Sydney Hostage Taker Identified

Today in Sydney, the hostage taker has been identified as an Iranian refugee named Man Haron Monis. Prior to this occurence, reports say he has been charged of sexual assault, and was known for sending hate letters to Australian soldier's families who had died overseas. Man Haron Monis was hiding in the cafe up to 15 hours after the initial raid. On the upside of things 5 hostages have escaped from the cafe, but unfortunately as far as reports from earlier today in Sydney go there should be around 8-9 more hostages still being held hostage.

One really sad aspect of this unfortunate event, is that the perpetrator is a refugee, someone who was let into the country. Just hearing about what he's done in the past is sad in itself. I hope that he will soon be detained by police and that all hostages escape.

Social Media Goes Crazy After 12 Year-old Suicide

Ronin Shimizu, a Californian boy, with a great passion for cheerleading and fashion, committed suicide after being previously bullied for years. Since his death, Social Media has blown up with post-death sorrow, outrage, and numerous tributes, as the well as the creation of the memorial web-page Go Fund Me Page, that was able to  raise $10 000 dollars in just two days. Shortly after his death occurred a # was made called #RIPRonin. A similar case occurred in October in Texas when Peyton James, after being bullied since grade 2 committed suicide. 

In my opinion, things like these shouldn't happen. All humans should be treated equally and with the same respect, no matter who they are, how they dress, what they like, what they do etc. We hear so often about how children across the North America are being bullied to a point where they commit suicide, but there is not any drastic changes being made to bullying on social media. 

Canada Winter Forecast Update

Environment Canada is expecting from now until March warmer than usual, throughout the entire country thanks to El Nino, states senior Canadian climatologist. Dave Phillips from CBC says that the good news is that there is no area with a significant population that will suffer extreme weather. Dave Phillips also mentioned that a supercomputer in Montreal has confirmed that the weather will be more mild than last year. That is not saying much as last year was one of the longest and coldest winters on record. Phillips says that the main reason for the milder forecast this winter is El Nino, the warming of the pacific ocean that occurs every 4-12 years.

One good thing I'm sure many Canadian's are taking from all of this is that will for sure not be another ice storm this year. I for one am not too pleased about this winters forecast, at least thus far. Winter is 100% my second favorite season and the fact that there is no snow on the ground yet troubles me. I guess I'm happy that there is no chance of an Ice Storm this year, because losing power isn'
t fun, but I don't like lack of snow this year.

Canadian Teacher in Indonesia Accused of Child Abuse

Jackarta Indonesia, a Canadian teacher and his assistant are on trial after being accused of sexually abusing a kindergarten student at the international school. 60 teachers and parents of students at the school protested outside the South Jakarta District Court supporting the accused teachers. The names of the accused are Neil Bantleman,  and Ferdinant Tjiong. Five janitors at the school are being tried on the same allegations. The family of the victim is suing the school for $130 dollars. Supporters of Bantleman and Tjong say this is the sixth time these type of allegations at the school.

I think that the fact that 6 allegations of this type have been made at this school is both good for the accused and bad for them. It could be considered good because it makes it look like the accusations are false and and just trying to get money from suing teachers. It could also be considered bad because it makes it look like something like sexual assault isn't too rare at that school. I also find it very strange how many cases there are. I mean the school also has five other janitors at the school who are currently being tried at the same time as Bantleman and Tjong. In cases like these I really hope that the verdict given by the court is the right one.