Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico 2010

The oil spill in the gulf of Mexico, is finally starting to settle down. The workers were able to cap one of the three oil leaks. There are over 1100 people working on cleaning up the mess. The oil spill was only 3 miles away from the Louisana shore, and it estimated to be about the size of Puerto Rico. So far the clean up crew has been able to collect 685000 gallons of the polluted water.
I think that we shouldn't have even been drilling there in the first place. Its pointless for us to be drilling close to us. The oil still needs to be sent overseas to be refined. So I don't really see how its benifiting us. We are just putting more oil on the market. As a result of the oil spill i think the price of gas is going to go up, and people won't be happy.

China's Twitter Clones

In July 2009, the Chinese government blocked many social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. They blamed these websites for causing violent uprising and decieded to abn them. There are many other social networking sites in China that are becomming more and more popular. These websites are starting to closely resemble Twitter and Facebook. These websites are becomming the most blogged websites in all of China.
I think that the government shouldn't be able to control what you do and see on the internet. You pay for it you might as well be able to use it however you choose. If you do something via internet that's illegal and you get caught that's your own fault and you should have to deal with the consequences.

http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2010/03/04/04readwriteweb-chinas-twitter-clones-82815.html

Food Product Recall

Last week, the FDA recalled thousand of products that contained hydrolyzed vegetable protein which was thouht to contain salmonella. The vegetable protein was sold to manufacturers all over the U.S. from basic Food Flavors. The Las Vegas plant is now being inspected by the FDA. They have concluded so far that not many people will be affected by the salmonella because most of the food containing the protein is cooked, which kills the salmonella.
I think that the FDA should inspect Basic Food Flavors more to make sure that nothing else was contaminated. If people do start getting sick from salonella the FDA will have a lot to deal with. They also should be inspecting food more carefully before it is even sold to the public.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/health/policy/05food.html?ref=health

Common or not so Common?

The common cold is something that effects everyone. It doesn't target just certian people. Scientist have come a long way and have been able to catagorize common weaknesses of 99 strains of the cold virus. The scientist looked at the 7000 chemical units of the cold and were able to put the strains into a family tree and compare what the differences and similarities were. They hope with this new information they will be able to find effect treatments for the cold which will not only help cold sufferers but also many people diagnosed with asthma.
I think that if they found a cure for the common cold that it would benifit many people, but also leave many people without jobs. This can cause contraversial and economic problems.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/health/research/13cold.html

51 Cow Killed by a Troubled Farmer

Courtney Casey
English 122

Dan Pierson, a struggling farmer, was found dead on January 21, 2010. Since prices increased in the agricultural business, many farmers have dealt with the burden and difficulty of trying to succeed during these troubling times. Mr. Pierson, who was 59, couldn’t bear with his financial and personal complications and decided to take a caliber rifle and shoot all 51 of his cows. He then proceeded to take his own life and shot himself in the chest.
The life Pierson led was one he struggled with. From what others could gather, he wished he had been more like his father, a Swedish farmer who was very good at what he did. Mr. Pierson worked long harsh hours on the farm and did most of the work himself.
I understand that we are going through difficult times and many people are suffering, but I don’t see why our economic suffering has to affect animals. Those innocent cows had done nothing to deserve getting shot. I think Mr. Pierson made a poor choice in shooting those cows. To me it seems Dan Pierson was being greedy when he shot those cows. Since he was feeling troubled and at a loss, he made the choice to kill the cows along with himself. To me that seems a very selfish thing to do.


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/nyregion/04towns.html?scp=1&sq=farmer%20kills%2051%20cows&st=cse

Proposition 8 Trial Pauses, but Not for Ruling

Courtney Casey


The New York Times article written by Jesse McKinley on January 28th, 2010 raised concern of whether or not the issue should be investigated a little more. In California, Proposition 8 is the ban on same-sex marriage. The trial brought to federal court lasted two weeks and came close to an even vote. Fifty-two percent of the voters voted for the ban. The costly campaign might possibly be reviewed in March.
The defense of proposition 8 argued that the plaintiff didn’t deal with the main point of the case, and that is whether the people have the right to vote if marriage is between only a man and a women. The plaintiffs argued three major pints in the article. They stated that it was a violation of their rights and that it wasn’t equal. Another point they argued was that not allowing same-sex marriage wasn’t favorable to the public and that it was depriving them of the rights they deserve as a person.
I feel that same-sex marriage is something that could only help us develop as a whole. No matter who you want to marry, love is love and the government doesn’t have the right to decide that it’s not allowed. Marriage has to deal with both the church and the legal system. Even though churches look down upon same-sex marriage, the right to decided if we should have same sex-marriage should come from the people since this is who Proposition 8 effects.