China's Investment in Oil Sands a Political Migraine for Harper

Many Canadians are frustrated by the fact that China recently got approval to invest $18 billion in Alberta’s valuable oil sand stakes, this may seem like a lot of money to invest on a singular resource but in the long run China will be profiting on a mass scale from the consumption of Alberta’s oil sands. What angers many Canadians even more is that the $18 billion in stakes that has already been invested by the Chinese will almost double in value if, and likely when, Prime minister Stephen Harper approves the sale of Nexen Inc. to China’s state-owned oil company CNOOC. Another aggravating piece of information is that the same Chinese state-owned company is showing interest in investing in Saskatchewan’s potash industry; these mines also tempt India to invest. Stephen Harper is clearly looking around the globe for trade opportunities to strengthen the Canadian economy but in return he is only finding other nations who want to physically come into the country and extract our resources and then later on use these resources to profit on a extremely large scale (almost doubling their spending costs).

Personally, I strongly disagree with Stephen harpers decisions, as well as most Canadians. I understand that he is trying to strengthen the economy and this idea will most likely help at the present since he is acquiring a quick easy $18 billion. However, in the long run this decision will mostly be benefiting China because they will be the ones who are almost doubling their spending money and they will be the ones who will have control of large portions of our oil sands. Not only will we not have control of this resource in the future but we will also be strongly supporting China in overpowering our own industry!

Don Martin, Power Play Host

Published Friday, Nov. 2, 2012 5:55PM EDT

 -CTV News

  

http://www.ctvnews.ca/ctv-news-channel/power-play-with-don-martin/china-s-investment-in-oilsands-a-political-migraine-for-harper-1.1022570

Drunk teen set on fire, filmed at house party

           

            On Friday night (December 7^th) a disturbing incident occurred at a house party in Kelowna, B.C. An 18-year-old party attendant somehow managed to pass out on the kitchen floor of the party house due to either an overdose of drugs or the consumption of too much alcohol for his body to handle (or both); the exact reason for his pass-out is not released. Some time after the man was passed out, 20-year-old Matthew Sweet-grant and 18-year-old Joshua Mcwhirter thought that lighting the man on fire would be a hilarious prank and would add to the party excitement. The two criminals poured some sort of liquid accelerant on the passed-out man and afterwards lit it on fire which caused his whole back to combust. This incident resulted in the victim receiving second and third-degree burns all over his back and his condition in the hospital is summarized as “very serious injuries”, and for the two men that lit him on fire, they are both charged with aggravated assault.

            This story was truly horrifying to read about, it’s hard to hear that fellow partyers would do something like this to a completely defenseless man who clearly has to many intoxicants in his system. The most surprising part is that usually a party consists of mostly friends and people that one at least slightly knows so it’s hard to believe that no one tried to stop this incident from occurring and some person even managed to film the combustion occurring on the victim!

  

Jackie Sharkey CBC News Posted: Dec 13, 2012 8:57 AM PT

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/12/13/bc-burn-drunk-assault.html

B.C. Mountie pleads guilty in deadly crash

         A clearly irresponsible RCMP officer has finally pleaded guilty to a crash that was evidently his fault and also claimed the life of a 20-year-old man in B.C.’s Fraser Valley last year. The Constable, Jordan Braid, has admitted to driving without care or attention in Chilliwack court last Wednesday. According to investigators the Police officer was on duty in July 2011 and also driving an RCMP vehicle when he crashed head-on into a car that was driven by a man with the name of Steve Genberg in Agassiz, B.C. The exact details of the incident are that apparently the Cop was driving approximately 99km/h in an 80km/h zone and also did not have his emergency equipment activated at the time of impact while on the other hand Genburg was driving somewhere between 60-74km/h. The result from the crash was Genburg passing away in the hospital six days after the crash as well a 19-year-old passenger was also wounded in the collision. Constable Jordan Braid was fined a total of $1725, including a $225 victim fine surcharge.

This crash makes this officer look like a man who is not suitable for the Police force since he was speeding without a valid reason and more importantly killing a person because of his ruthless, irresponsible driving habits. A detail that makes this incident even more saddening is the fact that right before Steve Genberg was killed in the crash he had just recently found out that he was going to become a first-time father.

CTV British Columbia

Published Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012 1:40PM PST

*Author not provided 

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-mountie-pleads-guilty-in-deadly-crash-1.1078386

Car plunges into river, killing 2 B.C. teachers

           

            On Sunday night (December 9^th) a couple from Clearwater, B.C was driving on highway five, North of Kamloops. At the time the road conditions were quite hazardous including an icy road, the ice caused their car to start sliding and that lead on to the vehicle skidding 30 meters uncontrollably off the highway where it then struck a tree. According to Police, right after the car struck the tree it apparently disappeared into the North Thompson River and got swept down by the current. Attempts to locate the vehicle on Sunday night were made by dive teams and search and rescue teams but had no luck. The search resumed on Monday but was still unsuccessful. The couple that is presumed dead consisted of thirty year old Skye Tavis Buck and his eight month pregnant wife Courtney Elizabeth Buck that was also thirty. Both of them were teachers in the small Clearwater community that taught at Clearwater Secondary School and at Raft River Elementary School. Since the population of Clearwater is only around 5,000 “the teachers deaths have had a significant impact on the people of Clearwater”, said Michael Bowden, principal at Raft River Elementary.

            This incident, which clearly devastated the community of Clearwater just goes to show how hazardous and unpredictable driving in winter conditions really is, especially up in mountainous regions where conditions are usually even more extreme. People should really be making a strong effort to acquiring proper winter tires and even equipping their tires with chains if necessary.

           

CBC News Posted: Dec 10, 2012 11:51 AM PT

Author: Brady Strachan

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/12/10/bc-clearwater-teachers-crash.html

Notorious B.I.G.'s autopsy released 15 years after his murder

            The legendary rap artist Notorious B.I.G also known as Biggie smalls whose real name is Christopher Wallace, is originally from Brooklyn, NY. However, at the time of his murder he was in Los Angeles and was just leaving a music industry event where he was shot and murdered right outside the venue in 1997 by a drive-by shooting which to this day has become one of Los Angeles’ highest-profile unsolved murder cases. The rapper Christopher Wallace was actually shot four times in the incident but three of the four shots were not fatal. The first gunshot entered the left forearm and traveled down to his wrist, the second gunshot pierced his back but missed all vital organs and exited through his left shoulder, the third gunshot struck Wallace on his outer left thigh and exited through his inner left thigh. Finally the fatal fourth gunshot entered through his right hip and ripped its way through several vital organs which included his colon, liver, heart, and upper lobe of his left lung after all this the bullet finally came to rest in his left shoulder area. Right after the drive-by shooting Wallace was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Hospital for an emergency surgery but it was to late, Wallace was pronounced dead at 1:15AM. All this information was provided by a never before seen autopsy that was just obtained by TMZ.

            This is indeed a very unfortunate incident that occurred to such an important idol to the old-school rap era. His murderer will most likely never be identified since there wasn’t enough hard evidence to pursue the murder case. Personally I listen to Biggie smalls’ songs on the regular and it just makes me wonder how many more amazing records would have been created if this legend was still alive to this day. RIP Notorious B.I.G.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS December 7, 2012 1:46 PM

*No author provided

http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/celebrity/Notorious+autopy+released+years+after+murder/7668257/story.html#axzz2EPHsabwd

Greenland/Antarctica’s glaciers melting 5 times faster than in 1990s

         Climate change may not seem like a big issue locally but in fact it is causing devastating effects on the shrinking Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets that have been around for an extremely long time and are now reaching the smallest sizes ever recorded. We might not be feeling the effects of the melting ice sheets in the present but eventually all the melted ice will raise sea levels significantly and have a destructive effect on coastal cities. Already the sea level has been raised 11mm since 1992 just from the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets alone, which is said to be only one-fifth of the ice that has been raising the sea level. Recently scientists have found new evidence that all but one of the worlds major ice sheets are rapidly shrinking. The only ice sheet that hasn’t melted significantly but instead gradually growing in size is the one on the east side of Antarctica due to climate change causing more snow to fall in this region, however this phenomenon is not enough to make up for the damage done to the rest of the continent. In the past there has been much conflict about how climate change is actually affecting the ice sheets. Since 1989, there has been 30 different study’s trying to prove what the exact effects are. These study’s that were done most recently marks the first time scientists have come up with a way to measure the changing size of the ice sheets that they can all agree upon, the evidence was found using mostly satellite technology.

        

It frustrates me to hear that our natural ice sheets that have been around for many years are shrinking to record sizes mostly because of our self-centered ways of living. Many of us do not even realize that damage we are doing to the ice sheets just from little things such as idling are cars. I believe that the government should make a strong effort to enforce greener ways of living before it’s to late and we don’t have any ice sheets to save as well as the coastal cities that will be submerged in the ocean that will be unsalvageable.

                                 By Margo McDiarmid, CBC News Posted: Nov 29, 2012 2:04 PM ET

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/11/29/pol-ice-sheets-melting-greenland.html

B.C. rescue services dealing with record number of abandoned cats

         In the past few years the number of felines getting abandoned by heartless owners in B.C has unfortunately been steadily rising, especially in the lower mainland area. Sadly, this year there has been more abandoned cats then ever before, “it has been animal controls worst year in history”, usually on average there is around 800 stray cats taken in each year by VOKRA (Vancouver orphan kitten rescue association) but this year there is a shocking 1800 strays that have been taken in and one third of these cats are from the city of Surrey. The animal control rescue efforts keep increasing however the adoptions can’t keep up with the demand that is present, not only is there not enough room for all the stray cats at the shelter but there is also not enough donations and funding to pay for all the bills that are required just to keep the poor cats alive. The B.C SPCA is also feeling the affects of this abandoned cat crisis, this cat take-in season (May-September) they have taken in a surprising 6000 strays! All these organizations have been searching for solutions to solve this problem since clearly many owners can’t be trusted to take proper care of there cats and are treating them as a disposable objects.

         Personally, I am a cat owner so I find this news about abandoned cats very disappointing and hurting to hear. I believe that people should be getting there cats neutered/spayed so they can’t go out and breed with other cats unless the owners are willing to find proper homes for the kittens. The animal control associations should be trying to promote cats getting spayed/neutered in order to reduce the number of stray cats and kittens. 

By Larissa Cahute, The Province December 5, 2012

http://www.theprovince.com/life/rescue+services+dealing+with+record+number+abandoned+cats+with/7657796/story.html#axzz2EHwe9wJq

Black Friday shoppers clamor for early holiday deals

         The hectic once a year shopping day known as “Black Friday” has begun all throughout the U.S as shoppers are going mad to try and get the most out of all the amazing deals. Since the event has become such a big deal and tradition throughout the years larger Canadian retailers have been persuaded to taking advantage of this event and are trying out there luck to see if the advertising they have been doing weeks in advance will work out for them in Canada as well. Even though the event is called “Black Friday” over the years the superstores providing the sales have been opening a bit earlier each year. In this year’s case some stores are actually opening the night before so technically it could be called “Black Thursday/Friday”, the reasoning behind this is to give customers the options of shopping in the evening or in the morning or both if one is extremely desperate. This is because some customers may prefer to eat there thanksgiving dinner and go out in the evening to start their shopping instead of waking up extremely early in the morning to get to the retailers in time. 

I believe black friday is a decent tradition to keep going since it is great for customers that retailers are providing these extreme deals but at the same time it is quite crazy that customers are for waiting for numerous hours outside and after they finally get in they are also competing with many others inside stores to get there hands on certain products that are on sale. 

www.cbc.ca

© The Associated Press, 2012

Posted: Nov 23, 2012 2:40 AM ET

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/11/23/black-friday-thankgiving-us-shopping.html

Legion Stung By poppy Collection-box Thefts

            Inga Kruse from the B.C/Yukon legions command comments “we are very upset”, after they found out that six poppy boxes in the Chilliwack area have been stolen. This theft of the six poppy boxes from the Military legions happened over five days around Remembrance Day (Sun, Nov 11) and occurred at local businesses along Vedder Road. The reasoning behind these crimes “is just pure greed” says Chilliwack RCMP Constable Tracy Wolbeck as no other factors seem present, their has also been no solid clues as to who the thieves may be.

            Since Remembrance Day recently passed I thought this would be a significant topic to discuss. In my opinion crimes of this nature are very harsh and disturbing to hear about. It really takes some extreme lowlife to steal poppy box funds from elderly Veterans that have risked their lives and been through terrible ordeals to serve and protect our beautiful, safe country. These war veterans have been through so much in their serving time and still there is some lunatics about that are willing to steal veterans money, it makes me sick. I very much hope that the criminals who committed these thefts are caught and prosecuted.

The Vancouver Sun Newspaper (Vancouversun.com)

Thursday November 8^th, 2012

Author: Larry Pynn

Page Number: A9

New Canadian $20 bill not accepted everywhere

The new Canadian $20 bill that was released recently on November 7th all across Canada has been having difficulties with being accepted everywhere and processed at banks as well. First of all it isn't being accepted by transit machines to acquire tickets, "machines will need a software upgrade in order to accept the new bills" said by go transit. This update isn't going to occur until all the way in February which has disappointed many. The new Polymer bill also has a tendency to stick together with other polymer bills. So in other words, people have been having problems with getting the selected amount of money requested. For example their has been situations where an individual wants to withdrawal lets say $200 and only gets $180 since a bill has got stuck to another bill within the machine. Due to problems with the new polymer bill such as the ones stated their has been public complaints occurring.

I personally have not had any problems with withdrawing the new polymer bills from the bank. I think the government should have acted more efficiently to deal with these issues since they clearly knew for a long time what the problems might be since they must of tested the new bills several times over. All and all I believe the new bill is a good idea since it is virtually indestructible and also nearly impossible to counter-fit, however I think the government should act fast to deal with these problems the public is encountering.

*No author provided

CBC News Posted: Nov 16, 2012 9:44 AM ET

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/11/16/canada-money-bill-problems.html