Pill could erase painful memories, study shows

What if I said that there was a pill that could ease painful memories? For those with post traumatic stress disorder this would bring relief. Studies have shown that the right medications can actually ease painful memories. A study was conducted by using 33 university students who were told the heart wrenching story of a young girl who was visiting her grandparents house and got her hand caught in a chainsaw when her grandfather was building a bird house. The students were shown a picture of the little girls mangled hand which was eventually healed fully at their near by hospital. This presentation was quite hard to sit through for the students and they showed emotional distress after hearing about this terrible story. Three days after the presentation the students were brought to a lab where they were either given a placebo drug or the test drug. The test drug was one that knocked back the amount of cortisol that was being emitted into the body. The theory is that cortisol is a chemical that preserves memories especially emotionally driven ones. With in the group of those who were given the test drug there were two groups. One group had a low dose and the other had a much stronger dose. After a while the test subjects were asked to recall the details of the story. The first group found it a little hard to remember the details of the story and the members of the higher dose group found it really hard to remember much at all about that presentation. Four days later they asked the groups the same question and the outcome was exactly the same they had a hard time remembering what the presentation was all about and its details. The findings from this research could completely reshape what we  know about memories and how to help people with post traumatic stress disorder.

I think that this article is completely fascinating. To really think that there is a drug out there that could suppress memories of your past. The only thing that I think is bad about this entire situation is that the drug doesn't just suppress that one bad memory but all of your memories in general. Obviously there are many memories that you would like to keep and remember but that wouldn't be possible in this situation. On the other hand this would be relief for those who have PTSD and suffer from it each day. This drug would be a way for them to relax and be able to sleep normally without thinking about that terrible memory or experience that haunts them each day. This would also help with children who have seen terrible things in their childhood. These kids would be able to get past that and forget about what happened when they were little and move on into there future.

http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/05/31/6757302-pill-could-erase-painful-memories-study-shows

Woozy from wifi? ‘Electrosensitive’ say modern life makes them ill

Our modern day life is completely surrounded by technology emitting electromagnetic waves throughout the air through each and everyone of us all day long. There are people out there who say they are actually sensitive to the electromagnetic waves. They say that they are "electrosensitve." This is defined as a disorder that causes headaches, nausea, fatigue and even fainting when exposed to too much electromagnetic radiation. However this condition is not recognized as a medical diagnosis but is a big concern for many people in Europe. Bo and Sonja Fredburg live in Varmland, Sweden. This town is out of the reach of any cell phone tower, radio tower, or just any tower that could emit any sort of  radiation. They live without electricity which means no TV, no telephone, no lights, and no refrigerator. They said that when the camera crew came in to get a short video they immediately felt a burning sensation on their skin from the radiation. There are many psychologists and neurologists say that it is simply something that is in their head. The crew even did their own little test and left some of their own cell phones on and they found that overall they couldn't tell that there were any cell phones on in the room other than simply guessing. There are also some neurologists who believe that there are long term effects of of electromagnetic radiation like luekemia, brain cancer and some other neurological diseases.

This story really made me think if there a disorder out there where the radiation from our radios, cell phones and other pieces of technology would cause people harm. Based on this article and what this TV crew say with this couple I really don't believe that there is such a disease. I think that this is simply something that is in their head and they are simply imagining that the radiation is hurting them. I mean really, some of that crew left their phones on to even see if they would notice and they had no clue that there was a single phone on in that room. I think that those who say that they get headaches from technology are just simply stressed about things in their life and some times that maybe from some piece of technology so they simply blame it on that because they just won't come to the realization that they are just stressed. So overall I really do not believe that there is such a disorder that people could be harmed by electromagnetic radiation.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43172844/ns/today-today_health/

Bad at math -- or is it dyscalculia?

Dyscalculia is basically the dyslexia of math. Rather having a difficult time reading words and understanding words and letters, those who have dyscalculia have a hard time reading arthimatic and understanding the basic concept of numbers. This disorder affects about 5-7% of our population which is about the same as dyslexia. It is generally found by low scores on basic math tests. People who have this disorder generally just have a hard time grasping the idea of a number and its relative value. Unlike those with dyslexia those with dyscalculia don't see the numbers or symbols backwards or even get anxiety attacks about it either. May of them just simply think that they don't have the head for math. They generally count with their fingers way past the point where many people use there fingers. They also have a hard time making change or handling money, telling time or even estimating how tall or wide something is. As of right now scienctists believe that this is an inherited disorder. This disability can affect people with a normal intelligence and can be seen this those who also have another developmental disability like ADHD or dyslexia. There are also cases of adults with this disorder who are very good at geometry and using statistical packages and even programming computers. This disorder if not treated can be a lifelong liability. But if treated the people with disorder can learn to count and use math just like anyone else but its important  that they learn the basics first.

When I saw this disorder I thought that it was very interesting. As of right now I help a student in their biology class with writing. Why do you ask? Well this student has dyslexia. Now initially I did the sterotypical thing and thought that they weren't going to be as fast at learning as the other students. Well I was completely wrong. They learned faster than most of the other students and could understand it much better as well. Getting to know this student I have learned many things about the disorder that they were born with. I have asked many questions about what they see when they look at words and how they try and spell things out. I always wondered if numbers and math were just as big of a problem. For people with dyslexia numbers are a piece of cake. Numbers never flip around or move they can simply be read. I thought after that, well there has to be a disorder out there were its the complete opposite as this and thats when I came upon this article and found a name for that disorder. Both of these disorders can be treated to make that person's life much easier, it just simply needs to be seen and diagnosed in order to start the treatment. Someday I hope that I will be able to meet someone with this disorder so that I can say I have met someone with dyscalculia.

http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/05/31/6732939-bad-at-math-or-is-it-dyscalculia

Food prices set to double by 2030, aid group says

"Food prices could double in the next 20 years and demand in 2050 will be 70 percent higher than now," as stated by a UK charity. Our food system as of right now is completely failing the all aroudn the world. There are over 925 million people go hungry each day. The reason for the hunger increase is dyue to inflation, oil hikes, climate change as well as the scramble for land and water. Before taking into account the climate changes that prices of food is expected to double by the year 2030. On top of all the price hikes and natural disasters that have been happening this is the last thing people really want to think about now. The failure in our food system is being blamed on the failure of our governments to regulate and invest. The problem now is where do the small second world nations sit in the food system. With smaller countries now growing into larger ones, how do we supply even more food for them and also keep the people already in the system fed? Major changes must be done before the prices of food increase to a point where it will be nearly impossible for the normal family household to buy food.

I think that this whole situation is just crazy. But yet again there is a part of me that thinks we have plenty of supplies here in America to feed thousands upon thousands of people. We Americans have more food than we actually need to survive each day and there are people starving for just a scrap of food. Overall, I think that Americans need to consume less food and send more food to the nations who really need it. We also just need to get rid of the hunger problem in our own country first. Families who have plenty of food should simply give some away so that the people in their neighborhoods and in their towns can at least eat something each day. If we learn to cut down on how much we consume then we can solve this ever growing problem. And in order to solve this problem we need to start on the individual level and cut down there and just simply expand that out until hunger is no longer the issue in our world today as well as our future.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43221576/ns/business-consumer_news/

Issue #2 Boosting Minimum Wage

The issue and arguments over minimum wage have persisted for years. The reason being that we have people who work for minimum wage and are still living below the poverty line. Minimum wage was created because that would be the lowest amount someone could make and live above that poverty line. It took over ten years for Congress to finally pass a bill to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to what it is now $7.25 and these workers would also get the help of food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). But even with all of that it still isn't enough for those who work for minimum wage to live above the poverty line. Thus the debate and fighting continues. Those who feel that this is just an outrage that people can work for minimum wage and be below the poverty line completely support the idea of raising the minimum. The reasoning for supporting this idea is that if you raise the minimum more people will have more money to spend in our market-based economy. This basically means that raising the minimum will boost our economy which will also cause many different tax cuts and boost the economy even more. On the other side of the spectrum, there are many people who believe that raising the minimum is a bad idea for many reasons. The first being that those who work for minimum wage are a very small portion of our nation's workforce. If the minimum is raised it will increase the cost of doing any type of business. This will cause higher prices and then cause job cuts which will hurt the low income workers even more than before. Those who oppose raising the minimum believe that the best option is to expand the EITC which will help workers out without effecting the market.

I think that in our current situation raising the minimum wage would be more beneficial for our future. Having people who have more money each month will allow more people to buy more products to stimulate the economy. Democrat Linda McMahon agrees with the fact that raising the minimum will help out our economy. Raising the minimum will allow people to buy more things from our market which will increase revenue which will then allow businesses to expand creating more jobs and allowing even more people to buy more things from our market. If we increase the minimum it will allow this cycle to continue and bring our economy back and allow it to grow even more than it ever has been. Raising the minimum has the potential to bring our economy to new heights and who knows it just might help us get out of the trillions of dollars of debt we have.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/04/gop-walking-into-the-snak_n_749352.html

All Things Being Unequal:
http://katieb123456.blogspot.com/2011/05/all-things-being-unequal.html

Putting Welfare to Work:
http://leah-bloggityblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/putting-welfare-to-work.html

US forces kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan

 Yesterday the 9-11 mastermind was killed in a firefight at his mansion in Pakistan. Osama bin Ladin was finally found and killed. Americans all across this great nation celebrated in many different ways. Some sang songs like "We are the Champions", and "God Bless America." Bin Ladin was 54 years old and was killed by a shot that went through his left eye. The Special Ops mission only lasted 40 minutes and was conducted by the Navy Seals. Tips from earlier in the year signified that he was hiding in a coumpound with large concret walls with no windows and a barbed wire fence surrounding it. There was no access to internet or a phone as well which also supported the idea that we was hiding out in that compund. Once he was killed and his body seized it was immediately taken to have DNA testing done to ensure that this was indeed bin Ladin. This mission was classified as a kill mission, which means that the Seals had no intention of capturing bin Ladin but only to kill him. The great news out of this story is that no American lives were killed or injured, but was not the case for one of bin Ladin's wives and two of his trusted couriers. But the bad news out of this situation is that they are not entirely sure how al-Qaida will react to the death of their leader. In reation to this our Department of Homeland Security has heightened all securities to the highest level. But above all of this our current president and former president both say that this marks a momentous event in our nations history in the war against terror. This even has not stopped al-Qaida all together but has simply allowed us to take one step into stopping terrorism caused by al-Qaida.

I think that this is a huge day for our nations history. The events that occurred on 9-11 will forever be ingrained in our memories. I know exactly where I was when I heard that the Twin Towers had been hit. I was in 3rd grade and our schools receptionist came to the door and made us turn on the TV. Immediately the imaged of the towers smoking flooded the screen. I won't ever forget that moment because I kept thinking to myself, why would someone want to do that? As the days went on we learned more and more about what happened and it was the first time I had ever heard the name Osama bin Ladin. Ever since that moment we have been on a wild goose chase trying to find this man and now that chase is finally over. We can finally say that the man responsible for planning this attack has been brought to justice. The only thing I worry about now is if or when al-Qaida will retaliate against what we have done to their leader. They managed to sneak past our securities before to hijack three planes to use against us so what might they do next? I think that this may make our nations security quite paranoid being concerned that at any moment some sort of attack may be conducted against the American people. But overall I feel that this even is a historic event for us to help those who lost loved ones in the 9-11 attacks a feeling of some sort of justice and help our troops to feel that they are not fighting for nothing overseas.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42852700/ns/world_news-death_of_bin_laden/

Court backs funding embryonic stem cells

Earlier today the court decided to overturn a judges order that blocked funding for stem cell research. The White House was quite excited about this ruling saying that it was a good day for scientists all over the US and gives hope to patients with serious disorders that maybe some day a cure will be found through stem cell research. Among this conditions it includes spinal cord injuries and Parkinson's disease. But on the other side many people believe that stem cell research is a form of abortion because an embryo has to be destroyed to obtain the stem cells. In 2009, President Barak Obama lifted the restriction of federal funding for stem cell research, but shortly after that a district judge put a hold on this by filing an injuction. After todays court hearing this injuction was dismissed and funding for stem cell research restarted. That injuction was appealed many times because there were many people at NIH (National Institutes of Health) and many muti-year projects would be in jeapordy which could lose millions of dollars. The lift of the injuction has excited many researchers because they will be able to continue their research without politics getting in the way. Any mothers who wish to donate their embryo to stem cell research are also given the option to donate their embryo to an infertile woman. Even still there are many who believe that it is against some religious grounds and that obtaining stem cells requires people to destroy the embryo. All in all today was another historic event in terms of science.

Reading about this topic really tears me in half. I have a huge love for science and all the potientials it has. With stem cell research we may be able to find cures for diseases we deemed uncurable in the past. People will be able to live longer and better lives if they can be cured of their diseases. On the other hand, many time when an embryo is harvested it is completely destroyed killing that unborn child. I feel that abortion is a terrible thing to do to an individual who is not yet born who can't say their opinion to fight against what is going to be done to them. I also feel that those who decide to have an abortion should have been acting in a different manor so that they wouldn't be put in a position to decide whether they want an abortion or not. Like I said, I am completely torn on this topic between the moral sided of this subject and the ethics of stem cell research. I believe that this topic will always be this controversial and there will always be arguments about it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42821180/ns/health-cloning_and_stem_cells/

'More will die': Mexico drug wars claim U.S. lives

For many years, the Mexican drug wars have been going on just liek normal life. However, lately it seems like these wars have been reaching outside its country and killing many people from other nations, many being from the US. The drug cartels in response to the enforcement to stop this war from happening are taking their measures to a whole different level and won't stop for anything and will do whatever in necessary. Recent research has shown that there have been 106 Americans killed and executed as a result of the increases hostility from the drug cartels. However, this number is not even close to the number of Mexican citizens that have been killed which is around 15,000 deaths. The investigation of this war has found information indicating that there are drug cartels in over 230 U.S. cities. This investigation has also been able to warn many of our law enforcement officers that the cartels are becoming much more aggressive towards border agents. Cartel members have now been told to target border agents using their AK-47s, this is the first time that this has happened in over 25 years that cartel members are showing aggression towards American border agents. Many officials are saying that that they need to arm their officers more heavily in order to protect themselves as well as the American citizens. Many American citizens do not know that there are many cartels living in the same cities they live in. These cartels are living among many of us and we are completely oblivious. This fact alone is a case for concern if these cartels become even more aggressive towards American people.

I just can't believe that they are so many people who don't know about this war that has been going on for so many years. It hasn't ever been quite this bad in the past but it has been going on for many years. It seems like every time we tighten our borders and laws on immigration these cartels some how seem to get around them. We keep pushing them back and they continue to retaliate. But here's my question, what happens when we push them too far? I believe that these cartels are only going to become more and more aggressive towards the border patrol to continue smuggling drugs and illegally immigrating into America. I think that we should have taken a much more strict approach many years ago to prevent this illegal immigration as well as smuggling of drugs. Don't get me wrong I'm not against people immigrating to this country to find a new and better life, but I am not for people illegally immigrating here and smuggling drugs into our cities and streets. The people who immigrate here for find a better life are going to be willing go take a few extra steps to legally immigrate here. Drug cartels are not going to be as willing to do such a thing because they aren't looking for a new life they are only going to continue doing what they are doing. I believe that this idea could have possibly saved our nation from a lot of trouble that might be caused as a result of this war. I hope that this war does not end up being fought between the drug cartels and America because we will be fighting against cartels in Mexico as well as the cartels that are already in the U.S.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42232161/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

One year after spill, where's the oil?

One year ago the explosion on the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico occured. Almost 207 million gallons of oil had leaked into the gulf along with a large amount of methane. People are now asking one year later where the oil is now. The truth is that is has dispersed in many different ways.One statement that everyone seemed to agree with is: Some of the oil evaporated, some was gobbled up by microbes, some was burned, some washed up onto shore, some is still washing up as tar balls, some was dispersed in the sea, and some settled to the bottom of the ocean. Overall Mother Nature did quite a bit of cleaning to disperse out the oil. Each year, even when we don't know its happening, thousands of barrels of oil leak out of the earths crust into the ocean. The ocean and its inhabitants have been dealing with this for thousands of years. Tiny bateria break down this oil to make it easier for the other organisms in the ocean to deal with them. However, there are many others who don't believe that these tiny bateria could have possibly cleaned up a huge amount of this oil. In their research they found out that a lot of the oil that had leaked into the ocean is now sitting on the bottom of the ocean, which is true. A small vessel dove down to the bottom of the ocean where the oil plume was last located and they found that a lot of the oil is on the ocean floor and along with that many deceased fish and other marine animals. As of right now, researchers believe that a quarter of the oil that was leaked was contained and burned, but now the trick is to find the other three quarters of the leaked oil and try to get it out of the ocean before it does anymore harm.

I think that its just crazy that it has been a year since this happened last year. It seems like this just happened a few months ago. After the first few preliminary rounds from the press you really haven't heard much about what has happened in the gulf. This would lead you to assume that the situation is alright only many people and researchers still don't know where much fo this oil is located still. By now I was thinking that they had figured out where all this oil was located because they know where it leaked from and they know where and how the currents move in the ocean, so really you would assume that they would know where this oil is located. One other thing that comes into my mind is that this is not the world's worst oil spill. The Exon Valdez was the worst ouil spill in our world's history. We are still seeing some of the effects of that oil spill along the shore of the ocean but for the most part that ecosystem is pretty much back to normal. Yes, many marine animals and fish died as a result but there are many casualties in any type of disaster or catastrophy. So this makes me think that the gulf will gert back to the way it was but maybe it won't happen for another year but I really do think that it will eventually return to its normal state sometime in the future.

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/10/6448229-one-year-after-spill-wheres-the-oil

Drug-resistant TB could infect 2 million by 2015

In Geneva, it is now believed by the year 2015 there will be over two million people who will have contracted tuberculosis. During this time hundreds of thousands of people will die from the different strains of this bacterial infection unless some serious changes are made to stop this disease in its tracks. A multi-million dollar plan has been proposed to try and contain this disease from spreading and causing an epidemic. But the fear is that many countries are not jumping on board with this plan quick enough which may cause this disease to run ramped throughout the world. However, there are countries who are doing quite a bit to prevent this disease from spreading farther into their countries. Many nations are now doing aggressive detection programs as well as treatment plans to contain it. On the flip side, there are many nations who cannot afford to take such actions and there are many people who are not even getting diagnosed or treated and causing the probability of spreading this disease to others to sky rocket. Giving patients the wrong medication for a multi resistant strain of tuberculosis can be a much larger problem because the result can be a very extensive drug resistant strain. This could lead to a huge epidemic of a strain that may not be able to be treated because it will not be known what will be able to stop the bacterial disease.

Just about each day that I am in school I go over to the clinic for another class. You see people coming in non-stop and you never know just what they are coming in for. I always love reading articles about these kinds of things because this is what I am very interested in, because I plan on working in a hospital lab where testing for diseases such as this are conducted. I don't think that many people realize just how easily diseases like this can be spread, because the truth is with a disease like this all it takes is just being in the same room as someone with this disease. If there are no actions conducted to try and stop a disease like this from spreading who knows just how many people will die from not getting the proper treatment or even going in to see the doctor at all. I think that is article is very important to let people know that epidemics can still happen in which case they may even be deadly even with all the new medical technology that we now have compared to even a few years ago.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42228870/ns/health-infectious_diseases/

Japan's increasingly frantic efforts at nuke plant

Last week, on March 11th, a massive earthquake ravaged Japan with a magnitude of 9.0. Even though the Japanese prepare for earthquakes of such a magnitude it couldn't prepare them for what was to come. The earthquake flattened buildings as well as caused a tsunami that effected just about every country along the Pacific ocean. But the worst of all is that the electricity shut down to the nuclear power plant and all the backup generators were knocked out during the earthquake. These backup generators are essential to keeping the radioactive rods cool which also prevents them from emitting any radiation into the air. This has posed a huge crisis in Japan on how to keep these rods cool. Many attempts to keep these rods cool have been failing and now they has resorted to using helicopters to get water from the ocean to dump on the rods. At the present moment this is the only solution to keep the rods from overheating and releasing lethal doses of radiation into the air. Many experts believe that there is already a lethal dose of radiation within a 20 mile radius of the power plant. As a result leaders are urging those within 50 miles of the plant to leave their homes and get as far away from the plant as possible but for those within those 20 miles it is recommended for them to stay inside. This situation is just very touch and go and it is expected that the situation will only continue to get worse every day.

This situation is just heartbreaking. First of all Japan was hit with a 9.0 earthquake and an earthquake of this magnitude hasn't happened in the past 150 years. This earthquake then causes a tsunami that basically swept houses and buildings away as well as picking up cars like they were toys and washing them away. This then causes the electricity to shut down all across the country and to the worst place possible: the nuclear power plant. This series of events reminds me of something you might see in a movie with all the bad things that are happening in a row. Each day you hear something else about how this situation is just becoming more and more severe. I just have a feeling that if they can't find a way to cool the rods there could be a huge nuclear disaster, but I'm really hoping that a solution can be found or that the electricity can be restored to the nuclear power plant. However, considering that this country has just been devastated by a huge earthquake I can't see how the electricity can be restored in the near future.

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42124500/ns/world_news-asiapacific

Supreme Court: Anti-gay funeral protests OK

Earlier today the Supreme Court ruled that anti-gay protests outside military funerals is okay because it is still within First Amendment rights and that protesting is freedom of speech. The majority of members said that even though protesting can be a very hurtful way of expressing oneself, the Constitition does protect them and their rights. Chief Justice John Roberts tried to explain that if they were to rule protesting outside military funerals illegal it may cause an uprising saying that the Constitution says that everyone has the right to say what they want. He also said that if they did decide to make it unlawful it would stir up much debate and who knows what would happen to our great nation then. In response to Roberts claims Justice Samuel Alito argued that what the protesters were doing was a "vicious verbal assault." These people protesting military funerals are members of the Westboro Baptist Church. They believe that the soldiers deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan is God's way of punishing America for tolerating homosexuality. They put phrases like, "Thank God for dead soldiers," "God Hates the USA," and "Thank God for 9/11," on their signs. Shortly after his son died in the Middle East, Albert Snyder was completely sick of these people protesting the funerals of soldiers who are trying to protect our freedoms, so he decided to sue Rev. Fred Phelps for all the emotional distress he and his congregation has caused him and his family. Snyder won this case getting $5 million out of Phelps but it wasn't enough. Snyder wanted to protect the members of other families from going through all the hardships he suffered so he filled a new case against protesting at military funerals. This case went to the state government, the federal government and it ended up in the Supreme Court. There, as stated earlier, the court sided in favor of keeping freedom of speech.

When I read this article I honestly couldn't believe it right away, but as I let the information sink in and discussed it with other people I realized just how hard this was to judge for the justices. On one hand you would be siding with a grieving father who recently lost his son who wasn't gay and was basically disgraced during his funeral. And on the other is a church who are simply expressing their rights to freedom of speech. Right after reading this article I would have most definitely sided with Snyder because I think it is completely and morally wrong to protest someones funeral. I mean this person has just died so their family is obviously grieving the loss of their loved one, so why can't we just respect them and leave them in piece. One question that came into my head was what if it was one of their children, a brother, sister, mother, father, etc. in that funeral, how would they react then? Would they still disgrace who ever died by protesting their funeral? I simply think that everyone deserves the right to a peaceful funeral and that is the one thing that should be kept sacred. On the other hand as I let this information set in I understood why the justices ruled the way they did. If they ruled and took away the Westboro Baptist Church's right to speak that might cause a huge uprising and would basically cause more harm than good. I believe that they should be able to express themselves because everyone should have the right to express themselves freely. In terms of abiding by the Constitution they ruled correctly because freedom of speech is one of our First Amendment rights and they can never be taken away. But even then, I still think that these people shouldn't be allowed to express their opinions at a funeral. Funerals should be kept sacred to honor and mourn those who have past.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41868004/ns/politics-more_politics/

NZ quake survivors cheered as others grieve

On the morning of February 22nd, Christchurch New Zealand was completely diminished to nothing but rubble when a 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook the city. Just one day after the earthquake many are beginning the process of finding those who are missing. Cheers erupt spontaneously as people are pulled out alive from the rubble. However, many cheers are quickly silenced by the realization of buildings holding many people are nothing but piles of steel and cement. As of right now the confirmed death toll is at 75 but one buildign that has not been searched through is a large hotel. Police believe that there could be as many as 100 people dead from the hotel collapsing on top of them. As the search continues for survivors many of the rescuers has resorted to extreme measures such as amputating victims in or to get them out. One rescuer said that it is a necessity in order to save people. On top of this whole situation, 80% of the city is without water so people have resorted to collecting rainfall which is working well considering it has been raining the past two days. The city has also put in place rules that people can't be out ion the streets after 6:30pm because the city is just that unstable.

It seems like these past few years have been really notorious for devastating earthquakes. So it makes you wonder whats going on that is causing all of these deadly earthquakes to occur all over the world, not to mention is the US the next in line to receive one of these earthquakes. Natural disasters such as these really test just how well the country can work together to redevelope their country. And not to sound like a pessimist but right now I really don't know how the US would react to a disaster like this. I mean with all the debt that we have right now, how would we be able to pay for the rebuilding process? Here in America we can still see the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina and that happened back in 2005. Knowing that alone would make you think that there would be no way to clean up, especially with all the debt we have at the moment. If a natural disaster like this earthquake happened to us in America it would be the ultimate test for the strength of our nation.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41709359/

For American hiding in Libya, ‘It feels like a war zone’

In Libya a young American woman is trying to deal with the recent uprising and protests that surround her each day. Iman is staying at her in-laws house when all of these events started to happen. Some nights gunfire consumes the night while other nights red balls of fire shoot through the dark sky. She says that it feels like a war zone each and every day. The Libyan government has been using scare tactics to keep the citizens of Libya in a constant state of fear. Rumors swirl through the country about what some people think is happening. One day a rumor was spread that Gadhafi had been taken over by protesters, but that rumor was quickly put to rest as more and more rumors were started of air raids and warnings for people to stay inside. Because of all this tension people are taking their own measures to protect each other by arming themselves with knives and pipes. Each day more and more people are shot because they are protesting Gadhafi and his ways. Iman says that she has no idea was Gadhafi will do next because he is so unstable. And because of this she is not planning on leaving her home country until this is all over.

The situations all over the world of countries trying to overthrow their government have consumed the news these past few weeks. It seems so unreal that there are nations that are basically going through a revolution, because not much of this have really happened in my lifetime. What I really want to know is what set all of these nations off all of a sudden? I mean, just in the past 3 weeks 6 countries have started protesting their government and one has managed to overthrow their leader. Will the unrest continue until all the governments are overthrown? What will happen if the rest of the governments are not overthrown? I really think that this could be bad for these nations. They have been run by these rulers for so many years and there is no way that these rulers are going to give up their post without a fight. And because they have so much power these rulers probably won't ever give up their post and the country will basically end up in a civil war between the people and the government. I believe that this situation will change dramatically within the next few weeks and I really hope its not a war.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41723674/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

Issue #2 Spending What We Can Afford

A big concern with our nation today is spending. Not only by the American people but the American government. In 2007, Congress passed a pay-as-you-go budgeting measure to try and solve the budget deficit and excessive congressional spending. This measure is also known as "paygo." In order for this idea to work effectively a tax cut or increases on entitlement spending would need to be put in place. Supporters for this paygo idea believe that it is a good idea to show people the Congress understands the deficits and that they should be contained. Supporters also believe that Congress will only spend what they have and not spend money they don't have which will in turn eliminate wasteful spending and collecting unpaid taxes.And as a result of this the government will be able to raise funds for new initiatives without causing the US to go farther into debt. One final point in support of this idea is the fact that paygo can be suspended in times of crisis or recession. On the other hand, those not in favor of this idea argue that the government will only spend more and more money that we don't have, and as a result the government will have to pass more tax hikes to pay for everything. They also are concerned that this idea will constrain Congress from being able to reach for the Alternative Minimum Tax, while some also argue that paygo will restrict the governments ability to react to a national emergency. One final argument is that this paygo idea will only anger voters because of the tax hikes and program cuts.

I agree with those who oppose this idea. I think that this country has enough taxes and we really don't need any more. I really think that it comes down to the simple idea that if people are given the option of spending more than they have and are ensured that its okay that they do that, then they are only going to spend more and more money until its too late to dig themselves out of debt. If the government is given the option to spend more money than they have they are going to because of all the debt we need to pay off. If the government is allowed to do so they are only going to get the country farther and farther into debt until a point where we won't be able to get back out of it. Brian DelGrosso, who is a republican State House member in Colorado, is also against this idea of pay-as-you-go. He explained to those who were for this idea of paying as you go, that there are many other ways that the state of Colorado can demolish their debt. He also tried explaining to his fellow House members that this would only put their state farther into debt, and as a result the whole idea died with DelGrosso's final vote.
 

Issue #1 War Dollars
http://roseyerickson.blogspot.com/2011/02/war-dollars.html
Issue #3 Social Insecurity
http://kmtelste.blogspot.com/2011/02/social-insecurity-3.html

Hosni Mubarak resigns as president of Egypt

Today was a historic day for Egypt. Just one day after Egypts army said that they would side with Hosni Mubarak, he in turn decided to step down as president of Egypt. This one action by the president has brought a huge relief to the land because of the constant protesting that has been going on for the past 18 days. Thousands upon thousands of people chanted that they had brought down the regime of Mubarak. Many people were interviewed saying that this was the greatest day of there life and in the history of Egypt and it will never be repeated. Mubaraks powers are going to be passed down to Omar Suleiman but as of right now the country is in the hands of the army until everything in the country goes back to normal. For the time being, the country will rejoice and just be happy for the fact that they are rid of Mubarak.

I think that is article is really and truely historic in our worlds history. The unrest in Egypt has stirred up the entire world and everyone could feel the tension in the air. When it was said that the military was going to back Mubarak, I thought to myself that there is no way that this could end out well. After 30 years the people of Egypt are finally free. They are finally able to start with a new slate and build their country back up. I think that the failure of this government came from the fact that it was an autocracy. Too much power given to one person can only corrupt them and I think that it what happened to Mubarak. Now that he is gone I think that the people of Egypt will learn from this and will place a new form of government, such as democracy, so nothing like this never happens again.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41526422/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

States seek to copy Arizona immigration law

Recent reports have shown that there are more states jumping on board with Arizona's immigration laws. The law would make it legal for law enforcement officers to be able to ask for legal proof for citizenship. The problem that this law has been coming across is the fact that some people believe that this is racial profiling. Some have made a connection saying that this will be just like the way that African Americans were discrimiated against many years ago. On the other side of the arguement they are saying that immigrants are becoming a huge problem because they take the jobs away from the American citizens. The immigration problem is mainly an issue in the states along the southern border such as Texas and Arizona. The Reublicans are also finding a solution to the argument that it is racial profiling by saying that it is probable cause. However,this idea may sound great but activists are saying that it is impossible to have a probable cause without looking at race and color.

I think that this law is good in theory to try and protect the American citizens but this law may create more harm than good. Those who may possibly be asked to prove citizenship may become upset and think that law enforcement is targeting them which might be taken to court. One solution that I think would work for this immigration issue is just to have more extensive laws for the work place. If you are thinking why would you put extensive laws in the workplace? Here is why. If you are new to the country the first thing that you will need to do is get a job so that you can get a place to live and buy the basic necessities. So by establishing more rules for workplaces to abid by before they can hire any one it will ensure the job goes to an American citizen. If you think about it if you are a citizen you will have no problem showing that you truely are a US citizen. Yes, you might be annoyed that you have to show all of the paperwork but then you would be ensured an interview and wouldn't be placed on a list for suspicion on being in the country illegally. I think that this is a much better idea because you will not be racially profiling anyone and will be protecting the American jobs so that our country can diminish the unemployment rate.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41182588/ns/us_news-immigration_a_nation_divided/

State of the Union 2011: Lawmakers Cross Aisle, Sit Together, Make History

Last night, Janurary, 25th 2011, Prestident Obama made his second State of the Union Address. However, this years Address was much different and many aspects. For the first time in 100 years, lawmakers crossed the aisles to sit with the opposite party. There was a mixture of blue and red all around the room. The idea of sitting in such a fashion came around after the shootings in Tucson and many lawmakers agreed to this proposition. Many were surprised about some of the bipartisan seating partners because many of the pairs had at one time or another spared about an issue that they felt very strongly about. Many members commented saying that they felt like they were back in high school asking eachother who they were going to sit by. As expected, not all of the members felt that they should sit in such a way and made it clear that they were going to sit by those of their own party. Some made comments saying that members have always been allowed to sit where ever they want and that it was just likely that the members simply sat together because they knew eachother. Congressman Udall commented saying that if the members cannot sit together on an important night like this, then how will we be able to work together in times of need?

I thought that last nights State of the Union Address was a huge step for our nation. I grew up with the assumption that the two parties simply never worked with eachother and they are always fighting against eachother. Not to mention I thought that they just hated eachother and refused to agree on anything that a member of the opposite party says. I always thought, do they ever work together to try and accomplish something that will help our great nation? Doesn't it make sense that two heads work better than one? Or in this case two parties. Up until yesterday I believed all of this. I can remember last years speech where it was basically a wall separating each party and it seemed as though they wouldn't even look at eachother. What good does that honestly do? We are supposed to be the UNITED States not the Republican and Democratic states. For the first time in a very long time I believe that our leadership finally got it through their thick skulls that maybe we should work together to unite our nation and work together for a change. I think that finally they looked at our nation and how it has been struggling and thought maybe it would be a good idea to work together to solve the many problems that we have going on right now. Maybe instead of having that separation of blue and red you would be able to look at the room and it would simply look purple because of this idea of being united together for the common good of our nation. And who knows maybe they will be able to find a way to solve our nations huge amount of debit so we can be a free standing nation and not depend on all these other nations to keep us afloat. I think that last night's address was a huge turning point for our nation and I can't wait to see what happens as a result.


http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/State_of_the_Union/state-union-2011-lawmakers-cross-aisle-sit-make/story?id=12760732