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Vol.3 No.8 - The Métropolitain

13,000 Montrealers took part in the 62nd Israel Independence Day rally on Tuesday, April 20.

By . on April 23, 2010

Israel-Rally-DSC_0045.jpg





 

La triste réalité

By Pierre K. Malouf on April 23, 2010

La popularité du gouvernement est au plus bas. Il y a à cela d’excellentes raisons. Il y en a de très mauvaises. Parmi ces dernières, en voici une qui saute aux yeux : le dernier budget du ministre Bachand. Les Québécois sont décidément incapables de voir la réalité en face. 

L’Histoire d’Amal «Tout ce que je veux savoir c’est pourquoi?»

By Beryl Wajsman on April 23, 2010

Amal-cover-story-1bw.jpgLe nom arabe Amal signifie trois choses. L’espoir, l’anticipation, et l’aspiration. Ces trois mots sont une bonne synthèse de ce qu’une résidante de Pointe Claire et étudiante à l’Université Concordia en relations humaines et psychologie Amal Asmar ose rêver ces jours-ci après que la police l'ait harcelée, malmenée et laissée avec quelques 1 000$ en amendes. Elle espère pour la justice; anticipe des excuses et aspire à une réponse à sa demande sincère de : « tous ce que je veux savoir c’est pourquoi? ». Alors qu’elle achève ses études et continue sa recherche pour un emploi, les cicatrices mentales qu'elle a toujours l'obligent à maintenir ce rêve vivant. Ses « crimes ? ».


Shocking traffic stats scream ‘Big Brother!’

By Dan Delmar on April 23, 2010

jaywalk_small.JPGThis year, Montreal will issue one traffic ticket for almost every man, woman and child in the city - and that, believe it or not, is a conservative estimate based on information from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal. Most people aren’t aware of it, or if they are, they accept the ticketing as fair punishment for bad behaviour. If so many of us are breaking the law on such a regular basis, it begs the question: Are we guilty of delinquent behaviour, or are we victims of municipal persecution?


Peuple québécois, puis-je compter sur ta solidarité?

By Djemila Benhabib on April 23, 2010

Vous avez été très nombreux, à travers tout le Québec et même au-delà, à me témoigner votre  appui dès la parution de mon livre Ma vie à contre-Coran, une femme témoigne sur les islamistes pour saluer mon courage et ma détermination face à mon combat contre l’hydre islamiste et ses tentacules. J’ai rencontré plusieurs d’entre vous, d’un bout à l’autre du Québec, pour partager mes réflexions et mes aspirations. Je parcours des milliers de kilomètres pour honorer vos invitations et échanger de grands et de petits moments de bonheur.

Un bâillon contre la liberté d’expression au Québec

By Daniel Romano on April 23, 2010

Une poursuite-bâillon est une poursuite stratégique contre la mobilisation publique. C'est un nouvel instrument insidieux qui est de plus en plus utilisé en Amérique du Nord. Utilisé par des gouvernements à tous les niveaux, ça essaye d’écraser colère publique sous la menace de poursuites diffamatoires.

Coulter and the Camel

By David Solway on April 23, 2010

The camel is a noble animal. Had it not existed, Islamic civilization would never have gotten off the ground, just as, in the absence of the horse, we in the West would still be lugging barrows and scraping along in donkey-hauled slipes. The camel is perhaps even preferable to the horse. It is fast, carries its own water, and provides what SUV manufacturers call “command seating,” rivaled only by the elephant. Indeed, Mark Twain understood the inherently exalted nature of the creature when he introduced the cameleopard in Huckleberry Finn. Of course, the cameleopard, or “Royal Nonesuch,” is really a giraffe (Arabic: ziraffah, “tallest one”), but it sounds like a camel with a temper and enviable velocity, a beast that demands respect.

The leaking begging bowl

By Jessica Murphy on April 23, 2010

Ottawa spends some $5 billion on foreign aid every year. Countless numbers of people also give millions in personal donations to global relief efforts. It's no wonder generous Canadians want to know where their money goes. A spate of recent news stories has cast doubt on the accountability and transparency of humanitarian aid.

Israel under siege—again. The dilemma of mutually assured discomfort

By David T. Jones on April 23, 2010

Washington, DC - Having just returned from a Middle East trip that included travel in Israel, I am prompted to muse over the current imbroglio roiling U.S.-Israeli relations.  Over the past several weeks, there has been renewed incentive to fault find Israel for offenses that sometimes more in the mind of the beholder than in reality.  Indeed, it is far easier to find unloving critics than uncritical lovers in the current environment.  For example, the tour group with which I traveled had two briefers:  An articulate representative of the Palestinian Authority who (predictably) found fault with all elements of Israeli policy and an Israeli from a local NGO who was also critical of the GOI.  But the absence of "balance" went unremarked.

The skittish consumer: Sustaining the recovery depends on their spending – can they afford it?

By Robert Presser on April 23, 2010

presser-consumer-graph.jpgAfter a year and a half of misery, things are looking up for the Canadian and U.S. economies.  The stock markets are up over 70 per cent from their lows of March 2009, both economies put out five per cent annualized growth rates in the last quarter of 2009, and consumer spending is on a tear.  In Canada, consumer spending rose at a four per cent annualized rate in Q4 2009 and in the U.S., spending was up 1.6 per cent month to month in March, including a whopping one per cent due to sales of autos and parts alone.  Economists and governments are now debating the sustainability of such encouraging results as they plan monetary and fiscal policy for the year to come.

Enlevons les «ombrages» du gouvernement

By Beryl Wajsman on April 23, 2010

Il y a un contrat social entre les gouverneurs et les gouvernés. Nous le peuple acceptons d'abandonner une partie de nos libertés et de notre trésor en échange de prestation de services qui rendent nos vies meilleures. Des services que même le plus fort parmi nous ne pourrait pas se fournir à soi-même. Quand nous sommes sortis des jungles et des forêts et avons créé des habitats, nous nous sommes rendus compte qu’en repoussant les loups ensemble, nous aurions le time de vivre. Pour grandir. Pour aimer. Pour engager nos passions et nos poésies et réaliser la pleine capacité de notre individualité. 

PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) II and the Greek crisis

By Robert Elman on April 23, 2010

Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany is being confronted with some very difficult choices. Does she participate in an active bailout of Greece and incur the wrath of the German electorate or does she commit German funds, and possibly save the EU from collapse. For a collapse of the EU means the disappearance of the once mighty Euro.

Religious daycare: Pick your cultural battles

By Barbara Kay on April 23, 2010

Quebec is the most militantly secular of all Canada’s provinces. Its intellectuals and cultural elites are resolutely committed to the ideal of a lay society. References to the Church in the media positively bristle with thinly-sheathed scorn. Yet the Quebec government is inconsistent when it comes to religious instruction in publicly funded institutions. 

A Neighbourhood’s Rebirth: Shaughnessy Village

By Sharman Yarnell on April 23, 2010

shaughnessy.jpgIt’s springtime in Shaughnessy Village and the residents are out-and-about after a long hibernation. It has a wealth of cultural diversity. What an amazing mixture, a true melting pot, of not only cultures, but people from different social status. On one block alone there are Indians, Germans, Ukrainians, Italians, Haitians and Irish. Anyone thinking of purchasing property in the area would be joining actors, lawyers, architects, authors, a dentist, an opera singer and a playwright. 


Namur Jean-Talon: An eco-utopic condoville?

By Dan Delmar on April 23, 2010

njt-scalia.jpgCar dealerships, cheap office space, a cemetery, barren lots and a handful of sub-par apartment buildings; such is the makeup of the neighbourhood becoming known as NJT – Namur Jean-Talon. Within ten years, it is expected to undergo a complete transformation and the worth of the area is expected to increase tenfold.  NJT is a project twice as valuable to the city as Griffintown, but without the high profile and ensuing scepticism.



Griffintown: The limits of loss

By P.A. Sévigny on April 23, 2010

horse-palace-2.jpgDecades after there will be nothing left of Montreal’s Griffintown except for the name and Mary Gallagher’s headless ghost, more than a few urban planners will continue to wonder why so little was done with such a magnificent opportunity for truly sustained and  modern urban development. “This is such an incredible opportunity to build a real 21st century city,” said Montreal urban activist Judith Bauer. “Why can’t these people think of empty urban space as something more than just another opportunity to build another pile of condos?”

Le Monde de Piperberg

By Roy Piperberg on April 23, 2010

Piperberg20100422.jpg

Send in the clowns: Canada at Shanghai’s world’s fair

By Alan Hustak on April 23, 2010

expo2010.jpgToo little thought has been given to Canada’s national pavilion at the World Exposition in Shanghai, opening May 1. Whatever one may think about the previous Canadian government’s decision to take part in the Shanghai World’s Fair which just opened as yet  another showcase for the totalitarian Communist regime, once a sovereign nation has signed onto to an agreement it is customary that it is an obligation on future administrations of whatever party. It is not like the Olympics. This is a state commitment to put Canada’s best foot forward. 

 

Macabre Madonna

By Alidor Aucoin on April 23, 2010

TMP8.jpgThe Madonna Painter, The Birth of Painting at the Centaur, is a richly imagined, sacrilegiously macabre, exercise in which playwright Michel-Marc Bouchard delves into long-discarded French-Canadian Catholic ritual and rural ignorance, “the way a flea market hawker displays sacred objects that have been stolen and disguised for resale.” 




Bunny Good Time

By Alidor Aucoin on April 23, 2010

The good news about the Segal Centre’s revival of Harvey, the play about an absentminded man who befriends an imaginary  a six foot tall rabbit is that it is a hare brained  delight.
The not so good news, is that it only runs until until May 9th.


Editorial Staff

Beryl P. Wajsman

Redacteur en chef et Editeur

Alan Hustak

Senior Editor

Daniel Laprès

Redacteur-adjoint

Robert J. Galbraith

Photojournaliste

Roy Piberberg

Editorial Artwork

Mike Medeiros

Copy and Translation

Val Prudnikov

IT Director and Web Design

Editorial Contributors
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