Fun!! I'll be the first one! http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/26/crews-race-contain-oil-spill-rig-blast/ A wrecked oil drilling platform is spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico. There has been 42,000 gallons of oil coming out of the site per day. That is a lot of oil that is going to waste and harming the environment. A team in a submarine is trying to shut off the underwater oil well, but they are having a great deal of trouble. If this cannot be stopped soon, another drill will have to be put in place to redirect the oil. It will take a little while for the oil to start washing up on the shores around the southern end of America. But it will get there if nothing else is done. They are not exactly sure where the spill is headed since the wind and currents are constantly changing. No matter which way it travels it will still cause a whole lot of damage to the marine life and the birds eating the fish. It will also hurt us because we eat the fish too. Though the picture of the spill is extraordinary, the affect might end up devastating.
The American Lung Association released a report that stated that six in every ten Americans live in areas where air pollution often reaches dangerous levels. The nation's worst ozone pollution was found in the Los Angeles area, the worst short-term particle pollution was in Bakersfield, California, and the worst year-round particle pollution was in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area in Arizona. While federal air quality standards are still not being met in California, there has been improvement, and 45% of the time ozone levels are not considered a health risk. The American Lung Association report gave these areas "F" grades, though they have improved over time. Cleaner diesel engines and controls on coal power plants has helped with decreasing soot and dust pollution, but even still around 24 million people live in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution. I find it troubling that these areas where so many people live are still very much polluted, but it's nice to know that they are at the very least improving. More restrictions (that are enforced) should be placed on factories that release pollutants that either directly contribute to particle pollution or lead to the formation of tropospheric ozone. There should also be more done to help reduce the risks of indoor air pollution, as pollutants are generally in higher concentrations indoors, and people spent most of their day and night indoors.
In this article Santa Clara county in California has put a ban on putting toys in "happy meals" that are over 485 calories. This ban is to help prevent childhood obesity. By not putting toys in high calorie meals, the county supervisor hopes that it will be less appealing for children to get those meals since they do not have a toy. They will also not be giving out toys on single item meals with more than 200 calories. The California Restaurant Association is angry about this because they do not think politicians should have a say in the fast food industry. The ordinance goes into effect 90 days after May 11. I think this is a good ban because many children just get high calorie meals just for the cheap toys. I think this could help stop obesity rates from going up even more because they happy meals won't be as appealing without a toy. Personally, I think they should just stop giving out toys so children won't want to eat there as often if they don't get one in their meal.
Greece's financial crisis is a subject we've discussed in class recently. I read this article, which discusses the bailout situation. As a member of the European Union, Greece feels it is entitled to a bailout. However, the rest of the EU, and especially Germany, is vehemently opposed to this. They feel like Greece should have done more to prevent this crisis, instead of depending on their help. I completely disagree. The entire point of the EU is to support the members in their time of crisis. When Greece joined the EU, it agreed to surrender some of its autonomy in exchange for support and help from other countries. Going back on that promise is tantamount to breaking a contract.
The Thai government has ordered police in Bangkok to close all roads around the "Red Shirt" rally areas, after a soldier was killed and 19 citizens wounded. The protesters, who are fighting to improve their government, are stopping at nothing - even after 23 casualties earlier this month. Troops are being reinforced at certain intersections where there has been history of tension. Soldiers are trying to keep away the protestors with slingshots, tear gas, and even bullets, while protestors used rocks and home-made bamboo rockets. I'm really worried about this, for two reasons actually. My mom and I had planned to go to Bangkok this summer to do service work and this probably means we will be cancelling. But mostly, I'm worried about these people who have a history of peace - Thailand is the only country in the region never colonized - and citizens don't really know how to deal with violence because of this. I hope that the government puts a stop to this violence right away, on behalf of the people of Bangkok.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/29/louisiana.oil.rig/index.html I read this article about the 120 mile oil spill off US coast. Authorities are scrambling to keep the spill from damaging sensitive coastal wetlands along the Gulf of Mexico. Fearing the effects of the spill, the Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal, has declared a state of emergency. I am shocked that more isn’t being done to stop the spread of the oil. The spill is large enough to endanger many wildlife and reefs. I think that there should specific procedures and laws that address oil spills so that they don’t wreck the natural life off the coast of the Us.
The article is about how there are new devices that hook up to your cell phone that can read credit cards. It's making it very convenient for people to pay each other with cards rather than cash, and small businesses are profiting from it. I think that it's a great idea, since few people carry around a lot of cash these days. The article talks about cash becoming obsolete in the near future. I agree; I think that cash will soon become too much of a hassle for anyone to use, and new technologies like these portable credit card scanners will succeed. I know that the Apple store is already using something similar when they ring up customers. I think that it is a great innovation and it will become very useful in the near future.
There has been an underground collapse leaving two miners dead in Kentucky. 24,000 feet in, the roof collapsed. I think it's really scary to have your occupation be something that you could die from.
When something like that happens there is almost nothing that can be done. Rescuers couldn't even get to the two dead miners because of all the falling rock. They had to return and try to "save" them later in the afternoon. I can't even imagine just doing your job, and never returning home. It's a really sad story.
Amazon is suing the state of North Carolina for violations of the first amendment. The article talks a lot about issues with in-state sales tax, and there are some more finance-related things in there that I don't fully understand, but what caught my attention was this- the revenue department has threatened to hold a civil contempt if Amazon doesn't turn over names and addresses of people who've bought things from Amazon over the last seven years. This is an obvious violation of privacy of Amazon's customers, and could cause more damage to some people's lives than you might think (for example, if a gay soldier buys a book about, say, how to tell your parents you're gay, then they would be discharged from the military because of DADT).
You can read the actual lawsuit document here: http://www.wral.com/asset/news/local/politics/2010/04/20/7451062/Amazon.com_v._N.C._Revenue_Secretary_Ken_Lay.swf
The first four pages have the main details of the case.
This is an article about a pot bust. There were weed houses from raleigh to fuquay. They used high tech equiptment to keep it running. Im surprised this wasn't found out earlier. HOuses full of pot made for growing pot. All around the area. This is a pretty big bust. I think that it's all stupid. I don't think marijuanna should be illegal, and i don't see why it is. It would be a lot safer if it was government regulated, and there would be a lot of money from it. Why spend so much money on puting people in jail?
This article is about a successful trial of a drug produced to help bring about significant improvements in the behavior of those suffering with retardation, specifically autism. The drug however is only made to work in cases where the autism or other form of retardation is caused by the Fragile X chromosome. This is a very common cause of retardation. The results were just revealed this week. The company that produced the drug was Novartis and they have been working on research and production of the drug for over 30 years. While the drug worked on several cases (out of the 12 trials conducted,) the president of Novartis says that they are still working on the drug and "warns against too much optimism." The release of the trial information that occured earlier this week was a hard decision for the company to make because they were reluctant for people to get to invested in thinking that they had already found the solution.
A man attacked preschool children with a hammer in east China on Friday, injuring five before setting himself on fire in a classroom suicide, state media reported. The attacker poured gasoline over himself while holding two children in his arms, a government spokesman told Xinhua news agency. Teachers managed to pull the two children away from the man. He died at the primary school in Weifang City, Shandong Province, the spokesman said. All five victims from the attack were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The incident followed at least three other separate attacks in China in recent weeks in which assailants have killed or wounded students. On Thursday, at least 28 children were injured when a man with a knife attacked a kindergarten in east China, state media said. Most of the victims were 4-year-olds and three of the children were in critical condition. Police said they have arrested a 47-year-old suspect. The incident happened in Taixing city in Jiangsu province. A day earlier, a man attacked 18 students and a teacher with a knife at a primary school in southern China's Guangdong province, Xinhua said.
Arizona's new immigration law has caused quite a stir among Americans, in places ranging from sporting arenas to the oval office! The new law sparked boycotts and peaceful protests; the mayor of Phoenix even threatened to sue the state! This policy, which is supposed to drive undocumented immigrants back across the mexico borderline, has the whole Hispanic population of the country in uproar. They are all furious; but the timing of this law’s passing is sure to work well for them. Cinco de Mayo festivities/ rallies are sure to be bigger than anyone has ever seen before. This immigration law is seen by Republicans as a necessary measure to curb the state’s climbing crime rate. But this law is a violation of civil rights.
This article is talking about illegal immigration in Arizona and the new law they're passing there in order to try to cut down on illegal immigration. Half of illegal border crossings now occur in Arizona and everyone agrees that something should be done. As the number of illegal immigrants goes up, so does the number of killings and kidnappings in Arizona. A new law was just passed this month requiring all law enforcement officers to act on reasonable suspicion that someone is an illegal immigrant. I think this law is wrong. It supports and enforces stereotypes by requiring officers to confront every person (usually Latino) that looks as though they could be an illegal immigrant.
Fun!! I'll be the first one!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/26/crews-race-contain-oil-spill-rig-blast/
A wrecked oil drilling platform is spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico. There has been 42,000 gallons of oil coming out of the site per day. That is a lot of oil that is going to waste and harming the environment. A team in a submarine is trying to shut off the underwater oil well, but they are having a great deal of trouble. If this cannot be stopped soon, another drill will have to be put in place to redirect the oil. It will take a little while for the oil to start washing up on the shores around the southern end of America. But it will get there if nothing else is done. They are not exactly sure where the spill is headed since the wind and currents are constantly changing. No matter which way it travels it will still cause a whole lot of damage to the marine life and the birds eating the fish. It will also hurt us because we eat the fish too. Though the picture of the spill is extraordinary, the affect might end up devastating.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/04/28/457691/report-most-americans-still-live.html
ReplyDeleteThe American Lung Association released a report that stated that six in every ten Americans live in areas where air pollution often reaches dangerous levels. The nation's worst ozone pollution was found in the Los Angeles area, the worst short-term particle pollution was in Bakersfield, California, and the worst year-round particle pollution was in the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area in Arizona. While federal air quality standards are still not being met in California, there has been improvement, and 45% of the time ozone levels are not considered a health risk. The American Lung Association report gave these areas "F" grades, though they have improved over time. Cleaner diesel engines and controls on coal power plants has helped with decreasing soot and dust pollution, but even still around 24 million people live in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone and particle pollution. I find it troubling that these areas where so many people live are still very much polluted, but it's nice to know that they are at the very least improving. More restrictions (that are enforced) should be placed on factories that release pollutants that either directly contribute to particle pollution or lead to the formation of tropospheric ozone. There should also be more done to help reduce the risks of indoor air pollution, as pollutants are generally in higher concentrations indoors, and people spent most of their day and night indoors.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/28/fast.food.toys.california/index.html?hpt=C1
ReplyDeleteIn this article Santa Clara county in California has put a ban on putting toys in "happy meals" that are over 485 calories. This ban is to help prevent childhood obesity. By not putting toys in high calorie meals, the county supervisor hopes that it will be less appealing for children to get those meals since they do not have a toy. They will also not be giving out toys on single item meals with more than 200 calories. The California Restaurant Association is angry about this because they do not think politicians should have a say in the fast food industry. The ordinance goes into effect 90 days after May 11. I think this is a good ban because many children just get high calorie meals just for the cheap toys. I think this could help stop obesity rates from going up even more because they happy meals won't be as appealing without a toy. Personally, I think they should just stop giving out toys so children won't want to eat there as often if they don't get one in their meal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/world/europe/29germany.html
ReplyDeleteGreece's financial crisis is a subject we've discussed in class recently. I read this article, which discusses the bailout situation. As a member of the European Union, Greece feels it is entitled to a bailout. However, the rest of the EU, and especially Germany, is vehemently opposed to this. They feel like Greece should have done more to prevent this crisis, instead of depending on their help.
I completely disagree. The entire point of the EU is to support the members in their time of crisis. When Greece joined the EU, it agreed to surrender some of its autonomy in exchange for support and help from other countries. Going back on that promise is tantamount to breaking a contract.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/36642/red-rally-site-isolated
ReplyDeleteThe Thai government has ordered police in Bangkok to close all roads around the "Red Shirt" rally areas, after a soldier was killed and 19 citizens wounded. The protesters, who are fighting to improve their government, are stopping at nothing - even after 23 casualties earlier this month. Troops are being reinforced at certain intersections where there has been history of tension. Soldiers are trying to keep away the protestors with slingshots, tear gas, and even bullets, while protestors used rocks and home-made bamboo rockets.
I'm really worried about this, for two reasons actually. My mom and I had planned to go to Bangkok this summer to do service work and this probably means we will be cancelling. But mostly, I'm worried about these people who have a history of peace - Thailand is the only country in the region never colonized - and citizens don't really know how to deal with violence because of this. I hope that the government puts a stop to this violence right away, on behalf of the people of Bangkok.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/29/louisiana.oil.rig/index.html
ReplyDeleteI read this article about the 120 mile oil spill off US coast. Authorities are scrambling to keep the spill from damaging sensitive coastal wetlands along the Gulf of Mexico. Fearing the effects of the spill, the Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal, has declared a state of emergency.
I am shocked that more isn’t being done to stop the spread of the oil. The spill is large enough to endanger many wildlife and reefs. I think that there should specific procedures and laws that address oil spills so that they don’t wreck the natural life off the coast of the Us.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/technology/29cashless.html?src=me&ref=general
ReplyDeleteThe article is about how there are new devices that hook up to your cell phone that can read credit cards. It's making it very convenient for people to pay each other with cards rather than cash, and small businesses are profiting from it. I think that it's a great idea, since few people carry around a lot of cash these days. The article talks about cash becoming obsolete in the near future. I agree; I think that cash will soon become too much of a hassle for anyone to use, and new technologies like these portable credit card scanners will succeed. I know that the Apple store is already using something similar when they ring up customers. I think that it is a great innovation and it will become very useful in the near future.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/29/kentucky.miners/index.html?hpt=T2
ReplyDeleteThere has been an underground collapse leaving two miners dead in Kentucky. 24,000 feet in, the roof collapsed. I think it's really scary to have your occupation be something that you could die from.
When something like that happens there is almost nothing that can be done. Rescuers couldn't even get to the two dead miners because of all the falling rock. They had to return and try to "save" them later in the afternoon. I can't even imagine just doing your job, and never returning home. It's a really sad story.
http://www.wral.com/news/local/politics/story/7450980/
ReplyDeleteAmazon is suing the state of North Carolina for violations of the first amendment. The article talks a lot about issues with in-state sales tax, and there are some more finance-related things in there that I don't fully understand, but what caught my attention was this- the revenue department has threatened to hold a civil contempt if Amazon doesn't turn over names and addresses of people who've bought things from Amazon over the last seven years. This is an obvious violation of privacy of Amazon's customers, and could cause more damage to some people's lives than you might think (for example, if a gay soldier buys a book about, say, how to tell your parents you're gay, then they would be discharged from the military because of DADT).
You can read the actual lawsuit document here: http://www.wral.com/asset/news/local/politics/2010/04/20/7451062/Amazon.com_v._N.C._Revenue_Secretary_Ken_Lay.swf
The first four pages have the main details of the case.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/04/29/459328/pot-growing-facilities-busted.html
ReplyDeleteThis is an article about a pot bust. There were weed houses from raleigh to fuquay. They used high tech equiptment to keep it running. Im surprised this wasn't found out earlier. HOuses full of pot made for growing pot. All around the area. This is a pretty big bust. I think that it's all stupid. I don't think marijuanna should be illegal, and i don't see why it is. It would be a lot safer if it was government regulated, and there would be a lot of money from it. Why spend so much money on puting people in jail?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/health/research/30fragile.html?hp
ReplyDeleteThis article is about a successful trial of a drug produced to help bring about significant improvements in the behavior of those suffering with retardation, specifically autism. The drug however is only made to work in cases where the autism or other form of retardation is caused by the Fragile X chromosome. This is a very common cause of retardation. The results were just revealed this week. The company that produced the drug was Novartis and they have been working on research and production of the drug for over 30 years. While the drug worked on several cases (out of the 12 trials conducted,) the president of Novartis says that they are still working on the drug and "warns against too much optimism." The release of the trial information that occured earlier this week was a hard decision for the company to make because they were reluctant for people to get to invested in thinking that they had already found the solution.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/04/30/china.school.attack/index.html?hpt=T2
ReplyDeleteA man attacked preschool children with a hammer in east China on Friday, injuring five before setting himself on fire in a classroom suicide, state media reported. The attacker poured gasoline over himself while holding two children in his arms, a government spokesman told Xinhua news agency. Teachers managed to pull the two children away from the man. He died at the primary school in Weifang City, Shandong Province, the spokesman said. All five victims from the attack were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The incident followed at least three other separate attacks in China in recent weeks in which assailants have killed or wounded students. On Thursday, at least 28 children were injured when a man with a knife attacked a kindergarten in east China, state media said. Most of the victims were 4-year-olds and three of the children were in critical condition. Police said they have arrested a 47-year-old suspect. The incident happened in Taixing city in Jiangsu province. A day earlier, a man attacked 18 students and a teacher with a knife at a primary school in southern China's Guangdong province, Xinhua said.
Arizona's new immigration law has caused quite a stir among Americans, in places ranging from sporting arenas to the oval office! The new law sparked boycotts and peaceful protests; the mayor of Phoenix even threatened to sue the state! This policy, which is supposed to drive undocumented immigrants back across the mexico borderline, has the whole Hispanic population of the country in uproar. They are all furious; but the timing of this law’s passing is sure to work well for them. Cinco de Mayo festivities/ rallies are sure to be bigger than anyone has ever seen before. This immigration law is seen by Republicans as a necessary measure to curb the state’s climbing crime rate. But this law is a violation of civil rights.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-stein-20100430,0,603760.story?track=rss
ReplyDeleteThis article is talking about illegal immigration in Arizona and the new law they're passing there in order to try to cut down on illegal immigration. Half of illegal border crossings now occur in Arizona and everyone agrees that something should be done. As the number of illegal immigrants goes up, so does the number of killings and kidnappings in Arizona. A new law was just passed this month requiring all law enforcement officers to act on reasonable suspicion that someone is an illegal immigrant. I think this law is wrong. It supports and enforces stereotypes by requiring officers to confront every person (usually Latino) that looks as though they could be an illegal immigrant.