The ESA and Polar Bears

The Endangered Species Act is not helping the polar-bears. Obama is helping create new laws, acts, and rules to help the polar bears. The acts currently in effect say, "help the polar bears". This is the problem because it is too vague. With Obama's help, people who have no idea how to "save the polar-bears" and just know how to work on power plants, will be told to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions of their plant or to use renewable energy for their power plant. I think that the law to not use the endangered species act to effect the U.S. is a good law, but not in the way George W. Bush thought it. Obama will make new, better rules to help the U.S.! (And the polar bears!)

Source

Obama's "clash for clunkers" plan.

 5/6/09 Obama summoned 36 House Democrats to Obama's house (White House). After a few hour's of tedious debating the three dozen and one (Barack Obama) finally emerged on an answer. To embrace $3500 or $4,500 to every body who replaces an old, low-efficiency car with a newer more fuel-efficient car.

sources: statesman.com

World's Oldest Dog Has B-day

Today the world's oldest dog had its birthday. Chenel is turning 21! Chenel is a doxen who recently became world's oldest dog when a 28 year old beagle died. Unfortunately, Chenel never leaned how to beg. She is very difficult to take care of because of her very brittle bones. Her hair has even turned white she's so old! She has to wear special doggie glasses because of her cataracts. She now only takes walks in the summer and gets carried most of the way. She used to walk three miles every day. It's amazing that she's still alive!

The Truth About Swine Flu

Some people are saying that swine flu comes from pig farmers mistreating their pigs. One report says that a huge pig farm has many holes filled with pig waste, blood, and dead pigs. Some pigs are processed for other pigs to eat. All of the others are processed and sold for people to eat. From now on think twice before eating pig!!              -Ivy

Just serch "Pork's Dirty Secret" and click on the first link.

Twelfth Night -- Logan

Last night I went to Winedale with my dad. We saw Twelfth Night. I recognized the scenes that we acted out well. The man who played Malvolio and the woman who played Sir Toby (LOL!!!) were, in my opinion, the best actors. It was very funny, esp. Malvolio yelling at everyone in cross-gartered yellow stockings.

Chrysler Goes Down

Obama, having pushed Chrysler into bankruptcy, hopes that he can make GM better. Yet, officials claim that it will be politically harder to change* GM. For Chrysler, they didn’t view the government’s decision for much because they were already going bankrupt. But for GM, Obama will be enforcing GM’s policies and become the Head Shareholder of GM, once a self-controlling company.

*CHANGE: something we can live with
-Obama’s campaign (Get it!?!?!?!?!)
Source: NYT

The Pandemic of the Swine flu

On April 30,2009 the World Health Organization (WHO) boosted the alert of  swine flu to phase 5."Phase 5" means the chance of a sickness or a plague going into a pandemic has a great amount of chance or inevitable. There have been 51 confirmed  cases in NY, 16 in TX, and 14 in California. It's spreading all over the country and fast, especially since it started in Mexico (or the first confirmed case).

            sources:statesman.com

Swine Flu Alert!

Swine flu (N1H1) is making people in the U.S. and Mexico sick. This flu is thought to be more severe than common garden varieties. The U.S. is about to declare Phase 5 of 6. Phase 5 is where many people have been infected in at least 2 different countries. Phase 5 has never been declared before! Many people think that Phase 6 will be declared. While this sounds vary bad, many people think this is no abnormal flu and no caution is needed. So far, 10 states (New York, Texas, California, Arizona, Nevada, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Maine) have confirmed cases of swine flu. However, Mexico has lots of cases as well. There are a few cases in Canada, Europe, and New Zealand. Stay alert of this flu and use basic hygienic cautions.

Cyberspace Has Wars Too!--JC

The US doesn't have the foggiest idea how to deal with cyberattacks on it's communication systems. Last Wednesday a group of scientists warned us that cyberattacks could be a problem. It might even start a cyberwar. Web sites have been important in military since 2000, and a cyberattack would be a big problem in Afghanistan. I hope my CPU doesn't suffer a cyberattack. That would not be good.

A long term place to be

Most people think that the bonus structure for bank employees is a main cause for the economic crisis that we're in.

The problem with the bonus structure is that the bonuses are making the employees look at short term earnings. For example of a short term earning, a banker sold mortgages to a home buyer who could just barely pay it's rate. If the home buyer took the mortgage, they would put themselves in a dangerous place to be. So they won't be able to pay the banker who was thinking he would sell lots of mortgages but he wasn't thinking about how responsible the home buyer was. But mortgages aren't the only example of short term bonus structure. There are many more. Even as the bank's income increases, they are still thinking short term or "cutting down the hedges"**** You would think that the banks would understand and take accountability, but apparently they don't really care because they would have stopped giving bonuses for short term thinking by now.

****A real life example is if you had an allowance of $1 a week, and you could earn $4 extra by cutting down the hedge & $3 more for cleaning your room. So if there was a big prize for the best looking hedge so you cut it every week, it would end up dying and so you wouldn't win the reward AND your maximum income for each week would be decreased from $8 to $4. SO FOR LONG TERM'S SAKE!!! DON'T CUT THE HEDGES!!!!!!!!!

source: NYT

The Senate is Nice to Us--JC

The Senate is nice. This is because they have dropped harsh interrogation under Obama's requests. Bush, however, while he was president, he would use harsh interrogation on terrorist suspects. Bush isn't very nice. I am glad that the Senate has opposed mean interrogation. It will help persuasion to answer the questions and the person will not get hurt. I don't know what Bush was thinking when he did that.  

Bicyclists' Small Victory by Marielle Bardon

Pedaling Influence 

by Pam LeBlanc

Austin-American Statesman

April 20, 2009

My neighbor Lane Wimberley rides his bike almost every morning to his work.  And also he rides his bike to many other places.  But sometimes he might have trouble with his bike routes.  When new developments are built, sometimes they forget about the bikers that might be going there. "Local development projects have traditionally been plagued with utter disregard for cycling issues," said Lane.  

Bicyclists sort of had a small victory because the Domain II has come up with this thing called "sharrows".  They are little signs that they paint on the road that show that the street is made for bicyclists and motorized vehicles.  At 15 miles per hour, both motorists and bicyclists feel safe.  

I am happy that my neighbor Lane had a small victory.  A good reason that I wrote this article is that bikes are good for the earth, so I'm happy, and happy earth day to all, and to all a good life!  

Earth Day!!

Guess what!?! Today is a very special day called Earth Day!!! On Earth day you should Recycle and turn off all of your lights. Also you should clean up trash around your neighborhood. Earth Day is important for saving energy, a cleaner environment, and more fossil fuels. Go Green and save the environment!!                   --Ivy

"T.E.A." Parties

 On April 19, 2009 a nonprofit organization called FreeWorks led by Dick Armey a formal Republican House Majority leader of Texas went to the president and complained about taxes. "The thing that bewilders me that is this president [Barack Obama] just cut taxes for 95% of the American people..." said David Axelrod. And If you're wondering why they call themselves "T.E.A." Parties? "T.E.A" stands for Tax Enough Already (which I think doesn't make sense).

                                                         sources: statesman.com

Obama's view on carrying guns in wildlife reserves

The Obama administration thinks that people should not be able to carry loaded guns in wildlife reserves & national parks. Bush's view on guns and wildlife reserves was different. Bush's rule said that someone could carry a loaded gun into a national park or wildlife reserve if the person had some specific permit; the rule started to be enforced in January. Paul Helmke runs a campaign to prevent gun violence, and he was not happy about Bush's rule. He opposed it by filing a lawsuit that got all the way up to the federal court. He was very pleased with Obama's decision to agree with him on the lawsuit. Paul Helmke said, “Semiautomatic weapons have no place in the valleys of Yellowstone, on the cliffs of Yosemite, or under the torch of the Statue of Liberty.” And I agree; Yellowstone, the cliffs of Yosemite, and The Statue of Liberty are no place for guns!

Kids Too Young to Smoke by Marielle Bardon

Senate votes to raise tobacco age to 19 - April 15, 2009 - 2:17 p.m. CDT
Copyright 2009, The Associated Press

The Texas Senate is trying to make a law that kids 18 and under will not be able to buy cigarettes anymore. They voted 25 to 5 to raise the smoking age to 19 today. I still think that the youngest you should be to smoke is 21. I don't even think you should be able to smoke. My grandpa died because of lung cancer. He stopped smoking, but it was too late, so he died when I was 2 1/2 years old.

I'm happy that they are raising the age to 19 because usually there's only 17 and 18-year-olds in 12th grade. I hope less and less kids start smoking because they might end up like my grandpa.

Low Degree, Lots of Money

I checked out an article on yahoo about jobs that don't require a PhD or law degree but still pay over 100G. It listed jobs for bachelors, masters etc. At the end, it said to go with want you are happy doing. What is the point of making it into a long article when you can make it one sentence? Why would someone take advice from an unknown person anyway? Why wouldn't it be worth the effort to get a PhD? Many of the jobs they listed don't even get $100,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blagojevich pleads he's innocent

  Blagojevich pleads that he did not try to sell Barack Obama's former Senate seat. He also pleads innocence for racketeering and fraud charges. His attorney spoke with the judge for permission to leave the country to appear on NBC's show called "I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!" where ten celebrities face various challenges in the Costa Rican jungle.

sources: statesmen.com

Poor Actress!-JC

If any of you have heard of the rock star Phil Spector, he was convicted yesterday of murdering an actress. The penalty will be at least 18 years in jail, and the jury took 27 hours to deliberate. Phil is 68 years old, so by the time he gets out of jail, he will be at least 86 years old! I am surprised that a rock star would murder anyone, let alone an actress!

War Can Change, And It Has.

L.T. Cheek and his troops had just climbed up a switchback road towards The Taliban's city, Wanat. Wanat is the location of the bloodiest battle ever fought between the US and Afghanistan since 2004 (trust me, that's saying a lot). Enemy lookouts watched from high ridges. They had devices like walky-talky(s). (Sort of like the "intruder" relay at The Great Wall of China). In the first stage of the war in Wanat, we had a mere 120 soldiers in extremely hostile enemy territory. We had a small outpost in a raging fire of however many Taliban troops there are out there. In the next stage, we will have multiplied the # of U.S. troops by 175(for a total of 21000 soldiers)! A majority of them will stay in the bases being built on the SE edge of Wanat. The dramatic increase in the amount of American troops can effect the behavior of the children and other citizens. It is surprising how much tolerance or intolerance could be shown or how different the same nationality of people can feel. Some children waved, some others stuck their middle fingers up into the air, and some even threw stones. (how abused would would you have to feel to throw a rock at someone holding a gun?!). But stones weren't the worst, there was a woman carrying an assault rifle and a 12 year old boy with a RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade). It is a sad thing to see a war that has escalated to the point where 12 year olds are throwing RPGs at the U.S. Army.

My Source: NYT  

 

Rocket From North Korea

Today, (4/5/09) North Korea defied the US, China, and some of the United Nations resolutions by launching a missile into space that North Korea said was made for launching satellites into space. Most of the world didn't believe this; we thought it was an attempt to prove that they could launch a long ranged nuke. The three staged rocket flew straight over Japan. To see a rocket fly over you that looked presumably like a nuke is not a very soothing thing to see for a country that had been hit by the only nuclear bombs that have ever been used for military uses.

Source

Is the Ant Dead or Not? By Marielle

"Hey, I'm Dead!"  The Story of the Very Lively Ant

by Robert Krulwich in Krulwich on Science, All Things Considered, April 1, 2009

Have you ever wondered how ants know when other ants are dead?  Well, E. O. Wilson can tell you how.  He figured out that when an ant dies in the colony, if it is not squished, then the other ants just pass by it as if it were a piece of dirt.   This happens for two days, and then the dead ant makes this odor that is very stinky, and so the next ant that passes by notices that that is a problem, picks it up, and brings it to the ant graveyard, which is a pile of dead ants.  

The reason that he started this research is because he knows that most animals do not communicate as humans do.  Humans communicate with talking, seeing, feeling, etc.  But some animals communicate with smelling, touching, echolocation, etc.  But the ant, for one, is smelling.  The ant has little glands and each one has a different smell, so to communicate, instead of talking, they squirt the gland that has a certain smell of what they want to say, and then the other ant immediately knows what she is trying to say.  

Since the ants have a certain smell for things they want to say, Ed Wilson wanted to see if he could make a dead ant smell.  He tried a series of different stenches, and he found that oleic acid was the one.  That alone said to an ant, "I'm dead."  Just for an experiment, Ed Wilson put a few drops of oleic acid onto an ant that so unfortunately walked by.  Right when she went back into the colony, an ant picked her up with her legs kicking wildly around and took her to the giant pile of dead ants and threw her in.  The ant quickly climbed out and bathed herself like a dog.  After a while, she went back into the colony, and pretty soon after that, another ant picked her up and threw her in the pile of dead ants.  The same process happened again an again for about one or two hours, until the ant cleaned herself like crazy and rid herself of the dead stench.  She went back into the colony and everything was fine.  Ed Wilson said he did feel guilty, but he also said that "I was trying to see if I could create the 'Living Dead.'"  

Even though I believe it was a tad cruel to do that to the poor little ant, it was a little bit cool that he could make the ant seem like it was dead to the other ants.    

A New Start

Our president met with the Russian leader Dmitri A. Medvedev. They negotiated a fresh start. They also agreed to work together in the war against Afghanistan. They also talked a lot about arms. Obama pledges to continue his good relationships with other countries. He also met with Queen Elizabeth II. It's good that our president is meeting with other leaders and getting along with them. I hope he continues to do well!

From nytimes

AIG Bailout, Not Bonus

AIG was about to go bankrupt, and they needed a bailout fast. Can you guess who they turned to for money? The government of course. Do you know how AIG used that $165 million? They used the money as bonuses in the employees paychecks and not paying their debts. Now the government is suing AIG for not using their money for paying their debts when they were about to be bankrupt.            

sources: Canada.com

Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

Will fluorescent light bulbs actually save the planet? The new fluorescent light bulbs sometimes have difficulties working or wear out sooner. Although fluorescent bulbs are better for the environment, they also have a down side. One San Franciscan couple — inspired by the movie "An Inconvenient Truth," — swapped the majority of their incandescent bulbs for fluorescent bulbs but instead of their electricity bills going down they just got in a mess. As the wife (Mrs. Zuercher) pulled a box of defective fluorescent bulbs from a shelf, she said,"Here's my sad collection of bulbs that didn't work,". Do you think that these kind of fluorescent bulbs will help the world's crisis?

Source

Food Judging May Be Unfair!!!!!

I happened to go on the Internet, and Yahoo, my homepage, had an article about the worst chain restaurants. It gave a letter grade to 66 chain fast-food places and restaurants. It also gave brief information about each restaurant and a solution. It only showed the D+ and lower. It was mostly judged upon average calorie amounts.

This causes many problems such as these:
1. Many restaurants have just a few bad things. That could hurt the score badly even though it is easy to avoid and could just suggest to avoid it. This is often the case with milkshakes.
2. There are many other factors such as fat, carbs, and sugar that may actually have a bigger effect than calories.
3. Nothing says you must eat out in the first place!!! If you really wanted to be healthy, you wouldn't go out to eat.

Finally, they only gave the worst score (an F) to the restaurants who don't give nutrition facts about their meals. I can see why they would do that, but it's the restaurant's choice. I don't think that's a smart choice on the restaurants part because it makes people suspicious they are hiding bad nutrition. I still don't think it's fair to give them an F because of it. Maybe they could make a note about it, or don't use them at all. You have to give some respect to their choices. In case you're still wondering, these restaurants are IHOP, T.G.I. Friday's, Applebee's, and Outback. It also tells you to call them and keep telling them to make nutrition facts. I think this is VERY unfair and none of our business!

A few messages to summarize this:

1. Be careful with eating out and check nutrition facts.
2. Avoiding all restaurants and fast-food places and cooking for yourself is a much better option!
3. You can't always trust an article about health!!!

Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/26542/americas-unhealthiest-restaurants
Please note that my source is the food judging, not whether or not it's fair.

Obama Sends More U.S. Troops To Pakistan's Border- Daniel

On Friday March 27, 2009 Obama will order more troops, more civilian officials, and increased aid. This plan contradicts what Obama's main goal is. Ending this war and get troops out of there. Though, the final recommendations have not been public (not all the details have been told). 

                                                                       sources : statesmen.com

Obama's budget is not looking good for the "Yucca mountain nuclear waste project". He promised Nevada that he would oppose it, but now people are wondering what to do with our nuclear waste. If Obama insists, that means that $2400000000 was wasted to find a place for nuclear waste. Just saying to throw out the nuclear waste project would ruin the work of 1/2 a century. Lawyers estimate that 10s of 1000000000s of dollars would be spent for storing the waste instead of burying it. Just think about it! Does that actually help your budget Obama?

NYTimes 

Helpful Kindle – by Marielle

Kindle's New Voice Is Almost Human
Science Out Of the Box
All Things Considered, March 7, 2009 - Jackie Leiden

Do you have a friend who has trouble reading? Well, you should tell them about the Kindle. It reads the books to them. And it’s not just like a robot voice.

"We'll audition lots and lots of voice actors, pick one we like, and we'll record them reading untold amounts of sentences over a period of maybe a month," said Andy Aaron, a speech researcher at IBM. "We'll take those sentences, chop them up into individual pieces called phonemes, and build a library of that person's voice." It sounds more realistic, and more like an actual voice.

Since I am dyslexic, I think I’m going to get one of these so if there is a big book project, I will be able to do it more easily.

Obama Signs Order That Ok's Stem Cell Research

   On Monday March 9,2009 President Barack Obama sealed the deal that allows scientist to study stem cells. This will open up research and possible cures for diseases like some cancers, Parkinson's, spinal cord injuries and others. 

Stem cell research is controversial because the cells are obtained from embryos and adults. It can in some cases destroy the embryo. Opponents state that it can also lead to cloning, which can lessen the value of human life as we now know it. Proponents argue that it can have incredible potential for medical treatments.   

I think stem cell research can be a great help to the medical field, as long as it is done without breaking the law.         

-statesmen.com

-wikipedia.com

Detention!

On Friday, judges erased ruling that allowed military detention. Now, the nation is faced with the most fundamental question concerning national security: Is the president allowed to give indefinite military detention of the U.S. legal residents? Also, the Supreme Court has changed it's mind in hearing the case of Ali Saleh Kalah al-Marri. I think Obama should change the law that judges in the Supreme Court are allowed to do that. I wonder where Ali will go now, don't you?

Calls for Higher Spending

The chairman of the financial reserve tacitly endorsed Obama's increase in spending. Though he did not endorse any specific proposals, he echoed his proposals for action for the economy's current state. He is Ben S. Bernake and is actually a republican appointed by Bush. He provided crucial backings for political battles ahead. He recently deepened his alliance with the new president. It is surprising to see a democrat and a republican get along so well.

$900 million for Palestinian rebuilding - Daniel

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday 3/2/09 that the United States would try to raise $900 million to assist rebuilding the war-damaged Palestinian region of Gaza. She said, "They [the Palestinians] cannot just sit and take rockets falling on it's people". 

The money will not go to Hamas, the ruling party of the Palestinians, considered terrorists by the US and other countries. One third of the money will be allocated to humanitarian efforts and be delivered by the United Nations and other groups. 

I'm proud that I live in a country that helps people around the world that are caught in the middle of conflicts such as this, but my concern is our present economy at home and if we can afford to do these kinds of things.

Denverpost.com

cnn.com

Greener Explosions

As a dark colored SUV sped across the road in Washington D.C. and exploded into flames on Fox’s show “24” nobody noticed how much CO­2 had to have been released into the air… but Fox did. Fox has publicized that "24" is going green. As a solution, they used 20% biodiesel fuel. But even hybrids release CO2 when blown up (It’s natural!). I think a much more reasonable solution would be using animation.

⨀⨀⨀⨀⨀⨀

 

Obama Raises Taxes for Health Care Plan

Obama will propose tax raises for the wealthy. He needs it for his health care plan. He will also propose a 10-year budget plan to use the revenues for his environmental policy. The effect of these proposals will cancel Bushes tax reductions for people who make more than $250,000 a year. This upsets many people. For example, the White House thinks it's unfair to make the rich pay more. However, Obama will reduce taxes for all citizens in the 35% tax range, and most in the 33% tax range. I think this is an interesting idea but it seems a bit unfair. How do you feel?

Comet Lulin is Passing by the Earth – by Marielle

Watching The Skies For Comet Lulin

Feb. 23, 2009, Melissa Block, All Things Considered (NPR)

A nineteen-year-old discovered Comet Lulin two years ago, and now we it is passing by Earth. “After it gets dark, look for two bright stars near the horizon: one is the planet Saturn, the other is Regulus, the star, and for the next few nights, Lulin will be somewhere between them," says Kelly Beatty, senior contributing editor of Sky & Telescope magazine. Then take some binoculars and look through them and try to see the comet between those two stars. For the rest of this week, you will be able to see the comet with binoculars, but in the next month, you will have to use a small telescope. It will get harder and harder to see until you can’t see it unless you’re at the observatory.
If you look through your binoculars when it’s visible, you will see that the comet has two tails. One is in the front and one is in the back. The one in the front is shorter and the one in the back is longer.
Tomorrow night I will try to see the tails. I think that they are going to look pretty. If you try, I hope you see the comet also.

President Obama is going to Evacuate U.S. solders by 2010

 President Obama  plans to evacuate most U.S. solders from Iraq in about 18 months. Though  he said that he would evacuate the solders three months earlier in his campaign. Let's just be happy because the war will be over soon. 

Teen Goes Missing!-JC

On Friday the 13th, a teenager living in Escondido, California left her house at 7:00 AM carrying a check for a baby lamb she was going to raise. But she never arrived at school. Her family says that it was "a day she'd been looking forward to for more than a year". Her mother says that "she would not have given up that lamb for anything", so she did not run away. That is kind of strange and sad, isn't it?

    

Am I that pretty? by Marielle Bardon

Think You're Good-Looking? Think Again

New evidence shows we believe we're more attractive than we are in reality
By Jesse Bering

February 18, 2009 in Mind & Brain

How good-looking are you? You might not be as good-looking as you think. These tests that Nicholas Epley and Erin Whitchurch did have shown that most people think that they are more pretty than they are.

What they did was they took 27 college students and took a picture of each individual one. Then they put the pictures in a computer and morphed them. They morphed them ten times. Five of them made the picture look uglier and uglier and uglier, and the other five made them look prettier as they go. Then they invited each college student in two to four weeks after they had taken their picture, and brought them over to the computer. They did not say which pictures were prettier, uglier, or the same as the picture that they took. They asked the students to point at which one they thought was them. But once they did every single one, most chose the picture that was 20% prettier than they actually were.

"It is perhaps of little wonder, then, that people so rarely seem to like the photographs taken of themselves. The image captured by the camera lens just doesn't match up to the image captured in the mind's eye," said Nicholas Epley and Erin Whitchurch. Almost everybody thinks that they are prettier than they actually are. I probably think that I am prettier than I actually am, too.

Alaska is going green! (Alas)

Three huge wind turbines spin in the cool, seemingly endless winter winds in Alaska. Alaska is one of America's toughest places for being green, yet it can - and is - going Green. People have started to notice our need for green energy and Alaska is testing new ideas for renewable energy sources. Alaska is going green, not to help stop global warming, but to save money. This is a good reason for Alaskans because the diesel to power generators costs more than 5$/gallon to be shipped so using renewable sources is in the competition - and winning. Alaska produces more oil than any other state except Texas but most of it is shipped out of the state. The high prices for shipment still keep fuel prices high, but I think that it is cool that Alaska is going green! 

  Source  

North Korea Claims They Have Made New Nuclear Bombs

  North Korea has threatened Seoul (or South Korea) on Saturday 17 January, 2009. North Korea says that they have six nuclear warheads. U.S. intelligence officials estimated that North Korea have harvested enough fuel for six warheads, but not finished. "Why?" you ask, the article doesn'tsay, maybe their cruel, maybe they want to take over I don't know. Please comment if you found out.

sources: statesmen.com

       Before Roland Burris became senator in Illinois; he was trying to make money – without success – off his friends for Blagojevich; just because Blagojevich's brother told him to! Robert – Blagojevich’s brother – had been talking to Blagojevich; that because Burris was failing to raise $ Burris was letting loose the secret that he was trying to raise money to earn the Governor’s respect and/or favor. I think that he did this – showing this secret to the people late – might have happened because Rod Blagojevich – Governor – had a higher rank & has misused the seat of Governor so Burris thought Blagojevich might misuse that seat against him.

SOURCE ^{­(click here)}

Wildfires

Near Melborne, Australia there have been some pretty bad wildfires, burning many animals and killing many people. There was a story on the news about this one koala who got very badly burned. The shy marsupial came to the States for treatment. The koala was not saved but s/he did do one last thing before s/he died. Koalas are normally shy and they try to stay away from people, but this one koala, right before death came up to a person trying to save him/her and gave that person a hug. The person was astonished that the koala did this, and now that person would like to help more animals along the way who have been hurt. Many think that animals, aside from pets, have no personality. Well, this koala proved all of those people wrong. Go koalas!!

~~Elizabeth

Iphones in Afghanistan?

From the Al-Jazeera Web site: http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/02/200928133747620542.html

Mullah Salaam Zaif*, a former member of the Taliban in Afghanistan, lives under house arrest at his home in Kabul. During a recent interview by the Reuters news service, Zaif produced an iPhone from his pocket and went to town.

A quotation from the Al-Jazeera posting explains why this is newsworthy: "During Taliban rule, which ended when the US and its allies rolled in and took control of Kabul in 2001, the leadership had banned just about anything associated with modern technology.

There were no televisions, no computers, no radios, no music and though iPhones were not around back then, they most certainly would not have been allowed."

When asked about his iPhone, Zaif responded as most people who own the device would: "I'm addicted," he said, "the internet is great on this, very fast."

It is certainly interesting that someone who might be considered an "enemy" of the U.S. would be so jazzed about using technologies that come from his former rival.

What might foreign acceptance of U.S. technologies signal for U.S. foreign relations? Is the iPhone awesome enough to win the hearts and minds of U.S. enemies around the world? What do y'all think?

Mr. Davidson


*Mullah Salaam Zaif is not this man's three-part name. Mullah is in fact a title of some kind. A token goes to the first person who comments or makes a new post explaining (correctly) what a mullah is.

New assignment

Howdy bloggers,

As we discussed in class the week before last, I'd like our newest blog posts to be on one of the following topics:

1) Obama's first 100 days
2) Economic stimulus package (or anything economy-related)
3) Iran, North Korea, or Iraq
4) Afghanistan
5) The Middle East

Other topics are acceptable, just run them by me before posting your story.

Y'all have made some great posts so far, and I look forward to seeing more in the future!

Keep up the good work,

Mr. Davidson

Seattle Airports are safe from Birds

A bird biologist, Steve Osmek created a radar that tracks birds. Bird are dangerous to air planes because they get stuck in the plane's turbines, which causes the plane to fall. It's like a mouse and an elephant. So if you ever land safely in a Seattle airport thank Steve Osmek.

sources are:CNN.com

An Instant Star

A 19-year old simply asked Obama a question and got a job offer and many other goodies including health care, refundable tax, and more. Barack Obama also complimented the fact that he's been working so hard at his job he had at McDonald's, flipping burgers, which pays only $7.85 an hour. This lucky man named Osegueda must be happy to take anything he gets. He also got another offer. A one-day event as the announcer for the Fort Meyers baseball team excites him. "I'll be ready," he said to the offer. For the video go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1m_k2dCj0M&eurl=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/02/62687523/1?se=yahoorefer&feature=player_embedded


My source: yahoo.com

Massive serpentine monster!

60 million years ago, after the dinosaurs, lived a relative of modern boa constrictors. He weighed over a ton, was 42 ft long, ate crocodiles, and lived in Northern South America! We found it's fossils- vertebrae from a coal mine in NE Columbia. It  happens to be the largest snake ever discovered. the existence of a large snake showed the tropic must have been hot. This is an amazing discovery!

Lake Cleanup by Marielle

Friends' lake cleanup ends with frustration

By Mark Lisheron
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Misty Chamberlain and April Miller are these two girls that wanted to do something for their community. So they went to Lake Marble Falls. Since it was dry, they picked up all the trash that they could find. They filled up two trash bags with cans and bottles, and put the rest of the stuff in a big pile next to the shore. Then they went to the police station to see who could pick it up, because it was too heavy for them, The lady at the front desk said that she would call the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, But when Misty saw the trash was still there, she went to the Marble Falls Chamber of Commerce, and they told her to go to lots of different places. But everyone that she spoke to said that they weren't responsible for that type of trash.


"I liked the idea that my friend and I were making a difference, I can't believe they'd just cover all this up with water. But right now I'm so done with trying to find out who is responsible for picking this stuff up," said Misty. I think that I would get very frustrated if I couldn't find anyone to pick up the trash that I cleaned out of a lake. I hope they find someone to pick it up soon. What they did was good. They worked hard and they helped the environment.

Painter vs. Law: a Painting with no Copyright.

A man named Shepard Fairey painted a portrait of Obama. It looks cool. One signed portrait made thousands of dollars on ebay. It inspired many people to create signs. However, it was a version that looked just like a photo of Obama. He used it to look at while he painted it. You must have permission to use that photo. Unfortunately, he didn't, so he should be in a lot of trouble. The AP confirmed that they owned the copyright. Fairey disagrees. They're currently working out the problem hoping to find a good solution. "We believe fair use protects Shepard's right to do what he did here," says Fairey's attorney, Anthony Falzone. Maybe they can compromise, workout a deal. On Fairey's side, he isn't exactly copying it, and he could have not acknowledged it at all. It was nice of him to acknowledge them and he should get to continue although maybe he should pay part of it. Where do you stand?

The Power of Common Sense

Obama wants common sense! Our 44th president has called for common sense and a $500,000 salary cap for top executives who have been affected by the federal bailout. Obama said,"We all need to take responsibility." He also repeated that the dudes on Wall Street are showing complete irresponsibility. Seriously, I agree with Obama. It's about time for Wall Street to show some "common sense."

Green Energy NOT Good for Workers

The Obama admenistration whants to millions of "green" jobs but a recent survay shows the downsides of these. The survay shows that people working at Walmart probibly gety payed less than people that work at solar and wind energy plants. The smallest pay was found at a recycling plant and was 8.25  dollers an hour. The avrege for wind and solar plants was $18.88. My sorce was "Reuters.com". -Ivy

21 police officers killed by a Suicide Bomber

Tuesday, February 3, 2009 in Afghanistan a suicide bomber, snuck in a police compound in a police uniform. The bomber detonated a very powerful explosive that killed 21 police officers. It also wounded 12 other police officers. The Taliban terrorist group claimed they committed the crime. The Taliban's have been targeting the police for about two years because they think there easy targets compared to the Western troops.                                                                                                                                                                                

                  source is Statesmen.com

Transparent President by Marielle

Obama's transparency push could lead to more official Web resources, blogs

Carla Thornton, The Industry Standard, 01.22.2009

Did you ever think that your president was not being as truthful as he could be?  Well, now you don't have to feel like that for a long, long time.  On the first day of his presidency, Barack Obama promised to make things public as much as he can because he doesn't want to keep secrets from people.  Marcia Hofmann, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said, "On the whole, it's an incredibly positive development and in line with the guidelines we asked for."  I agree.  A president that keeps secrets doesn't make the people feel like he is trustworthy.  

Meredith Fuchs, general counsel for the National Security Archive, said she "expects Obama to push e-mail and require agencies to post more information on their sites, including blogs."

I am so happy that Barack Obama is not keeping secrets like Bush was, and I hope he keeps his promise forever.      

A New Beginning with an Unclear End

A few days ago, Obama became president. He faces many challenges ahead of us. He creates brilliant ideas to overcome problems. But before he executes them his fellow Americans must agree with him. Some people won't say yes. "He's trying to tilt left to stay in the center so he doesn't get done in by friendly fire," said Democratic pollster Doug Schoen. "Right now, I think he may be more worried about Nancy Pelosi than John Boehner." Nancy Pelosi is the speaker of the house for California. Surprisingly, she's a democrat. Of course, some republicans also worry. For example, John Boehener is the house minority leader for Ohio. I think that if we all give him a chance, we can work together to avoid our problems. These are the first few days, so we know little so far. I'm interested to see how this will turn out.

My source:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090128/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_crossfire_analysis

Iceland's Government Melted Away

Iceland's Prime Minister, Geir Haarde and his cabinet resigned, Monday, January 26 of this year because Prime Minister Haarde was unwilling to meet the demands of the Social Democratic Alliance Party. Iceland is in an astronomical crisis due to the banks collapsing under deep financial debts. The banks in Iceland have "borrowed" more money then they could ever pay back. The people are crazy mad because the value of their dollar has gone down significantly and their government has abandoned them. They are reacting to this tragic situation by going into the streets in masses and hitting pots and pans in demonstration.  Iceland is going to melt...

Recruiting Goals

For the first time in a very long while, the recruiting goals for the army have been met. That means that the number of people the government had set to join the army, joined the army! There are many debatable theories on why this happened this year. When I first heard this on the radio, I was asked to think, what was one of Obama's major arguments? At first, the Iraq war popped into my mind. Then, I realized, oh, the economy, of course! What I think is a strong reason supporting the economy idea is the loss of jobs. Think of it like this, you just lost your job, you have starving children, you can't feed them, A-ha, suddenly the army seems more appealing, right? If it is a question of, your whole family starving and you being safe at home, or you going to the army, risking the dangers and feeding your family. Actually, the military gets paid a decent amount, reasonable enough, well, better than no job. Suddenly, you want to join the army just for the paycheck to feed your relatives. I think the economy is the biggest factor in the government meeting their recruiting goals.

Watch Out For 2012!

Apparently the ancient Myan's made a calender called the Long Count calendar because it had a space was 5126 years long. the Long calendar shows that the world will end on 12, 21, 2012. which is the winter solstice and also is when the sun will be at the middle of the galaxy. The Long calender has some weird calculation so that 12,21,2012 will be 13.0.0.0.0 and the next day will be 0.0.0.0.1. What might happen is the Earth might start spinning the other way. Many tourist attractions are t-shirts and survival guides saying things about 2012. Many people think that it is all just a hoax. I think that it is very interesting. -Ivy

Grusome deaths

On Tuesday A man shot and killed his wife and the rest of his family(including himself). The authorities said that he had done it out of grief of losing his job. At 8:30 am, police officers (who had been sent a fax that he was going to kill his family and himself) found 7 bodies in his house(an 8 year old girl two 5 year old girls and two 2 year old boys). I think that it is very sad that anybody would do such a thing to their family. It just isn't right!

Withdrawal

Hilary Clinton resigned from the Senate immediately after being sworn in as secretary of state. Caroline Kennedy was planning (and wishing) to take her seat in the Senate. Many disapproved of this and said she wasn't committed and other things like that while others toke note of her brains and compassion and say she would make a solid choice as a senator. Kennedy, age 51, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy and a resident of the Upper East Side of Manhattan, has never served in public office.
Anyway, she has withdrawn from consideration for the vacant Senate seat in New York. A person she told of her decision said that Kennedy’s concerns about the health of her uncle, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who suffers from brain cancer and was hospitalized after suffering a seizure Tuesday, prompted her to withdraw. Kennedy believed that the seat was hers if she had wanted it, though no one has confirmed her assumption.
After hearing this there were many different reactions, some being, "Thank goodness!" and others being, "too bad!". "I would have loved to see her in office. She would have made a difference. I hope she will consider running in the future." "I wonder why she REALLY backed out." "For Caroline Kennedy to withdraw is a crying shame. Given her academic, political education and gracious, sincere manner, I am certain her Uncle Ted would prefer her seek the appointment and prove her worth for a landside victory on her own merits in the near future election."

New flashlight can change the future of law enforcement

The police have a new weapon called the Incapacitating Flashlight(IF). When the IF is pointed at some body's eye they feel nauseous and dizzy. Robert Lieberman CEO of Intelligent Optical Systems explains how it works "The flashes incapacitate a person in two different ways. The flashes temporarily blind a person as any bright light would,.... and the light pulses in a way to

cause vertigo and nausea. Its designed to be used on someone coming at you" If the suspect looks away it doesn't work.I would rather throw up instead of being shot.          

sources are Technology Review

The 2009 Inauguration

During the inauguration it was sorta chaotic at first but then it got more sorted out. I think the new President Obama's speech was WONDERFUL! It was one of the best speeches I've ever heard. There was also a guy who said "May blacks never be told to get back, may browns never be put down, may a yellow be mellow, may a red man get ahead, man! and may whites do what's right." I think that is so funny! Also, most people think President Obama forgot his lines when saying the oath of presidency but he had actually memorized the lines perfect but the guy saying the words for him to repeat mixed up the words! Oh and my source was the t.v.

--Ivy

Water Plane by Marielle

Pilot Is Hailed After Jetliner’s Icy Plunge
By ROBERT D. McFADDEN
New York Times: January 15, 2009

A plane ran into a flock of Canadian geese, and some got caught in the engines, and the pilot was trying to safely land the plane. It landed in the Hudson River. “It made this huge, gigantic splash, and I actually thought it was a boat crash at first,” said Fulmer Duckworth, who works in computer graphics for Bank of America. If I was in that plane, I would probably never want to ride in a plane ever again.

Everyone got out safely, and ferry boats and tugboats helped the people get back to shore. The water was 35 degrees, so some people got hypothermia, which means you don't have enough heat in your body. When I heard about it on the radio, I was wondering how they would be able to get the plane out to inspect it. Then the next day I found out that they got all the pieces out of the water except for one of the engines. They needed both engines to see what caused them to stop. I'm not sure if they have found it or not, but I hope they do.

I'm glad that they have all these safety methods because otherwise I wouldn't feel safe in a plane. I still love going on planes, they're fun.

When Death is Defied-JC

Jessica Keenan is getting married on the 24 of January and has breast cancer. This society called the Dream Foundation is helping her to get over her illness so she can get married. Unfortunately for her, she cannot afford the wedding because the money has been "sapped by her cancer battle". I think that with a good attitude that she will be ale to have the wedding and get over her Stage 4 breast cancer. 

What a pilot!

On Thursday afternoon, a U.S. jetliner with 150 passengers (155 people) lost power from both engines due to a flock of birds. The birds found their doom (the jet engines) three minutes after taking off from the La Guardia Airport. The only reason that prevented the low-flying/gliding plane from flying/gliding/crashing into buildings like a terrorist attack was the pilot's quick thinking. He knew that without engines he couldn't get back to the airport. He landed in the Hudson river although the water was almost freezing—some people had to go to the E.R. because of hypothermia—All 150 passengers and all 5 crew members made it out alive. (So that's what they do in NY when we get home from school!)

Source 

Please Stay Ms. Mickalski

 Ms. Mickalski is leaving to Philadelphia because she gets to live in a glorious house and gets to finish her novel called "My Book of Secrets". Let me explain her to you. She's like your favorite holiday, favorite food and breakfast, and favorite comedian mix in a teacher who makes school fun. If your reading this please comment and say if Ms. Mickalski should stay or go.

Torture in the Court!-JC

A Guantanamo detainee named Mohammed al-Qahtani who is sometimes described as "the twentieth hijacker" during the terrorist attacks of 2001 was given the torture penalty when he was on trial. The military prosecutors actually almost went for execution. I personally feel that although it is a vicious thing to do, he did break the law! 

Battle In Gaza

Apparently there is a very big battle going on between Israel and Hamas over a narrow strip of strip of land called Gaza. There was a six month truce between them but then Hamas blamed Israel for continuing raids in Gaza and Israel blamed Hamas for firing rockets at their cities. Many people were killed and so far an estimated 1023 were killed. I think that it is weird to be fighting for so little land! -Ivy

Scientists map DNA of prehistoric animal by Marielle

By Azadeh Ansari
CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/11/19/mammoth.dna/index.html?iref=newssearch)

November 19, 2008


I cannot believe it. Scientists at Penn State University found some DNA of a woolly mammoth. I think that is so cool. They figured out that the woolly mammoth’s DNA is almost just like the modern African elephant. They do look like elephants.

They found the DNA in some hair - woolly mammoth hair to be exact. The hair looks like a big fuzz ball. In the hair, the DNA was all separated, and they had to put it back together. "It's like a mirror that you smash on the floor. Then, like a jigsaw puzzle, you try to piece the DNA back together," said Stephan Schuster, a Penn State University biochemistry professor and co-author of the research.

They might be able to make a real-life one. "It could be done," said Stephan Schuster. "The question is, just because we might be able to do it one day, should we do it?" I think we should, because if we do, who says that it will run around wild and be too much for the elephants to handle. The mommy elephant will probably just treat it like a regular elephant baby. It will probably act just like the other elephants, and it would be awesome to see a real live woolly mammoth.

Christmas with No Presents?

Colin “No Impact Man” Beavan

From Yes magazine, Issue 48 – Winter 2009



By Marielle Bardon

Christmas with no presents? Oh, no! That’s what I thought when I saw this article. But for Colin and his family they are perfectly fine with no presents and they still have all the things that we all love at Christmas like food, music and family. The reason they didn’t have presents is that “we could go a long way toward dealing with the crisis in our planetary habitat if we found a way to avoid those uses that don’t improve our lives—like the packaging that comprises 40% of trash in landfills.” If we didn’t drive to all those stores, then we wouldn’t be putting all those emissions in the air, and we wouldn’t have to pay extra money and have to store all those gifts that you do not want at Christmas.

If I didn’t have presents at Christmas I would be sad. But that’s only my opinion. I love the feeling of waking up and seeing all the cookies and milk gone in the morning, and looking at all the presents under the Christmas tree. I love presents on Christmas day.

Dance in science by Marielle

Contest Puts Scientists' Bodies In Motion

National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, Science Out of the Box, November 22, 2008 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97356050



This story was about a dance contest with people’s PhDs. The students had to make up a dance about their PhD dissertations. “I have to admit my primary motivation was just the hilarity of it, and I was surprised and delighted to see that at least half of these dances are rather moving. They’re serious stuff. And so the idea is that the public will be engaged with science at a level they usually don’t encounter it,” said John Bohannon, a correspondent for Science magazine and the creator of “Dance your PhD”, a dance contest to see who can make up the best dance for their PhD.

How would you like to dance your PhD? I would love it, because I would be able to express what I thought my PhD looked like off of paper. I saw some dances that were very creative, but some didn’t look like they had put much effort into it. My favorite was “Hydrodynamic Trail Detection in Marine Organisms", because it has so much movement, and also because it looks like they put lots of effort into it. I love the shark, because it is so cool how she climbs up on the ribbon, and she is so beautiful and flexible. “Mr. Whiskers” is very funny. I’m not sure what he is, but I think he is a catfish. That is one of the videos that I recommend for you to look at. If you want to look at it, just press this link: Hydrodynamic Trail Detection in Marine Organisms

One of my least favorites was Brian Stewart’s "Refitting repasts: a spatial exploration of food processing, cooking, sharing and disposal at the Dunefield Midden campsite, South Africa " ( University of Oxford , 2008). It did not have that much effort, but if you want to see it, here is another link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRoSk_6pyp8&feature=PlayList&p=E5CA8590F580962D&index=0 I think you should check out other ones, and see which one you like the best.

Maybe I should do it for a science project.

Aging Presidents - by Marielle

“Advice to Obama on battling presidential aging”, Source: CNN | Added January 6, 2009

We all know how regular people age – one year passes, they age one year. But for presidents, one year passes, they age two years. Dr. Michael Roizen says it’s because of stress. When you become president, there are lots of things to think about and when you are stressed, sometimes it can make you age faster. And also, eating unhealthy foods can be bad for you.

Luckily, Barack Obama is not one of those people. He is actually quite fit, He plays basketball. And although George Bush still did age, he has cat-like reflexes. "I mean, did you see him dodge that shoe?" said David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men's Health magazine. I don’t know about you guys, but I thought that was pretty funny.

I think that Obama is going to handle the aging problem better than the other presidents because he is one of the youngest presidents we’ve ever had. Since his family is going to be in Washington with him, I think he will be more chilled. NO DRAMA OBAMA!!

If you want to see the video on this story, go to http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/06/presidential.health.aging/index.html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCVideo

The First Governor of Illinois to be Impeached

On Friday, January 9 Governor Rod Blagojevich was impeached. He was impeached because he was found trying to sell Obama's seat for Senator. He went to trial and he was quite confident that he would retain his seat as Governor. "I am confident that at the end of the day I will be properly exonerated," were his exact words. (They roughly translate to: I am sure that at the end of the day I will be found innocent!) The State House of Representatives took less than 1 hour and 30 minutes to vote. They voted 114 against 1 to remove Blagojevich's seat as Governor. This makes him the first Governor of Illinois to be impeached! Source: NYT

Solved but Unsolved (Source: nytimes)

The economic CRISIS is familiar to everyone. It affects businesses, people, demands, and much more. One question everyone and everything wants to know is... HOW DO WE GET OUT! We heard several times that new president Barack Hussein Obama says he'll get us out of the situation. He said he'll say more by February because he is working on weighing the options right now. Until he does, we can't believe him no matter how much we want to. One of my favorite expressions is "easier said than done". That definatly applies here. His risky plan could easily backfire and send us farther into the CRISIS. This graph sows how Obama will spend loads of dough on creating jobs. He thinks it will remove our deficit over time. For example, he will spend money on freeways creating jobs and improving freeways at the same time. This may seem great but the expenses of doing this will make 2009 a harsh year but after that it should lighten up a little. Whatever he does I think I speak for everyone when I say he better get us out of the CRISIS!(I hope so, it's difficult doing scary words ;-)

Daniel - Tesla Motors might hold the Car of the Future

What makes the Tesla Roadster so special? There have been other battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the past. The Tesla, I think, is the best BEV to date. It can can from 0 to 60 mph 4.0sec (as fast as a Porsche 911 Carrera S) and can travel over 240 miles on a single charge. The only problem? It currently costs $110-120,000.00! Maybe they will decrease in price when the make more and more of them? I sure hope that are they are the cars of the future.

Source: RoadandTrack.com

Marina Trench Made National Monument

President Bush is protecting endangered wildlife and marine volcanoes by making the Marina Trench and the Pacific Remote Island a monument. Now scientists can study the ecosystem and save precious species such as endangered sharks and fish. That is good because they are some of the few unharmed places in the world. Also did I tell you that it is the deepest place in the world and is not really part of the U.S.A.? I think that is very cool!-Ivy