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