Daniel-- Give Us Toys, Not Money.

In Sunset Valley TX, which is actually in South Austin, people don't have to pay money for going over the speed limit, instead they can donate toys; unless you where driving recklessly, then you would have to pay the ticket. If you only drove 5mph or less, over the speed limit, you can donate a toy for needy kids. So you can go 5mph over the speed limit, 100 times, and all you have to do is donate 100 toys.

  

 source is from kvue news

Real Live "Furbys" Found

Pygmy tarsier, also called Tarsius pumilus, were "extinct" but some scientists found three of them. They have claws instead of nails on their fingers. They can even spin their heads 180 degrees around! It must have been very exiting for the scientists when they found and trapped an extinct animal! Pygmy tarsiers sound very cool.                                     -Ivy

The Crash!

In San Diego, a fighter jet crash-landed while trying to land on Monday (last Monday). The pilot ejected before the F/A-18 crashed on 11:55 am last week. 2 homes were destroyed but nobody knows if any casualties were taken. An aerial video shows smoke billowing from a large cluster of homes. I personally think that was very horrible, don't you?   

The LHC has problems of it's own

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the biggest particle accelerator in the world. On 9/19/08 the magnets developed a spot of resistance and started to heat up. Their intended temperature was 2 C above absolute zero (0 K, -273.15 C, -459.67 F). As the heat grew the magnets vaporized. Later, when people went in to fix the LHC they found out that a spark might have punctured a cushion of cooled Helium that was keeping the magnets cool. Dr. Gillies has an easy word for all of us,"It's a mess." The incident wasn't tragic. It would have had to shut down in 2 months to save electricity. I am not saying that you shouldn't worry. To fix it, 53 superconducting magnets would have to be brought up 300 feet, fixed or replaced, brought back down 300 feet and after THAT they would have to be cooled to 2 Kelvin! Source: NYTimes 

Elizabeth- Many are Jobless

The government’s report of a giant job loss in November, the biggest monthly decline in a generation, puts more pressure on Congress and the administration to move quickly on a stimulus package, mortgage relief and perhaps financial aid for Detroit’s big automakers.
The nation’s employers cut 533,000 jobs in November, the The Bureau of Labor Statistics. reported Friday. Not since 1974, toward the end of a severe recession, have so many jobs disappeared in a single month — and the current recession, far from ending, appears to be just gathering steam.

“We are caught in a downward spiral in which employment, incomes and spending are collapsing together,” said Nigel Gault, chief domestic economist for IHS Global Insight.
“With private spending frozen, we have no choice but to rely on a stimulus package to revive the economy.”
The unemployment rate rose to 6.7 %, up just two-tenths of a percentage point from October, but up six-tenths over the last three months. More than 420,000 men and women who had been working or seeking work in October left the labor force in November.
More significantly, the unemployment rate does not include those too discouraged to look for work any longer or those working fewer hours than they would like. Add those people to the roster of the unemployed, and the rate hit a record 12.5 % in November, up 1.5 percentage points since September.
Noting that 1.9 million jobs have been lost since the start of the recession a year ago — two-thirds of them since September — President-elect Barack Obama (He-He, I still think that that's funny) invoked public spending as the best way to get a "dead-in-the-water" economy moving again.
“This painful crisis,” he said in a statement, "is an opportunity to improve the lives of ordinary people by rebuilding roads and modernizing schools for our children, and by investing in clean energy projects. "

Also, I believe Daniel alluded to this but like he said, many of the people in America think that we are going in to another Great Depression.
(That's why we voted for Obama, CHANGE!!!!!!!!!!!)

--NYTimes(source)

Jobs Rates Gone Down

Gradually over the past 14 years the unemployed record reached its highest at 6.5%. As of October of this year (when the government reviewed unemployment records) 1.2 million people had lost their jobs. President-elect Barack Obama said, "It's not going to be quick, and it's not going to be easy to dig out of the hole that we're in". Some people think that America is headed towards another depression. Lets hope that Obama can bring us out of these dark times as President Roosevelt did during "The Great Depression".     

An Unlikely Cure: Nature for Lack of Attention

Today I felt sick of politics so I chose to blog about nature. My result for a was about a small test about how different types of nature could affect kids' attention. The kids took 3 walks and between each one they took a test. During the test the kids repeat a sequence of numbers in backwards order. One walk was in a park, another in a residential neighborhood, and another downtown. They did the walks in an order that varied from kid-to-kid; I hope they were days apart because they don't know how long the effects would last. Besides location, no other variables changed. The person they walked with, medications, noise level, time of day, etc. stayed the same. Some things that my source didn't list were elevation and number/size of hills. I hope that they stayed the same too. Many participated but only 17 results were flawless. They didn't list the exact result but their conclusion was that the park worked the best. It worked not only better than the other walks but also better than medicine. Some people such as me don't find this difficult to believe, but people who don't believe in chiropractors probably believe in this either. I would appreciate more evidence because it might contain a few flaws. How do you feel about hearing this?

Please visit my source:
nytimes.com then seacrch nature. Find, A 'Dose of Nature'...

Marine Life in Jepordey

Marine life is in danger! Every breath we take is putting Carbon Dioxide in the air which gos to the sea and when it hits the sea it makes some kind of acid that kills all marine life except acid-tolerant algae. That is very bad because algae takes over.      -IVY

The Idealist

Before the first Gulf War, there was an attack on the people of Iraq from Saddam Hussein, who was using bombs, bullets, and gas. An idealist tried to get the Reagan Administration to punish the terrorist who was attacking so horribly. You can see a picture of the refugees here. Survivors described, "blinding, burning clouds of poison gas that dropped people in their tracks". Personally, I'd say that it's quite terrible, wouldn't you? 

The Unity Between Obama and Bush

President-elect Obama has announced that he and Bush are "united" in getting the economy back on track. He called the financial crisis one of "historic proportions". He also said that there isn't a moment to waste when it comes to getting the economy fixed. Personally, I think that until Obama's inauguration, that the economy will either stay the same or go even more downhill than it is now, don't you?

Tool Bag Lost in Space

On Wednesday, 11/19/08, the NASA crew was repairing the ISS. While the space-walker (Capt. Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper) was outside the spaceship,she discovered that one of her grease guns broke open in the tool bag she was carrying. (here is a video). Her tool bag contained 2 other grease guns, scrapers and other sorts of tools. She cleaned the mess up but she had not noticed that her tool bag had started to float into the infinite expanse of space. NASA tried to recover it, but it had been lost and it wasn't coming back. It is a good thing that there weren't electronics in the bag!
source

The Good and Bad Decision of Hillary Clinton

I have received intelligence that Barack Obama has offered Hillary Clinton the position of US Secretary of State. Hillary accepted, which I would also do if I were offered this position. However, it did involve giving up her seat in the Senate; the Daily Telegraph says "she could most likely have occupied [the Senate seat] for the rest of her career," which also makes this a bad decision. 

Also, Obama might have decided to nominate Timothy Geithner as the Treasury Secretary.  It was probably involved with the $700 billion bailout plan that was mentioned so many times, mostly in the Presidential Debates. 

What would you have done if you were offered the position of US Secretary of State, but had to give up your Senate seat? 

Our grammatical President-elect

Obama’s Use of Complete Sentences Stirs Conversation

In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his use of complete sentences, political observers say. Millions of Americans who watched Obama's appearance on CBS' "Sixty Minutes" on Sunday witnessed the president-elect's unorthodox verbal tick, which had Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually every time he opened his mouth to speak.
But Obama's decision to use complete sentences in his public pronouncements carries with it certain risks, since after the last eight years many Americans may find his odd speaking style jarring. According to presidential historian, Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota, some Americans might find it "alienating" to have a President who speaks English as if it were his first language.
"Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in agreement," says Mr. Logsdon. "If he keeps it up, he is running the risk of sounding like an elitist."
The historian said that if Obama insists on using complete sentences in his speeches, the public may find itself saying, "Okay, subject, predicate, subject, predicate - we get it, stop showing off." President-elect Obama's stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

"Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can't really do there, I think needing to do that isn't tapping into what Americans are needing also," she said.
That confuses me a bit, her grammar could use some work! That quote is right from her mouth, word for word. I still think it unplausable that she was even in consideration for VP, as I have stated before. I think it shows professional views if you use good grammar, but that's me talking, you can't really use me as a basis for judging these ideas!

Economy Crashing Wave by Wave

Warning! This economic crises floods our economy as we speak! This chart (second) displays what went on with Dow Industrials just today. For the first time since 2003 it sank below 8,000. It suddenly dropped 5.07%in just one day.It especially slides down between 3 and 4 pm ET. Many specific types of businesses got harmed even more. Citigroup descended by over 22%. General Motors 10% about $2 per share, and Ford Motor Company 24% about $1 per share. These companies are 2/3 of the leading American automakers. The threat of their bankruptcy aligns them on the edge of the cliff. Oil drops to a record low for 22 months or about $56 a barrel. Nasdaq, including many video game companies descended 6.53% (first chart). Markets from some other countries also descended although not as much. If you want more information on this topic, I recommend that you visit my source.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/business/economy/20markets.html?_r=1&hp

Astronaut Loses Tool Bag While Working On the International Space Station

Astronaut Stefanyshyn-Piper was working on a solar panel of the International Space Station when she dropped her bag. Everything floated away! She couldn't do anything about it though, so she used the other astronaut's on the space walk. The mission otherwise went well. Too bad she dropped her bag. It probably cost a lot of $!

Daniel--Who is Uncle Sam

 Do you ever wonder who Uncle Sam is ? Well, according to history, Upstate New York would have barrels of meat that had the initials U.S. branded on it. The troops joked around that the initials,U.S. meant "Uncle" Samuel Wilson (who was born Troy, New York and the U.S meat supplier). So, the troops may have thought that since he feeds us it means that he's our mascot. Which may have led to Uncle Samuel Wilson becoming Uncle Sam. He didn't really become Uncle Sam until The 87Th United States Congress said on September 15, 1961 said that "Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives that the Congress salutes Uncle Sam Wilson of Troy, New York, as the progenitor of America's National symbol of Uncle Sam". That day on Uncle Sam became a national mascot of the military.

Reuniting of the rivals!

President-elect Barack Obama and Senator John McCain agreed on Monday, in their first meeting since the election, to work together on some of the nation’s most pressing challenges, from the financial crisis to national security problems. I think it's funny that Obama is now called "President-elect".

After a private meeting in the Obama transition offices on the 38th floor of the Kluczynski (however you would pronounce that) Federal Building in downtown Chicago, the two former opponents issued a joint statement saying that they agreed “that Americans of all parties want and need their leaders to come together and change the bad habits of Washington so that we can solve the common and urgent challenges of our time.” I quote the New York Times.
The statement continued: “We hope to work together in the days and months ahead on critical challenges like solving our financial crisis, creating a new energy economy, and protecting our nation’s security.”
There were few other clues to the dynamics between the two men, who until two weeks ago were competing for the presidency, and whose relations during the campaign were at times a bit musty. When a reporter asked Senator McCain at the outset of the meeting on Monday whether he would help Obama with his administration, he quickly replied, “Obviously.”
The meeting came four days after Obama met with his main rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Clinton, sparking widespread rumor that he would nominate her to be secretary of state. Now it seems totally likely to happen.
And it also came three days after Obama met with another former rival, Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a former ambassador to the United Nations who might now be in competition with Clinton for the State Department post, which almost nobody has heard said before.
The Obama-McCain meeting in Chicago, an effort at reuniting after a bitterly fought campaign, came unusually soon after Election Day.
Obama (president-elect) and the Arizona senator still hold relatively similar views on issues like climate change and ethics reform, where cooperation is necessary. More urgently, Obama may be hoping for help in pushing for a new economic stimulus package that faces stiff Republican resistance.

You Wanna Be Me?

Neuroscientists have found a way to make it feel like you are in some one elses body! Strange as it sounds, scientists have induced this phenomenon in a series of volunteers. People can experience the illusion that either a mannequin or another person’s body is their own body, says Valeria Petkova of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. She and Karolinska colleague Henrik Ehrsson call this reaction the “body-swap illusion.”

“Our subjects experienced this illusion as being exciting and strange, and often said that they wanted to come back and try it again,” says Petkova, who reported the findings November 17 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Volunteers experienced the body-swap illusion by receiving simultaneous visual and motor input from another’s body. In one experiment, each participant stood across from a male mannequin, and in another experiment volunteers faced a female experimenter. A headset covering participants’ eyes displayed a three-dimensional view of the other’s visual perspective, transmitted from a small video camera positioned on the mannequin’s or the woman’s head.

In the mannequin situation, an experimenter simultaneously touched the participant’s belly and the mannequin’s belly with separate probes. So the volunteer felt a poking in the abdomen but saw the poking happen as if he or she were the mannequin. In the real-person situation, participant and experimenter shook hands. Thus, while volunteers felt the sensation of hand shaking, it appeared to them that they were shaking their own hand. After 10 to 12 seconds of abdominal touch or hand-shaking, male and female participants spontaneously had the experience of looking out from the body of the male mannequin or the female experimenter. They literally felt that they were in the mannequin’s body getting poked or had embodied the female experimenter and were shaking their own hands. I think that this is the coolest thing that I have ever heard of and I hope to try it in the future.



www.sciencenews.org

Somthing Besides Hubble, For Once!

NASA's space shuttle, Endeavour, launched up into Florida's sky on Friday,11/14/08. It launched at 7:55 pm on a partly cloudy day. It's goal was to, in 15 days, build onto the already massive ($100 billion) ISS. It is mainly focused on doubling the size of the three man crew. Michael T. Suffredini points out,“when the crew leaves, the station won’t look any different on the outside, but it’ll be dramatically different on the inside.” It is doing well so far which is extremely exciting! source: New York Times

Scientists Hope to Clone Extinct Species

Scientists successfully cloned mice that had been frozen for 16 years. In the future this technology will help scientists to bring back extinct species. Before this technology, scientists could only clone by using cells from living animals.
"This is the first time a mammal has been cloned from a sample stored at conditions reasonably close to what might be expected in permafrost,"Teruhiko Wakayama, who led the study, said in a statement.
The idea of cloning extinct animals just gives me the goose bumps talking about it. Technology is advancing everyday - next we know it, there will be mammoths walking around again.

Article and Video from CNN.con/technology on Nov. 4, 2008.

-- Samantha

T. Boone Pickens Stalls on Wind Power - Daniel

CNET.com - Nov 12, 2008

Statesman.com - Nov. 12, 2008

T. Boone Pickens, an ex-oil executive, billionaire and proponent of alternative energies, earlier this summer had proposed a plan for reducing America's oil dependence by promoting the use of wind farms and natural gas in vehicles. He recently announced that he would limit his plans for wind farming due to the recent drops in oil and gas prices.

Until natural-gas prices rise, Pickens said his wind farm and most others in the country will not go forward because electricity from gas plants will be more economical. "With natural gas prices where they are, you can't kick off a wind project, you're not economical." Pickens said Tuesday at a news conference in Arizona.

 

Earlier this year, he founded Mesa Power, a company that would be the world's largest wind farm in Texas, able to make 4,000 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power 1.3 million homes. It seems like a great idea. Wind power is clean and renewable but  it's difficult to understand why we can't go through with this plan for a powerful wind farm, knowing that gas and oil energy will eventually run out. I guess we'll need a crisis for us to do something about it.

Big Deal over Unnoticed History

Hello. Today I found an interesting fact that shocked me. Inside of a traditionally republican state, a miracle happened for the democrats. Some of Nebraska, particuarly Omaha, voted partly for Obama. I discovered a picture that shows Obama fans protesting at a republican event (left). Signs like "Obamaha says THANKS but NO THANKS", "BUSH IN A SKIRT", and the simple "OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT" try to make their point. Can you find them all? Many experts made comments. Cary Vigneri said “I think, ‘Yeah, team!’ It’s way cool.”

Ralph Morocco, a Republican turned Obama campaign volunteer said, “We did our part, and it’s nice to see the work pay off.” Many more comments made my source; Visit my source to hear them. Beilieve it or not, I didn't even tell you the real news yet! Nebraska and Maine split their electoral votes but in Nebraska that doesn't normally matter. Due to lack of democrats in Nebraska, the republicans normally obtain all of their elctoral votes. For the first time since 1964, one electoral vote goes to the democrats. One electoral vote didn't make the difference, but it will make history.

One vote may be small. Smaller than small. But it's still a vote. And that's what I wrote.

McCain's Concession Speech (Transcript)

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you, my friends. (Cheers, applause.) Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening. (Cheers, applause.)
My friends, we have -- we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama -- (boos) -- to congratulate him -- (boos) -- please, -- to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.
In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.
This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.
I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too. But we both recognize that though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.
A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to visit -- to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African American to the presidency of the United States. Let there be no reason now -- (cheers, applause) -- let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth. (Cheers, applause.)
Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer in my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day, though our faith assures us she is at rest in the presence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.
Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country, and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.
I urge all Americans -- (applause) -- I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences, and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.
Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that. (Cheers, applause.)
It is natural -- it's natural tonight to feel some disappointment, but tomorrow we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again. We fought -- we fought as hard as we could.
And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours.
AUDIENCE: No!
MR. MCCAIN: I am so --
AUDIENCE: (Chanting.) John McCain! John McCain! John McCain! John McCain! John McCain! John McCain!
SEN. MCCAIN: I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends. The road was a difficult one from the outset. But your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.
I am especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear mother -- (cheers, applause) -- my dear mother and all my family and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign. I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me.

You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate's family than on the candidate, and that's been true in this campaign. All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude, and the promise of more peaceful years ahead. (Laughter.)
I am also -- I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I have ever seen. (Cheers, applause.) One of the best campaigners I have ever seen --
AUDIENCE: (Chanting.) Sarah! Sarah!
MR. MCCAIN: -- and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength. (Cheers, applause.) Her husband Todd and their five beautiful children -- (cheers, applause) -- with their tireless dedication to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough-and- tumble of a presidential campaign. We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country. (Cheers, applause.)
To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly month after month in what at times seemed to be the most challenged campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privilege of your faith and friendship.
I don't know -- I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.
This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life. And my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.
AUDIENCE MEMBERS: No!
AUDIENCE MEMBER: You deserve more!
AUDIENCE MEMBERS: (Chanting off mike.)
MR. MCCAIN: Please. Please.
I would not -- I would not be an -- an American worthy of the name, should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for a half a century. Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much. And tonight, I remain her servant. That is blessing enough for anyone and I thank the people of Arizona for it. (Cheers, applause.)
AUDIENCE: (Chanting.) USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
SEN. MCCAIN: Tonight -- tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama -- whether they supported me or Senator Obama, I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president.
And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties but to believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.
Americans never quit. We never surrender. (Cheers, applause.) We never hide from history, we make history. (Cheers, applause.)
Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. (Cheers, applause.) Thank you all very much. (Cheers, applause.)

I thought McCain gave a great speech! Very gracious! Sorry this is so long but... I thought it was important to see.

A Blog about Palin (how profound :))

Adored by many national conservatives, Palin is a prospect for a presidential run in 2012, some supporters say. Caricatured by opponents, "she is a candidate for political oblivion," said others.
Regardless, Sarah Palin told reporters the day after Election Day, “This has been all positive for me.”
Alaska, as well, has been recast in the 10 weeks since Palin soared above and beyond as the Republican nominee for vice president, and the process has not necessarily been all positive.

"Oil prices, which provide the bulk of state revenue, were well over $100 a barrel in late August when Ms. Palin left to campaign with Senator John McCain." I quote the New York Times.

That must not be a good thing for Alaska, which by the way voted for McCain/Palin. That is not too surprising but... only 3 electoral votes! Palin now is back in Alaska, I think, back to where she should be. I'm very glad she is not VP!

Water on Mars!

Scientists are puzzled about Mars. Was Mars wet? Some minerals have proof that water must have been on Mars for two billion years after it existed. NASA has been watching Mars very carefully. They found Opal and other similar minerals. Opal is a type of mineral that requires water. Life needs water, it is what over 90% of our body is made of. If there was water on Mars, then there was a high chance there was life on Mars. It is very exciting that there could have been life on Mars! Source; NYT

Jeremy -- Ridiculous Rumors

"You Say Obama is a Muslim? I'll call you a 3-watt bulb" by John Kelso, Austin American Statesman Tuesday November 4th 2008 B1 and B5


The article I digested talks about the lie being believed about Obama. The author says that 23% of 600 Texans polled by political scientist call Obama a Muslim. The national polls say 5% to 6% think Obama is a Muslim. Obama is a Christian. This author makes a joke about how these Texans are making us look even more stupid than usual since we have 4 times as many people saying they believe this lie.

He also has a theory about why Texans might be saying he is Muslim even if they don't really believe that. Maybe they just want to insult Obama because they don't like him and that saying they believe he is a Muslim. Then the author is sarcastic about why people would even think that was an insult.

In the end he say "On the other hand, I'm wondering now, what % of Texans believe in the correlation between stepping on a sidewalk crack and breaking your mother's back. It's probably pretty."

I liked this article because it was hysterical.

Space: Do you want to see it?

Garriott on life in space: Food's not bad, but don't let the sleeping bag float away
By Lilly Rockwell
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Have you ever wanted to go to space? Richard Garriott did. His dad was an astronaut at NASA. Richard is not, but since he is a millionaire he was able to pay enough to go on the trip.
I wish I could go to space, but it would be weird to go to the bathroom on a space ship. “To urinate is not a big deal, at least not for a guy. You have a funnel with suction behind it,” said Richard.
“Solid waste disposal is trickier. You have a toilet, and there is a plastic bag with holes in the bottom. We do our business and hope that the airflow is enough to pull it into the bag. It's a fairly lengthy process and one that has to be done well because sanitation is a really important issue.”
Richard said that when he took off, he looked out the window and he could see the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge, all the little contrails, and the major highways. I think that would be really cool to see from that high above. He also said that when you go to bed, there are usually three little chambers that look like coffins. Since there were six people on the trip, the three that don’t get to be in the chambers use sleeping bags. Either you let the bag float around or tie it to a string.
The End

Trick-or-treater, 12, shot to death, police say

On Halloween night, a 12 year old boy with his father, 2 younger siblings were out trick-or-treating while his mother and the youngest were in the car. The boy knocked on the door and the man who lived there, Quentin Patrick, thought they were robbers. Mr. Patrick shot through the door with an assault rifle, killing the 12-year old and injuring the father and one of the siblings. Police Chief Patty Patterson said that it was a real tragedy as the kids were just out for Halloween. Mr. Patrick was arrested on several charges.
He told police he had been robbed and shot in the past year. "He wasn't going to be robbed again, and he wasn't going to be shot again," Patterson said Saturday at a news conference.
I think it is really sad because they were just out having fun for Halloween. The lesson we might learn from this is that you're never perfectly safe - something can happen at anytime in any place.

-- Article from CNN.com on November 2, 2008. Copyright 2008 by the Associated Press.

Samantha

Obama Wins! History 2 Remember 4 Sure

Last night, the efforts of both the Democrats and Republicans showed up on an event that appears only once every four years. Although many people who work for the government can celebrate their victory, the new president gets the most glory of all. My article focuses on him.

Barack Hussein Obama gets the honor of becoming our new president. I believe his ideas can restore our economy, especially knowing that he made his catch phrase, "Yes we can!" The color of his skin makes this a real historical moment for blacks everywhere (and everyone else too). Along with our democratic new president, the democrats will gain more control of the senate and the house od representitives. “We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.” "The road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep,” were two interesting quotes that I got from my source. What surprises he will bring to the country?

nytimes.com By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: November 4, 2008

Obama Wins! - Daniel

Comedy Central's Indecision '08 - Nov. 4th, 2008

I'm so happy that Barack Obama won the presidential election. Maybe this means there is less racism in this country, because Barack Obama is the first African-American president-elect.  "This is an historic night." said Jon Stewart on Comedy Central's Indecision '08, as they announced Mr. Obama had enough electoral votes to win the presidency. 

I am hopeful that president-elect Obama will be the great leader he appears to be. It seems that a lot of our country is hopeful as well, given the election results.

"Obamanos!"

Sen. Obama Votes

On the news today I saw something that said "ALERT ALERT Sen. Obama Votes in Illinois." That is cool! It looked like he was telling his wife who to vote for. Isn't that cheating? Just kidding! I hope everyone votes!                  

                            -Ivy

Cassini Takes Pictures of Enceladus

The Cassini spacecraft has been orbiting Saturn and its moons since 2004. On October 31, Cassini took high-resolution images of the southern hemisphere of Enceladus when it flew within 171 kilometers of the moon.
Enceladus is famous for the icy plumes it spews from “tiger stripes” — linear fractures at its south polar region.

Cassini passed much closer, within 25 km, of Enceladus on October 9, but during that encounter, the craft’s cameras weren’t taking pictures at closest approach. The craft won’t swoop as close to Enceladus for another year. By that time, the sun will have dipped below the horizon as seen from the south pole, making imaging more difficult.

Enceladus is an amazing moon and I think that it is almost as amazing as Io, one of Jupiter's moons. I hope that the Cassini will be able to take good pictures on it's next flyby of Enceladus. Here are some links pictures of Enceladus :http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/docs/rst/Sect19/Enceladus.JPG
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Enceladus_Tiger_Stripes_Up_Close_PIA06247.jpg/600px -Enceladus_Tiger_Stripes_Up_Close_PIA06247.jpg

Here is a link to a picture of Io: http://www.ulb.ac.be/sciences/astro/cd/planetes/jupiter/io_galileo.jpg


www.sciencenews.org

Another Attempt

After Hubble broke down since the transmission to the ground last month NASA has finally repaired the backup system. It is still in working order.

This is a picture of 2 smoke-ring Galaxies, known as arp 147, 450,000,000 light-years (distance light travels in a year) away. Mario Livio,from NASA "one of the galaxies passed through the other, causing a circular wave, like a pebble tossed into a pond, that has now coalesced into a ring of new blue stars." I think it is clearly exciting that Hubble is up and running!I am still quite afraid because NASA has attempted to fix it repetitively but it just broke down. Also NASA has not used it for 18 years (when they launched it).

Clinton fights for Obama

"On a chilly Florida night, former President Bill Clinton warmly embraced Senator Barack Obama as a fresh leader for a new generation of Americans and implored voters to rally behind his candidacy to return the nation to a steady course." (from the political section of the NYTimes)
Clinton says to all Democrats-"Vote for Obama! He will lead our nation beyond what has ever happened before. This man is fit to be your president and mine as well. He has what it takes. 'He’s going to be the next president unless Americans forget what this election is all about.'" I think that was a nice gesture to Obama. The crowd was--is behind him, rooting for him in the background. Obama smiles, at ease and satisfied. He has what it takes to become our leader of this nation.


Elizabeth

Efforts of campaigning showing in tv ads.

Hey! This blog talks about tv ads from both campaigns. McCain uses mostly ads that use backgrounds involving tanks, Islamic extremes, and stormy seas to show that he would be a safer choice. He never gives up on his negative campaigning. One commercial shows McCain isn't alone; It says Obama will provide a tax cut of $1,000 to middle class people if you make exactly $60,000. McCain would only give you $150. Republicans are supposed to try to lower taxes while democrats would raise them. He also argues about many other economic issues. They both argue through an endless streak of argument about what they care most about. Obama gets yet another edge with a nearly endless supply of resources compared to McCain's resources. I thought to myself when I read that, "Obama probably gathered a greater amount of resources because he had more donations etc. He probably got his donations from people who will vote (or already voted) for him. If enough people vote for him he'll win and the people who donated almost guarantee a vote for him so that's good news for Obama fans like me." Many ads get positioned for the most part in a single or group of states. For example, Florida falsely accuses McCain of high costs of Medicare. Certain places in Colorado and Pennsylvania accused McCain of supporting businesses that ship over seas. Obama used his resources to buy him a 30-minute commercial on CBS, NBC, Fox, and Univision. He spent 5 million dollars on it. My conclusion, Obama gained a slight advantage over McCain in some areas but this race could go either way.





:-) :-<> ;-) :-O B-) :-)= $:-) K:-) :-(D ):-}= &:-) :-P :-q My new hairy dude J:-{ )-[

Brazil has more than enough oil - Daniel

Bloomberg.com - Oct 24, 2008

In Brazil the Petrobras oil company has found two huge pockets of oil in the Atlantic Ocean in the Tupi region, offshore. Tupi is part of a new deepwater region known as the pre-salt that may contain as much as 50 billion barrels, according to Peter Wells, oil analyst with the UK’s Neftex Petroleum Consultants. “Petrobras has something that other oil companies don’t have: oil - lots of it and they’re going to find more,” said Ricardo Kob-ayashi, an equity fund manager with UBS Pactual in Rio de Janeiro. 

Although this may seem like good news, gasoline prices are still very high. Many people think that these new oil discoveries will not help to lower the price of gasoline and oil worldwide because of the very high demand for oil and energy in the United States and from developing countries like China and India. Some people want to drill for this oil now, but it will be very difficult and expensive because of the oil's location deep in the ocean floor. There is always a threat to marine life when they do that and I'd rather protect the animals.  I think we need to put our "energies" into hybrid cars, alternative fuels like ethanol and technology like hydrogen power.  We are going to run out of oil and gasoline one day and we need to be prepared.

:)

Jeremy: Third Presidential Debate

"Round Three: McCain summoned old-fashioned antigovernment outrage in the final debate. But this is a different year." by Joe Klein in TIME magazine, October 27th, 2008 page 29.

In the third and final presidential debate, "John McCain entered the third debate with Obama a chastened man." . The use of the word "chastened" taught me a new word and it showed me that McCain is now on the defensive. I had thought he was still on the offensive. I learned that Obama wants the government to help solve health care instead of the people sorting it out. Looking back on the campaign, this article points out mistakes.

One the main mistakes, that the author suggests is hurting McCain's reputation, is the negativity. "... McCain had consistently stoked the rage as well as with non stop negative advertising and by questioning Obama's patriotism and trying to make an Everest out of the anthill of Obama's association - passing at best - with the former terrorist William Ayers."

Another mistake was his selection of VP. It is said that McCain wanted to choose Joe Lieberman as his running mate. Instead he listened to other advisors and selected Sarah Palin. "...McCain's monumentally dreadful selection of a running mate unqualified for the presidency" is seen to undermine his Ready on Day One campaign promise.

However, the article says McCain's recent messages are soild. The CNN focus group of independent Ohioians for the third debate like messages but rated Obama much higher.

How Early Voting is Helping

Early voting has increased the number of people voting. 25% of the people in Hays County have early voted, and that is basically the whole turnout for voting in an election. People in Austin are thinking that 75-80% will be the total percentage of turnout  in some counties. Isn't that cool?                    -Ivy

Naughty Senator Alert!

Yesterday afternoon, a Republican that was running for the position of Alaska's senator was convicted before a jury for violating several ethics laws and failing to report tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and services he had received from friends. Both John McCain and Sarah Palin called for the running senator of Alaska to quit his upcoming election because of his conviction. Yet this man called Ted Stevens refused to quit even though he was convicted of this crime. What do you think about that? Should Mr. Stevens leave the election? Or should he be strong and continue to refuse? I think that because of his long political career, he should not quit the election.  

Some scientists from the University of California discovered that you can create X-rays by unrolling a roll of scotch tape. It needed to have a strong current so it only worked in a vacuum (airtight space) because of the moisture in the air. Before, scientists had discovered that unpeeling tape could produce light. The tape is technically a mini X-ray machine! Now these scientists face an even higher challenge: "there's the possibility of nuclear fusion. If the energy from the breaking adhesive could be directed away from the electrons to heavy hydrogen ions implanted in modified tape, the ions would accelerate fast enough so that when they collided, they could fuse together and give off energy — the same process that lights the sun." I also think that is quite similar to solar panels. Solar panels have electrons blasted off by the sun; nuclear fusion has the hydrogen atoms blasted off by electrons. source: nyt

Bloodhound Rocket Car Sniffs out 1000-mph Land Speed Record

    The Bloodhound rocket is faster than a magnum .357 handgun bullet. This super sonic car will travel at more than 1000 mph. The driver will be wing commander Andy Green who is a Royal Air Force fighter pilot that broke the current record of 763 mph in October 1997. I think it is extraordinary that they invented a vehicle that can go over 1000 mph. 'Paul Drayson, science minister for the UK government, which is funding an accompanying education program said: "This project is not just about bragging rights to the world speed record.  This will result in tangible scientific developments that will benefit all, for example in areas such as fuel efficiency and safety and which could be used in the cars we drive in the future." '

 - Samantha 

Article from Thu October 23, 2008 CNN.com/technology

Special Report:  Just Imagine... what life will be like in 2020?

Habitats and a Point on Negative Campaigning

Hello everybody, I would just like to remind you about animals natural habitats and how presidential policies can affect them. Now, we all know for sure one thing that will happen if McCain becomes president, all that toxic waste from those nuclear plants is going to kill quite a lot of animals. If Obama becomes president, then animal population should go up because of his nice energy plans for wind, solar and, water energy. Also, about all this negative campaigning, I think were kind of insulting John McCain too. Do you agree? If not, go look at some comments about him. 

The Early vote gets the worm.

Hello! B-) Many voters stopped napping (No offense to my mom.) and started early voting. The results start showing and Obama likes what's scribbled all over them. Ohio, Nevada, Iowa, New Mexico and North Carolina favor Obama. Florida chooses McCain, and Colorado is a tossup. The early vote is important not just for a prediction but also encouragement for other "on time voters". Many voters support the person who's winning because they're too lazy to pay attention to politics. Paul Gronke said, "“In the past, what you’ve seen is early voters tend to be older, had higher incomes and lean more Republican and that trend has held over the past elections,” “But what we are seeing now when you look at the numbers is that they are more African-American, Hispanic and the young. I look at this and I go, ‘Wow!’ This is quite different. It is a lot different from what we’ve seen before and it has to raise concerns for the G.O.P.” This auspicious moment for Obama may lead to his victory. I'm especially excited about Ohio because all republican candidates depend on it for victory. Do you want your vote to inspire others? Do you want to avoid risks such as bad weather? You can vote early and your vote will inspire instead of expiring. I hope you enjoyed my blog! :-(D ( Open big tongue smiley!)

Source: "More Democrats Casting Early Ballots, Data Show", New York Times.
Jeff Zeleny and Michael Cooper contributed reporting.
A version of this article appeared in print on October 22, 2008, on page A21 of the New York edition.

Jeremy - McCain Tries Harder

"Obama Leads, But McCain makes bid for Pennsylvania" by Elisabeth Bumiller and Jeff Zeleny in Austin American Statesman on October 22 2008 Page A1,A4

The article was about John McCain trying to win in this previously Democratic state of Pennsylvania. So far it has been working. He has been in PA for 3 weeks staying in the same place for 3 days trying to convert Democrats to Republicans. He is using lots of advisors and giving speeches. He is saying that Obama is going to "raise taxes and was too untested to handle an international crisis."

Pennsylvania has 21 electorate votes that are key to an increasingly narrow race. McCain is only behind 7 or 8 percentage points in PA. The election history in PA is for very tight races.

More Problems with Hubble!

The Hubble Space Telescope has been completely out of order for almost a month. I have talked about the problems in my earlier blogs. In my last blog I talked about the fact that scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md were going to send binary streams of 0s and 1s to try and activate the back up device to get Hubble up and running. On October 15th 2008 the scientists started sending the binary commands. Key instruments including the Advanced Camera for Surveys, the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer successfully communicated through the backup unit for a brief moment before engineers returned the Hubble to the primary unit in fear of the telescope completely shutting down. On October 16, system monitors indicated that a power supply to the Solar Blind Camera failed to reach the correct level, and another, unidentified problem may have occurred, causing sensors to put Hubble into “safe mode.”

Matt Mountain, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, says the latest developments are disappointing, since the team had hoped for a clean switch to the backup unit. The team is not out of ideas, though. A potential plan using a hybrid of theprimary unit and the secondary unit of the data processor may solve the problem. The Hubble team successfully tested this maneuver on a replica of Hubble that is housed in a clean room at Goddard. “This is one of the contingency cases we had thought about ahead of time,” says Art Whipple, manager of the Hubble Systems Management Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “So far — touch wood — we are not out of options to get HST back on the air,” says Matt Mountain.

I hope that the hubble will be fixed as soon as possible, and that the "data processor" method will work. I do not really understand why the scientists did not leave the telescope in the "secondary unit mode". I know that the Hubble could have had major problems if they had stayed using the secondary unit, but isn't that a risk that they would have to take to get Hubble working?
For those of you who have not read my other blogs and looked at the pictures that hubble has taken, here is a link to the telescope's most amazing pics ever:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/legacygallery/gallery-9139/Hubble--The-amazing-space-photographs-universe.html

And now..... the attack of the smileys!!!! ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-) :-) :-) :-) :-) ;-p ;-p

www.sciencenews.org

A " Dance Floor" for Dinosaurs

People found a place where there was hundreds, maybe thousands of dinosaur footprints! There even was places where they dragged their tails. This is odd because dinosaurs don't usually drag their tails. Also that place used to be in the tropics, but now it is a desert.It used to be part of the super continent Pangaea.I got this from the site kpho.com. 

-Ivy

Where Campaigns are Needed

Obama will most certainly win Austin, but not Texas. The burning question: Is it enough to win for the whole country? For iffy states like Ohio, it is very important for Obama to have a bunch of those yard signs up. Why spend their time dealing with Texas, when they know it is a "Republican" state? This relates to the newspaper article about campaign signs being stolen. If they are on personal property, it is theft. Even though whoever is doing it might be doing it for laughs, I don't think it's funny. In fact, neither does the law. It is illegal to do so. For those who have been stolen from in Austin, although I know you want to show your support to whomever you're voting for, know that the campaigns are where they are needed.

Go Green (Roofs) - Daniel

Green roofs begin to take root
High costs may hamper efforts on Mexico City roofs.
By Jeremy Schwartz
MEXICO CITY BUREAU
Austin American Statesman - October 20, 2008

A few good reasons to get green (garden) roofs are that they can actually lower the heat in highly populated cities and then lower energy costs. Plus they suck up a lot of that pollution that's in the air, but there is a price, literally. They cost about $10 per square foot. Regular roofs are only $2 per square foot.

"The only way (green roof technology) will be effective on a citywide scale is if it's cheaper," said Mark Simmons, an ecologist at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. Cost is the big hold up.

In Mexico City the green roof project (or the Green Plan said Mayor Marcelo Ebrard) is taking place. Their "Green Plan" is geared to tie Chicago, the "hemispheric leader" by the year 2012.

Green roofs "are like putting little air-condition units outside," said Steven Peck, president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a nonprofit industry association based in Toronto. "Get enough of them, and you can actually change the climate of the city."

Here is a link to the article...

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/world/10/20/1020mexgreen.html

McCain vs. Obama

Today was the first day of early voting and from what the radio station said it seemed like the negative campaigning isn't really working for McCain. The polls are in favor of Obama. McCain is thinking up incredulous accusations to pose on Obama. For ex Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Obama's religious leader, who Obama had already distanced himself from, has radical ideas on black power. McCain is trying to make it seem like Obama thinks like that to, that was last month though. This month McCain is claiming that Obama is a terrorist because he is connected to, well, he knows a man named Bill Ayers. Bill Ayers, back in the day, was part of a radical group who robbed many, maybe even murdered some to prove their pledge to the "club". Now Mr. Ayers is a successful mainstream businessman in Chicago and he works on school committees. Almost everyone in that area would know him. McCain knows that but it's another thing to impose on Obama. Do you think negative campaigning works? Even if it is the truth ,which this is obviously not.

A deep tradgedy (knock on wood)

The NASA team tried to reboot Hubble on Thursday. It has failed to reboot. Last month the connection broke. The backup channel was working. But some time later something with the voltage was wrong. Kenneth reports that the computer "suffered a glitch and the science systems were shut down" but NASA is confident they can fix it. Hubble is too important to lose. It is a major source of our information about space.

source: NYT

Tecno Faces!!!

Before I start I'd like to tell Mrs. Michalski this blog is just for fun, not for a grade. My inspiration was Kiran because I loved his little smileys. That made me want a blog about them.

So here I go!

:-) (Traditional Smiley (Kiran's) ;-) (Winking Smiley) $:-) (Rich Hairdo Smiley)
:-[) (Giant Smiley) :-A (Smiley for a straight A report card) :-)= (Bearded Smiley)
0-) (Cyclops Smiley) :-<> (Fish Face) ):-}= (The Devil's Smiley) B-) (S.O.S(Smiley of Shades) K:-) (Raised Eyebrow Smiley) &:-) (Cool hat smiley)

I made 15 for you and I could make more. Smiling is key to life. It motivates us to write and shows happiness; It's more important than you might think. Too many other reasons to share. I know this blog has some nonsense but it can relate to the other blog stuff. The candidate you pick for president should make you smile. I've seen many blogs full of great news but I couldn't make a virtual smile... until now! It's important for me to know that you can too. If you look you can find a smiley for everyone! I'd love comments for additional smileys, suggestions, additional information, questions, etc. Warning! These coments may not count towards tokens

PS Mrs. Michalski Please don't delete this, I worked extremely hard on it!

My Source... Me!!! For more smileys go to my imagenary website at www.4fun.com/smileys

McCain's Attacks Greatly Hurting the Republican Party

Hey everyone! This blog talks about McCain's attacks and why they often backfire. For many weeks we've witnessed Obama, McCain, Biden, Palin and their thoughts. McCain sent the majority of attacks to the other party. It recently started changing the results but not positively. It became a major complaint about McCain. Others include picking Palin as V.P., his old age and a few more concerns. You may want to check out Ivy's blog and its comments; It may provide related information. Directly below lies my information.

If Election Day came today, approximately 53% of undecided voters would choose Obama 35% McCain.At least 6 in 10 people think McCain spends more time attacking Obama than saying what he will do. If McCain became president what would he do? You won't exactly know because McCain in my opinion spends most of his time attacking Obama and Biden, rejects Obama's rare and reasonable attacks and tries to hide how much he supports the Bush Policy. What makes this worse? None of it even works! When he actually talks about what he will do, he cares mostly about wars, doesn't care much about education,health,etc. and goes loco for nuclear plants.( I don't want to offend any republicans.) With the number of nuclear plants McCain wants has gone up from 43 to 45, a deadly meltdown will become more likely. Taxed health care will annoy many citizens. I don't want to go off-topic so back to my point about his attacks. Three out of four voters who changed their opinion of McCain recently say their opinion of him became worse.(The fourth person better of course.) Any one concern for either candidate can cost them the election and the White House. McCain needs a major comeback; That relieves me a little but anything can happen.

Article from The New York Times, "Poll Says McCain Is Hurting His Bid by Using Attacks".
Marjorie Connelly and Marina Stefan contributed reporting.
A version of this article appeared in print on October 15, 2008, on page A1 of the New York edition.

Music of the Future

In Switzerland, a team of scientists and artists are working together on new technology that can transform almost any surface into a musical instrument. The technology is called MUTE, short for Multi- Touch Everywhere. Using MUTE, a person can use a computer to translate taps on different parts of a table or a wall as different sounds.

For example, you may record and save different sounds on a computer anything from a snare drum or trumpet to clapping hands or a sneeze. Then, you program your computer to play one of these recorded sounds whenever you tap a certain spot on a table top or wall. The left side of a table might play snare drum beats, the right side a melody on a trumpet. If you tap the two sides at the same time, you’ll hear both sounds come together as a song. The system uses a camera and lasers to see where you’ve tapped on the table.

This works with motion sensitive lasers and cameras focused on different parts of the table, wall or even in the air so that when the laser is broken the message goes into the computer and plays whatever music you proggramed it to! I think that this will be the future of music. I think that people will be playing guitars, violins, pianos, drums and all of the other musical instruments on air. That is the future! :-):-)

Here is a link to what the program looks like:
http://sciencenews.org/view/access/id/37527/name/snk_music_2.jpg


http://sciencenews.org

Presidential Commercials

When I was in North Carolina, I saw some commercials by McCain and some by Obama. I liked Obama's commercials more than McCain's because McCain's was insulting Obama. Obama's was just saying how he could be a good president.  -Ivy

Brad Pitt Plays Rewarding Role in Katrina Recovery

Brad Pitt, the actor, created the Make It Right rebuilding project for replacing homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.  The new homes are energy-efficient and have solar panels.  They are available for people who owned property in the district.  Gloria Guy purchased one of the first homes built by the project.  " 'I thank God for Brad Pitt,' Guy said Thursday when reporters viewed the first six homes Pitt and family visited Monday and Tuesday."

I think that it is very good for the community of New Orleans.  It would be nice if someone could do this for the people whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Ike this year. 

- Samantha

Article from CNN.com Entertainment section, October 9, 2008, copyright 2008 by the Associated Press.

Hubble Going to be Fixed!

After more than two weeks of not sending out data, the Hubble Space Telescope may be working again as soon as October 16, NASA scientists announced in a teleconference October 14. For 18 years the telescope has been working perfectly, but data abruptly stopped coming from the Hubble on September 27 because of an unknown failure, like I said in one of my earlier blogs. To get Hubble working again, early in the morning on October 15, scientists will begin to transmit a series of long binary strings of 0s and 1s, to instruct the telescope to switch its operations from the failed equipment to a backup unit.

“This unit operated flawlessly for 18 years. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever,” said Art Whipple, lead mission systems engineer for Hubble at NASA-Goddard. Scientists are hopeful that the backup unit will get Hubble’s science data flowing to Earth again as early as October 15. A group of about 50 scientists at NASA-Goddard will remotely perform the equipment switch, which could make the whole telescope stop working or make it start again. “The team is ready to go,” Whipple said. “They are at their best when faced with something like this.”

I really hope that the switch works because the Hubble has taken some of the most amazing photographs ever. Here is a link to some of the breathtaking images taken by the Hubble: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/legacygallery/gallery-9139/Hubble--The-amazing-space-photographs-universe.html


www.sciencenews.org

Republican compliments Democrats

Recently, a Republican Senator gave compliments to three Democrats and only a quick good word to the Republicans. How could that be? Why would a man who supports the Republican party support Obama, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton? Is it possible that he sensed the Democrats were winning and succumbed to peer pressure? My theory is that he suddenly thought Barack Obama's plans were better and so switched to supporting him. But still, isn't that weird? 

The Green Challenge

In Las Vegas there was the end of a green challenge with Jack McCornack and Sharon Westcott. They were riding together in a green and yellow convertible that they built; a race where they made it from Berkeley, California to Las Vegas, Nevada with only vegetable oil. They made it in 23 1/2 hours! One of the rules was:They weren't allowed to burn any petroleum fuel. I would have thought they couldn't have made it 600 miles with only vegetable oil. The organizer of this project (Jim Mason) didn't think so either, "I'm kind of shocked that anybody made it at all." But they did in less than 24 hours!(23.6333333...)
The Green Race

Finally They Agree

"Obama, McCain Focus on Economy" by Robert Barnes and Shailagh Murray in the Austin Statesman on October 14th 2008

This articles discusses the main thing voters will have in their mind this election which is the economy. The way the nominees have dealt with it is by making new plans for the economy to get the voters support. Obama is going to add $60 Billon of tax breaks. McCain's plan is to "renegotiate distressed mortgages to help middle class homeowners and cut taxes". Both candidates will stop "home foreclosures at some banks for 90 days, give a 2 year tax break to businesses that will supply jobs to people in need, and give permission for people to withdraw up to $10,000 without penalty for two years".

I find this article interesting because I am interested in the debate between Obama and McCain. I was surprised that they agree on something. I like the agreement items because it will give relief to small business that are creating jobs for people. It will also give relief to people who can't pay their taxes. It will also allow some people to keep their shelter while get extra money to pay of the bills.

AIG takes a vacation with bailout money - Daniel

Lawmakers steamed over ritzy AIG retreat after bailout - CNN.com Oct 8, 2008

"Average Americans are suffering economically. They're losing their jobs, their homes and their health insurance," the committee's chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, scolded the company during a lengthy opening statement at a hearing Tuesday. "Yet less than one week after the taxpayers rescued AIG, company executives could be found wining and dining at one of the most exclusive resorts in the nation."

I think this article relates nicely to my previous post (Thumbs Down on the Bailout). The bailout is supposed to help "stimulate" the economy by helping banks and other financial companies ability to do business. These bankers got into trouble becasuse of irresponsible spending, bad loans and greed. And now, even after the bailout, they continue to do the same.

A question from my previous post was, "how will these companies learn from their mistakes?" This article makes a strong point for the argument that these companies may not use the bailout money wisely. It's like me getting into trouble all the time and never getting punished for it.

Also, where will the bailout money come from? Our taxes, most likely. Doesn't that mean that taxpayers will have to pay more in taxes? Is that a good thing?

3-way tie!

Three physicists got a Nobel Prize. two were Japanese.one was American. He worked at the university of Chicago so my dad might know him(he does physics too)!
They were looking for hidden symmetries in particles. What they found was the explanation of the asymmetry CP violation. The American gets 1/2 of the prize. I wonder why? That is unfair.
-Logan

Same-sex Marriages

In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay marriages. On May 15, 2008, the Supreme Court of California voted 4-3 that a state law banning same-sex marriage was constituted illegal discrimination. Now gay marriage in ruled legal in Connecticut.

"Love is love. Gay marriage does not diminish or compromise or change my heterosexual marriage in any way. However, denying people who love one another the right to form a family, make a home, raise children together with all parental rights granted to both parties, leave a legacy to each other and their children, and the right to be together to comfort each other when one of them is dying - knowing that this hate and prejudice exists saddens me greatly and I believe that this does diminish our shared humanity as much as racial or any other prejudice."
Comments Paula D. CT
The Legislative Branch is trying to overrule that by making a law. I think that is wrong. It's denying the right to a good proportion of the population to Human rights. They are the values our country was founded on, why should people be denied the chance to marry the one they love? If it were legal everywhere, who would it be hurting? Maybe people with strong religious beliefs would think it against the laws of their faith. Or some people may think it's disgusting to be gay. If you think that ask yourself why do you think that, how would you answer? Is it a logical reason? Why should gay marriage be frowned down on? Who are we to judge? How awful do you think it is to discriminate against people because of who they love?

Obama winning in Ohio according to polls

Woo hoo! Barack Obama has an advantage in Ohio. As you probably know Ohio is considered a vital state. No republican president since Abraham Lincoln won without Ohio. The states have suffered from poor economy. Barack, along with his edge in solving this enjoy hearing that more than half the voters think this quality will make the most difference. McCain and his edge in fighting terrorism has less importance, only 9%. 51% of voters support Obama 45% McCain. Still, about two in 10 voters are "movable," as the authors of my source stated it. "Movable" in this case means that their opinion can and may change. This means no one will know who wins this "game". Barack made contact with 43% of the voters in Ohio, McCain 33%. Both candidates have reached out and did the best they could but Barack has an edge in this as well. McCain and his chance still could prevail but his chance gets slimmer with every word I type. (I hope I sound like a Democrat.) Thanks for reading my blog.


Article from:
Obama Leading In Ohio, Poll Finds
Edge Is 6 Points In a State Looming Large for McCain
» Links to this article
By Jon Cohen and Dan BalzWashington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, October 7, 2008; Page A01

The Electoral College

The Electoral College is the thing that gives out all the electoral votes. It signifies what party a state is voting for. It needs to end! The totally unfair thing is, it never counts the votes for individual cities!!!!!!!!! Thumbs down for the Electoral College!!!!!!!! Also, if the College counted the capitol city instead of the whole state, Texas would have gone flat out Democrat.

Jonathan.C-- All debates

For the first presidential debate, I think that nobody said anything that would make me die of shock. The bad things that were said was, John McCain said that we can create 700,000 jobs in the U.S. If we can get 45 nuclear power plants by 2030. 

As for the second presidential debate, which I was only able to watch 30 minutes of, the Democrats continued the winning streak of debates which is currently 3. What really shocked me is that when somebody asked who the next secretary of the treasury is. And John McCain didn't know! 

A note about the term "maverick"

Whether in Thursday night's vice-presidential debate, or in the endless stream of words coming from the mouths of the punditry, we've all heard the term "maverick" bandied about to describe both Senator McCain and Governor Palin.

While browsing the New York Times today, I came upon an article that gave a short history of the term and assessed whether Senator McCain was aptly described by it.

"Maverick" was the surname of a family that moved to North America sometime in the 1600s. The first Maverick to make a name for himself was a vocal opponent of indentured servitude, who encountered some trouble with the law due to his beliefs.

The common usage of maverick did not come about until the 1800s, when a member of the Maverick family moved to Texas. He was known for not branding his cattle, leading all such unbranded cattle to be called "Maverick's." (Note the possessive, not plural.)

Apparently the Maverick family, staunchly progressive liberals, are not big fans of McCain's "branding" himself a maverick. (Pun very much intended!) They argue that, by being a member of a political party, McCain is already branded, and thus cannot rightly label himself a maverick.

The article can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/weekinreview/05schwartz.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

Near Record Arctic Melting

This summer the part of the Arctic Ocean covered by sea ice was the second lowest since 1979. Because much of the ice had formed in the past winter and was relatively thin, scientists estimate that the volume of floating ice probably reached a record low. The area that the floating ice covers is at least 15% of the sea's surface which fell to 4.67 million sq km this September. "That's approximately three times the size of Alaska, but it is 9% higher than last year's record low value. It is also 34% below the average measured for September since 1979," says Walter Meier, a remote sensing analyst at the National Snow and Aice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.

I think the fact that the percentage of ice has increased is very good and that everyone should try to keep improving these numbers. If it doesn't improve, the ice in the Arctic would melt causing the sea level to rise which could create floods all over the word.

www.sciencenews.org

Saving energy

Obama said something about saving energy in the debate, and I thought of ways to save energy. Here they are:

• turning off lights when you leave a room
• carpooling 
• turning off your computers when you aren't using them
• find other ways to get places other than cars, like bikes

-Ivy

NEVER MICROWAVE RAW MEAT!

By Marielle Bardon

New warnig highlights dangers of microwaving.
AP article in the Austin-American Statesman 10-7-08

We all use the microwave at lunch. To reheat is good, but to cook not so much. You see, in today's newspaper I learned that cooking raw meat in the microwave can leave cold spots that contain bacteria like salmonella, E. coli and listeria. If you eat the bacteria, you can get very, very sick.

At our house, we don't need to worry about these things because we hardly ever eat meat. Those of you who do eat meat, do not use your microwave for cooking raw meat. So folks, if you want to have delicious meat for dinner, either buy some that is already cooked and reheat it, or cook it yourself on a stove, grill, or oven.

Big Discounts Fail to Lure Shoppers. By Jennifer Saranow and Rachel Dodes. Wall Street Journal October 6, 2008 Page B1

Major stores were trying to use discounts to attract shoppers because they were not opening very quickly. It didn't really work because even with the discounts shoppers don't have enough money in their wallets to buy discretionary items like purses and fancy shoes. Though some stores, like Target, did not lose very many sales, some stores like JCPenneys, lost a lot more.

It seems like the financial crisis is effecting not just individuals but stores. Now the financial crisis seems even bigger to me because I used to think the crisis was limited to just some individuals. Lots of our trading comes from stores and business. If we stop are trading, we will loses more money then we have been losing. It seems to me like we are going to go into another depression like in the 1930s.

"..Big drops in sales at stores opened at least a year.... augurs poorly for the coming holiday season which some predict will be the worst for retailers since 1991."

Daniel - Thumbs down on the bailout plan

The $700bn Question? – Robert Reich, The Guardian, September 26, 2008

“Never before in the history of US capitalism has so much been asked of so many for so few.”

I think the bailout plan is a horrible idea, because taxpayers should not be asked to give so much money to bailout banks and companies that made many mistakes. How will these bankers and investors learn from these mistakes if we just give them money to cover their losses?

A Great Economics Teacher

An economics teacher named Jibladze [at LBJ High school Academy] is teaching his students about the $700,000,000,000,000 bail out plan. He is giving them a lecture on it. It is amazing that these handful of high school students understand this! They were raising their hands to contribute. I would raise my hand to ask questions. How do the banks get their Money back? He must have had to work very hard to explain this to his students. He points out,"People are dumb and believe what they want to believe; what politicians tell them." I think this is half true. People aren't quite stupid but they are stubborn; they won't usually change their mind.
the Austin economics teacher

Elizabeth---Palin vs. Biden, A Moment of History

I just finished watching the VP Debate and I think Palin's answers was much better than expected. Did you notice that when asked "Do you think the VP has a big role in the Leg. Branch?" Palin completely changed the subject. She would obfuscate when she didn't know what to say. I also think it was unprofessional when she used words like "darn," "heck," and things along those lines. But, again I have to say she delivered her lines very well, was direct, and she looked at the camera unlike Biden.
Another thing that I thought was funny was when she continually used the word"maverick". Sarah Palin , opposite from the presidential debate, called Biden Joe and Biden called her Governor Palin. She has been compared to Ronald Reagan on NBC and I thought that was somewhat peculiar.

I don't really think anybody won. Palin held her head high and Biden answered knowledgeably. But overall I really enjoyed the Debate and think it was a great experience.

I also completely agree with the moderater when she said that we all get extra credit for watching the Debate tonight! :)

Palin and Biden both wrong about gay marriage

I watched part of the debate between the candidates for vice-president tonight on PBS. It's weird that they both agreed on one thing: gay marriage. Palin said, "I don't support defining marriage as anything but between one man and one woman." Biden said " Barak Obama nor I support redefining from a civil side what constitutes marriage." I think that Biden and Palin are both wrong about gay marriage. I think that gay marriage is okay.
My aunt Carol is married to my aunt Evelyn but their marriage is not legal and I think it should be. Biden and Palin are against allowing two people of the same sex to marry. I think that everyone should be able to marry the person they love.

Hubble Suddenly Quiet

The hubble space telescope stopped transmittind data on September 27th for an unknown reason. They could use the secondary unit onbard the hubble, but if the 18 year old telescope had one wire loose the whole thing could explode, destroying millions of dollars worth of scientific equipment. "The probability of failure is pretty low … but the consequences of a failure could be very high,” Preston Burch, Hubble manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt told Science News in an interview on September 30. “There are concerns about blowing a fuse, having a relay stick or having a box fail.”

This problem came two weeks before the telescope was going to be upgraded. The problem will delay the mission, untill at least next Febuary!! "Our goal is to sort out reality from overly conservative fears, by first practicing switching sides on Hubble’s electrical replica on the ground at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center" Burch says. "If that exercise goes well, engineers would attempt to switch to the duplicate unit on Hubble sometime toward the end of next week"

"The relatively high operating temperature of the formatting unit may have contributed to its failure, but scientists may not know the root cause of the problem until the device is brought back to Earth" Burch says. So it will be one year before the "device is brought back to Earth" and is fixed. The images that hubble has taken are amazing and I really hope that the NASA fixes it as soon as possible. I will post a comment with some pictures that hubble has taken, so that you can see how amazing they are.

www.sciencenews.org

David, 1st presidential debate

I saw the debate and I thought that "John" could have done a whole lot better. I wish he hadn't strayed off topic and lied. I was very disappointed about how he did. I thought that Barack's strategy for the economic crises was very interesting. I thought that Jim Lerher was very good. "I have a bracelet too john." I think that both canadites rarely agreed. The whole thing was very odd.

Ivy - War in Iraq

I watched the debate on TV Friday night and McCain says that we are winning in Iraq, but what does it mean? My opinion is that we shouldn't be in Iraq in the first place. We should be trying to capture Osama Bin Laden. He is a bad guy who people think has weapons of mass destruction. That is worse than Iraq's terrorism. Iraq has "little" terrorism. Weapons of mass can be used for "big" terrorism. That is bad, very bad!