February 13, 2006

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SOCIETY

DRIVING MISS DAISY

In 1988, Katherine Freund’s three-year-old son was run over in front of her Portland, Me., house by an 84-year-old driver who thought he had hit a dog. Her son suffered a serious head injury, and recovered, but the incident brought home to Freund the problem of seniors who may be unfit to drive still getting behind the wheel. By COLIN CAMPBELL

SOCIETY

HOW THEY DO IT IN...

How crowded are Chinese trains in the days leading up to Chinese New Year, when millions travel to their hometowns and villages to spend the time with family? Some Chinese have taken to wearing adult diapers because they can’t reach the on-board toilets.

MONEY

MONEY REALLY CAN BUY HAPPINESS

Last month, the people of Great Britain were briefly transfixed by the tale of an anonymous woman with a very big secret. Three years ago, the woman, who lives somewhere in England, won £1.5 million in a lottery, but kept the news from her entire family, including her husband. By Steve Maich

SPORTS

ONE FOR THE BOOKS

For most ice fishermen, tugging a one-kilogram pickerel through the hole would be an exciting catch. Last week, Diane Guillemette hauled up a 230-kg Greenland shark, as big as a car, from Quebec’s Saguenay fjord. The shark was 207 m below the surface and required a snowmobile to pull it out of the water.

SPORTS

Sun, surf—and snow

Whether it’s hauling on a wetsuit with stiff, frozen fingers in the Lawrencetown Beach parking lot, or paddling out into the Atlantic Ocean, past baby seals and chunks of ice the size of mini-fridges, everyone who seeks the perfect winter surf off Nova Scotia’s coast becomes viscerally aware that it’s an act of indisputable lunacy. By JOHN DEMONT

MAIL BAG

I was glad to see your coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics (“Give us the gold...or else,” Cover, Jan. 30), but I think writer Jonathon Gatehouse missed a crucial distinction in his analysis of Todd Bertuzzi’s role on our Olympic hockey team.

THE BACK PAGES

Suddenly it’s the left crying media bias

A major newspaper publishes something inaccurate. Partisan bloggers seize on the mistake and campaign for a retraction. This has been a familiar story ever since blogs became popular, but recent stories have a new twist: By JAIME J. WEINMAN

NEWSMAKERS

‘IN THE TIME IT WOULD TAKE ME TO WRITE A SCRENPLAY. I COULD HIRE 20 WRITERS TO WRITE 20 SCREENPLAYS, WHICH STRUCK ME AS A BETTER WY TO MAKE AN IMPACT’-BILLIONAIRE JEFF SKOLL

DANIEL IGALI left the povertystricken Nigerian village of Eniwari for Canada more than a decade ago. He’s since become an Olympic gold medallist and a Liberal party candidate, but Igali has never forgotten his roots. This September, he plans to go back to his hometown and open the Maureen Matheny Academy (named after his close friend from Richmond, B.C., who died in 1999), which will offer classes from preschool to Grade 12.

THE BACK PAGES

TODAY’S SPECIAL...CHICKEN SOUP SOUL IN A CAN

It started with a pious self-help book called Chicken Soup for the Soul. Now, with more than 100 million copies sold, the idea has come full circle (sort of) with “Chicken Soup for the Soul” meals and supplements. Authors Mark Hansen and Jack Canfield have licensed the Chicken Soup brand to a food maker, which is marketing Chicken Soup “Berry Comforting” canned meal replacements and “Garden Trust” fruit drinks.

February 62006