NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Drake presents Rihanna with the The Video Vanguard Award during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Jimmy Fallon presents Beyonce with "Video of the Year" for "Formation" onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Drake presents Rihanna with the The Video Vanguard Award during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Andrew Taggart of The Chainsmokers and Halsey perform onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Drake presents Rihanna with the The Video Vanguard Award during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Fifth Harmony and Ty Dolla $ign (C) accept the award for Best Collaboration during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards August 28, 2016 at Madison Square Garden in New York. / AFP PHOTO / Jewel SAMADJEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Rihanna performs onstage during the 2016 MTV Music Video Awards at Madison Square Gareden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Jimmy Fallon presents the Video of the Year award during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
G-Eazy, and Britney Spears perform at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Britney Spears performs onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Beyonce and mothers of gun violence attend the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for MTV)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Rihanna performs onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Michael Phelps presents onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele perform onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Beyonce accepts the Best Female Video award presented by Madison Kocian, Aly Raisman, and Simone Biles onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Kanye West performs onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Britney Spears and G Eazy perform onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Madison Kocian, Aly Raisman, Simone Biles and Laurie Hernandez present Best Female Video onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Michael Phelps, left, and Nicole Johnson arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Britney Spears performs onstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Ariana Grande, left, and Nicki Minaj perform at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Rihanna, center, performs at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Ariana Grande performs at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Beyonce (C) attends the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for MTV)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West attend the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 28: Alicia Keys attends the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on August 28, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Jeremy Scott, left, and Stella Maxwell arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Nev Schulman, right, and Laura Perlongo arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Hailey Baldwin arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Lance Bass wears a jacket with the slogan "Love Trumps Hate" as he arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Contestants from "RuPaul's Drag Race" TV show arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Farrah Abraham arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Beyonce, left, and her daughter Blue Ivy arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Desiigner arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
DJ Khaled, left, and Nicole Tuck arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Amber Rose arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Nicki Minaj, left, and Meek Mill arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Lance Bass, left, and Robert Sepulveda Jr. arrive at the MTV Video Music Awards at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
From Kanye West's rant, to Britney's return and Beyonce's epic entrance and performance, here are photos from the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards.
NEW YORK -- Beyonce owned the MTV Video Music Awards by winning video of the year and giving a 16-minute performance featuring her recent hits from "Lemonade," working various stages with strong, layered vocals, skilled dance moves and even an outfit change -- all as the audience watched in awe and cheered her on.
Beyonce won the top prize for "Formation," besting Adele, Kanye West, Justin Bieber and Drake.
"First of all I'd like to thank my beautiful daughter and my incredible husband for all of their support," said Beyonce, who walked the carpet with Blue Ivy by her side. "I dedicate this award to the people of New Orleans."
Beyonce is now the most awarded artist in #VMAs history with 23 awards.
Long live Queen Bey. https://t.co/aW4tTHPFfF — Def Pen™ (@defpen) August 29, 2016
Queen B kicked of her strong set with "Pray You Catch Me" as blue lights beamed onstage. She was wearing white, but later stripped down to a black leotard with full sleeves as she sang "Hold Up" and "Sorry." She grew angry and twerked while performing "Don't Hurt Yourself" and ended with the anthemic "Formation."
"If y'all came to slay, sing along with me," she said.
The audience at Madison Square Garden watched intensely Sunday, at times recording the performance with their phones.
It was reminiscent of the 2014 VMAs, when Beyonce also performed for 16 minutes and accepted the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award. This year it is being awarded to Rihanna, who split up her performances throughout the night, singing hits such as "Work," "We Found Love" and "Love on the Brain."
But the biggest moment for Rihanna came when Drake -- in a tuxedo -- presented the award to his former girlfriend. He said he met Rihanna in 2005 on the set of her first music video for "Pon De Replay."
"She's someone I've been in love with her since I was 22 years old," Drake said as Rihanna blushed and the audience cheered loudly. "She's one of my best friends in the world. All of my adult life I've looked up to her even though she's younger than me."
Rihanna, 28, thanked her family, friends and hometown of Saint Michael, Barbados for helping her succeed in her 11-year-career.
"All I can think of is my country, they're gonna be so proud, this is the first Vanguard to land anywhere near my country," she said. "My success started as my dream, but now my success is not my own. It's my family, my fans, my country ... it's women, it's black women."
Beyonce's top-notch performance starkly contrasted with that of Britney Spears, who returned to the VMA stage after 10 years. Not only did she lip sync, in typical fashion, but she did so badly. Spears performed her hit "Make Me..." and danced slickly, but she didn't actually sing a word of the song live. She was joined by rapper G-Eazy -- and she lip synched the hook to his hit song, "Me, Myself and I."
Beyonce won best female video for "Hold Up," presented to her by four of the Final Five gymnasts, excluding Gabby Douglas, who is hospitalized for a mouth infection.
"Thank you to my fans. I love you," Beyonce said. "Have a beautiful night."
In typical and true Kanye West fashion, the rapper ranted onstage, touching on subjects from music to his beef with Taylor Swift to violence in his hometown Chicago before he debuted his music video for "Fade." He talked about his "Famous" video which features what appear to be naked images of West, Swift, Kim Kardashian, Donald Trump and more. He even pointed to former girlfriend Amber Rose, who was in the audience and is also in the video.
"It was an expression of our now, our fame right now, us on the inside of the TV, you know, the audacity to put Anna Wintour right next to Donald Trump," he said.
"I put Ray J in it bro," he said, referring to Kardashian's ex with whom she did a sex tape.
"But if you think about last week it was 22 people murdered in Chicago," he continued. "You know, people come up to me like, 'Man, that's right! Take, tell Taylor this. Bro, like I love all y'all."
"That's why I called her," he said with a laugh, referring to his recent drama with the pop star, who didn't attend the VMAs and was not nominated.
Other performers including Ariana Grande, who brought spin class to the VMA stage when she sang the reggae-tinged "Side to Side" with Nicki Minaj. Grande cycled while singing and was backed by female dancers imitating her, while her male dancers lifted dumbbells and did other exercises. At the end of their performance, Grande and Minaj put their male dancers' faces in front their crotches.
In another ode to the Olympic Games just past, Michael Phelps said he's been inspired by hip-hop music before introducing Future, who Phelps said he listened to before swimming and making the grimace that went viral. The rapper-singer-producer performed his hit "(Expletive) Up Some Commas."
Drake won the first award for the night -- best hip hop video for "Hotline Bling." Puff Daddy, who presented the award, said Drake was stuck in traffic. Calvin Harris won best male video -- beating West's "Famous" -- for "This is What You Came For," which featured Rihanna and was co-written with former girlfriend Swift. Harris accepted the award in a video message.
David Bowie -- who died from cancer earlier this year -- received four nominations for "Lazarus" and won best art direction. The music video, which shows him looking frail in bed with bandaged eyes, was released just days before the icon's Jan. 10 death.
Fifth Harmony and Ty Dollar $ign won best collaboration video for "Work from Home." The girl group also won song of the summer for "All In My Head (Flex)." The pop band DNCE, led by Joe Jonas, won best new artist.
Beyonce, was the top nominee with 11, arrived angel-winged and green-feathered with daughter Blue Ivy in tow along with Sybrina Fulton, Lezley McSpadden and Gwen Carr, the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Eric Garner, among others. They appeared in videos for Beyonce's "Lemonade" visual album and also make up the Mothers of the Movement, women of colour who lost children to violence.
Jimmy Fallon introduced the top nominees and dressed as Ryan Lochte, with platinum blonde hair. As Lochte, who is dealing with trouble after filing a false robbery report over an incident during the Rio Olympics, Fallon lied onstage about writing Justin Bieber's "Sorry" and directing the videos nominated for video of the year.
Adele was behind Beyonce with eight nominations, but the British singer did not attend the show.
Winners of Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards, presented at Madison Square Garden in New York:

MTV Video Music Awards: Beyonce slays, Kanye rants and Rihanna recognized


Beyonce owned the MTV Video Music Awards by winning video of the year and giving a 16-minute performance featuring her recent hits from


NEW ORLEANS — Actor, writer and director John Schneider, best known as Bo Duke from The Dukes of Hazzard, thought the first flood he experienced at his Louisiana production studio was bad.
Now, he knows there are different levels of what’s considered “bad.”
Schneider’s Livingston Parish-based studio — which includes his home, offices, cars, wardrobe, sound stages, and more — flooded in mid-March but the water didn’t get into his 116-year-old home. This time around, he wasn’t as lucky.
He says overflow from the Tickfaw River this month inundated all of his property in Holden, flooding his home with about 4 feet of water as well as another house in which his mother lives. He says he’s lost a lot of memorabilia and equipment but his situation is not unique. About 90% of the homes in the parish were flooded.
Still he says the response by friends and strangers has been amazing.

'Dukes of Hazard' star's Louisiana home flooded


Actor, writer and director John Schneider, known for his past role on The Dukes of Hazzard and current role on The Haves and the Have Nots, thought the first flood he experienced at his Louisiana production studio was bad.


Jihadists and terrorists are actively planning attacks in Canada, according to a new report from the Trudeau government.
Meanwhile, our law enforcement agencies claim that red tape and legal loopholes are stopping them from protecting Canadians.
On Thursday, the Federal Department of Public Safety released a report demonstrating that several terrorist groups and their supporters are active in Canada.
The chilling report tells us what we have long suspected.
We are, by no means, immune to the turmoil and bloodshed of jihadist insurgents.
At least 180 individuals with a connection to Canada are overseas fighting alongside terrorist organizations. That’s up from 130 known terrorists in 2015.
But those individuals aren’t necessarily the problem for Canada right now. A far greater security concern is the jihadists who are here in Canada.
The report discusses two types of terrorists in Canada: wannabe jihadists who have had their passports removed and therefore cannot travel to places like Syria and Iraq, and those who already went overseas to fight for the terrorists but have since returned to Canada.
Despite having significant information about these dangerous jihadists, there are major roadblocks in laying criminal charges and convicting both types of terrorists.
First, let’s look at the jihadists who are grounded in Canada.
Both men who murdered members of the Canadian Forces in Quebec and Ontario in October, 2014 were prohibited from leaving Canada.
So was Aaron Driver, killed by the RCMP in Strathroy, Ontario earlier this month.
In all three cases, the individuals were known and even monitored by authorities.
But this was not enough to stop them from planning deadly attacks.
Despite receiving significant information from agencies such as CSIS and the FBI, the RCMP are often powerless to act.
RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mike Cabana told CTV News Thursday that police receive information about violent jihadists, but they “cannot proceed with criminal charges” because of legal limitations placed on them by our court system.
Known terrorists are able to plan attacks and recruit new members because our law enforcement officials are bogged down with legal technicalities that prevent them from doing their job.
The second terrorist threat to Canada is from returned foreign fighters.
The Paris attacks, as well as the Brussels airport bombing, were carried out, in part, by jihadists who had travelled to Syria and then returned home to Europe.
There are about 60 known returned foreign fighters in Canada, according to the federal government’s report.
And yet, in most cases, these individuals are living freely in Canada, without any criminal charges.
Our authorities simply don’t know what to do with them.
According to Larry Brooks, a former CSIS counter-terrorism official, it’s tough to prove to a Canadian judge that an individual participated in terrorism overseas.
In an interview with Postmedia, Brooks discussed the challenges of gathering incriminating information from a foreign combat zone.
“It’s tremendously difficult to collect credible evidence that would satisfy a Canadian court for prosecution,” said Brooks.
Believing in an extreme Islamist doctrine is not illegal.
Nor should it be, in a free society.
But traveling overseeing or attempting to travel overseas to join a foreign army is against the law.
We need to remove legal loopholes that allow terrorists to stay out of jail, and we need to give police and prosecutors the tools they need to charge and convict terrorists who have broken Canadian laws.
Our safety and security depend on it.

Police stymied in pursuing Canada’s jihadists


Jihadists and terrorists are actively planning attacks in Canada, according to a new report from the Trudeau government.


BRUSSELS — Apple will have to pay up to 13 billion euros ($18.9 billion) plus interest in back taxes to Ireland after the European Union found Tuesday that the U.S. technology giant received illegal tax benefits over 11 years.
The ruling is the biggest salvo in the EU executive Commission’s battle to have multinationals pay their fair share in the region. The EU alleges that many big companies struck deals with EU countries to pay unusually low tax in exchange for basing their EU operations there.
EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said that a three-year investigation found Ireland granted such lavish tax breaks to Apple that the multinational’s effective corporate tax rate on its European profits dropped from 1% in 2003 to a mere 0.005% in 2014.
That last tax rate meant that for each million euros in profits, Apple paid just 50 euros in taxes, Vestager told a news conference.
“Member states cannot give tax benefits to selected companies—this is illegal under EU state aid rules,” Vestager said.
“Ireland must now recover the unpaid taxes in Ireland from Apple for the years 2003 to 2014 of up to 13 billion euros ($18.9 billion), plus interest,” the Commission said in a statement.
Apple said in a statement that it had followed the law and paid every cent of the taxes it owed. It said it would challenge the EU action in the European courts, and predicted it would be vindicated.
The Irish government denied granting favourable fiscal treatment to the maker of the iPhone and other consumer electronics products, computer software and online services. “Ireland’s position remains that the full amount of tax was paid in this case and no state aid was provided,” the Irish statement said. “Ireland does not do deals with taxpayers.”
Apple accused the EU executive body of engaging in efforts “to rewrite Apple’s history in Europe, ignore Ireland’s tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process.”
“The Commission’s case is not about how much Apple pays in taxes, it’s about which government collects the money,” the company said in a statement. “It will have a profound and harmful effect on investment and job creation in Europe. Apple follows the law and pays all of the taxes we owe wherever we operate. We will appeal and we are confident the decision will be overturned.”
The Irish finance minister, Michael Noonan, said he would seek approval from the Irish Cabinet to legally challenge the EU Commission’s ruling.
“It is important that we send a strong message that Ireland remains an attractive and stable location of choice for long-term substantive investment,” Noonan said. “Apple has been in Ireland since the 1980s and employs thousands of people in Cork.”
A statement from the U.S. government was expected later Tuesday.
In a white paper made public last week, the U.S. Treasury Department accused the European Union of using a different set of criteria to judge cases involving American companies, calling the potential penalties “deeply troubling.”

Apple owes up to $18.9 billion in back taxes in Europe: EU


Apple will have to pay up to 13 billion euros ($18.9 billion) plus interest in back taxes to Ireland after the European Union found Tuesday that the U.S. technology giant received illegal tax benefits over 11 years.


EDEN PRAIRIE, MINN. -
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater went down with an injury in practice on Tuesday, causing the team to cut short its session after 25 minutes.
Bridgewater dropped back to pass during a drill, planted his foot and immediately went down. He grabbed his left knee while concerned teammates and athletic trainers huddled around him.
Coach Mike Zimmer eventually called off practice, and the rest of the team walked off the field while Bridgewater was being attended to. Moments later, a siren-blaring ambulance pulled into the team’s Winter Park headquarters, stayed for about 10 minutes and then pulled away.
The nature of Bridgewater’s injury was not immediately clear. The team said Zimmer would address the situation at a later time.
Players were visibly distraught as they exited the field, some hurling expletives into the air. A small group remained behind, huddled around him in prayer as team athletic trainers worked to immobilize his leg.
Ambulance arrives at Winter Park after #Vikings Bridgewater goes down with injury in practice. pic.twitter.com/H6Uohrs9gL — Shari L. Gross (@ShariStrib) August 30, 2016
If Bridgewater is unable to return in a timely manner, there is little behind him on the depth chart. Shaun Hill is the primary backup, but he’s 36 years old and has played only sparingly over the last five years.
Bridgewater is entering his third season in the NFL and the Vikings were counting on him to take some major steps forward after a promising start to his career. He helped lead the Vikings to the NFC North championship last season as more of a game manager, but Zimmer and offensive co-ordinator Norv Turner have said that they expected him to be much more of a playmaker in 2016.
You could hear a pin drop on field as Bridgewater was tended do on ground -- silence only broken by several F-bombs players screamed#Vikings — Brian Murphy (@murphPPress) August 30, 2016
Bridgewater missed the second preseason game with a sore shoulder, but was very sharp on Sunday against San Diego. He went 12 for 16 for 161 yards and a touchdown in two quarters of work, leaving Vikings players and fans fully confident as the team starts to prepare for the season opener at Tennessee on Sept. 11.
The Vikings host the Los Angeles Rams in their final preseason game Thursday night, though Bridgewater and most of the starters were not expected to play.

'Doesn't look good:' Bridgewater has 'significant' knee injury


Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered a


Stan Lee seems as invincible as the Marvel superheroes he’s been instrumental in creating.
But at 93 years old, an age when most folks have been retired for decades (if they’re lucky enough to still be kicking around at all), the man who helped give birth to Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Avengers is letting himself slow down a bit.
So brace yourselves, true believers: this year’s Fan Expo Canada, running Sept. 1 to 4 in Toronto, will likely be Stan Lee’s last Canadian convention appearance.
“I’m really trying to take it easier,” a chipper Lee told Postmedia Network in an interview this week. “I want to go to Toronto, and then after that I have one in New York. And I do think those will be the last, except for some that are closer to home.”
But just as thousands of Canadian fans will be seeking autographs and photos with Lee during his appearance at Fan Expo Canada, Lee is hoping for a particular signature to add to his own collection: that of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trudeau will appear on a variant cover of Civil War II: Choosing Sides #5, in stores next week, which shows the grinning, tank top-clad PM sitting in the corner of a boxing ring, surrounded by members of the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight.
“I would love to meet the prime minister and get my copy personally signed,” said Lee, who himself will be featured on a Fan Expo-exclusive variant cover of The Amazing Spider-Man #17 – with the CN Tower in the background, no less – on sale at the convention.
“That would be one of the highlights of my trip,” Lee said. (Memo to the Prime Minister’s office: make it happen, eh? Excelsior!)
Along with artist and Marvel luminary Jack Kirby, Lee’s superhero journey began when he co-created the Fantastic Four in 1961, a response to rival DC Comics’ popular Justice League series. The quartet of heroes were different from anything comic books had seen before: they were flawed, they were frightened, they fought amongst themselves. Despite the incredible powers bestowed on them by a blast of cosmic radiation, they were remarkably human.
That humanity came to define the Marvel credo, and has carried all the way through to the blockbuster Marvel Studios films of the last decade and a half, including this year’s Captain America: Civil War. Next up is November’s Doctor Strange, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the Sorcerer Supreme, followed next year by new standalone instalments in the Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor franchises. Black Panther – a hero who Lee said has been “too long” in making his big screen solo debut – arrives in July of 2018.
But after the next two Avengers films in 2018 and 2019, currently entering production under the guidance of Civil War directors Joe and Anthony Russo, what then? What becomes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe when this epic movie saga reaches a natural endpoint with the fourth Avengers film?
“I can’t tell you where it will go after that, because I won’t be making that decision,” said Lee, who currently serves as Chairman Emeritus of Marvel but isn’t directly involved in the company’s creative processes.
“But I can certainly tell you that it will have places to go. Because as long as human beings have imaginations, they’ll never run out of story ideas for these characters.”
And while Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. might choose to hang up his crimson and gold armour after the next Avengers movies run their course, Lee really hopes both Downey and Captain America actor Chris Evans keep playing the parts until, well, the end of time.
“I think those two men were born to play their roles. As long as they will continue to play them, I think we’ll be very lucky,” Lee said. “In fact all the people – (Chris Hemsworth’s) Thor, every one of them – they are so perfectly cast and I hope we stay with them forever.”
There’s been some controversy over the years as to how many of these iconic superheroes Lee actually created. Kirby, who died in 1994, claimed that the many of the heroes’ stories came from his own imagination. Lee has respectfully refuted Kirby’s assertions.
Ever the unflappable optimist, Lee isn’t one to court controversy or take swipes at his competition. When asked how DC Comics and Warner Bros. might get their movie properties back on track after the critical beatings laid on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, he was characteristically diplomatic.
“Just look at the Marvel films,” Lee said with a chuckle. “That’s the best advice I could give them.”
He also refuses to pick a favourite among his cinematic superhero children, saying he’s excited for all of the upcoming films. “I can’t wait to see Black Panther, I can’t wait to see Doctor Strange, I can’t wait to see the new Spider-Man – I could name every one of them.”
But as for comic books, the medium he helped define, it’s ironic – and maybe a little tragic – that Lee can no longer enjoy them.
“I don’t read as much as I did, because my eyesight isn’t as good as it was,” Lee said. “So mostly I just talk to people about the books and about the movies, see what they think, try to find out as much as I can, and try to stay ‘au courant’ as much as possible. Unfortunately, I don’t see or even hear as well I did, so it makes it a little tough for me.”
But even though he might not be doing the convention circuit as rigorously as he has in the past, he’s not quitting yet. No sir.
“I love what I do. In fact, I don’t consider it work, I consider it play,” Lee said.
“When you’re involved in stories and you’re working with artists and writers and actors and directors, and your whole objective is to entertain the public – that isn’t working. That’s the greatest play there could be.”
LEE SAYS THREE UPCOMING CAMEOS WILL BE MEMORABLE
If you were to tally the box office earnings for the movies that Marvel maestro Stan Lee has appeared in, the results would be in the billions of dollars. Literally, billions.
By our reckoning, Lee has made a staggering 27 cameo appearances in Marvel superhero movies and TV shows, from 2000’s X-Men (as a startled hot dog vendor) to this year’s Captain America: Civil War (as a FedEx driver dropping a package off for “Tony Stank.”)
“To me, every cameo is memorable, because each cameo is the most important part of every movie, we all know that,” a jovial Lee joked in an interview this week, ahead of his appearance next month at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto.
One fascinating fan theory suggests that Stan Lee’s cameo characters are different human forms assumed by Uatu, also known as the Watcher – an all-seeing, all-knowing, otherworldly being keeping tabs on the mighty Marvel heroes.
“Oh, dammit, the secret’s out,” said Lee with a guffaw. (Sadly, we’re quite certain he’s joking. Although if Stan Lee were the Watcher, it would mean every one of the Marvel movies exist in the same shared universe. Now that’s an exciting notion.)
Lee won’t pin down his favourite cameo – he’s been a strip club emcee in Deadpool, a retired general in Captain America: The First Avenger, a suave womanizer in Iron Man and even Willie Lumpkin, the Fantastic Four’s ear-wiggling mailman.
Earlier this year, Lee visited the Pinewood Atlanta Studios set of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to film his cameo for that movie, which hits theatres next April. But being the master of efficiency that he is – and, let’s face it, the fact that he’s 93 years old – Lee actually filmed three Marvel movie cameos in a row.
“The day that I did Guardians, I did two others – (this November’s) Doctor Strange and (next year’s) Spider-Man: Homecoming,” Lee said.
Who does he play? He won’t say. But he promises they’ll be memorable moments.
“These three that I did are very special,” Lee said. “When you go to the movies, you’ll see why I say that.”
For further info on Fan Expo, visit fanexpocanada.com.
STilley@postmedia.com
@stevetilley

Stan Lee: Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans should never quit Marvel


Stan Lee seems as invincible as the Marvel superheroes he’s been instrumental in creating.


Social media is still being flooded, mainly with righteous outrage, after San Francisco 49ers' quarterback Colin Kaepernick said he'll refuse to stand for the pre-game playing of the American national anthem.
Americans are a patriotic bunch. They love their country, and they love their flag, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office, and the Star Spangled Banner is their triumphant battle song, steeped in the language of valour and victory.
Anyone who has travelled to Smalltown, U.S.A., cannot help but notice red-white-and-blue bunting everywhere, even in the Rust Belt, with flags flying in front of virtually every house, even if the foundations are crumbling.
This is not a Canadian thing.
What Colin Kaepernick is doing in refusing to stand during the national anthem is not only disrespectful, but a snub to the country that provided him with the opportunity to grow from an adopted young boy into a NFL quarterback earning $128 million.
Try doing that anywhere else.
Yes, it takes talent, but talent is a dead end without opportunity, proper upbringing, and a society that rallies around the pride in achievement.
That said, Kaepernick is also a citizen of a nation with a Voltaire-like First Amendment that defends free speech.
So he can say whatever he wants to say.
His reasons for not standing for the anthem, he claims, are the result of racial tensions in America.
The police shootings of unarmed black men have gotten to him, including incidents in his home city of San Francisco where police relations with minorities has been circling the bowl since police pumped 20 bullets into a slashing suspect last year while the man was standing against a wall.
Two bullets maybe. But 20?
Back in 2012, in a sport more identifiable to Canadians, Michigan-born Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas refused to attend a dinner with President Barack Obama to celebrate his team's winning of the Stanley Cup.
"I believe the federal government has grown out of control, and threatening the rights, liberties and prosperity of the people," he wrote in a statement.
Again, disrespectful, and unappreciative of the country that helped make him a well-paid superstar, but all within his rights under the First Amendment.
But, unlike with Kaepernick, there was not a stadium filled with fans to bear witness to Thomas's snub.
All this comes at a time when the NFL executive has banned the Dallas Cowboys from continuing to have an arm-in-arm decal on their helmets to support the families of the five Dallas police officers murdered in an ambush last month by a black army reservist with a multitude of mental issues.
Some see this as a double-standard, with Kaepernick receiving no disciplinary action from the NFL, but the Cowboys being told to cease and desist.
The difference, of course, is that the Cowboys are an organization ruled by the NFL, while Kaepernick is a private citizen protected by the First Amendment.
As with Tim Thomas, it doesn't make him less of a jerk.
It just allows him to illustrate it.
markbonokoski@gmail.com

Kaepernick's got a point, and a right to make it, but he's still a jerk


Social media is still being flooded, mainly with righteous outrage, after San Francisco 49ers' quarterback Colin Kaepernick said he'll refuse to stand for the pre-game playing of the American national anthem.


Dear Amy: I am a 24-year-old woman. My 18-year-old boyfriend doesn't make enough money and won't save.
The age difference between us doesn't bother me, but his money management does.
We split all the shared bills, but he lost his job and in the three-week gap before getting a new one he managed to borrow $1,200 from me (which he wants to pay back).
He says he wants a second job, but just comes up with excuses. I hate feeling like I'm nagging him to make more money.
He's an amazing and sweet guy that I love, but I've started resenting him.
I have taken him out and paid for movies, dates, etc., but I want to feel financially stable. I want a man who can take care of me (more than just emotionally).
I want to talk to him about this, but he gets so defensive. Am I being ridiculous?
He did nothing for me on my birthday last month, and when I confronted him that it hurt that he couldn't even write me a love note, or buy a $1 card, or do anything cheap (or free), he just made excuses.
I told him I knew he spent money on weed instead of on me. Normally it doesn't bother me when he smokes weed, but it hurts to know he's spending money he doesn't have on pot, rather than paying my money back, or celebrating my birthday.
Am I becoming my boyfriend's sugar mama? -- Disappointed
Dear Disappointed: It is shocking that -- knowing how you feel about money and what you know about your boyfriend -- you would give him $1,200. You will NEVER see that money again.
Your boyfriend should not have to "take care of you" financially. You are obviously capable of taking care of yourself. If you resent bankrolling him, then you shouldn't do it.
He is 18. He is handling his money the way many 18-year-old people do, and making choices that immature people make. If he is a heavy pot user, it will naturally soak up a fair amount of his income, as well as affect his initiative. Maybe he will grow out of this phase -- maybe not.
You are 24. If you want someone who is more mature, financially stable and grown-up, you should probably find someone who matches your maturity and initiative. Stability is obviously an important value to you, so choose to be with someone who fulfills this value.
Also -- I highly recommend being on your own for a while. Being alone is much more preferable to baby-sitting and bankrolling your romantic partner's weed habit.
Dear Amy: As a smartphone user, I have been guilty of using my phone at inappropriate times, but the more I am around people on their phones the more I am seeing the rudeness of people using them.
I was with some family members and an older friend when two of the family members, (both over 60) were talking on their phones and texting while at dinner.
It was embarrassing! They were upset and defensive when I made a comment about it. -- Sick of Cells
Dear Sick: Would these family members go out to dinner and then invite another person to come over and sit in the middle of the table to converse with them during the meal? Probably not. But this is what they are doing when they talk and text during the meal.
My casual observation is that adolescents do this, and then the distraction wanes until people hit the age of 60 or so. Older people seem to be very heavy smartphone users, and also oblivious to the impact on others.
The next time you go out with them, ask your companions if they would be willing to play a game: The first person to reach for their phone pays for dessert.
Dear Amy: Regarding "T," who said his wife was having secret chats with an old flame after many years of marriage ... family members should please consider that she might have early onset dementia.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), which can strike when people are young (in their 40s and 50s), has a few variants. The behavioral variant causes people who have it to exhibit behaviors like T described, including the apathy for his emotional distress.
It is an awful disease. -- Been There
Dear Been There: FTD is relatively rare. Hooking up with a former flame is relatively common. But I agree with you that dementia is a possibility, and thank you for the suggestion.

Age gap and wage gap frustrate girlfriend


Dear Amy: I am a 24-year-old woman. My 18-year-old boyfriend doesn't make enough money and won't save.


A few days ago, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Michael Goodwin, a long-time newspaper columnist in New York, lamented that American journalism as he once knew it was collapsing before his eyes.
In their efforts to derail the presidential ambitions of Donald Trump, Goodwin claimed, Hillary Clinton and her campaigners, in collusion with the Obama White House, are purposefully “working hand-in-hand with what was once considered the cream of the nation’s news organizations.
“This shameful display of naked partisanship by the elite media is unlike anything seen in modern America,” said Goodwin, who then accused CBS, NBC and ABC, as well as the New York Times and Washington Post, of having “jettisoned all pretense of fair play.
“Indeed, no foreign enemy, no terror group, no native criminal gang, suffers the daily beating Trump does,” he said.
And then he added this: “The mad mullahs of Iran, who call America the Great Satan and vow to wipe Israel off the map, are treated gently by comparison.”
Sound familiar?
There is no question the perceived media elite of Canada were equally hysterical and committed in their quest to see the back of the Harper government, and particularly Stephen Harper himself, for not genuflecting before them.
And for failing to truly recognize and openly appreciate their contribution to the greater good of the country
I watched it all go down from the cheap seats as a political staffer, and shook my head over the lack of objectivity coming from reporters whose job it was to be objective.
Opinion, once the purview of columnists and commentators, had leaked into general news reporting.
The demarcation line between news and opinion had not only become blurred, it had been erased.
Still giddy with bringing down what they viewed as the despicable Harper government, today’s national press gallery, as well as their agents far and wide, continue their love-in with Justin Trudeau well past the shelf life of most political honeymoons.
Oh, there have been subtle rumblings.
Certain things are beginning to grate, like Trudeau inserting himself into The Tragically Hip’s final concert in their hometown of Kingston as if it were all about him, and not the terminal brain cancer of the Hip’s poetic lead singer, Gord Downie.
Trudeau was an unnecessary distraction, even if the PMO claims he was invited, and he should have known better.
He should have said thanks but no thanks, and let the focus be where it belonged — on Downie himself
Instead, there was a photograph of the two of them hugging, although Downie’s face was totally obscured.
In the meantime, there has been no real governance coming out of the Trudeau government.
The country has been shedding jobs like snake skins, the $10 billion deficit promised during the election to spur the economy has now been projected to hit $150 billion by the end of Trudeau’s first term because of his endless spending.
Trudeau is now off to China, of course, and will be talking trade with the commies.
No one calls it Red China anymore, but it is what it is, and still rife with human rights abuses.
Thankfully Trudeau will have that steely-eyed Stephane Dion at his side as foreign affairs minister, which will no doubt have the Chinese politburo quaking in its boots.
It is to laugh, yet cry.
What New York columnist Michael Goodwin writes about the collapse of American journalism is happening here among the progressive news outlets, and more so within the CBC now that Trudeau has jacked up its funding.
Instead of focusing on what Trudeau is or isn’t doing to right Canada’s failing economy and oppressive taxation, we get headlines from the largest daily newspaper in Canada reading, “Shirtless Trudeau leaves international media breathless.”
They’ve drunk the Kool-Aid and bought the swampland. All in one foul swoop.
markbonokoski@gmail.com

Media drinking the Kool-Aid and buying the swampland


A few days ago, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Michael Goodwin, a long-time newspaper columnist in New York, lamented that American journalism as he once knew it was collapsing before his eyes.


Visitors cross the world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
The world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge is seen above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
A boy lies down to see the view through the glass on the world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
A visitor poses for a photograph on the world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
A visitor takes a photograph on the world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
A visitor lies down to take a photograph on the world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
A visitor pulls his son from the ground as others pose for photographs on the world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
Visitors cross the world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
The world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge is seen above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
The world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge is seen above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
A visitor jumps for a photograph on the world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
Visitors cross the world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
The world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge is seen above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
The world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge is seen above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
The world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge is seen above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
The world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge is seen above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province on August 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOURFRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images

World's highest and longest glass bridge opens in China


The world's highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge opens above a valley in Zhangjiajie in China's Hunan Province.


In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, tourists and residents walk across Tromostovje bridges in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia. Over the past two decades since Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, left her native Slovenia and married American billionaire Donald Trump after pursuing an international modeling career, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no night life, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and night clubs packed with foreigners. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this April 16, 2013 photo, a church is seen on the shore of Lake Bled, northern Slovenia. It was at the lakeside Grand Hotel Toplice in Bled where Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, introduced Donald Trump to her parents during their brief visit to Slovenia in July 2002, two years before they engaged. It is believed that it was the last time that the former model visited her native country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, a limousine is parked in front of a casino in Portoroz, Slovenia. It was in Portoroz in 1992 where Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, got a big break in her modeling career when Slovenia's womens magazine Jana staged its Look of the Year contest. She took second place that gave her the invitation to cast for an international modeling agency in Milan, Italy. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, tourists walk on the seafront in Portoroz, Slovenia. It was in Portoroz in 1992 where Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, got a big break in her modeling career when Slovenia's women magazine Jana staged its Look of the Year contest. She took second place that gave her the invitation to cast for an international modeling agency in Milan, Italy. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, a group of tourists drink beers in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia. Over the past two decades since Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, left her native Slovenia and married American billionaire Donald Trump after pursuing an international modeling career, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no night life, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and night clubs packed with foreigners. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, souvenirs are offered for sale in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia. Over the past two decades since Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, left her native Slovenia and married American billionaire Donald Trump after pursuing an international modeling career, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no night life, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and night clubs packed with foreigners. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, tourists and residents walk by a statue of a dragon, a symbol of the city, in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia. Over the past two decades since Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, left her native Slovenia and married American billionaire Donald Trump after pursuing an international modeling career, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no night life, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and night clubs packed with foreigners. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, padlocks left by couples hang at a bridge in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia. Over the past two decades since Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, left her native Slovenia and married American billionaire Donald Trump after pursuing an international modeling career, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no night life, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and night clubs packed with foreigners. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
In this Aug. 12, 2016 photo, tourists and residents walk over Tromostovje bridges in downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia. Over the past two decades since Melanija Knavs, who later changed her name to Melania Knauss, left her native Slovenia and married American billionaire Donald Trump after pursuing an international modeling career, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no night life, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and night clubs packed with foreigners. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Over the past two decades since Melanie Trump left her native Slovenia, became a model known as Melania Knauss and married American billionaire Donald Trump, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no nightlife, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and nightclubs packed with foreigners. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — When Melanija Knavs drove around Ljubljana in a fluffy skirt on a metallic blue Vespa with her boyfriend in the late 1980s, the Slovenian capital was a sleepy town that offered little excitement to rare visitors.
Over the past two decades since she left her native Slovenia, became a model known as Melania Knauss and married American billionaire Donald Trump, Ljubljana has turned from a gray and drab place with almost no nightlife, into a lively and picturesque city filled with restaurants, cafes and nightclubs packed with foreigners.
The heart of the city has been closed to traffic, though, so Mrs. Trump would no longer be able to ride by scooter to her favorite cafe, then called the Horse's Tail, near Tromostovje — the charming stone triple bridge in the heart of the city decorated with small dragon-like statues.
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She would also hardly recognize the renovated downtown since she last visited.
The city is dominated by a majestic castle on a hill by the river Ljubljana that splits the town into two. At night, the castle is lit bright green, the city's traditional color. A boat cruise along the river reveals spectacular architecture while street artists play music and perform for visitors.
The city's center on the banks of the river offers romantic dining and other excellent culinary offerings, including an open kitchen on Fridays when chefs prepare international dishes on makeshift stands that serve as an open-air market the other days of the week.
Slovenia, which has become one of Europe's hottest nature destinations after splitting from Yugoslavia in 1991, is privileged to have both an opening onto the Adriatic Sea as well as chunks of the Alps. It is also known for tasty wines and food specialties such as Kranjska klobasa, a juicy pork sausage, or struklji, a traditional Slovene pastry with various fillings.
Slovenia has often been confused in the past with another small central European state, Slovakia. But since Donald Trump joined the presidential race in the U.S., his wife and potential first lady have come into public limelight, along with the country where she was born and raised.
"Whatever you think of Melania, she put Slovenia on the map of the world," said Janez Bosnjak, a Ljubljana resident.
Born in the hilly industrial town of Sevnica in 1970 when Slovenia was part of Communist Yugoslavia, Mrs.Trump's early life has come under media scrutiny — especially after her official biography had her graduating from the Ljubljana university.
Rok Bogataj, who knew her when they studied at the Faculty of Architecture, said she regularly attended lectures but did not graduate.
"I had an impression that she had serious ambitions to finish her studies, but one day she simply disappeared. We heard that she decided to become a fashion model and that she went to Milano," Bogataj said.
For tourists, Ljubljana is the perfect jumping-off point for daily trips to other attractions. The city is the eco-friendly European Green Capital for 2016, and it's located in central Slovenia. The country, which has 2 million people, offers an abundance of contrasting landscapes and cultures and is proud of being the only country in the world with the word "love" in its name.
More than 2.4 million tourists visited in 2014, according to international arrivals statistics cited by the World Bank, more than triple the number who visited in 1995.
One must-see destination northwest of Ljubljana is Lake Bled where emerald-green waters create a spectacular landscape, with a lush, tiny island and a church tower peeking out of evergreens surrounded by the rocky Julian Alps.
It was at lakeside Grand Hotel Toplice in Bled where Mrs. Trump introduced Donald Trump to her parents during their brief visit to Slovenia in July 2002, two years before they engaged. It is believed that it was the last time that the former model visited her native country.
Not far from Bled are the seaside towns of Piran, called the Venice of Slovenia because of the colorful Venetian gothic mansions, and Portoroz, a French-Riviera style resort with luxurious hotels lining along a sandy beach.
It was in Portoroz in 1992 where Mrs. Trump got a big break in her modeling career when Slovenia's women magazine Jana staged its "Look of the Year" contest. She took the second place that gave her the invitation to cast for an international modeling agency in Milan.
"Melania was one of the girls who participated at the event," said Jana's editor Bernarda Jeklin. "I wouldn't say that Melania was outstanding. She was quiet, introverted. But what I remember were her dangerous, tiger-like green eyes."

Melania Trump's Slovenia has become a tourist hotspot


When Melanija Knavs drove around Ljubljana in a fluffy skirt on a metallic blue Vespa with her boyfriend in the late 1980s, the Slovenian capital was a sleepy town that offered little excitement to rare visitors.


HARDAN, Iraq -- Surrounded by smoke and flames, the sound of gunshots echoing around him, the young man crouched in the creek for hours, listening to the men in his family die.
On the other side of the mountain, another survivor peered through binoculars as the handcuffed men of neighbouring villages were shot and then buried by a waiting bulldozer. For six days he watched as the extremists filled one grave after another with his friends and relatives.
Between them, the two scenes of horror on Sinjar mountain contain six burial sites and the bodies of more than 100 people, just a small fraction of the mass graves Islamic State extremists have scattered across Iraq and Syria.
In exclusive interviews, photos and research, The Associated Press has documented and mapped 72 of the mass graves, the most comprehensive survey so far, with many more expected to be uncovered as the Islamic State group's territory shrinks. In Syria, AP has obtained locations for 17 mass graves, including one with the bodies of hundreds of members of a single tribe all but exterminated when IS extremists took over their region. For at least 16 of the Iraqi graves, most in territory too dangerous to excavate, officials do not even guess the number of dead. In others, the estimates are based on memories of traumatized survivors, Islamic State propaganda and what can be gleaned from a cursory look at the earth.
Still, even the known numbers of victims buried are staggering -- from 5,200 to more than 15,000.
Sinjar mountain is dotted with mass graves, some in territory clawed back from IS after the group's onslaught against the Yazidi minority in August 2014; others in the deadly no man's land that has yet to be secured.
The bodies of Talal Murat's father, uncles and cousins lie beneath the rubble of the family farm, awaiting a time when it is safe for surviving relatives to return to the place where the men were gunned down. On Sinjar's other flank, Rasho Qassim drives daily past the graves holding the bodies of his two sons. The road is in territory long since seized back, but the five sites are untouched, roped off and awaiting the money or the political will for excavation, as the evidence they contain is scoured away by the wind and baked by the sun.
"We want to take them out of here. There are only bones left. But they said 'No, they have to stay there, a committee will come and exhume them later,'" said Qassim, standing at the edge of the flimsy fence surrounding one site, where his two sons are buried. "It has been two years but nobody has come."
IS made no attempt to hide its atrocities. In fact it boasted of them. But proving what United Nations officials and others have described as an ongoing genocide -- and prosecuting those behind it -- will be complicated as the graves deteriorate.
"We see clear evidence of the intent to destroy the Yazidi people," said Naomi Kikoler, who recently visited the region for the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. "There's been virtually no effort to systematically document the crimes perpetrated, to preserve the evidence, and to ensure that mass graves are identified and protected."
Then there are the graves still out of reach. The Islamic State group's atrocities extend well outside the Yazidi region in northern Iraq.
Satellites offer the clearest look at massacres such as the one at Badoush Prison in June 2014 that left 600 male inmates dead. A patch of scraped earth and tire tracks show the likely killing site, according to exclusive photos obtained by the imagery intelligence firm AllSource Analysis.
Of the 72 mass graves documented by AP, the smallest contains three bodies; the largest is believed to hold thousands, but no one knows for sure.
------
ALL THEY COULD DO WAS WATCH THE SLAUGHTER
On the northern flank of Sinjar mountain, five grave sites ring a desert crossroads. It is here that the young men of Hardan village are buried, under thistles and piles of cracked earth. They were killed in the bloody IS offensive of August 2014.
Through his binoculars, Arkan Qassem watched it all. His village, Gurmiz, is just up the slope from Hardan, giving a clear view over the plain below. When the jihadis swept over the area, everyone in Gurmiz fled up the mountaintop for refuge. Then Arkan and nine other men returned to their village with light weapons to try to defend their homes.
Instead, all they could do was watch the slaughter below. Arkan witnessed the militants set up checkpoints, preventing residents from leaving. Women and children were taken away.
Then the killings began. The first night, Arkan saw the militants line up a group of handcuffed men in the headlights of a bulldozer at an intersection, less than a kilometre (half mile) down the slope from Gurmiz. They gunned the men down, then the bulldozer plowed the earth over their bodies.
Over six days, Arkan and his comrades watched helplessly as the fighters brought out three more groups of men -- several dozen each, usually with hands bound -- to the crossroads and killed them. He didn't always see what they did with the bodies. One time, he saw them lighting a bonfire, but he couldn't see why.
Finally, the jihadis brought in artillery and prepared to make an assault on Gurmiz. Arkan and his comrades fled up the mountain to where their families had taken refuge.
Now, since IS fighters were driven out of the area, the 32-year-old has returned to his home. But he's haunted by the site. As documented by the aid group Yazda, which has mapped the Sinjar sites, the graves are in a rough pentagon flanking the crossroads, largely unprotected. Around one of them is a mesh fence and a wind-battered sign. As Arkan spoke at the site, a shepherd herded his flock nearby.
"I have lots of people I know there. Mostly friends and neighbours," he said. "It's very difficult to look at them every day."
------
"THIS BODY IS WEARING MY FATHER'S CLOTHES"
As IS fighters swarmed into the Sinjar area in early August 2014, Talal fled his town along with his father, mother, four sisters and younger brother. They and dozens of other men, women and children from his extended clan converged on an uncle's farm outside the town of Tel Azer. They prayed it was remote enough to escape the killings that were already engulfing so many Yazidis.
It wasn't.
The jihadis fired at the house from a distance. Then they rolled up in their vehicles and shot one man in the head as they stood in the yard. They surrounded the farmhouse, ordered everyone outside and demanded the impossible: Convert.
The Yazidi faith, one of the region's oldest, has elements of Christianity and Islam but is distinct. Yazidis worship the Peacock Angel, fallen and forgiven by God under their tradition, and their shrines feature carved images of the birds and references to the sun. Muslim extremists condemned them as "devil worshippers" and over the centuries have subjected them to multiple massacres -- 72, by the Yazidis' count.
In its own propaganda, the Islamic State group made clear its intention to wipe out the Yazidi community. In an issue of its online English-language magazine Dabiq, it scolded Muslims for allowing the Yazidis to continue existing, calling their ancient religion a form of paganism. It quoted Quranic verses to justify killing the Yazidis unless they become Muslim.
Thwarted in their halfhearted attempt at conversions, the fighters separated about 35 teenage girls and young women from the rest, crammed them into a few cars and drove away. The militants herded the older women and young children into the farmhouse and locked the door.
Then they lined the men and teenaged boys against the wall of the stables -- around 40 in all, including Talal.
There were too many of them, too bunched up, to efficiently mow down, so the fighters then ordered them to lie on the ground in a row, Talal said. That was when his uncle told him to make a run for it. Talal bolted into his uncle's hayfield, as did several other men. The militants fired at them, and the bullets ignited the hay, dry from the summer sun. The fire covered Talal's escape, and he took shelter in a nearby creek.
There he hid, listening as the gunmen shot his family to death. He eventually fled toward the mountain, joined by three others who had survived the massacre. Four out of 40.
Back at the farm, the gunmen eventually left and the women and children emerged, looking around with growing horror.
Nouri Murat, Talal's mother, found her husband. His body was untouched, but his head was shattered. Her daughters, she said, were confused at first. "This is strange, this body is wearing my father's clothes," one of them said. As Nouri frantically searched around the property for any surviving menfolk, her 9-year-old daughter Rukhan lay down beside her father's corpse.
Finally, other women persuaded the family to head to the mountain before the Islamic State fighters returned.
As they began the long walk north, Nouri noticed Rukhan's bloody fist. Fearing her daughter was wounded, she pried open the girl's clenched fingers. Inside were a handful of her father's teeth.
------
"THEY DON'T EVEN TRY TO HIDE THEIR CRIMES"
Nearly every area freed from IS control has unmasked new mass graves, like one found by the sports stadium in the Iraqi city of Ramadi. Many of the graves themselves are easy enough to find, most covered with just a thin coating of earth.
"They don't even try to hide their crimes," said Sirwan Jalal, the director of Iraqi Kurdistan's agency in charge of mass graves. "They are beheading them, shooting them, running them over in cars, all kinds of killing techniques, and they don't even try to hide it."
No one outside IS has seen the Iraqi ravine where hundreds of Shiite prison inmates were killed point blank and then torched. Satellite images of scraped dirt along the river point to its location, according to Steve Wood of AllSource. His analysts triangulated survivors' accounts and began to systematically search the desert according to their descriptions of that day, June 10, 2014.
The inmates were separated out by religion, and Shiites were loaded onto trucks, driven for a few kilometres (miles) and forced to line up and count off, according to accounts by 15 survivors gathered by Human Rights Watch. Then they knelt along the edge of the crescent-shaped ravine, according to a report cited by AllSource.
"I was number 43. I heard them say '615,' and then one ISIS guy said, 'We're going to eat well tonight.' A man behind us asked, 'Are you ready?' Another person answered 'Yes,' and began shooting at us with a machine-gun. Then they all started to shoot us from behind, going down the row," according to the Human Rights Watch account of a survivor identified only as A.S.
The men survived by pretending to be dead.
Using their accounts and others, AllSource examined an image from July 17, 2014, that appeared to show the location as described, between a main road and the railway outside Mosul. The bodies are believed to be packed tightly together, side by side in a space approximately the length of two football fields end to end, in what the AllSource analysis described as a "sardine trench." Tire tracks lead to and from the site.
"There's actually earth that has been pushed over and actually moved to cover parts of the ravine. As we look across the entire ravine we only see that in this one location," said Wood. "Ultimately there are many, many more sites across Iraq and Syria that have yet to be either forensically exhumed or be able to be detailed and there's quite a bit more research that needs to take place."
The key, Wood said, is having photos to indicate a grave's location taken soon after its creation.
Justice has been done in at least one IS mass killing -- that of about 1,700 Iraqi soldiers who were forced to lie face-down in a ditch and then machine-gunned at Camp Speicher. On Aug. 21, 36 men convicted in those killings were hanged at Iraq's Nasiriyah prison.
But justice is likely to be elusive in areas still firmly under IS control, even though the extremists have filmed themselves committing the atrocities. That's the case for a deep natural sinkhole outside Mosul that is now a pit of corpses. In Syria's Raqqa province, thousands of bodies are believed to have been thrown into the giant al-Houta crevasse.
Conditions in much of Syria remain a mystery. Activists believe there are hundreds of mass graves in IS-controlled areas that can only be explored when fighting stops. By that time, they fear any effort to document the massacres, exhume and identify the remains will become infinitely more complicated.
Working behind IS lines, local residents have informally documented some mass graves, even partially digging some up. Some of the worst have been found in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour. There, 400 members of the Shueitat tribe were found in one grave, just some of the up to 1,000 members of the tribe believed to have been massacred by IS when the militants took over the area, said Ziad Awad, the editor of an online publication on Deir el-Zour called The Eye of the City who is trying to document the graves.
In Raqqa province, the bodies of 160 Syrian soldiers, killed when IS overran their base, were found in seven large pits.
So far, at least 17 mass graves are known, though largely unreachable, in a list put together from AP interviews with activists from Syrian provinces still under IS rule as well as fighters and residents in former IS strongholds.
"This is a drop in an ocean of mass graves expected to be discovered in the future in Syria," said Awad.

'There are only bones left'; ISIS buried thousands in 72 mass graves


Surrounded by smoke and flames, the
sound of gunshots echoing around him,
the young man crouched in the creek for
hours, listening to the men in his
family die.


Moody Blues: Classic rockers The Moody Blues held a celebrity cruise in April 2014 with Roger Daltrey. The five-night Moody Blues Cruise II around the Bahamas recreated the vibe of the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. The band will also set sail on a New Year's Eve theme cruise in 2018. (WENN.com) Mandatory Credit: WENN.com
Star Trek: William Shatner - a.k.a. Captain James T. Kirk -- and his Star Trek castmates will set sail on a theme cruise to celebrate the franchise's 50th anniversary. Jonathan Frakes, Denise Crosby and Robert Picardo will also be aboard. The six-day cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line departs Miami on Jan. 9, 2017, and will make stops in Cozumel, Mexico and the Bahamas. Read the full story here. (WENN.com)
MasterChef: The itinerary for the week-long MasterChef cruise of the Caribbean includes plenty of opportunities to interact with fan favourite contestants like Luca Manfe. The seven-day voyage sails from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Nov. 6, 2016 and past winners from MasterChef and MasterChef Junior will be aborad. Click here for more details. (Courtesy Bell Media)
Property Brothers: Canadian twins Jonathan and Drew Scott — better known as the Property Brothers for their W Network reality real estate show — are setting sail on the “Ultimate Design Cruise” aboard the Carnival Ecstasy. Their cruise, formally called “Sailing with the Scotts: The Ultimate Design Cruise,” will sail from Miami to Cozumel, Mexico from Nov. 16 to 20, 2015. The Scott brothers have a number of surprises in store for fans who join them on the cruise, including trivia night challenges, dance parties and DIY decorating challenges. Click here for more information. (Handout)
Dancing with the Stars: Fans of TV dance competition Dancing with the Stars can pretend they're one of the stars while cruising the Caribbean or Alaska on Holland America's MS Nieuw Amsterdam. With several sail dates throughout 2015 and 2016, the cruise features dance classes, competitions and the change to mingle with stars like Kym Johnson (pictured), Tristan MacManus and Carson Kressley. Click here for more details. (WENN.com) Daniel Tanner/WENN.com
KISS: Set sail with classic rock band KISS on their fifth annual Caribbean "kruise" from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3, 2015. On your round-trip cruise aboard the Norwegian Pearl from Miami to Jamaica, you'll enjoy gourmet dining, ob-board amenities, plus an indoor rock show with KISS. (WENN.com)
Maxwell: R&B star Maxwell has recruited his famous friends and is setting sail for a Caribbean cruise. The singer is launching the Maxwell + The 7 Seas Caribbean cruise, sailing May 3 - 10, 2015, and is bringing fellow musicians including Erykah Badu, Anthony Hamilton, Ledisi, Robert Glasper and comedian DL Hughley for the seven-day trip. Click here for more details. (WENN.com) WENN.com
Game of Thrones: Crystal Cruises has created an excursion for Game of Thrones fans that takes guests to filming locations in Northern Ireland as part of a cruise along the British Isles. The half-day excursion with the seven and 14-day cruise packages will offer guests a behind-the-scenes tour into the making of the mythical worlds of Westeros and Essos. Click here for more details. (WENN.com) WENN.com
The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings: Fans of The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and author J.R.R. Tolkien can take to the high seas on a Tolkien fan cruise with cast members from the films, including Jed Brophy (pictured) (Nori the dwarf,) Sarah McLeod (Samwise Gamgee's wife Rosie Cotton,) and Bruce Hopkins (Gamling in the LOTR film trilogy.) Click here for full details. (WENN.com) WENN.com
Grand Budapest Hotel: Fans of the Wes Anderson film The Grand Budapest Hotel were offered the chance to set sail with Anderson and members of the cast in a star-studded lineup aboard the Queen Mary 2 cruise liner in June 2014. Actors Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman and writer/producer Roman Coppola sailed with Cunard's flagship liner during a seven-day transatlantic crossing. Read the full story here. (WENN.com) WENN.com
Backstreet Boys: The Backstreet Boys cruise sailed from Miami for Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas on Oct. 24 to 27, 2014. The boy band's cruise was so popular in past years, the band had to turn to Carnival's Ecstasy ship, which has more balcony cabins for guests. Guests enjoyed pool parties on deck with Brian, Nick, A.J., Howie and Kevin, disembarked at Half Moon Cay for a beach party with the Boys, plus enjoyed all the luxury amenities and gourmet dining the Carnival Ecstasy ship offers. (WENN.com) WENN.com
Frozen: Hit the seas with Anna, Elsa and all their Frozen friends on the new Disney Cruises 'Frozen' theme cruise. The ship - to be transformed into a wintry wonderland overnight - will sail in 2015 to destinations in Europe and to Alaska. Click here for more information. (Handout)

Set sail with the Moody Blues on New Year's cruise


Classic rockers the Moody Blues are setting sail on a fan cruise to Mexico to ring in 2018.


Mick Jagger will reportedly pay a five-figure monthly sum to ballet dancer Melanie Hamrick once she gives birth to his eighth child.
The 72-year-old has been dating the 29-year-old on-and-off for the last two years, with the ballerina unexpectedly falling pregnant during the Rolling Stones' tour of South America earlier this year.
The ageing rocker will welcome the latest addition to his brood in December, and in preparation for the tot's arrival, he has reached a legally-binding financial settlement with Melanie to ensure mother and baby's needs will be well taken care of.
The hefty payments are said to be around $15,000 a month until the child turns 18, meaning the mother-to-be, who currently lives in New York, will bank an estimated total of $3.3 million.
Melanie will even have a house bought for her, according to U.K. newspaper the Daily Mirror.
It echoes a deal Jagger previously hammered out with his former Brazilian fling Luciana Gimenez, mother of his love child Lucas. Jagger cheated on then-partner Jerry Hall with Luciana, and it was the news of the tot's birth in 1999 which eventually led to the end of the long-term couple's romance.
The rocker already has four children with Texan-born model Jerry - Elizabeth, James, Georgia and Gabriel, as well as daughter Jade with first wife Bianca Jagger, and another girl, Karis, now 45, with actress Marsha Hunt.

Mick Jagger strikes five-figure money deal with pregnant lover


Mick Jagger will reportedly pay a five-figure monthly sum to ballet dancer Melanie Hamrick once she gives birth to his eighth child.


Two people are dead and three others injured in a serious crash that shut down a busy downtown Vancouver intersection on Monday.
A white SUV heading north on Seymour Street veered off the street just before 5:30 p.m. and hit a tree, sending it toppling onto the sidewalk in the path of pedestrians before striking a lamp post.
The two occupants of the SUV, a 68-year-old man driving the SUV and his 70-year-old female passenger, were killed instantly, said Vancouver police.
Three others, all men in their 30s, were injured by the fallen tree and flying debris. One man had minor injuries and lacerations. Two other men suffered more serious injuries, including broken bones and a punctured lung. They are expected to survive, but are listed in critical condition.
A couple hours after the crash a blue tarp covered the driver's and passenger's seat of the SUV, which was flipped on its side. On the sidewalk, scattered amid glass and metal debris, were mundane objects — a pack of tissue paper, bags of fruit, a red shoe.
Vancouver police spokesman Const. Brian Montague said investigators are still trying to determine what caused the crash. They have video footage of the incident and have talked to many witnesses. Investigators and the Coroner will see if any underlying medical conditions may have contributed to the crash.
But what was clear was "the crash behind me clearly tells our officers that speed is going to be a factor here," said Montague. "There's no question about that. We are working to determine what that speed was, and if there were other factors."
The sound of the single-vehicle crash was heard by some people in nearby stores, and by residents who live high up in nearby condo towers.
Francis Lin was at a Starbucks across the street when he heard a loud boom.
"I looked outside and it was this SUV on its side. It looked like it was wedged between two poles," he said. "How fast must you have been going to saw off a tree? It's pretty horrific. There's no skid marks, no nothing."
Bobby Soor was working at a smoothie store just around the corner from the crash. He felt the crash's vibrations and heard the sound of metal debris, including a crumpled newspaper box, scraping on concrete. When he got outside, he saw two men on the ground. Both had lower-body injuries, he said. One had a bone sticking out of his ankle.
"The one guy with a visible fracture, he was in pretty bad condition. The other guy wasn't moving his legs."
Xiomara Lopez said she often sees cars speeding on Seymour or Davie, well above the posted speed limit. Soor said some vehicles coming off the Granville Street Bridge onto Seymour Street often speed trying to beat the light. "We're not surprised that this happened," said Lopez.
chchan@postmedia.com
twitter.com/cherylchan


Two people are dead and three others
injured in a serious crash that shut
down a busy downtown Vancouver
intersection on Monday.


Britney Spears wants to have three more children.
The 34-year-old singer is mother to 10-year-old Sean and nine-year-old Jayden with ex-husband Kevin Federline. But while she doesn't have a man in her life right now, Britney foresees a bigger family in her future.
Toxic star Britney made the admission during her appearance on James Corden's Carpool Karaoke on Thursday night, telling the host she is "so jealous" of him having two little ones.
"Mine are nine and 10, they're not babies anymore!" Britney exclaimed. "I want more, I would like to have like three more.
I have to find the right guy first, and then... you know."
She then burst into an impromptu rendition of Ace of Base's song All That She Wants (is another baby).
Britney has been married twice before - a 55-hour union with childhood friend Jason Alexander following a Vegas wedding, and to dancer Kevin from 2004 to 2007.
She was also engaged to Jason Trawick and was reportedly set to wed ex-boyfriend Charlie Ebersol, but told James she won't walk down the aisle again.
"I think I might not do the whole men thing anymore. I won't do the men thing, or get married, I'm just done with men," she vowed. "I might French kiss someone but I'm not going to marry anyone - I don't believe in marriage any more."
Britney and James belted out her songs Oops!... I Did It Again, Toxic and her biggest hit Baby One More Time, for which the duo donned school uniforms to recreate the infamous video for the track, with James even sporting a blonde, plaited wig.
Britney's appearance on the Late Late Show's Carpool Karaoke comes amid a busy week for the star. On Friday morning, the singer released her ninth studio album Glory and tweeted her excitement by writing: "It's here!!! #GloryOutNow."
The hashtag is just one of those that will trigger the use of a specially created Britney emoji, which shows a close-up cartoon version of the singer's face. Among others that will cause the emoji to feature are #BritneyCarpool, #BritneyonCorden and #BritneyCarpoolKaraoke.
Britney is also capitalising on her upcoming performance at Sunday night's (28Aug16) MTV Video Music Awards, with the hashtags #BritneyVMAs and #BritneyOnVMAs also triggering the emoji.

Britney Spears talks kids, being single on ‘Carpool Karaoke’


Britney Spears wants to have three more children.


Dear Amy: My mom is nearly 90 and is in great health.
She is living with my husband and me -- and we all get along well in our small home.
My older sister had been taking care of her but called nearly two years ago and proclaimed that Mom had to move in with us, as she could take NO responsibility for her because she had her own life to live.
Big Sis moved across the country to be with a man she met online -- one in a long line of "soul mates."
She now hates this man, but is scared to leave due to ruined credit, no job and nowhere to go.
She calls Mom daily with tales of how awful her partner is, but how she can't leave.
All of her friends and her counselor have advised her on ways to exit, but she seems to prefer to stay and whine about her life. I understand it is scary to start over.
These calls are very stressful for Mom; and when she is stressed I am stressed, as stress for her often leads to illness.
Should ask Sis not to call, or if she does call, to just pretend everything is fine? Mom's radar regarding her children is legendary and she would then worry about why Sis is no longer talking about her miserable life.
Is there a middle ground? -- Trickle Down Stress
Dear Trickle Down: You cannot ask your sister not to call your mother.
Instead, you should do two things: Ask your sister to be aware of the impact her daily narration has on your mother. Tell her, "She worries excessively about you and ruminates on your situation. This is affecting her health. Can you be more mindful of this when you talk to her?" She needn't pretend that her life is perfect, but she could change her tone if she wanted to.
Your second focus should be on helping your mother to manage her own stress. Continue to reassure her that your sister has options, and that she is just blowing off steam. Simple meditation techniques could help both of you: Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and visualize releasing these stressors as little balloons or butterflies that flutter skyward.
Dear Amy: My husband and I have been friends with two other couples since we were all young parents.
Twenty years later, we are in our early 50s and our children are busy tackling college and careers. The problem is that one couple seems to be aging less gracefully than the others.
They have become increasingly judgmental, self-righteous and hypocritically condescending. They are like a bad caricature of spiteful old curmudgeons, constantly finding fault. Our adult children are regular targets of their barbed comments.
We enjoy getting together with the other couple. But with such a long history, meeting without the grumpy couple (even if they have been invited and declined to attend) leads to hurt feelings, and they then express even greater levels of bitterness.
Is there a way to address this without exacerbating their behavior? I am afraid that bringing it up will just add fuel to their negative feelings. I can't see moving into the next decade, if being with them means constantly feeling judged. -- Flawed Friendship
Dear Flawed: Why do these people hold so much power over you, even to the extent that you worry about their hurt feelings when they themselves have declined an invitation?
They are responsible for their own feelings. They are responsible for their own behavior.
Some friendships simply run their course. It sounds like you need to break up with these people.
Breakups are hard. Feelings do get hurt. If you have tried mightily to have a positive friendship and these people can't play, then you should stop spending time with them. The other couple might choose to maintain the friendship, but you will feel liberated if you exit, respectfully and deliberately. You can say to them, "We're at different points in our lives now, and we can't seem to find a way to spend time with you that is positive and enjoyable."
Dear Amy: "Perplexed" described a familiar dynamic for people who write to you. Her (adult) daughter was being a pill, but Perplexed didn't know what to say to her!
Why are people so afraid of their children? -- Unafraid
Dear Unafraid: It can be very hard to offer criticism to people you love. And yet, when you really love someone, that is exactly what you have to do.

Elderly mother is stressed by Sis' calls


Dear Amy: My mom is nearly 90 and is in great health.


Federal Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr is convinced Canadians are a reasonable bunch who will accept pipeline decisions.
Not because they will all agree — "I'm a realist," he quipped Monday — but because they will have a chance to have their say.
Speaking to a room of around 150 people at an Edmonton breakfast organized by the Alberta Enterprise Group, Carr said if the government follows the right process for pipeline assessments, "most Canadians will say, 'I’ve had a chance to be heard, that was a reasonable way of making a decision.' "
He might be hard-pressed explaining that to protesters who took over Day 1 of the National Energy Board Energy East pipeline hearing in Montreal, forcing NEB director Jean-Denis Charlebois to scuttle the day's meeting.
Many of the protesters voicing their opposition to the pipeline called the hearings illegitimate and a masquerade; that's why the NEB is being reformed, Carr said Monday — to ensure Canadians trust the pipeline assessment process.
"The whole operation is designed to hear from Canadians," he said. "Whatever their point of view might be, we think they should all have a right to say it."
A demonstrator is taken away by a police officer after disrupting the National Energy Board public hearing into the proposed $15.7-billion Energy East pipeline project proposed by TransCanada Monday, August 29, 2016 in Montreal.PAUL CHIASSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS
With pipeline hearings cancelled on one side of the country, here in Alberta, Carr met with Premier Rachel Notley and Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson to chat energy infrastructure.
Both Notley and Iveson are pro-pipeline, which perfectly illustrates the challenge facing Carr and the federal government: If the NEB approves the pipeline, it's on the Trudeau government to make a final decision.
Carr told the Edmonton breakfast that government was elected to make those "tough decisions," but what's tougher — to say "yes," or say "no" to a pipeline?
"I don’t know," Carr replied. "I think what you do is, you make the decision based on the best evidence that you have, through a process that most people would say is fair and reasonable. That’s the objective and that’s what we’re doing."
Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt laughed Monday when asked if people would indeed be reasonable and accept pipeline decisions.
Far from it, Bratt says.
He contends that if the NEB approves a pipeline, and the final yay or nay is lobbed into the federal government's court, it runs the risk of pitting one side of Canada against the other.
"You’ve got people in Alberta demanding every pipeline go through, and you’ve got people in Vancouver saying TransMountain should be stopped, in Montreal saying Energy East should be stopped," Bratt said. "What do you do when it ends up on your desk?"
Bratt said the problem is that the biggest beneficiaries of a pipeline are those at the beginning of the route and those at the end.
Take Energy East, which if built will carry oil from Hardisty, Alta., to Saint John, N.B.
"Who are the biggest supporters of the pipeline? People in Alberta and people in New Brunswick," Bratt said. "Who's most upset about it? Everybody in between."
While the federal government is trying to get away from the pipeline cheerleading it says went on under Stephen Harper, Bratt said "at a certain point, they're going to have to say something."
With files from the Montreal Gazette
egraney@postmedia.com
twitter.com/EmmaLGraney

Pipeline wars: Natural Resources Minister Carr talks about rejigging NEB


Federal Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr is convinced Canadians are a reasonable bunch who will accept pipeline decisions. Not because they will all agree —


TORONTO — Jose Bautista made it clear on Thursday afternoon that he has not returned to the Blue Jays lineup with a list of demands or a prima donna attitude or as a pending free agent worried about his individual statistics.
He’s not about to tell manager John Gibbons where he wants to bat in the lineup, nor is he going to demand to start every game in right field or anything like that.
Bautista said he just wants to be a good soldier and help the Jays get into the playoffs and to the World Series. He wants to be another bullet in the holster.
“Right now it’s about winning,” said Bautista, following batting practice at the Rogers Centre. “The team’s doing great. Hopefully I’ll slide in and continue to let the team roll like we have.”
Bautista has been out since Aug. 9 when he twisted his left knee while attempting to make a throw to the infield in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays. He also went on the DL with a toe injury suffered on June 17 against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Needless to say it’s been a frustrating season for the long-time Toronto slugger, who was, of course, hoping for a big year given that he is a free agent at the end of the season. But the injuries have held him back.
Statistics-wise, Bautista is not going to be able to post the mega-numbers of years back and he can live with that.
“It’s been tough,” he said about the season. “I’ve had to deal with a lot. Overall, I think I contributed. My on-base-percentage, RBIs and runs scored-per-game played are not bad at all. I just want to finish out strong and, again, we’re in first place, I don’t think I’m going to focus a lot on my individual situation. If we continue to win and I’m playing every day, I’m sure I’ll contribute and at the end of the year my numbers are going to look fine.”
Bautista wants to help the Jays put together a nice winning streak like they did a couple of times last year. The media pushed him on Thursday as to where he wants to bat in the line-up — if he expects to bat lead-off again despite the fact that second baseman Devon Travis has assumed that spot in his absence. In 22 games as the lead-off hitter, Travis is batting .311 with an .806 OPS.
“I don’t think I’m in a position to be demanding or tell anybody what to do,” Bautista said. “This team is playing great and the last thing I want to be is a disruption. I just want to continue to help anyway I can and hopefully get back in the playoffs and try to get that championship that we missed out on last year.”
Bautista did bat lead-off on Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels with Travis out with a sore knuckle. He also DH’d with Ezequiel Carrera playing right field.
Gibbons said he expects to have Bautista DH from time to time having just come off the DL.
When Bautista assumed the lead-off spot earlier this summer when the Jays were struggling, he actually went to Gibbons and suggested the move. It paid off. Now everyone seems to be waiting for a controversy to break out over who bats lead-off when Travis and Bautista are both healthy.
Bautista said he isn’t going to get in a twist one way or the other — sincere in his intent on helping the team win without making any waves.
“We want to have the best nine out there and obviously Devon’s done a great job at lead-off and, again, this is Gibby’s team. He’s the manager and we’re not going to try to undermine him,” Bautista said. “He has to go with the hot hands and whatever’s working. So wherever I can fit in, I’m sure I’ll be fine. As long as we keep getting wins, I’ll be happy.”
With Bautista back and Travis expected to return in the next day or so, the Jays are finally getting close to being the offensive dynamo they expected to be all season.
Left fielder Michael Saunders, who has 21 home runs this year, was out with a sore hamstring on Thursday, but that’s not expected to be a major problem.
Besides the power and his outstanding eye at the plate (Bautista was leading the AL in walks before he ran into injury troubles), the veteran outfielder gives the Jays some more swagger, something they had in abundance en-route to the AL East title last season.
“Oh yeah. No doubt,” Gibbons said. “He’s a feared hitter in this league and everybody knows where he is in the lineup, when he’s coming up, when he’s sitting on deck, everyone’s aware of that.
“He can burn ya, he can burn ya with the best of them, and you know he’ll take his walks, he’s got great discipline. It’s a weapon.”
sbuffery@postmedia.com

Returning Bautista in it for the team, not his numbers


Jose Bautista made it clear on Thursday afternoon that he has not returned to the Blue Jays lineup with a list of demands or a prima donna attitude or as a pending free agent worried about his individual statistics.