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Vol. 5 No.3 - The Métropolitain

«Mille faces cachées»

By Louise V. Labrecque on July 18, 2012

C’est dans une maison de la rue Saint-Hubert, à Montréal,  qu’habite le député d’origine iranienne Amir Khadir, lequel appelle à la non-liberté de commerce et  à l’apartheid israélien, notamment sur la rue Saint-Denis à Montréal, face aux boutiques Le Marcheur et Naot, lesquelles vendent des produits de marque israélienne. Sur la grande affiche, à côté de la porte principale, en gros caractères, est inscrit : « Quand l’injustice devient loi, la résistance est un devoir ».  Sitôt franchi le seuil, derrière ce paravent, une face cachée apparaît soudainement. En effet,  en se promenant dans le quartier, il n’est pas nécessaire d’avoir une loupe pour constater combien le député de Mercier suscite de vifs sentiments.  Il faut dire qu’en s’exaltant tantôt pour Martin Luther King, tantôt pour Mahatma Gandhi, il y a loin de la coupe aux lèvres. En effet, nous pourrions en rire si au moins c’était drôle.

Les faces cachées d’Amir Khadir

By Éric Duhaime on July 18, 2012

khadir_02.jpgLe dramaturge, romancier et enseignant retraité d’une école publique primaire, Pierre K. Malouf, publie, aux éditions Accent Grave, un important essai sur l’unique député de Québec solidaire.
Rien ne prédestinait pourtant Malouf à écrire un tel ouvrage.
Âgé de 68 ans, il en avait vu d’autres avec les communistes et syndicalistes du Québec des années 60 et 70.
Il change cependant d’idée et décide de sortir sa plume suite à la présence d’Amir Khadir parmi un groupe de manifestants devant Le Marcheur le samedi 11 décembre 2010, ceux-là même qui boycottent et harcèlent la boutique parce qu’elle vend des souliers fabriqués en Israël.

 

Les faces cachées d’Amir Khadir

By Jacques Brassard on July 18, 2012

Si vous êtes un «idiot utile» qui trouvez bénéfique et tellement «progressiste» le rôle joué par Québec Solidaire sur la scène politique;
Si vous êtes un grand cœur naïf sérieusement convaincu que le Hamas est une organisation humanitaire qui lutte contre l’horrible apartheid qui ravage Israël ;
Si vous êtes un électeur anonyme qui, dans les sondages, croyez sincèrement qu’Amir Khadir est un député humaniste qui n’a qu’une seule mission : la défense des pauvres, de la veuve et de l’orphelin,
Alors, il vous faut lire le livre de Pierre K. Malouf, paru aux éditions ACCENT GRAVE, Les Faces Cachées d’Amir Khadir. Ça défrise et ça déniaise!

 

Pourquoi Je suis devenu un 450

By Jeff Plante on July 18, 2012

Plante_Jeff.jpgJ'ai aimé cette ville à un point tel qu'à l'époque j'avais joint les rangs de l'équipe du maire Bourque, un maire certes mal aimé, mais qui avait une qualité intrinsèque : celle d'aimer sa ville, c'en était presque charnel. Je me souviens très bien comment à chaque conseil, malgré nos opinions politiques disparates nous avions le sentiment de travailler pour quelque chose de plus grand que nous. Chaque entreprise que nous amenions, chaque tournage international, chaque projet immobilier, chaque événement d'envergure qui s'arrêtait chez nous étaient pour nous une petite victoire.

Seventh hearing of OMHM versus Danny Palladini is long and complicated

By Tracey Arial on July 18, 2012

Manoir_Roger_Bernard.jpgTwo people testified on the seventh scheduled hearing in the case of Montreal’s municipal housing authority (OMHM) versus Daniel Palladini. The OMHM is trying to evict Mr.Palladini because it says he has caused too much trouble with his questioning of how some $16,000 of two tenants associations funds were spent. Palladini, who has lived at the OMHM's Manoir Roger Bernard for some ten years, was the charter founder of the associations.

Supreme Court rules against TMR victim’s family: Surprisingly broad interpretation of Quebec's Auto Insurance Act revives calls for "no-fault" refor

By P.A. Sévigny on July 18, 2012

Six years after Gabriel Rossy was killed after a rotten tree fell on his car while he was driving through Westmount during a freak summer storm, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled against his family after it sued the city for failing to properly maintain the tree that killed their son. Following last week’s unanimous decision, the court decided that under the regulations of Québec’s Automobile insurance Act, Rossy’s family must turn to the province’s automobile insurance board for compensation because he was driving a car at the time of his death.

Navi Pillay, butt out of Quebec!

By Beryl Wajsman on July 18, 2012

navi-pillay.jpgThe arrogant, breathtaking audacity of, pardon the expression, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, taking a swipe at Quebec’s Bill 78 as a cause of concern evidences again not only the UN’s never-ending readiness to take any shot at functioning democracies to balance off its cowardice in confronting tyrannies, but also the ignorance of its officials. Even at the highest levels.


The Kids Are Not All Right

By Akil Alleyne on July 18, 2012

alleyne_akyl.jpgI am fond of griping that Canadian politics always seem to become most interesting when I am out of the country. I was away at university in New Jersey when the wily Prime Minister of my childhood, Jean Chrétien, was supplanted by his restive deputy, Paul Martin; when the sponsorship scandal terminally weakened the Liberal Party’s grip on federal power; when Stephen Harper’s Conservatives won a minority government in 2006; and when the Tories finally won a majority, and the NDP supplanted the Liberals as Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, last year. (I was here, mind you, to witness the Opposition coalition power play of December 2008, but of course that died pathetically on the vine.)

Axe falls on English social service team

By Joel Ceausu on July 18, 2012

I am tired,” says André Gagnière, director-general of the Centre de santé et de services sociaux de la Pointe-de-l’Île. “I am tired of fighting for the Pivot by myself. I can’t do it anymore.”

And with that, it’s seemingly a done deal as the Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal brings the axe down on a team of social workers that for years had ensured access to English services in the east end for a host of clients including children with intellectual disabilities.

 

Israel-Egypte: réalités et pragmatisme

By Amb. Freddy Eytan on July 18, 2012

Freddy_Eytan.JPGJerusalem - L'élection de Mohamed Morsi est historique et révolutionnaire. Dans ce coup de théâtre de l'absurde, l'homme qui a été emprisonné par Moubarak est entré au Palais présidentiel d'un pas feutré, sur le tapis rouge et avec tous les salamalecs. Moubarak, lui, est derrière les barreaux plongé dans un coma irréversible… Tandis que le fondateur de la confrérie des Frères musulmans, Al Banna, (grand-père de Tarik Ramadan) réalise un grand rêve…et se retourne dans sa tombe dans  l'allégresse… Le grand Mufti de Jérusalem, grand défenseur de la confrérie islamique et allié d'Hitler ne peut non plus dissimuler sa joie en se frottant les mains…souillées de sang juif!

Handle with care: A fragile Afghanistan in Tokyo

By Omar Samad on July 18, 2012

Ten years after the first Afghanistan reconstruction conference was held in Tokyo in 2002, Japan will host a second donors' gathering on July 8 to formulate a strategy to ensure the sustainable development of Afghanistan beyond 2014 - the date set for NATO's withdrawal. Tokyo 1 took place at a time of high hope, a clean slate, and enthusiasm for engagement, but almost no assessment of the gargantuan rebuilding task to be undertaken in a country devastated by more than two decades of warfare. There also was no insurgency to worry about. Tokyo 2 is happening at a time of uncertainty and donor fatigue, but at least the stakeholders now have a vast (and expensive) database to work with. However, the most conspicuous feature Afghans and donors will face next week and beyond, is the fragility permeating the Afghan security, political and economic sectors. Furthermore, the Taliban are now viewed as a real threat to stability.

Obama did not "lose" Canada

By David T. Jones on July 18, 2012

obama_harper.jpgWashington, DC - Whenever one reads a title including “Who Lost…” you know that ax grinding is about to start with the whetstone spinning. There is a blame game to be played and guilt to be apportioned. Thus, variously, over the decades, the outraged have exclaimed “Who Lost China?” “Who Lost Vietnam?” “Who Lost Iran?” and currently, preemptively lamenting over who lost Afghanistan and/or Iraq. The author(s) always know that others are at fault and they knew better.


The Music has Stopped – Why Are We Still Dancing?

By Robert Presser on July 18, 2012

music_stopped.jpgPartygoers are familiar with the ritual at the end of a festive evening – the band announces the last song, those still up for a dance take to the floor, other revellers observe, have a last drink or finish up their conversations.  When the music’s over, the band thanks everyone for coming out, the lights go up and then the staffers encourage everyone to head to the door.  At least this is how it is supposed to be.

This is not the case if the party is being thrown by the debt-laden developed economies of the world, and especially those within the European Economic Community who are members of the Eurozone. 

 

Leo Leonard, a.k.a Clawhammer Jack : last of the urban horsemen.

By Alan Hustak on July 18, 2012

6899727.jpgLeo Leonard, affectionately known as Clawhammer Jack, was an authentic urban horseman who maintained a horse palace in the heart of  Montreal’s Griffintown  neighbourhood for almost five decades.  A third generation Irishman, Leonard was a horse whisperer and a former caléche driver who lived in the same neighbourhood just below the Bell Centre for almost all of his 86 years. He held out almost to the end against developers  who wanted his property for office and commercial space and for affordable and subsidized housing. He died on July 5 several months after finally moving out of Griffintown.

Notes from the Sinkhole of our discontent

By Joel Ceausu on July 18, 2012

 

I held my son’s chocolate peanut-butter ice cream slathered hand and looked at that nice strip of fresh black bitumen over the former sinkhole that opened up on Ste. Catherine St. last week and wondered like many others in our city, what if?
What if it happened in front of my house? What if it swallowed a car? What if some protesting window-smashing “anarchist” had taken a journey down that rabbit hole?

 

"We're just friends" doesn't apply to men and women. An appreciation of Nora Ephron

By Margaux Chetrit on July 18, 2012

Nora_Ephron.jpgNora Ephron, the journalist, playwright, director, producer and actress passed away last week after a years-long battle with leukemia. She was 71. The disease never got the better ofmher until almost the very end. She leaves behind a legacy of best-selling books, sparkling  films and priceless advice. 
Nora, through her ongoing artistic commentary on the romantic zeitgeist, succeeded in imparting lessons and igniting debates on the state of love and relationships.
She shook our conceptions to the core and left us uncomfortably aware of how truly clueless we were about the opposite sex. 

The art of machismo

By Frank Borsellino on July 18, 2012

art_of_machismo.jpg'Hemingway & Gellhorn' is a study in the art of machismo . . . just as much from a woman as from a man. This film, which premiered on HBO, dramatizes the volatile coming together and falling apart of the famous novelist and his third wife. Martha Gellhorn, a renowned war correspondent and the only one of his brides who was also a fiction writer. The film is a big-name affair, with Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman in the leads and Philip Kaufman directing a screenplay by Barbara Turner ('Pollock') and Jerry Stahl ('Bad Boys II').

Standing Up for Sauvignon Blanc

By David White on July 18, 2012

white_wine_glasses.jpgPoor Sauvignon Blanc.

For years, some of the most prominent wine critics have bashed the grape. In Slate Magazine, Sauvignon Blanc was once described as "maddeningly dull." Wine Enthusiast's West Coast editor has criticized the grape for failing to elicit "profound excitement."
Hogwash. Like every wine grape, Sauvignon Blanc demands the right soil, the appropriate climate, and a skilled winemaker. When those demands are met, the grape can produce remarkably fresh, complex wines, capable of expressing a sense of place and provoking emotion. 

 


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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