Jeremy Lin Dept: Sports: Not so long ago, a single athlete named Tim Tebow took the world by storm when the word Tebowing became infamous. This week, the term Linsanity forced non-sports fans to figure out who exactly basketball star Jeremy Lin might be. The 23-year-old Harvard grad on the New York Knicks has seen his stardom suddenly explode with big plays in recent weeks, none bigger than his dramatic game-winning moves at the expense of the Raptors this week. And yes, it must be said: the fact that Lin is one of the few Asians in the NBA has contributed to the mad swell of attention, according to The Star. Economy: Sears Canada Inc. cut prices on more than 5,000 of its wares this week, some of them by as much as 30 per cent. The move underscored the struggles of the historic department store to compete with discount giants Wal-Mart and Target, the latter of which is soon due to change the retail landscape in Canada when it opens its first stores here. A Natuzzi leather sofa for almost $1,000, down from almost $1,600? Sounds like good news for customers and politics: The Conservatives announced they would again try to legislate against bogus refugees with a new bill aimed at reducing applications from countries deemed safe for inhabitants, such as Mexico. The Tories hope to use their majority to reverse compromises they were forced to make in 2010, the last time they attempted to reform the asylum process. If you do not need Canada s protection, we will give you access to our fair asylum system quickly and then send you home quickly, said Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. Culture: A death in the television world drew some attention this week despite the fact that it happened more than four years ago. The Star broke the story that Degrassi actor Neil Hope died at age 35 on Nov. 25, 2007, although the show s producers only learned of it this week. Epitome Pictures said it had lost touch with the actor, remembered for his determination, hard work and hopeful optimism, since his last appearance in 2003. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Dept: My wife has been in hospital for the last week or so and, whether she wants me to or not, I go to see her every day. Each visit is much the same. "How are you? How are you feeling? Did you see the doctor? Do you know when you're getting out?", according to Winnipeg Free Press. Other visitors aren't so lucky. Family, friends, the occasional wandering patient passing by who roams into the wrong room and settles in until a nurse shows up -- they all ask the same questions and when the excitement of that spurt of conversation has passed, they get anxious to leave; they start to visibly twitch, but there is no graceful way to leave someone in a hospital bed except to just say good night and go to pay your parking, which is the other reason people have been furtively and anxiously looking at watches all evening and vISITING people in the hospital is not usually a very pleasant experience -- if you actually enjoy it, you should probably seek professional help -- but it can be an interesting one. And each exchange is punctuated not just by question marks, but by furtive glances at my watch. That initial spurt of conversation is kind of like sex on the first date -- as soon as it's over you start wondering, "How do I gracefully get out of here?" -- except that, since it's your wife and she matters, there is no graceful way to get out. The key is finding a way to gracefully stay. And because she is your wife, you do; after a few minutes, you stop looking at your watch and start looking at your wife. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Long Beach Airport Dept: Police discovered about 18 kilograms of marijuana inside the plane after it landed at Long Beach Airport, a law enforcement official said. The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the drug investigation and spoke under condition of anonymity, according to The Star. In a statement, the North American Aerospace Defence Command said it scrambled two F-16 fighters from March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California, to intercept a Cessna 182 over Los Angeles about 2:30 p.m and wASHINGTON Two Air Force F-16 fighters intercepted a privately owned Cessna airplane that entered the same Los Angeles airspace as Marine One on Thursday as the helicopter was ferrying President Barack Obama. The Secret Service said the president was never in any danger. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Colombian Slang Dept: She has trouble with Colombian slang, she s prone to grammatical errors and sometimes she can t find the right words for everyday objects, according to The Star. Hint: it starts with p and rhymes with mala and anne-Marie Vettorel speaks Spanish up to a point. For example, the Spanish name for shovel. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Rental Units Dept: Last month, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities said that while one third of Canadians are renters, less than 10 per cent of new developments built in the last 15 years were rental units, according to The Star. Critics have said the government has ignored those who can t afford to buy, Vancouver-based Concert Properties www.concertproperties.com and other developers such as Medallion Properties www.medallioncorp.com , Park Properties www.parkproperty.ca and Minto www.rentminto.com aren t ignoring what they see as a burgeoning rental market in Toronto and around the country and toronto s condo construction boom might lead many to believe there is little happening in the way of new rental building in the GTA, but there are several new construction projects underway in the downtown core that suggest some developers see a solid future in creating new rental accommodation. Industry observers say several factors, including an uncertain regulatory environment in Ontario, lack of tax incentives and rising land prices mean fewer developers are building rental accommodation. There are some, whoever, see reasons to forge ahead with plans to create a solid portfolio of rental stock. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Vietnam Dept: THE body of a Winnipeg trucker who died in a crash Jan. 11 remains in a Kenora funeral home while his widow in Vietnam tries to get into Canada, according to Winnipeg Free Press. Meanwhile, the body of Amir Mohammadi has been denied religious burial rites and desecrated, say Muslim friends in Winnipeg. They were shocked to learn the Kurdish Canadian was killed in a highway accident east of Kenora last month. They were shocked again when they set about planning his burial and discovered his body was claimed by a woman he wed in Vietnam last year and amir Mohammadi "She applied to the Canadian Consulate for a visitor's visa in order to come to Canada to see her husband for the last time," said Victor Libitka, the woman's lawyer. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Richard Truscott Dept: Seven in 10 haven't put a plan in place to deal with labour shortages that are intensifying, according to Winnipeg Free Press. "The sucking sound that we hear from the draw of people into the resource sector is only going to become louder," says Richard Truscott, the Alberta director of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and small business owners are experiencing a return to labour shortages as workers get lured back to oil mega-projects that continue to ramp up in the Prairies and northern Alberta. The majority are finding themselves unprepared again, according to a recent survey. Nearly three-quarters 74 per cent of small business owners believe it is getting more difficult to find good employees, while 64 per cent say the demands on today's job applicants exceed their qualifications, according to the quarterly American Express Small Business Monitor survey. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Province Dept: The reasons are simple. Beginning in 2003, the Canadian dollar began a strong ascent that lifted it from the persistent lows of the previous decade around 70 US cents to the recent highs around parity with the U.S. dollar during the past four years, with only a brief dip in late 2008 and early 2009. This surge in the currency made Ontario s exports more expensive for foreigners to buy and rendered the province s exporters less competitive, while also making imports cheaper, according to The Star. Ontario s overall GDP per head relative to the rest of the country reflects the turnaround in trade. In 1998 2002, Ontario s GDP per person was 14.1 per cent higher than the average for the other nine provinces and three territories; in the first three quarters of 2011, it was 6.5 per cent lower. Since 2006, Ontario s GDP per person has been below the average for the rest of Canada and the roots of Ontario s current fix lie in both the economy and in the province s record of failing to keep growth in government spending in line with revenue growth. Ontarians have long been accustomed to their economy growing faster than the rest of the country. This was once true: in 15 of the 21 years from 1982 to 2002, Ontario grew faster than the national economy. But changing economic conditions have hit Ontario harder than other provinces over the past decade; in all nine years from 2003 to 2011, Ontario s real economic growth was below that of the rest of the country. The impact on Ontario s nominal GDP was huge. The contribution of trade to the economy is measured by net exports, the difference between what the province sells outside its boundaries and what it buys from other countries and provinces. Ontario s net exports to other provinces, where there was no currency effect, remained relatively stable. But the contribution to GDP of net exports to other countries first vanished entirely and then began to detract from Ontario s growth. The financial crisis and resulting U.S. recession, during which auto sales fell by about one-third, aggravated this trend. The province s international trade surplus, which accounted for 4.3 per cent of GDP in the 1998 2002 period, disappeared by the middle of 2006 and was replaced by a trade deficit, which in the first three quarters of 2011 diminished nominal GDP by 7.5 per cent. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Don Bapst Dept: Much like his previous works, Don Bapst's fourth novel, published by a Winnipeg-based literary house, shines a light on the darkness that can reside in the human soul, according to Winnipeg Free Press. In The Hanged Man, he has created an original tarot deck of his own. At less than 200 pages, the novel is a quick read, although not an altogether satisfying one. A genre-crossing thriller/mystery/occult fantasy, it's much closer to Dan Brown than, say, Edgar Allen Poe and aCCORDING to popular belief, the tarot deck was created as a parlour game in 15th-century Europe. But what if the cards were always intended to be used as tools of divination? And what if it they could truly guide us and decide our fate? Known for his edgy material -- his Facebook page lists the infamous Marquis de Sade as an "interest" -- Bapst is an American-born immigrant to Eastern Canada who is clearly intrigued by the supernatural. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Ken Chiampou Dept: KFI AM 640 suspended John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, the hosts of the "John and Ken Show," for "making insensitive and inappropriate comments about the late Whitney Houston," it said in a statement Thursday, according to CTV. According to audio posted online at UrbanInformer.com, the hosts called the late singer a "crack ho" and said she was "cracked out for 20 years." LOS ANGELES A Los Angeles radio station has pulled two popular talk radio hosts off the air for comments they made about Whitney Houston. "Management does not condone, support or tolerate statements of this kind," the station said. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.