Tuesday, January 3, 2012 www.metronews.ca Some Electro-Motive Diesel workers fear company’s lockout is a step toward moving London jobs to a facility in Indiana Others consider the latest contract offer a ‘union-busting’ attempt by the locomotive maker News worth sharing. Electro-Motive Diesel ANGELA MULLINS @METRONEWS.CA {page 13} ANGELA MULLINS/METRO
LONDON News worth sharing. Tuesday, January 3, 2012 www.metronews.ca Locked out Electro-Motive workers stand near burn barrels Monday morning while walking a picket line outside the plant at 2021 Oxford St. E. The company locked out workers, many of them members of the Canadian Auto Workers Local 27, on Sunday. The move came after months of failed contract negotiations. ANGELA MULLINS/METRO CAW workers set up picket line Some Electro-Motive Diesel workers fear company’s lockout is a step toward moving London jobs to a facility in Indiana Others consider the latest contract offer a ‘union-busting’ attempt by the locomotive maker About 100 Canadian Auto Work- ers were walking a picket line outside Electro-Motive Diesel on Monday, blocking a van full of workers attempting to gain access to the plant. Production at the Oxford Street East site was idled late Sunday after the company locked out about 420 Canadian Auto Workers following months of failed contract talks. Mike Rossit, a CAW represen- tative and an Electro-Motive employee, said picketers are in for the long haul. “We wanted to come in and bargain in good faith and keep the lines of communication (with the company) open,” Rossit said as people huddled around burn barrels and waved union flags. The company issued a statement Sunday saying the union’s “changing positions have created an environment of uncertainty that is not in the best interests of the company’s employees, customers, suppliers and owners. “Therefore, (Electro-Motive Canada) is seeking the assurance of a prompt ratification of the company’s last offer and has instituted a lockout at the London facility until a ratified contract is in place,” the release continued. “Given the union has indicated its members are willing to work under those terms, we are hopeful of a speedy ratification allowing union mem- bers to return to work.” Contract negotiations, which started nearly a year ago, broke off for the last time Dec. 27, with union members standing firmly against a proposed 55 per cent cut in wages and benefits, Rossit said. CAW voted in favour of strike action Friday — a day before the existing contract expired. Electro-Motive Diesel The company, which makes loco- motives, is based in LaGrange, Ill., and has about 750 employees in London. It’s a subsidiary of Progress Rail Services, an operat- ing division of heavy-equipment giant Caterpillar. CLASSIC COMEBACK RANGERS TOP FLYERS IN MUCH-HYPED GAME {page 13} MEET THE BOMB GIRLS FACTORY WOMEN IN WWII {page 7} 2011’S MURDERS SOME HIGHS AND LOWS FOR HOMICIDES ACROSS THE COUNTRY {page 3} ANGELA MULLINS @METRONEWS.CA
Transcript
LONDON
News worth sharing.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012www.metronews.ca
Locked out Electro-Motive workers stand near burn barrels Monday morning while walking a picket line outside
the plant at 2021 Oxford St. E. The company locked out workers, many of them members of the Canadian
Auto Workers Local 27, on Sunday. The move came after months of failed contract negotiations.
ANGELA MULLINS/METRO
CAW workers set up picket line Some Electro-Motive Diesel workers fear company’s lockout is a step toward moving London jobs to a facility
in Indiana Others consider the latest contract offer a ‘union-busting’ attempt by the locomotive maker
About 100 Canadian Auto Work-ers were walking a picket lineoutside Electro-Motive Diesel onMonday, blocking a van full ofworkers attempting to gainaccess to the plant.
Production at the OxfordStreet East site was idled lateSunday after the company lockedout about 420 Canadian AutoWorkers following months offailed contract talks.
Mike Rossit, a CAW represen-tative and an Electro-Motiveemployee, said picketers are infor the long haul.
“We wanted to come in andbargain in good faith and keepthe lines of communication (withthe company) open,” Rossit saidas people huddled around burnbarrels and waved union flags.
The company issued astatement Sunday saying theunion’s “changing positions havecreated an environment ofuncertainty that is not in thebest interests of the company’semployees, customers, suppliersand owners.
“Therefore, (Electro-MotiveCanada) is seeking the assuranceof a prompt ratification of thecompany’s last offer and hasinstituted a lockout at theLondon facility until a ratifiedcontract is in place,” the releasecontinued. “Given the union hasindicated its members arewilling to work under thoseterms, we are hopeful of a speedyratification allowing union mem-bers to return to work.”
Contract negotiations, whichstarted nearly a year ago, brokeoff for the last time Dec. 27, withunion members standing firmlyagainst a proposed 55 per centcut in wages and benefits, Rossitsaid.
CAW voted in favour of strikeaction Friday — a day before theexisting contract expired.
Electro-Motive Diesel
The company, which makes loco-
motives, is based in LaGrange,
Ill., and has about 750 employees
in London. It’s a subsidiary of
Progress Rail Services, an operat-
ing division of heavy-equipment
giant Caterpillar.
CLASSIC COMEBACKRANGERS TOP FLYERSIN MUCH-HYPED GAME
{page 13}
MEET THE BOMB GIRLS
FACTORY WOMEN INWWII {page 7}
2011’S MURDERSSOME HIGHS AND LOWS FORHOMICIDES ACROSSTHE COUNTRY {page 3}
02 metronews.caTUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012news: london
The next time you plopdown to browse the web ortype an email to your boss,consider this: Your comput-er keyboard may be one ofthe filthiest things youtouch every day.
Attack it with antibacter-ial wipes, those highly pres-surized cans of air orwhatever else suits yourcleaning fancy. The fact re-mains that killing all thegook that builds up overtime is, well, “somewherebetween difficult and quiteimpossible.”
That’s the way MikeBrock, president and CEOof Adept Chemical Technol-ogy, sums it up. But he anda five other Londoners areout to change that.
Dubbed the LondonGroup of Six — or LG6 —the team of experts fromvarying business back-grounds has been workingfor the past few years onwhat’s most simply de-scribed as a sterilizationunit for everything fromkeyboards to medicalequipment.
The unit takes old tech-nology and puts it to a newuse.
The chemical compound
— chlorine dioxide — usedin the cleansing is the sameone Brock’s companysprays to clean carcasses atfood-processing plants. In-
stead of spraying the com-pound, the sterilizationunit (called Log-vi) turns thechlorine dioxide into avapour, allowing the gassybacterial buster to get intoevery nook and cranny ofan object within minutes.
In other words, insteadof getting a surface clean,items placed in the Log-viget a deep clean withoutcoming into contact withwater.
Arscott’s inspiration?Watching on TV as hospi-tals tossed out “dirty” com-puter keyboards during theSARS epidemic.
“I thought, There has tobe a better way,” he said.
Cooking up a deep clean
A greenerway totrash theChristmastreeChristmas tree recycling isavailable until Monday,Jan. 9.
You can drop off yourtree at one of six depots:
South London: Amway(Exeter Road, by WhiteOak Road (west end ofparking lot); Mitches Park(Upper Queens Avenueparking lot).
Central: St. JulienWorks Yard (south end ofSt. Julien Street).
East: Stronach Park(Beckworth Avenue park-ing lot).
After Jan. 9, Christmastrees and holiday greenerycan be taken to a commu-nity EnviroDepot (see yourwaste reduction and con-servation calendar or lon-don.ca) or placed out atthe curb with regulargarbage. METRO
Robber usedBBQ fork: PoliceLondon police are lookingfor a male suspect whotried to rob a conveniencestore with a barbecue forkSunday.
Police said a man triedto rob Goody’s VarietyStore at 10 HawthorneRd., demanding moneyfrom the clerk.
The clerk sustained mi-nor injuries after a strug-gle with the suspect, whofled with a number of LTCbus tickets. METRO
Norwalk impactshospital visitsLondon Health SciencesCentre is limiting visitorson a portion of the ninthfloor inpatient unit of Uni-versity Hospital after anoutbreak of Norwalkvirus. Eleven patientsshowed symptoms. METRO
News in brief
The salaries, perks and re-tirement benefits of mosthospital CEOs and execu-tives will be made publicTuesday under Ontario’sfreedom of informationlaw.
Hospitals became sub-ject to the law Jan. 1, so theOntario Hospital Associa-tion advised its members torelease executive contracts— along with board min-utes, financial plans and
other documents — byposting them on their web-sites.
“When universities be-came subject to FOI, one ofthe first things peoplewanted to see was execu-tive contracts,” said TomClosson, OHA presidentand CEO.
“Rather than waiting forrequests to come in one at atime or hospital by hospital... we thought it wouldmake the most sense toproactively disclose thesecontracts.” THE CANADIAN PRESS
Remove lid. Place keyboard in bottomhalf of unit.Fill reservoir with hot tapwater. Add two vials of chemicalsto water, creating chlorinedioxide.Place lid on unit for atleast 45 minutes.Empty water reservoir andremove keyboard.
ANGELA MULLINS/METRO
Temperatures tohover below zero
Environment Canada was forecasting snow squalls well into Tuesdaymorning, bringing up to 25 centimetres of snow in the London area.Temperatures are expected to stay well below the freezing markTuesday, with a high of -10 C, and an overnight low of -12 C.
Salt. Sprinkling
Justin Link, with Parkside Landscaping, sprinkles salt along Richmond Row as snow squalls move through thecity Monday. Link had shovelled and salted sidewalks nearVictoria Park several times by Monday evening, making ithis busiest day so far this winter.
London men put old cleaning technology to new use on keyboards Cellphones, TV remotes among things that could be cleaned: Creators
To scan 2D barcodes inMetro, download thefree ScanLife app at2dscan.com.
On the web at
metronews.ca
EdmontonphotographerPaul Burwell explains how hecreates hisdetailed and radiantly lit images ofsnowflakes.Video atmetronews.ca/video
Montreal’s revamped Cosmodome offers visitors a
chance to explore the universeat a fraction of the $35-millioncost of being a space tourist.Scan the code for the story.
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03metronews.caTUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012news
Three more Grenada po-lice officers were chargedwith manslaughter onSunday in the beatingdeath of a Canadian as thecountry’s prime ministerinsisted the case isn’t in-dicative of the Caribbeanisland’s law enforcement.
“This is really an isolat-
ed case, it’s unfortunate,”Prime Minister TillmanThomas told The CanadianPress in a phone interviewfrom his home Sundaynight.
A police statement saidofficers Edward Gibson,Shaun Ganness and RuddyFelix were arrested and
charged Sunday in thebeating death of 39-year-old Oscar Bartholomew ofToronto, who was visitingthe island about 160 kilo-metres north of Venezuelato see family. The Sundayarrests brought the num-ber of police suspects tofive. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
More officers charged in Grenada beating death
Authorities arrested a manyesterday in connectionwith dozens of suspectedarson attacks that de-stroyed parked cars,scorched buildings and rat-tled much of the nation’ssecond-largest city over theNew Year’s weekend.
Harry Burkhart, 24, wasbooked for investigation ofarson of an inhabiteddwelling and was beingheld without bail, authori-ties said.
Burkhart was arrestedearlier in the day becausehe resembled a “person ofinterest” captured on sur-veillance video. He was
stopped by a reserve sher-iff’s deputy in a van beingsought by arson investiga-tors.
More than 50 blazeshave flared since Friday inHollywood, neighbouringWest Hollywood and theSan Fernando Valley, caus-ing about $3 million indamage.
Police declined to revealany motive for the fires.
Firefighters have not re-sponded to any other suspi-cious fires since Burkhartwas detained, Capt. JaimeMoore said.THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/WITH FILESFROM THE CANADIAN PRESS
Man arrested in L.A. arson probeSuspect driving van with British
Columbia licence plates: Reports Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters extinguish
numerous cars on fire in a carport in the Sherman Oaks
neighbourhood of Los Angeles yesterday.
DAN STEINBERG/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
“People who knowGrenada ... will tellyou that Grenadais the safestdestination in theCaribbean.”TILLMAN THOMAS, PRIME MINISTER OF GRENADA
MOUNT RAINIER SHOOTING
Suspect inmurder ofU.S. parkrangerfound deadAn armed Iraq War veter-an suspected of killing aMount Rainier NationalPark ranger managed toevade snowshoe-wearingSWAT teams and dogs onhis trail for nearly a day.He couldn’t, however, es-cape chest-deep snow.
A plane searching theremote wilderness forBenjamin Colton Barnes,24, yesterday discoveredhis body lying face downon the mountain hoursfrom where authoritiescould get to him. Thecause of death was notimmediately made pub-lic.
Barnes is believed tohave fled to the remotepark on Sunday to hideafter an earlier shootingat a New Year’s house par-ty near Seattle thatwounded four, two criti-cally. Authorities suspecthe shot ranger Margaret
“WehaveSWAT team mem berswith snow shoes on theside of a mountain,”Pierce County Sheriff’sspokesman Ed Troyersaid. “This has never hap-pened before.”
Immediately after Sun-day’s shooting, policecleared out the park ofvisitors and mounted amanhunt.
Fear that tourists couldbe caught in the crossfirein a shootout withBarnes, who had survival-ist training, prompted of-ficials to hold more than100 people at the visitors’centre before evacuatingthem in the middle of thenight. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Anderson
Barnes
MOUNT RAINIER NATIONALPARK/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PIERCE COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPT./THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Halifax Population: 370,000Homicides were up significantly for Halifax, with17 throughout the municipality in 2011. That’ssix more than in 2010 and four more than theprevious record of 13 from 2009. Most of thehomicides weren’t random, but inlate November three teens werecharged in the indiscriminateshooting of a Halifax-area seniorout for a walk.
VancouverPopulation: 578,000The City of Vancouver saw15 homicides in 2011. Thefinal homicide in the citywas the New Year’s Eve stab-bing death of 19-year-oldDylan Cody Smith at anapartment. In MetroVancouver and the FraserValley, therewere 35homicides in2011, accord-ing to CBC.
CalgaryPopulation: 988,000 Early intervention and fundingcommitments from municipal and provin-cial governments are being touted as ma-jor factors in keeping Calgary’s homicidenumber at 11, the lowest it’s been in eightyears. The final count is in stark contrast tokillings at the height of thecity’s gang war in 2008 and2009, when roughly threetimes the murders wererecorded.
EdmontonPopulation: 730,000Edmonton saw its deadliest year ever in 2011 — in-cluding two slayings in the final 24 hours, with a 35-year-old man and a woman in her 20s becoming the46th and 47th homicide victims. Thecity, which led the country in homi-cides, surpassed its previous recordof 39 from 2005.
TorontoPopulation: 2.5 millionToronto recorded 46 murders in 2011, thelowest number in 25 years. This was thefourth straight year of declines since 2007,when the city recorded its deadliest year(matched in 1991) with 86 homicides. PoliceChief Bill Blair attributed some of the declineto the disruption of gangactivity following sweepingraids carried out across theregion.
OttawaPopulation: 812,000Ottawa had 11homicides in 2011. Fourvictims were womenand the rest men. Kniveswere used in five of thecases. Three othervictims were shot, all ofwhom were men withcriminal ties. The shoot-ings remain unsolved asdo three other cases: inone case, the cause ofdeath has not been re-leased.Ottawahad 10homicidesin 2010.
WinnipegPopulation: 633,000Winnipeg saw a record 39 homicidesin 2011, up from the previous recordof 34. The high number of killingswas attributed to increasing gang vi-olence and one instance where awoman allegedly setfire to a roominghouse, killing five oc-cupants.
2011 was an unusual year for murders in Canada, with some areas setting recordsfor most or fewest homicides Here’s a look at all eight Metro Canada cities
Numbers tell the story
METRO CANADA/TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE
London Population: 352,000London police reported eight homicides in 2011 — up from sevenin 2010 — the most murders on record since slayings spiked to 14in 2005. The last murder was reported on Dec. 27, when Said Had-bai, 20, was found shot in a parking lot. He died in hospital.
MontrealPopulation: 1.6 millionMontreal saw 35 homicides on itsterritory in 2011, down two from2010. In the province of Quebecthere were 102homicides, an in-crease of 28 percent. 15
11 46
47 39
8 11
17
35
metronews.caTUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012
04 news
One man killed after refusing toevacuate Losses in millions
Wildfires rage across southern Chile
Firefighters work to contain a major blaze in Torres del Paine national park in southern Chile yesterday. The fire has burnedat least 12,500 hectares in one of the country’s most spectacular national parks.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Firefighters in Chile battledthree huge wildfires onMonday that have burnedabout 23,000 hectares offorest, destroyed more than100 homes and driven awaythousands of tourists whilecausing millions of dollarsin losses.
The fires also claimedtheir first victim: An elderlyman who ignored warningsto leave his home.
Chile’s normally rainysouthern regions are feel-ing the effects of a nation-wide heat wave anddrought. The country wasbattling 48 fires on Sundayalone, and red alerts weredeclared for the regions ofMagallanes, Bio Bio andMaule.
In the Bio Bio region, thetimber industry is threat-ened by fire that destroyedan Arauco company papermill. Hundreds of peoplewho left their homes wereforced to relocate yet againearly Monday as the flamesadvanced.
In Magallanes, morethan seven per cent of thefamed Torres del Paine na-
tional park had burned, ru-ining vacations for some ofthe 150,000 tourists whocome each year, mostlyduring the brief southernsummer. Strong windsgrounded helicopters andplanes, leaving the fight tomore than 750 firefighterson the ground. Authoritieshoped to reopen the north-ern section of the park totourists later in the week.THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Israeli charged
An Israeli tourist, RotemSinger, 23, has denied acharge of negligently starting the Torres delPaine fire.But prosecutor Ivan Vidalsaid Singer’s travellingcompanions said he setfire to toilet paper aftergoing to the bathroom,and then failed to put itout completely. If convicted, he faces up totwo months in jail.President Sebastian Pinerahas called for tougher sentences for arson.
Israeli and Palestinian en-voys will meet in Jordan onTuesday in a last-ditch ef-fort to salvage peace talks,the first time the sides are
meeting since negotiationscollapsed in September2010. But Saeb Erekat, thechief Palestinian negotia-tor, warned that, without a
breakthrough, the Pales-tinians will abandon theprocess and could tryagain for recognition at theUN. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to resume
HAMED JAFARNEJAD/ FARS NEWS AGENCY/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Iranian navy test-fires cruise missile Iran test-fired a surface-to-surface cruise missile during a drill that Admiral Habi-bollah Sayyari said proved Tehran was in complete control of the strategic Straitof Hormuz, the passageway for one-sixth of the world’s oil supply. Tehran hasthreatened to close the strait as retaliation for new U.S. economic sanctions.
Show. Of strength
Iranian naval officers celebrate after the successful launch of a Ghader missile at the shore of the Gulf of Oman during a drill on Monday.
The trial of HosniMubarak resumed in Cairoon Monday amid specula-tion that a recent acquittalof policemen tried in thekillings of protesters couldbe a prelude to the dis-missal of charges againstthe ousted Egyptianleader.
Mubarak, 83, is accusedof complicity in the killingof more than 800 protest-ers during the uprisingthat toppled his 29-yearregime last year.
He was brought by heli-copter to the Cairo court-house from a hospitalwhere he is held in cus-tody. He was then takeninto the defendants’ cageon a gurney, wearing darksunglasses and covered bya green blanket.
Another Cairo court onThursday acquitted fivepolicemen of charges ofkilling five protesters dur-
ing the uprising last Jan.25 to Feb. 11. The courtsaid three of the defen-dants were not at the siteof the killings while theother two fired on protest-ers in self-defence.
The ruling angered fam-ilies of the victims. Ac-tivists demanded that thekillers be brought to jus-tice and complained thatsimilar cases are languish-
ing in courts in severalEgyptian cities.
On trial with Mubarakare his two sons, Gamal,his one-time heir appar-ent, and Alaa, along withthe nation’s former securi-ty chief and six senior po-lice commanders. TheMubaraks face additionalcorruption charges in thesame case.THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Speculation mounts ofMubarak acquittal
Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is wheeled into a Cairo courthouse on Monday to face charges of complicity in the killing of more than 800 protesters during last year’s uprising.
MOHAMMED AL-LAW/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Profitable Canadian busi-nesses are set to reap $2.85billion in additional incometax savings in 2012, even asPrime Minister StephenHarper complains about allthe private “money sittingon the sidelines.”
The last of five annualcorporate tax cuts took ef-fect Sunday, reducing thefederal rate by another 1.5points to 15 per cent.
This comes as corporateCanada, from multination-als to midsize businesses,squirrels away hundreds ofbillions of dollars as it ridesout a second storm of glob-al economic turbulenceover the last three years.
The latest figures fromStatistics Canada throughthe third quarter of 2011show business sitting onmore than $583 billion inCanadian currency and de-posits, and more than $276billion in foreign currency.
Those cash reserves haveclimbed nine per cent sincelast year and 27.3 per centsince 2007, when the Cana-dian economy was boom-ing and new corporate taxcuts were announced.
Even after removingCanada’s banks from theequation, non-financial cor-porations saw their curren-cy and short-term paperassets climb $33 billion inthe third quarter of 2011.
Harper referred to allthat stagnant capital at theend of a frustrating G20summit in November inFrance, where global lead-ers failed to find much con-sensus. “I should be clearon this: you know, I seeevery reason that markets... there’s a lot of money sit-ting on the sidelines, look-ing for opportunities,”Harper said.
From 22.12 per cent in2007 to 15 per cent on Jan.1, federal corporate taxrates have been declining,cut almost in half since1990, when they stood at 28per cent. Provinces have al-so been lowering corporatetax rates. Back in 2000,Canada’s combined federal-provincial corporate taxrate averaged 43 per cent —the highest among OECDcountries.
Tax specialist Jack Mintzsays Canada’s combined
federal-provincial corporaterate in 2012 will be aroundthe world average of 26 percent. Mintz argues profitsare being shifted back toCanada due to the tax cuts,a move that benefitsprovincial tax bases. “Butthe public doesn’t perceivethat,” Mintz said. “Theylook at (corporations) aspowerful and that if you cutcorporate taxes you’re mak-ing the rich more rich.”THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Market moment
PRICES A
S OF 5 P.M
. FRID
AYTSX
+ 0.37¢(98.33¢ US)
Dollar
OIL
- 82¢ US($98.83 US)
Natural gas
$2.989(- 3.8¢)
Gold$1,566.80(+ $25.90)
+ 113.4(11,955.09)
Pipeline top ofelection agendaPresident Barack Obamaand Congress are startingthe election year locked in a
tussle over a proposed2,735-kilometre oil pipelinefrom Alberta to Texas thatwill force the White Houseto make a risky choice be-tween two key Democratic
constituencies. Someunions say the pipelinewould create thousands ofjobs. Environmentalistsfear it could lead to an oilspill. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SUNDAY ALAMBA/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nigeria’s gas prices may fuel unrestNigeria is ending fuel subsidies, an official said Sunday, a move that is sure to beunpopular in the oil-rich nation where citizens see cheap fuel as one of their fewgovernment benefits. Two union groups are threatening strikes and protests.
Gas. Up
An attendant sells fuel at a petrol station in Lagos, Nigeria, Monday.
Rupert Murdoch has begunthe new year by setting upin a new field of communi-cations. He’s started tweet-ing.
The media mogul, who isrecovering from perhapshis most difficult year inthe business, is posting onTwitter under the handle@rupertmurdoch, spokes-woman Daisy Dunlop atNews International con-firmed Monday.
The account was openedover the New Year’s holi-day, but many doubted itsauthenticity because Mur-doch, 80, has generallytried to stay out of the spot-light as his media empirecomes under increasedscrutiny because of wide-spread phone hacking athis U.K. newspapers.
“My resolutions, try tomaintain humility and al-ways curiosity,” he tweets,making no mention of hisbusiness troubles. “And ofcourse diet!”
His wife Wendi Deng has
also started tweeting —she’s @wendi-deng — refer-ring to the setbacks: “A lotof bad things happened in2011 but I hope in 2012 wecan put them all behind usand sail on to a bright fu-ture for everyone Wxx.”
She also gently remindsfellow tweeters to spell herfirst name with an “i” at theend, not a “y.”
The Murdochs’ entry in-to the world of Twitter wasmet with some bemuse-ment and some hostility.
John Prescott, formerU.K. deputy prime minister,came up with one of thewittier responses. “Wel-come to Twitter,” he writesto the mogul. “I’ve left youa Happy New Year messageon my voicemail!”THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Media mogul tweetshis 2012 resolutions
Rupert Murdoch
SUSAN WALSH/FILE PHOTO/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
80-year-old Murdoch joins Twitter for the new year More than 46,000 followers by Monday morning
Corporate Canada reapsmore money: StatsCan
06 voices metronews.caTUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012
@zb_arm-strong: Londontrending inCanada...I
assume caused by a strangecombination of both awe-some cities! #ldnont@k_ksmith: Moving back to#ldnont is on hold! Do notwant to drive in suspectedsnowsqualls #nothankyou@silentbytes: Am i the onlyone working today? Down-town #ldnont seems dead.@BrentCornwall:#OccupyLdnOnt stands insupport with Electro-Motive workers locked outby #Caterpillar. One People,One Struggle. #LdnOnt
#OWS #99Percent@CGalsworthy: Ready tostart new year with newjob. #ece #fanshawe@fallenight: Here comesthe snow #ldnont. Willthere be a snow day at#UWO, #Fanshawe for thefirst day back?@phrawr: Going to#Fanshawe this afternoon.It’ll be like the old days, ex-cept it’s not me that’sgoing. Haha....@Slug67: Was that thethunder of the 4 horsemenin Woodfield just now?Nope, just testing the snow-blower. Do your worst, Ol’Man Winter! #ldnont
Local tweets
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CANADA: President and Publisher Bill McDonald, Vice-President, Sales Quin Millar, Vice-President, Business Ventures Tracy Day, Vice-President, Marketing & Interactive Jodi Brown, Editor-in-Chief Charlotte
Empey, National Deputy Editor Fernando Carneiro, Managing Editor, News & Business Amber Shortt, Managing Editor, Life & Entertainment Dean Lisk, Managing Editor, Night Production Matt LaForge, Associate Managing Editor, News & Business
Kristen Thompson, Art Director Laila Hakim, National Sales Director Peter Bartrem, Director, Marketing & Research Robyn Payne
12 RESOLUTIONSWORTH KEEPINGFOR 2012
So have you broken all yournew year’s resolutions yet?Of course you have. Now for-get those lofty ambitionsthat would have you forsakeall your vices simultaneous-ly, and let’s try to focus on
setting some small goals for the newyear.
I’ve taken the liberty of compiling alist of 12 entirely achievable resolutionsthat I’d like you (yes YOU) to make andkeep for 2012. Don’t worry, I promise totry my best to adhere to them as well.
After all, even a few minor changes can make theworld a much better place for me, you and everyonewe know.
1I will stop Keeping Up with the Kardashiansonce and for all and spend more time with myown family.
2I will stand right and walk left on escalators.
3I will stop doing that thing where I see anacquaintance on the street and pretend I don’tknow them. We both know what’s going on;
let’s just stop being awkward and say hello.
4I will take better care of my hair because some-day I might lose it all.
5The same thing goes for my money.
6I will resist the urge to Like a Facebook statusupdate about an engagement or pregnancy inorder to prevent a never-ending stream of
annoying comment notifications in the days thatfollow.
7I will stop letting the smug woman behind theGPS navigation voice jeopardize myrelationship, and surrender to the fact that
maybe she does know best.
8I will recognize that the only things that belongon the dinner table are food and cutlery, not mycellphone.
9I will stop blaming public transit for my late ar-rival at the office every single morning and ad-mit to myself (and my boss) that maybe I should
be getting up 10 minutes earlier. Alternatively, I willthink of some new excuses for my tardiness.
10I will buy the $14 bottle of wine, not the $9bottle. Yes, I want to save money, but the12-hours-from-now version of me will
appreciate my largesse.
11I will listen to my mother and wear the ap-propriate footwear for the weather condi-tions.
12I will actually pay attention to the auto-cor-rect function on my phone and stop send-ing embarrassing typo-filled messages to
friends and family. After all, “Did you show yourboss?” is a very different question than “Did you showyour boobs?”
SHE SAYS ...
JESSICA NAPIERMETRO
Read more of Jessica Napier’s columns at metronews.ca/shesays
BINSAR BAKKARA PHOTOS/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Half of country’srainforests lostOrphaned babyorangutans Septian andSeroja play inside a basketat a ConservationProgramme facility in BatuMbelin, North Sumatra,Indonesia. Indonesia haslost half of its rainforestsin the last half century,putting the remaining50,000 to 60,000orangutans living in scat-tered, degraded forests infrequent, and often dead-ly, conflict with humans.THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Living in aconcrete jungleVeterinarians conduct sur-gery on an estimated 40-year-old orangutan namedPuyul, who suffers from abroken leg, at their facilityin Batu Mbelin, NorthSumatra, Indonesia. Puyulbroke his leg falling from atree while being rescued byconservationists after hewas found roaming a rub-ber plantation too close toa village. The vets alsofound air-rifle-pelletwounds in Puyul’s body.THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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2scene
scene 07metronews.caTUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012
Blasting gender rolesBomb Girls is a new series that celebrates the strength of the women who worked in munitions
factories during the Second World War Oscar nominee Meg Tilly plays the factory’s supervisor
In 1995, Oscar nomineeMeg Tilly left Hollywood towrite, and raise her family,including a son with ColinFirth.
She’s back in a passionproject, Bomb Girls, set inan Ajax, Ont., munitionsfactory during the SecondWorld War.
Tilly relishes her role asLorna, whose abusive hus-band returned from thewar paralyzed and who su-pervises the girls on thefactory line.
Tilly sat down withMetro to talk about BombGirls and gender issues thatare still relevant in 2012.
“I have my little chick-adees to look after onBomb Girls,” says Tilly.
“Everyone’s youngerthan me and there’s all thisfemale power. It’s verysweet.
“I feel so privileged towork in this environment.How often can you walkback in a chunk of timeand explore it and life in itand love it?
“There is also such goodwill for this show. It was a brave choice to do such an unlikely look at the Second World War.The women had their jobs and husbands overseasbut they were fighting be-hind the lines to protecttheir men and their chil-dren at home. They weresoldiers.”
Lorna is nurturing yet stern in
this dangerous place, where
one spark from a ring or hair-
pin could blow it sky high.
I wanted that, “Whoa, she’stough!” But why is shetough? If someone makes adecision you don’t agreewith you have to under-stand the whys. It’s her jobto keep the factory safe.
She doesn’t want somedilettante coming herewho could kill them all. Ilove the humanness of thecharacters, more noblethan they realize.
One of her charges is
Gladys, a headstrong
Rosedale debutante played
by Jodi Balfour. Gladys works
in the office but dreams of
joining the line, even as her
father demands that she quit
and marry. Balfour says the
series reflects social realities
that still exist.
These issues never becomeirrelevant. We may havecome a long way in genderissues since the war andthe overt discrimination,but those things still exist.
We have the resources to
do something about them.Gender stereotypes dis-criminating againstwomen can be dealt with;there are channels you canprocess these thingsthrough now.
But it doesn’t mean atti-tudes have changed.
Balfour says the series
inspired nostalgia for a time
she never knew.
Entirely, but I’ve been likethat all my life. I’ve alwaysfelt I was born into thewrong era. I relate so much
to this way of being, thechivalry of it all.
It wasn’t an easy time tobe a woman and I am nos-talgic for it. I feel I missedout on the best time to bealive.
And being wartime, theysucked the marrow out ofevery day.
Meg Tilly, shown in blue, says the reason she left acting was to give her children a chance
to have a normal childhood.
DVD Releases Buy it 88888 | Rent it 8888 Borrow it 888 | Yawn 88 | Don’t bother 8
ContagionGenre: ThrillerDirector: Steven SoderberghStars: Matt Damon, KateWinslet, Jude Law 811⁄2
Steven Soderbergh’s Conta-gion is the feel-bad movieof 2011. A star-studdedthriller, it’s reminiscent of1970s disaster movies, yetit’s more grounded in reali-ty. The film details the rap-id spread of a lethal newvirus, MEV-1, and does soquite realistically, at leastuntil an outbreak ofmaudlin illogic near theend.
Working as his own cin-ematographer from a scriptby screenwriter Scott Z.Burns (The Bourne Ultima-tum), Soderbergh sparesfew sensibilities in outlin-ing how quickly a conta-gion would crossinternational boundaries.
Gwyneth Paltrow is Pa-tient Zero, a business trav-eller named Beth Emhoff,who is intriguingly intro-duced on Day Two of herswiftly developing infec-tion — we don’t immedi-ately know what happenedon Day One. WhateverBeth caught on a trip to
China is now returninghome with her to Minneso-ta, where her new hus-band, Mitch (Matt Damon),and young son are waitingto welcome her home.
Beth is barely throughthe door when crisisstrikes. As Mitch strugglesto take in what’s happenedto his family, governmentsattempt to grasp an escalat-ing infection rate and bodycount as scientists searchfor a vaccine.
At times, Soderberghseems to lose track of toomany subplots that includea kidnapping, marital infi-
delity, a government in-quiry and a father-daughtertrek. But Contagiondemonstrates he still has itin him to deliver a main-
stream movie. Just don’tforget to Purell beforewatching. Extras includemaking-of featurettes.
PETER HOWELL
Why Meg Tilly
quit acting
I took my kids, always, onfilms. My daughter was inthe third grade and I tookher when I did LeavingNormal. When we wentback, her best friend wasbest friends with someoneelse and there were onlyseven girls in the class andshe didn’t have anyone toeat lunch with and shecried. I thought this is whya lot of actors mess up.Coming from achallenging childhood, Ididn’t want to leave mykids with someone else. If Itook them away with mesix or seven months a yearthey wouldn’t have anykind of life. I realised whatwould pay me the most forthe least amount of time,so I did TV, guest stints andsaved the money, socked itaway and when I hadenough, I quit.
Tom Cruise’s newmission remains im-possible to beat atthe box office.Studio estimatesSunday placed Mis-sion: Impossible -Ghost Protocol in theNo. 1 spot for thesecond-straightweekend with $38.3million. With a$141.2 milliondomestic total, it’sthe first $100 millionhit with Cruise in thelead role since2006’s Mission: Im-possible III. Themovie led a solidNew Year’s weekendas Hollywood man-aged fair business toend a sluggish yearon a more promisingnote for 2012. Sher-lock Holmes: AGame of Shadowsfinished secondagain with $26.5 mil-lion, raising itsdomestic total to$132.1 million. Thefamily sequel Alvinand the Chipmunks:Chipwrecked wasstill at No. 3 with $21million to lift it to$94.6 million.THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Box office
Berlin film festival to honourMeryl Streep for
career achievements.
08 dish metronews.caTUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012
ENTER FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN RUN OF ENGAGEMENT PASSES TO SEE
To register and for full contest details visit clubmetro.com
IN THEATRES JANUARY 1314A – Graphic violence, substance abuse,
coarse language
To view the trailer visit: www.universalpictures.ca
It only took five years andtwo children together, butMatthew McConaughey isnow sure he wants to settledown with Camila Alves.
on his WhoSay page onChristmas Day, accompa-nied by a photo of the pairkissing. There’s no word onwhen the wedding will takeplace, but chances are thehappy couple aren’t in anyhurry. METRO
McConaugheypops the question
5:30 AM isdefinitelytoo early to
have to wakeup.
@kelly_clarkson
Celebrity tweets
In 2012let’s agreeto a resolu-tion to feel one another’spain & joy, & create thepeace we desire throughproactive generosity. XO ak
It’s goodto sitwithyourselfand havealone time
@aplusk
@lindsaylohan
My NewYear’s reso-lution was to
stoptweeting.
@AlbertBrooks
Russell Brand and KatyPerry: What happened?
Though the couple appear headed for divorce, details have been scarce
Without know-ing either ofthe stars,please join meas I wildlyspeculate whatdrove Brand tofile divorce pa-
pers last week.
Too much, too soon:
The two met in 2008 onthe set of Brand’s comedyGet Him to the Greek. Af-ter meeting again at theMTV Video Music Awardsin 2009, the two starteddating and it was infatua-tion at first sight.
Just four short monthslater, the two got engaged.Perry was just 25.
The two got married ata tiger sanctuary in Indiaeight months later.
Different lifestyles
Brand is a famous former
heroin and sex addict, aswell as a recovering alco-holic — and is now soberand likes to stay in, watch-
ing soccer. Katy Perry sings songs
about blacking out on Fri-day nights — and likes to
party with people like Ri-hanna. Oh, and Perry’sfamily are evangelicalChristians. And, well,Brand is a recovering hero-in, sex and booze addict.
The fame game
This has been the busiestyear for Katy Perry — shebecame the first woman,and second artist overallfollowing Michael Jackson,in the 53-year history of the Billboard Hot 100 tosend five songs from an album to No. 1 with her sophomore effortTeenage Dream. She wenton a massive tour, performed at most awardsshows, and debuted a rainbow of new haircolours.
Brand starred in Arthur.Enough said.
The whip cream bra
finally ran out
You know what they say:In any relationship, it’s im-portant to keep things in-teresting in the bedroom.
After splitting with her fi-ancé of 11 years in No-vember, Zoe Saldanahas reportedlymoved on to Peoplemagazine’s SexiestMan Alive, BradleyCooper, accordingto E! News.
“They are total-ly dating,” a sourcesays of the pair, whoco-star in the upcomingfilm The Words.
The source adds thatthe pair are trying tokeep their budding re-lationship underwraps.
METRO
Saldana andCooper: It’s on
Zoe Saldana
Prince William and hiswife, Kate Middleton, de-cided to cancel a holidayski trip because of the con-tinuing recession in Eng-land, according to UsWeekly.
“The palace thinks itwould send a bad message
to be away during thistime,” a source says.
The royal couple insteadspent Christmas with theQueen in Norfolk beforespending the rest of theholiday week with Middle-ton’s family.
METRO
Royal couple keepsthings low key
Matthew McConaughey
Kate Middleton and Prince William
3life
wellness 09metronews.caTUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012
Want to lose weight bygetting fit? Put it in yourcalendar.
Most New Year’s resolu-tions fail because they aretoo lofty and vague. “Exer-cise more” is a tough in-struction to follow. Wherewould you begin? Scientif-ic studies have found peo-ple are more likely to bephysically active if theymake a realistic and de-
tailed action plan. Your action plan might
look like this: “Monday:walk at the mall 7 p.m. forhalf an hour, medium in-tensity.” Wednesday’s plancould be: “Lift weights, athome, 8 a.m., 20 minutes,three repetitions.” And Fri-day’s plan could be: “Bootcamp, at the gym, 5:30p.m., 45 minutes, full in-tensity.” On Saturday? Getoutside and have fun.
“Baby steps are impor-tant,” says SammieKennedy, the creator and
CEO of Booty Camp Fit-ness, a growing companydedicated to helpingwomen get active.
“When you make small-er changes over time, it be-comes less overwhelmingand you are more likely togain positive momentumfrom actually achievingyour small goals. You feelpositive, you see resultsand you are far more likelyto be successful in yourlarger, long-term goals.”
Boot camps are growingin popularity because they
are a fun and social way tolose weight and get fit.Booty Camp Fitness, whichis run by women forwomen, has nearly 100 lo-cations across Canada, in-cluding British Columbia,Alberta, Ontario and NewBrunswick. Kennedy hasobserved that the mostsuccessful clients in hereight-week boot camps arethose who declare theirgoals, attend class regular-ly and make small lifestylechanges they can stickwith in their daily lives.
New Year’s resolutions are plentiful right now To make them stick, start making a plan
Plan, not procrastinateIt’s that time of year when we set resolutions in place.
ISTOCK PHOTO
Get fit
Here’s three tips for start-
ing the New Year off right.
Start slow Work your wayup from exercising twice aweek to as many days asyou would like to achieve. Change it up Addsomething new/differentto your fitness routineonce a month.Food is important Eat anutritious breakfast everymorning.
A study byresearchers atLaval Universityfound that bacte-ria thrives on pa-per products andeven on unusedpaper towels. Re-search into bacter-ial transmissionfrom paper towelshas not previouslybeen welldocumented. Astudy of six towelbrands, allcommercially soldin Canada,showed all hadgerms. However,recycled towelswere the mostheavily contami-nated. No illnesswas found to beconnected topaper towel use.THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Germs
Study finds nearly quarter ofwomen get a prenatal thyroid
check
Wipe OutGerms atHome Since
germs tend to get passedaround among familymembers, front-line well-ness strategies include fre-quent handwashing andsneezing into a tissue oryour sleeve, as well as get-ting a flu shot. But takingsome time this week to dosome post-party house-
cleaning is also a goodway to get rid of germs —just be sure you knowwhich cleaners work, andwhich ones could makethings worse. Writer LisaBendall checked it out inthe December issue ofBest Health.
“We don’t need to ster-ilize our homes; we justneed to keep them clean,”says Dr. Camille Lemieux,associate director of theUniversity Health Net-work’s Infection Preven-tion and Control Unit in
Toronto. Indeed, Health Canada
warns against using prod-ucts in the home labelled‘antibacterial’, ‘antimicro-bial’ or ‘bacteria-fighting’,which typically containbenzalkonium chloride ortriclosan, to kill commonbacteria and viruses.
These chemicals mayalso wipe out the friendlybacteria we need to fightgerms and stay healthy.
Plus, many health ex-perts and agencies warnthese products can lead to
a rise in antibiotic-resis-tant bacteria.
(However, productswith antibacterial chemi-cals may be recommend-ed in institutional settingssuch as hospitals, wheretraffic is high and the vol-ume of germs on surfacescan be greater.)
So, what works best athome? Plain water won’tsuffice, but a cleaningproduct with a surfactantdetergent will remove thegerms we don’t want.
Products with hydro-
gen peroxide or bleachcan kill or inactivateviruses. Products labeled‘disinfectant’ will also in-activate disease-causingbacteria and viruses, anddon’t necessarily containthe antibacterial chemi-cals health experts recom-mend avoiding.
And good old vinegarand water (a 1:1 solution)may work, too.
Best Health Minute
BONNIE MUNDAY,EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, BEST HEALTHMAGAZINE
TO CLAIM YOUR FREE ISSUE OFBEST HEALTH, GO TO BESTHEALTHMAG.CA/METRONEWS
10 food metronews.caTUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012
Expandingfrom a stringof restaurantsin Calgaryand Edmon-ton, Fritou
brings its gourmet friedchicken to a stylish new,but small, location on Rich-mond.
Fritou claims its chickenis healthy and I want to be-
Gourmet fried chickenFritou Fried Chicken favours locally sourced birds and hand-trims each
piece Take-out meals offer great value and surprisingly light fried farelieve it. The restaurantchain favours locallysourced birds and hand-trims each piece to removeexcess fat. It is then mari-nated and deep-fried.
Seating has not yet beenbuilt so I grab my orderand head home.
My four-piece meal($9.55), served with home-made potato salad andfries, includes a wing,breast, thigh and leg.
The small popcornchicken ($5.99) is cut fromcubed breast meat. Bread-ing is nicely seasoned andnot greasy while the meatis juicy and tender.
Fritou is a welcome ad-dition. Their take-outmeals offer great value forsurprisingly light and ele-gant fried chicken.
Plans include expandingthe menu to include otherSouthern favourites.
1 Cook bacon in non-stick skillet over medi-um heat until crisp. Setaside; wipe skillet.
2 Whisk together egg,onion powder, salt andpepper in small bowl.Pour into skillet; cook,stirring slightly, overmedium heat.
3 Cook until eggs arethickened and no visi-ble liquid egg remains.Spread tortilla withmayonnaise. Place let-tuce on top; add
bacon, egg and toma-to. Fold wrap andserve. NEWS CANADA
Ingredients:• Slice chicken or turkeybacon, cooked• Egg• 1⁄4 tsp (1 mL) onion pow-der• Salt and pepper, to taste• Low-fat flour tortilla• 2 tsp (10 mL) fat-freemayonnaise• Leaf lettuce• 1 tbsp (30 mL) tomato,diced
NEWS CANADA
PAUL MITCHELL
Four-piece chicken meal (above) and popcorn chicken.
Roasting has the power totransform just about anyfood, but this effortlesscooking technique is mostdramatic when applied towinter vegetables, includ-ing sweet potatoes, beets,fennel, whole shallots, car-rots and butternut squash.
This dish is delicious andhealthy to boot. Roast oneto two whole heads of cau-liflower until caramelized,then drizzle on an aromaticvinaigrette of capers, shal-lots and garlic.
The vinaigrette is goodwhen all the ingredientsare raw, but when youflash-fry them they becomesweet and caramelized.
Preparation:
1 Heat oven to 200 C (400F). Set a wire rack over abaking sheet.
2 Wash and trim bothheads of cauliflower,cutting out and discard-ing core and cutting topinto large florets. Placeflorets in a large bowland drizzle with oliveoil, then toss (you mayneed to do this in 2batches) until all the sur-faces of the cauliflower
are coated with a thinfilm of oil. Sprinkle withsalt and toss again todistribute evenly.
3 Place florets onprepared rack. Roast for30 minutes. Use tongs toturn florets, then roastfor another 15 to 20minutes or until deeplycaramelized.
4 Return florets to thebowl and, while still hot,drizzle and toss with alittle of the fried capervinaigrette (recipefollows). Add justenough vinaigrette tolightly coat. Transfer flo-rets to a serving platter,then sprinkle withminced country ham.THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
This recipe makes 8 servings.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ingredients:• 2 heads cauliflower(about 2 kg or 4 1⁄2 lb)• 30 mL (2 tbsp) olive oil, ormore if needed• 10 mL (2 tsp) kosher salt,or more to taste• Fried caper vinaigrette• Minced country ham forgarnish (optional)
Transform cauliflower into a dinner favouriteRoasted
Cauliflower
FloretsThis recipe makes plenty.You’ll need about a quar-ter of it for the cauliflower.The rest can be refrigerat-ed and used on salads.
Preparation:
1 In a medium sauté panover medium heat,heat 50 mL (1⁄4 cup) ofthe oil. Add capers,shallots and garlic,then cook, stirring con-stantly, for 2 to 4 min-utes, or until juststarting to brown butthe oil is still clear.Transfer to a mediumbowl, including all ofthe cooking oil, and setaside to cool.
2 Once mixture hascooled, add vinegar,mustard, salt and pep-per. While whisking,drizzle in remainingoil. Whisk untilthoroughly blended.Adjust seasoning withadditional salt andpepper, if necessary,and use immediatelyor refrigerate in a
tightly sealed contain-er for up to 2 days.Makes 250 mL (1 cup).
Tip: Don’t feel like fry-ing the capers, shallotsand garlic? Give them arough chop, then addthem raw to the vinai-grette. Salt-curedcapers should alwaysbe rinsed with cold wa-ter, then dried with pa-per towels, beforebeing used. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ingredients:• 150 mL (2⁄3 cup) olive oil• 15 mL (1 tbsp) salt-curedcapers, rinsed andchopped• 30 mL (2 tbsp) choppedshallots• 5 mL (1 tsp) grated gar-lic (about 2 cloves)• 75 mL (1⁄3 cup) red winevinegar or sherry vinegar• 5 mL (1 tsp) whole-grainDijon mustard• Pinch sea salt andground black pepper
Fried Caper Vinaigrette
relationships 11metronews.caTUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012
Mr. MacPherson,I recently moved into a newhome, and was disappointedto find at least a dozen“housewarming gifts” fromthe neighbour’s dog in ourbackyard. Being the new kidon the block, I do not want tomake waves so quickly andam hesitant to have my intro-duction to the neighboursbe in the form of a complaint.How can I tactfully ask themto prevent their dog from tar-geting my lawn — or, at leastto pick up afterwards? Best wishes,JB
Dear JB,Wow! Not the “house-
warming gift” you expectedI’m sure!
However let’s thinkabout this for a few min-utes. Firstly, I would donothing about the dog visit-ing your backyard (otherthan clean up the mess tostart with), and secondly, Iwould make sure that myfence is in good order, withno holes, etc.
Now, how about takingthe initiative and introduc-ing yourself to your neigh-bour. This would allow youto start a friendly neigh-bourly relationship so thatif, worst-case scenario, theirdog does come into youryard, you will be in a muchbetter and more comfort-able position to approachthem to deal with the issue.Good luck, and let us knowhow it turns out!HAVE A QUESTION? EMAIL CHARLES [email protected].
A year in tweetsNowadays Twitter is how many people communicate with each
other New book shows that some people use it better than others
Out of the billions and bil-lions of tweets sent out in2011, which ones capturedthat certain moment intime the best?
Instead of siftingthrough all of those to findthe best ones, we luckilyhave author Kate Buss-mann, who compiled thebook A Twitter Year: 365Days in 140 Characters,which distills a year of con-versation, argument, reve-lation and revolution into areview of the year as writ-ten by the Twitter commu-nity.
Bussman correspondedwith us — in more than 140characters — about thecompilation.
First of all, why a book on theyear in tweets?This has been a banner yearfor Twitter. The numberskeep on rising — when mybook went to press, wewere up to 230 milliontweets per day, from 65 mil-lion in June 2010. And thatnumber is already out ofdate — we’re now up to 250million.
For me and millions ofothers, the way we con-sume news has dramatical-ly changed since the birthof Twitter.
We’ve become a lot
more demanding, andwe’ve got used to beingable to control who andwhat we’re watching.
We used to turn on CNNwhen a big story like therescue of the Chilean min-ers was breaking.
Now we’re likely to beon Twitter as well, becausewe want to get reactionfrom experts we trust orspeak to our friends, andTwitter allows us to editand create our own be-spoke news channel.
How did you narrow downwhat to put in the book? Howdid they stand out from therest? And how did you uncov-er them?It’s been an incrediblyeventful year: The RoyalWedding, the Arab Spring,the News Corp. scandal, therescue of the Chilean min-ers, the capture of Osamabin Laden, the attacks inNorway, the Japanese earth-quake and nuclear disaster,the death of Amy Wine-house, Schwarzenegger’s
secret son. … So I really hada wealth of material tochoose from. When it cameto picking tweets aboutnews events, my main pri-ority was to find peoplewho were firsthand wit-nesses to the events theywere describing; so withthe Egyptian revolution, forinstance, I looked for peo-ple who were in TahrirSquare on Feb. 11, the daythat Mubarak fell.
Do you find Twitter to be amajor help in your life or amajor distraction?Both! I’m actually trying toscale back a bit, particularlywhen I’m not at my desk.
“Lately I’ve used(Twitter) to getrecommendations ofgreat podcasts … orjust to have a littlehuman interaction inthe middle of theday when I am homeby myself.”AUTHOR KATE BUSSMAN
This is an im-portant dayfor me. Mynew bookCount onYourself: TakeCharge of
Your Money (Simon &Schuster Canada) is now instores and available online.This marks book number11 (the rest co-authoredwith David Cruise) so youwouldn’t think I’d find itsuch a big deal any more.
But I do and it’s becausethe topic has never been soimportant. With the eco-nomic events of the pastfew years, our increasingdebt load and the terriblestate of so many retirementportfolios and savings plans— we must start takingcharge of our money.
You don’t need to begood in math or even com-
fortable with numbers inorder to do so. All that’s re-quired is a plan.
It’s particularly vital forus to seize control in therealm of investing. Mostpeople hand over decisionsabout what they buy forRRSPs, RESPs, RRIFs and TF-SAs to someone else be-cause they are intimidated.
The financial services in-dustry has done a superbjob of convincing us that in-vesting is way too compli-cated for the average Joeand Jill. Not so!
My goal in Count onYourself is to give you theconfidence and tools to setup and monitor a simple,safe, low-fee investmentportfolio — and the bestnews is that it will out-per-form most professionallyconstructed portfolios.
The first part of the bookexplores our attitudes to-ward money and how theystop us from taking chargeof our money. The secondsection offers tips to help
you become financially or-ganized while the thirdshows you how to evaluateyour situation and needs.
Finally, I introduce you
to a group of low-fee, lowstress and easily under-standable sample portfoliosusing Exchange TradedFunds (ETFs) and index mu-tual funds.
When you’re finishedyou will be in control ofyour money whether youuse an advisor or prefer todo it yourself.
After the initial setup itwill only take 30 minutes amonth to stay on top ofyour investments.
There’s also a contest towin a one-on-one telephoneconsult with yours trulyabout anything to do withpersonal finance or invest-ments. You can enterthrough the Count on Your-self link on my website, al-isongriffiths.ca.
Happy New Year all and Ihope 2012 becomes a take-charge-of-your-money year. ALISON GRIFFITHS IS THE AUTHOR OFCOUNT ON YOURSELF: TAKE CHARGEOF YOUR MONEY. REACH HER AT ALISONGRIFFITHS.CA [email protected].
12 your money metronews.caTUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012
I love settingfinancialgoals for thenew year. Butover the years
I’ve learned to pare back tojust one or two that I can re-ally focus on, rather than 10smaller ones.
Take 60 seconds andthink about what you’d liketo change about your finan-cial health in 2012.
The most popular areasare debt reduction, frugalliving and investing.
All three of these ele-ments contribute to youroverall net worth; what youhave left over when your to-tal liabilities are subtractedfrom your total asset.
Where does your networth stand? And no, yourcar isn’t considered an assetso scratch it off the list.
Set a net worth goal thisyear. So, if your net worth iscurrently $12,500, aim toincrease it through debt re-duction and asset growth to$20,000 by the end of 2012.
Hands down, the mosteffective ways to reducedebt are to make your pay-ments automatically on theday you get paid, pay a littleextra each month (even $10makes a difference), and ne-gotiate your interest ratesso that you pay as little in-terest as possible.
The most effective waysto increase your assets areto save through an employ-er sponsored RRSP, pensionor savings program.
If you’ve been sitting onthe fence about home own-ership, stop renting andbuild equity in your ownhome. But, this only makessense if your cash flow canhandle it.
Living a frugal life mind-ing your dollars and centswill help you accomplishyour goals. FOR LESLEY SCORGIE’SFULL COLUMN VISIT METRONEWS.CA
“The financialservices industryhas done a superbjob of convincingus that investing isway toocomplicated forthe average Joeand Jill. Not so!”
The holiday decorationsare all packed away, theNew Year’s resolutionsmade, and spring isaround the corner. Beforeyou know it, tax seasonwill be here.
Before you start filingyour taxes, here are 10ways that may help youreduce your tax bill andmay even land you a re-fund.
For individuals:
Plan ahead
Make sure to gather yourreceipts and NETFILEcode, register for My Ac-count, and sign up for di-rect deposit before April30. Submitting your in-come tax and benefit re-turn before the tax-filingdeadline means you canavoid having to pay late-filing penalties.
TFSA
A tax-free savings account
(TFSA) is one great way tosave money, since youdon’t pay tax on any in-come you earn from in-vestments in your TFSA.
RRSP
Any income you earn in aregistered retirement sav-ings plan (RRSP) is ex-empt from tax, as long asthe funds stay in the plan.RRSPs help you save foryour retirement and get abreak at tax time too.
Public transit tax credit
If you or someone in yourfamily is a regular user ofpublic transit then youmay be able to claim anon-refundable tax creditbased on the cost of eligi-ble transit passes.
Pension income splitting
If you are receiving in-come from a pension, youcan split up to 50 per centof eligible pension in-
come with your spouse orcommon-law partner toreduce the taxes you pay.
Students
Are you still in school?Students can claim the tu-ition, education, and text-book amounts. Have yougraduated recently? Youmay be eligible to claimthe interest you paid onyour student loans.
Child care expenses
For those who have chil-dren, you may be able toclaim child care expensesthat you or your spouse orcommon-law partner paidso that either of you couldwork, do research, or goto school.
Home buyer’s tax credit
If you’re a first-time homebuyer you may be eligibleto claim $5,000 on thepurchase of your newhome, which can save youup to $750.
For people who are self-employed:
Hiring an apprentice
Did your business employan apprentice? A salarypaid to an employee regis-tered in a prescribed tradein the first two years of hisor her apprenticeship con-tract qualifies for a non-re-fundable tax credit for theemployer.
Creating child carespaces
Did your business (whichis not mainly a child careservices business) create li-censed child care spacesfor the children of youremployees?
If so, you may be eligi-ble for an investment taxcredit for the child carespaces you created.
More tips on how bestto prepare your 2011 in-come tax and benefit re-turn can be found onlineat cra.gc.ca/getready.NEWS CANADA
10 ways to reduce your tax billTax season fills many of us with a sense of dread and panic Here’s a few tips to help ease the stress
Remember to breathe deeply while filing your taxes.
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sports 13metronews.caTUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012
Sports in brief
London Lightningforward Gabe Free-man has beennamed NationalBasketball Leagueof Canada player ofthe week for theweek ending Sun-day.Freeman averageda double-double of21 points and 13.3rebounds in threegames, includingtwo wins, for thefirst-placeLightning. Hishigh-scoring gamecame Sunday,when he recorded30 points in a 103-83 win over Monc-ton. It is the secondtime Freeman hasbeen named playerof the week thisseason.
METRO
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Alone in the cold, it was upto Henrik Lundqvist to pre-serve a Winter Classiccomeback.
His signature momentcame with 19.6 seconds leftafter New York defencemanRyan McDonagh was whis-tled for covering the puckin the crease. Flyers centreDanny Briere streakeddown the ice — with bun-dled-up fans behind him —trying to send this one intoovertime.
Lundqvist dropped to hisknees on top of a chillybaseball field and stonedBriere when the centretried to sneak it through hislegs.
This made-for-TV show-case had found its brighteststar.
Lundqvist stopped 34shots, Brad Richards scoredthe go-ahead goal early inthe third period and theNew York Rangers ralliedfrom a two-goal deficit tobeat the Flyers 3-2 in theWinter Classic on Monday
in front of 46,967 fans atCitizens Bank Park inPhiladelphia.
“I was just trying to bepatient and do my thing,”Lundqvist said. “He’s asneaky guy, and there was alot of pressure on me.”
More pressure than mostgames in January. Thisgame received the kind ofhype normally reserved forthe Stanley Cup final. NBCtelevised the game andHBO had 12 camera crewsfilming for its 24/7 series.
Rangers coach John Tor-
torella wondered if the offi-cials wanted their own timein the spotlight to build thedrama.
“They called a penaltyshot, which I still don’t un-derstand,” he said.
“I just thought tonight,in that third period, it wasdisgusting.”
Mike Rupp scored twiceas New York won for thethird time this season
against Philadelphia.Playing on a rink that
stretched from first base tothird base, the Rangersmade the league’s fifthClassic a memorable one tostay atop the Eastern Con-ference standings.
The NHL surrounded therink with Christmas trees,firewood, fake snow, andeven trash-can fires. Butthere was nothing artificialin the elements with snowflurries late in the secondperiod and near-freezingtemperatures.
The Flyers ended thegame without Jaromir Jagr,their star forward who leftthe game in the second pe-riod. The 39-year-old Jagrsaid after the game he in-jured his left leg and ex-pected to return soon.
Rookie Brayden Schennand Claude Giroux scoredto give the Flyers the earlylead, as it appeared early onthat the home team wouldopen 2012 with a win. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Flyers’ Briere has penalty shot turned aside in final seconds of WinterClassic New York coach Tortorella calls game’s officiating ‘disgusting’
Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky looks on as Rangers Brandon Dubinsky, centre, Ryan Callahan and Brad Richards
celebrate Richards’ game-winning goal at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Monday.
BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES
Rangers rise abovethe elements in Philly
Canadianscautious asflu bug hitscoachesCanada’s coaches needed aday without a game at theworld junior hockey cham-pionship more than theplayers did.
Head coach Don Hay andassistant Scott Walkerweren’t on the ice for thepractice Monday. The twowere sequestered in theteam hotel with the flu.
Assistant coachesGeorge Burnett and RyanHuska ran drills at CanadaOlympic Park as the Cana-dians prepared forTuesday’s semifinal in Cal-gary.
Canada will face the win-ner of Monday night’s quar-ter-final between the CzechRepublic and Russia.
Huska expected Hay tobe behind Canada’s benchTuesday night in a gamethat will determine whichcountry plays for gold.
“Don, he’ll be back,”Huska said. “We’re just tak-ing all the precautions wecan right now.”
After going 4-0 to winPool B, the Canadians hadtwo straight days without agame and a bye to the semi-final. Sweden won Pool Awith a 2-0-2 record and alsohad Monday off while Rus-sia, the Czechs, Finland andSlovakia played quarter-fi-nal contests.
It’s worrisome for theCanadians that the flu bughas struck. ForwardMichael Bournival sat outlast week’s game againstDenmark because of it, al-though he was back in thelineup for Saturday’s 3-2win over the U.S. in Edmon-ton. THE CANADIAN PRESS
RANGERS FLYERS
3 2
“It’ll probably helpbring us closertogether andremind us to takecare of ourselveseven more, so Ithink we’ll be readyfor the game(Tuesday).”CENTRE FREDDIE HAMILTON ON HOWTEAM CANADA WILL BATTLETHROUGH THE FLU BUG
JOHN ULAN/THE CANADIAN PRESS
“I’m not sure if NBCgot together withthe refs to turn thisinto an overtimegame. I thoughtthe game wasreffed horrible.”RANGERS COACH JOHN TORTORELLAON THE WINTER CLASSIC’SOFFICIATING
Hanley Ramirezsays he’ll accepta positionswitch to thirdbase so Miami
Marlins newcomer JoseReyes can play shortstop.
1The Indianapo-lis Colts havefired team vice-chairman BillPolian and his
son, Chris, the club’s gen-eral manager.
2The Buccaneersfired RaheemMorris on Mon-day after histhree seasons as
Tampa Bay’s head coach.Morris went 17-31, includ-ing a 10-6 mark in 2010,when the Bucs (4-12)narrowly missed the play-offs. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
3
Ticats land Burrisfrom Stampeders
Glenn headed to Calgary as part of trade
Henry Burris is Hamilton-bound.
The Calgary Stampedersdealt the veteran quarter-back to the HamiltonTiger-Cats on Mondaynight in a three-playerdeal, according to twoleague sources requestinganonymity.
In return, the Stamped-ers receive quarterbackKevin Glenn, an 11-yearveteran who spent the lastthree seasons with Hamil-ton. They also get offen-sive lineman Mark Dewit,a Calgary native whoplayed his college footballat the University of Cal-
gary, and future considera-tions.
Officials with the Stam-peders offered no com-ment on the trade and theTicats did not immediatelyrespond to questions fromThe Canadian Press. Therewas also no mention ofthe deal on Burris’ web-site.
But Glenn tweeted onSunday: “NEW & EXCIT-ING THINGS IN MY FU-TURE!! CAN’T WAIT (BartScott voice).”
The deal ends monthsof speculation regardingBurris’ future in Calgaryafter losing his starting
job to backup Drew Tatelate last season. But it be-came crystal clear lastweek that the six-foot-two,219-pound Burris’ days inAlberta were numbered af-ter the Stampeders signedTate to a long-term con-tract extension.
The 36-year-old Burris,the CFL’s outstanding play-er in 2010, was in his sec-ond stint with theStampeders and spent atotal of nine seasons there.He is Calgary’s all-timeleader in passing yards(32,171), touchdowns (233)and completions (2,167).THE CANADIAN PRESS
play 15metronews.caTUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012
WITHMETROKISSTell your friends, family or that secret crush just how you feel with a Metro Kiss...then share it with the world through Facebook and Twitter.All kisses will appear online and a selection will appear in print too!
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1 Level in a hierarchy5 Lower limb8 Tranquil12 Burn soother13 Hockey surface14 Hodgepodge15 Road on a cliff’sface17 Nevada city18 Greek vowel19 Carnival venue20 Beginning21 Private place tosleep?22 Compete23 Cookwear?26 Guys30 Back31 Chicken —32 Concept33 Current generatorfor some engines35 Confuse36 A Gabor37 Ph. bk. data38 Wooden box41 Ultra-modernist42 Periodical, forshort45 Stereo setup46 City in Ontario48 “Oh, woe!”49 Pt. of speech50 Therefore51 Impudent52 Spelling contest53 PhysicalDown
1 Compete on a track2 Greatly3 Mrs. Nick Charles4 Documentary film-maker Burns
5 Within the law6 Reverberate7 “Golly!”8 Roddy McDowall’s“Planet of the Apes”role9 Brewery products10 Queue11 Academic16 Press20 Lubricate21 Musician in thebrass section22 Irritate23 Upper limb24 Shell game item
How to playFill in the grid, so that everyrow, every column andevery 3x3 box contains thedigits 1-9. There is no mathinvolved. You solve the puzzle with reasoning andlogic.
Last sudoku’s answer
Send a
You can now post yourkiss, and read even morekisses, online atmetronews.ca/kiss.
My Damsel in Distress were you my Princess I waswriting to . from yourPrince Charming? if so itwas my pleasure. and youdid make an impression onme thank you. I do hopeour paths cross againFROM YOUR HERO
hey A long time ago was swim-ming in dizziness everytime we touched. Kissesleft me craving, phonecalls left me expecting, tex-ting left me wondering.Since then we changed forwhatever reasonsunknown and faded intoyesterday. For a fleetingmoment felt like I was inheaven! Ah, the hell withromance and true love. Itsall lies. Just a fool who letself be fooled. FoolishFROM ME
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Last crossword’s answer
Today’s horoscopeFor today’s crossword answersand for expanded horoscopes, go to metronews.ca
Aries March 21-April 20 Itmay seem to others as if nothingever fazes you but in reality youare quite easily upset.
Taurus April 21-May 21 Youwill splash out on somethingshiny that catches your eye today,but you may regret it tomorrow.
Gemini May 22-June 21Think before you act today be-cause if you let your impulses getthe better of you there is notelling where it might lead.
Cancer June 22-July 22 It ispossible to be too generous foryour own good.
Leo July 23-Aug.23 Don’t letyour personal feelings interfere
with what you must do on thework front today.
Virgo Aug. 24- Sept. 22Someone in a position of author-ity may be an idiot but they havegot the power to make life diffi-cult for you, so watch what yousay.
Libra Sept. 23-Oct. 23 Adrama could so easily become acrisis.
Scorpio Oct. 24-Nov. 22 Asmall change you make todaycould result in huge conse-quences further down the line.
Sagittarius Nov. 23-Dec. 21 If your life seems complicatedit is only because you are making
it complicated. Capricorn Dec. 22-Jan. 20
Watch out you don’t fall heavilyfor someone who is really notsuitable for you at all.
Aquarius Jan. 21-Feb. 18You may be able to do a particu-lar job better than anyone elsebut that does not mean you haveto do it.
Pisces Feb. 19-March 20.Don’t let problems of a domesticnature get you down over thenext 24 hours. Most likely by thistime tomorrow they will nolonger exist, so stay calm andkeep smiling.
SALLY BROMPTON
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43 Plankton component44 Snatch, with “onto”46 Taxi 47 Teeny
“I was paintballing and this is how theygot me.” ERNESTO GRAVERAN
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