Entry 15 - January 16, 2014

John Kerry urges Syria opposition to attend talks

BBC News         Thursday, January 16, 2014

     Syrians have been at the middle of a conflict for almost three years. US Secretary of State, John Kerry, has urged Syria's opposition to attend next weeks peace talks and on Friday, the main political opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, is going to have a vote on whether or not to go to the talks. Over 100,000 people have died in this three year conflict and an estimated two million people have left the country. One of the Syrian National Council's officials said that they had been privately warned that Britain and the US would rethink their support if Syria's opposition doesn't attend the peace talks. The head of the UN body has been given the job of destroying Syria's chemical weapons. Ahmet Uzumcu, member of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), says that they hope to have the weapon stockpile destroyed by the end of June as promised.

      In my opinion Syria should attend these peace talks without question. It seems almost obvious that they should attend the talks because Britain and the US may reconsider their support if Syria's opposition doesn't go to the talks. Other than that, I'm happy that the chemical weapons are being disposed of after the small scare of the United States having to attack Syria to remove the weapons by force. It's very sad that people are still dying often in this long conflict, but step by step, like the removal of the chemical weapons, I feel that things will get better soon.

Entry 14 - January 8, 2014

Two dead, one injured in Richmond Hill shooting

January 8, 2014            Toronto Star

        On Wednesday, January 7th of 2014, a shooting took place in a Richmond Hill housing co-op parking lot at around midnight. Resident Vivian D. said that she was shocked and terrified after her and her daughter heard 15 to 20 shots being fired last night. "I was scared. I thought it was either fireworks or gunshots,” she said. “And sure enough, soon after I heard the sirens." Vivian has lived in the neighborhood for 5 years and she said that it was a very peaceful and quiet place. The shooting left two people dead and one injured and the police are searching for at least one shooter. The police haven't revealed any information about the victims other than the fact that they were two males and one female.

     Personally, I was very surprised hearing this news on the radio this morning. I always thought of Richmond Hill as a very peaceful place and I didn't hear much about violence going on in Richmond Hill. This news is little scary as well because Richmond Hill is so close to home, it makes one feel less safe. Shootings like this are always very tragic especially for the families of the victims. I'm not sure that the police will find out who the shooter was because there is little evidence and no suspects for now, but I definitely hope that the shooter is identified and caught.

Entry 13 - November 12, 2013

Renisha McBride, 19, was shot in face by Detroit homeowner

BBC News, November 12, 2013

A black woman was shot to death in Detroit, Michigan by a 54 year old man who claims that he fired his shotgun accidentally. The shooter's lawyer states that his client is very upset about shooting 19 year old Renisha McBride, but he feared for his life when shooting her. It is very possible that the stand your ground law will be used in this upcoming case and the shooter may not be charged for McBride's death. The stand your ground law is active in Michigan along with several other states and the law allows the use of deadly force if one feels that their life is in danger. Renisha McBride was shot in the face after being disoriented from a car crash. She was looking for help when she was shot and the homeowner says that he feared a burglary.

In my opinion, this seems very similar to the Trayvon Martin case where Trayvon was shot by George Zimmerman and there was no charge on Martin's death because of the stand your ground law. I think that this law is terrible and should be removed because innocent people are dying because of it like Trayvon and Renisha. There may be some racism involved in this case because the man simply assumed that Renisha was going to rob his house but I think that it's also highly unlikely that a disoriented girl in need of help after a car crash would be intimidating enough for the man to fear for his life.

Entry 12 - November 4, 2013

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford apologizes over drinking 'mistakes'

BBC News, November 4, 2013

As many know, Toronto mayor, Rob Ford, has been under pressure lately because Canadian police revealed a video showing what seems to be the mayor smoking from a crack cocaine pipe. Ford denies being the man seen in this video and states that he has no idea who is smoking from the pipe. The mayor of Toronto apologizes on the radio for drunken behavior and mistakes that he has made, saying that he sincerely apologizes to his family, the citizens, and taxpayers of Toronto. Although he has made these mistakes, Rob states that he won't leave office and that hes going to fight like no-one has seen before to win the next election in October 2014. Ford rejected calls from Toronto city Councillors to step down.

I personally think that mayor Rob Ford should step down and leave office. I think that he should do this because the citizens in Toronto have lost faith and trust in him. This whole thing about the mayor smoking crack has caused a lot of embarrassment in Toronto and I don't think that Rob Ford is a suitable mayor of Canada's biggest city. I understand that the mayor could do as he states and clean up his act, but he's already caused so much trouble as mayor. I don't think that the mayor will regain trust and in my opinion, he should step down from his position as mayor.

Entry 11 - October 21, 2013

Record-high smog in China closes schools, roads

October 21, 2013 BBC

    Winter brings the worst air pollution to China because of a combination of weather effects and a large amount of burning coal for homes and heating systems. When the city's heating systems kicked in on Sunday, the smog was so bad that you would barely be able to see 50 meters in some parts of China.Wu Kai, a 33 year old housewife said that she couldn't see anything outside the window of her apartment and she thought that it was snowing when actually it wasn't snow at all. She says that she hasn't seen the sun in a long time. Because of this pollution, some buses have stopped running and flights have been cancelled. The Chinese government is trying to step up and take action to help with the air pollution. Beijing's city environmental monitoring center warned children, the elderly, and citizens with respiratory illnesses to reduce the outdoor activity. China's action plan is to reduce the amount of coal burning, which makes up 68.4% of the city's energy production, to below 65% by 2017.

    I think that it's insane how many citizens of China have to wear masks around the city because the pollution is that bad. Personally, I wouldn't be able to live in an area like this because I would feel dirty all the time and I'd much rather be breathing clean, fresh air. I don't think that China's government is doing a good job of reducing the amount of air pollution. The decrease in coal usage that China aims to achieve is so small that it's almost insignificant and I don't think that it will help very much at all. They should limit their cars to hybrids only or something like that because some people are even suffering asthma attacks because of this pollution and something drastic needs to be done quickly.

Entry 10 - October 17, 2013

Facebook teen privacy options now allow public posts

October 17, 2013 CBC News

     Teenagers have always been using Facebook and they do this by stating that they're a lot older than their real age when signing up for an account. Now, Facebook changed it's policies so that teenagers starting at 13 can share photos and information with the general public rather than just being able to share with their friends and mutual friends. This option has already been available for users from the age of 18 up. Facebook did this because they want their service to be more enjoyable for teens and allow them to voice their opinion to the general public if they want to be heard. People like Kathryn Montgomery, an American University professor of communications, find that the major problem with this new policy is that the teenagers may not be very safe about what they post to the general public.

     Personally, I think that young teenagers should be allowed to post what they want to the general public because it's what they want and if they think that they can handle it, I believe that they can. If the teens post something inappropriate it's their fault and they should be held responsible for it, it definitely wouldn't be Facebook's fault. I, for one, almost never post Facebook statuses in the first place so I wouldn't be a problem for the worry about teens posting inappropriate content.

Entry 9 - October 16, 2013

Half-tonne Chelyabinsk meteorite chunk pulled from Russian lake

October 13, 2013 CBC News

     Recently, a massive meteorite exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia and injured more than 1,100 people. When the meteor exploded, it is estimated that it costed $33 million in damage and that the meteor was 20 meters in diameter and 11,000 tonnes. There are many videos of this meteor blasting through the sky that have been taken by citizens of Russia and the videos posted on the internet have gotten extremely popular. A 570kg chunk of the meteorite was recovered from the bottom of Lake Chebarkul. The rock was so heavy that it broke the scale used to weigh it and later on the rock broke into three pieces while being weighed.

     I think that it's really interesting how suddenly, out of nowhere, a meteorite can fall out of the sky and cause millions of dollars of damage. This incident was very rare and interesting and I'll admit that I thought the videos on YouTube were really cool. This article makes me wonder if bigger objects will hit the Earth and end up causing a big problem in the future. We'll definitely find out in due time.