Chinese man's poem lands him 7 years in jail.

A man in China was sentenced to 7 years in prison for writing a poem. The poem was about getting people to, "the square" in order to protest the government. Another two victims were sentenced nine and ten years in prison for similair reasons. The authorities are able to arrest citizens after repealing a criticized law on counterrevolutionary activities.

Personally I think it is very stupid to inprion a person for simply something that they wrote, no actions were taken by citizens after the peom was read. Also the defendant has said that he did not even make the poem public that he had only sent it to his friends through emails.

This law should be opposed by anyone who is able to change it, it is taking away from peoples' free speech and this is agaisnt human writes. Somthing needs to be done and the victims of these cases should be released as soon as possible. 

Woman accidentally pronounced dead finally gets her disability pay.

An Ottawa Citizen and cancer fighter named Susan Campbell had two months of her disability pay cut off. She contacted the federal office to find out why, and the reason was that she was legally dead. After two long months of scrambling to pay her rent and food Campbell recieved her much needed money. Even during the time while she was waiting she contaced Gail Shea the minister in charge of Revenue Canada saying, "I did ask at that time, whether things were going to go quicker". The response by Gail was a no. The problem seems to have been because of the 30 year old computer system which was recognized that needed an overhaul in 2010.

This story is very surprising, that it would take two months to fix a glitch causing a woman in such need to wait for so long to be able to pay for her regular life needs. I think the problem definitely should have been fixed a lot quicker then it was, or that Campbell should sue Revenue Canada for such a big mistake.

The computer system is being updated and there is $250 million being put towards the improvement of the computers.This updating should have been started in 2010 as it is said it will take nine months to complete. The worst thing to be cautious about now is wether the system will have any other glitches within the 9 month period causing a lot of problems for Canadian Citizens which should be addressed as soon as possible.

Summer Olympics

In 2012 Canada hosted the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver BC. The next Olympic games will be hosted in London England. The 2012 games were amazing just like they always are, always filling people with excitement, suspense, and incredible joy. I am sure that this years summer games will be the same. The games in Vancouver were great, but they received a lot of criticism from the British media. Many people believe that the British were trying to make our games look bad to make their own look more grand and have them more appreciated.

I think this is just completely stupid. Other countries should not be competing agaisnt each other to try and have a better Olympics then the last, especially not bashing. Each country definitely has their own special niche to bring to the table and that should be enough. If a country does like a another's Olympics better they should compliment them and not bash them.

It is the Olympic games, a rare time that only comes around technically every 4 years and we should not spend our time bashing each other but rather sitting together and enjoying the athletes show off their life long training.

Ski Club

Yesterday was the first day of Ski Club at Colonel By. For the first trip the club including myself went to Edelweiss. The weather was cold and there was a lot of freezing rain the day before so many people thought the conditions were not going to be favourable. Although, when everyone stated skiing and snowboarding they found out that it was a bit cold but the snow conditions were fine and I personally did not see any patches of ice. The sad thing about Ski Club this year is that not as many students signed up as last year. There was actually such a significantly lower number that a whole bus was cut.

Ski Club is a wonderful activity and it is a shame that more people did not join. However, I have talked to a lot of my peers and they said that they would have joined but they were not aware of when to do so. I also had this problem but I was lucky to sign up on the last day. I think the main problem is not loss of interest this year but that the club was not advertised effectively.

For next year, If I was a grade 11 student I would encourage students to sign up for this fun filled club. I would also make sure to have the sign up week better advertised so people are very aware and ready.

2012 The End of The World?

Many people believe that this year the world will end in December. People believe in this theory because of the Mayan calender and its predictions. The Mayan calender predicted that man will reach the moon at a certain period of time and it was not very off. The fact that the calender ends on December 21st many people think that since the calender is done then the world will be over as well.

My personal beliefs are that the world will not end. Just because a calendar ends does not mean it is the end of time. When the Mayan's were making it they oviously could not have created a calendar that goes on forever, so, it would obviously stop at some point in time.

I think that people are getting to hyped up about the whole "end of the world" thing and they are taking it too seriously. Also, if the world were coming to an end there would be nothing we could do about it so we would just have to continue living our lives just like any other day.

Name's Day Celebrations

In Polish tradition people celebrate their birthday's but also their "name's day". A name day is a day or possibly a few random days throughout the year that have specific names attatched to them. These days are celebrated as importantly as birthdays with presents and happiness. Some people are lucky because their name's show up two or three times a year.

Celebrating a name's day is a great way to be proud of your name. It is a way to apprectiate you for you. Another great thing about name's days are is it's like having multiple birthday celebrations throughout the year. Being able to celebrate more is always good, and when its about yourself too, it's even better.

From what I know name's days are only celebrated in Poland and possibly a few other European countries. It would be great if canada established their own names days on the calendar. I believe many people would enjoy having to celebrate their names and it would add more joy to Canadians overall.

Holiday Break

This holiday break I was working a lot and noticed that many customers I served would either say merry christmas or happy holidays. This reminded me of the debate between wether people should have to say "happy holidays", or, "merry christmas" to each other. Many people believe that it is offensive to say "merry christmas" to citizens who do not celebrate christmas.

From my point of view I dont think anyone should get offended from someone saying "merry christmas" because the saying only means well. As Canadian's we are a kind people and if a person is told "merry christmas" it should be taken as a kind gesture not as a sign of offense.

"Merry christmas" is a statement that represents family coming together and having a good time. Yes it is about the birth of Jesus and not everyone is christian but everyone can value and appreciate spending time with family.