Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is the latest company to take advantage of Canada’s talent (and yummy, yummy tax incentives) for game developers and publishers. GameFocus reports that WBIE (WBI-oui?) will open a new studio in Montreal that will be lead by division president Martin Tremblay and employ over 300 people. The studio will be known as WB Games Montreal. We’ve contacted WBIE for comment on the new studio, but the publisher has yet to make a formal announcement.
In a previous professional life, Tremblay was the big fromage at Vivendi and Ubisoft Montreal. The executive also apparently claimed that the publisher would open a studio in another city soon. That could be a new studio, or it could be a developer WB has invested in, like Turbine — or a solid developer that’s recently tripped into some eye-catching success.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is the latest company to take advantage of Canada’s talent (and yummy, yummy tax incentives) for game developers and publishers. GameFocus reports that WBIE (WBI-oui?) will open a new studio in Montreal that will be lead by division president Martin Tremblay and employ over 300 people. The studio will be known as WB Games Montreal. We’ve contacted WBIE for comment on the new studio, but the publisher has yet to make a formal announcement.
In a previous professional life, Tremblay was the big fromage at Vivendi and Ubisoft Montreal. The executive also apparently claimed that the publisher would open a studio in another city soon. That could be a new studio, or it could be a developer WB has invested in, like Turbine — or a solid developer that’s recently tripped into some eye-catching success.
Apparently not everyone shares the US opinion on protecting endangered species. The US proposals to ban exports of bluefish tuna and protect polar bears was soundly rejected by UN delegates last week. Bluefish tuna have been the target of heavy commercial fishing in Japan, thanks to their succulent flavors and people’s love for sushi. This comes after the revelation of whale hunting in Japan exposed through the documentary move The Cove. While statistics clearly support that these species are on a decline, Japanese officials claim that the UN does not have the right to stipulate trade bans and this duty is delegated to International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, or Iccat. However, at the heart of Japanese protest lies the fact that bluefish tuna provide a strong commercial market for the Japanese and an international export ban would sever this industry.
Another defeat was the proposal to protect polar bears, which have been on a decline due to hunting as well as global warming. Opponents which included Canada, Norway and Greenland argue that the population of polar bears are healthy and hunting by aboriginals is critical to their economies. The population of polar bears now lies between 20,000 to 25,000 according to the Polar bear Specialist Group. Polar Bears have long been treated differently than bears beginning in 1972 where Canada, Denmark, US, Russia and Norway signed the Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears. This agreement recognized that polar bears constituted an important resource in the Arctic region and they required special protection.
While they are ‘protected’ they are hunted for their fur, teeth and bones. However, today only Canada allows their export, which is limited to 300 a year. However, it was not a total loss, as it provided a medium for exposure to the critical discussion of the impact of global warming and climate change on these species as well as a broader discussion of the detrimental effects of global warming in general.
This photo is of the Rockyview Hotel in Cochrane. Trash and a mud puddle add ‘interest’ to the inverted foreground. This is one from my ‘parking lot’ series. For some reason most of the photos from this series look ‘grungy’.
St Jean Baptiste Day- The annual procession took place yesterday morning in celebration of this national festival. The children belonging to all French schools, and temperance societies, together with the Association of St Jean Baptiste, assembled in the morning at eight o’clock to Craig Street, whence they started, passing through St Antoine street to Mountain, and thence to St Joseph street, and through Notre Dame street to the French Church. After divine service, the procession reformed in the same order as before, and passed round the Place d’Armes to Notre Dame street, thence to St Denis, and through St Catherine to the Union St Joseph where it dispersed. We regret to say from what we saw of the proceedings, the same unpleasant feeling of jealousy appeared to be manifested, as led to a disturbance on a recent occasion. It appears to us too, that the police somewhat exceed their duty at these times. Yesterday morning at ten o’clock they turned carriages and vehicles of every sort out of Notre Dame Street, because the procession was coming. This seems to be going too far. Notre Dame street was completely blocked up about noon, a busy part of the day, the street-cars, carriages, and foot passengers being unable to pass through. And in the morning, gentlemen coming to their places of business from the west end of the city were obliged to get out of the cars, and walk. The procession occupied just the portion of the street where the track is laid, and the cars could not proceed. The other National societies celebrate their festivals without putting the public to so much inconvenience; and it would be much better if all these celebrations could be conducted as not to interfere in any way with the right which every one alike enjoys, of free passage on the public streets.
We may also mention that a piece of unnecessary brutality was committed yesterday morning about a quarter past nine o’clock at the corner of Mountain and St Antoine streets, where a cowardly fellow amused himself by battering the head of a small boy who was driving a cart and wished to proceed down Mountain street. But the whole street was kept clear, although the procession occupied only about four feet. Of course we do not charge the conductors of the procession with being parties to the above assault, but we would suggest that it is not necessary to a proper carrying out of the procession and celebration of the day, to stop all traffic in the streets which form the line of march.
The 2010 Sundance screened and award-winning documentary “Last Train Home” is starting its screening at Calgary Globe theatre tomorrow Friday March 19, 2010. To me, Last Train Home indirectly exposed to us the heart, soul & meaning of those inexpensive “Made in China” goods and the human cost/impact of these goods through the eyes of one Chinese migrant family. Last Train Home is a film that I greatly enjoyed and found extremely touching and insightful.
In the beginning of the film, the viewers are informed that,
“There are over 130 million migrant workers in China. They go home only once a year, during Chinese New Year. This is the world’s largest human migration.“
Last Train Home is the debut film by Chinese-Canadian director Lixin Fan and he has done a wonderful job in telling an emotionally engaging story and the film was beautifully shot. As a documentary filmmaker myself, I watched the film three times over different days before I write this review. And I enjoyed the film more as I watched it.
I came away with the intense feeling that it is the Chinese migrant workers’ rights to improve their living standards, no matter how harsh it may seem to us Westerners. Yes, it came with a price, sometimes the prices can be very high. But, as I get older, I am reluctant to be judgemental and pronounce the western ways are the “best” for Chinese or other citizens of the world. There isn’t a single way to pursue a better life.
A great documentary makes us think and want to talk about the various issues discussed or not discussed in the film and it will make us care about the people in the film. Using these yardsticks, Last Train Home has succeeded and is definitely a great documentary. By chance, the film included one of the worst winters in recent Chinese New Years where train and bus services were seriously disrupted. And that added some urgency into the film.
There is one scene (when the parents had an argument with their child) in the film that shaken and touched me at the same time. As a documentary filmmaker, I kept asking myself, what would I have done if I were filming in the same situation? I finally came to the “uneasy” but “responsible” rationale that supported my instinct. I would have done the same thing and kept filming like Lixin. There was a story to be told and because of the trusting relationship that was built over months, it was ok to keep shooting.
By the way, please see the bottom of this blog entry where you can read an excerpted analysis/discussion by my economist friend Dr. Zhaofeng Xue (薛兆丰) about the problems associated with the Chinese New Year transportation nightmares (“春运综合症”).
Here is an excerpt from the synopsis of the film,
Every spring, China’s cities are plunged into chaos, as all at once, a tidal wave of humanity attempts to return home by train. It is the Chinese New Year. The wave is made up of millions of migrant factory workers. The homes they seek are the rural villages and families they left behind to seek work in the booming coastal cities. It is an epic spectacle that tells us much about China, a country discarding traditional ways as it hurtles towards modernity and global economic dominance.
Last Train Home, an emotionally engaging and visually beautiful debut film from Chinese-Canadian director Lixin Fan, draws us into the fractured lives of a single migrant family caught up in this desperate annual migration.
Here is a trailer of the film for the famous SXSW,
***
Economics analysis/discussion re chaos with train transportations around the Chinese New Years (“春运综合症”)
My friend Dr. Zhaofeng Xue (薛兆丰) has written for more than 10 years about the problems associated with the Chinese New Year transportation nightmares. In Feb 2010, he wrote about this topic again in this Chinese blog entry, “火车票低价造成了举国浪费“. Very insightful stuff if you read Chinese. Here is an excerpt,
Zhaofeng received his Phd from George Mason University and is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Northwestern University School of Law. Here is a link to my congratulatory message to Zhaofeng when his book about antitrust was published in 2008.
The difficulties with finding cooperation on climate change were illustrated at Copenhagen, which resulted in a political ‘accord’, but where there remained too much disagreement to arrive at a binding international treaty. There has been an ongoing political debate about the role of the United Nations, and whether more could be achieved in negotiations involving smaller groups of countries. The Copenhagen negotiations may have made the latter more likely. The lead US climate change negotiator, Todd Stern, stated:
You can’t negotiate in a group of 192 countries. It’s ridiculous to think that you could.
but that
It is certainly premature to write off the UNFCCC. There is a credibility that is provided by the full group. So on the one hand, I don’t think you can negotiate in that grouping, but on the other hand, it’s good for there to be a larger grouping that the smaller representative group can come back to.
Some of the rules [of the UNFCCC] can be difficult. If you’ve got 185 countries wanting to do something and a handful that don’t want to, that blocks everything.
Nicholas Stern has offered a different perspective, stating that “The fact of Copenhagen and the setting of the deadline two years previously at Bali did concentrate minds, and it did lead… to quite specific plans from countries that hadn’t set them out before”, and that it was vital to stick with the UN process, whatever its frustrations. Stern also stated that the “disappointing” outcome of December’s climate summit was largely down to “arrogance” on the part of rich countries.
Other perspectives in this debate have been offered by Jonathan Pershing, Robert Stavins, and Andrew Light. Gro Harlem Bruntland, the UN special envoy on climate change, has said that there is likely to be a two-track process, with negotiations both within, and outside the UN.
I have written more on the role of different countries at Copenhagen (including ‘rich’ countries) here. A major deadlock in the negotiations is due to developing countries being unhappy with Canada, Japan and Russia not being willing to be part of a second commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol. Another problem is that Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members (many of these countries could be considered to be ‘rich’, even though they are not Annex I countries) are blocking discussion of new legally binding protocols under the UNFCCC, sometimes using lack of progress under Kyoto as an excuse.
Game theory can provide useful insights when considering debates such as these. In fact, there has been a parallel debate in the game theory literature on whether cooperation is more likely to arise from a `grand coalition’ of all countries, or from smaller coalitions. The debate has been surveyed by Chander and Tulkens. An important contribution is from Finus and Rundshagen, who consider different ways to model coalition formation as a non-cooperative process.
In some ways the Annex I parties to the Kyoto protocol behave like a coalition — members behave more cooperatively with respect to each other than they do towards non-members. The set of Annex I Parties to the Kyoto Protocol is similar to the ‘open membership’ coalitions described by Finus and Rundshagen. Other countries are free to join the Annex I Parties, but generally they don’t want to. Many Annex I countries instead want to leave.
The European Union is closer to a ‘classical’ coalition. They choose their emissions in a cooperative manner, negotiate collectively in the UNFCCC, and participate in an emissions trading scheme together. Membership is not open, and decided collectively, in a manner similar to the ‘exclusive membership games’ described by Finus and Rundshagen. Processes where countries link their emission trading schemes may also work in a similar way to an exclusive membership game. In the cases studied by Finus and Rundshagen, although open membership coalitions are easier to join, the equilibria for exclusive membership coalitions involve larger coalitions and a more cooperative outcome.
A possible implication of this is that a process where a small amount of ‘major emitters’ negotiate a coalition, which others are then free to join, is likely to be less successful than a process that tries to find the largest possible group of countries who are willing to cooperate with each other. Carbon market linkage may also facilitate cooperation.
When Willie O’Ree stepped onto the ice of the Montreal Forum on January 18, 1958 in his Boston Bruins uniform he became the pioneer of a long line of trailblazers in the sport of ice hockey. Because on that day Willie O’Ree, the first black man to play for the NHL became the Jackie Robinson of the sport. In fact it had been 11 years since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in professional baseball but Willie’s barrier breaking moment barely registered a ripple. The Bruins needed a new player and he was the best that they had in the system. Nothing was made of his race by the Bruins; it was simply a hockey decision. But that does not mean that he did not receive barbs from opposing teams and fans. He did, but he handled those situations with great strength and dignity. Today Willie O’Ree is the NHL’s Director of Youth Development and serves as a hockey ambassador for NHL Diversity.
Since then society has made tremendous strides and groundbreaking changes; the civil rights movement and the election of Barack Obama our first African American President to name the most monumental. And the sport of Ice Hockey has tried to reflect those changes. Through its Diversity program the NHL is trying to demonstrate that it has been effected by, and is evolving at the same pace as society’s changes.
It is at this point that I must disclose on behalf of transparency that in 2005/2006 I worked for the NHL handling Community Relations, Corporate Giving and worked on Diversity projects. While there I saw first hand the NHL’s commitment to grass roots hockey and increasing the number of minority players within the sport. I also had the pleasure of working and travelling with Willie O’Ree while conducting youth outreach for the NHL. According to my former boss Ken Martin, Vice President Community Affairs & Diversity Programming, black hockey players are being drafted into the NHL at the rate of three per year. “For African Americans participating in non-traditional sports the challenge has been accessibility to that sport. Our ability to expand our horizons and to participate will deliver success on both the playing field and in the business field” said Ken Martin. Today there are 38 minority players in the NHL and of the 38 players 21 are Black Canadian/ African American. The numbers within the junior ranks are considerable and Ken predicts a ground swell of minority players to enter the League within the next five years.
Accessibility is the key and this future ground swell is in part due to NHL initiatives and the robust grass roots hockey efforts of USA Hockey and Hockey Canada, the governing bodies for the sport in the United States and Canada. Also contributing to this increase is the fact that Canada, hockey’s home, has become a much more ethnically diverse country with minority participation in Canadian youth hockey on the rise.
NHL Diversity is a part of the NHL Foundation, the National Hockey League’s charitable and community relations division. It is a major component of the league’s “Hockey is for Everyone” initiative. Since 1995, NHL Diversity has provided support to not-for-profit youth hockey organizations across the United States that are committed to offering economically disadvantaged boys and girls of all ages opportunities to play hockey.
The initiative is supported by NHL teams and players, NHL alumni, USA Hockey and fans. To date, “Hockey is for Everyone” has exposed close to 60,000 boys and girls to unique hockey experiences in the United States. Within this program, there are approximately 30 inner-city, volunteer organizations in various stages of development that receive support from the NHL with 3 more programs scheduled to debut this year!
Children enrolled in the NHL’s 30 inner city programs also attend and are afforded high visibility and clinics at the Leagues premier events. NHL All Star Game, The Winter Classic, NHL Awards and the Stanley Cup are just a few of the events that host children from Diversity programs. They also attend and participate with NHL visits to the White House and the Willie O’Ree Skills Camp. All life changing experiences for these children!
So who are currently the top black players to watch in the NHL? Jarome Iginla Calgary Flames, who is consistently ranked in the top 10 of NHL players. Ray Emery Philadelphia Flyers, one of three Black players to win the Stanley Cup. Evander Kane Atlanta Thrashers, the highest drafted Black Canadian player in NHL history.
Image via Wikipedia
global warming. Opponents which included Canada, Norway and Greenland argue that the population of polar bears are healthy and hunting by aboriginals is critical to their economies. The population of polar bears now lies between 20,000 to 25,000 according to the Polar bear Specialist Group. Polar Bears have long been treated differently than bears beginning in 1972 where Canada, Denmark, US, Russia and Norway signed the Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears. This agreement recognized that polar bears constituted an important resource in the Arctic region and they required special protection.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_t5g-oxC-paB7A_DRYvwdDX-NPRNWqzulqYlUfat8CN0JIlRfH6J5bMowj0qL3Pldf1QDitrPG2pLbiUeGacp4mS1dWT8vrLqprkpjkfTvuDqpsZi5cIfwlwu0p4sgQqAIg9GOJq5_P8ujaIL4Hx7Xy=s0-d)
