As National Energy Board hearings resume Monday in Montreal on TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline, it’s time to stop kidding the troops.
Kidding the troops is what happens when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau floats the idea that if pipeline proponents act in a certain way domestically, and Canada acts in a certain way internationally, it will earn a “social licence” to construct pipelines and export oil.
Pipelines which are vital to Canada’s economy and necessary to move our landlocked fossil fuel resources to Canadian ports and from there to international markets.
The problem with Trudeau’s rhetoric is that it suggests there is some sort of perfect pipeline proposal that will satisfy all critics such as Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre, environmental groups and First Nations opponents.
The reality is there is no process for pipeline approval that will satisfy these people. Pretending there is, is a fool’s game.
Coderre, for example, now wants the Energy East pipeline hearings suspended and reviewed because former Quebec premier Jean Charest met with NEB officials while an employee of TransCanada -- at the NEB's request -- to discuss the conduct of the hearings in Quebec.
Never mind that the NEB met with Coderre and other pipeline opponents to discuss the same thing.
Never mind that the NEB and a spokesman for Charest said there was no discussion of and no lobbying for Energy East.
Coderre and the environmental groups are now saying the simple fact of the meeting -- and that Charest didn’t tell the NEB he was in TransCanada’s employ, is enough to undermine the credibility of the entire hearing process.
That’s absurd. It would have been better had the NEB been informed of Charest’s relationship to TransCanada but to suggest that means the entire process is tainted is ridiculous.
As for social licence, Trudeau would no doubt point to his good buddy U.S. President Barack Obama as a jolly green giant of environmentalism.
Obama stopped the Canada-U.S. Keystone XL pipeline.
Except Obama has also boasted that his administration has approved enough new U.S. oil and gas pipelines to more than encircle the Earth.
Why? Because approving them was in the economic interests of the United States.
Someone should tell Trudeau that Energy East is in Canada’s economic interests.


As National Energy Board hearings resume Monday in Montreal on TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline, it’s time to stop kidding the troops.


LOS ANGELES — Tim Tebow has taken his first big swing at a baseball career, showing off a powerful bat and a few areas of needed improvement in a workout for dozens of major league scouts.
The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback worked out at the University of Southern California’s Dedeaux Field on Tuesday. Scouts and reporters tracked, timed and recorded his every move.
Tebow’s 255-pound muscled physique and 6.70-ish time in the 60-yard dash were impressive. So was a series of long homers into the trees and off the scoreboard.
The 29-year-old outfield hopeful also showed he still needs baseball seasoning. Former big-leaguers David Aardsma and Chad Smith repeatedly fooled him with off-speed pitches later in the hitting drills.
Tebow’s representative would like to see him in instructional league play starting in September.

Ex-NFLer Tim Tebow hits 430-foot HR in MLB workout


LOS ANGELES — Tim Tebow has taken his first big swing at a baseball career, showing off a powerful bat and a few areas of needed improvement in a workout for dozens of major league scouts.


CHICAGO -- There are no bomb blasts or collisions with burly linemen in Susan Contreras' past. Her headaches, memory loss and bouts of confused thinking were a mystery until doctors suggested a probable cause: domestic violence.
A former partner repeatedly beat her, she says.
"He would hit me mainly in the head so that nobody would see the injuries. He'd hit me in the back of the head so the bruises wouldn't show," the Phoenix woman said.
The abuse from her ex-partner took a heavy emotional toll, Contreras says. But even though he sometimes knocked her out, she hadn't considered that her brain might have been as damaged as her psyche.
"Honestly, there's so many holes in my memory, thinking problems," she said. "My memory is really gone."
Brain trauma in domestic violence survivors has been overshadowed by concerns about injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan war vets, and by effects of repeated head blows in football players. Experts believe many cases go undetected and untreated in abused women, making them vulnerable to problems with thinking, mood and behaviour.
Advocates say the injuries leave some survivors so impaired that they can't manage their jobs and lives. Some even end up homeless.
About one-quarter of U.S. women and 14% of men have experienced severe physical assaults by a partner in their lifetime, including hitting, punching, being slammed against something hard or pushed down stairs, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Head and neck injuries are among the most common, and data suggest that domestic assaults may cause traumatic brain injuries in at least 60 per cent of survivors, according to a research review published this year in the journal Family & Community Health.
Traumatic brain injuries can result from even a single sudden blow to the head. The symptoms may be short-term or long-lasting, and repeated assaults increase chances for permanent neurological damage. Whether that damage can cause the downward spiral that domestic violence survivors sometimes get caught in is unproven, but studies have found these brain injuries are more common in homeless people than in the general population. And there's no dispute that they can cause life-changing disabilities.
"This population is not unlike that of our athletes," said Dr. Javier Cardenas, director of a brain injury program at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. He's a trauma consultant for the National Football League and also treats domestic violence survivors.
Cardenas cited Baltimore Ravens' running back Ray Rice's 2014 attack on his then-fiancee, caught on an elevator video camera. Much of the public discussion about the incident was about whether brain injuries in football players may be linked to violent behaviour off the field. It overlooked a far more obvious injury.
"When Janay Rice was knocked out cold in the elevator, attention was all about how Ray Rice had previous concussions. Nobody mentioned that the woman in the elevator suffered a brain injury right in front of everybody's eyes," Cardenas said.
Traumatic brain injuries include concussions and don't always cause loss of consciousness or damage that can be detected on imaging scans. Symptoms may not occur immediately but can develop over time, making it difficult sometimes to link them with previous abuse.
The brain isn't a hard, fixed organ. It's more like jello, surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid that works like a shock absorber when the head is hit. A violent blow -- from colliding with a linebacker's helmet, from blast pressure after an explosion, or from a partner's angry fist -- can damage brain cells at the point of impact and slam the brain against the skull, sometimes bruising tissue, tearing nerve fibers, or causing bleeding.
Repeated blows have been linked with a degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CTE first made headlines several years ago when it was found in the brains of retired NFL players who had killed themselves. Research linking domestic violence with suicide is sparse, although several small studies have suggested that suicide attempts are much more common among battered women than among those who have not experienced partner abuse.
CTE is linked with memory loss, confusion, mood changes including depression and eventually dementia. Some scientists think domestic violence survivors might be at risk.
"I have no doubt that there are many women who have been abused enough that some of them probably have CTE," said Dr. Robert Cantu, a leading expert on football-related brain injuries and co-director of Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy.
He said medical literature contains just one published case about probable CTE linked with domestic violence -- a 1990 Lancet report about an autopsy on an abused 76-year-old British woman who had developed dementia. Her brain showed abnormalities resembling those seen in the brains of "punch-drunk" boxers.
Survivors often don't seek immediate medical attention, or when they do, they often fear disclosing what caused their injuries. Some wait years, when troublesome symptoms persist or emerge, and then, many victims and doctors don't connect the problems with domestic abuse, said researcher Jacquelyn Campbell, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.
Many physician groups recommend that doctors screen women for domestic violence in emergency rooms or doctor offices, and the Affordable Care Act says insurance plans should cover the screening with no copays. But when screening occurs, questions often don't address traumatic brain injuries, and symptoms are sometimes thought to be a psychological reaction to abuse, so doctors don't probe further, Campbell said.
Jennifer Kershaw, a Columbus, Ohio-area school teacher who won a court victory last year in an abuse lawsuit against her ex-husband, says she doesn't remember doctors ever mentioning traumatic brain injury after her 2013 beating, despite her symptoms.
"He put me in a headlock and punched me in the face I don't know how many times," she said. "Then he kneed me in the face." She said she went to the emergency room with a black eye, broken cheekbone, nausea and dizziness, and still has difficulty concentrating.
Though it's not clear if she did have a concussion or other brain injury, her symptoms are among those many experts say should lead doctors to investigate further.
"If a woman comes in with a black eye" or is otherwise being assessed for domestic violence, "we need to provide some good neurological workups like the help that is being provided to our veterans with traumatic brain injury," Campbell said.
That includes detailed questions about symptoms, physical and mental exams, and sometimes imaging scans if more severe brain injury is suspected.
Susan Contreras, 47, didn't get that kind of exam until almost 10 years after her final beating, after she landed in a Phoenix homeless shelter. A therapist there was concerned about her symptoms and sent her last December to the Barrow institute. The neurological centre has established an unusual program offering an array of free treatment to homeless domestic violence survivors.
Social worker Ashley Bridwell helped create the program after working with homeless shelters and noticing many women with suspected brain injuries.
Many were hit in the head dozens of times, Bridwell said. "Some were slammed into a wall or down a flight of stairs. These women have lived pretty hard lives," and their brain damage can make it hard to navigate out of homelessness, she said.
Sometimes imaging tests show brain scarring that, in a strange way, can be comforting to survivors.
"They feel a sense of relief knowing there is a physical or medical reason for their problems," Dr. Cardenas said.

Fists not football: Brain injuries seen in domestic assaults


There are no bomb blasts or collisions with burly linemen in Susan Contreras' past. Her headaches, memory loss and bouts of confused thinking were a mystery until doctors suggested a probable cause: domestic violence.


Bill Harris' TV must-sees for the week of Aug. 28:
1. Motive
Series finale
The only motive that remains is to wrap it all up for this steady performer that lasted four seasons. Several years after a killer got away, the team – including Angie (Kristin Lehman), Oscar (Louis Ferreira), Paula (Karen LeBlanc), Brian (Brendan Penny) and Betty (Lauren Holly) – reunites to close the case.
When: Tuesday, Aug. 30 on CTV
2. Narcos
Season-2 debut
This series continues to chronicle the real-life stories of the infamous drug kingpins of the late 1980s, when cocaine was as common as "new Coke." Or at least that's how we remember it now, anyway. Having lived through the '80s myself, apparently I wasn't nearly as high as I could have been.
When: Friday, Sept. 2 on Netflix
3. The Strain
Season-3 debut
The Strigoi – a.k.a. Vampires – are evolving, and the bio-weapon designed by Eph (Corey Stoll) is failing. That cannot be a good combination. Meanwhile, Fet (Kevin Durand) helps a Navy SEAL team on a deadly mission in New York, even though the rest of the world has written off the Big Apple.
When: Sunday, Aug. 28 on FX
4. MTV Video Music Awards
Live
This year's festivities are taking place at Madison Square Garden in New York for the first time in the show’s 33-year history. Canadian nominees include Drake, Justin Bieber, Alessia Cara and The Weeknd. There will be performances by Britney Spears and Nick Jonas, and Rihanna will receive the Video Vanguard Award.
When: Sunday, Aug. 28 on MTV
5. Ice Road Truckers
Season-10 debut
This show has been around for a decade? Really? That's a lot of trucks and a lot of ice. But I guess just like everywhere, there's not as much ice as there used to be. As the new campaign commences, experts predict one of the shortest and warmest winters on record. As a result, companies risk financial ruin.
When: Wednesday, Aug. 31 on History
6. Pretty Little Liars
Season-7 finale
The girls face off with their enemies – there's a seemingly endless supply of foes – in a chaotic fight that ends fatally. Eep. Simultaneously, someone learns a secret about their past that changes everything, while someone else gets a life-altering glimpse into the future. Crave serenity and stability? Find another show.
When: Tuesday, Aug. 30 on Bravo (Freeform in the U.S.)
7. You're the Worst
Season-3 debut
Jimmy (Chris Geere) and Gretchen (Aya Cash) adjust to life after “I love you,” which you'd think should make things easier, at least theoretically, but frequently does not. Also, Lindsey (Kether Donohue) discovers a new hobby, and Edgar (Desmin Borges) experiences some delicate sexual problems.
When: Wednesday, Aug. 31 on FXX
8. Milwaukee Blacksmith
Canadian debut
Beginning with back-to-back episodes, this reality series focuses on a man named Kent Knapp who is trying to forge a living as a blacksmith in modern times. Kent has made it his mission to pass the trade down to his children, but as often is the case, the younger members of the family have their own wills of steel.
When: Tuesday, Aug. 30 on History
9. Almost President: The Agony of Defeat
Debut
This doc features several people who lost presidential elections – including Mitt Romney, John McCain and Michael Dukakis – talking about their journeys, analyzing their own mistakes and detailing the impact on their families. It's basically a primer on the sad fate that awaits either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
When: Wednesday, Aug. 31 on CNN
10. Daily Planet
Boldly Go Week
The 22nd season kicks off with a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. There will be segments exploring the visions of the future that germinated from the franchise. Sounds like a great week for co-hosts Ziya Tong and Dan Riskin, as well as Ensign Smith. Uh-oh ... I worry about Ensign Smith.
When: Monday, Aug. 29 to Friday, Sept. 2 on Discovery
Twitter: @billharris_tv
bharris@postmedia.com

'Motive,' 'Narcos,' 'The Strain' and the MTV VMAs top this week's TV must-sees


Bill Harris' TV must-sees for the week of Aug. 28:


It was the hottest summer on record. And yet, the venues with the most reliable air conditioning – movie theatres – went largely unfilled.
How bad was it? You’d think the studios were serving hot soup instead of would-be blockbusters. Analysts are predicting the final box office tally will be at least 20% lower than last year’s summer movie season.
Supposed “sure things” like Ice Age and X-Men, Steven Spielberg and a long, long-awaited sequel to Independence Day were greeted by the movie-going public with a relative yawn.
There was no upside to controversy, as the rebooted, all-female Ghostbusters took what’s expected to be a $70 million loss (and saw its sequel plans put on hold) – possibly the biggest disconnect between pre-release awareness and post-release box office since Snakes on a Plane.
Critical acclaim/disdain seemed to be irrelevant, as recommended movies did well and flopped in equal measure.
So here’s a list of the hits, misses and underperformers. Might as well start with the big list first – bombs away!
BOMBS
- THE BFG: Spielberg is the man who INVENTED the summer blockbuster with Jaws. He returned to ET territory with a Roald Dahl-based family-film about a boy and his giant. Advance word is thumbs-up. The $140 million movie has a meager $20 mil opening.
- BEN HUR: Gosh, it worked with Charlton Heston back in the ‘50s, what could go wrong? How about everything? The sword-and-sandals saga with the fast-and-furious chariot races was in and out of theatres practically unnoticed.
- ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: It took in about a fifth of the original’s box office. Who knows? Maybe the $7 mil divorce Amber Heard got from Johnny Depp IS half of everything he owns at this point.
- ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE: Well, the fifth time’s a… um, what’s the opposite of “charm?” For once critics and audiences agreed. 13% on Rotten Tomatoes, $25 mil opening.
- THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR: A Snow White sequel without Snow White, or more importantly without Kristen Stewart. Apparently, she was the reason everyone went to Twilight movies all along.
- TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS: Cowabungle! Made about half what the previous reboot did.
-WARCRAFT: Everybody’s played the game. But do you know anybody who’s seen the movie? If so, are they Chinese? Because almost two-thirds of the movie’s (believe it or not) break-even $430 mil worldwide box office came from there. The video-game movie curse continues.
- GHOSTBUSTERS: A pretty funny movie with a lot of baggage. Not sure who won the arguments, but it may be that people were just tired of the whole thing by the time it opened.
- NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING: Actually got some good reviews, but turned into another case of a sequel getting only half the audience of its predecessor. Chloe Grace Moretz may not be ready for her close-up, or Seth Rogen is on a down-swing.
- THE NICE GUYS: Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling as buddy comedy guys may sound counterintuitive, but 90% on Rotten Tomatoes says the chemistry worked. And then an $11 mil opening says, “Who cares what you guys think?”
- PETE’S DRAGON: Disney promoted the heck out of this boy-and-his-monster tale (inspired, inexplicably, on a not-really-beloved ‘70s Disney flick), starring grown-ups Robert Redford and Bryce Dallas Howard. Took in about the same money as Spielberg’s BFG, though it cost less than half as much. Still a lot of red ink there.
- NINE LIVES: Kevin Spacey’s mind is in the body of a cat. How could that not work? The combination of Spacey, Jennifer Garner and Christopher Walken was good for a $6 mil opening. You could raise more auctioning off dinner with them.
“UNDERPERFORMERS” – In olden days, this would just be a euphemism for “Bomb.” But today, a movie like Independence Day: Resurgence can attract crickets in North America, but make enough money overseas for everybody to get paid.
In the case of the Star Trek and X-Men films, enough came in to justify further sequel plans, even if nobody was popping champagne corks.
-X-MEN APOCALYPSE: Apparently, at the Xavier Academy, attention is paid to what critics say. The previous film, Days of Future Past got great advance reviews and made about a third more in its first 10 days than the badly-reviewed Apocalypse. The feeling there is that the franchise needs a shakeup.
-STAR TREK BEYOND: Well received by Trekkers and critics (a Venn diagram that admittedly overlaps), the first Star Trek reboot not directed by J.J. Abrams had a $60 mil opening weekend, which Forbes pronounced, “just okay.”
-INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE: Proof that there is no movie so bad that it can’t be saved by the apparently less-discriminating overseas market.
HITS
- CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR: It may be impossible to totally fail with a superhero movie these days. But Civil War already had buzz as being nothing less than a new Avengers movie. Awash in iconic heroes and smartly executed, it made more than $1.1 billion worldwide in an as-noted dismal summer.
- SUICIDE SQUAD: The most truly critic-proof film since the last Transformers, the made-in-Toronto anti-hero saga with Will Smith, Jared Leto and Margot Robbie has taken the slings-and-arrows to the bank. Suicide Squad’s box office is already double its budget and it’s been #1 for three weeks. Like the similarly-reviled-but-profitable Batman v Superman, there’s been a sizable drop-off week-to-week.
- CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE: Not a sequel and not based on anything except the popularity of Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson and Kevin Hart. Result: $200 mil. Whatever buddy-comedy chemistry they’ve got, Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling would like to know what it is.
- THE JUNGLE BOOK: Sure, you expected Captain America: Civil War to gross $1 billion. But a reboot of The Jungle Book using motion capture CGI a la the bear in The Revenant? Grossing just under a bil, Jon Favreau’s labour of love for Disney was THE family movie this summer. Okay, there was another.
- FINDING DORY: Proof that the public’s love for Ellen DeGeneres is bottomless, and that her ditzy, forgetful blue tang fish character is adorable beyond measure (okay, we measure it at about $900 mil).
- BAD MOMS: Forget the Ghostbusters brouhaha. There WAS a hilarious all-female sleeper hit in the theatres this summer, and it starred Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn. That’s $100 mil worth of “underrated” and counting.
- THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE: Not quite as big in China as Warcraft, it did four times the business in North America, lofting it past the marks set by Prince of Egypt and other terrific movies-based-on-video games.
Other “Profitable Performers”: Lights Out, Conjuring 2, Jason Bourne, The Legend Of Tarzan, The Purge 3: Anarchy.
Twitter: @jimslotek
JSlotek@postmedia.com

2016 summer movies: From The Rock to Spielberg, all the winners and losers


It was the hottest summer on record. And yet, the venues with the most reliable air conditioning – movie theatres – went largely unfilled.


Next year’s federal budget is months away but budget consultations will soon start in earnest.
The deadline for pre-budget submissions to the parliamentary finance committee is the end of this month.
Stakeholders, consultants, and special interest organizations are scrambling to make the case for why their industry, region, or client deserves federal dollars.
Expectations are high. And for good reason.
With the government seemingly over “this whole balanced budget thing” as the finance minister recently put it, these groups are reasonably expecting their own piece of the deficit-financed largesse.
But taxpayers should be concerned. Special interest budgeting is a recipe for more rent seeking, ongoing deficits, and rising debt.
It was roughly one year ago that then-Liberal leader Justin Trudeau promised “a modest short-term deficit” of $10 billion per year to “kick-start” economic growth. Voters were assured these temporary deficits were to be rooted in fiscal anchors that would protect against ongoing red ink.
And then things changed. Modest deficits soon became nearly $30 billion per year. Short term changed to the entire fiscal planning period.
And its predecessor’s balanced budget legislation was repealed.
Soon the fiscal anchors were washed away and all that was left was the government’s commitment to increase spending.
Program spending is now poised to grow by 15% between 2014-15 and 2016-17 and that doesn’t even account for any new spending to inevitably come in the 2017 budget.
Cue the special interests. It’s no surprise that lobbying activity is up in Ottawa.
More government rents invariably attract more rent seekers.
Economist Milton Friedman famously said that “nothing is as permanent as a temporary government program.”
What he meant was that new spending creates powerful constituencies with strong interests in maintaining and growing government programs that benefit them and their members.
It thus becomes politically challenging for governments to hold the line. Temporary becomes permanent.
And the consequence is more spending and more deficits.
Timelines for balancing the budget are continuously pushed off and taxpayers are saddled with rising government debt and eventually higher taxes to pay for it all.
It’s a story that Canadians know all too well from the spendthrift experiences of the 1970s and 1980s.
The solution is to ensure taxpayers are represented in the budget process rather than “selected groups and individuals” as the finance committee’s call for pre-budget submissions stipulates.
Taxpayers must be protected from the profligate mix of rising government spending and special interest appetites.
One solution is to restore balanced budget legislation that puts statutory limitations on government spending.
Of course such legislation isn’t a silver bullet.
Political will ultimately matters.
But a clear and simple balanced budget law can buttress political will by managing expectations not only for external demands on government spending but also among the departments and agencies clamouring for their share of the pie.
It would make abundantly clear the baseline assumption is government won’t spend beyond its means simply because it can.
As pre-budget consultations commence in Ottawa, Canadians will be watching to see if anyone is protecting their interests in the face of voracious special interest demands for more government spending.
The safest plan is for fiscal rules that preclude deficits for the sake of deficits. That’s the only way for taxpayers to have confidence that their interests come first.
-- Speer is a Munk senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Trudeau budget good for everyone but taxpayers


Next year’s federal budget is months away but budget consultations will soon start in earnest.


MONTREAL -- A Quebec mother says she was shocked that two Grade 3 teachers were wearing aboriginal headdresses and handing them out to students on the first day of classes Monday.
Jennifer Dorner said she found the scene in the Montreal schoolyard distressing and offensive and posted a photo and commentary on Facebook, where it began making the rounds.
"I was pretty horrified, I was hoping that this kind of thing stopped happening a long time ago, but apparently it continues so I took a picture and posted about it," she said in an interview.
Dorner, whose daughter and niece are both Grade 3 students, said her niece Zoe was particularly upset by the headdress and wanted to rip it up.
School board spokeswoman Gina Guillemette says the headdresses -- fashioned from cardboard and coloured feathers -- were distributed to students at Ecole Lajoie as part of a focus on teaching about native communities in Quebec.
Dorner said that explanation is even more upsetting given the very people introducing the topic don't seem to grasp the disrespect of portraying the headdress in this way.
"How can they possibly be teaching an authentic understanding of indigenous culture?" she asked. "It doesn't help their cause to say that. If anything, it makes it even more distressing."
Such headdresses are generally only worn by elders or those who've earned the right to do so.
Non-natives donning them is seen as disrespectful as there is a spiritual and cultural significance attached to them.
Many concert promoters and sporting venues have banned the wearing of such First Nations headdresses as a costume or fashion accessory.
Dorner said a friend who is native has offered to attend a meeting she's requested with the principal at the elementary school in Montreal's Outremont borough.
Zoe's mother, Sarah Dorner, said her daughter refused to wear the headdress.
"My daughter is very sensitive to these things, we lived in New Zealand for most of 2015 so we've had a lot of conversations with her about when it's OK to be invited and to wear a costume or participate in song and dance," she said, referring to Maori culture in New Zealand.
Sarah Dorner said she just wanted her daughter to enjoy her first day of school.
Some of the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission focus on education and she said the need to implement them is clear.
"I'm hoping that maybe, because this has hit a nerve, they'll consider more appropriate ways of introducing that curriculum," she said.

Montreal mother 'horrified' after aboriginal headdresses given to students


A Quebec mother says she was shocked
that two Grade 3 teachers were wearing
aboriginal headdresses and handing them
out to students on the first day of
classes Monday.


SYDNEY, Australia -- Three Canadian cruise ship passengers were charged with drug smuggling Monday after police in Australia allegedly found 95 kilograms of cocaine in their cabin luggage.
The haul valued at 31 million Australian dollars (US$23 million) was the largest seizure in Australia of narcotics carried by passengers of a cruise ship or airliner, Australian Border Force commander Tim Fitzgerald said.
Andre Tamine, 63, Isabelle Lagace, 28, and Melina Roberce, 22, were arrested Sunday after the MS Sea Princess, operated by California-based Princess Cruises, berthed in Sydney.
The three did not enter pleas when they were charged in the Sydney Central Local Court with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine.
They face potential life sentences if convicted.
The trio will remain in custody until their next court appearance on Oct. 26.
The three Canadians had boarded the ship at the British port city of Southampton.
Police are investigating whether they boarded with the drugs or sourced them from one of several South American ports the ship visited on its way to Australia.
On Sunday, Australian Border Force officers boarded the ship when it berthed in Sydney Harbour and, with the help of detector dogs, searched a number of passenger cabins.
Fitzgerald alleged 35 kilograms of cocaine were found in suitcases in a cabin the women shared and 60 kilograms of the drug were found in the man's luggage in a separate cabin.
He thanked the U.S. Department of Homelands Security and the Canada Border Services Agency for helping identify the three as "high-risk passengers" among the 1,800 on board.
Clive Murray, assistant commissioner of strategic border command with the Australian Border Force, said the incident was an example of international co-operation in the fight against international drug syndicates.
"These syndicates should be on notice that the Australian Border Force is aware of all of the different ways they attempt to smuggle drugs into our country and we are working with a range of international agencies to stop them," he said.
The Australian Federal Police said the investigation is ongoing and further arrests have not been ruled out.

Canadians charged in Australia after $23-million cocaine haul found in cruise sh


Three Canadian cruise ship passengers
were charged with drug smuggling Monday
after police in Australia allegedly
found 95 kilograms of cocaine in their
cabin luggage.


The derailment of a freight train in the middle of Toronto last Sunday is an urgent warning for us to rethink how dangerous goods are shipped through the most populated neighbourhoods in Canada.
We need immediate action by the federal government to improve rail safety – action which would also improve public transit.
Quite simply, we need a viable plan to separate freight and passenger rail traffic in Canada.
A plan to keep dangerous goods out of urban centres which would also increase the capacity to run more public transit on existing rail lines in urban centres.
It’s 2016 and our Canadian cities have expanded and grown. More people live closer to freight train lines than ever before.
This same train that derailed in Toronto travelled through Mississauga, Ontario’s third largest city.
In the 1800s railways were used to connect our provinces and cities and allowed us to create a Canada.
Cities used railway trains as the engines of their economies to connect people and products. Major cities expanded through the use of trains.
But in today’s modern digital economy we need those same railway lines to move people within an urban centre and between cities, while keeping freight and dangerous goods outside of the urban core.
Last year there was a plan announced by some local governments to fix this problem but there has yet to be urgent action to make it a reality.
The plan is called the “Missing Link”.
In 2015, the cities of Brampton, Cambridge, Guelph, Milton, Mississauga, Toronto, Kitchener and Waterloo developed a business case for the Missing Link.
It is a new rail corridor to connect two exiting freight lines.
The result removes freight traffic from the southern CP and Canadian National Rail (CN) lines, and diverts it to a freight-only rail line.
Then the existing CN and CP freight lines would be free for more commuter service by GO Transit and VIA Rail.
It is a simple plan -- the Missing Link diverts dangerous freight from many cities while expanding commuter transit.
All-day, two-way electrified GO Train service on the Milton and Kitchener lines would become possible, as would high-speed rail.
This idea is not a new one or unique to Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. It can be implemented in other urban centres across Canada.
In the 1970s new freight-only rail lines were built north of Toronto.
This was done to increase capacity for passenger lines along the shore of Lake Ontario.
This led to development of the Golden Horseshoe and now the Lakeshore rail line is the busiest passenger rail line in Canada.
Population growth in the biggest cities like Toronto has led to unaffordable housing prices combined with some of the worst traffic in the world.
Government knows this growth will only continue.
Yes, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced an enormous infrastructure program. New programs for subways, street cars and other critical infrastructure will start to follow. Those plans will help.
But gridlock is a growing and complex problem.
And sometimes, the most complex problems can have the simplest solutions.
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie told me the Missing Link would allow the Ontario government to achieve its vision for Regional Express Rail.
"Dangerous freight would no longer travel through communities, and most importantly, residents could arrive to their destination more quickly and easily.
“The Missing Link is an ambitious project, but one that will fundamentally change how we live and work in the GTA for a generation to come,” said Crombie.
The federal Liberals need to act now to make the best use of existing rail lines to move more people efficiently, while protecting them from potentially dangerous train derailments in the process.
Warren is a Liberal political strategist and media commentator. He worked for former Toronto mayor Mel Lastman and former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty and is currently a principal at grgadvisors.ca and CEO of Riseley Gaming Inc.

Time to separate freight and passenger rail lines


The derailment of a freight train in the middle of Toronto last Sunday is an urgent warning for us to rethink how dangerous goods are shipped through the most populated neighbourhoods in Canada.


OTTAWA - With all the redacted names on Justin Trudeau's flight manifest regarding his Christmas holiday to the Caribbean hideaway of Nevis, one would think he had smuggled Omar Khadr aboard for a little fun in the sun that didn't involve the less-luxurious venue of Guantanamo Bay.
But, no, it was just the in-laws and a nanny, although there are families who would put their in-laws in the terrorist category without a moment's hesitation.
This, however, is unlikely to apply when it comes to Jean Gregoire and Estelle Blais, parents of Trudeau's spouse, Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau, and grand-papa and grand-maman to the couple's three young children.
So it was much ado about nothing.
Nothing more to see here, said the Department of National Defence, who manages the mission reports for the government-owned Challenger jet that Trudeau must use due to the prohibition of prime ministers flying commercial.
Our mistake, said the military types. We redacted the names, not the prime minister and then, on cue, everyone fell on their swords like good soldiers do.
This is not to say, however, that it has been a particularly good week for the Liberals. Far from it. In fact, the dew on the honeymoon rose may be starting dry.
As the Sun Ottawa bureau chief David Akin reports, a pair of bureaucrats who scarfed down enough food while Paris climate summit to qualify for that gross skit in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life will now pay back a portion of that tab.
Judging by such recent scenarios, it would appear the Liberals' addiction to entitlements has not skipped a generation.
Health Minister Jane Philpott nicked taxpayers for $1,700 for just one day of being chauffeured around Toronto in a luxury sedan -- all while playing semantics that it wasn't a true "limousine"-- and then spent thousands more in similar rides from the owner of a livery service who volunteered on her election campaign and professed "love" for the Liberals.
And, not being one to sit with the hoi polloi in the waiting area at Pearson International while connecting to Ottawa, Philpott also nicked taxpayers for the $500-plus tab for membership to the exclusive Air Canada lounge.
Imagine questioning that? Obviously we do not understand the importance of her self-importance.
And then there is the photogenic Catherine McKenna, our federal minister of environment, who spent $6,600 for a private photographer to snap pictures at the same climate change summit that the aforementioned bureaucrat with the prodigious appetite for French food was knee deep in fine pate.
But silly us who care.
In an editorial the other day, the Globe & Mail, who this year hired CTV's Bob Fife to head up its Ottawa bureau, castigated its readers for worrying about the "wrong stuff" -- as in Philpott's non-limos or McKenna's photo albums.
This is the same Bob Fife, ironically, who made his mark chasing down cabinet ministers and their $16 orange juices.
"The peasants are revolting," they cried in the Wizard of Id.
"You can say that again," said the king.
- markbonokoski@gmail.com

These Liberals think we should eat cake, too


With all the redacted names on Justin Trudeau's flight manifest regarding his Christmas holiday to the Caribbean hideaway of Nevis, one would think he had smuggled Omar Khadr aboard for a little fun in the sun that didn't involve the less-luxurious venue of Guantanamo Bay.


A popular bakery in Northern California is caught at the centre of a heated debate on social media over a transgender "Ken Doll Cake" that it said it made for a customer.
Freeport Bakery, a well-known business in Sacramento, posted a picture online nearly two weeks ago showing a special-ordered cake that depicted Ken wearing a puffy pink dress, flowery sash and a tiara.
The cake triggered controversy on Facebook, with people calling it "truly disgusting" and claiming that the owners were putting their "morals n standards for sale."
"Naively, I guess I just thought this is a really cool cake, and look at how great they did with the butter cream," Marlene Goetzeler, co-owner of the bakery, told Fox affiliate KTXL. "What's wrong with a Ken cake?"
In 1987, Walter and Marlene Goetzeler bought Freeport Bakery and grew it into a booming business, according to their website. Over the years, it has been named best bakery by Sacramento Magazine readers.
After Freeport Bakery posted the picture on Aug. 13, Marlene Goetzeler said, she started seeing negative comments and soon noticed that she was losing Facebook fans.
The owners admitted on social media that they first deleted the "ugly" comments from the Facebook page because they "didn't want drama." Only a handful of negative comments remain with the photo.
The bakery also said that, after a flood of support for the owners, some of the negative commenters took down their posts.
"I was shocked that somebody would be offended," Marlene Goetzeler told KTXL.
"A customer requested a Ken doll cake and we were happy to make it; she loved the cake when she picked it up," Walter and Marlene Goetzeler said in a statement. "We were especially proud of its buttercream detail so we decided to post a photo of it on our Facebook page, as we do with many of the cakes we design and adore. We got some lovely responses along with some negative feedback."
"We reposted the picture asking for support from our Facebook friends," the owners said. "Luckily, we have received that support and so much more from our fans, devoted customers and staff."
Amid an intense debate the past several years over LGBT rights, including same-sex marriage, businesses across the country have made news for refusing to serve same-sex couples.
Last year, Azucar Bakery in Colorado was accused of violating a customer's civil rights for declining to decorate a cake with anti-gay messages, including, "God hates gays." The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies later ruled that the bakery had the right to do it.
The past week, supporters have been urging Freeport Bakery's owners to "ignore the haters."
"Amazing!" one wrote. "Love this bakery and love that you are inclusive and welcome ALL."
Another added: "With a lot news reports saying in other states refusing to make wedding cakes for same-sex marriages, you make me proud to live in a diverse and accepting community! You have my support!"
One person said such a controversy over a cake was "silly."
"By society's definition I'm transgender and that fact is I am also human," the commenter wrote. "We as a educated society should stop acting so ignorant. We should be more civilized than this. Don't hate the creator of the cake because for those who are religious and take offense would you hate our creator God? Remember God makes no mistakes. As true as that is I say he has quite the sense of humor when he created me."
Some customers outside the bakery seemed to take a more neutral stance.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion," Karen Dixson told NBC affiliate KCRA.
"There's always going to be two sides," Ashley Nelson told the station. "People support it or they don't."
Chad Graham, who told the station that he attended the birthday party for which the Ken Doll Cake was created, said the recipient is neither transgender, nor attempting to make some sort of statement.
"I thought it was a little ridiculous," Graham said about the issue. "It was just cake."

'I was shocked that somebody would be offended'; Bakery's transgender Ken doll c


A popular bakery in Northern California
is caught at the centre of a heated
debate on social media over a
transgender


Video grab composite of the Airlander 10 making a bumpy landing at Cardington airfield in England during its second test flight Wednesday Aug. 24, 2016. Hybrid Air Vehicles says it is trying to figure out what caused the rough landing of the 302-foot (92-meter) Airlander 10 during its flight Wednesday in Bedfordshire, north of London. (Lee Cordell/PA via AP) AP
The Airlander 10, is examined as it sits on the ground after a rough landing at Cardington airfield England following its second test flight on Wednesday Aug. 24, 2016. The developer of the world's largest aircraft says the blimp-shaped airship "sustained damage" after it made a bumpy landing on its second test flight . Hybrid Air Vehicles says it is trying to figure out what caused the rough landing of the 302-foot (92-meter) Airlander 10 during its flight Wednesday in Bedfordshire, north of London. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP) AP
The Airlander 10, is examined as it sits on the ground after a rough landing at Cardington airfield England following its second test flight on Wednesday Aug. 24, 2016. The developer of the world's largest aircraft says the blimp-shaped airship "sustained damage" after it made a bumpy landing on its second test flight . Hybrid Air Vehicles says it is trying to figure out what caused the rough landing of the 302-foot (92-meter) Airlander 10 during its flight Wednesday in Bedfordshire, north of London. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP) AP
The Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander 10 hybrid airship is seen in the air over a road on its maiden flight from Cardington Airfield near Bedford, north of London, on August 17, 2016. The Hybrid Air Vehicles 92-metre long, 43.5-metre wide Airlander 10, billed as the world's longest aircraft, lifted off for the first time from an airfield north of London. The Airlander 10 has a large helium-filled fabric hull and is propelled by four turbocharged diesel engines. According to the company it can stay airborne for up to five days at a time if manned, and for over 2 weeks unmanned with a cruising speed of just under 150 km per hour and a payload capacity of up to 10,000 kg. / AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
The Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander 10 hybrid airship is seen landing after its maiden flight at Cardington Airfield near Bedford, north of London, on August 17, 2016. The Hybrid Air Vehicles 92-metre long, 43.5-metre wide Airlander 10, billed as the world's longest aircraft, lifted off for the first time from an airfield north of London. The Airlander 10 has a large helium-filled fabric hull and is propelled by four turbocharged diesel engines. According to the company it can stay airborne for up to five days at a time if manned, and for over 2 weeks unmanned with a cruising speed of just under 150 km per hour and a payload capacity of up to 10,000 kg. / AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
The Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander 10 hybrid airship is seen with hangars in the background on its maiden flight at Cardington Airfield near Bedford, north of London, on August 17, 2016. The Hybrid Air Vehicles 92-metre long, 43.5-metre wide Airlander 10, billed as the world's longest aircraft, lifted off for the first time from an airfield north of London. The Airlander 10 has a large helium-filled fabric hull and is propelled by four turbocharged diesel engines. According to the company it can stay airborne for up to five days at a time if manned, and for over 2 weeks unmanned with a cruising speed of just under 150 km per hour and a payload capacity of up to 10,000 kg. / AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
The Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander 10 hybrid airship is seen in the air on its maiden flight at Cardington Airfield near Bedford, north of London, on August 17, 2016. The Hybrid Air Vehicles 92-metre long, 43.5-metre wide Airlander 10, billed as the world's longest aircraft, lifted off for the first time from an airfield north of London. The Airlander 10 has a large helium-filled fabric hull and is propelled by four turbocharged diesel engines. According to the company it can stay airborne for up to five days at a time if manned, and for over 2 weeks unmanned with a cruising speed of just under 150 km per hour and a payload capacity of up to 10,000 kg. / AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
FILE - This is a Aug. 17, 2016 file photo of the Airlander 10, during its maiden flight at Cardington airfield England , The Airlander 10 crashed during its second test flight in Wednesday Aug. 24, 2016, but manufacturer Hybrid Air Vehicles said no-one was injured. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP) AP
TOPSHOT - The Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander 10 hybrid airship is seen in the air over a road on its maiden flight from Cardington Airfield near Bedford, north of London, on August 17, 2016. The Hybrid Air Vehicles 92-metre long, 43.5-metre wide Airlander 10, billed as the world's longest aircraft, lifted off for the first time from an airfield north of London. The Airlander 10 has a large helium-filled fabric hull and is propelled by four turbocharged diesel engines. According to the company it can stay airborne for up to five days at a time if manned, and for over 2 weeks unmanned with a cruising speed of just under 150 km per hour and a payload capacity of up to 10,000 kg. / AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
The Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander 10 hybrid airship is seen preparing to land at the end of its maiden flight at Cardington Airfield near Bedford, north of London, on August 17, 2016. The Hybrid Air Vehicles 92-metre long, 43.5-metre wide Airlander 10, billed as the world's longest aircraft, lifted off for the first time from an airfield north of London. The Airlander 10 has a large helium-filled fabric hull and is propelled by four turbocharged diesel engines. According to the company it can stay airborne for up to five days at a time if manned, and for over 2 weeks unmanned with a cruising speed of just under 150 km per hour and a payload capacity of up to 10,000 kg. / AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
The Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander 10 hybrid airship is seen with hangars in the background on its maiden flight at Cardington Airfield near Bedford, north of London, on August 17, 2016. The Hybrid Air Vehicles 92-metre long, 43.5-metre wide Airlander 10, billed as the world's longest aircraft, lifted off for the first time from an airfield north of London. The Airlander 10 has a large helium-filled fabric hull and is propelled by four turbocharged diesel engines. According to the company it can stay airborne for up to five days at a time if manned, and for over 2 weeks unmanned with a cruising speed of just under 150 km per hour and a payload capacity of up to 10,000 kg. / AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
The Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander 10 hybrid airship is seen in the air on its maiden flight at Cardington Airfield near Bedford, north of London, on August 17, 2016. The Hybrid Air Vehicles 92-metre long, 43.5-metre wide Airlander 10, billed as the world's longest aircraft, lifted off for the first time from an airfield north of London. The Airlander 10 has a large helium-filled fabric hull and is propelled by four turbocharged diesel engines. According to the company it can stay airborne for up to five days at a time if manned, and for over 2 weeks unmanned with a cruising speed of just under 150 km per hour and a payload capacity of up to 10,000 kg. / AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images
(FILES) This file photo taken on August 17, 2016 shows the Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander 10 hybrid airship in the air over a road on its maiden flight from Cardington Airfield near Bedford, north of London. The world's largest aircraft suffered cockpit damage on Wednesday after nosediving while landing on its second test-flight, but there were no injuries, according to the craft's manufacturer. / AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLISJUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images

World's largest aircraft makes crash landing during test flight


The developer of the world's largest aircraft says the blimp-shaped airship


Travelling to India? Leave your skirt at home, says Mahesh Sharma, the country's minister of culture and tourism.
While promoting a new guide on the weekend that will be given to tourists after arriving in the country, Sharma said travellers are "given dos and don’ts... very small things like, they should not venture out alone at night in small places, or wear skirts."
According to the Guardian, he added “For their own safety, women foreign tourists should not wear short dresses and skirts... Indian culture is different from the western.”
Sharma has since apologized for his remarks, telling reporters on Monday "I am a father of two daughters... I would never tell women what they should wear or not."
The new guide is geared toward female travellers who may be uneasy visiting the country after a number of high-profile attacks on women, including the rape and murder of a Delhi student earlier this year.

Travelling to India? Female tourists should not wear skirts, says tourism minist


Travelling to India? Leave your skirt at home, says Mahesh Sharma, the country's minister of culture and tourism.


Mel C has officially ruled herself out of the Spice Girls reunion due to take place next year.
The 42-year-old, along with Victoria Beckham, have both declined to take part in the Wannabe hitmakers' 20th anniversary reunion in 2017, organized by Emma Bunton, Geri Horner and Melanie Brown.
Now Sporty Spice, real name Melanie Chisholm, has penned an essay for Love magazine explaining her difficult decision to bow out of the lucrative reunion.
Insisting the reunion shouldn't take place without all five members on board, Mel added she believes the band should have called it a day following their performance at the closing ceremony for the London Olympic Games in 2012.
"I'd love to play huge arenas across the world, sing our brilliantly bonkers pop songs and relive our former glory," Mel wrote. "It is of course a very lucrative opportunity too. But we were a five-piece band. Didn't we reach a peak with the Olympics? There's a lot to be said for bowing out on a high note.
"For me, the absolute pinnacle of my Spice existence was being watched by a billion people around the globe belting out Spice Up Your Life on top of a black cab at the 2012 London Olympics. Anything less than the full line-up just didn't feel like we'd be doing justice to the band or the fans."
It was after numerous meetings with Emma, Geri and Mel B she made her difficult decision. "The hardest part for me was letting people down, the girls, the fans, civilisation?! Unfortunately something didn't feel quite right and I had to follow my gut," she added.
The mother-of-one had a brief solo career after the Spice Girls split for good in 2000, but is well aware that her success on her own will never match up to her Spice Girls fame.
"I am under no illusion that my solo work will ever come close to a fraction of the impact that we make as the Spice Girls. I love the band, I am beyond proud of my past and will always embrace and celebrate being a Spice Girl, it's what I am," she wrote.
There have been countless bands who have reunited in recent years following success in the 90s, including Take That. But Mel is of the opinion that the Spice Girls shouldn't be pressured into reforming and should instead be remembered by fans for their incredible achievements.
"I will be a Spice Girl until I die. But the continuous speculation on whether we will reform to celebrate 20 years of Wannabe has been particularly exhausting. But is it a new rule that bands have to reform? Why can't we just be remembered for our incredible achievements in the nineties," she shared.
However, she will support her fellow bandmates, no matter what.
"I love the girls dearly. We have a very unique bond that will never be broken and I will continue to support them all as much as I can," Mel concluded.

Mel C reveals why she won't do a Spice Girls reunion


Mel C has officially ruled herself out of the Spice Girls reunion due to take place next year.


Back to school means an avalanche of emotions for those gearing up for their first day back to hitting the book. Or those getting ready to enter college and university, not to mention that first day on the job. It's an exciting time of year for everyone, but if there's one area of concern, it has to be food planning.
It's one of the biggest worries on a variety of levels - and you'd be surprised to know back-to-school lunches aren't the biggest headache facing many families. A recent survey conducted by Leger Marketing on behalf of Walmart Canada revealed that, in addition to juggling schedules and arranging after school activities, 78% of parents admitted that rushing to get dinner on the table is an ongoing challenge.
The survey showed that meal planning and preparation takes at least 30 minutes for most parents (82%) with dinner taking the most time followed by lunch. And for many - that dinner doubles as tomorrow's school lunch. What to do? Don't stress yourself out with complicated dishes. Try for one-dish wonders, and dishes that can do double-duty as a meal for the next day. Invest in a slow-cooker where nothing beats the pleasure of coming home to the aromas of home-cooked meals ready when you walk in.
Re-purposing key ingredients will help keep the weekly menu interesting and also helps parents maximize meal prep, says Paul Del Duca, senior vice president of fresh foods at Walmart Canada. “Time is the new currency and we understand that saving time wherever possible is so important for families,” added Del Duca. And get the whole family involved in everything from the shopping to kitchen duties. Get the lunches out of the way as soon as you finish dinner and buy yourself some precious morning time.
Here's a selection of easy, delicious dishes courtesy of Walmart Canada and its Twice as Tasty guide.

These recipes add fuel to back-to-school lunches


As viral marketing ideas go, it’s a Deathstroke of genius.
Ben Affleck – the Bruce Wayne and Batman of the DC Comics cinematic universe – dropped an unexpected surprise on his social media followers Monday morning, posting a video that appears to confirm fan-favourite DC Comics villain Deathstroke will be in next year’s Justice League movie. Or in Affleck’s upcoming standalone Batman movie. Or maybe both.
In a short, silent video clip apparently shot off a film set monitor, we see Deathstroke, aka seasoned mercenary Slade Wilson, striding through what’s believed to be the cargo bay of the Justice League’s airborne command post.
Will the black-and-orange-armoured villain be a major part of Justice League? Is he working against Batman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the team, as they prepare to face down the alien baddie Steppenwolf? Or is he working with them, recruited by a desperate Dark Knight? Will his appearance simply serve to set him up as the main heavy in the upcoming Batman solo flick?
And most importantly, who the heck is behind that mask?
Revealing a video of a new character in a major superhero movie without actually announcing who’s playing the role is kind of unprecedented. So here are five actors – in decreasing order of likelihood – who we think could suit up as Slade.
Joe Manganiello
Last year, when rumours were rampant that Deathstroke would be one of the characters in this month’s Suicide Squad, True Blood’s Joe Manganiello was said to be the frontrunner for the role. Deathstroke never materialized in the movie, and Manganiello took to Twitter in April of last year to quash the hearsay: “That’s not the character I was in talks for,” he wrote.
But given the strength and persistence of those rumours, it feels like there could be something there. And if Manganiello is saying he was never in talks for Deathstroke specifically in Suicide Squad, he technically wouldn’t be lying if he played the character in Justice League and/or the new Batman. Frankly, he’d be an awesome choice.
Scott Eastwood
When director David Ayer’s Suicide Squad was in production, the revelation that Scott Eastwood (The Longest Ride, son of Clint) was joining the cast had some fans speculating Eastwood would be playing Deathstroke, who joins up with Task Force X in the comics.
Turns out Eastwood simply plays an army lieutenant named Edwards, who accompanies Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and the gang on their mission and meets an untimely demise. But it seems odd that Ayer actively courted Eastwood for such a minor and inconsequential role, and maybe the plan is for Lieut. Edwards to somehow survive and transform into the menacing mercenary for future films.
Manu Bennett
It’s a shame that DC is adopting a different strategy from Marvel and keeping their TV and film universes at arm’s length from one another, because plenty of fans would love to see actors from the so-called Arrowverse show up on the big screen. Deathstroke, for instance, is played in TV’s Arrow by New Zealand actor Manu Bennett, who also did the motion-capture performance for the fearsome orc chieftain Azog in the Hobbit movies (and who, oddly, bears a passing resemblance to Joe Manganiello.) Why not keep the universes consistent and have these characters cross over with the actors intact?
Michael Hogan
If we go back a little further in DC Comics-based TV shows to the Clark Kent series Smallville, it was Canadian actor Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica) who played army general Slade Wilson, a vocal supporter of the Vigilante Registration Act. At 66, Hogan is a bit old for the role from a practical action standpoint, but the character is a grizzled, grey-haired older man in the comics, and Hogan was an age-appropriate actor for the part. He’s also a funny guy in real life who happens to play very menacing badasses on screen.
Ryan Reynolds
OK, yeah, no chance of this happening in a million years. But how awesome would it be? Deadpool’s Wade Wilson – created by Marvel’s Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza, and played by Reynolds in this year’s box office hit movie – is a tongue-in-cheek nod to Deathstroke’s Slade Wilson, one of Liefeld’s favourite DC Comics characters.
Having Deathstroke remove his mask to reveal Reynolds underneath is just the sort of fourth wall-breaking, universe-blending madness that Deadpool would love. Sadly, Hollywood studios probably don’t share his sense of humour.
Twitter: @stevetilley
STilley@postmedia.com

Ben Affleck teases Deathstroke: Who should play the DC villain?


As viral marketing ideas go, it’s a Deathstroke of genius.


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.


Ding Jinhao, a teenager from China, was shamed internationally on social media after he carved his name into the face of a 3,500-year-old temple relic he recently visited as a tourist in Egypt. Ding's parents were forced to contact local media and apologize for their son, admitting that they hadn't properly educated their child and pleading for society to give him a chance. (Kongyouwuyi/Newspoint)
The Little Mermaid statue, an icon of Copenhagen, Denmark, has been vandalized numerous times. The statue's head and arm have been sawed off, it's been blasted off the rock, possibly with dynamite, and has been covered in various shades of paint. Each time, the statue has been restored. (Fotolia)
Jim Morrison's grave at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris is splashed with graffiti by admirers. A statue of the late singer was placed by the grave, but stolen, as was a flat shield Paris officials put over the grave. (Postmedia Network)
Visitors to England's Stonehenge are kept at bay by ropes. Tourists were once able to approach the stones, but after many began chipping away bits of the rock for souvenirs, protective ropes were erected around Stonehenge. (iStock Photo)
Unknown vandals have previously splashed an oily substance over names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 2007. This covered or corroded the names of many people who died in the war. (Fotolia)
Marko Kulju, a Finnish tourist, tore the earlobe off one of the Moai statues, carved of volcanic rock, on Easter Island in March 2008. The damage is seen in the above photo. Kulju faces seven years in prison and a fine of nearly $20,000. (Postmedia Network)
Tourists have taken to writing soccer chants and the names of their love interests on the walls of Peru's famed Sacsayhuaman fortress. Sacsayhuaman was built in the 1100s. (Wikipedia/Håkan Svensson)
Michelangelo's "Pieta" is now behind bullet-proof acrylic glass after a mentally disturbed geologist attacked the Virgin with a hammer and shouted "I Am Jesus" in 1972. In 1991, a vandal attacked Michelangelo's "David" statue, damaging its toes with a hammer before being restrained. (Wikipedia/Stanislav Traykov)
In 2007, five people, thought to be intoxicated, broke into Paris' Musee D'Orsay and punched holes through Claude Monet's "Le Pont d'Argenteuil" painting.
Tourists behaving badly is nothing new, as these famous incidents of vandalism prove. Some of the world's best known art and landmarks have all suffered vandalism at the hands of tourists over the years. After years of various species of trees being cut down on New Zealand's One Tree Hill, a lone pine tree stood next to the obelisk. In 2000, it too was cut down, making One Tree Hill, "No Tree Hill." The government has yet to replant any trees on the hill due to uncertainty over the species to be planted. (Wikipedia)
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- Tourist John Gleason crept through the grass, four small children close behind, inching toward a bull elk with antlers like small trees at the edge of a meadow in Yellowstone National Park.
"They're going to give me a heart attack," said Gleason's mother-in-law, Barbara Henry, as the group came within about a dozen yards of the massive animal.
The elk's ears then pricked up, and it eyed the children and Washington state man before leaping up a hillside. Other tourists -- likewise ignoring rules to keep 25 yards from wildlife -- picked up the pursuit, snapping pictures as they pressed forward and forced the animal into headlong retreat.
Record visitor numbers at America's first national park have transformed its annual summer rush into a sometimes dangerous frenzy, with selfie-taking tourists routinely breaking park rules and getting too close to Yellowstone's storied elk herds, grizzly bears, wolves and bison.
Law enforcement records obtained by The Associated Press suggest such problems are on the rise at the park, offering a stark illustration of the pressures facing some of America's most treasured lands as the National Park Service marks its 100th anniversary.
From Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains to the Grand Canyon of Arizona, major parks are grappling with illegal camping, vandalism, theft of resources, wildlife harassment and other visitor misbehaviour, according to the records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
In July alone, law enforcement rangers handled more than 11,000 incidents at the 10 most visited national parks.
In Yellowstone, rangers are recording more wildlife violations, more people treading on sensitive thermal areas and more camping in off-limit areas. The rule-breaking puts visitors in harm's way and can damage resources and displace wildlife, officials said.
Often the incidents go unaddressed, such as when Gleason and the children approached the bull elk with no park personnel around. Gleason said he was "maybe" too close but felt comfortable in the situation as an experienced hunter who's spent lots of time outdoors.
These transgressions add to rangers' growing workload that includes traffic violations, searches for missing hikers and pets running off-leash in parks intended to be refuges of untrammeled nature
"It's more like going to a carnival . If you look at the cumulative impacts, the trends are not good," said Susan Clark, a Yale University professor of wildlife ecology who has been conducting research in the Yellowstone area for 48 years. "The basic question is, 'What is the appropriate relationship with humans and nature?' We as a society have not been clear about what that ought to be, and so it's really, really messy and nasty."
Recent events at Yellowstone grabbed national headlines
-- A Canadian tourist who put a bison calf in his SUV hoping to save it, ending with wildlife workers euthanizing the animal when they could not reunite it with its herd.
-- Three visitors from Asia cited on separate occasions for illegally collecting water from the park's thermal features.
-- A Washington state man killed after leaving a designated boardwalk and falling into a near-boiling hot spring.
The flouting of park rules stems from disbelief among visitors that they will get hurt, said Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk. "I can't tell you how many times I have to talk to people and say, 'Step back. There's a dangerous animal,' and they look at me like I have three heads," he said.
Inconsistent record keeping, including a recent switch to a new criminal offences reporting system, makes it difficult to identify trends that apply uniformly across the major parks.
But the records reviewed by the AP reveal the scope of visitor misbehaviour is huge. In Yellowstone, administrators and outside observers including Clark say the park's problems have become more acute. That threatens its mission to manage its lands and wildlife "unimpaired" for future generations.
Beyond incidents that lead to citations are many more that result in warnings. More than 52,000 warnings were issued in 2015, up almost 20% from the year before.
Washington state resident Lisa Morrow's son was among the children Gleason led toward the elk. Despite safety advisories -- and numerous examples of visitors getting gored by bison, mauled by bears and chased by elk -- Morrow declared herself unafraid of the park's wildlife. She said she was eager to see a grizzly up close.
"I want to see one right there," Morrow said, pointing to a spot just feet away. "I'd throw it a cookie."
The top 10 parks by visitation collectively hosted almost 44 million people last year, according to National Park Service figures. That's a 26% increase from a decade earlier, or more than 9.1 million new visitors combined at Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite and the other national parks on the list.
Yellowstone boasts the most large, dangerous carnivores among those parks, but each has its risks. In Rocky Mountain National Park, it's elk that become more aggressive during mating season. In Yosemite, it's towering waterfalls where visitors insist on swimming near the edge. In the Grand Canyon, it's squirrels habituated to humans and sometimes quick to bite an outstretched hand.
Wenk said the rise in popularity of social media complicates keeping visitors safe.
"You take a picture of yourself standing 10 feet in front of a bison, and all of a sudden a few hundred people see it, and it's reposted -- at the same time we're telling everybody wildlife is dangerous," Wenk said. "They get incongruous messages and then it happens. They get too close, and the bison charges."

Tourists shamed for bad behaviour in national parks


Tourist John Gleason crept through the grass, four small children close behind, inching toward a bull elk with antlers like small trees at the edge of a meadow in Yellowstone National Park.


As I sailed aboard the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis from Honolulu to San Diego with my Navy pilot son, I could not help but be haunted by the concern that America’s foreign policy has lost its mooring and will require all hands on deck to bring it back to its rightful berth.
On the first evening of my journey, we were treated to a beautiful sunset from the vantage point of “vulture’s row”, atop the aircraft carrier’s tower.
The sun going down caused me to wonder whether its passage was emblematic of the sun setting on the era of American leadership in the world.
The week at sea, without communication with the outside world, provided relief from the fractious presidential campaigns, filled with equal amounts of scorn for both past American attempts to promote security and our more recent negligence to do so.
Since the campaign season seemed to reflect a race over who would detach the United States most from the world on immigration, trade, and global leadership, I wondered whether our ability and willingness to lead would survive.
Then the winds came up, and the waves along with them.
I have never felt more wind in my face than I did while observing the F/A-18 Hornet combat jets neatly arranged in a V-shape on the bow of the ship.
Even though the ship was big enough to hold over 5,000 sailors and aviators, along with lethal weapons of war, it still nodded to the impact of tropical storm Ivette.
As we awoke at “zero dark thirty”, in the middle of the night, to the excessively cheery voice of the executive officer, it was clear that the mighty craft had taken little notice of the storm’s gales and proceeded apace to its destination.
My question came back into my mind, mingled with the hope that just as the Stennis sailed through the tempest to reach San Diego, so too would America’s ability and will to lead cruise through today’s caustic, isolationist, protectionist windstorms.
The first task for a carrier preparing to launch aircraft off its catapult is a Foreign Object Debris walkdown, during which the ship’s crew walks the entire deck, shoulder to shoulder, searching for any loose bolts or screws that could get sucked into a turbine and cause significant damage.
One errant fragment could render a mighty jet inoperable.
For the United States to regain its mojo, it must pick up and discard a few foreign objects that, if allowed to entrench themselves in our political discourse, could disable our ability to deliver peace and prosperity for Americans and our friends.
We passed the USS Theodore Roosevelt as we arrived in San Diego.
The ship’s namesake pulled the United States out of its isolationist past and onto the world stage by launching the Great White Fleet, counseling that the path to peace was to “speak softly and carry a big stick”.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appears to have missed the part about speaking softly.
Today’s global unrest suggests Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton lost the stick during her time as Secretary of State.
Both of them represent “foreign objects” to America’s leadership tradition.
With the emergence of the Islamic State, tensions in the South China Sea on the rise after China’s rejection of an international tribunal’s ruling, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as Russia continues to occupy Crimea, risks to global harmony are on the rise.
World events are likely to force the United States to remove its foreign objects in order to attract better allies and find its “big stick” again.
Those leaders for whom the Navy has named aircraft carriers serve as examples.
Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush are all guides to whom Republicans should look for instruction on how to lead in a way that attracts others to America’s side.
Harry Truman, John Stennis, and Carl Vinson serve as guides to Democrats looking to rebuild America’s stick.
No matter who prevails in November, pushing America out of its inward tailspin will require a lot of tugging.
We must all stand shoulder to shoulder to throw foreign objects overboard and get America’s ship of state back on course.
The Washington Post News Service & Syndicate

American leadership can survive today’s storms


As I sailed aboard the aircraft carrier USS John Stennis from Honolulu to San Diego with my Navy pilot son, I could not help but be haunted by the concern that America’s foreign policy has lost its mooring and will require all hands on deck to bring it back to its rightful berth.


A pic Anthony Weiner took and texted of his bulging drawers, with his four-year-old son lying next to him asleep in bed, has finally felled his marriage.
Wife Huma Abedin announced Monday that, after repeated sexual scandals, she’s leaving him.
The longtime Hillary Clinton aide issued the statement hours after the New York Post hit the streets with the headline: “Pop Goes The Weiner,” and featuring the photo evidence of her husband’s latest sexual slip.
Huma Adebin announced split from Weiner after he was busted sexting this snap with their son https://t.co/dn5zuBmcqp pic.twitter.com/5T0zFtfD3r — New York Post (@nypost) August 29, 2016
“After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband,” Abedin said in a statement. “Anthony and I remain devoted to doing what is best for our son, who is the light of our life. During this difficult time, I ask for respect for our privacy.”
She is currently on the road with Clinton’s campaign.
The Post report features conversations and photo exchanges between 51-year-old Weiner and a busty woman identified only as a “40-something divorcee.”
She said she’s been chatting over the phone with Weiner since January 2015, and they’d sent photos back and forth since that time.
Although the former congressman insisted to the Post that their conversations were “always appropriate,” many of the photos featured him shirtless or focused on his crotch. According to some of the released transcripts, he also steered the general conversation regularly to sex.
Weiner, a Democrat, quit Congress in 2011 after it discovered that he was sending women sexually explicit messages. Weiner ran for mayor of New York in 2013, but that bid collapsed after it was reported that he was continuing to sext women under the handle “Carlos Danger.”
Since then, Weiner has remained in the public eye, commenting on politics on a local cable news show. A documentary offering a cringe-inducing inside view of his mayoral campaign and its unraveling played in theatres earlier this year and is set to air on Showtime this fall.
Weiner deleted his Twitter account Monday.
Abedin, 40, is a longtime aide and confidante to Clinton and is often referred to as Clinton’s second daughter. She is widely expected to play an important role in Clinton’s administration if the candidate is elected president.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was quick to react Monday, saying Abedin is “far better off without (Weiner).” But he also used it as an opportunity to take a jab at Clinton’s judgment for keeping Abedin close to begin with.
“I only worry for the country in that Hillary Clinton was careless and negligent in allowing Weiner to have such close proximity to highly classified information,” he said. “Who knows what he learned and who he told? It’s just another example of Hillary Clinton’s bad judgment. It is possible that our country and its security have been greatly compromised by this.”
Where that Weiner has been:
May 27, 2011 - New York City congressman Anthony Weiner accidentally posts a crotch-shot photo of himself on his Twitter account. He removes it quickly, but not before it’s noticed.
May 30, 2011 - He tells reporters his account was hacked and to “move on.”
June 6, 2011 - After questions persist on whether the photo was of him, he tearfully apologizes for lying and admits he’s sexted with several women, though said he won’t resign his congress seat.
June 16, 2011 - After promising to attend therapy, and after TMZ publishes photos of Weiner half-naked in a locker room that he had apparently taken and sent to others, Weiner announces his resignation.
May 21, 2013 - Weiner mounts a comeback and announces he will run for mayor of New York City.
July 23 - More photos surface that he sent under the pseudonym Carlos Danger. Huma promises to stand by him.
September 10, 2013 - Weiner is crushed in the mayoral primaries, finishing with 4.9% of the vote.

Weiner down: Huma Abedin announces split with sext-happy husband


A pic Anthony Weiner took of his
bulging drawers, with his young son
lying next to him asleep in bed, and
texted to a busty brunette friend
appears to have been the last straw
for wife Huma Abedin.


It’s almost September, and you know what that means: Summer’s over. Time to go back to school. Time to get back to work. And time for me to crank out another Fall Music Preview intro. But here’s the thing: After nearly 20 years, I’ve used every fall pun, harvest quip and seasonal metaphor in the book. So how about we just cut to the chase? As always, artists of all styles and stripes are dropping albums between now and December. So here are the most-anticipated additions to your playlist, plus some finger-crossers, reissues and more. Naturally, it’s all subject to change without notice. Just like autumn weather. (Sorry; old habits die hard.)
SURE THINGS
Metallica | Hardwired … To Self-Destruct
Lars Ulrich says the hard rock heroes’ return after eight years will be leaner, tighter and less frenetic. The thrashing three-minute title track is a good start. (Nov. 18)
Beck | TBA
Giddy up! Based on wide-eyed cut Wow, Beck’s back in an upbeat mood on the followup to 2014’s introspective Grammy-winner Morning Phase. (Oct. 21)
Green Day | Revolution Radio
It’s not American Idiot 2 — but Billie Joe and the boys are back in rabble-rousing form on their politically charged dozenth disc and single BANG BANG. (Oct. 7)
Nick Cave & Bad Seeds | Skeleton Tree
Little more than a year after the tragic death of his son, the British singer-songwriter delivers what is likely to be a deeply personal and dark work. Even for him. (Sept. 9)
Bon Iver | 22, A Million
Remember when Justin Vernon and co. were an indie-folk band? Based on the glitchy experiments of this third set, those days are gone forever. (Sept. 30)
Leonard Cohen | You Want it Darker
Everybody’s favourite 82-year-old folk-poet laureate returns with the third album in his latest lauded comeback — and it’s produced by son Adam. (TBA)
Kings of Leon | We Are Like Love Songs
Album No. 7 from the southern rockers reportedly includes songs about Caleb Followill’s supermodel wife and haunted hotels. You know, common-man stuff. (TBA)
Wilco | Schmilco
Wilco’s pendulum always swings — and after the freewheeling fun of 2015’s Star Wars, it’s swung back to their softer, more introspective side here. (Sept. 9)
Danny Brown | Atrocity Exhibition
The idiosyncratic rapper’s fourth album takes its title from a Joy Division song and a J.G. Ballard novel. Based on the track Pneumonia, that sounds about right. (Sept. 30)
M.I.A. | A.I.M.
The button-pushing British rapper has claimed this fifth full-length will also be her “last LP.” If that’s true, here’s hoping she goes out with a bang. (Sept. 9)
Drive-By Truckers | American Band
If the half-mast flag on the cover isn’t clear enough, titles like Surrender Under Protest tell you what to expect from these mighty southern rockers. (Sept. 30)
Van Morrison | Keep Me Singing
Will the mercurial Belfast Cowboy’s 36th album be a return-to-form classic, another self-indulgent sojourn, or a phoned-in toss-off? The answer may surprise you. Or not. (Sept. 30)
Pixies | Head Carrier
Black Francis and his reconstituted Pixies didn’t wow fans with 2014’s Indie Cindy. Lucky they’ve still got enough goodwill to get another kick at the can. (Sept. 30)
Sting | 57th & 9th
El Stingo claims his 12th album will be “rockier than anything I’ve done in a while.” Well, it would have to be. (Nov. 11)
Bon Jovi | This House is Not For Sale
Maybe not — but Jon Bon Jovi and co. have rented out Richie Sambora’s room to Canadian guitarist Phil X on this 14th disc. (Oct. 21)
Michael Bublé | Nobody But Me
The title single from Mr. Bubble’s ninth album updates his sound with Mark Ronsonesque production and a rap verse. Hope mom can handle it. (Oct. 21)
Shawn Mendes | Illuminate
The men don’t know, but the little girls understand. (Sept. 23)
DEFINITE MAYBES
Rolling Stones | TBA
Keith Richards has said the World’s Greatest Rock ’n’ Roll band will release a bluesy album — their first since 2005 — “in the autumn some time.” From his lips to Mick’s ears.
Lady Gaga | TBA
Mother Monster hasn’t announced her new disc yet, but with the new single Perfect Illusion due in September, could an album really be far behind?
U2 | Songs of Experience
Depending on which report you believe, Bono and co. could be force-feeding music into your iTunes sometime before the end of the year.
Iggy Azalea | Digital Distortion
The Aussie rapper and alleged cultural appropriator has said her sophomore album is finished. Then again, she’s also said it would be out in August, so tick-tock, Ig.
REISSUES & BOX SETS
Pink Floyd | The Early Years 1965-1972
“I’d quite like to have a go at (reissuing) the early years,” Nick Mason told me in 2014. Based on this 27-disc box, he wasn’t kidding. (Nov. 11)
The Rolling Stones | The Rolling Stones in Mono
Mono versions of the Stones albums up to Let it Bleed — plus a comp of rarities — in a 15-CD box. (Sept. 30)
David Bowie | Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976)
The Thin White Duke’s mid-’70s output in a 12-CD box that includes unreleased album The Gouster. (Sept. 23)
Led Zeppelin | Complete BBC Sessions
The original 1997 compilation has been expanded to three CDs. (Sept. 16)
Bruce Springsteen | Chapter and Verse
A companion piece to The Boss’s Born to Run memoir, the 18-song comp includes five unreleased oldies. (Sept. 23)
Jack White | Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016
Album tracks, B-sides, and alternate takes from The White Stripes, Raconteurs, and Jack’s solo catalog. (Sept. 9)
Big Star | Complete Third
Every demo, rough mix and finished master of Alex Chilton and the Memphis cult heroes’ final album. Say thank you, friends. (Oct. 14)
The Beatles | Live At The Hollywood Bowl
The Fabs’ collection of 1964 and ’65 L.A. performances makes its CD debut — with previously unreleased extras. (Sept. 9)
David Bowie | The Man Who Fell To Earth
The soundtrack to Bowie’s 1975 film reappears for the first time in decades. (Sept. 9)
Oasis | Be Here Now
Liam and Noel’s 1997 outing gets updated with two discs of B-sides, extras and demos. But no reunion tour — yet. (Oct. 7)
Creedence Clearwater Revival | 1969 Archive Box
LPs and CDs of Bayou Country, Green River and Willie & The Poor Boys, plus three EPs, a 60-page book and more. (Sept. 9)
Fleetwood Mac | Mirage (Deluxe)
Mac’s 1982 offering is their latest disc to get the makeover treatment with a slew of rarities, live recordings and more. (Sept. 23)
My Chemical Romance | The Black Parade (10th Anniversary Edition)
The New Jersey emo-punks’ magnum 2006 opus returns, augmented with plenty of demos and outtakes. (Sept. 23)
Eric Clapton | Live in San Diego With Special Guest JJ Cale
Slowhand and the man who penned hits like Cocaine team up in this 2007 concert. (Sept. 23)
Jimi Hendrix | Machine Gun: Fillmore East First Show 12/31/1969
You’ve heard it all before on bootlegs and various compilations — now hear it again in sequence and newly mixed by Eddie Kramer. (Sept. 30)
Temple of the Dog | 25th Anniversary Reissue
The Pearl Jam/Soundgarden supergroup regroup for the silver anniversary of their sole album. (Sept. 30)
ALSO ON THE WAY
Sept. 2
• Izzy Bizu | A Moment of Madness
• Chatham County Line | Autumn
• Frightnrs | Nothing More To Say
• Goblin C**k | Necronomidonkeykongimicon
• Jamie T | Trick
• James Vincent McMorrow | We Move
• Angel Olsen | My Woman
• King Crimson | Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind
Sept. 9
• Jason Aldean | They Don’t Know
• Bastille | Wild World
• Billy Ray Cyrus | Thin Line
• Dear Hunter | Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional
• Gavin DeGraw | Something Worth Saving
• Grouplove | Big Mess
• Head and the Heart | Signs of Light
• Okkervil River | Away
• Pansy Division | Quite Contrary
• Joshua Redman & Brad Mehldau | Nearness
• Dex Romweber | Carrboro
• St. Paul and the Broken Bones | Sea of Noise
• Teenage Fanclub | Here
• Time Jumpers | Kid Sister
• KT Tunstall | KIN
• Chely Wright | I Am the Rain
Sept. 16
• Against Me! | Shape Shift With Me
• Michael Chiklis | Influence
• Chixdiggit! | 2012
• Dawes | We’re All Gonna Die
• Deap Vally | Femejism
• Die Antwoord | Mount Ninji and Da Nice Time Kid
• Handsome Family | Unseen
• Keaton Henson | Kindly Now
• Ian Hunter & The Rant Band | Fingers Crossed
• Kool Keith | Feature Magnetic
• Lang Lang | New York Rhapsody
• Aaron Lewis | Sinner
• Mac Miller | The Divine Feminine
• Meat Loaf | Braver Than We Are
• Willie Nelson | For the Good Times: A Tribute to Ray Price
• Madeleine Peyroux | Secular Hymns
• Phantogram | Three
• Preoccupations | Preoccupations
• Royal Canoe | Something Got Lost Between Here and the Orbit
• Southern Culture on the Skids | The Electric Pinecones
• Taking Back Sunday | Tidal Wave
• Tinie Tempah | Youth
• Touché Amoré | Stage Four
• AlunaGeorge | I Remember
• Petula Clark | From Now On
Sept. 23
• Airbourne | Breakin’ Outta Hell
• Devendra Banhart | Ape in Pink Marble
• Billy Bragg & Joe Henry | Shine a Light: Field Recordings from the Great American Railroad
• Every Time I Die | Low Teens
• Skylar Grey | Natural Causes
• Kansas | The Prelude Implicit
• Hamilton Leithauser Rostam | I Had a Dream That You Were Mine
• Idina Menzel | idina.
• Randy Newman | Songbook Vol. 3
• Operation: Mindcrime | Resurrection
• Passenger | Young as the Morning Old as the Sea
• Lee (Scratch) Perry | Must Be Free
• Reckless Kelly | Sunset Motel
• John Scofield | Country for Old Men
• Dwight Yoakam | Swimming Pools, Movie Stars …
Sept. 30
• Herb Alpert | Human Nature
• Banks | The Altar
• Doyle Bramhall II | Rich Man
• Crowbar | The Serpent Only Lies
• Craig David | Following My Intuition
• Amy Lee | Dream Too Much
• Marillion | F E A R
• Opeth | Sorceress
• John Prine | For Better, or Worse
• Regina Spektor | Remember Us To Life
• Suicidal Tendencies | World Gone Mad
• S U R V I V E | RR7349
• Bob Weir | Blue Mountain
• Yellowcard | Yellowcard
• New English Beat feat. Ranking Roger | Bounce
Oct. 7
• Alter Bridge | The Last Hero
• Colbie Caillat | The Malibu Sessions
• Devil Wears Prada | Transit Blues
• Melissa Etheridge | MEmphis Rock and Soul
• Barry Gibb | In the Now
• Norah Jones | Day Breaks
• Kaiser Chiefs | Stay Together
• Meshuggah | The Violent Sleep of Reason
• NOFX | First Ditch Effort
• Pitbull | Climate Change
• Seasick Steve | Keepin’ the Horse Between Me and the Ground
• Shovels & Rope | Little Seeds
• Todd Snider | Eastside Bulldog
• Sum 41 | 13 Voices
• Dean Ween | The Deaner Album
• Glen Phillips | Swallowed by the New
Oct. 14
• Bell X1 | Arms
• Dillinger Escape Plan | Dissociation
• Justin Hayward | All the Way
• Colin James | Blue Highways
• Jamie Lidell | Building a Beginning
• French Montana | MC4
• Conor Oberst | Ruminations
• Two Door Cinema Club | Gameshow
Oct. 21
• David Crosby | Lighthouse
• KoRn | The Serenity of Suffering
• Madness | Can’t Touch Us Now
• Pretty Reckless | Who You Selling For
• Rumer | This Girl’s In Love (A Bacharach & David Songbook)
• John K. Samson | Winter Wheat
Oct. 28
• Kenny Chesney | Cosmic Hallelujah
• LeAnn Rimes | Remnants
• Dee Snider | We Are the Ones
• Testament | The Brotherhood of the Snake
• Tove Lo | Lady Wood
Nov. 4
• Lambchop | FLOTUS
Nov. 11
• Enigma | The Fall of a Rebel Angel
Twitter: @darryl_sterdan
dsterdan@postmedia.com

Must-hear albums from Metallica, Green Day and Beck top


It’s almost September, and you know what that means: Summer’s over. Time to go back to school.


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.


TORONTO -- The union representing workers at the Canadian operations of the major American automakers has received a strike mandate from its members as it prepares to negotiate contracts.
Unifor says its members at General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Fiat Chrysler Automobile voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action to back contract demands.
Unifor President Jerry Dias says the clear mandate shows full support for the union's bargaining committees.
He says the union won't accept deals with any of the three automakers unless they show a commitment to invest in Canada's auto sector.
The union is threatening job action if it doesn't get an agreement before midnight on Sept. 19.
Dias says the three companies have done well financially since the last contracts were negotiated four years ago and it's time to reward workers.
"Our demand for new investment is not just about us. It is about maintaining and creating good paying jobs, it's about our communities and it's about the next generation," Dias says in a statement released Sunday.
Last month, Dias said that negotiating wage increases and other benefits would be moot if there are no plants in Canada to employ the workers.
The union will select one of the automakers to start negotiations and use the contract reached with that company as a pattern for negotiations with the other two companies.
Unifor says it will announce which company will be first up in negotiations on Sept. 6.
Unifor represents some 23,000 workers at the three companies and is Canada's largest private sector union boasting more than 300,000 members in all.

Canadian workers at Detroit Three automakers give union strike mandate


The union representing workers at the Canadian operations of the major American automakers has received a strike mandate from its members as it prepares to negotiate contracts.