The last day of school is finally upon us. The year has flown by so fast what with a trip to Europe and less than 6 months of actual school. As this is my last assignment and last blog probably ever I’d like to get a few things off my chest. First, if you drive slow, don’t drive in the passing lane. It’s fine if your actually going to pass someone but speed up and pass don’t sit in the passing lane forever and back up the traffic behind you. This especially goes for transport trucks, particularly on the 402 when it goes down to two lanes. There is nothing more frustrating than being stuck behind a slow vehicle on a four lane highway. Second, barbequing is the best form of cooking ever. Until I was actually without a barbeque I never realized just how good hamburgers and steaks are. Lastly, as glad as I am to see summer come, winters are not long enough in Ontario. As a snowboarder I need a longer winter and more snow than London has to offer. Hopefully after school I’ve saved enough to go out West or travel back to Europe because the amount of winter in London just doesn’t do it for me anymore. For everyone reading this blog have a good summer and see you in the fall.

Hip hop has been argued against and discriminated against since its inception in the 1980’s. While the main argument against it used to be its language and derogatory stance on women and the black community in American culture, it is now being discussed for its violent messages. Hip hop has become universal in that people all over the world no matter what language they speak can rhyme and put together lyrics without any background music. A new show on BET has pitted some of America’s black teachers and community leaders against some of hip hops famous/infamous artists in a debate against whether hip hop culture is good for the world. The show hip hop vs. America brings up points about violence and language and tries to show the connection that hip hop has to people all over the world. While it is hard to defend the language and violence that comes out of hip hop it can also show the rise to success from having nothing to having everything. Many people can look up to these celebrities and see where they came from and have high aspirations of where they can go in the future.

This is an addition to one of my older blogs about downloading copyrighted movies and music. An article on CNN.com sparked my interest in the counterfeit movie trade in Mexico. Counterfeit movies cost Mexican films over $500 million dollars per year. Most of them are illegally downloaded off the internet and burned to a disc where they are sold in the flea markets of various Mexican cities. This happens in North America as well but more on a personal level from individuals downloading and sharing their ripped movies over a certain site. While most North Americans are still not privy to this practice, the number of people illegally downloading movies will keep increasing. That is one of the reasons why the music industry is being affected because downloading music off the internet if very easy compared to movies. I feel that the pirating of movies is hurting the film industry less than the music industry. Musicians make money, for the most part, one of two ways: concert sales and CD sales. While the movie industry will always have overpaid stars and large big screen budgets, the music industry suffers because CD sales are way down. A song can be downloaded in a matter of minutes or even seconds now while a movie usually takes more than a day. Movie stars will always be paid the big money but struggling musicians have a tough time making it big if no one is buying their CD’s.

Why are the NHL playoffs so important to Canadians? Even though I know I have to do homework and I don’t have time to watch TV, I cannot draw myself away from the hockey games. Even games I don’t care about get supremacy over all else. Even though I watched the games last night I still put sports highlights on in the morning to catch the goals I only saw in replays. Even sleep is sacrificed to stay up and watch the late games. So why is hockey so important to Canada? Because it is an image. Most Canadians enjoy the sport of hockey or at least can sit through a game if everyone else is watching it. Canadians are known for their hockey prowess and it is celebrated especially in the Olympics. Canada is one of the only countries in the world that actually watched the World Junior Hockey Championships and it has been said before that without this support the tournament would not be able to run the way it does. There are very few Americans that follow hockey and even less that are as passionate as we Canadians about it. I think hockey is ingrained into our culture as Canadians and we have no choice but to enjoy it. Hockey is the one sport I follow outside of playoff time and when the Stanley Cup Playoffs roll around I am glued to the TV most nights with a few beers and some good friends.

A new statistic has come out recently that one in every five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffers from major depression or post traumatic stress. This statistic means more than 300 000 soldiers are returning from overseas with mental health problems. Less than half of these soldiers are seeking treatment and many are turning to drugs and alcohol to cope. This was the first private study of troops undertaken during the war in Iraq and not surprisingly it shows very different results from the previous surveys the American military has done. The military study shows less than 120 000 returned with mental health disorders and up to 60 000 are already seeking medical attention. These stats show a dramatic difference and cause one to question the credibility and aim of the entire mission. There is a very vocal portion of Americans that are opposed to the war and stats like this only fuel the fire. Many people thinking rationally worldwide are discussing the possibility of the war being a fight for control of the vast Middle East oil supplies but Bush and the US government still deny any link to this. I believe the media is helping the non supporters of the war by providing daily updates about all the damage being done overseas. Not only are the stats about mental illness and injury upsetting but the amount of scandal that has happened overseas is also appalling. Many US soldiers have been involved in the maltreatment of prisoners and civilians alike. Although my personal opinion on the subject does not really matter I feel we do not have to support the war but we should support the troops that are fighting for other peoples freedoms.

Recently Pope Benedict has comforted and met with some of the sexual abuse victims of priests of the Catholic religion. While some of the victims appreciate the gesture many people feel this is a small step in gaining the trust of the clergy of the Catholic Church. The Pope expressed shame over the terrible actions that have occurred in connection with the church. This is believed to be the first time the Pope has met with the victims and openly expressed shame and apology for the events that transpired. While I feel this is a step in the right direction, I also feel these people deserve and will accept compensation for the actions of the Clergy. The Catholic religion is the richest religion in the world and also one of the largest. I would be surprised if money is not paid to some or all of these victims especially after the Pope himself has admitted that some of the priests have been involved in sexual abuse. While all this scandal has scarred the Catholic community the actual number of priests involved in these actions is very low. The Pope wants to encourage trust in clergy by the general population again which is why I feel he met with the victims. I believe that many of the priests of the world are totally innocent and they deserve recognition for all that they do instead of jeers and insults. It will be a long time before the whole situation is figured out and an even longer time before the Catholic religion recovers from it all.

The Canadian flag is an easily recognizable symbol that is respected worldwide. The flag itself is very simple with two red bars at both ends and a maple leaf in the middle of a white background but it is recognized worldwide and shown a large amount of respect. Many people were originally very upset with the Canadian flag because of its simplicity. The only similar flag at the time was the Japanese flag. Many designs were put forward and used the same colours as the British and American flags. Many people now would be appalled if the flag was changed because it has become a symbol of the freedoms that Canada stands for. Unlike an American flag, the Canadian flag is seen as a sign of peace and friendship and many people act accordingly. That is why many Americans use the Canadian flag on their luggage when travelling oversees because Canada is very well respected in the international community. While Canadians have a more basic symbol for representation than much of the world people are looked upon very highly if they are from Canada.

With the advent of email why has regular mail not been wiped out? Email is many times faster and more convenient so why do people still send letters. One may think that only old people who do not own computers are the only ones sending written letters but what about resumes and cover letters. More often than not some of the more important documents are sent or requested as a hard copy. This is why many offices struggle to go paper free and why photocopiers and printers are still a viable technology. This brings about the argument of whether a hard copy is more real than an email or text message. While this is an easily debatably topic that many theorists have discussed a personal example comes to mind. While in Italy in November I visited the Vatican and my parents requested that I send a letter to my grandma from the Vatican. She did not ask for an email or a text from the Vatican but instead a postcard that I had taken the time to hand write. It may have only been a few sentences but the important factor was that I wrote it by hand. While many people think that the computer will wipe out letters I believe that it will increase the importance of a hand written or at least mailed document.