Inflatable Doll Race in Lithuania

   There were about 200 men who registered for competing in a race, where sex dolls were used as rafts; only 20 people were chosen to compete. Liudas Pestininkas, was the winner of the race, he said "Vaida was a very good girl, and only listens to me. She is cool. Other participants don't have dolls as cool as mine." With these inflatable sex dolls this represent "National Men's Day." This event happened earlier today, May 28th in Vilnius, Lithuania. "We did a survey on the internet and all voters said that they needed to celebrate such a day," said organiser of the race, radio programme director Mindaugas Stasiulis.

  This is a very fascinating idea because it gives a sense of humour that cheers people up and what the world needs is more of these kind of things. This is what really gets the community involved and brings people together. Other countries should really follow these kind of things and come up with their own ideas. There is another case, what about "National Women's Day," what kind of ideas could be put to day dedicated to women; there are days like this, but what similar to inflatable doll swimming races. It seems the world really favours men and we need to come up with more things for women and something on the lines of this could work for the opposite gender; even though this is in Lithuania we can look at this in a general perspective.  

Link and Screen Clipping Link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8543500/Men-and-their-inflatable-dolls-compete-in-swimming-race-in-Lithuania.html

The Big Mac Machine

  Don Gorske ate his 25, 000 Big Mac on Wednesday, May 18, 2011. Before his famous 25, 000 Big Mac, Don showed onlookers his collection of Big Mac packages and other related stories. Gorske appeared in the 2004 film, Super Size Me, where it showed his healthy habits of exercise. Currently, he has a low cholesterol and a clean bill of health. Tara Gidus says that Groske is relatively healthy because of his genetics and doesn't order extras. "I plan on eating Big Macs until I die," Don Gorske said.

   First I congratulate him for making the Guinness World Records. Another good thing is his wife doesn't have to cook and he is relatively fit, even though he is constantly eating these burgers. I think that the burgers may not affect him now and perhaps when he is a lot older it could affect his cholesterol and his heart.  His obsession has to stop soon because he may not know if one day his cholesterol goes extremely high or if he has a heart problem. It is best to eat healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, since that is the safest thing to do. The real question is what if he stops eating these things, could it be like an addiction to cigarettes once you quit you get a lot of other health problems?

Link and Photo Link
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/may/18/big-mac-fan-25000-burgers

Devestating Fire

       On May 16, 2011 Slave Lake, Alberta erupted in a wildfire ,with wind at 100km/h, destroying nearly 40% of the buildings; forcing 7000 residents out of there homes. Many people evacuated to nearby temporary shelters waiting for the smoke to clear in order to see if there houses are burnt or safe and others are homeless; everyone seems to be lost. There were 80 firefighters from Ontario that came and 200 from B.C. There are 100 wildfires and 23 are considered out of control. Premier Ed Stelmach put a fire ban in place across the province on Tuesday.

      This is definitely tragic and in order to prepare for these things we need more sophisticated programs. The firefighters are fine because British Columbia is advanced in forest fires, but the little issue is for more shelters and a proper evacuation plan. These shelters are basically in the town and should be a distance away. I know there isn't much you can do in this situation but from this experience, Alberta can prepare better and have its own specialized firefighting program. The Premier should have put the fire ban a lot earlier even though it wouldn't make much of a difference. The real question is how are they going to prevent more fire from spreading and if it does what kind of professional action plan is set; in these situations you can not do much, but you can make something happen.  

Link and Photo:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/992560--everyone-s-kind-of-lost-alberta-fire-victims-say

Arnold Swarzenegger Love Child

   Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a  child had an affair with former staffer, Mildred Patricia Banea 10 years ago. She has a child and with this being revealed a few days ago, wife Maria Shriver stated that they are "amicably separating." Swarzenegger's were recently told about their half brother. The couple married in 1986 and were known as one of the world's most famous couple. Arnold was a very famous actor and Maria was a news anchor and part of the Kennedy family.

    We all know that actors do crazy things and money sometimes takes control of their mind and makes them do these kind of things. We know this has happened, but why would he bring it up 10 years from now, maybe he wants to get more publicity and/or the media is conveying this figure into something more than what it is. That last part is a little false, although famous people do bad things it is no different than a regular person doing it, it is just more publicized and critiqued, which it shouldn't. Arnold did a bad thing and a separation is what it should really come down to. I think that Arnold knows he made a mistake, the sad part is why would he do this in the first place knowing he has children that could be affected. I am worried about the kids more than Maria and Arnold, it is hard for people their age to coop with these things. The media does not really talk about how the "Love Child" is going through these things; is he happy that he just found out he has a dad who is a millionaire or sad that he just found out he has a father. Arnold should have never done it and we all know he is sorry, but that doesn't make up for it too much.

Link:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/17/california.schwarzenegger/index.html?iref=obnetwork

Photo Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/movies/arnold-schwarzenegger-in-cry-macho.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Conservatives Return

   After the recent election the Conservatives had gained 167 votes. The only problem was the Conservative only got 6 out of Quebec's 75 votes; "I'm disappointed, but I'm not discouraged," Harper said. Interestingly enough the NDP became the official opposition with 30.62% of the votes. After Harper won he had a champagne celebration and started getting phone calls from President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron.

  The problem with the Liberals is they influenced a new election but they didn't show their platform and how they would handle the coalition and budget. This gave the opportunity for the NDP to climb up and become a second place "team."  Another issue, one with the Conservatives is they have low votes in Quebec, which shows they do not offer as much diversity than the left wing on the political spectrum. I wanted Liberals to win but sometimes you have to go to the other side when your platform is not strong and the other side has more to offer. The problem is that a lot of people voted NDP and if this number keeps building they will have a chance to run the government; they are not strong enough and the country will just become weak. The Liberals have to climb a tough mountain and fast. Thank you!

Link and Photo Link
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/05/03/cv-election-harper-105.html#

Apple Sueing Samsung Electronics

       Apple sued rival Samsung Electronics, claiming that Samsung's Galaxy lines of mobiles is a copy of the IPhone and IPad. Galaxy products use Google's Android operating system; Apple is really focusing on how they believe that Samsung copied their design features and screen icons. "This kind of blatant copying is wrong," Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said in a statement. Nokia has sued Apple, which in turn sued handset maker HTC Corp. In its lawsuit against Samsung, Apple stated that earlier versions of Samsung smart phones did not copy the same combination of Apple's designs. There were different types of shapes in the Samsung smart phones. Apple is bringing up 16 claims against Samsung and 10 patent claims.

IPad? Think again...it is a Samsung Galaxy Tab!

       The world has come to phase where people have become proud of their ideas and do not like for people to steal them and that is how Apple Inc. feels. Apple should in some sense be happy for what they have invented and that another company maybe taking their ideas. It is called innovation; Samsung maybe taking their idea for tablet screens but they are adding their own little design twist to it; it isn't enough though. Why isn't Nintendo's idea for a DS not being sued for Apple's similar touch screen idea or a Fujitsu laptop; maybe Apple took the idea perhaps from something more simple or from them and turned it into a world wide phenomenon. Nintendo Wii has been innovated to an Xbox Connect and PS3 Move, but there isn't much controversy to this because they have their own games, different styles of television-control movement, and different formats in their home menus and different design shapes. What Samsung should do is create more design to the phone and add more games, apps, programs and features that really define and make Samsung smart phones unique. There is a reason why Samsung is being sued. 


 Link and Photo Link:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/42652612

Ontario Court on Marijuana Laws

        The Ontario Superior Court Justice Donald Taliano finds that the medical regulations for marijuana is invalid. The problem is that marijuana users may use it more than their medical prescription. "Rather than promote health – the regulations have the opposite effect. Rather than promote effective drug control – the regulations drive the critically ill to the black market," he wrote. Matthew Mernagh has suffered from several illnesses and marijuana was the most effective treatment for his pain but no doctor supported his case so he was later charged of producing drugs by growing his own cannabis. The medical program for marijuana has been boycotted because there is not enough training on how to prescribe the drug.

      Marijuana is a drug that can get people high and can be used for medical purposes. Already in Canada it is illegal but what Canada should do is initiate seminars for marijuana use and study it more efficiently. If this is something people feel can really aide an illness or disease than legalizing it in hospitals could lead to more discoveries. This is how the world started by finding new ways to help people and maybe this is a key to something new. With seminars there can be ways to teach how to prescribe the drug and if it is not so known then it is worth experimenting because the final result is, it helps; there is no failure; it is kind of like trying a new type of surgery ,based on intense research. Marijuana should be used by doctors way more often and  just for health purposes and still keeping it illegal to communities because it is a drug. Doctors should start recognizing the importance and supporting it.


Link and Photo Link
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20110413/medical-marijuana-laws-110415/

Veil Is Illegal in France

   In France there has been a recent arrest on an Islamic women, Kenza Drider for wearing a full veil in public. This is a new law inputted in France and is branching into other European countries like Belgium, Germany and Netherlands along others. There is a fine of 150 euros and if the women are forced to wear it then the fine is 30, 000 euros to the enforcer. Only 5% of the Islamic population in France wear the full veil.

   This is very outrageous because it will create controversy with other Islamic countries. If the Islamic faith is to cover up a women in public and use it for the husband's own benefits then I think that France should respect that. The view on France is that the veil is outrageous because you can not identify who the person is which makes a lot of sense. I think that France should respect the extreme Islamists but if they want to enforce such a law perhaps make the women wear at least a hijab. One main reason why war starts is because of religion and in a way France is trying to get rid of such extremists. The final decision should be to just ignore any body who is really religious because it always turns out for the worst when politics and religion are mixed together. Just let the poor women wear what she wants. 

Provincial Budget Being Heard

    Tim Hudak, a Progressive Conservative Leader had said that Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals will raise taxes, spend money and break promises. Hudak said “If this budget was sold at your local Chapters, you would find it under ‘fiction.’ Ontario families know Dalton McGuinty will say anything he thinks will help to get him re-elected. Why would anyone believe him today?” New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath said that Dalton McGuinty's plan is a new sales tax. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan does not want to eliminate the stability in health care and education. Nora Loreto, the Canadian Federation of Students wants there to be student debt and fees in the budget. Satinder Chera, Ontario vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, likes the positive government spending, but not so much how the budget doesn't include job creators.

     I think that budget is being a little overreacted upon because so far everything has been on a steady pace but once people say something like the opposition it becomes overheard. People start talking about it and potentially they find the little cracks in the budget. I would agree that all the people above have a very reasonable statement to say about the budget. I think the government should not just get a general perspective of people's wants, but to look around in different aspects of life like business, education, environment, etc. And based upon that come upon a reasonable solution to not only support the people, but the government's own wants as well; also stay committed to their platform. If we can not trust the own people representing our province, how can we create a well structured and stable environment suitable for everyone in all aspects of life.  


Link:
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontariobudget/article/965438--voices-on-the-provincial-budget

Photo Link:
http://fpm3.weblogbiz.com/?p=864

Earth Hour 2011

     Pamela Rezansoff did an extraordinary thing on March 26 by turning off all appliances and lights and making her family wear warm, winter clothing; the only thing on was the fridge for food. There were abut 10 million Canadians expected to turn off their lights between 8:30pm to 9:30pm. Earth Hour was first introduced in Sydney, Australia in 2007, where 2.2 million homes and more than 2000 businesses turned off their lights. In 2008 there were 50 million people participating in 35 different countries. In 2009 there were approximately 1 billion people who participated in 88 countries. The World Wildlife Fund, who is the organizer, has stated that the numbers this year in Canada will surpass that of 2010. Major landmarks like the CN Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, etc. go in darkness for this event. 

     I think this Earth Hour is the best thing that has ever happened to gage awareness for global warming. If people turn off their lights it can save so much more money for the cities, companies, etc. Electric plants do not have to run as hard, allowing us to save more energy and not lead to pollution. I think this event should be more than once and perhaps once a month or at least once a season. People do not understand how one household or even one light switch can make a difference for the entire world. As proud participant since day one, I am so glad that an event like this has been recognized and that the number keeps growing. People will soon understand what it means by being green. It takes one little finger roll on a light switch. If we don't protect the Earth now, who knows what we could eventually lead to.  

Link:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Canadians+power+down+this+year+Earth+Hour/4507365/story.html

Photo Link:
http://www.photosfan.com/earth-hour/

Fatal Earthquake in Japan

     Japan was hit by a 8.9 earthquake creating a 13-foot tsunami that washed away cars and buildings; there have been reports of injuries in Tokyo. TV footage shows the massive damage it has caused, carrying houses, cars and even boats with it. The quake was struck at 2:46 pm with series of aftershocks which included a 7.4 magnitude 30 minutes after; the USA Geological Survey upgraded the first quake to a magnitude 8.9 while Japan's meteorological agency recorded it at 7.9. NHK warned the people on the Pacific coast of Japan to find safer ground. The agency said the quake struck six miles deep and 80 miles off the eastern coast. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii sent warnings to Japan, Russia, Marcus Island and Northern Marianas; there has been tsunami watch in Guam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Hawaii. 

     This is just another tragic event occurring and waiting to happen to other countries. The good thing is there are warnings for people to expect what is going to happen, but we don't know if they have enough time to find safer ground. It is just sad to see humanity getting hurt or even dieing and after these recent events in the past years we don't know what is going to happen next. The "Dooms Day" on 2012 is not 100% false, I think it is a process that will take years for human population to decrease significantly. The positive to this is we can find ways to prevent from people getting hurt; like the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii. As a human being I feel the safety for everyone and I know everyday something new is created to save humanity. There are many ways of dieing but in this case it is natural events. This is mother nature and she is on our side, we just have to find ways to make her happy and on this planet I personally don't see much of that.  

Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2011/03/11/japan_earthquake_causes_damage_injuries/   

Photo Credit:
http://www.hotncurrent.com/

Dalai Lama Prepared to Give Up Political Role

      On Thursday Dalai Lama announced that he will retire from political head of Tibetan exile movement. "Tibetans need a leader, elected freely by the Tibetan people, to whom I can devolve power," the exiled spiritual leader said in a statement. On March 14 the parliament will meet in Dharamsala, India and to decide whether to accept his request; he always believes in democracy. If these changes are made the people would elect a new leader. Dalai Lama has had so many requests to stay but he says it is for the benefit of the Tibetans in the long run. He really feels the faith and trust from the Tibetans and that people will soon understand his decision. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the Dalai Lama a "religious crook" and spokeswomen Jiang Yu said, "He has said many times he is leaving but this seems to be one of his tricks to deceive the international community." There were 11 people arrested Thursday for showing "Free Tibet" banners and shouting anti-Chinese slogans. About 52 years, Dalai Lama fled to China on March 10, 1959 after a failed uprising; the exile group is stationed in northern Dharamsala, India. "Sooner or later, I have to go. I'm over 75, so next 10 years, next 20 years, one day I will go."

     Instead of the Dalai Lama retiring I think that he should take a little step down from his position and eventually little by little he can retire. First drop down from position to a second man in command perhaps or a regular member in the group. He has said these things before and we won't know how the Tibetan community will react once he retires. He is really old now and maybe he is trying to preserve his health. If Dalai Lama trusts the people he is working around to control the Tibetan community and worried about his health then he should retire. His spirituality is what keeps the communities strong. Can other new leaders contribute to this or can they add a new benefit?   

Link and Photo:
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/10/india.dalai.lama/index.html

Another G20 Case

     During a Queen Street West demonstration on June 26, 2010 a 42 year old man was injured and the SIU (Special Investigations Unit) has been looking for witnesses from this new case. The victim Canute Fernandes suffered a fractured right arm, and shoulder; he was later taken to Toronto East General for treatment. After interviews with many police and witnesses there could not be an answer on how Canute was injured. There is no proof that the police hurt the victim and the provincial agency was unable to identify the arresting officers. The SIU recieved new images of Fernandes' arrest and injuries from Reuters. SIU wants to talk with the one holding the camera and any information must be called at 416-622-2293. Dorian Barton who broke his arm has filed a $250 000 civil lawsuit to Toronto Police; Joseph Thompson claimed a police officer broke his nose during a protest. Toronto Police Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani was charged with assault with a weapon in connection to the arrest of Adam Nobody.

      There is a reason there are police officers in the street for the G20, to protect the superior leaders by closing streets and creating laws at that time. I think the people have a right to protest in the street but to some extent that they are not causing damage to the city. I think that the police have a right to stop the people from protest, but to an extent where they are not hurting the civilians. In a final conclusion it is both the peoples fault but in this particular case I am favouring a little more towards the person. We don't know if he was just in the street and was aggrevated by irregular behaviour of the police and street closure. I am pretty sure he was just protesting and not going absolutely crazy and breaking police cars. This is a democratic country we shouldn't be protesting like animals nor having police officers that are willing to arrest any protester or hurting anyone. I think the people should have just stayed calm until the G20 was done and the police officers should have been trained in a more sophisticated way and to simply arrest crazy protesters instead of beating them up.   

Link and Photo:
http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/news/local/article/117992--siu-reopens-another-g20-case  

Harpers to Attend Royal Wedding

         Prime Minister Stephan Harper and wife Laureen are guests alongside many royals and dignitaries in the upcoming Prince William and Kate Middleton wedding in Westminster Abbey next month. Harper is looking forward to the wedding since Canada is one of the six countries in the Commonwealth and also since the newlyweds will be coming to a Canada Tour three months after the wedding; wedding is on April 29. Officials have invited 1900 people to attend with 50 members from the British royal families and 40 from various European families. Famous guests invited are British Prime Minister David Cameron, Victoria and David Beckham, rapper Kanye West and singer Elton John. Some world leaders like Barack Obama have not been invited. From June 30 to July 8, William and Kate will coming to Canada and they will stop in Alberta, Northwest Territories, Prince Edward Island and Ottawa. Harper had previously invited the two before the wedding invitation.

         I think this is just another perfect scenario to show Britain's relationship with Canada as appose to the one it has with America. Barack Obama was not been invited perhaps because he had not "served well" for his nation and possible speculation of a little racism in my opinion. For Canada though, I think this will be helping the tourism industry, for such royalty to enter our land and in multiple places with not much attention like the Northwest Territories and P.E.I is a great honour. I think the Harper's made a great decision accepting the invitation as mostly anyone would. This is a once in a life time opportunity and the Harper's should cherish this moment. It also gives more advertisement of Canada not just in the Commonwealth but in the entire world since there is major attention on the United Kingdom. Two question though? Why is Kanye West invited? To add the modern touch of music in a world audience? And how come the British Kingdom will never fall and always be in the entire world's "favour," but other countries like in Europe or the Middle-East have lost their monarchies? This may be a little off topic but it was something that really came in my head. Anyway moments should always be cherished and you must always look on the positive side of life.   

Link and Photo:
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20110309/harper-accepts-royal-wedding-invitation-110309/

Cautions Uprise from Hormone Injection Diet

         Hormones like hCG are injected into people in order for them to loose weight; this is a fad currently trending since the 1970 despite the doctors concerns. In order to properly inject people must eat or inject a pregnancy hormone; human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, in combination with an ultra low-calorie diet.The hormone suppresses your appetite by making you think you are pregnant; it stores the burned fat in places like the upper arms, thighs and belly. Diane Gariepy of Edmonton recommends the diet as it helped her reduce the amount of insulin and lost 40 pounds; her doctor supports the hCG diet; you have to follow it with 500 calories of eating a day. Dr. Tom Ransom said there are risks such as headaches, depression, acne, hair loss, breast tenderness and in more rare cases, blood clots which can be fatal if they travel to the lungs. The slight increase of blood pressure and cholesterol supports the inquiry that hCG causes cardiovascular problems; according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Out of 14 trials 12 have resulted in no weigh-loss benefit.

          I think that using a hormone to loose weight is a very unusual and cheating form of way to accomplish a task. This is the same as using steroids like Barry Bonds to hit so many home runs in one season despite his great skills. I mean he has all the talent to do as much as he did with steroids; it was pointless of him to use it. This is the same thing for this human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), you are using a cheat to help you loose weight and like steroids there are side effects and some that have not yet been discovered. Tasks in life can be accomplished with time and effort but to cheat seems very unethical. A person can put at least an hour of exercise a day and research proper nutrition and discipline in order to loose some weight. Not just that there are other methods than injecting a hormone, like specific diets and exercises that can all be found online or by your doctor. This really brings up the question, do people have patience these days? And why is cheating being such a big factor currently? These days everyone feels indifferent and do not care of what is right and what is wrong. The answer is...there is no right or wrong answer its up to what a human being thinks is right and wrong; that is the true answer. Anything can be accomplished if you put your mind to it.    

Link and Picture:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/03/09/hcg-diet-hormone.html

Rafsanjani Looses Position

         President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is going to replace former president Ayatollah Ali Akbar Rafsanjani (president from 1989-1997). This is starting create questions around Ahmadinejad from eliminating opposition. Rafsanjani was more in favour of of Mir Hussein Musavi, another political leader. The Assembly of Experts (religious groups that lead Iran's political direction) had a vote to fire Mr. Rafsanjani. Press TV showed that 63 members of the 86-member assembly voted to replace him for Ayatollah Mohammed Reza Mahdavi Kani. In the West Rafsanjani is considered moderate pragmatic compared to the rest of the Iranian politicians. Luckily for Rafsanjani he still has a position on the assembly but not chairmen anymore; he is head of the Expediency Council which mediates lawmakers and the Guardian Council. The Assembly has really emphasized its growth since the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. Rafsanjani's children have been arrested due to abrupt protests. Mehdi Hashemi, his son, head of a subway project in Tehran has quit his job.

      I do not really like talking about such subjects as it is a risk. My true feelings for such a case is indifferent. We know that all these people had helped create the revolution and if one gets angry in the other the public sees the true message. That would be they all work for each other and if one of them gets fired it is probably because they want relatively, new, young people with more future superioriority, in order to maintain the Islamic regime. The feeling is indifferent because we all know what has happened to the country. And interestingly enough his children have a different last name; potentially to disguise it so other people can not find out if their son or daughter is related to such dictators and for secure purposes. This raises the question of human identity. Do you really know the person you hear on the news about, your best friend, your family? Its always good to get to know people wherever they are from because you will never find out the truth. It may be hard but the puzzle pieces are all there. Who even knows if Press TV is saying the right information (controlled by government).

Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/world/middleeast/09iran.html?_r=1&hp  

Photo:
http://www.payvand.com/news/10/sep/1134.html

Remote Control War

    Robots that kill in movies have not come to far from the future. The question is how will the robots not only change warfare but mankind itself. In Indiana Springs, Nevada a group of ordinary men go to war to fight insurgents in Afghanistan and on boarders of Pakistan, luckily they are remote control warriors. In other words people go to a station in Indiana Springs and control robots to kill their enemy across boarders for war purposes. Since the war in Iraq there has been an increase of 7000 wars robots in air and 12,000 robots on ground used in combat, 43 other countries like Canada also use these remote controlled machines. The robots save soldiers lives but the problem is robots can become autonomous with lethal weapons. The question is if robots are killing human beings is it ethical and what are the new rules of engagements?  Other question will rise in the future...what will robots do in the future when they can decide on there own? Western countries have the upper hand in this case but other countries will start developing soon enough. Robots are future suicide bombers? No body on your side is killed but opposing casualties are?

     War has always been between two or more opposing countries sending out casualties to protect and serve for their country. I have never been a big fan of war to begin with...I appreciate the tradition and what we learn from it but taking it to a whole other level is transforming the definition of ethics. I don't think it is right to send out robots to fight in war in order to protect your own people and eliminate the opposition. In some cases these robots have not only killed the enemy but the poor civilians around them. I actually watched the documentary on this Remote Control War and Jody Williams a Noble Peace Prize Winner claimed that it was not ethical to have controlled machines similar to video games in order to kill others. I agree with her because it isn't fair and god knows how many innocent people will be killed. I think soon enough there will be autonomous robots that will soon kill any person in there way. My final opinion is that the robots used for carrying wounded soldiers like the "The Bear" and those robots used for going over land mines and finding trip wires is very useful. In this sense it is ethical since it is saving soldiers lives and not killing other people. We don't need robot planes or machines to kill others cause if we continue this path, who knows what world wide war could come ahead of us?    

 

Pictures and Source:

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/doczone/2011/remotecontrolwar/

Libya's Dictator Vows to Resign

     Moammar Kadafi leader of the Libya revolution in 1969 has vow to resign against "greasy rats;" those against the regime in the words of Kadafi. Moammar has done quite a bit to stop the popular uprisings in Libya influenced by other countries. Reports from witnesses and diplomats have suggested that Kadafi has used warplanes, helicopter gunships and foreign mercenaries against anti-government protests. The UN Security Council has met in New York to discuss the unarmed opposition forces in Tripoli. Many Libyan ambassadors have stepped down from their position; the deputy ambassador to the UN denounced the attacks as genocide. People have not seen such a bad government attack to their own people. According to Kadafi he has not fled the country.

   
     I feel that the people in the country have a right to show what kind of country they really want to fall in and that they should be able to have votes to choose their president. This dictatorship has lasted over 40 years and should come to an end. But I want to look at this in another perspective, one with possible consequences. This dictator has not really done anything bad towards the people of Libya until they started protesting against him. In my opinion countries like America and United Kingdom who follow democracy are influencing young people from dictated countries to follow along. Eventually this influence of young people creating a dictatorship could lead to power in the hands of countries like USA and the UK. We don't know what will happen if Kadafi goes and if the country will get worse or better. There is so much knowledge being withheld and sometimes or most of the time we don't know if we are getting the right information.      

Link
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-20110223,0,6760656.story

Photo Credit:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2011/02/22/mb-libya-protest-legislature-manitoba.html

Mysterious Delay on TTC Today

    Today on the TTC citizens on their way to work were halted in a jammed subway, not knowing what had caused the subway to stop. Apparently the announcer on the subway system could not deliver the message because the audio system was not correctly established. The subway has always had poor speaker systems. There had been a broken rail discovered in King Station during rush hour. This caused cancellation between Bloor and Union Station for an hour and a half. TTC spokesperson Jessica Martin said "When a delay happens, we’re focused on safety, making sure trains get turned around. So communicating is kind of secondary.” She said that the broadcasts come from transit control, so they pick up noise. There are e-mails and Twitter alerts that will be sent to say what has happened; impossible in underground Subway. Martin says there should be screens in front of ticket booths to say if there are alerts about the station, but it is too costly. Another costly system is to have Wi-Fi or cellular connections in the subway.

   There is two big problems and one can be solved with a median level of difficulty and the other one is too expensive. The really expensive one is Wi-Fi connection for all subway systems the median one would be communication through the trains. Martin said communication is secondary and turning the train around is primary, but communication is the really big issue here and both should be a primary situation. If you want the people to be safe sure turn the train around, but tell them exactly what is going on through a sophisticated speaker. I think the TTC could possibly raise the prices for the tickets a little bit higher and just use that money to make up for a proper announcement; people will understand why they got to pay a little bit more and they will appreciate the service. There can be announcements stationed in a more subtle place instead of a transit control. Communication is what allows humans to interact with each other and if something goes really wrong other than knowing to turn the train around its best in the people to know. I think that the people in the TTC deserved to know what happened and I am glad that the TTC admits to it. They should get an appropriate speaker system. Communication is key, and it is something used in all aspects of life.

Web Link and Picture:

http://www.thestar.com/news/ttc/article/938418--why-today-s-ttc-delay-was-a-mystery-to-many-riders

Mubarak Potential for Stepping Down Tonight

   According to NBC Hosni Mubarak will step down Thursday, after more than two long weeks of protests. Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq told BBC Arabic that discussion is still in progress for the president of stepping down. Another report, from Reuters suggests that the information minister says Mubarak will stay in power. President Obama and CIA director have reports Mubarak stepping down. There are so many protests from labourers and this disturbs telecommunication as the people who work on them go on strike for anti-government protests. At this point people are taking advantage to protest for better wages and conditions; so far Mubarak has said he won't step down until September.

     With all these reports saying Mubarak will leave, shows a connection between America and Egypt's government. So I am assuming we definitely don't know if Mubarak will step down. The people seem a little unconscious about the future, if all you are focusing on is Mubarak stepping down, then who is going to replace him is it going to be better or worse. I think the country is just fine, it isn't like a messed up country like Iran where you would go protest against their brutal authoritarian government. Sure Egypt is authoritarian, but it isn't severe or bad at all; tourism, extremely prosperous, especially compared to rest of Middle-East and Africa; although people don't have too many rights they aren't thinking if it could get worse. If Mubarak was to step down, I think someone on his side, secretly, would replace him and continue Mubarak's legacy, but without full control of Hosni Mubarak. The protests have been going on for too long so I am assuming Mubarak will step down soon, but his legacy will continue for a little while. Until September election, there will be potential parties (hopefully good parties) forming for a democratic election. I think Mubarak should step down because it is what the whole country wants; so many people are against one government. I think if Mubarak steps down, it is for his own safety, but you never know if it is good for the country, maybe it will turn out worse. The future can never be told but there are clues and experience that can help you find out!


Link and Photo Credit:
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2011/02/10/egypt-cairo-tahrir-protest.html

Students Protest Beaver Pond Forest Development

      The Beaver Pond Forest in Kanata is under housing development, so students protested in order to stall tree-clearing work. There were 20 students in the effort that sang about the forest, about 100m from the entrance to the Goulbourn Forced Road. The students were surrounding the machinery demanding that the city and province get an assessment on the environment and archaeology; students shortly left when police asked them to leave. A group of developers named KNL, is going to clear a 29 hectare section of Kanata's South March Highlands; this consists of 2 square kilometres of Beaver Pond Forest where they are making 3300-unit subdivisions. There were similar protests a week ago regarding that the forest belong to interests of Algonquin people. There was a previous archaeological study in 2002 that was approved by Tourism and Cultural Ministry from KNL and later confirmed the decision in 2010; it was approved by Ottawa's city council in 2004. In fall the city planned to swap land with the developer in order to protect a small portion of the land through constructions of the houses, but the city could not afford to pay 40 million dollars to preserve land from the developer.

      I feel that the people protesting is the right of a citizen as they have a strong opinion and are trying to protect their own land. What the city should have done is estimate what would happen in the following years after agreeing with the developers; now they can have another assessment. I feel that already there is enough places that have construction but since Kanata doesn't have much people they could use a little room. I feel that 29 hectares is a load too much to cut and perhaps to make a compromise to have the houses integrated into the forest so all around the houses and yards there are trees, that way we are preserving nature (cut as little trees as they can) and building the benefits of subdivisions. This solution would probably be the best but most likely the government would have to pay the developers a lot of money. So they would have to compromise a certain price that is a win-win situation for the developers and the citizens. People have to start thinking about the environment or else we could not live a healthy lifestyle, maybe that is what these protesters are doing.

Information Link:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2011/02/08/ottawa-kanata-protest.html

Photo Credit:
http://lecanadian.com/2010/12/13/kanata-land-speculators-pursue-environmental-destruction-of-ecological-habitat-beaver-pond/

Charges Against Ex-Mayor

     Investigators of Operation Hammer have arrested Sylvie St-Jean former mayor of Boisbriand, Quebec and seven other people in connection of corruption scandal occurring from 2003-2009. The suspects have been charged with fraud ,bribery, conspiracy, extortion and since they showed up to court today (Thursday), they have been picked up and released to court. According to Sgt. Guy Lapointe, the whole scheme was construction companies bribing elected official's for cash incentives and in return for huge municipal contracts. The municipality would give big contracts to these businesses while they supported the municipality and gave them gifts. Operation Hammer (Opération Marteau) is a unique squad founded in 2009 to investigate allegations of corruption and collision in Quebec's construction industry. Lino Zambito an owner of Infrabec was arrested Thursday for teaming with St-Jean to eliminate the opposition. Zambito encouraged opposition leaders to drop down such as Patrick Thiffaut and Marlene Cordato. When Cordato refused two men broke in her house and assaulted her husband. In Radio-Canada, Zambito agreed for telling Cordato to drop down for the benefit of the community not paying taxes. St-Jean had denied favouring city contracts; Cordato won anyway in 2009 and the suspects will be questioned in courthouse of Joliette,Quebec.

    I think illegal activities of such as transaction between municipalities and constructions in favour of contracts and support should have consequences. There are so many "behind the scenes" work that no one really knows about, but unfortunately for St. Jean it was revealed. I think that if the suspects are alleged for the crime that they should go to jail, but not for a long time. I think St-Jean had done a great job for the city but not of that information is described in the article so instead of her going to jail, perhaps she can get fired from her job. If St-Jean had won then that would have been a different story, but before 2009 she was mayor and that was the time frame of the crimes. I know she wanted the support and for her to win but there are other ways to get it without cheating ,and her losing just made her look worse. The final decision should be that all the people involved should be detained as political prisoners and depending on how bad the situation is how the length shall be determined.

Link:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2011/02/03/boisbriand-hammer-corruption.html

Photo Credit:
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/elections-municipales/200910/16/01-912017-collusion-a-boisbriand-le-dgeq-verifie-sil-y-a-eu-infraction.php

Religions Role in Egypt

     As we can see in Egyptian protests everyone is fighting for democracy and they are influenced by AlBaradei that it will come through religion and that would be Islam. All access to Internet and cell phone reception has been cancelled in Cairo, Alexandria and other possible cities. The Muslim Brotherhood is the largest organization opposing the country so they decided to take part in the protest. As this group keeps gaining more power it will eventually gain a lot of supporters for President Hosni Mubarak to drop down. Other religious leaders do not support the protests because they believe that the democratic government will not benefit at all. One group would be the Salafists who are Sunni-Muslims, many radical Salafists were arrested because of the New Year's bombing of a Coptic church. On another note some religious groups have been banned from protest like Sufis who are Shia-Muslims. So instead they stayed in the mosques and did not participate in the illegal protests. According to Hamid Said, the founder of Nasar Center for Human Rights in Alexandria, said, "You did not have the Muslim Brotherhood protesting here, you had normal people protesting against their problems." The main problem is that people are against the police brutality and political oppression. Mr Said stated that, he was well qualified for a position but lost to a son of a government minister. Abu Omar said that many conservative Muslims do not support a secular politician like Mohamed AlBaradei, Nobel Prize winner and former head of International Atomic Energy Agency. Abu Omar was kidnapped by the Central Intelligence Agency in 2003. It is not effective anymore that the government blocks social access. 

     I would like to start off by saying people do not learn from prior events and seem to be so blunt. Before I support this statement I would like for you to know that I think people in Egypt should not protest and let president Mubarak stay in power; they have caused so much damage to their own country and other people. In 1979 Iran was fled with protests from people who were influenced by Islamic leaders that Iran was not religious enough. So all the fault was blamed on the King of Iran and he saw that most people turned against him. The Islamic leaders promise the people that they would go to a place more than heaven if they protested until a new revolution had come. The country was one of the most prosperous and visited places in the world until the Islamic leaders took over and killed millions of people and made stupid laws that all women have to wear a hijab (covers female hair) and that there were separate sex schools and a whole load of BS. People these days don't know all about this and it should be known but I feel that news coverages especially the ones in UK and USA are controlled by the government to cause revolutions, by favouring a side or delivering information in a bias manner to influence viewers. The same thing is happening to Egypt, if AlBaradei becomes president then what I expect to happen is for him to take dictatorship and make the country worse than Mubarak. President Mubarak has taken care of the country well in the past years and there is no need to make the country better because everyone in Egypt is living a well life, also compared to most Middle-Eastern countries. And how can you trust AlBaradei if all you are focusing on is getting rid of Mubarak and not looking at AlBaradei's promises. What has he promised and what has he done? I can tell you! He has influenced the minds of people in Egypt that Mubarak is evil and should drop down ,that is all he has done; he isn't going to bring democracy he is just going to be another dictator like the Khamenei in Iran. As an Iranian I have knowledge about some people that most people in the world don't. People in Egypt are influenced by AlBaradei because he wants to strengthen the religion just like what happened in Iran.

      

        In Iran the Islamic people who run the government and the ones who support them are called Mullahs. AlBaradei's sister-in-laws husband is a Mullah that works in the Iranian government-I know this because my family in Iran has the sources, but countries like America and Britain will not expose such things because they are the main cause of such tragedies. Iran's goal is to eliminate Israel off the map and what better way to do it when you are closer to it in Egypt. What better person like AlBaradei, former head of International Atomic Energy Agency to operate such a job. This may have gone a little too far, but I highly doubt AlBaradei will reign for a long time although I can see Mubarak will drop down. The only reason he is staying so far is he doesn't want the country to get worse; he is doing it for Egypt's safety. I'm not choosing sides, I am just simply saying people have to start putting clues together because if we don't then this world is going to collapse. It is kind of late now for Egypt!  

Photo 1 and Web Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/world/middleeast/28alexandria.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=egypt%20protests&st=cse

Photo2:
http://vietbao.vn/The-gioi/CHDCND-Trieu-Tien-la-mot-moi-nguy-hiem-hat-nhan/20020857/159/

Photo 3:
http://www.cheapholidays24.co.uk/holidays-to-egypt-to-see-all-its-beauty.aspx

Iran and Denial of Preconditions

         The six-nations have talked to Iran about stopping the nuclear enrichment program but they have not influenced Iran's decision as the country is going to continue building on their foundation. This involves the enrichment or Uranium which was against the preconditions of the UN Security council; the council has decided to lift sanctions. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said that whenever Iran is ready to turn positive they can give the union a call and agree on the preconditions. Countries such as China, Germany, Britain, France, Russia and the United States are worried that the enrichment program may be used to create weapons. Tehran denies that it wants to make nuclear arms and make peaceful energy for its increasing population. There are many suspicions that Iran uses Uranium to make warhead material because Iran is not co-operating with the UN. On Friday the six-nations and Iran had a meeting regarding the enrichment and all that Iran had brought up was concerns of US base in Iraq, Israel's nuclear arsenal and global weaponry. By the looks of the action it seems Iran is asking for more sanctions and more amends on the nuclear facilities.

Second Part - Opinion

    First off I would like to start off with something on a personal note. I am an Iranian born in Canada and the opinion of most people these days on Iran is terrorism. What they don't understand is that the people that live in Iran have suffered a lot from the Islamic Movement in 1979; I have nothing against Islam but the people who caused the resolution are scattered all over the country making people's perspectives of the country just brutal. The question is should Iran accept the preconditions or keep improving their nuclear program and face sanctions? I think Iran should accept preconditions because if they keep denying them then they don't know what more sanctions are to come.

       Currently, in Tehran, Iran there has been a magnitude of construction and usage of buildings, nuclear plants and cars causing tremendous amounts of pollution - the worst pollution in its history and one of the worst in the world. It just shows how ignorant the government is and if they deny the preconditions it will make themselves look weak. If the government shows themselves as really weak, then Iranian citizens will take advantage and start another protest and perhaps lead to a new revolution. By not accepting these preconditions their country will probably be in economic downfall; current sanctions against Iran are: no shipping of arms, no banking outside of the country, no financial transactions, etc. As you can see Iran should just accept the sanctions because it is going to get a lot worse for the citizens of Iran and perhaps the people who work in the government. So much for "peaceful purposes." I think even if Iran accepts they will always find their sneaky way of enriching their nuclear programs. If the other countries are scared and know Iran isn't going to listen, why don't they build their own nuclear plants. Are we really getting the right information? Information is withheld and it raises the suspicion that, what if countries like UK, USA and Iran all work for each other? 

Web Source:

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2011/01/22/iran-nuclear-talks.html

First Picture:
http://chinaconfidential.blogspot.com/2010_08_01_archive.html

Second Picture:
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=233173

Third Picture:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/thegodblog/item/seven_synagogues_torched_in_tehran/

Sudan Will Accept Seperation According to President Bashir

          Omar al-Bashir president of Sudan has expected that the south of Sudan is going to secede themselves if there was a referendum vote the next year. There has been tremendous tension between south and northern Sudan even though the north-south war had ended 5 years ago. Southern politicians have accused President Bashir that the referendum vote is going to be fixed, so that there are "no votes" for segregation. The reason the north wants to keep the south is because of the oil abundance. President Bashir has promised that the north will act friendly to the south, but there is quite a great deal of skepticism. The southerns believe due to the war crimes caused by Bashir in Darfur (ethnically divided from Central Sudan), that there are ethnic groups in the south to destabilise the region. Since oil makes up 90% of the wealth in southern Sudan, the southern leader Mr. Kirr has said if there is separation in the country then the south will still distribute oil until the proper facilities are built. Mr. Kiir has accused that the conflicts that killed over 2000 people in the south have been in the fault of Bashir's allies—Bashir denies the charges.
   

         I feel that Sudan should undergo a separation in order to stop from conflict and pursue the peoples rights. Sudan has had too many wars between north and south just based on religion. The north part of Sudan is Muslim and the south is mainly Christian and others. Salva Kirr the Southern Sudan president stated that "The north and south will continue to be economically and politically connected whatever the choice of people of Southern Sudan." If Sudan separates into two then there will be no war. Human rights is the fairness and equality of every human to be treated equally whether gender, religion or race; now these laws don't seemed to be enforced in Sudan but it sure can be interpreted. If the reason the north wants to stay united with the south is due to oil abundance and Mr. Kirr promises that both sides will be economically friendly then there no reason there shouldn't be a segregation. Not only is the economic base still available for both sides but the conflicts are gone and less people are threatened. This segregation can change the life of many people but its always hard to predict the positives and the consequences.  

Link to Article and Pictures:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8468760.stm