Thursday September 04, 2008
Harper vows to launch tainted-meat inquiry
Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised yesterday to launch an independent probe into the cross-country listeriosis outbreak that has killed at least 13 people, saying as a father of young children he remains concerned about how it could have happened.
Victim's father offers glimmer of hope to Canadians facing Saudi execution
The father of a Syrian teen beaten to death in a schoolyard brawl here says he might forgive the Canadian brothers accused in his son's murder - a mercy that could save them from an executioner's sword.
Deadly strike signals surge in Taliban confidence
A frontal Taliban assault killed three soldiers and injured five, the worst losses for Canadian troops under direct fire in two years as insurgents grow bolder in their attacks on international forces.
Republican Barracuda bites back
Sarah Barracuda can take it, and as it turns out, she can give it back, too.Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (the above was her nickname on her high school basketball team) has endured five remorseless days of media reports exposing her family secrets and seeking to undermine her reputation as a crusading reformer in Alaska.
Republican Barracuda bites back
Sarah Barracuda can take it, and as it turns out, she can give it back, too.Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (the above was her nickname on her high school basketball team) has endured five remorseless days of media reports exposing her family secrets and seeking to undermine her reputation as a crusading reformer in Alaska.
Report on Business 
Zoom's grounding leaves 1,200 stuck in Caribbean
At least 1,200 Canadians have been stranded in the Caribbean after the shutdown of Zoom Airlines ruined the best-laid plans of a Toronto-based tour operator.Since Ottawa-based Zoom's grounding last Thursday, G.G. Tours has been scrambling to get its customers back to Canada, lining up charter planes to replace Zoom's service.
Central bank warns U.S. turmoil a risk
The Bank of Canada held its key interest rate steady, saying rates are already low enough to stimulate a stagnant economy that remains vulnerable to economic and financial turmoil in the United States.
Here comes the sun (again)
At the University of Toronto, nanotechnology pioneer Ted Sargent is developing a spray-on solar cell that transforms almost any surface into an energy collector. In California, a company called Innovalight is developing ink that could be used to print out solar panels. And in Ottawa, Menova Energy uses plain old parabolic mirrors to collect and concentrate sunlight. Around the world, it's a pretty exciting time for advocates of solar power. It truly seems that an infinite supply of clean and affordable energy is almost within our grasp.
An iron road across the permafrost
It will be the world's most northerly railway, a private line snaking across the permafrost and rock of Baffin Island at a projected cost of $10-million per kilometre.
Subprime fallout not over: HSBC
There is more pain to come as the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis continues to wend its way through the world's economy, says the chairman of HSBC Holdings PLC.
Globe Sports
World's three fastest men set for showdown
The three-way showdown that was denied Olympic audiences finally will happen tomorrow in Brussels when world record holder Usain Bolt of Jamaica, his countryman Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay of the United States clash in the climax of track and field's Golden League season.
Rookie shows veteran poise
Toronto Blue Jays rookie Travis Snider is more passionate about baseball than football, but the all-round athlete certainly brings a gridiron mentality to the diamond.The 20-year-old, a former high-school football star, exhibited as much in his debut performance at the Rogers Centre last night. He had three hits, including two late-game smashes, in only his third major-league game to help steer the Jays to a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins in 11 innings.
First-half frustration boils over at practice
When it happens at training camp between two anonymous hopefuls, you call it hungry players fighting for jobs.When it happens during the season between a mouthy receiver and a lippy defensive back, you call it two teammates who are sick of facing each other.
REPLAY BACKS A-ROD
Baseball's first use of instant replay backed an on-field call of a home run for Alex Rodriguez during the ninth inning of the New York Yankees' game against the Tampa Bay Rays last night. Third-base umpire Brian Runge signalled a home run after A-Rod's towering, two-run shot against Troy Percival caromed off the catwalk behind the foul pole in left field. Rays catcher Dioner Navarro protested against the call, bringing manager Joe Maddon out of the dugout. It took 2 minutes 15 seconds to uphold the homer.
ON TELEVISION
(All times Eastern)BASEBALL MLB, Minnesota Twins at Toronto Blue Jays, Sportsnet, 7 p.m.FOOTBALL NFL, Washington Redskins at New York Giants, NBC, 7 p.m. NCAA, USC Trojans at Virginia Cavaliers, Score, 8:30 p.m.
Globe Life
YOUR MORNING SMILE
Are celebrity B-listers also known as astronots?- Sylvia Betts, Vancouver
$100-a-plate Slow Food: What's fair about that?
Here's a message that might make foodies splurt their biodynamic cabernet sauvignon all over their microgreen salads with goat cheese croutons.If Slow Food is to accomplish its ambitious goal - to persuade Americans to forsake the drive-through in favour of local, organic food - it needs to focus less on people who nosh fine prosciutto and more on folks for whom a trip to McDonald's is a splurge.
An international ménage à trois
This is the eighth of a series featuring Canadian writers' true tales of love.
Give Granny (and her caregivers) the flu shot
For decades, public health officials have touted the benefits of vaccinating people older than 65 against influenza. But new research has cast doubt on the wisdom of these policies.While influenza may seem relatively benign, it is nevertheless a big killer. About 4,000 to 8,000 Canadians die each year of the flu, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. (Technically, they die of complications such as pneumonia, but influenza is the trigger.) The majority of these fatalities occur among seniors.
Listeria outbreak heightens food scrutiny
First, it was deli meats, then mushrooms.The list of foods Canadians are being warned about grew longer yesterday after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced a recall of fresh cut mushrooms that may be contaminated with listeria bacteria.
Globe Review
Bright lights, big expectations
Cameron Bailey isn't particularly partial to astrology, but the newly minted co-director of the Toronto International Film Festival would be forgiven if he were. His stars have certainly been in alignment.
Heavy turbulence
Let me tell you about this song. It starts softly, the sweet sound of violin and viola, then it swirls and swells. The words are all true, an unflinching rendering of emotional pain.
Palin phenomenon is reality-TV run amok
As I write this, the whole world is waiting for Sarah Palin, the self-styled hockey mom from Alaska, to make a defining speech at the Republican National Convention and ''fire back'' at the media that have caused a frenzy of speculation about Palin's life, politics and family.
Extra! Extra! The arts don't matter!
Nothing like the back-to-school blues: September begins with news from everywhere that the arts are simply not important in this country. CBC Television has decided it's easier to show American game shows than make our own entertainment. Light and cheery pop music blares from the national, publicly funded radio network, where orchestras and chamber groups used to be. And, oh, by the way, the government - faced with several reports in this newspaper - publicly acknowledges plans to cut millions of dollars from programs that promote our artists, writers and intellectuals overseas, that promote Canada itself as an intellectual powerhouse and as a tourist destination, and this just before an election. It's official: Canada does not care about the arts.
Burning questions for the schmooze circuit
Until the Toronto International Film Festival parties get started tonight, this intrepid scenester is in a limbo period, all dressed up and waiting to go. The master spreadsheet has been composed, all access has been secured, each outfit has been roughly planned and friends have come out of the woodwork to offer themselves as my entourage. I can all but taste the Park Hyatt's tray of seasoned almonds, dried fruit and olives - my favourite source of sustenance throughout a week of celeb watching that will take me from Passchendaele at the Drake tonight to the passion of Paris Hilton at Ultra next Saturday.
Editorials
Lethal weapons
Tasers can kill. This hypothesis - at once radical and glaringly obvious - has been uttered by Quebec coroner Catherine Rudel-Tessier, after examining a disturbing taser death in Montreal. It should be posted at every police station in Canada.
Let Elizabeth May be heard
The Green Party's Elizabeth May deserves a place in the televised leaders' debates. Now that her party has a representative in the House of Commons to go with its small share of the popular vote, she can make a legitimate argument that her presence serves the public interest.
Open court
The myth of the easily tainted jury has not quite been laid to rest, but a Toronto judge pushed it one step closer this week. The Crown and several defence lawyers had been asking for a publication ban on the trial of a 15-year-old, J.S.R., one of several people accused in the shooting death of Jane Creba, also 15, who was shopping on Yonge Street on Boxing Day in 2005 when she was caught in a crossfire. Other trials will follow, and the lawyers seeking the publication ban argued that media coverage of J.S.R.'s trial would make it impossible to find enough impartial jurors for the other accused.
Comment
Didn't we see this movie?
Life imitates art and the message is frightening.Of the many arguments that can easily (and must) be made against the vindictive, ideologically driven and philistine cuts to arts funding our government is making, one of the slightly more complicated ones is that writers of ''fiction,'' whether in books or for film and television, are prophets.
The campaign comes down to one geeky guy
For election 2008, no great powers of augury are needed.The contest - Bully Boy v. Mr. Bean, as one pundit put it - will be missing the vitality that flows from a confrontation over a dominant issue. There isn't one.
John McCain as a maverick is so yesterday
''The American people believe Washington is broken, and with good reason.'' The city is full of ''short-term politics,'' and the ''public disgust with Washington is entirely warranted.''A Barack Obama punchline? Sentences culled from a Democratic Party advertisement? Try the opening paragraph in a chapter in the Republican Party platform. For six of the past eight years, Republicans controlled the White House and Congress. They were the country's dominant party. What, by the party's own words, was the result? ''Public disgust.''
The culture wars are baaack!
It took Sarah Palin to turn the dull old Republican convention into an amazing show. Finally, someone who might beat Barack Obama in the ratings! Who cares about geriatric white men in suits? But who wouldn't tune in to see a scrappy dame sock it to the elites? You can keep your degrees from Harvard, your snotty New York Times and your non-fat soy lattes sprinkled with arugula. Sarah Palin eats mooseburgers for breakfast, and she will destroy you!
Obituaries
Confrontational Quebec journalist tested the limits of public debate
He was given the ''middle-finger salute'' by Pierre Trudeau, accused of being a liar by Jacques Parizeau, grabbed by the necktie and called a bastard by a Tory MP and ejected from the Senate for yelling ''speak French'' to a former prime minister.
TOMMY BOLT: 92
Tommy Bolt, the 1958 U.S. Open champion who had one of golf's sweetest swings and most explosive tempers, died Saturday of liver failure. He was 92.Mr. Bolt won 15 Professional Golfers' Association events and several more titles on the senior tour. Yet his temper gained him the most notoriety. Nicknamed ''Terrible Tempered Tommy'' and ''Thunder,'' he was often fined and suspended by the PGA for slamming clubs and using abusive language. He set up a special fund from his winnings to pay the fines.
LAST WORDS
And so I betake myself that course, which is almost as much as to see myself go into my grave; for which, and all the discomforts that will accompany my being blind, the good God prepare me.
Globe Real Estate
Housing project collapse throws Whistler a curve
Whistler's tight housing market reached strangulation point yesterday with the collapse of a temporary affordable-housing project that was to have created eight apartment blocks from metal shipping containers.
Houses built by students on the market
Two homes built by high-school students in Fort St. John have hit the market.School board trustees and city councillors have already received a tour of the homes built by students in the residential construction program of a local high school.
Education
Student tax planning can save a bundle
How important is it for your child to enroll in a postsecondary education? Before you answer that question, consider the story of Calvin Robinson, 19, who was arrested in June in Spokane, Wash. As it turns out, Mr. Robinson was arrested for allegedly trying to make counterfeit $10 bills - in the washroom at a local mall, using a printer he had just purchased for $100 (U.S.). You see, he needed an electrical outlet to operate the colour printer, with which he made a sheet of uncut, poorly made copies of a $10 bill. His intention was to print $90 worth of bills to buy some marijuana.
Crown review may lead to charges in bus crash
The Crown is reviewing a police investigation into a New Brunswick van crash last winter that killed eight people, including seven members of a high-school basketball team, to determine whether charges should be laid.
Schools could be used for clinics, child care
As a result of the incident, the zoo will review its use of audience volunteers. The B.C. government is launching a pilot project that could see community services such as clinics and child-care programs operating at three Vancouver elementary schools.
