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.

Henry, 26, dies day after dispute

Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry has died from injuries he suffered after falling out the back of a pickup truck during what the authorities described as a domestic dispute with his fiancee. Henry has been in trouble with the law before, but the players, even the owner of the team, will tell you that he has left that in the past, and was excelling in his professional career. They also say that he was a lot different than the public say him. Bengals receiver Andre Caldwell went on and said: "People thought he was a bad guy, but he had a big heart." According the call the police got, Henry was in the bed of the truck that was driving fast on a curvy road

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4750615

This is a very sad story. Not only was Henry a fun football player to watch, that was just coming to his prime, he was a good example of lives that had been turned around. It is a story that we wish had never happened, but unfortunately he was in a despute with his wife, and it happened. We will miss Henry, and we will pray for Henry's family and his entire team.

All Things Being Unequal- Issue #1

Today, the separation between the top earners and the middle class appears to be growing rapidly. Between the 20 percent of households earning the most, they control about 53.5 percent of the money, and on the other side of the spectrum, the bottom 20 percent earners control only 4.1 percent of the money. The issue now is what we should do to try to solve this growing gap. Do we lessen the tax on lesser earners, like those making about 21,000 a year or even as low as 11,000, and raise it on those making 250,000 or more? Or, do we just hike up the taxes on the CEOs that are making crazy amounts of money, some even making 26 million dollars in one year. Some have criticized the recent CEO pay packages as excessive. At the same time, some people say that we can not tax the more wealthy because their spending is needed to help with the Market-Based Economy. The people that believe to tax the rich, also want to reduce middle and low income taxes to more fairly redistribute the nation's wealth. They also want to add to our safety net programs we have in place. Those opposed to the tax raises, believe that job protecting and trade barriers would reduce business profits and leave less to distribute to employees.



It makes me sad that there is a growing separation between the wealthy and the middle class, but i don't think it is right to punish the wealthy for being successful. Why would someone want to get a raise if it means more taxes? Not everyone was born into that high paying job they have, most have to work very hard to get to where they are. I think that the range making about 250,000 is not above the economic hardships, they may not be able to afford huge tax hikes, but the CEO's making the millions upon millions of dollars can afford tax hikes because most of the time they have good lawyers that get them out of paying the amount of taxes they are supposed to pay. In conclusion, I believe that something needs to happen to stop to separation, but i don't believe we have to right process yet and i have no clue what the right one would look like exactly. I think that if we cap pay, give job protection it will stifle business because there will be less motivation to advance and succeed, which will hurt profits causing people to get less pay which will drastically injure our Market-Based Economy.



Some changes from Bush's cuts, and the good things those cuts did are listed here. (My paste isnt's working so click on here.)
For issue #2 go to Olivia Rice's blog.
For issue #3 go to Steve Carlson's blog.

'Blind Side' No. 1 at box office

After 3 weeks of following, the Twilight series hit new movie, New Moon, Blind Side sneaks into first place. During the weekend it pulled in 20.4 million dollars, while New Moon sucked in less money, 15.6 million dollars respectfully. Also for Sandra Bullock, this was an amazing movie that shows us all that she is a leader in the field, and will keep getting better. Blind Side eclipsed other movies like, "Christmas Carol" and "Old Dogs" which are sliding as they get older. Also the true lump of coal was the horror comedy "Transylmania," which grossed a lifeless $274,000 from 1,007 theaters. This is an average of 2-3 viewers per showing. With not to much competition, we look for Blind Side to keep up the pace during this holiday season.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/06/boxoffice.ew/index.html


With lead actress Sandra Bullock preforming one of her best movie to date, and a story line fit for all ages there is no wonder why "Blind Side" is such a major hit. The movie about a homeless African American teen, seen as dumb by most, was taken in by a loving lady, Sandra Bullock, and is introduced to the game of football. Since he is so big and protective, he excels and turns pro at the end of the movie. I took my student match to this movie when it opened, and we both enjoyed it greatly. It has everything needed to be a good movie, and I cant wait for it to come out on DVD.

For more details about this strong movie visit Alexa's blog at http://goetsch.blogspot.com/2009/12/blind-side-num-1-at-box-office.html