Yemeni Bomber Leaves Behind Fingerprint as a Reminder of Taliban's Strength

The FBI has uncovered that the Al Qaeda's top bomb (Ibrahim al-Asiri) maker has been the maker of the bombs of the recent attacks on the U.S. This just goes to show how the death of Osama has not changed anything with the war. After the death of Bin Laden the Al Qaeda responded in their eulogy that there would be violence to follow. This means that it is likely that there will be more bombing attempts on American soil, and that the Yemeni section of Afghanistan will play a more important role in their efforts in the war.


I think that we should pay a closer attention to this Yemeni group. These people obviously are playing an important role in the Al Qaeda and need to be stopped. This group has the Al Qaeda's leading bomb maker who has been linked to several terrorist attacks before. We need to take care of this immediately or risk having a serious attack on North American soil.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/995866--yemeni-bomber-leaves-behind-fingerprint-as-reminder-of-taliban-s-strength

Denmark to Lay Claim to The North Pole

The Scandinavian nation Denmark plans to plant its flag on the North Pole, and other spots on the Arctic. This would create a territorial dispute between three countries, Canada, Russia, and Denmark. These countries are looking to obtain the natural resources such as oils, and minerals. The countries have to wait for the ice to melt first though, once that happens there should be a large amount of resources waiting for them. Canada has a deadline to present their underwater maps and other various scientific data to help them get territory in the north pole. 


I think that these countries shouldn't be worrying as much in the resources of this area but be worrying about what the effects would be if all of the north pole were to melt. The effects of this would be catastrophic. The sea level would meters and would flood whole cities. Also I wouldn't be surprised if this would create tension within countries possibly starting a war. 

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/992910--denmark-to-lay-claim-to-the-north-pole

Japan Vows to Stabilize Nuclear Plant in 6 to 9 Months

Japan said that it will stabilize and shut down the nuclear plants in 6 to 9 months as planned. The effects of the plant has caused two more towns around the nuclear plant to be evacuated for concern of people having contracted nuclear diseases. The governments timeline was questioned when they found out that the damage on the plant was worse then they expected. There has been a slight bit of good news though; one of the reactors has cooled down to 100C this is close to the shutdown for the reactor. All towns within a 20km radius have been evacuated and the people within these towns have been adjusting to the lifestyle of living in the evacuation centers.


I think that the goal of 6 to 9 months is reasonable goal for the Japanese. These people have been thrown out of their home for their own safety. These people shouldn't to live in evacuation centers that is why it is important for the government to get these people back to their homes and fix the problems with the nuclear plants.   

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/991884--japan-vows-to-stabilize-nuclear-plant-in-6-to-9-months

Woman Asks NYC Subway Rider Not to Smoke

A woman was stabbed in the face with a pen after she asked a man to not light his cigarette on the NYC subway. There is no smoking permitted on the subways in New York and the man who committed the assault had no right to do so. Quickly after the women suggested not to smoke an argument ensued and two riders attempted to restrain the man but he got lose and stabbed the women in the face with a pen he grabbed from his pocket. The man was charged with felony assault and criminal possession of a weapon. The women was treated for her wounds at a hospital and was released the next day.


I think that the man who committed the crime should not have tried to smoke on the train. There was no need for it only got him jail time and a hefty fine. The women who tried to stop him from smoking did the right thing by trying to stop him from smoking.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/977558--woman-asks-nyc-subway-rider-not-to-smoke-gets-stabbed-in-face-with-pen

Robot Reports High Radiation at Japan Nuclear Plant

Two robots were sent into the Japanese power plant and returned reporting that it was to dangerous for repair crews to return to the camp to try and fix the reactor so that the civilians can return to their homes. Officials are hoping that they will gradually reach the plant and allow residents to return to their homes. The list of things to fix at the plant are constantly growing they now discovered that there is contaminated water in other areas of the plant, also some pellets have begun to melt. The Japanese have allowed their workers to get a total of 250 millisieverts per year more then double their original regulation, at 1,000 millisieverts is were the body starts to show signs of radioactive sickness.


I think that the government should have reacted quicker on this problem they should have noticed that the nuclear plant was getting out of control and should have contained them right away. Now the Japanese have a large problem on their hands and at the moment they can't do anything about it.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/976260--robot-reports-high-radiation-at-japan-nuclear-plant

Japan Emperor Makes First Trip to Disaster Zone

The Japan Emperor and Empress made their first trip back to the disaster area of the earthquake and tsunami which occurred on March 11, 2011. While they were at the disaster zone they visited a evacuation shelter not far from Tokyo. The Emperor and Empress knelt and spoke to the lucky people who were able to get out of the earthquake while they bowed their heads and weeped. The Emperor and Empress plan to go to other sites such as this in the upcoming weeks.


I think that the Emperor and Empress should have done this earlier. I don't understand why it took so long for them to go back to this disaster they should pay their respect to those who have lost the lives of their loved ones and who have lost their homes.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/974584--japan-emperor-makes-first-trip-to-disaster-zone

Mom Convicted After Withholding Cancer Drugs From Son

A woman was convicted of attempted murder when she stopped giving her cancer ridden son his medication, because she thought that the side affects were going to kill him. She was also convicted of child endangerment, assault, and battery for failing to giver her son his medication for at least five months. The mother was notified prior to the medication that there was a 85% success rate with the medication. The mother continued not to giver her child the medication and he died in 2009 at the age of 9 years old.


I think that this woman was dumb for not giving her child the medication he so desperately needed. If she was so worried about the side effects of the medication she should have consulted a doctor to either switch medication or to make sure that the symptoms were normal for the medication.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/973461--mom-convicted-after-withholding-cancer-drugs-from-son

Ignatieff Pledges More Health Care Cash for Provinces

The liberals want to raise the health care funding. Ignatieff promised Canadians that he would increase health care expenses by 6% per year past 2014 for a significant amount of time. This is when the current health expenses are set to expire. No one has approached this in their campaigns yet, but Ignatieff is planning to change that. The Liberals believe that the Conservatives are focusing to much on the new fighter jets and jails, they think that this will leave expenses towards health care will be very limited.


I think that the liberals should go through with increasing plans for health care. I think that other parties should work their platforms around developing more health care costs, this would aid there chances of winning the upcoming weeding. 

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/971467--ignatieff-pledges-more-health-care-cash-for-provinces

Election Set For May

After more than five years as the leader of minority government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper finally lost the confidence of the House of Commons on Friday and will ask Governor General David Johnston Saturday morning to dissolve Parliament for a general election expected to be held on May 2. No prime minister of a minority government in Canada's history went as long as Harper without losing a vote of confidence.


I think that harper was doing a fine job and that there was no need for a re-election. These pricey and are very time consuming for the population. Although the party has been known for making a couple mistakes along the way there is no immediate reason for change.

http://thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3045056

Who Will Arm the Rebels?

As the tension is building in Libya some are asking for the US to support the rebels in their attempt to over throw Moammar Ghadafi from power. The rebels are beginning to run out of ammunition, and Ghadafi's army has much more utilities. They have war planes, tanks, helicopters, anti-aircraft weapons, rocket launchers, mines, mortars, anti-tank missiles, and lots of machine guns and armored vehicles. Most of this equipment is old and has very few spare parts so they break down easily. James Amos says that, "i think probably the greatest threat are Ghadafi's helicopter-type forces." The rebels have few anti-air defenses. They have a few portable heat seeking missiles which can take down the helicopters, but they have few and there aren't any coming soon.


I think that the US should help out the rebels in their attempt to over throw Ghadafi. The US already supports other countries with their military, why not support the rebels where it would be put to a good cause. I think that if the US supported the rebels they would be praised by many.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/950766--who-will-arm-the-rebels    

Toronto Universities Fed Up With 'Out of Control' Student Parties

On February 2nd, a group of students held a party at a residence in Ryerson University. The party got out of control and cost $4,000 in damage before University staff broke up the party. Disciplinary actions are going to take place for the residence. If the people who caused the damage on up to their crime then the whole floor will be billed for the repairs. The Universities in Toronto are planning on cracking down on more of these destructive parties. Many events that in the past have been known for their craziness are now being canceled by the school, for example a University in BC canceled their cheap beer night because after a investigation by the RCMP for under age drinking they had to shut down the bar. 


I think that these kids should get their act together and instead of partying like this they should be forming small study groups for their upcoming exams. Most of these kids are spending thousands of dollars a year for an education and are throwing it away by drinking, doing drugs, and partying to no extent breaking many things in the process just to have a little fun i don't think that the fun is worth the risk of losing your education.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/949730--toronto-universities-fed-up-with-out-of-control-student-parties

Hunger On the Rise in Canada

The number of people who are malnourished and chronically hungry people in Canada is growing at an alarming rate. This report says that provincial and federal changes to need to be made to protect these peoples income security. The panel said that business must pay their employees enough money so they can afford to buy nutritional food. The number of people going to drop-in center's food center has risen a lot. A single food center has doubled the amount of meals that is giving out a day (100 meals to 200 meals). In March alone across Canada food banks helped 867,948 people.


The number of people going hungry is unacceptable. The government should step in and start to help these people. I think that the government should either raise the income of these people or invest in more income security programs, because too many business are paying their employees to low of a salary to have a nutritious meal.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/947468--hunger-on-the-rise-in-canada-report-warns

New mercury rules would ban thermometers, batteries

The public has until May 12 to comment on the potential banning of products that contain mercury in Canada. If the Mercury containing products there would be a reduction of 4.5 tonnes each year entering the market. Mercury can effect the neurodevelopment and learning development of small children. The main products that contain mercury are thermometers, batteries, and measuring instruments. The government is planning on improving the label on the level of mercury in a product and  how to properly dispose of these kind of products.

I think that if this is such a problem right now that the government should have done something about a long time ago. Many of thermometer and battery companies will feel the effect of this passing, I don't believe that this is the best way for the government to solve this problem. I think that they should use government produced commercials notifying the public about this problem.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/946463--new-mercury-rules-would-ban-thermometers-batteries

Canada's evacuation plan for Libya hits more snags

A second chartered plane is reportedly coming from countries like Amman, Jordan to embattled countries like Tripoli, and Libya to pick up Canadian citizens who want to get out of the country. The flight is expected to return to Rome upon landing in these countries from there the Canadians will be either sent on a flight or boat back to Canada. The first flight today came back empty handed as there was no Canadians waiting at the airport and because these countries are so dangerous right now the plane was unable to wait for someone to show up. With thing starting to heat up in Libya the government wants to get these Canadians out of that country.

I think that these Canadians trapped in these countries should stay at the airport awaiting the arrival of the planes. If these people were able to get a hold of someone in Canada earlier to let them know that they want out of the country I'm sure that they would be able to do that again so they can determine when they should meet at the airport so they can be sent back to Canada.  

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/944741--chartered-flight-leaves-libya-with-no-canadians-aboard-second-flight-on-its-way

Pay $1,800 or Get Out

Deb Matthews has demanded that Ontario Hospitals stop threatening elderly patients with a daily charges of $1,800 so they can free up some beds. The normal pay for a patient should be $53.23 or less. The lack of nursing homes in the GTA has caused an overload of elderly patients staying in the hospital waiting for a bed to free up at a home. Some Ontario hospitals would threaten the elderly patients with outrageous fees so that they would free up that bed an get someone who very ill in. The ministry is sending out reminders to the Ontario hospitals reminding them that they are not allowed to charge these people this amount of money.


I think that what the hospitals are doing is sick, and wrong. They shouldn't be charging these people this amount of money just for a bed while they are waiting for a bed in a nursing home. I think that the government should look into building homes onsite of the hospitals this way if an elderly person comes in they can keep them there for a temporary time until they find a permanent home. They should also look at making more nursing homes in the GTA there is not enough homes for the amount of elderly residents there are in the GTA.

http://www.healthzone.ca/health/newsfeatures/article/943244--province-to-hospitals-stop-threatening-1-800-fees

How an Auto-Corrected Text Message Led to Killing

A man is going to be sentenced for manslaughter after stabbing a friend who took offence to a text message which auto-corrected itself into a threat. The man sent a text message to his friend calling him a 'mutter' which is slang for a wannabe, or a streetwise teenager, but what he wanted to send out was 'nutter' which is slang for someone who is crazy. After that text was sent from the the man the text became more escalated, eventually the man who died came over to the mans house with a knife but the man had tapped two knifes to the backs of doors. By the end of the battle the man had stabbed the other man 104 times. 


I think that phones clearly state weather or not it is going to change a word automatically. Even though victim was murdered he was also the instigator in this fight, thats why I think that they can't put the full blame on the man being convicted. I think that if the man wasn't so vicious with his attack, that he could argue that it was self defense.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/940623--how-an-auto-corrected-text-message-led-to-killing 

Ottawa too Soft on Tax Crimes: Report

An Internal report to see how Canada's efforts to stop tax fraud showed that Canada is letting way too many criminals off the hook with this crime. Most of the criminals caught doing this crime aren't even sent to jail, unlike countries like U.S, Britain, and Australia. This is because tax cops generally go after smaller crimes so that the success right is high and it is quick which results in no one with worse crimes being prosecuted. Even when the criminals are prosecuted most of the tickets go unpaid. Over the past 4 years 1,200 people were convicted with tax dodging, well at the same time 5,000 criminals got away with tax dodging getting away with $428 million dollars of unpaid tax money. The Agency said that it will try to come up with recommendations by Dec. 31 to resolve the problems. 


I think that th government needs to start to focus more on this problem. We can't allow a small margin of people to get away Scot free with this crime and make everyone else continue to pay these taxes. I think that if the government decided to spend some more money on this problem that they would get that money back very easily.

http://www.moneyville.ca/article/940042--ottawa-too-soft-on-tax-crimes-report

Man Accused of Stabbing 4 People After Farts Mocked

On Monday a man stabbed four people at a party after being made fun of because of his flatulence, he is pleading not guilty. He is being charged with murder and assault charges. At the time of the attack Higgins was very drunk. After the man farted he was ridiculed by his friends, and reports say that a women even slapped him. At one he stormed out of the house and returned 45 minutes with three knives, then started stabbing people at random. He stabbed four people Matthew Walton died of his injuries and three others were injured. Higgins told the police that he was angry and he wanted to show people that they shouldn't make fun of him.


I think that this man was obviously intoxicated and very mislead, but this is no excuse for his actions. I think that this man deserves to go to jail for his actions, but I also think that the people who were mocking him shouldn't go unpunished. I think that they think twice when they're about to make fun of someone who just farted next time.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/938932--u-s-man-accused-of-stabbing-4-people-after-farts-mocked  

Why Today's TTC Delay Was a Mystery to Many

The cause for today's delay on the TTC was to fix those quite, hard to understand speakers. TTC was planning on getting the trains out back after their repairs on time but was unable to after finding a cracked train at king station, trains were cancelled from Bloor to Union Station. Previously TTC had tried fixing the problem by sending emails and twitter alerts to passengers about delays, but this only works if a passenger can connect to the internet off their phone, and this is impossible in the tunnels. TTC hopes to put more display screens on platforms so that passengers can easily see if their are delays.


I think that TTC should decide to start to put display screens inside of the train itself, this way people can easily see if their are any delays as well place more screens outside not only on the platform but also outside of the entrances. Although we now how nice clear speakers in the trains with no background noise, and good quality it is only a matter of time until that also breaks down and another repair is due. Is it really worth the wait?

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

U of T is Leasing for New Student Residence

U of T is leasing land for its first for profit student residence. The University is planning on building a luxurious 120 million dollar house which will fit 1000 students. The University is planning to fill these houses with wealthy foreign students. Although the current location of the new housing will be not very populated with business's the University is planning that the new housing will attract different business's to come to that location.

I think that building a luxurious house like this, just relying on the foreign students alone to fill this house will not work out well for the University. I think that the University will have to sell this multi million dollar house because there is not a high enough demand for these types of homes. 

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/930656--u-of-t-leasing-land-for-new-student-residence

Snow Storm Didn't Live Up to the Hype, but we Sure Did

On Wednesday February 2, 2011 the GTA was expected to get a record snow fall of up to 30 centimeters. This snowfall was not met and we only received 13 to 17 centimeters of snow. The word 'Blizzard' startled parents, schools, and daycare with almost every school and daycare canceled because of the weather parents were rushing to get someone to babysit their kid or work from home. The extreme warning for this storm wasn't a horrible thing. With all the people thinking that this storm was going to be one of the worst in years, they stayed inside and drove with greater caution, this made for less crashes. 


The federal government lowered the criteria for a storm system to be called a blizzard. I think that with more blizzards people will decide to be more cautious and the roads will become a safer place when we have bad snow storms like this. I think that if there is any doubt about a storm turning into blizzard weather reporters should say that it is going to be a blizzard so people lean towards staying off dangerous roads.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/932436--snowstorm-didn-t-live-up-to-the-hype-but-we-sure-did

Icebergs could reach Newfoundland by August

An iceberg expert in Halifax says that there is a chance of two huge icebergs from the Arctic to pass by Newfoundland as soon as August. One of the icebergs 84 square kilometers and the other 65 square kilometers both of them combined is about the size of Manhattan. All though there is a chance of witnessing this monster there is also a possibility that it might hit the Hibernia offshore oil platform. 


Well this could be a great attraction for the people of Newfoundland it also shows how global warming is affecting our poles. The affects of global warming have caused lots of loss in the amount of ice that is at our poles. The amount of ice that disappears daily is staggering.


http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/931493--icebergs-could-reach-newfoundland-by-august-expert

147 Tickets a Day Issued for Breaking Ontario's Cellphone Ban

Since the banning of Cellphone usage well driving their has been over 49,000 tickets for breaking this law. Drivers are no longer allowed to call, text, email or use any other entertainment devices well driving. As of not long ago a study showed that there was an average of 147 tickets were given out daily in Ontario for using their cellphones. Even public bus drivers have been caught driving well they have been texting when on route with their passengers.


With these kinds of statistics it is obvious that people are not getting the message. They continue to use their cell phones while driving. This is not a bad thing for police as the average ticket for this offense is $155. With this outrageous amount for a ticket police find it easy to give people these tickets. I think that people who repeatedly get these tickets should consider installing Blue tooth, or consider not using their cellphone well driving because it costing them loads of money.


http://www.thestar.com/news/article/931377--147-tickets-a-day-issued-for-breaking-ontario-s-cellphone-ban

Wal-Mart is Flexing its Muscles

Wal-Mart is planning on opening an additional 40 super stores to their already staggering 325 stores in Canada. They are also planning on retrofitting existing Wal-Marts into the iconic supercentre stores. All of these expansions for Wal-Mart is expected to cost over $500 million dollars in expenses. With all of these retrofits happening to the existing Wal-Marts it will increase the size of each individual Wal-Mart from 79,000 square feet to 200,000 square feet.

The expansion of the Wal-Mart supercentres will decrease all of the sales of local grocery, electronic, and variety stores. It won't just effect those stores though it might also effect local farmers who would be supplying the local grocery stores with their produce. Yes Wal-Mart would rake in a lot of jobs opportunities for people, but there might be an even greater loss of jobs within the town because all of local business's going out of business. That is why I think that all of the expansion that Wal-Mart is doing is bad for the local economy. 

http://www.thestar.com/business/companies/walmart/article/928240--wal-mart-is-flexing-its-muscles