Same Sex Marriages What is This World Coming Too

Same sex marriage is definitely turning out to be a hot topic these days. I for one do not believe in it. Although it seems the state of Maine is currently presenting a bill that may pass and allow same sex marriages in that state. According to the article Thousands Attend Same Sex Marriage Bill Hearings in Maine it states that found in another article called Associated Press that 43.7 percent were for it and 49.5 percent were against it. If the bill passes, Maine will be the fifth state to legalize same sex marriage. LINK

Wow Captain Phillips Was Saved

I know that I am suposed to write a post from our list of choices, but I couldn't find this story (U.S. Captain Held by Pirates Arrives Safe in Kenya). I saw it on Good Morning America this morning and since it updates my last blog I had to write about. I just know that who ever read my post was thinking the same as me. That the captain may never be returned. But it just so happens that he arrived in Kenya yesterday aboard and American ship. Which is probably why it isn't in our sites yet.
This is wonderful news. I am sure most of us thought he wouldn't be released, but thankfully he was. As a recap he offered himself for the release of his 19 crew members. They were already sent home last week. The Somalia pirates are being captured a little at a time. It looks like South Korea and some other countries Sweden and Norway are helping bring these bad guys down. The suposed leader of the pirates is only 19 years old. He will be tried in New York court system which is were the terriorist are usually tried. (Achieng) LINK

What Pirates Still Roaming the Seas?

Remember all the books and movies you've seen with the pirates. Well guess what? They are still out there, taking over the sea. This is quite incredible. Who would have thought there were still pirates out there? Apparently there are still pirates in this world and not just the make believe ones as in the stories.
According to an article in the New York Times, Negotiations Break Down in Standoff With Pirates, it says that one of our captians was takin hostage by Somali Pirates in the Indian Ocean. A small boat with heavily armed men rowed out to the American boat and boarded. The crew members were let go due to the captain being taken instead. The Pirates were demanding a ransom of two million dollars. A small U.S. Navy ship tried to approach the pirates, but were fired apon. They did not fire back hoping to keep things from getting out of hand. Captian Phillips (hostage) is only one of about 250 people being kept hostage by pirates. It is hard to believe that these kinds of events are actually happening. Thankfully the crew members have made it back safely and said the captain turned himself over for them. They believe him a true hero. May he return home safely too. LINK

Obama's budget plan was passed

According to the article Budget Passes House, Senate With No GOP Votes , Obama's budget passed. Supposedly this means a 3.6 trillion dollar plan with a defficiet of 1.2 trillion dollars. Wow isn't that a lot of money? Imagine how this is going to affect our country and how long it will take to dig ourselves out of the hole.
Apparenttly it wasn't completely agreed on between the two parties of Democrats and Republicans. No republicans backed the plan which included taxing the wealthy and other strategies. Furthermore all Democrats were in favor except for two of the representives. Amazing. This was definitely a split down the middle.
Nancy Pelosi was not going to apoligize for the disagreement between parties she stated in that same article "The American people want us to find our common ground where we can, but they did not send us here to split the difference," Pelosi said of the budget, which won House approval in a 233-196 vote. "They want real change, and we have come here to make a difference."
She seems to agree in what we the Americans want is relief.
Among other things there is a mention of war in the budget, saying it could mean sending another 10,000 troops across the seas. This is definitely not what most people are expecting. We would like to bring our troops home quickly, but efficiently,getting the job done there as quickly as possible and sending those guys home. The new budget says alot whether it's good or bad is pretty much made up by the minds of the American people. I just hope it does what it is suposed to. LINK

Obama and the internet interview

Well ,you may have heard about our President's internet interview on the news lately. Then again some of you may have not. Evidently it was an interview for Americans to ask questions to our President and get some direct answers. This is the first time this type of interview has been done.
According to an article in the New York Times titled Obama Makes History in Live Internet Video Chat, some interesting things occurred to be talked about. Such as one person asked the President if we could legalize marajauna. Is this not insane? What are people thinking. Supposedly they wanted us to tax it and thought somehow it would help our economy. I thought wow, look out for all the dopies.
This did not hold up, and caused a bunch of laughs and then Obama said “The answer is no, I don’t think that is a good strategy to grow the economy." I'm definitely glad that was his answer.
He also went on to discuss some other topics pertaining to the U.S. such as the auto industry still needing money, and education.
From the way it looks, this was just an experiment to see how much of response would come about. Turns out that over 100,000 people showed up for the event. If there is something you would like to ask this seems to be the place to do it. It was a big deal having that many people listening, and getting to hear straight from Americans. Maybe it will happen again.
Link

Time Line for Withdrawaling U.S. Troops

Obama has a plan to remove our troops from Iraq. He would like to have them all out except for 50,000 by 2010 and the remaining by2011. This timeline is a little longer that what he projected at sixteen months.There are currently 142,000 troops in Iraq. Having our troops there and helping Iraq is really racking up our already giant debt. All of Americans want our troops to come home quickly. The article titled Obama's Iraq Exit states that," According to the president, this transitional force would have three missions: training Iraqi security forces, carrying out anti-terrorism missions and protecting American civilian and military forces."
The article also says that if we leave our troops in Iraq too long it could cause big problems such as groups in Iraq that would gather and attack their government. Furthermore staying in a country too long could cause radicalization. It is hopeful that they will become a country free of so much violence.

About the movie Slumdog Millionaire

According to the article Slumdog Subtext, the movie has caused some contraversy in India. I suppose it could be offensive seeing the way a person's country is being viewed around the world. I know it bothers me everytime I see a movie portraying Kentucky as poor, with a bunch of junky rednecks.
I haven't seen the previews for this new movie yet. I did notice some awards going out last night for it on the oscars. After reading this article though, it seems it may be a very interesting movie to see. It sounds as though it has a good plot. Having to grow up the way the boy in story does is very sad. Living in a foster home sent out to beg, and then beaten by police. It's hard to believe anyone has to live a life as hard as his. Winning a contest that helps his life in many ways had to be a dream come true.
The movie sounds as though it is heartfelt and I don't think India should take it as insult. I look foward to seeing it. (Crossette)
Link

Woman attacked by friends chimpanzee

Mrs. Nash who was attacked by a friends supposedly friendly chimp, was trying to calm the animal when it attacked her. Afterwards the chimp was shot to death by the local police. Since the incident she has been transferred to the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. This clinic has performed the first near total face transplant ever. (Altman and Oconnor)
She went through seven hours of surgery in the previous hospital she was admitted to, Stanford Hospital in Connecticut. Later sent to the Cleveland Clinic. The type of treatment she is going thru now has not been released yet. A face transplant could be a consideration due to the hospital she is now being cared for in.
To be able to undergo such an extensive procedure the patient would have to go thru much testing and other surgeries first. It is a long process with physical and mental risks not to be taken lightly. This procedure would only be done after all other options have been done first.

Link

Stimulus Bill for Our Economy

Our country is in desperate need of being rescued. With this in mind our President has apparently come up with a stimulus plan that is supposedly going to give our country many things it is in dire need of. Although, the Republicans have a different plan in mind that will be cheaper so they say. What is being talked of is raising the employment rate, supplying all medical facilities with electronic medical records, and making our energy usage more efficent to save money.

Obama is proposing that this new bill will create 3.5 billion new jobs. Wouldn't that be great for our country? Republicans state that they could pass a bill creating twice as many jobs for half the amount. It will take plenty of money to do what needs to be done either way it goes. What matters most is that which ever bill is used, it does what it is suposed to do, like the creating of all those jobs.

This bill is supposed to supply the medical facilities with electronic records abilities. The savings over a ten year period will outway the cost to make this possible incredibly. A few years ago only 12% of physicians and 11% of hospitals were using the new computerized records technique. (Robertson, and Bank)



Also the President wants our energy to be used more efficiently. He proposes that we learn a new way of saving energy. This in turn will save our country a tremendous amount of money. Some improvements expected would be better power lines that can handle more energy, and a way for homeowners to see how much energy they are using.


If this new Stimulus Bill is passed hopefully all will go as expected. I am sure that most improvements for the greater of our country will take a period of time to accomplish. In the long run though, it will be worth it..

Link

Will We Save Our Economy In Time?

We all know that our economy is falling rapidly. It seems that jobs are elliminating, and it is greatly effecting our unemployment rate. Not only that, but people are shopping less and less. Not to mention people are trying to make the gasoline in their engines stretch farther and farther. Money is not being spread through out our country nearly as much as it use to be. Not to mention plenty of businesses are being effected by this economy drop. There isn't much money to be made these days. If no one wants to spend, then no one can make money. It's a neverending circle of a problem. Now do we think it is possible for Obama to make the necessary changes we need to bring this economy crisis to dead stop? We need it fixed pronto. Is it possible that we are nearing another great depression? According to Paul Krugman, he wrote in his article This Looks Like the Start of a Second Great Depression, "Milton Friedman, in particular, persuaded many economists that the Federal Reserve could have stopped the Depression in its tracks simply by providing banks with more liquidity, which would have prevented a sharp fall in the money supply." So with this in mind are we in agreement with the bailouts that have going on with the larger companys? I for one am. I completely agree. Whatever it takes. Let us hope that whatever plan Obama has for us goes into affect quickly, and that it cures our economy problems before it is too late.

Is it Essential that the President's Oath be Correct?

Apparently while swearing in our new President, Cheif Justice John Roberts got his words a little mixed up. It can be argued whether or not his mistake could do harm. Certainly we are all human and mistakes happen. Unfortunately, this was not an ordinary day, it was very important to us all. It is my opinion that there was no room for mistakes here. It is only a short amount of words, which should have been practiced until made perfect. This is our history, and we have to follow the Constitution, and be proud while we're doing it. There is no way around that. As it states in the article It Matters to get the Oath Right, "It was important to get the oath right because it is important to communicate the seriousness with which the president and everyone else in Washington takes the Constitution." Not to mention this is probably the most important day for our new President along with our fellow Americans. History has been made and one small person didn't follow what he was supposed to do. It makes no sense to me how this kind of mistake can be made. I am greatful that our new President caught on quickly, therefore the words were corrected. This shows that he knows our Constitution very well! posted by John Nichols on 01/22/2009 @ 2:47pm