Google May Pull Out

Search Giant Google may end operations in China, after human rights activists accounts were recently attacked and breached.  Google announced that a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China.” has led to an investigation. The company revealed that “a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.” It should be known that Google has not directly placed blame on the Chinese government, however they did announce that they are not willing to continue censoring results to comply with government requirements. This may lead to the Google China site being shut down and closing all offices in the country.

I think that this is the right thing to do, regardless of whether the government is responsible or not with so much work being done to comply with Chinese requirements they can't be dealing with people who breach others' privacy. I would whole heatedly support this, as i feel that they shouldn't even be censoring Chinese internet. The unfortunate part is that many jobs would be lost if the company were to shut down their branches in these regions.

Give a Pint, Get a Pint!

A new deal has been offered at a Washington state blood bank... Give a pint get a pint! All those above the age of 21 can donate blood and receive a pint of beer. And you thought cookies and juice was good! It has been stated that this blood for beer system has been so successful that it is being expanded to other areas. Donors above 21 are given a coupon for a free pint of beer. To keep people safe restaurants and bars participating must not give the donor their beer until at least 4 hours after donating. When you give blood you already feel faint and to add beer is potentially dangerous. It has been said that it gets more blood and increases restaurant business.

I acknowledge that this is an effective method of encouraging people to donate, however i feel that to offer alchohol as an incentive is somewhat inappropriate. First of all giving blood is a big thing, literally saving peoples lives, and I feel that it is very shallow if one pint of beer would change a persons opinions on donating. However it is also true that by doing this more  blood is being collected and this more lives saved.

Armed Siege Ends Peacfully!

Heavily armed members of the the Bermuda Police department surrounded the home of a suspected fire arms offender. People in the neighborhood were denied access to their homes due to the great danger. This man was arrested 90 minutes after his house was seized by officers who saw him enter at 10 a.m. It is believed that the suspect ran out the back of the house while officers waited for reinforcements. Once backup officers arrived they called for the man to pick up his cell phone before warning him of their entry. Six officers and one canine unit charged the home to find that there was no one inside. A representative from the police department stated “We had confirmation that he was there. We went through the options, we wanted to give the suspect an opportunity to come out. When we entered no-one was in the house and no firearms were found.”This man was later arrested at 2:50pm however the location is yet to be released.

I find this quite scary, I remember when i was younger and there were absolutely no guns in Bermuda. Look how far we have come, going from small island Utopian paradise to a place where police officers walk around with guns. I have to compliment the Bermuda police department, they really stepped up their game on this one and got the job done. I'm very relieved that there is one less gun slinging thug wandering our island. 

Washington DC takes the Lead!

It was recently reported that Washington D.C. has taken over New York City's lowest office vacancy record. AS large government agencies such as TARP  increase in size jobs drain out of NYC. This is more important than meets the eye. American culture has focused on the separation between business and politics but it seems that they are becoming more and more connected, something that is not encouraged by the constitution. To prevent this the capitol was built far from the thriving founding area of Boston, and New York. As time went by the distance between these cities and the nations capitol have shrunk to the point where DC has taken the lead. Previously defense contractors were the only ones with such proximity to the government, where as now hundreds of firms require this same attribute. The Federal Government is now a majority owner of many companies such as General Motors and AIG merging the gap between government and business. This decreases the American idea of a capitol city having a specialized location for a specific task.
I think that this decreases the very idea of capitalism. It is not good for a market economy to have too much government interference. However in hard economic times it is good to have government involved and halping out. I am interested to see that new york is falling behind the capitol but hopefully it wont last too long. 

Arrest in B.C. pipeline bombings!

A series of bombing of B.C. gas pipelines has led to a massive search resulting in the arrest of one man, while the search for others goes on. Around 8 a.m in the morning a man of 50-60 years was taken into custody 25 km from the border of B.C and Alberta. Police still withhold the name of the suspect, as he has not been formally charge. Ludwig and Richard Boonstra were charged and convicted in two gas well bombings in Alberta. In 1998 three gas wells were hit, and another blast made a large crater in the road going to Norcen Energy. "A letter to local media called EnCana "terrorists" and demanded that the company stop operating in the region.

Another letter sent to the Dawson Creek Daily News in July warned that things "could get a lot worse" if the company did not quit."
Personlly i had no idea that these bombings were even occuring. I dont see why companies would continue operating in the region if there have been so many bombings going on. It is very good that the authorities managed to arrest the one suspect and hopefully they will catch more of them.