China Lives the Train

Mitch Moxley traveled to China to experience the Chinese train. According to his article in the Globe and Mail, it's very different form Canadian trains. It's like a mini village. Everyone is always busy doing something, socializing or doing whatever. The train is a popular way to travel and it its getting faster in China as the country is committed to expanding its high speed rail network. The train truly plays a big part of people's lives in China. In Canada, what the government can do is decrease travel time by train and start building high speed rail if it wants to attract people to take a better way to travel.

By 7 a.m., the train is alive. Old men climb from their berths, stretch and yawn. Young women shuffle to the steel sinks at the end of the car to brush their teeth. The televisions mounted to the walls of each cabin are soon turned on – at full volume – playing a low-budget Chinese historical epic. Before long, the grumpy attendants are back pushing carts down the aisle, selling fruit, toothbrushes and fried chicken in vacuum-sealed packages.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

Related articles

• High-speed future (news.bbc.co.uk)

Nov 2nd is coming!

The U.S midterm is this tuesday. Tuesday is usauly when most big U.S election are held. This election is as most would say about who gets the house or senate, but who wins Nov 3rd. On Nov 3rd no matter what party wins the election there will still be one big problem. "It's the economy stupid" as Bill Clinton says. The Uneploymeant rate is stuck at 9.5%, the deficit is impossible to tackle without major action, Immigration is crazy with 13 million illegal immigrants, Debt is rising at a rate almost impossible to stop, A baloning price on the two wars, The rising CO2 levels and then there is still all the small issues (Abortion, democratic reform, gun control etc...). If the Republicans win it will be terrible. They wouldn't care for the enviroment and have no real plan to help the economy. Then again the Democrats wound't raise taxes and continue imaginating that the deficit as Reagan would say "I am not worried about the deficit it is so big it can take care of itself". No matter who wins Democrat or Republican the problem in the U.S woun't leave that easy. The best is that the Democrats win they at least have great acomplishment that helped the U.S  (from Health care, wall street reform and at least increasing taxes on the rich). Oh and let us not forget the price tag for this life changing election 4 billion and going.

Related articles

• What's at stake in Tuesday's vote (cbc.ca)
• US midterm elections: Barack Obama's world turned upside down as Democrats face electoral disaster (telegraph.co.uk)

Republicans are big brother.

The Republican party is always saying they are against big Government and at means against Obama, but The Republicans became what they hated the most. In the 6 years Bush had control of all three parts of government he went big government. He made crazy deficits the thing they say would happen if the Democrats get control. This is also true today there is a right wing group asking to put in place a 62 amendment that would make Abortion illegal. That is crazy I think a women has a right to chose, but apparently according to some republicans the government has the right to tell people whether or not they should be able to have an Abortion. The Government has no right to regulate companies, but have the right to tell people is they can have an abortion . I think that it isn't the government's job to tell people if they can or can't have an abortion I believe that a women has the right to chose. Some republicans also believe that same sex marriage should be illegal. Republicans say that they should be able to say who can or can't get married. I think that the Government has no right to tell people they can or can't get married. Apparently some small government people like to impose there believes on others while those big Government people think they have no right to impose there beliefs on others

Related articles

• Ill. gov. candidates clash over budget, abortion (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Suspicious Packages Found

Two suspicious packages were found in Dubai and the UK bound for some Chicago synagogues, yesterday. This was a pretty crude attempt at an attack as whatever was in the packages had a stamp on it and went through snail mail. The Canadian response was to send two CF-18s to escort a jumbo jet, just in case there was another bomb on it. It seems that the system works, the response to the packages not overblown. Good work!

Suspicious packages sent from Yemen and postmarked for Chicago synagogues represent a “credible terrorist threat against our country,” U.S. President Barack Obama said as counterterrorism authorities everywhere were sent scrambling to divine the significance of the plot.

Read more at the Globe and Mail. 

Related articles

• Suspicious packages from Yemen found (politico.com)
• Cargo plane bomb plot: how the plot unfolded (telegraph.co.uk)

Arctic Arms Race

The purchase of the F-35s could cause an Arctic arms race with Russia, and we all know who has more weapons, more military personnel and more purchasing power. Besides, it would hardly help relations if we started an arms race. The F-35s would also be useless in the scenario in which we have war with Russia. Russia would invade with thousands of planes, probably provoking a reaction from the United States. This 16 billion dollars could be better spent on other things, like health care, education and maybe, more search-and -rescue planes to help save lives, not harm relations. The F-35 deal is a waste of money and should be reconsidered for another plane.

OTTAWA — A government purchase of F-35 fighter jets could cause "angst in Russia" and trigger an Arctic arms race, Arctic sovereignty expert Michael Byers said Thursday.

"I don't want my country to be the country that starts an Arctic arms race," Byers said as debate over the government's plan to spend $16 billion on 65 of the F-35s raged on several fronts on Parliament Hill.

Read more at the Calgary Herald.