Matthew’s Blog

Canadian Press
April 27, 2003 at 2:02 AM EST

Toronto — The best defence in the National Lacrosse League flexed its muscles Saturday to put the Toronto Rock in another championship game.
A 15-11 semi-final victory over the Colorado Mammoth gave Les Bartley's team a chance to win the Champions Cup a fourth time in five years.
"We've got a veteran group of athletes who know how to win," said the victorious GM-coach.
They'll be tested in Rochester, N.Y., next Saturday night. The top-seeded Knighthawks beat Buffalo 16-13 in the other semi-final and will host the final for the first time.
"I'm really looking forward to it," said Rock forward Colin Doyle. "Every year we get a new challenge and this will be another one."
Bartley's game plan designed to handcuff Colorado stars Gary Gait and Ted Dowling worked to perfection.
Defencemen Pat Coyle and Glenn Clark patrolled the left side where Gait and Dowling set up for shots. They held Gait, who scored a record 61 goals during the regular season, to one late goal, and Dowling was completely shut down.
"Our defence was awesome against the best player in the game," said Doyle.
With Toronto up 9-5 in the third quarter, three consecutive goals by Doyle in three minutes 20 seconds sealed the outcome in front of 15,200 at the Air Canada Centre.
Doyle and Blaine Manning each scored four goals, Chris Driscoll had two and Sandy Chapman, Glenn Clark, Steve Toll, Kim Squire and Darryl Gibson also scored for Toronto, which had a 60-51 edge in shots on goal.
Bob Watson, who repeatedly frustrated the Mammoth early, got the goaltending win.
"We played traditional Rock lacrosse," said Watson. "We're going to the show and that's the bottom line."
Brian Langtry scored seven goals for the Mammoth, and Josh Sims, Ben Prepchuk and Tom Phair also had one each.
"They keyed on Gary and Ted, which is why I got so many wide-open shots," said Langtry.
With Gait and Dowling under wraps, Toronto jumped ahead 4-0 and never relinquished the lead.
"They came out humming," said Langtry. "It was really frustrating."
Colorado goaltender Erik Miller starred in two regular-season wins over the Rock but couldn't do it again.
"It helped to get a start like that," said Bartley. "Right away, the guys got the confidence that they could score against this guy."
Toll was everywhere. Besides his goal, he assisted on four, and fought big defenceman Dave Stilley, who was ejected for head-butting Toll during the second-quarter punch-up. The absence of Stilley the rest of the way opened up shooting lanes for Rock attackers.
"It was one of the best games we've ever played," said Toll.
Especially on defence.
"We didn't let Gait and Dowling set up many picks on us," said Clark. "We got to them early.
"That's the best success we've ever had against them."
A late rally closed the gap on the scoreboard but the Mammoth were too far behind to catch up.
"We came out flat," said Gait. "They put us in a hole we couldn't get out of.
"It was too deep."
There were plenty of bright spots for the Rock.
Captain Jim Veltman had four assists, Driscoll's goals were his first since Bartley got him in a late-season trade and the Squire goal that immediately preceded Doyle's spree was a highlight-reel, over-the-shoulder backhander that froze Miller. Squire missed most of the season while a hand inflicted with flesh-eating disease healed.
"We were all happy to see one go in for Kim," said Bartley.
Notes: On power plays, Toronto was 2-for-8 and Colorado 1-for-6. . . . The Rock had played only once in 36 days but said Bartley, "There wasn't a doubt in my mind we'd be ready to play." . . . Colorado entered the game on a five-game winning streak. . . . Gait will be back: "I still love to play and as long as I compete I'll keep going," said the all-time leading scorer in pro lacrosse. "I'm definitely going to play next year."


Summary: This article is about the Toronto Rock, it is about the Toronto Rock playing in the finals vs. Colorado. The Toronto rock had only played once in 36 days, and Colorado came off a 5 game winning streak. In this game the Toronto Rock lost I think they could of won that year.

Questions:

1. Do you think the Toronto Rock could of won that game, why or why not?
2. Do you think Colorado is a good team?
3. If you think Colorado is good explain why?

Adrians Article

Bob Watson and the Toronto Rock defense held the Chicago Shamrox scoreless for the entire fourth quarter. The Rock topped the Shamrox 11-9, at Sears Centre on Saturday. Chicago led 9-8 after three quarters, but Toronto outscored Chicago, 3-0, in the final quarter. Blaine Manning scored four goals to lead Toronto, while Kasey Beirnes scored three goals in his Rock debut.Chicago, who trailed 5-4 at halftime, outscored the Rock 5-3 in the third quarter. The Shamrox took their first lead of the game when rookie transition player Bobby McBride picked off an outlet pass and scored with under one minute left in the third to make the score 9-8.Aaron Wilson scored for Toronto to tie the game with nine minutes to go, before Manning scored the eventual-winner moments later, his fourth goal of the game. Beirnes scored his third goal of the game to give Toronto an 11-9 lead shortly after.Seven of Toronto's 11 goals were scored on the power play. Josh Sanderson added two goals for the Rock, while Aaron Wilson and former Shamrox captain Cam Woods added singles. Bob Watson got the win in goal.Chicago was led offensively by McBride and Kevin Fines, who scored two goals apiece. Mat Giles, Mike Hobbins, Callum Crawford, Josh Wasson and Chris Panos added singles. Shamrox starting goaltender Brandon Miller left the game for unknown reasons after one quarter and was replaced by backup Derek Collins for the remainder of the game. Collins was credited with the loss.Toronto (1-0) meets the Minnesota Swarm in back-to-back games next weekend, starting in Toronto's Air Canada Centre on Friday. Chicago (0-1) will meet the Philadelphia Wings at Wachovia Center on Saturday.




Summary: The Toronto Rock played Chicago in lacrosse. They had a close game but Chicago won. I think that they need Bob Watson because he is a very good defensive player and makes the Toronto Rock competitive.

Questions:
1.Do you think Toronto Rock is a better team then Chicago?

2. Do you think Toronto Rock are going to win the Championship?

3.Do you think that Toronto Rock has the best players on the team?

Connections: The connections are that lacrosse was made by the Canadians. Lacrosse has been going on for years and it still being played today.

Amz's Blog

Nov 20, 2008 07:38 PM
Betsy Powell Courts Bureau
Arber "Benny" Krasniqi says he stabbed Jordan Ormonde in the neck in a Greek restaurant on the Danforth to save himself but he didn't mean to kill the 24-year-old.
"This big guy grabbed me and slapped me across the face. I couldn't breathe," Krasniqi testified today before a jury at his second-degree murder trial. Ormonde was upset, Krasniqi said, because he had danced with Ormonde's girlfriend.
With Ormonde holding him in the air, Krasniqi said he believed he was "going to die" so he grabbed a knife out of the front pocket of this jeans and started swinging it, waving his arms to demonstrate.
"What are you going to do when a guy double your size grabs you?" he said under questioning by his lawyer, James Silver. Ormonde was about 300 pounds and Krasniqi, 34, 130 pounds at the time.
Krasniqi said he was "shocked" when Ormonde's blood started spurting all over him - the wound had severed his carotid artery and jugular - and then ran out the front door with his friend, knife still in hand and Ormonde's friends in pursuit.
The defence opened its case today after the Crown called more than a dozen witnesses, most of them having attended the same birthday party as Ormonde, on April 22, 2007. All portrayed Krasniqi as the aggressor and none saw Ormonde, who was unarmed, show any aggression toward Krasniqi.
But Krasniqi, who is Albanian, said he encountered a hostile atmosphere in Kokkino "as soon as I came in," receiving dirty looks from waiter Loukas Pappas - "maybe he didn't like my big ears" - and then from some members of Ormonde's group of birthday celebrants.
"They didn't like us being there," said Krasniqi, adding later he felt they were looking at him and the other two men he was with as "animals."
Prosecutor Ann Morgan suggested otherwise.
"The Greek people had no problem with you at all," Morgan said. "The only person who has a problem with being an Albanian is you."
"No," responded the father of two. He came to Canada from Kosovo in 1999 and worked as a carpet installer until his arrest. He testified he has been convicted of assault and was sentenced to seven days in jail and one year's probation.
Before going to Kokkino, Krasniqi said he had drinks at another bar with a man named Sam, he didn't know his last name, who works in construction. They left the first bar and walked to Sam's truck and Krasniqi says he asked him if he could have one of the knives used to cut carpets.
"I told him it's a nice knife." Krasniqi gave the jury an animated and detailed explanation of how to install carpet, using the microphone on the witness stand to demonstrate.
After the stabbing, Toronto police released a photo of Krasniqi, who said he was hiding out in a Kingston Road motel before going to Montreal and then New York.
"Why did you flee the country?" Morgan asked.
"Everyone was his friends," he said. "I didn't know what to do. I stay I just killed somebody - what's going to happen? I'll be in jail all my life." He said he had two black eyes as a result of the barroom altercation.
When Morgan asked if he meant to kill Ormonde, he said no, but agreed with her statement "you thought it was me or him."
Morgan also pressed Krasniqi on why the two men he was with that night haven't stepped forward to corroborate "your side of the story."
Krasniqi replied he hasn't been able to locate them.
After spending some time in New York, he went to Florida but returned to Manhattan and was planning to surrender to police back in Toronto, Krasniqi testified.
Before that could happen, two Toronto women in Manhattan recognized him and alerted police when they returned home. U.S. Marshals arrested him there July 18, 2007.



Summary of story:
Well there was this man named Arber Krasniqi. He was in a restaruant and this man nasmed Ormonde comes out of nowhere and starts choking him. Then Arber gets too aggressive and takes his knife, and stabs Ormonde right in the side of the neck. Arber knew that the reason Ormonde came up too him like that was because Arber danced with Ormande's girlfriend. Now the part that was suprising too ME was that Arber ran out of the restraunt with Ormande"s friends behind him. Another thing was, this was Arber's SECOND criminal offense. Though, Arber fought back with the truth but it was still not good enough. Arber said that there was apparently Ormonde's birthday going on. And Arber was Albanian. Arber was trying to say that the Greeks from Ormande's party didn't like him. He recalls the waiters and the party members giving him dirty looks. (this was before Arber stabbed Ormande). After the stabbing, Arber tried to flee the country from places like New York and Montreal. Police found him on the sideroade and arrested him on July 18th 2007


Questions:

Question 1: Will this incident inflict with Canada? Can it change the economy in anyway?

Question 2: Have any of you had any experience with this kind of situation. Similiar?

Question 3: Do you think that the government should put SOME kind of law aggainst people who already had some criminal offense?

Remains of astronomer Copernicus found

KRONENBERG FOUNDATION

Researchers believe they have identified the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus, seen here in a computer reconstruction, by comparing DNA from a skeleton they found with that of hair retrieved from one his books.

Nov 20, 2008 09:55 AM

WARSAW, Poland – Researchers believe they have identified the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus.

The identification was done by comparing DNA from a skeleton they have found with that of hair retrieved from one of the 16th-century astronomer's books.

Jerzy Gassowski, an academic at an archeology school in Poland, also says facial reconstruction of the skull his team found buried in a cathedral in Poland closely resembles existing portraits of Copernicus.

Gassowski and Marie Allen, a Swedish DNA expert, told reporters about their findings in Warsaw on Thursday.

Allen said DNA from the bones and teeth matches that of hair found in a book the Polish astronomer owned.

It is in a library at Sweden's Uppsala University.

The astronomer's theories identified the sun, not the Earth, as the centre of the universe.

Summary: Conpernicus was found as a skeleton of a dead body on Warsaw on Thursday. The great think about this skelton was the one that discovered that the world went around the sun we used to think that the sun went around the world. 1.what do think would happened if we never found out that the world went around the sun? 2. Do you think that the discover was important? why or why not. Link: in unit 2 we are going to look at the explorers and they used this knowledge to navigate.

Avery Current Events

Native population growing

Jan 15, 2008 11:31 AM



Sue Bailey THE CANADIAN PRESS




Canada's native population has topped the million mark for the first time in the latest census, with slightly more than half the country's 1.2 million aboriginals living off reserve.
Fifty-four per cent who consider themselves North American Indian, Metis or Inuit live in or near urban areas, according to the 2006 national survey. That's up from 50 per cent in the census taken a decade previous, say figures released Tuesday by Statistics Canada.
But analysts say what appears to be a gradual urbanization of Canada's aboriginal population does not mean reserves are emptying. On the contrary, there has been net migration back to First Nations over the last 40 years.
And while many people enjoy good housing and jobs in cities, some of Canada's roughest streets are disproportionately home to aboriginals. Overwhelmed and under-funded agencies say it's a growing struggle to offer services ranging from job training and affordable rent to a bowl of soup.
"Locally our friendship centre is facing incredible funding pressures," says Susan Tatoosh, executive director of the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre in the city's notorious Downtown Eastside.
"We have over 1,000 people dropping in on a monthly basis. We keep stats."
"We have a constant turnover of staff, mainly because of burnout and leaving for better wages elsewhere."
Winnipeg leads the way with the largest native population of 68,380 or 10 per cent of its total. Edmonton is second with 52,100 or five per cent of its total, and Vancouver has 40,310 or two per cent.
Other cities with high proportions of native residents were Prince Albert, Sask., where native people account for 34 per cent of the population, along with Saskatoon and Regina with nine per cent each, says Statistics Canada.
Overall, the aboriginal share of Canada's population – 3.8 per cent – ranks second in the world to New Zealand. The Maori people account for 15 per cent of New Zealand's total, while indigenous people represent a two-per-cent share in the U.S. and Australia.
An estimated 698,025 people identified themselves as North American Indian in the 2006 census – a number lower than the 763,555 people counted in the government's official Indian Registry as of Dec. 31, 2006. This is in part because 22 First Nations, including Canada's largest Mohawk communities, shunned the census process.
Those reserves report births and deaths regularly through the federal Indian Registry and are generally suspicious of how census data might be used.
The most recent census finds that the proportion of status Indians living on reserve has held steady at about 45 per cent. The Indian Registry, by contrast, tells a different story.
It says there were 615 bands in Canada as of Dec. 31, 2006 with 763,555 members. Most of that total – 404,117 – lived on reserves, while 335,109 lived off reserve and 24,329 were on Crown land. The discrepancy between the registry and the census is explained in part by the First Nations who refused to take part in the national survey.
But the registry is also a more static reflection of birth, marriage and death, says Jane Badets of Statistics Canada. The census is a five-year snapshot of where aboriginal people primarily live, she added.
The Indian Registry along with census data are the prime sources of population data that help determine federal funds for native housing, education and health needs. Those agreements were historically negotiated between First Nations.
There's a political twist to any suggestion that an increasing number of First Nations people are living off reserve. The federal Conservatives have increased focus on off-reserve needs, most visibly by aligning themselves politically with the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples. The congress purports to represent off-reserve people across Canada, but its membership is disputed by rival groups like the Assembly of First Nations that are more closely identified with reserves.
The congress was notably the only native political group to openly endorse the Tories in the last federal election. Some critics of Conservative aboriginal policy note efforts to increase individual housing and other rights as piecemeal undermining of collective native rights.
In any case, observers stress that the gradual growth of native urban populations does not mean a mass exodus from reserves. In fact, since the mid-1960s more people have returned to First Nations and there's been a good deal of "churn" back and forth, says Dan Beavon, director of strategic research for Indian Affairs.
Much of the urban aboriginal growth can be traced to second- and third-generation population increases of existing native enclaves.
But bigger factors include "out-marriage" of aboriginal people with non-natives, along with a spike in cultural pride, Beavon says. People in cities have shown a greater tendency to cite native ancestry or identity from one census to the next, he explained.
The latest census shows 1.7 million people reported having at least some aboriginal ancestry, up from 1.3 million in 2001 and 1.1 million in 1996.
Higher birth rates also play a role, especially on reserves. And there's the simple fact that more First Nations now fall within city boundaries because of amalgamation, Beavon says.
For example, at least 20 First Nations border the sprawling Vancouver area, he says. "Reserves and cities are not mutually exclusive."
Aboriginal people flock to cities for the same education and job opportunities as non-natives.
"This is not a uniquely Canadian phenomenon," says Fred Caron, assistant deputy minister in the federal office for Metis and non-status Indians.
"It's worldwide. No matter what region you go to, there are more indigenous people living in cities in every region of the world – and facing a lot of the same issues."
Decent housing, a job and schooling for their kids are the main hurdles for people making the huge cultural shift from remote reserves, Caron said in an interview.
"Those three things, if they line up right, point to success – especially education."
In the meanest parts of Vancouver, Winnipeg and Saskatoon the extent to which native people have fallen through social cracks is painfully obvious.
Yet critics say federal and provincial governments aren't doing nearly enough to help these relatively young and growing urban communities to succeed.
Caron points to the federal Urban Aboriginal Strategy, a $14 million-a-year effort to co-ordinate an array of native training, transition and support services in 12 cities. He says Ottawa has forged partnerships and drawn funding from provincial, local and private interests.
"It's a small strategy. It hasn't got a lot of money attached to it," he conceded. But there are success stories, such as the BladeRunners program that trains young native workers for jobs in Vancouver's construction trade.
Peter Dinsdale, executive director of the National Association of Friendship Centres, says there's a growing need for the most basic services in cities.
"We provide, disproportionately, poverty-type programs. Programs for children, young parents and their families, food banks, drug and alcohol counseling."
Dinsdale says that 117 friendship centres across the country tracked 1.3 million services offered to clients last year – up from 757,000 in 2002-03.
"It's growing exponentially."
And no one, he says, wants to take on the responsibility or the cost. "There's this huge jurisdictional war going on between the provinces and the federal government as to who has responsibility for urban aboriginal people. As a result, very little is getting done."

Three Sentence Summary of my Article:

My article is about the native population growing. It is also about which province have more or less natives. And about the number of native people living on and off reserves.

Three Questions to Help you with your Comment:

1) Do you think that the growing number of natives will affect Canada’s culture? If so why? If not why not?

2) Do you think it is better that natives live on or off reserves? If so why? If not why not?

3) How long do you think the native population will stay close to this number?

Connection to course:

In class we are talking about The First Nations and this article talks about the first nations.

Summary: of news article taken from CTV>ca on Friday Aug.1, 2008
"Bus attack suspect appears in Manitoba court"

Vince Weiguang Li, 40 was taken to the Provincial Court in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba on Friday Aug. 1, 2008. Li is facing a second-degree murder charge for the stabbing and beheading of 22-year-old Tim McLean on Thursday night, July 31st. They were passengers and seatmates on a Greyhound Bus about 18km west of Portage La Prairie when the violent incident occurred.

There seems no reason for the attack. Tim’s friends say he has never been in a fight. It seems Tim was not asleep as everyone thought. Instead, he was texting a girfriend minutes before the attack. Derek Caron, a friend of Tim’s waited at the bus station all night for him.

Police said Li has no known criminal record and appeared to lead a normal life in Edmonton with his wife. The judge said Li should talk to a lawyer before a psychiatric assessment can be done. Li hasn’t said a word and only nods in response to questions.

The McLean family is angry that they had to find out about Tim’s death from a journalist, that the RCMP took too long to notify them.

The other passengers on the bus are receiving counselling after the nightmarish ordeal. It may take a long time for them to recover.

Questions:
1) How can we prevent something like this from happening again?
2) Is ridership down?
3) How do bus drivers feel about their own safety?
4) What will happen to Li if he is found not fit for trial?