http://www.themetropolitain.ca/http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1289http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1289Clearly the letter that Ministers De Courcy and Lisee released was nowhere near enough. Not enough because they failed to address the central point – Bill 14 is not necessary and is nothing but an attempt to solidify the `pur et dur` base through more politics of division. Not enough because the Bill demeans all Quebecers, francophones as well as non-francophones. Not enough because the government is still not willing to stop the economic destruction of Quebec by ceasing to put up these false issues of discord. But let us take another point of view for a moment and make what some of you may consider a strange plea.Beryl WajsmanTue, 21 May 2013 16:54:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1288http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1288Jerusalem - Le dernier engagement d’Hassan Nasrallah d’aider la Syrie à libérer le plateau du Golan, et former une résistance populaire dans le cadre d’une « bataille pour la Palestine » intervient quelques jours seulement après la publication d’informations sur des raids massifs de l’aviation israélienne dans la région de Damas, et juste après la visite secrète de Nasrallah à Téhéran.Depuis la seconde guerre du Liban, déclenchée en juillet 2006, Nasrallah cherche en vain le soleil ; traqué par les services israéliens, il vit en effet sous terre tel un animal hypogé mais dans des conditions préférentielles de palace avec toute une technologie de pointe.Amb. Freddy EytanSun, 12 May 2013 14:35:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1287http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1287Jay Baruchel is the big drawing card in Sherlock Holmes at the Segal Centre until May 28, but the hometown Hollywood actor of The Trotsky  fame is not the best thing about the production.  Undeniably,  Baruchel lends an enthusiastic presence.   His charisma cannot disguise the fact that he is an undisciplined stage actor whose rapid-fire, nasal delivery seems at times to channel Groucho Marx through John Cleese. Certain allowances, however, must be made.  With   a nod to his celebrity and to his  credit,  Baruchel accepted a challenge, took the risk, and does not play safe.  He certainly doesn’t embarrass himself, even though he does look a little too youthful to be sucking on a curved briar pipe. Alan HustakSun, 12 May 2013 12:34:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1286http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1286Le silence des musulmans dit modérés a de quoi laisser pantois. Il vient un temps où il faut cesser de s’accouder à la fenêtre, pour enfin prouver au monde notre « extraordinaire vision ». En effet, aucun vœu pieu ne fera l’affaire : ce qu’exige maintenant tous les états éclairés de la communauté internationale, ce sont des preuves, des données tangibles, empiriques, irréfutables, exprimant hors de tout doute que l’Islam est bel et bien une religion de paix. Et si nous sommes un tantinet pressés, voire clairement agacés, c’est que la farce a assez durée : nous sommes las de ce scandale fondamental laissant croire en une paix puisant hypocritement son eau à la source des pires barbaries, du terrorisme, de la haine perverse et mortifère.Louise V. LabrecqueTue, 07 May 2013 16:39:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1285http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1285During a break in a conference I attended recently I was asked by several pundits what I think about – what has been erroneously named – the “Arab Spring”, and whether the populations in these countries are ready for democracy. My short answer was, “No, they are not ready”. However, because this is a very timely and complex question, I have decided to give it here more than a terse, short answer.Democracy, by definition, is “the rule of the people” from the Greek words “demos” (people) and “kratos” (rule). The will of the people is manifested most visibly through the electoral process.Rouba al-FattalTue, 07 May 2013 16:35:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1284http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1284 Washington, DC - With much fanfare, the United States announced a comprehensive and wide ranging “pivot toward Asia.”  And within Asia there is a “sub-pivot” toward Southeast Asia.There hasn’t been much public discussion of this reordering of U.S. foreign policy, but now that the President and the Secretary of State have made Middle East excursions, let us consider our Asian shift.One notes the first trips of the second incarnation of the Obama administration were not/not to Asia.  So one can question the pertinence of the “pivot.” David T. Jones & Paul TysonTue, 07 May 2013 16:33:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1283http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1283Yes I know. This kind of headline usually has the word "anglophone" in it. Yet last week two incidents demonstrated that politicians of several parties have not understood that the rejection of , and resistance to, Bill 14 may have done more to unite francophones and non-francophones alike in opposition to the politics of fear and the words of demonization than anything we have seen in recent history. And as much as many anglophones may be tired of some politicians taking their votes for granted through a perceived lack of choice, many francophones are tired of some other politicians taking their votes for granted by outdated appeals to prejudice and fear.Beryl WajsmanTue, 07 May 2013 16:29:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1282http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1282Anyone who  regularly  depends on public transit can’t help but revel in the antics of The Number 14, the extravagantly theatrical stage  production running at the Centaur until May 26.  Staged by  Vancouver’s  Axis Theatre company,  a troupe of six masked  Commedia  dell’Arte  performers,  it  is a bus ride like no other.   Put together on the west coast 20 years ago by the Centaur’s artistic director Roy  Surette  (who originally directed) and Wayne  Specht,  the founding director of the Axis Theatre, (responsible for  this version),  The Number 14 basically illustrates the day in the life of a bus and its driver.Alan HustakMon, 06 May 2013 10:12:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1281http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1281 Voilà déjà  deux ans que la Syrie est ravagée par une guerre civile meurtrière et les puissances occidentales n'osent pas intervenir.Contrairement aux prédictions simplistes des experts et des observateurs, Bachar el Assad est toujours au pouvoir et son armée demeure fidèle au régime alaouite. En dépit des massacres quotidiens, la Russie continue à fournir des armes et notamment des roquettes et des missiles sophistiqués pouvant atteindre une cible située à 300kms. Elle entraine également les soldats syriens dans les combats de guérilla. Amb. Freddy EytanTue, 30 Apr 2013 09:25:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1280http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1280A week ago two men were arrested in Canada on suspicion of planning what officials describe as an al-Qaeda-backed plot to derail a VIA passenger train traveling from Toronto to New York. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officials said the alleged plot had support from al-Qaeda in Iran, although there was no sign of state sponsorship. The Iranian government quickly denied any links to the two men in question. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, also said “al-Qaeda's beliefs are in no way consistent with Tehran's”. Rouba al-FattalTue, 30 Apr 2013 09:22:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1279http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1279 Embrace the kitsch.   Almost 30 years after the wax museum at the corner of Queen Mary Road and Cote des Neiges closed its doors an interactive exhibition featuring wax celebrities has opened again, this time downtown in the Eaton Centre.  More than 120 life-size figurines are arranged in lavish  settings  on the top floor of the The work of artisans with the celebrated Grévin studio in Paris, the exhibition is, for the most part, geared to a francophone Quebec  audience. Alan HustakFri, 26 Apr 2013 12:36:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1278http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1278  Will Baz Luhrman succeed where others have failed?   The Australian film-maker’s  $150-million adaptation was to have been in theatres last Christmas but shooting down under was prolonged – not always a good sign in the industry of things to come.  It is now scheduled to open the Cannes Film Festival in May and is expected to be in movie theatres this summer.  Alan HustakFri, 26 Apr 2013 12:10:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1277http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1277In the words of René Lévesque, “A nation is judged by how it treats its minorities.” Regrettably, linguistic minorities in Canada have often had to fight for just treatment, and that struggle continues against the backdrop of several troubling recent developments that threaten the rights of minority language communities throughout the country. Simply put, it is critical to ensure that minority language communities feel welcome and are able to thrive, and this is as true for Anglophones in Quebec as it is true for French-speakers elsewhere in Canada. l'Hon. Irwin CotlerMon, 22 Apr 2013 15:50:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1276http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1276 Depuis plus d’années dont je me souvienne, je dénonce l’ambiguïté sémantique imposée par les leaders indépendantistes québécois qui insistent et persistent, sciemment, à n’utiliser que le mot « souveraineté » lorsqu’ils réfèrent à leur projet de faire sécession du Canada.Cette volonté incessante d’occulter la perspective d’une rupture a de tout temps été utilisée par les séparatistes québécois en vue de leurrer leurs concitoyens qui, sondage après sondage depuis près de 40 ans, refusent dans une large proportion d’adhérer à cette option lorsque la question leur est clairement posée.    Bernard AmyotSun, 14 Apr 2013 16:18:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1275http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1275Le mouvement sioniste existait depuis Theodore Herzl mais c’est la Shoah qui a rendu la création d’Israël urgente, obligatoire, vitale et immanente. La création de d’Israël est le triomphe de la vie sur la mort, la victoire des prières entendues. Juste après la guerre, les Européens, encore troublés et culpabilisés, ont préféré tourner la page furtivement. Le Vatican a fermé ses archives. Les portes du souvenir ont été bouclées à double tour. Personne n’osait franchir les murs d’acier et vérifier les arcanes du monde de l’indifférence, remuer un passé flou et douteux. Derrière le rideau de fer, les camps de la mort résonnaient encore des cris des âmes pures et innocentes. Les cendres de nos proches, de nos coreligionnaires, ont été absorbées, englouties dans le sol européen. Amb. Freddy EytanSun, 07 Apr 2013 18:58:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1274http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1274 Plusieurs tendances lourdes et extérieures à Montréal ont contribué à son déclin depuis la deuxième guerre mondiale, par exemple: voie maritime, avions à long cours, déplacement de l’économie vers l’Ouest.Ces tendances ont été exacerbées par de trop nombreuses blessures que nous nous sommes infligés nous-mêmes, mentionnons le FLQ, la dégradation des standards académiques, les plus hautes taxes, l’immobilisme, les fusions/défusions, les infrastructures, le très mauvais management; en somme, l’absence complète de leadership MIchel DavidSun, 07 Apr 2013 13:09:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1273http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1273Ich Bin Eine Terroristin”   (I am a terrorist) How can an 11 year old French girl so apparently sweet be a vicious communist thug? Invariably children are portrayed in film as sweet and innocent but in this case I see 11 year old Violette (Mathile Besse) in a far more sinister light. A bit like Damien in “The Omen” or Linda Blair in “The Exorcist”. Can you imagine an 11 year old girl infatuated with the German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg running away from home in her small village in France to visit the Luxemburg memorial in Berlin (where Luxemburg was assassinated in 1919) and then to Wroclaw in Poland (then known as Breslau in Germany) to visit the city where Rosa Luxemburg was imprisoned? Far too offbeat for Hollywood fluff. Delightfully European.Robert K. StephenFri, 05 Apr 2013 21:00:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1272http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1272It has been two years since the Syrian Government’s violent crackdown on protesters started. According to UN reports, the conflict has claimed more than 70,000 lives, displaced four million people internally and forced about million people to seek refuge in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, where many opposition leaders have taken refuge. Thousands of civilians have also been detained arbitrarily and there are reports of executions and torture. Also since the uprising many schools were damaged or forced to close and Syrian civilians suffer the lack of basic services such as electricity, clean water and hospitals. Moreover, the situation in Syria has created a fertile ground for trans-national terrorism to rise.Rouba al-FattalFri, 05 Apr 2013 20:52:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1271http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1271After a provincial election in September where the Parti Québécois spoke of French tests for candidates seeking public office, watering down Montreal’s ethnic communities and ridding the public sector of religious symbols – except for those linked to Catholicism – observers expected Quebec to become, yet again, a national embarrassment. The PQ has not only met, but exceeded expectations with a new round of childish, xenophobic rhetoric this week.Dan DelmarFri, 05 Apr 2013 20:49:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1270http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1270Jerusalem - La visite du président Obama dans notre région aura sans doute des retombées politiques locales, régionales et internationales. La première conséquence est considérable car elle met un terme à plusieurs années de tensions, d'incompréhensions, de haine et de dégâts bilatéraux entre la Turquie et Israël: deux puissances régionales pro-occidentales ayant des intérêts stratégiques communs dans un environnement déstabilisant et explosif.  Amb. Freddy EytanSun, 31 Mar 2013 12:55:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1269http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1269 As with every type of case heard at the Supreme Court level, our changing social customs, over time, coupled with new appointments at our High Court, usually bring about new judgments on old issues.As a Canadian citizen, I have reached the end of my patience with the time and money wasted on and by the OQLF.Last time I checked, (2 weeks ago), the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guaranteed me, and every other Canadian citizen, even those who live in Quebec, the right to use English. Me.Linda HammerschmidSun, 31 Mar 2013 12:52:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1268http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1268 Even as English is again under attack at the National Assembly during the hearings on Bill 14, it is perhaps true that most Quebecers have been misled into believing that English is not also an official language of Quebec. But that’s entirely unfounded in fact or in law. English has been an official language of Quebec ever since 1763. Every law passed since then has been passed in English. Every law to be passed by the current Parti Québécois government will be passed in English as well as French, and the English text will be official, just as will be the French.  William JohnsonSun, 31 Mar 2013 12:43:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1267http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1267 Washington, DC - Analysts are clever in finding (and repeating) aphorisms.  One is the definition of insanity as “repeating the same negative action believing that this time it will have a positive result.”And thus the Syria syndrome.We have watched the Arab Spring degenerate into a noxious weed patch when we believed flowers had been planted.  We have watched the consequence of removing the Libyan tyrant Qhadafi (vicious but not directly invidious to USG interests) and reaped the results in Benghazi and Mali. David T. JonesFri, 29 Mar 2013 14:11:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1266http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1266 Dance me to the end on/off love at the Centaur until April 14 is a lugubrious, downright macabre exploration of love and pain by Granhoj Dans, a contemporary dance troupe from Denmark. The North American premiere of the show is described as a poetic meditation, an attempt to make Cohen’s words become flesh. From the moment director Palle Granhoj steps on stage and boldly edits one of Cohen’s poems, furiously scribbling to make the verse suit himself , he makes it clear that he is expropriating the poet’s work to make it conform to his image of himself - although anyone sitting beyond the fifth row may have had trouble reading his scrawl.   Alan HustakFri, 22 Mar 2013 14:17:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1265http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1265I won’t throw bouquets or sigh and gaze too much, nor will I praise its charms too much.  People might think I liked the Hudson Village Theatre’s revival of the Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! And they would be right – I  am head over heels in admiration of the intimacy and the ingenuity of the amateur production of this rousing musical, which was mounted on a stage no bigger than a postage stamp. (Complete with the ballet dream sequence.)  Because the theatre in an old train station is so small the romantic atmosphere of the story was in fact, somehow subtly deepend. Alan HustakThu, 21 Mar 2013 15:06:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1264http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1264 Drug companies can’t charge whatever they want. The highest price they can charge is actually set by a federal institution.  Before we begin though, there’s something you should know about me. For 16 years I held medical positions of increasing responsibility in 2 international research- based pharmaceutical companies. I bring you an insider’s perspective very few people have.  Dr. Mitch ShulmanSun, 17 Mar 2013 11:20:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1263http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1263If you are looking for a gorgeous chunk of Portugal you really must stay at the Fortaleza do Guincho situated in the Sintra Cascais Nature Reserve some 10 minutes away from Cascais, the trendy resort suburb of Lisbon.. This is not a hotel as most of you will know a hotel. It is a small hotel within an old fort perched on a cliff overlooking the crashing waves of the Atlantic. It is part of the Relais & Chateaux brand dictating strict standards of luxury accommodation and food.Robert K. StephenSat, 16 Mar 2013 15:34:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1262http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1262Thus Tom Flanagan’s musing, off topic response to a Q&A, regarding whether viewing (not creating, circulating, let alone participating/implementing) child pornography/pedophilia justified a prison sentence has destroyed his career.  Virtually instantly CBC dropped him as a commentator and the University of Alberta announced his retirement.  So toxic is his name that reportedly an article he coauthored on a totally different political topic was withdrawn from publication--even when Flanagan offered to remove his name from the article.David T. JonesSat, 16 Mar 2013 15:31:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1261http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1261 The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes from or where it goes; so it is with every person who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)  A puff of white smoke!  A new Pope!  Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, becomes leader of the Roman Catholic Church.  On the balcony overlooking Saint Peter’s Square he addresses the people of the world.  His first words are memorable. In times of uncertainty, disruption, division, and alienation, he offers the image of a “camina,” a walk, pilgrims together, and then, spontaneously he includes all people of good will with the faithful.    Father John WalshSat, 16 Mar 2013 15:27:00 -0400http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1260http://www.themetropolitain.ca/articles/view/1260 Monday night the usual suspects held a rally in support of Bill 14. You know who they were. Impératif français, Mouvement Montréal français, etc...ad infinitum...ad nauseum. But at the press conference before the rally - a rally attended by only several hundred attesting to francophone fatigue on this issue - one Pierre Dubuc,editor of L'Aut' Journal, decided to unburden himself of his true feelings and blurted out, with unconcealed venom, "If someone can't ask for a Métro ticket in French, let them walk!" Well M. Dubuc, here's a message for you. Why don't you take a walk! Out of here!  Beryl WajsmanThu, 14 Mar 2013 10:29:00 -0400