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With the bloodbath that ended "Spartacus: Vengeance" a few weeks back, it's no surprise that the production would announce new cast members for the third season currently filmind in New Zealand.
Kiwi actresses Anna Hutchison and Gwendoline Taylor, along with Aussie Jenna Lind, join the cast for the hit series, which will return to Starz early in 2013.
According to a network release:
- Hutchison will play Laeta, the privileged wife of a Roman dignitary who becomes entangled in the struggle against Spartacus. Her life and those of the ones she loves are forever changed by the conflict. Hutchison currently can be seen on the big screen in Joss Whedon's "The Cabin in the Woods." She's starred as Delphi Greenlaw in "Shortland Street," Alison Dine in "Underbelly," Emilia Fife in "Wild Boys" and Amy Smart in "Go Girls."
- Lind will play Kore, a loyal slave to Marcus Crassus (played by Simon Merrells), the Roman tasked to bring an end to Spartacus and his rebellion. Her deep feelings for her master will be sorely tested by spiraling events. The classically trained actress from Sydney, Australia, played Maria Muhary in "Underbelly II" and starred in "30 Seconds," "All Saints," "Wild Boys" and the film "Burning Man" with Matthew Goode.
- Taylor will play Sibyl, a beautiful young slave rescued from Roman cruelty. Now free, she will embark on a journey that will touch the lives of key leaders in the rebellion. Taylor appeared in "Go Girls."
"Spartacus" stars Liam J. McIntyre as the title character and is executive produced by Rob Tapert, Steven S. DeKnight, Sam Raimi and Joshua Donen.


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TORONTO – An American man has been charged with several offences in connection with incidents at the G20 Summit in June 2010, Toronto police said Wednesday.
Quinn McCormic, 25, of Boston, Mass., was arrested on Friday and appeared in a Toronto court Monday to face four charges.
McCormic, an architect, consented to his extradition and was arrested when he arrived at Pearson International Airport, police said.
It's alleged that McCormic threw an object at the window of a Winners store (at College Street and Yonge Street) and that he also threw an object through a window at a CIBC bank (at College Street and Bay Street.)
They also allege that he threw an object through a window of the Toronto Police Museum (at 40 College Street) and estimate the total damage at more than $125,000.
McCormic is charged with three counts of mischief over $5,000 and disguise with intent.
Dozens of protesters — many wearing disguises — went on a window-smashing rampage through downtown Toronto during the international summit in June 2010. Damage included police vehicles that were vandalized and set on fire during the mayhem.
More than 1,100 people were taken into custody that weekend in one of the largest mass arrests in Canadian history, although most were released without charges.
However, more than 40 people have been successfully prosecuted for their parts in the rampage.
Police say suspects in the violence included five Americans who returned across the border after the summit and that with McCormic's arrest, four have now been apprehended.
Dane Rossman, of Tucson, Ariz., and Richard Morano of Pennsylvania, are in custody pending extradition and Joel Bitar, of New York City, was arrested earlier this month.
Police allege Bitar is the masked man who was seen hitting windows in the financial district with a pick axe, and accuse him of causing about $400,000 in damage.
He faces 26 charges including mischief over $5,000 and assaulting a police officer.
Police say they are seeking a fifth person, Kevin Chianella of Pennsylvania, in connection with 50 Criminal Code offences for damage estimated to be in excess of $300,000.
"I believe these Americans came to Canada specifically for this criminal purpose," said Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux, who leads the G20 Investigative Team responsible for identifying and prosecuting those who committed crimes at the summit.
Giroux praised United States Marshals and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their assistance.
"The process of preparing the necessary documents can be very time-consuming. They go from the Crown Office here, to the Department of Justice in Ottawa and, then, the American authorities for final approval. But we're persistent and we will hold people accountable," he said.

subset: commoncrawl


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LOS ANGELES -- When is a Toyota Prius not a Prius?
When it's a Prius C.
Toyota would like America to embrace the idea of its Prius family of four hybrid vehicles in a warm hug of environmentalism.
Toyota might be taking it a bit too far.
In branding terms, it's smart. Combine different vehicles using Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive under the same brand umbrella, and you create marketing, ahem, synergies.
The problem is that some but not all of Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive vehicles are lumped into this branding scenario. So there are four "Priuses," but then Toyota also has Camry Hybrids and Highlander Hybrids, which also use Toyota's HSD system.
Taken separately, the Prius V is basically a Prius Liftback with a taller roofline but almost identical components to the Prius. And the Plug-In Prius uses lithium ion batteries instead of nickel-metal hydride and has a plug-in port but otherwise has the same sheet metal.
But the Prius C has so little in common with the original Prius Liftback that it really shouldn't be listed in the Prius sales chart.
The Prius C uses a different platform, using the Yaris as a base. The sheet metal is different. The Prius C uses a smaller base engine and has a smaller battery pack. Priuses have a "joystick" gearshift toggle, but the Prius C has a traditional "PRNDL" layout.
As such, the Prius C has as much DNA in common with a Prius as the Camry Hybrid does. By that measure, a Camry Hybrid could be called Prius Grande -- or Toyota could have correctly called the Prius C the Yaris Hybrid.
But because of this loose confederation of vehicles, Toyota can lump the Prius C in with traditional Prius sales every month, showing the Prius to be more popular than it really is.
For the record, in May, Prius sales of 21,477 units were split 61 percent for the Prius Liftback, 17 percent for the Prius C, 17 percent for the Prius V and 5 percent for the Prius Plug-in. Break it down, and Toyota sold 13,100 "original" Priuses, which is a pretty average month for that nameplate.
Toyota doesn't help matters because getting the sales breakout for the various Prius nameplates is like pulling teeth.
So while nearly one in five Prius sales is a branding trick, at least the Prius C is a real hybrid. It gets 50 real-world mpg out of its subcompact underpinnings, no matter what Consumer Reports thinks of its rough ride. So there's no greenwashing going on.
Still, Toyota should just break out the various Prius models in its sales reports. Toyota can still call it a family -- just a slightly dysfunctional one that shares some splintered DNA.


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TheRedQueen wrote:I'm not happy with the "we can use positive reinforcement" with one and wants to put a prong collar on the other...seems all over the place in terms of training. (Yes, I know trainers should have many tools in their toolbox...yadda, yadda, yadda...)
I thought that was kind of weird myself.
My brats dogs almost all start off with flat buckle collars and clickers - we go up as necessary.


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Tiger Woods is going to have to wait to pursue his eighth pro win at Torrey Pines.
A thick fog shrouded the course along the Pacific Ocean bluffs Saturday and essentially wiped out the entire day at the Farmers Insurance Open. Woods, at 11-under 133, had a two-shot lead over Billy Horschel and never even bothered coming to the San Diego course. Three players completed one hole — and that was after a three-hour delay.
Players will resume the third round Sunday morning and go as long as daylight allows, and then finish Monday.
"When Mother Nature doesn't want you to play, you can't play," said Mark Russell, the tour vice president of competition.
Russell said there wouldn't be a 54-hole cut for 87 players — typically there's a cut when the field is more than 78 players Saturday. Instead, they'll take a short lunch break and go back out, racing time when fog allows. The groups will stay the same until the tournament is over.
Horschel is among 17 players who are entered in the qualifier Monday to get into the Phoenix Open, which starts this week. Russell said those players have been given the latest tee times for the qualifier — the latest is 12:36 p.m. PST — with hopes of getting there.
European Tour: Chris Wood eagled the 18th hole to win the Qatar Masters, overtaking Sergio Garcia and George Coetzee in Doha. Wood hit a 6-iron approach 200 yards to the green and watched the ball roll to within 12 feet. He sank the putt to finish off a 3-under 69 for an 18-under 270 total. Garcia (66) and Coetzee (65) both birdied No. 18 for 271. Wood almost threw the win away early, after he missed a birdie putt on No. 2 and double-bogeyed the par-3 third.


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Hello Ghost Villagers. My name is Josh Heard. I just wanted to let you all know that I finally got my book done and out for sale!! It took forever, but with some help and a lot of inspiration from my fellow villagers, I got it done!! Thaks so much for the support everyone!!
I finally did it!!
Started by joshheard1 , Oct 07 2012 09:56 PM
1 reply to this topic
Posted 07 October 2012 - 09:56 PM
Posted 08 October 2012 - 02:10 PM
Congrats! I know that's a good feeling.
"We grow neither better or worse as we get old, but more like ourselves."May L. BeckerCoffee.......the foundation of consciousness
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CONCORD — More than 1,500 customers are without power in Concord, marking the second time today that residents in Contra Costa County were without electricity — and a busy day for PG&E, with gas leaks forcing evacuations in Alamo and Oakland.
The outage was reported around 4:55 p.m., according to PG&E, with an estimated time of restoration slated for roughly 8:15 p.m.
Traffic lights in the area of Cowell and Ygnacio Valley roads, along Cowell, Clayton and West roads are out, according to police.
It is unknown what caused the outage.
Earlier Wednesday, a power line knocked down during a traffic collision in Danville resulted in roughly 50 people losing power and forced the closure of Diablo Road. A construction crew in Alamo struck a gas line Wednesday afternoon, forcing the evacuation of a central business district, and a driver struck a home in Oakland several hours later, causing another gas leak.
Check back for updates.
Contact Katie Nelson at 925-945-4782 or follow her at Twitter.com/katienelson210.


text: Mobile Storage South Carolina Mobile Storage Cowpens Mobile Storage Cowpens Mobile Storage Search Results We've found 2 Cowpens mobile storage companies that deliver to Cowpens - Click on any one of them for more information. Refine Search Size 5x5 5x10 5x15 10x10 10x15 10x20 10x30 Features Climate Controlled Drive-up Access Auto/Boat/RV Neighborhood None Found Mobile Attic Cowpens, SC 866-295-5562 More Info PODS Moving & Storage Moving & Storage Solved! Cowpens, SC 866-602-3813 More Info


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I have matured a lot as a bowler: Ishant
Ishant Sharma feels the introduction of two new white balls from both ends in ODIs is a boon for pacers. The lanky bowler partly attributes his recent success in the 50-over format to the latest rule change.
"Obviously, there has been a big change, since the harder seam helps fast bowlers a lot. So now, instead of one (white) ball getting old in 25 overs like it used to happen earlier, we have a lot more time to work on new balls. This is very beneficial for fast bowlers as you can hit the deck hard with a newer ball and also it swings a lot more," Ishant, who has taken 18 wickets in his last 10 ODIs, said.
Having started off as a tearaway pacer six seasons back, the 25-year-old Delhi lad has traded his 140 km-plus pace for line and length and is content with the way it is working for him.
"Yes, I am happy (with my pace), as I feel that I have matured a lot as a bowler over the past few years. I feel that I am more consistent now and able to attack the batsmen with all that's there in my skill set. Whether it's swing or line and length."
Image: Ishant Sharma
Photographs: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images/Getty Images
'I find myself in a good space mentally and much stronger physically'
Pace bowling is all about finding the right rhythm, and the man who has 144 Test wickets from 51 Tests is no exception.
"Finding rhythm is very important for every bowler; getting things right prior to any important series or tournament makes it all the more easier for me to back my abilities."
With a long and demanding season ahead, Ishant feels he is in a "fine space mentally and physically".
"Thanks to the support I have got from my captain (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) and coach (Duncan Fletcher), it has helped me perform well in Tests and in the Champions Trophy. The manner in which they supported me was crucial. Now as the new season is about to start, I find myself in a good space mentally and much stronger physically."
Image: Ishant Sharma
Photographs: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
'The next 18 months are very crucial'
Ishant is keen to carry forward the good work into the next season.
"I hope to carry the good form ahead; the focus is on training hard for the upcoming season. The next 18 months are very crucial and exciting for the Indian team. I believe the South African pitches shall have a lot to offer for the pace bowlers; the conditions in New Zealand and England have been ideal for swing bowling.
"While I am focussed on performing to the best of my potential, at the same time I would like to keep things simple."
Image: Ishant Sharma
Photographs: Paul Gilham/Getty Images
Working his way up
After a long time the Indian players enjoyed a good two-month break and Ishant used the time judiciously, planning his off-season training schedule as he sweated out at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
"My fitness program is a mix of bowling and strength training to keep me in shape for the season. I alternate every day between bowling work-outs at the nets or strength training in the gym.
"I focus on balance, strength and explosiveness during my training to build up the stamina and power that I need to play all match formats."
Image: Ishant Sharma
Photographs: Philip Brown/Reuters


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This week Inhabitat managing editor Mike Chino and writer Piper Kujac attended the Fourth Annual Gorgeous & Green Party to celebrate the extraordinary efforts of the Global Green Organization. Truth be told, we were also in search of the perfect green cocktail and believe we successfully carried out that task as well (it's the Acai-infused VeeV 'honey lips' mixer!). The usual place- fanciful, LEED Certified Bently Reserve in San Francisco, graced a star-studded crowd including actress Kate Bosworth, actor Jason Lewis, architect William McDonough, and so many more.
One of the highlights of the evening was the Eco-Chic Fashion Show, which blended high style with sustainable outcomes. Mike Chino's favorite get up was this sustainably-sourced lambswool peacoat paired with organic cotton pants by Sameunderneath, and mine was a toss between the versatile Lara Miller 100% Bamboo Kelleigh Flip Dress and the Edun Sweater Dress.
There are so many designers and amazing people to credit for the success of this fund raiser, but three in particular, Zem Joaquin of Ecofabulous, eco-editor Nadine Weil of 944 Magazine, and Global Green USA President Matt Petersen are especially good at bringing together green activists and the fashionista elite. Mike and I would like to believe we fit right in!
Global Green USA is the American outreach of the environmental organization, Green Cross International, which formed in 1993 and was initiated by President Mikhail Gorbachev. The Global Green mission is 'to create a global value shift toward a more secure and sustainable future by working to mitigate global warming, expand green building and green schools, eliminate weapons of mass destruction, and ensure access to clean water.' They are successfully doing this with innovative programs for Green Schools, Green Affordable Housing, and Solar Energy for California and Nationally. Global Green has ongoing projects to rebuild New Orleans with actor Brad Pitt, and they also host the Red Carpet Green Cars Campaign at the Oscars.
Needless to say, it was an 'eco-fabulous' event, and Global Green USA is an equally fabulous organization to get involved with!
Photos by Drew Altizer


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Cosmetic Dentistry
Thinking about enhancing your smile? Think about the resume' of the dentists and ceramists doing the treatment. Are they credentialed? What ceramists do they work with? Can they give you a sneak preview of what your smile will look like? Never shop for bargains in brain surgery, parachutes, or cosmetic dentistry. See the Gallery of Smiles we've created, broken down by category (e.g. closing spaces, crooked teeth, dark teeth, chipped teeth, etc.) at . Be sure to look at the section about The edges. This is the art of cosmetic dentistry. Every artist has a vision of the finished product in mind. We are in constant contact with a diverse group of ceramists across the U.S. as your Smile Creation is in progress. http://www.cent4dent.com/cosmetic-dentistry.html
Dr. Markus and his friends also have a Photographic Art Gallery on the website. http://www.cent4dent.com/artistic-photo-gallery-markus.html


text: The March 9, 1862, battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack (CSS Virginia) during the American Civil War (1861-65) was history's first duel between ironclad warships. The engagement, known as the Battle of Hampton Roads, was part of a Confederate effort to break the Union blockade of Southern ports, including Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia, that had been imposed at the start of the war. Though the battle itself was inconclusive, it began a new era in naval warfare.


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Game Review: NBA 2K12 (PS3)
February 21, 2012 in Basketball, Game Reviews, NBA, Reviews, Sport by pacejmiller
I really need to find more time to play video games these days. Despite purchasing the game on DAY ONE, I have only recently found time (well, at least at the time I typed this sentence a few weeks ago) to play enough of NBA 2K12 to be able to give my thoughts about it and found the time to write the darn review.
It's easy to proclaim 2K12 as the greatest basketball simulation of all time. After all, 2K11 was the previous GOAT and there has been nothing to challenge it since, especially considering that the NBA Live (aka Elite) team is still on hiatus after the embarrassing debacle that was NBA Elite 2011, the game that never was.
That said, I'm not going to judge 2K12 as a an independent video game. It's only fair that I compare the game to its predecessor, 2K11, because that's the only yardstick people can compare to.
So does the 2K12 compare favourably to 2K11? On the whole, yes. The best improvements are the controls, the simplified playcalling, the widened legends roster, more legendary teams, and the presentation. But to be perfectly honest, it's not a revolutionary advancement in the franchise.
Let's break it down.
The graphics are supposed to be improved, but I really could not tell. In fact, some friends have told me that they felt the visuals actually took a step back this year.
There's just something different about it, as though the level of detail has been pared back slightly. The players don't look quite as shiny during the gameplay, though the close up cut scenes are as impressive as ever. Another improvement is the extent to which the computerised players resemble their real life counterparts (for instance, Kobe looks less like an alien). One of the biggest problems before — the bad hairdos of white guys (including coaches) — has been fixed somewhat. It's not perfect but it's a step in the right direction.
This year, with the new NBA's Greatest (discussed below), the creators of the game also ingeniously tried to emulate the TV broadcast quality of times gone by, so if you play an 80s game, the colours are less sharp, and if you play a 60s game, the game is fuzzier and in black and white. Even though it's kind of gimmicky, it's a nice added touch.
Ultimately, I think it's possible that the visuals are more realistic but less detailed. It looks more like a live game you would see on TV rather than a video game with mind-blowing graphics. Does that make sense?
Not a lot of improvement here. New music, a new commentator (Steve Kerr, replacing Clark Kellogg and joining Kevin Harlan), but not a whole lot of freshness. Not to say the commentary isn't good, but in terms of variety and the amount of excitement it can add to the game, I think it has essentially peaked for the series. The only real way to improve it is to make the commentary more varied, more dynamic and more excited when players make big plays.
Improved again from last year. Not dramatic changes in terms of the menus (just more streamlined) but I quite like the changes they made in stuff like player intros, the half time reports and the post game features like Player of the Game, etc. You can tell they put a lot of effort into making the game seem like a real TV broadcast.
Last year I thought the gameplay was already pretty awesome, and this year they upped it another notch.
It might take a little while to get used to the changes, but it's worth trying the various tutorials and drills to get the hang of them before playing proper games. It makes a HUGE difference when you feel more in control of the players you are controlling. It not only makes you a better player, it makes the games far more exciting.
The best improvements are in the areas of post play (offense and defense) and off the ball movement. There is an entire tutorial teaching you how to fake out your opponent when playing without the ball. You can learn how to pound the ball inside and wreak havoc down low like Kevin McHale or Hakeem Olajuwon by using an encyclopaedia of post moves. It's awesome. Your ability to call for screens, utilise the give-and-go, perform up-and-unders, hop steps, spin moves, in-and-outs, behind the back dribbles, crossovers, Euro steps, face-up moves — the whole shebang — makes the game super real and will keep players coming back as they improve their techniques with the control pad.
That's the best thing — you can play on the lower levels with just the basics and it'll be fine, but as you get to the more difficult settings, you really need to learn the entire repertoire of moves to have a chance against your opponents.
The computer AI is also improved, though it might be hard to tell for casual gamers unless you line the two up side by side. But it's there. Fast breaks are better on both sides of the ball. Crazy passes are less likely to thread through untouched. If you run into teammates you'll lose the ball. Playcalling has been simplified and you can simply call plays for particular players or just call the best play available. It's the little things that have made the biggest differences in the game.
Game Modes
You still have the same stuff from last year, so I won't go through them all. The new headline mode is the aforementioned NBA's Greatest. Last year it was reliving Michael Jordan's greatest moments — a good idea that got old real quick. This year, there are a lot more legends and you only need to complete one challenge game to unlock more stuff, and all you have to do is win the freaking game. You got guys like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Isiah Thomas, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Karl Malone, John Stockton, and so on. It's fine, but it's still a single playthrough kind of mode.
The modes you'll spend most of your time on are still the Association Mode and My Player Mode.
Association Mode is largely unchanged, but it's still the most packed mode in the game that will allow you to play for hours and hours through years of NBA seasons, playing games, organising rosters, scouting new rookies, making trades, signing players, scheduling practices, developing young players and so forth.
My Player Mode is slightly improved. The biggest change is that instead of going in the D-League to start off, you get to play in a showcase game which will determine where you go in the NBA Draft. If you play well enough you get drafted, which is pretty cool (they show the whole process, including handshakes with Commissioner David Stern), and you'll get a chance to fight for a starting position straight away. Jeremy Lin, anyone?
There are also add on downloadable features, such as the Legends Showcase. I'm too cheap to get it, but here's a review and it seems decent if you are into living in the past and playing with legends all day long.
Not for me, but I hear that the online mode is not very stable, at least not on the PS3. Apparently, a lot of people have flooded back to 2K11's online mode, which is a huge indictment of this year's game.
The good thing about having the Internets is that you can update your roster to keep them up-to-date with what's been happening in real NBA (eg, I hear Jeremy Lin recently got a stats upgrade). You can also download fan-made rosters and players, so you can get your hands on players who aren't licensed for the game — the main ones being Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson. If you have a lot of time on your hands you can also create your own players and teams and share them with others.
Playstation Move
This was one of the things 2K played up in the lead up to the release — you can play 2K12 with the Playstation Move! Wow! And it's so easy and intuitive anyone can do it on their first try!
Err…no, that idea just stinks. If you want to play real basketball, pick up a ball and go outside. I haven't even bothered trying the Move mode of the game. It's a waste of time.
Check this out and tell me it's not lame.
So is 2K12 worth getting if you already have 2K11? Now? Yes. Originally, when the game was first released, the NBA was still in lockout mode, meaning you had only a couple of the pre-signed rookies in this year's class. With the NBA now in full swing, you can download the official updated rosters or the fan-made ones.
For me, the greatest improvement was the controls and gameplay. If you have the patience to lean the moves, 2K12 becomes much more enjoyable than 2K11. All the other improvements, such as the presentation and the graphics (if you call it an improvement) were nice, but they're not game changers. If you can't let go of the past and feel the urge to keep using Larry Bird to shoot over Chuck Person while saying, "Merry F&*%ing Christmas", then the NBA's Greatest Mode would also be a great reason to buy the game.
At the end of the day, 2K12 is of course a better game than 2K11, but it didn't blow me away like I thought it would. Nonetheless, credit must go to 2K for making the effort to improve last year's game when they had zero competition. It will still be the most played game in my collection until 2K13.
8.5 out of 10


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Stand out from the Crowd
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However, despite this enthusiasm to get online, the majority of these websites simply aren't fit for purpose in this digital age. They tend to be static and offer no content management system, which means that updating their websites with fresh, relevant content simply isn't possible. The result? Their sites rank very low on Google and are rarely found by their potential customers. Even when they do attract visitors, they usually project a poor image and so are rarely able to turn visitors into paying customers. These businesses are essentially operating offline and missing the opportunity to grow. However, this presents your business with a significant opportunity to surpass its competition.
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The Get Manic team has been working in field of web design for many years and we have built an excellent reputation for producing quality websites that are built with both the user and the search engines in mind. We have created websites for some of the UK's biggest household names as well as many small businesses and start-ups in a wide range of industries. When you hire Get Manic to create your business's website you can rest-assured that we'll take the time to really get to know your company and understand it's aims in the clearest, fullest sense.
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We reported yesterday on Indigo, the new voice controlled personal assistant from Artificial Solutions and promised that we'd try and spend some time with the app here at MWC. Happily we have done just that and stopped by the Artificial Solutions booth a few hours ago to talk about their new service.
Indigo is just part of a larger system which Artificial Solutions are building, based around their own natural language engine and what they refer to as the 'brain', the Teneo Interaction Engine. It's a smart looking service which we're excited to see coming to Windows Phone, read on for more details on Teneo and a video hands on.
It was explained to us that Artificial Solutions are keen to promote the service underpinning Indigo (called Teneo) as a viable option for enterprise and commercial interests. In a nutshell, Indigo is connecting to a Teneo instance hosted in the cloud as a Java web app. That Teneo platform can be provided in its entirety for custom purposes, with a customised engine designed to react to natural language specific for their use case.
If all of that sounds a bit too technical to you then just think of it as tailoring the natural language engine for one purpose (say ordering food at a fast food establishment), with specific reactions for that business.
Back to Indigo itself, the app seems pretty solid, and we were shown a few capabilities such as searching for information, organising yourself and your data, updating your social media and more. If you'd like to know more about Indigo, or register your interest for when the app is released, you can go to www.ask-indigo.com for details. You'll see some of the app in action as demonstrated in the video below, let us know your thoughts.


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Ca Phe Sua Da Recipes
How to Make Ca Phe Sua Da (Vietnamese Iced Coffee)
The key to making cà phê sữa dá is freshly ground, dark, extra bold roast blend coffee. In addition to this, you'll need a Vietnamese coffee filter and sweetened condensed milk. If you're ready for a day full of energy, or if caffeine doesn't seem to leave you sleepless at night, give this drink a try!
As I mentioned on Facebook this week, I recently learned an important lesson: never drink Vietnamese coffee in the evening if you're sensitive to caffeine. Last weekend, I drank an entire cup of iced coffee right before going to bed (silly, I know). Since I'm not a big coffee drinker, I spent une nuit blanche, which is a French idiom that translates to "a white night" (an "all-nighter" in English). I love Vietnamese iced coffee (cà phê sữa dá in Vietnamese) but my body doesn't seem to appreciate it!
Full Recipe...
Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream Recipe (Ca Rem Ca Phe)
Vietnamese coffee and ice cream are two of my family's favorite foods, so it made sense to try and make some at home. Since one of the girls is allergic to eggs, I made the ice cream eggless. The ice cream base is made with half and half and sweetened with condensed milk. Usually Vietnamese-style coffee is made with boiling water, but the half and half produces a much richer mouth-feel. Coffee made with water could make a nice sorbet, but that's a different recipe!
As I mentioned previously, making Vietnamese coffee (cà phê sữa in Vietnamese) reminds me of mon papa (I usually call him Papounet). When I was a little girl growing up in Paris, I would make coffee and bring breakfast to my dad every morning. Making the coffee for the ice cream took me back in time. If you cook long enough, food will have that power over you too.
Full Recipe...


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Why Did No One Listen to the 'London Whale'?
The J.P. Morgan trader known as the 'London Whale' tried to sound alarms over the size of his bets but it was not enough to stem over $6 billion in losses. Dan Fitzpatrick joins Markets Hub. Photo: Getty
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... I ... see here ... all of the Money Investing section Wall Street Journal that ... the whale sound an alarm on this is the London whale were talking about ... JPMorgan's big six billion dollar loss last year the guy who is making a bid to cause the six billion dollar loss ... he and a bad feeling about these long before anyone even knew about it ... J P Morgan officials to be listened to him the didn't ... why didn't they get this tactic is to it the story ... but it's more than a year later were still the mom Wendy unwinnable were still learning about this whole thing right right yet I mean people were discovering is that ... Bruno Iksil who won the London whale ... I was somewhat conflicted about these bets as he was making and worried than they were so baby ... can even suggested that mean we should just take her losses now this is back when ... of Britain ... the losses really weren't that it is is a new a neighbor a few thousand well ... of but it was interesting about is the key he kept making that that's ... even as he expressed his reservations his bosses ... so those are real certify ... tug a war going on will and Finland's first broke out when he got into the press and people start learning about the Straits ... Jamie diming famously said this is a Tempest in a teapot ... clearly official more worried ... why weren't they were to even the guy making the bed to saying am a little worried about these that's one because ... the losses really weren't that the yen's ... there's one thing we read about the story today if Edward third means for every thirty thousand twelve ... Harper an old again expresses these reservations and says losses might get ... bigger by a hundred million dollars ... now I mean that's that's on the JPMorgan ... did not offered a mean they got to six million some months later but I think that's why it took until late March responses to say stop reading because ... I think even ... on the way old didn't realize how big this might get a lot as my dad you one will believe what is going to do is is going really telling details were seeking substantial gonna come out of this well so there's ... a Senate ... subcommittee investigations going on and are expecting a report from the very very soon ... I think they're going to use this as one of their search key revelations ... on that ... I think so many feels shows the JPM didn't know was enough to to to warning so ... there's a possibility that the sub committee which is headed by Carl Levin ... might hold hearings you know my brain ... injured by executives have before them so ... when we get we could see this play out publicly in non equates hard to know what ... the bookies are are are beyond that there ... are


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How's this for a resurgence of public debate?
While the debate between Howard and Rudd was going on, Bob Brown and the Greens were holding their own 'People's Forum' in another room in Parliament House, and had asked for questions from the general public on their blog not long ago, some of which would potentially be asked tonight.
I asked a simple question about whether or not the Greens would push for endangered indigenous languages in Australia to be urgently documented in an effort to prevent any further loss – a pretty vacuous question, especially to ask of the Greens, I admit. But lo and behold, it was summarised (for the sake of time) and asked at the forum, and the whole thing was recorded straight away and uploaded to YouTube!
So witness (halfway through), the most concise answer a politician has ever given.


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'Precarious Work will Define our Future'
By: Susan Korah in Ottawa
Three labour experts have highlighted the critical need for radical changes in government policies and programs that are out of step with the current realities of most Canadians' work lives.
They were speaking at a panel discussion on "In Search of the Next Gig: A Snapshot of Precarious Work in Canada Today" in Ottawa on January 25, hosted by Policy Options Magazine, a digital publication of the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP). Moderating the panel was Jennifer Ditchburn, editor of Policy Options, and former journalist with the Canadian Press (CP).
"If we are to walk the walk that matches our talk about how inclusive we are in Canada, those who create our labour policies and programs should take a close look at the precarious work situation that most Canadians are caught in, and design their policies accordingly," commented Sunil Johal, one of the three panelists. Johal is policy director at the Mowat Centre, an independent public policy think-tank, associated with the University of Toronto's School of Public Policy and Governance.
The other two panelists were Francis Fong, Chief Economist with the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPAC) and Wendy Vuyk, regional coordinator of the Eastern Ontario Region at the Ontario Centre for Workforce Innovation.
"Most policies and programs intended to support Canadian job seekers are tied to conventional ideas of employment and were designed for the 1950s when there was a 9 to 5, lifelong job for the wage earner in a typical family," he said.
Fong, Johal and Vuyk analyzed the changes that have sent the labour market into a tailspin, leaving employees with few options other than what all three, as well as Ditchburn termed "precarious work," – short term jobs with no stability, few or no benefits, and no prospects of leading to a lifelong career path.
[quote align="center" color="#999999"]"We need a formal definition of precarious work because precarious work will define our future." -Francis Fong[/quote]
A major cause of the erosion of stable jobs and the growth of precarious employment was the decline of the manufacturing sector in the 1990s and early 2000s and the growth of the high-tech sector, the panelists explained.
Research challenges
Fong pointed out that even research on this topic is lagging behind the times. He emphasised that in order to capture the nuances of this new workforce reality, researchers need a clear definition of the term "non-standard work", an umbrella term for all kinds of precarious work.
He said that the lack of consensus on a definition of precarious work poses a serious challenge for researchers, whose work underpins policy decisions.
"We need a formal definition of precarious work because precarious work will define our future," he said.
He added that no single government agency is collecting all the relevant data, although Statistics Canada has been tracking it since the 1990s, a period which saw the rapid rise of this phenomenon.
The problem is further complicated, he said, by the need for the involvement of so many sectors --labour, immigration, the provincial and federal governments, as well as the private sector.
Stagnant wages, declining unionization
Highlighting another major problem, Johal discussed the disconnect between Canada's overall economic growth and workers' wages.
"While the economy continues to grow, wages have become stagnant," he said, adding the costs of food, housing, childcare and other necessities have also gone up.
Johal also referred to the decline of unionization, which added to worker's problems.
"Workers have nobody to represent them and speak about their issues," he said.
He said the most vulnerable were the 30 percent of workers who were in precarious jobs because they had no other option, as opposed to the 70 per cent who did this type of work by choice.
"We need to focus on that 30 percent and to refresh our social policies and programs to address their needs," he said.
Preparing for the future world of work: An optimistic outlook
Vuyk's presentation focused on preparing for the future, given the changing economic landscape which she termed the "fourth industrial revolution."
"Sixty-five percent of today's elementary school children will work in jobs that don't exist today," she predicted.
Nevertheless, she presented an optimistic outlook, saying that although jobs will be lost, others will be created by new inventions.
She emphasized the need to train young people to become entrepreneurs and to think about their careers as a business.
She called on educators to emphasize soft skills such as communication, financial literacy, cross-cultural sensitivity, flexibility and adaptability.
She said it was important for also parents and guidance counsellors to understand that university is not the only key to gainful employment.
She advised parents to give their children as many life-broadening experiences as possible, including travel.
"We have to create a culture of lifelong learning," she concluded.
Susan Korah is an editor and freelance writer who has worked with a number of publications while continuing to manage her personal travel blog. This piece is part of the "Ethnic Women as Active Participants in Ontario" series.
Union Urges Feds to Help News Media after Postmedia, Torstar Shutter Local Papers
By: Beatrice Britneff in Ottawa, ON
Canada's oldest media union is renewing calls on the federal government to intervene and help the country's struggling news media outlets, after Postmedia Network Inc. and Torstar Corp. announced today they will collectively shutter more than 30 community and daily newspapers and eliminate 291 jobs.
In response to the closures – which came about through a publication swap between the two companies – CWA Canada is urging the Liberal government to inject more money into local news coverage; to "beef up" the federal Competition Act "to prevent concentration of ownership" in the news industry; and to allow non-profit news organizations to qualify as charities so they can be supported by philanthropic funding.
In a statement, the union – which represents approximately 6,000 media workers cross Canada – called the Postmedia-Torstar deal a "deathblow to local newspaper coverage."
"It's a dark day for local journalism and for local democracy," Martin O'Hanlon, president of CWA Canada, wrote in a statement. "This means fewer journalists reporting on the stories that matter to communities – and leaves almost no one to hold local politicians and powerful interests to account in many places."
Last year, Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly conducted consultations on how to revamp Canada's cultural policies and strategies. During that time, many groups suggested a variety of lifelines the government could throw to ailing media outlets – particularly newspapers, which are struggling with steep declines in print circulation and advertising revenues.
In a major speech in September outlining Canada's revamped cultural strategies, Joly said the government does not intend to to provide that level of assistance to the news industry. Joly said the government will not "bail out industry models that are no longer viable" but will instead support "innovation, experimentation and transition to digital."
The minister said Monday afternoon she is "sorry" to hear about the Postmedia and Torstar closures and that the government "values the importance of journalism." When asked whether the Postmedia-Torstar deal has caused her to rethink her largely hands-off approach to the news industry's fate, Joly reiterated that the government is "looking to support local media while they transition to the internet."
But Pierre Nantel, the NDP's culture and heritage critic, argued the government is not doing that.
"It's absolutely terrible… (Minister Joly) has been asked by so many stakeholders, so many interveners… she didn't pay attention at all, and this is what you get," Nantel said. "You get job losses and you get a voice diversity situation that's going to be lacking."
Conservative MP Peter Van Loan, who serves as the Tories' Canadian heritage critic, called the Postmedia-Torstar deal "disappointing" but contrary to Nantel, argued that the government has no place in giving newspapers a leg up. He said he also does not support philanthropic financing of journalism because he believes "journalism has to be truly independent."
The closures announced today – many of which are effective immediately – will largely affect communities in eastern and southern Ontario.
Through the deal, Postmedia acquired 22 local newspapers and two Metro dailies from two Torstar subsidiaries. Postmedia said in a press release it plans to close all of those publications, except the Exeter Times-Advocate and the Exeter Weekender, by mid-January. The local papers that Postmedia will fold include Metro Ottawa, Metro Winnipeg, Belleville News, Kingston Heritage, St. Mary's Journal-Argus as well as a number of Ottawa-area publications.
Meanwhile, Torstar acquired a total of 17 publications from Postmedia: seven daily Ontario newspapers, eight community newspapers and free dailies 24Hours Toronto and 24Hours Vancouver. The two dailies and the eight community papers are being shut down immediately, as well as three of the daily newspapers – the Barrie Examiner, Orillia Packet & Times andNorthumberland Today.
Torstar will continue to operate and publish the St. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review, Welland Tribune and Peterborough Examiner.
Four free dailies and 32 daily and community papers are being shuttered in total. The Postmedia closures will result in 244 layoffs, while Torstar's will eliminate 47 full-time and part-time employees.
Postmedia and Torstar both claim the papers they are folding are located in communities that are served by other publications.
"We were not creating any news deserts," Bob Hepburn, the Toronto Star's director of community relations and communications, said of Torstar's 13 closures. "(The communities affected) will continue to be served by Metroland publications."
In a company statement, Torstar's President and CEO John Boynton said the deal will allow the company to "operate more efficiently through increased geographic synergies in a number of our primary regions."
Postmedia CEO Paul Godfrey acknowledged in his company's press release that closures involve letting go of "many dedicated newspaper people."
"However, the continuing costs of producing dozens of small community newspapers in these regions in the face of significantly declining advertising revenues means that most of these operations no longer have viable business models," Godfrey wrote.
Postmedia and Torstar said their deal is "effectively a non-cash transaction" as the publications exchanged have "approximately similar fair values." Their statements also noted the exchange is "not subject to the merger notification provisions of the Competition Act" and no regulatory clearance from the Competition Bureau was required.
In an email to iPolitics Monday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Competition Bureau said the Bureau is aware of the Postmedia-Torstar transaction and will be "undertaking a review" of the deal.
"While I cannot speak to the specifics of a Bureau review for reasons of confidentiality, under the Competition Act transactions of all sizes and in all sectors of the economy are subject to review by the Commissioner of Competition to determine whether they will likely result in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in any market in Canada," Jayme Albert, senior communications advisor, wrote in an email – adding that the commissioner has up to one year after a transaction has taken place to challenge it in the Competition Tribunal.
Here is a list of the publications Postmedia acquired from Torstar and has decided to close:
- Belleville News
- Brant News
- Central Hastings News
- Frontenac Gazette
- Kanata Kourier-Standard
- Kingston Heritage
- Meaford Express
- Metro Ottawa
- Metro Winnipeg
- Nepean/Barrhaven News
- Norfolk News
- Orleans News
- Ottawa East News
- Ottawa South News
- Ottawa West News
- Our London
- Quinte West News
- St. Lawrence News
- St. Mary's Journal-Argus (and the St. Mary's Weekender)
- St. Thomas/Elgin Weekly News
- Stittsville News
- Stratford City Gazette
- West Carleton Review
Here is a list of the publications Torstar acquired from Postmedia and has decided to close:
- 24 Hours Toronto
- 24 Hours Vancouver
- Barrie Examiner
- Bradford Times
- Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin
- Fort Erie Times
- Innisfil Examiner
- Inport News (Port Colborne)
- Niagara Advance
- Northumberland Today
- Orillia Packet & Times
- Pelham News
- Thorold Niagara News
Republished under arrangement with iPolitics.
We Ignore Islamism at our Own Peril
Commentary by: Fred Maroun in Ottawa
Quebec recently passed a law banning face coverings for people delivering or receiving public services, which has re-ignited the debate across Canada on banning the burqa and niqab.
Some people, such as Idil Issa, have accused Quebec's politicians of going after Muslims because they are a minority and an easy target. Knowledge of Quebec history and culture, however, contradicts that accusation.
Quebec's strong liberal values
Quebec is by far the most progressive province in Canada. Its two main parties are centrist (the Liberal Party of Quebec) and centre left (the Bloc Quebecois) whereas all other provinces have strong conservative parties. Quebec's support for same-sex marriage is at 78%, possibly a world record. Quebec is a striving multicultural and diverse society.
Quebec was the only Canadian province to undergo a revolution (albeit a non-violent one, aptly named the Quiet Revolution) against religious and political conservatism.
There is a problem when women live in a society as liberal as Quebec and yet feel the need to comply with some of the most conservative and patriarchal religious rules ever invented. The fact that many Quebecers recognize this as a problem is not a symptom of intolerance.
When Quebec's new law is discussed, the discussion invariably drifts towards the face covering of some Muslim women due to a version of Islam that is highly sexist and regressive, commonly referred to as Islamism. The concern of citizens is clearly not face coverings in the abstract but the religious radicalism that it implies.
I grew up in Lebanon at a time when Muslims were already the majority, and yet I never saw a woman with her face covered in public, even in Muslim neighborhoods. Several members of my family grew up in Egypt and make the same observation. With the growth of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, however, the niqab and the burqa are now often seen in the streets of Cairo.
Raheel Raza, president of the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow, wrote, "[I] never saw a niqab when I was growing up in Karachi, Pakistan. […] But in the 25 years I have called Canada home, I have seen a steady rise of Muslim women being strangled in the pernicious black tent that is passed off to naïve and guilt-ridden white, mainstream Canadians as an essential Islamic practice".
Islamism is the opposite of social liberalism. Whereas liberalism aims to achieve for women equal rights and opportunities, Islamism considers women inferior and expects them to be subservient. The infiltration of Islamist values into Canadian society can only send chills into the backs of liberals.
A political hot potato
There are however no easy answers to fighting Islamism in Canada since we also value freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and personal choice. A ban on face coverings can be seen as a patriarchal imposition on women who may in theory choose to cover their faces. And if a husband prevents his wife from leaving the house with her face uncovered, a ban may transform her house into a jail.
Politicians try to avoid complex issues, and the growth of Islamism in liberal societies is undoubtedly a complex issue. Quebec politicians deserve credit for at least trying. Federal politicians refuse to even talk about it.
During the Conservative leadership campaign, Kellie Leitch attempted to bring forward a proposal to defend Canadian values by asking some tough questions of potential immigrants, but she faced strong opposition even within her party. After Andrew Scheer won the leadership, he left Leitch out of his shadow cabinet and gave another former candidate, Lisa Raitt, the position of deputy leader even though Leitch received almost twice as many votes as Raitt on the first ballot.
The federal Liberal Party and the NDP stay even farther away than their conservative counterparts from fighting Islamism. Almost all Liberal Members of Parliament (MPs), all NDP MPs, and a small number of Conservative MPs passed a vague motion condemning "Islamophobia" without defining its meaning, which could be interpreted as an attempt to muzzle legitimate criticism of Islamism.
Demagogues could fill the void
While I never saw burqas and niqabs in Lebanon, I see them now in Ottawa, far too often. Such occurrences are frequent reminders to Canadians that the issue of Islamism is not a faraway problem but a local one.
Canada has no leading politician resembling Donald Trump at the moment, but neither did the U.S. until two years ago. Then Trump barged into the political scene and raised issues that Americans were concerned about, such as Islamic terrorism, issues that other politicians were afraid to discuss.
There are likely more significant reasons why Trump was elected, but his willingness to be politically incorrect was undoubtedly one of the attributes that attracted voters to him. We see such a phenomenon occurring in parts of Europe as well, such as Germany where the extreme right has significantly weakened Chancellor Angela Merkel's dominance.
Politicians must find the courage to ask the politically incorrect questions, even when they do not have all the answers, so that intelligent solutions can emerge. If competent politicians ignore the challenge, demagogues may take advantage of the vacuum and propose ill-conceived populist ideas, which is the last thing we need.
Fred Maroun is a Canadian of Arab origin. He lived in Lebanon until 1984, including during 10 years of civil war. He regularly blogs for The Times of Israel.
Jagmeet Singh and the Media's Race Problem
Commentary by: Paul Adams in Ottawa
Jagmeet Singh does not yet have a seat in the House of Commons. So when the new NDP leader comes to visit, he'll have to sit up in the Leader of the Opposition's Gallery and gaze down on the body he wishes someday to join.
If all the MPs are there that day, Singh may notice that there are already five turbaned Sikh men with seats. In 2015, 47 so-called "visible minority" MPs were elected along with 10 Indigenous people, very nearly mirroring their relative shares of the Canadian population.
If Singh then swings his eyes to the north end of the Commons chamber to the gallery above the Speaker's Chair — to the Press Gallery, that is — he may notice something different. So far as I am aware, there has never been a turbaned man working as a reporter for a major news organization, so he won't see any of those.
No one keeps racial statistics on the Press Gallery the way they do for the House of Commons, but when I looked through the membership list the other day, I was able to identify only one visible minority reporter working for one of the big legacy media outlets – a reporter at CTV. None at the Globe, none at the Star, none at CBC-TV. And no Indigenous people either.
This may overstate the case a little bit. Since I was a reporter on the Hill in the 1990s, there has been an influx of young reporters of colour. They tend to be concentrated in online and specialist publications such as HuffPost Canada, the Hill Times, the Aboriginal Peoples' Television Network (APTN) and some ethnic and foreign news outlets. The so-called Mainstream Media — not so much.
The House of Commons is today much more representative of the face of modern Canada than is the Press Gallery. Most of us can name a few visible minority and Indigenous politicians. Try coming up with more than one or two political journalists of colour.
When Singh was chosen as NDP leader, there were two streams of news coverage, both echoing (in a small way) the reaction to Barack Obama's breakthrough in 2008. The first was a self-congratulatory celebration of the nation's inclusivity. The second involved an obsessive concern with the man's race and ethnicity.
One interview that got a lot of attention was Terry Milewski's welcome-to-Ottawa interview with Singh on CBC's Power and Politics. Milewski has never suffered fools gladly and operates on the premise that all politicians are fools until proven otherwise. (Stephen Harper was never able to establish this to Milewski's satisfaction, so far as I could see.)
Apparently Singh, or his office, had — with stunning naiveté — asked to see the questions in advance. Milewski delightedly tweeted out that fact before Singh backed down. Advantage: Milewski.
A lot of the reaction to Milewski's interview turned around a "gotcha" section at the end of the interview in which Milewski doggedly asked Singh to denounce posters of Talwinder Singh Parmar, which appear in some Sikh-Canadian institutions. Parmar was a Sikh nationalist who was — it has been well-established — the mastermind behind the Air India bombing in which 329 people were killed, most of them Canadian, many of them of Indian extraction.
[quote align="center" color="#999999"]Except for Milewski's first question — which was about how Singh would manage without a Commons seat — every single query directly or indirectly invoked race, religion or ethnicity.[/quote]
For many viewers not steeped in the issue, it must have been a baffling exchange. But few reporters in Canada have covered the Air India bombing and its aftermath more thoroughly than Milewski — and Jagmeet Singh has been deeply engaged in Sikh politics. It may have been a 'gotcha' question, but it got Singh, who dodged and weaved but would not be caught denouncing Canada's worst-ever mass murderer.
Singh is really going to have to do better than this if he wants to lead a national party with any success.
What concerned me about the Milewski interview was not this exchange, but what came before it. Except for the first question — which was about how Singh would manage without a Commons seat — every single query directly or indirectly invoked race, religion or ethnicity.
There were questions about refugees, religious symbols, Singh's "acceptability" in Quebec — all coming before the Parmar exchange. Nothing on Singh's interesting views on addressing precarious work among the young. Nothing on his controversial views on decriminalizing possession of drugs like cocaine and heroin. No "open-ended" questions that would allow Singh to lay out his own agenda.
Earlier that same day, another CBC journalist had posted a tweet that appeared to confuse Singh with another turbaned Sikh — federal economic development minister Navdeep Bains. If I were among the one-in-five people living in Canada who are visible minority, I might be tempted to wonder whether journalists who see a politician of colour see anything but the colour.
When we look south of the border — or across the Atlantic — it's easy for Canadians to think of racism as a foreign problem. And I agree that we seem (for the moment) unusually blessed.
But take a look at some of the just-released data from Canadian Press's important "Populism Project" – a survey from EKOS research. According to EKOS' massive survey, 37 per cent of Canadians think too many immigrants are visible minority. Among respondents who are themselves visible minority, 43 per cent said they had "personally seen or experienced a clear incident of racism" over the past month. Remarkably, 26 per cent of other Canadians said the same.
While a plurality of Canadians don't think there been much change in the level of racism in Canada, 33 per cent think racism is becoming more common, compared with 20 per cent who think it is becoming less common.
I am not suggesting for a moment that Sikh politicians should only be interviewed by Sikh journalists, or that Indigenous politicians (like the Manitoba NDP's new leader Wab Kinew) should only be interviewed by Indigenous journalists. It's a fundamental tenet of journalism that good reporters strive to understand the world around them, and strive particularly hard to understand those most different from them.
But a more diverse press corps would have two effects: one for journalists, the other for consumers of journalism.
For journalists, having people of various backgrounds in the newsrooms means being exposed to different sensibilities and story ideas in editorial meetings, over coffee, and in the thousands of chats that occur among colleagues in newsrooms every day as they try to figure out their angles. They also get to know individuals different from themselves in their full complexity — without reducing them to their most visible characteristics.
In the late 1980s, I did a story related to HIV/AIDS for the CBC. I had lived in New York at the height of the crisis a few years earlier and thought I was reasonably well informed. But after my story aired, a young producer — who was gay — came and spoke to me about some of the language I had used. He made me a better journalist by helping me see some things I had overlooked.
We are all limited to some degree by our backgrounds. Journalism is a lifelong process of educating ourselves away from those limitations.
For news consumers, diverse newsrooms are both a substantive and a symbolic indication that the news business is serious about exploring our world, which includes people like ourselves and people who are quite different. It's not just about comforting visible minorities through representation. It's also about the rest of us not just seeing them, but trying to understand them.
The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author's alone. This piece was republished under arrangement with iPolitics.
Saudi Arabia, Modernity and Counter Terrorism
Commentary by: Phil Gurski in Ottawa
Three cheers for Saudi Arabia! The conservative Kingdom has ruled that women can now drive and no longer need to be accompanied by a mahram (essentially a male guardian) when they are in a car. Many are celebrating this decision although some conservative killjoys have accused the government of 'bending the rules of Sharia'. Some have joked that the country has finally joined the 20th century.
That quip is actually more accurate than might appear at first reading. In many ways – socially, religiously, ideologically – Saudi is stuck not in the 20th century but in the 18th century, and, truth be told, in the seventh century. The 18th century is a reference to the pact made between the up and coming Al Saud family and a bunch of ultra-conservative clerics headed by Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab whereby the Al Sauds took care of people's economic and political well-being while the 'Wahhabis' looked after their souls.
By that, I mean, they imposed an austere, joyless interpretation of Islam that they claimed was void of what they saw as all the alterations and aberrations that had entered into the faith since the time of the Prophet Muhammad in the early to mid-600's. Wahhabi Islam is rejected by the vast majority of the world's Muslims and would have remained an insignificant blip on the international stage had it not been for the 1970's oil crisis and the gazillions of dollars that flowed into Saudi coffers, only to be redirected worldwide in the spread – through mosques and schools – of this hateful and intolerant version of Islam.
There really is no other way to look at Saudi Islam and it is undeniable that the vitriol inherent in Wahhabism is directly responsible for a huge part of the ideology that became Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
So what are the Saudis doing about all this? After all, the Kingdom has suffered from jihadi attacks itself and one would think that the regime does not want or like to be tainted with any association with a violent bunch of terrorists. It is an open debate, though, whether Saudi Arabia really cares what outsiders think in light of its massive wealth and still rather closed society. Here the news is both good and bad.
On the good side, the government has been cracking down on 'preachers of hate' and dismantling their ability to spread their message. Many have also been arrested and Saudi security forces have successfully foiled many terrorist plots. The 'reform' programme – and I use the term loosely – of King Salman and, probably more importantly, his son and second-in-line for the throne Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is ambitious in scope and must be seen as a move in the right direction. Whether it actually achieves much and how the Wahhabi clerics react to it will bear watching.
The decision to allow women to drive should be seen through this prism.
On the other hand, Wahhabi influence is still growing in places like South Asia and Southeast Asia, as clerics continue to influence the locals, including children in madrassas and pesantren (what they call madrassas in Indonesia). Saudi economic weight is clearly playing a role here as the Kingdom can offer education and religious instruction to countries where there simply isn't enough room in the budget to do so.
Saudi Arabia is also incontrovertibly involved in massive human rights violations in Yemen, where it has been mired for years in a civil war that it tries to paint as a necessary struggle to prevent Iranian (read: Shia) infiltration into the Arabian Peninsula. The Gulf kingdom is trying to quash attempts to have independent, neutral observers carry out investigations in Yemen to determine the scale of suffering and point fingers at those responsible for it.
Speaking of the Shia, Saudi police and the military continue to mount 'counter terrorism' operations in the country's Shia-dominant eastern provinces. While there certainly are violent extremists in the region, a lot of the violence is state-imposed and driven by the Wahhabi belief that the only good Shiite is a dead one.
It is thus a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to Saudi Arabia and terrorism. The Kingdom talks the talk and is involved in some worthwhile national, regional (not Yemen) and international counter-terrorism initiatives. But, as long as Wahhabi Islam is the dominant form of Islam practised in the country and spread through Saudi 'benevolence' worldwide, that nation must be seen as both part of the solution and a big part of the problem.
What then do we in the West do? The unfortunate answer, for the time being, is 'not much'. We cannot ignore Saudi Arabia, we cannot tell it what to do, we cannot isolate it and we cannot pretend that it is not behind the contagion of hateful Islamic teachings. In other words, we are damned if we do nothing and damned if we do something (if anyone has a better idea please e-mail me).
Last week, I was a guest lecturer in a graduate course on terrorism offered by my friend Thomas Juneau at the University of Ottawa. The class was discussing the nature of the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia and the consensus seemed to be that Washington has no choice but to guarantee the Kingdom's existence and remain a close ally because all the alternatives are worse (if Saudi Arabia decides to move closer to Russia or China, going in an even more radical direction, etc.).
That is what has been termed Sophie's Choice – where either decision is unbearable. And that is seldom a good place to find oneself.
Phil Gurski has worked for more than three decades in Canadian intelligence, including 15 with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). His latest book The Lesser Jihads is now available online and in bookstores.
When the Fear of Terrorism Trumps Reason
Commentary by: Phil Gurski in Ottawa
There is no question that fear sells. The latest Stephen King film about an evil clown – It – grossed over $120 million in its first three days after all.
We are odd in that we both fear fear and we are entertained by it – go figure.
But fear is not always helpful, unless you are running away from a grizzly or swimming away from a shark. It is particularly counter-productive when it leads you to stop doing things you normally do. Things like going to a restaurant or to a movie (perhaps to see It) or on a vacation. And the one thing that seems to be causing many people to alter their normal lives is the fear of terrorism.
In some ways this is, of course, understandable since there is not a day that goes by where we do not see or read about some act of violent extremism somewhere in the world. These acts seem to resonate even more when they take place in 'our world' – i.e. Western Europe, North America or Australia – than when they occur in Africa, the Middle East or Asia (fact: the vast majority of attacks and casualties occur in the latter three rather than the former).
The images of bloody corpses and mangled limbs sends shivers to those who witness them, in person or via social media. We become afraid of terrorists and terrorism and we begin to believe that we will become the next victims unless we stay away from where the terrorists are.
This is problematic as terrorism can occur ANYWHERE. A very short list of recent attacks underscores the ubiquity of terrorism: an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, a pedestrian mall in Barcelona, a London Tube train on a busy morning commute, in front of Notre Dame in Paris, a market stall in Kabul. And I could go on.
Yet, paradoxically, the chance of an act of terrorism in any one place at any given time is infinitely small (it is obviously higher in Baghdad and Mogadishu than in New York or Melbourne, but even then it is rare-ish).
What is unhelpful is to panic and cancel EVERYTHING because you are convinced you will die in a suicide bombing if you stay the course. A few examples are illustrative of an irrational succumbing to the fear of terrorism:
- diners in a Toronto restaurant last weekend that was the scene of a targeted killing of a real estate magnate told the media they thought they were going to die in what they believed to be a terrorist incident
- the Israeli government issued a travel advisory for 'Western and Northern Europe' during the Jewish High Holy Days
- US President Trump has been very irresponsible in raising the fear level with his characterisation of Muslims as terrorists
How is any of this a good thing? Why in the world would a school board in Edmonton cancel a trip to Paris after the November 2015 attacks when Paris the day after was probably the safest city on the planet in large part due to the increased presence of armed soldiers? Fear and ignorance, that's why (and probably parents' demands, which were born out of fear).
Giving in so easily to fear does many things. It rewards terrorist groups that aim to make us afraid and over-inflates their pathetic importance. It has serious implications for many parts of the economy both at home and abroad. And it undoubtedly makes us more jittery the next time a terrorist attack occurs which makes us react with fear more quickly.
I am not advocating rushing off to Kandahar on vacation tomorrow, but if we value our societies and our freedoms we need to live. Living means going out, seeing friends, visiting exotic lands and learning from each others' cultures and histories. And we cannot do that by barricading ourselves in our duct-taped basements.
I think the right reaction is that of the Brits. They are famous for their 'stiff upper lip', a way of sneering at danger and uncertainty and forging ahead. That is exactly what a lot of people did in the wake of last Friday's Tube attack (quote of the day: "I won't stop taking the Tube because of some idiot"). They also didn't waver during the decades of IRA bombings. I believe there is a lesson in that for all of us.
Phil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting. His latest book The Lesser Jihads is now available for purchase.
Immigration Lawyers Fear Flow of Misinformation as DACA Ends
By: Amanda Connolly in Ottawa
Immigration lawyers in Canada are warning about risks caused by the spread of misinformation as the Trump administration rolls back a U.S. government program that shielded illegal immigrants brought to the United States as minors from deportation.
U.S. President Donald Trump formally announced on Tuesday the end of an Obama-era program that protected almost a million young people brought illegally into the country by their parents and granted them renewable two-year work permits, which will now begin to expire in early 2018.
While immigration lawyers said many clients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program — widely known as "dreamers" — could be prime candidates for legal immigration to Canada, the challenge will be in making sure those looking to move are not getting faulty information about Canada's immigration rules from unscrupulous immigration advisers or false reports. That's what happened with thousands of Haitians earlier this summer when Trump threatened to rescind a program that lets those displaced by the earthquake in Haiti seven years ago live temporarily in the United States.
"These people are North American trained or brought up, so they have the skills to quickly adapt to the Canadian labour market or integrate into the post-secondary schooling system so there may in fact be some options for them," said Betsy Kane, one of Canada's top immigration lawyers and a partner at Capelle Kane.
"The only issue is if they are going to get misinformation from people trying to capitalize on their vulnerability and get sucked into a situation like the Haitians did, relying on potentially false information that would lure them into coming to make the wrong type of application to Canada."
Roughly 7,000 asylum seekers, most of them Haitians from the U.S., have crossed into Canada since July. Some critics have accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of not doing enough to prevent the surge; some have even accused him of being partly to blame for it.
A January tweet in which critics said the prime minister implied that Canada would welcome just about anyone — legal migrant or not — has increasingly come under fire, prompting the government into damage control mode in recent months.
To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 28, 2017
Two weeks ago, Trudeau walked that welcome back in a series of tweets cautioning that while Canada is an open and diverse society, it also has immigration laws that must be obeyed.
Liberal MP and Whip Pablo Rodriguez also announced Wednesday he is heading to Los Angeles on Friday on a mission similar to that of MP Emmanuel Dubourg last month.
Following a surge of illegal Haitian migrants over the summer, the government sent Dubourg — who is himself of Haitian origin — to Miami to speak with Haitian community leaders and try to counter the flow of misinformation about how Canada's immigration system works.
The government's goal was to get a message across loud and clear: Not every refugee claim in Canada succeeds.
Now, Rodriguez is set to carry that same message to the other side of the country in a bid to stem a new wave of Mexican and Central American asylum seekers who are expected to be next to try and make the move north. Those people are in limbo now because of the possible end of temporary protected status for nearly 350,000 Salvadorans and Hondurans in the U.S. — a change that is unrelated to the rescinding of the DACA program but is similar in terms of how those affected might be influenced by misinformation.
Kane said the effort so far to counter the spread of bad information has been committed and social-media focused, which is exactly where it needs to be.
"I think it might be a more sophisticated group that's not going to rely on WhatsApp or an internal rumours or community rumours as opposed to doing their research," she said. "These are young people, they're internet-savvy, and perhaps they're going to spend a little more time getting the correct information, especially with all the social media that's out there, because they're all on social media. They're young people, so that's where they're looking for information and CIC has been targeting social media."
Many of those living in the U.S. under the DACA program are highly-educated and have skills that would make them prime applicants for the Express Entry system, Canada's immigration scheme for skilled workers.
The question is whether those who want to use that route, or other legal options like applying for international student visas, will even be able to do so given the system overload caused by the influx of Haitians.
"The system is now overwhelmed," said Julie Taub, an Ottawa immigration lawyer and former member of the Immigration and Refugee Board. "It's having an impact on the other applications and it's creating a lot of resentment for those who are immigrating to Canada legitimately through the proper channels and for those who are legitimate refugee claimants."
For now, Taub said, those Americans who may face deportation without DACA will be looking for the best way to wait for a reinstatement of the protection — and she expects Trump's move to rescind the program eventually will be overturned.
"It's beyond reason that he has taken this measure," she said. "It's ludicrous and I think it will be overturned."
By arrangement with ipolitics.ca.
Myanmar may be the Next Jihadi Battleground
Commentary by: Phil Gurski in Ottawa
Before this piece goes any further I need to spell out that I am not a big fan of the use of force unless absolutely necessary (and when necessary it is best to use it wisely, while still protecting the lives of the force wielders). Clearly it is required in some situations, but if public perception is that it is being applied too quickly or too harshly things go awry.
That is why police officers are often (rightly or wrongly) convicted in the court of public opinion when some amateur video suggests they have overstepped their authority and shot someone. It is also probably why the anti-fascist/extreme RW/neo-Nazi Antifa may be losing its clear advantage over repugnant skinheads: it seems to resort to the same violence it is protesting against.
In some situations it is easy to understand why a group decides to use violence even if it is hard to provide outright 'support'.
A case where this appears to be true is unfolding in Myanmar (Burma), a southeast nation still emerging from decades of military rule under what everyone thought would be the wise leadership of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Well, things have turned out a little differently.
Not only has Ms. Suu Kyi been described as autocratic, she has not decried a clear human rights violation in her own country – the army's campaign of rape, killing and destruction in the northwest corner (Rakhine state), an area where the Rohingya live.
The Rohingya are a Muslim people who probably arrived in Myanmar from neighbouring Bangladesh centuries ago. The state, however, sees them as usurpers and johnny-come-latelys and wants them to return to Bangladesh. It refuses to recognize the Rohingya as an official ethnic group which seriously undermines their representation and rights.
To make things worse, a Buddhist monk some have called Myanmar's Osama bin Laden, Ashin Wirathu, leads an Islamophobic group called Ma Ba Tha and has inspired Burmese (the dominant ethnic group) attacks on unarmed villagers. Tens of thousands of Rohingya have tried to flee both west to Bangladesh (more recently) or southwards on flimsy boats where they have landed (if they don't drown) in Thailand and Malaysia, only to be enslaved at times.
In response to the one-sided violence, a group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) has arisen and has carried out attacks against Myanmar soldiers. Ms. Suu Kyi has called them 'terrorists' and there are allegations that foreign jihadis have joined the group (perhaps because they also call themselves Harakah al-Yaqin – Arabic for 'the Faith Movement', which is a little odd since no one in Rakhine speaks Arabic that I know of).
This development was eminently predictable since no outside body, including the UN, seemed capable of doing anything to lessen the violence against the Rohingya. What is very worrying is the possibility that the conflict will draw in foreign jihadis (if it hasn't already), perhaps some leaving the Islamic State in Iraq/Syria. We saw an outflow from Afghanistan post Soviet withdrawal to Bosnia in the early 1990s and could witness similar movements in a host of wars including Myanmar.
The possibility that Myanmar may become a new jihadi battleground, as well as two dozen other cases, is covered in my soon to be released third book The Lesser Jihads.
Is the ARSA a terrorist group as Myanmar claims? I have no idea and I am the last person to support terrorism. The problem is that we have no idea about the 'ideology' the ARSA espouses and, to date, they have only targeted the military. The militants say they just want the killing to stop and self-determination for the Rohingya. We will wait and see how this pans out.
So while I would prefer a peaceful resolution to the situation in Rakhine, the violent surge by the ARSA is easily comprehended. The Rohingya do not stand a chance against the army and extremist Buddhists (should this not be an oxymoron?).
If Myanmar does not change its approach or the international community does not step up, we will see more killing, perhaps worse. The time for another kind of 'action' is now.
Phil Gurski has worked for more than three decades in Canadian intelligence, including 15 with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). His latest book The Lesser Jihads is available now for pre-order on Amazon.
In Bangladesh, a Small Change Could Point to More Extremism
Commentary by: Phil Gurski in Ottawa
Sometimes, small things point to large changes.
During my short visit last week to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, I had the opportunity to sit down with one of that country's leading political scientists to talk about terrorism and PVE – i.e. Preventing Violent Extremism, the newest iteration of CVE – Countering Violent Extremism.
We had a wide-ranging chat in his book-lined office and I also learned that he had studied at Carleton University in Ottawa just before I became a sessional instructor in linguistics at that institution. Small world indeed. Our conversation was very illuminating, especially when it came to the topic of a shift in Islamic influence in Bangladesh.
So, what was that 'small thing'? You may see this as insignificant, but I think it speaks volumes. There is apparently a tendency in Bangladesh these days to replace the everyday phrase 'khoda hafez' (literally 'may God protect you' but colloquially used to mean 'goodbye') with 'allah hafez'.
The difference, of course, is the substitution of the Arabic word for God ('Allah') for the Persian one ('khoda').
This tiny shift is nothing less than a sign of the invasion of conservative, intolerant Sunni Islam into the former East Pakistan (more on that later).
[quote align="center" color="#999999"]The growing dominance of Salafi Sunnism is fairly recent and worrisome.[/quote]
Bangladeshi Islam has traditionally been Sunni of the Hanafi school with an important influence from Sufi interpretations of the faith. The growing dominance of Salafi Sunnism is fairly recent and worrisome. Several terrorist attacks and assassinations have been attributed to Salafi jihadists in the past few years.
The victims have come from communities which the Salafis see as enemies (in truth, a very long list): Sufis, Shia, non-Muslims (Hindus, Christians), gays… Perhaps the most serious attack – in what has been called Bangladesh's '9/11' – was the July 1, 2016 massacre of non-Muslims at a cafe in Dhaka, an operation masterminded by a Canadian terrorist from Windsor, Ontario.
The uptick in violence has many Banglas worried. Everyone with whom I spoke – government agencies, the UN, academics – are all concerned about where this violence is headed.
And, it is not only among the Salafi jihadis that violence is being promoted. Political parties too are jumping on the bandwagon. It does not help that power in the country has been seesawing over the past decade between two female-led parties that routinely gang up on the other once in office. The current government, led by the Awami League, has also given in to some outrageous ideas by radical Islamists, such as a demand to remove a statue of Lady Justice from the grounds of the Supreme Court. This 'dalliance' with extremists is not helpful.
The apparent sanction of violence in the name of religion threatens to lead to more deaths.
Bangladesh faces a difficult decision in the run up to national elections next year. The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina can continue to do deals with the Salafis in order to court their support, but this will only cause more hardship and maintain the transformation of tolerant Bangladeshi Islam to intolerant Salafism.
At the same time, the regime has to confront the serious Islamist extremist (i.e. terrorist) threat, but must do so while keeping human rights in mind. The elite Rapid Action Battalion, a counter terrorism body, has been criticised by some rights groups for extra-judicial killings and disappearances.
Bangladesh was born in a bloody civil war in 1971 when the former East Pakistan split from what we now call Pakistan. The powers that be in Islamabad were not too happy with the independence desires of the eastern half of a country – geographically separated by India in between – and engaged in a slaughter whose victims are estimated at anywhere from 300,000 to three million people.
In fact, trials of those responsible for the massacre are still being held these days. It would be truly tragic if another wave of violence is on the horizon.
But back to that change in 'goodbye'. Salafis hate the Shia more than any other group and believe that the only good Shia is a dead one. Their intolerance has even extended to rejecting a Bangla phrase that contains a Farsi (Persian) word (recall that most Persians are Shia Muslims) for an Arabic one (NB linguistically this makes little sense: Bangla and Farsi are related Indo-European languages whereas Arabic is a non-related Semitic language).
This may sound silly and trivial, but sometimes we do have to pay attention to the small things in life.
Phil Gurski worked in the Canadian intelligence community for more than 30 years. His latest book, The Lesser Jihads, will be published on September 15.
Suffer the Children of Islamic State
Commentary by: Phil Gurski in Ottawa
If there is one searing image of the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe it is that of the orphanages of Romania. The regime of President Nicolae Ceausescu outlawed both contraception and abortion. As a consequence, thousands of women left babies that were either unwanted or those that they could not care for at state institutions. These institutions were understaffed and underfunded.
When the wall fell (Ceausescu and his wife were executed on Christmas Day 1989) the world got a look at these orphanages and what it saw was beyond shocking. Children were often tied to cribs, rocking back and forth in repetitive ways that spoke of a lack of human contact. Food was insufficient and the care devoted to life's most vulnerable was largely absent. A global effort to help these kids ensued and while some undoubtedly ended up okay, thanks probably to the amazing resilience of the human body and mind, many did not and never recovered from their tragic start in life.
We are now faced with a similar situation in Iraq and Syria now that the parody of a state that called itself one – Islamic State – is sinking fast. Thousands of 'fighters' have died at the hands of airstrikes, in battle and in the flames of suicide attacks. Tens of thousands of civilians in cities like Mosul, taken by IS and ruled with an iron fist, have also died. And then there are the children.
One of the most striking aspects of the social Frankenstein that was IS was their effort to create an actual self-sustaining society.Unlike other jihads (Somalia, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya…), IS went out of its way to create an image of a normal, functioning state. Men were encouraged to leave their homes in the West and elsewhere to take up arms to 'defend Islam'. Women were encouraged to come and marry those men and help create future generations of IS 'Islamic Utopia'. Out of that arrangement came children, naturally, including young boys IS called the 'lion cubs of the Caliphate' (the men were the 'lions').
Some of these children were urged (coerced?) to take part in truly heinous acts of violence such as executions and many more were present at public beheadings. There was even one case of an Australian jihadi who posted a picture of his son, who appears to be between 8 - 10, holding a severed head. Truly disturbing.
[quote align="center" color="#999999"]To me all of this is a no-brainer. These children deserve our help.[/quote]
Now that IS is all but defeated as a functioning group, what do we do with these children? We know that war is hell in all cases and that children suffer disproportionately when exposed to death and brutality. In some cases kids in Iraq were kidnapped by IS and either raped or forced to do terrible things.
There is already one case of a Yazidi mom in Winnipeg who has learned that her 12-year old son is still alive: she wants him back with her.
To me all of this is a no-brainer. These children deserve our help. Professionals with seasoned experience in dealing with the trauma of war need to be found and persuaded to assist in this regard. It won't be easy: just as in the case of Romania, some children will be scarred for life.
We can both hate the barbarity that is IS and feel for the children that are its product. These young people are not at fault and we should do whatever we can to provide them with the best chances to achieve a normal life. If anything positive can come out of the enormous tragedy that was Islamic State maybe this is it.
Phil Gurski worked in the Canadian intelligence community for more than 30 years. His latest book, The Lesser Jihads, will be published on September 15.


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Game on.
That's the real lesson from May auto sales.
Forget the huge percentage gains from Toyota, Honda and Subaru.
Forget the May market share swing from Detroit back to Japanese brands.
Forget Wall Street analysts shouting "Disappointing!" because industry sales were merely steady and missed their frothy guestimates.
Forget that 26 percent May sales jump.
Because they're not surprises. Anybody really think Toyota and Honda wouldn't outsell last May, when their cupboards were bare?
The real news: The U.S. market is fully competitive again. And that means the high-profit interlude is over.
Last May was the first month the production disruption from the March Japan earthquake started to affect U.S. dealer supplies. And all U.S. automakers saw those bare Toyota and Honda dealer lots as a signal to throttle back on incentives. With supplies suddenly tight, dealers stopped chasing low-margin deals. Margins on the remaining deals got fat.
The pain from the quake was intense. But in the U.S. marketplace, those big margins were welcome.
But May results confirm it: The market is restocked. Consumers have full choice again.
And it's back to normal competition.