"A dishonest student movement"

The article discusses how university students in Quebec are protesting tuition fees through a strike, which the students will miss classes for.

The author of the article asks, "are demonstrations such as these even in students' interests? Students are not being paid to provide a service, they are paying for a service. Is a $100 increase worth missing valuable class time and threatening your grades over?" He continues to state that although "a student strike could be considered a consumer boycott," the students have already paid their tuition and fees. Students have already paid for the classes they are boycotting against, so what are they going to achieve? Loss of classes they have already paid for and lower grades because of the classes they will miss. The author creates an analogy of the student strike to refusing to use the internet after paying the bill for an internet connection. He states, "you wouldn't do it because no one would care." The students have already paid their fees, they have to go to school to learn so either way the university will receive profit.


The video embedded below also provides arguments against the student strikes:

"Video of airport taser death released"

The article discusses how police in Vancouver tasered a man to death in an airport after causing a scene in a waiting area. Another article states, "Robert Dziekanski, 40, died within minutes of being tasered repeatedly at Vancouver International Airport, where he had spent hours wandering in a vain search from his mother." The man had become agitated because he could not find his mother and could not speak English - and yet nobody helped him.

The release of the video, according to the same article, has "sparked controversy around the world, particularly in Poland, whose ambassador called the RCMP's actions 'unsuitable under the circumstances, even excessive.'" The police brutality used against this man was unnecessary. Watching the video, anyone can see that Dziekanski was merely frustrated and agitated about his current situation. Although he needed to be calmed down, there was no need for four RCMP officers to react in the way they did to the issue. The situation could have been resolved had the police officers simply forced him to an area where he could tell them what the probem was - since I don't believe the officers understood why Dziekanski was reacting in this way. An even better solution may have been for the Airport staff to console and help Dziekanski find his mother. In essence, this death could have been prevented had the airport had better communication with fliers.

"The Tabs: no men allowed"

The article discusses the thought that female celebrities are more often victims of bad media than men. The article states, "most readers of gossip are women, and gossip writers think that women prefer to read about other women." And if an article focuses on a male in a tough situation it will "ruin the fantasy of him" for the female.

The obsession with females fantasizing over males has lead to a large bias against women in the media. One online article states,"the media’s obsession with female celebrities looks and personal lives sends a message to all women…a woman’s life is public property, especially her sexuality and reproductive status." A comparison between a male and a female actor in a magazine displays the issue: "the man is fully clothed, active, and joyous [while] the woman is half-naked, passive, and vulnerable."

Some woman would rather read about a female celebrity's life falling apart than have their fantasy of their favourite male fall apart. Unfortunately, the lack of male celebrity's being the center of negative-media is that it shows women in a lesser light than men.

"NBC executive slams Apple"

The article discusses how the chief executive for NBC pulled TV episodes from iTunes because the network wasn't making
enough money from the online store and Steve Jobs refused to up the prices.

I don't really understand this, considering the revenue that NBC made would have been non-existent without iTunes. Though, I suppose, if NBC believes that the users buying their shows would be willing to pay more, than the prices should go up. Unfortunately, Steve Jobs wants to keep the strict fixed-prices on the iTunes shows - and who's to say he should do differently? I personally think the fixed-pricing system is more desirable to consumers (or at least to me), which is probably why Steve Jobs wants to stick with it.

Oh well, because as the article states, Canadians couldn't purchase NBC's shows anyways:

"What to do with ex-PMs and all that pent-up bile?"

The article explains how since humans are living longer, we have a problem with all the ex-prime ministers. What are they to do after they have lost all power? Apparently they feel they are an embarrassment and this leads them to become bored and grumpy with their existence.

I personally don't believe it is the citizens issue to decide how to make previous PMs' lives better. The end of the article explains how ex-PMs in other countries have gone on to achieve more and, thus, they are no longer grumpy about their existence. Since every other citizen has to provide their own happiness, so should Prime Ministers.

And, plus, no one other than yourself can make you happy.

"Sex and marriage with robots?"

After reading this article, I am very worried about our future. I can see human beings using robots as potential sex toys, but I think that having a significant relationship between a robot and a human is stepping over the line.

The article suggests humans are able to develop feelings towards computers through the example of students becoming attracted to Eliza. And, obviously, if robots are programmed and designed for humans to have the ability to interact with them, then there will be a strong potential for attraction. But a human must understand the key word "PROGRAMMED." A robot is programmed to share the same interests but does not have emotions and, therefore, cannot fall in love with it's apparent significant other. How are you supposed to marry someone to something that doesn't understand the concept of marriage on an emotional level? The robot may look and talk like it's in "love" with the human but it wouldn't have any emotional attachment to it's "significant other."

And what about reproduction?

"Voters Roundly Reject MMP"

The article discusses how the mixed-member proportional in Ontario was voted against by over half of the voters. Supporters of MMP argue that Elections Ontario didn't do enough to inform the voters of what they were voting on. "It appeared many voters simply didn't get the information they needed to decide," said a supporter of a mixed-member proportional in Ontario.

If the entire voting population was not informed of the situation, then the results were skewed. Many voters against the MMP argue that since more than half of the voters voted against, then the result is clearly a no. But if the population was generally well-informed about the new system, would've the results been different? Maybe, maybe not. Anyways, since (apparently) most of the voters WEREN'T well-informed, the vote can not be viewed as what the voters do want.

"Halo 3 Hype"

The trailer that would've made some gamers jump for joy:


To clarify, I am not a gamer. And from that statement you can conclude that I would NEVER line up for 24 hours in order to purchase a video-game which I would then race home to play for another 24 hours. But no, I didn't choose this article to waste my time bashing those people who do so, because I probably would do the same thing for something this big that I was passionate about. Reading the article I realized the impact that video games are having on our culture (and no, not that they make children more aggressive and violent).

With Halo 3, you can wear a headset and talk to the other people that you are gaming with over the network. What does this mean? A new form of communication and interaction that has developed through technology other than IM, telephones, etc. Individuals can now communicate with the people they are playing with and against. It's almost like a schoolyard game of capture the flag. The article states:

"There's this wonderful online playground where groups of people can jump in, drive large vehicles, shoot against each other and talk and have conversations with headsets," Abel explained. "That kind of social mass appeal has driven a lot of people to want to get this in order to start playing with their friends now."
Let's re-read that: "shoot against each other" while "[talking] and [having] conversations with headsets."

This is appealing?
Maybe if it was Mario Party with headsets.
What happened to Hide-and-Seek?

Anyways, my point is that the idea that you can communicate with people miles away that you're gaming with is actually a pretty cool technological advance. And although at this point this form of communication doesn't effect me, I can probably assume it will soon enough considering how technology develops.

The "Greatest" Hamiltonian

In 2006, the Hamilton Memory Project decided that the town of Hamilton should nominate a famous Hamiltonian as The Greatest Hamiltonian.

I suppose this an attempt to, in a way, force the people of Hamilton to research and learn about past citizens and history of their community. And, with this, be able to nominate a worthy candidate for the "greatest" Hamiltonian. Although I think that it is a good idea for people to know about their history, selecting a "greatest" Hamiltonian is impossible.

Individuals have many different interests and goals and, therefore, have had different influences in throughout their lives. For example, a foot-ball fanatic would probably vote for Russ Jackson (CFL Hall of Fame quarterback and broadcaster) while a dancer would vote for Karen Kein (international ballet star) What I'm trying to say is that a person would think the Greatest Hamiltonian would be the person who most influenced them / their interests.

This is a clip from the original contest, "The Greatest Canadian":
As you can see, each individual has a different idea as to who the "greatest" Canadian is. Therefore, there is no "Greatest" Hamiltonian but a long list of great Hamiltonians.

But, I must say, that if I were forced to pick the greatest Hamiltonian, it would be George Hamilton. Why? Because without the founder of Hamilton, there'd be no Hamiltonians to nominate!

"Should your daughter get the HPV vaccine?"

The article outlines the issues revolving around a vaccine which has begun to be administered to young girls throughout Canada. The vaccine is said to prevent an STD that commonly leads to cervical cancer. Parents across the country are torn as to whether to allow their young daughter to receive the vaccine or not.

I would hope that if a parent is faced with the option of helping to prevent their child from contracting an STD and, potentially, a form of cancer, that he or she would be all for it. While reading through the article, I found myself asking the question: 'why would a parent or guardian DISagree with having their child receive this vaccination?'

Some individuals argue that the vaccine is "the motives of a drug company that stands to make big profits" and "politicians who may be pandering for votes." Whether or not this is the case, I don't believe that it is a good enough excuse for your daughter not to receive the vaccine. 80% of women contract the HPV virus and an attempt to stop it is better than nothing.

Another poor excuse for a girl not receiving the vaccine is "feeling a certain queasiness about dosing girls as young as 10 years old with protection for an STD." Eventually, every (or most) girls are going to become sexually active and I would hope parents would be able to face this reality in order to protect their children.

In the video below, Bill Maher discusses The HPV Vaccine vs. Sexual Promiscuity:

But, of course, there is one legitimate argument concerning the "fear of side effects." Because the drug is fairly new, some parents are worrying about the possible side effects that may come in the future. I would hope that before distributing the vaccine to hundreds of girls, scientists would have studied and tested the vaccination to the best of their ability.

Although I would have my daughter receive the vaccination, it is essentially up to the parents and the child as to whether they are willing to risk unknown future side effects to protect against a known cause of cancer. Of course, parents should research before allowing their daughter to receive the vaccination as there are some known side effects that effect a rare amount of young girls after receiving the vaccination.

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