N. Korea fired deadly torpedo at ship: probe

Evidence overwhelmingly proves a North Korea torpedoed and sank a South Korean warship in March, killing 46 sailors. The Ssouth Korean President, Lee Myung-Bak vowed"stern action" for the missile attack and called an emergency security meeting for Friday."We will take resolute countermeasures against North Korea and make them admit its wrong doings through strong international co-operation," Lee told Australian Prime minister Kevin Rudd. The White Hhouse called the sinking an act of aggression that constitutes a challenge to international peace and security. Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, Lawrence Cannon, has stated that "evidence points conclusively to a North Korean torpedo having been responsible" and continues to say that "there is no other plausible explanation". Lawrence had also told the press that Canada is in full support of South Korea, as it is our ally and friend. However, North Korea warned that it will wage "all out war" if they are punished for the sinking of the warship. The North Korean Central News Agency quoted a spokesman from the National Defence Commission as rejecting the findings as a "fabrication".





I agree with both the White House and South Korea. I believe that North Korea is responsible for this attack. There was no apparent reason for the attack, however North Korea just wanted to show power and seek revenge towards South Korea. The feud between North and South Korea has been going on for years, and even though there has not been much in terms of actual attacks between the two countries, it does not mean they are still not feuding. One of the reasons that causes me to blame North Korea for this attack, is because of there previous violent history. I would advise the president of South Korea not to engage in attacks against North Korea. I think this is what North Korea wants as they do not want to start the war as it would look bad on their country. If South Korea where to engage in attacks then this would give a reason for North Korea to attack back. Also, North Korea has the advantage if they were to engage in war, because they have the latest technology in military equipment. In conclusion, I believe North Korea is to blame for the torpedo attack, but I would not advise South Korea to engage in war.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/05/19/north-korea-torpedo.html

Teen babysitter sued over fire

A 14 year old who lives in northern Alberta, is being sued $350,000 after a fire burned down the home she was babysitting. This incident occurred back in 2007, when the babysitter Aaliyah Braybook was 12. She was looking after 2 little boys in a trailer in Clairmont, which is located just outside of Grand Prairie. When Aaliyah had noticed the fire, she quickly rescued the two little boys and brought them outside to safety, and then called 911. Earlier this week Aliyah and Douglas Mills, the father of the two boys were served with a statement of claim. They are being sued my Mills parents, Kendall and Diana Mills, who live in the damaged home. In their statement they wrote that Douglas Mills's five year old son Damien was playing with a cigarette when the fire broke out. They also said the Aaliyah was too young to be a responsible babysitter. Both Aaliyah and her father are shocked by this recent news, because they think that Aaliyah should be viewed as a hero for saving the two little boys from the fire. Aaliyah's father defended his daughter by saying that she had all of the qualifications to be a babysitter, and was well prepared to look after the children. Both the Braybrook and the Mills families are expected to hire a lawyer. The lawyer from the Mills family, said the lawsuit looks like a father is suing his son and the babysitter, but it is actually a dispute between the insurance companies.

I think that Aaliyah should not be sued. I agree with her father, saying that she should be thanked for saving the two boys lives, not be blamed. Also, I think that this is all about money for the insurance companies. If it weren't for the insurance companies I don't think their would be any type of financial arguments taking place. I feel sorry for the babysitter as she saved both of the kids lives and is being blamed for the fire. However, I do feel as though that she was too young to be babysitting. A 12 year old is too young to be responsible for two kids and a house. I am not saying she is to be blamed for the fire, I just feel that the government should make the minimum babysitting age older.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2010/05/05/teen-sued.html

Victim slams police in Col. Williams case

The victim of a sexual assault case from Tweed,Ontario, spoke out about the police actions. She said she felt "totally betrayed" by the police when she learned Col. Russel Williams had been charged with dozens of other crimes dating back to 2007. The police kept telling the victim that it was just a one time occurrence, and the the sex-pervert just wanted to take pictures. The victim was sexuality assaulted and photographed during a home invasion on September 30,2009. In February, 47 year old Williams, then commander of the Canadian Forces Base Trenton, was charged in that attack, along with an earlier home invasion and sexual assault. He was also charged with first degree murder in the deaths of Jessica Lylod, 27 and Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 37. The victim of the Sept. 30 attack believes that the assailant may have visited her house a year earlier, when an article of her clothing went missing. She thinks that the police should have warned the people in the community about the sex offender. The police responded by saying " They were tyring to solve this investigation without scaring people". The Sept. 30 victim isn't the only Tweed resident who is shocked about the findings, and is questioning the police to why they didn't inform the town earlier.


I agree with the victim. The police should have informed the town about Williams past crime history. This could have prevented many cases of sexual assault, home invasion, and breaking and entry. I believe the only reason why the police didn't inform the Tweed residences is because of who Williams is. Williams is the commander of the Canadian forces, based in Trenton and was supposed to be a very well respected individual. People have now lost total respect for the police force and segments of the military as a result. It is fortunate that the situation did not become a violent one.


http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/04/29/ottawa-russell-williams-police-tweed.html

Pilot in Polish crash may be to blame: officials

Pilot error may be to blame for a plane crash in western Russia on Saturday, that killed the Polish president and 95 others. The passengers on the plane consisted of the Polish President Lach Kaczynski, and his wife, along with dozens of high-ranking government and defence officials. The TU-154 plane crashed while in heavy fog near Smolensk, Russia. The investigator who was assigned this case, is Russia's chief investigator Alexander Bastrykin. Bastrykin said on Monday, that the investigators have almost finished reading the flight recorders. "The readings confirm that there were no problems with the plane, and that the pilot was informed about the difficult weather conditions , but never the less decided to land" Bastrykin said during a briefing with the Russian Prime Minister. The pilot was identified as Capt. Arkadiuz Protasiuk, 36, and the co-pilot as Maj. Robert Grzywna, 36. The Polish delegation was traveling to Russia to attend a memorial for more than 20,000 Polish soldiers, police, and others executed by the soviet secret police and buried in graves in the Katyn forest near Smolensk in 1940.

This is truly a tragic event. These people died because of one mistake. I believe that the pilot is responsible as he should have not taken the risk in trying to fly in heavy fog. Since there were such high profile passengers on board all precautions should have been taken into consideration. The plane was in perfect shape, so a faulty plane could not have been responsible for the crash. This leads us to believe that the pilot flying was responsible and simply made a bad judgement call. He must have believed he could fly and not realized the severity of the fog. Pure and simple pilot error is the result in this tragic event.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/04/12/poland-plane-crash-warsaw.html

Canada may fast-track Haitian immigration

The Canadian government recently stated that they are looking into a plan to help fast track immigration from Haiti. This is all because of the earthquake that crippled the Caribbean country, leaving thousands homeless. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday that he and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, have been discussing ways to ease immigration and refugee rules to allow more Haitian people to come into our country. Early Friday morning three military air transports arrived in Montreal carrying 272 evacuees. These people were selected by the staff at the Canadian Embassy. A total of 6 Canadians have been reported dead, 13 injured, and 550 have been located in Haiti. There are approximately 1,415 Canadians still missing in Haiti. The Canadian Embassy is continuously acting as a refuge for Canadian citizens, unfortunately many people are being sent to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic for transport back to Canada. The government wants to create a plan that would allow Haitian citizens with Canadian relatives to also come to Canada. The difficult task for the government will be deciding who to bring stated Chantal Barratteau-Haitian community in Montreal.



I believe that there a pros and cons of fast-tracking Haitian immigration. The government is doing the right thing by allowing them to come into Canada, because back in Haiti most of the population has nothing left after the earthquake. However, by allowing the citizens in without need is also unacceptable. Most of the individuals who come from Haiti will bring nothing to Canada's economy. The majority have little education, and posess no trades that Canada needs. By allowing too many of these type of people into Canada might reduce the economy in some areas. On the other hand, I do believe that the government is doing the most ethical thing by allowing them entry. Most Haitians have nothing back home, and will most likely live a horrible life for the next 2-3 years until the country gets back on their feet. By allowing them into our country, they will be provided with a much better life.



http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/01/15/haiti-canada-immigration.html

Toronto commuting times worst of 19 major cities, study says

A study has recently shown that Greater Toronto's commuting times are the worst of 19 big cities polled. The average commute time for a round trip journey takes 80 minutes. People in Toronto spend on average an extra 24 minutes driving around the city each day than in Los Angeles, 12 minutes longer than New York and 32 minutes longer than Barcelona. This is astonishing because the cities mentioned above are much more populated than Toronto. The Board of Trade Chief Executive, Carol Wilding, commented on Toronto's last place ranking and says it is "embarrassing". The provincial budget, which delayed $4 billion in planned transit spending did not help. "This isn't complicated. Everybody agrees that Toronto has a fantastic transit system , but for a city of about one million we stopped making meaningful rapid transit years ago", commented Mayor David Miller to reporters on Monday. In the report is stated that only 29 percent of Toronto-area residents chose to leave their car at home when going to work. In Paris, 74 percent of people chose to leave their car at home. However, Toronto has still managed to remain a very popular place to live. It recently has ranked number 2 in labour attractiveness, only behind Barcelona.


The results from the study reflect upon how inefficient our road and traffic system is in Toronto. The government needs to spend more time on this very important issue of road traffic. I think that it is a very underrated problem in Toronto, the government and people tend to spend more time worrying about other issues like the environment. Don't get me wrong, I know that the environment is still an important issue that the government promised to fix, but maybe they should consider issues that are proving to be a problem on a day to day basis like road traffic. This issue has been dominating the way people plan their days. People have to plan ahead of the daily traffic to get to their destination. The statistic that suprised me is that Toronto still remains a very popular place to live, even though it rated worst in daily commuting times(80 minutes round trip).



http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=3357218327889429076&postID=922439062041490728

Zundel released from German prison

Ernst Zundel was released from a German prison this Monday, after serving 5 years in prison for his denying that the Holocaust every took place. Zundel has finally made his way back to Canada after 7 years, 3 weeks and 3 prisons in Germany. Zundel did not comment when asked if he still believed that there was no Holocaust. "It's kind of a sad situation; there's a lot to say. I'll certainly be careful not to offend anyone and their draconian laws" he stated. The German born Zundel, had been living in Canada for the last four decades, where he made frequent court visits to argue his anti-semetic views regarding the Holocaust. He had expressed his beliefs in books and websites. Zundel was deported to Germany in 2005 after the Federal court ruled that he was a threat to National security. Zundel was arrested upon arrival in his home country, and held without bail. In 2007, he was convicted of 14 counts of inciting racial hatred and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Zundel had received the maximum sentence under the German law for denying the holocaust. In many European countries such as Germany, Austria, Poland, Belgium,and Spain it is against the law to say that the Holocaust did not happen. Zundel spent only three years in jail as he received credit for the 2 prior years waiting to tried.

Zundel has spent the last seven years of his life forced to live in Germany for expressing his own personal beliefs. Canada has done the wrong thing by deporting him, as Canada does not persecute people for expressing their opinions. This is a country where everyone is entitled to freedom of speech. However, I personally do not agree with what Zundel is saying, but the government does not have the right to take away his citizenship. It would be different if he were to be living in Germany and expressing his views there. Since Canada could not legally sentence him in Canada they had to deport him to Germany, where he was guaranteed to be charged with a crime.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/03/01/zundel-release.html