AIG Bonuses Fair or Unfair?

The article I chose deals with the AIG bonuses being given to the corporate executives and whether or not this deal for the bonuses is fair or not. I argue this because not only are these bonuses being taken out of the governments pockets but the government gets this money from our taxes so any money they take we have to give. On the other hand however by giving the money to the executives they are being motivated not to leave the company so that they will not go under in which case this act is somewhat fair and has a purpose but then again is it really fair to buy trust with money not to mention "our" money and should the Obama administration put a stop to it?

Link:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=7088060

Video:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7089719&page=1

Pope XVI opnion on condoms in Africa

The news I chose to present was of Pope XVI trip to Africa in the week of March 18, 2009, in which he stated in front of many African bishops that condoms are not the right way to prevent HIV or AIDS, that it should be done through abstinence. he sympathizes with them, but sticks to the traditional outlook, that abstinence is the only way. CNN addresses the issue of whether it is time for the pope to be realistic about this issue. the author of the CNN article says that the pope needs to realize that people are still having sex, and they are dying in mass amounts, he should be promoting abstinence but also warning that if one will have sex to not do it with many people and to protect themselves with condoms. 

  its important because it shows the huge amount of influence religion can possess, and how it is being used in the world today. 

links:

Commentary: Pope wrong on condoms - CNN.com

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7947460.stm

Depleted Uranium

The articles i chose discussed the United States Military's use of Depleted Uranium Munitions. Depleted Uranium (or DU) is a byproduct of nuclear fission and other uranium processes. DU is a very dense material, which makes perfect for the tips of armor piercing rounds.  DU was considered waste until they realized they could use it for munitions.  Unfortunately when DU munitions are fired and hit an object, uranium particles become airborne and can go into the lungs.  This has created a new world of nuclear weapons and a variety of health and ecological concerns

This is a major health concern for Iraqi citizens, our own soldiers, and unborn children.  Over 200,000 US soldiers experienced chronic muscle and joint pain, fatigue, and memory loss because of DU in the first Gulf War.  Cancer rates in veterans has increased 7 to 10 times and deformities has increased from 4 to 6 percent.  320 metric tons of DU were scattered across the battlefield after the first gulf war.  DU has a half life of 4.5 billion years, so this toxic debris will continue to contaminate the environment for 4.5 billion years. a UK atomic energy authority stated that 500,000 people will die because of the DU left behind from the first gulf war. because of DU 67% of gulf war vets had children with birth defects, some of which are extremely shocking and disturbing.

The pentagon admits there "may be a link between DU and the skyrocketing cancer rates," but they refuse to stop using it.  The World Health Organization released a report proving the horrible effects of DU, but this still hasn't stopped our government from using our tax dollars to wage a nuclear war.

This is important to me because we are destroying the earth.  We are polluting the air, water, and food supply of Iraq.  If we wish for peace in the middle east, we cannot rape their land and leave radioactive waste all over their country. 

Links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6105726.stm

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs257/en/

Is it Ethical to use DU even though there are studies that prove that it can be detrimental to our troops and civilians?

Was it acceptable that the US army denied and did not inform their soldiers of the negative effects of DU?

Lil Wayne Facing Gun Charges

For my News of the Day, I chose to write about an article I found on the famous rapper Lil’ Wayne. In July 2007 a police officer entered his tour bus outside of a concert at the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan, NY. She approached the bus because she allegedly smelled marijuana smoke. Once on the tour bus the officer saw Lil’ Wayne, or Dwayne Carter, trying to conceal a loaded .40-Caliber handgun. If he is convicted of the crime he faces a sentence of up to 15 years in jail. His court date is set to take place on April 20th at the New York State Supreme Court House.
This incident matters to me because I am a fan of Lil’ Wayne. I enjoy listening to his music, and would be very disappointed if he was to be put in jail for any amount of time. This should matter to everyone else, because many other people are fans of him as well; and also because it could potentially be setting a bad example for our society.

My Questions for the class are:

1. Do you think that this will have a negative effect on Lil’ Wayne’s publicity, will he lose fans?
2. Do you think that Lil Wayne is setting a bad example for kids around the world that look up to him? (Even in a general sense, do you think that celebrities’ actions really influence their fans to act like them?)

Sources:

· http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/24/entertainment/main4825255.shtml?source=RSSattr=Entertainment_4825255
· http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1605784/20090225/lil_wayne.jhtml (Video on this Page)
· http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/25/2500633.htm

Yves Saint Laurent auction - Christies- 3/24

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/24/france.ysl.auction/

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/arts/design/24auction.html?scp=2&sq=auction%20show%20in%20france-%20YSL&st=cse

Despite the global economic crisis, a lot of money seems to be left over. On monday February 23rd, the private collection of the now deceased Yves Saint Laurent (prominent womens fashion designer), and his partner became the most expensive one ever sold at any auction. It consisted of over 700 original pieces including Picasso, Mattisse, and Monet just to name a few. Bringing in more than 264 million dollars on the first night alone; over a 3 day period. The overall estimate of the income being made from the auction was 384 million, it exceeded this limit by 50%. All the money collected, was distributed to various cultural projects, charity and the founding of a new research center to combat AIDS. Christies, the auction house that held the auction, had a representative that said, " It is one of the most sumptuous private collections of our time, a French paragon of quality and taste."

Questions:
Do you feel as though spending money on art is a waste, even if it represents an optimism of society and the proceeds go to charity?

Do you think this was a reasonable time to hold the auction even in the event of the economic crisis?

Octomom

Sources:
http://www.tmz.com/2009/03/03/octomom-cops-911-calls/

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/05/earlyshow/main4844548.shtml?source=RSSattr=TheEarlyShow_4844548

youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUdGK-WHv8U


Before Nadya Suleman gave birth to octuplets she was investigated by L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Since then cops have been called to the house a number of times. A neighbor complained that her other six children were not fed or clean. The charges were dropped when this claim was unfounded.
Since then the cops have been called when:
-one of Nadya's children locked themselves in a room
-one of the children went "missing",
-one of the kids randomly called 911 for no reason
-by neighbors twice when the front door was left open
-to control reporters after the birth of the octuplets


Do you think “Octomom” should be allowed custody of her children or not?
Should there be a limit on how many embryos are inserted into a women?

Obama to expand Afghanistan security forces

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/us/politics/19military.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=afghanistan%20security&st=cse

President Obama and his advisers decided to significantly expand Afghanistan's security forces in the hope that a much larger professional army and national police force could help fill a void left by the cental government, and do more to promote stability in the country, according to senior administration and Pentagon officials. The plan is for 400,000 troops and national police officers to be trained to expand security. This plan is simply waiting on approval by Barrack Obama, who has already said he would do it. This would more than double the current force, however it would cost $10-$20 billion over the next 6 or 7 years to pull off. This cost would only include training and hiring the personnel, additional costs would be needed over time to maintain the forces. This plan will be executed in hopes of stabilizing the nation, and turn power from local warlords to trained local security. The question is; will the cost of all this be worth what we are giving Afghanistan?

13 year old becomes father

Two Sources: The Sun (Britain newspaper) and Sindh Today (Pakistan newspaper)

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2233878.ece

http://www.sindhtoday.net/world/63285.htm

Early February 2008 a young boy, just 13 years old, and a teenage girl, 15 years old, became parents. The young father, who looks no older than eight was interviewed and asked questions about what they are going to do financially. His reply was "What's financially?". This is one of the few shocking quotes from the couple. They claim to have been dating for two years and then decided to have sex. It was their first time and did not use protection. Their families support them and their newborn baby girl who lives at home with Chantelle and her family. Alfie, the father, also lives at home with his own family and travels to his girlfriends house to see her and their baby. To add to the story, two other teenage boys came out claiming they could be the father of the baby. Chantelle denies this saying "There has been no one else". While the young couple are happy to be parents not everyone sees this as a blessing. Sindh Today reported about "Broken Britain" saying how they have the highest rate for teen pregnancy. There are a lot of mixed feelings about not just this particular story, but teen pregnancy as an issue. Can children raise their own children?

D.C. Voting Rights

http://www.msnbc.com/id/29362689

http://www.time.com/politics/article/0,8599,1881791,00.html

This week in Washington, the senate passed a vote 62-34 to allow talks to increase the house to 437 members, and in doing so giving a seat in the house to the democratic District of Columbia. The other seat would be given to Republican Utah giving it it's 4th seat until 2012 when the next redistribution of seats would occur. D.C. has had a non-voting delegate (currently Eleanor Holmes Norton) in the House since 1971 in which allows the delegate to vote on committees but not on bills. The major argument against D.C. the idea is that D.C. is just that, a district, and the constitution clearly states that representatives are chosen by people of states, not districts. However, D.C. in most all other aspects behaves as a state. It's citizens can be drafted for war, it's commerce is controlled by the government and it pays federal taxes. In protest of the last issue the people of D.C. even have put "Taxation without Representation" on the license plate to show that they are not represented in congress. 

D.C. has been fighting for voting rights since 1801 when they were no longer allowed to vote in the neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia. The 23rd amendment which was ratified in 1963 gave the district of nearly 600,000 people the right to vote in presidential elections. 

If passed in the Senate, the bill will go to the House for ratification and then to President Obama who is said to support the bill. However, it will probably go through several revisions before that happens and it will probably face a large republican opposition in both the House and the Senate. 

Facebook Terms of Use Agreement

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7896309.stm?lss

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/18/facebook.reversal/index.html

The social networking website, Facebook, is under scrutiny for its recent changes in its Terms Of Use agreement. The changes include a line which says that Facebook has the right to archive all information sent on the site, including pictures, wall posts, and messages, and keep it even after a user terminates their account. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg says that the change was made to prevent information from disappearing once the poster discontinued the account. But many members have terminated their accounts with face book, or created/joined groups associated with restoring the old facebook terms of service. For now the old terms of use have been reinstated, and it is said that facebook is rewriting its terms of use in simple language to be updated soon.

This news was important to me because I, as well as many others my age, use Facebook regularly and I was surprised to learn that my rights were not what I precieved them to be in reguards to images and text posted on the website.

Question 1: Out of the class, how many have facebook accounts? How many people knew that their rights as outlined in the terms of use agreement had changed? Why do you think people did/did not know?

Question 2: Do you have rights when you are part of an Internet group or social networking site? Do the things you post to the Internet become public domain or are they still personal property?

Clinton Warns North Korea

Sources:            

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/washington/17diplo.html?scp=1&sq=Clinton%20warns%20against%20N.%20Korean%20missile%20launch&st=cse

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/17/north.korea.clinton/index.html

 

Summary:       

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned North Korea not to undertake a test of a long-range missileTaepodong-2 missile . “The possible missile launch that North Korea is talking about would be very unhelpful in moving our relationship forward,” Mrs. Clinton said. This is her first stop on her tour of Asia in which she will visit China, South Korea and Indonesia. In these visit she will discuss economic recovery, trade, the prevention of nuclear weapons proliferation and reversing global warming.   Japan’s economy is deteriorating as of Monday they reached an economic low not seen in Japan since 1974.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wishes to strengthen the alliance between the U.S. and Japan.

Explanation of Value:

            I believe this is important because we should care about our relation with other countries especially in times of economic recession. North Korea has been a threat to the United States ever since they pulled out of the Nuclear Weapon Proliferation Treaty.  Their decision to build nuclear arms and test them in their long-range missiles only weakens their. This presents a clear and present danger to our national security.

 

Will diplomatic talks be enough for North Korea to stop there nuclear arms build up?

What should the U.S. do to prevent them from using their missiles? 

Numb or Number: is trillion the new billion?

The URL for my story is-  http://www.cnn.com/2009/living/02/04/trillion.dollars/

The national debt has been slowly rising over the years since George Bush was elected president.  Recently however, it has sky rocketed to over 10 trillion dollars.  If you spent 1 million dollars a day since Jesus was born, that would only be around three quarters of a trillion dollars.  The question is how are we going to pay off this debt?  The gross domestic product of America is 14 trillion dollars, so we are still ahead of the debt, but the debt is still going to fall on the tax payers of our generation.

My two questions are:  What should Barack Obama do about the issue?  What are the people of America going to have to do?

Embryonic Stem Cell Research

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6714423&page=1

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123268485825709415.html

In recent news embryonic stem cell trials have gotten approval. This trial will allow for stem cell trials to be tested on humans who have paralysis to possibly reverse the effect. Geron Corp. in Menlo Park, Cali., a biotechnology company has gotten the okay to start testing 10 patients with spinal cord injuries. This has been a debatable subject because the tests include using human embryos. Bush signed off saying that studying this will not include killing human lives, even though the embryos would be thrown out anyway for not being used. Obama has the power to override Bush's restrictions or atleast relax them. The scientists believe that an embryonic stem cell can develop and chnage to any human body. In animal research the cells literally repair the damage cells.

The procedure will be affordable, but can only be done within two weeks of the paralysis. The tests will show if this will even have an effect, such as movement or even feeling in the lower body. The results will not be shown over night but will possibly be seen over a period of weeks or months with physical therapy.

Why have there been political debacles over this issue for years especially with Bush?

What does this news show us about scientific pregression?