Thousands flee Slave Lake as wildfires ravage town

The largest mass evacuation in Alberta history has just happened due to raging wildfires that have destroyed much of the northern Alberta town of Slave Lake. Thousands of residents are desperate to know of the situations of their homes, since at least 7,000 people have been reported to be forced from their homes as the firemen are struggling against destructive flames, which are even more dangerous that they seem due to the high winds that spreads these fire quickly. Winds reached 100 kilometers per hour, which helped the fire spread very quickly, leaving much of the town destroyed within only an hour. Many necessities such as blankets and cots were provided to those that have been forced from their homes, and also makeshift hospitals set up for those that need medical attention. Although the government has done a very good job so far of dealing with this issue, there is no end to be seen of this disaster.

I believe that the government did a great job of comforting the people and providing them with their basic needs to pass the time. There is not much more that can be done as the fires are still raging, and there is no set date of when the fires will be extinguished completely. The CTV news channel has already reported that about 40$ of the town has been burned, therefore there really is not much hope for these citizens to still be able to go back to their homes. I believe that the government has done all they can, and will continue to do all they can to limit the effects of this disaster, and also to treat and provide food and shelter for those that are in need.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110516/slave-lake-alberta-wildfire-evacuation-110516/

No homes affected yet by controlled Manitoba flood

The controlled flood in Manitoba is going better than the officials who planned it could have hoped for, as there have been no homes that are yet flooded by this. This minor flood was caused by a breach in a flood dike in Manitoba, which was done purposefully to help protect hundreds of homes that would be at great risk if the river became uncontrollable. Because of this, more than 150 people have already been evacuated as they are scared for the danger that could potentially come, as three houses have already been surrounded by water as of Monday evening, while none of them were completely flooded. The Infrastructure Minister Steve Ashton said that they have made significant progress, but they are nowhere near done with this issue, as they have already spent $70 million on flood mitigation measures. It is estimated that this number will rise to approximately $200 million by the end of the flood season.

I don't believe that making controlled floods that could potentially harm the citizens that live in Manitoba is a wise choice. Although this was designed to protect people and their homes in the long term, there are many places where these things can go wrong, and if they do go wrong, then the issues and cases become very tragic. I believe it is better just to leave it alone, or rather try to find a new, more safe and sure way to protect the people, instead of risking so many things and putting the people at such an inconvenience.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110516/flood-update-110516/

Endeavour blasts off for next-to-last shuttle mission

Today, the space shuttle Endeavour blasted off for its final trip into space, which can also be known as NASA's second-last manned shuttle mission. The launch was successful as the shuttle lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 8:56am Easter Time, headed towards the International Space Station. Upon its liftoff, there were many spectators, amounting to approximately 45,000 NASA guests, and also tens of thousands more that watched outside the space center's gates. This particular trip consists of 6 crew members, and will last for 16 days as these crew members try to install a particle physics experiment that is worth two billion US dollars. It is a telescope that is made of magnets that can seemingly find things such as antimatter and dark matter, which are some of the many things that astronomers are trying to figure out and learn more about in the universe today. This is the second-last manned shuttle mission for NASA as they have decided to reach into interplanetary travel, and they have decided to give the business of transporting crew members and cargo to the space station to private companies.

In my opinion, it is great for NASA to hand this business of transporting crew and cargo the International Space Station to private businesses because this way, NASA can focus on other things that humankind does not have technology for at this moment. Through further research, I believe that there is a possibility that people will be able to travel between planets. If NASA did not abandon their current project and hand these issues of transporting crew and cargo to private businesses, they would have neither the time nor funds required to do this kind of research and improve upon the technology that we have today.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110516/nasa-shuttle-endeavour-launch-day-110516/

Japanese in expanded nuclear zone leave homes

In Japan, two more towns are evacuated as technicians have found that these places are having substantially high radiation levels. This is mainly due to the radiation leak, and the contaminants that are resulting from it has reached these two towns. Both these towns are out of the preliminary 20 kilometer evacuation zone, and so the damage that was done by the nuclear power plants can be seen as far more serious than ever thought before. Many people have already moved out voluntarily, but it is not until now that the Japanese government had issued orders demanding the evacuation of Japanese citizens from these areas, as staying in these areas any longer may cause drastic damage to the people and have horrid side and after effects.

I think that it is right to make people evacuate from these two towns due to health concerns. If people did not evacuate and the government did not issue this order, then the people will be subject to massive amounts of radiation through the contaminants that are being spread through the water, and also the air. As a result of this radiation, individuals may develop cancer, and also their sons or daughters, and this effect may go on for many generations, thus it is very important for these people to evacuate.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20110516/japan-nuclear-zone-110516/

Inside the operation that led to bin Laden's death

It was revealed that the the US officials that were in charge and executed this operation to kill Bin Laden were not tracking Bin Laden himself, but rather a courier of his. The US intelligence officials are reported to have been searching for this courier for many years, as they learned that Osama used this courier to run different errands for him. It seemed as though the courier was the real mastermind behind the 911 attack, as Osama used him to maintain contact with the outside world. He was finally located last August, in 2010, in a compound that was located 55 kilometers north of Islamabad, Pakistan, in Abbottabad. Although they have located this compound in August, they did not attack until now because they wanted to make sure that Osama was located in there. There were some predictions initially when they saw the compound, as it was so strong and secure that the intelligence officials did not believe that it was built just to hide a courier, but rather someone of far greater importance. After 8 months, US president Barrack Obama was convinced of Bin Laden's location, and had secretly held 5 meetings in which the focused topic was whether or not Osama was in the compound. In the end, the operation was allowed to happen and Osama was found and shot dead.

I think that the US officials did a great job at tracking the courier of Bin Laden, since it was quite obvious and logical that Osama himself did not go outside to run different errands. He obviously needed someone on the outside to issue his orders, and once the intelligence officials had found this courier, Osama's fate was sealed. I also believe that they made the right choice by waiting this amount of months before initiating the attack sine they needed to make sure of Bin Laden's location. If in fact Bin Laden was not located in the compound, then it would be far harder for people to locate Osama since he would be even more scared to come out and plan anything. Taking the compound without Osama being in it would just scare him away farther, and make the work necessary to find him even harder than it already is.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20110502/inside-the-raid-that-killed-bin-laden-110502/