Clevelanders who want to visit Canada must presently catch an international flight, or make a drive over land. Travel to our neighbor to the north by water is not an option and hasn't been for more than 50 years now, but it may be soon in the future. Port officials in Cleveland say that they're talking with officials in Port Stanley, Ontario, about the idea of a passenger ferry service across Lake Erie which could start as early as next year.

The service between Cleveland and Port Stanley would most likely start out as a two-year trial. The ferry service would carry people, cars and a limited number of trucks. Port Stanley would like to limit the number of trucks and would like tourism to be the emphasis of the ferries.

Port Stanley officials have selected an Indiana-based vessel management company to study the concept and the types of boats that could be used for the ferry service.

A similar ferry service was attempted in Toronto and Rochester, New York, but that experiment ultimately failed. It's not clear if a Cleveland to Canada ferry would suffer the same fate, but it'd certainly be worth a try.

While Mexico's archaeology institute has downplayed theories that the ancient Mayans predicted the apocalypse would occur in 2012, on Thursday the group acknowledges that a second reference to the date exists on a carved fragment found at a ruin site in southern Mexico.

Most experts have referenced just one surviving reference to the date in Mayan glyphs on a stone tablet from the Tortuguero site in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco. In a statement on Thursday, however, the National Institute of Anthropology and History said that there is another reference to the date at a nearby Comalcalco ruin site. This inscription was on the carved or molded face of a brick. Comalcalco is an unusual Mayan temple in that that it was constructed of brick.

A spokesman for the institute, Arturo Mendez, said that the fragment of inscription was discovered years ago and has since been subjected to thorough study. It is being kept in storage at the institute, and is not on display.

On March 11, 2011, Japan was devastated by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that was triggered. Now, months later, there are some 5 to 20 million tons of debris that were sucked into the Pacific Ocean moving rapidly across the Pacific. The wreckage -- which includes furniture, boats, and even refrigerators -- is being tracked by researchers at the University of Hawaii who estimate that it may approach the U.S. West Coast in the next three years.

Jan Hafner, a researcher at the University of Hawaii, says:

"We have a rough estimate of 5 to 20 million tons of debris coming from Japan."

Last month, crew members on the Russian training ship the STS Pallada said that after passing the Midway Islands last month, they "spotted the debris 2,000 miles from Japan."

More than 20,000 were left dead or missing when the quake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan in March.

On Tuesday, Hurricane Beatriz brushed up against Mexico's Pacific coast, a popular destination for tourists due to the resorts located there. Beatriz brought with it powerful rains and winds, flooding streets and forcing tourists to stay in their hotels.

Mexican authorities closed the ports of Acapulco, Manzanillo and Zihuatanejo and has urged hotel owners to instruct guests not to go to the beach.

According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, Beatriz's winds were at hurricane force 80mph as of early Tuesday while the storm moved near or over the coast of Mexico. The storm was forecasted to move away from the coast later on Tuesday.

Hurricane Beatriz was located about 55 miles south-southeast of Cabo Corrientes early Tuesday, and was moving northwest at 14mph. It was expected to drop 6 to 12 inches of rain along the southwestern coast of Mexico, which could cause dangerous flash floods and mud slides. Coastal flooding and large waves were expected in the hurricane warning areas.

The U.S. State Department has issued a message that urges U.S. citizens to seek shelter, monitor media reports, and follow official instructions.

Over a foot of rain has fallen on the Mexican state of Oaxaca in the past two weeks, causing local rivers to flood. At least one large hill was undercut by the flooding, causing it to collapse and the mud and earth to flow over the streets and homes in the valley below. These landslides have trapped thousands of residents and have killed hundreds more, prompting Governor Ulises Ruiz to declare a state of emergency.

Rescue efforts are currently under way in and around the town of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec. However many locals are complaining that the workers are not responsible enough, and some have even taken to Twitter to voice their complaints and broadcast their situations.

Speaking with reporters, Gov. Ruiz said that he feared the death toll would rise, and that everything that could be done is being done:

“We expect to get there in time to rescue these people.”

While Microsoft has long been one of the crowned rulers of the computing world (with Apple being its only other equal), the video game world has always been run with a different set of rules, rulers, and boundaries. Though there are some games that have served as messengers between the two worlds, it wasn't until 2001 with Microsoft's eponymous Xbox that one of these kingdoms sent a ship over the seas separating the two lands on a mission of colonial peace.

The Xbox was at first skeptically received. Nintendo, Sega, and Sony had long been the rulers of the video gaming world and though Microsoft was the heavyweight champion on the other side, it was the rookie 'over here.' However, with successful marketing and powerful software to support it, the Xbox quickly became a competent contender.

After only a year of release, Microsoft launched the Xbox Live option, which let you connect your video game unit with others around the world. Computers had been doing it for years, so it was time for the video game consoles to follow suit. In 2007, Xbox Live had over 3 million users, and in 2009, the number had multiplied to over 40 million.

A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the Baja California area just south of Mexicali around 3:40pm Pacific Time. The rolling quake, which many have described as feeling like being on a boat, was felt over a wide area through Los Angeles, CA and Phoenix, AZ.

The quake triggered minor quakes along the San Jacinto Fault Zone. This is a major fault zone in Southern California which runs for 130 miles through San Bernadino, Riverside, San Diego and Imperial Counties. It is considered to be the most seizmically active fault zone in SoCal, and generally lies west of the larger, more infamous San Andreas Fault. It also lies east of the Elsinore Fault Zone. Both the San Jacinto and Elsinore Fault Zones are considered to be a part of the San Andreas Fault System.

Caltech seismologists have said that the quake was the strongest to hit the region in more than two decades, and that an estimated 20 million people felt it across the Southwest United States and Mexico. Caltech is also saying that at least one aftershock in the 6-magnitude range is "reasonably likely" in the next few days. The chances of a quake larger than 7.2 is pretty unlikely, but still a possibility.

Business at a brother near downtown Vancouver tripled during the Winter Olympics. n However, instead of a surge of foreign visitors, the brothel's owner, Sexy Nina, said that she found that local clients were excited by the Games' competitive spirit.

She told AOL News:

"The Games gave us the desire and willingness to connect, the energy to move. What an amazing two weeks!"

Interestingly, some street workers reported that business was slow. The slowdown in street business, however, could possibly be blamed on increased police presence.

Sex work is legal in Vancouver, but some associated activities, such as running a brothel, is not. However, the Vancouver Police Department tends to leave sex workers alone.

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has claimed responsibility for the attempted airline bombing on Christmas day in Detroit. Bin Laden claimed responsibility for the failed attack in an audio message released Sunday, and vows further attacks on the United States.

In the message, bin Laden suggests that he wants to show the world that he remains in direct command of the extremist Muslim group's many branches throughout the world.

The recording was aired on the Al-Jazeera news channel, and in it bin Laden directly addressed President Barack Obama, saying that the attack was similar to that of September 11 and that more attacks would be coming. He said:

“The message delivered to you through the plane of the heroic warrior Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a confirmation of the previous messages sent by the heroes of the Sept. 11.

America will never dream of security unless we will have it in reality in Palestine. God willing, our raids on you will continue as long as your support for the Israelis continues.”

As if Tiger Woods needed any more bad publicity, his Canadian doctor is now under criminal investigation for drug violations in both Canada and the U.S. Dr. Tony Galea was arrested in October, and his Toronto clinic was raided by Canadian authorities after he was detained at the U.S. border and found to be in possession of illegal drugs, including human growth hormone (hGH) and Actovegin, a drug extracted from calf's blood that is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Earlier this year, Galea was under scrutinty for a controversial treatment he performed on Woods. He flew to Woods' Windermere, Florida home at the request of his agents to treat him with his platelet-rich plasma injection therapy, a procedure also known as "blood spinning." The process involves spinning blood in a centrifuge and reinjecting it into injured joints in the hopes of accelerating healing.

According to a spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, charges against Galea are expected to be filed on Friday in Toronto. He is being investigated for smuggling, advertising and selling unapproved drugs as well as criminal conspiracy.

According to the Toronto Star, Galea is also now being investigated in the U.S. by the FBI, where he is suspected of providing athletes with performance-enhancing drugs. Importing Actovegin, which was found in his medical bag at the border in late September, is illegal in the U.S.

An attorney for Galea told the NY Daily News that he is innocent of any wrongdoing.