tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89964956164302480052024-03-14T07:45:47.923-07:00NewsNet™Bringing you the latest world newsMario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-35242220370433349972012-05-20T18:41:00.002-07:002012-05-20T18:41:58.593-07:00Brett Lawrie Loses His Cool<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_6636" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin: 10px 15px 10px 0px; padding: 0px; width: 274px;"><img alt="Brett Lawrie" class="size-medium wp-image-6636" height="300" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/528px-Brett_Lawrie_2011-264x300.jpg" style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding: 0px;" title="Brett Lawrie" width="264" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">Brett Lawrie, 2011. Image: Keith Allison</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">SPORTS COLUMN</strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Earlier this week, we ran a TKN article about a soccer player whose emotions got away from him and helped cost his team the game (<a href="http://teachingkidsnews.com/2012/05/15/poor-sportsmanship-leaves-door-open-for-man-city-soccer-victory/" rel="bookmark" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #004276; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="Permanent Link to Poor Sportsmanship Leaves Door Open For Man City Soccer Victory">Poor Sportsmanship Leaves Door Open For Man City Soccer Victory</a>).</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">On Tuesday, Brett Lawrie — a baseball player for the Toronto Blue Jays — also lost control of his emotions.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Lawrie was batting, and the umpire made a couple of calls that Lawrie disagreed with.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">In Major League Baseball (MLB), there are four umpires including the home-plate umpire. He is the one who decides if a pitch was a “ball” or a “strike.” The pitcher pitches and when the ball crosses home plate the umpire makes a quick decision as to whether it was a good pitch (called a strike) or a bad pitch (called a ball).</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">If a batter gets three strikes against him he strikes out. If a batter gets four balls against him he gets a ‘walk’ and is allowed to go to first base.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Lawrie has a reputation for being a fiery guy. He felt that the home-plate umpire robbed him – twice. The first time, the count was 3-1 (Lawrie had three balls and one strike against him). The next pitch that came in was wide of the strike zone. Lawrie thought the umpire would definitely call it a ‘ball.’ In fact, he was already on his way to first base when he heard the umpire yell “strike!”. Understandably frustrated, Lawrie slowly made his way back to the batter’s box for the next pitch.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">(An interesting note here is that a batter should never ‘assume’ a call and take off the way Lawrie did — it’s poor baseball etiquette (against the game’s unwritten rules) because it’s viewed as <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">showing up</em> the umpire. Umpires do not like that.)</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">On the next pitch, which was high and outside of the strike zone, Lawrie felt <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">really</em> robbed when he heard the strike call. The result was Lawrie being called out on strikes–he had struck out.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Lawrie couldn’t believe what had happened. He began yelling at the umpire. The umpire than ejected him from the game.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Lawrie took off his helmet and threw it down onto the ground. It bounced up and hit the umpire, Bill Miller. For that action MLB handed Lawrie a four-game suspension.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">Lawrie is appealing the suspension. Until the suspension is reviewed he is still able to play.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">There’s no question that Lawrie had a reason to get upset. He deserves a suspension for exploding on the baseball field. But his reaction was understandable; both pitches were very questionable strike calls.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">As a young player, though, and one with tremendous potential, Lawrie is beginning to learn how emotions can influence performance at the major-league level.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-27839626400389796612012-05-17T02:52:00.002-07:002012-05-17T02:52:52.962-07:00University Students Protest Tuition Hikes in Quebec<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_6608" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 310px;"><img alt="Protesters in Quebec in April. " class="size-medium wp-image-6608" height="225" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/800px-Manifestation_du_14_avril_2012_a_Montreal_-_44-300x225.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Protesters in Quebec in April. " width="300" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Protesters in Quebec in April, 2012. Image: Jeangagnon</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">University students in Quebec have been protesting.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">They have been told that the government is going to raise their tuition fees. In this case, “tuition fees” are the fees people pay to attend university.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Traditionally, Quebec has some of the lowest tuition fees in Canada. Only students in two provinces: Newfound and Labrador and Manitoba, pay less to attend university.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">However, the increase will be the largest in the province’s history. The government intends to raise tuition by $1,625 by 2017. Students will pay $325 more each year for the next five years.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Student groups say the increase doesn’t go towards improving the quality of the teaching, and the hikes will force some students who can’t pay the extra money to drop out of school or take a second job. They worry that students who come from low-income families won’t be able to afford higher education.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">As a result, students have been demonstrating on campuses in Quebec. The protests started about 14 weeks ago.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">This week, some protests became violent.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In Sainte-Therese, Que. a group of students, teachers and parents was protesting at College Lionel-Groulx. Protesters were told to leave, but when they didn’t, police were called in. They used tear gas to get the crowd to disperse.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">There have been other protests in the province. In Montreal, the Jacques Cartier bridge was blocked; and about 200 protesters tried to break in to a meeting at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Montreal. And on Wednesday (yesterday), more than 100 protesters shut down classes at the University of Quebec in Montreal by taking over the school’s downtown campus.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Many of the protesters wear a red square as a symbol of their protests.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Some other students, who are against the protests and who aren’t as worried about the tuition increases, are wearing green squares in opposition to the protesters.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">About a third of university and college students are boycotting their classes in protest of the tuition increases.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Some people say the protests are becoming symbolic, and are about more than just the tuition fees; they say the protests are against “authority” in general and have to do with general unrest.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-53240423220998709592012-05-15T19:04:00.001-07:002012-05-15T19:05:23.310-07:00Two men rescued in Labrador<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thetelegram.com/media/photos/unis/2010/07/25/photo_1092219_resize_article.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="RCMP Logo" border="0" height="133" src="http://www.thetelegram.com/media/photos/unis/2010/07/25/photo_1092219_resize_article.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #898989; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; text-align: left;">RCMP Logo</span> </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Some RCMP officers seemed to be in the right place at the right time in Labrador on Tuesday.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">While on route from Makkovik to Hopedale the RCMP Air Service spotted a man on sea ice waiving for help. He was about 19-kilometres from Makkovik.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">The RCMP plane signaled to the man that he’d been seen and continued to its destination. After landing the police contacted a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter that was already in the community. One of the officers hopped on board the chopper and flew back to pick up the man.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">The chopper picked up the stranded hunter from the ice. Apparently his snowmobile had broken down.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">He had no survival gear with him besides his hunting rifle. He was taken back to Makkovik.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Coincidentally, in an unrelated incident, another man also had to be rescued from the shoreline about 40-kilometres south west of Hopedale.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">His snowmobile also broke down on the ice but he managed to make it to shore. When he got to land he activated a GPS device that broadcasted a signal for help.</span></div><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #4d4d4d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">Again the coast guard chopper was sent out. The man was recovered without injury or further </span></div></h2></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-37650821040433512092012-05-15T18:57:00.002-07:002012-05-15T18:57:19.611-07:00Poor Sportsmanship Leaves Door Open For Man City Soccer Victory<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/150px-Premier_League_svg.png" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #004276; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Premier League logo" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-6588" height="213" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/150px-Premier_League_svg.png" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; float: left; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Premier League logo" width="150" /></a>England loves soccer. English soccer teams play in the Premier League (PL).</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Two of the biggest soccer teams in the PL are two of the bitterest rivals: Manchester City, known as “Man City” and Manchester United, known as “Man United.”</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Last weekend, one of the most exciting games in the PL took place… and it came down to the final moments. It was a game that would decide who took home the cup.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">If Man City won its game against the Queens Park Rangers, Man City would end up with more points than its rival, Man United. In that case, Man City would win its first PL championship in 44 years.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">However, a win wouldn’t come easy.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">At the end of “regulation play,” Man City was losing 2-1 to the Rangers.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">If the game had stopped after regulation play, Man City would have lost. But, thanks in part to some unsportsmanlike conduct by one of the Rangers players, extra time was added on to the game; it was enough time for Man City to pull off a dramatic win.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Here’s what happened. After 90 minutes of “regulation time,” soccer games usually go into “stoppage time.” Stoppage time is time that’s added to a soccer game, to make up for lost time. Lost time is time that has been wasted during the game for things like substitutions, goal celebrations, injuries, fan horseplay or players fighting. The referees decide if, and how much, stoppage time will be added to a game.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In this case, Joey Barton (who used to play for Man City but now plays for the Rangers), elbowed an opponent and was thrown out of the game. He wasn’t happy about that, and took longer than normal to leave the field.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Because of that, the referees added five minutes to the game.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Thanks to Barton, Man City not only ended up playing a Rangers team with only 10 players instead of the usual 11, but they had five extra minutes to try to pull off a win.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">And Man City made the most of those five minutes. Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero wrote themselves into club history with one goal each, to cement an exhilarating 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Rangers.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In one of the most exciting finishes ever, Man City snatched its first title in 44 years.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The soccer-mad city of Manchester can boast its greatness by having two excellent soccer teams. On Sunday, though, it was the Man City players and fans who were the loudest and proudest of all.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-87006015727442083852012-05-14T18:50:00.002-07:002012-05-14T18:50:18.276-07:00Girls Rule<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_6570" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 226px;"><img alt="Queen Elizabeth II" class="size-medium wp-image-6570" height="320" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/433px-Elizabeth_II_greets_NASA_GSFC_employees_May_8_2007_edit1-216x300.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Queen Elizabeth II" width="230" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Queen Elizabeth II at a visit to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, 2007. Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Queen Elizabeth II is the queen of 54 Commonwealth countries. 16 of these countries are called Commonwealth Realm countries and Canada is one of them.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">When Elizabeth steps down or dies, her son, Prince Charles will become King. If<em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">he</em> steps down or dies, his first-born son, Prince William will become King–even though Princess Anne is the Queen’s only daughter and is next in age to Prince Charles.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In other words, because she is female, the crown wouldn’t go to Princess Anne.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Since the beginning of the British monarchy, men have been chosen first to become the next ruler.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A woman can only be chosen when there are no men in the monarch’s direct line, (like a brother or a brother’s sons).</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">That is how Elizabeth became queen. Her father, King George VI, had two daughters and no sons.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Last October, Commonwealth countries agreed that this centuries-old tradition was old-fashioned and should change.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Last week, at the opening of British Parliament in London, the Queen proposed a law to allow women to become Queen if that woman is next in line.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Queen proposed other changes, as well.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">She proposed that monarchs in Britain should be able to marry Roman Catholics.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">This has been forbidden since the time of Henry VIII, who wanted to get a divorce (which was not allowed by the Catholic Church).</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Henry VIII split the church into two parts — the Church of England (Anglican) and the Roman Catholic church. Since then no King or Queen of England has been allowed to marry a Catholic.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Stephen Harper has said Canada’s government approves of these changes but doesn’t consider them a priority for Canada.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He said he doesn’t believe there should be much time in Parliament spent debating them when there are other issues that are more important.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-73753327327927881642012-05-13T18:07:00.002-07:002012-05-13T18:07:22.852-07:00UK Insurance Company Has An Email Accident<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_6557" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 129px;"><img alt="Computer " class="size-full wp-image-6557" height="123" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/119px-Computer_n_screen.svg_.png" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Computer " width="119" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Computer. Image: Everaldo Coelho and YellowIcon</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Lots of companies use email to communicate with their employees.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Most companies create email “distribution lists.” A distribution list is a group email, that lets a company send a message to many employees at once, with just one email.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Aviva is an insurance company in the United Kingdom.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Recently, someone in the company sent an email to one of Aviva’s employees who was being let go, or fired. The email gave instructions to the employee about what they needed to do, now that he’d been fired.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">However, the email was accidentally sent to <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">everyone</em> in the company.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Aviva has 1,300 employees around the world.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">That means that 1,300 people who work at Aviva were all sent an email that implied they had been fired.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Everyone.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">But it wasn’t true.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Human resources (or HR, for short) is the department in a company that hires and fires employees.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Aviva’s human resources department sent out the email.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">When employees are fired, they are usually told in person and then sent a follow-up email with more detailed information. In this case, the HR department should have only sent that follow-up email to one person.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Most people who received the emails knew it was a clerical error—in other words, a mistake. Most people didn’t think they had actually been fired.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Aviva’s HR department sent another email about half an hour later letting everyone know of the error, and apologizing for the mistake.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-73993781273083169192012-05-13T04:36:00.000-07:002012-05-13T04:36:04.891-07:00Japan’s 2011 Tsunami Sends Balls 8,000 Kilometres To Alaska<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_6444" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 210px;"><img alt="An aerial view of the tsunami damage in Sendai, Japan" class="size-medium wp-image-6444" height="300" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/An_aerial_view_of_tsunami_damage_in_an_area_north_of_Sendai_Japan_taken_from_a_U_S__Navy_helicopter-200x300.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="An aerial view of the tsunami damage in Sendai, Japan" width="200" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">An aerial view of the 2011 tsunami damage in Sendai, Japan. Image: U.S. Navy, Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Dylan McCord</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In March 2011, Japan was hit by the largest earthquake ever recorded.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">It caused a <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">tsunami</em>–a huge wave that started out in the ocean. The tsunami swept onto the north-east coast of Japan and back into the sea, carrying away everything in its path.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Now, after travelling across the Pacific Ocean for more than a year, a soccer ball and a volleyball have washed up onto Middleton Island, off the coast of Alaska.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The man who found them plans to send them back to the two Japanese teenagers who lost them during the tsunami.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The balls were found two weeks apart and both balls had names on them. The soccer ball also had a school name and several messages.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">David Baxter found them when he was beachcombing–in this case, a beachcomber is someone who enjoys walking along the beach looking for shells and other things. Baxter and his wife, Yumi, who is Japanese, tracked down 16-year-old Misaki Murakami, whose name was on the soccer ball. Japanese public broadcaster, NHK, helped them find Murakami.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The boy was very happy to get a phone call saying that his prized soccer ball had been found. The messages on the ball were from classmates at his old school as a good-bye gift to him when he transferred to a new school. Most of Murakami’s belongings had been taken by the tsunami, which makes him especially grateful to have his ball back.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The volleyball also had a name on it, and again Baxter and his wife found the owner with the help of NHK.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Shiori Sato was amazed when she was told that her ball had been found. She told NHK, “I think it’s a miracle.”</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Items thought to be from areas of Japan hit by the tsunami are now starting to wash up on Canada’s west coast as well as Alaska.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-91868568872207004642012-05-12T03:20:00.000-07:002012-05-12T03:20:03.071-07:00Europeans Say No To Spending Cuts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_6536" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 310px;"><img alt="France and Greece both recently held important elections. Image: El Spartan/El Greco" class="size-medium wp-image-6536" height="240" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/France_Greece_Locator-300x240.png" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="France and Greece both recently held important elections. Image: El Spartan/El Greco" width="300" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">France and Greece both recently held important elections. Image: El Spartan/El Greco</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Two countries in Europe had important elections last weekend – France and Greece. Both elections went against the conservative parties in power.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Experts are saying this could be a sign that more countries in Europe will protest against spending cuts by voting out current governments.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In France a new party and a new president were elected.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Francois Hollande is the head of the Socialist Party, and he was elected president, over incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy. (Incumbent means “currently in power.”)</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Socialists, or “leftist” party has not been in power for more than 20 years. Hollande said he believes the way to succeed is to create jobs and trade with other countries.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Greece did not get a new government, but the people did take votes away from the conservative parties.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Last year those parties agreed to borrow money to pay Greece’s debts. But in exchange, they promised to start up an austerity program—a very harsh, cost-cutting plan that slashes the country’s spending. (Usually what gets cut are health and welfare benefits and government jobs.)</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">People in Greece have been protesting in the streets against the cuts.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In a northern state of Germany, the conservative party was also recently kicked out because its plan for cutting expenses was rejected by the people.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In the last year, at least eight of 17 Euro-zone leaders have been forced out of office because the people were unhappy with their proposed austerity plans.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-5246652032794214892012-05-11T16:28:00.000-07:002012-05-11T16:28:19.798-07:00Nutella Is Not A Healthy Food<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_6455" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 310px;"><img alt="Nutella" class="size-medium wp-image-6455" height="199" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/800px-Nutella_ak-300x199.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Nutella" width="300" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Nutella. Image: A. Kniesel</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The company that makes<em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Nutella</em>, a spread made from chocolate and hazelnuts, has agreed to give refunds to people who bought the product because they thought it was good for them.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Four women in the United States sued the company, Ferrero U.S.A., Inc., because they said it made misleading claims about the product. Television commercials for Nutella describe it as part of a balanced breakfast, along with toast, milk and fruit.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The women said they bought Nutella because they believed it was a healthy food to give their families. Then they found out that the spread contains large amounts of sugar and fat. Eating too much fat and sugar can contribute to obesity – being overweight — which is not good for your health.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">According to the nutritional information on the label, two tablespoons of Nutella (about 37 grams) contains 11 grams of fat and 21 grams of sugar, and only three grams of protein. That’s about the same amount as a chocolate bar. (For instance, an Aero bar has 11 grams of fat, 24 grams of sugar and three grams of protein.)</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Ferrero has agreed to refund the money of anyone in the U.S. who bought Nutella between January 2008 and February 2012. They will pay $4 per jar, up to a total of $20.00 per person. It will probably cost the company about $3-million to provide refunds to everyone who asks for one.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Ferrero has also agreed to change the way it labels and advertises Nutella.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-17250436345977637102012-05-11T16:24:00.000-07:002012-05-11T16:24:29.826-07:00If You Lose Your Cell Phone The Finder Will Probably Snoop Through It<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_6541" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 310px;"><img alt="Smartphones. Image: FinnsDeal" class="size-medium wp-image-6541 " height="89" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Smartphones_running_different_major_OSes-300x89.png" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Smartphones. Image: FinnsDeal" width="300" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Smartphones, like these, were intentionally lost as part of an experiment to find out what people would do when they found them. Image: FinnsDeal</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Some people at a software company wanted to find out what happens when people find a cell phone.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Do they keep it, or return it? What do they do with it?</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">They found out that half of the people people who find a cell phone returned it. However, in nearly every case, the “finder” first looked through the information on the phone, checking out the owner’s photos, emails and apps.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In his experiment, Scott Wright, who works for Security Perspectives Inc., left 50 cell phones in various places in five cities in Canada and the United States. He left them out so they would look like they had been accidentally lost.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The five cities were Los Angeles, New York, Ottawa, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Wright left phones in restaurants, elevators, phone booths, on newspaper boxes and in public washrooms.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Twenty-five of the people who found a phone tried to return it to its owner.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Ninety-six per cent—48 people—snooped through the phone.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Each phone had software in it so that Wright could tell what the finders were doing with it. Wright watched remotely as people looked in files that had names like banking, email and “private pix.” In other words, the names of the files clearly indicated that they contained private information that should be off-limits to strangers. But people snooped anyway. In fact, many people tried more than once to get into the files.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">More phones were returned in Ottawa than in any other city: seven out of 10. That compares with New York City, where just three phones were returned.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Some of the “finders” used the phone for an extended period of time, checking out personal information and making calls. One person in Ottawa spent several days checking out the phone’s banking information and photos.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Wright said he was surprised and disappointed that so many people snooped into the phones’ private information.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Information in this article was abridged from an article in The Globe and Mail and Canadian Press, by Michael Oliveira. You can read that <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/lost-your-smartphone-finders-snoopers-will-breach-your-privacy-study/article2370428/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #004276; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="Smart phone article in Globe and Mail and CP ">article here</a>.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-55094812555624526942012-03-04T06:13:00.002-08:002012-03-04T06:13:52.249-08:00New Video Game Helps Kids With Autism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_5675" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 310px;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="FaceMaze" class="size-medium wp-image-5675" height="260" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/FaceMaze-300x260.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="FaceMaze" width="300" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">A boy practices his facial expressions using FaceMaze. Image courtesy of FaceMaze.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">An amazing new “video game” is helping kids with<em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">autism</em>* show their emotions in their facial expressions.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Autism affects the brain’s development of social and communication skills. People with autism typically have difficulty recognizing facial expressions and emotions.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The new video game, called FaceMaze, was developed to help kids with autism recognize what certain emotions look like, and what they mean—for instance, smiling, frowning or looking sad.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The game was developed by scientists at two universities: the University of Victoria in British Columbia and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The video game looks and plays a lot like Pac-Man, a popular video game from the 1980s.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In FaceMaze, kids guide an avatar that looks like face through a maze to collect “candies.”</div><div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_5676" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 160px;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="SmileMaze" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-5676" height="150" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SmileMaze-150x150.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="SmileMaze" width="150" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">An example of SmileMaze. Image courtesy of FaceMaze.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In order to get through the game and reach new levels, players have to look at the expression on a computer “face” and then try to make that expression themselves. It might be a happy face, a sad face, or a mad face.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A camera pointed at the player compares the player’s expression with the expression in the game. If they match, the player scores points.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The game is not only fun for kids, but it helps them to practice their emotions; how it looks and feels to smile, and what message it sends to people when someone smiles.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The people who developed the software also intend to develop an iPad application that people can use at home. That application will use pictures of real people’s faces (for instance, the player’s mom or dad) instead of avatars.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">*In this article, we have used the term “autism,” but it’s even more accurate to use the term, “autism spectrum disorders (ASD).” The term ASD reflects the fact that people may be mildly, or severely affected by autism—or somewhere in-between.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-67566024425242517302012-03-04T06:10:00.000-08:002012-03-04T06:10:18.364-08:00Two Canadian Political Parties In Hot Water Over Use Of Technology<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_5666" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 249px;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Bob Rae" class="size-medium wp-image-5666" height="300" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/479px-Bob_Rae-239x300.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Bob Rae" width="239" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Bob Rae. Image taken on January 11, 2007 by Will Pate.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">During elections, people often get a recorded message on their telephone that reminds them to vote and tells them where to go, to vote.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">These messages, which use pre-recorded voices, are known as robo-calls.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Canada’s federal Conservative party is being accused of using robo-calls to mislead the public, during last year’s election.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The RCMP and Elections Canada (the group that makes the rules for elections), are looking into accusations that some robo-calls steered voters to the wrong polling station, or to polling stations that didn’t even exist, which would be illegal.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he doesn’t know anything about the illegal robo-calls.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">One member of Harper’s Conservative party, Michael Sona, has been accused of setting up the calls, but he denies doing it. Sona has quit his job because of the pressure of the accusations.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Meanwhile, the Liberals are also in hot water.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">They used Twitter (a “social media” website) to spread some personal information about a Conservative MP.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Bob Rae, who is the interim leader of the Liberals, apologized to the MP in the House of Commons this week.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Although it was Rae’s staff member who did the tweeting, Rae took full responsibility; he said the party’s leader is always responsible for what his staff and party members do.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-10211658408206008922012-02-29T03:18:00.000-08:002012-02-29T03:18:16.543-08:00Scotland May Hold Independence Referendum<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_5639" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 310px;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="The Flag of Scotland" class="size-medium wp-image-5639" height="180" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/800px-Flag_of_Scotland.svg_-300x180.png" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="The Flag of Scotland" width="300" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">The Flag of Scotland. Image: Kbolino</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">For the first time in three centuries, the <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">united</em> part of the United Kingdom may be in trouble.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Scottish National Party (SNP), the party that runs Scotland day-to-day, is urging the Scottish people to support independence from Britain. However it still wants to keep the Queen as official leader.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Last week, British Prime Minister Gordon Cameron went to Scotland to argue that Scotland should not separate from Great Britain.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Scotland and England have been together since 1707 when the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed under the rule of the British. Ireland and Wales were already under British rule at that time.</div><div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_5638" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 160px;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Map of the United Kingdom" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-5638" height="150" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Map_of_Scotland_within_the_United_Kingdom-150x150.png" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Map of the United Kingdom" width="150" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Map of Scotland (in dark blue) within the United Kingdom. Image: Morwen</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Only about one-third of Scots want to separate but the SNP believes this is the best way for Scotland to prosper. The party wants to hold a referendum (a vote by the people) in 2014 to ask the people if they want to separate. Opponents of the SNP, including British Prime Minister Cameron, want this referendum held a year earlier so the SNP won’t have time to gain more support for the idea.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Prime Minister Cameron has said there would be serious consequences if Scotland leaves Great Britain. Scotland has rich resources like oil, but their banks would not have enough money to cover their debts and loans. A split could also affect the armed forces (their military), the UK’s nuclear weapons in Scotland, and the United Kingdom’s status in the United Nations.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The last real try for separation was in 1745 when Bonnie Prince Charlie, a famous Scottish prince, tried to attack the British because he wanted to rule both Scotland and England. The British found out about the plan and increased their forces where the attack was to happen.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-958985750921924472012-02-28T03:46:00.002-08:002012-02-28T03:46:19.361-08:00Syria’s “New Constitution” Ignites Further Conflict<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span style="color: #004276;"><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: initial;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Syria" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5620" height="350" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Syria-map.png" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; float: left; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Syria" width="326" /></a></span></span>Syria is a country in the Middle East.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Many Syrians have been protesting against its government, which has been accused of doing terrible things to its own people. The leader of Syria is President Bashar al-Assad.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The fighting between the Syrian government and its opponents this year has been intense and very violent.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Many Syrians want al-Assad to step down as leader. They want to be able to elect a new leader. (Bashar al-Assad’s family has ruled Syria for more than 40 years.)</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">On Feb. 26 the Syrian government held a special vote. The vote was to see if people would agree or disagree with a new <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">constitution</em>. The constitution would let al-Assad rule for another 16 years.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">On Monday, the Syrian government said the people voted overwhelmingly in favour of the new constitution. The Syrian government said the people want to keep al-Assad in power.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">However, critics of Syria’s government say that is clearly not the case. The Syrian government “controlled the voting and the count… and the opposition mostly boycotted the balloting,” the <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">New York Times</em> reported. In other words, the outcome of the vote likely does not reflect the will of the Syrian people.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Some countries—like China, Russia and Iran—are supporting al-Assad and his government.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Many Western countries—including Canada and the U.S.—as well as the United Nations, want al-Assad to step down.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Stephen Lewis is the former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations. He wants Russia and China to agree with a UN plan that would stop the fighting in Syria.</div><div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_5634" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 230px;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Stephen_Lewis; Image by Grant Neufeld" class="size-full wp-image-5634" height="269" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Stephen_Lewis.jpg" style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Stephen_Lewis; Image by Grant Neufeld" width="220" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Stephen Lewis, former Canadian ambassador to the UN wants Russia and China to stop supporting Syria's government. Image by Grant Neufeld.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He says that unless Russia and China stop supporting al-Assad’s government, the fighting in Syria will not stop. Russia and China both have reasons for wanting to support al-Assad’s government; maintaining their good relationship with Syria may give them more power politically.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Lewis said that, “thousands of Syrians are about to be sacrificed” because of China’s and Russia’s friendship with the al-Assad government.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">By “sacrificed” he means that Syrians will die unnecessarily because countries will not put human rights first—ahead of money and power.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Related Links: </strong>Syria has been a big part of the “Arab Spring” protests. The Arab Spring happened when many people in some Arab countries protested against their governments. </div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-23635491018632275762012-02-27T03:41:00.000-08:002012-02-27T03:41:17.784-08:00World’s Smallest Chameleon Discovered<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_5578" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 238px;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="World's smallest chameleon with a finger" class=" wp-image-5578" height="246" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Chameleon-finger-263x300.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="World's smallest chameleon with a finger" width="228" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Photo: Frank Glaw</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Scientists have discovered a chameleon so small it could sit on your little finger.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The chameleon, which is about three centimetres long, lives on a small island called Nosy Hara, off the coast of Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">It is the smallest chameleon and possibly the smallest reptile ever discovered. It lives among rocks and leaves on the forest floor. At night it sleeps on plants, about five to 10 centimetres above the ground.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">It is mostly grey and brown with an orange tail, and it doesn’t change colour like most chameleons do. The scientists say this is because it’s already the right colour to blend in with its surroundings.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The scientific name for the chameleon is <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Brookesia micra</em>. <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Brookesia</em> means it belongs to a group known as <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">leaf chameleons</em>. <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Micra</em> is from the Greek word for<em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">small</em> or <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">tiny</em>.</div><div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_5595" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 261px;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="" class=" wp-image-5595" height="110" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Chameleon-CC1.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Chameleon CC" width="251" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Image: Jörn Köhler</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The scientists say the chameleons may have gotten smaller and smaller over several generations in order to survive in a place where food and space are limited. When animals change in this way, it is called “island dwarfism.”</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The chameleons’ home is being destroyed by people cutting down trees illegally.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Because this is the only place where these chameleons have been found, the scientists say this means they could be in danger of becoming extinct</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-57356599793364778112012-02-25T11:40:00.001-08:002012-02-25T11:45:34.686-08:00Pakistan begins demolishing bin Laden home - CBS News Article<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="cnet-image-div image-CBSNEWS_FULLWIDTH float-none" style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 620px;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="" class="cnet-image" height="350" src="http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2011/05/06/abbottabad_113799969_620x350.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="620" /></a><br />
<div class="image-caption" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #717171; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;">Local residents walk past a wall with graffiti saying "Long live bin Laden" near the hideout of slain Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan in this May 6, 2011 file photo. </div><span class="image-credit" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #717171; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Credit: AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images)</span></div><span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's army engineers on Saturday began demolishing the former home of Osama bin Laden, after authorities decided to end prospects of the location "becoming a monument" to the world's most hunted terrorist, a senior Pakistani government official told CBS News.</span><br />
<div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Though Pakistani media reported Saturday evening that the demolition had begun after backhoes and bulldozers were brought to the site, there was no official confirmation from the government.</div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But the government official who spoke to CBS NEWS on condition that he will not be named because he was not authorized to speak to journalists said, "If the (demolition) plan proceeds on track, the objective is to ensure that the place is flattened before sunrise (Sunday)."</div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In the past year, bin Laden's former home in Abbottabad has shot to global prominence after he was tracked and killed by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs on the night between May 1 and 2 last year.</div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Though the exact circumstances surrounding bin Laden's stay at his former home are still a matter of debate, some Pakistani and Western officials have said that he may have lived there for up to five years.</div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It wasn't immediately clear on Saturday exactly what prompted the Pakistani government to order the demolition now, almost 10 months after bin Laden's discovery. Abbottabad is primarily a military garrison city, home to a number of institutions belonging to the Pakistan Army, including the prestigious Pakistan Military Academy, or PMA, the main training school for Army officers whose graduates include past and present generals.</div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Last month, a Pakistani government minister told CBS News on condition of anonymity that the authorities were concerned about bin Laden's former home attracting widespread interest from the country's domestic as well as Western media, around the first anniversary of his killing.</div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"The first anniversary is probably going to revive criticism of Pakistan's failure in detecting bin Laden," the minister said. "We want to close this sorry chapter and move on," adding, "Demolishing Osama bin Laden's home will be a step to end (the legacy of) his existence in Pakistan."</div><div style="background-color: #fefefe; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Read more at: <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-57385192-503543/pakistan-begins-demolishing-bin-laden-home/?tag=cbsContent;cbsCarousel" style="background-color: transparent;">http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-57385192-503543/pakistan-begins-demolishing-bin-laden-home/?tag=cbsContent;cbsCarousel</a></b></div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-15049543594234080492012-02-25T06:28:00.000-08:002012-02-25T06:28:47.681-08:00Jeremy Lin - Basket Ball Player<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_5497" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 179px;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="" class=" wp-image-5497" height="219" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/250px-Jeremy_Lin_with_the_Knicks_and_reporters1.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="250px-Jeremy_Lin_with_the_Knicks_and_reporters" width="169" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Jeremy Lin has been a NBA sensation in 2012. Is he for real or is he just lucky? Image: Nikk La</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">On Feb. 4, The New York Knicks basketball team played the New Jersey Nets at Madison Square Gardens in New York City.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Nets played hard, but they simply couldn’t beat this Knicks team. There was something special about them… and that was <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Jeremy Lin</em>.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Jeremy Lin turned heads during that game by scoring 25 points and adding seven assists.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Good numbers for any player, but especially for an undrafted player with only a handful of games under his belt.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">But this is where the story really gets good.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">After his strong game against the Nets, the Knicks let Lin keep playing, and it’s been <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Lin-sanity</em> ever since!</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Lin has scored 20 points in nine of his last ten games, including 38 against the Lakers, a three-pointer within the final seconds to beat Toronto, and 28 points, 14 assists and five steals against last year’s champs, The Dallas Mavericks.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Last night, the Nets met up with the Knicks again at Madison Square Garden for their long-awaited rematch.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">This time, despite Jeremy Lin’s 21 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds, the Nets were victorious 100 – 92.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-56391432131641798242012-02-24T04:36:00.000-08:002012-02-24T04:36:46.985-08:00Greece To Get New €130B Bailout<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_5583" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 228px;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Greece" class="size-full wp-image-5583" height="222" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Greece.svg_.png" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Greece.svg" width="218" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">The Flag of Greece emblazoned across the nation.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Greece was in trouble because it took on too much debt.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">But other countries have agreed to help Greece by lending the country more than 130-billion euros. Euros (€) are the units of money used in 17 countries in Europe including Greece, France and Germany.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The countries that have agreed to bail Greece out of its money problems are demanding something in return. They are insisting that the government of Greece spend less.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">For example, Greece must pay its workers less. It must also reduce the amount of money paid to workers once they retire.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">These cuts to spending that will affect the people of Greece are called “austerity measures.”</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">If the plan goes ahead, the austerity measures will also reduce, or cut, the amount of money spent on health care and education. This will have an effect on hospitals and schools in Greece.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Spending on the military to defend the country will also be cut, along with special payments to families that have at least three children.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Many Greeks are not happy about the planned spending cuts which will add up to more than three billion euros. Thousands have been protesting by marching in the streets of several cities in Greece.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Some of the protests in Greece have been peaceful, but others have been violent and included fighting with police and burning buildings.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">This is the second time Greece has been bailed out of money problems in the past two years. Some countries who lent Greece money have agreed that they only have to pay back some of it.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Still, other countries in Europe want Greece to work hard to pay back the money it has borrowed. They worry that if Greece doesn’t get the situation under control, the euro currency will no longer be popular and Greece’s problems will spread to other nations.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-6651995425261081472012-02-24T04:25:00.000-08:002012-02-24T04:25:02.845-08:00Head Of TTC Fired; Toronto Council Divided About Transit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_5560" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 310px;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="TTC" class="size-medium wp-image-5560" height="199" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/TTC-300x199.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="TTC" width="300" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Toronto streets are known for being full with people, bikes, cars, and TTC streetcars. Image: Benson Kua</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The head of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) was fired from his job this week. Most people think it’s because he disagreed with Toronto’s mayor’s plans for public transit.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In this case, public transit refers to the city’s system of buses, subways and streetcars.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Gary Webster has worked at the TTC since 1986; for nearly six years he has been the TTC’s Chief General Manager.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">As the head of the TTC, part of Webster’s job was to advise Toronto’s politicians about how the city’s transit system should operate.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Both the City and the TTC agree that Toronto needs more public transportation; many bus and subway riders find the city’s transit system slow and overcrowded at times.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">However, city council is divided as to how it should be built.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Mayor Rob Ford wants the new transit line to be underground—a subway.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Two weeks ago, Gary Webster said it would be better to build an above-ground “light rail transit” line.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">On Tuesday, a special meeting was held. At that meeting, the politicians voted 5-4 in favour of firing Gary Webster.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The firing will cost Toronto more than half a million dollars. That’s because Webster has a contract with the city, a legal document that guarantees him a job for at least two more years.</div><div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_5562" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 310px;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="TTC Light Rail" class="size-medium wp-image-5562" height="225" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/TTC-Dylan-300x225.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="TTC Light Rail" width="300" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Light Rail Transit Lines (LRT) run between both directions of traffic, in a separate portion, free from cars, bikes, and buses. Image: Dylan Passmore</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Now the city must find a new head of the TTC, and they must do it quickly. The TTC is scheduled to receive $8.4-billion from the province of Ontario to extend its transit system; it must decide how it’s going to use that money.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, is becoming frustrated with Toronto council’s inability to decide how to do it.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">He told <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Toronto Star</em> that “we’re running out of patience.”</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">There may have been other reasons for firing Gary Webster, but the politicians have been told by their lawyer that they can’t talk about the situation with the media.</div></div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-64804020143630723612012-02-24T04:15:00.000-08:002012-02-24T04:15:03.190-08:00Is The Colosseum Crumbling? Is The Colosseum Crumbling?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_5531" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 378px;"><a href="http://latestnewsblog.blogspot.com/"><img alt="The Colosseum in Rome is one of the most recognizable buildings in the planet, day or night. Image: Diliff" class="size-full wp-image-5531" height="216" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Colosseum-1-_in_Rome-April_2007-1-_copie_2B.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="The Colosseum in Rome is one of the most recognizable buildings in the planet, day or night. Image: Diliff" width="368" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">The Colosseum in Rome is one of the most recognizable buildings in the planet, day or night. Image: Diliff</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Italian government is trying to figure out if there is any truth to reports that rock is falling from the Colosseum.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Colosseum is a world-famous landmark in Rome, Italy. It is the place where gladiators fought during the time of the Roman Empire (around 80 AD).</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">It has been damaged over the years by earthquakes and stone robbers, but it remains one of Rome’s most popular tourist attractions.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Last week, some visitors to the Colosseum said they saw some bits of stone fall from it.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">An Italian environmental group says that exhaust fumes and vibrations from cars and a nearby subway are causing damage to the Colosseum.</div><div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_5536" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 310px;"><a href="http://latestnewsnet.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Inside the Colosseum. Image: Bjarki Sigursveinsson" class="size-medium wp-image-5536" height="225" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Colosseum_11-7-20031-300x225.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Inside the Colosseum. Image: Bjarki Sigursveinsson" width="300" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Inside the Colosseum. Image: Bjarki Sigursveinsson</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The director of the Colosseum has denied these reports of falling stone, according to news service American Press (AP); although she said that sometimes small stones have been known to fall from the ancient building, due to rain, wind or birds.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The outside of the Colosseum is made from<em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">travertine</em>, a type of limestone; the interior is made from brick and <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">tufa</em>, another variety of limestone.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The tourist attraction is slated to get a $33-</div><br />
</div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-85888140175033085932012-02-12T18:28:00.001-08:002012-02-12T18:28:51.880-08:00Attawapiskat Residents Getting Some New Homes<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_5384" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; width: 307px;"><a href="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/594px-Attawapiskat_map.png" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #004276; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Map of Attawapiskat" class="size-medium wp-image-5384" height="300" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/594px-Attawapiskat_map-297x300.png" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Map of Attawapiskat" width="297" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">A Map Showing the Location of Attawapiskat, a Community on Attawapiskat River in Northern Ontario, Canada. Image: NormanEinstein</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Some Attawapiskat residents will soon be moving into new “modular” homes.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Attawapiskat is a remote community in northern Ontario. Last year, the government there declared a state of emergency because residents were living in conditions that were very unsafe.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Canada’s government promised to help fix the housing problems in Attawapiskat.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The first modular home has reached the first nations community, and the second is on its way.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">“Modular” in this case means that the home was built away from the community and transported there by truck.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">There will be 22 modular homes added to the community.</div><div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_5383" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; width: 160px;"><a href="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Attawapiskat_Town_between_Attawapiskat_River.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #004276; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Attawapiskat Town" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-5383" height="150" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Attawapiskat_Town_between_Attawapiskat_River-150x150.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Attawapiskat Town" width="150" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Aerial View of Attawapiskat First Nations Community, July 18 2011. Image: Attawafn143</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The homes were shipped to Moosonee, Ont. in December, but had to stay there while the roads going further north froze, so they could be travelled by the heavy trucks.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Many northern communities in Canada and other countries depend on “ice roads,” which are unusable–or not even there–during the summer months but which freeze over and become useable during the winter. Many ice roads go over frozen waterways like lakes.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Some of the sites where the homes are to be placed in Attawapiskat are not yet ready. More construction still needs to be done before the homes can be installed.</div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-22155560684073508052012-02-09T04:05:00.001-08:002012-02-09T04:05:17.921-08:0012-Million-Year-Old Plant May Soon Be Extinct<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_5326" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; width: 310px;"><a href="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Cycad-Laos.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #004276; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Cycad at the royal palace grounds, Laung Prabang, Laos" class="size-medium wp-image-5326" height="225" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Cycad-Laos-300x225.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="Cycad at the royal palace grounds, Laung Prabang, Laos" width="300" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Cycad at the royal palace grounds, Laung Prabang, Laos. Image: Tiragreene</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Cycads, a very rare type of plant, are in danger of becoming extinct because of poachers.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Poaching</em> usually means to hunt animals illegally. In this case, trees are being taken from the wild. They are then secretly sold for a lot of money – up to $100,000 each - to people who collect unusual plants.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The first cycads existed during the time of the dinosaurs, during the Jurassic period. The kinds of cycads that are alive today have been around for 12 million years. They look like a cross between a fern and a palm tree, and they can take hundreds of years to grow to their full size.</div><div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_5327" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; width: 310px;"><a href="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Cycads_at_national_botanical_gardens.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #004276; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Cycads at national botanical gardens" class="size-medium wp-image-5327" height="200" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Cycads_at_national_botanical_gardens-300x200.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="Cycads at national botanical gardens" width="300" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Cycads at national botanical gardens. Image: Deadstar</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">There are many different types of cycads. Some types are already extinct, and others are endangered – there may soon be none left.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Some of the rarest types of cycads grow in South Africa. These are the plants poachers have been stealing. The poachers work at night, taking cycads out of the ground, then cutting them up into smaller plants so it is easier to move them.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">It’s okay to sell some kinds of cycads in South Africa. Poachers sometimes remove all of the leaves from the stolen plants so no one can tell what type it is. That makes it hard to catch the poachers.</div><div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_5328" style="background-color: white; color: #252324; float: left; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left; width: 310px;"><a href="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Cycads.jpg" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #004276; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Cycads in Korakuen, Okayama, Okayama, Japan" class="size-medium wp-image-5328" height="199" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Cycads-300x199.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 960px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="Cycads in Korakuen, Okayama, Okayama, Japan" width="300" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">Cycads in Korakuen, Okayama, Okayama, Japan. Image: Reggaeman</div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Scientists from a university in South Africa want to make a record of the DNA of all types of cycads. (DNA is a set of molecules that contains information about the characteristics of a plant or animal.) Then, plants can be checked as they are being shipped out of the country to make sure no endangered cycads are being sold.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The scientists are working with the International Barcode of Life project which is based in Canada</div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-62101280243864111402012-02-08T03:18:00.000-08:002012-02-08T03:20:44.572-08:00Super Bowl Commercials Don’t Disappoint<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTL9XizwEa8dvnlt2FIArGBtcNx8oj-mn5iwoOB0y0wcq4IA53XFdnKfcf-x-7b-SvIXx7u5hrlq-mKXyq5KS052uFDQYv3aIsHGAehxzK1SMD7uRdG68DaCJ_H0RQvNIYKs75TVkjxAw/s1600/Televison_Hungarian_ORION_1957.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTL9XizwEa8dvnlt2FIArGBtcNx8oj-mn5iwoOB0y0wcq4IA53XFdnKfcf-x-7b-SvIXx7u5hrlq-mKXyq5KS052uFDQYv3aIsHGAehxzK1SMD7uRdG68DaCJ_H0RQvNIYKs75TVkjxAw/s320/Televison_Hungarian_ORION_1957.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old fashion TV in 1957.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Many people like to fast-forward through commercials on TV.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">However, there is one time when many people <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">want</em> to watch the commercials. And that’s during the Super Bowl football game.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The Super Bowl was played last Sunday.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">It has become a tradition that the commercials shown during the Super Bowl are particularly interesting to watch. Many of them are funny.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">For instance, in a Volkswagen ad, a dog sees a Volkswagen go by his house. He wants to chase it, but he’s too fat to fit through the doggie door. So he starts exercising himself to get in shape. He chases his own tennis ball, and he swims laps in a pool. Eventually, he is able to fit through the doggie door and chase the car. (See that commercial <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-9EYFJ4Clo" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #004276; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Volkswagen commercial - doggie door">here</a>.)</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Some of the commercials, like one called “Big Game,” may give you goose bumps. The commercial shows two Port Credit, Ont. recreational-league hockey teams about to get on the ice for one of their normal, weekly games. However, unknown to the players, Budweiser is about to turn their usual game into a huge event. They brought in 600 fans, big screens, music, mascots, announcers and even instant replays, just like an NHL game. The players are completely surprised, as their weekend game with the boys becomes one of the biggest moments in their lives. (See “Big Game” <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0qZYqdsYAg&feature=youtu.be" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #004276; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Big Game - Budweiser commercial, shot in Port Perry, Ontario">here</a>.)</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Another commercial is a take-off on a famous movie called <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Ferris Bueller’s Day Off</em>, from 1986. In the movie, teenager Ferris Bueller skips school to have a series of wild adventures. In the commercial, the actor (a now-grown-up Matthew Broderick) calls in sick to his acting job. He takes off in a Honda to have a series of wild adventures. The commercial is shot just like the movie was. (See that commercial<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhkDdayA4iA" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #004276; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Honda CR-V commercial">here</a>.)</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Commercials during the Super Bowl cost the advertisers a lot of money to run, because the audience is massive.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Many of the commercials that are shown during the Super Bowl are different in other countries than in the U.S., where the Super Bowl is played. However, Canadians and people in other countries can see most of the commercials on the Internet.</div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-90409217827639959312012-02-07T04:49:00.000-08:002012-02-07T04:49:43.095-08:00Toronto Teens Send Legonaut Into (Near-) Space<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/legoman1-300x181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Two students launch a legonaut into space." border="0" src="http://teachingkidsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/legoman1-300x181.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; text-align: left;">Two teenagers in Toronto, Ontario. Have taken a giant leap – for themselves, and for one little Lego man.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The teens launched a Lego figure into near-space.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">They hooked a helium weather balloon, a home-sewn nylon parachute and four cameras to the figure. And then they went out to a soccer field and let their contraption go.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The cameras were set to take pictures every 20 seconds.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">When their figure came back to Earth, they looked at the pictures the cameras had taken.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">They were shocked to see their little Lego figure, clutching his Canadian flag, with a picture of the curved horizon of the Earth in the background.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">That means the figure had gone up very high. In fact, it had gone about three times as high as the average airplane flies (24 kilometres above the Earth).</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">About four months ago, the teens had decided it would be cool to try to launch a Lego figure into space. They spent about $400 on materials and most of their free time on Saturdays on the project.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Neither Mathew Ho nor Asad Muhammad thought their project would work as well as it did.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Since their story was reported by <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Toronto Star</em> newspaper, it has been covered by many journalists around the world. The two have been given free cameras by Canon, asked to speak at engineering competitions and have been given money to cover the cost of their project. Lego also sent them congratulations.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">On Saturday, <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Toronto Star</em> published pictures of the figure–which <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Star</em> is calling a <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Legonaut</em>–with Canadian celebrities including astronaut Roberta Bondar, talk show host George Stroumboulopoulos, politician Olivia Chow, a gorilla at The Toronto Zoo and the Stanley Cup.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The two teenagers attend Agincourt Collegiate high school in Scarborough, Ont., near Toronto. They are in grade 12. Their project wasn’t for school—it was just for fun.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Star</em> said that Muhammad’s family came to Canada from Pakistan when he was in middle school; at that time, Muhammad spoke no English. Other students ignored him, except for Ho—and the two became friends.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The details of the teens’ project are very interesting. The two had to figure out where the balloon would land (about 122 kilometres away), how to keep the cameras working even in the cold atmosphere above the earth, and whether or not they were doing something dangerous or illegal by sending the figure into space.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">For more details about the project, read the original article from <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Toronto Star</em> <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1120808--toronto-teens-send-lego-man-on-a-balloon-odyssey-24-kilometres-high?bn=1" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #004276; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Article in The Toronto Star about the teens and their Lego space project.">here</a></strong></span>.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://photogallery.thestar.com/1122919" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #004276; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Legonaut with Canadian celebs - The Toronto Star">Here</a></strong></span> is The Toronto Star’s Legonaut picture gallery with Canadian celebrities.</div><br />
<br />
<center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MQwLmGR6bPA" width="560"></iframe></center>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8996495616430248005.post-87075848183212252012-02-07T03:49:00.000-08:002012-02-07T03:49:10.571-08:00Europe In The Grip Of A Cold Snap<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89IX80f3aqQ7BCMe0NOTUT6RQ2j0kKLz0uJQm4RwEN-CwT7ewjq9U9iVnU8tQtjkJzZdW0hxn4blTDb-g3Skg9sEU5EHeS3P8ZbipiFqc10AupP2y3dixxWXK8QfwaX2xIasXyZ9OKj0/s1600/untitled.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj89IX80f3aqQ7BCMe0NOTUT6RQ2j0kKLz0uJQm4RwEN-CwT7ewjq9U9iVnU8tQtjkJzZdW0hxn4blTDb-g3Skg9sEU5EHeS3P8ZbipiFqc10AupP2y3dixxWXK8QfwaX2xIasXyZ9OKj0/s1600/untitled.PNG" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px;"> Satellite image of January 26th 2012 SouthEast Europe<br />
snowstorm that brought over 100 cm of snow to some places.<br />
</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Some countries in Europe are experiencing a bitterly cold winter.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Ukraine, in eastern Europe, has been especially hard hit. More than 100 people have died there in the last week, as temperatures dropped as low as -30C. Many of the people who froze to death were homeless people living in the city’s capital, Kiev.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">In Bosnia-Herzegovina, there have been avalanches and strong winds. The country declared a state of emergency.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 1.6; text-align: left;">One woman in Croatia had to have neighbours help her give birth to her baby after the ambulance could not reach her because of a blizzard. She later named her baby</span><span style="line-height: 1.6; text-align: left;"> </span><em style="line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Snjezana</em><span style="line-height: 1.6; text-align: left;">, which is</span><span style="line-height: 1.6; text-align: left;"> </span><em style="line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Snow White</em><span style="line-height: 1.6; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.6; text-align: left;">in Croatian.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">In the UK, about half of the 1,300 flights out of Heathrow Airport have been cancelled due to bad weather. Heathrow is the busiest airport in Europe.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Cars were stopped by heavy snow in London last weekend, bringing major highways to a standstill.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Last Friday, Rome, Italy had the most snow it has had since 1985. Schools were closed and train service was stopped. Tourist sites including the Colosseum and the Roman Forum were also closed.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">About 33,000 homes in Rome had no electricity.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 15px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The Siberian cold front that is causing much of the severe weather, is expected to ease up later this week.</div>Mario2903http://www.blogger.com/profile/03653027209473013082noreply@blogger.com0