5 People Escape From Sydney Cafe

Today in Sydney, 5 people escaped from a Sydney cafe where a lone Iranian gun man took an unknown number of hostages during Monday morning rush hour. Earlier, two people inside the cafe held up a flag with an Islamic declaration of faith that has often used by extremists. This raises fears that this might be a terrorist act. The first three people that escaped the cafe, ran out of the Lindt Chocolat Cafe six hours into the hostage crisis. Another two women sprinted out of the store from a fire exit where police where waiting. The situation is still developing and the police believe they can stop the gunman and bring everyone home for the holidays.

This is a terrible act to do especially around the holidays. The gunman, I believe, is doing this for ISIS and if not, trying to get the attention of ISIS so that he may join. The radical Islamic terrorist's have been increasing in past months. This is a serious issue which must be stopped at the root. I believe that the Australian police can overcome this challenge and that this will be resolved soon.

http://news.yahoo.com/5-people-escape-hostage-crisis-110920433.html

Harvard Law Professor Goes To Court Over Overcharged Dinner

Ben Edelman, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, went to war with Sichuan Garden when he was over billed $4 when he ordered his food. Edelman ordered his food on-line where the prices were outdated. When Edelman found out that he was overcharged he went straight to his e-mail to notify the restaurant. The manager of the restaurant, Ran Duan, quickly responded with an apology and said he would gladly refund the 4 dollars. Edelman refused and started talking about taking up legal action.

This was an outright move to try and shame a restaurant by making a big deal out of nothing. Even though Edelman, a Harvard professor who makes a fair bit of money, had every right to be upset, he took the whole matter to far. Most people would just leave it because its 4 dollars, but this guy was trying to be a pest. Edelman is notorious for his tenacity in calling out corporate misleads so this case will probably get dismissed.

http://www.boston.com/food-dining/restaurants/2014/12/09/harvard-business-school-professor-goes-war-over-worth-chinese-food/KfMaEhab6uUY1COCnTbrXP/story.html

Air Canada Gives Expats a Ride Home

Air Canada travels to a local bar where ex-pats normally meet.The airline offered almost all ex-pats in the bar, waiting to go home, air tickets to go home for the holiday's which tugs at the emotional strings of the viewers.

Air Canada is doing a real justice by giving these people the holiday cheer. This is an amazing deed by giving these people hope and I wish I could have been apart of it. There should be more good deeds in the world like this. If people/ corporations could be this generous, many people would benefit from each other and the world would be a better place.

http://www.chron.com/news/media/Air-Canada-Surprises-Bar-of-Expats-With-Flights-147993.php

Long Lost Painting Found In "Stuart Little" Film

Art historian Gregely Barki sat down to watch the classic movie "Stuart Little", when he discovered a hidden masterpiece on the set. Behind the actors on the wall, Robert Bereny's "Sleeping Lady with Black Vase" painting was displayed. The painting has been missing for decades. Berney, was considered one of the leading artists in early 1900's Hungary. Barki believes the painting went missing when the last buyer left Hungary before or during the second world war. After seeing the film, Barki immediately  contacted the film production crew. A month later he received an email from the assistant of the set designer saying he has the painting in his bedroom. Th painting is now going for $150,000 Canadian at an auction.

This is one lucky find. This seems like it came straight out of the movies, ironically. I'm glad that institute found the painting and that the case has been cracked. This is one of the most beneficial finds to the artistic community. I hope that  more paintings that have been lost in the war, come forth back into the world.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-buzz/art-historian-finds-long-lost-hungarian-painting-175434901.html

Cricket Star Dies

All around the world, flags flew at half mast last Friday. Phillip Hughes, famous cricketer, lost his life on Thursday after being hit by a cricket ball on Tuesday. Hughes was struck in the neck by the ball, causing an artery to burst, which forced blood into the brain area. He was hospitalized for 2 days in a coma. Doctors tried to force the blood out of his brain through his skull, but that did not help. Many mourned the death of the cricketer from nations far and wide to celebrate his life and to show respect for their fallen team-mate.

This a tragedy. Not many injuries in cricket lead to death but Hughes was an exception. The board of directors for the cricket games should reconsider the safety protocols. Even though cricketers wear a helmet, Hughes neck was uncovered which ultimately lead to his death. I believe the board will change the safety protocols to ensure that this tragedy does not happen again.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/australian-batsman-hughes-dies-head-knock-045750053--spt.html

BlackBerry Paying IPhone Users to Switch

BlackBerry will pay Iphone users to switch their own smart phone, the BlackBerry Passport. Starting December 1st, BlackBerry will announce a program stating that if you trade in your Iphone 6 through Amazon or the BlackBerry website, you will receive $400 in trade in value and and extra $150 dollars. However, if you are Canadian, you will receive $200. The phone has to be in working condition for this promotion to apply.

I think this is Blackberry's last desperate attempt to boost sales. I don't think this plan will work because most people will take the money, and then sell the Passport, then buy a new Iphone 6. I predict Blackberry will soon go bankrupt due to these absurd ideas, and soon one great Canadian corporation, will fade into history.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/blackberry-pay-iphone-users-550-172400516.html

12 Year Old Boy Killed By Police

On Sunday, a 12 year old boy, Tamir Rice, was shot and later died of his wounds. It started when unidentified caller called the police stating someone was brandishing a "probably fake" gun. The officers responded and reported to the scene. One officer told Rice to raise his hands. Rice did not respond and took the toy gun out of his pocket. The gun didn't have the normal orange safety indicator, so the officers fired two shots.

The officers had no right to fire at the boy. It doesn't make sense how a 12 year old boy would have a semi automatic handgun, and the unidentified caller even suggested that the gun might be fake. All of these facts further proves that the officer shouldn't have fired. The officer could of also fired a warning shot saying for the boy to drop the weapon. The boy's family are doing their own investigation to find the truth.

http://www.vox.com/2014/11/24/7275297/tamir-rice-police-shooting

Winnipeg Women Arrested for Hiding Infant's Remanins

Andrea Giesbrecht is a Winnipeg women accused of holding 6 dead infants in a U-haul storage facility. She was arrested outside her home on the charges of concealing 6 dead infant's. If an autopsy report states that the infants were murdered, she could be charged with 6 degrees of murder which is up to 60 years in prison. The hearing is to start tomorrow. 

I have no idea why she would be trying to hide these bodies, unless she did in fact murder the children. This is a terrible thing to do and believe that the courts make her pay with prison time. She should be sent to prison for the maximum penalty for with holding evidence and hiding the bodies.We shall await the sentence on Wednesday.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/andrea-giesbrecht-accused-hiding-infants-113000853.html

Billionaire Wants to Die Poor

Jon Huntsman Sr. is the founder and chairman of Huntsman Corporation an a billionaire who has pledged to give away all of his life's earnings to charity.

Huntsman has already given away 80% of his earnings to the Huntsman Cancer Institute Utah, which adds up to almost 2 billion dollars. He wants to help fight cancer because he has had it 4 times during his lifetime and his mother passed away from it. Huntsman doesn't believe that public funding for cancer forwards the research. He stated that “We’ve tried to have public and private partnerships but you know it’s hard to work with a bureaucracy."  Huntsman will continue to donate his wealth to find a cure to cancer. 

This is one heartfelt story. Mr. Huntsman is doing a great justice by giving up all of his earnings to charity. He, in my opinion, is a hero. He is willing to live with no money at all, at the end of his life, so that other people can live and benefit. I wish there were more people that understand Huntsman's decision and not criticize him. He has lived his whole life with wealth and wants others who weren't, to also have that experience. 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/billionaire--i-want-to-be-broke-by-the-time-i-die-211959845.html

Former Marine Banned From Daughters School

Former Marine, Kevin Wood, was banned from La Plata High school when he had an issue with his daughter project on the history of Islam. Kevin Wood believes his daughter shouldn't learn the Islamic traditions and asked the school to let his daughter do an alternative project. The school declined his request in which he stated 'I will bring down a sh*t storm on the school. I'm contacting the media, the newspaper, and contacting an attorney. After this statement the school issued a school ban on the parents. The parents were outraged and pulled out their daughter from the class, and since it is a required course, she will receive zero's.

I believe the parents are being intolerant towards the Islam religion which is unacceptable. Their intolerance is toward the extremists, not towards the good Muslims which practice peace instead of violence. They are being unreasonable and unfair to their daughter, where she can't graduate now because of the zero she received. The school should be right to deny the parents access to the school, but allow the daughter to still have school benefits.

https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/former-marine-gets-banned-from-daughters-school-over-101349990312.html

Pastor Suspended From Church

Alabama minister Juan McFarland confessed to having sex with married church members and not telling them he had AIDS.

The charges against McFarland is having sex and not informing his sex partners that he had aids, and the use of illegal drugs, After the court hearing on Thursday, the Judge decreed that McFarland must give back his church keys and the church provided Mercedes while also being banned for 24 years. After McFarland give out his confession, the congregation tried to fire McFarland to which he refused to leave changing the locks to the church and control of the church's bank account. Another hearing is set for December 1st for a permanent ban against McFarland.

Juan McFarland committed a crimes against the church and betraying the trust of the congregation. He should have come forth with his actions sooner and told his fellow church goers of his condition. He should not have thrown a fit of rage on his suspension and accepted the fact that he did wrong to others. How he acted was not in good faith towards the Christian religion.

http://thegrio.com/2014/10/09/alabama-pastor-aids-slept-church-members/

Whites Only Town

In the small town of Orania South Africa the Apartheid seems not to be over. Orania is a small town community located a few hundred miles away from major cities, it has a population of 1000 cultural Africans. The problem however is that the community only allows white people to live there. The community claims that they are not racist, but preserving their own cultural that they had for 300 years. The President of Orania, Carel Boshoff, claims that "there are thousands of blacks only community in South Africa and nobody asks questions about that." Since Orania is privately owned that can legally tell who can live in the community and who can not. This community shows that South Africa still has a lot of work to do with racial segregation within their country.

I believe that all of the communities that are segregated within South Africa, should be open to all people that want to live in the community. Orania claims that they are preserving their way of living, but they should change there way so that they are open to other opportunities of life where quality rules, not segregation. Carel Boshoff should realize that this is the 21st century and that there are are missing out on opportunities to meet great people and hear their stories.

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/twenty-years-after-apartheid-ended-in-south-99934221807.html

Republicans Use Beheading Video As Smear Campaign

House Republican candidate uses the beheading video of James Foley as a smear campaign against the Democrats.

The Republican Wendy Rodgers has made a commercial that shows an ISIS agent holding a knife to James Foley's neck taken right out of the beheading video. The commercial however, does not show the actual beheading. The commercial then shows Rodgers stating that "Terrorist threats are growing. Are we secure? Are we protected? Keeping us safe and secure is Congress's job. Kyrsten Sinema hasn't done her job... She's allowed her liberal agenda to get in the way of our safety."

The Republicans have essentially called the Democrats weak on terrorism and the Democrats are enraged. They demanded that the Republicans take down the ad, but Republican retorted saying that it was a fair use of current affairs.

I think that the Republicans are right to do this. In times of hardship you can't be soft you have to change and be hard. Of course the Republicans should ask the family members if it is okay to display the video, and if they did the commercial is justified. The Republicans are trying to change and develop the situation on ISIS and the only way for the Americans to see that is to be brutally honest.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/house-gop-candidate-beheading-video-attack-ad-article-1.1966037

43 Missing Students Found Dead

Just 125 miles off of Mexico City, 43 dead bodies have been uncovered in a mass grave.

The Mexican president vowed today that he will bring the doers of this deed to justice. 43 bodies have been found in conjoining mass graves and the bodies are thought to be of students where they took a field trip to. DNA test will take about 2 weeks and until then we (the public) will not know their names. This deed has thought to be done by the Guerreros Unidos Gang along with crooked police officers. Two gang hit men form the gang have confessed to killing 17 of the 43, so authorities know that the Guerreros Unidos Gang is directly involved. The parents of the students are heart broken and mad. Some however, believe that the students in the ditch are not their sons and daughters and believe that they are still alive somewhere. Only time will tell.

I believe that this was a horrible thing to have been done. Mexico needs to straighten out their police force so that there are no crooked cops, and directly invade the drug cartels along with American federal DEA agents. The only way to win against these gangs is to fight fire with fire, not with posters and warnings.

http://news.yahoo.com/hitmen-admit-killing-17-mexican-students-prosecutor-005040009.html

California Becomes the First State to Ban Plastic Bags

The Governor of California has decreed a state wide ban on plastic bags in hope that it will prove effective to preserve the environment.

In California plastic bags have been banned in retail stores and supermarkets as carrying bags starting this Summer. They are however, allowed to use plastic bags for meats, fruits, and vegetables to keep them fresh, but this is the only reason to use them. Grocers, instead of plastic bags, can only now use the alternate paper bag which costs 10 cents, or that they bring their own.

The Governor states that "This bill is a step in the right direction - it reduces the torrent of plastic polluting our beaches, parks and even the vast ocean itself. We're the first to ban these bags and we won't be the last.

I agree with the Governor that we should protect the environment and get rid of the plastic bags. They are polluting the Earth making the ozone layer decrease and creating an ocean of non-degradable substances. I believe this will spread and soon other American states will adopt this law.

http://news.yahoo.com/brown-says-hes-likely-sign-070121415.html

3 Dead In UPS Shooting

Just this morning there was a shooting in Birmingham Alabama where a UPS employee shot and killed his co-workers inside one of the UPS headquarters.

Chief Police Officer A. C. Roper stated that the gunman was wearing his uniform when he started to open fire. It was reported that the gunman killed the two men inside the warehouse, then retreated farther into the building, and then shot himself in the head. The gun man was found dead before the police showed up. UPS is fully cooperating with the police and is providing places for the rest of the employees to stay along with optional counselling.

This a terrible thing that has happened today. Everyone in Birmingham is mourning the loss of two of its citizens. UPS will surly upgrade their security to stop this from happening again. I believe this event happened because of mistreatment of the employee, either by employer of co workers. This leads me to believe that this story could go deeper into the mistreatment of employees.

http://globalnews.ca/news/1578178/police-3-people-dead-in-shooting-at-alabama-ups-facility/

ISIS Can Erase Iraq and Syria's Ancient History

The militant group of ISIS are invading archaeological sites and destroying/ extorting the priceless artifacts of Iraqi and Syrian history.

When ISIS overran the city of Mosul and nearby province of Ninevah, they also captured 1,800 archaeological sites which housed prices artifacts. ISIS has been destroying some these artifacts on calls of heresy, and they are also profiting greatly from it. Many international black market dealers have set up shop near the ISIS location in hopes of snatching an artifact so they can sell it on the black market. However, the city with the most damage is Kalhu. Kalhu houses the grand palace of the Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal 11 that has walls of priceless relics of describing the kings life through military conquests. The dealers are cutting up pieces of the relic and selling them bit by bit and making huge profits. The authorities are estimating 3 million dollars have been stolen in the form of these artifacts.

ISIS needs to stop desecrating the digging sites and historical buildings. ISIS are effectively destroying and erasing the history of Iraq and Syria so that the ISIS group can rewrite history to what they want. This is why they have been destroying artifacts. The American government needs to help preserve the artifacts so that the history stays alive.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/islamic-state-threatens-ancient-sites-in-iraq-syria/

NASA Gains A New Partner

The space exploration giant NASA, has teamed up with the airline manufacture giant Boeing and the space transportation company Space X.

While making this move NASA has saved tons of money because now they do not have to ferry their astronauts to the space station through Russia. It was reported that it cost NASA 70 million dollars to put an astronaut into one of Russia's shuttles and ferry them to the space station. However, Space X has announced that a seat will only cost them 20 million, a 50 million dollar difference where they can use those funds to help with their projects. The shuttle looks like the cockpit of a Boeing airplane, but with high tech technology supplied from Space X. NASA has released that the first launch of the shuttles will be in 2017 in Cape Canaveral, but will delay the launch if safety is compromised.

I believe that hiring Boeing and Space X is a smart move by NASA  because now they are saving 50 million dollars of tax payers money, which could be used to fund more space projects, or build up the American infrastructure. I strongly support the idea of space exploration because I believe the future of mankind depends on our technology in the field of space.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/boeing-spacex-ride-international-space-171512397.html

North Korea Jailing Innocent Americans?

North Korea has sentenced American citizen Matthew Miller to hard labor for six years, because he allegedly ripped up his visa and demanded asylum from the North Korean Government. 

Matthew was arrested in April this year. The American Government demanded that they release Matthew, including others, to the North Korean Government to which they stated that "He committed acts hostile to the North while entering the territory of the North, under the guise of a tourist last April". Matthew was given a live stream interview to explain his case to the American Government and pleaded for them to help him "or I will be directly sent to prison". 

I believe that Matthew did not rip up his visa or committed hostile acts. I believe the North Korean Government is holding Matthew to gain publicity on the geo-political map, misleading the American Government from their troubles in the Middle East. North Korea also might be using the captors as a bargaining chip against America and it's UN allies. Matthew will go on trial very soon and the world awaits what America will do. 

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/north-korea-sentences-u-citizen-matthew-todd-miller-095954417.html

700 Children in Iraq Killed

Up to 700 children in Iraq were killed or maimed since early this year due to the ISIS conflicts in Iraq.

Leila Zerrougui, Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, has brought the attention of the Iraqi Children to the UN Security Council describing how ISIS is violating the children rights by using them as cover, guards, police, and even suicide bombers. The recent numbers in child soldiers in Africa are a stunning 8,000 children and they are growing. The children are being used by armed groups including the Lords Resistance Army, the Boko Harman insurgency, and even country militias including Iraq. However, there has been progress in stopping the recruitment of children starting with Chad ending recruitment and Yemen signing a plan with the UN to prevent recruitment in its armed forces.

The Iraqi children deserve a better life in this world. They are trying to survive in a world where they are forced to kill or be killed. The UN's priorities need to be more focused on saving these children and help them recover from their burdens of being a child soldier.

http://news.yahoo.com/un-envoy-700-children-iraq-killed-hurt-154743920.html