Reported Elsewhere
Board, BC mayors make the case for Vancouver transit audit
It's not cheap to have a "value for money" audit of an organization the size of TransLink.
Tensions flare over Vancouver-owned mine in Oaxaca
Three dead and a community divided over Fortuna Silver's gold and silver project.
Osoyoos Times editor apologizes for comments on RCMP
Keith Lacey: "I owe a sincere and heartfelt apology to Cpl. Ryan S. McLeod of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for comments that appeared in the Wednesday, Feb. 8 edition of the Osoyoos Times."
BC premier delivers talk show 'throne speech'
B.C. Premier Christy Clark is returning to her roots as a radio talk show host to announce her priorities on Monday morning -- ahead of the start of the spring legislative session on Tuesday.
NDP leadership: Thomas Mulcair ahead on first ballot, internal poll suggests
Thomas Mulcair is the front-runner in the New Democratic leadership race and is on track to win a quarter of votes on the first ballot, according to an internal poll done by the campaign for rival Ottawa MP Paul Dewar.
Sky is the limit for use of mini, unmanned planes
A couple of years ago Saskatchewan Sergeant Dave Domoney had a Eureka moment. Why do the Mounties only investigate car crashes from the ground, he wondered, when they ought to be getting a bird's-eye view too?
Prime Minister by day, oil exec by night
One of the most startling assertions contained in Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver's controversial open letter, which was released on the eve of public hearings into Enbridge's tanker and pipeline proposal to B.C.'s West Coast, concerns how he equates shipping oil to Asia as unquestionably being in the "national interest."
Animal-made 'art' challenges human monopoly on creativity
Art is usually considered a uniquely human ability, but that may not be true. Given the opportunity, animals like chimpanzees and gorillas and elephants produce abstract designs that arguably rise to artistic level.
Scientists unveil bold new definition of addiction
The official diagnosis for addiction is getting a major makeover—promising major changes for the addiction community and healthcare professionals alike. Here's what you need to know. Tweeted our way by @ChainTheDogma
The most hellish ‘internships’: China sends 100,000 teens to work for a pittance at Foxconn making gadgets for Apple, others
Behind the sleek face of the iPad is an ugly backstory that has revealed once more the horrors of globalization. The buzz about Apple’s sordid business practices is courtesy of the New York Times series on the “iEconomy. It turns out the story is much worse.
World Press Photo Contest: Editor’s choice pictures of the day
The international jury of the 55th annual World Press Photo Contest has selected a picture by Samuel Aranda from Spain as the World Press Photo of the Year 2011. That photo and a selection of others are highlighted here.
Banks come first in a Greek rescue plan
On Thursday, the Greek political parties caved in and agreed to a new austerity package that will satisfy the latest European demands. Perhaps Europe, in its stumbling and sometimes disorganized fashion, will have accomplished a large part of what it set out to do. It will have put a fence around the Greek tragedy and preserved — most of, if not all — the euro zone. As for rescuing Greece, well, you can’t win them all.
We’re more unequal than you think
Imagine a giant vacuum cleaner looming over America’s economy, drawing dollars from its bottom to its upper tiers. Some of our founders foresaw this happening. “Society naturally divides itself,” Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist, “into the very few and the many.” Four books under review here reject Hamilton’s premise.
Cambodia launched restaurants for vultures
In a bid to save Southeast Asia's dwindling population of the birds, Cambodia has created what they call 'vulture restaurants', where specially carved carcasses are laid out for the scavengers. The so-called restaurants are the latest step in a program to save the three species of the bird that have been nearly wiped out throughout Asia.
Flavored vodka: sign of the imminent apocalypse?
If spirits writers and apocalyptic cults are right and the world actually ends in 2012, it will be because of the new wave of flavored vodkas that evoke a stream of childhood memories.
With Obama’s new foreclosure deal big banks win again
Rather than settling anything, this agreement is simply a continuation of the policy framework of both the Bush and the Obama administrations. So what exactly is that framework? It is, as Damon Silvers of the Congressional Oversight Panel which monitored the bailouts, once put it, to preserve the capital structures of the largest banks.
How doctors choose to die
When faced with a terminal illness, medical professionals, who know the limits of modern medicine, often opt out of life-prolonging treatment. An American doctor explains why the best death can be the least medicated. Tweeted our way by @danklarc
B.C. government changes rules to allow liquor licenced venues to screen movies
After weeks of controversy over Vancouver's Rio Theatre losing the ability to screen films after gaining a liquor licence, the B.C. Liberal government is changing the rules. Rich Coleman, minister of energy and mines, announced this morning (February 9) that "effective immediately" the province is "making liquor licences more flexible for venues that host live events".
Are American prison towns doomed?
Ever since the crime rate in the U.S. began leveling off in the late 1990s, with the total state prison population decreasing for the first time in 40 years, there haven’t been enough inmates to populate these new-found penitentiaries. Like the real estate market crash of the last ten years, the belief that the incarceration market was recession-proof and could only rise is being proved wrong.
Metro Vancouver’s bid to curb urban sprawl facing local challenges
As tens of thousands of newcomers continue to pour into Metro Vancouver, two controversial developments are about to test the region’s just-approved plan aimed at preventing sprawl.
Libya struggles to curb militias as chaos grows
There remains optimism in Tripoli, not least because the country sits atop so much oil. But Abdel-Rahim el-Keeb’s government, formed Nov. 28, has found itself virtually paralyzed by rivalries that have forced it to divvy up power along lines of regions and personalities, by unfulfillable expectations that Colonel Qaddafi’s fall would bring prosperity, and by a powerlessness so marked that the national army is treated as if it were another militia.
A lesson in Spanish cursing, hypocrisy, and general douchebaggery with Ezra Levant
A few weeks back, Ezra Levant dropped the F-bomb on television. Well, more or less. He did it in Spanish, in the phrase “Chinga tu Madre.” It means what you think it means. The following exchange took place between him, the CBSC and Sun Media’s legal counsel.
Pictures of Japan, 11 months after the tsunami
Japan’s Reconstruction Agency will be inaugurated Friday, almost 11 months after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the country. These are photos compiled by Zoran Bozicevic with words by Michael Higgins.
FAQ: Obama’s $26 billion foreclosure settlement
The Obama administration has announced this morning a $26 billion fraud settlement with five of the nation’s banks over their flawed and fraudulent foreclosure practices Here’s what you need to know about it.
No old age security crisis says Parliamentary Budget Officer
Kevin Page says the boomers will not break the bank. In fact, Ottawa’s finances are in such good shape that it could afford to cut taxes and boost spending all while cutting cheques to a growing number of Canadian seniors.
Vancouver mayor to push Feds for affordable housing help
Canada’s biggest cities are hoping to convince Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to bring in modest “targeted” programs to help spur the construction of rental housing when the federal budget is unveiled next month, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said Tuesday.
Speculation grows over fate of crime-fighting Chinese official
In a sign that China’s political season is heating up, reports circulated widely on Wednesday that one of the country’s most famous crime fighters had tried to defect to the United States.
Santorum’s sweep stuns Mitt
In a stunning rebuke to Mitt Romney and the national media, Rick Santorum took all three of Tuesday’s Republican contests, defeating Romney in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri—all states the Mittster had been expected to win. Santorum has now been victorious in four states—more than anybody else—and yesterday’s results will surely establish him as the most serious threat to Romney.
U.S. prepping military options for Syria
With the current plan to bring an end to months of violence in Syria languishing, the United States has begun considering other options.
Russians claim Antarctic lake drill win
Russian scientists are reporting success in their quest to drill into Lake Vostok, a huge body of liquid water buried under the Antarctic ice. It is the first time such a breakthrough has been made into one of the more than 300 sub-glacial lakes known to exist on the White Continent.
Gluttony goes viral: how we gorge on the Internet
When we try to hold the Internet in a single thought, we reach for an image of exhilaration, of liberation, of flight: "the Information Superhighway. I want to suggest another image, one that comes closer to the Internet in practice: a great groaning table, creaking under bottomless platters of food and pitchers of drink, and we in our chairs, too exhausted to stand, mouths too numb to taste much, but with just enough energy to reach for more.
Tiny tarsiers talk in high-pitched code
The Philippine tarsier is a tiny primate with a seriously high voice. The saucer-eyed mammal can let out (and listen to) squeaks and squeals at such a high frequency that it effectively gives the mammal a private communication channel. A team of researchers, led by Marissa Ramsier of Humboldt State University in California, found that the tiny tarsier can hear and emit sounds in the ultrasound range – that they can vocalize in a range around 70 kHz, and pick up frequencies above 90 kHz.
Are multinational oil companies hijacking Canadian energy decisions?
Rather than preparing to listen respectfully to community members in British Columbia, the Canadian federal government is acting as a spokesperson for Big Oil accusing opponents of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline of being “radicals” and “foreigners.” Tweeted our way by @H20Wise
New corporate acquisition creates commodities super-giant
Glencore International, the biggest commodities trading company in the world, agreed on Tuesday to buy the remaining stake in Xstrata it does not own already in a deal that would create a company with a market value of nearly $90 billion.
Did Opie & Anthony cross line in Tom Green Twitter controversy?
It started as a slowly percolating and largely private dispute over the ownership of the @TomGreen Twitter handle between two people named Tom Green--one a Toronto college professor who grabbed that account ID, and the other a celebrity comedian who was too late to get it. It exploded into a sewer-full of insulting, obscene, and even threatening tweets sent to the teacher. Tweeted our way by @JamKim
Ottawa to allow spy agency to act on intelligence extracted by torture
The federal government has directed Canada’s spy agency to use information that may have been extracted through torture in cases where public safety is at stake. The order represents a reversal of policy for the Conservative government, which once insisted the Canadian Security Intelligence Service would discard information if there was any inkling it might be tainted.
Fifty per cent chance of Greek exit from Eurozone over next 18 months, say Citi economists
Willem Buiter and Ebrahim Rahbari at Citi argue that the likelihood of Greek exit from the eurozone (or ‘Grexit’) now stands at 50% over the next 18 months. Buiter and Rahbari even argue that leaving the euro — which, let’s remember, isn’t provided for in any treaty and would have to be disorderly by definition – would be a “cathartic experience” for reforming the Greek state. We’re not too sure many Greeks would see it the same way.
Who cares if the Internet is open?
As Facebook draws close to the billion-user mark and a $100-billion market valuation, the giant social network’s dominance begs the question: what is the benefit for users that makes them so eager to place their entire online experience in the hands of a single company?
U.S. federal appeals rules California gay marriage ban unconstitutional
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling issued in August 2010 that Proposition 8 violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees equal protection under the law. In that ruling, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker wrote that the ban "fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license."
Indiana, Caterpillar, and the last crusade: do right-to-work acts work?
Caterpillar's Progress Rail Services announced Friday that it's shutting down its Electro-Motive Canada plant in London, a 62-year-old operation where 700 jobs will be lost. Caterpillar didn't specify where the jobs would go, but Indiana is the logical candidate, given that there's an operation there, and the company held a packed job fair on the weekend, offering work at far less pay than in Canada. This came at the same time that Indiana became the 23rd state in the country, and the first in about a decade, to adopt such "right to work" legislation.
Burnaby temple offers up land for young farmers
A Burnaby-based religious group is negotiating with young urban farmers to put nearly three acres of unused agricultural land back under crops this spring. The Sanatan Dharm Cultural Society is hoping to build a brand-new Hindu temple and seniors’ home amid the sprawling vegetable fields and industrial yards of south Burnaby, but that may not happen for years. Tweeted our way by @kainagata
Who watches you while you drive?
Not many people know that local police and the RCMP have already begun building a massive public traffic surveillance system. And no one knows how they’re going to use it. Tweeted our way by @dangillmor
Is labour doomed?
The closure of the Electro-Motive plant in London, Ontario is just one example of the growing evidence that capital and its right-wing political minions are determined to eradicate what’s left of organized labour. And it begs the question – is the labour movement, as we currently know it, about to be wiped out?
Osoyoos Band site picked for new Okanagan jail
The B.C. government will build a new Okanagan jail on land owned by the Osoyoos Indian Band near Oliver, CBC News has learned.
The end of Wall Street as they knew it
After surprisingly successful financial reform, public vilification, and politics that have turned against them, the Masters of the Universe are masters no longer.
France impounds African autocrats’ ‘ill-gotten gains’
French authorities are investigating the conspicuous Paris fortunes of three serving African leaders and their families.
Mr. Harper goes to China: concerns over Syria and Iran loom large
Prime Minister Stephen Harper departed Monday for Beijing with the shadow of international concerns over a despotic regime in Syria and its Iranian ally looming large. Harper’s spokesman Andrew MacDougall told the Star Harper will raise the issues of Syria and Iran with the Chinese leadership and “how concerned we are about Syria and building support for sanctions.”
America’s self-righteous indignation over Syria at the UN
American officials spared no rhetorical expense in reacting to Saturday's collapse of a UN resolution on Syria. Hillary Clinton was "appalled," and UN Ambassador Susan Rice was "disgusted." Referring to Russia and China, who vetoed the resolution, Rice said, "any further bloodshed that flows will be on their hands." This seems like a bit much.
New rules for radicals: 10 ways to spark change in a post-Occupy world
The world is changing quickly, and we need to help steer it according to our shared values -- our vision of what might be. The first rule is this: The world is different now. The rules have changed. Tweeted our way by @perrybulwer
‘Free-for-all’ decimates fish stocks in the southern Pacific
An eight-country investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists of the fishing industry in the southern Pacific shows why the plight of the humble jack mackerel foretells progressive collapse of fish stocks in all oceans. Tweeted our way by @Eversostupid
Saudi oil minister calls global warming ‘humanity’s most pressing concern’
In a speech at the Middle East and North Africa energy conference in London yesterday, Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi — who once called renewable energy a “nightmare” — hailed energy efficiency and solar as important investments, global warming “real” and “pressing,” and explained that drilling for oil “does not create many jobs.” Tweeted our way by @kainagata
Deutsche Bank chief fears ‘social time bomb’
The chief executive of Deutsche Bank has warned of a "social time bomb" from wealth and income inequality. Tweeted our way by @BenCabbr
‘Yoga body’: the conspiracy
The taut and toned ‘yoga body’ on display in the media marketplace is a lie. It is NOT obtained from a regular yoga routine (as many would have you believe) – no , its obtained at the price of constant work, a Herculean effort to burn calories, and a saintly denial of carbs. Tweeted our way by @yoginiblogger and @jenniferaikman
U.S. Air Force’s ‘big penetrator’ needs to be harder
Laugh it up, but the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) needs to be harder, according to anonymous Pentagon sources cited in a Wall Street Journal article. Tweeted our way by @theDoorsgirl
How to make a web series and the future of social media (podcast)
The Bunker Show podcast talks about the equipment required to produce a quality web series. They also make some 2012 predictions and touch on google +, path, square up and much more… Tweeted our way by @Tara_CKGolf
The artful dodgers of Melbourne’s graffiti revolution
Melbourne has emerged as an unlikely leader in urban art, being compared with Berlin, New York and Sao Paolo, and attracting urban art A-listers like Blek le Rat (the Parisian “godfather of the stencil”) and Banksy. Tweeted our way by @Eversostupid
- Appeal court upholds ruling on protection of orca habitat
- Foreign takeover score is 14,218 to two calculates Mel Hurtig, who speaks Saturday
- Abbott blames teachers' union, hints at legislation
- Greens exaggerating fracking fears 'to control you': Santorum
- Prime Minister Harper mixes oil with human rights on visit to China
- Civil jury finds former BC premier Vander Zalm guilty of defamation
- Vancouver theatre runs down curtain on section of BC's outdated liquor laws
- BC Premier Clark to replace throne speech with radio appearance
- 'The Kids Are All Right'
- 'Leave Your Shoes On'
- Glaciers, BC Hydro's Melting 'Batteries'
- Frankie Rose Makes Life Tougher for Journalists
- Too Much Energy Used to Mine, Move Bitumen Says BC Firm
- Becoming the Ethical Hunter
- Shadow Workers of the World, Revolt!
- Three Ryan Gosling Pickup Techniques that Don't Work in Real Life
- Could SOPA Pervade Canadian Copyright Law?
- Would You Buy a Used Car from These Libs?
- Shadow Workers of the World, Revolt!
- Economist Calls Gateway Pipeline an Inflationary 'Threat'
- Bill Rees' Last Lecture
- Too Much Energy Used to Mine, Move Bitumen Says BC Firm
- Is Canada Ignoring Signs of a Coming Economic Collapse?
- Harper in China
- How First Nations Are Gearing Up for Legal Battle Against Gateway
- Eleven Oily Questions for Every MP
- Remembering Lloyd Dykk's Wit, Generosity and Superb Prose
- BC Child Care Advocates in Geneva to Complain to UN
- BC, You Love You
- Shadow Workers of the World, Revolt!
- Who Pays Huge Power Bills for Clark's Gas Plants?
- Make It the Canadian Webcasting Corporation
- Harper in China
- When the Prize Is a Chance to Toil on BC's Farms
- Three Ryan Gosling Pickup Techniques that Don't Work in Real Life
- Would You Buy a Used Car from These Libs?
- Time to Zip John Baird's Loose Lips
- Foreign Trade Zones Eyed for Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Prince George
- Board, BC mayors make the case for Vancouver transit audit
- Tensions flare over Vancouver-owned mine in Oaxaca
- Osoyoos Times editor apologizes for comments on RCMP
- BC premier delivers talk show 'throne speech'
- NDP leadership: Thomas Mulcair ahead on first ballot, internal poll suggests
- Sky is the limit for use of mini, unmanned planes
- Prime Minister by day, oil exec by night
- Animal-made 'art' challenges human monopoly on creativity
