Apology Not Accepted

Summary: Former soldier Steven Green was sentenced to life in prison due to raping and killing a girl over seas in Iraq, the jury was not unanimus so he got a life in prison without parole. Green apologized to the family and they chose not to accept his apology. He said it was a decision he regreted but now its over and as much as he wanted to he cant change it.

Opinion: I agree with the family for not accepting his apology what he did was a terrible thing and there is nothing harder to handle than losing a family member, especially when they had a life ahead of them that was destroyed by this man. The man's sentence in prison is also realistic and I think that is the right thing to do, killing him yes he would be gone and not an issue but two wrongs dont make a right so should this man's life really be taken? I dont think so but a life in prison is a true lesson.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/28/kentucky.iraq.murder/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Fighting Sioux No More

Summary: The North Dakota Board of Higher Education voted to change the name of Fighting Sioux on May 14Th. This is a very controversial issue and the university as well as many others are fighting to keep the name. The NCAA won't allow this campus host any tournaments due to the controversial name. If this change goes through the stadium and pride will be gone. The Ralph Englstead Arena has hundreds of logos built into it, as well as the pride of the marble head on the floor that Ralph Englstead wanted to make sure remained forever.

Opinion: I agree with Lauren in that the logo should remain Fighting Sioux, it is a name that has been associated with the campus for several years and has not been a huge issue up until now. The school colors became green and black from the name and their huge expensive hockey arena would be completely destroyed. Englstead understood the issue of the name and placing the marble head on the arena floor guaranteed the name or the arena can't have the arena without the name. This issue i think is just a big deal over a small thing, no harm is done by a team name and it after all tradition and has been associated with that campus for several years.

Sources:http://www.current-events-lauren.blogspot.com/, roleplaymascots.blogspot.com/

Postage Price

Summary: Postage will go up monday may 11th. The postage can only go up when consumer tax goes up, which measures inflation. It will go up two cents so first class mailing will now be 44 cents a leter. There is one way to prevent the price rise, which is a forever stamp. Forever stamps you purchase at current stamp selling price but they have no value so you can use them whenever, no matter what the price of postage is.

Opinion: I do not like that postage is going up but, it could be a good sign if postage is going up. I noticed the other day gas went up as well. Does this sudden rise in prices mean the economy is coming out of the recession? I do not know if that is what it means or not but either way I dont think its great postage is going up but 2 cents is affordable for most people.

Citation:http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/10/stamp.prices/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Swine Flu

Summary:
We are at the second highest level of caution issued on Wednesday by the World Health Organization due to the swine flu, which first broke out in Mexico. There has been 148 cases in 9 countries we need to start being careful about this flu pandemic, majority of the cases were found in the United States, so far 91 confirmed here in the United States. So far 7 have died in Mexico and 1 in the United States. We are unsure of what virus causes theis flu or why it spreads so quickly. We need to be cautious about what we do and stay calm in a situation like this. Obama sent a request for congress to give $1.5 million to help fight, prevent and find a cure for this flu.
Opinion:
I agree with what Obama is doing because this flu is spreading so quickly; however at the same time it really has not taken many lives i mean think about how many people die from influenza or mono or anything else, I think this may be blown a little out of proportion for what it is and we need to stay calm and in contol as well as being cautious about it.
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/29/swine.flu/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Hand of God

Paul Grayhek age 52 of northern Idaho claims to have seen the imprint of Gods hand in a rock and he wants to let people bid on it on ebay. The hand is around nine feet tall and four feet wide and currently the highest bid is $250. He plans on sharing the rock with the highest bidder not letting them own it.

I think this is crazy. It was a claim of a hand for one there is no proof and two why would you spend a bunch of money to see a rock. If it truely was a hand of God then I would understand but there simply is no proof and would be a waste of money to simply pay over 250 dollars to look at it a couple times.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/26/idaho.rock.auction/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Cruise Attack

An Italian cruise ship was attacked by pirates just outside of Somalia and the captain ordered to fire back at the pirates. There was six armed pirates that attacked the cruise ship with approximately 1,500 people on it; however nobody was injured. There are several areas with pirates and we need to look out for them.

I think that the pirates should just give up so many people are after them, but they are in safe water. Being in safe water does not make it OK to try to harm other people like the innocent bi standers on a Cruise ship and something needs to be done about this.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/26/somalia.pirates/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

The Flood

Summary: near 6,000 homes were in danger due to the Red River floods in the Fargo Moorhead area. They used nearyly 1.5 million sandbags because the river was to crest over 40 feet. The National Guard, Volunteers and organizations all went to aide them. The record was in 1897 the flood crested at about 40.1 feet and similar floods have occured more recently.
Opinion: I agree with Marit that going to aide them was a wise move. Someday we here might need help and their help would be appreciated. We have not had a large crisis yet but when the time comes i hope that those people would step up and help out. I think that this was the right move and someday it will affect us.
Source:http://marit-blog.blogspot.com/