News Worth Knowing

Feb 1st
Pythons blamed for decline in wildlife
Rabbits, raccoons, bobcats and foxes being devoured by invasive reptile

Burmese pythons have invaded Florida's ecosystem and decreased the population of Florida's wildlife. Larger efforts have been made by Florida's conservationists to capture and relocate these superior predators.


This article is a direct link to one of my all-time favourite shows, Python Hunters. It's about a group of conservationists in Florida running all around the state capturing invasive species and rehabilitating them into a controlled environment. The most prominent species they come across in their travels is the Burmese python, hence the title of the show. With invasive species on the rise and significant drops in wildlife population, environmentalism and conservationism have become very promising careers in Florida. Anyone with a good knowledge of reptiles and ecology would see this drastic controversy as a golden opportunity. British Columbia is also home to several species of invasive plants and have been known to 'choke' out our provinces native plant life.

Invasive species can be a large nuisance to wild life and costs communities lots of money to get rid of them. However, people interested in an ecology-based career could very much profit from such phenomenons.

News Worth Knowing

Intellectual piracy legislation puts Net at crossroads

Wikipedia has shaped the way the common person accesses and uses information. In protest to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), Wikipedia took its English version offline.

I find Wikipedia to be a rather convenient website for information regarding pretty much anything. Their articles provide a good amount of both primary and secondary sources. The only criticism I have is how they allow anyone with an account to freely edit any of their pages. In grade 8, I was researching the study of ions and looked up Wikipedia's article on ions. According to Wikipedia, ions have a neutral charge and are made of several kinds of gas particles. Some of the things you find on their articles can  either be well sourced, paraphrased information or just crap posted by yet another internet troll. 


Despite Wikipedia's major flaw of allowing its users to edit just about anything on their articles, it has proven itself to be the internet's most significant source of general information. It would be a great loss to students and scholars if Wikipedia were to be shut down by SOPA.

News Worth Knowing

Jan 19


Captain placed under house arrest as ship rescue effort suspended
Judge says skipper, called 'most hated man in Italy," might try to conceal evidence if released

He's is known across the globe as "Captain Coward". Personally, I like this new title bestowed upon him; it's catchy and it suits him perfectly. It's one thing to crash your own ship while trying to show off -- whether you're a professional or not, we all make stupid mistakes every now and then. But it's an entirely different matter to abandon your duties as captain, to abandon your crew and everyone else that would need your help in a time of such crisis. And to top it off, instead of taking full responsibility he comes up with the worst excuses to defend his accountability. Although the scenario of 'falling into a lifeboat' while the ship is tilted into the water sounds reasonable enough, staying in the life boat and escaping safely all the way to shore isn't excusable.

'A captain goes down with his ship'. We've all heard the saying before but as the evidence shows, this isn't always the case. It's the same thing with police officers and their slogan 'to serve and protect'. It's important to note that not all officials or authority figures can be trustworthy, no matter how good they look in uniform.

What does it mean to be human?

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive."
 - Dalai Lama

What does it mean to be human? If you have limbs and extremities, muscles and bones, blood and organs, are you not human? 99% of the human body is made up of just these basic elements; oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. But what is the other 1%, I wonder. What is the missing link that distinguishes us as human beings?

The most significant factor that separates man from beast is our superior ability to think. In the wild, there are no laws, morals or beliefs. Whatever actions made are influenced by the organisms' instinct to survive, where killing can be justified by their will to live. No one is innocent and yet everyone is. Why? Because they don't know better. As humans, we have learned not to coexist in an ecosystem, but as a society. As one civilization succeeds to the next, the concept of humanity often tends to change as human beings become more sophisticated. Today, we've come along way in understanding the principles of right and wrong. However, knowing is only half the battle. The next step is choosing whether or not to do the right thing or whatever considered to be socially decent. This is what ultimately defines your morality, and without morality, humankind would surely slip back into the barbaric age from when we first arrived on this earth. Although nowadays we would use missiles and warheads as opposed to spears and arrows, the intention of a weapon, no matter how advanced or primitive, has never changed. 

Macbeth is a Tragic Hero

How is Macbeth a Tragic Hero?

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power, absolutely corrupts."

- John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton

Born of Noble Birth
Macbeth is quite the impressive figure. As a decorated war hero of Scotland, victory after victory has he proven himself a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. With a military history so decorated and renowned, it glitters in the spotlight of the nation's grandest achievements. His deeds had earned him the unconditional support of his fellow countrymen and noblemen alike.

Doomed to make a Serious Error in Judgement
Despite Macbeth's distinguished reputation of glory, honour and valour, rewarded with fortunes and admiration as far as the eye can see, no amount of glamorous deeds or unmatched fortitude could prevent his inevitable path to corruption.

A Tragic Flaw
Every soldier knows that his greatest weakness are his own emotions. It takes years of brutal training and personal experience for soldiers to suppress their emotions and replace them with quick decision making in life and death situations. The experienced mind of a high ranking General such as Macbeth, must be that of a built in fortress, one that can only comprehend suffering, bravery, loyalty; war. Housed beneath this hardened exterior, lies his emotions, hidden thoroughly in that it does not influence military affairs. Consequently, when the powers of esteemed politicians bestow upon him a position where his genius knowledge of using military tactics cannot be applied, his mental fortitude disintegrates into a Pandora's Box. All that occupy Macbeth's conscience now, are his raw untapped emotions. His mind, being spun into a completely different reality, is now completely defenceless. This becomes more evident as he so easily allows his wife to cloud his judgement, being manipulated into fulfilling her dark and devious ambitions.

News Worth Knowing #12

Neo-Nazi cell that murdered 10 had kill list with 88 names
National database to identify links between crimes, suspected terrorists.


An underground group of Neo-Nazis have been uncovered in Berlin, Germany. The gang had been responsible for numerous unsolved murders, including the death of one policewoman.

It can be hard to think that there are still many people that share an outdated way of thinking especially in such a progressive country as Germany where the majourity of people are more focused on their bright futures than dwelling within the darkness of their past. But it's true. There are still Germans that still hate Jewish people for no particular reason. There are still Germans that believe they are superior to all others simply because they are German. What's more is that a number of them are young men and women, all of whom were born in a completely different and changed society than that of something that was over half a century ago.

News Worth Knowing #11

Four young men who lured potential sexual predators online, then confronted them in public say they have retired

A quartet of Chilliwack teenagers became internet sensations on youtube with their video series "How to Troll a Predator." The videos reveal recorded chatroom conversations of their false identity/persona of a female minor and alleged internet pedophiles looking for under aged sex in the area. In these conversations, a 'meeting' is set up between the two at a public location where the suspected sex offender is then confronted by one of the teens dressed as a superhero.


The act of trolling is an artform. It may not be so clearly defined as painting, sculpting or drawing, but like any work of art the artist must have the skill, patience, dedication and a unique ability to draw undivided attention to his masterpiece. "Troll baiting" is the technique used by trolls to lure an unwary (if not gullible) person or group into "feeding" the trolls with a desired reaction, which is usually then archived and released to the public. The bait is the paint brush, the troll's artistic tool of humiliation. It is used to paint any obscene, deceiving or shocking image and expose the true colours of others. And the internet is the troll's blank canvas, just waiting to be decorated.

In this troll baiting scenario, unsuspecting internet predators are lured into the guise of conversing with a flirtatious female minor with the intent of having under aged sex, only to finally realize later that he had been fooled all along. Although this may seem like a humourous idea, there is a majour backfire that can occur through these shenanigans; their actions could attract more pedophiles into the area.

This is news worth knowing because people realize just how easy it is to manipulate others.