6 U.S. Soldiers Killed from a Car Bomb

In Zhari, Afghanistan, six American soldiers were killed along with over a dozen American/Afghan soldiers wounded at 9 a.m. on December 12th, 2010 from a van that was packed with explosives. These soldiers were watching a "small joint outpost" in southern Afghanistan that was considered a new strong point near the village of Sangsar which is located north of the Arghandab River. The blast was so enormous, that it is said to have sent a dusty mushroom cloud above the farm land and was heard by people within an 8-mile radius. General Abdul-Hameed, a commander in the Afghan National Army stated that his men stopped the vehicle for questioning but the driver ignored the troops and continued toward the post. When the vehicle arrived at the post, it detonated next to the building putting a hole in one of the walls; causing the roof of the building to collapse. American soldiers quickly arrived at the scene to help free trapped soldiers but were too late for some. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the bombing. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, said over the telephone, "We have killed numbers of Americans and Afghan soldiers and wrecked and ruined their security check post, we will carry out similar attacks in the future."

Rare Birds Expand Breeding Grounds

Two pairs of the short-tailed albatross have been known to be very rare and have been only found on two of the Japanese islands. Recently, this rare species of birds have been found breeding and nesting on Kure Atoll and Midway Atoll, which are American national wildlife refuges in the Hawaiian Islands. Jessica Hardesty Norris stated, "Where they breed in Japan is a pretty decent habitat, but there’s a really active and nasty volcano, it could wipe out the species, so we are excited about the prospect of another viable colony.” Although the bird once lived in the Pacific islands, many people used their magnificent feathers for hats and other decorative purposes. Due to the fact that people kill these birds for their feathers, there are only approximately 3,000 adult short-tailed albatross' left on the planet. In 1939, some of the breeding grounds in Torishima, Japan, were damaged in a volcanic eruption, and the number of nesting pairs fell to about 10 but the population has been slowly going up. With the new discovery of the birds' habitat, there is a lot more hope of this species rebuilding its population.

Mental Health Break: Killdozer

Homes for the Holidays

In the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin's largest city, the foreclosure rates have been consistently very high these past few quarters. With over 2,000 homes foreclosed and almost 6,500 foreclosure filings pending, the government decided to handle this problem with a different method this time. This method is called “Home for Holidays”, this method is an auction that will occur this weekend from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. This auction consists of less than a dozen houses being auctioned off for $0.99 at the Italian Community Center. They aim this to end the on-going list of foreclosed and vacant homes. The reason being, is that these foreclosed houses cost the city a lot of money as well as attract criminals and drug users due to the fact that these houses are completely empty. Hopefully this auction will end the rising numbers of foreclosed homes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

iPhone for All

Apple Inc. has decided to release the iPhone for Verizon Wireless early next year. The iPhone for Verizon will be similar to other iPhone models yet different; it will be based off of previous verizon phones yet still have the basic iPhone feel and processor. This is great news for verizon due to the fact that there are many iPhone users and AT&T's only advantage was the fact that they had the iPhone. With Apple expecting to sell approximately 40 million iPhones, this is great news for Verizon but bad news for AT&T. Verizon put up a fight because they have the android based phones but with Verizon coming out with the iPhone option, many AT&T customers will switch to Verizon. Considering a good majority of AT&T customers use AT&T because they're the only carrier of the iPhone, many customers are expected to switch to Verizon which will obviously lower the AT&T stocks yet boost the Verizon stocks significantly.

Mental Health Break.

Army Sergeant Receives Medal of Honor.

On Tuesday, November 16th, President Obama awarded Army staff sergeant Salvatore A. Giunta the Medal of Honor, making him the first living service member to receive this medal. This medal is known to be "the most prestigious award" that the U.S. Military has to offer. Sergeant Salvatore was awarded this title due to the fact that he put himself in the line of fire in attempt to save his fellow squad members as well as protect/comfort a dying American soldier after being ambushed from three different angles in a coordinated attack in the Korengal Valley. Salvatore's squad was part of a campaign to provide food, winter clothing, and medical care to Afghan Civilians in remote villages. Sergeant Salvatore stated, "It was an ambush so close that the cracks of the guns and the whizzes of the bullets were simultaneous." Although it's very frightening and shocking to be shot at by the enemy, Sergeant Salvatore built up the courage to jump in the line of fire to save his fellow squad mates.

U.S. Military Destroying Civilian Household in Afghanistan

    In Kandahark, Afghanistan, U.S. Soldiers have been removing booby-traps from abandoned/empty houses and farm buildings in order to make the environment safer for civilians and soldiers. This is also helping out by denying Taliban Insurgents hiding places and fighting positions. These acts are part of the NATO practice in past military operations. According to local Afghan Officials, U.S. Military forces haven't been disarming these booby-traps but they have in fact been destroying hundreds of these buildings. Local civilians have been reporting these demolitions to have gone far beyond necessary. While these demolitions are dangerous and a little unnecessary, it is said that they are accompanied by an equally determined effort to hand out cash compensation to homeowners.

15 -Year-Old Terrorist Pleads Guilty.

On Monday October 25th, 2010, a former child soldier pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges that consisted of tossing a hand grenade during a firefight, killing a U.S. Army Sergeant, Christopher Speer in 2002. He also admitted to planting a total of 10 roadside bombs in assistance for Al Qaeda. Mr. Khadr (the child terrorist) was 15-years-old when he was captured in Afghanistan and was later held in a military prison located in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Once he pleaded guilty, this meant that he would be the first person to stand trial before a military commission under the Obama administration. He stated that he was "coerced" by older relatives and family into fighting for Al Qaeda and was not at fault. Having said that, Mr. Khadr has been given immunity to a life sentence but a group of seven military officers will be deciding the length of his prison sentence. The United States and Canada negotiated and came to the conclusion that allowed Mr. Khadr, after a year, to apply for a transfer to Canadian custody to serve the remainder of his sentence instead of staying in the horrible prison in Guantanamo Bay.  This goes to show that Al Qaeda is so horrible that they're willing to force their children into fighting in dangerous environments, risking the lives of innocent people.

Mental Break: Atta Girl Whitman...

Hiccup Girl Makes National News Once Again.

On October 25th, 2010, a 19-year-old woman referred to as "The Hiccup Girl" confessed to killing a 22-year-old man named Shannon Griffin during "a robbery gone wrong". In 2007, a 15-year-old girl named Jennifer Mee (The Hiccup Girl) from Florida, got media attention when she hiccupped for about 5 weeks. At one point, she was hiccuping up to 50 times a minute. A neurologist suggested that she could have Tourette Syndrom and this could be a tic but once it ended this theory was disputed. On Saturday, October 23rd, 2010, Jennifer Mee lured a man (Shannon Griffin) to a house in St. Petersburg, Florida where a 20-year-old man Laron Raiford and another man Lamont Newton who is 22 robbed Shannon Griffin at gun point with a .38 Caliber Revolver. At first it was supposed to be a simple robbery but once Griffin began to struggle, the men open fired and shot Griffin multiple times in the upper body, unfortunately ending his life. All three suspects have admitted to their actions and have all been charged with first-degree murder which can result with capital punishment in the state of Florida.

Legalize It

On November 2, 2010, California will be voting on many things for the California statewide ballot with one of these things being proposition 19. If proposition 19 is passed, then it will make marijuana legal for persons of 21 years of age or older. This mean that the government would be able to regulate, control, and tax marijuana as they please, meaning people will no longer help fund the violent Mexican drug cartels and they  will be completely taken out of the marijuana business. This will be a huge blow to the cartels and will hopefully weaken the cartels if not eliminate them. If legalized, the government could put high taxes on this herb. Having said that, marijuana is California's number one cash crop which would dramatically help the economy in a time of need. If proposition 19 passes, the government will also be able to control what goes into the marijuana, eliminating all the bad stuff that dilutes it as well as any other drugs that may be laced with the marijuana from random drug dealers. Police forces are even for proposition 19 due to the fact that pot smokers are simply no threat to society. They could either be arresting a few teenagers smoking pot or they could be using their time more efficiently by arresting a thug that's robbing an old lady or even crack dealers. Marijuana and marijuana user simply have no harm to society and if Alcohol is legal, marijuana should definitely be legal as well.

Why do we kill people who kill people to show people that killing is bad?

    On Tuesday, Saddam Hussein's former top aide, Tariq Aziz was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court for committing crimes against members of Shiite political parties (Saddam's rival party). I believe that no matter how bad of a crime the person commits, he/she should not be punished with Capital Punishment which is commonly referred to as the "death penalty". This form of punishment is wrong because the pre-meditated taking of one's life is too harsh of a punishment. Not only is killing wrong, but if the government kills people to show everyone that crime is bad, wouldn't that make the government criminals? Like Amnesty International said, "The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state in the name of justice. It violates the right to life..." Taking one's life changes nothing besides creating more criminals. Studies also show that most families of murder victims don't feel any better once the assailant is killed by capital punishment. Ronald Carlson's sister was murdered by a man and said he “would have killed those responsible with my own hands if given the opportunity.” When he watched the execution of his sister's assailant he later stated, "Watching the execution left me with horror and emptiness, confirming what I had already come to realize: Capital punishment only continues the violence that has a powerful, corrosive effect on society.” California alone has been spending approximately $90 million per year just on capital punishment meaning not only is it very wrong, but it's also extremely costly. The death penalty is very immoral and proves nothing besides the fact that the government needs some adjustments.

Political Philosophy Quiz

The Quiz

The following are your scores. They are based on a gradual range of 0 to 12. For instance, a Conservative/Progressive score of 3 and 0 will both yield a result of social conservative, yet 0 would be an extreme conservative and 3 a moderate conservative

Conservative/Progressive score: 9
You are a social progressive. You generally consider yourself a humanist first. You probably think that religion and patriotism go too far in society. You probably consider yourself to be a citizen of Earth first rather than a citizen of your country.

Capitalist Purist/Social Capitalist score: 9
You're a Social Capitalist, you think that, left to its own, Capitalism leaves a lot of people behind. You think that Health Care should be free to all, that the minimum wage should be raised, and that the government should provide jobs to all that are capable of having them. You likely hated the Bush tax cuts, and believe that the middle class has gotten poorer, and the rich have gotten richer over the past several years. The far extreme of social capitalism is socialism.

Libertarian/Authoritarian score: 3
You are libertarian. You think that the government is making way too many unnecessary laws that are taking away our innate rights. You believe that the government's job is primarily to protect people from harming other people, but after that they should mind their own business, and if we give the government too much power in controlling our lives, it can lead to fascism.

Pacifist/Militarist score: 7
You're a Moderate. You think that in very rare occasions, the United States should invade a country in order to make the world better by spreading democracy or ending a tyrants rule. You also think that defense is very important, and we shouldn't lower the defense budget. You think that, while the Iraq War probably was a mistake, that we can make the world a better place by sticking with it and spreading democracy in the middle east.

Overall, you would most likely fit into the category of Democrat

Earth's Resources Coming to an End?

Studies show, that two thirds of the planets resources have already been used up and if the planet's resources continue to get used up at the rate it's at right now, humans will be forced to colonize two planets in approximately 50 years. By 2050, Earth will "expire" because of a shortage of resources. Experts say that the oceans will be fishless, forests will be completely demolished, and freshwater supplies will become polluted. Not only will our seas, forests, and fresh water disappear, but scientists have noticed that many species have either become extinct or have been more than halved such as the tigers. Over the past century, the population of tigers has decreased by 95%. With the population growth, the population will jump from 6.5 billion to 9 billion people within the next 50 years and with the resources rapidly decreasing, it looks like colonization on other planets is our best bet.

After 69 Long Days, All 33 Miners Are Finally Rescued.

On August 5th, 2010, 33 Chilean miners were trapped in a mine in Copiapo, Chile after it had collapsed on top of them. They were stuck in a small room about 625 meters underground (almost half a mile) and survived by eating two spoonfuls of tuna, half a cookie and half of a glass of milk every 48 hours. Once they were discovered, officials sent lights down so when they were rescued the light wouldn't be such a dramatic change. They were also supplied with hydration gels, medication, and food supplies. After 69 longs days, each of the 33 miners were slowly pulled out one by one through a capsule called Phoenix 2 that's about 2 feet wide and could take up to an hour to pull out each individual. Individuals were required to wear sweaters while being pulled up due to the dramatic temperature changes of 90 degrees to nearly freezing. They were also required to sunglasses so they could adjust to sudden bursts of light. Each miner that was freed was greeted by their family, journalists, photographers, and the Chilean president Sebastian Pinera. Once all the trapped miners were freed, President Sebastian Pinera placed a metal cap on top of the rescue hole one Thursday morning to mark the end of a risky rescue operation.

U.S. Companies Exploiting Their Workers

Many American companies have been exploiting their workers for the past few years. Since the American work force standards are so high, companies have found it much cheaper to have their products made in many different countries such as Taiwan, Vietnam, China, etc. It's cheaper to do this because the companies don't have to have as many safety hazards since the working standards in many foreign countries are much lower than the standards in America. For example, if a company uses a certain glue to assemble their product and America outlaws a glue that causes birth defects but is much cheaper than the standard glue then the company will build factories in foreign countries that allow the workers to use the cheaper glue. Another reason it's cheaper in some countries is because the minimum wage in most countries is a lot less than the minimum wage in America. Some people see this as a way to open up job opportunities for less fortunate people but this also takes away jobs from many Americans while exploiting many workers in foreign countries.

The Human Cage.

In 1991, there was a $200 million dollar experiment that consisted of eight people living inside a glass-enclosed/sealed 3.15 acre room in Oracle, Arizona for two years. The inventor was Margret Augustine and was built by the Space Biosphere Ventures. The point of this experiment was to explore the interactions between all the life organisms and how nature reacted with humans, farming, and technology. As a result of these humans living in this sealed bubble, air quality plummeted, carbon dioxide levels rose, and oxygen had to be pumped into the biosphere from the outside world in order for the people to remain healthy. Vines also "choked" out crops and trees. Their water supply also became polluted with nutrients so much that the people had to filter it by hand before it was safe to drink it. Also, 19 out of the 25 animal species became extinct within 2 years. $200 million dollars couldn't maintain the ecosystem for eight people over a 17 month time period. Having said that, us humans add eight people to our planet every 3 seconds. In conclusion, it would be extremely expensive for humans to live in closed biospheres in space colonization and even if we had the money to do this, it'd be nearly impossible to maintain these biospheres after a year or so.

America, home of the waste?

Like it says in Paul Hawken's Natural Capitalism, "the United States became the most wastefull society on the planet." This statement is very true for many reasons. One being, that studies by the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that Americans waste about one fourth of all their food. Having said that, it takes 1.4 billion barrels of oil to grow, harvest, preserve, package and transport the United States' annual food supply which means about 350 million barrels of oil go to waste every year just in the United States alone. How can we help put our resources to more efficient use? Small things such as using reusable cups for coffee etc. rather than paper cups or using silver ware instead of plastic forks will help. In 2008, a man went looking for food in dumpsters to donate to the homeless shelter for thanksgiving and found about $2,000 dollars of perfectly good food. It's surprising how small things like throwing out food can hurt our planet so dramatically.

How Can Eating Hamburgers Cause Global Warming?

Studies show that dairy cows produce almost 20 pounds of gas each day from flatulence which means cows are contributing to global warming more than the pollution from cars in same area. When cows fart, they release a gas called methane. This gas has similar effects to carbon dioxide but the effects are 23 times as harmful as Co2. Does this mean we kill all the cows? No, but this does mean people should watch their diets a little more carefully and try to stay away from hamburgers and other red meat. In order to get 1 kg or beef it produces 34.6 kg.s of carbon dioxide. Staying away from dairy products as much as possible will also help prevent these negative effects since the demand for red meat and dairy products will be lower forcing the farmers to breed less cattle. This doesn't mean people should stop eating red meat or begin slaughtering cows but this does mean that cutting down on dairy products and red meat would dramatically reduce the effects of global warming.

Is Nuclear Energy Worth the Risk?

In 2009, about 14% of the world's electricity came from nuclear power. Nuclear energy comes from things called nuclear reactors. These nuclear reactors make up what is called a nuclear power plant. There are many power plants around the world but mostly in America, Asia, and Europe. Nuclear energy is very efficient which means less energy is needed. The only downfall to this type of energy is if there is a spill then it's extremely harmful to the environment and the people around the spill. Once there's a spill, the nuclear waste can contaminate water around the spill which will eventually lead to contamination of crops and animals near it. Nuclear spills can cause genetic mutations and many cases of cancer to those who are near the nuclear power plant during the spill. Overall, nuclear energy is extremely efficient but once there's a spill it's hard to decide whether using nuclear energy is worth it or not.

Solar Energy More Affordable!

With Global Warming effects increasing, the human race must do something to prevent these effects. One way we can do this is by using solar energy. Solar energy is usually obtained solar panels. Solar panels take the sun's rays, and turn it into energy. Multi-megawatt photovoltaic plants have been built in Portugal, Germany, and many other places but it will take more than just that to prevent global warming. If we covered just 4% of the world's deserts then it would be enough energy to power to entire world without poluting the environment. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter has solar panels installed onto the white house but Reagan took these down 7 years later once the energy crisis/worries about foreign oil died down. Why doesn't everyone use solar energy? It's quite expensive to install these panels onto one's house but just recently, a solar technology company has plans to start renting out solar panels so it can be more affordable for people so more people will use this efficient method to create energy. Solard energy is a great way to help prevent global warming and now it's more affordable than ever!

Planet Earth Becoming Overpopulated?

Studies show that by 2050, humans will have added 3 Billion people to earth's population with the United States adding 100 million people alone. With the water and food shortages, species extinction rates, and energy crisis', the fate of man kind isn't looking too bright. World leaders know about this problem but decide not to address it. China already has a limit on how many children a family can have to keep the population down but it will take more than just that. If World leaders would address this problem then people would begin to do something about this serious problem so the human race can have a brighter future.

Banks no Longer Support Global Warming

Companies have been blowing off the tops of mountains in Appalachia to gain access to coal as well as churning out millions of tons of carbon dioxide to extract oil from sand with the help of many well-known banks. These are some of environmentalists' greatest fears when it comes to global warming. Since 2008, Wells Fargo alone has given out $78 million dollars in loans to support these companies but just recently, these banks are beggining to take a stand and put an end to these loans. Once these banks do this, the companies will no longer have a way to do these horrible things and the polution will be reduced greatly.

U.S. Consulate or Maximum Security Prison?

In June 2003, the United States built a new consulate in Istanbul, about twelve miles away from the center of the city. This extremely well guarded facility was built on a solid rock hill to make it harder for any terrorists to get inside. If the terrorists somehow made it up this hill without getting shot by the many guards that surround the building, they will find it very difficult to climb up the bomb/earthquake proof walls that were designed to be hard to climb. All the windows and doors in the facility are bullet proof as well. In fact, this U.S. consulate is so well guarded, even birds don't fly over it. As Friedman said in his book, "One of the terrorists captured after the attack (on the U.S. consulate) reportedly told Turkish police that his group wanted to blow up the new U.S. consulate, but when they checked out the facility in Istinye, they found it impregnable." Although this Consulate is more like a maximum security prison, many U.S. diplomats are alive today thanks to the amount of security.

U.S. gas prices vs. Denmark gas prices

In 2008, gas prices in Denmark had reached nearly $9 dollars a gallon as Friedman stated in his novel. This not only helps out greatly with the economy but it also forces people to buy less gas. This will also cause people to either carpool, bike instead of drive, or even buy a more fuel efficient car. Americans have the tendency to drive the biggest gas guzzlers they can afford. Not only do these vehicles burn holes in their pockets with all the gas they eat up but they're also horrible for the environment. If America jacked up their gas prices, then maybe Americans would become less addicted to their precious 8 seater buses and stop polluting the air so much so we can all breath for a second.

Global Warming and Its Negative Effects

Global warming is the world's biggest issue in today's society. Like Thomas L. Friedman stated in his novel Hot, Flat, and Crowded, global warming is causing many problems such as energy poverty, intense climate changes, extinction of plants/animals, etc. It will take a lot of effort from many countries(mainly China and the United States) to fix this problem. France has already taken a huge step towards "code green" by using nuclear energy. "France gets 78 percent of its electricity from nuclear plants and much of the waste is reprocessed and turned into energy again." as Friedman states in his book. A few ways to prevent global warming is to carpool/drive hybrids or use solar energy. In 1979 President Jimmy Carter installed solar panels on the white house to set an example for the country but 7 years later, President Reagan removed those solar panels once worries about dependence on foreign oil had subsided. Many americans are addicted to energy consumption, if we want our children's generation to live comfortably on this planet the whole world is going to have to start thinking "It is not just about lighting up our house; it is about lighting up our future."