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Liberals gaining momentum
After their major defeat during the last federal elections, the Liberal Party is finally gaining momentum.
While the Conservatives and the NDP are still leading, the Abacus poll shows the Liberals are catching up with 21 per cent support from voters.
With Bob Rae as interim leader, they are constantly in the public eye, getting both coverage and support. The Angus Reid poll showed Bob Rae’s personal popularity increasing from 20 per cent in August to 28 per cent of respondents having a favorable opinion of him.
Although it is still unclear whether Mr. Rae wants the leadership post, which will be given sometime in the spring of 2013, his increasing popularity might become crucial to the Party’s success.
Two hostages rescued in Somalia
The U.S. special forces rescued two hostages in Somalia yesterday. According to Aljazeera, the special forces killed nine Somalian pirates in the operation.
The two U.S. citizens rescued are aid workers and were abducted in Galmudug. The president of Galmudug thanked the U.S. and denounced the pirates as mafia and spoilers of peace and ethics. Pirate gangs have turned to kidnappings because new ships with better defenses have made commandeering more difficult.
The two aid workers were taken to a US military base in Djibouti. It is the only one in sub-Saharan Africa.
One British tourist, two Spanish doctors, and an American journalist are still being held hostage in Somalia.
Celebratory day for Egypt
Egyptians are remaining in Cairo’s Tahrir Square following a rally to mark the one-year anniversary of the uprising. This uprising lead to President Hosni Mubarak’s departure. The BBC has reported that some protesters plan to stay until Friday, the date of the next rally.
Citizens are divided about this important day. Some are demanding a quick handover of power from the interim military authorities. While others are asking for patience and are celebrating the success of Islamist parties following Mubarak’s downfall.
Others rallies are said to have taken place in Suez, parts of the Nile delta and in the Sinai peninsula.
Mubarak denies the charges against him regarding the killing of demonstrators during the uprising. Hosni Mubarak fled the capital after three weeks of protests.
This Week In Sports: January 25th
NHL:
Another week full of storyline in the NHL this week, but we’ll stick to a topic that has sparked a lot of debate: following the nearly-horrific injury that Taylor Hall suffered from a teammates skate blade in warm-up (while not wearing a helmet), should the NHL make helmets mandatory during the warm-up for all teams? While I think it’s a good idea, I don’t see it happening; I doubt the players would go for it. The NHL can’t get them to wear visors during the games, why would they accept being forced to wear extra protection during a simple warm-up? While this was a fluke accident and probably won’t happen again, it still makes sense for the NHL to want to see its most prized assets as protected as possible. One way that could work would be to grandfather the concept into the game, meaning that from next year all rookies would have to wear helmets in warm-up, and continue that trend until every player in the league has helmets in warm-up. The problem is actually monitoring this; the NHL won’t have someone watching every warm-up to make sure the right players are following the rule.
NFL:
It was a wild championship Sunday as the Patriots and Giants advanced to Super Bowl in what should be an epic rematch of the incredible 2007 Super Bowl. While my score predictions were off, I was correct on the two winners. Seeing as there are two weeks until the big game, I’ll hold off until next week to make my predictions. An interesting aspect of both games was the fact that they each had a couple of clear-cut scapegoats. Wide receiver Lee Evans dropped the game-winning touchdown pass in the end zone with seconds remaining on the clock and Billy Cundiff missed the game-tying field goal with time about to expire, while in the other game kick returner Kyle Williams fumbled at two crucial moments, allowing the Giants to first score a big touchdown in regulation and ultimately kick the game-winning field goal in overtime.
NBA:
It was an average week in the NBA, but several questions came up concerning one current powerhouse and one former powerhouse. The Miami Heat are on a prolonged winning streak without superstar Dwayne Wade in the line-up, and those looking to stir the pot have been asking if Lebron James and the Heat are better off without two huge superstars in their starting five, that they simply need to have one and surround him with solid teammates (like Chris Bosh). Personally, I think the idea is downright silly; while Wade and James haven’t found that perfect, cohesive, unstoppable chemistry yet, they are too good to not find it eventually. When they do, the Heat will probably reach the incredibly lofty goals that they set when they joined forces last summer.
On the other hand, the glory days of the Boston Celtics seem to be a thing of the past, as it appears age has begun to creep up on Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett. While they are in 8th place in the Eastern Conference, the trio look slowed by this compressed schedule and it’s been reported that if the right deal (or deals) come along, the Celtics might be willing to move them.
Tragedies:
It’s been a sad couple of days in the world of sports as two prominent figures have passed. The first was Sarah Burke, a pioneer in Canadian freestyle skiing, who died on Thursday due to injuries she sustained from a crash during a training session on January 10th. She was 29. The second round of bad news hit on a much more global level, as it was announced that legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno passed on January 22nd from lung cancer. Paterno will be remembered for his long tenure at Penn State and his status as the winningest coach in college football history, but his name will always be associated to the heavily scrutinized sexual abuse scandal that surrounded the program this past year. Paterno was 85.
-Andrew Maggio runs a dedicated Habs blog, check it out here
Drone your winter blues away...
Need an evening to escape this year's winter? CJLO 1690 AM is presenting a night of music to drone your winter blues away at Jackie and Judy, Rococo Bar Spectacle on Friday January 27th. This show will feature THISQUIETARMY, Echo Beach, Aim Low, and Old Wyoming.
Doors open at 9 pm, and the show only costs $5. This is a fundraiser for CJLO 1690 AM. Jackie and Judy is located at 6512 ave du Parc (corner Beaubien).
Obama addresses nation before 2012 presidential campaign heats up
Barack Obama set key themes for the upcoming presidential election as he delivered his third State of the Union address Tuesday night.
He called for an overhaul of the U.S. tax system, saying that America's wealthiest citizens need to pay their fair share in a tough economy burdened with debt.
Some billionaires, including Warren Buffet, have argued for tax increases.
Buffet has pointed out that he pays a lower rate than his secretary, Debbie Bosanek. And surely enough, Bosanek was there for the speech.
Republicans were critiquing Obama's stance on taxes before he took the stand.
The US will also work on linking clean energy to homes and the Navy.
"We will make one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history -– with the Navy purchasing enough capacity to power a quarter of a million homes a year," said Obama.
Obama mentioned his commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining any nuclear weapons and emphasized strong ties to Israel, Asia and Europe.
January 25 2012
Read by: Kevin Gascoigne
Stories by: Joel Ashak, Joel Balsam and Michael Lemieux
Produced by: Jamie-Lee Gordon
Energy drinks bad for health
According to CTV Montreal, teenagers are consuming enormous amounts of energy drinks.
A study released Tuesday by local health groups found that one fifth of sugar consumption among teenagers was due to energy drinks. The report also found one in three teenagers drinking these beverages and called on the government to help.
The groups asked Health Canada for a number of regulations. Reclassify energy drinks as food. Limit the amount of minerals and vitamins in the drinks. Add new warning labels to prevent people from mixing energy drinks with alcohol.
The group says the drinks currently don’t accurately show how much caffeine they have in them. They also don’t say how bad they are for teenagers.
The Quebec Soft Drink Bottler’s Association responded saying that over 90% of caffeine Canadians drink is from coffee or tea.
Apple soars in profits
As Research in Motion plummets after a shake up in head office, Apple is soaring. The maker of iPods had a whopping last quarter with a one hundred and eighteen percent increase in profits. It also sold more iPads, iPhones and Mac computers than ever before.
The record revenue of nearly 47 billion puts Apple as one of the world’s top companies. But Apple has not yet cracked the business market.
Blackberry still clearly dominates the smartphone market for business. And Microsoft still governs the corporate world. But all eyes are on RIM to see if they will recover from their downward spiral.
Trust Abby: Book Reviews
Every month I’m going to post mini blurbs/summaries about books I’ve recently read AND I’m going to tell you why you should read them too, all in the most interesting, non-preachy, non-educative way possible. Also, since this we are a music station, not only will you be learning about some amazing literature but you’ll gain music knowledge too. How? Each novel gets its very own soundtrack! So take a look and listen. I recommend you listen to the soundtracks as you read the reviews.
Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
A mysterious picture book illustrated with real Victorian photographs that adds to an already dark and eerie story.
The novel centers around a sixteen year old, angst ridden, unpopular (by choice) teen named Jacob. He is a rich kid from the suburbs who has very little to worry about. He was dealt a rare and fair share of cards: he is an only child and his parents love and coddle him. Not only does Jacob never have to worry about making money (he is the heir to his family's fortune), but he’s also gifted in the smarts department and enrolled in all the honours classes at school. Yet, he feels unfulfilled and bored by his "too easy" life, un-fascinated by wealth and desperate for a change.
It sounds like the beginning of every other young adult book out there, however it’s anything but. This story takes a drastic and unexpected turn when tragedy strikes and radically changes Jacob’s life.
He becomes obsessed with rediscovering his family's past. In search of "the truth," Jacob travels to a European island to visit an abandoned orphanage that his grandfather lived in as a child during the Second World War. This orphanage was the inspiration for many tales and supernatural stories over the course of his childhood. Although Jacob was entertained by his grandfather’s fables, he rarely believed them and thought the old man was a bit off his rocker. The story really makes you question appearances and whether everything is as it seems. Riggs’ writing is a bit reminiscent of J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series, in the sense that there is a magical aspect to the novel. The story gets very dark and I recommend that only those who are interested in death, ageing, immortality, time travel and string theory read it.
Riggs was inspired to write Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children after discovering loads of old Victorian photographs. As a result he created an entire story centered on these images, which he uses to illustrate and detail each captivating chapter.
Click here for the book trailer. There is also a mini YouTube documentary about the author’s travels for the research of this novel here.
Chosen Soundtrack: Hurry Up, We're Dreaming by M83
Best Song: "Midnight City"
I find that the dreamy, melancholy beats suit the novel’s subdued loss of innocence theme perfectly. Also, without giving too much away, the music video for this song suits the story so well it’s creepy. The crazy part is I had already chosen this track as the story’s song before even watching the vid! Check it out for yourself here.
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
A story filled with family secrets, sibling rivalry, racism, identity and finding one’s true home.
The novel begins with 21-year-old Pearl and her 18 year-old sister, May. The girls are living a frivolous and privileged life In Shanghai, China. However, thanks to the patriarchs gambling streak, unfortunate circumstances befall the family and they lose everything. As a result, both girls are sold into unwanted arranged marriages with men they do not know or love. The story takes place during a time of war (1937) with the onsets of communism in a cosmopolitan city.
The amount of violence and loss in the novel is unbearable and, most disturbingly, a lot of it is true. Lisa See did an insane amount of research and the historical information you learn from reading Shanghai Girls is amazing. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is curious about different cultures and is fascinated with history. See demonstrates through Shanghai Girls the brutality of war and how women and children are rarely spared during times of violence. There are chapters that are so gut wrenchingly shocking that you have to take a break for a drink of water. It is impossible not to feel for the characters in the novel and even more impossible not to compare them to real people in war torn countries. The story makes you appreciate what you do have.
The story is divided into three parts: Fate, Fortune and Destiny. The parts correspond with different periods in the sisters' lives, from teenagers, to young adults, to midlife. It’s a novel that changes your perspective and opens your eyes to the bonds of family, alienation, cultural diversity and racism. The story touches on how tradition can keep families from attaining happiness in a new world. See uses her characters to demonstrate how adopting new customs isn’t necessarily bad and that it is possible to integrate into a different society without losing one’s culture.
Click here for a site that describes the arrival of the first Asian people and how integrated marriages were not allowed and a lot of the Asian cultures were forced to live in their own Chinatowns sealed off from the ‘whites.’
Chosen Soundtrack: Bonobo
Best Song: "Kiara"
This track begins quietly and then changes into something more rhythmic. Kiara gains momentum in beat and speed halfway through the song, and, just like Shanghai Girls, it ends on a strong note. You can listen to it here.
Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay
An amazing story that questions the idea of survival and how being alive doesn’t necessarily mean you are part of the living. The characters and their story are fictional but the events are based on real occurrences.
De Rosnay captivates us with her non-linear storytelling. Bouncing back and forth from past to present with each chapter, the reader is thrown into the lives of two very different characters: Sarah and Julia. Sarah is a ten-year old French girl residing in France with her Jewish immigrant family. She was born in Paris and is a French citizen, however this does not protect Sarah and her relatives from being arrested by the French police and sent to an extermination camp in Auschwitz. Julia Jarmond is an American journalist living in Paris with her French husband and daughter. She soon becomes enveloped in a family secret that connects her to Sarah, thanks to a story assignment on the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup in 1942.
Based on real events, the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup is one of France's best kept and worst secrets. Thousands of Jews, including women and children, were sent to the Velodrome d’Hiver and left there without food, water or bathrooms for three days until being thrown onto busses and sent to their deaths. Women were separated from their husbands and children from their mothers. This all took place in France and the book embarks on an emotional tale that questions humanity and the power of forgiveness.
Sarah is on a quest to save her little brother Michel, who refused to leave the house when the French police came to arrest the family. Instead of leaving with the family, Michel crept into his secret hiding place (a tiny cupboard in their shared bedroom) and refused to come out. Scared and wanting to protect her brother, Sarah locked and shut the door, promising to return for him as soon as she could, key in hand. Sarah’s hope to find her baby brother wills her to live, while Julia’s morals guide her to discover the truth, and ultimately intertwines the two on their path to freedom. Sarah’s Key is a heartbreaking, eye-opening novel that will make you think for days and weeks on end.
Chosen Soundtrack: Gogol Bordello
Song: "Through the Roof 'n' Underground"
-Abby Schachter hosts The Reaktor on Fridays from 2-4pm
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