They have really backed you into a corner Rob

The editor of NOW magazine Michael Hollett, decided to apologize to Mayor Rob Ford as seen above for digitally alerting an image of him than putting it on the cover of an issue of NOW.How did he choose to apologise to the mayor by offering to pay to fly Rob to the Pride Parade in Toronto.On Monday I posted about Toronto's Mayor Rob Ford not being able to attend the flag raising at the beginning of pride week because of a meeting,and how it angered many people.He also said he wasn't sure if he would be able to attend any other pride celebrations it turns out that he won't be attending the parade he will be at his cottage.The cottage is near Huntsville and Michael Hollett is offering to pay for the flight as an apology.Obviously this is not an apology he justs wants the public to know that the mayor has every opportunity to attend.Hopefully the Mayor does attend and hopefully you do to.Happy Pride Week!
-D

Hats and Environmentalists...

It goes without saying, that the hats worn throughout Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding were quite stunning, and did make a large statement.
Now, the Environmental Defence group are going to try and use the same accessory to make their own statement.
The Canada Charles and Diana saw twenty years ago was much different than Canada is today. And not for the better, environmentally wise. Environmental Defence is trying to bring awareness to these changes to Canada's nature and wildlife through their project "Hats for Kate"  The group has held a contest nationwide for hat designers to create a hat portraying out country, including issues due to pollution. Eight hats have been chosen, and they are to be shown at a fashion show in Ottawa on Canada Day.

You can check out the hats and their meanings, here. Enjoy! :
http://photogallery.thestar.com/1016271

-Em

Where is your pride Mr.Mayor?

At the annual gay pride week flag raising on the 24th of this month Toronto's mayor was a no show.As the mayor of Toronto he should be there to show support to the citizens of the city he runs.This year he decided to not show up this angered allot of people who did attend.I think it is amazing when citizens of a city get together to show there support for a cause.I defiantly believe that in those  kinds of situations the mayor should come to show his belief in the unison of his city.Mr.Ford not showing up is like saying he does not support the gay community of Toronto.When Mayor Rob Ford was asked why he did not attend he said that he had a meeting with Toronto Maple leafs general manager Brian Burke and would not say what the meeting was about.When asked if he would be attending any of the gay pride week celebrations he said he would play it by day saying he was a very busy man.To busy for a vary larger amount of the population who attend these events or are gay themselves?I hope not or he may not be so lucky next time re-elections come around.
-D

Your Update on the Postal Workers Strike

Just wanted to keep you updated on the strike.Starting tomorrow Canada's red post mailboxes will be unsealed .The postal workers will be back to work. The mail will be coming out.

HELLEW AGAIN !

Helloooo world!
Have you guys missed us greatly? Did you wonder where we were?
Don't worry too much, we are back, finished school and ready for the summer!
A lot has happened in the past week or so, eh? There's been a mail strike, a few natural disasters, and a  prize winning quilt that took four years to make and costs over four thousand dollars, has gone missing!
We'll keep you posted on what's comming up!
-Em

Goodbye for Now

As a result of our exams me and Emma are taking a temporary break from the blog.We will defiantly be back by the 24th of June so that's only seven days away but we might even be back sooner.Also we are both away allot this summer so we will be trying to work something out there,but we will be posting this summer and we will be expanding a little on what we do in September including more videos!If you are struggling threw exams right now good luck we feel your pain!
-D

Healthy again

As I am sure many of you know there was a shooting in Arizona January and Congresses women Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head. She was shot by a twenty-two years old man named Jared Loughner who has been charged. For along time things were unsure and she was in a coma. But today she was released from the hospital and is in good health. At the bottom of the article in The Globe and Mail I got this information from many supporters of the congresses women gave their love and support. Her story really is inspiring and I hope all the best for her rehabilitation.

-D

Postal Workers Strike

The Canadian Union of Postal workers want a better contract. Tonight at midnight 15 000 workers will walk of the job in Toronto and Montreal, this is a pre-planned strike that will last at least twenty-four hours. About 50 000 workers have been involved in the strike the last two weeks but the areas have been rotating.The union and the crowns corporation are having trouble negotiating.Hopefully this will be solved quickly and fairly before any more Canadians lives are effected.I'll keep you guys updated on the strike and negotiation attempts.
-D

Cleaning as a Community

The Richekieu River in Quebec is currenlty epxeriencing the worst flooding it has seen in over one hundred fifty years. Thousands and thousands of homes and offices have been flooded, forcing many to evacuate their homes. The government will have to pay over $40 million to repair certain damages, and the flooding is still continuing to get worse.
Throughout this miserable flood I find it very impressive to see the community comming togerther to solve the issue. On Saturday in a town south of Montreal, over one thousand volunteers began clearing areas together and cleaning up their town. And today that number more than doubled, the turn out was so large that it was apparently difficult to find something for everyone to do!
-Em

Gay Pride Parade

Saturday afternoon thousands of people took part in the annual gay pride parade  in downtown Edmonton.Allot of the people who took part noted that this year there was an increase in children's attendance.I think this is great children are learning that being gay or any form of gay is OK and normal for many people.If we can get those values into children at a young age I honestly think the bullying will eventually cease to exist as they get older.Edmonton pride week lasts till June the nineteenth I urge you to go and bring your kids!
-D

The Price is Never Right for Illegal Zoos

Lynn Gustafson runs a private zoo called GuZoo, in a little town outside of Calgary, which features not only domestic animals, but wild life and exotic pets.
Several complaints had been made regarding the Zoo to government officials in the past as well as the Alberta SPCE,  and more reciently Zoocheck, an animal protection lobby group from Toronto has made a report stating that in come cages at the zoo haven't been cleaned regularly, and had week old feces in them. Furthermore, cases were made stating that the animals only recieve fresh water weekly.
Zoocheck sent their information to the retired game-show host and animal activist Bob Barker reciently, who in turn protested to the governemt saying that all animals currently living at GuZoo need to be protected and relocated.
Just last week the governemt of Alberta revoked the permit of GuZoo due to "difiencies in all categories of its operations" giving Mr. Gustafson a sixty day "decommissioning period" where he may not open the Zoo to the public and must begin to close the Zoo for good, including finding homes for the animals.
However Mr. Gustafson is denying all claims and is trying to change the Zoo into a Petting Zoo in order to escape the closing.
-Em

Libya

From my previous post you may know that me and allot of people thought that Gadhafi would be out by now but the war is still raging.The Canadian government has made plans to keep their planes in Libya for the next three and a half months.Its scary to think it will last that much or longer when I'm sure people want him to just give in already.The continuation of their mission in Libya's will coast us 60 million.Gadhafi has told his soldiers to rape the women and has even given the Viagra.He has now added mass rape to the many charges that will be layed against him.Hopefully this will be resolved soon with no more bloodshed I just wanted to give you an update on Canadian involvement.
-D

Caf Cookies Be Gone...

When the current grade eight students were touring my high school last week, the majority of them were quite excited about the school's extracurriculars and trips, the gyms and the caf, but nearly all of them squealed when they were shown the caf cookies the size of my head.
However, when they get to their first day of high school in September there won't be any caf cookies at all, the entire menu is going to be different.
The new School Food and Beverage Policy is to ensure that all food and beverages sold on school premisis in Ontario for school purposes (so for bake sales, sport events, cafeterias, pizza parties, banquets, vending machines, etc) must meet a specific nutritional standard. This is in order to promote student health and healthy eating habits and a healthy school environment. In order to comply with this newly instated policy, many schools need to switch up the menus in their cafeterias and in their vending machines.
-Em

the dangers of tater tots

I always know that the frozen tater tots that you cook in the oven are full of unhealthy chemicals, but now we are in danger of chocking on the little things!Kidding yes if you are one of the many people who read the conservative parties announcement on Stephan Harper choking on a tater tot then ending up in a hospital its not true.A hacker or group of hackers actually broke into to the conservative party website to make a joke.I know this is bad but well watching it on the news I laughed, after the scandal with the group of hackers stealing personal information from Sony and other companies it seems so harmless.There are suspicions that these two hacking jobs are somehow linked but at this stage its just speculation.Yes I know this is not exactly news worthy but it made me laugh so I wanted to share it with you.On the other hand the hacking into Sony and other companies is news worthy because its scary to think of what these people have the ability to do.
-D

Page Protest...

A couple years ago I had the chance to be involved in a program in the provincial government called the Page Program, where I got to work as a gophor in the legislature collecting and delivering water and documents for the members of the house. All of the protocol was quite formal, we were to bow at certain areas, sit at others, stand and face this way and that. One page in federal government went against all formalities however and spoke her mind this past friday.
During the throne speeches the twenty-one year old page walked to the middle of the Senate and held up a red stop sign saying "STOP Harper" on it, right in front of the present members of Parliment and television cameras.
She was immediately dismissed from the Senate, and she lost her job as a page. However she caught the attention of many Canadians and even the American film maker Micheal Moore was made aware of her efforts and he infact has offered her a job.
 -Em

Peace Talks

Before I can bring you up on the current issues I want to make sure you know the past of Israel and Palestine's conflict.A group called the Zionists in the late 1800s decided to colonize the land that is Israel and Palestine.They were Jewish and were trying to make a place for Jews to settle,at first there was no conflict.But as time grew on and more Jews came to settle some had the wish of the land becoming a Jewish state which started to worry the indigenous people.When Hitler came to power and many countries refused the Jewish refugees many many fled to Israel/Palestine.The result was fighting beginning too emerge with the fear that the Jews would take over the land.In 1947 the United Nations tried to fix the problem but were pressured and made the wrong decision.They split Palestine up they made 55% a Jewish state even though they by far had less of a population and owned only 7% of the land compared to the Ingenious peoples.A war broke out and Israel conquered 78% of Palestine then they eventually took the other the last 22% and a little of Egypt.A peace treaty was made in 1993 were some territories were supposed to be given to Palestine but this did not happen so there was an uprising.There is still allot of conflict.Israel is currently considering a French Mideast peace bid this would be peace talks arranged by the french.Hopefully the peace talks happen and we will begin to see progress soon.
-D

Fit For Summer!

My sisters and I had great fun kayaking at the cottage today, and then they had a little too much fun and decided to knock me into the water. My jeans and sweater were absolutely completely soaked but it was surprisingly warm, I did not turn into a emmasicle what-so-ever. Which can only mean one thing: it's almost swimming season!
I'm sure you're already grumbiling that swimming season actually means bathingsuit season, and I'm sure some are grumbiling about extra winter weight. But with the warm weather it's really simple and not to mention environmentally friendly to get fit outdoors!
In an hour the average 150lb person looses:
510 calories running
300 calories walking
300 calories canoeing
620 calories swimming (lengths)
230 calories kayaking
270 biking
480 playing soccer

To check out how many calories you burn for your summer activities visit:
http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

-Em

Props to ANTHONY E. WOL

I know this is bad but I tend to roll my eyes at articles written by adults about teenagers but today one got my attention in a positive way.In The Globe and Mail yes that seems to be the only newspaper I quote there was an article called "How do I get my grumbling, lazy teen to help around the house"? This article talks about the struggles of having a lazy teen, it talks about if they did not get in the habit of helping out as a child changing their habits is near impossible.I agree, I think that teens have to motivate themselves by seeing their parents struggle instead of by being constantly yelled at.They had a great idea if after repeatably asking g your teen to do something they still say I 'll get to it the article says to try standing there until they do it.Jackpot I don't know about the other teenagers out their but this would work for me,I would hate to have my mother just stand there and watch me I would get up and just do what she asks.They said to do this as an alternative to lecturing or saying something like don't speak to me that way that's my moms favourite because it states that,that will just promote arguing and we teenagers love to argue.Parents out their I would consider the idea,and for all teens lets try to help out more I will at least so we can rub it in their faces!
-D

...And They're Off!

Winnipeg postal workers have officially announced that they're walking off the job this Friday as they're fed up with the union not going far enough to meet their concerns. Employees are still demanding even higher raises than the latest offer fron Canada Post, which bumps the previous $18 and hour to $19 an hour. Representatives fron Canada Post says that the means simply aren't there to  meet these demands due to the decrease of mail in this electronic age.
All regular mail will stop in Winnipeg now. This will even have an effect on UPS and FedEx in rural areas, beacuse in most cases Canada post carries the deliveries the last few kilometers. Hoever, 9000 employees have volunteered to still deliver welfare cheques and social cecurity cheques for those who need them.
-Em

Social Pariahs

I read an article this evening on the idea that students who are social outcasts in school will do better in life.This article reminds me of how confusing and often incorrect labels can be, you can't label people certainly not teenagers.Teenagers are constantly changing and going through stages,therefore they are not the thing to label an I feel that categorizing peple into groups like emo's,nerds,punks and gamers is incorrect.This is an expert from Michael Kesterton's article "Outcast teens may be better prepared for life" from The Globe and Mail.

Rejoice, social pariahs

“Many popular students approach graduation day with bittersweet nostalgia: excitement for the future is tempered by fear of lost status,” Alexandra Robbins writes for the Los Angeles Times. “But as cap-and-gown season nears, let’s also stop to consider the outcasts, students for whom finishing high school feels like liberation from a state-imposed sentence. In seven years of reporting from American middle and high schools, I’ve seen repeatedly that the differences that cause a student to be excluded in high school are often the same traits or skills that will serve him or her well after graduation. … Geeks profit from their technological know-how. Emos benefit from being empathetic and unafraid to display emotion. Skaters, punks and others who pursue their arts with fervour benefit from the creativity they’ve honed. Gamers have learned both problem-solving skills and the ability to collaborate through collective intelligence.”

First I would like to point out what is a popular student?Someone who everyone knows or someone who everyone likes or is it someone who likes everyone. There is no one in high school who knows everyone but there are people who everyone in their grade talks about but that's not necessarily a good thing.I would like to point out that their are many different social groups just because people like a person in their own group and they have lots of well known drama doesn't make  a person popular.In my definition someone who is popular is someone who is well liked by all groups this is not usually the prettiest party girl/boy in the school its usually someone who trys to get along with everyone and is outgoing.I also disagree with this hole social pariah thing to me that's someone who is socially awkward and has little to no Friends. There are many skaters and geeks who have many friends and are happy.So for a minute lets pretend the article didn't mention all those labels and just mentioned social pariahs those are usually people that have some kind of bad social skills.But not always some times they look a certain way or have a mental disease that causes high school students to avoid them which is completely unfair.But those who don't are usually some form of mean because I got to tell you a whole entire school is not going to attach someone no matter how strange or unattractive if they haven't been mean,but I'm sorry to say that sometimes they get it worst for what they have done because they are considered uncool.If someone has friends but high school is bad for them I wouldn't ever call them a social pariah because they have friends and I can promise you that everyone has been bullied in one way ore another.Sadly if someone is shy,strange,rude or really loud those are some qualities that probably will not help someone in life.Qualities of someone who is isolated are not being a skater,being smart,being a gamer or being artistic.I defiantly don't agree with this it is stereotyping.

-D