Life and politics

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 9:37 AM - 0 Comments

Friends, family, colleagues and peers gathered in Montreal yesterday for the funeral of Mario Lague.

Ignatieff spoke briefly during the service and called Lague a team leader. The Liberal leader admitted he had a habit of taking things seriously, but that Lague would just roll his eyes and tell him that “this too shall pass.” In a final moving gesture, Ignatieff placed his hand on Lague’s coffin and said “Au revoir, Mario.”

Adam Goldenberg, Mr. Ignatieff’s speechwriter, was preparing to rejoin the Liberal tour on Thursday morning and has written about learning of Mr. Lague’s passing and the continuation of work the next day in Winnipeg. After pausing for a few days, the tour resumes this evening in Whitehorse.

A know-nothing strain of conservatism

By Andrew Coyne - Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 6:00 AM - 0 Comments

Sean Kilpatrick/CP

Every week another Ekos poll comes out, and every week the media hyperventilates over whatever tiny incremental change in federal voting intentions it reveals. But in addition to party preference, Ekos asks Canadians two more questions. One: whether, in their opinion, the country is “moving in the right direction.” And two: whether the government is moving in the right direction.

In every poll, week after week, more than 50 per cent of respondents tell Ekos they think the country is on the right track, as they have for more than a year. Yet since January, nearly as many respondents—in the high 40s, most weeks—have said they think the government is on the wrong track. That’s up from about 40 per cent last year.

Continue…

How partisan politics are hurting immigration reform

By John Parisella - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 7:03 PM - 0 Comments

(AP Photo/Paul J. Bereswill)

Last October, I had a public conversation with President George W. Bush in Montreal during which I had the privilege of asking him questions about his presidency. When I asked him what was his biggest disappointment, he answered without hesitation it was his failure to enact comprehensive immigration reform. Along with Republican Senator John McCain and the late Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy, he had tried to forge a bipartisan consensus to secure the country’s borders and develop a path to citizenship for anywhere between 12 to 20 million undocumented immigrants. Bush was in the latter stages of his presidency and the politics inside the Republican party made it impossible to reach a consensus on reform. The problem hasn’t disappeared. In fact, it has just gotten worse.

Enter Arizona. The problem along the Arizona border with active Mexican drug cartels soon transformed the debate into one about law and order and border security. The law enacted by Gov. Jan Brewer brought in stringent measures, including giving police a near-universal right right to round up illegal aliens. Just recently, a federal judge upheld most parts of the law, but blocked key provisions that could have led to widespread racial profiling. The battlelines have therefore been drawn between hard line Republicans who want to secure the border above all else and blame Obama for worsening the problem, and Democrats who see obvious political advantages in mobilizing the Latino and progressive voters pushing them to enact reforms.

Continue…

Send in the strategists and psychics

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 4:53 PM - 0 Comments

Grant Burns considers the state of the census debate.

It’s worrying to see the way the media debate is evolving.  Isn’t the census debate more important than pollsters predicting elections, “for it” or “against it” polarizing, jaundiced speculation, and humour that inspires cynicism?

No Dummies here

By Jason Kirby - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 4:24 PM - 0 Comments

PHOTOGRAPH BY JESSICA DARMANIN

It’s been nearly two decades since the first “For Dummies” self-help book hit store shelves, and judging by the volume of titles since then, we haven’t gotten any smarter. Consider just a few choice topics from the dizzying list of 200 books coming out this year alone, all based on the same rigid model of accessible writing, big icons and cartoons wrapped in a garish yellow cover. There’s everything from wedding etiquette and building chicken coops to photovoltaic design and quantum physics. While many booksellers struggle with dwindling sales, our stunted IQs continue to fuel a publishing frenzy that’s produced 1,600 titles and exceeds 200 million copies in print.

One might expect quirky instructional guides like the Dummies franchise to have withered with the Web, since there’s no shortage of Wiki-experts, bloggers and YouTube posters eager to share their thoughts for free. Instead, as Dummies nears its 20th anniversary next year, the brand is ambitiously extending into other industries like pet supplies and musical instruments through licensing agreements, while embracing media formats like smartphone apps. (As for fans of Wikis and social networking, there are Dummies books for them, too—four on the subject of Twitter alone.)

Continue…

Migrant ship was a “test boat”

By macleans.ca - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 4:15 PM - 0 Comments

Calling the ship that carried 490 Tamil migrants to Canada last Friday a “test boat,” Public Safety Minister Vic Toews suggested on Monday that “other boats may be waiting to see what the Government of Canada’s reaction is to it.” Ottawa has already said humanitarian considerations preclude turning away similar ships, but the federal government is looking at prosecuting those who profit from organizing the voyages. “The sanitation on that ship was far in excess of what it usually be outfitted with,” Toews said. “It was clearly designed to maximize the number of passengers on board and therefore maximize the amount of profit that the organization running this ship would achieve.” Hearings of refugee claims by the Tamil migrants were set to begin on Monday. A letter written by some of the asylum seekers and obtained by the National Post argues those aboard the MV Sun Sea are fleeing persecution and violence in Sri Lanka. “We have traveled for almost four months with much suffering and pain. We have come here, to this wonderful country Canada, to protect ourselves and our family members from the murders, disappearances and violence that still exist in our native country,” it read. “As a country which has embraced immigrants and migrants, we hope and believe that you will accept us, the refugees and we vow to wholeheartedly abide by the law and order of this country.”

National Post

CBC News

Vancouver Sun

"Uh-Oh Canada?"

By Luiza Ch. Savage - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 3:53 PM - 0 Comments

America’s Nobel-toting pessimist worries about the Canadian economy.

United in apathy and distraction

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 3:21 PM - 0 Comments

Scott Payne asks David Frum for his thoughts on Canadian politics, a discussion of voter turnout philosophy ensues.

Declining voter turnouts are an outcome of changes in modern social life. They are the political cognates of declining church membership, declining participation in civic clubs, and so on. From Oslo to San Diego, we’re just no “joiners” the way people used to be. Maybe it would be better if we were. But don’t go looking to the specific defects of Canadian politicians to explain a phenomenon you see in almost every advanced country.

A quick look at relatively comparable democracies—excluding Australia and Belgium where voting is compulsory—shows there’s something to this. Though turnout in Denmark and Spain has remained relatively stable, there have been declines of one kind or another in England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland.

Canada fares poorly though when those turnouts are compared. Continue…

Man in court for setting fire outside PM's house

By macleans.ca - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 1:29 PM - 0 Comments

Dozens of police cruisers rushed to the prime minister’s residence at 24 Sussex on Saturday after an Ottawa man sprayed flammable liquid outside the gates and set it aflame. There was no significant damage or any injuries, and police immediately extinguished the fire. Daniel Skahan, 29, who is known to police, is appearing in the mental health court Monday on charges of mischief under $5,000, possession of incendiary material and failure to comply with conditions of an assessment order. Police say the prime minister and his family were never in any danger.

Ottawa Citizen

And now a word from God

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 1:19 PM - 0 Comments

Lorna Dueck gets biblical.

There’s a book in the Bible called Numbers that begins with God ordering a census of people wandering in a wilderness. Why the Almighty wanted the mathematical count seems to come down to the issue of nation-building. Numbers were going to be needed for Moses and his leaders to understand all that would be required to create community and the structures that would nurture and sustain it … Author and theologian Eugene Peterson has observed, “counting and list making and rosters are as much a part of being a community of God as prayer and instruction and justice.”

For those of you following along at home, that’s Numbers, chapter 1, verses 1 through 54.

On the 20th anniversary of the Bloc

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 12:36 PM - 0 Comments

The obsessive Gilles Duceppe gets a bursary for young separatists named in his honour.

In an emotional speech, Duceppe saying he was touched to be honoured in the theatre named after his late father, a beloved actor and proponent of Quebec independence. “Quebec’s time will come,” said Duceppe, vowing to continue to crusade “with determination and passion to build a sovereign and proud Quebec.”

He denied that support for sovereignty is flagging among youth, pointing to a meeting of 300 young sovereignists at the Université du Québec à Montréal over the weekend – the largest youth rally for sovereignty since 1995.

Study finds fatty breakfast is best for you

By macleans.ca - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 12:01 PM - 0 Comments

Gobble down that guilt and bring on the bacon. That advice comes from the International Journal of Obesity, whose researchers recently discovered that the bigger and fattier your breakfast is, the healthier it is. That’s because your body’s metabolism gets a jump start on breaking down fats over the course of the day. The report focused on when people eat what meals, and advocates a big, fatty breakfast followed by a smaller lunch and then a light dinner. The bad news is that the midnight pizza slice is unlikely to receive such vindication any time soon.

Daily Mail

U.S. judge bans planting genetically modified beets

By macleans.ca - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:59 AM - 0 Comments

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White has ruled against the planting of genetically modified sugar beets. The ruling represents a new hurdle for biotech giant Monsanto Co., which engineered them. The ban, which doesn’t apply to any crops already planted or harvested, comes from an environmentalists’ lawsuit over Monsanto’s sugar beets, which were genetically engineered to resist Roundup. The weed-killer is also produced by Monsanto, and was sold to farmers as a package with the genetically modified beet seeds. These “Roundup Ready” crops have upped the use of herbicides and herbicide-resistant weeds, they say. Sugar beets make up over half the U.S. sugar supply, but conventional seeds are still widely available, so the decision shouldn’t affect sugar production.

Reuters

Chronically ill lack Web access

By macleans.ca - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:57 AM - 0 Comments

People affected by chronic conditions are less likely to have Internet access, according to new Pew data reported in the New York Times. Meanwhile, the number of “cyberchondriacs,” people who frequently research health information online, has jumped in the past year, according to a Harris poll showing the mean number of monthly searches for health information is 6.0, and 17 per cent looked 10 or more times over the last month. More than half of those who searched discussed information with their doctors, or searched because of a conversation with their doctors, showing the Internet is an important source of health information, and even reassurance.

New York Times

Republicans pledge to make Ground Zero mosque an election issue

By macleans.ca - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:55 AM - 0 Comments

Republicans are chomping at the bit over the controversial proposal to build a mosque a few blocks from the site of the 9/11 attacks, especially now that Barack Obama has indicated his support for the community center’s construction. Senator John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, says the president’s remarks defending the religious freedom of Muslims at a White House dinner on Friday show that he is “disconnected from the mainstream of America.” Meantime, Republican Senator David Vitter of Louisiana has come out claiming Obama is “thumbing his nose at the American people.” Representatives of their party are now promising to make the mosque an issue during the upcoming mid-term elections, with experts saying every democratic candidate is now going to have to answer for Obama’s remarks.

CBS News

Critique of China’s PM goes on sale in Hong Kong

By macleans.ca - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:51 AM - 0 Comments

A book criticizing Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao went on sale in Hong Kong despite threats from police warning the author not to publish it. China’s Best Actor: Wen Jiabao aims to dispel the commonly held belief that the prime minister is a sympathetic reformist standing up to the authoritarian government of president Hu Jintao, says author Yu Jie. Jie was briefly detained in Hong Kong by police who told him not to publish the book. His publisher fears Jie may still be arrested and jailed. The book was launched in Hong Kong because its semi-autonomous status allows for less censorship than the rest of China. However, Jie hopes the message will spread to the mainland. “I think modern citizens in a modern society should have the right to criticize and be suspicious of their leaders,” Mr. Jie told the BBC. “The purpose of this book is not only to criticize individuals and the communist system, but also to develop the idea of freedom of speech.”

BBC News

The second-most powerful man in North Korea

By macleans.ca - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:50 AM - 0 Comments

North Korean leader Kim Jong II is believed to have appointed career politician Jang Song Taek as his son’s mentor, effectively making Jang the second-most powerful man in North Korea. Jang is expected to oversee the younger Jong’s rule. The career politician is one of Kim Jong Il’s closest advisors. Last year Jang, 64, joined the National Defense Commission, and this year he became its vice chairman. Analysts believe the appointment is due to the long-time North Korean dictator’s rapidly failing health. Kim Jong’s son, believed to be anywhere from 25 to 28 years old, is considered unpredictable and unprepared for rule. American officials fear he is even more hawkish than his father and grandfather before him.

Washington Post

Pakistan struggling with "image deficit" in face of floods

By macleans.ca - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:45 AM - 0 Comments

Representatives from relief agencies say Pakistan’s struggle to collect $460-million in emergency aid for flood victims is the result of an “image deficit.” So far, only a fifth of the required funds have been pledged since an appeal for donations was launched on August 11. Melanie Brooks, a spokeswoman for the humanitarian group Care International, says the six million victims of monsoon floods are “the mothers, the farmers, [and] children,” and that “the money is not going to go to the hands of the Taliban.”

National Post

Canada's housing market stalled in July

By macleans.ca - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:30 AM - 0 Comments

Figures released by the Canadian Real Estate Association on Monday show Canada’s housing market slowed down last month. Sales are down 30 per cent from the same month last year, and prices have slipped 3.5 per cent from June (though prices are still one per cent above year-ago levels). Canada’s largest cities led the annual decline, with Vancouver posting a 45 per cent drop. The slowdown had been expected as prospective homeowners brought forward purchases into the first half of the year ahead of the introduction of the Harmonized Sales Tax in B.C. and Ontario in July. While a boom in the housing market here was spurred by record low interest rates last year, CREA president Georges Pahud said, “Activity may remain at lower levels for some time, but ultimately we expect a more stable market to emerge, with demand coming back into line with economic fundamentals.”

Canoe

China surpasses Japan as world’s second-largest economy

By macleans.ca - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:22 AM - 0 Comments

Government figures released Monday show China surpassed Japan in the second quarter to become the world’s second-largest economy behind the United States. Japan’s economy was valued at about $1.28 trillion in the second quarter, slightly below China’s $1.33 trillion, bolstering forecasts that China will pass the United States as the world’s biggest economy as early as 2030. Though Japan’s stagnating economy reflects a decline in political and economic power, China is in the throes of urbanization and is far from developed, meaning it has a much lower standard of living—and a lot more room to grow. There are challenges ahead for China: analysts say the country is too dependent on exports, and investment and state-run banks lend too aggressively, but the country’s rapid growth suggests that it will continue to compete fiercely with the United States and Europe for natural resources but also offer big opportunities for companies eager to tap its market.

New York Times

Lead concentrations in Canadians drop dramatically, study finds

By macleans.ca - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:20 AM - 0 Comments

Blood lead concentrations among Canadians have fallen dramatically since they were last measured 30 years ago, according to a new federal study, though 91 per cent of Canadians aged six to 79 were found to have bisphenol A in their urine. The Canadian Health Measures Survey, conducted between 2007 and 2009, also found 88 per cent had detectable concentrations of mercury in their blood. The study said lower household income, being born outside Canada, living in a dwelling at least 50 years old, current or former smoking, and drinking alcohol at least once a week were associated with higher lead levels. The survey marks the first time bisphenol A concentrations were measured nationally, and found the mean concentration of 1.16 micrograms per litre in participants’ urine consistent with results from international studies. The study found the highest concentrations of bisphenol A in children and teenagers.

CBC News

Those seeking refuge

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:17 AM - 0 Comments

Michael Ignatieff says the government should have been more proactive about the MV Sun Sea, Vic Toews seems sort of to agree, while Keith Martin laments Mr. Toews’ tough talk and proposes a solution.

Martin suggested Canada work with the UN High Commission for Refugees to set up regional processing centres for refugees in Sri Lanka and other Southeast Asian countries.

Canadian immigration officials in those countries could better distinguish a legitimate refugee from a suspected terrorist, Martin said. It would also give refugees a cheap and safe way to come to Canada and strip the profit motive from human smuggling.

Petraeus says Afghan withdrawal date flexible

By macleans.ca - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:14 AM - 0 Comments

In his first interview since taking over from Gen. Stanely McChristal, Gen. David Petraeus said the 2011 withdrawal date in Afghanistan is flexible. “In fact the president has been very clear, Vice President [Joe] Biden has been very clear as well more recently that this is a date when a process begins, that is conditions-based,” Petraeus said. “And as the conditions permit, we transition tasks to our Afghan counterparts and the security forces and in various governmental institutions, and that enables a quote ‘responsible’ draw-down of our forces.” Americans’ faith in the likelihood of success in Afghanistan is fading: last week an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll found 7 of 10 Americans weren’t expecting a good outcome. Petraeus, meanwhile, has emphasized it’s too early to predict what the situation will be like in a year and that the withdrawal should be understood as a “process, not an event, and that it’s conditioned-based.”

Politico

Why are ever-younger adults contracting shingles?

By Julia Belluz - Monday, August 16, 2010 at 11:04 AM - 0 Comments

Justin Leighton/Alamy/Getstock

“Natalie” was about to start teacher’s college in Toronto when her left eyelid began burning and stinging. “I thought the pain was from a new eye-makeup remover I was using,” she remembers. When the irritation did not subside, she went to see her doctor. The diagnosis: shingles.

Also known as herpes zoster, shingles happen when the virus that causes chicken pox, varicella zoster, is reactivated. Long after the itchy, red bumps associated with chicken pox disappear, the virus that caused them remains dormant in the body, hiding in the nerve cells along the spinal cord. The virus can then resurface later in life as shingles—sometimes in otherwise healthy people, more often in those with weakened immune systems, such as the elderly. But shingles appears poised to become an equal-opportunity disease, infecting ever-younger adults. The reason, experts say, is that vaccines have, paradoxically, rendered an unlucky cohort more vulnerable.

Continue…