Not Exactly Star Wars

My neighbour to the south never ceases to amaze me. I'm not talking about one person in particular, but the country south of my current place of residence. I was perusing my favourite news networks website and stumbled over a story about launching a missile into space to shoot down a spacecraft. If I was in orbit right now, I would be a little worried. I know that space is extremely immense and the actual risk of being hit by a missile is slim, but has this been tested before?

What am I talking about? Well I'm talking about the use of a surface to air missile to down a space craft. This has been done before by China to get rid of an old weather satellite. Even though China was successful in destroying the satellite, the danger to other orbiting technology must be considered. In the article I was reading, China received a lot of bad press over the incedent, with that in mind how will this affect the global view of the U.S. if they proceed with plans to destroy a satellite?

Public opinion of George W. Bush is extremely low right now as there are rumours of a recession in the U.S. and planing on removing a satellite by destroying it probably wouldn't help. I can understand the danger of a satellite falling from orbit containing harmful chemicals, even if the point of impact is not in a public area. The fuel for the thrusters on board the satellite is hydrazine. Apparently hydrazine can cause a burning sensation similar to chlorine. The security risk for the technologies on board is really low considering any technology on board will vaporize during re-entry to our atmosphere. I guess the risk of the satellite falling in a populated area out weighs any other risk.

Now after reading through the article, I can understand how downing a satellite with a missile is much cheaper than a shuttle mission to retreive it, but that's really not concerning. What is concerning is the amount of near earth objects that will be careening around our planet after the satellite is destroyed. An explosion in space would send pieces of the satellite in every direction and with no wind resistance, any object in the way would be damaged. What about the astronaughts on board the International Space Station. What are the chances of one of the fragments from the destroyed satellite end up putting a large hole in the Station?

I could just be over analyzing the news story, but I'm sure there is a chance. Its possible that this really is the safest way to avert any injury or death from a satellite. As for how this affects the average Canadian, well it certainly gives us a topic to debate. I'm sure that the global view of the U.S. will suffer a little bit, but with all of the other events that are going on in the world, it will get over looked. If it does damage the global view of the U.S. our Canadian dollar could see a little more prosperity, but I'm just speculating. Well that's my opinion, what are your thoughts on launching a missile to destroy a satellite?

Image source: Wiki Media Commons
News Story: U.S. plans to shoot down spy satellite

Another Triumph For Another Canadian Company, Cheers!

Now here's a typical Canadian story for you. I was checking out one of my favourite news networks' website and came across a story about a Canadian beer company announcing that their fourth quarter profits were up by over 70 percent. This really doesn't strike me as odd at all, considering two of our favourite past times are drinking and watching hockey, you can't watch your favourite hockey team win or lose with out a beer in your hands. The picture for this post was really easy to find to, considering I had just finished drinking a beer and used my camera phone to take the picture, yup I'm definitely Canadian eh!

The part of the article I was reading that I found the most interesting was that the companies stock jumped from just over $4 to almost $50 on the New York Stock Exchange. Now the company I am talking about is Molson Coors, one of my favourite beers happens to be made by Molson and is definitely Canadian. I'm sure all the noise us Canadians made about having to pay much higher prices than Americans on similar goods while our dollar continues to hover around par with the American greenback, had a little something to do with their jump in profits. We're Canadians with a little bit more disposable income, what else would we spend it on especially during the holiday season?

Now don't get me wrong, not all Canadians are heavy beer drinkers, although a lot of us do like drinking a fine cold brew every once and a while. Even though not every Canadian drinks beer, I'm sure a lot of us will rest easier now that some costs have come down and we can enjoy a cold beer. Personally I prefer to have a nice cold "Brown pop" after a long day at work. Now as for what the news of one of Canada's largest breweries trading higher on the N.Y.S.E. means for Canadians, well I'm sure the cash injection from a higher trading value will definitely bring more value to our dollar. Not that I'm predicting another record rise of our dollar, just saying that the stability of our dollar is more of a sure thing than in recent years. Well that's my opinion, what do you think?

Image: my camera phone
News Story: Molson Coors stock surges as profit beats estimates

News From Space!

Well it's official now, the shuttle Atlantis is in orbit. This is definitely good news for the European Space Agency (E.S.A.) considering the pay load on the shuttle is the E.S.A.s Columbus research module. The module has been in limbo for too long, even though the delays gave engineers longer to make upgrades to the systems on board.

The space shuttle left the launch pad on Thursday of last week and docked with the International Space Station yesterday. Attaching the Columbus research module is said to require three space walks or extra vehicular activities. So far there has been no mention of using the stations robotic arm to attach the module just the shuttles robotic arm. Although I'm sure the Canadian technology will be used during the space walks to give astronaughts a work platform.

Astronaughts on board will also be conducting an inspection of Atlantis' wings. The initial backflip performed by Commander Stephen Frick allowed for footage of the shuttles heat shields to be recorded. The U.S. Space agency doesn't expect to see anything that could endanger the crew upon re-entry.

All in all it is good to hear that the International Space Station program is making progress. One of our most challenging construction projects, albeit far behind schedule, is finally moving forward. My only thoughts about this news is, its about time!

News Story: Shuttle docks with space station
Image Source: Wiki Media Commons

An Appeal to N.A.T.O. For a Thousand More Troops In Afghanistan

Today I was watching a report on the C.B.C. News network that I found really interesting. The report was on Canada's appeal to N.A.T.O. for a thousand troops that are needed for the current mission in Afghanistan. I found it interesting because Peter MacKay, Canada's Defence minister met with other N.A.T.O. defence ministers and he flat out said that there is a need for 1000 more troops in Afghanistan.

Now I know that this push at the meeting for N.A.T.O. defence ministers in Vilnius, Lithuania was part of a new plan the Conservatives tabled yesterday and is rumoured to bring another election with it if the government votes against it. This really is a motion that could break the current minority government in Canada. Mostly because at least once a week I hear something coming from the Liberal opposition that clearly states that they are not happy playing the role of the opposition. I don't know about the rest of Canada, but the current economic boom we have been enjoying is not entirely due to the rumours of a recession in the U.S., the minority government has reduced the Goods and Service Tax by two percent since taking office, as well as boosting the funding for our military. Granted some still consider our military to be a joke, but I have a really bad feeling that if the Liberals get back in, our defence forces will suffer greatly.

I know that our neighbour to the south has a very strong military force, but we still have to protect our sovereignty regardless of which country is on our borders. Not only will our defence forces suffer from a potential general election in which the Liberals could form a majority government, but from my perspective, I would actually be ashamed to be Canadian if the Liberals formed a majority government. The last time they had power, many funds were squandered while our military was using dangerous used goods to protect us. I can understand politicians making claims against each other slinging mud back and forth because that has been what I have seen from them, but there comes a time when the interest of the people need to be considered.

I personally support the mission in Afghanistan, mostly because I have a friend or two serving over there as well as a co-worker who hails from Afghanistan. I have heard a few horror stories from before the whole "War on Terror" began in Afghanistan and I believe that we are needed to help rebuild. I have also heard from various news programs that we are only keeping the Taliban at bay while the people of Afghanistan are rebuilding their country from the bottom up.

But I digress, back to the news story I started with. The fact that we are trying to take the lead on keeping troops in Afghanistan on a mission to help the efforts to rebuild is incredibly important. Democracy takes time to develop and not even the most powerful nations in the world can deny that. It is always disheartening to hear about our soldiers being wounded or killed in the line of duty, but in this imperfect world of ours it takes sacrifice to make changes. But what about the global image of Canada? We have been peace keepers for many years, we have helped bring peace to many different parts of the world and the mission in Afghanistan is just as important as any peace keeping mission in the past.

Now the story also includes some hope. France has heard our call for more troops in Afghanistan. Just how many troops is purely speculation and rumours, although the rumoured number is 700. There is also a chance that other nations could commit enough troops to fill the void. Now what does this mean for an average Canadian, well it could mean nothing or yet another trip to the polls to vote for another Prime Minister or the same one. As this is a developing story we will have to watch and wait. That's my opinion, what's yours?

Image source: Wiki Commons
News Story: France heeds Canada's call for more troops

Drub Prohibition

I read a rather controversial article today on the C.B.C.s website. The article was about the war on drugs. I found it really informative considering that there is a 10000 member orginization that is for the legalization of drugs. Interesting. I've been in some interesting debates with friends about the legalization of marijuana and some very interesting points were made.

I understand that marijuana can be used for medicinal purposes. A friend of mine has a note from his doctor allowing him to legally smoke marijuana. I won't mention any names. As for the legalization of marijuana, I can't say I'm totally for it but I also can't say that I'm for it. Granted that there are lots of medicinal uses for different herbs, some people just smoke marijuana for fun. The article also mentions the legalization of heroin, that I know where I stand, absolutely not. Any drug that requires a needle to 'catch a buzz' doesn't interest me. I know heroin can be sniffed as well, but that doesn't interest me either.

What do you think about the issue of legalizing these two drugs? For me, the lesser of the two can be decriminalized, but I wouldn't vote for legalizing heroin. I'm sure the government would have a lot of money to gain from legalizing these drugs, but what about the current legal drugs, alcohol and tobacco? Granted there are much different affects from the use of different drugs, but isn't our society strained enough with the current legal drugs out on the market? What's your opinion on legalizing marijuana?

New Story: Drug legalization proposed at conference on drug use

A New Month Begins

Well its the start of another month. And even though it is only the second day of the month I am glad that I still have time to create a new post. This month and the following 8 months are going to present me with new challenges in terms of managing two blogs. My full time job has me working very long hours for most of the week and it will be hard for me to continue posting every day or every other day as of late. But thanks to 'Entrecard' I managed to hit the goal I had set for the month of January. I had set a goal to get an average of 30 hits a day to this website and I'm glad that you have stopped by to see what is happening here on 'Majik's Thoughts.' For the month of February, I will continue to work on the unfolding story I have over at Majik's World which is my second blog. I hope you will take a minute or two to have a read through "Dustin's Chronicle."

As for what is up and coming for this month, this blog is currently in the running for the 5th iBlog Cup. I will leave a link at the bottom of this post for any readers who wish to vote for me. I have been recieving quite a few hits from search engines looking for comparisons between Starbucks and Tim Hortons. Back in September of last year when I first started this 'Weblog' I wrote a post called "Tim Hortons Vs Starbucks" and it has brought me quite a few hits from search engines so I will try and write another comparison this month.

Right now I have to head on over to "Majik's World" to create the next installment in "Dustin's Chronicle" so I will finish this post quickly. I know this is not my usual post for this blog but every once in a while we need to go on a tangent. For all of you who take the time to stop by and have a read "Thank you very much" and for all you chain droppers from Entrecard, thanks for stopping in and leaving a momento! Peace out!

Image source: 2008 Calendar