Moviefone News Moviefone Copyright 2011, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. Moviefone Good old fashioned elbow grease. <![CDATA[Occupy Canada Eviction: Who Stays And Who Goes]]>
The occupations have had no shortage of controversies, with altercations between city workers and occupants, safety concerns and a drug overdose on site. Locals and government officials have been both frustrated by the protests, and supportive of the movement. Many cities, however, are now trying to evict occupants from public parks and spaces.

You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Here's a roundup of what local occupy movements have and haven't been evicted so far.

]]> Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:27:20 EST 1091188 <![CDATA[Raffi Torres Gets Heat For Jay-Z Halloween Costume, Blackface]]>
A photo of Torres was tweeted with him in blackface, and circulated on Twitter on Sunday night, creating nothing short of a small controversy for the NHL-er by Monday morning.

Some have been calling Torres' costume racist, referring to the historically controversial practice of white actors wearing blackface makeup and often perpetuating stereotypes about African-Americans. His supporters, however, said it was a harmless costume and nothing more.

Here's a round up of some of the Twitter reaction since the picture was released.

]]> Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:49:10 EDT 1067869 <![CDATA[Occupy Toronto: Disorganization On Day Two As Protesters Assemble And Talk]]> UPDATE: The organizers of Occupy Toronto are distancing themselves from a group which plans to march on the Toronto Stock Exchange Monday morning, according to the Toronto Star.

At a meeting held Sunday night in St. James Park, the epicentre of the Toronto protests, officials denied links between those planning to march on Bay Street and the rest of the movement.

"It appears some individuals are very impatient for the changes," said Bryan Batty, a member of the media committee for Occupy Toronto. "Impatience can lead to unfortunate circumstances."

Those planning to crash the TSX, reportedly may start as early as 7 a.m.


From the early morning on Occupy Toronto's second day, the mood had shifted. While Saturday's events were festive and lively, the downtown park had become a sleepy village. Many had gone home for the night, and those who stayed had a cold and wet sleep in tents and under tarps.

GALLERY: VOICES OF THE OCCUPATION

By noon, the first general assembly got under way and lasted for more than two hours. Between arguing over how the process would go, debating over the right way to vote on motions in order to maintain democracy, and descending into yelling matches over whether or not they should march as a group to Yonge-Dundas Square, the afternoon was largely disorganized.

"We're losing our direction," said one protester. "The media's here and they can see that. That's how we're going to be represented."

"Today's going to be a major day for planning a large impact for Monday as a demonstration for (when) the Stock Exchange opens," said Niko Salassidis, a 20-year-old who set up the Occupy Toronto Facebook group.

"We plan to make a very large statement."

While many wanted to march to Yonge-Dundas Square, some needed to stay at the base in St. James Park so that police wouldn't break up the occupation. Their numbers were too small — in the morning, there were only about 200 people. By mid-afternoon, estimates pegged the crowd at between 600 and 800.

The Occupy movement, which began peacefully in cities across Canada yesterday, was inspired by the month-long Occupy Wall Street protest south of the border.

Demonstrators are speaking out against what they see as a corporate system which favours a wealthy elite but disregards the masses, or "the 99 per cent."

In Toronto, the group wanted to create a list of united demands. Some called for the end of capitalism, while others protested abuses against First Nations. There were groups protesting sexism, racism and corporate greed. Toronto's Occupy movement has been criticized over the past two days for lacking a cohesive message like the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Organizer Daniel Roth said the comparison between Toronto and New York is unfair this early in the rally.

"They spent three to four weeks writing [their demands,]" said Roth. "To say that we don't know what this is about is a little disingenuous."

Still, many protesters have different definitions of what the occupy movement means to them, and no one wants to see their message get pushed to the back burner.

By Sunday afternoon, the crowd at St. James Park had grown. The weather hasn't been kind to the occupiers, nor has a dwindling food supply, but many of the participants are ready to stay for as long as it takes, they said.

"We have a tonne of other proposals to get through," said one organizer during the general assembly, trying to get the crowd to stay on topic. "So for the sake of time, we need to move on."

The crowd replied: "What else do we have to do? We're going to be here all day."

The protests across Canada have been orderly so far, marked by cordial relations between police and demonstrators — a sharp contrast to the riots that erupted during last year's G20 demonstrations in Toronto and following Vancouver's Stanley Cup loss in June.

With a files from The Canadian Press

VOICES OF THE OCCUPATION


]]> Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:54:31 EDT 1014345 <![CDATA[Occupy Canada Protests: Toronto Protesters Settle Into St. James Park As Demonstrations Sweep The Country]]> UPDATE: The cold drizzle that settled over Toronto Saturday afternoon didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of Occupy Toronto protesters -- but can they last for the long haul?

Some protesters say they plan to settle in at Toronto’s St. James Park for weeks. Some even say they plan to stay until December, when Toronto’s winter will undoubtedly be bearing down on the city.

According to reports on Twitter Saturday night, police have been telling protesters that they won’t ticket anyone for sleeping in the park the first night of the occupation.

But so far, neither the police, nor residents of the neighbourhood just east of Toronto’s business district, have indicated how they will react to a long-term occupation aimed at drawing attention to the world’s shaky financial infrastructure.

GALLERY: IMAGES OF #OCCUPYCANADA

An impromptu march broke off from the park protest as night set in, with about 50 people marching down Adelaide Street singing the national anthem.

Earlier in the day interim Liberal Party Leader Bob Rae showed up and told the media he saw the protest as a “spontaneous expression of people’s concerns” about the global economy.

“We live in a country where we want to take care of each other. That’s the definition of a good country in my view,” Rae said. “And right now we’re not taking good enough care of an awful lot of people.”

Police arrested two individuals in Toronto’s business district after a man was seen entering Commerce Court West office tower with a hammer. There were no injuries and no damage was reported.

The arrests took place around 4:30 p.m., several hours after the protest had left the business district and migrated to St. James Park. Protesters on the scene said the arrested were not part of the Occupy Toronto event.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW GALLERY
GALLERY:


As the clock tower at Toronto's St. James Cathedral struck 12 noon on Saturday, several thousand demonstrators filed into the park below, hoisting colourful signs and chanting in unison.

Though grey clouds threatened rain, the mood on the ground at Occupy Toronto was joyous. As demonstrators gathered near a wooden gazebo, their bluesy rendition of "Where did the money go?" got a lift from a saxophone player. Meanwhile, a purple balloon bounced through the air as one young couple kissed passionately, drawing attention from photographers and onlookers.

Organizers declined to disclose the location of ground zero in advance of Saturday's protest, but it has now become clear that the movement will be based in St. James Park, a patch of green space in downtown Toronto that straddles the financial district and one of the city's grittier pockets.

Taking their cue from Occupy Wall Street, where thousands of demonstrators are holed up in lower Manhattan to fight perceived corporate greed and stand up for the so-called "99 per cent," demonstrators across Canada took to the streets on Saturday. From St. John's to Victoria, protesters raised signs and chanted slogans -- putting a made-in-Canada spin on the grievances that have been gaining steam south of the border.

The demonstration in Toronto kicked off at 10 a.m. with a few hundred people gathered on the steps of the TD Bank building at the corner of King and Bay Streets. Though green banners erected on the bank's exterior reminded patrons that TD was "still open for business," the placards hoisted by the protesters below were the focus of attention for the scores of media outlets that turned out to cover the event.

As in Manhattan, the perceived ills of the banking establishment was at the core of some of the frustration.

Appealing directly to the Minister of Finance, one of the signs urged Jim Flaherty to "support a transaction tax on the wealthy now."

"RBC CEO paid $44 million in 2007; RBC teller pay only $30 thousand!" read another.

But many of the demonstrators were motivated by other concerns. Those who marched along Adelaide Street and into St. James Park included First Nations rights activists, labour unions and environmentalists.

Dressed in pink costume glasses and carrying a CUPE sign, an Air Canada flight attendant told The Huffington Post that her motivation was the recent decision of Minister of Labour Lisa Raitt to block her union's right to strike.

"We're here because our negotiations were unsatisfactory for the worker. We had the right to strike but it was taken away from us," said the 30-year-old, who declined to give her name. "I really identify with the whole movement that's goes on here against corporate greed. Everyone seems to be affected by the same thing -- the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer. I'm here for the middle class."

As he made his way towards the park, 33-year-old Adam Roach wore a placard that read, "The gap between rich and poor is growing faster in Canada than it is in the United States" -- a fact he attributed to The Globe and Mail.

"I just wanted to be very specific, and just pull information from the actual news that was out there already," he explained. "Providing a source that is a reliable source just kind of helps solidify our angles. It's the truth."

Not everyone, however, was on board.

Carrying a sign telling demonstrators to "blame yourselves" for feeling "envious" and "poor," self-proclaimed counter-protester Mel Glickman accused Occupy Toronto participants of "copying Wall Street."

"They don't even know [about] the conditions that started the Wall Street movement. They think it translates to Canada, which it does not," he said. "These are just envious people ... They want the rich to pay -- which, as a rich person, we do. I bet you my taxes are more than everyone's taxes here put together, and I resent this."

While Occupy protests in other countries turned violent on Saturday, the demonstrations across Canada have so far been peaceful.

From the Canadian Press:
In Halifax, demonstrators crowded into a park in the city's downtown, setting up tents, waving union banners, hoisting hand-drawn placards and talking politics.

Police estimated there were about 200 people in the Halifax demonstration. It was expected many would remain into the night.

There was a similar scene in Montreal where hundreds gathered at Victoria Square in the city's financial district.

The site was dotted with a half-dozen tents and coolers brought by those planning a long occupation.

Several demonstrators cited the Quebec government's refusal to hold an inquiry into corruption in the construction industry as an example of how governments fail to act on the demands of citizens.

In Winnipeg, dozens of people came out for the occupation demonstration.

Other Canadian cities slated to see protests included Calgary, Vancouver, Fredericton, Moncton, N.B.; Guelph, Windsor, Kingston and London in Ontario; Nanaimo, Courtenay, Duncan, Kelowna, Kamloops and Nelson in B.C.; Lethbridge, Alta., Regina and Ottawa.


Several demonstrators in Toronto told The Huffington Post Canada that they are pledging to occupy the park for "as long as it takes." More than a few toted backpacks and sleeping bags, and within a hour of the group's arrival, a handful of designated medics -- identified by red crosses taped to their arms -- set about pitching a tent in an area cordoned off with caution tape.

As he taped a cardboard sign to a nearby lamppost to identify the area, one volunteer medic, who identified himself as only as Jim, noted that his "personal and professional history with this sort of thing and with tear gas goes back to 1968."

Though he was initially "a little taken aback" with the idea of leading by consensus at the centre of the Occupy movement, he says, "I have come to find it a very interesting process."

Shortly before the scheduled evening General Assembly, children were running around on the grass, playing with mud and catching rain drops, while adults formed circles on dry spots to eat and play guitar.

While many of the demonstrators will leave for the night, police have told media that they will not ticket those who hole up in the park overnight.

As a fellow participant passed out sandwiches, 25-year-old Christopher Lampe expressed optimism about the potential impact of the movement.

"Everybody's waiting for someone else to make a change," said Lampe. "We have to do it. We're that generation."


]]> Sat, 15 Oct 2011 16:57:30 EDT 1012816 <![CDATA[Occupy Toronto: Protesters Tell Us Why They're Rallying For Change]]>
Taking their cue from Occupy Wall Street, where thousands of demonstrators are holed up in lower Manhattan to fight perceived corporate greed and stand up for the so-called "99 per cent," demonstrators across Canada took to the streets on Saturday.

From St. John's to Victoria, protesters raised signs and chanted slogans -- putting a made-in-Canada spin on the grievances that have been gaining steam south of the border.

HuffPost's Scaachi Koul spoke to some of the protesters in Toronto
]]> Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:57:03 EDT 1012596 <![CDATA[NASA Satellite Crash: An Alberta Hoax, Danish Sighting And The Truth About Where It Landed]]>
NASA has confirmed that its defunct, bus-sized satellite fell to Earth Friday, but likely didn’t cause any damage. The Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite entered the atmosphere at about 11:23 p.m. ET over the coast of Washington.

NASA also says that the likelihood of finding the debris is slim. The satellite was expected to break into 26 pieces when it re-entered the atmosphere, the largest weighing 150 kilograms, and they likely fell into the Pacific Ocean, the space agency reports. When UARS started its orbit 20 years ago, NASA didn't have plans for controlled re-entries on satellites as they do now. The UARS satellite is the largest of its kind to plummet uncontrolled down to Earth.

NASA said in a statement that it was impossible to pinpoint where the debris landed. "Because of the satellite's orbit, any surviving components of UARS should have landed within a zone between 57 degrees north latitude and 57 degrees south latitude."

While NASA can't be precise, it's clear the satellite did NOT land on a farm in Okotoks, Alta., as many believed early Saturday thanks to an elaborate hoax by an aspiring Calgary filmmaker.

Sebastian Salazar tweeted that the NASA satellite had crashed into a farmer’s field near Okotoks. “Debris found at the Wilmuth Farm,” he posted to his account, @imnotgonnalie2u.

Salazar says he was inspired by the 1938 War of the Worlds War Of The Worlds broadcast by Orson Welles, which caused hysteria across the U.S. Salazar used direct quotes from the broadcast, including reports from a “Carl Phillips” who was reporting from “Wilmuth Farm.” The Calgarian even included transcripts of interviews between Philips and the owner of the farm, as well as pictures of the “debris” made from spare parts in his home.

Canada wasn't the only country with a NASA satellite hoax — a Danish couple was also convinced they had seen parts of the falling satellite. Tonni and Ove Lind called police when they found what looked like satellite remains in their yard. The couple said they soon realized the machinery unlikely a satellite because there were no markings on the ground from impact, and virtually no damage to the pieces themselves.

Who knows — maybe that shooting star you saw over the weekend was actually NASA property hurtling towards earth.

See amateur astronomer footage of the satellite in orbit and a slideshow of Twitter reactions:





]]> Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:28:54 EDT 981049 <![CDATA[Your Skin Is Not Your Enemy]]>
I was 10 years old during the Sept. 11 attacks, but I have little memory of the world before it. I was raised in a Calgary suburb so overwhelmingly white it made Salt Lake look like Compton. Racism is easy, and boy, are kids ever really good at it. After it happened, it really didn't matter how much your daughter loved Aladdin -- I was darker than her, and she was not going to like me.

Nearly every visible minority has a moment as a child when they realize they don't look like everyone else. For myself, and many others who looked like me, that moment came in the days and weeks following 9/11. In elementary school, I was one of three or four South Asian faces at our school. Children are cruel, but they're not too creative: calling me a terrorist and passing me notes with "Osama bin Laden's cousin" written on them isn't a real comedic stretch. Frankly, I'm a little embarrassed at their lack of ingenuity.

Come on, guys, put your back into it.

But realistically, my family was detached from 9/11. We lived far away, we are Hindu and not Muslim, and we come from India. We don't speak the same language or follow the same religion as those who were being profiled. Ten-year-olds are jerks, but I figured if it wasn't this, it would be something else.

Life went on, but so did fear within South Asian communities of being profiled. While we had no geographical, ideological or religious ties to the people who perpetrated the attacks -- and frankly, neither do a majority of Muslims -- we looked a lot like them.

And yet, it wasn't my Caucasian counterparts who showed the most racism after 9/11. I did. I bristled when people asked me if I was Muslim or if I wore a hijab at home. I was offended if someone asked if my family came from Pakistan or whether we were Persian. I began to think of it as "them" versus "us." I didn't want to be associated with "them." Not terrorists, but anyone who was being unjustly linked to them too.

Bluntly, I didn't want people to think I was Muslim. "They" were going to make my life harder for something "we" never had a hand in. "They" were the ones responsible and I wanted nothing to do with it. Being referred to as Muslim quickly changed from a harmless mistake to a black mark.

Having this reaction as a child is almost understandable, because what else could you think when your brain is still prepubescent? Still, there continue to be pockets within our communities who think this is a fight, and that we need to push back against the perception of being -- shudder -- Muslim.

I often wonder what would happen should someone from the Indian or Hindu community commit an act of equal magnitude in my lifetime, and how my skin will change yet again. Will people be uncomfortable being mistaken for an Indian? Will I revert to being a 10-year-old and cursing my dark hair and wide nose?

Some of the worst things I had heard about Muslims following 9/11 came from people within my communities. As a kid, it's easy to believe. As an adult, you can barely believe the gall.

Sept. 11 might not have necessarily changed anything for me or my family. Instead, it just highlighted some of the worst things in my nature and the inexcusable ways we react in fear. Racism is so easy. It's so convenient and casual and quiet. Ten years and I still have to remind myself that this isn't a fight between them and us.

Your skin colour can't be your enemy. Eventually you have to say, "You look like them, and I look like you, but they are not our brothers." They are not a part of our homes, our families or our communities.

There's a perception that 9/11 is the cause of racism against Muslim citizens, but that's just a convenient lie. Sept. 11 didn't create racism; it just brought it back to the surface and gave us a way to rationalize it. I'm still guilty of it, as are many in my community. It's still work to accept that it's not "them" and "us." You just can't hate someone for looking like someone else you hate. You can't even do it if they all look like you.

I'm fine waiting a little longer at airport security and having my passport questioned. I can deal with a few uncomfortable looks on international flights. All I can hope is that if someone who looks like me does something senselessly heinous again, I will have the sense to look past complexion through to intent.

That, and I hope schoolyard bullies get a little more creative. "Osama bin Laden's cousin?" Surely we can all do a little better than that.
]]> Fri, 9 Sep 2011 13:31:06 EDT 955764 <![CDATA[TIFF's Most Memorable Moments (PHOTOS)]]>
Here's a look back at some of the most memorable — and shocking moments — in TIFF's long history.

For complete coverage, check out Moviefone's TIFF page.

]]> Thu, 8 Sep 2011 06:40:17 EDT 952136 <![CDATA[TIFF Celebrity Spotting: The Best Spots To See A Star In Toronto (PHOTOS)]]>
For some TIFF fans, star spotting is all that matters at Canada's signature film festival. From Yorkville to Queen West, your chances of running into a celeb in downtown Toronto is pretty good this week. You can improve your odds by hanging out at or near these proven hot spots.

Many celebrities have their favourite restaurants in Toronto. If you can get a table, you just might be able to rub elbows with Hollywood royalty.

Here are some of the best places in Toronto to catch a glimpse of a star (text accompanies each image). For a map, scroll down.

For complete coverage, check out Moviefone's TIFF page.




View Best TIFF Hotspots in a larger map
]]> Thu, 8 Sep 2011 06:38:44 EDT 930411 <![CDATA[Readers Respond To #FoodFight With Favourite Cafeteria Food]]>
This week, we looked into school lunches across the country with OpenFile, and whether healthier options will lead kids down the right nutritional path. We also asked you on Facebook and Twitter what you remember from your school cafeteria, and what lunches were your favourite.

Here are some of your Facebook responses:

Stephanie White: "I was simple. Peanut butter and crackers instead of a sandwich, juice box, fruit roll up, dunkaroos. Haha... been a while since I thought about any of that stuff!"

Glenna Marr: "Mac & cheese with a great coleslaw side!"

Desiree Ross: "Tomato soup and grilled cheese, tacos, pizza, turkey gravy over mashed potatoes, peanut butter no bake cookies"

Amy Kristensen: "Our high school served rib burgers every Wednesday. That was only day I wouldn't bring a lunch from home."

Miranda Lenart: "Perogi Wednesday!"

Justen Wilson: "our high school cafe sold nothing BUT fried garbage."

Here's a roundup of your favourite school lunches on Twitter with the #FoodFight hashtag.

]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:59:28 EDT 943307 <![CDATA[Jack Layton Funeral: Canadians Pay Their Respects With Tears, Messages Of Hope]]>
The procession started Saturday morning at Toronto's City Hall, where Layton's casket was driven in a hearse escorted by Toronto police on horses, and followed by Olivia Chow, his children Mike and Sarah, and their spouses. Jack's toddler granddaughter, Beatrice, sat in another car with the window rolled down. She waved and smiled at those watching.

The procession went south on Bay Street and ended at Roy Thomson Hall, where music, speeches and tears marked the funeral ceremony and the overflow crowd outside.

Here's a roundup of some of the people who came to celebrate Layton's life and the legacy he leaves behind.

]]> Sat, 27 Aug 2011 20:01:31 EDT 939244 <![CDATA[Jack Layton Memorial: Should Toronto's Dundas Square Be Renamed After NDP Leader?]]> the chalk murals at Nathan Phillips Square and the flowers and candles left in front of the home he shared with his wife, Olivia Chow. Even a fierce rainstorm couldn't wash all the messages for Layton away — Torontonians returned after the rain to write them again, leaving more flowers, and relighting the candles.

A new bid for a more permanent Layton memorial started this week. The Facebook group titled "Campaign to Create Jack Layton Square" was started in a bid to get Toronto's Yonge and Dundas Square, an icon of the city's downtown core, renamed in honour of Layton. After being online for only three days, it has already gained more than 2,400 likes.

Amy Lavender Harris, the creator of the group, says that changing the name of the square is a more lasting way to commemorate Layton's life and legacy in Toronto. "To say, 'I'll meet you at Layton Square' is a way to make it prominent in the city's identity," she says.

Harris also says that while a park may be another way to remember Layton, it doesn't encapsulate what he believed in. "[Parks] don't represent the totality of Layton. He was very much a populist," says Harris. "Tens or thousands of people move to [Dundas Square] every day. They're going to work, they're going to play, they're shopping, they're living. It's now the epicentre of the city."



Still, Yonge and Dundas is a highly commercialized piece of property within Toronto's downtown core, and effectively represents the city's attempts to have Times Square of their own. For a name change to pass, it needs to first be brought to the square's board of management, and then to City Council. Both the board and city councillors need to agree with the proposal.

The question instead isn't so much can it happen, but should it. Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, the councillor for Dundas Square's Ward 27, says that she's been noticing a strong desire from Torontonians to have a permanent memorial space for Layton. The appropriateness of renaming Dundas Square after a champion for the working class is still in question.

"The square has some corporate sponsorship," says Councillor Wong-Tam. "Jack Layton may not want to be associated with the way the business model for the square works." When advertisers buy space in Dundas Square, they get to rebrand the area as they see fit. Yonge and Dundas is heavily commercialized and corporate, and while it may be a hub in downtown Toronto, it might not be what he wanted to be associated with.

"Jack Layton, of course, is deserving of a great honour," she says. "I've had a lot of people yell out to me that we should rename Nathan Phillips Square [after Layton]." While that name-change isn't feasible, there are other options, like renaming Queen's Park or a park at 11 Wellesley West.

"But knowing Jack the way I do as a friend, I don't know if [Dundas Square] would be his priority," she says, saying Layton would rather the city work on preserving social services, the arts, and bike lanes. "The square is a nice honour, but I think Jack would want us to work on the city."

Layton's public Toronto funeral will be held at Roy Thompson Hall Saturday at 2 p.m.]]> Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:36:20 EDT 938178 <![CDATA[Jack Layton Dead: Toronto Memorial Service Draws Hundreds]]> Jack Layton's death was announced on the morning of August 22, cities across the country made plans to remember him.

Through Facebook and Twitter, Torontonians came together at a memorial for Layton that afternoon at 4 p.m. Hundreds gathered in downtown Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square to commemorate Layton's life and legacy. It was an informal and impromptu event, with just a few NDP members reading Layton's final letter to Canadians.

It was also simply a time to shed a few tears and offer some hugs. The mood was generally sombre throughout the afternoon and early evening, with Torontonians coming across the city to write messages on a makeshift memorial wall.

Here's a slideshow of some of the messages and faces seen at Toronto's unofficial Jack Layton memorial.

]]> Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:41:33 EDT 933696 <![CDATA[Nouriel Roubini, Ex-Clinton Adviser And Economics Guru: Global Recession Risk Higher Than 50 Per Cent]]>
Roubini, whose often foreboding economic views have garnered him the nicknames "Dr. Doom" and "permabear" in the media, painted a characteristically bleak picture of the global economy. The economist told the Wall Street Journal that the chance of a global recession is greater than 50 per cent, and the next few months will reveal the direction the economy will be going.

"Karl Marx had it right. At some point, capitalism can self-destroy itself," he said in an interview with the Journal's Simon Constable.

While Roubini says the global economy isn't so bad that capitalism is self-destructing, he did call the current economic climate the "second leg" of what occurred during the Great Depression.

Roubini has experience as an economic adviser in the White House. Under the Clinton administration, he was first a senior economist in the White House Council of Economic Advisers before moving to the Treasury department as a senior adviser to Timothy Geithner, who was then the undersecretary for international affairs and is now President Obama's Treasury secretary.

The following video originally appeared at The Wall Street Journal.

]]> Mon, 15 Aug 2011 10:29:55 EDT 927095 <![CDATA[East Africa Famine: How To Help]]>
The drought in East Africa is being called the worst the region has seen in half a century. An estimated 12.5 million people are facing starvation in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, along with parts of Uganda, Eritrea and Djibouti. It's so bad that aid workers have dubbed this region "The Triangle of Death."

To international aid organizations, this famine is no shock. "Unicef and others have been trying to raise the alarm that this was going to happen since about January," says David Morley, CEO and President of Unicef Canada.

Before the UN can officially declare a famine in the Horn of Africa, there are a few legal requirements. The first is that there must be at least two adults and two children dying per day per 10,000 people, according to Morley. Also, no fewer than one in three children under five must have acute malnutrition. One way to measure this is by looking at the size of the child’s bicep.

"When the bicep is the size of a toonie or less, that's malnourished," Morley says. "In some places in Southern Somalia, we've got half the people have their arms the size of toonies."

Five of Canada's top charities have combined to address the need for aid with The Humanitarian Coalition. The group comprises Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Quebec, Plan Canada, CARE Canada, and Save the Children. With all these organizations and layers of complexity, it isn't always clear exactly how your money is going to help.

Groups like Unicef Canada, the Canadian Red Cross and Human Concern International use local agencies to distribute aid in affected regions. These groups have an ear to the ground on how aid should be distributed and have better access than international groups entering the country to deliver aid.

Heidi Vallinga, the Events and Communications Coordinator at Human Concern International, says money donated to famine aid is taken straight to Somalia. Their partners in the area provide food aid, water tankards, tents and baby food, just to name a few resources. HCI provides the funds to these groups so aid can be delivered, who then provide a report on how they've used the money.

Vallinga estimates that so far, HCI has only taken in $300,000 in donations from Canadians, which, considering their $1-million goal and the US$2.5 billion estimate the UN says is needed to save all drought victims, is a drop in the bucket. More than half of that estimate has been raised internationally thus far from governments across the globe and other aid organizations. "There's always appeals for different crises and things going on in Africa," Vallinga says. "I think sometimes people are slow to donate because they see it as another problem in an area that's already very troubled."

International aid groups are ramping up their relief efforts, but more help is needed. Ottawa has pledged another $50 million on top of the $22 million already dedicated to humanitarian aid. They've also pledged to match every dollar donated by Canadians. Unicef Canada has raised $1.1 milion, and internationally the organization has raised US$36 million. They're appealing for a total of $300 million.

Hossam Elsharkawi, Director of Emergencies and Recovery at the Canadian Red Cross, estimates that they've raised $5 million: $1 million came from the Ontario government, $2 million from Canadian donations and $2 million from the Pindoff family, founders of Music World Limited. "[The famine] comes in the context of a 20-plus year conflict in Somalia and three or four seasons now of repeated, failed harvest," says Elsharkawi.

Somalia has arguably been hit hardest by the drought, but the al-Shabab militia has made it even more difficult for international aid groups to bring food aid into the region. The group which controls a great portion of Somalia has banned the UN's World Food Programme from entering the region. "For a lot of them, their livelihoods are being completely wiped out," Vallinga says.

Humanitarian aid groups aren't just bringing emergency food supplies to East Africa; they're also bringing tools for locals to sustain their families in the long term. The Red Cross is distributing seeds, planting tools, hygiene and kitchen kits, and food staples like locally grown sugar, flour and oil.

Feeding Somalis is comparatively cheap. Elsharkawi says a single high-energy biscuit package, which has 2200 calories and is the minimum caloric requirement for an adult, costs only three dollars to purchase and deliver. An aid kit, which provides a family of seven with around a month's supply of food, pots, pans, cutlery, tools to filter water, and a hygiene kit including bars of soap and washing materials, is only $300.

But the money just isn't there. "Generally, droughts tend to generate less interest from the public than what we call rapid onslaught immediate disasters," Elsharkawi says. "The emotional messaging isn't there with droughts versus other types of disasters."

It also takes money to keep these humanitarian aid groups alive so they can continue bringing emergency help. Morley says it takes Unicef around 10 cents to raise a dollar. Elsharkawi says the Canadian Red Cross uses seven to 10 per cent of donations for administrative upkeep. Vallinga wasn't sure how money was distributed within HCI. Ultimately, however, it's almost impossible for each cent of your donation to make it to an affected region.

To donate, Canadians can visit Human Concern International, The Humanitarian Coalition, Unicef Canada or the Canadian Red Cross. If you don't have the income, there are other ways to help, like with Free Rice, which donates 10 grains of rice through the World Food Programme for every trivia answer you get right.The Canadian government will be matching donations until September 16, so every dollar donated by individuals is more valuable sooner than later.

Between stories about political instability and famine, it's easy to feel pessimistic about the situation in Africa. But Morley says it isn't as bleak as it may feel.

"In North America, we only shine the light on places like Ethiopia or Somalia when something bad happens so it feels like an endless treadmill," he says. "But I'm an optimist, and [I] take a generational view."

Morley concedes that progress in the region has been slow, but there's been progress nevertheless. While funds are desperately needed, consistent awareness of Africa's food crisis is also needed.

"If Canadians believe we have a role as global citizens, we should be telling our politicians because they'll listen to us," Morley says. "It's on the other side of the world, but we're all people."

See photos of East Africa's famine:





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