Mother Accused Of Killing Son, Two Children Forced Off Bridge

An Oregon mother is accused of tossing her daughter and son off of Sellwood Bridge over the Willamette River. Local residents heard the children’s screams and rushed to the water to attempt a rescue.

The children were found almost an hour just after 2 a.m. Saturday after their first screams were heard by a resident in a boat. KGW quotes the man:

“It must have been horrifying. The water is so cold, it was dark, and so for two little kids, I can only imagine how horrifying that must have been,” he said.

The boy, 4, died from the ordeal. His sister, 7, is recovering in hospital. She is in serious condition.

The boy has been identified as Eldon Jay Rebhan Smith. Drowning has been listed as the cause of death.

The children’s father reported them missing on Friday night to Tualatin police. . He and their mother had joint custody of the youngsters.

It is not clear how the children were forced off of the bridge.

Amanda Jo Stott-Smith, 31, was arrested in a downtown Portland parking garage by Portland police.

Portland police said during a press conference on Saturday evening that Stott-Smith has been charged with the aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder of her children.

Search continues for Ontario teen Shane Fair

Shane Fair, 19, is missing. On May 16, 2009, the York University student attended a dinner and dance at Ontario Place in Toronto. He was last seen at 12:30 a.m. in the Lakeshore Boulevard West and British Columbia Road area.

Shane was supposed to leave the Calumet Formal at the Atlantis Pavilion on a bus returning to York University. He never made it. The police have interviewed Shane’s roommates.

On Friday a search party was unsuccessful at Ontario Place.

On Sunday his friends and family will search again starting at 1 p.m. at Parliament and Front Street.

The search tomorrow will focus on parks, homeless shelters, construction sites and areas common for “nightly activity” east of Yonge since there is a higher concentration of them and would be in line with the direction might have been heading in should he have been trying to walk home.

Shane is a reserve of the Canadian Armed Forces. He is white, about 5′11″, 170 lbs., with brown hair and a short Mohawk. When he went missing he was wearing a blue suit, blue shirt and blue tie.

Toronto Now a Star in Film, TV Productions

Toronto has long been a spot for film, turning the shots into whatever city is needed. New York, Chicago, Berlin – Toronto has been crafted into them. The tide is changing and now dramas are not only being shot in Toronto but the city is starring as well.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is being filmed in Toronto at the moment. Stars Michael Cera, Chris Evans and Brandon Routh can be spotted around town. A Starbucks on Spadina has served the young Cera a few times. One server who wishes not to be named told Digital Journal that the young star is friendly. While the spotting of the stars is nice for the city what’s more impressive is that Toronto is becoming the focus of many films.

Pizza Pizza can be seen as it really is. Casa Loma is featured as a real place in a battle scene. The spots that mean something to Torontonians are getting filmed as they are really known. Scott Pilgrim is a graphic novel set in Toronto.

Toronto can thank Hollywood writers for the nod to the city. Had it not been for the writer’s strike in 2007 Toronto may not be getting the recognition that it is now. When the writers in the States were striking Canadian shows started filtering onto US screens.

The Globe and Mail reports:

“Bathurst Street is practically the cerebral cortex of Scott Pilgrim,” said Miles Dale, one of the film’s producers, who stood at the back of the set wearing the de rigueur producer’s uniform of jeans, baseball cap and chin stubble. He also produced, among others, Hollywoodland (shot in Toronto but set in Los Angeles) and Talk to Me (shot in Toronto but set in Washington, D.C.). Mr. Dale calls Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – based on a series of graphic novels by Toronto writer Bryan Lee O’Malley – “the biggest movie ever identifiably set in Toronto. The books are super-specific in their local details, and Edgar Wright, from the beginning, was set on using images from the books. Universal never suggested setting it anywhere else.”

Atom Egoyan’s next film, Chloe, was meant to take place in San Francisco while being filmed in Toronto. The director convinced his French backers to switch the setting to Toronto. Because of that switch stars Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried are being filmed on McCaul Street, College Street, at the University of Toronto and other places around the city.

Flashpoint is a new hit TV show and also being filmed with Toronto as its backdrop. The Eaton Centre has been featured as well as other downtown spots.

Toronto has arrived. Being one of the Queen Bee’s for setting gives the city Hollywood clout.

Your weekly shopping bag could make you sick

Do you clean your reusable grocery bags each week before you put them away? If you don’t you could be setting your family up for a painful bout of food poisoning.

Using reusable bags for your marketing is a great idea for the environment but make sure you clean the bags after each use. Toronto-based Sporometrics research director Dr. Richard Summerbell warns of a food poisoning risk from contaminated bags as just one of several conditions. Other risks from a dirty bag include bacterial boils, allergic reactions, triggering of asthma attacks, and ear infections.

The study conducted showed that 64% of the reusable bags tested were contaminated with some level of bacteria and close to 30% had elevated bacterial counts higher than what’s considered safe for drinking water.

One key containment was the presence of faecal intestinal bacteria. All meat should be individually wrapped before being put in your shopping bag.

Don’t use your shopping bags for anything other than shopping for safety sake. Shopping bags are not multi-taskers.

One tip I can offer is reusing the bags for collecting recycling at your house. We use the bags for this and they hold up well week after week. Because the bags are only used for recycling they are not taken out again for marketing trips. The bags that are have to be cleaned after each trip.

Tara McDonald wants daugther’s killers to die

Tara McDonald, mother of the 8-year-old Tori Stafford who went missing, is speaking out about the arrests of two people in connection to her daughter’s abduction and murder. She says the police were too focused on her and not enough on the real culprits.

In an interview with The London Free Press newspaper, McDonald said, “My daughter’s not coming home. I want the killers dead. I know there are sick and twisted people in the world but I had no idea. I don’t want to sound selfish and I wish this on no one, but I sometimes think, why did it have to be my daughter?

“To think someone took my daughter and then … I can’t even think about it,” she said.

McDonald is angry about the treatment she says she and her son, 11, received from the police. At one point in the investigation, she said she was informed she was the prime suspect. She states that Daryn, her son, was interviewed without a parent or family member present.

McDonald’s ‘cool’ behaviour during the ordeal leading up to the arrests this week had critics pointing fingers at her. Local media and police questioned if the mother was the one behind Tori’s disappearance.

She faced the news cameras dry eyed, begging for her daughter’s return. The public wanted to see her tears. She fought them off until behind closed doors.

As she hoped for the safe return of her daughter, McDonald had to battle the public about everything from looking like the police composite to being in a biker gang. Both of those were false.

She also recently admitted she’s using methadone to fight her addiction to Oxycontin.

The Edmonton Sun reports:

“People have asked many times, ‘Why aren’t you crying, why aren’t you showing emotion?’ ” she said to counter the oft-mentioned criticism. “I don’t do it out here. I do it in there with my friends and family, with people who can console me.”

McDonald said she knew the mother of Terry-Lynne McClintic, 18, because of dog breeding. She had visited Carol McClintic at her home three times to discuss the subject. McDonald said she was high on drugs the one time that Terry-Lynne was in the apartment.

After two people were arrested in connection with young Tori’s disappearance, questions are now emerging about two previous attempted abductions in the Fergus, ON area. The two people arrested in connection with Tori’s disappearance were found in this area.

School children in Fergus were sent home with a note warning parents about a dark-coloured van after the two attempts.

US Cigarette Companies Lose Appeal In Federal Court

Cigarette companies in the United States will no longer be allowed to market tobacco products as “low tar,” “light,” “ultra light” or “mild.”

After deceiving the public for years cigarette markers were found in 2006 guilty of fraud and violating racketeering laws. That ruling was upheld on Friday in federal appeals court.

The companies must now change the labeling on cigarettes after the court upheld the 2006 ruling that “low tar,” “light,” “ultra light” or “mild” are deceptive terms and no safer than any other cigarette.

Today’s ruling also states companies must publish “corrective statements” on the adverse health effects and addictiveness of smoking and nicotine.

The changes were not required while the case was in the appeals process.

The case was filed when President Clinton was still in office in 1999. President Bush’s administration pursued the case after getting criticism for discussing the weaknesses of the case.

CNN Money reports:

“We affirm the district court’s judgment of liability in its entirety except as to (the trade groups) CTR and TI, with regard to which we vacate the judgment and remand with directions to dismiss them from the suit,” the three-judge appeals court panel concluded in its 92-page ruling Friday.

The final ruling today was against the defendants; Philip Morris USA Inc. and its parent, Altria Group Inc.; R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.; British American Tobacco Ltd.; Lorillard Tobacco Co.; Counsel for Tobacco Research-U.S.A.; and the now-defunct Tobacco Institute.

The only company that was excluded from today’s ruling was the Liggett Group Inc. The court found that the company had come forward in the 1990s and admitted that smoking causes disease and is addictive. They have also cooperated with federal investigators.

Girl,5, shot in latest Toronto gun violence

Yesterday a little five-year-old girl in Toronto became the latest victim of gun violence. A gunman sprayed bullets on Bellevue Crescent with at least one traveling through the girl’s door and into her back exiting out of her chest.

The little girl was playing inside her family’s townhouse near near Lawrence and Weston Rd. when one man fired at a group of people sitting on an apartment patio early Thursday evening.

The child was rushed to Humber Regional Hospital by her parents. She was then transported by ambulance to Toronto’s Sick Children’s Hospital. Doctors have removed the bullet that struck her lung. She is now listed in stable condition at the children’s hospital.

Her pregnant mother, Sharlene Reynolds was escorted to Sick Kids Hospital by the police after 9:45 p.m. last night.

The police are looking for witnesses to the attack. They believe that two others were wounded in the attack and ask for those victims to come forward.

One person has been taken into custody as a person of interest. Police are looking for the gunman. Two firearms were used in the attack.

CBC reports:

“We’re going to leave no stone unturned until we find who has done this,” said Staff Sgt. Karen Smythe. “This is horrific.”

Constable Wendy Drummond of the Toronto Police told Digital Journal that the person of interest was released last night. At this time there have been no arrests or additional victims.

The area is becoming known for violence. Saron Ghebressellassie, 22, is quoted about the neighbourhood by the National Post:

“For every woman who has to walk home at night, it’s disgusting, an utter catastrophe. I fear for my life.

“It’s absolutely gut-wrenching to hear that it was a child. It’s become a social norm to come home and have, like, 10 police cruisers outside. I’m shaking right now. There’s a crisis in the neighbourhood. That could have been my brother and my sister. It’s devastating.”

In recent months there have been nine murders and many incidents where gunfire was involved. Neighbours blame gang wars for the gun violence, pleading for the police to end the blood being spilled.

Suzanne Gold, spokesperson from Sick Kids told Digital Journal that at this time they are unable to release any information about the little girl’s status.

Toronto Learning Center in Lockdown After Training Drill

An adult learning center in Toronto is in lockdown after people reported armed gunmen entering the building, ordering students to the ground. It turned out to be a training drill.

Police have responded to the Bickford Centre at Bloor and Christie Streets at 10:47 am Thursday morning. Police responded after a citizen called in to report that armed gunmen had stormed the building.

Police have no confirmation of anyone with a gun.

Later it was reveal that the school was in the middle of a drill. The police had not been informed of the drill.

For more than two hours the police had stopped traffic in the area.

EFT officers set up a command post on the northwest corner of the campus. They are ready for possible hand offs.

The Vancouver Sun reports:

“We’re trying to work out the legitimacy of the call,” said Const. Tony Vela early Thursday. “The area has been blocked off and emergency crews are on scene. We are going to assume this is a real call just to be safe.”

The area has been blocked off.

The center is holds English as a second language courses and citizen classes. It is part of the Toronto School System.

When Digital Journal called the Toronto School Board the media contact Terry said he had no information other than a report of a lockdown at the school.

Digital Journal talked with Tony Vela, spokesman for Toronto Police about the situation. “At this time the police are clearing the school.”

It is still unclear as to how many men entered the building or how many students have been taken hostage.

The TTC is affected in the area, but the subway station at Christie has not been closed.

Art Gallery of Ontario Announces Opening of Two New Exhibitions

This weekend the AGO in Toronto will open the Angelika Hoerle: The Comet of Cologne Dada and Painting as a Weapon: Progressive Cologne 1920–33.

These exhibits are to complement the current Surreal Things exhibition that explores art as a catalyst of social and political change.

The Angelika Hoerie exhibit is being presented by guest curator Angie Littlefield, grandniece of the artist. The exhibit shows the personal side of Hoerle.

Hoerle’s work from 1919 until her death in 1923 shows her political conscience. Even though her family, social conventions, personal tragedies and tuberculosis could not stop the passionate artist from her work of World War I Germany.

Most of Hoerle’s known works are on display on loan from the Yale University Art Gallery and Museum Ludwig Cologne. Following the showing at AGO the collection will travel to Museum Ludwig.

“Angelika Hoerle had a desire to change the world through political engagement,” says Michael Parke-Taylor, the AGO’s acting curator of European art. “She was deeply committed to left-wing politics and, in fact, her first prints were of Socialist political martyrs. She also explored the place of female artists in the male-dominated art scene in Cologne.”

The exhibit will be shown from May 23 until August 30.

Also opening on May 23 is Painting as a Weapon:Progressive Cologne 1920–33 / Seiwert – Hoerle – Arntz. The collection organized by Museum Ludwig examines the works of Franz W. Seiwert, Heinrich Hoerle and Gerd Arntz. Curator Lynette Roth will document the artists activities until their work was condemned as ‘degenerate’ in 1933 by the Nazi regime.

The exhibition shows how the Progressives used painting as a weapon during the hard years in Germany prior to the rise of Hitler.

“The rallying cry for Surrealism was ‘we must change life,’” says Parke-Taylor. “A desire to change themselves and the world drove the Surrealists to explore mysteries of the self and to value the irrational over the orderly. Angelika Hoerle’s works are harbingers of surrealism, while the Cologne Progressives seized painting as a tool for change in the midst of post-war economic and social crisis.”

The exhibit will continue until August 30.

Man with grenades breaches Serbian presidential headquarters

The headquarters of Serbian President Boris Tadic was breached today by a man carrying two grenades. Negotiations are underway to determine if it’s a hostage situation.

Security has taken one of the grenades away from the suspect. The second grenade is still with the man.

Police have surrounded the building, stopped all traffic in the area and a negotiating team has been sent to go to the building. It has been suggested that President Tadic is inside the residence.

It is speculated that the man is Dragan Maric, 57. Maric has sent various government offices emails about his plan.

According to Adnkronos the man was angry about a case that cost him millions in 2004.

Maric, a businessman lost the case against Serbian airline JAT. Since that time he has been fighting in the courts to get a reversal of the court decision. According to the email Maric is not intending on harming anyone other than himself.According to the email the man plans to blow himself up if the court does not rule in his favor in a case on Thursday.

AFP reports:

The man had “demanded in an email which he has sent to 11,000 addresses that his case should be resolved by 4:00 pm (1400 GMT). He is disappointed by a decision by a commercial tribunal,” the source told AFP.

“I demand to sign an accord on this problem with the government by 4:00 pm, otherwise the grenade will explode,” the source quoted his message as saying.

comment from Digital Journal Marko Andrejic

Maric has come to Presidency just before noon (CET). President Tadic has arrived at 2.30 PM. No hostages, no explosion. The man was taken away from the Presidency just before 5 PM (CET).

And The New Idol is…Kris Allen

Kris Allen has taken the crown on American Idol. Allen, considered the dark-horse contestant, won after almost 100 million votes were cast Tuesday night.

Allen was speechless when the announcement was made by Ryan Seacrest during the last minutes of the season finale.

E! Online quotes the new Idol:

“It feels good, man, but Adam deserves this,” the Conway, Ark., native protested. “I don’t know what to feel right now, this is crazy.”

The announcement came after a two-hour music filled night featuring Rod Stewart, Fergie, Cyndi Lauper, Carlos Santana, Kiss, Lionel Ritchie, Black Eyed Peas and ending with Queen playing “We Are The Champions” sang by Lambert and Allen.

Before the announcement Simon Cowell said:

“To both of you, and I don’t normally mean this, I thought you were both brilliant. …. The future’s all yours,” the judge said.

Allen, 23, a student from Conway, Arkansas will now have the treasured year-long recording contract.

Homegrown New York Terror Plot Stopped, Four Arrested

A homegrown terror plot was stopped Wednesday night in New York City. The apprehended men were reportedly planning to blow up two Bronx synagogues and shoot down a military plane.

After a year-long investigation, four upstate Newburgh, New York men were arrested in the Bronx at 9 p.m. Wednesday night.

The group was planning to blow up two Riverdale synagogues and then down a military plane with a rocket launcher. They were arrested as they planted fake bombs in front of one the Riverdale synagogues.

A friend of the suspects alerted the feds. He then worked with the FBI and the NYPD helping the police for months.

The suspects had what they believed was a Stinger missile in their car. The suspects were arrested after buying the missile from FBI agents posing as militants, who sold them what they thought was C-4 and the Stinger missile.

Police arrested ringleader James Cromitie of Newburgh and David Williams, Onta Williams and Leguerre Payen. The latter three converted to the Islamic faith while in prison.

Adjix quotes New York Mayor Bloomberg:

“I want to congratulate the men and women of the NYPD, the New York State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force who tonight foiled a terrorist plot that targeted Riverdale Temple and Riverdale Jewish Center in the Bronx for bombing. The same plot also targeted U.S. military aircraft in Newburgh for Stinger Missile attacks. While the bombs these terrorists attempted to plant tonight were – unbeknownst to them – fake, this latest attempt to attack our freedoms shows that the homeland security threats against New York City are sadly all too real and underscores why we must remain vigilant in our efforts to prevent terrorism.”

The Amber Alert Is Not Used For All Missing Children

Why wasn’t Tori Stafford featured as an Amber Alert? While the police were searching as hard for the young girl she was not part of the Amber Alert system.

On April 11 Const. Laurie-Anne Maitland of the Oxford Community Police explained to Canada.com the reasoning behind Tori not being part of the Amber Alert notification system:

“There have been a lot of questions about the Amber Alert and why it wasn’t issued,” Maitland said Saturday. “At the time of the call coming in, we didn’t have what was required for an Amber Alert – not even close.

“At the time, we did not have a confirmed abduction . . . we did not have (information indicating) serious bodily harm or death and we have to have descriptive information of the child and the abductor and any vehicle.”

“When the criteria is not met, (the Amber Alert) is not done. It’s no less of an alert because it’s not called an Amber Alert. That’s one of the things that’s been difficult for a lot of people to understand – they have this belief that there’s something we could be doing that we’re not, when that’s not true.”

At a news conference today the police still are insisting that the criteria was not met for Tori.

While police were looking for a woman that Tori went home from school with on the day of her disappearance it was not thought she was abducted. Instead the police considered this a criminal investigation from the very beginning.

The Amber Alert stands for “America’s Missing: Broadcasting Emergency Response.” It was named for Amber Hagerman who was murdered in Arlington, Texas in 1996 at the age of nine. The program is in the United States and Canada.

AMBER Alerts are distributed via commercial radio stations, satellite radio, television stations, and cable TV by the Emergency Alert System (where they are termed “Child Abduction Emergency” or “Amber Alerts”), as well as via e-mail, electronic traffic-condition signs, the LED billboards which are located outside of newer Walgreens locations, along with the LED/LCD signs of billboard companies such as Clear Channel Outdoor, CBS Outdoor and Lamar, and wireless device SMS text messages.

The criteria for a child being placed in the system is:

1. Law enforcement must confirm that an abduction has taken place
2. The child must be at risk of serious injury or death
3. There must be sufficient descriptive information of child, captor, or captor’s vehicle to issue an alert
4. The child must be 17 years old or younger

Not all police departments use the second criteria when placing an Amber Alert resulting in many Amber Alerts focusing on parental abductions where it is not thought that the child is in risk of serious injury.

The only difference between Canada and the United States is who is notified. (RCMP instead of the FBI)

The sad truth about the children on the Amber Alert program is that there are many more sad outcomes than positive ones. Still the alert can at times save young lives.

Arrests made in missing Tori Stafford case (updated)

There have been two arrests in the case of the missing girl, Tori Stafford. The 8-year-old Tori has been missing from Woodstock, Ontario since April 8.

Tori’s father, Rodney Stafford said he and his wife were informed by police about the Tuesday night arrests.

The Canadian Press reports:

“Tara and I were both given a phone call last night and made aware that two arrests have been made,” Stafford told media. We’re not sure where from, who they are and they (police) didn’t give details on Victoria or anything like that.”

Tori was last seen April 8 leaving school with a woman wearing a puffy white coat. There have been extensive searches in the area of her home that have failed to produce any evidence of the child.

A private investigator has offered to help find the girl free of charge, saying that returning the child would be all the reward he needs.

The police gave a news conference Wednesday afternoon and the family was informed of Tori’s death last night. During the press conference, police revealed the following information:

The court date is May 28 and suspects were arrested yesterday. Police have arrested two natives of Woodstock, Ontario. Michael Thomas C.S. Rafferty, 28, and Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, were arrested. Both are charged with abduction and Rafferty is charged with first-degree murder. McClintic is also charged with knowingly aiding and enabling Rafferty. The woman’s charges could be updated and she is being charged with crimes after the fact.

Police have yet to find Victoria and are still looking for the child’s body.

Police are not saying much more about the case, as they’re now working to give the Crown attorney a case for court. When Tori is found, the media will be notified.

Questions about how and when she died can not be answered at this time, and police are not commenting on the location at which they are currently searching for Tori’s body. Police suggest sexual assault may be also been a factor in this case.

Tori’s disappearance did not meet the criteria of the Amber Alert program, and police are not commenting on motive. They say, however, they are not anticipating any other arrests at this time.

One piece of evidence brought the police to where they are in their investigation, but that item was not identified.

Toronto Program Helps Poor Students With Educational Obstacles

The Models Schools for Inner Cities program has helped bridge community and several elementary schools in Toronto. The program is a grassroots effort to even the playing field in some of the city’s poorer areas.

The grassroots program, Inner City Advisory Committee (ICAC), has helped children with not only educational goals but by providing some basic health needs. Children in the schools that are in the program last year had vision and hearing tests for their students. The results were profound. Some of the children could not see the blackboard, some could not hear their teachers. The program not only tested but then helped parents obtain corrective surgeries, glasses and hearing aids for their children. The program is funded through The Sprott Asset Management Gift of Sight and Sound program in partnership with the Toronto Foundation for Student Success, Wal-Mart Canada and The Canadian Hearing Society. this program will carry over to 50 inner city schools again in September.

The program has shown that it works but it also faces an uphill battle as funding can be hard to obtain. It is asking for $8.5 million to be dedicated in the TDSB budget to maintain the Model Schools for Inner Cities program, $1.0 million be added to the MSIC budget to allow the support of up to 24 model middle schools and $2.5 million be added to expand the program to serve up to 30 secondary schools.

Seven schools in Toronto’s inner city are model schools, Firgrove, Nelson Mandela Park PS, Willow Park, Forest Manor, George Webster, Kingsview Village Jr. and Bala Avenue Community School. These schools all have one common thread, students who live in poverty attend.

As the Toronto School Board site states:

“This is our collective effort as communities, as a Board and as individuals to level the playing field for all our children,” said Sheila Cary-Meagher, TDSB Trustee for Ward 16 and Chair of the Model Schools for Inner Cities Task Force. “By working together with students, families, schools and the community, we can make a real difference in the lives of our children in poverty.”

The program started in November 2006 providing stability and a safe haven for the students. By developing partnerships with higher education institutions the education of the students have been able to provide support for the students. Every teacher has a teacher candidate from York University at one of the schools. One of the programs is a Saturday arts program with art and music.

Children are given snacks and lunches helping families even more.

Parent Michael Corniffe whose daughter attends Forest Manor feels his involvement is important. “Getting involved in this type of program is fantastic. It’s really beneficial to the kids in the school and in the community. The school is very dedicated to its parents.”

The program is not just for the students but their parents as well. There are monthly parent workshops. This month the program explores School Profiles and Principal/VP role in parent engagement at the school level.

One school in the program is George Webster ES. Principle Nancy Steinhauer discussed the benefits of being a model school: “The program has definitely helped my school. We have parental involvement and more community agencies now as a result of the program. Today some of the student are in fact out with community support workers getting glasses as part of the vision testing.”

The funding that the program provides really does level the playing field for Steinhauer’s students. The classes have all had opportunities to go on three field trips this year that are relevant to their curriculum. In a school that has a high poverty population getting funding for these types of events is rare. Fund raisers can only bring in what the community can afford, without the funding from the school board for Model Schools the children would not be getting as many of these precious memories.

The children are feeling safer in their school in just two years. 71 per cent of the students have said that they like going to school compared to 61% before the program. School spirit is at 80% now.

Parents have the resource of after school programs for their children at George Webster. 51% of the children no longer go straight home from school now, instead they are involved in safe and educational after school programing that doesn’t end until 6:15 p.m. each evening. In an area where there isn’t a close community center that’s a godsend.

This summer the children of the school will have a preschool program. By teaching skills earlier the kids will be able to thrive when they enter school. That fits in with the school’s goals of being a heart of the community. Steinhauer wants her parents to feel safe and welcome at her school.

Academically it’s early in the stages as to how much of an improvement there has been. The testing though is showing some very positive results. Before the program reading tests showed students below grade level. That has changed — this year the kids were on grade level or above at the start of the year.

Perhaps the most positive sign though is the lack of school suspensions this year. Not one children has had to be disciplined in that way.

Parents also are more involved with their children’s education at George Webster. Whether it is reading to their children from books in their first language or attending parent meetings the involvement has increased.

Last week Digital Journal talked with Cassie Bell, Inner City Project Coordinator. At that time she stressed how important the funding is for this program. Each year ICAC has to fight hard for the next year’s funding budget. The program has to as Ms. Bell says “rob Peter to pay Paul.”

“At what part do we stop yakking and get to work.”

It’s a positive program that is working for the schools involved. Hopefully funding will continue and the program will grow. Each school in Toronto deserves to be a model school, each student deserves the very best education that the community can provide.

A video of the program is located here.

Study Suggests Meditation Increases Brain Size

Meditation appears to increase the size of the brain according to results from a small study. Researchers using MRI scans found that the hippocampus of those who meditate is larger than in those who do not in their control group.
It’s been known for some time that meditation has positive benefits in dealing with stress and the improving the immune system. New research is showing that there could be links between meditation and brain structure.

Researchers from the University of California studied the brains of 44 people, half of whom had practiced meditation from periods ranging from five and 46 years. The group that meditated practiced different forms including Zazen, Samatha and Vipassana. Most of the group said that deep concentration was part of their practice and that they spent between 10 and 90 minutes a day in meditation.

Using MRI scans the scientists show that there was “significantly larger cerebral measurements in mediators”.

The Telegraph reports:

Lead researcher Eileen Luders said, “these might be the neuronal underpinnings that give meditators’ the outstanding ability to regulate their emotions and allow for well-adjusted responses to whatever life throws their way”.

Additional studies are required to understand if the increased size is because increased number of neurons, the larger size of the neurons or a particular “wiring” pattern mediators may develop.

Because of the very small study it can not be claimed that meditation increases the brain. It can be said that it is a possibility that meditate can stimulate brain growth.

Patent Wanted-Killer Chip Could Stop Person Dead In Their Tracks

An application for a patent was submitted in 2007 in Germany for a “Killer Chip” that could in effect kill a person implanted with it anywhere in the world instantly. The submission was published 18 months later into a patents database.
The device’s inventor is based in Jeddah. According to the patent documentation the device would emit radio waves that are picked up by satellites and could be injected into fugitives from justice, terrorists, illegal immigrants, criminals, political opponents, defectors, domestic help, and Saudi Arabians who don’t return home from pilgrimages for tracking. Those who are a security risk would have poison released into their blood stream killing them quickly in a more involved model that includes a cyanide capsule.

World Net Daily reports:

“I apply for these reasons and for reasons of state security and the security of citizens,” the statement reads.

The inventor of the ‘killer chip’ applied for the German patent using a Munich law firm. Germany allows for foreigners to apply for patents if they have a local representative. DTS Munich, the law firm involved in this patent resigned from the case last week.

Estate Vaults reports:

“While the application is still pending further paperwork on his part, the invention will probably be found to violate paragraph two of the German Patent Law – which does not allow inventions that transgress public order or good morals,” spokeswoman Stephanie Krüger told The Local from Munich.

How Women Can Prevent Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

There’s one birth defect that is 100 per cent preventable: fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. The only way to prevent this detect though is to not drink a drop of alcohol while you are pregnant.
When a mother drinks alcohol while pregnant she risks her fetus with each sip. The condition fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, or FASDs can affect the development of the fetus and cause lifelong learning and behaviour challenges. The condition is also known to cause birth defects in the heart, brain and other organs that last a lifetime. There is no cure for these conditions, only prevention.

It’s not known what amount of alcohol is safe for a mother to drink which is why the Centers of Disease Control recommends that pregnant women refrain from all alcoholic beverages during their pregnancy, that includes prior to the knowledge of being pregnant.

In the United States about 1 in 12 women use alcohol during their pregnancies. The condition happens in 0.2 to 1.5 cases per 1,000 live births.

Young girl dealing with breast cancer at the age of 10

At the age of ten Hannah Powell-Auslam should be putting pink ribbons in dolls hair instead of dealing with breast cancer. The young girl was diagnosed recently with stage 2 cancer, a rarity in young girls.
When Hannah complained to her mother of an itch no one could have thought that in days the girl would be having surgery a mass. The doctors didn’t expect to find cancer. because of that the surgery didn’t remove all of the tumor because it had grown into breast tissue. The mass was sent off for testing with the doctor reassuring the family not to worry because breast cancer does not happen with children.

Sadly the truth was that Hannah does has Stage IIA Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, an adult form of breast cancer.

Hannah had a mastectomy of her left breast on Thursday. When she is older reconstruction surgery, which she calls recreation surgery can be performed.

Sadly one of the sentinel lymph nodes have come back from pathology as positive for cancer. Still her doctor believes that Hannah can beat this disease. She has an 85 per cent chance of a five-year disease-free survival.

The family has had difficulty finding an oncologist that deals with breast cancer in one so young. They are working with the doctors at UCLA Medical Center who deal with adults going through the disease.

Her battle with cancer is being journaled at ourlittlesweetpea.com, a site started by her uncle and father.

If you would like to support Hannah the family is accepting donations.

Joshua Witter Sells I-Told-You-So Cards For Those Left Behind

According to many Christians when the second coming of Christ happens those who are non-believers will be left behind. Atheist Joshua Witter sells cards to Christians who want to send a message to their loved ones when that happens.
If the Rapture comes Joshua Witter will be busy for a few days. He has about 70 cards to deliver from those who left behind their loved ones.

The Orlando Sentinel quotes Witter:

“Anyway you look at it, I’m screwed. It’s too late for me,” said Witter, a 24-year-old computer software engineer who wears long sideburns and hip black-framed glasses.

Witter started his website Post Rapture Post as a joke in 2005. He didn’t expect to receive orders for his wares. He had sold more than 200 items, mostly to his friends and fellow atheists.

One of his best sellers is a line of I-Told-You-So cards. The cards sell for $8.
the cards are all stored on his computers ready to be delivered if the end of the world really comes.

He knows if the end does come he’ll be painfully covering the miles in boils dealing with insects, darkness and meteors to deliver the cards.

“Your hope lies with me. I am your mailman,” he vows. “I’ll do my best come Hell or high water to deliver those letters.”

What the Public Wants From News Media

What do the masses want when it comes to a news sites? Is it the hard news that takes time to collect or quick jots to keep everyone updated in one place? A small survey was done for DigitalJournal.com to discover those answers.
News is happening everyday all around us, but what is it that the public wants? Do we want to be informed or do we want to be entertained?

Does what we want depend on our age, career or social settings?

Setting out to find the answers I asked 100 men and women from around the globe what they wanted in a news source. My goal was to have at least 1/5 of the surveys returned.

The survey was taken by 25 participants. The age of participants was from 19 to 72 with being the median age of 44.

16 males and 9 females answered the survey.

One student responded, two of the participants were disabled, careers ran the gamut from IT techs, web developers, construction consultant,engineer, management in the software industry, editors, writers, journalist, mental health worker and a translator.

Of those offering their social-economic status three are dealing with money issues and the remainder of 12 are in the middle class.

The survey was sent out to people in Australia, Europe, Africa and North America. At least two from each area responded with the majority of responses from North America.

The survey consisted of five questions about news media and then the above information. I did not divide the survey answers into the statistics of which gender wanted what as the results showed that all genders were divided in areas of division and visa versa.

Participants were also asked if they had additional comments concerning the news media. A sampling of those comments are:

I simply believe in the old news values: Audience, Impact, Proximity, Prominence, Conflict, Human Interest. These don’t change, in my opinion. And the story should answer the Four Ws and an H. Some opinion can be included, as long as it is near the bottom and can be seen as such. -CS

In general, I look to the news for facts. Opinions are available everywhere, at any time. Facts are more rare and thus more precious. And you can use my name as long as it’s associated with factual content

I Like to know what’s going on in the world and if issues are being reported they should be tracked. I like to have an understanding of what is going on with local politics, arts and innovation and I always love a feel good human interest story to renew my faith in humanity.-TB

Now it’s time to examine the results of the survey.

What do you want in a news source?

Overwhelmingly those who took the survey read the news for facts. They expect their news source to be well balanced and the source to be known for accuracy. People wanted their news to be unbiased. While the article can be short readers want more than a few sentences to digest. They also want today’s news and they want it fast.

The need for hard news is also mixed with the need for human interest stories. Gossip is not something that news readers are a fan of.

Readers like a mix of writing styles also. They also expect the articles to be well written, lacking spelling errors, proof read and fact checked. Readers want to be able to trust the information that they are consuming.

Some of the comments from this question are:

I have varying news sources that I go to for varying reasons, I like quick concise reports and the in-depth reporting that some provide.

Good writing is essential. Prompt news-breaking articles are important too, and I am a big fan of science and research articles, particularly space exploration, of which there are not nearly enough in my opinion

A wide range of subjects, well written, fact based, across ethnic and racial lines done with thought and good documentation.

varied, unique, research based,attributable stories that tell me local and international events in more than one 2 sentence paragraph…

A few things. It should be objective & un-biased. It should be comprehensive and broad enough to include news beyond the tiny focus of the typical western media. It should be NEWS – i.e., however much a fan I am of Obama and his adorable family, their pet dog is NOT news to me. Nor is Britney’s latest disaster.

A balanced offering of daily news from around the world. I want to hear both sides of a story (especially in politics) and have every question answered. The “who, what, where, when, why and how” questions are very important.

Adding context, applicable photos/media and building a community is always appealing.

Most of all, credibility.

Do you like opinion based articles?

Survey takers were divided on opinion based articles with 12 in favor, 8 against and one person saying that sometimes they enjoyed them.

One theme that came across clearly was that people do not tolerate news articles are in reality opinion based ones. They also are very much against articles that have an ‘anti’ message.People have very strong opinions on this issue as a selection of the comments show:

Not unless the opinion is the icing on the cake – the bulk should be facts.

If the opinion has intelligence behind it.

I detest out-and-out “anti-something” opinion, aka “I detest Jews/Arabs” when they are written with overtones of violent thought.-MC

With documentation not just shoot from the hip, unless it is done first person with the person someone who has some authority by education or experience relevant to the opinion, for example like a scientist who gives an opinion on the swine flu and whether it will spread and the political implications or a counselor who gives opinions on why people cry a lot and whether or not that is associated with just today’s stress or not, whatever. Again not shoot from the hip unless supported with facts of some sort. -CF

Yes, very much so. Especially if the “news” is as I described above. I enjoy a well-informed, well written article that posits a point of view, especially if it’s different from my own. How else to learn if your own assumptions and views aren’t challenged occasionally?-JO

Do you want long involved reports?

This question was evenly divided with survey respondents. Eleven want long articles, six want shorter articles and six said that it depended on the subject matter.

Reports should be as long as needed to cover the subject. If they are long and involved, that’s fine. It depends again on the subject.
through and to the point.

When issues are ongoing they should be covered for the duration, not just sporadically as other stories deteriorate.

Absolutely…although it doesn’t always have to be long. I like the idea of “executive summary” type stories, followed-up with more in-depth reporting, so I can choose to read/learn further on particular stories that interest me.

Do you want just the facts?

Of the 21 who answered this question most (15) do want just the facts in an article. The other six wanted a mix of facts and background about the story issues.

It is important to have a balance of facts with flavor.

I think background to the facts would also be needed.

I don’t mind some speculative angles if the reporter has proven he has done his background, or that reporter has proven some expertise. but if they are expressing “facts” that favour an interest they have, I want disclosure…

All news should be based on fact, even the opinion pieces.

If the article has pictures does that bring in more interest?

The overwhelming majority want pictures to illustrate a story with 21 positive responses. People also wanted those pictures to be relevant. While it can take time to find the proper pictures to work for an article it makes sense to seek them out or provide your own photos when writing an article.

Pictures definitely intrigue the viewer. It will stimulate more parts of the brain and that’s what news is all about: stimulation and entertainment-MC

I want to thank those who took time to answer the questions. Hopefully the answers you gave will be reflected in future articles not only at digital journal but from other journalists who read this article. It is my hope that the answers can provide journalists some insight into their audience’s needs.

They Are United In Death, The Five From Camp Liberty

Six men’s names will forever be connected by the stresses of the Iraq War, five will be remembered by their loved ones as the other waits his fate in military custody.
On Monday John Russell allegedly walked into a stress clinic with his gun and opened fire. In the wake five bodies littered the ground. Two of the dead had devoted their time in the service to helping those suffering from stress and three had been fighting their own demons within the clinics walls.

Navy Cmdr. Charles Springle was a Sanford Central High School graduate in North Carolina. His career in the Navy was devoted to treating those who dealt with the stress caused by the frequent deployments to the battle fields. He fought hard to take away the stigma that clouded the troops from seeking help.

AP reports:

“He regarded it as very important work,” said Bob Goodale, a friend of Springle’s and director of behavioral mental health for the Chapel Hill, N.C.-based Citizen-Soldier Support Program. “We all who work in this know that it is difficult. This is an example of how difficult.”

Lubbock Online reports:

“Major Houseal was a beloved, kind and generous physician and soldier, who volunteered for additional duty in Iraq to care for our servicemen and women,” said William Biggs, an Amarillo endocrinologist who works in the same group as Houseal’s wife. “To honor the memory of Major Houseal, we have established an education fund for the benefit of his six children.”

Dr. Matthew Houseal, a psychiatrist and major in the Army Reserve was at the clinic because he felt it was the place he needed to be at. He had enlisted as an Army reservist after becoming alarmed at the rising suicide rate in the armed forces. The father of seven had worked as a psychiatrist for Texas Panhandle Mental Health Mental Retardation in Amarillo.

Armarillo.com reports:

“He was dedicated to his patients. He was a family man, very thorough diagnostician,” said Bud Schertler, executive director of Texas Panhandle Mental Health Mental Retardation. “We couldn’t ask for a better psychiatrist.”

Army Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 25, of Paterson, N.J. was Eugenia Gardos’ youngest child. He was on his second tour of duty in Iraq when he was gunned down at Camp Liberty.

The young man who joined the service after finishing high school had come to the US from Peru as a child. His family remembers how he used to hand out candy to the kids in Iraq just as he did as a young man at home.

Military City reports:

About 10:30 p.m. May 11, Army officials showed up at the door of the place Christian shared with his wife a few blocks away.

“We were all here at home,” Carlos Bueno said. “I was getting ready to go to bed when I heard screaming downstairs. I ran downstairs and everyone had thrown themselves to the floor, thrashing around, screaming.”

“We want people to know we’re proud of our son’s Army, but if my son had died in war we would be able to handle that,” he said. “But not to die in this manner.”

He leaves behind his family and a young wife.

Spc. Jacob D. Barton, 20, of Lenox, Mo. was a quiet student who loved graphic novels and science fiction. He followed his older sister into the Army after graduating high school last year. Barton was known for sticking up for the kids who were being picked on in school.

The Army told his family that Barton died a hero, using his body as a shield to protect another man while trying to convince the gunman into putting down his weapon.

Pfc. Michael E. Yates Jr., 19 leaves behind an infant son. He followed his stepfather and stepbrothers into the Army. At the age of 17 he completed his GED and signed up for service. He had told his mother about meeting Russell, saying that the man had issues.

Yates was at Camp Liberty to deal with the stresses of the battle field knowing that he needed help to get through the hard times.

He had been home just last month to celebrate his son’s first birthday.

Alexis Mister, 18, of Seaford, Del., and the mother of Michael Yates’ son Kamren, said he was an extremely caring father. “He was always was concerned with Kamren so much,” she said. “He loved him.”

Mister said Yates came home in April for the boy’s first birthday party and doted on his son by buying him a four-wheeler. “It’s absolutely devastating,” Mister said, choking up during a telephone interview discussing Yates’ death. “My son doesn’t have a father anymore.”

Regardless of where a soldier dies he is a hero. He or she has offered up their life for the service of others.
4 votes

Pfizer Program To Provide Free Medication To Unemployed In US

Pfizer, Inc. is announcing a new program on Thursday that will help those who have lost their jobs and health insurance remain on their medications.
The program will allow those who have been taking Pfizer medications including Lipitor and Viagra to receive the pills for up to a year free of charge.

The company will be providing more than 70 of its prescription drugs to Americans who became unemployed and uninsured regardless of what their prior income was as of January 1. To qualify a patient would have had to have been on the medicine prior to October 2008.

New York Daily Times reports:

“Everybody knows now a neighbor, a relative who has lost their job and is losing their insurance. People are definitely hurting out there,” Dr. Jorge Puente, Pfizer’s head of pharmaceuticals outside the U.S. and Europe and a champion of the project, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview Wednesday. “Our aim is to help people bridge this point.”

To sign up for the program applicants have to sign a statement saying that they are having a financial burden and provide a “pink slip” or some form from their former employer. The program will accept applications until December 31 and those accepted will be provided up to 12 months or until the person is covered by insurance.

Patients may call 866-706-2400 to sign up for the program or sign on to PfizerHelpfulAnswers.com.

Pfizer has seven programs that offer free or reduced cost medication.

Pfizer employees proposed the idea to the company’s senior leadership team last month. The employees have also donated some of their own money to help with the costs and the Pfizer Foundation is matching those donations.

“The current economic environment has added considerable new stress to the daily life of millions of hard-working Americans, and our colleagues are responding to help their neighbors in the communities where they reside,” said Jeffrey B. Kindler, chairman and chief executive officer of Pfizer. “The speed with which we created and approved this program is proof of our commitment to help people access the medicines they need to live healthier lives. With the launch of this initiative, which I am proud to say was proposed by our colleagues, we are doing what we can to ensure that recent loss of employment does not preclude people from managing their health.”

Canadian Military To Pay For Medical Marijuana For Qualified Vets

Medical marijuana is now being paid by Canada for certain military veterans who qualify. Payments will be made to veterans who are licensed by Health Canada to have the medical cannabis if it is obtained by a firm in Flin Flon, Manitoba.
The approval came down the pipe in October but it is just now being made official to qualified veterans. There are approximately eight veterans who qualify for the program in Canada.

The Canadian Press reports:

“These guys (the federal government) want to stand up for veterans’ rights,” said Bruce Webb, a Comox, B.C., veteran who successfully pressed Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson for the about-face.

“They want to help.”

Webb, one of the eight, was paying out of pocket $490 for cannabis as he attempted to survive on his disability pension.

Some have said that the marijuana produced by the plant is too weak to do much good but Webb says that his pain caused by a 1999 sports injury is controlled by the product.

Turkish Police Mistakenly Fire Tear Gas At School

Dozens of children have been hurt after Turkish police made a mistake, firing a tear gas canister into a school in the town of Altinsehir.
Police were in responding to a disturbance over the decision of local authorities to tear down unlicensed buildings with water cannons and tear gas. Protesters were filmed throwing stones at the police and setting fire to tires.

About ten children aged seven to 15 had to be taken to hospital from exposure to the fumes. Tear gas irritates the eyes, nose, mouth and lungs.

A four-month-old infant was also taken to hospital when another of the canisters was fired into the window of an apartment building.

Winnipeg researcher charged with smuggling Ebola material into US

A Canadian scientist has been arrested on charges of trying to smuggle 22 vials of genetic material from the Ebola virus into the United States. The vials were stolen from the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Konan Michel Yao,42, was on route to his new job with the National Institutes of Health at the Biodefense Research Laboratory in Bethesda, Maryland, when the border patrol stopped him. It is alleged that he was carrying the vials wrapped in aluminum foil, stuffed inside a glove and then packaged in a plastic bag inside his car’s trunk when he was taken into custody.

Yao reportedly admitted he stole the vials on Jan. 24, his last day of work at the Winnipeg-based lab. Testing of the vials showed that they were not hazardous.

At no time were the citizens of Canada at risk from the stolen vials Dr. Frank Plummer, the scientific director general of the lab, said. The vials contained “basic biological materials including the Ebola gene for vaccine development,” reports indicate.

The Winnipeg lab deals with infectious diseases and was in the news after Swine Flu samples from the Mexican outbreak were sent there for the first identifications.

According to authorities, Yao was never in contact with Level 3 and Level 4 pathogens. He had access to a Level 2 lab which carries samples that are often available at hospitals and universities.

Yao worked at the lab in a fellowship position. He was taking the vials, according to reports, in order to have a head start at his new position at the Bethesda lab. He reportedly said he didn’t want to start over with his research.

Officials did not notice the samples were missing for several months because regular inventories of non-infectious materials are not routine.

The National Terror Alert reports:

“This turned out not to be a terrorism-related case,” he said by telephone from North Dakota. “It appears to be exactly as he Yao said. However, he still faces possible charges for smuggling the vials into the United States.”

Yao remains in U.S. custody. He has waived his right to bail and preliminary hearings. He could face a possible grand jury indictment for smuggling.

A Public Health Agency of Canada spokeswoman is quoted by National Terror Alert:

“was working on vaccines for the Ebola virus and HIV, among other things. But he only had access to harmless and non-infectious materials, similar to what you’d find in a hospital or university lab. He did not have access to dangerous materials.”

The Globe and Mail reports that Yao would have likely been given access to the vials had he requested it prior to taking them:

“One of the ironies here is that if this individual had, through appropriate channels, made a request for these materials, it’s quite likely he would have got access to them,” Dr. Plummer said.

Yao was born in the Ivory Coast. He studied at Laval University in Quebec.

Craigslist Stopping Adult Ads, Will Lawmakers Go After Others?

Within seven days Craigslist will have removed the “erotic service” section from their US sites. This is a good step but what about ads in local newspapers for the same services? Will newspapers remove those?

New posting for adult services will now come with a price tag on Craigslist. The cost will be $10 for the first posting and $5 for any following posts.

Craigslist has been targeted by the media for having the ads after one of the ads lead to a murder in Boston. But what about crimes that stem from other newspaper adverts? Are they heading for the chopping block also?

Craigslist has worked with the police when an ad is targeted. An electronic trail helps to quickly catch criminals that use the service. They also post personal safety tips.

The craigslist blog reports:

Our announced intention to contribute 100% of net revenues for the “erotic services” category to charity has been fulfilled, and will continue to be fulfilled, notwithstanding criticism questioning our good faith in this regard. However, in light of today’s changes, and to avoid any future misunderstanding, we are making no representation regarding how revenue from the “adult services” category will be used. Our commitment to philanthropy remains, and craigslist will continue to develop its charitable initiatives.

Every week daily alternative papers features pages of sex ads. They find fund the smaller papers. Eye Weekly is one of those papers based out of Toronto. Owned by Torstar digital their adult ads are online but require a person to click a button saying they are 18.

When Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan stated to CBS, “It’s clear to everyone that Craigslist’s erotic services section was nothing more than an Internet brothel,” Madigan said in a statement. “I’m encouraged that Craigslist has agreed to fundamentally change how they operate and monitor their site. The steps they’re taking are the only effective way to prevent the exploitation of women and children.” Did she stop and look at the weeklies published in her state? The Chicago Reader has adult ads and it is online. Is Madigan going after this paper as well?

Craigslist is famous and that’s what makes it a target. If the lawmakers want to be fair though they need to either target all or none of publications that carry adult ads.

UK Loophole Turns Pub Vault Into Smoking Room At least For Now

No smoking in the pub is the law of the land but cleaver Kerry Fenton found a loophole for her establishment. Fenton’s pub is now a “Smoking Research Centre” letting patrons smoke while they down an ale.

Friend James Martin found the loophole in Section 9 of the 2007 Smoking Act. That loophole states that smoking ‘research’ can be undergone as long as there is no through bar.

Kerry’s bar The Cutting Edge has a vault that could apply with the exemption. Now the vault is a bar onto itself with a sign on the door labeled “Designated Smoking Room.” Patrons fill in a questionnaire about their smoking habits before they are allowed to light up.

The vault may have saved Fenton’s bar for a time.

BBC reports:

Fenton told BBC News: “This is something we really had to do, I didn’t have a choice.

“We have had estate agents bringing people to actually view the property because it’s up for sale.”

The owner of the pub, Punch Taverns is not happy though and neither are the Barnsley Council. Both are planning to putting the smoking room out of business.

The Barnsley Council’s Regulatory Services department planned a visit to the pub on Wednesday to let the establishment know that they may be wrong in their interpretation of the law.

The building has been put on the market by Punch Taverns who condemns the decision their licensee made.

The Daily Star reports:
The Home Office said: “It’s the Department of Health’s responsibility.”

But the Department of Health insisted: “It’s up to the Home Office to enforce the law.”

Slamming To The Word White House Style

For the first time ever slam poetry was in the House. The White House, that is. On Tuesday night the First Family hosted the poetry event for 100 people.

Last year Obama promised while on the campaign trail that he would bring poets and musicians into the White House to “open up the White House and remind people this it is the people’s house.”

He has already made good that promise with concerts by Fergie, Stevie Wonder, Sweet Honey in the Rock and Earth Wind & Fire since taking office. Tuesday night though was the first Poetry Slam, a form of poetry that takes the word and brings it out with energy as the verses are performed.

Tonight’s event features James Earl Jones; poet Mayda Del Valle, novelist Michael Chabon, jazz musicians ELEW and Esperanza Spalding and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, not the average mix for the urban poetry form.

NBC New York reports:

“It’s an incredible honor any time to receive an invitation from the White House and President Obama,” said Arizona Rep. Krysten Sinema, who is among the 100 people invited to attend the event. “But to see our nation’s talent and be a part of history at the first-ever White House Poetry Slam is amazing. I’m very excited to be a part of this moment.”

Opinion: Inside Toronto’s Gun Violence, No Excuse When Kids Are Dying

hen I moved to Toronto it was during the summer of gun violence. To someone from the States it really didn’t seem so bad, after all it was handguns. It’s amazing how much an attitude can change in just a few years. Today violence shocks me, as it should.

Toronto is now dealing with a spat of gun deaths in the West Side. Senseless murders, young lives lost. When 14-year-olds are gunned down in a field and left to die something is indeed wrong.

These gun wars have nothing to do with the recession. They are a sign of the times though, desperate acts from desperate people. There is no justification. Drugs could be the motive but that can’t be the entire answer. What has happened to our youth that makes pulling the trigger even be in their thought process?

When Basil Bryan, 23, was shot in the chest, laying on the sidewalk there is footage of someone just walking on by. Has the city become that callous?

How many times will words of shock and grief be printed in newspapers like City News after Daniel Da Silva died.

“I’ve known him since he was a little kid,” said Will Roque. “What are you going to say? (His mother) is hysterical, crying, I don’t even think she’s going to the coroner’s office.”

“That’s one of the best kids in the world,” adds family friend Vitalina Rolo. “I can’t say anything bad about him, nothing.”

Kids standing at bus stops aren’t even safe.Jarvis St. Remy, 18, was gunned down in the street waiting for a bus.

City News quotes Mayor David Miller:

“Imagine being a mom, your son being gunned down like this, it’s just heartbreaking for everybody,” he said. “We just simply have to get at the guns and get them off the street.”

So what can be done to stop this violence? One answer is education. In Toronto there is one program that started in 2004 called Inner City Advisory Committee (ICCA).

Digital Journal spoke to Cassie Bell, Inner City Project Coordinator about what her program does for the youth in at-risk areas. The group works with 7 elementary schools with a total of 50 schools being touched by the program to bring a more level playing field to the early educational game. With hard fought for grant money the program last year was able to have hearing and vision tests given to students at the model schools. What they found was confounding. There were children who were in need of vision surgery, children who were deaf. Working with partnerships those children were able to be treated. Once treated, kids who had been behaviour problems in school started to be star students according to Ms. Bell.

“At what point do we stop yakking and get to work. We have to deal with the problems now.”

The program is showing results. It also like many programs that work has to fight each year for the funding to continue.

MP Mario Silva sent Digital Journal the following statement:

Of course I am concerned about gun crime in my city. Our police service works very hard to keep the streets safe and I have always been fully committed to giving them the tools they need to do their jobs properly.

More than that, along with my colleagues in the Liberal Party, I have stood up against any attempts to weaken our current gun legislation.”/quote]
In September it was announced that Toronto was taking action to prevent crime in Toronto to the tune of more than $4.9 million in funding for a project that is aimed at preventing and reducing street gang activity.

Public Safety quotes Toronto Police Chief William Blair:

“A meaningful approach to prevent and reduce crime must start with an intelligence-based, targeted enforcement approach, along with a strong community mobilization component, such as our effective Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy, but it must build on TAVIS, to encompass government and community initiatives and involvement to be truly effective,” said Toronto Police Chief William Blair. “Today’s announcement furthers the process of keeping Toronto a safe, vibrant, and diverse city.”

The money will to go to:

* addressing early risk factors among vulnerable children and youth;
* preventing youth gang and drug-related crime;
* preventing recidivism among high-risk groups; and
* fostering crime prevention in Aboriginal communities.

Yet the crimes are getting worse, the deaths more frequent. With the millions being tossed around what is being done at the street level? One program that has gotten funding is the TAVIS program. The program partners the communities at risk with Toronto police officers. The Toronto Police web site states the goal of the program:

We expect that TAVIS will reduce crime, particularly violent crime, in neighbourhoods across Toronto. It will also help the community to take charge of their own neighbourhoods; you and your neighbours will have the primary role in solving problems and preventing crime.

In the next few weeks look for more in-depth articles about school programs that work in Toronto and the TAVIS program in Toronto.

Adrian Johnston, 14, Shot Down In West Toronto

Police in Toronto are looking for the person who killed Adrian Johnston, 14, on Monday afternoon. The young teen was gunned down in a field near Scarlett Road and St. Clair Avenue.

Shocked neighbours heard three shots and saw a man running away from the scene. They raced to the boy as he lay dying in a pool of blood from wounds in his chest, stomach and shoulder.

The Toronto Star reports:
“I’ll never forget that image,” Melanie Cebry said, holding back tears. “All I saw was a kid – a child – lying on the ground alone.

“I want his mother to know he was not alone. A lot of people were there and we all tried to help him.”

A tarp covered the child’s body at the scene for hours as the police combed the area.

The man running from the scene is described as male, black, 5′-5′6″, dark pants, dark hoodie and a bandana covering most of his face.

Adrain attended Runnymede Collegiate Institute in Toronto. Spokesman John Caldarone told Digital Journal that the school’s focus at this time is to support the students who are grieving at this time. There are grief counselors at the school to help the children with this.

Adrain is the 18th murdered person this year in Toronto, the fourth in the area where Johnston was gunned down. Jarvis St. Remy, 18, was another gunned down just a few blocks away at a bus stop just last week.

Police have not commented on a motive for this latest shooting. When Digital Journal spoke with the police department they said a press conference will take place at 2 p.m.

9 votes

Playing The Swine Flu Prediction Game

British researchers have stated that by the time the swine flu has moved into the new year a third of the world will have been infected. It’s a reasonable prediction. The truth is predicting is all that science can do at this stage in the swine flu game.

The last flu pandemic that left millions dead was in 1957. The swine flu could spread as widely as that strain of flu but because of medical advancements the death toll should be much lower according to researchers at London’s Imperial College.

Sky News reports:

Prof. Ferguson said: “What we’re seeing is not the same as seasonal flu and there is still cause for concern – we would expect this pandemic to at least double the burden on our healthcare systems.”

“However, this initial modelling suggests that the H1N1 virus is not as easily transmitted or as lethal as that found in the flu pandemic in 1918.”

Studies are now showing that the swine flu is fatal in around four of every 1,000 cases.

When a person becomes infected with the virus on average they pass it on to between 1.2 and 1.6 others.

This suggests that the new strain of flu is more easily spread than seasonal flu but less infectious than other strains that lead to previous flu pandemics.

The one thing that is known for sure about this pandemic is that we don’t know for sure how the game will play out. That is a becoming the overall theme when it comes to the swine flu. We just don’t know what to expect.

Gazette.net reports:

“I think the right answer is we don’t have all the information yet, and anyone who is predicting what we’ll see from this day forward is hoping to get lucky,” said Dr. Ivan C.A. Walks of Potomac.

Walks is part of a six-member Swine Flu Medical Advisory Board, holding conference calls with O’Malley (D) at least once a day to discuss new developments in the illness, also known as the H1N1 virus.

That’s what has been tossed about with the CDC and WHO. There is no denying that the swine flu will touch most people’s lives in the Northern Hemisphere by the end of the fall but hopefully because of medical advancements it will not be as deadly as other pandemics.

The reason that the strain will be considered milder is that we have advancements in the medical sector and much better pandemic planning than in the past. Global communications allow for rapid staging before the illness is in the lead.

Of course it’s all a roll of the dice in the end. The models, patterns and predictions may be right on the mark or they may be out to lunch.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

“Disease outbreaks are fundamentally unpredictable in detail,” argues public-health academic Philip Alcabes, author of “Dread.” Instead of looking to physicians to predict epidemics, “we should leave the job of seeing the future to the mystics, prophets and fortunetellers.”

This is a time period for the scientists, researchers and doctors to deal with what will come hoping that they are prepared enough to deal with it. Having reasonable markers as predictions help the science community prepare for the worse scenarios. If the worse case does not pan out it could well be that it was because of the preparation time given to the science community.

KYW Newsradio 1060 Philadelphia reports:

Dr. Stephen Ostroff, Pennsylvania’s acting physician general, said last week that a lot of what’s been learned about swine flu, so far, has been somewhat reassuring, however:

“I always look to the great philosopher Yogi Berra, who once said that predictions are always difficult, especially about the future. And one of the things that we’ve always learned about influenza is that it’s very unpredictable.”

Because of the disease being relatively mild much of Europe has played down the concern. Experts have been warning though not to let down guard until the flu season hits in the fall. That will be the true marker of the swine flu as it battles it out with seasonal flu.

Four Toronto Hospital Employees Test Positive For Swine Flu

Four staff employees from the University Health Network in Toronto have tested positive for swine flu. Of those that have the virus only one had had direct contact with the patients.

All of those who have the virus have mild cases and should be healthy soon according to Hospital president Bob Bell.

Two of the employees came down with the virus from within their community.

The other two cases were in contact with one of the community-acquired cases while they were at work.

CTV reports:

“It’s not an unsafe environment,” Dr. Susy Hota said Monday night. “They should continue to go to their scheduled appointments and their treatment’s important.”

Patients who are experiencing flu-like symptoms should contact the hospital for directions of what action they should take.

CDC Media Briefing: 3 confirmed deaths in US

The CDC has confirmed that there have been three confirmed deaths from the swine flu in the United States. Currently there are 94 cases of hospitalized severe cases in the US and a total of 2,600 confirmed cases of swine flu.

The median age of swine flu holds at 15 years of age. The oldest person to be confirmed with the virus is 86.

“We know that at this time we are not winding down when it comes to H1N1. We don’t know what is going to happen in the Southern Hemisphere. We don’t know what the new virus will do in the future,” said Anne Schuchat, M.D., Interim Deputy Director for Science and Public Health Program during Monday’s media press briefing.

The tracking of the swine flu in the southern hemisphere is very important for the northern hemisphere as it will give clues as to what to expect in the fall when seasonal flu season hits. While it is of importance, it can not be stressed enough that the flu is unpredictable. There is no telling if the swine flu will be more widespread than seasonal flu during the fall or if it will continue to spread throughout the summer.

The CDC now has a tracking map for the public to view where the cases are in the United States.

Dr. Schuchat said that confirmed cases are just the tip of the ice berg. It is possible that there have been other deaths from swine flu that were not identified but there has not been an increase over the baseline of expected deaths. Those other possible deaths are not so many that they would be a public health concern at this time.

As to questions of over-reacting to this outbreak is a question Dr. Schuchat explained that the world has changed since the 2003 outbreak of SARS. Public health groups globally are working together so that concerns are quickly given to other countries and that those countries can be on the lookout for suspected outbreaks.

“It is clear that we have a novel virus circulating throughout the United States. It is clear the general population is susceptible to this virus. Ideas of investing in a vaccine are very prudent at this time.”

One concern worth mentioning is that on the misuse of anti-viral medications. Drugs like Tamiflu must be properly used so to avoid the virus from becoming immune to the medication.

Shooting at Camp Liberty in Baghdad

A U.S. statement has been issued about a shooting that occurred at about 2 p.m. at an American camp in Baghdad. The shooting took place at Camp Liberty. Five coalition soldiers were killed.

Five coalition soldiers have been killed in a suicide/murder at U.S. Camp Liberty in Baghdad. Nationalities of the slain soldiers have yet to be revealed.

This is a breaking news story.
AFP reports:

“Five coalition forces members were killed in a shooting at Camp Liberty in Baghdad today at approximately 2 pm (1100 GMT),” the statement said.

MSNBC reports that a U.S. service member opened fire on his fellow soldiers. Four were killed in the attack and several more were injured. The soldier is now in custody.

Details will be added as they come in.

update 1:While initial reports indicated that the shooter had committed suicide it is now unclear how and if he was wounded.

update 2:The New York Times reports:

Reuters quoted Marine Lt. Tom Garnett, a military spokesman, as saying “the shooter is a U.S. soldier and he is in custody.”

The attack according to CNN took place at a clinic that deals with soldiers suffering from war stress.

update: All of those who were killed are US personnel but it is yet to be confirmed that they were all military service members.

Roxana Saberi Freed from Iranian Prison

Journalist Roxana Saberi was freed from a Tehran jail on Monday, according to her father. Reza Saberi says his Iranian-American daughter’s sentence was reduced.

A lawyer in Iran representing Saberi has confirmed that on Sunday a deal was imminent after a five-hour closed-door appeals hearing. Now free, the young woman will be allowed to leave the country immediately.

The Telegraph reports:

“The verdict of the previous court has been quashed,” lawyer Saleh Nikbakht said. “Her punishment has been changed to a suspended two-year sentence and she will be out of prison.”

On April 13 Saberi was convicted and sentenced to eight years of jail for “cooperating with a hostile state.” Her trial lasted only one day and was the cause of outrage globally.

The Iranian court has now reduced her term to a suspended two-year sentence on the condition that she is banned from reporting from Iran for the next five years.

NPR President and CEO Vivian Schiller said the network was “overjoyed” at the news of Saberi’s impending release.

“We are … grateful to everyone who has shared in our efforts to gain her release,” Schiller said Monday. “Roxana is an established and respected professional journalist and we look forward to her return to her craft.”

Ms. Saberi has worked for US National Public Radio, the BBC and Fox News.’

What You Order May Not Be What You Get At Toronto Sushi Places

When one orders sushi at their favorite Japanese restaurant they assume they are getting what they ordered. That thought would be wrong in many Toronto sushi spots according to an investigative report from the Toronto Star.

“It would be an extraordinary circumstance if they didn’t provide what was on the menu,” says Henry Postulart when asked if he expected red snapper when he ordered it from a sushi place. When he was informed that was not always the case, “I would expect it to cost less if it was tilipia.”

In Toronto according to a Toronto Star investigation not getting what you order seems to be a common practice. Collecting 12 red snapper sushi samples from across the city the newspaper had them tested in the lab. Of the 12 samples only one was actually red snapper. One of the sushi samples was from red seabream and the others were all tilipia. The fish samples were tested and matched using the renowned Barcode of Life DNA database at the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, University of Guelph.

The reason is the price tag. Tilapia costs about one-fifth of the cost of red snapper.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency allows four species to be identified as red snapper and 24 as snapper. Not one of the allowed fish however are tilapia or seabream.

As a side note, crab meat is also often artificial crab. If a person has a milk allergy crab meat in sushi needs to be avoided.

While an experienced sushi chef would easily be able to tell the difference between snapper and tilapia most consumers haven’t a clue. So how do you insure that you’re enjoying red snapper sushi? The only way to be sure that your sushi is what you want is to make it yourself.

“The authentic way is to get a whole fish and fillet it yourself,” says Bruce Bu, owner and chef at Yuzu on Adelaide St. W. He lists two tais on his menu. One is described as “red snapper from Japan,” another as “snapper from Greece.” DNA tests showed the former is red seabream.

Toronto Mayor Miller Issues Statement About Tamil Protest

Toronto Mayor David Miller is asking the Tamil community to relocate their protest to a safer location after the group protested on the Gardiner Expressway Sunday.

In a statement that Mayor Miller released Sunday evening he expressed the right for the group to protest but not in areas that endangers the public’s safety.

“Toronto’s Tamil community is understandably concerned about what is
happening to friends and family in Sri Lanka. They have an absolute right to
make those concerns known and to protest. Endangering public safety by
occupying the Gardiner or other public highways is not the right way to make
that statement.
“Like all Torontonians, I want to see a peaceful end to the conflict in
Sri Lanka and hope members of the international community, including the
Federal Parliament, will use their influence to see that humanitarian aid
flows to the affected area.
“I am confident the Toronto Police Service will ensure that public safety
is preserved and protected.”Close to 2,000 of the Tamil community in Toronto shut down both lanes of traffic on the Gardiner Expressway as the group marched up ramps at Spadina Avenue. The group is protesting the civil war in their homeland of Sri Lanka.

This most recent gathering came one day after reports that at least 378 people were killed from an all-night artillery in the war zone.
The Toronto Star reports:

“The community is asking for a representative from the Conservative government to come meet the community and assure them that serious economic or diplomatic sanctions will be placed on Sri Lanka,” said Shyanthy Thezarajh, 24, a spokesperson for the Tamil protesters.
“There’s been a massive impact on each and every individual here. And they’re pretty much trying to get the media to understand what’s going on in the hopes that the issue would come to the world stage and some kind of meaningful solution will be achieved for Sri Lanka right now,” she said.

The true numbers of those killed are hard to pinpoint as journalists are not allowed in the war zone nor are aid workers.
Police are requesting motorists to use public transit or use routes other than the Gardiner to get to the downtown.

Mother’s Day Suicide Causes Evacuation In Toronto

Toronto was the scene of a suicide by poisonous gas on Sunday when a York woman released what is believed to be hydrogen sulfide into the airing killing herself and threatening others.

The woman had called the police mid-morning to say she was taking her life using a chemical cocktail. When the police and fire department arrived the smell of rotten eggs was coming from the residence. That smell was the cause of nearly 50 homes facing a Mother’s Day evacuation.

The National Post reports:

“Our initial response was an evacuation, believing there may be a potentially deadly gas in the air,” said Capt. Adrian Ratushniak, of Toronto Fire Services, adding that chemicals were, indeed, later found in the home. “We were aware that there could be a danger to other people in the area.”

Moderate exposure to the chemical can cause eye irritation, sore throat or headaches. If one inhales a high concentration death is the outcome from suffocation.

The woman on Empress Avenue was already dead when the authorities entered her home in HazMat uniforms.

By 10:30 a.m. police were knocking on doors to evacuate residents. L.C. Lee was one that was told to leave immediately.

“He didn’t tell me why, just that I should take what I need and leave as soon as possible,” said Mr. Lee, after returning to his home around 2 p.m. “I just took my keys, my wallet, some money, and my phone. I had to leave my dog,” he said, adding that he and his wife spent the nearly four hours wandering the neighborhood and watching as the scene unfolded.

This type of suicide is a rare event in Toronto. In Japan it has become a more common way of killing one’s self.

Texas Wants Women To Pay For Rape Kits, Then The Story Gets Worse

When a person suffers a crime and then is charged for a test because of it there should be screams throughout the land. The noise found Texas should be deafening where women are getting billed for rape kits.

CNN News reported that Texas has been charging the victims of sexual assault
for the test that law enforcement uses to go after their attackers. Rape kits can cost up to $1,800 and hospitals are filing insurance claims for the victims to foot the bill. What’s more some Texan women have been told that until they pay up the investigation against an attacker will not begin.

Texas is not alone in charging for this test. In the town of Wasilla, Alaska victims were also charged for the tests until the state government outlawed that practice. The same holds true in North Carolina where victims were asked to cover some or all of the cost until the Raleigh News & Observer newspaper alerted the public of the practice.

A rape kit consists of bags for clothing, a comb to collect pubic hair, test tubes for blood collection, swabs for DNA checks and fluid, and a series of tests for sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy and DNA collection.

Perhaps even more more shocking is the revelations that some police departments don’t even bother with processing rape kits. Last year the Los Angeles City Police Department had over 7,000 untested rape kits that were sitting idle.

City Watch LA reports:

A representative of women’s issues has been quoted as saying, “When a rape is committed, the victim’s body is the crime scene. They consent to its search in the same way that a person who has suffered a property crime consents to a search of their home, though it’s themselves these victims are opening to inspection.” To treat evidence gathered at that excruciating moment in their lives by not testing it, she said, “betrays the victim’s faith in the criminal justice system.”

The California Chronicle reports:

In his testimony, Assembly member Anthony Portantino credited both the City and County of Los Angeles for publicly making the commitment that they will be testing every kit in their possession. Mr. Portantino added, “I have introduced AB 1017 to ensure that every community in California has the same assurance that all evidence of rapes and sexual assaults will be processed and collected to identify and punish those guilty of crimes.

Each test costs about $1,000 to process in Los Angeles. New York City had a backlog in 1996. They decided that was unacceptable and opened up more labs within the Medical Examiner’s Office. Turnaround now is within two weeks.

In Chicago labs routinely take a year to finish the reports from the tests. That gives the attackers more time to wander around free and clear.

The Chicago Tribune reports:

The General Assembly, which appropriates money to the state crime lab and other state agencies, was also in the dark, said state Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs). “We were lied to,” said Durkin, who sponsored legislation in 2007 calling for the audit of the state crime lab. “To know how to handle this, it’s extremely important that they act in a transparent way.”

Until crimes against women are considered as important as those against men this type of behavior will continue.

Courts using Facebook profiles as evidence more often

Posting your life on Facebook may not be the wisest move for criminals and those in civil lawsuits. Courts are using the information from the social networking site more often as part of their evidence.

One such case is that of Dennis Terry, a Newfoundland man who was going for a settlement after suffering whiplash from two car accidents in 2001 and 2003. Terry was hoping to get money for the harm his social life suffered after the accidents. Terry also claimed that he was unable to move well enough to play pool, a favorite past time.

Enter to the court Terry’s Facebook profile that showed he wasn’t really sitting at home by his lonesome.

CTV reports:

“He went to and hosted parties, attended weekend outings at summer cabins, drank alcohol frequently, smoked marijuana daily and appeared to have a number of friends with whom he communicated and socialized on a regular basis,” Adams wrote in his April 17 ruling.

“I find it incredible that Mr. Terry’s social life miraculously improved in the few months he was communicating on Facebook and that for the remainder of the time from 2001 to 2007 he essentially had no or little social life. Without this evidence, I would have been left with a very different impression of Mr. Terry’s social life.”

Terry had been hoping for a $1.5 million payout, he was instead given $40,000 for his pain and suffering.

Facebook was used in a trial in Australia recently when Mark McCormack used the social network to track down a couple that owed him money. When the couple moved and were unable to be contacted through regular means McCormack turned to Facebook and it provided. The documentation from Facebook was excepted by the courts because it included their names, dates of birth and listed each other as “friends”.

Slashdot reports:

“Lawyers for Janice Roman, the defendant in the lawsuit, believe information posted on John Leduc’s private Facebook site — normally accessible only to his approved ‘friends’ — may be relevant to his claim an accident in Lindsay in 2004 lessened his enjoyment of life. As a result of the ruling by Justice David Brown of Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice, Leduc must now submit to cross-examination by Roman’s lawyers about what his Facebook page contains. Brown’s Feb. 20 ruling also makes clear that lawyers must now explain to their clients ‘in appropriate cases’ that postings on Facebook or other networking sites — such as MySpace, LinkedIn and even blogs — may be relevant to allegations in a lawsuit, said Tariq Remtulla, a Toronto lawyer who has been following the issue.”

One woman believes that Facebook and other social networking sites could prove to be more useful in court cases than DNA. Gill Smith whose son was murdered spoke out on the matter when it was revealed that up to 850,000 profiles of innocent people were part of the 4.5 million on an official database in the UK.

This Is Bristol reports:

Referring to social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo, she said: “If people are law abiding, it shouldn’t worry them at all. I would be more concerned about what was on the Internet than having my DNA profile held on file because there is so much information out there.”

“What we campaigned for was taking DNA profiles with the permission of the individuals concerned,” said Mrs Smith. “We believe that if a policeman knocked on your door and asked for DNA, most people would say ‘yes, keep it’.

“It wouldn’t worry me if my DNA was taken. If all the records were taken at birth, no one could complain they were being singled out.

“In Europe they are digging up the soldiers from the First World War and using DNA so relatives can find out where their loved ones are – it’s not just for criminals. DNA profiling has other uses as well.”

British Journalists Deported From Sri Lanka

A team of journalists from Britain has been deported from Sri Lanka after they produced a report about the alleged abuse of Tamils.

Nick Paton-Walsh, producer Bessie Du and cameraman Matt Jasper from London-bases Channel 4 reportedly admitted that they had been in the wrong according to Lakshman Hulugalle, the head of the government security information center. The government will not allow them to return to the nation because of that.

The reporters though deny that they admitted being int the wrong. Gulf News quotes Paton-Walsh who spoke the the AP in Singapore.

“This is complete rubbish,” he said.

Walsh said he, producer Bessie Du and cameraman Matt Jasper were detained by police in the eastern town of Trincomalee and asked to give a statement, but he refused.

Walsh believes that the incident happened over his most recent report on the conditions of the war refugees and of alleged sexual abuse of those inside the refugee camps.

Sri Lanka has denied the report on Channel 4 that claimed dead bodies are being left where they lay, there are food and water shortages and sexual abuse ongoing in the displacement camps.

The trio were in the country legally on valid visas and had been reporting for the last few weeks on the conditions of the Tamil people

Sri Lanka has been in a civil war since 1983 with the Tamil Tigers. Since that time at least 70,000 people have lost their lives from the battle.

Opinion: Is Waterboarding Part of Loving Your Neighbour?

Love your neighbour, treat him as you would want to be treated. That’s one of the backbones of the Christian faith. So why hasn’t there been a loud Christian voice when it comes to torture on American shores?

Surveys from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press believe that the use of torture when it comes to terrorist suspects is justified. Those who attend church regularly are the staunchest supporters of this type of torture.

Isn’t that against the belief system though? I seem to recall a tale of cast the first stone, but I could be wrong. It must of been if you cast the first stone I will scream loud and hard, but if I throw it there was a reason for it.

When did it become okay for the American government to do onto others what they would have killed others to do unto them?

If another country tortured suspected Americans on mass to get out a ‘confession’ they would be considered the enemy. Remember the Vietnam War? Korea?

Guess what America, there’s a reason that America is now considered the enemy by other countries.

Do unto others and all that jazz.

Christianity Today reported in 2007:

“Terrorism may be perceived as a genuine threat to American society and its families,” said John Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum. “In the 1980s, Christian conservatives were also strong opponents of Communism and the Soviet Union.”

Breaking down the Pew Study it wasn’t just religion that was on the side of torture, political views were another factor. It’s not that surprising that more Republicans say that torture can be justified than Democrats. Education also plays a part, the less education a person has ramps up the chances that they will be in favor of waterboarding as a justified means to an end.

But it’s the Christian voice that contradicts a belief system with the realities that concerns me the most. Peace is another word for torture? Treating your brother to humiliation is fine if they are thought to be on the wrong side?

Maybe, it’s even simpler for me. The theory that I was taught long ago in Sunday School was that two wrongs never make a right.

Somehow I don’t believe that ideal has changed.

Stem Cells And What They Mean To You

On May 9, Cafe Scientifique hosted a discussion titled “Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine and Personalized Medicine: Where are we now and where can we get to?” at York University in Toronto.

The event was part of the city’s Science Rendezvous. Stem cells are in the news a lot these days, from the ethics of their use to the rapid advancements that they have brought to medicine and drugs.

The CIHR (Canadian Institute of Health Research) hosts several Cafe Scientifique’s around the nation each month. The Cafe’s are a way for the public to get a better understanding of different health issues by discussing topics with the real experts.

The latest for Toronto, “Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine and Personalized Medicine: Where are we now and where can we get to?” had a smaller than average turnout due to the rain that kept many inside today.

Three experts discussed their work with stem cells in a clinical setting and in a broader setting, the ethics of use and what they can help or not help with.

Dr. Andras Nagy is part of the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute in Toronto. He started off the lecture with a background on stem cells.

In 1960 Dr. Gordon Keller discovered the human embryonic stem cell while working in Toronto. Dr. Keller was working on cancer research at the time and had no idea where that discovery would lead. Canada has been on the front lines from that beginning and remains so in the field of stem cell research.

In 1981 pre-floating embryonic stem cells in the uterus were discovered in mice. Research from that discovery showed that from one embryo every type of stem cell in the body could be grown in a petri dish.

What have we learned from the humble beginnings? That the human body is made up of 30,000 genes. That apart from bacterias and viruses almost all diseases that face humans are a mutation of one or more of those genes.We also have had to deal with the ethics questions as researchers have found that from just a few embryonic stem cells new life can be created. In 1993 Dr. Nagy knew that mice could be made from stem cells from a mere 10 cells.. Sheep have followed. the news has gone wild this spring when a researcher attempted again to clone a human baby.

Ethics has been a big part of stem cell research, mostly because of where human embryonic stem cells come from, fetuses. Today though most of the human embryonic stem cells that researchers work with come from IVF labs where the ‘parents’ have donated their cells. In Canada and many other countries only a small number of human embryonic stem cells are allowed to be used with each IVF procedure but the ‘harvesting’ process makes between 10 to 15 embryos. Parents can use the additional embryos in future IVF treatments, donate them to other infertile couples, have them destroyed or donate them to science. Nagy believes that by donating these cells to science the couples are rescuing human embryos in a real sense.

There are some drawbacks to stem cells being used in medicine. One is, like organ donation stem cells have to be compatible to the person that they are helping. If they are not then the body will reject them causing even greater problems.

One powerful breakthrough for researchers came in 2006 when it was discovered that it was possible to generate stem cells from skin cells. Using the HIV virus researchers were able to find the genes that had to be removed that left a clean cell. By removing four genes from the skin turned stem cells researchers are able to work with a fresh cell that can be turned into any type of cell.

Researchers have been able to stop type 2 diabetic sufferers from having to use insulin by transplanting pancreatic cells into diabetics. There is a limitation though. Within two years the body goes back to the diabetic state and the mean for insulin comes back. That has told researchers that we are still not at the stage that we can repair genes completely. But in the future that could happen.

When asked about the ‘evils’ about science Nagy compared those in science for the wrong reason with a kitchen knife.

“It’s a big dilemma. Take a kitchen knife. It is useful in the kitchen but can also be used as a deadly weapon. We don’t blame the knife.Stem cell research is the same. The benefit is worth more than the harm.”Dr. Ron Pearlman, Professor of Dept. of Biology, York University was the next to speak. His field focus with stem cells is very personal; the structure, organization and expression of genetic information as it deals with personalized medicine. He and his colleagues are working on ways to analyze a person’s DNA and then sequence it rapidly to identify health risks.

This field has come leaps and bounds within a fairly short time. At the beginning of this decade it cost a person $100 million to know their personal DNA genome. Today that cost is a mere $1,000.

A large spectrum of diseases stem from one single base change in a cell. By learning more about these changes researchers are now able to pinpoint risk factors when studying a person’s DNA. Associate studies of stem cells and DNA have added to a database that helps in the process of going from looking at the population as a whole to each individual person.

At this time many companies like 23 & Me and KnowMe are jumping on the DNA database wagon. Even IBM and National Geographic are teamed up. That team can give people a little information about their ancestors just by looking at a sample of their DNA.

In a more medical sense what these databases in the pharmaceutical genome tell us is that medicine is not a one size fits all. Years ago doctors thought that adult medicine just needed dosage changes when giving it to a child. That science research has uncovered does not work. Children, women and men all have different risk factors that affect medicine. That’s important. Every year 12 to 15 per cent of hospital admissions are a result of adverse drug reactions.

One example of these drug reactions took place in Toronto. An infant died from morphine overdose at Sick Kids Hospital. How could that happen? Why on earth would doctors give an infant to much morphine. The answer is simple, they didn’t. What they did do though was give the right dosage to an infant that was nursing. That infant’s mother was also taking a medicine with codeine in it. In breast milk codeine breaks down and becomes, you guessed it, morphine.

‘Many in the science community fear that they are being held back. We’re in danger of losing the pipeline of information and of innovative ideas. We have to build the building up from the ground instead of from the roof.We, in the science community need for the government to step up and push for more funding.”

As we move into more personalized medicine there are questions about ethics and privacy that will have to be addressed. Will insurance companies be allowed to use the information of risk factors that DNA reveal to deny coverage?

“Science is way ahead of ethics. Ethics has to catch up to science instead of the other way around. We can not hold back research. It’s too important for the society.”

Stem cell research makes medicine safer for the population. We are past the time for using mice on medicine trials. Mice prolong the trials. Things do take time but let’s do what we can to speed up the process.David Brener, PhD. from Pfizer Canada Inc. was the final guest to speak Saturday.

Dr. Brener started off with a question, “What doesn’t personalized medicine do? We can’t cure everyone. We can though start picking patients who will respond the best to medicines.”

By using genetics Pfizer is able to help reduce adverse effects of medications. Genetics allows the company to enhance safety while researching conditions and diseases that medication is used for. It is enabling us to make ‘designer drugs’ at a more rapid pace. In the end stem cells and genetics reduces the time that it takes to develop new drugs at much less the cost than in the past.

In Toronto and Canada we have a wealth of research ongoing. Research is unlocking the academic teaching hospitals making us a leading center of the world for stem cell research.

“Nothing in life is 100% sure. The net benefit vs. net losses shows the miracle of the pharmaceutical industry, by in large we are the breeding ground of the future.”

The health of humans is changing. We are reaching a point where we may be able to reduce the onset of diseases as we learn more about stem cells and the genetics of conditions. This is of great value not only to the individual but to the economy and society as a whole.

We, as researchers will make mistakes and pick bad markers. We won’t always be on point like we have been with Huntington’s Disease, which we now can say 100% if a person has the markers unless they are hit by a car or die in some other manner will come down with the disease. While there are the times researchers think they have gotten something down and then find that they were wrong, it’s those mistakes that are learning processes. The best researchers learn from their mistakes.

When I asked the doctors on the panel about the swine flu vaccine they were hopeful. Asked if Canada will be the one to come up with the final product I was told that it’s possible but what was most important is that it is found, not who finds it. As for Canada, we have the infrastructure in place to be in the lead.

As for where stem cell research is going there is no telling. We can’t predict the future but there is a future. There’s no telling when or where the next big breakthrough will be but we do know it will be exciting. That’s how research is, just a step away from the next big step and it’s always an amazing adventure.

Edsworth Searles Laid To Rest Today In Toronto

Once in a while a person rises through the ranks quietly and impacts the lives of many. Such was the life of Edsworth Searles. He was the first black called to the bar in British Columbia. In Toronto he was a lawyer for thirty years and so much more.

If you live in Toronto and have a friend from the Caribbean you can thank Mr. Searles. In the 1950s he was part of a delegation that went to Ottawa asking Canada to open the immigration doors for those in the islands.

Newcomers knew the man. His home had an open door policy at dinner time on Thursday and Sunday. Newcomers, students and domestics had a home away from home with a tasty home-cooked meal. That along with Searles advice helped many Torontonian.

The Toronto Star reports:

“We are better off for these people,” Itah Sadu, owner of A Different Booklist says. “They were very decent folk, ordinary working-class people who done good. Their superstardom is the stuff we are made of. It’s special for us because they are us. We can touch them and laugh with them and hug them and recognize the place they hold for us.”

Born in Toronto, raised in Barbados, Searles returned to study law at the University of Toronto after marrying his life long love Kathleen. He worked at the post office and at the railroad to afford his family and his education.

“You don’t have to ask what a black man did in the ’40s; either you worked on the railway or as a shoeshine boy,” Edsworth told the Star in 1996.

Today he will be laid in the ground. He is survived by three daughters, Kathleen, Marjorie and Sylvia, and two granddaughters. Sylvia Searles-Elam is Mayor David Miller’s special assistant and a veteran in employment equity and race relations at City Hall and Queen’s Park.

University Requires Students To Buy iPhones

Columbia University is requiring their new freshman have an iPhone when they start the MU School of Journalism this year. Letters were sent to the incoming class telling them to show up at campus this fall with their iPod touch or an iPhone.

The associate dean of the Journalism Brian Brooks said that the device is going to be turned into a learning device.

The Columbia Missourian reports:

“Lectures are the worst possible learning format,” Brooks said. “There’s been some research done that shows if a student can hear that lecture a second time, they retain three times as much of that lecture.”

The reason for the item to be on the required list is for the students on financial aid. If an item is on the required list a student can list it in their financial need estimate.

Students who can’t afford an iPhone won’t be penalized for showing up without the Apple product.

Not all of the students are happy with the requirement. Elizabeth Eberlin has started the Facebook group, “Rotten Apple” to let her anger out.

“I really like my Apple computer, but I don’t think people should be forced to buy one brand of computer or one brand of anything,” she said. The Facebook group’s description calls into question the School of Journalism’s relationship with Apple, citing a possible conflict of interest.

Lectures will be recorded for all students. The school is installing Tegrity that records the professors lecturing. Lectures can then be downed through iTunes U which is a free content download hosted by universities.

At the end of the year MU will evaluate if the program was successful. That evaluation will determine if it will be offered for students in 2012.

Giant Ragweed Strain Could Be Resistant To Herbicide

t could be bad news for allergy sufferers, researchers from Guelph’s Ontario Agricultural College have found a giant ragweed biotype that has shown resistance to the herbicide glyphosate, surviving rates that kill normal weeds in tests.

The results are still in the preliminary stage researchers are stressing.

“We’ve seen a difference in control of this giant ragweed biotype than what is normally expected when sprayed with glyphosate,” said Prof. François Tardif of the Department of Plant Agriculture.

“Glyphosate has become a tool of choice for the control for many weeds, so the appearance of a glyphosate resistant population can complicate management for growers,” added Peter Sikkema, a plant agriculture professor at the University’s Ridgetown Campus, who conducted the research with Tardif.

So far Canada is in the clear from the herbicide resistant weeds but there are eight species confirmed in the United States. Worldwide there are 15 weed species – including giant ragweed – have been confirmed as resistant to glyphosate.

The affected giant ragweed population was discovered in Essex County late last year in a small area of a 580-acre field of Roundup Ready soybeans. The strain was only found in one area scientists stress.

The University of Guelph reports:

“This is a very serious situation,” Sikkema said. “In other jurisdictions, most glyphosate-resistant weeds biotypes have been effectively managed with other herbicides and cultural practices. We’ll continue our research so we can make recommendations to growers on effective control options.”

Sick Kids Hospital Part Of Canada’s First Fetal Heart Surgery

Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and Mount Sinai Hospital have successfully operated on a fetus to correct a heart problem.

The doctors were able to expand the infant’s aortic valve using a balloon catheter.

The device, inserted through the mother’s abdomen and then into the baby was able to reverse heart failure.

The team included Dr. Edgar Jaeggi, Head of the Fetal Cardiac Program at SickKids, Dr. Greg Ryan, Head of the Fetal Medicine Unit at Mount Sinai and Dr. Lee Benson, Director of the Cardiac Diagnostic and Interventional Unit at SickKids. The doctors were able to do the valve procedure allowing baby Oceana to remain in the womb for an extra month.

Sick Kids reports:

“The fetal intervention was minimally invasive for the mother and lifesaving for the baby,” says Ryan. “Our ability to repair the aortic valve at 31 weeks gestation allowed the fetus to grow and thrive for four more weeks in the mother’s uterus, resulting in a bigger, healthier baby at birth with decreased likelihood of additional health risks. Had the baby been delivered at 31 weeks, the heart’s left ventricle could not have been saved. The collaboration of expertise between SickKids and Mount Sinai saved this infant’s life.”

Mother Vicki McKenzie of Ottawa was 30 weeks pregnant when an ultrasound sounded Oceana was suffering from Critical Aortic Stenosis, meaning there was severe narrowing of the main outlet valve of the left ventricle. McKenzie was quickly taken to Toronto and offered the option of the experimental procedure.

“They have saved my daughter’s life. Having access to the expertise at these two hospitals was a comfort. I could confidently have my baby at Mount Sinai and know that she would immediately receive the urgent care she needed across the street at SickKids,” says McKenzie.

“The intervention recovered Océane’s ventrical function completely. It is operating at a normal level now. We hope this successful collaboration opens the door to giving other babies a healthier start in life,” says Jaeggi.

Oceane McKenzie was born April 15. She has had two procedures since her birth. She is now recovering and should be able to go home soon.

The first fetal cardiac surgery was performed in September 2001 at Boston’s Children’s Hospital.

Baby ‘Jack’ was a 23-week-old fetus when doctors opened a his aortic valve with a balloon catheter. The procedure saved his life. When he was born he did not require further surgery and is being followed by Wayne Tworetzky, MD in the cardiology clinic. The child may in the future have to have another aortic valve dilation.

Paula Abdul denies report she went to rehab

When the Ladies Home Journal reported that Paula Abdul admitted conquering addiction they may have gotten it wrong. That is the story from Ms. Abdul who says she is not nor ever was an addict of painkillers.

The magazine claims the actress went to La Costa Resort and Spa to detox for 30 days last November.

That’s a lie, according the Abdul, although the singer is more focused on getting back to her musical career than discussing if she has a drug problem. She issued a statement saying that she is not an addiction and the claims that she went through rehab are false.

“Media reports that I checked into a resort for ‘detox treatment’ to overcome a drug addiction are false. I spent three days–not 30 days as reported in the media–at the La Costa Resort and Spa last November. I spent time hiking, bicycling, doing yoga and enjoying the spa. As anyone who has visited the La Costa Resort knows, it is a luxury hotel, not a rehab facility. “I want to make it perfectly clear to everyone that I have never been addicted to or abused drugs in my life. I have never been drunk. I have never entered a rehab or detox treatment center.”

E! Online reports:

When asked if she planned to sue the magazine, Paula wouldn’t say yay or nay: “That’s what my handlers [will deal with].” She added that she would be issuing an official statement to the press shortly. Check back here later for an update.

I spoke to Rachel, one of La Costa’s concierges, who said the resort does not have a program for addiction rehab; however it does offer mediation retreats but they are not part of a rehab program.

Rachel’s statement contradicts the report in Ladies Home Journal, as it’s difficult to complete a drug rehab program when there isn’t one offered.

The magazine is standing by its claims.

A representative for the magazine told E!, “We stand by our reporting and are happy that Paula decided to share her journey with us.”

Toronto police issue public warning-HIV positive man arrested

A Toronto man, 28, has been arrested and charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault for allegedly failing to notify his HIV positive status to his partner.

Sahand Mahmoodi was arrested by Toronto police on Thursday. He is scheduled to appear in court next week after his first appearance on Thursday.

The police will be using the time prior to Mahmoodi’s court appearance to gather more evidence. They are asking people that may have had sex with the man to come forward. They have issued a public safety alert out of worry that there are other victims.

The police have the difficult task with complying with privacy laws while still warning people of a risk.

CBC reports:

“He did frequent the Church and Wellesley area,” said Const. Brad Stapleton with the Toronto police sex crimes unit. “We know he had sexual activities with other individuals and we have reason to believe he may not have disclosed his HIV status at that time.”

According to the Toronto police Mahmoodi has known of his HIV status since 2000.

Anyone who may have had sexual contact with him is asked to call police at (416) 808-7474.

FEMA evicting Katrina trailer dwellers at end of May

t doesn’t matter though that FEMA programs meant to house those in the trailers have failed to do what they have been funded to do. May 31 is the last day the trailers will be allowed for the still homeless Katrina victims. They may not have a place to go but FEMA isn’t interested, at the end of May families must leave the trailers that the agency rented out to victims of Katrina. Letters have been sent and received by the residents saying to vacate their trailer on May 30 or face legal action.

The New York Times reports:

“All I can say is that this is a temporary program, it was always intended as a temporary program, and at a certain point all temporary programs must end,” said Brent Colburn, the agency’s director of external affairs. He said there would be no extensions.

More that 4,000 Louisiana homeowners have only gotten money to rebuild their homes in the last six months. They are the lucky ones, many more haven’t any funding to help them rebuild their damaged homes. There hasn’t been time nor the money for those victims to have their former homes ready by the deadline that will take away their temporary housing at the end of May.

The promised 500 Katrina Cottages have yet to make it onto streets. Meant to replace the FEMA trailers they each cost $25,000 to build. Despite a $74.5 million grant to get the homes finished in time for those living in the trailers no one will be moving from their trailer to a cottage.

NOLA.com reports:

In their responses to the audit, the LRA and Cypress offered similar explanations: It’s not our fault, and we’re making progress.

Rep. Neil Abramson, D-New Orleans, called that “typical finger-pointing that accomplishes nothing.”

“It’s taken a long time, and we’re just not getting anything done,” Abramson said. “It’s the typical government bureaucracy at its slowest.”

At this point the homes should be finished by September 17, 2009 according to FEMA. Of course LRA Executive Director Paul Rainwater has backed away from 500 to 300 units as a more realistic goal.

Construction has only begun on two sites: one in Baton Rouge and another at Jackson Barracks in New Orleans. The Jackson Barracks units will house state Military Department employees.

NOLA reports:

Rainwater said Monday, “We are making progress in the program, with infrastructure under construction at Jackson Barracks, slabs poured and framing under way at sites in Baton Rouge and environmental reviews well under way in other locations.”

The Katrina Cottages are part of the Road Home program for single-family homeowners.

It’s not just those in the trailers that will be out on the curb at the end of May, those being housed in hotels are also about to lose their funding.

Most of those still in the trailers and hotels aren’t able to just run out and get a good paying job to help keep a roof over their heads after the levees broke during Hurricane Katrina. Those still in the trailers are mainly the elderly, disabled or both, including double amputees, diabetes patients, the mentally ill, people prone to seizures and others dependent on oxygen tanks.

The New York Times highlighted the plight of Phillipp Seelig, 70. He is a retired handyman who expects to be living on an empty lot when FEMA hauls away the trailer he’s been residing in at the end of May.
He didn’t release the needed grant to elevate his home to the required height until December. His duplex should be ready to live in around July.

“They had helped me out up until this point, and I couldn’t believe that they suddenly decided, no, we’re not going to let you finish the house, we’re just going to take the trailer, and you can sit here on an empty lot,” said Philipp Seelig.

The government’s stance is that they have bent over backwards to help people get housing and that they just haven’t taken it.

Those interviewed by the New York Times have a different story. Take the case of Troy Porter, 47, who has been in a hotel since last June. He suffers from depression.

“The only time I’ve seen FEMA workers was in the last couple of weeks, where they come and give you the paper saying this month is your last month,” Mr. Porter said. “They handed you the paper, and they turned around and walked off.”

Last year a program to unveil a more intensive caseworker system for those in temporary housing by the Louisiana Recovery Authority never made it past the paper. Now that authority is asking homeless service groups to help those who will be homeless at the end of the month.

FEMA is saying that it has offered to sell the trailers to residents for as little as $300. That is the opposite of what those in the trailer say is happening. They are asking to buy their trailer and being told they can’t do that.

Jane Batty, Mr. Seelig’s longtime tenant, who has her own trailer next to his, was not surprised. “There is only one way to categorize this kind of behavior: it’s crazy making,” she said. “They’ve always had a different answer or had a different ploy to get us out of trailers that we had already agreed to buy.”

Friedman Resigns From Federal Reserve

Stephen Friedman, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s board of directors, has resigned on Thursday. The resignation is effectively immediately.

The Deal Book Blog reports that Friedman’s resignation letter states:

Mr. Friedman said his public service on the board was being characterized as “improper” despite his compliance with the rules. “The Federal Reserve System has important work to do and does not need this distraction,” he said.

The announcement came after it was revealed that Friedman remained on the board of Goldman Sachs, that he holds a substantial amount of shares in that company and that has continued buying shares even after Goldman came under the Federal Reserve’s supervision.

CNN reports:

“Today, although I have been in compliance with the rules, my public service motivated continuation on the Reserve Bank Board is being mischaracterized as improper,” Friedman wrote in his resignation letter. “The Federal Reserve System has important work to do and does not need this distraction.”

In December Friedman brought 37,300 shares of Goldman worth at that time $3 million. Those shares are now worth $17 million according to the Wall Street Journal. He did not check with the Fed about those buys. In January Friedman picked up another 15,300 shares the day after the waiver was granted.

CNN reports:

“With respect to Steve’s purchases of Goldman shares in December of 2008 and January of 2009, which have been the object of some attention lately, it is my view that these purchases did not violate any Federal Reserve statute, rule or policy,” Baxter said in a statement.

Toronto Student Wins NASA Contest, First for Canada

ric Yam, a student at Toronto’s Northern Secondary School has won the grand prize in a NASA Space Settlement Competition beating out more than 300 students across the globe.

Yam is the first Canadian in the 16 years that the NASA contest has run to take home the prize. His version of a Utopia tied with a team from Orissa, India.

The design that Yam came up with resembles a cylinder and could house 10,000 people and support 300 tourist in the world 2050.

Named after the Egyptian goth Thoth, Asten’s hotel would include a panoramic outer gallery with transparent walls for watching the earth, moon and stars.

The Toronto Star reports:

“The most challenging part was to combine all the different aspects – the technology that would work in space combined with a social design, a government system and life-support systems,” Yam said yesterday.

“He basically built a Utopia from scratch,” said math and physics teacher Gillian Evans, staff advisor on the project.

Yam also competed with a team from his school at the WindEng competition at the University of Guelph in April. The ‘Whale Warriors’ placed 14th among the 40 teams with their design of a 6-blade turbine.

Kiefer Sutherland to turn self in for allegedly headbutting man

Kiefer Sutherland is turning himself in to prosecutors on Thursday to face a minor assault charge after he allegedly head-butted a fashion designer at 2 a.m. on Tuesday at a bar in the Mercer Hotel in SoHo.

When Sutherland shows up he will be issued a desk appearance ticket. That ticket allows the 24 actor to stay out of jail and travel freely.

It’s alleged that the incident happened when fashion designer Jack McCollough bumped into actress Brooke Shields and didn’t apologize. That reportedly angered Sutherland who then allegedly slammed his head into the man. According to a police report the designer had a small laceration and refused medical assistant after filing a complaint.

The Toronto Star reports:

A representative for McCollough denied that version of events to People. “Anyone who knows Jack McCollough knows that he would not hurt a fly,” the unnamed spokesperson told the magazine. “All we can say at this point is that he was the victim of a vicious, violent, unprovoked assault.”

It appears that the media is behind the actor’s surrender. When the media discovered that Sutherland was still in New York. His lawyer arranged the surrender to take place more quickly than a planned time a few weeks down the road.

There is no warrant for Sutherland’s arrest.

While New York isn’t looking to put Sutherland in jail there could be a problem in LA. The actor is still on probation for a DUI conviction.

The LA Times reports:

“Our office intends to contact the NYPD and New York prosecutors to review the incident and determine whether Mr. Sutherland violated probation,” L.A. City Attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan tells People.

Canadian Prime Minister Makes Surprise Afghanistan Trip

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made a surprise trip to Kandahar Airfield on Thursday. While visiting the troops he warned that the increase of NATO troops in the area will lead to more violence.

This was Harper’s third visit to Kandahar.

The increase of 17,000 soldiers from the United States will allow Canada to be more effective Harper said while touring the military post.

CP 24 reports:

“The addition of American troops will allow us to do everything we’re doing now but on a much bigger scale and able to multi-task more effectively,” he said.

Harper used the time to emphasis the key development projects that are being undertaken by Canadian soldiers.

CBC reports:

Harper said that when the Canadian mission began in 2002, the Taliban had been running Afghanistan as though it were a medieval country.

“Those dark desperate days have ended. You have brought hope to those who have none,” Harper said at an appearance at Kandahar Airfield.

Harper visited the Dahla dam project that Canada has committed $50 million to help rebuilt along with the roads and waterways that are connected to it. The residents of the area rely on the dam for irrigation.

The Vancouver Sun reports:

Achievements “have not come without a cost,” Harper acknowledged in his address to soldiers. “Canada has paid dearly for this mission with our most precious asset, our brave sons and daughters . . . As prime minister, the phone calls that I make to the families of the fallen are the most difficult part of my job.”

Harper announced that Canada will also be sending $2 million in aid for UNICEF to use for education for the estimated 18,000 children in Kandahar.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk and Ron Hoffmann, Canada’s ambassador to Afghanistan joined Harper on Thursday.

“Canada was spread thin in the past,” Hoffmann told reporters as the prime minister handed out coffee to soldiers nearby.

“There has not been sufficient forces on the ground to do this job,” Natynczyk later added.

“We’ve been trying to do this job with about 40,000 troops. That is totally insufficient.”

Camp Quest Now In England, An Atheist Summer Camp

Every year parents send their children to camp. Many camps have a solid religious background. What about camps for non-religious families? Camp Quest was the first camp in the US for children of Atheists. The camp this year crosses the ocean to England.

The British version of the camp is founded by ex-University of York student Samantha Stein. Stein is modeling her program after Camp Quest which was started by Edwin and Helen Kagin in 1996. It now has five locations in the United States and one in Ontario, Canada.

The campers are required to sign a “Declaration of Religious Belief” when they attend the 5 day program.

Stein took the program to England after research showed her that there were no other camps geared to non-believers. This year’s session will be from July 27th until July 31st in Bath.

Campers are not required to be atheists but parents should be aware that the camp adopts a critical, scientific approach as opposed to a “faith-based” approach. The theme of this year’s camp is Evolution. During the mornings campers will explore many ideas including philosophy for Children, pseudoscience, astronomy, evolution, critical thinking, nature games and the famous Invisible Unicorns Challenge. Afternoons will be devoted to physical activities like archery, climbing and rafting.

The Yorker reports:

“We aren’t about converting children or trying to tell them what is right or wrong, rather we seek to promote critical thinking, philosophy and science in the context of those without religious belief. Our aim is educational – we are not an indoctrination scheme trying to push some ‘atheist agenda’ to abolish all religion.”

Stein added: “There are few social networks for the children of nonreligious parents, in the same way that children may make friends at church or Sunday school, and this is part of what that attempts to be: a way in which children can meet to discuss their ideas, have fun and know that they are not alone.”

The camp’s goal is to introduce children to “logical fallacies in a fun way”.

Stein graduated from York last year with a degree in Psychology, and is currently pursuing a masters in Religion in Contemporary Society at Kings College London.

The Ontario program was founded in 1992 in Guelph. This year’s session will take place in Waterloo July 19-25.

Toronto-Princess Margaret Hospital worker infected with swine flu

A health care worker at Princess Margaret Hospital has tested positive for swine flu in Toronto. The hospital employee is at home recovering from the virus.

Spokesperson, Gilliam Howard from Princess Margaret Hospital has said that the worker did not provide patient care. Colleagues who had direct contact with the employee are being evaluated and followed up with by the hospital.

The worker had no connect to Mexico.

Hospital employees are being advised not to come to work if they have symptoms of the virus. They are to report the symptoms to the occupational health clinic at the hospital.

The Toronto Star reports:

“Occupational health would then do a nasal swab on them,” Howard said.

“It’s taking about five days or more for the swabs to come back,” she said. “You cannot confirm this flu until you get a swab back.”

At this time the breakdown of swine flu in Canada is:

Ottawa, 1
Durham, 7
Halton, 2
Middlesex-London, 1
Oxford County, 1
Peel, 6
Simcoe, 2
Sudbury, 2
Toronto 12
Windsor-Essex, 5
York, 9
Unknown, 1

City News reports:

“It’s like the flu season,” Dr. David Williams, the province’s acting chief medical officer of health explained. “So wash your hands frequently and use alcohol rubs if you haven’t got a sink and water and soap. Clean common surfaces like doorknobs and counters and even things like TV monitor changers. Stay clear of people who are coughing or sneezing and cough or sneeze into the sleeve of your jacket or shirt. If you’re ill, stay at home and monitor the situation.”

Toronto Police Officer Charged With Drunk Driving

A Toronto Police officer has been charged with driving under the influence after getting into a collision yesterday. The officer was also accused of armed robbery almost a year ago.

The accident happened Tuesday on the Don Valley Parkway around 5 p.m. She was not on duty at the time of the accident.

When the police took the woman to the station for a breath test she scored over the legal limit.

Constable Tamara Rodin, 42, has served the Toronto Police Department for 21 years. She is now being held until her court appearance Thursday. She has been charged with with impaired driving, operating a vehicle with more than 80 milligrams of alcohol in her blood and failing to comply with bail conditions.

In December 2007 she was charged with robbery after a Pharmacy was reportedly robbed in Markham. Then, a woman walked into a drug store at 16th Avenue and Main Street telling the pharmacist she had a gun. The suspect demanded drugs which the pharmacist handed over before the woman fled the scene.

She was scheduled for trial on those charges in November.

Since her arrest in 2007 she has been placed on “light duties.”

M*A*S*H star David Ogden Stiers comes out of the closet

After years of being alone actor David Ogden Stiers is coming out. He was concerned for years that his career would dry up if he admitted that he was gay.

The blog Gossip Boy asked the actor if he was gay. Ogden Stiers proudly replied that he was.

The actor, most famous for his 1970’s role on as Major Charles Winchester on M*A*S*H, has been working steady as a voice actor for Disney. That was one area of concern for the actor as he kept his sexual orientation hidden.

Planet Out reports:

“…even though many have this idealistic belief that the entertainment industry and studios like Walt Disney are gay friendly—for the most part they are, but that doesn’t mean for them that business does not come first. It’s a matter of economics. Most of my more notable work in the last two decades has been as a voice actor. Certainly, I’ve done television appearances, be they recurring or guest roles, and numerous motion picture and documentary stints, but a lot of my income has been derived from voicing Disney and family programming. What the might allow in a more known actor, they prefer not having to deal with in minor players,” Stiers contended.

So why open the closet door now? The answer is simple Stiers would like to find someone to settle down with.

“I could claim noble reasons as coming out in order to move gay rights forward, but I must admit it is for far more selfish reasons. Now is the time I wish to find someone,” he said, “and I do not desire to force any potential partner to live a life of extreme discretion for me.”

Ontario Slated To Allow Vending Machines For Pharmacies

The health minister for Ontario, David Caplan will be introducing legislation next week for the use of special drug-dispensing machines to speed up the lines at pharmacies.

If the proposal goes through certain medications would be delivered to patients through a vending machine.

The machines have a video screen that allows patients to see and talk to a pharmacist from a remote location.

Patients will put their prescription slips into the machine, the machine will scan it and send the information to the pharmacist.

At that point the patient will pick up a phone and talk to the pharmacist. The pharmacist will make sure the prescription is safe and that it is appropriate. Once the pharmacist approves the transaction the pills will be dispensed from the machine.

Patients will then pay on site and only have to wait for five to 10 minutes while the machine fills their order.

Neala Barton, a spokesperson for David Caplan, told Digital Journal that the department is very confident that the new legislation will pass through Parliament.

“The machines are a really innovative way of increasing access for patients to be able to get their prescriptions in Ontario. It is also a way of introducing new technologies to the province and opening the doors for new businesses.”

The machines will have 320 of the most prescribed drugs stocked in them. There will be no narcotics stocked in the kiosks.

The dispensary is being market tested in Toronto and southwest Ontario. The machines were developed by PCA Services Inc. of Oakville, Ontario.

It is hoped that the machines will be widely available across Canada within the next year.

There are some concerns about the use of the machines. CBC reports:

“My main concern, because our mandate is really solely to protect the public, would be ensure all the safeguards and accountabilities are in place, and that we really are thoughtful about what we are doing to make sure that happens before anything goes to government in the form of regulations,” said Deanna Williams, registrar of the Ontario College of Pharmacists.

Many pharmacists are uncomfortable with losing face-to-face contact with patients.

“Someone could really come in stone drunk and alcohol coming off their breath and a pharmacist in a remote location would not catch that and would dispense the medicine anyways,” said Brendan Tannenbaum, a pharmacist in Toronto.

“So the number of medicines and which types of medicines hasn’t been determined, but I think there are some concerns.”

Sunnybrook Hospital was used as a trial run earlier this year. Dr. Sharon Domb, MD, CCFP was one of the doctors involved in the study. Dr. Domb talked to Digital Journal about the program about the positives that she saw during the trial run. Comparing the machine to an ATM in terms of technology Dr. Domb was very pleased with what the program offered her patients. While finding a pharmacy in Toronto open 24 hours may not be an issue for all in remoter areas it is. This is one area where the machines are very beneficial to patients.

“The machines are a great use of technology. It’s a way to get prescriptions quickly and easily. It is a local solution for time constraints and looking for a 24-hour pharmacy. While not everyone will go with the new technology it works well for those who will.”

Dr. Domb went to the factory where the machines are made prior to the trial run for a better understanding of the safe guards used with the devices. She stated because of all of the safeguards the machines are actually less likely to have medication mix-ups than the local drug store. Each box of pills is weighed, tagged and photographed before being placed in the machine. That information is compared again when a prescribe is tagged to be dispensed. If there are any issues the machine rejects the box and the medication is not delivered. The pharmacist that works with the machine also can reject a medication if there are any questions about dosage or health concerns.

“The machines are great for patients that have one or two medications to have filled. I wouldn’t use them if I had 10 different prescriptions to be filled but otherwise I think they are much faster and easier for patients.”

The machines will leave more time for pharmacists to do what they are best at, working one on one with patients. Pharmacists can take the time to answer questions and explain to patients what the medications that they are using do and what to be aware of.

The machines could change the way Canadians approach their local drug stores, understanding the need for the expert advice behind the counter and still be able to get their medicines quickly.

Dennis Darby, CEO, of the Ontario Pharmacist Association told Digital Journal that pharmacists support the new technology but do have some concerns that patients will rely on the kiosks instead of developing a relationship with their local pharmacist. That relationship is vital for the overall health of the patient.

If the legislation passes Mr. Darby says the College of Pharmacy will be in charge of the regulations for the program.

Mr. Darby noted that Ontario has over 3,000 drug stores. The more rural areas have a greater need for this type of service and that it “is better than nothing at all.”

The machines won’t be able to do many of the services that the pharmacist does, such as liquid medications and splitting pills, which is often needed for elderly patients.

Mr. Darby is very encouraged though with the government’s actions for health care. He believes when electronic health records are in place they will further enhance both this program and the pharmacy business in general.

Abdul to Perform on Wednesday Night Idol Stage

Paula Abdul is set to sing tonight on American Idol. The live performance will be a song from her first single “I’m Just Here for the Music,” from her latest album.

Abdul confirmed she is performing on Idol while on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show Tuesday morning. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be on the Idol stage, but was given a last-minute offer by the show’s producers. She has known since Saturday night and rehearsed on Sunday. She also told Seacrest she has yet to sign a contract for next season’s Idol.

Reality TV World reports:

“I haven’t [performed before but] I was invited by the producers and I wasn’t sure if I was going to do it because [time is of] the essence and I literally put everything together on Saturday, rehearsed Sunday and [some] press came in to see it at rehearsal yesterday and it was really good. I know you are a perfectionist [so] you’ll be there after the show tonight working all night just to make sure everything is exactly right,” Seacrest told Abdul.

“No Doubt” and “Daughtry” will also be performing on tonight’s show.

Abdul is also finally coming clean about her 12-year battle with painkiller addiction. She claims she never filmed while under the influence, nor did she use illegal medicine.

Abdul’s body has been put through the grinder after years of cheer leading, dancing injuries, a 1992 car crash and a 1993 plane crash. She required 15 spinal surgeries following the plane accident.

Abdul suffers from reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome. She was diagnosed in 2005 for the condition that has left her in constant pain, chattering teeth and shingles-like lesions.

Since last Thanksgiving, Abdul says she has been off medication.

She is now working to relaunch her singing career.

CDC media briefing: Expect more deaths

On Tuesday’s media update from the CDC, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of HHS and Richard Besser, M.D., Acting Director, CDC took questions from reporters concerning the latest findings by the CDC on swine flu.

Kathleen Sebelius the new Secretary of Health and Human Services toured the CDC labs in Atlanta today.

“It was with great delight for my first time out of Washington, D.C. trip to be to the CDC. Not only observing what the scientists are doing regarding the swine flu but with the day in, day out operations that the CDC is giving the American public.”

At this time there are 44 states with confirmed swine flu cases. Sebelius said that there are likely to be more deaths. She noted that the virus is not as severe as it was once thought to be and that President Obama wanted science to be the guide in this case and that science will continue to be the guide as to how the United States prepares for more cases of the swine flu.

As for school closings new guidance has been introduced. Closings are not being recommended unless a school has so many cases it can not function properly. The new guidance is for children who are ill to remain at home for seven days following the first symptoms. If your child is ill this does not mean to send them to the mall instead of school but to keep them at home to help slow the spread of disease.

As for the severity of the disease it is unlikely to know what to expect until this flu during the normal season.

Sebelius wanted to clarify that at this time there is not a vaccine available. It is hoped that it will be ready for production in the fall. At this stage the vaccine process is in the testing phase. Right now there is an accelerated production of seasonal flu vaccines ongoing. If the need arises then at that point the production of the vaccine, that should be ready will be started.

“Our goal is to move forward. There is not a vaccine, research is underway. Science is leading this process right now.”Around 25 per cent of the Tamiflu stockpile has been sent to the state level. The government is expecting it to be used as many more cases are now coming forward.

Questions as to why the government has been slow in getting people into the key positions for this outbreak were asked. The question has to do with the Senate confirmation process. There are 20 of these key positions that require a confirmation by the Senate in order to be filled.

“There are very dynamic discussions going on with world health groups, WHO, Homeland Security, the CDC and other organizations everyday. These talks are taking place as to what the right protocol, the use of Tamiflu, staging and preparing should be. We want to be sure that everyone is on the same page.”

China has quarantined people and that was brought up. The answer given was that it may gain countries not yet hit a few more weeks of preparation time. Those countries need the extra time to be prepared.

Sebelius had to leave the conference call early to return to Washington.

Dr. Richard Besser told reporters that there are now 1105 confirmed or probable cases of swine flu in the United States. Over 740 of those are at the probable stage. The median age of infection is 15 years old with the age range at 3 months to 81 years-old. Sixty-two per cent of United States cases are in those under the age of 18. There are 35 cases of severe disease requiring hospitalization.There is evidence that the cases in Mexico City are leveling off. More cases of mild flu are being now reported in Mexico. There is now a lab in Mexico so that testing can go more quickly. While cases are leveling off in Mexico City other areas in Mexico are starting to see new cases. As for more mild cases starting to emerge it is not that mild cases were not always the larger amount of cases but looking at those who were seriously ill was the first priority.

That is not the case in the United States and it is expected that there will be more hospitalizations. It now appears that the swine flu is on the same page as the regular seasonal flu.

“This is not to downplay the severity of the disease. There is no question that seasonal flu is a major burden on a person’s health each year.”

At this point the CDC has recommended that schools not be closed. This is due to further understanding of the disease and weighing benefits on each side of the issue. It is known now that once the virus is in the schools it is also already in the community. Because of this it is even more important for those who are ill not to go to either work or school for seven days from onset to help slow the spread of disease.

When the CDC weighed the benefits using the current guidance it was decided that missing school was more detrimental than closing the schools. These decisions go to the highest level of government.

“It is impossible for us to know how many actual cases that there are in the United States. At this time we are more concerned about the curves than the actual numbers.”

Questions are still being asked why the majority of the cases have occurred in young adults. Some possible reasons are that the cases are a result of Spring Break, younger adults have a lack of protective factors and that the elderly may be protected because of previous exposure to seasonal flu.

While tracking the virus via web site hits has been useful in the past at this time it is not because of the sheer increase of hits to sites like the CDC. The CDC is registering 8 million hits a day.

What can the general public do to protect themselves from swine flu?

“We want to channel people into action. Just as families need to have disaster kits ready during hurricane season this is the time for families to make a flu plan so that they know what to do if the virus hits.

Hand washing is the number one way at this time to slow the spread of disease. Covering coughs is number two. Staying home when you are ill is the third most important key to helping slow the spread of the virus.”

School Wins-California Supreme Court Sexual Discrimination Case

The California Supreme Court ruled in favor of a school that expelled two students because they were having a lesbian relationship.

The state’s highest court ruled in favor of California Lutheran High School’s right to expel the young teenagers. The school according to the court was within their right to exclude students based on their sexual orientation because it is a private, religious organization.

The private school is a Christian institution that teaches its students the ‘unchanging will of God.’

The girls had sued the Riverside County school in 2005 using the state’s anti-discrimination law.

The Court’s ruling could open the doors for private schools to discriminate against students on any basis including sex and religion.

This goes against the California Safe School Coalition for public schools which states California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in California public schools.

Had the school been considered a business opened to the public their expelling students based on sexual orientation would be considered discrimination. That was the angle that the lawyers for the two female students suing the school went for.

In January the California’s 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that the school was not a business.

Both girls are now attending college.

Study: Canada’s Latest Bunch of MPs Have Less Education

Who says the common man can’t rule the land? In Canada the latest MP’s are less educated, less experienced and more non-ethnic their counterpoints in the United States. A study says they are also more likely to have business in their background.

The Public Policy Forum report says that the last election brought in a batch of MPs that have less than five years total experience in politics. Only three per cent of MPs have more than 15 years of experience and almost all of those are Liberals.

One small change that the last election changed was ethnic diversity or lack there of.

Education wise about two-thirds of MPs do have a university degree. In the United States 93 per cent of representatives have at least one degree.

Being elected in Canada doesn’t require as much money which may pinpoint why Canada’s MPs may have more middle class representatives than in the United States. It costs about $62,000 to run a campaign in Canada for MP. Most House seat campaigns in the United States fall just short of $800,000.

While fresh ‘blood’ in Parliament keeps the system fresh some critics wonder if it’s for the best.

The Canadian Press reports:

“We have very few career politicians currently in our Parliament and most of our MPs are new in terms of their experience. They’re still learning the ropes. And that might in part explain the partisanship and rancour that we see in the House of Commons today.”

David Mitchell, president of the Public Policy Forum cites “an unprecedented level of partisan acrimony and a high degree of distrust between elected representatives and the federal public service.”

“With 75 per cent of our politicians knowing only these dynamics of minority Parliament, has our political culture been altered? Is this a positive development?

“I think some important questions are raised.”

Doctor of Political Science Stephen Purdy talked to Digital Journal on the telephone about his thoughts of the findings. In his opinion “real life experience in the community service sector is the most important element when it comes to becoming an MP, regardless of education background. While education can be important element in the politics of it all the point of an MP is to be a true representative of their riding and for those in office to know what the people at home need and want. They need to be able to work for the people. Law and business degrees can be important but just as important is knowing the inner workings of their communities.”

Dr. Purdy also said that there are similarities between the United States House and the Parliament of Canada as they are both democracy in action.

The lack of experience that may be facing today’s Parliament isn’t as much a concern for Dr. Purdy as if the MPs don’t stick around long enough to bring about changes that are needed.

“In the best of both worlds there would be those who have the education and those who have the real life work experience within communities forming the government.”

Getting Ready For Toronto’s Pride Week

Every year Toronto hosts Pride Week during June. This year will be bigger than ever with an additional $300,000 from the Government of Ontario to help with the planning. The event this year will be held June 19-28.

Pride Toronto says that the yearly event supports 650 jobs, brings in $18 million in government tax revenue and has a positive $100 million in direct economic impact.

The full-time staff starts planning the next year’s week the minute the non-stop action ends each June. Since the small planned picnic 30 years ago Pride Week has grown by leaps and bounds says Grant Ramsay, media contact for Pride Toronto. The event is now international with people flowing into Toronto from all over the world.

“The work with all of the communities, not just the queer community is one of the most positive changes with Pride Week. We now can offer tourist packages that help the tourism in Toronto which is new. Also working with the government is a very positive change. Government officials are now a part of the week which in the past didn’t happen. That is very positive,” Ramsay told Digital Journal.

This year’s International Grand Marshal will be 33-years-old and transgender, Victor Mukasa. Mukasa is from Africa and has played an important role in the African Trans movement At a LGBTI event in 2007 in Nairobi he initiated the Nairobi Trans Declaration 2007. In 2008 he conducted the first Trans strategic workshop in Cape Town, South Africa, which brought together trans activists from Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.

Mukasa took the Ugandan Government to court in 2006 after his home was raided, documents relating to his human rights work in Uganda were confiscated and his Kenyan friend was arrested. The case was ruled in his and his friend’s favor last December.

“Pride Toronto has become a huge, diverse and multicultural event with great entertainment that draws people from far and wide,” said Tracey Sandilands, Executive Director Pride Toronto. “With over 50% of Torontonians not born in Canada and over 100 languages spoken, Pride Toronto looks forward to continuing it’s growth and outreach into these communities.”

Pride Week is for everyone, families included. There are special areas set up just for children. Mr. Ramsay said that it is absolutely a family event. There is something for every age group.

I, myself have taken my youngest son to the event and can attest that he enjoyed the children’s area in past years. There were craft activities and just plan fun.Some of the special features of this year’s Pride Week include Deborah Cox, Divine Brown, The Cliks, and a live in concert of 80s icons ABC, Wang Chung, Heaven 17 and Cutting Crew performing on Sunday June 28.There have been nine video artists commissioned to produce video for this year’s theme “Can’t Stop. Won’t Stop.”

Grant Ramsay of Pride Toronto told Digital Journal that the theme each year comes from the community. There is a call for the community to come up with a theme. The suggestions are then taken to a community meeting and voted on.Pride Toronto is the not-for-profit organization that hosts Pride Week. The purpose of Pride Week is to to celebrate the history, courage, diversity and future of Toronto’s LGBTTIQQ2S communities (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Questioning, Two-Spirited).

American Idol David Cook’s Brother Loses Battle With Brain Cancer

American Idol season seven winner David Cook’s brother Adam passed away after a long battle with brain cancer on Sunday morning in Terre Haute, Indiana.

David Cook was in Washington D.C. at the 12th annual Race For Hope when his brother died at a hospice in Terre Haute. His family had told the singer that it was important to honor the commitment for the charity. David Cook’s team raided more than $97,000 for the charity in today’s walk.

Entertainment Weekly reports:

“Like everybody here, I’m affected by this disease. I actually lost my brother yesterday to a brain tumor,” Cook said, as you can hear members of the crowd gasping. “I couldn’t imagine… I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else right now.” David was serving as grand marshal of the event and ran the 3.1 miles in 28 minutes. “I lost one today,” Cook added. “But I’ve gained 9,000 and I will be here every year that they will have me.”

Adam, 36, had been battling cancer for 11 years.

Radar Online reports:

“Adam passed away peacefully. He was surrounded by his family, including his wife Kendra, his children, his father and his step-mom, among others.”

“The family thought that Adam would go much sooner than this, actually,” said the Cook family friend.

“That’s why David left his tour a few weeks back so that he could be with Adam. They said their goodbyes then.”

During last season’s American Idol the residents of Terre Haute raised $45,000 so that Adam who watch his brother perform on stage in Hollywood.

David Hasselhoff Rushed To Hospital

Actor David Hasselhoff was rushed to Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical center Saturday after being found unconscious by his 16-year-old daughter.

Hayley Hasselhoff called her mother Pamela Bach. Bach rushed her former husband to the hospital in time to save his life from another round of alcohol poisoning, Radar Online reports.

According to the site Hasselhoff’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was .39. Drunk driving in California starts when the BAC is .08.

Rador Online reports:

A source (ABS-1) said a frightened Hayley kept “slapping her dad’s face” to keep him alive. “He was barely breathing when they got him at the hospital.

“He’s recovering. Pam was his bedside till 4a.m. this morning. This is about the 7th time he’s been taken to a hospital over the last few years with alcohol poisoning. How many visits will it take before he dies?”

The site says that a source has stated that Hasselhoff has been hospitalized at least 10 times in the past. Most of these incidents have gone unreported.

The World’s Changing Into A Twitter Globe

Do you know who and Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams are? In the future school children may know them as well as they do Samuel Morse, Alexander Graham Bell, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs . They invented Twitter.

The trio formed the program that has turned masses into 140 character world chatters. Instant messages and social networking has been combined in a new arena allowing for people to communicate quickly at every level.

The media global world is able to know what is the hot minute to minute trends and issues in seconds. People are able to get their causes out throughout the global with a few quick strokes on the keyboard.

If you’re not sure that Twitter is really the wave of the future check out the major media news peddlers. Digital Journal, CNN, BBC, CBC and the like are all twittering. WHO and the CDC use twitter to inform the public about swine flu.

Twitter is also a marketer’s dream. Geelong Advertiser reports:

“It’s also much more immediate because you don’t have to send out a survey. The tools are really good for being able to listen hard and specifically, so in that sense it’s not a survey tool,” explains futurist Mark Pesce.

“This technology is easy to learn. It’s basically going to a website and typing in your business name, or your product name, into the search box and that’s it and you leave it there and you check it every once in a while.”

As Ashton Kutcher puts it:

I believe that Twitter is a stage for humanity and connection, not the triumph of technology. Right now the word revolution is spelled with 140 characters.

Raccoon Ringworm Hits Two In New York

A rare disease transmitted by raccoons has left an infant with brain damage and a teen blind in one eye in New York. The city is on the alert for Raccoon Ringworm, a very rare disease that can affect humans who come in contact with raccoon feces.

The disease can cause permanent nerve damage and in the most serious cases death.

The New York Daily News reports:

Parents should closely supervise small children in areas where raccoons live to prevent possible ingestion of raccoon feces,” said Sally Slavinski, of a Health Department unit that deals with diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans.

The infant that was infected last October. It is believed that he got the disease in upstate New York. He has been in hospital since that time. His symptoms started with seizures and spinal problems which caused brain damage.

The Brooklyn teen lost sight in his right eye this January.

There have been fewer than 30 cases of Raccoon Ringworm reported nationwide. Once a person is infected it takes two to four weeks for the symptoms to appear. Symptoms include nausea, loss of coordination and muscle control, and blindness, to develop. The disease is prone to children and especially developmentally disabled children.

Nickelback’s Kroeger Sued Over Alleged Fight

Chad Kroeger of Nickleback is being sued over an alleged fight outside a nightclub in Vancouver. The alleged fight took place two years ago.

Noah Christian Morse has filed the lawsuit in British Columbia Supreme Court. He claims that he suffered a concussion. scars and headaches after allegedly being punched in the face by Kroeger.

The police investigated the incident but Kroeger, whose real name is Chad Turton, was not charged. It is unlikely that he will ever be charged.

Nickelback is based out of Vancouver.

Reactions To Egyptian Pig Cull

The decision by the Egyptian government to cull the nation’s pig population has brought out the critics. The government ordered the slaughter of the pigs on Wednesday saying that it would stop panic about the swine flu in the largely Muslim country.

The United Nations has repeatedly told the world’s population eating properly prepared pork is not a way of getting the swine flu.

Joseph Domenech, the chief veterinary officer for the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has called the cull “a real mistake.”

The Egyptian government is now saying that the swine cull was not because of the swine flu.

Medical News Today reports:

“The authorities took advantage of the situation to resolve the question of disorderly pig rearing in Egypt,” health ministry spokesman Abdelrahman Shahine told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The World Health Organization’s move to put the pandemic alert to phase 5 confirms that the situation is not a pig problem but a human problem, he added. The government is calling the decision a “general health measure” rather than a measure to fight swine flu.

Most of Egypt’s swine population has been raised by Christian farmers who are saying that the government pledges of compensation of $105 per animal were inadequate. Ten per cent of Egyptians are Coptic Christians. The majority of those live in Cairo slums where their pigs feed on garbage. The majority of Egyptians are Muslims who do not eat pork for religious reasons.

Medical News Today reports:

Saber Abdel Aziz Galal told AFP that the government wants to restructure pig farming so that it takes place on “good farms, not on rubbish”. At the moment the pigs live with “dogs, cats, rats, poultry and humans, all in the same area with rubbish,” he said, explaining that the government wants to build new farms in special areas, like they have in Europe.

“Within two years the pigs will return, but we need first to build new farms,” he said.

The government is attempting to speed up the culling process by importing three machines to accelerate the slaughters Almasry Alyoum daily said on Sunday.

Xinhua reports:

“We will import three new slaughtering machines to increase the capacity to 3,000 pigs a day,” said Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Amin Abbaza in a statement.

The actual culling started on Saturday. The country plans to have slaughtered all the swine within six months. Egypt is facing a large problem on what to do with the culled meat. There are not enough factories to contain the pork.

Al Jazeera reports:

“Our pigs are healthy. They are our capital and they have no diseases,” Adel Ishak, a rubbish collector from Manshiet Nasser, northeast of Cairo, told the AFP news agency.

“How will they replace the capital if these pigs are killed?”

Police are guarding areas that have large pig farms to stop farmers from smuggling their pigs out.

On Sunday pig farmers and police clashed in Manshiyet Nasser, a shanty district east of Cairo, because of the pig cull.

Philstar.com reports:

“About 5,000 pig farmers clashed with the police forces in Manshiyet Nasser shantytown on Sunday as the government wants to cull all the pigs in Egypt,” Atta, a pig rearer on the scene, said.

“There are about 30 police cars, and about 1,000 policemen who started to fire tear gas towards us,” Samir Kamel, another pig rearer on the scene said.

“The still going-on clashes came because the government refused to compensate the rearers,” Samir added.

“About 12 protests got minor injuries,” he added.

Arctic Nuclear Plants Being Planned By Russia

Russia has started work on the world’s first floating nuclear power station. The Arctic station is ongoing despite warning that it is possible to become a disaster in the making.

The Lomonosove is the first of seven plants that Moscow believes will bring energy resources to the most remote Russian regions. The £100 million vessel will be running within three years and house two 35-megawatt reactors that could be capable of supplying a city of 200,000 people.

The four planned stations will be worth $850 million when they are fully operational within the next five years.

The plan is to station the floating plants in Yakutia.

Rosatom, the state owned nuclear corporation, has already signed an agreement to have the four floating nuclear power stations built along its coastal areas on the Arctic Ocean.

When the four plants begin operation between 2012 and 2015 they will employ at least 470 people per plant.
The stations would provide power to Gazprom, the oil firm which is also Russia’s biggest company. According to the Guardian the floating plants would be able to store their own waste and fuel needing servicing only once in every 12 to 14 years.

A prototype is being built at the SevMash shipyard in Severodvinsk. It should be compled in 2010.

Mosnews.com reports:

“This project will allow us to cut down on fuel import costs and to increase the quality and reliability of electricity production, thereby meeting the demands of Yakutia’s growing industries,” a spokesman for the Yakutia Republic’s administration said.

Environmental groups and nuclear experts are warning that the floating plants are more vulnerable to accidents and terrorism than plants that are on solid ground. The experts have also pointed out nuclear accidents that have happened within Russia, the most notable Chernobyl.

Times Online reports:

“There is so little infrastructure in these remote areas that it will be very difficult to control the plants if something goes wrong. It will also be difficult to maintain a full cohort of engineers,” Nils Boehmer, an expert on Russia’s nuclear industry at Bellona, a Norwegian environmental group, told The Times.

“There will be a risk of hijack and terrorist attack because it is much harder to secure floating facilities. The security services in Russia have done exercises on nuclear-powered ice-breakers and found that it is very easy to take control of them.”

Another concern is the history of the Russian navy. In 2000 the Kursk nuclear submarine sank in the Barents Sea after a torpedo exploded on board. The crew of 18 were lost in the accident.

The former head of the Russian nuclear inspectorate, Vladimir Kuznetsov co-authored a report on floating nuclear plants that concluded that the vessels were “inherently unsafe”.

Times Online quotes Kutnetsov:

“There is a clear danger of nuclear proliferation if these plants are sold to other countries. There is also a very high risk of terrorist attack,” he said.

In the past five years Russia, Norway, Denmark, Canada and the United States have all claimed large areas of the Arctic.

The Guardian reports:

According to a new report by the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum, Russia is considering other nuclear plants for power-hungry settlements. “The locations that have been discussed include 33 towns in the Russian far north and far east. Such plants could be also used to supply energy for oil and gas extraction,” says the report by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme.

Kidnappers Torture Toronto Man For Five Hours

A Toronto man was tortured for five hours after talking to the police. Two of the man’s former associates beat and burnt the man for telling the police that the three had been involved in a robbery three years ago.

The man was kidnapped on Friday evening and taken to an apartment at Queen St. E. and Greenwood Avenue. For five hours the pair beat the 21-year-old man. At one point they almost cut off two of his toes.

After five hours the pair took the man in another cab to Dundas St. E and Coxwell Avenue to get drugs. When the kidnappers left the cab the man ran for his life.

The man went to the hospital and was treated.

Police are now seeking the kidnappers that are both considered to be dangerous. The men are Anheim (African) Bol, described as a 19-year-old man, black, 6-foot-6, 181 pounds with a thin build, and Luis (Sluggs) Sampedro, also 19, described as 5-foot-7, dark-skinned, 149 pounds with a medium build.

If you have any information on the pair please call Toronto police at 416-808-5504.

New Ontario Impaired-Driving Law Nabs First Offender

It only took police one day to start using the new drunk driving laws in Ontario. The first man nabbed was in South Simcoe.

An Innisfil man has had his driving licence suspended under the tougher anti-impair driving laws put in place May 1.

The man had failed to stop for a red light when the police pulled him over. When tested at the scene he blew a warn level into the test machine for blood alcohol concentration.

The man lost his licence for three days and his vehicle was impounded. Not only will it cost him to get his car out of the impound but an extra $150 to get his plastic licence back

Google Goes To the Goats

Google is using an old fashion means to combat forest fires around its campus. They have ‘hired’ 200 goats to munch the grass and create buffer zones that firefighters advise dwellers in wildfire zones.

The company also hired a special shepherd named Jen, a border collie, to keep the troops in line. Not only are the goats working for less than most labourers they provide a constant source of free fertilizer.

Google reports:

“We have some fields that we need to mow occasionally to clear weeds and brush to reduce fire hazard,” Google director of real estate and workplace services Dan Hoffman wrote in a posting on the company’s official blog.

“Instead of using noisy mowers that run on gasoline and pollute the air, we’ve rented some goats … to do the job for us (we’re not “kidding”).”

Of course the goats are not free. It actually costs about the same as traditional mowing would but without the use of gas powered mowers that cause a little more pollution.

The goats are not being used in areas where they could wander into a board meeting demanding more money, instead their are employed for peripheral fields.

CNET reports:

“A herder brings about 200 goats and they spend roughly a week with us at Google, eating the grass and fertilizing at the same time,” a post on the official Google blog read. “The goats are herded with the help of Jen, a border collie. It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers.”

Singer Being Tested For Swine Flu

N-Dubz singer Tulisa Contostavlos is being tested for swine flu after getting sick on a flight to Greece says her manager.

The 20-year-old was on a flight to Athens for a quick vacation after finishing up a 23-date tour in the UK.

On the flight she needed medical attention after fainting. A doctor said she had all the symptoms of swine flu. She is undergoing tests while isolated in hospital.

The Sun reports:

“Tulisa is very poorly indeed. She has gone from a huge high of chart success and the tour to panicking about her health.

“Tulisa’s family have been forced to wear masks and have only been allowed minimal contact. It is a terrifying time.”

The band’s spokesman said: “We are hopeful Tulisa will be given the all-clear and will be well enough to leave hospital in the next couple of days.”

BBC reports that the band’s manager Jonathon Shalit says there that he has no idea how she got ill but “the nature of being a singer is that you meet and shake hands with a huge amount of people”.

The band is due to perform next weekend at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Swindon.

Google Earth In Hot Water With Japan’s Burakumin

Old maps showing where lower-caste communities in Japan were has put Google Earth in hot water with Japan. The maps had previously been on the Internet so Google Earth wasn’t expecting any flack for posting the old maps.

Now the company is having to deal with inquiries from the Justice Ministry and angry accusations of prejudice.

the maps were from a time when shoguns ruled and the caste system was a way of life. The lowest of the low were the “burakumin,” although they were ethnically like everyone else their jobs dealt with death. They lived in isolation for working with leather, butchering animals and digging graves. They were legally liberated in 1871 with the abolition of the feudal caste system;

While the caste system has been gone for a long time there are still 3 million descendants of burakumin. They face prejudice to this day because of where they live or where their ancestors lived. Employers routinely screen to check for buraku ancestry through Japan’s elaborate family records.

Boston.com reports:

“If we suspect that an applicant is a burakumin, we always do a background check to find out,” she said. She agreed to discuss the practice only on condition that neither she nor her company be identified.

Because of the stigma the maps could lower property values in neighbourhoods linked to the lower-caste system.

“If there is an incident because of these maps, and Google is just going to say ‘it’s not our fault’ or ‘it’s down to the user,’ then we have no choice but to conclude that Google’s system itself is a form of prejudice,” said Toru Matsuoka, a member of Japan’s upper house of parliament.

While printing maps in Japan is legal publishers and museums are careful not to anger the highly organized burakumin leadership. Public showings that pinpoint the areas almost always have a historical explanation. Google Earth failed to do this one step.

Drunk cowboy cited while out for a ‘joyride’

Drunk driving is never pretty but what about drunk riding?
A drunk cowboy out for a “joyride” has been cited with riding his horse while under the influence in a Denver suburb.

The man wearing a cowboy hat was charged with riding an animal under the influence. The ticket will cost the man $25.

The police had to do some fast thinking on the spot when they cited Brian Drone for riding his horse Cricket. They had been called to the scene after receiving calls that a man on a horse was too drunk to stay on his saddle. Towing a horse isn’t something that crops up everyday for Sgt. Jeff Monzingo. It was the first time in his 15-year career that he’s had to figure out how to get a horse home.

In the end a stable owner offered a ride for both Drone and Cricket.

Study Suggests Lithium Added To Water Supply Will Lower Suicide

A Japanese study suggests that putting the drug lithium into water supplies could reduce suicide. The researchers have called on other countries to study the effects.

The study looked at the lithium levels in drinking water in Oita. The city have a population of more than one million people. In areas where the lithium was highest there was a positive marked difference in suicide deaths. High doses of lithium is used in the treatment of mood disorders.

The team of researchers from universities in Oita and Hiroshima found that even low levels of water with lithium had lower rates of suicide.

Researchers believe that the lower rates may have a cumulative protective effect on the brain after drinking the water for years.

There have been past research on the same subject in the 1980’s. Those results showed the same lower levels of suicide.

Researchers in Japan have asked other countries to research the issue. They have stopped short of suggesting that lithium be added to drinking water elsewhere.

BBC quotes Professor Allan Young of Vancouver’s Institute for Mental Health:

“Large-scale trials involving the addition of lithium to drinking water supplies may then be feasible, although this would undoubtedly be subject to considerable debate. Following up on these findings will not be straightforward or inexpensive, but the eventual benefits for community mental health may be considerable.”

Sophie Corlett, external relations director at mental health charity Mind, agrees that the study deserves more investigation but cautions that adding even trace amounts of the drug needs to be researched throughly because of side effects.

First American Swine Flu Death Grandson Of Mexican Media Baron

The baby in Texas who died from the swine flu was the grandson of media baron Mario Vazquez Ráña, 76. The toddler came from one of Mexico’s most influential families.

The toddler became ill while with his mother vacationing in Brownsville. He was not an illegal immigrant as has been reported in the press. After the child became ill he was taken to Texas Children’s Hospital.

Miguel Tejada Vazquez and his mother were in Brownsville for much of April. The family visited Houston’s Galleria Mall on April 5.

Miguel’s family is very well connected in Mexico. His grandfather not only owns 41 newspapers but has been involved with the Olympics organizations since the mid-1970s.

His great-uncle Olegario controls one of the largerst private Mexican health providers, the Angeles Hospital chain, a newspaper and Mexico’s Camino Real hotels.

Miguel is survived by his parents Miriam Vazquez and architect Jose Manuel Tejeda and five siblings.

Sick Kids Hospital researchers turning stem cells green

Turning stem cells green is helping researchers be able to identify human stem cells. Scientists recently have been able to turn skin cells into stem cells but these stem cells are not easy to see.

A research team at The Hospital for Sick Kids is helping other researchers be able to pinpoint skin turn stem cells by making them fluorescent green. The findings are in the advance online edition of Nature Methods.

Sick Kids reports:

“This new technique is simple and reliable and allows us to isolate the best stem cells quickly,” says Dr. James Ellis, principal investigator of the study, SickKids Senior Scientist and Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. “This has exciting implications for studying disease and for future cell therapies.”

The new stem cells are being used to form a study on Rett syndrome, a form of autism.

The recent discovery that human skin cells can be reprogrammed into becoming stem cells can take up to four weeks to grow. By using the Green Fluorescent Protein the cluster of cells are easy to find.

Not only does the green protein help scientists find the cells but when the samples are inserted at the same time with a drug-resistance gene only the strongest and best stem cells survive.

[quote"We designed the green gene to be off in skin cells, but to turn on when they are reprogrammed to become stem cells," says Dr. Akitsu Hotta, lead author of the study and a post-doctoral Fellow from Japan (funded by SickKids Restracomp Award). "We can then pick the best stem cell colonies that glow green under the microscope and expand them to study human disease."

Rett syndrone is caused by a mutation in the MECP2 gene and affects nerve cell maturation in the brain. The ailment only targets girls. Researchers are using nerve cells from the patient stem cells. The hope is that one day the research being done now will enable a drug to be made that can correct the defects.

“We noticed that tumours did not form if we transferred pure populations of mature cells into mice, but if green stem cells were also present, tumours were quickly established,” says Ellis, Co-Director of The Ontario Human iPS Cell Facility located at SickKids, where researchers have used this new technique to isolate iPS cells from 10 patients with diseases such as cystic fibrosis. “The green gene effectively signals the presence of tumour-forming stem cells, and these could be removed before transplantation is performed.”

Future use of the green gene will also come with the suicide gene enabling the strongest cells to survive.

The research was supported by Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Stem Cell Network, SickKids Foundation and the International Rett Syndrome Foundation and SickKids Restracomp Award.

Shaw Communications Picks Up 3 Canwest Stations For A Dollar Each

Talk about a good deal, Shaw Communications bought three television stations from CTV for a dollar each in April 2009. The move is not favored by all.

The deal added two A Channel stations, in Wingham and Windsor, Ont., and a privately owned CBC affiliate, CKX in Brandon, Man. to Shaw’s roster.

That news isn’t setting well with some.

Canadian Press reports that Duncan Stewart, director of research and analysis at DSam Consulting in Toronto is one such critic.

“I don’t believe the primary motivation … is that (chief executive Jim Shaw) really wants to run these three TV stations,” Stewart said

“I think he is doing this to embarrass the broadcasters, weaken their argument and put pressure on the CRTC and politicians.”

The move for Shaw to take on the three struggling stations is a bold one and politically based. The CRTC is caught in the middle of the big networks and the cable companies.

Ivan Fecan, president of CTVglobal wants the government to get back to regulating cable rates. The dispute between the CRTC and CTV got heated when Fecan said that it was willing to sell its three struggling stations for a buck each.

Shaw Communications fired back at Fecan with a full-page advertisement in the Globe and Mail taking CTV up on the $1 offer.

Canadian Press reports:

“We believe television has a bright future,” said Canada’s second-largest cable TV operator, which spun off its former radio and TV assets into a separate company, Corus Entertainment, (TSX:CJR.B) several years ago.

“These broadcasters are threatening to cut local newscasts, cut jobs and close television stations,” Shaw wrote in the letter.

“They are holding you hostage demanding a tax on subscribers as a ransom.”

CTV also ran a half-page ad thanking Shaw for making purchases.

The papers aren’t signed on the deal yet says Canwest spokesman John Douglas.

‘We have not heard from them,” said Canwest spokesman John Douglas.

‘It’s interesting that we’ve had a public process to sell our stations – Shaw expressed no interest. But if now they’re prepared to do that, we look forward to receiving an offer from them.”

Shaw couldn’t be reached after the deal was done according to the Globe and Mail. He’s said to have offered to buy up any other stations at the same price that Canwest needs to unload.

“Good for them,” Mr. Fecan said of Shaw. “I’m sure they will live up to the existing conditions of licence placed on these stations, which is wonderful news for the employees and for the people of Windsor, Wingham and Brandon,” Mr. Fecan said.

Station manager Don Mumford from Windsor was caught by surprise with the deal according to 2Canada.

“I’ve seen the various reports in the media as well. I’ve had some conversations with CTV, and — at this point in time — we’re just trying to confirm the seriousness of Shaw’s offer,” Mumford said. “I’m not quite sure where the report from Shaw originated.”

“I’m really not going to be saying anything. I know nothing on this,” he said. “This is beyond my scope, at this point.”

Shaw Communications is based out of Calgary. The company provides transmission of more than 200 television channels.

This month Shaw Communications posted $128 million in profit on continuing operations, including internet provider and digital phone services.

Drug Charges Dropped For Singer Steven Page

Former Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page’s drug charges have been dismissed. The news was a welcome relief for the Canadian artist. Last year Page, Christine Benedicto and Stephanie Ford were charged with drug possession in New York.

The police had allegedly found cocaine in a Fayetteville, New York apartment that the the two women lived at.

The judge residing over the case made some provisions in order for the charges to be dropped, the trio could not be arrested again, received therapy, and passed drug screening in the ensuing six months.

Page met all of the conditions laid out according to Mark Mahoney, Page’s Buffalo-based lawyer. The women’s charges have also been dropped.

CBC quotes Page:

“The respect and responsibility I have earned over the course of my life and my career thus far are important to me and I am moving forward from this with gratitude and with hope,” Page said in October.

“I also apologize to all of those I have hurt or embarrassed during this episode.”

Page’s records have been sealed and any fingerprints or photos taken during the case have since been destroyed.

Page has since left the Barenaked Ladies and set out on a solo career says 680 News.

“I will miss being a Barenaked Lady like crazy, but there are other lots of other things I’m really looking forward to,” he said. “No one’s going anywhere. I’m going to continue to make music and those guys are going to continue to make music as well. I think it will be good for everybody.”

Britain has first human-to-human swine flu transfer case

England has its first case of swine flu where the source was not in Mexico. An NHS worker has become infected with the flu. Graeme Pacitti, 24, caught the flu from his friend Iain Askham.

Askham had been honeymooning with his wife in Mexico when he picked up the virus.

One London student is in hospital. According to Professor Sir Roy Anderson, rector of Imperial College, London the pandemic is begun and the focus has to become on drug distribution.

The Daily Mail reports:

Sir Roy said the disease was being transmitted in a sustained way in the US, and this would happen in other countries.

He said: ‘The definition of phases five and six [of the WHO's pandemic alert scale] is somewhat irrelevant. A pandemic has started.’

At this time bundles of antiviral drugs have been sent to hospitals and clinics in the nation.

A public leaflet will be posted on Tuesday to advise people on the virus and how to take precautions.

If the phase level goes to Phase 6 then schools in the UK may be closed.

The Guardian reports:

The Cabinet Office’s document said: “As children will have no residual immunity, they could be amongst the groups worst affected and can be ’super spreaders’. In the 1957 pandemic, up to 50% of schoolchildren developed influenza and, in some residential schools, attack rates reached up to 90%, often affecting the whole school within a fortnight.

“Closing schools to pupils as an adjunct to the antiviral treatment planned for a pandemic might reduce its peak impact by an additional 10%, and the total number of clinical cases by 10%, compared with antiviral treatment alone.

“Advising all schools in an affected area to close may offer the most practical option … While this would disrupt education and have a significant negative effect on services and businesses, particularly those highly dependent on working parents, these disadvantages would be outweighed by the children’s lives saved.”

What frightful aspect being discussed in the UK is who will get ICU treatment in the nation if hospital beds run out. One option is a lottery system.

The Daily Mail reports:

The Department of Health dossier, called ‘Pandemic Influenza: Surge Capacity and Prioritisation in Health Services’, details how intensive care patients would be ranked according to their risk of death and the benefit of treatment on a ventilator.

It says: ‘Ranking according to benefit will determine access for many patients. However, in the face of high demand there may be patients between whom the clinicians cannot differentiate on the basis of benefit.

‘At this stage, allocation of Intensive Care Unit treatment may require a random selection (lottery) process.’

Of course the disease outbreak is not near that level at this time.

Vaccine manufacturers do not have the capacity to produce enough vaccine in time for the fall for everyone. It is being discussed if pensioners may be put at risk form the seasonal flu because of vaccine shortfalls.

Professor John Oxford, virologist at Barts hospital in London, said: ‘Even if swine flu gets going, there’s still seasonal flu to contend with.

We don’t want a sizable population of over-seventies going down with seasonal flu.

‘I think that could be a crisis. If the supply of seasonal flu vaccine falls, it will put the elderly at risk of normal seasonal flu.

‘This winter we saw high rates of flu and that could easily happen again next year. We could see excess deaths.’

Another possible problem is that stocks of drugs like Tamiflu could be depleted because of the focus of the swine flu. That would leave seasonal flu victims without. At this stage of the outbreak it is still a wait and see game.

Michelle Obama Walks White House Dog Most Often

When kids are told that they have to walk their new puppy they promise that they are up for the challenge. That’s often not the case. It’s no different for the First Family. Michelle Obama has become the one to walk Bo the most.

The First Lady seems like most moms in the world. She looks after the kids, walks the dog and takes pride in her home. The one thing she doesn’t miss now that her home is the White House is cooking.

People reports:

“Even though the kids are supposed to do a lot of the work, I’m still up at 5:15 a.m. taking my dog out. So for everyone who has a child asking for a puppy – you have to want the dog,” Mrs. Obama said to knowing laughter from a luncheon audience of congressional spouses. “As I do,” she added. “I love my Bo.”

And like other moms she is working hard outside of the home. One of her projects is fostering community service. As she told a group at a congressional club luncheon.

But service groups, and non-profits, faith-based organizations, philanthropists, corporations, government, individuals of all ages have had to play a role in moving this country forward. The question that we have to ask ourselves now as individuals is “What will I do? What am I willing to do in these times?” Because these times are tough.

About 62 million people or a little over a quarter of U.S. citizens volunteer each year to help improve their community in some way. And about $300 billion a year is donated to support the work of religious institutions, foundations and non-profits to further causes that make people healthier, that make neighborhoods safer, that make communities stronger.

Tracking H1N1 Influenza A Online

The last time a pandemic type flu hit the globe the public had to rely solely on public health officials. The times have changed with the Internet. It’s possible to track the spread of disease fairly easily with the right tools. The question is should we?

There’s a reason the experts are called expert. They have years of training that all the twits and online buzzes mean something to them. That’s not to say keeping aware of potential cases of H1N1 flu A isn’t something that the general public should stay away from either.

What the public should know is that many sites aren’t giving a real picture. Some are doing what they say they are such as Veratect. If you want to track the disease make sure the sources you are using are on the up and up. If they aren’t just supplying facts and offering opinions it may be a good idea to steer away from them.

Because I have been covering the story for Digital Journal I am tracking the cases and scope of the illness with a few Twitter sites. WHO, the CDC and Veratect appear to have the most up-to-date information on the social network Twitter.

Another source is healthmap a Boston company created by Clark Freifeld and John Brownstein that is tracking the virus. It is offered in several languages and is easy to read and navigate. The company is funded by google.org and has the support of CIHR, NLM and the CDC. The system collects reports from 17 sources, which extract information from
over 20,000 websites, every hour, 24 hours a day. The system collects an
average of 300 reports per day.

Healthmap works with local health departments, government agencies and multi-national agencies to give an up to day view of the world concerning this outbreak.

Iggy Pop In Commercial Controversy

Iggy Pop is in the news for starring in a car insurance television commercial that misleads the public in the UK. Iggy is shown golfing and being himself in the ad for an insurance company as an entertainer he couldn’t really be covered by.

The problem is the insurance company refuses to insure celebs because of added risks. Swiftcover’s ad has Iggy Pop stating, “I got it Swiftcovered! I got insurance on my insurance!”

The fact is the singer isn’t nor according to the company’s policies able to be insured.

Chart Attack reports:

“Because the policy was promoted by a well-known musician, which might lead some viewers to believe the policy covered those who worked in entertainment, when it did not, and because Iggy Pop did not have a policy with Swiftcover, we concluded the ad was misleading,” the ASA said in a report.

The company has no intentions of getting rid of Iggy even though the ad was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Chart Attack reports:

“Iggy Pop and swiftcover.com have made motor insurance interesting for a change, increasing awareness of swiftcover.com and sending our sales soaring by almost a third, so we would be crazy to lose Iggy,” Swiftcover spokesperson Tina Shortle told British newspaper The Guardian.

The £25 million ($36 million) car insurance ad campaign started up in January.

Punk News reports:

According to a Billboard.com report, complaints object that it is “misleading because it uses a well-known figure from the music industry to promote an insurance service which they believe excludes musicians,” according to an ASA spokesperson. As a result, the ASA has launched an investigation to determine whether the ad breaches the U.K.’s TV Advertising Code.

The owner of Swiftcover, AXA UK says that there is no reference to Iggy Pop’s profession in the ad. He was selected because he’s known as a man who lives life to the fullest.

Supreme Court Justice David Souter Retiring

For more than 18 years Supreme Court Justice David Souter has sat on the nation’s highest court. Source says he might be retiring at the age of 69 in June when the current court recesses.

Souter has been on the Supreme Court since 1990 when then President George H.W. Bush appointed him. He proved to be a moderate judge to the disappointment of many conservatives.

Filling Souter’s seat will be President Obama’s first Supreme Court appointment. The last seat filled was Samuel Alito in 2006 by President George W. Bush.

Souter’s announcement was a surprise to Washington. While the announcement was a surprise it is known in Washington circles that Souter much prefers the quiet of his quiet home to the life he leads in Washington D.C.

The Rhodes Scholar earned his law degrees at Harvard University. He rose through the ranks becoming New Hampshire’s attorney general in 1976 and became a state court judge in 1978. In 1990 he was on the federal appeals court in Boston just a few months before he was picked by President Bush for the Supreme Court.

Couple Caught Having Sex On The Queen’s Front Lawn

There are some people who enjoy having sex in public places but most couples draw the line on doing the act on someone else’s front lawn. Not so for a couple in the UK who got down to business at Windsor Castle on Thursday.

The lusty couple bypassed Please Keep Off The Grass signs and got to action in full view of everyone, even had they been around the Queen’s Corgis.

The Guardian quoted witness Mark Robinson who watched the free sex show until the police came onto the scene.

“The officers told them to stop and the sight of the uniforms seemed to snap them out of it. They were unsteady on their feet and the guy pulled his trousers up and helped the girl put hers back on.

“The Japanese tourists were comparing their videos.”

The man finally pulled up his pants when the police arrived on the scene. He then did the gentlemanly thing and helped his lady friend with hers.

According to Monsters and Critics a source said:

“The queen was in residence at the time, but her private apartments are at the other end so she would have been blissfully unaware of it.

“But she was not particularly amused when, some years ago, a couple were caught bonking in a tree in her back garden ? Windsor Great Park.”

The couple was arrested and cautioned for outraging public decency. The couple is said to have been drinking.

Joy Taylor, 35, and Phil Carden, 30, are said to now be fearing the axe when their employers hear about their sexy romp.

Pot Tax Approved For Oakland, Voters To Decide

The Oakland City Council has approved a 1.8% tax on medical marijuana sold inside the city. If voters pass the proposal in July the city will be the first in the nation to tax the drug.

This could be a first step in legitimizing medical marijuana in the state of California and is a victory for advocates.

The tax would be paid by dispensary operators for every $1,000 in gross receipts. Currently they are paying about $1.20 and the change would raise that to as much as $24.

Opposing Views reports:

Four state-licensed dispensaries operate in Oakland.Oakland attorney James Anthony, legal counsel for the Harborside Health Center dispensary and a member of the NORML Legal Committee, told the Oakland Tribune that “paying a higher tax rate could show the 120 jurisdictions across the state that have banned medical marijuana sales that ‘medical cannabis dispensaries are good neighbors’ that can help provide cities with revenue.”

In February another major victory came for advocates when the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said that the federal government would no longer be raiding state-approved dispensaries.

California is one of 13 states that has legal medical marijuana. Anyone over the age of 18 who obtains a doctor’s recommendation is able to be allowed to obtain the drug. There are an estimated 200,000 medical-marijuana users in the state. Users are already paying a sales tax on the drug.

If Oakland does approve the additional tax it could bring the city at least $400,000 and possibly more than a million dollars a year. Oakland is also proposing tax measures for hotel patrons, corporate mergers and an adjustment to Measure OO, which requires that money be set aside for youth recreation programs. All of the proposals could help the city come up with an extra $6 to $8 million a year.

The city is currently facing an $83 million shortfall in this year’s budget.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

“We wanted to further legitimize the medical-marijuana paradigm to show that we are truly willing to assist [Oakland], and to show other cities that there are social benefits to this,” said Keith Stephenson, executive director of Purple Heart Patient Center.

There doesn’t appear to be any formed opposition against the proposal and medical-marijuana advocates are positive that it will be passed during the vote.