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. 

Entry 8 - October 16, 2013

Asia’s parents suffering 'education fever'

October 16, 2013 BBC News

A smart 18 year old boy named Zhang Yang was accepted into a prestigious medicine college in Hefei. Zhang Yang's father, Zhang Jiasheng, killed himself by swallowing pesticide because he feared that he wouldn't be able to afford his son's tuition fees. Although this case is extremely rare, it is an example of how East Asian families are spending more and more money on getting their children the best education. The parents of these children are suffering from something called "education fever" where the parents feel forced to make big choices to make them able to pay for the tuition.  Some families even sell their apartments just to send their kids to school. The government believes that this education obsession is damaging society and it's becoming more and more of a problem.

     I think that this is a huge problem for not only the parents who are losing the money, but the kids. The children are put under a lot of pressure to excel in school because many of their parents have already decided what they want the children to do, sometimes the parents decide this even before they are born! Education fever is a huge problem for the East Asian families because it is causing very much stress and depression. A huge factor for Korea's low birth rate would be the amount of money and work it takes to get a child through school. I personally think that East Asia needs to calm down with the school and let the citizens enjoy their lives more with less pressure. They need to get rid of this education fever as soon as they can.

Entry 7 - October 15, 2013

Air pollution 'still harming Europeans' health'

October 15, 2013 BBC News

     The European Environment Agency (EEA) said that tiny particles in the air and ozone are posing a "significant threat". The polluted air is becoming so bad that researchers found a connection between low birth-weight and exposure to air pollution. EEA executive director Hans Bruyninckx says that the European nations have made good progress in reducing the visible signs of air pollution like smog. Not only is the air pollution affecting humans, it's also hurting nature since studies have shown that the air is corrupting some vegetation growth. Professor Bruyninckx says that they need to "adjust their rules and regulations accordingly" to solve this pollution problem.

     I think that air pollution can make a city unbearable. I feel fortunate to live in Aurora where the air is very clean and healthy and I don't need to worry about babies being becoming sick and such. I remember visiting New York once and I noticed that the air pollution was a lot worse than it is in Toronto and I couldn't imagine dealing with that every day. I think that to solve this problem in Europe, citizens are going to need to cut down on excessive driving and try as hard as they can to carpool whenever possible. Most cars that you see on the road have one to two people in it and obviously that isn't good for the economy.

Entry 6 - October 7, 2013

Pentagon-funded Atlas robot refuses to be knocked over

BBC News October 7, 2013

A US robotics company called Boston Dynamics, partly funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), has created two robots that they say, "Hold great promise for amplifying human effectiveness in defense operations." The first robot is called Atlas and it's a robot that is made to look somewhat like a human and it is capable of moving through rough terrain and keeping balance on one leg after being hit by a decently hard force from the side. The second robot is called WildCat and it's a four-legged robot that gallops up to a speed of 16 miles per hour. Darpa wants to improve these robots as they definitely aren't ready for any actual action yet. In December, there will be eight tests for these robots to see how useful they would be in emergency-response situations. Some of these tasks include using power tools and driving a rescue vehicle.

I think that these robots are really interesting, but I don't think that they will actually be used for emergency-response situations. These robots don't seem like they are very developed yet and it would be much easier and more practical for humans to continue taking care of emergency-response scenarios. Not only will these robots take time and hard work to develop further, but they are very expensive to manufacture and improve upon. In conclusion, I do think that it would be very cool having robots for emergencies and defense, but it's much easier to have men and women working these jobs.

Entry 5 - October 6, 2013

Syria chemical arms removal begins

October 6, 2013 BBC News

Syria's chemical weapons are finally being destroyed and the operation is under close control by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW. A member of the OPCW said that "The first day of destruction and disabling is over and missile warheads, aerial bombs, along with mobile and static mixing and filling units, were dealt with. Work continues tomorrow and in the next few days." In total, Syria's arsenal included more than 1,000 tonnes of sarin and the blister agent, sulfur mustard and more banned chemicals. Over 100,000 people have died since the uprising in 2011 and millions more have left Syria.

I think that it is a very good thing that Syria decided to go with the Russian plan and have it's chemical weapons destroyed rather than having to go to war with USA. Syria is still a very troubled place because of the rebels who, for example, made an international outrage at a chemical weapons attack near Damascus in August. In conclusion to this article, I'm happy that there was no war over the chemical weapons threat and things were resolved peacefully.

Entry 4 - October 3, 2013

Two men burned alive after crowd suspects them of organ trafficking on tourism hot spot in Indian Ocean

Thursday, October 3, 2013 The Toronto Star

Two Europeans were burned alive on a tourist island in Madagascar by a crowd because they thought that the two Europeans were trafficking human organs after a dead child was found on a beach.The crowd that killed the men was made up of residents on the island of Nosy Be which is one of the Indian Ocean's leading tourism spots. One of the foreigners actually admitted to be organ trafficking after the locals fond the dead body of the child. The police are now searching for another suspected organ trafficker. One of the burned men was French and the French foreign ministry warned 700 of its citizens who were in Madagascar to avoid all travel within Madagascar. Ever since President Andry Rajoelina came to power, crime has increased in Madagascar and now almost 80 percent of all households in Madagascar are now living below the poverty line.

In my opinion this whole situation is brutal, but I don't think that any man should ever be burned alive. After reading this article I definitely wouldn't want to travel to Madagascar because of how poor and run down it sounds. I think that the locals who burned the foreigners should be legally punished by the African Government.

Entry 3 - Tuesday, October 1

How Columbia Went From Violent Narco State to Peaceful Tourist Hot Spot

1 October, 2013 The Toronto Star

When most people hear the name Colombia, they may think of the former drug lord, Pablo Escobar. Colombia used to be a completely war-stricken, pariah state filled with narcotics gangs, Marxist rebels and right-wing paramilitary death squads and it is now a peaceful land that attracts growing numbers of foreign investors and many tourists each year. One of the first reasons for this change is that Plata was named to head the Colombian government agency, Proexport. This group was responsible for promoting tourism, foreign investments and exports. This caused a big change in Colombia, but it still wasn't enough to make the country a tourist hot spot. The biggest change was when a hard-line politician named Alvaro Uribe took over the Colombian presidency. Alvaro scored many major victories against violent groups. At this point, the streets of Colombia were much more peaceful and that's when American marketing consultant, David Lightle, decided to get involved and invited foreigners to visit the country. Lightle invited foreigners like Harvard University and economist Michael Porter who went home impressed by what they had seen and eager to spread the word about the "new" Colombia. Now, Colombia has many tourists visiting on holidays and has a worldwide poll which concluded that Colombian citizens are the most contented people on the planet with a happiness score of 75 which is much higher than Canadians' 48.

In my opinion, Colombia would be a great place to visit after hearing so many reviews about how safe the country has become. Before reading this article, I thought that Colombia was a very dangerous and poor country but now I fully believe that Colombia would be an amazing place to visit and live.