Canadian Pride, Is It in You?

Canada is a country that is not given enough credit, even by its own citizens. Canada, a growing multicutural society, continues to be a land of freedom and possibilties. It is a country where people from other nations come to seek opportunities that are only offered in Canada. So then why is it that Canadian citizens are not sharing the pride when it comes to Mcleans latest survey?

It is possible that although Canada offers a vast amount of things that other countries do not posses, that those living here take it for granted, and take the opportunity to complain. It is true that as human beings, we are never fully satisfied, therefore we find ways to criticize even the best situations.

As a Canadian citizen I would like to share my pride in my country, but it is not only because I live here, but because of the list of things that Canada stands for and what it provides for people all over the world, no matter their class, race or gender.

Song Demonstrating Canadian Pride

Immigrants agree that Canada is a multicultural society that provides equal opportunities for everyone. Though we are considered "Canadians", it is not a huge melting pot like our neighbours the United States. Canada encourages citizens of different cultures to practice their unique forms and traditions, while accepting them for who they are. They are not forced to be "Canadian-ized", rather to continue in the progress of making Canada a completely multicultural society.

Canada is a peaceful country, and although we are aiding in the Iraq war, we have never been attacked ourselves. It is a country where one can feel safe and trust that they will not be forced into a war. The United States does have a lot of influence on Canada, however, we are still able to hold our grounds. Our army is not as powerful as some of the other armies around the world, but who needs a large army when your country is loved by the majority of nations?

Robin William's displaying another point of view, his "solutions" for negative issues

Canada itself is beautiful, and although our population is quite large, our lands still consists of large forests,unique forms of natural beauty and room to continue growing. Though the weather can be quite chilly, though not enough for igloos, Canada possesses a wide variety of elements. We have the oceans, the mountains, the prairies etc. Canada's natural beauty makes it a wonderful and prosperous place to live.

Canada also has free health care, one thing that is extremely important. Without free health care there would be many more complications and it would provide unjust barriers for those of a poorer class. We look at our neighbours, the United States and we can see how brutal it is just for one visit to the hosipital.

Joe, displaying what it actually means to be a Canadian

I think that as Canadians, we are at times spoiled with many of the things that our country provides for us. There are many things that one can complain about, but when comparing Canada to other nations overall, they just don't even come close. There will never be a perfect poltician, or low enough taxes. There will always be certain situations that make people unhappy, but Canada, at least in my opinion is a great place to live. If one does not think so, take a trip to somewhere else in the world and look at the differences, and perhaps than they will be able to recognize how well off our country is, and that they should have more Canadian Pride.

A Real "Shocker"

The Vancouver airport incident shocked many Canadian citizens. The incident involved Robert Dziekanski, a Polish man who was trying to communicate with his mother who was somewhere in the airport. Flustered and exhausted, Dziekanski began to show his anger by throwing articles around such as a chair and a laptop. Once his actions were called to the attention of the security, there was a language barrier which caused even greater frustration. The guards, for some ridiculous reason decided that it was best to use a taser to "solve their problem". Dziekanski received several shocks from the gun and unfortunately, died later on that day.

Video of the incident with commentary

I believe that this is both appaling and embarassing for the Vancouver airport and their security staff. One has to question the actions of the security gaurds involved and why they resorted to such treatment, as opposed to finding a different solution. This could have resulted in a much better way, rather than have an innocent man die.

At no point was there an apparent threat to the citizens within the airport, so why use such harsh force against an innocent man? What the right thing to do would have been to get an interpretor within the airport to come and try to counsole Mr. Dziekanski. Although not everyone would throw chairs or lap tops, I believe it is safe to say that if a majority of Canadians put themselves in Dziekanski's place, that they would have been irritated if a bunch of gaurds approached them and started questioning and harassing them, especially if you had been in an airport for ten hours and could not understand a word they were saying.

Paul Pritchard's point of view
An elderly man roaming around the wrong section of the terminal, speaking another language sent security in with a biased opinion. They went into the situation believing it to be someone who might be a terrorist/ pose a bug threat to the citizens in the building. That is why they used a taser gun. However, if Dziekanski was not using any force against the secutiry guasrds themselves why did they have to use a taser gun. I believe that security will have to come up with better responses to scenarios because it is obvious that this one did not prove to be successful.

Also, the fact that this incident was caught on tape by a bystander has become an issue for the police and airport security. The gaurds prior claims stated that the only reason they applied force to him was because he was kicking and making "threatening" movements towards them. Fortunately,Paul Pritchard's tape recording showed the guards dishonesty and the situation is being questioned further.

Airport security, going too far in the wrong direction?
Unfortunately for Dziekanski, he was not able to find his mother that day. His mother has said that his death could have been avoided and that he died for no specific cause. A life could have been saved if it weren't for acting before taking the right step of thinking about what one should really do, as opposed to a frightening cowardly act against an innocent man .

For more information:

http://www.thestar.com/article/277476

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071124/campbell_apology_071124/20071124?hub=CTVNewsAt11

Give us a Recipe for Disaster, and We Will Love You

Looking for a good read? One that is filled with the latest gossip, dare devil women, drunken mothers, and the latest patient who checked into rehab? If so, it will not be too much of an effort to find something that will leave you satisfied. It is a simple as one, two, three, or rather, just a trip to your nearest grocery or drug store. Yes, once you enter those stores you will be introduced to a world of gossip brought to you by magazines such as Star, Cosmopolitan, Extra and the list goes on. However, don't be surprised if you fail to find that much negative gossip on your favourite male celebrities. Modern magazines tend to have their focus on women celebrities rather than male celebrities. These magazines are full of women celebrities and their mishaps.
If one were to take a good look around at the different magazines that are produced now a days, they would find it very hard to find many articles that focused on male celebrities. And, if they are lucky enough to find some, odds are the focus of the article is on the males looks and what he is looking for in a female companion, rather than a story about how he was seen drunk in public. From personal experience i see a prominent difference in articles dealing with male and female celebrities and I think that the answer is pretty obvious, though I don't agree with it, as to why.

Females are known to be conniving, manipulative and very harsh towards one another, and therefore they LOVE to hear negative gossip about one another. Magazines would not make half as much money as they do now if the focus were on male celebrities and the illegal things they've commited. It is sad, but it is true. It is our society that is intrigued about the negative rather than the positive.

Tabloids often excuse the crude behaviour of men, referring back to the belief that "boys will be boys", but this should not be an excuse to only focus on the negative aspects of women. There are those few celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Britney Speares who crave the negative attention, because that's all they are able to get since their careers have gone down the drain. In these instances it is hard to avoid posting articles on their crude behaviour, but after a while I think that most would agree with me when I say that it gets tiring to hear and read about the same few "ladies".

Our "ladies at their very best

Magazines and tabloids in general should focus on the good rather than the ugly in pop culture. it would be interesting to read about more than drunken mothers and the latest in who is divorcing who. However, I do not believe that magazines will take that turn, at least not for a long while.

Count the number of women compared to the number of men in this video

The males that are acknowledged in the tabloids are in fact given grace even though they may have commited an offence. it is a mere slap on the wrist for them, and it doesn't take long for them to recover because of the way they are presented and the attention that they receive from the female readers. This is one thing that should change because not only is it biased, but in a sense, it is demeaning towards women. The fact that women are suckers towards men and only want to hear about " the top 10 things Matthew McConaughey looks for in a woman", should be offensive. One's sex appeal should not be a factor in deciding whether or not they receive positive or negative attention once they have committed an offense.

Does anyone else agree with this man's opinion?

Tabloids are aimed to entertain and maintain a widespread audience of women. The question we should ask ourselves is why are we buying something that focuses on the mishaps of someone else's life, their mistakes and ultimately feeding the egos of celebrities after they act in a certain manner.




Find more of the latest gossip at:

http://www.seventeen.co.za/site.php
http://www.starmagazine.com/
http://www.people.com/people
http://www.usmagazine.com/

Rotten Apples?

The music industry has been suffering since the age of Kazaa, LimeWire and other successful free-downloading systems came about. However, I would not go as far as to say that programs and companies such as Apple, are "killing the music industry". NBC, a broadcasting network, made an agreement with Apple, enabling their shows to be shown and downloaded through Apple's itunes. Unfortunately for NBC, their plan did not work out as they had intended it to. Believing that they were not receiving their fair share, NBC cancelled the contract with Apple and ever since has been arguing that Apple is the cause for the decline in the music industry's revenues.

Apple's itunes is a program that is accessible once one has purchased an mp3 or ipod. One can download the program to set up and buy music or videos for their ipod or audio device. Instead of providing illegal downloads, Apple charges ninety-nine cents for each download, no matter the artist. It's main purpose is to provide music at a decent price for its customers. NBC however, sees itunes as a negative influence. Jeff Zucker, the chief executive of NBC, argues that it is because of Apples itunes that record sales have been declining, and that even with the ninety- nine cents charged per song, it is not enough.

Some money is better than no money, or at least that's my opinion. Also, I believe that it is beneficial for music consumers to be able to download a song individually. Long ago are those days when we would purchase a C.D. for $18.99, only to go home and discover that the single we have heard on the radio, is the only decent song on the entire disk.

NBC's videos did not do as well as they had thought, but it is not necessary to place the blame on Apple, which has been extremely successful. Odds are other broadcasting companies would love to have a contract with Apple. Zucker must have scrapped the bottom of the barrel real hard to come up with the arguments he has presented, and even then, they are extremely weak. Like all temper tantrums, this one must come to an end, and hopefully Zucker will be sent to his room to reflect on his actions, and hopefully learn to think and be practical before he places anymore accusations. Sour milk and rotten apples, Zucker will have to get over it.

For more information:

Apple:http://www.apple.com/

itunes:http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

NBC:http://www.nbc.com/