Police: Houston store owner kills 3 would-be robbers

In a jewelry store in Houston on Thursday the 17th, two men were prettending to be shoppers in the store. A third person burst into the store and stated it was a robbery, then all three men pulled out guns. They took the store owner's wife and tied her up in a back room. As the guys were trying to tie up the 52 year old store owner, he pulled a handgun out of his waistband and shot and killed one of the suspects. Then he shot and killed the two other suspects.The owner was in critical but stable condition after sufferring from gunshots to his shoulder, abdomen and legs. The wife was not hurt. Police are looking for a fourth subject who may have been the getaway car driver.

I don't understand people. If they have the time to plan a robbery and the will power to do something like that, they should be able to have the will power to go get a job and make their own money instead of stealing other peoples'. I always wonder what is going through the head's of these robbers. They clearly have no morals. I think it was completely neccessary for the store owner to take matters into his own hands and use his gun to protect himself and his wife. If the robbers were cruel enough to steal and think they could get away with it, they deserve some punishment. No, they wouldn't have to be killed but something should be done. I probably would have shot them to just wound them, not kill them but i suppose in the moment one wouldn't really be thinking about that. I am just glad that the owner is going to be okay and his wife is unharmed. I hope the police are able to find and punish the fourth suspect.




http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40713870/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Issue #3 Safe to Eat?

The recent issue of the large health care reform has made many issues dealing with health, hot topics to discuss and find not just a partisan agreement on change but a bipartisan agreement. Such as the issue of the increasing number of people suffering from food poisoning from now not only meat, but fresh produce as well. One thing that people argue is that health comes at a price that people have to be willling to pay. There have been several reasons for the large increase of food borne illness in the past couple years. One of them is that Americans, in an act to try and eat more healthfully, are consuming a greater amount of fruits and vegetables. Unlike meat, fresh produce is usually eaten raw, where if it were cooked, the high heat usually will kill off harmful microorganisms. A lot of the produce goes through incredibly large scale processing and distribution factories, which means things can get overlooked easier, and if there is an outbreak, a larger number of people can be infected. The issue is over whether or not there should be new safety regulations installed for the nation's supply of fruit and vegetables.Meat and Poultry in the nation are highly regulated but produce has fallen beneath this standard.The recent common outbreaks of food borne ilness has caused some people to say that there should be one central agency responsible for ensuring the safety of the U.S. produce. They say more money should be put into the funding of the FDA so there can be more inspectors hired to monitor the many produce facilites, hopefully ensuring customers that their products are safe to buy and eat. However, other people are saying that the increase in funding for the FDA will spike the cost of producing fruits and vegetables, and that expense would be passed on to customers. Detractors say that the more expensive produce will push buyers away and reverse public health efforts to get Americans to try and eat more healthfully.

Personally, I think that increased funding to hire more people to regulate facility conditions would cause people to stop buying so much produce. The increase in cost to produce fruits and vegetables that would casuse the higher produce prices would stear people away from purchasing such a large amount of produce. I think one needs to look at the large picture, at least Americans are headed in the right way when trying to eat more healthfully  by buying more produce. However, people in these tough economic times, don't have the extra money to spend on higher priced produce. I think it would be much more beneficial for the regulations to stay the same and the people who are buying the produce can do the work to make them clean and safe to eat, the safety should be in the individuals hands. If they are too lazy to take proper precautions, if they get a food borne illness it is their own fault. Making safety regulations higher for produce would not be a good thing, it shouldn't happen it would only cause a downfall in the econonmy of produce and the already poor health of most Americans.Just like Grist said in an article talking about the positives and negatives of a raise in regulations. He also agreed that the raise would hurt the economy, especially small farms. The regulatory power would eventually wipe out small farms.
 http://www.grist.org/article/food-2010-11-02-wanted-your-informed-opinions-on-the-food-safety-reform

To view issue number 1 view my classmate's blog at:
http://rachelrachrachel.blogspot.com/2010/11/issue-1-comprehensive-vs-incremental.html

To view issue number 2 view my classmate's blog at:
http://daniellescurrenteventblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/issue-2-ensuring-quality-care-for.html

SF supervisors pass 'Happy Meal' regulations

Lawmakers in San Francisco have approved legislation to hopefully force fast food chains such as McDonald's to stop serving such unhealthy kids meals or at least stop serving toys with them. The board of supervisors voted 8-3 for passing an ordinance that would limit toy give aways for meals with excessive calories, sodium, or fat. It also requires there to be a serving of fruits and vegetables in each meal. Supervisors say the law would make San Francisco the first major city to try and reduce child obesity. McDonald's disagrees with this law however, saying it restricts parents; ability to make choices of what their children eat.

I think this is a really smart thing they are doing. Obesity is a big problem in the country and something needs to be done about it. If kids learn to eat healthy at a young age, it is sure for those good habits to stick with them throughout their life. At least have a positive impact on them. Kids have to be taught how to eat right and stay healthy. Toys are a motivating factor for children and I feel if they were given out less with the really unheathly meal choices and put with foods that are better for you, more kids would be likely to get the meal that is better for them with having the incentive of a toy. What San Francisco is doing is a good start. Other cities and states need to look at what they are doing and follow along. McDonald's and other fast food places can get over themselves.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39975952/ns/business-consumer_news/

Colorado wildfires prompt evacuations near Boulder

Two wildfires that started burning on Friday caused around 1,700 evacuations in Boulder as well as the foothills surrounding it where dozens of houses were burned last month. As the blaze went on officials called for many more evacuations, including some community centers. Hundreds of firefighters were working around the clock to fight off the blaze, 2 planes made more than 20 drops of water and slurry on the burning land. Luckily, the winds are not as strong as the fires about a month ago so it leaves people feeling hopeful. Officials are thinking that the first fire was human caused and the second was a result of flying embers from the first one. So far nobody has been hurt in the fires but people living there are getting frustrated with all of the evacuations that have been happening lately.

It is really sad that people don't take more safety precautions when they are living up in the mountains where everyone knows forest fires are common and easily started. Perhaps there need to be more fire restrictions set in place around these areas, especially around the dryest times of the year. It is good that they are able to have an abundance of firefighters to work around the clock and get things accomplished to try and stop the blazes before things begin to spread uncontrolably. Too bad there aren't more planes available to drop water and slurry on fires such as this, i feel that would make a difference in the amount of time and energy to stop the fires. I feel bad for the people in the last months fire that lost lives, homes, and all of their belongings all at the same time in such short notice. However, i feel the people living up in the mountains take that risk when they move there. Everyone is aware of the danger of forest fires. I would especially strongly consider moving away if the fires continued to reoccur.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39912588/ns/us_news-life/

Kids' docs urged to screen new moms for depression

Depression hurts everyone. A very influential medical group has evidence that proves that new mothers should be routinely screened by their pediatricians for depression. Depression not only is bad for moms but it can harm their babies as well. A new American Academy of Pediatrics report cites research showing developmental and social delays in babies with depressed mothers. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended the same type of screenings earlier this year.
I think this would be a great thing to start doing, why not? There is research providing strong evidence that many new mothers or expecting mothers are suffering with depression which can lead to developmental and social delays in their children. Why not do everything a mother possibly can to protect her children and herself and make sure they have the best life they can have, with the smallest chance of developmental and social delays. I feel it wouldn't make much sense not to start doing screenings like this. If there is something that can improve a mother and her childs quality of life, I am all for it. I would want to give my child the best life they could possibly have and i feel if small steps even like depression screenings would start leading people in the right direction.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101025/ap_on_he_me/us_med_mothers_depression

Witness: 13 slain at rehab center in border city

13 recovering patients were gunned down at a rehab facility in Tijuana, Mexico late Sunday. The 13 victims were asked to lie on the floor where they were then showered with bullets. This is one of the many gang attacks on recovering addicts. However, it was the first one that occured at this privately run rehab center. The number of deaths has not yet been confirmed but police at the scene say there were at least 10 deaths. The police haven't found the motive for this yet but other shootings like this one have been aimed to attack rival gang members.

The drug related violence that occurs in Mexico, or any place for that matter, seems to be happening more and more and it is incredibly sad. It is especially sad because these people were slowly but surely trying to turn their lives around by getting help for their various addictions but the situations they made in the past came back to haunt them. The kind of environment that had once surrounded them was brought back to the fore-fronts when people who they were enemies with in the past from being in gangs or drug related aquaintances came back to get revenge. I wish people would see these kinds of things happening so they would realize that the kind of life decisions you make, even if at one point you turn your life around, can come back to bite you. If people realized this I think they would be more strong about stearing clear of getting into drugs and gangs and really anything else that doesn't have a positive impact on their life. I know pot doesn't seem like a big deal to many people when we are in this point in our lives, seniors in highschool. But for some it can be the gateway into a world full of drugs, more powerful and damaging drugs which like in the case above, can lead anyone into some pretty terrible circumstances.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39828239/ns/world_news-americas/#

Issue #1 War Dollars

 

Each year the President and Congress have to come up with a federal budget for the government. They decide how much money they are going to spend on many different federal programs. War dollars is included in this budget, or is supposed to be considered at least. In 2008 the government had spent more than 2.9 trillion dollars on many programs and agencies. The spending is devided into 4 categories: defense, nondefense discretionary, manditory, and interest on the national debt. In 2008 over 600 billion dollars were spent for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.This has caused the national debt to skyrocket. The debt the U.S. has is over 13 trillion dollars, and the ongoing war has only made this number go way up. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan has caused the government spending to skyrocket as well with increased homeland security and all of the military operations going on. All of the deficit records have hit record highs throughout the war.

The amount of money that has been put into the war is astronomically high. Previous to the war the U.S. already had a high national debt, and since the war we have continued to spend insanely large amounts of money trying to defend the country, if that is truly what the war was even about, which i think it had a bit to do with the oil since we went into other places, fighting people who weren't even involved in 9/11. I do however think Bush had a really tough decision on his hands of what to do at such a crisis and something had to be done. War sounded like a good option, and i think it was an okay one but our priorities got a bit mixed up along the way. It was supposed to have been a short easy war to win but after getting sucked into a battle over oil really, here we are 9 years later and we are still over seas fighting. Of course since we are in the war, we can't just stop spending money and get out of there, i realize we need to spend money to have supplies and get things accomplished it is just too bad that it has gone on this long and has caused us to spend so much money that we do not have. It is not fair to tax wealthier Americans way higher amounts of money to try and pay for things like this and as a way to try and cut deficits. A good chunk of the wealthier Americans have worked hard for what they have and deserve what they have, they can't help it that a lot of people are lazy and sit on their butts having tons of kids and living off welfare. The wealthy didn't get that way by being lazy and i feel it is just a cop out to charge them for other people's mistakes and spending issues. I definitely think that Congress should not be able to deny additional funding for war efforts, that should have been discussed before we got ourselves into the war. But since we are over seas fighting you can't just waste all of the lost lives and time by now stopping to pay and support the war. Yes, it is unfortunate and very expensive but we have to keep spending the money to fight and win so we can get out of there with things accomplished. Without the President willing to send more people over to help the troops and fight, more and more people are dying, it is a sign that we cannot just stop helping, we got ourselves in and we need to get ourselves out, we cannot do that by just giving up with helping and take our troops out, it would be ineffective and would cause many more deaths. The U.S. has to commit. In the following article it shows what happened when the President refused to send additional troops over seas. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/54807

Issue #2 Spending What We Can Afford:
http://katieireneiverson.blogspot.com/2010/10/issue-2-spending-what-we-can-afford.html
Issue #3 Social Insecurity:
http://rachelrachrachel.blogspot.com/2010/10/topic-3-social-insecurity.html

Firefighters Let Home Burn

Last week, in rural Tennessee, firefighters let a home burn completely to the ground because the homeowner "forgot" to pay the $75 annual fee. The county does not have a county-wide firefighting service, but South Fulton offers fire coverage to rural residents for a fee incase of a fire, like in this case. Gene Cranick's grandson had been buring trash near the home when the fire got out of control. They called 911 but the operator said they were not on the list so they did not come to fight the fire. The family lost their home and all of their possesions. The firefighters did however show up at the surrounding property becuase that ownder did pay the fee. The firefighters never even acknowledged the Cranick's and their burning house, they just stood there and watched it burn. South Fulton's Mayor claims that if one doesn't pay the fee in advance and they need firefighting services they cannot be allowed to pay on the spot becuase then the only ones who would pay would be paying only when and if they needed help.

I think this is crazy and it should never have happened, regardless of someone paying or not paying a $75 fee. It is terrible to think that a group of firefighters could and would just stand by and watch a family lose their house and all of their possessions because they neglected to pay a fee of just $75. Yes, the fees do need to be paid but i don't think it should be the deciding factor on whether or not a house is salvaged. I do not think that if they would have tried to save the house that other people would quit paying the fee and only pay when they needed help and if they did. There should be a pennalty payment set up that is quite a bit higher, such as tripple the $75 dollars or something so people would be motivated to pay the $75 up front rather than risking a lot more money later. Those who didn't pay would still be helped but there would be a punishment for not paying the annual fee. No one deserves to lose all of their belongings and their home just because of one $75 payment that was missed. Insurance ended up having to cover a bit of the stuff lost and damaged which I am sure ended up costing people a whole heck of a lot more than if they would have just forgot about the fee and put the fire out. It is absolutely ridiculous that they have this kind of policy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/

NATO oil tankers attacked in Pakistan

This past Monday, suspected militant terrorists attacked and set fire to over 20 oil tankers carrying oil for NATO and U.S. troops. There have been multiple attacks such as this one in Pakistan. This attack has really heightened the tension between Washington and Islamabad. Police officers down near the capital city Islamabad where the attack took place, blamed it on terrorists. The oil tankers were parked at a poorly guarded terminal where the terrorists shot at them prior to setting them afire. The trucks were on their way to bring parts, military vehicles, fuel and other supplies for the U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

It is incredibly sad that this remains to happen because of the hate the people there have for what we are doing, we want to help them and make things better for them but they just can't see our side. Nothing will get better if they don't stop trying to rebel against us. If they keep firing at our tankers full of supplies, or setting them afire, it will make it really difficult to find other ways to get supplies to our troops. Without the supplies the troops will quite obviously not be effective fighters. It is clear that there have to be alternate roots for the tanks to travel in order to avoid attacks such as these. The attackers threaten to continue with the attacks on the convoys until the supplies are completely stopped. The United States and NATO do have alternate supply routes into Afghanistan but the Pakistani routes are the cheapest and most convenient. The ones who are making these attacks need to be stopped so we can continue to use the easiest route of transportation to keep the troops well supplied. Some sort of agreement has to be figured out.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39489672/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

Karl kills 2 after ramming Mexican port city

September 17th, Hurricane Karl hit the Mexican port city of Veracruz. The hurricane took two lives and caused them to shut down their only nuclear power plant and central Gulf Coast oil platforms. The cause of death to the two people, a 61 year old lady and a 2 year old girl, was a landslide that engulfed their home. Since Hurrican Janet hit back in 1955 in Veracruz, there has not been one so bad since. Karl knocked down trees, power poles, and billboards with winds of up to 115 mph. The heaviest damage was at the costal homes, food huts were demolished, and about 70 homes were flooded, some streets were impassible. More than 22,000 people lost power but luckily it was restored to many neighborhoods within a few hours.

For this reason and many others, I am very thankful I live in Minnesota, where there is no chance of a hurricane. I can't imagine what it would be like to go through that, especially when the storm was predicted to first not even hit Veracruz. I feel so bad for all the poeople that have to deal with hurricane damage and all the hardships that come along with them. Flooding, losing a home, lost lives, just over all despairity. I am so thankful that living where I do i never have to even think about that happening to me. However i feel terrible when it happens to others, especially when it has been a home to someone for a very long time and then they have to go through that. I wish there was something we could do to try and reduce damage from hurricanes. I think people need to consider not building their homes so close to the coastal areas so they can protect themselves form this type of situation and damamge. I couldn't imagine losing all of my stuff to a flood or even seeing up close what a flooded town damaged by the rath of a hurricane even looks like. I just hope everyone who suffered through the hurricane is starting to get relief and back up on their feet. They are very blessed that after a hurricane just two lives were lost, but two is still too many.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39179237/ns/weather/

Self Inflicted Acid Attack

A couple weeks ago a woman named Bethany Storro filed a police report claiming a black woman came up to her asking if she wanted something to drink and continued by throwing a cup of acid in her face. However, the story did not match the burn patterns on Storro's face. The police got a search warrant for her house and at that point she admitted to filing a false report and that she had done this to herself. People from all over the country were setting up support for Storro, from facebook support groups to donations for her at banks and fundraisers. People felt really bad, she was interviewed many different places and got much attention. She talked about why someone would ever do such a thing to her, drawing in more sympathy. After searching Storro's home and car the police found zero evidence of any acid traces. The acid used to burn her face was as strong as hydrochloric or sulfuric acid. Very strong substances.

Since there was no trace of any acid found at Storro's home or car, i kind of begin to wonder if maybe she is trying to cover up for someone. But i am not sure. She probably just did a really nice job of hiding her evidence  because I'm sure she didn't plan on coming out and telling everyone that she burned her face herself, for sympathy and money. I cannot believe someone would stoop so low and accept all the sympathy and donations when they knew they did this to themself. How selfish and stupid. She must have some serious problems if she thought that it was okay to do something like this. Taking money from people who truly care when you know you did this to yourself is beyond selfish. I can't imagine what was going through this woman's head if she would possibly stoop so low to do something like that and then have the audacity to go and speak publicly about how she is just so confused as to why someone would do such a thing to her. I mean, yes i am sorry you felt the need you had to go burn your face with acid to get some sympathy and support, but that is just not okay. Maybe though, she was in such deep pain that this was kind of like a cry out for help from her. I guess i can't say but i hope she gets whatever the help she needs and we can figure out why she did what she did. However, if i were one of the people who had come together in hopes of helping her out and trying to find the person who did this to her, I would be quite upset.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100917/ap_on_re_us/us_thrown_in_face