Lady Lupus?

Lady Gaga, the famous music star, has been given test for the disease lupus and recieved the results of borderline positive. Gaga's aunt has died of lupus, which prompted her to get tested herself. Lupus is a highly variable disease, making it extremely difficult to diagnose, especially for doctors that aren't familiar with the disease. Because Gaga doesn't have any symptoms of lupus, her borderline positive result is still negative. If someone were to show symptoms, and have a borderline positive, they would most likely be diagnosed with the disease. Lupus occurs when antibodies that normally fight off infections attack their own bodies tissues instead. Symptoms include swelling, rashes, joint pain, mouth sores, and hair loss. These symptoms, as bad as they sound, are rather minor compared to a more lethal case of lupus. If inflammation hits the kidneys, heart, lungs, or brain, the symptoms' severity increase exponentially.

Just because Lady Gaga is famous I don't know exactly why this story is in the news. the article was simply saying how she may or may not have a disease. What does that mean for the rest of the world? Absolutely nothing, no one cares about Lady Gaga personally. Do I like her music yes, do I care if she may have lupus, No!

Golden Girls is one less now

Emmy winning "Golden Girls" (which happens to be one of my favorite shows) actress Rue McClanahan died of a stroke in a New York hospital Thursday morning. She was 76. She suffered a cerebral hemorrhage last Monday, and was surrounded by family when she died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. She started working on the New York stage in the 1950s, but her long television career was first boosted when producer Norman Lear cast her in his hit CBS series "All in the Family" in 1971. She appeared in Lear's "Maude" a year later.
Her most memorable TV role was as Southern belle Blanche on the show the Golden Girls, which ran from 1985 through 1992. McClanahan won an Emmy for best lead actress in a comedy in 1987. Last year, McClanahan requested that no funeral be held for her, but memorial services will be announced for later this summer in New York and Los Angeles, California.

When i told my mom she was about tears, she loved McClanahan not only in the show the Golden Girls that she would watch every morning but as an actor in everyone of her pieces. I as well like the show and its a shame that only one of the girls is still alive. I think it will be creepy to watch the show now thinking that they are all dead except for Betty White.

More Problems in the Gulf

British Patrolium, the company at the heart of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, is attempted to divert the leaking oil in the Gulf of Mexico this Wednesday and the attempt was a failure. The tool use to cut the pipe got stuck in the pipe, forcing BP to switch to an alternative cutting device, shears. The second attempt at cutting the pipe was successful, but not precise enough. The rubber seal that is supposed to fit perfectly around the pipe is loose causing the oil to still spill out. President Obama went one on one with CNN's Larry King to talk about the spill. Obama stated that he is "furious at this entire situation", he does not believe they anticipated the consequences of thier actions. Obama pledged to hold BP completely responsible for the oil spill, and hold them accountable for the repair of the pipe, the cleanup of the Gulf waters, and all of the coastline effected by the massive amount of oil they set loose.

With all of the incredibly intelligent people we have in this world it is an incredible shock to me that we cannot come up with the solution to this problem. From a glance the problem seems simple, we have a hole that needs to be plugged! so with all the people we have in this world no one can find a way to plug it? I do realize it is in nearly a mile of water, miles off shore with millions of gallons flowing out but still, i think this lets sit and see what happens idea we currently have going on now isn't helping a thing!! Obama is doing the right thing by holding BP responsible and this will cause them to look a little more into stopping things like this in the future if it is costing them money.

No Need for the Radar Gun

Today congress passed a bill stating that simply an officers estimation of the speed of a driver is enough to write a ticket. An officer can now guess the speed a motorist is moving and immediately write him or her a ticket with no visual proof of their speed. A court case named "City of Barberton vs. Jenney" played the main role in implementing this law. Jenney, the suspect in the case, claimed he wasn't speeding and the officer had no proof of his radar gun certificate. After that, the police officer claimed that he knew for a fact that the driver was speeding due to his many years of experience. The $170.00 fine was issued to Jenny when the court ruled in favor of the police officer.

I find it ridiculous that this law is now in place. Just because it is their job to write tickets and they may get really good at it, they are simply humans and humans make errors in judgement because no one is perfect. I believe this law undoes the clause innocent until proven guilty because now it is only the word of the cop vs. the word of the suspect. This eliminates the need for proof, I think it is going to cause corruption because we are putting too much power in the hands of law enforcement.

Fool Me Once Shame on All of US

The main suspect, Jordan van der Sloot was once considered a prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. After being arrested three times due to knew evidence connecting van der Sloot to the crime, there wasn't enough evidence to send him to court. However recently, van der Sloot killed another, and he is now the prime suspect in the killing of a women in Peru. The man hunt has began for van der Sloot. Police also have video footage of van der Sloot and Flores at the Atlantic City Casino in Lima. Van der Sloot's attorney says its too early to make any conclusions. If van der Sloot is the man in charge of this murder, he sure likes to find a system and stick to it if it works. If captured for the killing of Flores, authorities say he will be sent back to Peru.

This is simply another case to prove my point stated in other blogs of mine that people that are cereal offenders especially at the violent level will committ more crimes in the future. From every article I have read about in papers involving a murder the killer was found to have a very violent criminal record or has been on trial for a serious crime in the past.More studies should be done on the linking of past criminal records and the chances they will commit again.

Animals Dying Due to Oil Spill

In case you have been in a hole for the last month i will quickly fill you in. In the Gulf of Mexico a BP oil well is pumping millions of gallons of oil into the waters. This article talks about how many different species are being affected by the oil spill. Most of the animals are birds considering they are on the top of the water which means they are directly on the oil. The oil destroys the birds skin and causes their lungs to eventually fail killing them in massive quantites everywhere the oil has reached. However, birds are not the only ones fish, shrimp, oysters, otters, dolphins and even sperm whales are being harmed by the leak. Some species are still recovering from other the hurricane Katrina. Experts say that something drastic needs to happen soon or the wildlife in the Gulf may cease as we know it.

With all of the incredibly intelligent people we have in this world it is an incredible shock to me that we cannot come up with the solution to this problem. From a glance the problem seems simple, we have a hole that needs to be plugged! so with all the people we have in this world no one can find a way to plug it? I do realize it is in nearly a mile of water, miles off shore with millions of gallons flowing out but still, i think this lets sit and see what happens idea we currently have going on now isn't helping a thing!!

Nevada Man Sentenced to Death for Killing Student

Brianna Denison a young student from California was abducted and killed while spending the night with a friend in an apartment in January of 2008. After monthes of searching for clues as to who the killer might be, her case was declared a cold case by the end of the year. Two monthes after the story was featured, a tip emerged and an arrest was made. When the story was featured, police showed a picture of womens underware that was believed to be Denison's and a description of a pickup truck. one of the lead investigators believed it was mainly due to the medias involvement by spreading awareness to the public. The man accused with the crime, James Michael Biela has quite the criminal record, along with being charged with kidnapping, sexually assulting and murdering Denison, he has also been charged with kidnapping and sexually assulting another student in California in December of 2008. Biela could be faced with the death penalty if convicted of murder.

This is the most just punishment for the crime hands down. Any person that has the criminal record of this man should not be trusted. The murder of this poor girl is a shocking eye opening that our punishment system does not do its job. Anyone who has commited the list of crimes this man has should never be released into public again. this is just a reminder of what repeat offenders do. there crimes escalate until this point where a young girls life is taken. Its a shame that this girl died. Also i think the murder of someone younger should carry more severe punishments. This girl had her entire life ahead of her that she will not get to live simply because this man was not punished more severly after his first offences.

Uk Shooting Leaves 12 Dead

Derrik Bird a man from the UK, had gone on a shooting spree in england the other day. This man had injured 25 people and had killed 12 others. During the man hunt they found Bird in the alley shot and dead. When Derrick Birds friend came forward he had said that Bird said "You won't see me again." The shootings spread across 3 english towns. They believe that the body they have found is Derrick Birds.

There was no motive for the shootings that the police had found. I find this incredible someone would go on a shooting spree and then kill himself without leaving a reason to the world. Could it be family troubles? Bird had two sons, each moved away from home and him and his wife were divorced. Seems that all the random killings of innocent people is due to love problems. What makes it worse is that alot of the murderers kill themselves so they don't have to deal with the consequences. In my personal opinion this is the most undeniably selfish thing any person can do. You really need to be sick in the head to be able to kill a bunch of people just to end up killing yourself. I guess if people are going to kill themselves reguardless then there is simply no way to keep people from doing this.

Issue # 1: All Things Being Unequal

The fact is that there is becoming a large gap in the wealth of united states citizens. over the last 30 years the share of national income going to the wealthiest 20 percent of households went from 45.4 percent to 53.5 percent. But meanwhile the share for the bottom 20 percent decreased from 5.8 percent to 4.1 percent. The problem exists when the cost of living has gone up while wages remain low. Experts list a number of causes to the issue including globalization, technology, education, and tax policy. Most of the impact is effecting the middle class. Some think that the govern­ment should restrict some trade and outsourcing which would keep some jobs in the united states. We call this attempt to protect domestic jobs and markets Protectionism. Some think that the more wealthy should be taxed more heavily than the middle and low income families. Also they think that adding additional job retraining programs, wage insurance, and unemployment benefits will reduce the damage done by globalization. The other side of the argument believes that this would simply reduce business profits and leave less to distribute to employees. Also they believe that raising taxes will simply slow economic growth and hurt all workers. Some oppo­nents also say that with federal spending on entitlement pro­grams and other social safety net efforts already consuming nearly half of the federal budget, the nation cannot afford new social programs.

Now my opinion. The problem is evident, too much variation of wealth in this nation. So I believe the solution is simple. We do need to tax the poor less and the wealthy more. Why should someone who is struggling to make it by and living paycheck to paycheck have to pay the same percentages in taxes as someone who gets a 26 million dollar bonus because he is the ceo of a big corporation. More money will come from the rich to the government which will help us pull out somewhat of the deficit we have dug for ourselves. Also, I think that we should be a country that can take pride in knowing that everyone is given a fair chance. So the guy that is working at 711 and can barely afford his appt. and his car shouldnt have to give his money to the government if he hasn't got that much to give. But the ceo should have to make up for these people that have it more difficult when they can go out and frivilously go out and buy whatever they desire. No one needs millions of dollars a year to live. But people do need a minimum amount to survive and that is why the people at the bottom should have a chance to climb up that ladder so one day they can help the people that are struggling. Programs should be passed that puts more money into the education system and more directly to teach classes such as economics that teach people to budget their money better. I believe this will decrease some of the gap with the poorest of people because it will keep more people out of debt which has become a huge issue in this country with credit cards. Also more money should be put towards college to offer more grants and cheaper loans to encourage more people to continue education to put more people into higher paying jobs rather than graduating high school simply to start a minimum wage job. Another possible solution is that there be a limit on the amount of wealth and land a person can own. Examples of this practice go back at least to the Roman republic in the third century B.C. when laws were passed limiting the amount of wealth or land that could be owned by any one family. The Romans had the right idea I believe. and so did Robin Hood and i believe that is the central idea here, you can have so much wealth and land but when a person reaches a certain point that wealth should be given to the poor. However this would outrage the wealthy people it would benefit the poor and suffering.

Issue#2

Issue#3

Flooding affects roads, train service in Northeast

The state of Rhode Island is having problems with flooding. This would be putting it kindly. The recent storm dumped 8.75 inches of rain in East Providence, 7.6 inches in downtown Providence and 5 inches in Cranston. This is catostrophic to the people of Rhode Island who are loosing their homes to the rising water. Transportation is nearly all cut off. President Obama has issued a state of emergency for the state. Schools are closing and people are rapidly leaving the area. The Yantic River set a record when it crested Tuesday at 13.6 feet -- 4.6 feet above flood stage -- in Yantic. I found this the most incredible.

I believe that there should be a procedure put in place just as there would be for a tornado in any other town for flooding to a certain region. There needs to be a certain way of ranking how bad the flooding is. If it is begining to flood so and so much above the flood level then there should be a procedure for that level. The next level would be the next step up above the flood level and there would be a procedure for that also. so on and so on so that by the point the state hits this level of flooding there is already actions being taken to keep the water at bay and the state safe.

Obama energy plan would open Atlantic and Gulf drilling

For the last 20 years there has been a ban on drilling for oil in the gulf of mexico. Today Obama announced his plans to drill for oil in the gulf. Obama believes this will create job opportunities. It will also reduce our dependence on foreign nations for oil. However it is not all cut and dry, there are people that are against the drilling of oil claiming that it will disrupt the marine habitat in the gulf. Tree huggers everywhere are claiming that it will reduce the use of fishing grounds in that area and people in florida could be put out of work and take millions of dollars out of the economy with it.

I believe that the fish and other marine life will be fine. If they miss their homes so what they can swim to a new part of the ocean, its huge. Also, I believe this is the best idea Obama has had since he was elected. Finally we can cut down on how much oil we buy from the middle east, after all that has caused nothing but problems for us. Also having the price of gas drop this summer wouldnt be too shabby! I dont understand why have not been utilizing these resources that we have had for so long! Why was there a ban on drilling when this could be a big part to reducing our deficit.

4 dead in D.C. shooting

Four people have died after a shooting in southern Washington, D.C. There were a total of 7 males injured and 3 females injured. Authorities said multiple shooters opened fire on a crowd Tuesday night. The shooting started a police chase that ended in the arrest of three men. Four officers recieved minor injuries from an accident during the chase. The suspects were found with an assult rifle. Another person was shot on nearby, but it wasn't clear whether that shooting was related. The authorities believe that it was a gang related shooting just when they were under the impression that gang related violence was decreasing.

I think it is a shame that some places have so much violence. From what i have heard D.C. is a pretty rough town. It is definately not somewhere i would like to live. I believe that more money needs to be spent taking down gangs that are killing innocent people and selling drugs. also i believe that most of the killings that happen especially in bigger cities like this revolve around drugs. I think that if we put more effort into the war on drugs we will reduce violence in the process.

$250 million for abstinence education not evidence-based, groups say

The health care reform legislation that President Obama signed recently isn't only about insurance coverage. There's also a renewal of $50 million per year for five years for abstinence-focused education. The 250 million dollars would go towards abstinence programs in school to prevent people from have sex before marriage. Obama protests that sex before wed-lock can cause negative psychological and physical effects. People are having problems with this part of the health care bill because this 250 million is going to state organizations that have proven to be ineffective. Medical professional organizations also criticize abstinence education on ethical grounds, for leaving out potentially lifesaving information. Abstinence only programs "are inherently coercive by withholding information needed to make informed choices," the American Public Health Association said in a statement.

How do I feel about this? I do not think that the 250 million dollars is being spent wisely. It may be a good in theory but how would anyone actually keep kids in school from having sex. I dont think just because there is more advertising against sex people will just decide to refrain from sex until marriage. With the way that the younger generation is I do not believe any type of exposer to anti sex campaign ads will change anyones point of view. I do not also agree with Obama about the negative effects that sex can have psychologically. The only harm i see in sex before marriage is risk of pregnancy and also std's. The money should be spent on reducing these two things but not sex itself because it will never stop happening.

Judge: Boy, 12, will be tried as adult in double homicide

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/29/boy.homicide/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Today in Pennsylvania a 12 year old boy accused of shooting his fathers pregnant girlfriend with a 12-guage shotgun is on trial. The catcher in this case is that the child is being charged as an adult, this is because in Pennsylvania it is manditory for any person over the aged of 10 that has commited either a homicide or a murder to be tried as an adult. He is now facing a maximum of a lifetime sentance. When he commited the murder he was only 11 year old. Also the shotgun that the child used was made for someone of his stature, it is assumed that it was his gun.

This article had me split in my decision to support either the Pennsylvania law and say that he should be tried as an adult and my prayers for the 12 year old kid to be tried as an adolescent. The first part of me wants to think he is so young that he doesnt know anybetter. After all 12 years old it very young. Not even old enough to shave he knowingly commited a murder? However the other half of me is for this law. This child had probably had used the gun before being that it was made for him. This would eleminate all my beliefs of it being an accident. And also being 12 is the legal age to need to be certafide to hunt, he was close enough he should have known what he was doing.

Medalist leaves Olympics after racy pics hit Web

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/02/20/lago.snowboard.pictures/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

In the Vancouver 2010 olympics, bronze medalist Scott Lago in the snowboarding halfpipe competition volunteered to leave the olympics after the pictures, shown above, were released on the TMZ.com website. He was not entered in any events the following day. U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association President and CEO Bill Marolt said that Lago needs to keep a "responsibility of proper conduct and his involvement in this situation is not acceptable". However Lago is not the first olympian to be in a situation such as this. In the previous years there have been a few athletes that have not meet the expectations of the USOC that monitors the athletes on and off competitions.

Do I believe that the olympics needs to keep order to the athletes? yes. But there needs to be specific details regarding what is and what is not acceptable for the athletes to do. I do not believe that these pictures should have lead to Lago having to leave the games. Some say that they are distastefull, and i do agree that to some people they may be offensive. However, I do not beleive they are as bad as they are made to sound by the press. I honestly would not have thought pictures like this would lead to the removal of an athlete from the games. Whoever asked Lago to leave made a mistake.

Two arrested in connection with Texas church fires

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/21/texas.church.fires/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

The article is about a couple of men that were caught and were being accused of starting the fire of a church in Texas. Officials did not think that this was the only incedent that the vandals were involved in. They are believed to have started 9 of the fires in churches around the area in the days leading up to their arrest. The officials have yet to identify a motive to their crimes. The fire starting duo was caught by the finding of DNA.

My initial reaction is bewilderment. Why in their right minds would anyone want to set fire to a church? I have heard of serial killers and such but never a serial church fire starter. It seems like a very pointless and disturbing act. I could perhaps see if they were unhappy with a particular churches doings but when it is 10 unrelated churches I begin to think maybe mental problems are coming into play.

Man has court date on rape charges

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/10/new.york.teen.rape.case/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29
The article is about a man that has kept a 13 year old girl locked in his house for the last 6 months. The police had been searching for the girl. However this is not a cut and dry case because there is a friend of the defendant that is saying he was simply helping the runaway girl. No one knows for sure if the sex was consentually, although still illegal, she may have been in a relationship with the man.I find this repulsing that a full grown man would keep a 13 year old girl locked in his basement for his own sexual pleasure.
I think there should be a more severe punishment for people like this than people that even murder people. Not only did this girl have to deal with the physical abuse at the time of the incident but will for the rest of her life be forced to deal with the past. Is this consentual? I do not think that at any point a full grown man should be allowed to have sex with a girl that is 13 years of age. No matter if the parents agree to it, that simply means that those parents should be inspected by a child endangerment agency of some sort. If the parents did in fact know of the whereabouts of their daughter why would they lie to the police and if they did they should be locked up for a long time.

Issue #2 Spending What We Can Afford

The issue is the federal budget. This is a subject controlled both by the president and the congress. First, the president develops a budget that will then be sent to congress to be overviewed. This budget decides where the money will go and how much will go to each program. However, excessive spending is currently threatening our entitlements. Now congress has passed a bill that limits spending to a pay as you go basis. This plan may also be known as "paygo". This plan will limit the borrowing of money that is going on and will only allow the spending of money we already posses. A benefit of paygo is that it will cause congress to open their eyes to the deficits in the nation. The downfall of the paygo program is that people are believing that it will just cause taxes to go up and not bring a solution to the debt. They believe that deficits can be taken care of by economic growth. Also there is a fear that in a time of need the government will not be able to recieve the amount of money necessary.

I do not believe in pay go. I am not positive it will work and I don't feel as though the government should waste the time, effort and more money on a silly way out. More important than implementing a program, should be a close monitoring of the dumb places our tax dollars are being spent. How do we only spend the money that we have if we are in debt and have no money? There is no logic behind this plan. What about when we need the money? If there is a major catastrophe do we need to wait until we have enough money to deal with the situation. Until we have enough money do we just put the problem on the back burner and move on with our lives. I'm not saying we can continue the ridiculous amounts of spending that we are doing now, I am just stating that paygo is not a good program, loaning money is normal and necessary. Jim Horney is the Director of Federal Fiscal Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, where he specializes in federal budget issues. This is a man who dissagrees with the new plan.

Issue #1 War Dollars

Issue #3 Social Insecurity