Entry #14 - April 24, 2014

American Airlines Terrorist Threat

By CBC News

A 14 year old Dutch female has been arrested for an idiotic tweet she sent to the American Airlines on twitter. The tweet read “Hello my name’s Ibrahim and I’m from Afghanistan. I’m part of Al Qaida and on June 1^st I’m gonna do something really big bye.” Immediately after the girl posted this tweet, the American Airlines replied with a tweet of their own reading “Sarah, we take these threats very seriously. Your IP address and details will be forwarded to security and the FBI.” In response, Sarah began to plead and apologize to the airline claiming it was simply a joke, etc. But to no avail, and she has recently been arrested due to a simple idiotic tweet. It just goes to show that terrorism is never a subject to joke with, and that you should never put inappropriate things o the internet thus they come back to bite you, and in this case, quite severely.

I think that what Sarah did was idiotic, incredibly ill-advised, and just shows the education level some of the children around my age have. Never in a million years would I think doing that would be a good idea, or even have any type of humor to it whatsoever. It is not a subject to ever joke about and she completely crossed the line, and sending it to the American Airlines put it way over the top, more than it already was. I believe Sarah deserves whatever punishment comes her way, but if I were to dole out the punishment, I believe she should receive a fine of upwards of $10,000 and made to work upwards of 300 community service hours to learn from her massive mistake. 

Entry #13 - April 24, 2014

The NSA is Collecting our images without our

knowledge

By Dana Ford

The National Security Agency is reportedly capturing millions of pictures each day, of people just like you and I, for the purpose of advancing their facial recognition software. They now have software allowing them to exploit the flood of images in emails, texts, social media, video conferences such as Skype, and basically any other software in which images are sent and received. The NSA is intercepting millions of images per day, but only about 55,000 of these images are able to be entered into the facial recognition software, which leaves millions unable to be entered in, leaving mass untapped potential. The facial recognition software is a computer system that can automatically identify a person by simply scanning an image or video of the individual. There is still much work to be done on the software as it has difficulty matching low-resolution images and side/angle photographs of people. It is currently unclear exactly how many images the NSA has acquired, but it is extremely certain the number is shockingly high.

I think that this is quite scary that they are intercepting our personal and private images and video calls without us having any clue that it is happening. They could be watching me right now I and I wouldn’t even know, and this is quite a frightening thought. I do understand why they are doing it though as these images will help enhance the software and help to solve major security breaches and be a great help in all the crimes around the world, I just wish they could acquire these images in a less creepy manor.

Entry #12 - April 24, 2014

First Nations Leaders Rejected Again

By Kathryn Blaze Carlson and Gloria Galloway

First Nations leaders move to reject Conservatives on their on-reserve education bill. The First Nations are opening talks with the government on the issue, voicing their vision challenging the powers of the currently leaderless First Nations Assembly, and confront Ottawa. In a rare meeting involving the AFN Confederacy of Nations and the First Nations leaders, they passed a resolution which rejects the First Nations control of First Nations Education act, and now calls for a Confederacy committee to enter the discussion.

I don't believe this is fair or just in any way. First of all, it's called the First Nations Education act for a reason, and to deny them control of their own act is completely unfair. Second of all, who are we as a people to tell another group of completely able human beings how they are allowed to educate their race. Third of all, us as a race basically destroyed theirs in multiple ways including stealing their land, raping their women, and attempting to assimilate their culture into ours almost destroying them as a race. For once I think we should just lay off the First Nation's and allow them to live their lives the way they choose and stop interfering and restricting them, they are people too and deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect and dignity, and should be allowed to choose how to educate their own children.

Entry #11 - April 24, 2014

Parliaments New Regulations

By Tonda MacCharles

Ottawa is now unable to act by itself to be able to reform the Senate or limit terms/appoint elected senators. To do so they must first have the consent of seven provinces, encompassing half the country's population, this has been set in place by the Supreme Court of Canada last Friday. To abolish the Senate completely their must be unanimous consent with all federal Parliament and all provinces, including the countries top court. This marks a monumental defeat for our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, as the high court dismissed almost every single argument he and his lawyers had brought forward, and these new regulations have been set in place.

I feel that these regulations are too extreme and that it shouldn't take the approval of seven provinces to simply limit terms of Senators, or reform the Senate. I believe that if at least three provinces outside of Ontario feel that the term should be limited, or a reformation is necessary, that that is enough. Going through seven whole provinces there is generally going to be one to disagree, and to not be able to make the change that is needed due to one of seven provinces I find a bit silly. Three outside of Ontario should be enough, four in total. As for the abolishing of the Senate regulation I do believe these are fair and the correct regulations for such a powerful act. Abolishing the Senate is an extreme act and it is only fair that it must be approved by everyone it affects, which it is by including every province, all federal Parliament, and the countries top court. In conclusion, my thoughts on the limiting terms/reformation/appointing elected senators is the regulations are too strict, but the regulations for abolishing the senate are fair and just.

Entry #10 - February 28, 2014

Water, the new Gold!

By Patrick M. Sheridan

As most of us know the world is almost completely covered in water, yet only 2.5% of that water is fresh water, and only a certain portion of that is actually drinkable! Wall Street has definitely taken notice many are quickly reaping the benefits in the investing game due to H2O. Water is an astonishing 600 billion dollar business, projected to grow to a whopping 1 trillion in just six years! With the population rising, and our supplies of drinkable water decreasing, albeit slowly, there is a high potential for "water wars" uprising in areas like Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. This will do nobody any good, and is definitely something to watch out for in the future.

For myself, I seriously hope that this means water prices don't spike, as gas has recently does, because I drink upwards of ten bottles of water a day, and if it was any more expensive than it is now I'd be greatly hindered in my water consumption, and we all know how important hydration is! Also regarding the "water wars" I hope that nothing of the sort ever arises, war only causes destruction and anger, instead of having no water, these countries are going to have much less if they engage in these "water wars". Quite frankly it seems incredibly silly, for something that seems so easy, and simply a human right, to have major countries fight over it, but I guess that's what happens in this supply and demand filled world. For everyone's sake, I seriously hope that no "water wars" break out, and that water does not rise in price much higher than what it is right now.

Entry #9 - February 24, 2014

No working record of babies deaths in unregulated daycare centers around Ontario

By Laurie Monsebraaten

No one, and I mean no one, is keeping a record of how often babies die in the many unregulated child care centers around Ontario! A reported four babies have died in the last seven months in these unregulated home daycares, but no one, not even the Provincial Coroner’s Office, or even the Provincial Education Ministry could know or say if this was unusual. The Coroner’s office is currently investigating the cause of three of the four cases, as for the fourth, the caregiver was charged with manslaughter. For investigative reasons, the exact cause of death has been hidden and kept secret from anyone outside of the case itself.

Note: The Coroner’s office is the main body who investigates all child deaths not due to natural causes and all deaths of children when the Children’s Aid is involved. 

I feel that there should absolutely be a perfect record of how often babies die in these unregulated child care centers around Ontario, as it is important to know how often this is happening to see if rates are going up or down, and if it is rising what we can do to stop/lower it. It is appalling that we don't already have a working system in place, and the system needs to be updated immediately to include the deaths of babies in unregulated child care centers. This would help us to know the trend of babies dying in these places, if it is rising we must put more severe measures in place to ensure they begin to decrease. For these reasons, I believe that there should definitely, 100%, be a working record of how often babies die in the many unregulated child care centers around Ontario.

Entry #8 - February 19, 2014

Ukraine issues arrest warrant for President Viktor Yanukovych

          

By Ralph Ellis and Nick Paton Walsh

          The Ukrainian authorities in Ukraine have just issued a warrant for arrest on their own president, Viktor Yanukovych. He is wanted for the mass killings of civilians. Arresting him seemed to be a nearly impossible task once the mission started, as no one knew where he was! Over the weekend, it was determined that he had fled to Kharkiv, a pro-Russian stronghold located near the border. He then tried to board a plane and fly out, to an unknown area, to escape. He was turned away by the pilot though, as he didn't have any of his documents. By Monday, he had fled again, and his whereabouts are currently unknown, but he states that he is still in power, “I don’t plan to leave the country. I don’t plan to resign. I am the legitimate President,” he said on Saturday via a television appearance.

            I feel that President Yanukovych should be immediately stripped of his powers and duties until found, and tried. It seems pretty clear that he is guilty of some or all the killings he is wanted for, as there is no reason to run and flee to such the extent that he has. Currently I believe he is doing no good for the country, and is a guilty criminal fleeing from the police and authorities. How can be helping anyone if he’s in hiding? I feel that he should be relieved of his powers and duties until he is tried, an only reinstated if he is found to be innocent. His second in command should be put into power immediately, and they should concentrate all their power and resources on finding Viktor Yanukovych.