Currently the Red Sox lead the MLB. With no team in the AL East able to  compete with them they look to AL Central and AL West. The Detroit Tigers and the Texas Rangers lead both these divisions. With Justin Verlander leading Detroit with impressive pitching, they stand to give the Red Sox a challenge in the next half of the season. Verlander has shown he has near perfect pitching form, and is considered one of the best players in the MLB with a one release point, multi-pitch throw. Detroit has also acquired a few power players in Cabrera, Hunter, and Fielder all with impressive batting averages and great fielding skills. If they utilize their lineup effectively, they may become an unstoppable force for the coming years. However, whether or not they'll make to the World Series this year will largely be decided by the performance of other teams, as the Royals are a close second in their division . Red Sox also stand to find a rival in the Texas Rangers. As the only team that has been able to sweep the Red Sox, the Rangers have shown that they are tough competition and won't go down without a fight. Berkman, and Beltre both have impressive batting averages, Beltre has also acted as a pivotal player at 3rd base. However both of these players are out shined by the Texas Rangers' best batter Cruz who holds nearly a .500 Slugging Percentage. The Texas Rangers' offensive capabilities may give the Red Sox trouble, with their defensive play style and low run count. Finally the Red Sox seem to have a strong lineup this year, with significant improvement being made since last season. Leading the entire MLB at the halfway mark in the season, they've shown just how strong a team they are, getting sweeped by only one team so far. With Ortiz, Middlebrooks, and Napoli all having solid hitting and SLG percentages, the Red Sox a team known for normally having good defense with low run count games, have transitioned into a Jack of All Trades team, with good scoring power as well as great defence. Overall the second half of the season looks to hold some good competition.

The middle east seems to have a new problem everyday. Between corrupt leaders and religious tensions, the area seems to never get a break. The most recent airstrike from Israel has put even more strain on Syria, a country already dealing with an uprising against their government. In this airstrike Israel claims to have targeted a shipment of advanced missiles which the government was transporting. They stated that the missiles were "game changing" weapons bound for the Lebanese Hezbollah Group. The airstrike follows many concerns from across the globe that the Syrian government may have been using chemical weapons on their own civilians. At this point Syria has announced that Israel's airstrikes are a declaration of war, and have vowed to retaliate against Syria. The rising tensions in the middle east may very well result in a war, the question being will Canada be drawn into it? With the US allying itself with Israel, will we be pulled into another 10 year war in the middle east? With Syria aiming missile batteries at Israel, conflict might not be too far off, and the middle east may be pulled into another war.

As part of Waterloo Region's attempt to make the region more urban  there are plans to add a Light Rail system. The Light Rail system will cost around 818 million dollars with 253 million dollars of that being payed for by local taxpayers. The idea of creating the Light Rail system has been very controversial. With some people arguing that the cost is too high, and that the route the Light Rail will take is seemingly pointless, as it goes from one mall to another. Another major problem with the development of the Light Rail is the fact that not every company can make a bid at building it for the city. Companies who want to apply to build it would need to spend roughly 3% of the projects total cost; or 24.5 million dollars on legal fees, finance preparation, and other administrative costs to compete for the chance to build the Light Rail. The local government however believes the Light Rail is a step in the right direction for Kitchener-Waterloo, stating that the Light Rail will increase local business. Regardless of whether this is true, it still begs the question: Is the increased business going to make up for 253 million tax-payer dollars? Also, why would people take the Light Rail? What's the draw? Going from one mall to another?

The Conservative party has yet again chosen to use smear campaigns as their election platform. In this new ad released THE DAY AFTER Trudeau attained leadership of the Liberal Party, they take every single thing they attack out of context, and twist it around. Even worse the Prime Minister and his party were even less experienced than they claim Trudeau to be when they entered parliament. To start, the video at the beginning of the ad with Justin "stripping down" was part of a charity event to raise money for liver disease. Yet the Conservatives use this to show him being unprofessional? Another problem with their ad? Well let's talk about the fact that when Trudeau says "Quebeckers" are better he's talking about HIS DAD'S STANCE ON QUEBEC, and why it was wrong for separatists to need special treatment! Meanwhile when we look at Harper he's called Alberta the, "best of Canada's heritage—a combination of American enterprise and individualism with the British traditions of order and co-operation" while Canada "appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country [...] led by a second-world strongman appropriately suited for the task" Finally when the Conservatives attack Justin's lack of experience, voters need to look at the fact that: Stephen Harper and other Conservative leaders had shockingly less experience and far fewer policies when they entered politics and became party leader than Trudeau. This shows just how hypocritical the Conservatives are being because they're complaining about things they're all guilty of.

Today my class went on a really great trip to TEDx. We got to hear from some great speakers who shared what they thought was the meaning of chasing home, while also sharing their own personal experiences in life. My favourite speakers were Holly Painter, Richard McLean, and Caustan De Riggs, all of whom shared some of their most personal experiences and shed light on what they thought home was. They were inspirational, and each came from a different walk of life yet all had the same message. Chasing Home isn't meant to be literal. We're not supposed to look for a house in the world. Instead we need to find others who care for us and work with them to achieve our goals. Rather than a society of people who put others down, we need to work together to make a society of people who lift each other up.

    As part of the future forums project, my class will soon be attending the upcoming event Tedx Waterloo, we will be seeing a special youth presentation made for us and other future forum classes. A variety of presentations made by diferent speakers will talk a bout the theme of "Chasing Home". 

    I'm really excited to get to see Syd Vanderpool speak, he's a great boxer and will be acting as a motivational coach, and will push the students at the center to do things they never though possible. He's a great athlete who's competed at the professional level so I'm happy to get to see his perspective on life.

    I'm also excited to see Caustan De Riggs, he's also a motivational coach, but he's also a comedian. I think that he will really inspire us, hopefully talking about his section from 'Green Careers' which focuses on jobs that make money while also saving the planet. As well I think he will make the event more exciting with his great sense of humor.

    Finally I'm excited to see Jeffrey Navaro, as I think he will really liven up the event as he DJs. It will be an exciting event overall but I feel like his music will only add to the presentations the speakers make.

    

   

With each new day, comes a new surprise. For me, making this website is just that, a surprise. I'm Ean, and I'm creating this website as well as this blog for a class assignment. My first job in this assignment is to write a a little about myself, so here goes. As of writing this I'm 15, and live in Kitchener, Ontario. I love learning about business, politics, philosophy, and history, and hope to go to the University of Toronto to get my MBA. I think that one of the most important things in life is to do what your heart is set on, because otherwise the world grays and life becomes boring. Though I'm against the irrationality of impossible dreams, I think everyone should be encouraged to achieve their best and work towards a future goal. Life, in general won't be kind to you, and you'll have to go through a lot of hard times before achieving these goals, but in reality that's what makes the goal worth achieving. Anyways, moving beyond that, despite this only being an assignment for class I plan on filling this website with links to articles about the latest news, as well as my views/opinions on it. Thanks for reading, and please feel free to come back anytime.