Moby Dick, Shamu, Free Willy..

According to an article in the Washington Post, three whales trapped ashore on South Hutchinson Island in Florida had to be euthanized. The whales, who appeared to be malnourished and thin, were determined to be too sick to be saved. Martin County fire and rescue officials spent more than an hour Wednesday evening trying to keep the melon-headed whales alive. They draped them in wet sheets and tried to keep them from thrashing around, but eventually gave up. This was the first time this species of whales was seen in this region of the United States. Scientists plan to perform necropsies on the whales to see what caused them to wash ashore in the first place on Thursday.
In the past, whales have been killed in the United States for their oil and blubber. Commercial whaling in America was the center of the world whaling industry during the 18th and 19th centuries and was responsible for the near-extinction of certain species of whales. New Bedford, Massachusetts and Nantucket Island were the primary whaling centers in the 1800s. In 1857, New Bedford had 329 registered whaling ships. Prior to the 1920's, [when commercial whaling in the United States waned], numerous fishing ports were actually whaling ports which built whaling ships. The discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania in the late 19th century was the beginning of the end of commercial whaling in the United States because it could replace whale oil.

Johnson, Clinton, and ...Bush?

In parts of Vermont and Massachusetts, people are calling for support in the impeachment of President George Bush. In four Vermont towns, people voted to impeach the president for "lying about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction and for sanctioning torture." Despite the remarks, many Democratic representatives believe this to be a bad idea. As shown by a poll by Zogby International, fifty-one percent of voters believe Bush should be impreached if he lied about Iraq, a greater percentage than those who voted against President Clinton during the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal. Bush has received the lowest approval ratings by the American citizens than any recent president. People have criticized Bush, blaming him for things such as warrentless electronic surviellance of cell phones, emails, as well as approval of harsh interrogations of prisoners; torture.

If the president says 'We made mistakes,' fine, let's move on," said Rep. Michael E.
Capuano (D-Mass.). "But if he lied to get America into a war, I can't imagine anything
more impeachable.

Throughout American history there have been two presidential impeachments. In 1868, Andrew Johnson was put on trial by his Senate. Around the time of the reconstruction period after the Civil War, Johnson's view of the rearrangement of the south differed greatly from his Congress'. Johnson's senate pushed for impeachments after the suspension of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Although Nixon resigned before he was released, recommendations on the impeachment trial were made between 1986 and 1989. On December 19, 1998, two articles of impeachment were approved by the House of Representatives against President Clinton. The articles claimed that Clinton had "willfully corrupted and manipulated the judicial process" and had committed the definition of "high crimes and misdemeanors". On February 12, 1999 the second president of United States history was impeached.

"South Park" Takes Stab at Scientology... and Isaac Hayes

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that "South Park" fans have responded to the cancellation of "Trapped In the Closet", which was scheduled to air a week ago. They have threatened to boycott the upcoming Tom Cruise movie "Mission: Impossible III" until Comedy Central (run by Viacom, the same company putting out MI:III) puts back on its schedule the show's Scientology episode the network did not air. Meanwhile, Comedy Central and the show's creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, hoped to calm down the shows angry fans with a hastily thrown together season-opening episode where Chef wass brainwashed by "a fruity little club" whose members travel the globe having sex with children. The "fruity little club" was a metaphor for Scientology. The episode ended with Chef, Isaac Hayes character, being converted into a child molester and also being shot by lightning, then falling down a cliff, being impaled at the bottom of the cliff, and being mauled by both a mountain lion and a grizzly bear. This was Stone and Parker's way of getting back at Hayes for wanting to leave the show because they "poke fun at religious communites." Clearly, the show has been making fun of religions and other things for the past 10 seasons, and this is nothing special.

There isn't really much I could compare this to. I just felt like doing an article on this because I was flipping through channels the other night and noticed on CNN that the headline on the bottom of the screen was "South Park vs. Scientology." If a show like "South Park" actually has some kind of controversy that is being taken seriously enough to air it on CNN, then it's obvious that Tom Cruise and other Scientologists have really taken this one too far because the show has been poking fun at things for many years and will continue to do so.

In an article by The Washington Post on Friday, President Bush has decided to try and push for immigration laws to be modified by 2008. The modifications would involve millions of illegal immigrants, rather than being deported or fired, to be permitted to continue working in their jobs across the United States. However, some senators have other plans:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), whom Bush helped elect as party
leader, is threatening to bring a new immigration bill to the Senate floor early
next week. It would tighten control of the nation's borders without creating the
guest-worker program the president wants. Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), a
rival of Frist's for the Republican nomination, is promoting Bush's call for
tougher border security and the guest-worker program as he embraces the
president to shore up his standing with Republican leaders. In the House, Rep.
Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) is garnering support for a long-shot presidential bid
with his fierce anti-immigration rhetoric.

Similarily to this was the Chinese Immigration Act, where in the beginning of the 20th century Chinese immigrants were not allowed to enter any borders of the United States. As a result, animosity grew between Asian countries and the United States.

NASA Gives Green Light for Spacewalks

Nasa approvede a new method for members to attach themselves to the outside of the international space station for U.S. spacewalks. But the spacewalks had to be put on hold because some bubbling was found on the inside of some handrails still on the ground but similar to those that line the U.S. part of the floating lab. The spacewalks will be resumed by NASA but crew members will have to attach their tethers to a base that anchors the handrails to the station. NASA will continue testing the handrails to be sure of their safety, but results will not be available until april. The earliest scheduled spacewalk will not take place until this summer.


On July 20 of 1969, man first landed on the moon. Neil Armstrong was the first with his famous "one small leap for man. one giant leap for mankind". He was accompanied by his fellow member of the Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin, and they spent two and a half hours exploring. This was an incredible feat and a major scientific advancement at the time. Now with spacewalks it will be commonplace to be out in space exploring.

Imagine all the people...exploiting you in a televised seance

Elliot Mintz, spokesperson and good friend of Yoko Ono and her deceased husband John Lennon, is attacking the airing of a televised seance where psychics plan to contact Lennon's spirit to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his death.. Mintz said the concept of the show is "tasteless, tacky and exploitative" of Lennon's memory. The seance is to air on Pay-Per-View on April 24th on iN DEMAND for the cost of $9.95. Mintz goes on to say that the program will benefit no one but the producers and that "John Lennon was an amazing communicator of heart, mind and spirit. He still speaks to those who choose to listen to his recordings. That was the medium he chose to speak with us. A 'pay per view' seance was never his style." A similiar seance took place on Pay-Per-View in 2003 to contact the deceased Princess Dianna, and drew in over half a million viewers for the price of $14.95 a viewing. Needless to say, the seance contacted half a million more viewers than it did any spirits of dead princesses.

John Lennon was born October 9, 1940 and was murdered by crazed fan Mark Chapman on December 8th 1980. Lennon was a key member in the revolutionary British rock band the Beatles. He wrote most of the songs with Paul McCartney, and also embarked on an extremely creative solo career. He started dating an eccentric Japanese avante-garde performance artist named Yoko Ono in 1966, a relationship that added to rising tensions in the band. However, she helped him unfurl into the peace-talkin' hippie that we remember him by today. Lennon wrote and performed classic anti-war songs such as "Imagine" and "Give Peace a Chance". John also caused immense controversy by saying that the Beatles were "bigger than Jesus". He had an invaluable influence on popular culture world-wide.

Catholic "truth squads" battle against Davinci Code's historical inaccuracy!

Evangelical and Catholic groups are attempting to prove the “facts” written in the hugely popular novel and upcoming movie The DiVinci Code are wrong, not by boycotting or protesting, but by releasing “truth squads”
of data. These include books, study guides, DVDs, websites, and TV documentaries that are historically
accurate and invalidate the so-called facts of the best-selling novel written by Dan Brown. These “facts” from
the novel include Jesus Christ’s marriage to prostitute Mary Magdeline and their surviving bloodline, that the
divinity of Jesus did not exist until the Council of Nicea, and that the Church has gone to murderous lengths to
conceal these conspiracies over the centuries. Although these statements are basically untrue and have little
evidence supporting them, many believe that the Code is not about an accurate historical portrayal, but rather
about raising deep questions about the Church and inspiring an infinite amount of world wide discussion.
Theology professors nation wide state people, including church-supporters and non-Catholics, stand up and
want to discuss it. However, people serious about their religious faith do not like the fact that Dan Brown has
miseducated the 40 million people who have bought his book. William Edgar, a professor of apologetics at
Westminster Theological Seminary, says "While we recognize the right to present a good yarn, we're concerned
the mix of fact and fiction is sure to lead many to question the Bible's integrity, its message, and Christianity's
impact on history.” Sony, the company producing the DaVinci Code movie set up the website,
www.thedavincidialogue.com for healthy and just discussion of the novel.

The controversy over the DaVinci Code can be compared to the uproar over the 1988 film The Last Temptation of Christ based on the 1951 novel The Last Temptation . The novel, written by Nikos Kazantzakis, was a heavily banned book that told Jesus’s story though his point of view where He struggles with the human emotions of man, such as fear, lust, weakness, depression, reluctance, and doubt. However, Kazantzakis states in the novel’s preface that Christ is the perfect model for human beings, because He did not succumb to the “temptations of the flesh”. In the 1980s Martin Scorsese directed the film based on Kazantzaki’s book, and before the film was released or done shooting there were widespread protests lead by the religious community. They were enraged by the media picking Christ as subject matter, and major religious leaders gave blazing and damning sermons denouncing the film as blasphemous pornography. In October of 1988 French Catholic fundamentalists threw molotav cocktails in the Saint Michel cinema in Paris as a violent protest again the film playing there, and fourteen people were burned and injured.

16 Days trapped in RV with in-laws...not a new Dinero/Stiller movie

The Strivers family planned an overnight trip to the Pacific Coast in Oregon, but their RV skid
off the road and into the snowy mountain terrain while taking the scenic route home. A trip that
usually consists of four hours turned into sixteen days stranded in the south western Pacific
mountains after being terribly lost on the roads. Luckily, the family had a heavy supply of
dehydrated food, propane for heat, melted snow for water, and engine fuel for electricity. The
family included Mr. Strivers, his wife and two young children, and his in-laws the
Higginbothams. The family watched the news broadcasts of their disappearance on a portable
television, but they were too far out of range to communicate through cell phones. Finally after
16 days in the wilderness, Mr. Strivers and his wife took tents, blankets, and food and hiked out
for about one day until they met some federal Bureau of Land Management rangers, thus being
rescued from their desertion. Mr. Higginbotham said that the lot of them spent their time reading
and talking, and that the ordeal was no biggie because the adults were experienced outdoorsmen.
Mr. Higginbothams said, "We have lived that way in the middle of nowhere, we know how to
live this way.”

The trek of the Strivers and Higginbothams is reminiscent of the treks of pioneers that ventured
to the Pacific coast in the 19th century. Unemployed workers and farmers down on their luck
joined wagon trains heading out to California, Oregon, and other western states. They faced
disease, harsh weather, and many people dying on the journey across the country. They did not
have propane gas, engine fuel, televisions, or RV’s. They had canvas covered wooden wagons
and limited supplies, and the trek lasted from a few months to over a year. A well known wagon
train party is the Donner Party. The leader of the party made poor navigating choices, and ended
up stranded in the mountains during the winte. The families in the party ultimately started eating
the members who froze to death, due to lack of rations, and they most definitely did not have a
supply of dehydrated food.

US supports India's thirst for nuclear acitivity

In Washington, the Bush Administration is making a nuclear deal with India. Intense negotiations
are occurring over the US nuclear agreement with India to separate India’s civilian and nuclear
energy programs over the next decade, and receive help from professional US nuclear
technicians., and nuclear fuel to build a nuclear reactor. President Bush signed this agreement,
but Congress and the Senate are handling the document with caution and believe it should stay
“untouched”. India would have to have international inspections and military occupancy if the
agreement goes forth. Bush urged Congress to approve, declaring that India is non-proliferating.
Other backers say that a nuclear reactor would reduce the need for oil, foster positive US-India
relations, and give India’s economy a chance to blossom. Critics, however, believe that
encouraging nuclear activity in India, former known as a “nuclear renegade” would set a poor
example for Iran, and North Korea, and “encourage Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Ukraine, among
other nations, to rethink their current non-nuclear status.”

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was a treaty proposed by Ireland and open for signature
July 1, 1968 to diminish the spread and use of nuclear weapons. One-hundred and eighty-eight
sovereign powers have signed it, although some have not ratified it yet. It was ratified by the
United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, and forty more signatory states. The
three pillars of the treaty are non-proliferation (or stopping the spread of nuclear arms),
disarmament, and the right to peacefully use nuclear technology. However, the US sells nuclear
arms to Germany, Turkey, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The Big Thaw

The Christian Science Monitor reported that artic temperatures are approaching a prehistoric level that caused a 16 to 20 foot rise in sea levels. Global Warming appears to be causing meltdowns in both Greenland and the continent of Antarctica. This is mostly due to human abuse of the environment. To combat this prospective problem, nations would have to work towards reducing emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Developing industrial nations would have to adopt low emission technology. Ice in Antarctica and in Greenland is already beginning to thin faster than it is being remade. Scientists predict that by the year 2100, at the current rate, an unstoppable melting process. Over centuries, this melting down would raise sea levels by 20 feet.

Human actions can have devastating effects on the environment. Between the 1930s and early 1940s the Great Plains fell victim to a series of sand storms which came to be known as the Dust Bowl. Many who had migrated from the east to the west used sod to build their homes. Large herds of cattle were allowed to graze the same patches of land and farmers farmed the same plot of land annually. These three factors contributed to the removal of the top layer of plains soil, or sod. This sod had previously kept the lower looser layers of soil in place. When a series of wind storms hit the plains, the loose unprotected soil rose up creating gigantic dust clouds. The worst sandstorm came to be known as Black Sunday.

The White House

It was reported in the Washington Post that a man was arrested on Wednesday for throwing a bundle of papers over the White House fence. The man was a French Citizen and he was charged with Disorderly Conduct. The bomb squad had to be called in to find out that there was nothing dangerous in or around the papers. The French man was arrested and deported in 2004 for doing exaclty the same thing as was done yesterday. The Secret Service reported that things like this happen often, but they will always call in the bomb squad because they don't to take any chances with the lives of people working in the house or walking around the house.

The White House was built in 1792. The president at the time, George Washington, was able to choose the site at which it stands today. After careful consideration, an Irashman, James Horban, was selected to design and build the house. Construction was finally completed in 1800. A total of $232,371.83 was spent on the house, which is the equivalent of $2.4 million today. John Adams was the first president to actually live in the building. The White House was not the official name of the building until 1901, when Theodore Roosevelt had it engraved on his stationary. Since being built, the white house hasd only been seriously damegaed twice, once in 1814, and again in 1841. On December 19, 1960, the White House was designated a National Historic Landmark.

Nintendo is back?

Nintendo recently decided to restore some classic video games. Over 1,000 games that were made by Sega and Hudson Soft will return. A "Virtual Console" download service will make it possible to download old Ninetendo games such as Mario Brothers and Zelda.

Nintendo started as a small Japanese business by Fusajiro Yamuchi near the end of1889 as Nintendo Koppai. The name Nintendo roughly translates as "leave luck to heaven" or "in heaven's hands". Nintendo was not introduced to the American market until 1985, but has rapidly developed ever since. Super Nintendo followed Nintendo, and then N64 and Gamecube. The technology which once seemed so advanced is now something we are looking back upon and restoring.

death penalty and terrorists

The New York Times has recently printed an article discussing the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, who is facing charges for the terrorist attacks on September 11. The final two witnesses to take the satnd on Wednesday greatly supported the charges that Moussaoui was facing. One witness was a senior aviation security official, and the other an FBI agent. Both told the jury that the attacks could have been prevented if Moussaoui had told police what he knew about AL Queda when he was arrested three week previously to the event. After Moussaoui's lawyer defends his client, the jury will have to make the difficult decision whether to have Moussaoui serve a life sentence or whether to put him to death.

The Death Penalty in America has existed ever since the formation of the first colonies. The first recorded execution in the coloies was in 1608. Captain George Kendall of Jamestown was executed for being a spanish spy. The Divine, Moral and Martial Laws were established in 1612 by Sir Thomas Dale, governor of Virginia. These laws provided the death penalty for even minor offenses such as stealing grapes, killing chickens, and trading with Indians. Like today, the laws of capital punishment varied from colony to colony, or today, state to state. Each colony had their own rules about whether or not to haver the death penalty and what crime must be committed for it to apply.

Prolonged Murder Case

According to a N.Y Times artcle, the parents of a 4 year old girl, Jennifer Shafiq, were charged with her murder Monday night (March 20, 06), which occurred around 1990. Jennifer's body was found in 1996 by a hyker and her case has been around for quite a long time. "Her mother, Khairual N. Abdul, 42, was charged with murder in the case, and her father, Parmjit P. Singh, 48, was charged with hindering prosecution, the police said." Mr. Singh accused his wife of repeatedly beating her child then killing her by violently throwing her on the floor, causing her to hit her head. This family has lived in New York for about 14 years, however, Abdul is originally from the Fiji Islands and Singh is from India.

As terrible as it is, there has been a history of parents murdering their own children. One occurred in Oregon with Diane Downs on May 19, 1983. Diane shot 3 of her children while in their car, 2 of which died and one, a girl, lived to tell the court that her mother had shot them. Diane Downs was accused of homicide and received life in prison. Downs held down to a story that a strange man had shot her kids, not her.

more trouble for G.M.

General Motors proposed a landmark deal for all of its 113,000 union workers if they quit. The company is willing to offer $140,000 early retirement plans for those who choose to leave. This is just one small portion of the bigger picture. Because of recent devastation financially, G.M. hopes to reemerge as a smaller, more competitive car comapny that can compete in todays market. Their economic standings ahve declined slowly in the past two decades, but over the past few years have plumented because of rising gas prices. The plan could however backfire, and either way will end up costing G.M. nearly $2 billion. This year it is expected that Toyota will beat General Motors, and become the largest automotive company in the world.

General Motors was founded in 1908 in Flint, Michigan. It origionally ran only two brands of cars, Buick and Oldsmobile. During the 1920's Alfred Sloan lead General Motors to an amazing feat, they beat Ford and became the largest automobile company in the world. At this time they also developed Cadillac, Elmore, and Oakland. In the 1930's the company created Greyhound Bus Company. During the 1950's GM was the largest corporation in the U.S., having surpassed all companys in all industries.

Less Power to Search Homes

The washington post reported that the Supreme Court recently ruled police officers must have a warrant to enter a couple’s home and look for evidence. Some viewed the decision as a victory for privacy rights expressed in the fourth amendment and gender equality while others viewed it as an obstacle to policemen fighting domestic violence. The law will make a significant difference nationwide. Previously, policemen could enter a home with the consent of only one of two adults living in the home. The new decision also does not overrule the courts previous ruling that a police officer may enter a home with the permission of one partner if the other is not there or is asleep. Police officers would also still be permitted to enter homes if one partner was seriously in danger.

In 1767 the British parliament issued the Writs of Assistance. Previously passed Navigation Acts had banned certain products. The British believed that smuggling of banned products had become popular. The writs of assistance gave customs officers a general search warrant. They could enter any home at any time and search for contraband. American colonists viewed this as a violation of their privacy. The Writs of Assistance was one of the many causes of the American Revolution. The fourth amendment to the American constitution in the bill of rights protected American citizens from decrees like the Writs of Assistance. The fourth amendment was a direct result of the Writs of Assistance.

"Black-Box" warnings

In an article on Wednesday, March 22, it was reported that the advisory committee of the FDA's Drug Safety and Risk Management voted to recommend putting a "black-box" warning on ADHD medication, providing any warnings to possible side effects the drugs may pose to the cardiovascular system. Although it has not been proven, there are suspicions that certain side effects may be caused by ADHD medications like Ritalin and Adderall. In several trials, children were taken off of their medication and the "similar reports" found among had ceased. However, when they resumed the dosage, some of the "reports" returned. Nothing is being said for certain, but the reports are being thoroughly examined. Today a third panel for the FDA is reviewing an application by Cephalon Inc. to sell their sleep-disorder drug, Provigil, as ADHD treatment.

Ritalin, or methylphenidate, is a common medication in the treatment of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The disorder is characterized by "abnormally high levels of activity, impulsivity, and/or inattention that is more frequently displayed and more severe than is typically observed in individuals with comparable levels of development." The disease is often diagnosed between three and five years of age. Today, nearly three to seven percent of school-age children have been diagnosed with ADHD. Because Ritalin is a central nervous system stimulant, it is been reported that many have abused the medication without a prescription. There have been controversies over the use of Ritalin in children of such young age with ADHD.

Now, more than ever, I am glad I am a vegetarian.

A Kansas based meatpacking company has sparked a debate in favor testing all the company's cattle for mad cow disease. Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to look for the disease in every animal it processes. Why somebody would refuse to test meats for potentially harmful diseases that could kill millions of consumers is far beyond my comprehension, but the Agricultural Department has refused to comply with Creekstone. The department insists that it cannot assure food's safety, and that testing rarely detects the disease in younger animals, the source of most meat. The U.S. has had three cases of mad cow disease. The first appeared in December 2003 in a Washington state cow that had been imported from Canada. The second was confirmed last June in a Texas-born cow, and the third was confirmed last week in an Alabama cow.The U.S. has been testing around 1 percent of the 35 million head of cattle slaughtered each year. Creekstone is planning to sue the department in a last ditch effort to be granted money and supplies for the testing.

The United States Meat Inspection Act of 1906 authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to order meat inspections and condemn any meat product found unfit for human consumption. The law was partly a response to the publication of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, which exposed the horrors of Chicago's meat packing industry, as well as to other Progressive Era muckraking publications of the day. The four primary requirements of the Meat Inspection Act of 1906 were: mandatory inspection of livestock before slaughter, mandatory postmortem inspection of every carass, sanitary standards established for slaughterhouses and meat processing plants, and authorized US Department of Agriculture monitoring and inspection of slaughter and processing operations.

TV Here, There, Everywhere

Last year the Slingbox was introduced to the world. The Slingbox is a cell phone that allows you to watch television while you're on the go. A high speed internet connection both at home and on your phone allos you to watch TV anywhere that you are able to make calls. The Slingbox has multiple advantages including watching a movie on a TiVo at home while you are staying in a hotel or simply being bored on a train or bus. If there is ever a power outage during the big game, all you have to do is turn on your Slingbox.

The earliest signs of the television can be dated back to 1885, but it was not commonplace in homes until the 1950s. Prior to the television, people relied on the radio and theater for entertainment. TV, which once seemed like a crazy dream, came true and created a whole new era of communication and entertainment. Cell phones were not introduced until the early to mid 1980s. Being such a technological advance, it took generations before they were developed. Now the television and the cell phone which once seemed crazy are now just expected and were combined to have even more advantages for individuals.

Crazy Fuel Prices

Although the weather this winter was fairly mild, Americans spent more money heating their homes than they have in a generation. The mild weather kept the consumption of fuel low, which kept the demand for fuel low. That should result in lower prices, but they did the opposite and went up. The price of heating oil reached $2.38 a gallon this winter which is the highest it has been since 1981. President Bush had to sign a bill to provide $1 billion in federal energy assistance to poor households in addition to $2 billion already allocated this year. "The hurricanes knocked about 80 percent of the gas production from the Gulf of Mexico off line, helping push the price of natural gas this winter to the highest levels ever," said Tancred Lidderdale, the senior economist for the Energy Information Administration, an agency of the Energy Department.

The inconsistency of the supply and demand for oil indirectly relates back to John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil. Rockefeller used horizontal integration in which he was the only supplier of oil. Therefore, he was able to control the supply and the price so that it always benefitted himself. Even if the demand for oil was low, he was able to raise the price and still profit and benefit from it because people had no choice but to go to him. Although the circumnstances of the inconsistant relationship between price and demand are different, they are similar in that the people have no control and the relationship does not make much sense. It seems obvious that something should only be expensive when the demand is high, but in both cases the demand is not high but people must still pay outrageous prices because it is their only choice.

Standardized Tests

Standardized Tests Face a Crisis Over Standards

Standardized tests are constantly becoming increasingly important. For example, the SAT is a major symbol of intelligence that is a major deciding factor to colleges. Not only is the SAT necessary to get into most colleges, but also multiple subject tests. Similar tests are also necessary for teacher licensing and similar jobs. But there is a flaw, these tests can result in errors when be corrected or even made. This causes false information to be sent out which results in people losing opportunities. Now some tests are being made easier just because it is cheaper and easier to correct, but so much relies on the scores of these tests, so is it really beneficial?

A century ago, most people did not even attend college. Therefore, standardized or introductory tests were not even necessary. minority groups and women were also unable to attend college. these tests that today are such a huge factor in determining our "worth" were not even used a century ago. People were judged upon their color, sex, and the skill they posessed. Women did not even begin attending college until the 1920s. What was determined about a person changed from looking at their sex and color to their ability to take a standardized test.

hurricane katrinas over..isnt it ?

It has been nearly seventh months since Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city of New Orleans and forced hundreds of thousands of residents to vacate their homes. Most of these people still have not found a permanent place to live since this national disaster devastated their lives and the little savings they had left is long gone. So what are politicians and the government currently doing for the people that suffered in Hurricane Katrina. Robert Rodrigue's opinion on the subject is, "I don't think anybody cares, really, New Orleans is kind of like at the bottom of the country, and they just forget about us." So what happens now. Is the government still responsible to take care of these natural disaster victims or have they completed their obligation to the American people. Many have forgotten about Hurricane Katrina, but those who were affected by it will never forget.

The post-Huricane Katrina era we are experiencing now is very similar to the time during post World War I. The economy was in the serious devastation of a Great Depression. Wages fell dramatically and the labor unions in this time were very weak. There was little government protection during this post-war time. American citizens were in a terrible situation. But is it the governments responsibility to take care of all the citizens? How far do the obligations of the American government go, how liable are they?

Just some food for thought...

Approaching the fourth year American troops have been involved in the war in Iraq, President Bush continues to preach that a victory in Iraq is still possible. Today, Bush has continually struggled with convincing Americans that going to war with Iraq was necessary. Despite hopes of an early date, the President has yet to set any time frame for a return of American troops to their country. He has, however, hinted that forces are most likely going to remain in Iraq until 2009, the next election. With little information to give Americans, President Bush struggles maintain American support for the “War on Terrorism”.

As displayed in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, large groups of people are often easily persuaded to view a situation a certain way if given any reason to support it, known as “mob mentality”. Politicians are also infamous for their swift ability to “sweet talk” an audience and gain popularity without ever truly discussing the matter at hand. Today, some Americans could not fully agree on the reasons for supporting the War in Iraq. Answers would vary between the Iraqi trade with gas to a personal vendetta Saddam Hussein for family threats. This seems to have been a common characteristic between the Vietnam War and the Iraq War. Although citizens originally supported both wars, after several years of fighting, the Americans soon questioned if their reasoning for battle was worth the consequences. My questions is, has the “mob mentality” of the American citizens influenced the later disapproval of the wars or were Presidents Kennedy and Bush able to use their skills as politicians to advance in wars that the United States may have been able to avoid?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

So what if I used a Jack Nicholson movie title? Moving on...

On Monday, leaders of three federal agencies predicted that at some point this year the Bird Flu will arrive right here in the states. As USA Today reports, "The highly pathogenic H5N1 has spread across Asia, Europe and parts of Africa. It is contagious and deadly to poultry and many species of wild birds, and it has infected at least 177 people, killing 98. The virus can't spread easily in humans, but scientists warn it could mutate into a form that is contagious among people, causing a pandemic. " Department of the Interior Secretary Gale Norton has said that a program will be set up to test up to 100,000 wild birds for signs of the illness this year and that the program will focus on breeding grounds in Alaska and also in islands in the Pacific where migrating birds from Asia are now heading. Also, the FDA has banned the use of Tamiflu and other human anti-flu drugs on poultry. Experts think that if the drugs are used on poultry then eventually the infection will become immune.

Bird Flu is an infection caused by avian (bird) influenza (flu) viruses. These flu viruses occur naturally among birds. Wild birds worldwide carry the viruses in their intestines, but usually do not get sick from them. However, bird flu is very contagious among birds and can make some domesticated birds, including chickens, ducks, and turkeys, very sick and kill them. Infection with bird flu viruses in domestic poultry causes two main forms of disease. The “low pathogenic” form may go undetected and usually causes only mild symptoms, such as ruffled feathers and a drop in egg production. However, the "highly pathogenic" form spreads more rapidly through flocks of poultry. This form kills in about 48 hours.

Crime in New York

The New York Times reports that Michael R. Bloomberg, mayor of New York City announced an addition of 800 police officers and 400 civilians to the city’s police department. The police force lost 1,000 officers who were assigned to intelligence and counter terrorism tasks. This has become a major part of the city’s safety precautions. Detectives are deployed to gather information overseas and officers carry out random searches of bags and packages brought into subways. Since 2001, the city gained 125,000 new residents and the mayor believes keeping crime rates low is essential for future growth of the city. While the majority of big cities saw an increase in street crime in the past year, New York City’s crime rates have been at an all time low. Crime in the city has fallen by 25% since 2001.

Throughout the Gilded Age, there was a major internal migration from the farms into the cities. New York City, Philidelphia and Chicago ermerged as cities with populations over one miliion. An approximated seven million immigrants poured into the country between the years of 1865 and 1900. They settled mostly in large cities in tenements. The large internal migration along with immigration caused overcrowding in tenements, disease and also an increase in crime. These big cities needed to controll the rising crime rate caused by the large swell in pupulation. There was an increase in the police force, street lights were put on streets and there were also discoveries in criminal science. It was during this time that fingerprinting was first used in fighting crime.

SAT Dilemma

People are well aware of the fact that the SAT's had recently scored about 2000 tests incorrectly. On March 14, 2006, the washington post reported that an additional 1600 tests were found to have mistakes as well. The College Board spokeswoman told colleges and guidance counselors that they would be rescanning all of the tests to correct any mistakes that were made. Four sittings in total would be rescanned. So far, only about 600 students have had improved scores.

The SAT was started during World War One as a IQ tests for men in the Army. It was known as the Army Alpha. After the war in 1926, Carl Brigham, a Princeton Professor, began to use a more difficult version of the test to test college applicants. Then, in 1933, James Brynat Conant, the president of Harvard, decided he wanted a test that would allow him to give out scholarships to boys who did not come from eastern boarding schools. In 1938 it was decided that the SAT would be a test only used to give out scholarships. The test was administered to 300,000 people on a single day in 1944. Then, in 1948 the Educational Testing Service was chartered and the SAT became the official basic college admissions device across the country.

College

In the New York times there is an article discussing the difficulties teenagers face when applying to colleges. Kids today are apllying to more than double the amount of colleges that their parents applied to. Many students desperately want to be accepted to "brand name" colleges, such as NYU or UCLA. These students feel that their chances of getting ito these colleges is very thin, so they apply to multiple ones. Not only is this application process giving the students more stress, but it is also hurting them financially. If a student applies to 20 colleges, and the applications are $50 a piece, that is $1000 dollars gone, which they could have put towards their education. Also, there are some private schools who are adding a new rule to their students application process. If they apply to more than a certain number of colleges, then they have to pay a specified fee for each additional application sent. Each individual stident will have to decide how many colleges are too many.

The first college in the United States is Harvard University. Harvard was founded on september 8, 1636 by the massachusetts Bay Colony. It didn't obtain the name Harvard college until 1639. Up until then it had simply been known as New College. The educational instititution was changed from a college to a university in 1780. Today, Harvard is considered one of the most prestigious schools in America, along with other schools such as yale and Columbia.

Emily Crockett goes to Harvard!

I came across an inspiring story about a girl named Emily Crockett. She is blind and paralyzed on the left side of her body. She had had a brain tumor when she was a child and not expected to live. However, she beat the odds and ended up attending Harvard University. She is a brilliant girl that had gone against all odds and succeeded in life. She was afraid at first at the idea of going to a new place alone; however, she has become independent and can rely on herself now.


Harvard University was founded on September 8, 1636 by a vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States. In the beginning it was simply referred to as New College but retained the name Harvard College on March 13, 1639. It became Harvard University in 1780 by the Massachusetts Constitution.

From the New York Times (times three!)...

An(other) article from The New York Times explains that Frank P. Quattrone, the investment banker who contributed to the technologic boom of the 1990s, has received a new trial due to the overturning of the obstruction-of-justice conviction. It was stated that it was impossible to fully convict Quattrone of his actions. This ruling, which is an extremely rare case of reversal of a jury verdict, is considered a major setback for the Justice Department's attempts to portray Quattrone as a symbol of a major Wall Street pirateer during the 1990s.

During the 1920s, an economic boom occurred on Wall Street, where excessive trading coincided with multiple investments. At this time, an economy boom occurred, not a technological boom. Rather than being prosperous scientifically, the Roaring Twenties provided a financial prosperity that was crushed in October of 1929 with the stock market crash.

An article in The New York Times on March 21 has pointed out a significant problem in keeping the health of many wildlife animals in national parks. In order to supply foods for all animals, wildlife preservationists feed the multiple species using tractors; however, this may pose a disease problem.

Brucellosis is one of several diseases that affect wildlife and domestic animals and that have appeared in the national parks. Controlling them poses a challenge to the National Park Service, which has to decide on strategies and try to meet a number of competing needs of hunters, tourists, ranchers and the animals.
In 2003, brucellosis spread from elk into cattle and forced the destruction of hundreds of head of infected cows. Wyoming lost its disease-free status, as did Idaho when the disease was recently found there. Now every cow leaving those states has to be tested.
Chronic wasting disease looms as a potentially bigger danger. It has been found in deer 65 miles from here.

As a result of brucellosis, many animals are dying, creating less of a tourist attraction and even less of a reason to withhold the land from "captains of industry".
This is not the only problem that wildlife in national parks have had; in 1908 at Jackson Hole, elk began to die of starvation, creating the tractor's role in feeding the varying animals hay and other grasses.

J.P. Morgan Takes on Quiznos

This morning I heard a headline on the news, radio station I was listening to. J.P. Morgan is becoming a Quiznos partner. (I found the article in the New York Times so I had a reference.) On Monday, March 20, 2006 J.P. Morgan’s Partners LLC said it would share ownership with the fast growing sandwich company. Quiznos Chairman and Chief Executive said that this is just what Quiznos needs to move to the next level. As of December 31, 2006, J.P. Morgan Partners had about $10 billion in capital under management, which shows it was a smart move to allow the company to join Quiznos.

John Pierpont Morgan began his career in 1857 as an accountant and worked for several banking firms. In 1871, he became a partner in Drexel, Morgan and Company. Morgan reorganized railroads in 1885 and became a board member. This position helped him to gain massive amounts of stock. In 1896 he began to embark on a steel and electric company. In 1901, he founded U.S. Steel, the world’s first billion-dollar corporation. By the 1900s, J.P. Morgan became very powerful and controlled a large portion of the economy. Many critics would call him a Robber Baron, while others refer to him as a Captain of Industry.

Fergie Fudgehog?

Microsoft Corporation has developed a new gaming product directed towards the younger age bracket. The game, Viva Piñata, is part of the company’s new tactic trying to promote its latest product, Xbox 360, to children. Because the traditional Xbox consumers are males ages eighteen to thirty-four and only make ten percent of Microsoft’s total profits, the child product is a giant risk to the technological empire. Microsoft is going to be competing in a market where companies like Nintendo and Sony have already dominated with products like Pokémon and Playstation. The company, however, is willing to make the venture to promote their new character, Fergie Fudgehog, and create a Saturday morning cartoon by fall in hopes of expanding their empire to yet another branch of entertainment.

Bill Gates, executive administrator and designer of Microsoft, has expanded his company into a financial empire since his invention of the Windows computer program in 1987. Today, Microsoft has products in various branches of electronics that range from computer hardware to Xbox games. As one of the world's leading economic tycoons, Bill Gates is easily named one of the 21st century's captains of industry. In the late 1800s, the major rise of entrepeneurs created a stir that soon earned them the nickname "robber barons". Whether these men were actually "captains of industry" or "robber barons" is a matter of opinion, however there is an undeniable connection between the monopolies of the steel and oil industries under leaders such as Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan of the 1800s and Microsoft under Bill Gates today.

I'm feeling kind of parched when I read this article...

In The New York Times on March 21, 2006, local meteorologists in Denver, Co., mentioned that although spring has begun, the drought that began in the late 1990s in the Midwest is not over. Regardless of multiple snowstorms and flooding rains, the drought seems to continue. Weather forecasters are not sure how long this will last; however, water supplies are draining low, causing problems with extinguishing forest fires.

"When two out of three, or three out of four years are bad, the issue that's being driven home is how much competition there is for water in the West," said Michael J. Hayes, a climate impacts specialist at the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

A similar occurrence with droughts was during the 1930s; coinciding with the Great Depression in the United States was the Dust Bowl in the Midwestern states. Extremely dry weather and a lack of precipitation created the "dust bowl effect", with swirling dirt, causing health problems.

Recently, Columbia University has received a $200 million dollar donation from Dawn M. Greene, the wife of N.Y lawyer Jerome L. Greene. This money was donated in order to finance a new science center at the University, which will be named after the lawyer: The Jerome L. Greene Science Center. Mr. Greene is an almunus of Columbia University, having graduated in 1926 from Columbia College and in 1928 from the Law School.
"The gift, the largest private donation to a United States institution for the creation of a single facility, will fund the science center, which will be led by three Columbia professors, all of them neurobiologists, according to a Columbia statement."
This center will be mainly used for the studying of genetics, behavior, and the function of the brain.

Throughout the Gilded Age, the so called Rober Barons, otherwise known as Captains of Industry, contributed a lot to education. Among these was John D. Rockefeller, founder of the Standard Oil industry. Rockefeller is widely known as a philanthropist. He gave $80 million to the University of Chicago, which was then turned into a "world class institution by 1900." Rockefeller also made numerous donations to his church and to health sciences, which led to the foundation of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in 1901 located in N.Y. City. In 1965, its name was changed to Rockefeller University.

Judy Garland is making a comeback!....from the grave?

In the New York Times, there is an article about an actress by the name of Adrienne Barbeau that is pursing the part of Judy Garland in a new play called “The Property Known as Garland”. Adrienne has been seen in past roles as the daughter in the 70's sitcom "Maude" and in famous performances such as “The Fog," "Swamp Thing" and "Escape From New York." The actress was hesitant at first to take on the role but was intrigued by the script. The play is a fictional account of what might have gone on backstage at Garland's final concert appearance.

Judy Garland was born on June 10, 1922 in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Her family moved to California when she was four and a half. Judy had her first star appearance at the age of two. She rose to international fame at the age of fifteen after she performed the song “Dear Mr. Gable, You Made Me Love You”. Judy Garland also won an Academy Award for her role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. During her lifetime she recorded over 100 songs, 24 albums, and made 32 feature films.

FBI Is Having Trouble In Paradise

The FBI agent who arrested and interrogated Zacarias Moussaoui just weeks before the September 11, 2001 attacks, told a jury today that his efforts to confirm his strong suspicions that Mr. Moussaoui was involved in a terrorist airline hijacking plot, were thwarted by senior bureau officials in Washington who acted out of negligence and a need to protect their careers. The agent, named Harry Samit, was upset that his numerous requests were ignored to look into what Mr. Moussaoui had been up to at the time of his arrest. During this time, Mr. Moussaoui was arrested on immigration violations in Minnesota, where he was learning to fly a jetliner. This clearly had a lot to do with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Samit felt that his fellow FBI members were practicing criminal negligence, and that "the wager was a national tragedy". It is truly a shame to know that the attacks of September 11 could have been foiled or atleast slowed for the time being. FBI agent Samit should have been listened to by the other FBI agents, instead of being ignorant and neglecting. Hopefully now, the people at fault here will be brought to justice, and the terrorist will also be punished. Also, hopefully the FBI will not make another major mistake such as this one again.
Another occurrence in American history involving the FBI making major mistakes which led to crime and problems is the corruption of several agents, who became involved with crime boss Whitey Bulger. During the 1970s and 1980s, John Connoly and John Morris were two agents who became very close with Whitey Bulger, and started to assist his crimes. They gave Bulger alot of information about his enemies and other crime families, and Bulger would use that information to eliminate his enemies. Eventually, the corruption of the agents was exposed, and the FBI gained a lot of heat. Bulger of course escaped, and is still on the run. In a perfect world, government agencies like the FBI would not become corrupted, but it is just impossible in this world.

Smoking Bans.

Chicago's new ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and other public places is being wildy ignored according to the Washington Post. Marshall McGearty Tobacco Artisans, a "tobacco lounge" has opened in Chicago's trendy Wicker Park neighborhood. It looks like a coffeehouse, but Marshall McGearty is technically a tobacco retail shop with at least 65 percent of its sales in tobacco. Last month, city Alderman Edward M. Burke introduced an ordinance to close the loophole in the smoking ban, stating that venues that serve food and drink cannot be classified as tobacco retail stores. Burke's ordinance charges that "tobacco lounges have attempted to circumvent the power and purpose" of the smoking ban, which currently affects restaurants, music venues and other public places; bars and taverns have until 2008 to comply. Anti-smoking advocates said they think tobacco lounges ultimately will be unsuccessful in the face of growing opposition to smoking.

Similiarly, alcohol has also been banned in the past in United States history. Prohibition was any of several periods during which the manufacture and sale of alcoholic drinks were restricted or illegal. Prohibition began on January 16, 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect. The Temperance Movement also came along, which wanted to make alcohol illegal. Prohibitionists had some success; by 1916, legal prohibition was in effect in 26 of the 48 states. Even though the sale of alcohol was illegal, alcoholic drinks were still widely available at "speakeasies" and other underground drinking establishments, much like Marshall McGearty makes tobacco available.

Major Oil Problems in Alaska

In Alaska, an oil spill has occurred during the month of March. This oil spill is recorded as the largest spill ever on the North Slope. It has raised new concerns among state and federal governments about whether "BP" has been fully maintaining the old-fashioned group of wells, pumps and pipelines that crisscross the Alaskan tundra. BP Exploration Alaska is the company that controls the pipelines in Alaska, and is responsible for the corroded transmission line from which more than 200,000 gallons of crude oil leaked onto the lands of Alaska. The company has been criticized and fined on several different occasion, such as in the year 2004 when the company was fined $1.2 million. Now, the Division of the Federal Department of Transportation, which is responsible for pipeline safety, is examining the company's actions. The Department has told the company that it can not restart the pipeline until: the agency had thoroughly inspected the line, both internally and externally, repaired the problem, and given the company a corrosion-monitoring plan. It has also been reported that several workers have alerted BP management that there were problems with corrosion in the pipeline, which should have been looked at, but were not. So, the government will heavily scrutinize the pipeline, and fix every necessary problem to make it operational again. Hopefully, there will be no more problems in the future.
Relating to American History, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System was created to move oil from the North Slope of Alaska to the northern most ice- free port in the state, known as Valdez, Alaska. Construction for the pipeline began on March 27, 1975, and was completed on May 31, 1977. It cost $8 billion in 1977 to make the pipeline, which was the largest privately-funded construction project of the era. The first oil was moved through the pipeline on June 20, 1977. Since that time, over 14 billion barrels have moved through the Trans Alaska Pipeline System. Hopefully, the pipeline can be kept open and operational.

More immigrants for the U.S

According to the Washington Post, fourteen Cubans who were sent back to their homeland by the Coast Guard after their boat landed at an abandoned U.S. bridge in the Florida Keys are now allowed to return to the U.S. This will happen only if Fidel Castro allows them to leave, however. The U.S. government will issue visas to the Cubans, but there is still no guarantee that Cuba will permit the group, which includes two children, to leave the island. Under the U.S. "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, most Cubans who reach U.S. soil are allowed to stay, while those intercepted at sea are generally returned home.The group of Cubans arrived at the bridge in January but were sent back because the bridge was no longer connected to U.S. soil. A U.S judge decided last week that they rightfully reached the shore and should be able to live here.

Elián González was at the center of a heated custody and immigration battle in 2000 between the Cuban and American governments, his father, his Miami relatives, and the Cuban American community of Miami. On April 22, 2000, the seizure of six-year-old Elián by federal agents drew the criticism of many in the Cuban-American community and presidential candidates Al Gore and George Bush. However, after the Miami relatives' appeals met several rejections by 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, and a refusal to hear the case by the US Supreme Court, Elián González returned to Cuba with his father, Juan Miguel González, on June 28, 2000.

The Black races Deepening Problem

Black men in the United States face a major problem involving common employment and educational statistics , according to a group of new scholarly studies. In recent years, these problems have escalated, even as an economic boom and a welfare overhaul have helped black women and other groups that are in need. These studies, which were started by experts at such schools as Columbia, Princeton, and Harvard, exhibit that the huge pool of badly-educated black men are being disconnected from the mainstream society, much more so than white men or Hispanic men. These problems are occurring even more so in the inner cities of the United States. In these settings, a black man finishing high school is rare, legal work is for a black man is even rarer, and prison is more or less automatic. Lately, incarceration rates are climbing for blacks, even during a time when urban crime rates are declining. The professor of social work at Columbia, Ronald B. Mincy, stated that,"There's something very different happening with young black men, and it's something we can no longer ignore." Mincy is also the editor of "Black Males Left Behind". The levels of unemployment in this country are high, but remain inaccurate, because they fail to take into account people who don't wish to have a job and those who are incarcerated. It is quite obvious that what the government is doing at this present time for these black men in trouble is not working, and something needs to be done.
Now, many black men are being considered inferior, and for the most part, have always been discriminated against in the history of the U.S. During the 1800s, slavery became a major problem in the United States, and many people began to say that slavery was wrong and needed to be stopped. Many other, usually people from the South, wanted to keep slavery, acting as if though blacks were property. Even after the black slaves were freed, they were discriminated against, were not allowed to have many of the rights whites had, and also didn't gain most rights until well into the 1900s. It is a shame that discrimination existed back then, and even exists today. The black males that are in financial trouble today must be assisted by the government or by those who have wealth and power immediately.

Smallpox.

According to the Washington Post, Cabinet officials gathered at the White House on Saturday for a drill simulating a smallpox attack against the United States. Its kind of like when Ms. Demarco gets bored and throws us outside in below zero weather for random fire drills; it gets everybody in a panic and passes the time. The exercise lasted four hours and was initiated to test the government's response plans. Although the disease was last eliminated in the 80's, there are fears that smallpox could be used by terrorists as a biological weapon. President Bush did not participate in the exercise. This excercise showed that saving lives and containing economic damage would require more planning in local communities and increased production of vaccines and medications.
The first smallpox epidemic probably reached America around 1519. In 1519, Hernan Cortes landed on the shores of what is now Mexico and was then the Aztec empire. n 1520, another group of Spanish came from Cuba and landed in Mexico. Among them was an African slave who had smallpox. When Cortés heard about the other group, he went and defeated them. In this contact, one of Cortés's men contracted the disease. When Cortés returned to Tenochtitlan, he brought the disease with him. Soon, the Aztecs rose up in rebellion against Cortés. Outnumbered, the Spanish were forced to flee. In the fighting, the Spanish soldier carrying smallpox died. After the battle, the Aztecs evidently looked on the invaders' bodies for riches and contracted the virus. Smallpox then devastated the Aztec population. It killed most of the Aztec army, the emperor, and 25% of the overall population.

Department of Interior

The Christian Science Monitor reports that Dirk Kempthorne, President Bush’s nominee for lead the Interior Department is likely to win the position. Kempthorne has experience and is known for his collaboration. He works well with those who don’t agree with him, and is not likely to ignore endangered species for corporate ranching and new highways. Kempthorne previously stood up to the administration on issues of nuclear-waste cleanup at a federal facility in Idaho and also got more resources for the states national parks. National environmental groups claim that Kempthorne is only interested in resource-extraction and the profit that could be gained from public lands. Kempthorne and the administration would face many challenges which range from salvage logging of burnt timber to the proposed sale of some federal land to lessen the federal budget deficit. The government is in the process of opening some parks, like Yellowstone to more commercial activities. Some argue this takes focus away from the preservation of natural resources and protection.


After the creation of the Executive Departments, Foreign Affair Departments , Treasury and War the idea was put forth several times to create a separate department to handle domestic matters. At the time, domestic matters were divided between the four existing departments by Congress. On the last day of the 30th congress, a bill was passed that created the Department of the Interior. Thomas Ewing was then appointed the first Secretary of the Interior. The Department of the Interior would have a range of responsibilities. It would be responsible for the construction of the national water system, the management of hospitals and universities,management of public parks and lands, patents, and pensions. The Department of Interior was also responsible for the surveying of the west and territorial oversight.

Sustainable Debt

The Christian Science Monitor reported that the current national debt totals $8.3 trillion dollars. The public debt is a larger share of the national economy than the past decade and more than half of it is held by foreigners. The debt includes two types of debt. These are debt owed to the public, including foreign lenders and debt owed from some government units to others.

The situation now is really very different from the 1980s," says Alice Rivlin,
former vice chair of the Federal Reserve. As the costs of programs such as
Medicare rise, she says, "we can't go on into the next decade ... still running
deficits as our major way of coping.

The big issue is the nations ability of withstand the costs associated with baby boomer retirements, which are only a few years away. To cover entitlement costs, taxes would have to be raised by 50%. Economists vary in their estimates of how government size effects economic growth however they all agree that the rising debt could have a harmful effect on the economy.

After the American Revolution, the nation was in 77.1 million dollars of debt, a large sum for those times. 11.7 million was owed to foreign governments, 40.4 million was owed to Americans, mainly soldiers and 25 million was state debt. Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury suggested three solutions. All debt would be paid at face value and the national government assumes all debt. New American industry would be protected by high tariffs being put on imports. A national bank would be created from all funds from taxes and tariffs and it would print bank notes. The United States was able to recover from owing such a large amount of debt.

torture camps

As Iraqi defiance increased in early 2004 a military base in Baghdad was transformed from a military base to a top-secret detention center. There American soldiers would torture sometimes innocent Iraqis. According to Defense Department personnel their intention was to extract information to help hunt down Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most-wanted terrorist. Soldiers posted placards at the detention area that advised, "NO BLOOD, NO FOUL." The slogan reflected an adage adopted by Task Force 6-26: "If you don't make them bleed, they can't prosecute for it." Because of racial profiling and other ovbious reasons sometimes innocent Iraqis are detained in these detention centers.

This Iraqi detenion center is similar to the Japanese American Internment camps that were located in the United States during World War II. Approximately 112,000 to 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans from the West coast of the United States were forced into Japanese Internment camps. Sixty-two percent of these people were United States citizens. These camps were in remote portions of the nation's interior. The conditions these people were forced to live in were horrible and they were considered torturous by many. The people that were forced to live in these camps were placed there based on race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership. Some of the reasons that some possibly innocent Iraqi prisoners are being detained and tortured in Iraqi detention centers.

mad cow..again

In Alabama this week there has been a confirmed case of mad cow disease. This is the third in the United States since December of 2003. Mad cow disease is believed to be carried by animal feed made from cattle brains or spinal cord. Such feed has been banned in the United States, but cases of mad cow have continued to appear around the world. This case and other cases may appear to be harmless and isolated, however it is very difficult to prevent or even detect mad cow disease under the current voluntary testing regimen. The news of confirmed cases of mad cow disease in the United States makes it difficult to convince other countries that United States' beef is safe.

The possibility of a mad cow disease epidemic can be compared to the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919. The influenza pandemic was the unusually severe and deadly strain of avian influenza. This pandemic killed somewhere between 50 and 100 million people worldwide. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. The influenza of 1918-1919, also known as the "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe", was a global disaster. It represents what could happen with any disease carried by food or animals, like mad cow disease.

fleeing the big city

For some time people in the United States have been forced to move out of big cities because of high-priced housing. According to researchers and leaders in these big cities, the migration away from big cities has increased in recent years. Many of the nation's major cities are being reshaped by this migration trend. All metropolitan regions lost middle-class families from the years 2000 to 2004. Similarly on the Eastcoast, middle-class families are leaving New York and Boston for the South. The cost of living in their previous homes was far too expensive.

This trend of migration from big cities is similar to urbanization during the Gilded Age. However, urbanization during the Gilded Age is when immigrants and citizens moved into big cities, not out of them. Urbanization resulted directly from Industrialization. Big factories were located in cities to create a central location for workers. Urbanization caused some positive effects like new technologies such as elevators, skyscrapers, street lighting, and sewage systems. However, Immigrants and citizens rural workers moved into the cities in a desperate employment search. Their desperation unforunately caused overcrowding, bad working conditions, child labor, slums, and bad sanitation. Both migrations of people, today and during the gilded age, were caused by financial hardships.

Unwed Fathers Fight

Jeremiah Jones, an average young man from Arizona, discovered that his former fiancee was pregnant just three weeks before the baby was due. He discovered this when an adoption-agency lawyer called him and asked him if he would consent to have his baby adopted. Jones refused, but his choice turned out to be invalid. He and his ex-fiancee conceived a child while attending school in Florida. By the rules of the state of Florida, an unmarried man must file with the state before he can make decisions on adoption. Since Jones was unaware of the pregnancy, he of course could not register with the state, and therefore was not able to stop the baby from being adopted. Many people are fighting against this action, which has happened on more than one occasion. People are fighting this because many men have never heard of being able to register. Also, many men would never even think twice about registering after having sexual relations. This debate will continue to be fought in the United States of America, to decide what is right in the situation of unmarried men and adoption.
This problem has occurred in the past, in the early 1990's. There was a two-year fight over "Baby Jessica" and the four-year battle over "Baby Richard", which highlighted the wrenching dramas of birth parents winning custody of babies placed with adoptive parents years earlier. The spectacle of those children being taken from the arms of the only parents they had known raised an outcry about the need for swift, permanent placement.
The first registry for unwed fathers was formed during the 1980s, in New York, since then, many others have been created, but they must be publicized by the government to help these fathers.

Illegal immigrants and the Roman Catholic Church

Illegal immigration in the United States of America has become a major problems in the recent years, and many fingers has been pointed searching for someone to blame in the problem. Lately, several Republicans have began to point their fingers at one of their main enemies, the Roman Catholic Church. Immigration has long caused friction between the church, with its advocacy for migrants, and conservatives who want to slow illegal crossings over the Mexican border. But as Congress wrestles with the fate of the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants, the tension has escalated into a sharp war of words, highlighting the divide among some Republicans and Catholics who have fought side by side on other issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. In December, the House of Representatives passed a tough border security bill that would make it a crime to assist illegal immigrants. After that, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops assailed it as extremely punitive and called on its the church's followers to oppose the bill. The Republican party is greatly outraged that the Catholic Church is against limiting immigration in the U.S., while on the other hand, the Church feels that it is terrible that the government is attempting to stop immigration. The Church has always been about helping people come to the U.S., and making sure these people live better lives. However, the immigration problem is becoming extreme, and it is not wrong for the government to form this law.
Immigration has not always been a major problem as it is today, but many immigrants were always looked upon as useless and "of lesser value" than the people who are born in and are citizens of this country. All throughout the 1900s, immigrants have come to this country, usually through the gateway of Ellis Island. Many of these immigrants have been looked down upon for their race, such as Italians, the Irish, the Jews, the Asians, as well as many other groups. Also, these people have been oppressed, and even banned from living in the U.S. On the other hand, these immigrants were usually not illegal immigrants, and came to this country legitimately. Today however, illegal immigration is a big problem, and should be contained.

Smoking Ban in California....woops...i'm pretty sure sarah and me posted this at liek the same exact time

On Friday, March 17, one of the toughest antismoking laws in the history of the nation took affect, which outlawed all smoking in any public place where people may be exposed to secondhand smoke. This law was created and began to be enforced in the city of Calabasas, California, and has caused somewhat of an uproar. The smoking ordinance was unanimously passed by the five-member Calabasas City Council during the month of February. It prohibits smoking in all public places, indoor or outdoor, including: outdoor cafes, bus stops, soccer fields, condominium pool decks, parks and sidewalks. Smoking in one's car is allowed, unless the windows are open and someone nearby could be affected by the smoke. People who ignore this new ban will face warnings, fines of up to $500 for repeat offenses, and misdemeanor charges. City officials and antismoking activists say that the ordinance is one of the most comprehensive efforts to regulate public smoking anywhere in the world. This ban come only a few weeks after the California Air Resources Board declared secondhand smoke to be toxic to the air, which can lead to respiratory infections, asthma, lung cancer, heart disease and even death. These major laws on public smoking began in California, and have spread nationwide, stretching to more than 700 cities around the country. These new legislations are truly helping to save lives all over the country.
Smoking tobacco has always been popular among Americans, but has not always been seen as a major health problem. The smoking of cigarettes is perhaps the most widely used and abused drug in the world, and is perhaps the world's deadliest. Although tobacco has been smoked among American natives since around the time of Christ, cigarette smoking did not become a household item until the advent of the cigarette-rolling machine in 1884. By 1900, tobacco sales were at about 4.4 billion yearly in the U.S. Also, the federal government was benefiting tremendously from tobacco taxes. In 1910, federal revenues from tobacco sales were $58 million. As early as 1912, doctors in the US began to find a correlation between smoking and lung cancer. Despite this the sale of cigarettes continued to rise, benefiting tremendously from World Wars I and II. Smoking has now become a major problem in the U.S., and is slowly being battled by these legislations.

No more second hand smoke

A new smoking ban was put into effect this past week in the well-to-do community of Calabasas, California. The mayor of Calabasas, who is also an environmental lawyer, proposed the smoking ordinance that was passed by the five-member Calabasas City Council on March 17.The ordinance prohibits smoking in all public places, indoor or outdoor, where anyone might be exposed to secondhand smoke. The ban includes outdoor cafes, bus stops, soccer fields, condominium pool decks, parks and sidewalks. Smoking is allowed in your car is allowed as long as all the windows in the car remain closed and no one else in the nearby area is affected. City officials call the ordinance one of the best attempts to regulate second hand smoke in the world. This movement of ordinances has spread nationwide and more than 700 cities around the world have enacted ordinances similar to this one.

This ordinance reminds me of the Prohibition attempts in the United States around the time of the progressive era. In December of 1917 the eighteenth amendment to prohibit the manufacture and sale of alcohol beverages was passed. Alcohol consumption fell drastically during this time. But, because Prohibition banned only the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol (not possession or consumption of it), some people/institutions who had bought or made liquor prior to the passage of the 18th Amendment were able to continue to serve it legally throughout the prohibition period. Both of these practices were meant to help the citizens of the Untied States and protect the country we live in. Prohibition resulted in being more harmful to the country and its economy than helpful. I wonder if the same will happen with these new smoking ordinances.

Oh St. Patty's Day.

Every year on March 17th, millions of people join together in New York city for the legendary St. Patricks Day parade. The parade is used to commemorate the Irish immigrants as well as Irish-American heritage of many New Yorkers and Americans. This year, the parade attracted nearly 2 million who stood lining the parade route. However, not all was good for parade atendees, as well as a group, Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization, who were declined for the 16th year in a row from participating in the parade. Scandal over the controversial comments made by the parade chairman, John Dunleavy, compared gays to the KKK and Neo-Nazi's. Police were out in full force preventing any trouble, and though there were several small groups of protestors, everything went smoothly.

Today, there are about 44 million Irish living in the United States, the second largest ethnic group, only following German-Americans. New York, Chicago, and Boston, are the most heavily populated Irish cities in the country, Boston being the most celebratory of its strong Irish heritage. Before the Potato Famine, many irish immigrated because of religious laws, forcing them to become Anglican. At the time, the heavy Presbytarian population were unwilling to give up their beliefs, so they emigrated. During the great famine in the 1840's, millions of irish immigrated to the U.S. During this time nearly 1/3 of all immigrants were Irish. During the 1900's Irish-Americans began to move up on the social ladder. They were recieving equal wages and by 1945 had the highest college attendance rate of any ethnic group in the U.S. Today, St. Patricks day is an excuse for 5th generation irish immigrants to get drunk and wear green clothes. For the few who actually appreciate their irish roots, good for you. All 8.3 of me that is Irish is thankful for St. Patrick, who by the way is of Roman descent, and was born in Scotland, for giving us an excuse to eat corned beef.

This isn't a current event, but I thought it was pretty nifty.

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.
Both Presidents were shot in the head.

Now it gets really weird.

Lincoln 's secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy's Secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.
Both names are composed of fifteen letters.

Now hang on to your seat.

Lincoln was shot at the theater named 'Ford.'
Kennedy was shot in a car called ' Lincoln' made by 'Ford.'

Lincoln was shot in a theater and his assassin ran and hid in a warehouse.
Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and his assassin ran and hid in a theater.

Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.

And here's the kicker...

A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland.
A week before Kennedy was shot, he was with Marilyn Monroe.

Phones in Airplanes

Communications companies are attempting to instal their new device, "pico cell," which would enable passengers in airplanes to make phone calls throughout a flight. The pico cell is a cellular antenna believed that if installed in airplanes would allow about 100 passengers to use their cell phones at the same time. "Because of the pico-cell technology, which has been successfully demonstrated with calls to and from an American Airlines flight and Boeing's recent long-distance record-setting 777 trip, the FCC has dropped its objection to using cellphones on airplanes." However, studies are still raising questions regarding whether the use of mobile phones would be safe for the airplanes.

"The problem with using cellphones on airplanes is that the devices can
interfere with Global Positioning Satellite systems, researchers say. These
systems are increasingly being used on commercial airplanes for navigation.
Interference could cause an airplane to lose the GPS signal or even make a
flight veer off course."

Nevertheless, it is up to the Federal Aviation Administration to come up with its own decision.

Aviation is a newly invented type of transportation, even though plans of it go back to Icarus in the pre-historic times. "The Wright Brothers are commonly credited with the invention of the aircraft, but like Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, theirs was rather the first sustainable and well documented attempt." Their first successful flight was made On Decemeber of 1903. However many attempts had already been made previously, especially the German man Karl Jatho tho made his first flight in August of the same year. Merelly a hundred year following the beginning of successful flight attempts, people are already contemplating on whether to enable cell phone usage in them, whose history only goes back to about 20-30 years ago.

Genetics and Pregnancy: The Silent Struggle

David Haig, a Harvard evolutionary biologist, has taken an evolutionary approach to the study of pregnancy and proposed a new theory in relation to genetics. He was troubled by the statistics that "an estimated 529,000 women a year die during pregnancy or childbirth. Ten million suffer injuries, infection or disability." This knowledge led him to rigorously study the genetics involved in pregnancy, which he calls a "silent struggle" comparing it to a tug-of-war. Though many people believe babies just sit in their mother's womb, they are in reality at a constant battle with the mother for nutrients. "Its placenta aggressively sprouts blood vessels that invade its mother's tissues to extract nutrients. " Haig proposed that it were also fetuses that caused pre-eclampsia, which is a dangerously high blood pressure which often occurs late in pregnancy. This hypothesis was proven by Ananth Karumanchi, also from Harvard Medical School, who along with colleagues found that fetuses tend to inject too much of a protein called sFlt1, which leads to pre-eclampsia.

The article goes on to explain factors of how genetics affect the behavior in offsprings and problems which have been studied. If you're interested in these things, I recommend that you check it out.

Genetics is a rather new study. It began with the Augustinian monk, Gregor Mendel, who in 1895 began studying the different traits associated with plants. Over the years this study became more defined as scientists gained a better understanding of genes with experiments which would have previously been classified as impossible and radical. In addition, the advacements made in technology have enabled scientists to perform more rigorous studies that have new and interesting information on how the human body works.

abortion, the neverending debate.

Today Mike Rounds, the governor of South Dakota, signed a bill banning abortions in the state. If the law is passed it will make abortion a crime unless it is a procedure necessary to save the mothers life. No abortion will be permitted otherwise, even to rape victims and incestual babies. The signing of the bill is a direct challenge to a 1973 court ruling that made abortion legal in all 50 states. Planned Parenthood, the only facility that currently aborts in the state is expected to challenge governor Rounds, in court. The tenative date for the bill to go into effect is July, however if everything happens as expected, it will probably be several years before and final decisions will be made because of court hearings and whatnot.

After some research about the subject, I have learned that abortion can be traced back to ancient times when unwated babies were aborted through several methods. Many of these methods include what we consider today to be ways of accidentally losing babies, i.e. falling, violent activities, horseback riding etc. In 1973 a controversial court case (Roe v. Wade) made abortion legal, citing that it was a persons right to privacy to get an abortion. This however conflicted with ideas that abortion is the same as murder, which is still debated heavily today. Some argue that abortion has to do with equal rights for males and females, because men never have to worry about being pregnant themselves. Today it is still a heated debate worldwide. Canada, the United Kingdom, Austraulia, Germany and other countries are in the same position as the United States on the matter. Abortion will be an issue debated forever probably, or atleast throught my lifetime, though I hope to see it outlawed as soon as possible.

The Smithsonian...izzle?

According to an article in The Washington Post, A group of hip-hop legends gathered at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History to announce a plan for a new collection devoted to music called "Hip-Hop Won't Stop: The Beat, the Rhymes, the Life". The exhibit will include items from boomboxes and vinyl albums to handwritten lyrics and painted jeans jackets, as well as multimedia exhibits and oral histories. Brent D. Glass, the director of the museum, said that hip hop deserved a spot in the museum because it is a significant cultural force that had spread all over the United States and, increasingly, the world. With help from the music industry, the museum has been soliciting donations, and most of the contributors were present, including Ice-T, Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, Russell Simmons, DJ Kool Herc and the dancer Crazy Legs. Museum officials say that the collection may take three to five years to develop and that they are still approaching musicians about donations. When it is complete, the collection will be used for a long-term exhibition.


The National Museum of American History opened to the public in January 1964 as the Museum of History and Technology. It was the sixth Smithsonian building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. . On June 28, 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill authorizing $36 million for the museum. Groundbreaking took place on August 22, 1958. The architects were McKim, Mead, and White. Mills, Petticord, and Mills were associate and supervising architects and engineers. The Museum’s area is approximately 750,000 square feet. The building’s location on the National Mall qualifies it as a National Historic Landmark. Its status as one of the last structures designed by McKim, Mead, and White. In 1980, the Museum's name was changed to the National Museum of American History to better represent its basic mission—the collection, care, and study of objects that reflect the experience of the American people. Some 4 million visitors pass through the doors each year to enjoy the Museum’s exhibitions.

Space Uncertainty

Recently, in the New York times, there was an article discussing the problems facing a May take off of the space shuttle, Discovery. Although Nasa is still hoping to send the shuttle in to space between May 10 and May 23, it seems very unlikely this will happen. A main issue facing the lift off is the attachment of the external fuel tank. Usually, the tank would arrive and be attached months before the shuttle lifted off. In this case, however, the tank has yet to arrive let alone be attached, and there is only 2 months left until scheduled departure. Nasa also has to run tests to make sure that fuel tank will not be dangerous or damaging to the ship or anybody on board. "Wayne Hale and other managers emphasize that they would not rush the flight just to stay on schedule."

The shuttle Colubia is the prime example of why NASA should not rush the lift off. The Columbia began to be built in 1975. During a ground test on March 19, 1981, there was a nitrogen purge, resulting in the deaths of two crew members. The Columbia eventually went up into space for the first time on April 12, 1981. The commander was John Younge and the pilot was Robert Crippen. After orbiting the earth 36 times, the shuttle reentered on April 14, 1981. Then in April, 2003, with a crew of seven, the columbia went on it's final mission. Upon reentry, 39 miles above sea level the shuttle began to disintegrate. The cause of the crash was a hole in one of the wings. The hole had formed because a piece of insulating foam from the external fuel tank had peeled off 16 days earlier during the launch. The total number of flights taken by the shuttle was 28. NASA certainly will not take any chances with the shuttle Discovery since they certainly do not want another repeat of what happened to the shuttle Columbia.