September 10, 2008: "Why Disasters Are Getting Worse"

Why Disasters Are Getting Worse

In the space of two weeks, Hurricane Gustav has caused an estimated $3 billion in losses in the U.S. and killed about 110 people in the U.S. and the Caribbean, catastrophic floods in northern India have left a million people homeless, and a 6.2-magnitude earthquake has rocked China's southwest, smashing over 400,000 homes.

It does seem like disasters of all types have been getting worse over the last couple of years.  And that is simply because they have.  Now, a lot of people say that global warming is at fault for the increase of hurricanes.  But, the article shares how there has been no increase of hurricanes since 1990.  The earth has just been randomly throwing them at us.  Now it does say that global warming will affect the storms in the near future, but as of right now, that is not the cause.  

Interestingly enough the article says that disasters have become worse because of where we live.  More and more major city has grown along the coastlines of hurricane battered areas.  And obviously the more people in harms path, the worse off everyone is.  The article says that the main problem is living in danger zones.  But, it is hard to say bye to the place you have lived all your life.  Especially if the reason includes phrases like, encase something bad happens.  I do not blame anyone for where they live.  Bottom Line: Global Warming isn't affecting hurricanes yet, our migration patterns has just affected the damage.  

Don't make assumptions.  The number and force of hurricanes has only seems to increase.

(My heart goes out to anyone affected by hurricanes.  I mean no disrespect.)

Thank you AMANDA RIPLEY and Yahoo News.

September 9, 2008: "Stephenie Meyer drops new book after Web leak"

Stephenie Meyer drops new book after Web leak

CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) - Author Stephenie Meyer, writer of the best-selling young adult "Twilight" books, has put the fifth and final installment in the series on hold in protest after a partial draft was posted on the Internet

At least on of the few copies that had Stephenie Meyer had given out has been released to the greater population.  Meyer is very upset about this as it is a violation of her rights as a writer.  The few copies that did leave her hand were no where near finished and each one is significantly different then what she plans on publishing as the final product.  

I write about this because I feel that many people have been mislead by this story.  The headline says that she "dropped" the book.  When in reality she has just postponed writing it.  The lead also says she has put the writing of the book on hold to "protest."  In reality, the article says that right now she is too "sad" right now to continue writing.  Although, this does give Meyer and he book series more attention in the national spotlight, which could be a good thing.

Blessings in disguise are sometimes easy to overlook.

Thank you Belinda Goldsmith and Yahoo News.

September 8, 2008: "Army: soldier suicide rate may set record again"

Army: soldier suicide rate may set record again

WASHINGTON - Soldier suicides this year could surpass the record rate of last year, Army officials said Thursday, urging military leaders at all levels to redouble prevention efforts for a force strained by two wars.

 There has been 62 confirmed suicides this year plus and addition 31 in the midsts of investigation.  The suicide rate in the military could possibly raise above that of American civilians this year.  In 2007, there was a suicide rate of 16.5 per 100,000 in the military.

These facts are a shame.  Now you could say that the rate is not that high, and sure 16 is normally not a lot.  But those are 16 heroes.  16 troops who risk their lives for us.  If anything is unnexceptable in the world, this is.  Now of course we cannot send everytroop that says they have thoughts of suicide home.  If that was the case then several may fake just to go home and see thier families.  Steps are supposedly being taken to lower the rate and hopefully end all suicide in our military, but whos to say what is really being done and the effect that it will have.  

Please do assist our soldiers in any way possible.  Even if you do not support the war.

Thank you PAULINE JELINEK and Yahoo News.

September 5, 2008: "5 Afghan children killed in raids"

5 Afghan children killed in raids

KABUL, Afghanistan - Foreign and Afghan forces accidentally killed five children in two separate operations Monday, further undermining President Hamid Karzai after he demanded a halt to attacks in civilian areas.

The headline says it all. Five child were killed by Afghan and foreign (possibly American) forces this week. Dozens of innocent have been killed in the last few weeks. There have been reports that insurgents are making false claims of casualties to pin the Afghan soldiers against their government. The U.S. forces in Afghanistan are being blamed for deaths that they took no part in.
Throughout this entire war the good news to bad news ratio has been about 1 to 1000+. Five children have died in one day. It doesn't matter if it was U.S. troops or NATO troops, the children are dead. Everyone of these stories gets magnified even if they are not entirely true. Mistakes are inexcusable in war. Five children dead is a mistake.

Whats worse, one dead child or ten dead soldiers?

Thank you FISNIK ABRASHI and Yahoo News

September 4, 2008: "Sudden death after arrest may be new syndrome"

Sudden death after arrest may be new syndrome

An investigator in a hospital in Madrid, Spain has revealed that many young men have begun to die at their point of arrest or within 24 hours. He proposes that this is because of elevated stress levels. As the young men become arrested, their adrenaline and other levels begin to raise which ultimately leads to a heart attack, killing them. The study included 60 cases where death had occurred during or after arrest. 59 of these were men with the average age of 33.
This so far is only a guess, a hypothesis. There is nothing that can be done about this for now. After all being arrested is a stressful, scary situation. These men are believed to have suffered from the same thing wild animals do as they are captured. They become so frightened and stressed that they seem to die of fright. This too is the case with the 60 people. Right now, there are too many unanswered questions to do anything about this.

Keep your cool, it may save you.

Thank you Ben Hirschler and Yahoo News.

September 3, 2008: "Clones' offspring may be in food supply: FDA"

Clones' offspring may be in food supply: FDA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Food and milk from the offspring of cloned animals may have entered the U.S. food supply, the U.S. government said on Tuesday, but it would be impossible to know because there is no difference between cloned and conventional products.

The battle of the ethics in cloning animals once again comes to the spot light. The FDA has released information that products made from the offspring of cloned animals may has leaked into the US food supplies. Now, it is apparent that many people are against cloning animals for religious purposes. But, there is no difference at all between the cloned products and the regular ones. So why does the FDA release this information? Only negative recoil can come from this. Since they are the same, wouldn't it be better to just not say anything. Or they could at least wait until they knew for sure.
On the other side of this, there are about 600 cloned animals in the US. This is a new step into a world undiscovered. The consequences are unknown and the benefit is minimal for now. I feel cloning should be left at the college science fair level in order to prevent an problems that occur from it. We don't know, we may soon be torturing cloned animals (for research or cosmetics, anything) with the argument of they don't have souls. This just seems like a bad idea to me.

Why gamble in game you can't win. The excitement isn't worth your savings.

Thank you Christopher Doering and Yahoo News.

September 2, 2008: "Palin says 17-year-old daughter is pregnant"

Palin says 17-year-old daughter is pregnant

ST. PAUL, Minn. - John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin said Monday that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant, an announcement campaign aides said was aimed at rebutting Internet rumors that Palin's youngest son, born in April, was actually her daughter's.

Regardless of the details that everyone is getting caught up in, there is a bigger picture problem here. Yes, Sarah Palin had a child in April and yes her daughter is now pregnant. But the big issue problem here is that John McCain's already questionable choice for VP is now again in the spot light. This is not good for McCain because even if there is nothing morally questionable going on, people, and other bloggers, still tend to make false accusations that people take way to seriously.
When Obama announced his VP, everyone talked about him for a day or two and then no one seemed to care. If people continue to talk and doubt Palin, McCain may be in some trouble.

It is better to not be in the spotlight if when you are, people criticize you.

Thank you LIZ SIDOTI and Yahoo News.