Huy's HomeTurf!!!@Home Newsfeed

Disease-Control Experts Using Google to Monitor Spread of Flu

2009-11-16T15:20:00.002-06:00

Disease-control experts are watching Google to see how H1N1 flu is spreading, hoping it will allow them to follow infection rates in close to real time. The theory is that, follow the search numbers and you also follow the disease. The www.google.org/flutrends/ca/ page aggregates the flu-related search data and tracks the disease's activity around the world.

Graphs demonstrate that the Google flu-query counts match almost exactly the traditional surveillance reports of the disease worldwide. Canada measures at "intense," the highest level, but shows a sharp drop in the last week.

"It's really interesting," said Roy Wadia of the BC Centre for Disease Control. "The tool that is on the website shows you that there is a downturn."

Wadia said some mathematical models do predict a slowdown, but he remains cautious about forecasts.

"It may be flattening," said Wadia. "But flu is unpredictable."

While some groups are still waiting to receive their H1N1 vaccine shots it appears some doses are actually being thrown out. The vaccine has a 24-hour shelf life once it's drawn into a syringe. But health authorities can't always predict how many doses are needed at each community clinic because of fluctuating demand.

So, an estimated one per cent of doses have had to be thrown out.

In Nova Scotia the Capital Health District has had to discard about 80 doses.

For larger districts such as Toronto, it was closer to 500 doses. Health officials say they are trying to keep waste to a minimum.

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Disease-Control Experts Using Google to Monitor Spread of Flu

2009-11-16T15:20:00.000-06:00

Outrage in Washington Over Barack Obama's Bow

2009-11-16T15:17:00.001-06:00

News photos of U.S. President Barack Obama bowing to Japan's emperor (remember when Homer Simpson threw him into that huge crate?) have incensed some Americans in Washington, who say the leader should stand tall when representing America overseas.

Obama was in China on Monday, having wrapped up the Japan leg of his Asia trip two days earlier. But, Washington's useless pundits were still weighing whether or not the U.S. president has disgraced his country two days earlier by having taken a deep bow at the waist while meeting Japan's Emperor Akihito.

That's a shame.

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British Government to Apologize for Child Migrants

2009-11-16T15:12:00.001-06:00

The British government will be apologizing to the families of thousands of poor children who were shipped to Canada and Australia, where many were used as forced labourers and abused, according to an announcement Sunday that is being met with celebration.

Between 1869 and 1948, more than 100,000 children were sent from Britain to Canada, while thousands more were sent to Australia and other former colonies of the British Empire, as part of the Child Migrants Program. The children, often taken without the knowledge of their parents under a government-sanctioned program, were promised a better life but many were abused or forced into labour against their wishes. Some children were told their parents were dead.

The majority of the children were sent to Canada because it was cheaper than sending them to Australia. Many Canadians wanted the children to work on their farms, said Sidney Baker, 76, who's with Home Children Canada, which is an organization that has helped the victims find out where they came from. According to the organization, more than 10,000 records were deliberately falsified.

Baker said the apology, though long overdue, is welcomed by the surviving migrant children and their families.

"I think it is fantastic. It has taken them so many years," said Baker.

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Lake Placid Returns

2009-11-16T15:04:00.001-06:00

Tonight, when Michael Lobsinger from Lake Placid Developments gives the City of Saskatoon a piece of his mind, it is also widely-expected that he will make a bid to keep his company's upscale River Landing Village development alive.

The Calgary-based developer is said to be making another pitch for Parcel Y, the prime piece of city-owned riverfront land that has been thrust once again into a state of limbo.

The company missed a final land payment deadline on October 30, 2009, which placed the property in the hands of the City of Saskatoon, thus terminating the land deal.

"Quite frankly, I don't know what he's going to say," said Mayor Don Atchison. "I hope that he has the money and would like to enter into discussions with us."

When the agreement was terminated on October 30, 2009, Lobsinger issued a news release stating that the company believed that funding could be in hand "shortly" and still wanted to be involved. The company claims that the international credit crunch led to problems getting money to Canada for the River Landing Village project and another condo project in Calgary.

As for the City of Saskatoon, they do not seem to know what to expect, yet.

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Majority of Projects Approved by Canada's Economic Action Plan Escape Environmental Impact Studies

2009-11-16T14:46:00.001-06:00

By now, you should know that the Government of Canada introduced its Economic Action Plan earlier this year. And of course, money is going out the window to municipalise and etcetera at an alarming rate. Well, there is one major downside to the projects. As it turns out, more than 90% of the thousands of new infrastructure projects across the country are slated to get funding from the Conservative government without being required to undergo a federal assessment of their environmental impact, according to Canwest News Service.

Although environmental assessments are generally required for projects that receive funding from the Government of Canada, exemptions were approved by the Right Honourable Stephen Harper's cabinet last spring to speed up the approval process on certain types of projects with "small" budgets.

So, what does that mean? Well, so far, more than 3,000 projects have been approved for funding under the Government of Canada's multi-billion-dollar Economic Action Plan. But out of those 3,000 projects, only 2% o the projects will go through a federal process to evaluate their environmental footprint, according to Chris Day, a spokesman for Honourable John Baird, the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

But, despite that, a number of projects may still be subject to provincial studies.

It is important to note that the exemptions for federal assessments were not introduced though legislation in Parliament and have been challenged in court by two environmental organizations that have too much time on their hands: Ecojustice and the Sierra Club of Canada.

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GM to Pay Back Government Loans, Company Posts Quarterly Loss

2009-11-16T14:37:00.001-06:00

General Motors Co. said today that it would begin paying back American and Canadian government loans, with a $1.2 billion US first instalment in December.

The announcement comes as part of the company's first-quarterly results since emerging from bankruptcy protection as a "new GM" in July. The recovering automaker will pay $1 billion US to the United States and $192 million US to the Canadian government initially, followed by quarterly payments.

The company's debt level now stands at $17 billion US, including $6.7 billion US in U.S. loans, $1.4 billion US from Canada, $1.3 billion US in German loans and another $7.6 billion US globally. Prior to emerging from bankruptcy protection, the company's debt level had been at $94.7 billion US.

As for the company's performance, GM posted revenues of about $28 billion US for the third quarter of 2009, July 1 to September 30, 2009, which overlaps GM's exit from bankruptcy protection on July 10, 2009. However, GM still posted a $1.15 billion US loss for that quarter.

"We have significantly more work to do, but today's results provide evidence of the solid foundation we're building for the new GM," Fritz Henderson, GM's chief executive, said in a statement.

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper Begins Tour of India with Call for More Trade

2009-11-16T14:28:00.000-06:00

Prime Minister Stephen Harper began a three-day tour of India today with a pitch to the business crowd in Mumbai to do more to increase trade between the two countries.

"Our countries share tremendous commercial interests and have great potential for increased trade," Harper said. "Between us, our GDP is well on its way to four trillion dollars. Yet at the moment, we are only doing five billion dollars worth of business per year."

One of the sectors that Mr. Harper wants to help is tourism. He announced that the Canadian Tourism Commission, which is an agency by the Government of Canada, would launch a campaign to attract more Indian travellers to Canada. To help with that pitch, Mr. Harper used one of Bollywood's biggest film stars.

Mr. Harper said that Akshay Kumar, Bollywood's answer to Brad Pitt, would travel to Canada to participate in the cross-country Olympic torch run. Kumar will carry the torch in Toronto on December 17, 2009.

Well... that's... boring!

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Survey Indicates Canadians Slaves to Credit

2009-11-13T10:37:00.001-06:00

Canadians are more likely to rely on credit to pay for emergency expenses than any other country surveyed in a new report on household financial stability. The survey, conducted by TNS Canadian Facts, asked more than 14,600 people in 15 countries around the world whether or not they could come up with $2,000 (or equivalent value in local currency) within a month to pay for health care costs or sudden car or home repairs, and if so how they would get the cash.

Canadians led the pack with 28% saying they would use a credit card and another 13% would use a home equity credit line or second mortgage to pay the tab.

"This finding is troubling," Rhonda Grunier, director of financial research at TNS, said in a release. "Credit is still relatively simple to obtain in Canada, making it an easy alternative for many. However, taking on additional debt... could be a big mistake for some people."

Only 8% of Germans would use a credit card, but they tied for first with Canada in willingness to take out a home credit line or mortgage. Luxembourgians are the second most likely to use a credit card at 27%, while only 6% of Dutch would rely on plastic.

Canucks also ranked high in ability to scrape together the necessary funds, with 68% saying they would be able to meet the deadline. The most confident citizens came from Luxembourg, with 89% believing they could get the money.

The least confident countries included Mexico (41%), the United Kingdom (44%) and the United States and Germany (both 46%). A majority of Canadians, at 52%, would dip into their savings, but this does not come close to citizens from the Netherlands or Luxembourg, where 89% and 86% would do the same.

Meanwhile the most financially confident region in Canada was British Columbia, at 76%, while the least confident was the Atlantic provinces, at 57%. However British Columbians are the most likely to use credit cards, with 31% saying so.

Male Canadians are also more financially confident (75%) than females (62%) in this case.

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New Citizenship Guide Bluntly Rejects Barbaric Practices

2009-11-13T10:34:00.001-06:00

A new citizenship guide for potential immigrants flatly declares that new Canadians cannot engage in barbaric cultural practices such as genital mutilation and "honour killings."

The new guide, released yesterday by Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, says in a section called "Equality of Women and Men" that such practices are illegal and severely punishable under Canada's criminal laws.

"Multiculturalism doesn't mean that anything goes. Multiculturalism means that we celebrate what's best about our backgrounds, but we do so, on the basis of common Canadian values and respect for our laws," said Kenney. "It's no secret that we've seen instances of culturally rooted abuse of women, so-called 'honour killings,' forced marriages, and spousal abuse, and even female genital mutilation. We want to make sure that people understand that multiculturalism doesn't create an excuse to engage in those barbaric cultural practices."

The updated guide, called "Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship," also puts greater emphasis on the obligations of citizenship, such as getting a job, as well as military history.

The Bloc Québécois believes the new citizenship guide marginalizes Quebec's status as a nation, and the role of French-Canadians as one of two founding groups of Confederation. The new guide describes Canada's three founding peoples as Aboriginal, French and British, while historically it's generally been only the latter two. Bloc citizenship and immigration critic Thierry St-Cyr believes it's important to acknowledge the contributions of First Nations in Canada's history, but said the guide is rewriting that role.

St-Cyr was also critical of the guide for touting the benefits of the monarchy and suggestions that the Queen is a "symbol of Canadian sovereignty" who plays an important role in encouraging Canadians "to give their best to their country."

He said it should instead explain more about the political realities of Quebec and what makes it distinct.

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Study Finds Kids Aware of Racism by Age 9

2009-11-13T10:32:00.001-06:00

By their ninth birthday, most children are aware of racism and know the stereotypes other people hold about certain groups, according to a new study that belies the idea of innocent, colour-blind childhood.

"Around the second or third grade, you see a majority of kids understanding that people have stereotypes," says Clark McKown, associate executive director of the Rush NeuroBehavioral Center at Rush University in Chicago. "I think that would be surprising to many people, that by second or third grade a lot of kids get it, they get that there's racism in the world and they understand what it is."

The study wasn't examining children's own prejudices, but rather their "stereotype-consciousness" or awareness of other people's views. The researchers told 124 children ages five to 11 a story about a place called Kidland where Green and Blue people live and Greens think Blues aren't very smart. The children were asked who they thought a Green child would pick to be their study buddy or spelling team member and why, then asked how Kidland is like the real world, and their answers were examined to determine their awareness of prejudice.

The older the children were, the more likely they were to understand stereotypes, the researchers found. And by the fifth grade, almost all of them understood racism and could explain how the bias against Blues in Kidland related to the real world.

"Kids are very savvy, they are wired to understand the social world," says McKown. "In fact, one of their main jobs when they're growing up is to understand what the social world is made of, their friendships, their relationships with teachers, their understanding of who belongs to what group. We are equipped from infancy to gather the data we need to get that stuff, and kids understand a lot more than we give them credit for."

What's more interesting is that the researchers found that once children understand racism, it affects their achievement. When black and Latino children were given a memory task and told it would measure their abilities, they did more poorly on it than others who were told it was simply a problem-solving exercise, which McKown says is the result of fear that they would live down to stereotypes about the lesser academic abilities of their race. Although the demographic makeup of the two countries differs, McKown said the results would apply equally to Canadian children or those absorbing the cultural views of any country.

Ayman Al-Yassini, executive director of Canadian Race Relations Foundation, says the findings closely mirror those of other studies in which students were divided up by arbitrary criteria, such as their height or eye colour, and then treated differently. Those experiments showed that discrimination is not an intrinsic value but a learned behaviour, Al-Yassini says, and the only way to combat it is to talk about it.

"We need to understand where we're coming from as individuals, we need to understand our emotions and to realize our values as individuals and as a society," he says. "The only way of doing it is not by glossing it over but by talking about it, talking about the impact of discrimination on us as individuals, on us as a community and, more importantly, on the individual who is being targeted as the subject of discrimination."

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Cell Phone Ban Introduced in Saskatchewan Legislature

2009-11-13T10:30:00.001-06:00

Using a handheld cellular phone to talk, text, email or surf the Internets while behind the wheel is expected to formally be off limits in Saskatchewan in 2010. Cellular phone usage of any kind will also be a "hell no" for new drivers, which means anyone in the Graduated Driver's Licensing Program.

The Government of Saskatchewan yesterday proposed the new law, which will take effect January 1, 2010, as long as the bill passes during the current fall legislative sitting.

"We know that being able to keep two hands on the wheel is important," said June Draude, Minister Responsible for Saskatchewan Government Insurance.

Draude said that the government has heard the argument that cellular phones should be banned altogether for all drivers because even hands-free phone conversations are a driver distraction. But, allowing the use of hands-free devices, such as headsets or Bluetooth earpieces, was seen as the "better option right now," she said. The exception is new drivers, "who need some time under their belts" before they can use a hands-free phone, Draude said.

The penalty for an offence associated with the new law will be $280 and four demerit points. That's a shame...

At the legislature to back the introduction of the bill was Ashley Wilkie, president of Students Against Drunk Driving at Sheldon Williams Collegiate.

"Studies have shown that it is just as bad to be on your cell-phone or texting as it is to be under the influence," said Wilkie.

Wilkie admitted that she is guilty of having used her cellular phone while driving, but she stopped the habit after watching "numerous people," including herself, almost get into accidents.

"I think that texting is the worst because it takes your full attention, that you have to be staring at your phone the whole time," Wilkie said, adding the threat of demerit points will be a deterrent.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Ian Mitchell, a senior traffic collision analyst, said driver distraction causes death and serious injury on Saskatchewan roads. Hand-held cellular phone usage is only one distraction, but barring that practice is a start, Mitchell said.

Meetings will take place to discuss enforcement of the pending law, he said.

"There are going to be some difficult situations where you can't see the cell-phone, especially in a texting situation where just the head is down behind the driver's wheel. So there's going to be some challenges for enforcement, but we've had those challenges before," Mitchell said.

Pulling over to the side of the road to talk on a cellular phone isn't a problem as long as the driver does so safely, he said.

"A lot of companies have that policy in place already. You see many company trucks on the side of the road when their employees are using the phone."

Devices such as GPS systems, two-way radios or MP3 players are not affected by the proposed legislation, although SGI notes police can charge distracted drivers with driving without due care and attention. Police, fire and medical services personnel who are on the job will be exempt from the new law, along with drivers who call 911 to report an emergency.

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Prince Charles/Camilla Finally Leave Canada; Hype Ends Soon, Hopefully

2009-11-13T10:28:00.001-06:00

Following a tradition that began a century ago, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, planted an oak tree at Rideau Hall yesterday, before making their way to the Ottawa International Airport for their flight home to England. The tree-planting at the Governor General's residence was the couple's last official function of their 11-day visit to Canada, during which they travelled to Newfoundland and Labrador, Toronto, Hamilton, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Victoria, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and Petawawa, Ontario. The tradition of planting trees during royal or state visits began with Earl Grey, who was Governor General of Canada from 1904 to 1911.

The Prince's grandmother, The Queen Mother, meanwhile, distributed Royal Oak seedlings during her visit to Canada in 1939, in a gesture meant to represent the values shared between Canada and Britain.

The Royal couple was met at the airport Thursday by Governor General Michaelle Jean and her husband Jean-Daniel Lafond, as the Central Band of the Canadian Forces played the opening bars of "God Save the Queen" and the 37th Field Artillery issued a 21-gun salute.

After inspecting the Guard of Honour mounted by the Royal Canadian Dragoons, and a complete rendition of O Canada, Charles and Camilla boarded their aircraft and departed.

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Saskatchewan's Economy Will Rebound: Report

2009-11-13T10:25:00.001-06:00

Saskatchewan's economy will contract by 2.6% in 2009, but will bounce back with 3.7% growth in 2010, which is the second-highest among the provinces, according to the latest forecast by the Conference Board of Canada. The only caveat is that the main cause of this year's recession, plunging potash production, may not recover sufficiently to turn the economy around next year, the Ottawa-based economic forecaster said.

"There are signs that (potash) demand is going to pick up, but it's very tentative," said Marie-Christine Bernard, an economist with the Conference Board and author of the provincial outlook. "Depending on when there's rebound and the extent of the rebound, we might see some weaker growth in Saskatchewan (in 2010)," she said.

With a strong rebound in potash production, Saskatchewan's economy will grow faster than any other province in 2010, except British Columbia at 4.2%, the Conference Board said. Finance Minister Rod Gantefoer acknowledged that Saskatchewan is currently experiencing a recession, but noted the Conference Board report shows Saskatchewan in very good shape for next year.

"We are in it now and we're going to come out of it and have some significant growth next year," he told reporters at the legislature.

After being burned by decreasing potash sales that left a huge hole in his spring budget, Gantefoer said the predictions give him some confidence in a rebound in potash sales in 2010.

"You're asking the wrong guy right now, (who's) been waiting for these sales of potash for months now, to say with definitive information that's going to be. But all the forecasters seem to be predicting that there will be growth and there will be sales."

But, NDP finance critic Trent Wotherspoon said this year's contraction makes the economic growth projections for 2010 look better than they actually are.

"Next year, when we go and we see a possible marginal increase, that's in many ways making up for possibly what was lost this year," he said.

Meanwhile, Saskatchewan's exports are forecast to increase by 1% in 2010, after dropping by 29% in 2009, led by the mining and energy sector, according to a provincial export outlook by Export Development Canada (EDC).

"(The sector is) 84% of the province's exports," said Peter Hall, chief economist with EDC. "It's a big part of the overall provincial (economy)."

Exports of crude and petroleum products for this year and next are expected to be depressed, with reduced output of heavy oil offsetting higher production of light crude. The forecast growth in export values of 4% in 2010 will be led by a modest increase in the price of oil.

Potash exports, which have been halved on an annual basis this year, are expected to rebound in 2010 as buyers return to the market. But that rebound is by no means assured.

"Is it all over? In terms of potash production, absolutely not," Hall said.

While EDC remains bullish on the long-term outlook for potash, the short-term outlook is uncertain.

"(2010) is a year of reckoning. The recovery year is in 2011."

The province's second-largest export sector, agrifood -- accounting for one-third of exports -- is expected to decline by 3% in 2010. Lower meat and livestock production, combined with a weaker crop this fall, is expected to constrain total export growth to only 1% next year.

Canadian exports are forecast to contract 23% in 2009, before rebounding 6% in 2010, EDC said.

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9/11 Suspects to Be Tried in New York

2009-11-13T10:23:00.000-06:00

The alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four others will be sent for prosecution in a criminal court in New York from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an Obama administration official said on Friday. The five were being prosecuted in U.S. military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but the Obama administration has pledged to close the controversial prison and to move some of the cases to traditional American criminal courts for trial.

"I am absolutely convinced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice. The American people will insist on it. My administration will insist on it," U.S. President Barack Obama said in Tokyo where he was on a weeklong trip through Asia.

In addition to claiming responsibility for the 2001 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, Mohammed has said he was responsible for numerous other attacks and that in 2002 he beheaded Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Some other Guantanamo detainees will be tried in military tribunals, including the accused mastermind of the 2000 attack on the USS Cole warship in Yemen, Abd al-Rahim al Nashiri, the official said. Seventeen U.S. sailors were killed and 47 wounded in that attack.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to announce the decisions later on Friday, the administration official said, declining to be further identified. Holder faced a Monday court deadline to make a decision. The move marks one of the first major steps by the Obama administration to close the prison, which he has pledged to do by January 22, 2010. However, Obama and his team have faced numerous political and diplomatic hurdles and some officials admit it may be hard to meet the deadline.

The official who tried to lead the effort to close Guantanamo, White House Counsel Gregory Craig, is resigning from the post, the White House confirmed on Friday. There are 215 detainees at the detention camp which was set up in early 2002 by the George W. Bush administration to house terrorism suspects.

Trials in New York may provoke strong public reactions, particularly since it was the site of the 2001 attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center's twin towers and killed nearly 3,000 people. One Guantanamo detainee, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, has already been sent from Guantanamo to New York to be tried on charges of being involved in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed 224 people.

The four other September 11 suspects being held at Guantanamo are Walid bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al Hawsawi. It was not clear where the suspects will be held while they are awaiting trial,. but some have suggested the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig in South Carolina.

One difficulty prosecutors may face in pursuing charges against Mohammed, a Pakistani raised in Kuwait and educated in the United States, was is that he was subjected to harsh interrogations which human rights groups have called "torture." While in U.S. custody, Mohammed was subjected 183 times to "water-boarding," which simulates drowning by pouring water over someone's face while they are restrained.

Among the barriers to closing Guantanamo is the deep resistance by U.S. allies to take detainees from the prison who have been cleared of connections to terrorism. Some of Obama's political opponents in the United States do not want the trials held on U.S. soil. Some Republicans argued that Guantanamo already has the facilities to try and imprison the terrorism suspects. They also have said communities that would house the prisoners in the United States could become targets for attacks.

But, the administration of Obama and his fellow Democrats have countered that the U.S. courts and prisons have handled scores of terrorism suspects previously and they must close Guantanamo because it has tarnished the United States' reputation abroad. The White House pressed Congress to overhaul the military commissions to address concerns raised by civil rights groups. Lawmakers ultimately barred the use of confessions from harsh interrogations and made it tougher to use hearsay evidence.

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Blockbuster Ready to Refresh 1,700 American Stores

2009-11-13T10:10:00.000-06:00

Feeling a little more free to do things after some debt refinancing in September, Blockbuster Inc. Now plans to boost its marketing and increase the number of movie copies it keeps in its stores during the fourth quarter of 2009.

The company also plans to start renovation some of its stores, with plans to make minor renovations in about 1,700 stores by the end of 2010.

The company plans to spend roughly $10,000-$20,000 per store to repaint, add flat-screen display televisions and make other minor changes in stores beginning this quarter, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes said. After renovating about 600 stores in 2008, the company was forced to conserve cash this year as the recession and competition took its toll, while it faced tight credit markets.

Unfortunately, despite the "good" news financially, the company still plans to close about 960 stores by the end of 2010.

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Obama Tops Forbes List of Powerful Persons

2009-11-13T10:06:00.001-06:00

U.S. President Barack Obama. First, he receives the Nobel Peace prize. And now, he's apparently one of the most powerful people in the world, according to Forbes.

Obama, whose popularity at home and abroad has boosted the image of the United States, according to numerous surveys, topped the list that also includes Osama bin Laden and Oprah Winfrey as people who wield some sort of influence over the world.

Osama bin Laden came in at 37 on the list of people, and Oprah Winfrey came in at 45. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown came in at 29, while Queen Elizabeth was apparently not good enough for the list.

This is interesting...

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Mother Slowly Emerges from H1N1 Coma

2009-11-13T10:04:00.001-06:00

One week after complete respiratory failure prompted doctors to put Jaclyn Bates, 27, into a medically induced coma while she battled the H1N1 flu, the Calgary mother of two young children is slowly waking up. That's great! Her fiancé, who just days ago was told by health officials to prepare for the chance Bates might die, called it a miracle. Well, I would too!

"She's not coherent and she can't respond to commands from the nurses yet, but that's expected," said Rob Pearce, 25. "It's going to be a slow recovery so they are telling me to be patient, but she is slowly waking up."

The fast deterioration of the Calgary mother was shocking, said Pearce.

"She's the epitome of health," Pearce said. "She just went from being perfectly healthy to ridiculously sick in a very short period of time and the doctors aren't even sure why."

Pearce said doctors at Rockyview General Hospital put Bates in an induced coma last Wednesday because she couldn't breathe on her own and doctors wanted to control her lung functions. "She had complete respiratory failure."

His fiancée has slowly improved while in the coma and is starting to breathe again, but remains on a ventilator. Citing privacy laws, a spokesman for Alberta Health Services said Wednesday he couldn't comment on the case.

Although rare, other Canadians have also been put into medically induced comas after being diagnosed with H1N1. Cases include a Nanaimo, British Columbia man, 41, who was placed in an induced coma after his kidneys shut down, and a Montreal woman, 23, who died after being put into an induced coma after giving birth to a son in June.

So far, the Public Health Agency of Canada has reported 135 deaths H1N1 nationally.

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Air Canada Adding Fee for Extra Legroom

2009-11-13T10:02:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Air Canada announced that passengers looking for extra legroom will have to cough up extra cash.

Air Canada is joining a growing number of carriers, including its main Canadian competitor, WestJet Airlines, by offering customers preferred seats, for a price. The seats, costing up to $35 per one-way trip for domestic flights and $75 for international flights, are usually located in the exit or bulkhead rows.

The new policy also applies to new mothers travelling with infants hoping snap up a prized with room for a bassinet in the bulkhead row. In some aircraft, these seats, located directly behind a physical partition or wall, still have bassinets dubbed "sky cots" for babies to sleep.

Well... that's just weird. And since none of us here actually fly very often (or know about the seating arrangements), I'm not going to go into the complaints.

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Bernie Madoff's NYC, Palm Beach Homes Get Price Cuts

2009-11-12T17:28:00.001-06:00

It's still not cheap, but Livin' La Vida Madoff may now cost a bit less. Asking prices for homes once occupied by now-imprisoned Ponzi scheme artist Bernard Madoff in Manhattan's Upper East Side and in Palm Beach, Florida, have been cut, after about two months on the market. Madoff's 4,000 ft² duplex Manhattan penthouse, "perched atop a distinguished white-glove prewar cooperative" according to the broker Sotheby's International Realty, is now being offered for $8.9 million, 10 percent below its initial $9.9 million asking price.

The price of the 8,750 ft² home in Palm Beach was cut 7% to $7.9 million from $8.49 million, according to the broker Corcoran Group. Corcoran calls that home "a return to classic Florida island living" of the 1950s and 1960s "when Palm Beach was a less manicured tropical paradise."

In contrast, Madoff's beachfront home sold last month for $9.41 million, above its $8.75 million asking price, and also listed by Corcoran. Steven Roth, chairman of Vornado Realty Trust, was the buyer, The Wall Street Journal said. Corcoran did not immediately return requests for comment. Madoff himself estimated the Manhattan penthouse was worth $7 million and the Palm Beach home $11 million.

Sale proceeds will go toward reimbursing victims of Madoff's estimated $65 billion Ponzi scheme. U.S. Marshal Joseph Guccione said the price for the Manhattan penthouse was reduced "in response to current market conditions" and to attract more potential buyers.

Irving Picard, the trustee supervising the liquidation of Madoff's investment firm, last month said he had recovered $1.4 billion of Madoff's assets. However, that's just 7% of the $21.2 billion of investor losses he had identified.

An auction is scheduled for Saturday at a Sheraton hotel in Manhattan of items once used by Madoff and his wife Ruth, including Rolex watches, Hermes and Prada handbags, and a satin New York Mets baseball jacket emblazoned with Madoff's name. Proceeds are expected to be at least several hundred thousand dollars, according to low estimates from the U.S. Marshals Service and Gaston & Sheehan Auctioneers Inc, (www.txauction.com), and also go to Madoff victims.

Bernard Madoff is presently serving a 150-year prison sentence in North Carolina. Well... that's a shame.

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Judge Names Pair of Executors for Jackson Estate

2009-11-12T17:25:00.001-06:00

A judge made Michael Jackson's long-time attorney and a music executive the executors of his estate on Tuesday, giving them broad powers to run the late pop star's affairs, despite objections from his father.

The judge's ruling came after an attorney for the singer's mother, Katherine Jackson, said that she had no objection to John Branca and John McClain running the estate.

The Jackson estate is expected to see a boost of $200 million by the end of year on the strength of the movie This Is It, which is now playing in theatres, which relies on rehearsal footage of him, as well as music sales and other business deals engineered by Branca and McClain.

Michael Jackson, who died at the age of 50 on June 25, 2009, from an overdose of powerful medications, left behind an estate that includes part ownership in a music catalogue with songs from numerous bands including the Beatles. According to Jackson's 2002 will, the estate funnels money to a trust that benefits Katherine Jackson, the singer's three kids and children's charities.

Until now, attorney Branca and music executive McClain have handled the estate as administrators, but legal experts said being named executors gives them broader powers and makes it harder for anyone to challenge their position

"I think that the decision today means there won't be any further challenge," said attorney Beth Kaufman, a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm Caplin & Drysdale, and an expert on estates.

In court filings, Joe Jackson challenged the appointment of Branca and McClain, but Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff dismissed his objections on Tuesday. Beckloff said Joe Jackson, who had a contentious relationship with his son, was excluded from the estate's assets under the singer's will and family trust, and therefore had no standing to challenge Branca or McClain.

"That was a decision his son made," Beckloff said in court. "I don't see how (Joe Jackson's) affected by the appointment of Branca or McClain as executors."

In recent months, Katherine Jackson also had objected to the way Branca and McClain ran the estate, and she demanded greater say. But last month, she replaced her legal team and on Tuesday her new attorney, Adam Streisand, said Katherine approves of Branca and McClain. Even though Branca and McClain were named executors, legal experts said Jackson's estate is likely to stay tied up in the court system for years as a judge oversees matters such as paying creditors and making business deals.

"A year in the blink of an eye will be gone, and they probably won't have scratched the surface," said Michael Dave, an attorney who handles probate and estate matters with the Los Angeles firm Marcus, Watanabe, Snyder and Dave.

Separately at Tuesday's court hearing, Beckloff made public the nearly $1 million cost to the estate to stage the pop star's funeral. The internment itself cost nearly $600,000. The judge set a December 10 hearing, where Joe Jackson can make his case for an allowance he requested from Jackson's estate, in court papers filed last week.

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Government of Saskatchewan Hires, Fires Employees; Cost for Severance: $170,000

2009-11-12T17:06:00.001-06:00

The Government of Saskatchewan is paying out more than $170,000 in severance to two senior officials hired and fired by the Government of Saskatchewan.

Severance figures that were provided in response to written questions from the Opposition indicate that Allan Hansen, who was brought in as Deputy Minister of Social Services in July 2008 and terminated without cause in June 2009, received $122,308 in severance. Tim Korol, who was hired as a special adviser to Social Services Minister Donna Harpauer in 2008 and was later promoted to Assistant Deputy Minister, was also dropped this past June. He received $51,812 as a severance payment.

"One is always concerned when apparently friends of government come in to do a job and then are let go and paid more money to do so," said NDP MLA Len Taylor in an interview. "There is apparently a hiring process here that should be questioned."

The NDP raised questions last week about severance paid out during the transition process when the Saskatchewan Party took power from the previous NDP government. The government has maintained the costs for the approximately 70 employees terminated for being incompatible with the government remains at the $10.7-million figure it outlined this spring. According to answers provided to the NDP for a question put forward in April, the government has terminated another 24 unnamed employees without cause since the transition, with severance costs nearing $1.3 million.

Minister of Justice Don Morgan said that none of those individuals lost their jobs because of political affiliation or philosophical differences. He said he could not talk about specifics in those cases.

"Naturally you'd rather see taxpayers' dollars used to pay employees that are producing, that are working. In some cases it just doesn't work out," he told reporters this week.

Six employees on the list received more than $100,000 in severance costs, with the highest amount at $181,302.

Man, this situation is funny, just like that time G4 Media, Inc. went on a firing spree after its purchase of TechTV. You don't remember that? Remember when TechTV became G4techTV? Well, G4 eventually decided to fire some people, including hosts of The Screen Savers. At the same time, Martin Sargent was fired, and his show, Unscrewed with Martin Sargent, was cancelled. Those bastards... I loved that show!

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Britons Among World's Ugliest People: Survey

2009-11-12T15:58:00.001-06:00

Britons are among the ugliest people in the world, according to a dating website that says it only allows "beautiful people" to join. Fewer than one in eight British men and just three in 20 women who have applied to BeautifulPeople.com have been accepted, an emailed statement from the website showed.

Existing members of the "elite dating site" rate how attractive potential members are over a 48-hour period, after applicants upload a recent photo and personal profile. Swedish men have proved the most successful, with 65% being accepted, while Norwegian women are considered the most beautiful with 76% accepted, the website said. The way that BeautifulPeople.com accepts new members is simple. A potential member applies with a photo and a brief profile. Over 48 hours, existing members of the opposite sex vote whether or not to admit them, the site said.

The options are: "Yes definitely," "Hmm yes, OK," "Hmm no, not really" and "No, definitely not."

The site was founded in 2002 in Denmark and went live across the globe last month. Since then, the site has rejected nearly 1.8 million people from 190 countries, admitting just 360,000 new members. Only the male Russian and Polish applicants fared worse than British men, although Russian women had a 44 per cent acceptance rate.

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Poll Indicates That Canadians Are Worried about "Livability" of Cities

2009-11-12T15:56:00.001-06:00

A large number of people living in Canada's biggest cities are anxious about the future "livability" of urban spaces and are stressed about traffic and public transit, according to a new poll. The Angus Reid poll commissioned by IBM Canada found that 31% of the 2,015 urban dwellers polled disagreed with the statement: "My city is currently on a path of long-term livability."

Almost half of those polled, 48%, rated traffic and public transit as the biggest infrastructure challenges facing modern cities. Ottawa residents proved to be the most anxious: 75% of those polled said traffic and transit in the city are growing problems, perhaps reflecting the commuter chaos caused by last winter's transit strike.

Other cities where residents polled high levels of anxiety about transit are Calgary (70%), Vancouver (69%), Toronto (60%) and Montreal (53%). Respondents were far more positive about other city services: 66% rated police, fire and ambulance services as excellent or good; 62% approved of their municipal water, sewage and electrical services; and 59% gave a vote of confidence to local education systems.

Vancouver was chosen as Canada's most livable city by the largest number of survey respondents, as 18%, from a list that also included Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, Edmonton and Winnipeg. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 2.19%, 19 times out of 20.

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper Departs for Asia with Ambitious Agenda

2009-11-12T15:54:00.001-06:00

Prime Minister Stephen Harper travels to Asia today for a weekend summit in Singapore of Pacific Rim nations, followed by three days next week in India, which is a trip that Canadian officials hope leads to a brand new era of partnership with the world's largest democracy. This trip will be Mr. Harper's first trip to India and his office has a jam-packed dawn-to-dusk itinerary that includes political, commercial, cultural and spiritual events.

He will, for example, visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar and, in Delhi, lay a wreath at Raj Ghat, the cremation site of Mahatma Gandhi. In New Delhi, he will visit Chabad House, the Jewish outreach centre that was attacked by Pakistani Islamist terrorists in 2008 (man, I'd be totally scared to visit that place... let's hope nothing happens to the man). In addition to meeting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr. Harper will also have a meeting with Sonia Gandhi, the influential chairwoman of the United Progressive Alliance.

"This is a very ambitious agenda for India," said Dimitri Soudas, Mr. Harper's chief spokesman. "There is a tremendous amount of untapped potential to the Canada-India relationship."

A key focus for the trip will be improved trade relations with India, a country of 1.2 billion people whose economy is rapidly expanding despite the recession. Two-way trade between the two countries is tiny, at just $2 billion a year, but officials in both countries believe the time is right to increase that amount. Officials with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., for example, will be in India during the Prime Minister's visit as they pursue opportunities in nuclear energy production. Other firms, like Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin, will be there hopeful of winning contracts to help India build up its public infrastructure. Indian investors are keen to tap into Canada's energy and natural resources sector.

While officials with the Office of the Prime Minister would not speculate on the types of trade deals they expect to discuss, Canadian industry officials believe Mr. Harper and Singh will announce that the two countries have agreed on a framework for negotiations that could lead to a free-trade agreement. The two countries are also close to completing negotiations on a foreign investor protection agreement or FIPA that is a crucial first step toward new Indian investments in Canada and Canadian investments there. Mr. Harper, in fact, is scheduled to participate in a roundtable with Indian investors in Canada when he visits Mumbai on Monday. But, his time in India will focus on more than trade. At Mr. Harper's own insistence, his program includes a broad array of cultural, educational, and spiritual events.

"The case for stronger relations between Canada and India (is) rooted in our histories -- our parliamentary democracies, our federalist systems, our legal codes, and even our use of the English language are derived from our shared heritage," said Soudas. "But there's something more profound that unites us, which is pluralism, the rich pattern of regional, ethnic and cultural diversity."

He plans, for example, to visit the television studio where Dance Premier League is filmed. Dance Premier League is a wildly-popular reality show in which teams of dance contestants compete. Several Indo-Canadian teams are in the running and one of the judges, Shiamak Davar, is a permanent resident of Canada and operates dance schools in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto.

In Singapore on Saturday and Sunday, Mr. Harper will participate in the annual leaders' summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum. Chinese President Hu Jintao and U.S. President Barack Obama will likely be the stars of that summit, but Mr. Harper's advisers say that he will pursue "an aggressive" schedule of one-on-one meetings with a variety of leaders to push Canada's trade agenda of lowered trade barriers. APEC countries account for about half of the world's trade.

"We believe that Canada's stable financial system offers a number of best practices that can help shape a new global approach to financial regulation and oversight," said Soudas.

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