Madoff's Ponzi Scheme

The name Bernard Madoff was a legendary name on Wall Street until he was arrested December 12, 2008 for pulling off a multibillion-dollar fraud scheme. His scheme is most likely the largest scandal in Wall Street's history. His actions are considered and related to history's Ponzi Scheme. The Ponzi scheme is named after the man Charles Ponzi who managed other's money promising a 50% profit within 45 days. However, in reality Ponzi only took the money the new investors invested in him and gave it to the old investors who wished to withdraw some money. As long as old investors did not withdraw too much at a time, the plan would work well. As for Madoff, he began to run out of new investors who would have "payed" off the old investors. Thus, he ran out of money to pay for the "profit" he promised to the investors. Overall, the vast amount of companies that had trusted Madoff to manage their money and had not withdrawn their money, ended up losing million/billions of dollars. Not only did the companies that invested in Madoff suffer, the companies/people that invested in those companies ultimately suffered as well.

Madoff's actions undoubtfully affected Canadians as well. As Madoff is a well-known money manager, there must be Canadians who had trusted him as well. Madoff's actions had caused companies to lose as much as 50 billion dollars, which is completely unacceptable. It is in fact fearful that a 70-year-old man is able to pull off such a scheme without being caught before resulting in such damage. There must be a firmer and enforced force that monitor such people's actions to avoid future misfortunes.





http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/bernard_l_madoff/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=madoff&st=cse

Man confesses to slaying 12-year-old girlfriend's family

Jeremy Steinke, a 25-year-old man living in Calgary was accused of slaying his 12-year-old girlfriend's family as he claimed, was due to the reason of being on drugs. The girl is only known as J.R. As he recounted, when he origninally met J.R, he assumed she was 16, not 12. "At the time I really didn't think too much about it,” Steinke said, deciding that when she would be 18, he would be 29 and they planned to get married. The devastating murder occured on a night when Steinke was on booze, marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy as he went to the girl's house. He claimed J.R had wanted to sneak out from her house as usual with him. Steike crawled through the basement window and saw J.R's mother who screamed. Panick took the hold of Steike and he whipped out his knife, stabbing the mother 12 times. Not long after, the father arrived with a screwdriver and a fight broke out. Steike was again forced to take out his knife. Eventually, both parents lay dead with their son, who was slashed to death by his own sister, J.R.

The murder of the three lives must be blamed on the fact that there is still a vast amount of child abuse in the society. Jeremy Steinke was abused and excluded from the society as even at a small age, his parents had divorced and his mother constantly choosing different husbands and boyfriends; some who had abused him. Not only did Jeremy suffer at home, he faced problems alone as he was bullied and eventually took drugs since he wanted to be 'cool.' Overall, the amount of child abuse that is present within today society is horrific. Jeremy Steinke's murder shows everyone the result of those who endure abuse for an extended period of time. Thus, the law of child abuse must be enforced and a higher punishment placed for offenders of this crime.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081201.wsteinke1201/BNStory/National/home

To have or not to have Wind Farm?

Approximately 1000 people filled the Sir Wilfrid Laurier Collegiate's auditorium as the chief executive of Toronto Hydro, David O'Brian, promised a meeting on Monday. The meeting consisted of deciding against or for the wind farm project that would potentially cover a 26-kilometer span to 2 to 4 kilometers offshore. Some residents involved with this situation, were afraid of the soil being reaped of his natural beauty and property values. On the other hand if this project were to initiate, the job loss in the manufacturing sector of North America would improve and balance. Premier Dalton McGuinty claims the province must become more accepting when matters that involve the future of power generation comes at hand. Toronto Hydro and City Councillor Paul Ainslie's office have discussed before, but still not date has been determined.

Understandably, those who are not in favour of the wind farm are so because of NIMBY (Not In My BackYard)However, it is vital to understand that by taking action and creating the wind farm, it will provide benefit to our society as whole. The immense job loss in North America (manufacturing sector) will be offset and our environment will become a cleaner place. Just as Dalton McGuinty recognizes the major resident concern, "I understand that. But we have some tough choices to make. We need to open up our minds to these possibilities."

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/543359

York strike to change 50,000 students lives

With the York University strike by the 3903 teacher assistants, graduate assistants and contract faculty have unevitably forced the 50,000 York students to change their plans for their lives. As the strike has lasted 14 days already,the majority of the students, particularly fourth year students have begun to plan otherwise for their future years. With the growing time, the chances of plans being distrupted for summer jobs, earning money for their university fees,etc will be higher. "I paid $800 to apply to law school, which would be wasted if I don't get my degree this year," a student said. "This is a big deal."


The fact that unions are able to form is clearly the reason why 50,000 students must sit and wait for the outcome of the strike while their future plans are being ruined. Unions must not be allowed in the general society and the York University strike is the perfect reason and example. Unions are only a selfish group which thrives for their own good and in the process destroys the society and economy, hardly considering the overall outcome. As such, the union in the York strike must be aborted so the 50,000 students can once again return to their studies.




http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/540192

3-year driver curb for youths

Ontario's young drivers have now faced a new legislation of driving. Young drivers now face up to three years of restriction rather than the previous two. Changes of the legislation include zero tolerance of drinking and speeding and a limit of one teenage friend passenger. According to the law just presented today, November 18th, 2008, young drivers with G1 and G2 licenses would be on probation for 18 months rather than 12. G2's advantage is to be able to drive as many passenges that is wanted except for the times between midnight and 5 am. "Teenage drivers are 3 1/2 times more likely to be involved in a fatal collision," said a source familiar with the legislation being introduced by Transportation Minister Jim Bradley.

As the new legislation of driving is introduced to the Ontario society, the list lengthens with the amount of laws imposed for the young drivers. Clearly, teens who are introduced to this new law are not in favour as it restricts their actions and plans.Yet the enforcement of prohibiting drinking and driving will have a significant future benefit. The original high percentage of teen deaths from crashes will ideally decrease and the streets at night will become a safer place.


http://www.rmiia.org/Auto/Teens/Teen_Driving_Statistics.htm
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/538684

Brandon Crisp Found Dead

15-year-old Brandon Crisp ran away from home after his parents confiscated his video games on October 13. A week after, his body was discovered and his death seemed to have been caused by a trauma to the chest, falling out of a tree. As the family recounted the story, Brandon Crisp was addicted to the popular Xbox game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warefare and it was affecting his social life and education. After the parents removed the Xbox console, Brandon threatened to run away. His father, believing he would soon return, helped him pack and let him leave. But Brandon never returned. Many were involved in the search of Brandon Crisp such as his schoolmates and Microsoft. (helped by asking online players on the Xbox)Unfortunately, deer hunters found him dead in a thick forest 2 kilometers from his abandoned bicycle.

Although video and computer games are simply a form of entertainment, there are undoubtfully more of those similar to Brandon whose social life have been broken by games. Brandon Crisp's death unmistakeably represents those who are addicted to games in today's society. But should we blame the parents or kids? The majority of the fault can be found in the parents as the parent's job is to monitor their child's actions out of their own best interest. To have allowed Brandon to go to the extent where his life was a part of the game is mostly his parent's fault for not taking earlier action. Thus, video and computer games can be exposed to children, but it is the parent's montoring that is needed in order to refrain the child's addiction.



http://www.thestar.com/article/531591
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/536910

Earth on its way for Eco 'crunch'

Globally known, the world will eventually "overpopulate." Studies from the Global Footprint Network shows that overpopulation or ecological debtors will lead to a world where natural resources will not be available to all. Ecological Debtors are those who consume or overuse lands and resources to satisfy their own needs. A member of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) states that by 2030, the needs must extend to another planet in order to appease the average's "ecological footprint." A footprint is essentially the amount of Earth's land and sea needed to provide the resources used by a person. On Earth, the available amount of hectares per person is 2.1. Canada alone requires 7.83 hectares per person.

Not only does an overpopulation affect the daily needs of an average human, lack of resources will influnce stocks and the economy as a whole. An ecological recession will evidently devastate the world as resources and lands will become scarce and little. For example, international president of WWF, Emeka Anyaoku,claims that more than 2 trillion dollars lost on stocks and shares was raised to 4.5 trillion dollars worth of resources destroyed forever each year.Such dangerously potential futures must be countered and actions done in order to prevent an ecological downfall.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7696197.stm

When to use Aspirin?

As it is commonly known, aspirin is used for decreasing the risk of coronary artery disease, heart attacks and strokes by about 25%. As a result, those with diabetes believed to have a great chance of having a stroke and heart attack, take these pills hoping to minize the chances. However, these pills have their bad side. Study leader Professor Jill Belch, from University of Dundee, said aspirin was infamous cause of hospital admission for gastrointestinal bleeding. In addition, study showed that those who have not already had a heart attack or stroke and take aspirin, does nothing to the chances of disease. "We need to think again about using it for primary prevention." Unfortunately, aspirin's characteristics is overviewed by many and thousands buy it over counters. Judy O'Sullivan, a British Heart Foundation cardiac nurse, concludes:"This study adds weight to the evidence that aspirin should not be prescribed to prevent disease of the heart and circulation to people with diabetes, and other high risk groups, who do not already have symptoms of the disease."

Evidently, many people believe that aspirin is beneficial and hardly do they realize that there are severe effects. For instance, those who have diabetes fear a stroke or heart attack thus taking aspirin, yet they do not neccessarily have the disease. As a result, they eventually get gastrointestinal bleeding, a common cause for admission to hospital. Should there not be a stronger warning? I believe that the studies found should be told to the doctors as so they can ensure that patients especially with diabetes are aware and conscious of the dangers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7673587.stm

Dion's Signficant Loss and Harper's minority

On October 14, 2008, Stephane Dion expierenced the most pressing defeat in history
by the Conservatives who were led by Stephen Harper. The dramatic diffence in the loss of seats compared to the previous elections, may eliminate Dion and cause him to step down from his position. Already, the Liberals are planning to prepare a vote for Dion's step down. Dion's losses were due to his lack of insight in his decisions to improve the economy. In addition, the Quebecers did not appreciate Dion from previous years of John Chretien. However, Harper is not in a perfect position despite his win. Steven Harper had not recieved a majority mandate and may face troublesome times if other parties confront Harper's minority government

Clearly, Harper's win in the election will not keep him smiling for too long. As Harper has only achieved a minority government, trouble may find him fighting for his seat once again. As a minority government, Dion and Jack Layton have the chance of beginning of a coalition. One wrong move by Harper will possibly start a coalition and remove him from his seat he happily recieved. It is to my belief, that regardless of Harper's actions, Dion will find a chance to strike back at the Conservatives.

http://www.thestar.com/federalelection/article/517641

A "new" listeriosis outbreak at Maple Leaf Plant

The massive cleanup assigned to prevent the listeriosis outbreak seems to have been rendered useless. The re-opening and tight inspection of the foods seem to be flawed, as there is "new" listeriosis at the Maple Leaf Plant. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency states that there have been 4 samples tested positive out of thousands of samples. Already, listeriosis has killed 20 people worldwide. The plant was originally closed on August 20, until it re-opened on September 17. Fortunately, no products were sold to the public. With information that only 4 products were tested positive out of five thousand, the company and Canadian Food Inspection Agency will withhold the distribution of products, quarantine related products and improve their sanitation efforts.

It is fortunate that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency carries out their jobs respectfully. Without the help of this agency, another major outbreak of listeriosis could have devasted the society resulting in an addition of deaths. As a citizen of Canada, the Maple Leaf Plant was expected to have improved their sanitation and meat products. Their actions of nearly allowing yet another outbreak of listeriosis products may completely lose the society's trust for any of meat products sold in Canada. It is apparent the consumation and business of meats will slide down in Canada drastically.




http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/514585

Man charged in bus slaying to go in trial

In late July, Mr. McLean,a young carnival worker was stabbed to death and his head severed, a second-degree murder by Vincent Li. The murder took place on a Greyhound bus in Alberta when Mr. Li suddenly stood up and began attacking Mr. McLean. “If someone commits an offence while suffering a disease of the mind and they don't know their actions are wrong, they can't be held criminally responsible," said defence lawyer Allan Libman. To ensure that Mr. Li is indeed mentally ill, Mr. Li has been co-operating with doctors and consenting to treatment. Although there will be results on his mental state of mind, details of the psychiatric assessment will not be released as it may violate Mr. Li's rights. A trial is soon expected on November 6. If he is criminally responsible, he would receive treatment and be instituionalized. Clearly upset with the news, Mr. McLean's family is suing Greyhound, the federal government, and Mr. Li


Does the fault truly lie in the man with a diseased mind who had no intention to kill? Although Mr. Li may be one of the many victims to murder others upon the mental state of mind, any murder relating to the reason of mental illness should be punished accordingly. The excuse of mental illness gives no rights to kill an innocent person. If Mr. Li was to have been charged falsely, this instance is essentially showing that anyone with mental issues are legal to murder anyone by "accident." It would be only right for Mr. Li to be placed in an asylum under watch for the same amount of time that should be done in a prison.







http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081006.wgreyhoundtrial1006/BNStory/National/home?cid=al_gam_mostview

Court extends driving ban to seven years

Two young men who have killed a taxi driver while speeding, avoids jailtime after the Ontario Court of Appeal rejected the Crown's attempt to overturn their conditional sentences. Although the two 20 year olds will not do time in jail, they will have to spend the rest of their sentences under house arrest. In addition, they will be banned from driving for 7 years. Originally, in March 2007, Justice John Moore sentenced each to a year of house arrest and curfew and two years of probation. The decision was the fuel to a fiercesome uproar from the public as the decision was extremely looked down upon. This was because the victim was an immigrant of Pakistan and was about to become a citizen when he was killed the night of Jan 24, 2006. Moreover, his family, would be living without a father or husband.


The fact that two teens can evade jail time with the actions of murder is simply wrong and unjust. Their actions have affected the victim's family severely and set an example to the society's teens that actions such as theirs can be let off. Rather than house arrest, these teens should do their respective time in jail instead of becoming "conditioned." Such decisions from the court raises the question, would the teens have been let off if they had killed a pregnant women rather than an innocent man?





http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/510928

Criminal Justice System fails a innocent man

David Milgaard, an innocent man accused for a crime he did not commit, sat in jail for 23 years. It is only just for Millgard to be released from prison, according to a Saskatchewan inquiry into the case. David Milgaard was 16 at the time when a man named Gail Miller was killed in 1969. David was convicted a year later and only released from prison in 1992. As DNA tests were not available then, Larry Fisher, the real criminal was eventually convicted. The case was only reopened after DNA tests were available. "The criminal justice system has failed David Milgaard," concludes Edward MacCallum, the Alberta judge who headed the inquiry. As a result of this misunderstanding, Milgaard eventually recieved a $10 million compensation package from the Saskatchewan government.


Is a $10 million compensation package worth the time for a 16 year old who spent 23 years in prison? The Canadian criminal justice system is flawed and requires a great deal of improvement. For a teenager to have lost half of their life sitting in prison for a crime that they didn't commit is clearly unjustified. After the experience of wrongfully accusing David Millaard, the Saskatoon Police service claim to have new methodologies and technologies to reduce the chances of wrongfully accusing. Despite the assurances of the police department, there will be undoubtfully a great deal of victims in Canada who will suffer the unjust punishment. Overall, there should be a greater amount of money spent towards improving the justice system than the amount spent on compensation packages.


http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/09/26/milgaard-advance.html

Is red wine as good as grape juice?

As study has shown everyone, red wine indeed benefits the cardiovascular structure of the human body. Yet, grape juice, red wine's "sibling" is now suggested to have equal benefit to the human body. Alcohol overal is said to be capable of relaxing blood vessels and increase the levels of HDL, the 'good' cholestrol. The substances inside wine, resveratrol and flavonoids, seem to be also found in some grape juice. These substances are especially found in red and dark Concord grapes. Studies show that grape juice, like alcohol, can reduce the risk of blood clots and prevents LDL ('bad' cholestrol) from attaching onto arteries. In a study, a subject was given two servings of grape juice in 15 people with coronary artery disease. Happily, the subjects's blood flow and oxidation of LDL had improved. Oxidized LDL can severly damge the arteries.


The fact that grape juice appears to be equally beneficial as red wine to the human body is great knowledge to human civilization. As it is well known, there is a horrifying amount of smokers in the world. For exmaple, in the United States alone, 23.9% of the men and 18.1% of the women smoke. Cigarette smoking is one of the major factors that are causing men and women to have LDL. (unhealthy cholestrol)Fortunately as studies have proven, grape juice is a new step towards healthy bodies in the world.



http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/health/23real.html?em

Viva Strike Deadline

Those in York Region who depend on the Viva bus are now warned to schedule a carpool for Monday morning since time is running out for the company that operates the transit system. The two sides, the drivers and the company, had a conference that stopped on Monday, September 15 and the workers set a final deadline for midnight Sunday. Therefore, if both sides do not meet up and agree with the wants of the workers, then there will be no buses to ride on Monday. York Region's Viva's buses carry more than 35,000 passengers on a ordinary day. Clearly, the amount of people riding the buses will have a great impact as the days continue without the Viva bus. Drivers are wishing for a pay increase of 3 per cent in each year of a three-year agreement. Viva drivers are currently capable of earning $20.75 after three years of work. The union proposal would put that up to $21.37.

With the possible strike of Viva Bus drivers, more than 35,000 people must resort to other means of transportation. I believe the fault lies in the drivers because they are aware that the union practically must agree with the contract. If there is no agreement, more than 35,000 workers in the society will be uncapable or find it difficult to arrive at work. The blame will then seem to lie in the Union. However, the fact that Viva bus drivers are willing to give up their jobs and affect the economy greatly by demanding for a couple dollars of increase, gives others in the society doubt whether their actions are correct.








http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/502346

Prison Riot Resulting in 23 deaths

Around 23 deaths occured in a Mexico prison, La Mesa. The deaths began when a prisoner was apparently abused and beaten to death by guards. This was the 'spark' that caused the inmates to grow wild. The prisoners took advantage of visiting time and began rioting with shovels to break through the walls. 4 died from clashes and 19 died from a new rioting on Wednesday. The prison that was built for 3000 people was soon overcrowded with 8000 people who's family members were worried about the prison conditions. It was said that the conditions given to the prisoners may have been cramped since they were not allowed out for 24 hours.


As it seems that the fault lies with the Mexican guards and faculty staff, the Mexicans have blame for their actions too. Tijuana, just south of San Diego, is a major section for drug trafficking and has an increase of violence in recent months, even as thousands of troops were sent to the city and across the country to search for illegal action. More than 2,700 people have died in result of drug violence within Mexico. Not only is there a notorious amount of illegal dealers, prisoners were discovered living lifestyles full of contraband goods, brothels and even restaurants. Police found out in 2002 and destroyed the particular part of the jail. In my opinion, the society of Mexico may be unstable and not secured tightly as there are a number of drug dealers. Whether the society itself consists of people such as guards who abuse the prisoners may be the reason for its unstability.





http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-mexico-riot.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Steven Harper or Stephane Dion?

“Stephen Harper is only concerned about the next day, the next poll, to show gimmicks to buy your vote for the next election. Never he's concerned about the next generation,” Mr. Dion said.

Harper believes that if there was to be a market crash, it would have happened a while ago. As there was a collapse of the second largest U.S. investment house Monday, comes as the Toronto stock market tumbled, and the Canadian dollar continued to lose value and the price of oil dropped below $95 U.S. a barrel, that was Harper's response. His belief is that there are significant problems in U.S., but nothing to cause the economy to go in recession.
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion blames Harper for being a lousy economic manager who spent money on the election but caused Canada's economy to a state which affects the U.S. as well. Dion claims that he will cut taxes in particular areas that would affect the economy such as incomes, savings, and business profits. He will also fund 250 million dollars in fuel-efficient fishing boats. Dion states that over the 6 months in 2008, Canada has been slow in the economic growth and that more jobs had been lost in July than any month since 1991.
Harper's idea of benefiting the economy is by helping those who are self-employed. “Ironically, self-employed Canadians who are successful and who create jobs must pay into the EI system on behalf on their employees, but cannot access those benefits themselves,” Mr. Harper said. “This is not right.”



As Dion seems to be concerned about fishing boats, Steven Harper is concerned about the more important factors of the society. From a point of view,fishing boats are of slight benefit to the society. The society should not be helped by funding in fishing boats. Does the society really want to increase in fishermen? Is saving fuel a major factor of the society? I believe that Harper's idea of helping the self-employed is a more effective method to aid the society. Since those who are self-employed to not have the benefits of the EI (Employment Insurance) even though they pay for it. Harper's idea helps the society's small businesses which will help others in the future








http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080915.welxnmarkets0915/BNStory/politics/home

Gas Price Constantly Rising

Gasoline continues to rise in some parts of Canada on Saturday after a increase of about 13 cents the day before. Around the Toronto area, the average price was more than $1.38. An oil industry observer, Liberal Dan McTeague, states that the increase of oil was due to the Huricane Ike. "The Colonial Pipeline that supplies most of northeastern United States has just closed in Houston, Texas, as a result of the hurricane," McTeague had said. Even so, McTeague suggests that the gasonline prices will continue to rise even after the weekend. Mcteague also points out that since there is no competition between oil companies, they are capable of creating any price for any excuse they want. Similarly, Mel Fruitman, vice-president of the Consumers' Association of Canada, blames oil companies for simply gaining profit on the recent events. In McTeague's opinion, the rise in prices can be involved with the fears over hurricane Ike, but the oil industry itself is also partially responsible.

With gasoline continuing to rise, car industries may slowly decrease in business. Middle-class citizens who strive to own a car, have no choice but to buy one that conserves oil lest their money eventually be consumed by the oil prices. The more expensive and gasoline devouring cars such as the four-wheeled drive, SUV and pick-up trucks may reduce down to smaller businesses. The production of solar powered cars may begin to mass produce, but the middle or lower-class may have problems obtaining such an expensive car. To keep up with such oil prices even with a smart car may prove difficult for some in the society.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080913/gas_prices_080913/20080913?hub=Canada

Paranoia or safety first?

9/11 has seriously affected the lives of the United States people on a safety level. The United States has begun to tighten the security on the boarders between Canada. There is the fear that illegal immigrants will attempt to cross between the two countries, passing through the dense forest to meet up with a rival with a car on the other side. This method of traveling between countries has worried the U.S authorities for the reason that they had caught a man attempting to enter the U.S with explosives in 1999. The tight security throughout the country has resulted in a score of arrests from illegal immigrants or drug dealers who attempt to enter the land by foot or by boat. Security cameras and motion sensors have been installed to enforce the prevention of strangers.

Although most people would agree with higher security, some complain for the inconvienience of business. Matott, living on the boarder of U.S says that the security has hindered hay transportation. "It's deterred a lot of local people from going up," says Mattot. Despite the fact that it is safe to ensure the safety of U.S citizens, it has been a major problem to the business of outcoming and incoming of business people and the transportation of goods.

http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/492206

Growth of listeriosis?

Do only meats have listeriosis? The answer is no. Fresh cut mushrooms are now seen to have listeriosis bacteria inside as well. This has been discovered due to the raised caution to contamination of food. Although there is no direct relation with the 13 deaths caused by meat in Maple Leaf Products, in a way, it is a relief that another food has been spotted and set aside to the list of non-edible foods. An expert states that listeriosis is a widespread bacteria and when the effort to find the bacteria is made, there may be even more foods contaminated with such a bacteria.

The beginning of listeriosis, may yet bring further trouble to the economy and business in Canada. The infection of listeriosis has brought down the business of wide variety of stores and restaurants. Not only are the store owners affected, the greater companies selling meats to others may close down. Furthermore, the discovery of listeriosis is only a minor problem to what may happen to other foods in the future.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080904.wlmushroom04/BNStory/National