Month: March 2013

Entertainment News

Canada Loses Its Troubador – Stompin’ Tom Connors Dead At 77

Some people say that Canada has two national athems: “O Canada” and “The Hockey Song” by Stompin’ Tom Connors.

The Canadian icon passed away on March 6, at the age of 77, leaving a hole in the heart and soul of the country.

Connors was a folk musician and a fierce Canadian patriot. He made his way up and down the country, documenting every square inch of every little Canadian town in his songs. He got his nickname because as he played and sang on stage, he stomped his cowboy booted left foot in time to the music.

The songs Stompin’ Tom wrote and sang were songs that Canadians connected with and which drew them together. They were simple, singable and relatable. Songs like “The Hockey Song,” which recounts a hockey game, inning by inning. Or “Bud the Spud,” about a trucker driving a load of PEI potatoes across Canada. Or Sudbury Saturday Night, which tells the tale of ordinary folks enjoying themselves in an Ontario town.

News Politics

Hugo Chávez, President Of Venezuela, Remembered For Social Reforms

Hugo Chávez, the charismatic president of Venezuela, died on Tuesday. He was 58.

Chávez had been the president of the South American country since 1998.

Chávez grew up in a very poor family. He dreamed of becoming a baseball player, but instead he studied at a military academy and then joined the army.

As a student and a soldier, Chávez read many books and became interested in politics and the problems affecting poor people in Venezuela. He believed that the people running the government at the time were dishonest, and were taking money that should have been used to help the whole country.

News Science

Dragon Brings Fresh Supplies To International Space Station

Did you ever wonder how the astronauts who are living on board the International Space Station get fresh supplies, like food, medicine and materials for their research?

A cargo capsule called SpaceX Dragon was recently sent up to the ISS to bring the astronauts fresh supplies.

Dragon was loaded with more than a thousand kilograms of science equipment, food and other materials.

It left Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Friday.

News Politics

Canadian Senators’ Expenses Being Reviewed

Senators are people who are chosen to help make the laws in Canada.

But right now, some of the senators are getting attention because of money they are spending on travel, and on apartments or houses to live in while they sit in the Senate in Ottawa, Ont., Canada’s capital city.

Senators can get as much as $22,000 each year from Canadians or their living expenses, as long as their main residence is at least 100 kilometres away from Ottawa.

But people say that some of the senators are claiming money to pay for their homes even though they are not living in them when they claim to be.

In other cases, people say the homes that are being paid for by Canadians are the main place of residence, or where the senators live most of the time — not just when they have to help make laws in the Senate.

If that is the case, these people say, the senators should be paying the cost themselves.

The senators who are being questioned about whether Canadians should be paying their housing and travel expenses include former TV news personalities Pamela Wallin and Mike Duffy.

News

Will The Titanic II Sail In 2016?

An Australian billionaire named Clive Palmer is building a life-sized replica of the Titanic.

The Titanic is a famous ship that sank in 1912. The dramatic story of the ocean liner has fascinated millions of people around the world. It was supposed to be an unsinkable ship but it hit an iceberg and sank on its very first voyage.

There have been many documentaries, films and books about the Titanic. Interest in the ship was heightened in 1997 when a blockbuster movie called “Titanic” was released, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

The replica Titanic ocean liner will be called Titanic II. It is scheduled to sail in 2016, from Southampton, England to New York in the United States.