2 killed in collisions during icy commute

Two deadly crashes in Pickering and Markham, Ontario, during the brutally icy commute on Thursday morning have claimed the lives of two middle age women. A woman in her mid 50's was killed Thursday morning in a collision at Brock and Taunton roads at around 8 a.m. Taunton Road is a hot spot for icy conditions as well as large amounts of collisions, said by a Durham Regional Police spokesman named Dave Selby. A total of fifteen cars were damaged on Taunton Road, just west of Highway 115, after reportedly sliding of a hill, said police. No injuries were reported in this accident, but there was a lot of property damages. In Markham, a woman died during a brutal four car accident around 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning on McCowan Road, between Elgin Mills Road and 19th Avenue.

Being a resident near Markham Ontario, hearing about these unnecessary death really astonishes me. Every morning I drive through Markham on my way to school, and I am thankful that it wasn't me in that car who died. I experienced these icy roads first hand, and I do no that they were brutal. I saw many accidents on my way up to school as well. I wish that the town had done a better job on making the roads safe for drivers, and I think that these accidents could have been avoided if they had done so, even by applying more salt which would have been a quick fix.

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/940552--2-killed-in-collisions-during-icy-commute?bn=1

19 Bell Canada employees share $32M, for now

The original 19 claimant received their long deserved money today from the disputed $50 million Lotto Max jackpot from the Dec. 31 draw. The recipients say that receiving the money is a 100 percent dream come true. Two claimant groups from Bell Canada in Scarborough, with a total number of 30 people, agreed to split the winnings 30 ways. However, only the original 19 received their money today. The group of 19 consists of 17 women and 2 men. The 19 co-workers will receive one of 30 shares of the jackpot, totaling 1.66 million dollars each. Along with interest totaling approximately 32 million dollars. The other 11 claimants have to take their dispute to court for the 18 million dollars left. The other 11 employees transferred to Bell in Mississauga, but still feel they deserve their cut even though they were not playing during the winning draw.

I feel that the remaining 11 people should not receive any money unless they had a direct relation with the winning ticket. If they were still involved in the pool that shared the ticket by contributing money for tickets, then they are entitled. If they didn't, I think they deserve nothing.

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/938557--19-bell-canada-employees-share-32m-for-now?bn=1

4 Americans killed by Somali pirates

An adventurous quartet of retired yacht enthusiast from California and Washington State were living their dreams, sailing the seas until they were shot Tuesday, by a group of Somali Pirates. The yacht owners Jean and Scott Adam of Marina Del Ray near Los Angelos, along with Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay were taken hostage on Friday several kilometres south of Oman. U.S. naval forces trailing the yacht, quickly boarded the vessel after hearing gunfire, the Americans died of their wounds. Two pirates were killed and 13 were captured. In all pirates are in U.S. custody and are held for possible prosecution.

I personally find this incident appalling. I think that it is crazy that year after Somali pirates cause havoc on ships. Many people have been killed by the pirates in recent years. I find is sad in this case because the Americans on this yacht were delivering Bible's to less fortunate people. They were killed for unnecessary reasons, and I think that these men should be held fully accountable and be punished severely.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/pirates/article/942802--4-americans-killed-by-somali-pirates

Wake Forest coach donates kidney to outfielder

Wake Forest baseball coach Tom Walter donated a kidney to freshman outfielder Kevin Jordan, who suffers from a disease that can lead to kidney failure. Dr. Kenneth Newell, lead the surgeon team at Emory University Hospital, says that he expects both Tom Walter and Kevin Jordan to make full recoveries. The doctors say that the time for both the 42-year-old coach of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball team, Tom Walter and freshman outfielder Kevin Jordan will be at least several months. Jordan became aware of his condition last year as a high school senior when he caught a long lasting flu. He ended up losing 20 pounds and had to go to the hospital, who then told him that his kidney was functioning at only 15 to 20%. This kidney transplant will in fact save Jordan's life, and keep him healthy in the long run.

I have tremendous respect for coach Tom Walter, what he did saved a persons life. It shocked me to know that he gave up a kidney for a kid completely unrelated to him, who was not a senior playing for his team for a couple of years, but was actually a freshmen. This takes a lot of kindness. There is a huge risk to giving up a kidney at his age. Overall I think that what he did was amazing and I'm not sure that I would be able to do it, but saved a life in doing so.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/college/article/935025--wake-forest-coach-donates-kidney-to-outfielder?bn=1

Hate touching public-washroom door handles? Read this

An invention out of the University of Minnesota may put an end to germs on public-washroom door handles. The Toepener is pedal that allows you to open public-washroom doors opposed to using germ infested door handles. It is the brainchild of Max Arndt, a four-year university student at the Carson School of Management. In an entrepreneurship class they were asked to create a new idea for a product or service. 22 year old Arndt came up with the idea for the Toepener. His motivation for creating the Toepener is that he hates touching public-washroom doors.

I agree with this invention. This can be used in every public-washroom globally, and could generate lots of money. This product is cheap to make as it is really only a metal bar, but solves the problem of touching germ infested door handles.

http://www.healthzone.ca/health/newsfeatures/article/934395--hate-touching-public-washroom-door-handles-read-this?bn=1

Egyptian army starts rounding up journalists

On Thursday the Egyptian military began rounding up all the journalist. They do this for the safety of the journalists, and to put a stop to the attacks on them from the supporters of president Hosni Mubarak. Some reporters have been detained by the military as well. Foreign photographers reported a string of attacks on them Thursday morning by Mubarak supporters. A print journalist from Greece was stabbed in the leg with a screwdriver. Another Greek, who was a freelance photographer was punched in the face by a group of men who stopped him on the street, near Tahrir Square and demolished some of his equipment.

I find these attacks on the foreign journalists to be unnecessary. Just last night I was watching Piers Morgan tonight, and I saw how Anderson Copper, an American reporter and his crew were beaten by the supporters of Mubarak while trying to question them. I feel that the reporters have the right to report on a story this large, and whoever is stopping them, especially by beating them, has no right and should be punished.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/932606--egyptian-army-starts-rounding-up-journalists

100 sled dogs killed in B.C. Massacre

The killings took place over two days. The dogs were rounded up, shot or stabbed then all shoved into a mass grave. Nearly ten months after the dogs were killed in Whistler, the RCMP are investigating and the Vancouver Humane Society is calling for an immediate ban on all dog-sled tour operations in the province. In documents recovered by the CKNW radio station, the manager of Outdoor Adventure Whistler gave disturbing description of how he brutally massacred over 100 perfectly healthy sled-dogs (Huskies). The massacres occurred after the tourism industry took a downturn following the Olympics last year. Marci Moriarty, General manager for cruelty investigations for the SPCA, read aloud some of the brutal ways the man murdered the dogs. One dog named Nora, attempted to crawl out of the mass grave after being severely injured, but the worker climbed down and stopped her by killing her. Moriarty strongly believes these acts are of criminal matter and the people behind them deserve to be punished. It is legal to euthanize your own animal with a shot to the head if necessary, but these massacres are of a whole different level. The company was aware of the euthanization and relocation of the animals, but were under the impression it was to be done in a proper matter.

I am extremely appalled by the actions of these men. Being a dog lover myself, this truly sickens me and if I could I would do something about it. These actions need to be acted on, these workers need to be punished harshly. I firmly believe that I life is a life, and no ones life is more important than another, and for me this includes animals as well. I was truly sickened by reading this article, and I will be following up on this report looking for action to be made against these men.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/930749--100-sled-dogs-killed-in-b-c-massacre