Relief effort intensifies in quake-hit Haiti

After the earthquake in Haiti that attacked at a 7.0 magnitude, people around the world are offering their support to try to help. These gifts come in many different forms from doctors, to medicine and specialist rescue teams. The quake is the cause of death for a number of lives that some humanitarian crisis officials estimate to be as large as 100,000 lives. The goal is to same as many lives as possible within the first 72 hours after the first quake. Many countries like Chile for example are sending tons of help.l Chile is sending 20 doctors, 12 tons of medical supplies, food and three tons of medicine, and according to President Barack Obama, the U.S. will be working with them to try to coordinate relief. Some big companies have pledged to donate a half a million dollars each like Walmart, Google, Yankees, Bank of America and more. Even some celebrities are helping like Wyclef Jean, by using texting for donations.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/14/haiti.aid/index.html

I think its very sad that something like this has happened, but it is inspiring to see how much help the world can provide to a country, and see all the helpers come together as a team. The companies that have come out to donate the half a million dollars is really crazy, and shows that we should start to try to help, and it has been made easy on us because of things set up like Wyclef Jean's texting idea of how to donate 5 dollars and 10 dollars added to the phone bill.

Pythons and citrus and iguanas, oh my! Frigid Florida copes

This article describes the situation happening in Florida that is causing a sort of panic caused by frigid temps. Not one person was on the beach this last Sunday, and restaurants with tables outside were scrambling to put up heat lamps so their customers would stay warm. The temperatures in Miami barely got into the 40s on Sunday when normally, they are in the mid to upper 70s! This may not sound like much compared to our sub zero temps, but when the citrus harvest is at its peak, these temps could be major trouble. When the number is as big as this $9.3 billion, this could be bad for jobs if fruit on the ground cannot be harvested. While the citrus problem is the main one, there is another one you would not have thought of. Dieing pythons and iguanas. Wildlife researchers are working swiftly to try to ease the problem at all.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/weather/01/10/us.cold.weather/index.html

This could be a horrible situation. The citrus economy helps Florida's overall economy greatly. When jobs are already hard to come by, losing your main one could be disastrous. Also the prices of orange juice and oranges could skyrocket stretching already tight pocketbooks. To make matters worse, wildlife species are dieing, and there is not much anybody can do to help any of these problems. What ever happened to global warming?

Stocks jump in first day of '10 trading

This article summerizes the recent jump in Wall Street. It stats, "Wall Street surged Monday, starting off the new year on a positive note, after a report showed manufacturing activity is picking up and the weak dollar propelled commodity prices and stocks." One of the main points to look at is that many money anylists say that the rise is typical for a new year, and although it was a good sign, they want a few more days of it until they will say that a rally has recharged. Some other countries had to spikes to, but with the US dollar continuing to be weak, it has lifted dollar traded commodidies. Gold was lifted 22 more dollars to a better value now, but 10 year bond prices dipped a bit this week.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/04/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm

I think that even if this spike occurs repeaditivly every year almost, it still is a good sign that we are not falling worse into the slump, and maybe even climbing out of it slightly. I hope the dollar comes back so it stops affecting trades with other countries and makes it more profitable. Also it was a good sign that gold prices are going up, but we wish that the 10 year bond prices would stop dropping and start to build back up.

Moon hole might be suitable for colony

This article explains a new find on the moon. It is a hole in the moon that is estimated to be nearly 213 feet wide, and more than 260 feet deep according to Geophysical Research Letters. The hole is said to be protected from the moon's harsh temperatures and meteorite strikes by a thin sheet of lava, this makes the hole a candidate for more research or even allow for someone to live inside of it. NASA is going to keep investigating this hole to try to find even more areas similar to it, and also to try to determine if they can set up base in something like this when they return to the moon. The return trip is set to be in 2020, and a set up temporary lunar colony by 2025 if all research goes as planned.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/space/01/01/moon.lava.hole/index.html

I think that this find is a very interesting and intriguing one. Our technology and research is mind blowing, how someone finds this small of a hole on the moon is beyond me. I hope that the trip in 2020 happens on schudule, and that they are able to set up a lunar colony for me research in 2025. Who knows, someday we might be living in a hole like this, or in a spacecraft like in the movies.