U.S. man arrested, accused of threatening to kill Obama

A 78 year-old American man, Michael Bowden, was arrested for threatening to kill the U.S. President, Barrack Obama, and is expected to show up to the county jail on November 26th. Federal authority stated that the suspicion began when he told a nurse that he was thinking of killing the U.S. president Barack Obama because Obama is "not doing enough to help African-Americans" during the Veterans Affairs clinic. Immediately after the telling, the nurse has reported Bowden to the police and the case was eventually reported to federal security. After the search of this man's property, the suspicion and threat has gradually increased due to the fact that this man owned dozens of rifles.

After being arrested by the federal agents, Bowden admitted to his statement and gave a written sworn which wrote "If I had opportunity to put Obama against the wall and shoot him, I would". After several investigations, Bowden turned out to have several mental problems. According to the records, Bowden had suicide tendencies during a screening in April. United States' Magistrate Judge, Kevin McDonald, ordered Bowden to be held in bond until a mental evaluation had been completed.

In my perspective, whether Bowden was really planning to commit a murder or he was just saying it out loud to express his dissatisfaction towards the president, it was equitable to arrest Bowden in order to prevent any possible threat. President, a leader of a country voted by the citizens, should be protected in every way and every single threat towards the president should be eliminated or quarantined immediately. It is clear to me that Bowden had palpable mental problems and insecurity according to the investigation results. From suicide tendencies to murderous statement towards the president is psychophatic. I believe that the best way to resolve this problem is to give mild penalty and help him recover from his mental problems rather than condemning Bowden severely as he still is a citizen of the country.

Moreover, according to Bowden statement "not doing enough to help African-Americans" suggests that racism was one of the biggest factors towards creating this incident. Racism, even over 65 years after the official United Nations Charter promising equal rights towards every human race was signed in 1945, it still is one of the world's biggest issues which should be dealt with. Incidents like this can happen not just in United States but in every nation around the world. It is every individuals job to step up and make changes to eliminate prejudice and racism around the world to promote fairness, equality, mutual respect and finally, to prevent any further horrifying incidents like this.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/897199--u-s-man-arrested-accused-of-threatening-to-kill-obama

South Korean military on high alert

On Tuesday November 24th, North Korea fired heavy artilleries towards Yeonpyeong Island, 120 km west from Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Due to North Korea's artillery fires, two marines were killed, 15 troops and 3 civilians were injured and dozens of buildings were burned and destroyed. In return, South Korea quickly responded back by firing their artilleries towards North Korea. The casualties and damages caused in North Korea are currently unknown. South Korean Minister of Defense stated that South Korea will be sending additional military enforcements towards five islands near the disputed sea border including the Yeonpyeong Island.

South Korean government announced that the skirmish began as North Korea warned South Korea to halt their military drills near their sea border. However, South Korea refused and continued the military drills and fired their artilleries in to disputed waters. However the shootings were clearly away from the North Korean shore and their official sea regions. Despite the fact that the shots did not effect North Korea in anyway, North Korea retaliated by firing artilleries to Yeonpyeong Island as South Korea refused in return. Few minutes later, South Korea responded back with artillery firings towards North Korea.

As the tensions between South Korea and North Korea developed with much intensity due to the artillery fire exchanges, the whole world's views immediately became focused towards Korean peninsula including U.S. , Canada and China, just to name a few. U.S. government stated that they will be increasing the military supports towards their ally, South Korea. U.S. government also stated that North Korea's attack was outrageous and unprovoked. Moreover China, a country with great influence towards North Korea, is expected to encourage North Korea to ease their tension.

As a South-Korean, it is heartrending and outraging to see North Korea's attack especially because the attack was towards civilians as well. Attacking an island where thousands of civilians are present, just because opposition army had fired artilleries towards "disputed" water which had no impact on North-Korea in any aspect is horrendous and pugnacious. The Korean War has been dragged on for over 60 years and instead of choosing the safer and rightful way to resolve the trouble, North Korea decided to provoke South Korea and the world with an absurd excuse. Therefore it seems questionable whether the North Korea is concerned with peace and safety for their country and their civilians.

Secondly, it is surprising to see how North Korea has paid back after all the financial and food aids that were supported by South Korea for past decades while North Korea has never made any significant contribution towards South Korea. Moreover, South Korea has promoted peace and negotiations in order to search for resolution to end the dreadful war which lasted for 60 years. Ever since the armistice was signed in 1953, South-Korea had never made any forms of direct provoking actions which involved any harmings towards North Korea. Therefore, it is evident that all of the struggles within the Korean peninsula since 1953 has been due to North Korea's preposterous actions.

The war within the Korean Peninsula can possibly develop in to a larger scale internationally and perhaps it can even trigger the start of the World War III. As the world has experienced the abysmal world wars twice in the past century, I would like to see the whole world step up as one in order to resolve the problem within the Korean peninsula peacefully to stop repeating the same mistake that we have made in the past which resulted in vile and atrocious outcomes. I wholeheartedly hope that the tension within the Korean peninsula will settle down and ultimately, I hope to see the conflict between South and North Korea resolve peacefully.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/11/24/korea-artillery-attack.html

Irish banks will be reorganized in bailout

Irish banks will be accompanied with huge bailout which the Ireland will need to navigate its way out of a spiraling debt and banking crisis according to the Irish government minister on monday. Irish finance minister suggested significant financial struggle that they are going through as he stated that the Irish banks will not be able to access normal markets until they are reorganized. The rescue bailout package which will be issued to Ireland from EU(European Union) and IMF (International Monetary Fund) is worth up to 100 billion euros (US$ 137 billion) and it is expected to keep Ireland solvent for at least three more years.

Experts believe that the main factor which lead to the near bankrupty of major Irish banks is because of Irish government's risky investements which they have made towards British and American properties. According to the statistics, the taxpayers in Ireland has paid over 50 billion euros over the past two years as Irish authorities nationalized three of the major banks and took major stakes of two additional banks since 2008. It is said that government's risky investment or "gamble" has lead to country's financial sector to become almost bankrupt and these investments could not have been possible without governments action on nationalizing and taking stakes of the 5 major banks in Ireland. Therefore the Irish government, especially the prime minister, Brian Cowen is being blamed for financial struggle of Ireland.

EU-IMF bailout is intended to give Ireland somewhat long term stability as they sort out their problematic issues in order to prevent Ireland's bank, government and market from crashing and collapsing. Entire EU as well as the world will be focusing their perspectives towards Irish government and the decisions and policies they will be making in order to reorganize the country and get back on the track.

In my opinion, I find the financial struggle of Ireland very shocking and problematic. First of all, according to the HDI (Human Development Index) for 2010, Ireland has the 5th highest HDI in the world. Therefore it was stunning to see a country with 5th highest standard of living struggle financially due to its major banks being on the verge of bankrupty. Secondly, it was disappointing hear about the cause of the whole situation. I believe that Irish government should not have nationalized and take major stakes of the banks in Ireland. As the Irish government took control of the major banks, they were able to control their financial budgets easily without any serious questionings or conflicts. Thus the Irish government was able to invest billions of dollars towards risky investements such as the properties in foreign countries. There is no doubt in my mind that this risky investment was not worth leading five major banks in the nation to bankrupcy and spending over 50 billion euros from the citizens without definite assurance.

In order to minimize the impact of this incident and to secure financial stability for the country and its citizens, the Irish government should act immediately by accepting the bailout and financial supports from other countries. Moreover, the Irish government must come up with assuring and definite plans to reshape and reorganize country's financial mangement, economy, banks and so on. At times like this, where the world's economy is struggling, it is government's full responsibility to approperiately guide, organize, and help the citizens in every aspects including suitable financial and economical managements and supports.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20101122/ireland-eu-imf-bailout-details-emerging-101122/

Toronto School Board floats cash-for-grades

TDSB(Toronto District School Board) is considering to pay money for students in order to get the students to stay in school and achieve good grades. According to this idea, the students will be paid money as an incentive for going to school, taking tests, getting good grades and so on which will ultimately encourage students especially those who are in poverty to keep up their education. This idea generated from Chris Spence, an education director of TDSB, as he wrote: "Should we pay kids in our more disadvantageous communities to do well in school? Perhaps, as a part of a poverty reduction scheme." TDSB announced that this idea will be carefully examined by the board's new anti-poverty task force. Head of the TDSB's nine-member group Lloyd McKell also said "This is not about bribing. This is helping students who have no resources or very limited resources to focus on learning". TDSB finds that the idea of paying students in order to help those who are struggling from poverty and to encourage students to get better grades could be a great solution towards many aspects that needs improvements.

On the other hand, there are great numbers of oppositions who have made complaints and showed sign of discouragement towards this idea including TDSB's own students. Grade 12 student Derek Neilson said "I like having my job, having my own place. I don't like being in school. People want to get bribed, go ahead. It's your morals, not mine". Anni Kidder with group People for Education also discouraged the idea of cash-for-grades by saying "There are solutions, but they're not necessarily simple and they have to be integrated solutions". According to the statistics, the money incentive policy which was initiated in U.S. in the past have worked out for some students but not for all. People's viewpoints especially the viewpoints of people in Toronto will be focused on this idea to see if the money incentive policy will actually be set in place for the students.

In my opinion, I strongly disagree to the cash incentive policy to students. Yes, it is true that education is critical and necessary towards all students. Yes, it is true that both government and school board must financially aid students who are in poverty in order to help them receive appropriate education. However, I believe that the idea of paying students "if" they get good grades is a way of bribing, segregating students and also wasting money that could be spent much more effectively. By paying money only towards students that get good grades, this can ultimately separate and divide students in to different groups depending on the grades that they are receiving and create serious social and intolerant problems within the students.

Moreover, in my opinion, there can be much more effective ways to support students struggling with financial issues than only paying students that get good grades in order to"force" the students in poverty to study hard so that they could receive cash for their living. I believe that setting up student support charity for living, study, etc. and paying families that are struggling financially which are causing problematic effects towards students' education will be much more effective and adequate solution. Because every student has right to study and be educated in same environment, I believe that it is government and school board's job to help those who are less fortunate and create the adequate environment for them to study in.

On the whole, I disagree with the idea of cash incentives only for students that are getting good grades and I believe that there could be much more meaningful and effective ways to support students that are less fortunate in order to help them receive appropriate education. Better education for younger generation now will benefit our country in the future as they will be the generation that will be running the country in 20~30 years. I would like to see TDSB come up with much more suitable policy than paying, bribing and ultimately forcefully making students to work and study.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/11/18/toronto-cash-for-grades.html

Canada to End Combat Role in Afghanistan at End of 2011

The Canadian government confirmed on Tuesday November 16th, that its military force in Afghanistan would end the combat mission at the end of 2011. Although United States asked members of NATO including Canada to continue to put military efforts in Afghanistan, Canadian Parliament announced that they had already set timetables for the withdrawal of their military. However, the Parliament stated that some of the military forces will still remain in Afghanistan for repairing, teaching, training Afghan security forces, providing medical aids and so on that are not involved with dangerous combats.

According to the public opinion poll in Canada, only little proportion of Canada is supporting the continued fighting in Afghanistan. Therefore although Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative party and their government does not have enough seats to have majority votes, other major opposition parties such as Liberal party of Canada are expected to support Conservative Party's proposal. Bob Rae, a Liberal member of Parliament said "There are obviously still a lot of operational details to work out. But it's not as if there's any doubt about the support of the two major parties." during an interview in order to assure that Liberals will be supportive towards the government's proposal.

In my point of view, I strongly support Canadian government's decision on withdrawing the Canadian troops from the combat missions in Afghanistan. According to the statistics, the Afghan war is the first time which significant number of Canadian soldiers (152 soldiers) have been killed since conflict in Korea. It is heartbreaking for me to see Canadian soldiers return home lifelessly especially when unnecessary sacrifices can be prevented if government just decides to withdraw their troops. Considering that Remembrance day (November 11th) was only about a week ago, it is very emotional and pleasing for me to hear about the Canadian government's decision on withdrawing troops.

Secondly I also support Canadian government's decision on leaving the soldiers behind in Afghanistan not for life threatening reasons such as combat but for safe and much more meaningful reasons such as repairing, teaching, training, providing medical aids and so on. It is equitable that Canada is helping other countries that need help and I surely believe that this support doesn't always have to involve human life sacrifices. In fact rather than having thousands of soldiers risking their lives to fight in battles which seem to be endless, teaching, repairing, training and providing medical aids can be much effective towards Afghanistan and their people.

On the whole I wholeheartedly agree to Canadian government's decision on withdrawing troops in Afghanistan. There is no doubt that Canada's decision towards withdrawing troops will help the world to be one step closer to achieving the world peace. I hope to see the Afghan war finally come to an end in the near future in order to achieve peace and prevent further unnecessary sacrifices.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/world/americas/17canada.html?_r=1&ref=americas

Masked refugee claimant used U.S. passport

Ten days ago, a young Asian man disguised himself as an elderly white man and boarded on an Air Canada flight from Hong Kong to Canada. This man's disguise was not discovered until the flight staff had identified the elderly white man change to a young Asian man after he had emerged from the washroom. Therefore, after the landing in Vancouver, this man was reported and was escorted off the plane by the police. Immediately after getting off the plane, this man claimed refugee protection.

After precise investigation, the police discovered that the identifications such as passport this man has used to board on the plane were legitimate identifications from U.S. Moreover, police also believe that this man had at least two accomplices including one American according to the security camera footage in Hong Kong airport. Therefore police are now suspecting criminal organizations being involved in this case for human smuggling business. Moreover, the lawyers of this man are requesting Canadian government to abolish the public hearing as well as banning any ties with Chinese media and government. Lawyers stated that this man could be in severe danger if more information about him is revealed towards the public since his face has already been exposed through the media. In addition, the lawyers also stated that this man is part of the organization in China that could seriously jeopardize his life.

Public Safety Minister of Canada, Vic Toews stated that this case is no different from any other illegal refugee border crossing cases except for the fact that the man has used mask instead of commonly used disguise tools such as wigs, hair dyes, glasses, and so on. Many of the people including the lawyers and workers from various broadcasting stations are encouraging government to halt further information being exposed to the public and are also questioning the government about how the information of this case was leaked to mass media broadcasting stations such as CNN in the first place.

In my opinion, I believe that this man must be protected and receive aids and support from the Canadian government. First of all, whatever the reason is, this man's life is jeopardized in his home country therefore in order to help this man live safely, Canada should take him as a refugee. I believe that this is morally right. Secondly, Canada, a great country with great policy towards refugees should take this man in and help him in order to keep up the great reputation which Canada holds as being a global leader and supporting others that need desperate help in international level.

Secondly, the fact that the information about this man's identity was released through media is a major problem. This man's identity should have been protected under the refugee policy and he could be in severe danger if the identity is exposed. However due to the information leak, media revealed the case and the man's identity including the picture although his eyes were censored out. I believe that refugees' identity shouldn't be exposed under any circumstances to guarantee their safety from the public, however due to this leak, Canadian government failed to do that. This leak of information has not only jeopardized this man's life but also ruined the Canada's reputation on refugee policy. It is Canadian government's job to learn from this incident and set much more strict laws to prevent this kind of situation occurring again in the future.

On the whole, in order to protect this man from further danger, additional information towards this man's identity should not be revealed to public and Canadian government must do their best to appropriately assist this man to settle in Canada without any major problems. Moreover, the government should set much more strict laws in order to prevent additional refugee information leaking in the future which can threaten refugee's lives, especially regarding to their identity.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20101108/masked-man-detention-hearing-101108/

Georgia Shops for Fleet of Eco-Friendly Cars

Georgian government announced this week that they are planning to replace its entire fleet of state-owned cars with eco-friendly hybrid or electric cars within 4 years. Many believe that out of all the bold plans which Georgian government had proposed in recent years, such as plans to convert the entire city as free WIFI zone and replace all Russian-language college books in to English, this plan is the most equitable and probable. Georgia is the first nation in the world to make this commitment.

According to the Ministry of the Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Georgia is one of the most adequate and appropriate nation to be able to achieve entire fleet of eco-friendly cars today. This is because Georgia has rich supply of cheap hydroelectric power from dams in the Caucasus Mountains. Moreover the Ministry also stated that Georgia is also capable of acting as a global laboratory for the use of electric cars in the future due to their rich hydroelectric power supplies. This global laboratory will allow and encourage world to convert the fleets of cars within their country to eco-friendly cars by enhancing technology, etc.

Georgian government is planning to purchase over 4000 vehicles shortly from various car companies such as General Motors. In addition, Georgian government announced that converting trucks, larger cars and presidential motorcades to eco-friendly vehicles will be exempted for now since the electric power technology today is still inefficient for large vehicles. Anyhow, Georgia is getting lots of positive interests and encouragements from various automakers, countries, and so on. The world will be watching Georgia once again to see if they will be able to make changes and set the bars high for other nations to follow.

From my point of view, I am fully supportive towards Georgian government's commitment towards eco-friendly vehicle conversion plan. In my opinion, environmental and economical issues associated with oil usages are one of the most problematic subjects in the world. For example, the hazardous side-effects of oil usage such as contaminating our environments and the scarcity of oil which will lead our economy to face oil crisis in near future. Therefore it was thrilling to see a nation step up to the line and announce that they will convert entire fleet of vehicles within their country in to eco-friendly cars. Moreover, the fact that Georgia has rich supplies of hydroelectric power supplies also make this plan very promising. If Georgia is able to accomplish and achieve entire fleet of eco-friendly cars, they will be bringing new vision and solution to the world regarding to the problematic oil usage.

I believe that the conversion of fleet of vehicles to eco-friendly cars is one of the most influential and significant changes we could make in order to prevent oil crisis, reduce oil dependency and ultimately to be eco-friendly in order to protect our environment. There is a proverb "Well begun is half done". This proverb suggests that beginning and start is one of the most important steps towards completion and accomplishment; because without beginning, you won't be able to finish anything. Georgia, small country with only about 4.5 million people might not be able to show immediate and significant changes regarding to all of the problematic issues that i have stated above. However, they will be able to promote the idea of "entire nation with fleet of eco-friendly cars" all across the world. Therefore Georgia will influence other nations to initiate the conversion of their vehicles to eco-friendly cars. Now, it is up to us, the rest of citizens in the world, to step up and make changes in order to protect our mother nature for greener and clearer environment for us and for future generations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/world/europe/05volts.html

Greece hit with more mail bombs

On Monday November 1st, the bomb mails were first discovered as one of the devices exploded during the delivery service in Central Athens. One day later, bomb explosion was reported again at the Swiss and Russian embassies in Athens, Greece. Also, suspicious packages were detonated outside of the Greek parliament, Bulgarian embassy and a courier company which was originally meant to be delivered to the German embassy in Athens. Fortunately, no injuries or serious damages were reported from the series of small bomb explosions. Authorities announced that the bombs were not particularly powerful.

Two Greek men that were spotted near one of the bombing sights were arrested for suspicion of plotting the attack immediately after the bombing on Monday. According to the police, both of these men were carrying handguns with bullets, wore body armor and were disguised with wigs and caps. Police announced that one of these men was wanted for his connection with the radical anarchist group called "Conspiracy Nuclei Fire". The Greek government's spokesman Petalotis, in respond to the mail bomb attack, said "The government condemns in the strongest possible way those who try in vain to terrorize and disturb the public tranquility." Moreover, another government's spokesman stated that "No one can terrorize democracy", assuring that the Greek government will not tolerate the mail bomb terror. The Greek police announced today that the major suspects for the mail bomb terror are the anarchist groups. Greek Police also announced that they will be preparing in case for additional bomb attacks. Thus, extra police force for security will be provided towards every embassy in Greece.

My perspective towards this event is that no matter whom the terrorists are and no matter what the purposes and reasons for creating these mail bombs were, the mail bomb terrorization should not be justified. In my opinion, I believe it was the anarchists who sent out these mail bombs in order to get attention, speak out their beliefs and also to show their resistance towards government. I agree that the anarchist groups have rights to have sayings and voices regarding to their beliefs however their ways of promoting those voices are not admissible. Although the series of small bomb attacks didn't cause any severe injuries or destruction, they are still weapons that can cause severe injuries and kill innocent people. Moreover, the mail bombs have made the entire nation and the world feel insecure and unsafe. I strongly believe that people should not suffer and be concerned with their safety just because of the minority groups that are not satisfied with the world.

With all of these facts in mind, my point of view is that appropriate consequences and punishments seem necessary to the anarchists who plotted and sent out the mail bombs. Their actions have made dreadful impacts around the world such as making everyone feel insecure, attacking international embassys to damage the international connections and so on. Moroever just by the fact that these bombs were intended to hurt, injure and kill people, they should be punished instantly. The anarchist will have to admit to their guilt and step up as soon as possible. Anarchists will also have to come up with more adequate and justifiable ways if they want to promote their beliefs and have stronger voices within our society in the future.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/11/02/world-greece-mail-bombs.html

Haiti cholera outbreak stabilizing, group says

The Pan American Health Organization announced on Monday October 10th, that the cholera outbreak had killed more than 250 people in Haiti. Moreover, Haitian health department also announced that over 3300 cases of Cholera have been reported within Haiti. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that "Reported cases and deaths continue to increase although compared to the initial days of outbreak the rate of increase is less extreme." This statement made by the United Nations Office suggested that the cholera outbreak is slowly stabilizing in Haiti. However despite the stabilization of the cholera outbreak, many people believe that larger amount of aids and supports are necessary to halt the further expansion of the disease.

The cholera outbreak has been highly concentrated in rural communities in Artibonite area, just north of the densely populated capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. The leader of the sanitation team for Red Cross said "Our main concern now is to be prepared if the cholera spreads down south, that we're ready to respond very quickly and effectively." The Haitian government and other organizations such as Red Cross and United Nations are now sending in clean water supplies, chlorine tablets, food products and medical aids across the regions in Haiti that are suffering from cholera outbreak. Despite the supports from these groups, larger and immediate supports are necessairy to deal with the outbreak more effectively. An Oxfam spokesman, Schindall is sending out messages to the public of Haiti about the effective methods for preventing cholera. Schindall said "Washing hands, only eating cooked food, only drinking potable water - this is very, very important... to stop the spread of disease."

According to the statistics from the World Health Organization, there are between three to five million cases of cholera and over 100 000 people who die from the treatable disease every year. There are also other regions where the cholera outbreak is present today such as Nigeria and Pakistan.

It is horrifying to see mass outbreak of cholera occurring in various places around the world, especially in Haiti. It is extremely more devastating to see the poor conditions the treatment towards the people suffering from cholera because of the fact that cholera is an easily treatable disease with the medical technology the world have today. Moreover, it has only been about 9 months since the horrific natural catastrophe (earth quake) took place in Haiti, killing thousands of people. Therefore I believe that it must be very distressing and dreadful for Haiti to face another unfortunate disaster in such short interval of time. In my opinion, I believe that the whole world should step up and support countries that are suffering from cholera outbreaks as soon as possible. The whole world should be involved in minimizing the number of infection cases as well as enhancing the conditions of treatment and environment to halt the disease from spreading. Cholera is not a very deadly disease in countries like Canada today; however it can be a life threatening disease in countries like Haiti. Therefore, I strongly believe that outbreak of cholera should be dealt immediately with supports from every country around the world. Remember, all human lives are equal and those who are suffering from cholera in countries such as Haiti have equal rights and desire towards surviving and escaping from the suffering just like anyone around the world would have including myself.

Secondly, I know that the cholera can spread very easily from infected and unclean water and food. I believe that this is why the cholera outbreaks are occurring frequently in poorer countries. Countries such as Haiti, Pakistan and so on aren't able to afford fully cleaned and edible water and food for everyone which are the major factors of producing and spreading diseases such as cholera. In order to prevent further outbreaks of terrible diseases like cholera especially in poorer countries, the whole world especially the wealthier countries should support and help the poorer countries at all times when necessairy. We should learn from the mistakes we have made which allowed various outbreaks of disease to occur around the world. These mistakes will remind our self to not to make the same mistake again or else the great sorrow and tragedy caused by the outbreaks of diseases in the past once again will be inevitable.

On the whole, immediate supports from the world should be provided towards countries that are suffering from outbreaks of cholera as soon as possible. Secondly, further consistant supports from the world should be provided to poorer countries such as Haiti to prevent further outbreaks of any kind of dieases including cholera. In my opinion, it is critical that the whole world work together to resolve problems around the world in order to make the world a better place to live for every single people on this planet.

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/10/25/haiti-cholera-water.html

Toyota recalls 1.5 million vehicles

On Thursday October 21, Toyota Motor Corporation announced that they will be recalling over 1.5 million vehicles around the world, mostly from U.S. and Japan for brake fluid and fuel pump problems. Over the past years, Toyota, one of the biggest automaker has called back over 10 million vehicles for a variety of problems which had brought major blow to its reputation, including this incident. Spokesman of Toyota, Nolasco said "Most vehicles need to be fixed for a problem with the brake master cylinder; the small amount of brake fluid slowly leaking through the brake master cylinder can result in illumination of the brake warning lamp and weaker braking power." Nolasco also said "Some models in Japan also have electrical problem with fuel pump, which can lead the engines to stall." Lastly, Nolasoco quoted that no accidents were reported by these two problems from Toyota vehicles. The models that are being affected by these two problems are Lexus GS300, and IS250 and Avalone 2005 and 2006 to just name a few.

Toyota announced that U.S. based owners of the problematic vehicles will be notified by mailing at the beginning of November. When they are called back, Toyota and Lexus dealers will be replacing the newly designed brake cylinder for no charge. Other problematic vehicles in other regions such as Japan is expected to be dealt separately from U.S. based owners as soon as possible.

In my opinion, it is very problematic to see Toyota recall back their vehicles. It has only been 2 months since last August when Toyota had called back over million vehicles for other technical glitches. I have always thought that Japanese made cars, especially Toyota's vehicles are very delicate and doesn't break easily. Therefore it was extremely stunning to see Toyota call back extra 1.5 million vehicles back for repairs just 2 months after their call back in August. I believe that having enormous amount of vehicles called back for repairs in 2 months interval surely would've been a critical blow the reputation of Toyota.

In my opinion, brake is one of the most significant functions any vehicle could have regarding to safety. Without brakes, you could say that accidents are inevitable. Therefore, seeing 1.5 million vehicles called back for brake problems was frightening. Just to think that over 1.5 million people could've been in severe danger if this problem wasn't discovered fast enough... It is absolutely horrifying. I strongly believe that Toyota must reshape and enhance their production system and fix the vehicle's problematic issues beforehand in order to halt the production of fragile and malfunctioning vehicles. It isn't right that people should be risking their lives when riding a vehicle due to the vehicle's problems. Moreover I strongly believe that government should set much stricter and heavier laws towards vehicle production in order to ensure perfect conditions for every vehicle that will be sold on the market for people to ride on.

Although, Toyota's action of calling back the vehicles for repair in order to ensure the consumer's safety was rightful, the heavier consequences regarding to production, responsibility, and so on will be inevitable. On the whole, Toyota should learn from their mistakes and make sure to change and fix their problems to produce vehicles with perfect conditions for consumers in the future. Or else, Toyota won't be able to keep up their position and reputation in the automobile industry. In addition, other automobile industries should also keep in mind about the consequences which Toyota have to go through for their mistakes to remind themselves not to make the same mistake Toyota had made. I hope that one day, everyone will be living in the world where people's lives aren't threatened by the fragility and malfunctions of any vehicles or machines.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/10/21/toyota-recall-brake-fuel.html?ref=rss

Taliban leaders given safe passage

On Friday October 15, the commander of the U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Petraus stated that he had arranged safe passage of a senior Taliban commander to Kabul for peace talks. General Petraus made this announcement at the Royal United Services Institute in London, England. According to the news, the Talibans are open to peace talks as long as it is led by the Afghanistan group and monitored by U.S. and NATO. NATO is hoping for this peace talk to be arranged as soon as possible in order to put an end to the bloody nine-year war in Afghanistan.

The arrangement of safe passage for peace talk first began Thursday October 14, when a senior NATO official first released the information about the safe passage to Afghan public. When this arrangement was released to public, the Taliban immediately refused. Taliban stated that they will not negotiate until all the foreign troops withdraw. However, due to the tremendous military pressure on the insurgents of Taliban, increasing number of Taliban associates are reaching out and supporting the peace talk. The increasing number of Talibans said "We want to talk about an alternative to war". This tremendous military pressure is factual since the Afghan security forces and International troops have been putting significant pressure on the Talibans in eastern and southern areas which are their heartland of movement in recent months. However, Talibans although outnumbered had fought back and inflicted significant casualties to NATO forces as well, letting the war to drag on. The whole world will be focusing their views to whether the peace talk will be arranged as well as if the peace talk can put an end to this bloody nine-year war.

In my opinion, I whole-heartedly believe that NATO's resolution of peace talk in order to put an end to the Afghan war is very equitable in every aspect. It is evident that thousands of military casualties were produced from both NATO and Taliban forces as well as thousands of innocent civilian casualties for the past decade due to the Afghan war. I believe that there are two major possible solutions to this war. The first one is letting the war drag on for longer time to defeat the Talibans with military force creating additional casualties, sorrows, and bleak atmosphere. The second and the most appropriate solution is to negotiate fairly with the Talibans in order to put an end to the war as soon as possible with minimum casualties from both militia and civilians.

I asked a particular question to myself. "I am pretty sure that both the NATO and the Taliban had tried to arrange peaceful negotiation in the past decade. Then why weren't they arranged? What are the significant factors bringing positivity and increasing the possibility of this peace talk? After thoughtful consideration, I have identified two major factors which could've significantly influence the possibility of peace talk stated on October 14, 2010. First factor is the fact that the war had dragged on for longer than both sides thought it would have. The war had dragged on for 9 years! 9 years is a time it takes a new born baby to become a 4th grader. Due to this lengthy interval of war, I believe that both opposition sides are exhausted of the war, hoping to put an end to it as soon as possible. The second factor is the safe passage given to Taliban leaders as well as the additional authority given, allowing the peace talk to be arranged by Afghan groups. These two conditions reassured the safety of Talibans' leaders and showed definite sign of trust. These two reasons significantly influenced the increasing probability of peace talk.

I hope to see the end of the Afghan war in the near future. Moreover, I believe that it was very agreeable to see NATO step up and announce the idea of peace talk with impartial conditions towards Talibans. Giving the safe passage to Taliban insurgents as well as giving up the authority to arrange the peace talk to gain the genuine trust from Taliban was ingenious! However, the Talibans would also have to put approperiate effort in order to make the peace talk happen. This is because negotiation cannot be arranged with one-sided support from the NATO. It is vital that Taliban makes right decision, because this peace talk might be the greatest chance to put an end to this war, and this chance might never comeback again if they decide to discard it.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/10/15/taliban-safe-passage-105.html

World cheers Chile miners rescue

Two months after the San Jose gold and copper mine collapsed in Chile, all of 33 miners who were trapped under more than 2000 feet of rock were saved on Wednesday (October 13th). As each worker, one by one, was hoisted up by a steel capsule which is little bit wider than man's shoulders, the whole world watched this magnificent event and cheered on both the rescuers and miners who were being rescued.

It took almost 22 hours for all 33 miners to be rescued since the rescue operation had started. After the rescue, all miners were immediately transported to hospital for treatment. However, the hospital announced that majority of them were in healthy physical conditions although they were still struggling to overcome the emotional stress. The official of the hospital in Copiapo said "They've been in a situation of stress for two months ... Nonetheless, most of them are coming along perfectly well." Moreover, the hospital official also stated that two or three miners will be released this afternoon, allowing them to return back to their home.

The successful rescue of the miners is celebrated around the world especially in Chile. "It's so incredible that they all made it out alive." said Pina, a 51-year old miner while hugging a complete stranger and celebrating the phenomenon that took place today. The rescued miners are unlikely to go back to their original mining employment as they are offered with many other job opportunities, book, film and advertisement contracts. In addition, the statement which a miner had made to the president of Chile, Pinera, after being rescued is being issued through the media today. Luiz Urzua, 54, the last miner to be rescued said "I hand over this shift over to you and hope this never happens again". Lastly, the popularity of the president Pinera has risen over his handling of the crisis as the whole world is celebrating and cheering on the miracle which they have witness today.

In my opinion, what the world, including myself, have witness today was miraculous, sensational and phenomenal. What is chance of a person surviving under a collapsed mine, over 2000 feet deep, for a week? I say the chance is very slim. Therefore it was completely astounding to see all thirty three miners being rescued successfully after being trapped under a collapsed mine for 2 months. It is a true miracle and blessing for these miners to be rescued successfully without any life losses. I am very pleased to see every miner being rescued successfully and will celebrate and cheer on the miners, their families, friends, neighbors and so on.

On the other hand, I would like to analyze and discuss what we can learn from this incident and how we can improve as a world. First of all, could the mine collapse be prevented? My answer is yes. If the mines were built stronger in order to be stable against every possible disasters to secure the employees safety, this collapsing could've been prevented. Secondly, why did it take over 2 month to rescue these miners? I strongly believe that if the government took immediate initiative with full supports in order to rescue these miners, this rescue could've been possible in advance. I believe that the rescue project should've been initiated as soon as possible which didn't happen regarding to San Jose mine incident. It was miracle that the miners survived for 2 months, however what if the miners died waiting for a rescue beforehand? Then, this incident would've been a horrible tragedy and government would've got criticized and blamed for taking lengthy time to perform the rescue. On the whole, I believe that the world should learn from San Jose mine incident and make sure no more tragedies like this ever happen again. Moreover, all the governments in the world should initiate immediate response regarding to rescue of their own citizens at all times if they are in any form of severe danger.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2010/10/12/15659241.html

Hungary asks for EU help as sludge reaches Danube

On Monday(Oct. 3), the reservoir burst took place at metal plant in Ajka, town located about 160 km southwest of Budapest. Due to this burst, over 1-million cubic metres of toxic sludge was dumped out of the reservoir and flowed all over the area, causing great damages to the environment, cities and town. At first, the Hungarian government told EU(European Union) that this natural disaster will be managable on their own. However three days later, the situation had gotten worse as the toxic sludge flowed in to the Danube river, the second largest river in Europe which connects other countries such as Romania, Moldova, Germany, etc.

As the situation got significantly worse, the Hungarian government asked for assistance from the European Union to help contain a flood of toxic sludge that had reached the waters of the Danube River. In particular, the Hungarian government is seeking for experts who deals with toxic sludge and decontamination. The pH level of this toxic sludge is 10 compared to the normal pH level of the water typically being between 6.8 and 8.5. This means that the toxic sludge contains 1000 times more alkaline than the water with neutral pH level of 7. Dobson, a Hungarian rescue agency spokesperson said that the life in the country's Marcal River, a smaller river in Hungary, had been extinguished due to the toxic sludge. This suggests the deadliness of the toxic sludge, and encourage people to support Hungary in order to clean up the deadly mass in order to prevent further damages. The EU is yet to give official response to Hungarian government, however the Hungarian government is expecting to hear positive response soon since other EU countries were placed on alert in the wake of the disaster.

I was completely, stunned to hear about the natural catastrophe which occured in Hungary. I think the conditions which Hungary is facing today is critical and should be dealt with full support from other nations immediately to prevent further damages. As proven by its pH level, the toxic sludge is deadly especially towards the environment and any living life. Therefore, regarding to the fact that the sludge has reached the Danube river, I strongly believe that the EU must try and contain the sludges from spreading with Hungarian government since Danube river flows through 9 other countries in Europe.

Secondly, it is very devastating to see no immediate supports from EU as Hungary struggles to deal with the toxic sludge on their own. Since the toxic sludge had reached the Danube river, it is possible for the toxic sludge to spread and damage other countries and regions. In my opinion, this toxic sludge crisis is no longer a national problem, but a significant international catastorophe which the entire EU or perhaps the world should be concerend with. It would be great to see supports to clean up and contain the toxic sludges from spreading further as soon as possible. On the whole, I strongly believe that the EU as well as Hungarian government should put full effort in trying to clean up the toxic sludge as soon as possible. Moreover, I also believe that the whole world should learn from this disaster in order to never make the same mistakes again, causing great natural disasters like the toxic sludge in Hungary. The world must find definite methods to prevent incidents like this at all times.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20101007/toxic-river-danube-101007/

Fewer jobs for well-educated new immigrants

The recent study released by Community Foundations of Canada stated that recent immigrants to Canada with university degree are more than four times more likely to be unemployed than the Canadian-born workers with university degree. In 2009, the unemployment rates of the newcomers with university education was 13.9 percent while the unemployment rates of the Canadian-born counterparts was 3.4 percent. Moreover, it also found out that the recent immigrants without the university degree's unemployment is around 30 % higher than the Canadian-born counterparts.

Canadian economic centres and government responded back through the media by making statement regarding to the problem the Canadian economy is facing today. "It is disheartening to see such a significant gap between well-educated newcomers. Their experience in our labour market is dramatically different than that of non-immigrants with a comparable education level." said Patten, CFC's president. In addition, Fehr, the executive director of the immigrant Access Fund Society of Alberta said "Integrating newcomers into our workplace is necessity, not an option.. We need to act now". These 2 statements made by Patten and Fehr suggests the significance of the problematic issues Canada is facing todayand promises that Canada will be taking immediate initiatives towards this issue. According to the Community Foundations of Canada, they are intending to provide 10 key areas where the improvements are exigent to resolve the high unemployment rate between recent immigrants. Canada is expected to take actions immediately, as the study shows that the next year's net labour force growth will be relying on the immigrant labours.

It is very concerning to see the sky-high unemployment rates of the new immigrants, especially regarding to the fact that they have university education. Almsot 20% of the current Canadian residents are immigrants and they are bringing experience, technology, and labour force to this country. I myself is an immigrant and the reason I've came to Canada is to seek for better oppurtunities and life style. Moreover, I believe that this condition applies to almost every other immigrants and it is frustrating to see large amount of immigrants struggling to reach their original goal due to the unemployment. As Canada's study states, the immigrant's labour force is the main factor which will increase Canada's future net labour force growth and with such high unemployment rate, large improvement on net labour force growth wouldn't be possible.

Secondly, why is it that the unemployment rate of recent immigrants is 500% higher than the unemployment rate of Canadian-born citizens when they have same degree of education such as university degree? Although, the language might be an issue, the immigrants should be able to speak English fluently if they've gotten full university education. Therefore, the most reasonable answer to the significant unemployment rate difference between Immigrant workers and Canadian-born worker is prejudice. Although the Canadian Charter of Rights protect equality rights, I still believe some form of bias exist in the work force. For example, the employers would hire Canadian-born worker rather than an immigrant worker for a certain position if both workers have same or similar degree of education or experience. This is because the employer might believe that working with a compatriot is a much easier rather than a newcommer who the employer is less familiar with. In my opinion, in order to ensure the equal rights and to resolve the high unemployment rate problems, the employers and workforce in Canada should be tolerant and more open and accepting towards newcommers. It is important for employers to judge all workers equally without any biased preference.

On the whole, although, the high unemployment rate of immigrant workers are very frustrating, it still is great to hear promising words from economic centres and government of Canada. I would hope to see equal oppurtunities being distributed fairly too all workers including newcomers as soon as possible. Moreover, government and economic centres of Canada should put great amount of effort towards approperiate measures immediately to improve on 10 key areas where the improvement is urgent in order to create more oppurtunities and lower the unemployment rates of recent immigrant workers.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/10/04/immigrants-jobs-study.html

Woman who shot husband in N.L. found not guilty

After nine days of testimony, Mary Beth Harshbarger, a Pennsylvania women was found not guilty of criminal negligence and murder after shooting her husband Mark in the abdomen 4 years ago which eventually killed him in Newfoundland. According to Mary Harshbarger's lawyer, this incident was just a terrible accident due to a horrific constellation and unfortunate facts. Moreover, the juries from Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador after thorough investigation stated that the crown wasn't able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mary Harshbarger breached the standard of care expectated of someone in her situation.

The incident took place on September 2006,when Mark and MaryHarshbarger was on a hunting trip near Buchans Junction, Newfoundland. Mark Harshbarger was shot by his own wife, Mary, in the abdomen during the hunting trip and was eventually killed. According to Mary Harshbarger, she saw "a big black thing" emerge from bushes and shot a "big black thing" immediately thinking that it was a bear without fully identifying it since her sight wasn't very clear due to the dusky weather. Moreover, two hunting guides also acted as re-enactament witness and testified that what they saw through Mary Harshbarger's rifle scope could have been mistaken for a black bear.

The crown lawyer O'Reilly told to the court that Mary Harshbarger, a seasoned hunter shouldn't have fired at a target that she could not identify in the fading light in her closing argument. Moreover O'Reilly also said that Mary Harshbarger knew it was possible that her husband would be emerging from woods soon. Anyhow, because the crown wasn't able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mary Harshbarger breached the standard of care expectated of someone in her situation, she was found not guilty of criminal negligence and murder.

In my opinion , it was a right decision by the Supreme Court of Canada to not charge Mary Harshbarger for a murder. I believe that if I was in Mary Harshbarger's situation, it would be hard to identify if a "big black thing" emerging from a bush is a bear or a person especially on a dusky days in the hunting forest field with bushes and trees. Moreover, as proven by two hunting guides, it is possible that what Mary Harshbarger saw through her scope could have mistaken as a bear especially because she was in the middle of dusky hunting field filled with bushes and trees. Therefore because there are legitimate reasons to believe that the shooting was an accident, it was right choice to not charge her for a murder of her husband.

However, I still believe that she should've been charged with some degree of violence or criminal negligence and took some kind of responsibility towards death of her husband. Although it is very convincing that the shooting was an accident and unintentional towards her husband with various evidences, it does not change the fact that she "killed" her husband. As stated by the crown lawyer O'Reilly, this incident could've been prevented. Mary Harshbarger, a seasoned hunter shouldn't have took the shot before fully identifying whether the target is a bear or a person. Secondly, the fact that Mary Harshbarger knew that it was possible for her husband to emerge from the woods soon wearing black clothes proves that she should've been well aware of the chances of the "big black thing" being her husband. Therefore, although it seems that the shooting of her husband was an unintentional accident, it still was caused by her negligence and carelessness, therefore I believe that she is partly responsible for this tragic incident. In conclusion, although being charged for "murder" is unjustifiable, she should still be charged with some degree of violence or criminal negligence for her actions and responsibility towards this incident.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20101001/harshbarger-verdict-101001/

Europeans protest austerity measures

On September 29th, the European Commision initiated austerity measures all over Europe in order to suggest government's deficit budget cuts. European Commision stated that this austerity measure is essential in order to adjust government budgets approperiately towards recessional period that they are facing due to high unemployment rates, debts and so on. The Austerity measure is a policy to cut the government deficit spending budgets by increasing the original tax rate. Deficit spending is government's spending which was financed by borrowing money rather than from taxation.

Soon after the austerity measure was proposed, more than 10,000 of workers all across the E.U.(European Nation) took part in protesting against European government budget cuts and austerity measures at Brussels, Belgium which is much like a capital of European Union. The EUTC (Euroean Trade Union Confederation) stated that additional 100,000+ workers are also protesting against the European government across Europe such as Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and so on. Currently, all across Europe, various public transits, railways, and airports are being disrupted by the strike and chaos. General secretary of EUTC which organized the protest at Brussels criticized European commission. "How is that(austerity measures) going to make the situation better? It is going to make it worse" Moreover, it is reported that the austerity measures backed by Germany is running in to opposition France which wants politicans to come up with approperiate sanctions to satisfy both public and the government rather than adhere to rigid rule (austerity measure) alone.

In my opinion, European Commision's decision of initiating austerity measures wasn't approperiate and ideal. First of all, even I would be very frustrated towards the European Commission as well if I was facing the same situation as the citizens in Europe. World's economy is on its recessional period today and this is not an exception to Europe. Therefore European workers especially those who are in the middle and low class (majority of them) have dissatisfaction towards economical environment and government today. Was it convincing for European Commission to introduce austerity measures to these people at times like this? My answer is no. If I heard that the government will increase taxes to cut back deficit spending budgets , I would be very frustrated as well especially when majority of people are struggling from the recessional economy. Therefore no matter how effective this measure might be, the fact that the European Commission introduced austerity measures wasn't approperiate to convince and satisfy the public suffering from recessional economy.

Secondly, recalling back to general secretary of EUTC, I strongly agree with his point as well. At recessional times with high unemployments and large proportion of citizen's suffering from debts, it would be much more promising and effective if government is increasing the budgets on making more job positions, financial supports and so on. However, increasing taxes to cut deficit budget of government during recessional period doesn't seem effective to me. I know for a fact that more jobs and more services should be created to increase the number consumers and money being spent which will improve our economical conditions. So, how is increasing taxes to cut back on deficit spendings of government more effective than increasing the government's focus and budget towards economical support? I do not find European Commission's idea effective towards improving economical conditions.

Therefore, in my opinion, European Commission should come up with approperiate sanctions as soon as possible to convince the public and to improve the economy in much convincing and effective way as suggested by France. I hope that in the future, the definite solution towards economic improvement will be discovered which will satisfy both government and public preventing anymore conflict between them.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/09/29/europe-austerity-protest.html

China to continue 1-child policy

China, the largest populated nation in the world, decided to extend the 1-child per family policy for comming decades in order to minimize their population growth and to decrease the population. In the past decades, the 1-child policy had been very effective in minimizing the birthrate of China since it had prevented additional 400 million births. Therefore, despite the policy's problematic side-effects such as too few girls and an aging population, the government decided to initiate the extension. Chinese government believes that massive population and large number of family are significant factors towards causing the cycle of poverty within the nation. Therefore Chinese people are forced to break their traditional large families, for comming decades.


After this news have been informed, the public and the citizens stated strong refutation and objections towards the extention of the 1-child per family policy. Moreover, the conjectures regarding to whether the government will relax the policy soon is also growing among the Chinese media, experts and ordinary citizens. A family planning official from Guangdong, China predicted that the his province would loosen the policy by 2015 and will scrap off the whole policy by 2030. However, according to Li Bin, the head of National Population and Family Planning Commision through China Daily newspaper, no changes will be made to this policy any time soon.


In my opinion, i believe that this 1-child policy should be discarded as soon as possible or at least loosen up its restriction to 2-child. First of all, I believe that it is the individual couples and families personal choice to decide how many children they will have. I think that it is morally wrong for the government to limit the number of child a family could have with law. Secondly, although it is evident that China's birthrate is significantly decreasing, there are obvious problematic side-effects which are very critical towards China's future. For example, because only one child is allowed per family, lots of families will favor a boy in order to maintain their family tree and family name, which decreases the number of girls being born significantly. Moroever, the fact that proportion of younger generations being born currently is extremely small compared to older generations, the future economy and status of the country might be affected negatively. It is because there might not be enough people to maintain the economy and the country approperiately, which might cause and produce even much severe poverty than the situation China is facing today. I believe that Chinese government should reconsider this policy and identify it's possible side-effects , because the policy meant to resolve the poverty might just cause much severe poverty.


How would you like to live in a country struggling from severe poverty with only 1~2 girls for every 10 guys? It would be very bleak and awful considering all of the hardships the people have to deal with. In conclusion, due to the policy's moral issues, disadvantages and possible critical side-effects, i believe that the 1-child policy in China should be discarded or at least loosen up its restrictions of 1-child to 2. Moreover, instead of 1-child policy, the Chinese government should come up with much more promising economic measures to improve the economy and to resolve the poverty.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/09/27/china-one-child027.html

Medal for hero who died saving child

Woman named Tina Maryann Moores from Newfoundland was awarded with a Carnegie medal for heroism after she had lost her life while saving a child from drowning. On August 15th, 2009, Tina Moore was with her sister in Buchans, located at the centre of the Newfoundland, when she had spotted a young girl named Emily Ivany drowning as she was getting carried into deeper water by off shore current. Immediately after spotting, Moores jumped into the water and swam for about 130 feet and successfully got Emily's head out of the water, however she was in trouble as well. Moore's sister swam immediately towards Emily afterwards and grabbed Emily and they were both rescued by a boat which others brought. However Moore continued to float farther away from the shore and although her husband and other three men were able to pull her into another boat, unfortunately, it was too late.

On the other hand, Emily, the young girl who was saved from drowning, had to be hospitalized for hypothermia however she eventually was able to fully recover. Carnegie Medals are given out towards people throughout United States and Canada who risk their life to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. Moore became among the 19 people named as recipients of the Carnegie Medal for Extraordinary Acts of Civilian Heroism this year.

In my opinion, although, Moore's bravery and goodness from her heart should be praised high, I don't believe that her action was very smart. I think that her action towards rescue was not appropriate regarding to safety. It is because just jumping in the sea with strong currents without any adequate plans and preparations can put both people in much severe danger especially when one is not a professional life guard. I believe that there are various other actions which Moore could've taken in order to secure her own safety as well as saving the girl with safer procedures. For example, she could've thrown buoyant object for the girl to hold on to until professional lifeguard or boat appeared then call for professional help. Moore could've prevented sacrificing her life if she had made better choices. Anyhow, it still is great to see Moore receive rightful recognition from others for her bravery and true heroic quality. Her actions might not have been the best possible way, however it truly was a rightful action to take and the fact that she was the first one to step up to save another person's life, she surely deserves rightful recognition and praise. It sure is tragic and remorseful to hear what happened to Moore afterwards. However i am greatly thankful that there still are wonderful people like Moore out there in the world and they really are the heroes of our society today.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/09/23/15447581.html#/news/canada/2010/09/23/pf-15447586.html

Igor prompts states of emergency in Newfoundland

Emergency state have been declared to south eastern regions of Newfoundland in the early morning of September 20th as Hurricane Igor reached Newfoundland from the south with heavy rain and windstorms. Hurricane Igor damaged most of the electric powers, major roads and bridges in Burin peninsula (southeast of Newfoundland) leaving the communities isolated under severe danger. More than 50 families from Clarenville, Marystown and Terrenceville in Burin peninsula were forced to be relocated at local school due to over 200 mm of rain and strong windstorms. Moreover, it is even more devastating as more than 20 000 residents of Burin peninsula are stranded at their homes waiting for boats to come and rescue them because of the flooding.

Sgt. Edgecombe, local police officer stated that it will be impossible for residents to escape Burin peninsula for several days since the only bridge connecting the area to the Trans-Canada Highway has been deteriorated. Police also reported that they cannot guarantee the safety of all civilians due to the lack of supplies and labour efforts. Hurricane Igor is expected to travel north and reach St.John's by the afternoon of September 20th. Mayor of St.John's,O'Keefe , believes that St.John's will be able to endure the hurricane with very little or no life losses and injuries. Mayor O'Keefe said "We are as ready as we possibly can. Every precaution and action that can be taken by city crews in preparation for that storm has been put in place since this morning." On the other hand, Canadian Hurricane Centre and Environment Canada has issued wind and rain warnings for the entire Newfoundland. At the very moment, more rescue and food supplies as well as labour efforts are essential in order to ensure the safety of people stranded at the Burin peninsula.

In my opinion, I find some very bright and positive actions being done in Newfoundland in order to secure the safety of civilians. Such as Mayor and local government of St.John's stepping up and sending precautions as well as setting up city crews to take actions in preparation for the storm. However, it was just frustrating to hear about the conditions at Burin peninsula after the Hurricane Igor has passed by earlier this morning. People had to be relocated to local schools in order to protect themselves and those who couldn't relocate themselves ahead of time were stranded at their homes hopelessly waiting for a rescue boat to come and rescue them. Moreover the fact that most of electric powers, major roads, and bridges being damaged is just horrifying. Out of all the damages, deterioration of the bridge connecting Burin peninsula to Trans-Canada Highway was especially devastating. Due to the deterioration, every civilians in Burin peninsula are now isolated completely for several days.

I strongly believe that this situation could've been prevented or at least could've been better if the communities and local government in Burin peninsula had came up with much more promising plans and initiatives ahead of time. Newfoundland should look out and be cautious towards hurricanes like Igor at all times because of their geological region. What happened to Burin peninsula had already been done and we cannot reverse it. However, what Newfoundland communities and government could do is to make sure that no further significant damages are being done to other regions within the province and to support Burin peninsula with more labour efforts and medical and food supplies. Moreover, every Canadian citizen from other provinces should also support and provide helps in order to repair the damages and to save the people under severe danger as soon as possible. I wish that everyone had learned their lessons through today's incident especially for people in Newfoundland and the Newfoundland's government. It is their job to come up with much more promising plans and actions towards hurricanes and natural disasters like the hurricane Igor in order to prevent further tragic catastrophes.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20100921/igor-newfoundland-100921/