OPINION: “BE PREPARED” BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA

OLIVER FLINT/ OLLIES WORLD OF WRITING

WASHINGTON D.C- Just recently, the Boy Scouts of America (commonly known as the BSA) voted on a bill that will allow openly gay and lesbian members to participate in everyday scouting activities. 1,400 voting members approved the change with more than 60% of the vote.

Finally, the fight is over for the thousands of openly gay scouters.

 This was about the time when Ohio native and “Den Leader” Jennifer Tyrrell received a notice of suspension from the scouting movement due to her lesbian status. This was going to get ugly.

The 101 year old movement that teaches the basics of outdoor survival and citizenship to millions of children and teens around America just recently came under fire for their rather old fashioned status on gay members and leaders. Until the recent bill, no openly gay members or leaders could participate in scouting activities of any kind as they were “a threat to our children”. The new bill, enacted in late April, allows for openly gay members, but not leaders.

“The standards of membership for youth have been changed much to out approval, the standards of adults have not been changed and have served us well in the last 100 years so we like where we stand”

In last the year alone, the BSA has seen an almost 30% rise in youth dropping the scouting movement due to their stance on gay and lesbian members. A number not expressing the youths so called love for the Scouting Program and its many members.

Statistics show that almost an estimated 3.5% of adults in the United States identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and an estimated 0.3% of adults are transgender. This implies that there are approximately 9 million LGBT Americans, a figure roughly equivalent to the population of New Jersey.

With inclusiveness and acceptance on the rise in America, it is of no surprise that many people who define themselves as homosexual are feeling more and more comfortable coming out to family and friends. Why can’t the BSA be more accepting towards members of this minority?

“We have an obligation to god” was their only response.

Ugh, not another one of these groups again.

If the BSA wishes to stay a powerful and helpful program to millions of American children, they must become more accepting of others. If not, the BSA will see an enormous increase of dropped scouters.

So my advice to you Boy Scouts of America, find your compass, it is clear your lost in the woods.

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OPINION- PUBLIC COURT A MODERN DAY "AUDIENCE OF EXECTUION"

Oliver Flint, Ollies World of Writing
CALGARY- On the morning of March 20^th 2013, a group of journalists on behalf of Ollies world of writing, were given an opportunity to view a few public court cases inside the Calgary Courts Center. They were there on behalf of Ollies World of Writing to give insight on the newly found controversy between the Federal Rights of Canadian citizens and the transparency that courts need to possess in order to run smoothly.

Under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canadian citizens (and all those under the Charter) are legally entitled to view public court cases as they please. The government believes that public courts are put in place for the well-being of citizens, and they give the public a feeling of connection with their community, their safety and the law.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was originally drafted in 1867. This was a time where newspapers, television, and radio were not known and the only way for Canadian citizens to feel somewhat safe would be to physically see the convicted be sentenced with their own eyes. Therefore this right was granted under law.

Today, anybody can simply use the internet, watch the television or listen to the radio at their own disposal and know everything that is going on in their community and around the world. There is no need for the public to be granted access to public court cases just to keep informed about his or her community as all cases are very well covered by local media and is at reach of public citizens.

As the press team walked through the big wood doors into the Youth Criminal Justice Court, they sat down and noticed the 16 year old aboriginal teenager on the direct link monitor next to the judge. As they listened to the judge, and stared at the young man, you could sense the feeling of awkwardness around the journalists sitting in the audience booth.  

As the trial went on, they started to understand the fact that this would be one of the worst days of this young man’s life and they were sitting in the audience booth as if it was some sort of entertainment. It reminded us of medieval times when crowds would gather to view an execution. The point being, if you’re coming to view a public court case as an afternoon activity; you’re probably there for the wrong reason.

Although viewing Public Court cases is a federal right, we have seen a steep decline in the amount of the public coming to view these trials, why? Well this is due to the fact that all court case verdicts are available on the internet,  and those who actually care about these cases can view the verdicts without even leaving their home.

So our advice to the public is, if you don’t have a solid reason for being at the court house, don’t abuse the right. Stay at home and watch a few episodes of “Law and Order”. 

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CITY OF MANILA SLASHES DAN BROWN OVER DEPECTION OF CITY IN NEW NOVEL

OLIVER FLINT/ OLLIE’s WORLD OF WRITING

MANILA- Dan Brown, author of New York Times #1 best seller “The Da Vinci Code” is receiving some criticism from the government of Manila about the way he portrayed the Pilipino city in his newest book, Inferno.

In Brown’s most recent book, Inferno, Symbolist Robert Langdon discovers the secret underground of one of Italy’s biggest cities, Florence. On his way, Langdon meets Doctor Sienna Brooks who serves as his sidekick.  She explains to Langdon that when she was younger, she had done time in Manila as a doctor abroad. Sienna then goes on to explain “not only were there the wails of crying babies and the stench of human excrement" in the Filipino capital but also "six-hour traffic jams, suffocating pollution, and a horrifying sex trade, whose workers consisted primarily of young children". She feels as if she had "run through the gates of hell".

This sparked outrage within the tourism office of Manila stating Brown’s portrayal of Manila was an “Inaccurate portrayal of our beloved metropolis”

Brown responded by saying, “It is a work of fiction. Nothing inside the covers should be taken that seriously, I am sorry if I offended anyone”.

This is not the first time Manila has been disparaged. Manila has been used in countless Hollywood films including “The Bourne Legacy” staring Jeremy Renner. In the film, Aaron Cross must travel to Manila. When he arrives, Arron experiences many issues Brown mentions in his book, including a nasty sex trade and unbearable pollution.

Manila recently invested a great amount of tax money into their tourism sector. Along with this investment came with a complete revamp of their tourism sector and their new tagline “It’s more fun in the Philippines”.

With all the negative feedback towards Manila, you’d think that the Tourism sector would be greatly impacted. Well believe it or not, Manila recorded one of the country’s best years for foreign tourism in 2012 with 4,272,811forign travellers entering the Southeast Asian country.

Although Inferno slashes the City of Manila, the book sold over a 1000 copies in the city alone with almost a quarter of a million being sold all over the world in the first week.  

Inferno now stands at the top of the New York Times Bestseller List.
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AIR CANADA TO OFFER HIGHER COMPENSATION FOR BUMPED PASSANGERS

OLIVER FLINT/ Ollie’s World of Writing

TORONTO- Passengers onboard Canada’s largest flag ship carrier “Air Canada” will soon receive more compensation for being bumped from their flights. Although Air Canada has not made an immediate ruling on how much passengers will see, professional business analyzers say the flat price will vary from around 200-300 dollars depending on the length and duration of the passenger’s flight.

Being bumped is a relatively new ideal in the world of Air Travel. To be bumped from a flight is to be denied a seat on a plane when you have a confirmed reservation. It results from overbooking, an airline practice designed to fill the empty seats that no-show passengers leave behind. In the US alone, nearly 54,000 passengers were involuntarily bumped in the first nine months of 2009, up from about 47,000 fliers in the same period in 2008.

Many ask how they can avoid getting bumped from their flight,

"It literally varies on a flight-to-flight, day-to-day basis," says Tim Winship, publisher of Frequent Flier, a website that reports on the industry's frequent-flier programs. "It's a dynamic formula rather than a set formula."

This issue was brought to Air Canada from Halifax Native Gabor Lukacs, a 29 year old Mathematics Professor at the University of Manitoba. Gabor was flying home to Halifax from Winnipeg for vacation when he was stopped at his gate and told he had been bumped from the flight involuntarily; the ticket agent then offered him a $100 travel voucher.

“It’s outrageous!” Gabor ranted “First I am bumped, and then Air Canada only offers me a $100 travel voucher. I had to wait in the airport for 6 hours for the next flight!”

Air Canada has one of the lowest compensation policies in the airline market. In the US, passengers can get up to $650 or $1,300 US, depending on delay length on many American airliners. In Europe, passengers can receive up to $800 in compensation depending on length and duration of flight.

Canadian Airline and Air Canada competitor WestJet, just recently got out of some trouble with the government about not offering enough for lost language aboard there flights. Their current compensation for involuntary bumped flights is a 200$ base fair.

Air Canada says it will review their policy on compensation in the coming days with executives. Air Canada has 30 days to determine the new compensation amount.

 
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“MOOSEHEADS MARCH” TO WIN MEMORIAL CUP

OLIVER FLINT/Ollie’s World of Writing

SASKATOON- The Halifax Mooseheads came out strong in Sundays Memorial Cup Final against the Portland Winterhawks winning 6-4 in regulation and capturing the MasterCard Memorial Cup. This is the first Memorial Cup win for the Mooseheads in franchise history and the first appearance in the tournament. Nathan MacKinnon of the Halifax Mooseheads was the player of the game with his first career hat trick goal into an empty net with only 22 seconds left in the game.

The Mooseheads landed first in the Quebec Major Hockey League winning the President’s Trophy and sending them to the Memorial Cup Championship in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

“From the get go, we knew it was going to be a tough road for the team, never playing in the championship before, but I had a good feeling about these guys, and it paid off” stated Moosehead Head Coach Dominique Ducharme during the post-game interviews.

Konrad Abeltshauser scored the opening goal after 6:31, blasting a point shot past Mac Carruth with the Mooseheads on the power play.  Nathan MacKinnon doubled the lead 1:29 later, snapping home a shot from the slot for his fifth goal of the tournament. Many Winterhawk players were looking for redemption against the top rated Halifax Mooseheads after an embarrassing 7-4 loss to the Mooseheads in the round robin stage of the tournament; this caused a very aggressive game style in the early stages of the game from the Winterhawks.

Halifax native Nathan MacKinnon was named the Memorial Cup Final MVP with 3 goals totaling 5 points in Sunday’s game. Head coach Dominique Ducharme said that even though he’s used to seeing his two stars Drouin and MacKinnon rise to the challenge on a nightly basis, their effort on this night is above and beyond.

After the first intermission, the Winterhawks came out a whole different team, outshooting the Mooseheads 18-6 and scoring twice in the period while having another goal waived off mid-way through the second period. 4-2 was the closest the game ever got. Nathan MacKinnon open net, hat trick goal in the third sealed it for the Mooseheads. 

Andrey Makarov of the tournament host Saskatoon Blades was named recipient of the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the tournament’s Top Goaltender, and Bo Horvat of the OHL Champion London Knights’ earned the George Parsons Trophy for Sportsmanship.

The Memorial Cup is now on route to its new home of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

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