100 Mile House's friendly, social & entertaining online news source!

By Bev Boyle

Most journalists are news junkies. I am one of them. It doesn't matter if it's news about fishing, politics, cheesy celebrities or whatever; I want to know what's going on. I flip daily through BC news, canada.com, GlobalTV to CNN.com, Etonline, People Magazine and yes, even TMZ.com. I receive daily updates from the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, the Sun, the Province, and several more. I need to know what's going on in this big, scary world.

This explains why I am so proud to be a part of this project - welcometo100milehouse.ca. After all, the most important news to affect us is the news right at home. You will not only get your local news 24/7, in glorious color, but you will also see business profiles, community events and local advertising and so much more. Computers are the future, and in this environmentally conscious age, we can keep our planet greener by reducing paper and use of chemical inks and processes.

Our younger generation, the ones that grew up using computers, will likely embrace this concept because, after all, they are active with e-mails, Facebook and Twitter, whether it's on their computer, laptops or cellphones. They understand this planet needs to slow down its destructive ways for their future generations. And many of them are finding that their parents and even grandparents are joining the computer world.

With our ads, links are available to business's flyers and websites. This alone will save a dumpster full of inked paper per household a year. It's incredible – we are helping our planet right here in 100 Mile House. We really hope you will enjoy this website!

Now, back to today's news. Patrick Swayze died today. This incredibly brave man fought cancer, with his wife of over 30 years by his side, in a dignified and courageous manner, even filming his TV show during his treatment. He will be missed.

It was also reported today that someone a little less known, Fawziya Ammodi , a 12-year old Yemeni girl, who was forced into marriage, died during a painful childbirth that also killed her baby. She struggled for three days in labor, before dying of severe bleeding at a hospital on Friday.  "Although the cause of her death was lack of medical care, the real case was the lack of education in Yemen and the fact that child marriages keep happening," said Seyaj President Ahmed al-Qureshi. Born into an impoverished family in Hodeidah, Fawziya was forced to drop out of school and married off to a 24-year-old man last year, al-Qureshi said.

There is something terribly wrong with this. One explanation: the Yemeni parliament tried in February to pass a law, setting the minimum marriage age at 17. But the measure has not reached the president because many parliamentarians argued it violates sharia, or Islamic law, which does not stipulate a minimum age. Give us a break.

I don't expect any of you to jump up in rage and attack Yemenites, but let's take a few seconds to reflect on what is going on in other parts of our world. While our 12-year old kids, or grandkids, are overstepping their boundaries by spending too much time on Facebook, etc., it is our responsibility to see that the computer can be used for knowledge, awareness and a compassion for circumstances that they might not be able to change today, but hopefully will change in the future. Knowledge is power and the younger generation needs some guidance to be able to perceive this. Do your part -  Fawziya Ammodi cannot be helped now but there are millions out there that can be!

Rest in peace, Patrick and let's bless the humanitarians out there that are trying to put and end to the atrocities that happen to young girls like 12-year old  Fawziya Ammodi. Maybe one day your child will be one of those humanitarians.