Canadian embassies abroad are stockpiling stores of antiviral drugs to combat the anticipated surge in cases of H1N1 influenza, the Toronto Star reported Sept. 12.
The Canadian federal government plans to buy 1,750 doses of the inhalable drug Relenza to add to the doses of Tamiflu already stockpiled.

Last April, I jumped on the bandwagon and signed up for a Twitter account. My first tweet? “I am eating pie in bed. Is this what ‘news’ has come to?” Apparently so—but according to some, I was voluntarily diminishing my vocabulary because of “impatience with more complicated modes of discourse” and succumbing to “thought control” at the hands of a criminal mastermind based in California.

Stockwell Park High School in South London, England has installed close to 100 video cameras to monitor student conduct, the Daily Mail reported July 21.
CCTV cameras were placed in classrooms, hallways and common areas in an extensive network that will cost the school £60,000 per year.

Sigg aluminum water bottles manufactured before 2008 have been found to contain small amounts of bisphenol-A (BPA), the Globe and Mail reported Sept. 3.
BPA is a potentially harmful carcinogen used to harden plastic—and the reason many people turned to aluminum water bottles in the first place.

I received an e-mail from a friend the other day who offered me an interesting piece of advice.
I had been telling her about a summer program in creative writing I’m participating in, and had expressed my anxiety about standing out in the crowd as the juvenile writer à la My Girl in a class of mature students.

United States President Barack Obama said he regrets the language he used to comment on the issue of Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s arrest, the New York Times reported July 25.
Gates, a professor at Harvard University of African-American descent, was arrested for disorderly conduct July 16 by police at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Think back. Think way back to high school. It’s May, it’s 20 degrees outside and there isn’t a cloud in the sky. It’s a perfect day to relax outside and maybe attempt to get that elusive tan, right?
There’s a catch, though: you have an essay due the next day.

Matt McCann, an intern at the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, was fired in May after writing a story about staff at the University of New Brunswick upset at giving Premier Shawn Graham an honourary degree, CBC News reported June 5.

A mere four hours east of Kingston on the 401 takes you to a wonderful and, unfortunately for most Canadians, rather foreign place. I am enjoying the beginning of my summer in the beautiful province of Québec, specifically in a medium-sized village named Chicoutimi, about 300 km north of Québec City.

The Toronto District School Board is storing a stash of valuable Canadian art in a secret vault, the Toronto Star reported May 15.
The art collection, which includes works by Tom Thomson and Emily Carr, is estimated to be worth $7 million.

Dean of Student Affairs Jason Laker: Laker’s botched interviews defending the intergroup dialogue program, attempt to visit Herstmonceux Castle on student money and mishandling of ethical purchasing show he’s unfit to represent students—and that’s just what he got up to this year.