A lawsuit s being filed against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia claiming alleged sex crimes against children. Officials of the Archdiocese concealed the sexual abuse history of one of its priest and created a faux sexual abuse victim assistance program. The suit prosecutes seven officials of conspiracy to endanger children, fraudulent concealment, and fraud. One of the defendants, former archbishop Anthony Bevilacqua is being further investigated after evidence from a previous civil case warranted further investigation. The case shows that the former archbishop has a history of concealing and ignoring child sex crimes within the church. In one specific incident he knew of a priest’s actions, failed to inform authorities and had the priest transferred. The Archdiocese claims that the priest was removed from the ministry as soon as it became aware of his misconducts. However, no case could be built against Bevilacqua’s concealment until now.
It still seems unbelievable that this type of thing could even happen within an institution like the Church. Sure we’ve all heard plenty of stories about priests sexually abusing kids but that doesn’t make it any easier to hear. What really gets to me is that the higher-ups in the Church think it’s better to just sweep these incidents under the rug. These are supposed to be the most moral men in the world, and yet they seem to be the most corrupt as shown by situations like these. Unfortunately these individuals have gotten a little too good at moving around their “troubled” priests making it harder for the Department of Justice to formally investigate certain branches. However, lawsuits such as these will hopefully open the door for ensuing investigations and cases.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/us/08storm.html?_r=1&ref=us Shane Sater Topic: Domestic News With the official start of spring only two weeks away, Vermont was hit hard with a major snowstorm this week, which dumped around two feet of snow on many parts of the state. Although Vermont generally receives an impressive snowfall, this years’ season is far above average - indeed, official totals in Burlington, Vermont exceed normal yearly snowfall by 40 inches already. This latest snowstorm has had noticeable consequences throughout the state. Schools across Vermont have been closed; Interstate 89 was shut down for hours on Monday. Even more notable, Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott has shut down the state government; meanwhile, Governor Peter Shumlin is on vacation out of state at an undisclosed location. Even emergency services are having trouble operating in the weather: according to a member of the South Burlington Police, Jim Goslin, wreckers had been responding “nonstop” to accidents - emergency personnel are swamped. There were even reports of snowplows malfunctioning and overheating. Although it is no fault of the Vermont state government that the weather is so adverse, it seems that Governor Shumlin is extremely ineffective. While entrusted with responsibility in executing the duties of the Vermont government, Mr. Shumlin is not even in the state, but is on vacation at an undisclosed location. According to Susan Allen, his spokeswoman, “[he is] getting hourly updates from emergency management and has spoken to the public safety commissioner.” Although it is certainly expected for the governor to get updates on the crisis, his presence on vacation out of state is quite unhelpful. Although Lt. Gov. Scott seems to be handling the situation, this is the governor’s responsibility. His current actions appear only slightly more helpful than it would be for a Chapel Hill High School student to “get hourly updates” on the emergency; his actions do not reflect well on his sense of duty.
Charles Darwin may have been wrong about his ideas when it came to invasive species, at least where amphibians are concerned. An invasive species is any type of living thing, animal or plant, that moves into a new area and displaces the native species. They take over the species that was there before them. He believed that when an invasive species entered a region where closely related species already existed, it would be most likely be unsuccessful because of the competition for resources. However the opposite pattern occurs with amphibians. When frogs, toads, and salamanders invade an area where similar species live, they are more, not less, likely to live together. This is the first study that contradicts Darwin's invasive species hypothesis using animals. One explanations as to why amphibians seem to thrive when introduced in locations with related species is because there is a natural suitability. These findings could help conservationists predict the risk levels of introducing specific alien species into a new region.
It really surprised me that Darwin had a hypothesis about invasive species and it doesn't seem to be true. Darwin believed many things that in his time seemed impossible but they were true. Many of the things he believed and studied have been proven. That's why it surprised me that he was wrong about this. It makes me wonder if we are doing something different of wrong in our study, that's different from how Darwin did it. It seems to me like what he thought should be right. Since this study was done with animals it makes me wonder if Darwin's hypothesis was right regarding plants.
Egypt has ousted Mubarak, and has a new Prime Minister, Essam Sharaf. Now, a board of eight appointed by the military is writing a new Egyptian constitution. Not one of the board members is a woman. Sixty-three women's groups are joining to petition the new government that a female lawyer be added to the board. During the 18 days of protest it took for Mubarak to step down, women and men both slept in Tahrir Square and braved the violence. When Mubarak announced he would step down, the men in the crowd went wild and groped and sexually harassed women in the crowd. One Egyptian woman said that this reaction was similar to the aftermath of a soccer victory. Sexual harassment is a huge problem in Cairo, and the reason women are not ofter seen walking downtown. Egyptian women are campaigning so that they are not left out of the new constitution, and so their current minimal rights are not further diminished.
It's fantastic that Mubarak is gone and a new constitution is being written, but I think it is very important that women be included in the reconstruction of the government. Women in Egypt may have it better than in other parts of the Middle East, but the sexual harassment is awful. No one should be afraid to walk in their own city in broad daylight. The constitution should also not say anything like the Egyptian president may not marry "a non-Egyptian woman." Phrasing like this suggests the President could not be a woman. Women represent about 49.5% of the world population. Obviously, they should have about half of the influence on what happens in this world.
This week i will be doing two current events. I will be doing my official current event on crime tomorrow, today i would like to write about something nearly just as important. I am doing this on CHHS' own student, Mr. Liam Dalton. You see ladies and gentle men the thing is, Liam is a Brofessional at being a bro.
He is really BROactive, BRO. He watches the carBROhydrates and BROdium intake. High levels of BROtein and BROtassium are good though. He also watches the BROdas, too; carBROnated stuff just isn’t that great for him. He BROtects his body in order to stay chill.
In all seriousness i do thank Liam because he helps me study in such a unique way for my tests that only a bro can do.
At Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, authentic Chinese artifacts dating from the Tang Dynasty (around the 7th century) was discovered by Custom agents. The artifacts came from what is known as the golden age of China. The artifacts were smuggled by....Smugglers. The net worth of these artifacts is $250,000. Federal Agents plan to ship these artifacts back to their rightful owners.
I think that the owners of the artifacts caught a huge break. Not only are the artifacts worth a lot of money, but essentially they are priceless and are one of a kind. Im glad that the smugglers were caught for their illegal activity.
Frank Buckles, the last surviving World War I veteran, died on Sunday, February 27th, 2011. The family of Buckles insisted that he is to “lie in honor” in the Rotunda in the Capitol Building, which is a large circular room that connects the House and the Senate and is visited by many people each day. This means that the coffin of Frank Buckles would be on display to the public for people to pay their last respects to. The family wanted Buckles to represent all of the World War I veterans who have all passed away. However, the leaders of both the House and the Senate denied the request for Buckles to be honored there, instead recommending a ceremony in the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington. Some congressmen side with the family in respect for the last veteran, but Mr. Buckle’s body still rests in Washington as his family awaits the final outcome of the Congress decision.
I think that Frank Buckles deserves the right to be honored in the Capitol Rotunda. This would be a symbol of honor not only to him, but to all the Armed Forces who fought in one of America’s greatest wars. However, the emphasis should definitely not be solely on Buckles, who did not see combat and who drove vehicles for the Allies in Europe during the war. The emphasis instead should be on the national honoring and paying of respect to the memory of our World War I veterans. As we studied in class, Congress must come to a decision by majority to pass on any decision, and this debate over Buckles is no different. I sincerely hope that Buckles will get a chance to represent all of those passed away and missing soldiers who fought for our country almost a century ago in the Capitol Rotunda.
A 60-year-old Laysan Albatross (a species of bird), Wisdom, recently laid an egg and is currently in the process of hatching it. She is an exceptionally old bird and has been banded since 1956. Scientists have observed minimal change in her appearance and ability. In addition, her age does not hinder her from producing offspring (she is believed to have raised at least 30 chicks thus far). Wisdom has exceeded the average life span of an albatross by at least twenty years. However, the Layson Albatross is a near-threatened species and consequently, scientists have not been able to band an adequate number of birds. Wisdom's astonishing age leads scientists to question the rareness of the situation.
The ongoing survival of a 60-year-old bird is extremely impressive; however, I think that it is more remarkable that Wisdom has not aged since 1956! Furthermore, Wisdom is still producing offspring on a regular basis, greatly exceeding a human's reproducing capability. Many humans would deeply envy this bird's self-preservation and ability, despite her old age. I will consider myself to be very lucky if I can maintain my current states of physical and mental health until I am 60.
Scientist are now able to control a mouses anxiety by only flipping a switch. This is done by altering two parts of the brain. Scientist are able to raise and lower the anxiety of a mouse by planting a light wired inside of the mouses brain. The amygdale is a sack of nerves buried in ether side of the brain. These nerves are important for controlling emotions such as fear, and of course, anxiety. A group of researchers at Howard Hughes Medical Institute genetically engineered a protein that can turn a brain cell on and off in a mouse. Using this protein scientist have wired a mouses brain to become more or less anxious at the flip of a switch. Normally a mouse would cower in a conner afraid of predators, but when scientist flip the special switch, they loose all anxiety and and will wonder around it's cage.
I believe that this kind of research is very useful to our society. Being able to control somethings emotions can be very useful medically. When animals are transported to a new habitat, the anxiety that builds up can cause them to be a threat to others around them. By wiring their brain, we can be able to ease the animal causing it to be less of a threat. Scientist at the end of this article were very uncertain wether or not this kind of technology would work on humans. Because right now this seem like a bit of a stretch, in the future we might be able to help patients with their anxiety attacks.
In Egypt, Preparations for a Rarity: A Real Vote http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/world/middleeast/09cairo.html?_r=1&ref=world
In a town-hall style meeting in Cairo, Amr Moussa, a considered front-runner in the presidential race, stated that, “No president will say, ‘Oh, I will be here until the last beat of my heart,’ No! It will be: ‘Until the following date.’ ” This statement, mocking Hosni Mubarak’s cling to power, drew many laughs from the crowd. Moussa, 74, is already a famous man in Egypt (former foreign minister and secretary general of the Arab League), and has long been popular for his remarks about Israel and the US. Following the release of a song called, “I Hate Israel and I Love Amr Moussa”, he was actually removed by Mubarak when he was the foreign minister.
Even the candidate may not be the best; it is still nice to see an uncorrupt democratic election Egypt. Finally, after all the turmoil, Egyptians can sit back and relax while a campaigning continues.
No matter who becomes president, it is sure to an interesting term. The future president will not only have to face with ongoing conflicts (Israel, Relations with US), but also rebuilding the country and please a poor working class. The pressure will be immense, and it takes a strong man or woman for the job.
80 year old Luis Garzón and his family have flourished for decades by growing and distributing, ‘rainforest-friendly Arabica,’ coffee. Some major industries that purchase Garzón’s coffee include Nespresso and Green Mountain. Garzón resides in the mountains of Colombia; the Cauca Region. In many of Latin America’s premier coffee regions, such as the Cauca region, profits have suffered a serious drop in Coffee. It has been said that this lack of success is due to rising temperatures and harsh, random rains. Scientists are linking this to global warming. For coffee to be produced correctly, the proper amount of rainfall and temperature are necessary during the ripening process. With global warning affecting everything, the weather is extremely random, in extreme amounts, and extremely unpredictable.
I definitely believe that global warming is affecting the weather and the production of coffee. Many people interpret global warming as the temperature simply getting hotter, but this is a good example of the truth. Global warming can seriously screw up something that seems concrete. Not only because it can be so severe, but because it’s completely unpredictable and always changing. I believe that we either need to update our methods and resources in coffee production, or learn to control and deal with global warming.
Thomas Nguyen 3.9.11 Period 7 Topic: National News http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/science/10anesthesia.html?_r=1&ref=us
Tomorrow, an FDA panel will meet to discuss whether anesthesia, commonly used in surgery, can cause cognitive problems or learning disabilities in young children. Dr. Bob Rappaport, the Food and Drug Administration’s director of the division of anesthesia and analgesia products said that the meeting was needed after researches showed a relationship between anesthesia exposure and brain cell deaths in animals. The FDA panel will evaluate the research done and further research. They will also consider if they should warn children facing surgery that anesthesia could cause brain problems. F.D.A.’s National Center for Toxicology Research found out that if 5 year old rhesus monkeys are exposed to anesthesia for 24 hours, they have brain problems.
I think that children should not be exposed to anesthesia because it has detrimental effects to the brain. The FDA should find an alternative to anesthesia temporarily because anesthesia puts the patients to sleep and reduce the pain in surgery. The research done has good evidence that children using anesthesia during surgery causes brain problems. If anesthesia is banned, patients will feel the pain of surgery even more. I think anesthesia should be banned from surgery on children as soon as a replacement drug for surgery is found. Otherwise, the children will have to take lots of Ibuprofen to relieve the pain.
On Wednesday, March 9th, the Wisconsin Senate passed a bill to increase health care and pension costs and to cut bargaining rights for public workers. The bill had previously included portions that were connected to appropriating funds, which meant it required at least 20 senators to pass. Because of this, the state's Democrats left the state in an attempt to block the vote. However, the sections that mandated 20+ senators were removed so, without any Democrats present, the bill passed 18 to 1. The bill still requires the State Assembly to approve it for it to become law, but chances that this won't happen are slim. According to Mark Miller, a Senate Democrat, “In 30 minutes, 18 state senators undid 50 years of civil rights in Wisconsin.” This represents the opinion of most Democrats in the state.
I have to agree with Miller and his fellow democrats. A last minute vote like this is unfair, and the conclusion is even more unjust. This new law seems to seriously violate the rights of citizens, especially public sector workers. Without the right to bargain they will become completely at the mercy of what the government wants, which will likely not be in their best interests. As useful as this might be in terms of increasing revenue, it seems like violating the basic rights of American citizens should be a last resort. Wisconsin is not in a dire enough situation to require this, therefore it is just simply unfair.
The number of Americans that filed first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell the week of February 26th to around a 3 year low. This is an indication that the job market and economy are recovering. The 368,000 jobless claims filed that week were down 20,000 from the previous week and marked the lowest since May 2008. Since December, the weekly initial jobless claims have stayed around 400,000 but have been slowly on the decline. Dan Cook, chief executive officer of IG Markets said, "Not to say we can't pop back up, but it seems like jobless claims are heading lower into the next range, around 350,000." Continuing claims, which include people filing for the second week of benefits or more, are also declining. They dropped by 59,000 to 3,774,000 in the most recent week data was available.
This is important because it shows that America’s job crisis is starting to improve. Reducing unemployment rates has been a major area of concern for politicians for a while, so it is good to hear that more jobs are beginning to present themselves to Americans. This can relate to what we are studying in class because unemployment benefit claims come from the government’s budget. I think that statistics like these are encouraging for Americans who are concerned with the economy. The decline in unemployment benefit claims could be a sign that the economy is improving. Even if the improvement is minimal, it is still encouraging to see some sort of progress regarding the United States economy.
Ariel Gunn Period Seven Topic: Space Exploration http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/science/space/10shuttle.html?ref=science
On Wednesday, Space Shuttle Discovery returned to Earth for the last time, completing it's 39th mission. Discovery has covered a total of 150,000,000 miles, and has orbited the Earth a total of 5,750 times. This landing marks the beginning of the end of an era, Endeavor and Atlantis will be making their final flights in the next four months. The end of the shuttle program brings with it layoffs of many of the workers and scientists, as well as the retirement of our three shuttles.
I am very glad to see all of our Astronauts home safe. It's amazing that the shuttles can withstand takeoff and reentry at least 39 times. These machines the most complicated, complex machines ever made. I'm very sad to see the end of our Shuttle Era, seeing as it has some of the most advanced science and machines as a part of it. I'm glad to see that these machines will be going to museums, where their beauty and ingenious design can be showed off. Hopefully our government will soon realize the mistake they've made and they will restart our shuttle program.
Today, the first of many hearings was held regarding the radicalization of Muslim-Americans. Leading the hearing was Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Peter King. The hearing assessed the threat that the Muslim-American community poses to America, entailing everything from withholding information from law enforcement officials regarding domestic terrorist groups to recruiting and radicalizing Muslim and even non-Muslim youth in order to sew the seeds of terrorism in the heart of the United States. This hearing, if you haven't already guessed, is highly controversial. It has been compared to the likes of the McCarthy hearings and the Red Scare during the early stages of the cold war, a hysterical period paranoid of Communist infiltration of the US government. Strong emotions have been present at this hearing, from the sentiments Muslim Representatives to the testimonies of a citizen who has experienced the effects of this threat firsthand.
I'm rather split on how I feel about this hearing. I doubt much will be decided upon though, however, and the likeness to the McCarthyism of the fifties is definitely very uncanny. It could lead to the antagonizing of Muslim-Americans, who are Americans just the same as all of us, if it goes one way. On the other hand, if handled correctly, it could hopefully provide everyday Muslim-Americans with a platform to speak out about extremists in a way that could help them gain the trust of an uneasy American public. Whether these hearings will hinder or aid the American-Muslim population, we will just have to see.
Secondly, I would like to thank Basirul and Jay for acknowledging my bro-ness.
A man who was known as the “East Coast Rapist” was arrested earlier this week. He asked the authorities “What took you so long to get me?” Aaron Thomas, 39, is linked to 17 sexual assaults over 4 states between 1997 and 2009. He was caught by polices tracking his DNA from a cigarette. He was accused for a number of crimes from rape, to assault. Thomas claims that he has a “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality when it came to women”. On Saturday, Thomas tried to hang himself in his cell but the police managed to stop him and transport him to Yale-New Haven hospital.
Hearing about crime is always very bad. I think that guys who have raped as many times as Thomas has should have the death penalty. I too have a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality (sometimes) but that doesn’t make me do incredibly stupid stuff like rape and assault. When he dies of old age in a prison, I hope someone glances down at him, spits, and says, "What took you so long?"
The Governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, signed legislation on Wednesday, March 9, 2011, abolishing the death penalty. The governor’s decision came about when he realized that the capital punishment was being assigned unjustly, creating a “grave danger” that they could be putting innocent people to death. He said it was virtually impossible to create a flawless system. He also stated that "Having said that, we cannot have a death-penalty system in our state which kills innocents, and unfortunately our system was in grave danger of doing exactly that in 20 instances.” The 20 instances he speaks of are related to the last execution conducted in 1999, when the governor was George Ryan. He then stopped the execution process in 2000, after having discovered that 20 victims of the death penalty had actually been innocent. He then changed the sentencing of 167 convicts to life imprisonment without parole instead of death. The current governor also commuted another 15 convicts to a lesser punishment. The Fraternal Order of Police and many prosecutors tried to lobby against the legislation, arguing that “the threat of execution deterred crime.” However, Quinn did not regret his decision at all. He believes it will help create a more just system. The Catholic Conference of Illinois, American Civil Liberties Union also supports Quinn’s decision. The law will become effective on July 1, 2011.
I think this was a very big deal in the US. There are now only 34 states and the federal government that are still carrying out the death penalty. I think this was a smart move for Illinois because they had sentenced so many innocent people to death in the past that they obviously aren’t doing a very good job of convicting people. I think life in prison without parole is a sufficient punishment for those who commit capital crime. This change in Illinois could lead to changes in other states as well.
Sickle cell anemia is passed down through generations and it is a disease in which red blood cells form an odd shape. This disease causes major pain in the abdomen, bones, and chest also it causes breathlessness, delayed growth, fatigue fever, and many other problems. About 72,000 people are affected by this disease. A few people have come out to talk about the pains of living with this awful disease. One woman who is 38 years old speaks of how she is repeatedly going to the hospital week after week. She wishes there were doctors who would focus more on this disease because it causes you immense pain that is just unbearable. Also an eight year old, Shanoah Moore, speaks about her experiences with this disease. She says they have to take her fever every time there is pain and if the fever is over 101 she must go to the hospital. She is absent from school a lot due to this disease, but she wishes that she could stay in school and learn.
I think that this disease is a huge issue that many people experience. As someone who doesn’t know anyone who as this disease or anything I still can feel their pain and think doctors should be more focused on finding someway to permanently remove their pain. I feel terrible for these people with this disease especially this eight year old who talks about missing school and how she wants the chance to learn but can’t because she’s always in the hospital. I think that there has to be some way to put forth more doctors to look into this disease and try to find a cure. Thousands and thousands of people are affected by this awful disease so for their sake I think there should be more research devoted to this disease.
One meat distribution company has recalled more than 14,000 pounds of their produced meat. This meat has been recalled in fear of E. coli contamination. Most of this meat is the companies famous ground beef. The FDA has inspected the meat and has said that it is possible for it to be contaminated by e.coli. This can be very dangerous to people, the FDA said. They believe all the meat will be able to be recalled int time and that they will be able to retrieve all of the contaminated meat. These meats started their processing in Kansas. After that, they were shipped all over Northern U.S.
This is important because it shows us how we need to improve our food screening. If it is possible for us to let 7 tons of meat infected with E.coli by, we must fix our procedure. Clearly, something is either being done wrong or not to full potential. We need to fix this problem to insure the health of our citizens. On the other hand, this does show us that the companies do attempt to recall their bad products. By noticing that their meat had a problem with it, they took action to recall the meat. They did this to keep their customers safe and to stay in business as well. This shows that the big companies can be proactive when it comes to cleaning up their mess. It is important to fix things when they are wrong, and this is a prime example of that.
From Kennedy Space Center, the Shuttle Discovery caused a fire of re-entry for the last time Wednesday and landed by gliding,which closed the space plane's 39th and final voyage.By dropping through a partly cloudy sky,the commander and other staffs of Air Force guided Discovery through a sweeping left overhead turn,lined up on Runway 15 and floated to a perfect touchdown at 11:57am.ended the extended 13-day space station assembly mission.The Discovery has logged some 5,750 orbits covering nearly 150 million miles during 39 flights that spans a full year in space,it has created a phenomenal triumph for the history of the shuttle program.The engineers in the Vehicle Assembly Building were busy preparing the shuttle Endeavour for rollout,they are aiming for the 25th and final flight on April 19.
The great job of landing by Discovery has definitely many significant impacts not only in the history of the entire shuttle program, but also in the flight records of the NASA,which also have the remaining orbiter, the Atlantis,that is scheduled for liftoff June 28 on the shuttle program's 135th flight,this will be the finale of shuttle's beautiful machines, it is actually a bit sad that the ending is coming close for retiring.The phenomenal works that they have done and got to recorded will never be forgotten and will leave an ultimate and unforgettable spaceship with NASA.
As the space shuttle, Discovery, touched down this week, it was a bittersweet moment for all of the workers at NASA. This 13-day mission is to be the last space trip for this record setting shuttle. In it’s 39 flights, Discovery had logged 5,750 orbits and covered 150 million miles. The Atlantis is NASA’s last orbiter of the post- Apollo initiative producing many capable rockets. It is scheduled to leave on June 28. It will be several years until a new shuttle comes out which means there wont be any American astronauts going out to space for many years. Dr. Baratt, a NASA worker says ”We’re seeing a program come to a close here, and to see these shuttles, these beautiful, magnificent flying machines, end their service life is obviously a little bit sad for us,”.
I agree with Baratt and other NASA workers that the closing of this project is sad. For many years America has been steps ahead of any other when it comes to space exploration. This hiatus that the shuttles are taking may mean that other countries can get ahead. Nonetheless, Discovery and the other vehicles have been exploring space for some 10 years and need to retire with their outstanding records.
A recent poll shows that we have more cancer survivors than ever. Over forty percent of patients have outlived their diagnosis by ten years or more. Almost twelve million people in America are cancer survivors and that beats out the number from 2000 by 2.2 million. In 1971, there was one forth of the number survivors that there are today. The reason for this is simple. Cancer is being diagnosed and treated much earlier than before. The treatment itself and the follow up care are quite a bit better. Unfortunately, these people are the most likely to have reoccurring or a new type of cancer due to their treatment. For example, people who were treated for Hodgkins disease are 20 to 75 times more likely to develop breast cancer than other women. With an increase in cancer survivors the disease is becoming more and more common.
I think that it is amazing that we have come so far in forty years. The fact that we have changed cancer from a death sentences to a survivable disease kind of blows me away. We have changed the entire outlook on cancer. Even if we have more cancer patients due to the larger amount of survivors, we have treatments that actually work. We have better support systems and people working everyday to cure these diseases. This is truly something to be celebrated.
On Wednesday, March 9, 2011, Senate voted against two competing Democrat and Republican spending bills. The Republican spending bill would cut $61 billion from current spendings. This was voted down with a 56 to 44 vote. All moderate Republicans voted for the bill even though they were nervous that this bill would hurt their constituents and possibly prevent their re-election. Three conservative Republicans voted against the bill because they believe that the cuts are not high enough. The democrat bill would cut $6 billion from current spendings. However, this bill was also voted down with a 58 to 42 vote. Eleven Democrats voted against this bill, and some of them are ones who are facing a difficulty in re-election. The leaders of Congress hope that these votes will show both parties that they need to make more compromise. They now have until next Friday to come up with a long-term or a short-term plan. Otherwise, the government will shut down. The House Appropriations Committee is working on a new bill.
Last week I was happy because the two parties were finally able to agree on something. Now, I don't know what to think. These Congressmen need to hurry up and come up with a good plan that will satisfy everyone. I hate the fact that they haven't even really tried to compromise. They only have a week left. They really can't keep the government running week by week. They need to work something out. I also don't like the fact that there were some Democrats who voted against their own bill because they were only thinking about their re-election. They shouldn't worry about that now. They need to do things that are best for the people not themselves. They can work towards re-election later. Right now, we need to get this spending bill with compromised cuts passed now.
Throughout history, the proportion of left-handed people and right-handed people have stayed consistent. Approximately 90 percent of the human population is right-handed, while the other ten percent are left-handed. Left-handed people have often been associated with criminality and actions associated with the devil, but many successful politicians have buried this generalization. As scientists have looked deeper into this phenomenon, they have discovered that left-handed people tend to be more "symmetrical" compared to right-handed people. This hereditary trait could possibly be related to immune disorders, learning disabilities, reduced life expectancy, and schizophrenia, but scientists have not been able to prove this yet. Many parents try to prevent left-handedness in their children and promote right-handedness, believing that left-handedness is an omen. Scientists will continue to work to determine whether or not left-handedness is related to disorders and disabilities in the future. I found this article to be extremely fascinating because many people in the Chinese culture believe that left-handedness is a bad omen. Many parents try to influence right-handedness in their children by preventing the left hand from moving. I do not really understand why left-handedness is associated with the devil, and I would like to know more about how this came about. If scientists do discover connections to disorders and disabilities, it will be interesting to watch science progress and read about their solutions to these problems. However, I still believe that holding prejudice against left-handed people is unjustified unless there is an adequate reason behind the prejudice.
Tanner Gardner-7th Period http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1TBM47/www.earthtechling.com/topics/renewable-energy Solaris Energy and EDF Group, an Israeli and French energy company, have collaborated in designing a solar panel prototype that floats on the water. They are testing a new silicon solar cell module that is said to be the first floating concentrated photovoltaic system. The system is based on a floating platform in which individual modules reside: the way they are arranged achieves 200 kilowatts of electricity. According to scientist Dr. Elyakim Kassel, the coordinator of the projected dubbed AQUASUN, there are many benefits to using an already established water-basin for the floating solar system. First, the project will not have to use or purchase land, and instead can implement water that is already being used for another purpose. Second, the cooler temperature of the water will help the overall efficiency of solar cells. The testing phase is expected to last nine months, during which the team will note water levels, cost, and efficiency. This is a wonderful innovation because land masses will be all but full in just a few decades, and water covers 70% of Earth’s surface. Granted, too many platforms may impede the food chain but eventually advanced technology will allow for just a select amount. Maybe someday it will not be oil platforms we see but solar platforms like a floating armada, energy surging into the nearest metropolis. This raises another problem: mass electrocution. However, this dilemma is much less alarming than a large scale oil spill, so the good outweighs the bad.
The coffee bean is one of Columbia's major export, and now that there has been major damage to these plants, it will have a big effect on their economy. Most families devote their whole lives to growing and nurturing their coffee bean plants. The heat and unpredictable rain forecast has caused many of these farmers to lose their crops. They are beginning to blame the effects of Global Warming. Coffee beans plants have to have the perfect climate to grow properly. An addition from this hot weather are the insects that come and eat at the plant. From higher percentages in 2006, they predicted the percentages to be even higher, but unfortunately, the percentages have actually decreased. As a result of the decrease in production, it has forced major companies like Maxwell and Folgers to increase the retail price. It is unfortunate for many countries who have developed a coffee habit, such as Brazil, India, and China, because they have to pay those high prices.
I feel very sorry for the farmers and coffee drinkers this has and is going to affect. These farmers from Columbia work their whole life to develop this farms to grow this products, and the beans are dying. I think it is very unfortunate, and there is nothing that anyone can do about it because it is a result of Global Warming. All that we can do right now is make sure we are more conservative and to support these farmers. I really hope that these farmers and companies have luck with their coffee plants and are able to get the percentage up and over the 2006 mark.
An Ohio man was put to death recently with the state’s new drug used for death penalties. Johnnie Batson was sentenced to death by lethal injection because of a murder he committed in 1995 to Chong-Hoon Mah. Johnnie was announced dead at 10:30 am on Thursday, March 10, 2011 after being injected with a five gram dose of pentobarbital. In Batson’s final statement he said that the government did wrong by giving him the death penalty and that they should have just given him life without parole. He admitted that he made a bad choice and that he hopes that the victim and his own family would be able to move on. He also has children which he asked his brothers to take care of when he was gone. Johnnie stated that he wanted his brothers to tell his kids stories about him and the good things that he did in his life. Johnnie’s night was sleepless before his execution the next day as he stayed up to pray with his family.
I think that the death penalty is wrong. Even though Johnnie Batson killed someone he had a family and apologized for everything he did. I think they should have respected his family’s request for life without parole. I know that it is too expensive to keep so many people in jail but it’s not right to take away people’s lives who know that they did something wrong and have families. This man was up all night praying with his loved ones and I find it so sad that he was put to death. I’m not saying I think he shouldn’t be punished, because he should of course for murder, but the death penalty is too much. I hope the victim Ching-Hoon Mah and Johnnie Batson rest in peace and I hope Johnnie Batson will be forgiven by everybody.
Last week, a criminal court in Pakistan delayed pressing murder charges against Raymond A. Davis, a CIA operative, giving the lawyers for Mr. Davis extra time to prepare for the case. Davis, age 36, shot two motorcyclists with a pistol at a busy intersection in Lahore, Pakistan during an attempted robbery. Another Pakistani was killed when an American Consulate vehicle in Lahore drove the wrong way down a one-way street in the attempt of rescuing Mr. Davis from the Lahore police. Lahore police confiscated equipment usually used for spying from Mr. Davis’s car consisting of a pocket telescope and ammunition. After hitting the motorcyclist, the rescue vehicle sped back to the consulate leaving a trail of equipment, including a black mask and gloves, an American flag, and weapons.
Richmond Davis is undoubtedly guilty of this murder. There is plenty of evidence to prove him guilty, and I doubt that giving his lawyers more time to prepare would even be enough to help them prove Davis innocent. Just because he is an American doesn’t mean that he deserves special treatment. He committed a crime, and he should be reprimanded for it.
The Republicans in the House of Representatives are proposing to curb costs on healthcare and medicare in an effort to get out of the the national budget is in. Other proposals include raising the retirement age to 70 and/or reducing the money in Social Security checks. The Republicans acknowledge that they need Obama's support to be able to mess with SS. Not all the details have been sorted out, but the budget won't be tough to solve, according to Paul Ryan. I think they're looking into the wrong places to cut costs. They should cut more on the military, specifically in Iraq. Getting rid of medicare will undoubtly make the people furious. Hopefully there's more to the plan than just that and they can figure out how to cut down the unbelieveable debt we have.
The Senate has just voted against two conflicting bills concerning our spending. The Republicans had devised a bill that would cut 61 billion dollars in spending. The Democrats, however, had proposed a bill that would have cut six billion dollars in spending. In the mean time, the House Republicans have devised a small, temporary bill that should keep everything running. While Democrats believe that small spending cuts will help our economy the most, the Republicans believe that we need to cut spending by large quantities. A decision must be reached soon either way since fighting will not improve our economy. The Democrats seem to have a good point. I agree with them in the sense that we can gradually pay off our debts while strongly reviving the economy. This method will fix our economy and use our improved economy to finish paying off debts. If we were to pay off our debts, then our economy would still be in bad shape and cause us to possibly need to borrow even more money to help fix it. This could potentially create a cycle that would not be productive for our economy, nor our debts. It is important that we devise a plan, and one that seems logical rather than creating a cycle of a bad economy. Without a firm plan, neither our economy nor our debts will ever improve. Action must be taken at once to ensure we dig our way out of this economic mess.
Illinois became the 16th state to ban capital punishment on Wednesday. Gov. Pat Quinn signed an abolition bill that the state legislature passed in January. The governor said, “Since our experience has shown that there is no way to design a perfect death penalty system, free from the numerous flaws that can lead to wrongful convictions or discriminatory treatment, I have concluded that the proper course of action is to abolish it.” Mr. Quinn said that signing the bill was the most difficult decision he had made as governor. Those on death row will have their sentences commuted to life without the possibility of parole.
Pat Quinn made the right decision. I believe that the death penalty is wrong. There have been cases where a person has been given the death penalty and it turned out that they didn’t even commit the crime. Also, as Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” We should not punish someone with the same crime that they committed. This only encourages murder because the government itself is doing it.
Thursday, March 10, 2011, Ohio executed a convicted killer. Ohio became the first state to use a new, controversial execution technique. The execution was closely watched by 32 other states. Each of those other states is struggling over the decision of how to adjust their lethal injection protocols. Recently, the manufacture of the most commonly used drug, sodium thiopental, has been discontinued so states are being forced to change their methods. Ohio opted to use pentobarbital but critics are stating that the new drug was hastily chosen and proper testing was not done.
I feel that Ohio should have done more testing with their drug. The state has had “three botched executions”. Despite the fact that these men are on death row, it isn’t fair to attempt to execute someone, and fail. Fortunately though, the most recent execution went as planned. However, this recent change in drug has brought many lawsuits from the killers on death row. The state needs to properly test the new drug to ensure that it will work exactly as planned.
In Pinedale, Wyoming they are having one of the worst ozone pollutions in three years. This is a remote town (180 mi away from Salt Lake City). This town only has 1,400 residents, but they are seeing the polution of a much larger city. This could be caused by its geographical location; it is essentially like a bowl, with mountains all around it, and it is in a valley at 7,000 ft. In the winter it priduces highly refelective snow, and powerful sunlight that sends heat right back up into the atmosphere. The economy there is heavily based on natural gas drilling, which could be the cause for the pollution. Citizens of the town have lived elswhere with worse air quality and say that often humans are the cause for the pollution. The citizens refuse to give up their natural gas drilling, it serves as the towns lively hood and it is a part of their lives. Some have called in the EPA for a second oppinion, but recently the EPA has dismissed the issue in order to reseach hydrofracking. Some think that the attack on the ozone was some sort of a plot to take down the gas and oil industry, but most others just think that this "bad air" is natural.
I think that it is crzy for such a little town to have to deal with a big city problem. It doesnt make sense for this polluted air to either be created in the town or blow in from some big city. This seems like a preventable issue, especially with all of the science that we have available to us today. The citizens of this town also seem very resistant to change. They dont want their gas industy altered in any way, and some even went as far as to say that this was some sort of plot to destry their industry. These people should realize that this is a preventable issue, and that everything they emit can come back down to harm them. The environment is a tricky issue, and scientists seem to be doing all they can to help it. The citizens of Pinedale should be more carefull about what their carbon footprints are, and just trust that the issue will resolve itself sooner or later.
Researchers have found a way to simply switch a mouse’s anxiety on and off. Mice are generally considered extremely skiddish creatures, but scientists have found a way to make mice not anxious at all. Previously, it was unknown what caused anxiety, but with this research, it was discovered that within the Amygdala in the brain, cells were found to, when triggered by light, affect anxiety levels. Mice that were previously terrified of open spaces, after having that part of the brain triggered, had no problem exploring wide open spaces. They also learned that it works both ways. If they smothered that area of the brain, not allowing cells to send signals within that area, then a mouse was found to be even more afraid of going into open spaces.
This discovery is really important in my opinion. Scientists previously didn’t know how it was that anxiety was felt. This discovery now reveals all kinds of oppurtunities. I feel like this discovery could help with treating anxiety in humans. Now that we understand where in the brain anxiety is controlled, and how to control it in mice, we should be able to alter anxiety in humans too. It would be interesting to see how humans react with a drastically lowered anxiety level. Things that people previously wouldn’t do because of fear may now be possible, because they won’t have that fear holding them back.
By Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s estimates, about eighty percent of our nation’s public schools will be failing by the standards set by George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind policy. The policy states that every school must be 100% proficient in both reading and math. This herculean task is already showing a trend towards failure, but the expected jump in failings by the end of this year seems to be more than ever seen before. Last year, around thirty percent of schools did not have 100% proficiency, which means that fifty more percent will fall off the bandwagon this year. An effort is being made to overhaul the program. Obama’s suggested changes include basing the passing or failing of schools not only by test scores but also by other markers such as graduation rates and preparedness for a college of career setting.
I think that No Child Left Behind has not worked at all. It seems to me that all it has done is skewed the focus of education onto tests instead of learning. I am not surprised that there are so many schools that are not one hundred percent passing. It is natural for people to be at different levels of intelligence and educational abilities. In many ways, our society needs high school drop outs more than it does PhD’s. In everyday life we need and use the products of construction workers much more that we do the products of advanced researchers. I think it would be better for everyone to at least finish high school, but that is not a reasonable thing to reach for. There will always be people who prefer making their own way to following the standard course of education. Measures should be made to make a great education available to all students. However, a few students’ difficulties should not force the majority to have a worse education.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12705300 Alex Grosskurth 6th period humans rights In Chechnya a law was passed that all women must wear scarves over their heads and other Islamic clothing. In 2010 dozens of women were targeted, threatened and shot with paint balls because they weren't wearing this compulsory headgear and their sleeves weren't long enough. This incident scared the women, one said she'd never leave her home again without the headscarf. President Kadyrov of Russia praised the paint ballers because this helped put the women "in their place" according to the law. Others are outraged because defenseless women were attacked for simply not obeying a law. The Human Rights Watch claimed that this was an atrocity and that this law makes it easier to put down women. Many agree with this claim because giving women a compulsory dress code is wrong and sexist. I agree with the latter that this law is sexist. It goes against many rules that a government that doesn't support religion should follow. Women shouldn't be forced into a dress code because it puts them down and this attack is flat out wrong. If I jaywalked and someone shot me multiple times with a paint ball gun they would get in trouble even though jaywalking is against the law. Thats basically what happened here, a group of women broke the law and got assaulted because of that. Many of these women are traumatized and scared simply because they didn't wear a scarf on their heads. The worst part of this is the president supported this assault. No one is getting punished even though many of these women are scared for life from these events. Laws that support a religion in a non-secular society shouldn't support a religion, and people shouldn't be assaulted because they didn't wear something on their heads. Governments should never condone open violence like this.
This past week, republicans have shifted their focus from fixing the budget to fixing the economy in order to fufil their promises that they made in order to get elected. In detail they ensured americans that they are more than a budget trimming party. They went into detail saying that one of their main focuses was to "identify and move to block regulatory efforts by the Obama administration that would strangle the economy". Mr. Cantor listed buisness that he deemed suitable for job growth and bi-partisan agreement.
I think that growing jobs should be the biggest focus in our entire government at this moment. We are currently at a 11.5% unemployment rate. That means every 1 in 5 students at our school has a parent unemployed. that means that an average of 6 parents per classroom in chapel hill are unemployed. why havent we fixed this yet? can we not get together long enough to employ our workforce? Hopefully our congress will get something passed to help with this depression in employment, and boost our national moral. While the budget does need to be cut down, it takes too much time away from our biggest problem as a nation. Im glad to see a promise be made, ill be keeping my fingers crossed that they hold it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/science/08obfrog.html?ref=science Leon Pickles
"Darwin believed that when an invasive species entered a region where a closely related species already existed, it would most likely be unsuccessful because of a competition for resources." Darwin's belief has been proved wrong by amphibians. Amphibians are the only animal that will and can take over region that has a related species living in it. This is very interesting because it could help conservationists decide on risk levels of introducing animals into different regions. I think that this new discovery is very interesting not because of the discoveries that could follow but because of the discoveries this followed. This is the first thing we have found wrong with Darwin's theory of evolution, and I think that more could follow. I think this because Darwin's theory was made so long ago and we now have technology and knowledge that he didn't have back then.
Sam Freedberg 6th Period Crime http://www.kltv.com/global/story.asp?s=14225547 Authorities arrested an 83-year-old woman who they say admitted to taking over her husband's business of dealing cocaine out of her home. Wilma Johnson McQueen, 83, of Livingston, is charged with possession of a controlled substance and money laundering. Lufkin DPS Agents, along with FBI, highway patrolman, and Polk County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at McQueen's home. According to the report, officers came across 538.65 grams of cocaine inside the refrigerator, as well as two pistols, two rifles, two shotguns, and over $20,000 in cash during the search. The report also stated that McQueen was arrested and admitted to her role as the middle man in the delivery of narcotics. She said she assumed her husband's role following his passing away. I found this extremely funny. It's hilarious that an 83-year old woman could be dealing cocaine out of her refrigerator. I guess we have this image of drug dealers as being shady guys hanging out on street corners with their hoods up. That just makes this all the more amazing. What did astonish me is that they found over 500 grams of cocaine. That's a lot of drugs and its even worse when coupled with 4 guns and 20,000 dollars.
Recently President Obama took a stand on bullying in schools all around the country by talking to 150 parents, teachers, bully victims, and researchers. This meeting was held to creat new ideas to deal with this ever growing problem around america. President Obama also stated how he had been a victim as a child and this inspired him to fix the problem even more. President Obama unleashed his website Stopbullying.gov to try to give advice to kids who are being bullyed. This will provide guidence for teachers and commuinty members and even parents. Obama also plans to form a coiliton with facebook and MTV to try to stop thie problem. I think that what preident obama is doing is a great thing. The growing problem of Bulling has reached a limit where children can even be bullyed online. Partherships with facebook and MTV is also a a good move. The parternship with the top to used of watch thing by teens will help get out get out the message to teens that bullying is wrong and not cool at all. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/03/11/24policybrief.h30.html?tkn=ZPLFadJ%2FfJ6xarV2lWT%2BydKSJPYJJ8aW3dC9&cmp=clp-edweek
Muzzammil "Mo" Hassanwas sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Wednesday for the beheading death of his wife. He and his wife were former television executive. She was killed and found at the TV station beheaded. He had called the police and said that his wife was dead. Police also said that week before she had filled for a divorce and had also called police for abuse from her husband. The day she was also talking to her sister. She had agree to take some cloths to the station. After Mo had agree to move out of the house. She wanted to seek better life with out him and a better life for there kids.
This is a really sad story I think that on one should kill just because some one does not want to be with them. I think he should of just let her leave and have a better life by herself and her kids. She had the right to leave him and be happy. IF she was not happy then she should of had the right to not be with him. But instead she was killed and beheaded by her husband. Now he has to go to jail and have a sentence for 25 years life in prison. He should of gotten life with out parol.
This week my current event is about President Obama pushing educational innovating in Boston. On Tuesday the president was to take a visit to Boston. He visited a high-tech public school in Boston to assure that America can keep up with its fast pace global economy. The president has said that the competiveness of the American economy is growing and that the youth of the future need to be able o keep up, which is one of the things mentioned in his State Of The Union Address. The school incorporates every aspect of technology including state of the art laptops for every class. The White House has said that the president is planning on including programs like this into the budget, targeting innovation.
I think that it’s a wonderful idea to include new ways of technology into the public schools. This would be a very good way to make sure that every child has equal opportunities to be the best student they can be. Many students don’t even have computers at home so I think that if that type of technology can be provided in schools then all students can take advantage of it. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/obama-to-push-educational-innovation-in-boston/?scp=2&sq=president%20obama&st=cse
As of Thursday, a nuclear plant in Vermont has been given the "all clear" to continue operating. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted 4 to 0 and "rejected all challenges" to allow the continued operation. The chairman of said commission, Gregory B. Jaczko, claimed that the plant "had met 'all of our requirements and standards to be able to operate for another 20 years'". One challenge has been that the plant isn't reliable because of how long it has functioned. Because of Vermont's environmentally-friendly attitude, many complaints have come from the mere existence of the plant. I really don't know what would be my opinion on this matter. On the one hand, the plant has met the regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Committee (who I'm assuming have a high understanding of what could be harmful effects of a nuclear plant) so it only makes sense to allow the plant to continue functioning. On the other hand however, the voice of the people should be the strongest and obviously this voice is against this plant. I can see both sides but I would probably lean more towards the people as they should be the first priority rathern than the commerce of a region (although commerce affects people this doesn't necessarily mean anything in this specific case).
Today a record earthquake occured in the Pacific rim around japan Hawaii and California. This was a record sized quake of 8.9 that should have been 9.0 or higher deemed by many. This quake has caused massive amounts of damage and is very sad I hope that we aid them soon.
This is a very sad occurrence because I have very close friends living in Tokyo. I really hope things are good for them but I know they are safe which is nice. Hopefully we can help japan in some way and keep the Japanese from suffering.
This article talks about the force that's pushing galaxies away from each other. This force is called dark energy, dark energy was discovered by Einstein. Dark energy even to this day remains a mysterious force, and all astronomers know is that dark energy seems to make up more that 70% of the matter-energy content of the universe. The rest is mostly the equally mysterious dark matter. Scientists at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, in Virginia were able to measure the distance to galaxy NGC 6264. They were able to accomplish this by linking a group of far-flung radio telescopes into a virtual telescope thousands of miles across, they measured that it was 450 million light-years from earth, give or take 9%.
I think that this is amazing, if we could find the distance of other galaxies, then we'll begin to understand more about dark energy. Back in the 1920's Einstein abandoned the concept of cosmological constant, which is another word for dark energy. He called it “the greatest blunder of my life”. If dark energy really does match the idea he gave birth to nearly 100 years ago, his greatest blunder could also turn out to be his final triumph.
Like the majority of the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is currently in great unrest. The Shiite people planned a protest for today, Friday, and are calling it the "Day of Rage." They re doing this in response to the violence that authorities have been imposing on their protests. On Thursday, Saudi security forces fired on a group of over one hundred protestors in the city of Qatif who were protesting for the release of Shiite prisoners. It's not clear whether rubber bullets or live aminition were used, however the injured required hospitilization. A human rights group in Saudi Arabia called the security action "deplorable."
I'M SICK OF VIOLENCE. I feel like every week I'm writing the same thing, just in a different region. Although the police force used it Saudi Arabia was not as bad as that used in Egypt, I'm worried that it can only escalate. All the unrest in the Middle East is spreading all over the world. Even here in America, we're experiencing MUCH higher gas prices because of all the chaos and confusion across the Atlantic. I think everyone, the whole world, should come together to assist the tsunami/earthquake relief in Japan.
Ryan Hegedus Judge gives Lindsay Lohan 2 weeks to decide on plea deal
Lindsay Lohan has a deadline of March 23 to accept a plea deal that would mean certain jail time or a sooner trial date if she declined. Lohan was accused of stealing a necklace, which would violate her parole she is on because of a prior drunk driving conviction. Her current plea deal involves certain jail time because a judge told her that if she pleaded in front of him again, that she was going to jail. The necklace that Lohan allegedly stole was valued at $2,500 dollars. The jewelry store that the necklace was allegedly stolen from sold he rights to the security video to the associated press, even though this video was key in the case. Lohan is a troubled young woman that is having trouble emerging from the looming shadow of her childhood stardom. She has been arrested numerous times for substance abuse and is still struggling to get her life in order. She has been through rehab more than once and still nothing has helped her. My point is that she should be done getting second chances. If convicted, Lohan should serve serious jail time, not celebrity jail time that is short and spent in nice cells.
Kate Boyd 7th Pd http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/business/08care.html?_r=1&ref=technology
CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere) is an organization that has traditionally allowed people to send food and important items to people in other countries that can't afford them. They started doing this for families in Germany after World War II, and they helped a lot of people. Now, they have created an online way for people to donate. People can go online and fill out a form saying what they would like to donate, ranging from paying for transportation to a health clinic or pay for training for a local doctor.
I think this is a really good use of technology. People are more likely to donate if they know exactly what they're donating. It's also a lot easier to transfer money online than put together a package and ship it overseas, when those items might not even be what families really are in need of. If the process is easy, people are going to be more inclined to donate to others. This is an important way to use modern day technology that anyone can access in order to continue a traditionally successful charity.
This is a response to Connor Randolph's current event.
Connor wrote about Obama's new campaign to help end bullying. Obama talked about how as a child he had been bullied. Obama wants to help end bullying across America because it is becoming a more prevalent issue.
I think that it is great that Obama is campaigning against bullying. Bullying can ruin the self esteem of kids and it can make daily life hard. Bullying can make kids nervous about even coming to school because they are afraid of being bullied. However, I don't think that Obama uniting with MTV and Facebook will do anything to solve the problem. I think that uniting with these groups will raise some awareness but it will do nothing to actually solve the problem. The only way to truly fix the problem of bullying is to actually change the attitudes of bullies. Also, more strict penalties for bullying should be imlpimented in schools in order to discourage bullies.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/07/pennsylvania.church.lawsuit/index.html
ReplyDeleteKendall Simms 6th pd.
A lawsuit s being filed against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia claiming alleged sex crimes against children. Officials of the Archdiocese concealed the sexual abuse history of one of its priest and created a faux sexual abuse victim assistance program. The suit prosecutes seven officials of conspiracy to endanger children, fraudulent concealment, and fraud. One of the defendants, former archbishop Anthony Bevilacqua is being further investigated after evidence from a previous civil case warranted further investigation. The case shows that the former archbishop has a history of concealing and ignoring child sex crimes within the church. In one specific incident he knew of a priest’s actions, failed to inform authorities and had the priest transferred. The Archdiocese claims that the priest was removed from the ministry as soon as it became aware of his misconducts. However, no case could be built against Bevilacqua’s concealment until now.
It still seems unbelievable that this type of thing could even happen within an institution like the Church. Sure we’ve all heard plenty of stories about priests sexually abusing kids but that doesn’t make it any easier to hear. What really gets to me is that the higher-ups in the Church think it’s better to just sweep these incidents under the rug. These are supposed to be the most moral men in the world, and yet they seem to be the most corrupt as shown by situations like these. Unfortunately these individuals have gotten a little too good at moving around their “troubled” priests making it harder for the Department of Justice to formally investigate certain branches. However, lawsuits such as these will hopefully open the door for ensuing investigations and cases.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/us/08storm.html?_r=1&ref=us
ReplyDeleteShane Sater
Topic: Domestic News
With the official start of spring only two weeks away, Vermont was hit hard with a major snowstorm this week, which dumped around two feet of snow on many parts of the state. Although Vermont generally receives an impressive snowfall, this years’ season is far above average - indeed, official totals in Burlington, Vermont exceed normal yearly snowfall by 40 inches already. This latest snowstorm has had noticeable consequences throughout the state. Schools across Vermont have been closed; Interstate 89 was shut down for hours on Monday. Even more notable, Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott has shut down the state government; meanwhile, Governor Peter Shumlin is on vacation out of state at an undisclosed location. Even emergency services are having trouble operating in the weather: according to a member of the South Burlington Police, Jim Goslin, wreckers had been responding “nonstop” to accidents - emergency personnel are swamped. There were even reports of snowplows malfunctioning and overheating.
Although it is no fault of the Vermont state government that the weather is so adverse, it seems that Governor Shumlin is extremely ineffective. While entrusted with responsibility in executing the duties of the Vermont government, Mr. Shumlin is not even in the state, but is on vacation at an undisclosed location. According to Susan Allen, his spokeswoman, “[he is] getting hourly updates from emergency management and has spoken to the public safety commissioner.” Although it is certainly expected for the governor to get updates on the crisis, his presence on vacation out of state is quite unhelpful. Although Lt. Gov. Scott seems to be handling the situation, this is the governor’s responsibility. His current actions appear only slightly more helpful than it would be for a Chapel Hill High School student to “get hourly updates” on the emergency; his actions do not reflect well on his sense of duty.
Charles Darwin may have been wrong about his ideas when it came to invasive species, at least where amphibians are concerned. An invasive species is any type of living thing, animal or plant, that moves into a new area and displaces the native species. They take over the species that was there before them. He believed that when an invasive species entered a region where closely related species already existed, it would be most likely be unsuccessful because of the competition for resources. However the opposite pattern occurs with amphibians. When frogs, toads, and salamanders invade an area where similar species live, they are more, not less, likely to live together. This is the first study that contradicts Darwin's invasive species hypothesis using animals. One explanations as to why amphibians seem to thrive when introduced in locations with related species is because there is a natural suitability. These findings could help conservationists predict the risk levels of introducing specific alien species into a new region.
ReplyDeleteIt really surprised me that Darwin had a hypothesis about invasive species and it doesn't seem to be true. Darwin believed many things that in his time seemed impossible but they were true. Many of the things he believed and studied have been proven. That's why it surprised me that he was wrong about this. It makes me wonder if we are doing something different of wrong in our study, that's different from how Darwin did it. It seems to me like what he thought should be right. Since this study was done with animals it makes me wonder if Darwin's hypothesis was right regarding plants.
Leila Doerfer
ReplyDeletePeriod 6
Topic: Science
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/science/08obfrog.html?ref=science
Sorry i forgot to put this on my actual current even!
Hannah Blackburn: Social Injustices
ReplyDelete7th pd.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/world/middleeast/06cairo.html?pagewanted=2&ref=middleeast
Egypt has ousted Mubarak, and has a new Prime Minister, Essam Sharaf. Now, a board of eight appointed by the military is writing a new Egyptian constitution. Not one of the board members is a woman. Sixty-three women's groups are joining to petition the new government that a female lawyer be added to the board. During the 18 days of protest it took for Mubarak to step down, women and men both slept in Tahrir Square and braved the violence. When Mubarak announced he would step down, the men in the crowd went wild and groped and sexually harassed women in the crowd. One Egyptian woman said that this reaction was similar to the aftermath of a soccer victory. Sexual harassment is a huge problem in Cairo, and the reason women are not ofter seen walking downtown. Egyptian women are campaigning so that they are not left out of the new constitution, and so their current minimal rights are not further diminished.
It's fantastic that Mubarak is gone and a new constitution is being written, but I think it is very important that women be included in the reconstruction of the government. Women in Egypt may have it better than in other parts of the Middle East, but the sexual harassment is awful. No one should be afraid to walk in their own city in broad daylight. The constitution should also not say anything like the Egyptian president may not marry "a non-Egyptian woman." Phrasing like this suggests the President could not be a woman. Women represent about 49.5% of the world population. Obviously, they should have about half of the influence on what happens in this world.
This week i will be doing two current events.
ReplyDeleteI will be doing my official current event on crime tomorrow, today i would like to write about something nearly just as important.
I am doing this on CHHS' own student, Mr. Liam Dalton. You see ladies and gentle men the thing is, Liam is a Brofessional at being a bro.
He is really BROactive, BRO. He watches the carBROhydrates and BROdium intake. High levels of BROtein and BROtassium are good though. He also watches the BROdas, too; carBROnated stuff just isn’t that great for him. He BROtects his body in order to stay chill.
In all seriousness i do thank Liam because he helps me study in such a unique way for my tests that only a bro can do.
I second BROsiruls testament towards Mr. Liam Dalton's BROfessionalistic attitude.
ReplyDeleteJay htut
ReplyDelete6th period C&E
http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/03/new.jersey.artifacts.seized/index.html
Topic: Justice
At Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, authentic Chinese artifacts dating from the Tang Dynasty (around the 7th century) was discovered by Custom agents. The artifacts came from what is known as the golden age of China. The artifacts were smuggled by....Smugglers. The net worth of these artifacts is $250,000. Federal Agents plan to ship these artifacts back to their rightful owners.
I think that the owners of the artifacts caught a huge break. Not only are the artifacts worth a lot of money, but essentially they are priceless and are one of a kind. Im glad that the smugglers were caught for their illegal activity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/us/09buckles.html?_r=1&ref=politics
ReplyDeleteTopic: Legislative Branch
Frank Buckles, the last surviving World War I veteran, died on Sunday, February 27th, 2011. The family of Buckles insisted that he is to “lie in honor” in the Rotunda in the Capitol Building, which is a large circular room that connects the House and the Senate and is visited by many people each day. This means that the coffin of Frank Buckles would be on display to the public for people to pay their last respects to. The family wanted Buckles to represent all of the World War I veterans who have all passed away. However, the leaders of both the House and the Senate denied the request for Buckles to be honored there, instead recommending a ceremony in the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington. Some congressmen side with the family in respect for the last veteran, but Mr. Buckle’s body still rests in Washington as his family awaits the final outcome of the Congress decision.
I think that Frank Buckles deserves the right to be honored in the Capitol Rotunda. This would be a symbol of honor not only to him, but to all the Armed Forces who fought in one of America’s greatest wars. However, the emphasis should definitely not be solely on Buckles, who did not see combat and who drove vehicles for the Allies in Europe during the war. The emphasis instead should be on the national honoring and paying of respect to the memory of our World War I veterans. As we studied in class, Congress must come to a decision by majority to pass on any decision, and this debate over Buckles is no different. I sincerely hope that Buckles will get a chance to represent all of those passed away and missing soldiers who fought for our country almost a century ago in the Capitol Rotunda.
Jessica Gao
6th Period
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/03/09/60-year-old-bird-to-become-new-mother/
ReplyDeleteTOPIC: SCIENCE
A 60-year-old Laysan Albatross (a species of bird), Wisdom, recently laid an egg and is currently in the process of hatching it. She is an exceptionally old bird and has been banded since 1956. Scientists have observed minimal change in her appearance and ability. In addition, her age does not hinder her from producing offspring (she is believed to have raised at least 30 chicks thus far). Wisdom has exceeded the average life span of an albatross by at least twenty years. However, the Layson Albatross is a near-threatened species and consequently, scientists have not been able to band an adequate number of birds. Wisdom's astonishing age leads scientists to question the rareness of the situation.
The ongoing survival of a 60-year-old bird is extremely impressive; however, I think that it is more remarkable that Wisdom has not aged since 1956! Furthermore, Wisdom is still producing offspring on a regular basis, greatly exceeding a human's reproducing capability. Many humans would deeply envy this bird's self-preservation and ability, despite her old age. I will consider myself to be very lucky if I can maintain my current states of physical and mental health until I am 60.
Maria Yao, 6th
Gavin Welch
ReplyDeletePer 7
Scientist are now able to control a mouses anxiety by only flipping a switch. This is done by altering two parts of the brain. Scientist are able to raise and lower the anxiety of a mouse by planting a light wired inside of the mouses brain. The amygdale is a sack of nerves buried in ether side of the brain. These nerves are important for controlling emotions such as fear, and of course, anxiety. A group of researchers at Howard Hughes Medical Institute genetically engineered a protein that can turn a brain cell on and off in a mouse. Using this protein scientist have wired a mouses brain to become more or less anxious at the flip of a switch. Normally a mouse would cower in a conner afraid of predators, but when scientist flip the special switch, they loose all anxiety and and will wonder around it's cage.
I believe that this kind of research is very useful to our society. Being able to control somethings emotions can be very useful medically. When animals are transported to a new habitat, the anxiety that builds up can cause them to be a threat to others around them. By wiring their brain, we can be able to ease the animal causing it to be less of a threat. Scientist at the end of this article were very uncertain wether or not this kind of technology would work on humans. Because right now this seem like a bit of a stretch, in the future we might be able to help patients with their anxiety attacks.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/70833/title/Anxiety_switch_makes_mice_shy_no_more
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNorman Archer
ReplyDeleteTopic: Middle East
In Egypt, Preparations for a Rarity: A Real Vote
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/world/middleeast/09cairo.html?_r=1&ref=world
In a town-hall style meeting in Cairo, Amr Moussa, a considered front-runner in the presidential race, stated that, “No president will say, ‘Oh, I will be here until the last beat of my heart,’ No! It will be: ‘Until the following date.’ ” This statement, mocking Hosni Mubarak’s cling to power, drew many laughs from the crowd. Moussa, 74, is already a famous man in Egypt (former foreign minister and secretary general of the Arab League), and has long been popular for his remarks about Israel and the US. Following the release of a song called, “I Hate Israel and I Love Amr Moussa”, he was actually removed by Mubarak when he was the foreign minister.
Even the candidate may not be the best; it is still nice to see an uncorrupt democratic election Egypt. Finally, after all the turmoil, Egyptians can sit back and relax while a campaigning continues.
No matter who becomes president, it is sure to an interesting term. The future president will not only have to face with ongoing conflicts (Israel, Relations with US), but also rebuilding the country and please a poor working class. The pressure will be immense, and it takes a strong man or woman for the job.
Geoff Thomason -- 3/9/11 -- Period 7
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/science/earth/10coffee.html?ref=earth
80 year old Luis Garzón and his family have flourished for decades by growing and distributing, ‘rainforest-friendly Arabica,’ coffee. Some major industries that purchase Garzón’s coffee include Nespresso and Green Mountain. Garzón resides in the mountains of Colombia; the Cauca Region. In many of Latin America’s premier coffee regions, such as the Cauca region, profits have suffered a serious drop in Coffee. It has been said that this lack of success is due to rising temperatures and harsh, random rains. Scientists are linking this to global warming. For coffee to be produced correctly, the proper amount of rainfall and temperature are necessary during the ripening process. With global warning affecting everything, the weather is extremely random, in extreme amounts, and extremely unpredictable.
I definitely believe that global warming is affecting the weather and the production of coffee. Many people interpret global warming as the temperature simply getting hotter, but this is a good example of the truth. Global warming can seriously screw up something that seems concrete. Not only because it can be so severe, but because it’s completely unpredictable and always changing. I believe that we either need to update our methods and resources in coffee production, or learn to control and deal with global warming.
Thomas Nguyen
ReplyDelete3.9.11 Period 7
Topic: National News
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/science/10anesthesia.html?_r=1&ref=us
Tomorrow, an FDA panel will meet to discuss whether anesthesia, commonly used in surgery, can cause cognitive problems or learning disabilities in young children. Dr. Bob Rappaport, the Food and Drug Administration’s director of the division of anesthesia and analgesia products said that the meeting was needed after researches showed a relationship between anesthesia exposure and brain cell deaths in animals. The FDA panel will evaluate the research done and further research. They will also consider if they should warn children facing surgery that anesthesia could cause brain problems. F.D.A.’s National Center for Toxicology Research found out that if 5 year old rhesus monkeys are exposed to anesthesia for 24 hours, they have brain problems.
I think that children should not be exposed to anesthesia because it has detrimental effects to the brain. The FDA should find an alternative to anesthesia temporarily because anesthesia puts the patients to sleep and reduce the pain in surgery. The research done has good evidence that children using anesthesia during surgery causes brain problems. If anesthesia is banned, patients will feel the pain of surgery even more. I think anesthesia should be banned from surgery on children as soon as a replacement drug for surgery is found. Otherwise, the children will have to take lots of Ibuprofen to relieve the pain.
On Wednesday, March 9th, the Wisconsin Senate passed a bill to increase health care and pension costs and to cut bargaining rights for public workers. The bill had previously included portions that were connected to appropriating funds, which meant it required at least 20 senators to pass. Because of this, the state's Democrats left the state in an attempt to block the vote. However, the sections that mandated 20+ senators were removed so, without any Democrats present, the bill passed 18 to 1. The bill still requires the State Assembly to approve it for it to become law, but chances that this won't happen are slim. According to Mark Miller, a Senate Democrat, “In 30 minutes, 18 state senators undid 50 years of civil rights in Wisconsin.” This represents the opinion of most Democrats in the state.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Miller and his fellow democrats. A last minute vote like this is unfair, and the conclusion is even more unjust. This new law seems to seriously violate the rights of citizens, especially public sector workers. Without the right to bargain they will become completely at the mercy of what the government wants, which will likely not be in their best interests. As useful as this might be in terms of increasing revenue, it seems like violating the basic rights of American citizens should be a last resort. Wisconsin is not in a dire enough situation to require this, therefore it is just simply unfair.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/us/10wisconsin.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=politics
http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/03/news/economy/initial_claims/index.htm
ReplyDeleteAndrew Cohen
7th period
Topic: Economics
The number of Americans that filed first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell the week of February 26th to around a 3 year low. This is an indication that the job market and economy are recovering. The 368,000 jobless claims filed that week were down 20,000 from the previous week and marked the lowest since May 2008. Since December, the weekly initial jobless claims have stayed around 400,000 but have been slowly on the decline. Dan Cook, chief executive officer of IG Markets said, "Not to say we can't pop back up, but it seems like jobless claims are heading lower into the next range, around 350,000." Continuing claims, which include people filing for the second week of benefits or more, are also declining. They dropped by 59,000 to 3,774,000 in the most recent week data was available.
This is important because it shows that America’s job crisis is starting to improve. Reducing unemployment rates has been a major area of concern for politicians for a while, so it is good to hear that more jobs are beginning to present themselves to Americans. This can relate to what we are studying in class because unemployment benefit claims come from the government’s budget. I think that statistics like these are encouraging for Americans who are concerned with the economy. The decline in unemployment benefit claims could be a sign that the economy is improving. Even if the improvement is minimal, it is still encouraging to see some sort of progress regarding the United States economy.
Ariel Gunn
ReplyDeletePeriod Seven
Topic: Space Exploration
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/science/space/10shuttle.html?ref=science
On Wednesday, Space Shuttle Discovery returned to Earth for the last time, completing it's 39th mission. Discovery has covered a total of 150,000,000 miles, and has orbited the Earth a total of 5,750 times. This landing marks the beginning of the end of an era, Endeavor and Atlantis will be making their final flights in the next four months. The end of the shuttle program brings with it layoffs of many of the workers and scientists, as well as the retirement of our three shuttles.
I am very glad to see all of our Astronauts home safe. It's amazing that the shuttles can withstand takeoff and reentry at least 39 times. These machines the most complicated, complex machines ever made. I'm very sad to see the end of our Shuttle Era, seeing as it has some of the most advanced science and machines as a part of it. I'm glad to see that these machines will be going to museums, where their beauty and ingenious design can be showed off. Hopefully our government will soon realize the mistake they've made and they will restart our shuttle program.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/03/10/radicalization.hearings/index.html
ReplyDeleteToday, the first of many hearings was held regarding the radicalization of Muslim-Americans. Leading the hearing was Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Peter King. The hearing assessed the threat that the Muslim-American community poses to America, entailing everything from withholding information from law enforcement officials regarding domestic terrorist groups to recruiting and radicalizing Muslim and even non-Muslim youth in order to sew the seeds of terrorism in the heart of the United States. This hearing, if you haven't already guessed, is highly controversial. It has been compared to the likes of the McCarthy hearings and the Red Scare during the early stages of the cold war, a hysterical period paranoid of Communist infiltration of the US government. Strong emotions have been present at this hearing, from the sentiments Muslim Representatives to the testimonies of a citizen who has experienced the effects of this threat firsthand.
I'm rather split on how I feel about this hearing. I doubt much will be decided upon though, however, and the likeness to the McCarthyism of the fifties is definitely very uncanny. It could lead to the antagonizing of Muslim-Americans, who are Americans just the same as all of us, if it goes one way. On the other hand, if handled correctly, it could hopefully provide everyday Muslim-Americans with a platform to speak out about extremists in a way that could help them gain the trust of an uneasy American public. Whether these hearings will hinder or aid the American-Muslim population, we will just have to see.
Secondly, I would like to thank Basirul and Jay for acknowledging my bro-ness.
Civics and Econ
ReplyDeleteBasirul Haque
Topic: mysteries, murders, death, bad stuff, crime, terrorism, point taken….
http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/07/connecticut.east.coast.rapist/index.html?hpt=T1
A man who was known as the “East Coast Rapist” was arrested earlier this week. He asked the authorities “What took you so long to get me?” Aaron Thomas, 39, is linked to 17 sexual assaults over 4 states between 1997 and 2009. He was caught by polices tracking his DNA from a cigarette. He was accused for a number of crimes from rape, to assault. Thomas claims that he has a “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality when it came to women”. On Saturday, Thomas tried to hang himself in his cell but the police managed to stop him and transport him to Yale-New Haven hospital.
Hearing about crime is always very bad. I think that guys who have raped as many times as Thomas has should have the death penalty. I too have a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality (sometimes) but that doesn’t make me do incredibly stupid stuff like rape and assault. When he dies of old age in a prison, I hope someone glances down at him, spits, and says, "What took you so long?"
http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/09/illinois.death.penalty/index.html
ReplyDeleteThe Governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, signed legislation on Wednesday, March 9, 2011, abolishing the death penalty. The governor’s decision came about when he realized that the capital punishment was being assigned unjustly, creating a “grave danger” that they could be putting innocent people to death. He said it was virtually impossible to create a flawless system. He also stated that "Having said that, we cannot have a death-penalty system in our state which kills innocents, and unfortunately our system was in grave danger of doing exactly that in 20 instances.” The 20 instances he speaks of are related to the last execution conducted in 1999, when the governor was George Ryan. He then stopped the execution process in 2000, after having discovered that 20 victims of the death penalty had actually been innocent. He then changed the sentencing of 167 convicts to life imprisonment without parole instead of death. The current governor also commuted another 15 convicts to a lesser punishment. The Fraternal Order of Police and many prosecutors tried to lobby against the legislation, arguing that “the threat of execution deterred crime.” However, Quinn did not regret his decision at all. He believes it will help create a more just system. The Catholic Conference of Illinois, American Civil Liberties Union also supports Quinn’s decision. The law will become effective on July 1, 2011.
I think this was a very big deal in the US. There are now only 34 states and the federal government that are still carrying out the death penalty. I think this was a smart move for Illinois because they had sentenced so many innocent people to death in the past that they obviously aren’t doing a very good job of convicting people. I think life in prison without parole is a sufficient punishment for those who commit capital crime. This change in Illinois could lead to changes in other states as well.
Laura Musalem
6th period
Leah Whitney
ReplyDeleteSickle cell anemia is passed down through generations and it is a disease in which red blood cells form an odd shape. This disease causes major pain in the abdomen, bones, and chest also it causes breathlessness, delayed growth, fatigue fever, and many other problems. About 72,000 people are affected by this disease. A few people have come out to talk about the pains of living with this awful disease. One woman who is 38 years old speaks of how she is repeatedly going to the hospital week after week. She wishes there were doctors who would focus more on this disease because it causes you immense pain that is just unbearable. Also an eight year old, Shanoah Moore, speaks about her experiences with this disease. She says they have to take her fever every time there is pain and if the fever is over 101 she must go to the hospital. She is absent from school a lot due to this disease, but she wishes that she could stay in school and learn.
I think that this disease is a huge issue that many people experience. As someone who doesn’t know anyone who as this disease or anything I still can feel their pain and think doctors should be more focused on finding someway to permanently remove their pain. I feel terrible for these people with this disease especially this eight year old who talks about missing school and how she wants the chance to learn but can’t because she’s always in the hospital. I think that there has to be some way to put forth more doctors to look into this disease and try to find a cure. Thousands and thousands of people are affected by this awful disease so for their sake I think there should be more research devoted to this disease.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/health/views/08sickle.html?_r=1&ref=health
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/10/kansas.beef.recall/index.html
ReplyDeleteOne meat distribution company has recalled more than 14,000 pounds of their produced meat. This meat has been recalled in fear of E. coli contamination. Most of this meat is the companies famous ground beef. The FDA has inspected the meat and has said that it is possible for it to be contaminated by e.coli. This can be very dangerous to people, the FDA said. They believe all the meat will be able to be recalled int time and that they will be able to retrieve all of the contaminated meat. These meats started their processing in Kansas. After that, they were shipped all over Northern U.S.
This is important because it shows us how we need to improve our food screening. If it is possible for us to let 7 tons of meat infected with E.coli by, we must fix our procedure. Clearly, something is either being done wrong or not to full potential. We need to fix this problem to insure the health of our citizens. On the other hand, this does show us that the companies do attempt to recall their bad products. By noticing that their meat had a problem with it, they took action to recall the meat. They did this to keep their customers safe and to stay in business as well. This shows that the big companies can be proactive when it comes to cleaning up their mess. It is important to fix things when they are wrong, and this is a prime example of that.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/science/space/10shuttle.html?_r=1&ref=science
ReplyDeleteFrom Kennedy Space Center, the Shuttle Discovery caused a fire of re-entry for the last time Wednesday and landed by gliding,which closed the space plane's 39th and final voyage.By dropping through a partly cloudy sky,the commander and other staffs of Air Force guided Discovery through a sweeping left overhead turn,lined up on Runway 15 and floated to a perfect touchdown at 11:57am.ended the extended 13-day space station assembly mission.The Discovery has logged some 5,750 orbits covering nearly 150 million miles during 39 flights that spans a full year in space,it has created a phenomenal triumph for the history of the shuttle program.The engineers in the Vehicle Assembly Building were busy preparing the shuttle Endeavour for rollout,they are aiming for the 25th and final flight on April 19.
The great job of landing by Discovery has definitely many significant impacts not only in the history of the entire shuttle program, but also in the flight records of the NASA,which also have the remaining orbiter, the Atlantis,that is scheduled for liftoff June 28 on the shuttle program's 135th flight,this will be the finale of shuttle's beautiful machines, it is actually a bit sad that the ending is coming close for retiring.The phenomenal works that they have done and got to recorded will never be forgotten and will leave an ultimate and unforgettable spaceship with NASA.
Jessica Yin
7th. period
Maria Miggs
ReplyDelete3/10/11
p.7
topic: science
Space shuttles retire
As the space shuttle, Discovery, touched down this week, it was a bittersweet moment for all of the workers at NASA. This 13-day mission is to be the last space trip for this record setting shuttle. In it’s 39 flights, Discovery had logged 5,750 orbits and covered 150 million miles. The Atlantis is NASA’s last orbiter of the post- Apollo initiative producing many capable rockets. It is scheduled to leave on June 28. It will be several years until a new shuttle comes out which means there wont be any American astronauts going out to space for many years. Dr. Baratt, a NASA worker says ”We’re seeing a program come to a close here, and to see these shuttles, these beautiful, magnificent flying machines, end their service life is obviously a little bit sad for us,”.
I agree with Baratt and other NASA workers that the closing of this project is sad. For many years America has been steps ahead of any other when it comes to space exploration. This hiatus that the shuttles are taking may mean that other countries can get ahead. Nonetheless, Discovery and the other vehicles have been exploring space for some 10 years and need to retire with their outstanding records.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/science/space/10shuttle.html?_r=1&ref=science
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/03/10/134429587/nearly-12-million-americans-are-cancer-survivors?ft=1&f=1001
ReplyDeleteA recent poll shows that we have more cancer survivors than ever. Over forty percent of patients have outlived their diagnosis by ten years or more. Almost twelve million people in America are cancer survivors and that beats out the number from 2000 by 2.2 million. In 1971, there was one forth of the number survivors that there are today. The reason for this is simple. Cancer is being diagnosed and treated much earlier than before. The treatment itself and the follow up care are quite a bit better. Unfortunately, these people are the most likely to have reoccurring or a new type of cancer due to their treatment. For example, people who were treated for Hodgkins disease are 20 to 75 times more likely to develop breast cancer than other women. With an increase in cancer survivors the disease is becoming more and more common.
I think that it is amazing that we have come so far in forty years. The fact that we have changed cancer from a death sentences to a survivable disease kind of blows me away. We have changed the entire outlook on cancer. Even if we have more cancer patients due to the larger amount of survivors, we have treatments that actually work. We have better support systems and people working everyday to cure these diseases. This is truly something to be celebrated.
Jenny Vaughn
6th period
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/09/senate-votes-down-competing-spending-bills/
ReplyDeleteTopic: Politics
On Wednesday, March 9, 2011, Senate voted against two competing Democrat and Republican spending bills. The Republican spending bill would cut $61 billion from current spendings. This was voted down with a 56 to 44 vote. All moderate Republicans voted for the bill even though they were nervous that this bill would hurt their constituents and possibly prevent their re-election. Three conservative Republicans voted against the bill because they believe that the cuts are not high enough. The democrat bill would cut $6 billion from current spendings. However, this bill was also voted down with a 58 to 42 vote. Eleven Democrats voted against this bill, and some of them are ones who are facing a difficulty in re-election. The leaders of Congress hope that these votes will show both parties that they need to make more compromise. They now have until next Friday to come up with a long-term or a short-term plan. Otherwise, the government will shut down. The House Appropriations Committee is working on a new bill.
Last week I was happy because the two parties were finally able to agree on something. Now, I don't know what to think. These Congressmen need to hurry up and come up with a good plan that will satisfy everyone. I hate the fact that they haven't even really tried to compromise. They only have a week left. They really can't keep the government running week by week. They need to work something out. I also don't like the fact that there were some Democrats who voted against their own bill because they were only thinking about their re-election. They shouldn't worry about that now. They need to do things that are best for the people not themselves. They can work towards re-election later. Right now, we need to get this spending bill with compromised cuts passed now.
Jenny Jin
3/10/11
7th period
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/science/08tier.html?ref=science
ReplyDeleteTOPIC: SCIENCE
Throughout history, the proportion of left-handed people and right-handed people have stayed consistent. Approximately 90 percent of the human population is right-handed, while the other ten percent are left-handed. Left-handed people have often been associated with criminality and actions associated with the devil, but many successful politicians have buried this generalization. As scientists have looked deeper into this phenomenon, they have discovered that left-handed people tend to be more "symmetrical" compared to right-handed people. This hereditary trait could possibly be related to immune disorders, learning disabilities, reduced life expectancy, and schizophrenia, but scientists have not been able to prove this yet. Many parents try to prevent left-handedness in their children and promote right-handedness, believing that left-handedness is an omen. Scientists will continue to work to determine whether or not left-handedness is related to disorders and disabilities in the future.
I found this article to be extremely fascinating because many people in the Chinese culture believe that left-handedness is a bad omen. Many parents try to influence right-handedness in their children by preventing the left hand from moving. I do not really understand why left-handedness is associated with the devil, and I would like to know more about how this came about. If scientists do discover connections to disorders and disabilities, it will be interesting to watch science progress and read about their solutions to these problems. However, I still believe that holding prejudice against left-handed people is unjustified unless there is an adequate reason behind the prejudice.
Nicole Chang
7th period
March 11, 2011
Tanner Gardner-7th Period
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1TBM47/www.earthtechling.com/topics/renewable-energy
Solaris Energy and EDF Group, an Israeli and French energy company, have collaborated in designing a solar panel prototype that floats on the water. They are testing a new silicon solar cell module that is said to be the first floating concentrated photovoltaic system. The system is based on a floating platform in which individual modules reside: the way they are arranged achieves 200 kilowatts of electricity. According to scientist Dr. Elyakim Kassel, the coordinator of the projected dubbed AQUASUN, there are many benefits to using an already established water-basin for the floating solar system. First, the project will not have to use or purchase land, and instead can implement water that is already being used for another purpose. Second, the cooler temperature of the water will help the overall efficiency of solar cells. The testing phase is expected to last nine months, during which the team will note water levels, cost, and efficiency.
This is a wonderful innovation because land masses will be all but full in just a few decades, and water covers 70% of Earth’s surface. Granted, too many platforms may impede the food chain but eventually advanced technology will allow for just a select amount. Maybe someday it will not be oil platforms we see but solar platforms like a floating armada, energy surging into the nearest metropolis. This raises another problem: mass electrocution. However, this dilemma is much less alarming than a large scale oil spill, so the good outweighs the bad.
The coffee bean is one of Columbia's major export, and now that there has been major damage to these plants, it will have a big effect on their economy. Most families devote their whole lives to growing and nurturing their coffee bean plants. The heat and unpredictable rain forecast has caused many of these farmers to lose their crops. They are beginning to blame the effects of Global Warming. Coffee beans plants have to have the perfect climate to grow properly. An addition from this hot weather are the insects that come and eat at the plant. From higher percentages in 2006, they predicted the percentages to be even higher, but unfortunately, the percentages have actually decreased. As a result of the decrease in production, it has forced major companies like Maxwell and Folgers to increase the retail price. It is unfortunate for many countries who have developed a coffee habit, such as Brazil, India, and China, because they have to pay those high prices.
ReplyDeleteI feel very sorry for the farmers and coffee drinkers this has and is going to affect. These farmers from Columbia work their whole life to develop this farms to grow this products, and the beans are dying. I think it is very unfortunate, and there is nothing that anyone can do about it because it is a result of Global Warming. All that we can do right now is make sure we are more conservative and to support these farmers. I really hope that these farmers and companies have luck with their coffee plants and are able to get the percentage up and over the 2006 mark.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/science/earth/10coffee.html?ref=science
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/03/10/state/n013416S65.DTL
ReplyDeletecrime
An Ohio man was put to death recently with the state’s new drug used for death penalties. Johnnie Batson was sentenced to death by lethal injection because of a murder he committed in 1995 to Chong-Hoon Mah. Johnnie was announced dead at 10:30 am on Thursday, March 10, 2011 after being injected with a five gram dose of pentobarbital. In Batson’s final statement he said that the government did wrong by giving him the death penalty and that they should have just given him life without parole. He admitted that he made a bad choice and that he hopes that the victim and his own family would be able to move on. He also has children which he asked his brothers to take care of when he was gone. Johnnie stated that he wanted his brothers to tell his kids stories about him and the good things that he did in his life. Johnnie’s night was sleepless before his execution the next day as he stayed up to pray with his family.
I think that the death penalty is wrong. Even though Johnnie Batson killed someone he had a family and apologized for everything he did. I think they should have respected his family’s request for life without parole. I know that it is too expensive to keep so many people in jail but it’s not right to take away people’s lives who know that they did something wrong and have families. This man was up all night praying with his loved ones and I find it so sad that he was put to death. I’m not saying I think he shouldn’t be punished, because he should of course for murder, but the death penalty is too much. I hope the victim Ching-Hoon Mah and Johnnie Batson rest in peace and I hope Johnnie Batson will be forgiven by everybody.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/world/asia/04davis.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=murder&st=cse
ReplyDeleteLast week, a criminal court in Pakistan delayed pressing murder charges against Raymond A. Davis, a CIA operative, giving the lawyers for Mr. Davis extra time to prepare for the case. Davis, age 36, shot two motorcyclists with a pistol at a busy intersection in Lahore, Pakistan during an attempted robbery. Another Pakistani was killed when an American Consulate vehicle in Lahore drove the wrong way down a one-way street in the attempt of rescuing Mr. Davis from the Lahore police. Lahore police confiscated equipment usually used for spying from Mr. Davis’s car consisting of a pocket telescope and ammunition. After hitting the motorcyclist, the rescue vehicle sped back to the consulate leaving a trail of equipment, including a black mask and gloves, an American flag, and weapons.
Richmond Davis is undoubtedly guilty of this murder. There is plenty of evidence to prove him guilty, and I doubt that giving his lawyers more time to prepare would even be enough to help them prove Davis innocent. Just because he is an American doesn’t mean that he deserves special treatment. He committed a crime, and he should be reprimanded for it.
Cerys Humphreys
7th Period
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110311/ap_on_re_us/us_republicans_curbing_deficits
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans in the House of Representatives are proposing to curb costs on healthcare and medicare in an effort to get out of the the national budget is in. Other proposals include raising the retirement age to 70 and/or reducing the money in Social Security checks. The Republicans acknowledge that they need Obama's support to be able to mess with SS. Not all the details have been sorted out, but the budget won't be tough to solve, according to Paul Ryan.
I think they're looking into the wrong places to cut costs. They should cut more on the military, specifically in Iraq. Getting rid of medicare will undoubtly make the people furious. Hopefully there's more to the plan than just that and they can figure out how to cut down the unbelieveable debt we have.
Mark Stouffer
Period 7
Senate Denies Conflicting Spending Bills
ReplyDeleteEric Plevy
P6
3/11/11
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/09/senate-votes-down-competing-spending-bills/
The Senate has just voted against two conflicting bills concerning our spending. The Republicans had devised a bill that would cut 61 billion dollars in spending. The Democrats, however, had proposed a bill that would have cut six billion dollars in spending. In the mean time, the House Republicans have devised a small, temporary bill that should keep everything running. While Democrats believe that small spending cuts will help our economy the most, the Republicans believe that we need to cut spending by large quantities. A decision must be reached soon either way since fighting will not improve our economy.
The Democrats seem to have a good point. I agree with them in the sense that we can gradually pay off our debts while strongly reviving the economy. This method will fix our economy and use our improved economy to finish paying off debts. If we were to pay off our debts, then our economy would still be in bad shape and cause us to possibly need to borrow even more money to help fix it. This could potentially create a cycle that would not be productive for our economy, nor our debts. It is important that we devise a plan, and one that seems logical rather than creating a cycle of a bad economy. Without a firm plan, neither our economy nor our debts will ever improve. Action must be taken at once to ensure we dig our way out of this economic mess.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/us/10illinois.html?_r=1&ref=politics
ReplyDeleteIllinois became the 16th state to ban capital punishment on Wednesday. Gov. Pat Quinn signed an abolition bill that the state legislature passed in January. The governor said, “Since our experience has shown that there is no way to design a perfect death penalty system, free from the numerous flaws that can lead to wrongful convictions or discriminatory treatment, I have concluded that the proper course of action is to abolish it.” Mr. Quinn said that signing the bill was the most difficult decision he had made as governor. Those on death row will have their sentences commuted to life without the possibility of parole.
Pat Quinn made the right decision. I believe that the death penalty is wrong. There have been cases where a person has been given the death penalty and it turned out that they didn’t even commit the crime. Also, as Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” We should not punish someone with the same crime that they committed. This only encourages murder because the government itself is doing it.
Chris Barth
P.7
http://abcnews.go.com/US/ohio-executes-convict-single-controversial-drug/story?id=13104642
ReplyDeleteThursday, March 10, 2011, Ohio executed a convicted killer. Ohio became the first state to use a new, controversial execution technique. The execution was closely watched by 32 other states. Each of those other states is struggling over the decision of how to adjust their lethal injection protocols. Recently, the manufacture of the most commonly used drug, sodium thiopental, has been discontinued so states are being forced to change their methods. Ohio opted to use pentobarbital but critics are stating that the new drug was hastily chosen and proper testing was not done.
I feel that Ohio should have done more testing with their drug. The state has had “three botched executions”. Despite the fact that these men are on death row, it isn’t fair to attempt to execute someone, and fail. Fortunately though, the most recent execution went as planned. However, this recent change in drug has brought many lawsuits from the killers on death row. The state needs to properly test the new drug to ensure that it will work exactly as planned.
Zach Visco
March 10, 2011
Period 6
Riley Hutchison
ReplyDeleteTopic: Science
Period 7
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/us/10smog.html?ref=science
In Pinedale, Wyoming they are having one of the worst ozone pollutions in three years. This is a remote town (180 mi away from Salt Lake City). This town only has 1,400 residents, but they are seeing the polution of a much larger city. This could be caused by its geographical location; it is essentially like a bowl, with mountains all around it, and it is in a valley at 7,000 ft. In the winter it priduces highly refelective snow, and powerful sunlight that sends heat right back up into the atmosphere. The economy there is heavily based on natural gas drilling, which could be the cause for the pollution. Citizens of the town have lived elswhere with worse air quality and say that often humans are the cause for the pollution. The citizens refuse to give up their natural gas drilling, it serves as the towns lively hood and it is a part of their lives. Some have called in the EPA for a second oppinion, but recently the EPA has dismissed the issue in order to reseach hydrofracking. Some think that the attack on the ozone was some sort of a plot to take down the gas and oil industry, but most others just think that this "bad air" is natural.
I think that it is crzy for such a little town to have to deal with a big city problem. It doesnt make sense for this polluted air to either be created in the town or blow in from some big city. This seems like a preventable issue, especially with all of the science that we have available to us today. The citizens of this town also seem very resistant to change. They dont want their gas industy altered in any way, and some even went as far as to say that this was some sort of plot to destry their industry. These people should realize that this is a preventable issue, and that everything they emit can come back down to harm them. The environment is a tricky issue, and scientists seem to be doing all they can to help it. The citizens of Pinedale should be more carefull about what their carbon footprints are, and just trust that the issue will resolve itself sooner or later.
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/70833/title/Anxiety_switch_makes_mice_shy_no_more
ReplyDeleteResearchers have found a way to simply switch a mouse’s anxiety on and off. Mice are generally considered extremely skiddish creatures, but scientists have found a way to make mice not anxious at all. Previously, it was unknown what caused anxiety, but with this research, it was discovered that within the Amygdala in the brain, cells were found to, when triggered by light, affect anxiety levels. Mice that were previously terrified of open spaces, after having that part of the brain triggered, had no problem exploring wide open spaces. They also learned that it works both ways. If they smothered that area of the brain, not allowing cells to send signals within that area, then a mouse was found to be even more afraid of going into open spaces.
This discovery is really important in my opinion. Scientists previously didn’t know how it was that anxiety was felt. This discovery now reveals all kinds of oppurtunities. I feel like this discovery could help with treating anxiety in humans. Now that we understand where in the brain anxiety is controlled, and how to control it in mice, we should be able to alter anxiety in humans too. It would be interesting to see how humans react with a drastically lowered anxiety level. Things that people previously wouldn’t do because of fear may now be possible, because they won’t have that fear holding them back.
Brady Strine
6th period
By Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s estimates, about eighty percent of our nation’s public schools will be failing by the standards set by George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind policy. The policy states that every school must be 100% proficient in both reading and math. This herculean task is already showing a trend towards failure, but the expected jump in failings by the end of this year seems to be more than ever seen before. Last year, around thirty percent of schools did not have 100% proficiency, which means that fifty more percent will fall off the bandwagon this year. An effort is being made to overhaul the program. Obama’s suggested changes include basing the passing or failing of schools not only by test scores but also by other markers such as graduation rates and preparedness for a college of career setting.
ReplyDeleteI think that No Child Left Behind has not worked at all. It seems to me that all it has done is skewed the focus of education onto tests instead of learning. I am not surprised that there are so many schools that are not one hundred percent passing. It is natural for people to be at different levels of intelligence and educational abilities. In many ways, our society needs high school drop outs more than it does PhD’s. In everyday life we need and use the products of construction workers much more that we do the products of advanced researchers. I think it would be better for everyone to at least finish high school, but that is not a reasonable thing to reach for. There will always be people who prefer making their own way to following the standard course of education. Measures should be made to make a great education available to all students. However, a few students’ difficulties should not force the majority to have a worse education.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/education/10education.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=education
Chiara Salemi
Education
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12705300
ReplyDeleteAlex Grosskurth
6th period
humans rights
In Chechnya a law was passed that all women must wear scarves over their heads and other Islamic clothing. In 2010 dozens of women were targeted, threatened and shot with paint balls because they weren't wearing this compulsory headgear and their sleeves weren't long enough. This incident scared the women, one said she'd never leave her home again without the headscarf. President Kadyrov of Russia praised the paint ballers because this helped put the women "in their place" according to the law. Others are outraged because defenseless women were attacked for simply not obeying a law. The Human Rights Watch claimed that this was an atrocity and that this law makes it easier to put down women. Many agree with this claim because giving women a compulsory dress code is wrong and sexist.
I agree with the latter that this law is sexist. It goes against many rules that a government that doesn't support religion should follow. Women shouldn't be forced into a dress code because it puts them down and this attack is flat out wrong. If I jaywalked and someone shot me multiple times with a paint ball gun they would get in trouble even though jaywalking is against the law. Thats basically what happened here, a group of women broke the law and got assaulted because of that. Many of these women are traumatized and scared simply because they didn't wear a scarf on their heads. The worst part of this is the president supported this assault. No one is getting punished even though many of these women are scared for life from these events. Laws that support a religion in a non-secular society shouldn't support a religion, and people shouldn't be assaulted because they didn't wear something on their heads. Governments should never condone open violence like this.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/us/politics/10republicans.html?_r=1&ref=politics
ReplyDeleteThis past week, republicans have shifted their focus from fixing the budget to fixing the economy in order to fufil their promises that they made in order to get elected. In detail they ensured americans that they are more than a budget trimming party. They went into detail saying that one of their main focuses was to "identify and move to block regulatory efforts by the Obama administration that would strangle the economy". Mr. Cantor listed buisness that he deemed suitable for job growth and bi-partisan agreement.
I think that growing jobs should be the biggest focus in our entire government at this moment. We are currently at a 11.5% unemployment rate. That means every 1 in 5 students at our school has a parent unemployed. that means that an average of 6 parents per classroom in chapel hill are unemployed. why havent we fixed this yet? can we not get together long enough to employ our workforce? Hopefully our congress will get something passed to help with this depression in employment, and boost our national moral. While the budget does need to be cut down, it takes too much time away from our biggest problem as a nation. Im glad to see a promise be made, ill be keeping my fingers crossed that they hold it.
Ian Hill 7th
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/science/08obfrog.html?ref=science
ReplyDeleteLeon Pickles
"Darwin believed that when an invasive species entered a region where a closely related species already existed, it would most likely be unsuccessful because of a competition for resources." Darwin's belief has been proved wrong by amphibians. Amphibians are the only animal that will and can take over region that has a related species living in it. This is very interesting because it could help conservationists decide on risk levels of introducing animals into different regions.
I think that this new discovery is very interesting not because of the discoveries that could follow but because of the discoveries this followed. This is the first thing we have found wrong with Darwin's theory of evolution, and I think that more could follow. I think this because Darwin's theory was made so long ago and we now have technology and knowledge that he didn't have back then.
Sam Freedberg
ReplyDelete6th Period
Crime
http://www.kltv.com/global/story.asp?s=14225547
Authorities arrested an 83-year-old woman who they say admitted to taking over her husband's business of dealing cocaine out of her home.
Wilma Johnson McQueen, 83, of Livingston, is charged with possession of a controlled substance and money laundering.
Lufkin DPS Agents, along with FBI, highway patrolman, and Polk County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at McQueen's home.
According to the report, officers came across 538.65 grams of cocaine inside the refrigerator, as well as two pistols, two rifles, two shotguns, and over $20,000 in cash during the search.
The report also stated that McQueen was arrested and admitted to her role as the middle man in the delivery of narcotics. She said she assumed her husband's role following his passing away.
I found this extremely funny. It's hilarious that an 83-year old woman could be dealing cocaine out of her refrigerator. I guess we have this image of drug dealers as being shady guys hanging out on street corners with their hoods up. That just makes this all the more amazing. What did astonish me is that they found over 500 grams of cocaine. That's a lot of drugs and its even worse when coupled with 4 guns and 20,000 dollars.
Connor Randolph
ReplyDeleteLogan Current event
Recently President Obama took a stand on bullying in schools all around the country by talking to 150 parents, teachers, bully victims, and researchers. This meeting was held to creat new ideas to deal with this ever growing problem around america. President Obama also stated how he had been a victim as a child and this inspired him to fix the problem even more. President Obama unleashed his website Stopbullying.gov to try to give advice to kids who are being bullyed. This will provide guidence for teachers and commuinty members and even parents. Obama also plans to form a coiliton with facebook and MTV to try to stop thie problem.
I think that what preident obama is doing is a great thing. The growing problem of Bulling has reached a limit where children can even be bullyed online. Partherships with facebook and MTV is also a a good move. The parternship with the top to used of watch thing by teens will help get out get out the message to teens that bullying is wrong and not cool at all.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/03/11/24policybrief.h30.html?tkn=ZPLFadJ%2FfJ6xarV2lWT%2BydKSJPYJJ8aW3dC9&cmp=clp-edweek
Muzzammil "Mo" Hassanwas sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Wednesday for the beheading death of his wife. He and his wife were former television executive. She was killed and found at the TV station beheaded. He had called the police and said that his wife was dead. Police also said that week before she had filled for a divorce and had also called police for abuse from her husband. The day she was also talking to her sister. She had agree to take some cloths to the station. After Mo had agree to move out of the house. She wanted to seek better life with out him and a better life for there kids.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really sad story I think that on one should kill just because some one does not want to be with them. I think he should of just let her leave and have a better life by herself and her kids. She had the right to leave him and be happy. IF she was not happy then she should of had the right to not be with him. But instead she was killed and beheaded by her husband. Now he has to go to jail and have a sentence for 25 years life in prison. He should of gotten life with out parol.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/03/09/new.york.beheading/index.html?npt=NP1
Brinklee Bailey
ReplyDelete3/9/11 P. 6
This week my current event is about President Obama pushing educational innovating in Boston. On Tuesday the president was to take a visit to Boston. He visited a high-tech public school in Boston to assure that America can keep up with its fast pace global economy. The president has said that the competiveness of the American economy is growing and that the youth of the future need to be able o keep up, which is one of the things mentioned in his State Of The Union Address. The school incorporates every aspect of technology including state of the art laptops for every class. The White House has said that the president is planning on including programs like this into the budget, targeting innovation.
I think that it’s a wonderful idea to include new ways of technology into the public schools. This would be a very good way to make sure that every child has equal opportunities to be the best student they can be. Many students don’t even have computers at home so I think that if that type of technology can be provided in schools then all students can take advantage of it.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/obama-to-push-educational-innovation-in-boston/?scp=2&sq=president%20obama&st=cse
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/science/earth/11nuke.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=environment&adxnnlx=1299864403-AkT+m60VmxmE8Me66xDYlQ
ReplyDeleteJacob Harris
7th Period
Topic: Environment
As of Thursday, a nuclear plant in Vermont has been given the "all clear" to continue operating. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted 4 to 0 and "rejected all challenges" to allow the continued operation. The chairman of said commission, Gregory B. Jaczko, claimed that the plant "had met 'all of our requirements and standards to be able to operate for another 20 years'". One challenge has been that the plant isn't reliable because of how long it has functioned. Because of Vermont's environmentally-friendly attitude, many complaints have come from the mere existence of the plant.
I really don't know what would be my opinion on this matter. On the one hand, the plant has met the regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Committee (who I'm assuming have a high understanding of what could be harmful effects of a nuclear plant) so it only makes sense to allow the plant to continue functioning. On the other hand however, the voice of the people should be the strongest and obviously this voice is against this plant. I can see both sides but I would probably lean more towards the people as they should be the first priority rathern than the commerce of a region (although commerce affects people this doesn't necessarily mean anything in this specific case).
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/asia/12japan.html?_r=1&hp
ReplyDeleteJackson wright
3/11/11
6th pd
Topic: Middle East/Asia
Today a record earthquake occured in the Pacific rim around japan Hawaii and California. This was a record sized quake of 8.9 that should have been 9.0 or higher deemed by many. This quake has caused massive amounts of damage and is very sad I hope that we aid them soon.
This is a very sad occurrence because I have very close friends living in Tokyo. I really hope things are good for them but I know they are safe which is nice. Hopefully we can help japan in some way and keep the Japanese from suffering.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2055568,00.html
ReplyDeletetopic- science
This article talks about the force that's pushing galaxies away from each other. This force is called dark energy, dark energy was discovered by Einstein. Dark energy even to this day remains a mysterious force, and all astronomers know is that dark energy seems to make up more that 70% of the matter-energy content of the universe. The rest is mostly the equally mysterious dark matter. Scientists at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, in Virginia were able to measure the distance to galaxy NGC 6264. They were able to accomplish this by linking a group of far-flung radio telescopes into a virtual telescope thousands of miles across, they measured that it was 450 million light-years from earth, give or take 9%.
I think that this is amazing, if we could find the distance of other galaxies, then we'll begin to understand more about dark energy. Back in the 1920's Einstein abandoned the concept of cosmological constant, which is another word for dark energy. He called it “the greatest blunder of my life”. If dark energy really does match the idea he gave birth to nearly 100 years ago, his greatest blunder could also turn out to be his final triumph.
Julie Wulforst
ReplyDeletePeriod 6
The Middle East
Like the majority of the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is currently in great unrest. The Shiite people planned a protest for today, Friday, and are calling it the "Day of Rage." They
re doing this in response to the violence that authorities have been imposing on their protests. On Thursday, Saudi security forces fired on a group of over one hundred protestors in the city of Qatif who were protesting for the release of Shiite prisoners. It's not clear whether rubber bullets or live aminition were used, however the injured required hospitilization. A human rights group in Saudi Arabia called the security action "deplorable."
I'M SICK OF VIOLENCE. I feel like every week I'm writing the same thing, just in a different region. Although the police force used it Saudi Arabia was not as bad as that used in Egypt, I'm worried that it can only escalate. All the unrest in the Middle East is spreading all over the world. Even here in America, we're experiencing MUCH higher gas prices because of all the chaos and confusion across the Atlantic. I think everyone, the whole world, should come together to assist the tsunami/earthquake relief in Japan.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/03/11/saudi.arabia.protests/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Ryan Hegedus
ReplyDeleteJudge gives Lindsay Lohan 2 weeks to decide on plea deal
Lindsay Lohan has a deadline of March 23 to accept a plea deal that would mean certain jail time or a sooner trial date if she declined. Lohan was accused of stealing a necklace, which would violate her parole she is on because of a prior drunk driving conviction. Her current plea deal involves certain jail time because a judge told her that if she pleaded in front of him again, that she was going to jail. The necklace that Lohan allegedly stole was valued at $2,500 dollars. The jewelry store that the necklace was allegedly stolen from sold he rights to the security video to the associated press, even though this video was key in the case.
Lohan is a troubled young woman that is having trouble emerging from the looming shadow of her childhood stardom. She has been arrested numerous times for substance abuse and is still struggling to get her life in order. She has been through rehab more than once and still nothing has helped her. My point is that she should be done getting second chances. If convicted, Lohan should serve serious jail time, not celebrity jail time that is short and spent in nice cells.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/03/10/lindsay.lohan.hearing/index.html
Kate Boyd
ReplyDelete7th Pd
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/business/08care.html?_r=1&ref=technology
CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere) is an organization that has traditionally allowed people to send food and important items to people in other countries that can't afford them. They started doing this for families in Germany after World War II, and they helped a lot of people. Now, they have created an online way for people to donate. People can go online and fill out a form saying what they would like to donate, ranging from paying for transportation to a health clinic or pay for training for a local doctor.
I think this is a really good use of technology. People are more likely to donate if they know exactly what they're donating. It's also a lot easier to transfer money online than put together a package and ship it overseas, when those items might not even be what families really are in need of. If the process is easy, people are going to be more inclined to donate to others. This is an important way to use modern day technology that anyone can access in order to continue a traditionally successful charity.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/03/11/24policybrief.h30.html?tkn=ZPLFadJ%2FfJ6xarV2lWT%2BydKSJPYJJ8aW3dC9&cmp=clp-edweek
ReplyDeleteThis is a response to Connor Randolph's current event.
Connor wrote about Obama's new campaign to help end bullying. Obama talked about how as a child he had been bullied. Obama wants to help end bullying across America because it is becoming a more prevalent issue.
I think that it is great that Obama is campaigning against bullying. Bullying can ruin the self esteem of kids and it can make daily life hard. Bullying can make kids nervous about even coming to school because they are afraid of being bullied. However, I don't think that Obama uniting with MTV and Facebook will do anything to solve the problem. I think that uniting with these groups will raise some awareness but it will do nothing to actually solve the problem. The only way to truly fix the problem of bullying is to actually change the attitudes of bullies. Also, more strict penalties for bullying should be imlpimented in schools in order to discourage bullies.
Zach Visco
March 17, 2011
Period 6