Peace is a quiet film with an unusual power to move. By following the ordinary lives of people and cats, the camera leads the audience to discover the concept of peace in its most fundamental sense, not as a state of negotiated, reluctant coexistence, but as an idea that lies at the core of our humanity. The film reveals the sublime through the mundane.
I was touched by what Soda wrote on Facebook,
“What I said at the Award Ceremony: I’m from Japan. I’ve been so overwhelmed by the tragedy my country is experiencing that I almost cancelled the trip to Hong Kong. But I’m a filmmaker. It’s my job to make movies and to show them to people. So I changed my mind to come here. I’m now confident that I made a right decision. I’ll continue to make movies.“
Personal note: Since watching Soda’s films for the first time and interviewing him over the years for a few times, Soda has been a true inspiring documentary filmmaker for me. I try to find my own path in documentary filmmaking and it is nice to be inspired by filmmakers like Soda.
It is hard to believe that there is even a question about participation of the Green Party of Canada in the televised leaders’ debate.
We have precedent on our side. We have reason on our side. Against our participation stands an unregulated, ad hoc process that makes decisions without benefit of rules or criteria.
Canadians have come to expect the national leaders debates as part of the democratic process. In 2008, the Canadian public responded with outrage when it became known that the leader of the Green Party was not to be allowed to participate due to threats from two leaders that they would not show up if I was included. In an inspiring demonstration of non-partisan fury, Canadians forced those leaders to back down, and then the television network executives also relented.
In the midst of the controversy, the former head of the so-called Broadcast Consortium, as the news directors from CBC, CTV, Global, TVA and Radio Canada style themselves when making all the decisions about the leaders’ debate, wrote a scathing attack on the process. Tony Burman was former head of CBC news and he urged that Canadians “pull the plug” on the Consortium. He wrote that the process was entirely arbitrary and should be replaced with a commission, as in the U.S., to run debates independent of the journalists who cover the debates. He also disclosed that the threat from Stephen Harper to refuse to participate in the debates had been made in January 2007 and had become the “elephant in the room.” Moving an elephant is not easy. But the Canadian public did so. Read the rest of this entry »
Warning: Like all reality TV shows, little are left to chances from the selection of featured companies, people appearing in the shows, to the shooting and video editing, etc.
From Tuesday’s Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Mar. 28, 2011 7:30PM EDT
Last updated Monday, Mar. 28, 2011 9:28PM EDT
The worst part about Stephen Harper’s attack on the Liberal Party for being undemocratic in its alleged plans for a coalition government is not that it is irrelevant, hypocritical or probably false (though it is all that). The worst part is that it comes from a leader whose own legitimacy rests on holding less than half of the seats in the House of Commons.
Yet Mr. Harper cannot seem to speak without mentioning the dreaded word. He uttered it 21 times in a speech on Sunday. He continued using it on Monday. He may not be able to stop himself on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Speaking to a suburban audience in Brampton, Ont., that included immigrants from unstable or undemocratic regimes, he implied that a coalition is something like a coup, a danger to Canada’s stability. The Liberals, he said, would move with “lightning speed” to form a “reckless coalition” with the New Democrats and the Bloc Québécois, if the Conservatives win the largest number of seats in the coming election, but not a majority.
A coalition is not a coup. The party that wins the most seats has first call on forming a government. If that party loses the confidence of the House, the other parties are entitled, in the parliamentary system, to ask the Governor-General for permission to govern. Britain has a coalition government. Read the rest of this entry »
“What is peace? What is coexistence? And what are the bases for them?
PEACE is a visual-essay-like observational documentary, which contemplates these questions by observing the daily lives of people and cats in Okayama city, Japan, where life and death, acceptance and rejection are intermingled.
Early trailer of Sucker Punch showed promises, unfortunately the film itself seemed to suck and it is rating a solid rotten 23% with 75 reviews at press time. There are so many bad reviews that a rare positive review in Calgary Herald (via Postmedia News) by Katherine Monk surprised me.
Here are some excerpts from the many negative reviews.
“[...] by the end of two hours of humorless, masturbatory non sequiturs from the director of “300″ and “Watchmen,” I was beginning to feel like an ice pick had been shoved into my eye socket. [...]
As far as I can tell, the title of “Sucker Punch” refers to anyone who ponies up $12.50 ($19 for IMAX) to see the year’s worst movie so far.“
“As it stands now, the film’s idea of treatment is telling rape victims in the moment to go to their happy place and all will be fine.Read the rest of this entry »
For the record. “英國文豪蕭伯納說，對說謊者的最大懲罰，不是沒有人再相信他，而是他不再相信任何人。不被人相信，頂多用自己的行動讓別人對自己重拾信心就是了。不再相信任何人，則是非常可怕的事。當甚麼事情都要反覆去查反覆去問，查了問了還是不相信，那不僅浪費時間金錢生命，而且簡直就惶惶不可終日。盲搶鹽固然反映人民的惶惶，而更惶惶的則是不相信人民並把維穩費不斷拔高的統治者。”
“Washington backs i4i in Microsoft court fight
OMAR EL AKKAD AND TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
Globe and Mail Update
Published Monday, Mar. 21, 2011 2:26PM EDT
Last updated Monday, Mar. 21, 2011 2:34PM EDT
The U.S. government has come out in support of a small Toronto software manufacturer in its years-long legal battle against technology giant Microsoft Corp. (MSFT-Q25.330.532.14%)
Washington is among almost two dozen groups and individuals that recently filed 22 amicus briefs in support of Toronto-based i4i Inc., which sued Microsoft for patent infringement. Nineteen venture capital firms and various companies – including 3M – have also written briefs in support of i4i.
The case has dragged on for four years, and is set to go before the U.S. Supreme Court in April. The central issue in the argument is whether the court should lower the standard for invalidating a patent. Loudon Owen, i4i’s chairman, argues a ruling in favour of Microsoft could result in a cataclysmic and ultimately negative shift of the U.S. patent system. Read the rest of this entry »
The hotel industry attracted my attention years ago since I realized the best hotels don’t necessarily be the grandest looking hotels. Sure, a broken down hotel can’t be “great” but, ultimately, it is the people in the hotels that make them great. Four Seasons Hotel is one of those great hotels even they may not be at the grandest locations. For the record. (emphasis added)
STEVE LADURANTAYE
From Monday’s Globe and Mail
Published Sunday, Mar. 20, 2011 7:28PM EDT
Last updated Monday, Mar. 21, 2011 6:29AM EDT
When Isadore Sharp opened his first Four Seasons Hotel in a seedy Toronto neighbourhood, all he wanted to do was make a decent buck off a real estate deal before moving on to the next project.
Fifty years later, he has built one of the most recognized brands in the world. He did it by a strict adherence to what he called the golden rule: “The simple idea that if you treat people well, the way you would like to be treated, they will do the same.”
He’s no longer running the company – he relinquished the chief executive officer title to Kathleen Taylor in 2010. But he continues to serve as chairman of Four Seasons Hotels Inc., is actively involved in promoting the company’s brand and values around the world and has a say in all of its major moves.
The company – which was taken private in 2007 in a $4-billion deal backed by Bill Gates and Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal that left Mr. Sharp with a 5-per-cent stake – will mark its 50th anniversary today with a modest celebration in Toronto and the launch of a website showcasing the company’s social responsibility initiatives.
A grander party was planned, but executives felt it was inappropriate following the disaster in Japan. Mr. Sharp spoke recently about the company’s legacy and future.
What has been the key to Four Seasons’ longevity?
I think our approach to the business struck the right note and continues to do so. The idea of trying to figure out what would be of value to the customer has stayed in place – we’re constantly looking for the refinements we should be making that would add value to the customer. Read the rest of this entry »
First of all, I treasure freedom of press and won’t change a word in Apple Daily’s report “中港澳盲搶鹽” even I wouldn’t write it this way.
It is so easy to laugh at and be critical of the people that are in a panic in China, HK, and Macau. Sure people’s worry may not be scientifically based, but since when did we lose our ability to empathize and sympathize? And replace by absolute smugness and self-righteous, enough to turn it into a half-joke? Freedom of press comes with a price. Headlines like “中港澳盲搶鹽” is a price that I still gladly pay.
“Q: Thank you, Dad. Moving on to another question. I do like this question. “So
imagine if your dad were to interview the top TEPCO officials, or could be a reporter
at a TEPCO press conference. What would his top ten questions be? Or put it
another way, what significant data would most clarify the reactors and the extent of
the damage?”
A: I would- well, first off, I would have more than 10 questions. But I think the
important thing that I would ask to receive is that they need to assume that the general public is intelligent and they need to provide them with as much information as possible. I think there’s, at times, a tendency when things happen,
whether it be nuclear or some other event, to filter the information, because we’re
afraid of the reaction, or we’re afraid of panic. But in this case, they’re at the opposite end of the spectrum, where they’re providing not enough information, and very little information, that people are starting to get very upset and panic, because they feel like they’re not being provided with enough information. And I would
agree with those people – not enough information is being provided and y’know,
I would need more than- I’d need more than 10 questions for them, but the main
question I would have would be, “Please tell us exactly what is happening and treat us as if we’re intelligent and give us as much information as possible.”“
Meltdown looms as errors mount at Fukushima nuclear plant
SHAWN MCCARTHY — GLOBAL ENERGY REPORTER
OTTAWA— From Wednesday’s Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Mar. 15, 2011 7:55PM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, Mar. 16, 2011 9:22AM EDT
The nuclear industry uses a “defence in depth” approach – having backups for your backup systems – but cascading disasters and human error have overwhelmed those safety systems in Japan and pushed the country to the brink of a nuclear meltdown.
Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station was clearly designed to withstand the worst earthquake to hit the country in modern times, but key backup safety systems failed under the resulting blackout and a massive tsunami that inundated the area.
That’s left a razor-thin margin of error for emergency crews working under enormous stress to prevent a meltdown that could spread radiation across their homeland. They’ve survived catastrophic natural disasters and explosions at the plant, but the failure to close a pressure gauge could lose the war.
The see-saw battle to regain mastery of the crippled plants has been hobbled by some design shortcomings at the 40-year-old facility – though the critical containment vessels appear to be intact. And there is a residual lack of trust in its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which has an unfortunate history of hiding trouble from the public.
But the fundamental question is whether the global nuclear industry designs reactors to withstand a “perfect storm” situation, in which multiple calamities and human error conspire together to create what the industry calls a “low-probability, high-consequence event.”
Former nuclear regulator Linda Keen said the industry is often inadequately prepared.
“In my experience, I found the nuclear engineers extremely optimistic,” said Ms. Keen, former head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
“They’re optimistic about everything: how fast they’re going to do things, the cost, the idea of whether you are going to have an accident or not.” Read the rest of this entry »
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