Facebook cited in one in five U.S. divorces

By macleans.ca - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 6:22 PM - 1 Comment

Facebook is cited in one in five divorces in the United States, according to a survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. The report also stated that more than 80 percent of divorce lawyers reported a rising number of people are using social media to engage in extramarital affairs.

Newswise

The Commons: 'A five-year-old accounting dispute'

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 6:04 PM - 141 Comments

The Scene. Imagine, if you will, that it was 2003 and several Liberal party officials, two of them sitting senators, were accused of violating the election laws of this country. Imagine that a department of government created by the prime minister had decided to pursue charges in this regard. And imagine that, in responses to questions about this matter in the House of Commons, the prime minister sent up his parliamentary secretary with something like the following.

“Mr. Speaker, this is, of course, a five-year-old accounting dispute.”

Imagine how incensed Stephen Harper, seated across the way in the opposition leader’s chair, would have been to hear such a response, how angrily he would have condemned this as galling and outrageous and unacceptable. Indeed, imagine how he might have waxed philosophic about democracy and the moral authority to govern.

Good thing then that Mr. Harper was absent this day, away from the House of Commons as his parliamentary secretary, Pierre Poilievre, stood to say this much on the Conservative party’s behalf. Continue…

How Canada can get through the cacophony in Washington

By Luiza Ch. Savage - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 5:29 PM - 3 Comments

I spoke with Canadian Chamber of Commerce president Perrin Beatty who is in Orlando attending meetings of the US Chamber of Commerce. He had this piece of advice for the Canadian government as it seeks to influence American policy on border, energy and other issues:

“The challenge always is how do you get Canadian issues onto the agenda unless there is a crisis? On something chronic like the Canada-US border, it’s important to spend time educating people – and explain how states far from the border are being affected by through cost increases or job losses due to stickiness at the border. Canada is the biggest customer for 34 of the states.

And are we putting the resources needed to raise awareness of Canadian issues in the right place? We tend to over-emphasize Washington. In Washington, there is such a cacophony of voices competing to be heard. We would do better to focus outside of Washington—to get into the discussion through a back door by focusing on a particular community and talking about jobs. There is more receptiveness there. Often the best way into Washington is through the districts.”

The full conversation is here.

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You can follow me on Twitter at luizachsavage

Charlie Sheen says stuff again

By Jaime Weinman - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 5:26 PM - 27 Comments

As it often does, TMZ stole the thunder of the broadcast networks by trumping their shorter Sheen interviews with this unedited live (well, not any more) interview.

[vodpod id=Video.5666918&w=640&h=350&fv=vid%3D13007706%26amp%3Bautoplay%3Dfalse]

What is there left to say, really, at this point, at least until we have a better idea of what’s going to happen to his show (rumours about CBS courting John Stamos, while plausible, don’t appear to be true at this point)? The guy spontaneously comes up with funnier dialogue than almost any comedy on TV (certainly including his own); it’s like he’s a Beat poet, and in fact the interview works even better if you play an audio clip of bongo drums at the same time.

The hilarity is lessened by the fear that he’s self-destructing before our eyes, though if he is, it’s not very high on the list of tragic things in the world. One thing Sheen always conveys is that he hasn’t been “destroyed” or “led astray” by anybody; he enjoys being this way, and emphasizes that he’s having fun and the rest of us puny mortals are jealous of him. If he completely melts down (more so, I mean) that will have been completely his own decision. So I think that’s one reason this particular meltdown has been so entertaining. There’s usually a guilt factor involved, the knowledge that we’re sort of standing by while someone is endangering himself. There’s certainly a guilt factor here as well, but there’s also the feeling that he knows exactly what he’s doing and wouldn’t listen (hasn’t listened) to anyone, whether or not there was a media circus going on.

Meanwhile, in a country with 13 times Libya's population

By Paul Wells - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 4:58 PM - 15 Comments

Niall Ferguson, who has taken only three weeks to establish himself as Newsweek‘s star crackpot, says it’s all going into the crapper in North Africa:

“(W)e have absolutely no idea who is going to fill today’s vacuums of power. Only the hopelessly naive imagine that thirtysomething Google executives will emerge as the new leaders of the Arab world, aided by their social network of Facebook friends. The far more likely outcome—as in past revolutions—is that power will pass to the best organized, most radical, and most ruthless elements in the revolution, which in this case means Islamists like the Muslim Brotherhood.”

A fascinating New York Times story sees two possible futures, one optimistic, the other a lot less so. On the face of it, the revolutions in, especially, Egypt seem to be a significant setback for Al Qaeda:

“Knocking off Mubarak has been Zawahri’s goal for more than 20 years, and he was unable to achieve it,” said Brian Fishman, a terrorism expert at the New America Foundation. “Now a nonviolent, nonreligious, pro-democracy movement got rid of him in a matter of weeks. It’s a major problem for Al Qaeda.”

But the same story also points out that the peaceful ouster of Hosni Mubarak is only a bad-news story for the Islamists if Egypt doesn’t sink into chaos. And the Islamists expect it to sink into chaos.

Abu Khaled, a Jordanian jihadist who fought in Iraq with the insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, suggested that Al Qaeda would benefit in the long run from dashed hopes.

“At the end of the day, how much change will there really be in Egypt and other countries?” he asked. “There will be many disappointed demonstrators, and that’s when they will realize what the only alternative is. We are certain that this will all play into our hands.”

A crossroads leads in two directions. As I tried to argue in my latest column, I believe North Africa, and especially Egypt, are at a crossroads. It could go very well or very badly; we have a vital security interest in its going well; and we are not without constructive options.

Should the world intervene in Libya's war?

By Michael Petrou - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 2:41 PM - 47 Comments

There is a war on between the regime of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and the Libyan people. In calling on Gadhafi to leave, many foreign governments — including Canada’s — have picked sides. The inevitable question that follows is: what are they prepared to do about it?

The answer, so far, has been sanctions, an asset freeze, travel bans, and a request that the International Criminal Court investigate members of the regime for possible crimes against humanity. Canada has also banned financial transactions with the Libyan government and its institutions, including the Libyan central bank. France and the United States are sending humanitarian aid directly to opposition-held areas of the country.

This is all well and good. While none of these measures are likely to persuade Gadhafi to give up, they intensify pressure to defect on those close to him, and assert that we are not neutral in a conflict with a profound moral dimension.

But what if they are not enough? What if Gadhafi and his thuggish friends and relations manage to hold on to Tripoli and fight back, driving the death toll ever higher? Ghadhafi has already shown a willingness to do whatever is necessary, including mass murder, to stay in power. If this continues, we in the outside world who have endorsed his ouster will face much more difficult questions. There’s no point ducking them now. Continue…

Better democracy through technology

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 1:49 PM - 36 Comments

Michael Ignatieff lays out a democratic reform agenda that includes a smaller PMO, Access to Information reform, a study of online voting and a “people’s question period.”

The plan, he said in an interview Sunday at his Stornoway residence, would see the prime minister and his cabinet take questions on-line from the Canadian people every week of the year. “We’d make sure we’d set up a system that everybody understands is not being filtered by the Prime Minister’s Office. … We would have to answer to ordinary Canadians on every question that they would bring up…

“You’ve got to listen to what people are saying and you’ve got to reply in real time. No pre-scripted questions, no planted questions. I think it would be sending an important signal to Canadians that we’re accountable.”

“The whole government is a Ponzi scheme”: Madoff

By macleans.ca - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 12:47 PM - 10 Comments

“Bernard L. Madoff is in therapy,” starts a feature in the latest issue of New York magazine. What follows are the revelations writer Steve Fishman captured from Bernie Madoff himself, in a series of phone calls he shared with the 72-year-old inmate. Strapped with a 150-year prison sentence for committing a $65 billion Ponzi scheme—the biggest act of financial fraud in history—Madoff recounts the rationalizations that led to his demise. One of his most startling comments seemed to imply it was his clients’ fault for trusting him. “Look, these banks and these funds had to know there were problems,” he said. “I wouldn’t give them any facts, like how much volume I was doing. I was not willing to have them come up and do the due diligence that they wanted. I absolutely refused to do it. I said, ‘You don’t like it, take your money out,’ which of course they never did.” And besides, he also says, his clients were rich: “Look, none of my clients, even if they lost every penny they put in there, can plead poverty,” he said. “Look, it doesn’t mean I’m excusing what I did, doesn’t mean I don’t feel sorry for them. I’m embarrassed … It was the people that came in very late in the game that got hurt.”

New York magazine

The Atlantic

B.C.'s new premier

By macleans.ca - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 12:34 PM - 2 Comments

B.C.’s former deputy premier has succeeded her one-time boss as the province’s premier. Christy Clark defeated former cabinet ministers Kevin Falcon, George Abbott and Mike de Jong in a third round of preferential ballot to become the provincial leader of the governing Liberal party. Elected on a ‘families first’ campaign platform, Clark vowed to make job creation and fighting poverty top priorities. Clark succeeds a beleaguered Campbell who announced his resignation following widespread public disapproval of his unveiling of the HST in the province.

CBC News

Stephen Harper loves Canada more than you

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 12:04 PM - 185 Comments

In a new advert, the Prime Minister asks you to think about how cool those F-35s will look during ceremonial fly-overs.

See previously: Stephen Harper and Canada, a love story, parts one, two, three and four.

Rebels close in on Tripoli

By macleans.ca - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 11:54 AM - 2 Comments

Anti-government protestors in Libya are preparing for a final battle for control of Tripoli, as world leaders, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, called for Moammar Gadhafi to step down at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Rebels have reportedly gained control of three areas in eastern Libya, including the town of Az-Zawiyah, located 50km west of the Libyan capital. Meanwhile, government loyalists protested in Tripoli, where Gadhafi is entrenched and protected by heavily armed security forces. In Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for an immediate end to Gadhafi’s regime “with no further bloodshed.” In an interview with Serbia’s TV Pink, Gadhafi blamed foreigners and al-Qaeda for the violence that has engulfed Libya and condemned the UN for imposing sanctions and calling for an investigation into war crimes.

Al Jazeera English

'I understand but I don't care'

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 11:48 AM - 42 Comments

Mike Moffatt concludes a post on carbon taxation with a new resolution.

I am quite certain the response to this post will be a litany of political reasons why the Liberals and Conservatives cannot propose sensible policies.  I understand but I don’t care. My hope is that if enough of us keep advocating sensible public policy it may become popular enough to become politically feasible.  I want to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

Former cult leader killed in N.B. prison

By macleans.ca - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 11:09 AM - 2 Comments

One of Roch “Moïse” Thériault’s fellow inmates is the leading suspect in the former cult leader’s murder on Saturday in a New Brunswick prison. Thériault, 63, had been serving a life sentence at Dorchester prison for terrorizing the members of his fringe religious cult in the 1980s. (He killed his wife and cult member Solange Boislard by disembowelling her, and chopped off the right arm of another commune wife, Gabrielle Lavallee with a chainsaw.) The RCMP have yet to identify the 59-year-old suspect in Thériault’s death.

CBC News

Canada more 'pro-business' than US: 3M CEO

By Luiza Ch. Savage - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 11:09 AM - 6 Comments

In an interview with the Financial Times, the CEO of 3M, George Buckley, called Barack Obama anti-business and “Robin Hood-esque” and complained about American policies on taxation, regulation, skilled immigration and science. He said Canada and Mexico are more pro-business than America:

“There is a sense among companies that this is a difficult place to do business. It is about regulation, taxation, seemingly anti-business policies in Washington, attitudes towards science.”

He added: “Politicians forget that business has choice. We’re not indentured servants and we will do business where it’s good and friendly. If it’s hostile, incrementally, things will slip away. We’ve got a real choice between manufacturing in Canada and Mexico – which tend to be pro-business – or America.”

The 3M chief also criticised US immigration policy, saying the difficulty of obtaining visas was forcing companies to move research and development overseas. “About 68 per cent of our science PhD candidates are from outside the US,” he said. “Many want to stay here afterwards but we’re not allowed as many visas as we would like.”

“We are now exporting science overseas to China, India, Germany, building labs there. There’s a good strategic reason for it, but we also have no choice – if we can’t get the people here and we’re competing with the people there, we have no choice but to do it locally.”

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You can follow me on Twitter at luizachsavage

Bomb threat at 24 Sussex Drive

By macleans.ca - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 10:53 AM - 2 Comments

A Quebec man is in custody after Ottawa police responded to a bomb threat targeting the prime minister’s official residence at 24 Sussex Drive. Police received a call at 1:30 am on Monday, but found nothing after searching the residence. The call was traced to a residence in Gatineau, where a 35-year-old man refused to cooperate with police and allegedly threw a rollerblade at them before being taken into custody. The RCMP said that was “no immediate threat to the prime minister or his family.”

CTV News

U.S. doctors push tanning salons to ban minors

By macleans.ca - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 10:50 AM - 2 Comments

U.S. tanning salons should ban minors to protect them from developing skin cancer, the American Academy of Pediatrics urged in a new policy statement released Monday. The AAP, which represents 60,000 pediatricians, now joins the World Health Organization, the American Academy of Dermatology and other groups in encouraging a ban. Tanning beds have been classified as cancer-causing since 2009 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the WHO. People who start going to tanning salons before they turn 35 have a 75 per cent higher chance of developing melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer, but surveys have found that nearly one-quarter of white American teens have tried indoor tanning at least once, and many do it regularly. Eleven states have tanning restrictions for kids, but none go as high as 18 years.

Reuters

The fake bomb squad

By Michael Friscolanti - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 10:37 AM - 1 Comment

Airports have spent millions installing the latest security gadgets, from industrial X-ray machines that peek inside checked luggage to full-body scanners that leave nothing to the imagination. But as the technology becomes more sophisticated, one crucial thing remains in short supply: fake bombs.

In order to test every advancement—and properly teach airport personnel how to use it—researchers need to replicate the chemical concoctions that terrorists may be hiding in their suitcases (or underwear). “The simulants must have the same combination of materials without being explosive: same atomic number, same density, same colour, sometimes even the same smell,” says Bruce Koffler, director of Securesearch Inc., a Canadian company that supplies replicas. “You can’t use live explosives in a classroom, especially the homemade types, because they can detonate without warning.”

The problem, though, is that the popularity of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) has far outpaced the market on fakes. There are so many recipes—and new ones being devloped all the time—that it’s hard to know whether the latest X-ray will spot each variation. In response, the military’s research arm has launched an “X-Ray Simulant Project” and is looking for a contractor to deliver “rapid design and prototyping” of IED replicas. “The availability of suitable, non-hazardous, non-toxic, explosive simulants is of concern when assessing the potential utility of [explosive] detection systems,” the tender reads. “Lack of simulants limits the training opportunities, and ultimately the detection probability, of security personnel using systems in the field.”

The overcoat a former PM's wife just couldn't lose

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 10:25 AM - 4 Comments

The Senator and the ballet

New Brunswick Sen. Carolyn Stewart Olsen, who served as one of Stephen Harper’s key communications advisers, hosted the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada at the National Arts Centre. The event was the world premiere of Ghosts of Violence, which tackles the subject of women who have died at the hands of an intimate partner. Stewart Olsen has helped the ballet raise both private and public funding. It was her first experience with arts funding and she said she has found it one of her most rewarding experiences so far as a senator. The new Progressive Conservative premier of New Brunswick, David Alward, attended and confessed it was his first ballet. It was also the first ballet for Jen Heague-Morse of Ottawa, who found it a particularly moving event. When people walked into the theatre they were greeted by life-size wooden cut-outs of women who had been killed. Each had a plaque with information about the victim. One of them was Morse’s mother, Brenda Lee Chillingworth.

Medal count: Rae 2, Iggy 1

At last week’s Politics & the Pen gala, Anna Porter took home the $25,000 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for political writing for her book The Ghosts of Europe: Journeys Through Central Europe’s Troubled Past and Uncertain Future. Porter joked that when she saw Laureen Harper wasn’t in attendance she was sure Lawrence Martin must have won for Harperland: The Politics of Control. As is the tradition at the gala, many attendees sported one of two medals indicating whether they were a writer or a politician. Liberal MP Bob Rae, who has penned several books, got to wear both medals. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, who has written a huge number of books, got only the politician medal; Green Leader Elizabeth May was reduced to “writer.”

Another Joe Clark record smashed

In an effort to correct a historical oversight, the portrait of Canada’s ninth prime minister, Arthur Meighen, was officially hung. The portrait has been up in the Centre Block for decades, but Meighen never got an official dedication ceremony, an oversight discovered by historian Arthur Milnes while he was working on a revised book of Meighen speeches, Unrevised and Unrepented II. In attendance was Joe Clark, who served as PM in 1979 and 1980, but didn’t have his portrait hung until 2008. “Another one of my records broken,” Clark joked. Sen. Michael Meighen told a funny story about how his grandfather wore clothing until it fell apart. One overcoat in particular was in such shambles Meighen’s wife tossed it from a train. She was shocked when it was returned in the mail, courtesy of a railway worker who found it and identified the owner from the name stitched in the lining. Earl Porter, the mayor of Portage la Prairie, Man., Meighen’s hometown, was given a special invite to the ceremony. Porter noted that renovations on Meighen’s house, declared a heritage property about a decade ago, are almost complete.

Not impressed with William’s visit

When the PM was asked during question period about the upcoming visit of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, there was much boisterous heckling, as it was clearly an attempt to change the channel on the crisis over Bev Oda and the word “not.” When the PM noted, “I am sure Canadians will be as wildly enthusiastic in their reception of this visit as all members of the House appear to be,” Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe responded with his hands in a frenzy of disgust.

Jack needs to stretch

NDP Leader Jack Layton joins a growing list of MPs with leg and foot injuries—including Stockwell Day and Jean-Pierre Blackburn. What started as a small fracture in his foot from exercising turned into something worse. Layton’s wife, Toronto MP Olivia Chow, says he, like too many men, does not stretch when exercising.

The persecution of Justin Bieber

By Colby Cosh - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 9:57 AM - 71 Comments

Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images;

The headline on the March 3 Rolling Stone reads “Super Boy.” But apparently nobody told photographer Terry Richardson. The leather-jacketed teen glowering at the lens may be slight of frame, but he is indisputably well on the way to manhood. In a matter of weeks, his jaw has become noticeably more square. And Richardson has applied his notorious gift for persuading subjects—usually young female models—to set aside modesty and reveal what they would normally conceal. Justin Bieber turns out, after some work with a blow-dryer and a light application of hairspray, to possess a dark, surprisingly saturnine pair of eyebrows.

In short, for the first time, he has been made to look something like his actual age. Which, for the record, will be 17 on March 1.

Bieber’s late bloom—signalled by the cracking of his voice onstage at the American Music Awards in November—is, from a business standpoint, a moment of danger. His partner and mentor, R & B performer Usher, nearly saw his career derailed when his own voice broke. Now, in his determination not to let the same thing happen to his protege, Usher is micromanaging everything from Bieber’s vocal coaching to his diet. The good news is that biological maturity may help resolve some of the weird tensions that have made Bieber an unusually hated performer.

Continue…

Get me a job—or give me my money back

By Kate Lunau - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 9:54 AM - 51 Comments

Photograph by Andrew Tolson

Carlie Deneiko is from the tiny town of Watrous, Sask. (population 1,800), more than an hour’s drive southeast of Saskatoon. As a teen, she dreamed of travelling the world, but her priorities are shifting. “I’ve got a boyfriend, and I’m really settled,” says Deneiko, 20, a student in the faculty of education at the University of Regina. “It’s becoming more important to me to get a job.”

Deneiko’s not too worried: her education comes with a job guarantee. She’s one of 355 students enrolled in a new program at the University of Regina that promises students they’ll land a job—in their chosen field—within six months of graduation. If they don’t, the university gives them another year of tuition for free. The UR Guarantee has other bells and whistles (like internships and work programs), but for Deneiko, it’s that extra year of free tuition that pulled her in. “If I don’t get a job, I’m coming back to get my special education certificate,” she says.

Since it launched in September, the UR Guarantee has been incredibly popular. Enrolment in the program, which is open to all first-year students, has already jumped by 24 per cent, says president Vianne Timmons. “We looked at students’ motivation for attending university,” she says, “and realized they’re looking at a degree primarily as a launching pad for a career.”

Continue…

Warning: Jack Layton has undone the top button on his shirt

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 9:31 AM - 8 Comments

The NDP have rolled out new TV ads, apparently meant to convey that Mr. Layton is once again prepared to cast off his suit jacket.

Second advert here.

A nation faces its 'darkest day'

By Patricia Treble - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 9:23 AM - 6 Comments

Martin Hunter/GETTY IMAGES

New Zealand is reeling from a 6.3-magnitude earthquake that rocked the country’s second-largest city on Tuesday, leaving at least 65 dead. “We may well be witnessing New Zealand’s darkest day,” said Prime Minister John Key, speaking from the city of Christchurch, near the epicentre of the quake. It was the second time in roughly six months that the city was rattled by tremors, after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the area in early September, leaving two seriously injured but no fatalities.

David Wethey/NZPA/AP

The Tuesday quake, though, proved far more devastating, hitting at lunchtime when streets and offices were at their busiest. It wrecked the facade of Christchurch’s iconic cathedral, and reduced several buildings to rubble, leaving over 100 residents trapped, according to the city’s mayor, Bob Parker. Some 120 miles east of the city, the tremors also shook off 30 million tons of ice from one of New Zealand’s largest glaciers. The earthquake sent ripples through the financial markets as well, with the New Zealand dollar, known as the kiwi, plunging to its lowest level in almost two months. And economists warned that the damage and disruption caused by the quake are likely to slow down the country’s economy.

Of books and borders

By Jason Kirby - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 9:17 AM - 0 Comments

Michael Falco/The New York Times/Redux

The collapse of U.S. bookstore chain Borders was largely ignored in Canada. Things might have been much different. Almost 15 years to the day before the chain fell into bankruptcy protection—and before the current debate over Canadian protectionism—then-Liberal industry minister John Manley barred Borders from expanding into Canada. The company had signed a deal with Toronto financier Heather Reisman to open a massive store in Toronto, but Manley feared “Canadian stories, Canadian books, Canadian authors” would lose their voice. Instead, Reisman formed Indigo. The move gave her a near monopoly on readers’ wallets, and, arguably, contributed to the higher book prices Canadians have paid in the absence of any real competition. It’s worked well for Indigo. Last quarter, Indigo sales were $387 million, or 80 per cent of what Borders took in during all of last year. Protectionism pays, for some.

The biggest hurdle to reform: unions

By Andrew Coyne - Monday, February 28, 2011 at 9:10 AM - 117 Comments

Jeffrey Phelps/AP

At one of his sporadic encounters with the press the other day in Vancouver, a statesmanlike Prime Minister implored opposition members of Parliament to dispense with political games and “focus on the economy.”

Some readers may be inclined to suggest the Prime Minister should tell this to Stephen Harper. But he is hardly the first political leader to sound this theme: of the vital necessity of elected representatives maintaining a constant vigil on the economy, undistracted by elections, polls or any of the other things that politicians think about all day long, else the whole thing collapse.

It’s never entirely clear what this means. Is it that the economy is kept alive by a kind of collective wish of the political class, like Tinker Bell? (“Focus on the economy, boys and girls: focus really hard!”) Or are we to believe that the economy is waiting for them to actually do something? That would require no less of an imaginative leap: these days, the agenda facing governments at every level consists, in the main, not in fresh openings for the application of government’s miraculous healing powers, but in undoing the mistakes of past governments.

Continue…