Half of Ontario public elementary school teachers walk out

A total of 35,000 Ontario elementary school teachers are not in class today as rotating one-day strikes hit the large boards in the Toronto area.

Thousands of public elementary teachers are taking part in day-long strikes in the Greater Toronto Area today in opposition of controversial legislation that gives the government the right to claw back benefits, freeze pay and quash future job actions.

Tuesday's strikes, dubbed by some as "Super Tuesday," will be the teachers' single biggest day of action in a series of one-day rotating strikes that began last week.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario has given three days’ notice for each of the single-day strikes.


But Tuesday is the biggest day of strikes so far, involving public elementary schools in Toronto, Durham Region, Peel Region, Greater Essex County, Lambton-Kent, Grand Erie, Near North and Waterloo Region.

More than 35,000 teachers will be involved in Tuesday’s walkouts, or nearly half of the more than 76,000 teachers and education professionals that ETFO represents.

- CBC News 

Number of homeless students hits new record: Over 1 million

Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP

The number of homeless students in America topped one million for the first time last year as a result of the economic recession, a number that has risen 57 percent since 2007.

The US Department of Education found that of these 1,065,794 children, many lived in abandoned homes, cheap hotels, stations, church basements and hospitals. Some spent their time sleeping over at the houses of various friends whenever they could.

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987 requires pubic schools to register homeless children. 

Moon’s crust thinner than expected – NASA

An artist’s depiction of the twin spacecraft (Ebb
and Flow) that comprise NASA’s Gravity Recovery
 And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission.

The Lunar surface is thinner than previously thought, NASA scientists revealed after a year-long mission to map the moon by two probes ended with a literal bang. The mission was dedicated to uncovering more about the formation of the solar system.

Two probes – nicknamed ‘Ebb’ and ‘Flow’ – completed a programmed crash at the end of their mission, revealing evidence that the Moon’s crust is thinner than expected because of the damage the crash caused beneath the surface, compared to the surface itself.

Scientists were also able to use the distance between the probes to determine more precise measurements of the moon’s crust.

Each probe was the size of a washing machine and flew as low as a few miles above the moon’s tallest mountains. The probes were also tasked with drawing up detailed gravity maps of the moon. They reacted to more intense gravity areas by speeding up, and slowed down in less intense areas.

Lionel Messi: Barcelona forward to extend contract until 2018

Lionel Messi has agreed a new contract with Barcelona, keeping him at the Spanish club until 2018.
The Argentina international, 25, has enjoyed a record-breaking year for club and country, scoring 90 goals in 2012.
Defender Carles Puyol, 34, and midfielder Xavi Hernandez, 32, have also agreed new deals that will keep them at Barcelona until 2016.
"In the coming weeks Puyol, Xavi and Messi will sign their respective new contracts," the club confirmed.

"This news means that FC Barcelona has secured its ties with three of its most important players."
Messi's current deal expires in June 2016, with Puyol's running until 2013 and Xavi until 2014.
All three players are products of the club's famed academy.
Messi has been with Barcelona since he was 13 and made his league debut as a 17-year-old against RCD Espanyol on 16 October 2004.

- BBC.co.uk

Delhi bus gang rape: Uproar in Indian parliament

Delhi has one of the highest rates of crime against
 women in India

There has been an uproar in India's parliament over the gang rape of a 23-year-old student on a city bus in the capital, Delhi.

MPs from all parties have expressed their horror at the incident which has caused outrage in the country.

Police said they have arrested four people, including the bus driver, and are looking for two more people.

The student and her male friend were beaten, stripped and thrown out of the bus on Sunday evening.

They have been admitted to hospital, where the woman remains in a critical condition.

"She continues to be serious. She has responded to us once in the last 12 hours and that is a good sign, but we cannot rule her out of danger. She remains on ventilator," Safdarjung Hospital medical superintendent BD Athani told the BBC Hindi service.

Delhi's rape figures are far higher than other Indian cities of comparable size, correspondents say.

According to official statistics, 572 rapes were reported in Delhi last year. Police say they have registered 635 rape cases this year.

On Tuesday, angry MPs in both houses set aside their regular business to discuss the gruesome rape case and demanded strict punishment for those who carried out the attack.

Senior leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party Sushma Swaraj called for the death penalty for rapists.

- BBC.co.uk

Exploring Micronesia’s ghost fleet

The tropical paradise of Truk Lagoon in the Federates States of Micronesia is considered one of the top wreck diving destinations in the world, along with Scapa Flow in Scotland’s Orkney Islands. Over the course of two bloody and smoke-filled days in 1944, more than 60 Japanese warships met their end during a battle here. The Japanese still pay their respects at the watery World War II gravesites each year, but for scuba divers, the site offers a chance to explore a piece of living history. The enormous wrecks that are scattered across 124sqkm of ocean – loaded with torpedoes, airplanes, tanks, bones and more – have become underwater museums, slowly claimed by the salty march of time. (Chris Jackson/SwellImages.com)

King Ramesses III's throat was slit, analysis reveals

The mummy of Ramesses III had a deep slit in
the throat

Conspirators murdered Egyptian King Ramesses III by slitting his throat, experts now believe, based on a new forensic analysis.

Scans of Ramesses III revealed a deep, 2.7in (7cm) wide wound to the throat just under the larynx, which the medical scientists say was probably caused by a sharp blade and could have caused immediate death.

The secret has been hidden for centuries by the bandages covering the mummy's throat that could not be removed for preservation's sake.

The work may end at least one of the controversies surrounding his death.

Precisely how he died has been hotly debated by historians.

Ancient documents including the Judicial Papyrus of Turin say that in 1155BC members of his harem attempted to kill him as part of a palace coup.

But it is less clear whether the assassination was successful. Some say it was, while other accounts at the time imply the second Pharaoh of the 20th dynasty survived the attack, at least for a short while.

- BBC.co.uk

Coal Consumption Booms Amid Rising Climate Concerns: IEA Coal Report 2012

In a report destined to frustrate advocates for global action on climate change, the Paris-based International Energy Agency projected Tuesday morning that in five years' time, the amount of coal burned around the globe every year will increase by an additional 1.2 billion metric tons -- an amount roughly equivalent to the current annual coal consumption of the U.S. and Russia combined.

The uptick, virtually all of it attributable to rapid economic expansion in China and India, comes even as the U.S. continues to experience decreases in coal use for electricity generation amid the availability of cheap and plentiful natural gas -- which has a smaller carbon footprint than coal when burned.

Without even including India and China, however, the drop in U.S. coal consumption is easily negated by a commensurate uptick in coal use elsewhere in the world. And adding in those two countries, whose voracious appetite for cheap electricity has altered the global coal market over the last decade, presents what the IEA's executive director, Maria van der Hoeven, called "a troubling paradox."

- Huffingtonpost.com

Leeds to host the Tour de France Grand Depart

Leeds in Yorkshire has been confirmed as the host for the start of the 2014 Tour de France.

The north England county will host racing on July 5th and 6th, before the tour moves south for another British stage, this time in London.

The prestigious race last visited the UK in 2007, when London hosted a prologue ahead of a road stage from the capital to Canterbury.

Yorkshire beat off the challenge of bids from Florence and Edinburgh to host the event.

It will be the fourth time the Tour has visited Britain after previous visits in 1974 and 1994.

Full details of the route will be announced at a news conference in Leeds and Paris on January 17th.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “Today is a proud day for everyone involved in the bid and the county as a whole.

“We are honoured that the race organisers have selected Yorkshire to be the host location of the 2014 Grand Depart.”

It caps a fantastic week for Welcome to Yorkshire, with the body also recognised as offering the World’s Leading Marketing Campaign at the World Travel Awards Grand Final Gala Ceremony in India.

England’s most charming castle creates a little Christmas magic

One of England’s great tourism draws is its medieval castles, and the most romantic of these is Leeds Castle in Kent. Now, the 900-year-old castle has launched a new package to celebrate the magic of the Victorian Christmas.

The charming evening event includes a host of activities to get the whole family into the yuletide spirit.

Board the Victorian land train and enjoy festive music as you are taken past the beautifully-lit castle to the festive Fairfax Courtyard, which will be alive with entertainers, Punch and Judy shows, carol singers around a traditionally decorated Christmas tree and street vendors offering traditional sweets, chocolates, roast chestnuts and wooden toys.

Hillary Clinton Recovering at Home from Concussion

Feel better, Hillary!

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues to recover from a concussion she sufferedafter falling early last week in her Washington, D.C., home.

She was alone at the time she passed out and her concussion was not diagnosed until days later.

The concussion was not severe, her doctors said, reports and was due to dehydration suffered after a trip the former first lady took to Europe, NBC News.

Her fall will keep Clinton, who continues to be discussed as a possible presidential contender for 2016, from testifying before Congress on the attack in September in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and two Navy Seals.

"She has been recovering at home and will continue to be monitored regularly by her doctors," the State Department said in a statement this weekend. "At their recommendation, she will continue to work from home next week, staying in regular contact with Department and other officials."

Clinton, 65, who last week was named one of Barbara Walters's 10 most-fascinating people, plans to step down from her secretary post early next year. U.S. Senator John Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, will reportedly be named by the Obama administration as her replacement.

Promised Land (2012)

Salesman for a natural gas company experiences life-changing events after arriving in a small town, where his corporation wants to tap into the available resources.

Director of the movie is Gus Van Sant and writers are John Krasinski (screenplay) and Matt Damon (screenplay). Matt Damon, Frances McDormand and John Krasinski are starring with genre of Drama.

STORYLINE: Corporate salesman Steve Butler (Damon) arrives in a rural town with his sales partner, Sue Thomason (McDormand). With the town having been hit hard by the economic decline of recent years, the two outsiders see the local citizens as likely to accept their company's offer, for drilling rights to their properties, as much-needed relief. What seems like an easy job for the duo becomes complicated by the objection of a respected schoolteacher (Holbrook) with support from a grassroots campaign led by another man (Krasinski) who counters Steve both personally and professionally.

Movie is mainly shot in USA and will be released on 4^th of January 2013 and in UK on 19^th of April 2013.

Headline December19,2012

''THE MONUMENTAT​ION OF !WOW'S! SORROW!''

This whole wretched tragedy boils down to so many factors that one can barely fathom how best to list them. But even ignorant like me knows that in the deep recesses of a sick mind, lurks ''Fatal Tormented Attraction!'' And mark my words such tragedies encourage obsession in others. They keep happening. We keep mourning and we keep forgetting.


And plenty of us are obsessed, Our fascination with multiple murderers is studied in the latest works by two of the sharpest observers of modern America. While director David Fincher follows the fictional repeat slayer of Se7en with the reconstruction of the actual Zodiac, killing in Seventies California, writer Chuck Palahnuk (Fight Club, Choke) creates an American maniac called Buster Casey in his latest novel, Rant.


The risk of endorsement is even greater now because the tradition of focusing on the investigative detective rather than the killer has broken down.Clarice Starling was the central character of ''The Silence of the Lambs but Lecter is centre-screen in Hannibal and the recent Hannibal Rising -almost unequivocally the hero. The shift in perspective was also signaled in the title of Henry : Portrait of a Serial Killer


In this context, -while being wary of plot spoiling- it's interesting to note that what Fincher's Zodiac and Palahniuk's Rant have in common is that the serial killer is not a central character.The emphasis instead is on victims and the obsessive interest of cops, journalists and members of the general public. That seems right, because what's really fascinating is not that a few human aberrations commit these acts, but that they enthrall so many law-abiding citizens.


But the genre's bias towards the past is also a measure of our own desensitisation.
Author Chuck Palahniuk speaks from his heart, '' I wanted to buy into the paranoia of our time, global illness and political totalitarianism, and how much we really seem to enjoy this paranoia.''
And the author of 'Rant; then sounds a serious and earth shaking insight, ''to explore the idea of people being removed from society, it would be very easy for someone to generate an incurable disease in order to infect people and remove them(Casey starts a rabies epidemic) without looking like you were gathering political prisoners and creating gulag.''
Oh, dear, God!


The world it seems will never be short of killer creativity!!! The battle between a killer or a saviour is always the big struggle.
My thinking is that Truth no matter how harsh and complex must be knowable.
Truth must triumph!


Good Night & God Bless!