characters, especially Lowry’s two alpha males—Herman the chimp and Lex Salisbury the zoo director—and mesmerizing storylines that range from the tragedies of the alphas to a very funny mass monkey escape. Then there are French’s constant sly reminders that we are not all that different from the creatures we keep jugged up for our entertainment and, increasingly, for their survival. Consider his critique of the arriving public, seen as just another zoo exhibit: couples brushing dirt and lint off each other are engaging in “classic precoital grooming behaviour.”

Continue…

Behind the scenes with Justin Bieber (PHOTOS)

By macleans.ca - Friday, July 16, 2010 at 11:00 AM - 0 Comments

Dana Romanoff / Getty Images

Next

When a Conservative loses the Post, what's left?

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, July 16, 2010 at 10:37 AM - 0 Comments

Not even the National Post editorial board can find the courage to defend Tony Clement.

This is profoundly undignified governance. If, as it seems, the government cannot defend changing the census on any logical, resonant or particularly urgent grounds, it should abandon the undertaking until it’s prepared to do so.

Hey look: Your seal meat will be served, Excellency

By Paul Wells - Friday, July 16, 2010 at 9:27 AM - 0 Comments

My column from this week’s print edition, in which I try again to explain the significance of David Johnston’s selection. It’s the bloody lead time between writing a column and seeing it in print, or online: if I’d known Michael Ignatieff’s bus would break down, I’d have tossed Rideau Hall and other trivia aside and concentrated on the essentials.

Sometimes a gaffe is more than a gaffe

By Andrew Potter - Friday, July 16, 2010 at 9:20 AM - 0 Comments

Blair Gable/Reuters

Since he became Prime Minister 4½ years ago, Stephen Harper has tormented the press gallery with an almost complete lockdown on government communications, with even cabinet ministers informed that the public is not entitled to their opinions. The assumption has always been that he is just a weapons-grade control freak, but a pair of recent exchanges suggest an alternative theory: that Harper knows something about the ideological leaning of his cabinet that he’d prefer to keep quiet.

Last week, Minister of Industry Tony Clement was given the task of defending the government’s decision to eliminate the mandatory long-form version of the census and move those questions to an optional survey. According to Clement, the long census—which asks questions about respondents’ ethnicity, education and income—is “heavy-handed” and intrusive. Clement mounted his libertarian high horse: “You try to limit the amount of state coercion that you have, you try to limit the intrusiveness of government activities, and that’s the balance that we’ve struck,” he said.

Continue…

Harper likes a man who knows his place

By Paul Wells - Friday, July 16, 2010 at 9:00 AM - 0 Comments

Chris Wattie/Reuters

Last autumn Stephen Harper decided he had a rare luxury, a few free months to plan ahead without worrying the opposition would try to defeat his government. He visited China and India and then, throwing caution to the wind, invited hundreds of journalists to 24 Sussex Drive for a pre-Christmas cocktail.

During the obligatory small-talk portion of the evening, Harper confessed amazement over his visit to the Great Wall of China. Not because the wall is big or beautiful, but because its construction extended over centuries, so that almost everyone who worked on it was committing to a project that could not be completed while he lived.

Continue…

Newsmakers

By macleans.ca - Friday, July 16, 2010 at 8:00 AM - 0 Comments

Unforgettable goal, unforgettable friend
When Andrés Iniesta clinched the World Cup after smashing home the game winner deep into overtime, he honoured his friend Dani Jarque. Spain’s humble playmaker tore off his jersey, revealing an undershirt with the words “Dani Jarque: always with us” written in blue marker. Jarque, a teammate on Spain’s lineup since the pair cracked the under-15 squad, died a year ago, aged 26, a month after being made captain of Espanyol.

Continue…

Science and religion

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 4:41 PM - 0 Comments

The Canadian Medical Association Journal condemns the government’s census decision. The Canadian Jewish Congress and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada add their complaints. And Stephen Gordon has another go at Tony Clement.

The problem of a biased sampling methodology cannot be fixed by sending out more voluntary questionnaires: all you get is a bigger, biased sample. What’s particularly annoying is that Minister Clement is well aware of this point, because I explained it to him personally.

This decision was made without consulting anyone who understands statistics. After two weeks of criticism by everyone who does, the government’s strategy is not to explain why the material we teach in statistics courses is wrong. Instead, it chooses to pretend that the material we teach in statistics courses doesn’t exist.

Mr. Clement now says he went to Statistics Canada with his concerns and the voluntary survey is one of the options StatsCan offered him. I’ve sent a note to the agency asking if anyone there might be available, in light of this, to explain the decision and address some of the concerns raised.

Finally! BP says its new cap is working

By macleans.ca - Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 4:29 PM - 0 Comments

Three months and nearly 200 million gallons of oil later, BP announced Thursday afternoon it has finally stopped the gushing from its deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico. BP vice president Kent Wells nonetheless says the cap that’s in place is only a test to see whether the well remains strong enough to withstand the pressure from the leak. However the new cap is believed to be the first realistic opportunity to cap the leak and at least limit the damage to the Gulf.

Miami Herald

Music: R.I.P. Charles Mackerras

By Jaime Weinman - Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 4:17 PM - 0 Comments

Sad to learn of the death, at age 84, of Sir Charles Mackerras, the Australian conductor who was recognized, by the end of his life, as one of the best conductors in the world. In England, where Mackerras usually worked, there were a lot of solid journeyman conductors who never quite became big names; London is a busy town, musically, but as in America, the chief conductorial posts usually went to foreign celebrities. Like Edward Downes, John Pritchard, Reginald Goodall, and other local conductors, Mackerras had a good reputation in England and in some other spots (his native Australia; parts of Germany; Prague) without ever breaking into the big time, though he was always a more interesting conductor than most of his peers.

[vodpod id=Video.4031419&w=640&h=385&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

His international reputation was made in 1976 through one of those fortuitous things that used to happen in the record industry: the British company Decca had a contract with the Vienna Philharmonic for a certain number of sessions per year, but had run out of repertoire and conductors to fill up those sessions. Trying to figure out what to do with those unused sessions, Decca producer James Mallinson decided it might be time to do the first international recordings of the Czech composer Leos Janáček, whose operas — with their combination of modernism, folksiness, and vocal lines that mimicked the rhythm of spoken Czech — were starting to become known outside his home country. (Vienna is not far from Prague, so it was easier to import Czech singers there.) Mackerras, who had studied in Prague, had edited new editions of Janáček’s original scores, and had led notable performances of the operas in England, was the obvious choice to conduct the recordings; the first one was successful and he wound up recording five complete Janáček operas in Vienna. This led to a higher profile, as well as more recording work.

Mackerras may in fact be one of the most-recorded conductors of all time. He recorded all of Mozart’s symphonies, seven Mozart operas, two complete Beethoven symphony cycles, the aforementioned Janáček, lots of baroque music, three or four recordings of Schubert’s ninth symphony, all the Brahms symphonies, plenty of operas on DVD (including a Don Giovanni on Blu-Ray from Covent Garden, starring Simon Keenlyside) and much, much more.

Apart from Janáček, Mackerras was particularly associated with Mozart; he was a pioneer in arguing that Mozart’s operas should be performed with unwritten notes and ornamentation (added cadenzas, etc), the way Mozart expected. Basically he argued that performers and conductors should put back all the unwritten stuff that was banned by purist conductors who thought — wrongly — that they were being “authentic” by only playing what was written in the score. Mackerras recorded the Mozart operas that way — four of the recordings were recently made available in a cheap box by Telarc, his main recording company for many years — and many performers and conductors now follow his lead when singing Mozart.

Beethoven was another composer he was good at, though he was only one of several conductors pushing for more authentic interpretations (closer, in this case, to Beethoven’s metronome markings). His second recording of the complete symphonies, made live at the Edinburgh Festival for his 80th birthday, is available cheap from Hyperion records and is pretty wonderful: fast speeds, brutal and scary drums, and an appreciation of Beethoven’s underrated sense of humour.

The opera company he was most associated with was the Sadler’s Wells, later English National Opera, performing operas in English translation. Here is a clip of him conducting an English-language production of Donizetti’s Mary Stewart, which recently showed up (in Italian) here in Toronto:

And here he is in a recording session, though inevitably we see little of him and more of the singer, Renee Fleming.

Where Michael Ignatieff is going, literally

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 3:19 PM - 0 Comments

The indispensable Alice Funke looks at the theoretical electoral calculus of the Liberal leader’s bus tour.

BP lobbied British authorities for prisoner transfer agreement with Libya

By macleans.ca - Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 2:44 PM - 0 Comments

Mere hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton vowed to investigate allegations BP was involved in the release of the Lockerbie bomber, the oil company admitted it lobbied the British government to reach a prisoner transfer deal with Libya, fearing delays in negotiations could damage its “commercial interests” and disrupt its $1.4 billion offshore drilling operations in the region. However, the oil company has denied it was involved in the release of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, who was freed by Scottish authorities last year. “It is matter of public record that in late 2007 BP told the UK Government that we were concerned about the slow progress that was being made in concluding a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya,” the company said in a statement. “We were aware that this could have a negative impact on UK commercial interests, including the ratification by the Libyan Government of BP’s exploration agreement.” A spokesman added: “The decision to release Mr al-Megrahi in August 2009 was taken by the Scottish Government.”

The Telegraph

Péladeau was for taxpayer subsidies before he was against them (II)

By Philippe Gohier - Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 2:02 PM - 0 Comments

From a Canadian Heritage press release issued yesterday:

“The grant from Canadian Heritage is critical to the viability of small newspapers like ours,” said Dave Sykes, Group Publisher, Sun Media. “It ensures that people in rural areas have access to local news.”

The Government of Canada has provided funding of:

• $57,291 to The Goderich Signal-Star
• $40,701 to The Exeter Times Advocate
• $40,673 to The Shoreline Beacon
• $32,246 to The Kincardine News
• $30,603 to The Kincardine Independent
• $28,518 to The Clinton News Record
• $23,329 to The Citizen
• $23,190 to The Huron Expositor
• $22,525 to The Walkerton Herald-Times
• $21,381 to The Wingham Advance Times
• $21,325 to The Lucknow Sentinel

Idea alert

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 1:50 PM - 0 Comments

Michael Ignatieff throws out a suggestion.

On the second day of his summer-long cross-country tour, Ignatieff told people at a town hall meeting in Kingston that international experience is not something that should be frowned upon. It’s a direct rebuttal to the Conservative party’s efforts to paint Ignatieff — who spent more than two decades living and working in Britain and the United States — as someone who’s just visiting Canada.

“I don’t want Canadians to think the only good Canadian is someone who’s never left these shores,” Ignatieff said. He envisions a program in which the federal government would provide subsidized placements with Canadian institutions or partners overseas to “internationalize” an entire generation of young people.

The prime minister's is 'the only job I'm after'

By macleans.ca - Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 12:59 PM - 0 Comments

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has forcefully denied a Toronto Star report claiming he is considering leaving politics to return to the academic world. “Do I look like someone who is campaigning for any other job than to be prime minister of the country?” Ignatieff said on the third day of his summer-long bus tour of Canada. “I’m having fun. I’m enjoying myself. This is the only job I’m after. This is the only job I’m seeking.” Citing unnamed sources “in both political and academic circles [who] say overtures were informal,” the report alleged Ignatieff could leave the Liberals to replace Janice Gross Stein as head of the University of Toronto’s prestigious Munk School of Global Affairs. But Ignatieff says there’s no truth whatsoever to the speculation: “[Star columnist] Jim Travers is a good journalist, but he’s starting to write fiction here … I really don’t know where he got it from.”

Toronto Star

Tony Clement needs you (II)

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 12:54 PM - 0 Comments

No offers yet of a professional defence for Tony Clement’s position on the census, but operators are still standing by.

In the meantime, a few more for the list of those unhappy with the decision: the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, the Quebec Community Groups Network, the president of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Council on Social Development, the United Way in Toronto, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the editorial board of the Ottawa Citizen.

Iranian nuclear scientist returns home

By macleans.ca - Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 12:51 PM - 0 Comments

An Iranian nuclear scientist who claims he was kidnapped by U.S. agents a year ago received a hero’s welcome when he returned to Tehran early Thursday morning. The scientist, Shahram Amiri, added details to his claims that he had been abducted by the CIA and Saudi intelligence officers on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in June 2009. At a news conference held immediately upon his arrival, Amiri said he had no connection to Iran’s nuclear program and claimed he was the victim of an American conspiracy to commit “psychological warfare” against Iran. Amiri told reporters he had been offered $10 million to say on CNN that he had arrived in the United States to seek asylum. He said that just before his departure for Iran, he was offered $50 million and the chance for a new life in a European country of his choosing if he decided to stay. The U.S. has dismissed Amiri’s claims, saying he defected to the U.S. on his own free will and was free to leave the country at any time.

New York Times

Household net worth highest in mid-sized cities

By macleans.ca - Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 12:39 PM - 0 Comments

Mid-sized Canadian cities like Quebec City, Winnipeg, Halifax and Saskatoon saw household net worth jump by nearly 10 per cent in 2009, according to WealthScapes 2010, a national survey of household financial statistics. Canada’s commercial hubs, like Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, posted net worth growth that hovered around or below the national average of 6.7 per cent. Calgary’s average household income, at $119,681, was $23,000 higher than any other city, but the figures can be misleading: The average household in Calgary had $184,850 dollars of debt. That’s nearly $25,000 more than Vancouver, and more than double Montreal. Cities where household net worth grew the most maintained the lowest levels of household savings. The level in Saskatoon grew 9.6 per cent in 2009, while each household has managed to save about $35,696 total. Torontonians have saved the most over all, with an average of $118,388 per household.

Globe and Mail