U.S. official: Flow of oil from spill has stopped

Today the news it good! It seems that finally the oil spill has been contained and stopped. However, BP officials still want to be careful for the next 48 hours to make sure that the kill procedure was a success. Then if the kill procedure is deemed a success BP will then have the well filled with cement. So far the costs are at $930 million for the response to the spill. Meanwhile, Obama is back at the Gulf meeting with officials and looking at possible damages from the spill.

I'm glad to hear that the oil spill is finally under control, well hopefully. All I can say is that BP better be paying for all the costs and from all the damages that this spill has caused. I think that governments need to look into oil companies worse-cases scenarios a bit more so that this doesn't happen again.

To read the full article please click here.

Kagan to be Supreme Court nominee, sources say

Today at 10 am President Obama is expected to nominate Elena Kagan to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. Kagan is currently the solicitor general. Last year though she was a finalist to be nominated for justice as well. However, Sonia Sotomayer just nominated instead. If Kagan is nominated and made Justice she the third women presently on the bench and will only be the fourth women in the history of the court. However, Kagan only has practiced two years in private law and has no judicial experience. Yet again she is know for being able to smoothly work through problems and respected by many people in Washington.

I think it would be nice to have another woman in the Supreme Court. It seems that she is liked by many people. My only concern is that she doesn't have much experience. However, I think that if nominated she will easily be able to pick up the necessary traits. I do think that Kagan is likely the person that Obama will nominate because the media normally has a good grasp of what's happening in Washington.

Make sure to read the whole CNN article by clicking here.

Florida declares state of emergency in 6 coastal counties

Today Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced a state of emergency in 6 costal counties, Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay and Gulf, due the the oil spill from the sunken oil rig. Officials fear that as early as today the oil could start to reach land. Many people along the Louisiana coast are also worried about the damage the oil could cause to their state's environment. The lastest info from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed the leading edges of the slick reaching the Mississippi and Alabama coasts over the weekend and stretching as far east as Pensacola, Florida, by Monday. It seems that measures to get rid of the oil need to be increased and quickly.

I think that the oil from the sunken rig is causing quite an issue along many costal areas of the Gulf of Mexico. I hope that the company of the Deepwater Horizon is held responsible for the spill and will have to pay for the cleanup. I do hope that they are able to clean up the spill soon before any more of the environment is affected.

To read the whole story click here.

Jobs and Welfare- Boosting the Minimum

With 150 million people employed in the United States the standard of living is quickly increasing. However, the cost of living is also rapidly increasing. Many people feel that minimum wage needs to be raised. However, what many people don't think about is that minimum wage has increase by more than 200% in the last 60 years. Still many workers feel that minimum wage needs to be increased. Labor unions are constantly working to protect workers' rights. However, what now seems to be the issue is globalization. Businesses now have to compete with other companies around the world. Because of this and the slowed economy many companies are struggling and they are looking for ways to cut expenses. One of the easiest ways is to decrease payroll. Due to that, they are outsourcing many jobs overseas where labor is cheaper. However, that is now leaving more and more Americans to fall under the poverty line. While many people felt that an increase in minimum wage would help struggling families others did not. Those opponents said that an increase in minimum wage would really just be helping teenagers, who are the majority of people working at minimum wage jobs. Also, since payroll expense would increase many businesses would likely cut their number of employees or raise their prices. Then many more people would be affected. However, people would were for minimum wage increases say that with more money in people's paychecks, the more money that would get back into the economy, causing more good then harm. In the end, Congress did raise the minimum wage in 2007. Still many people feel something needs to be done with minimum wage.

I feel that Congress needs to look into the minimum wage issue. I have a feeling that if wages increase then the price for goods will also increase because the business' overhead is increasing. Right now I think what Congress needs to do is keep the minimum wage at $7.25 for a while. John McCain feels that instead of constantly raising minimum wage the government should just help more people find jobs. Also, McCain feels that a good education is the key to a good life. McCain also stated that if minimum wage increases, it will cost businesses more money to pay employees and due to that they will likely cut down on their number of employees. So not instead of 50 employees they only have 30. That's 20 less people who can put money back into the economy. I feel that it would be more benificial to have more people working at a cheaper wage than to have just a few people working. Also, I would have to agree that a majority of the people working at minimum wage are teenagers. Of course they'd like more money but they don't have a large number of expenses to pay for like adults do. And if we do increase minimum wage then the cost of living is only going to increase and once again we will be in the same boat. However, I do think that every few years minimum wage should be re-evaluated and raised if needed to meet the costs of living and inflation. John McCain also supports the idea of having a living wage for citizens as long as it's not attached to big spending bills. I feel that if the minimum wage is way too low it won't be helping anyone in the economy and everyone will have less to spend and put back in the economy. But right now I think that minimum wage should be left at $7.25 until the economy recovers a bit.

Click on one of the following links to learn more about other surrounding issues:

• All things being unequal
• Welfare

Potential for big spill after oil rig sinks

36 hours after the major explosion and the Deepwater Horizon has sunk. Now officials are worried that many gallons of crude oil could spill into the sea. So far ship have been skimming oil off the surface. But it won't be until tomorrow at least before they find out if the rid is still spilling more crude oil under the surface. They are currently using a remotely controlled vehicle to look around the sunken rig to see if in fact the crude is spilling from the well of the rig.

It seems that the problems are just getting bigger due to the explosion of the rig. There are still 11 people missing and now to add to it there is a good chance many gallons of crude oil are spilling into the ocean waters. They need to find out if it is spilling and if so stop it quickly before they have even more problems. For everyone's sake I hope that the missing people are found and that there isn't oil spilling into the water.

To read the full article click here.

Europe flights back to '100 percent'

Finally after many days of no flights, Europe will finally be able to put their planes back in the air. It is expected that today the flights will be back to 100%. The planes have been stranded for the last 7 days due to the volcanic ash from Iceland. Now though the ash has decreased by 80%. But, during the peak of this problem around 1.2 million people or 29% of global aviation were affected by this incident. On Wednesday it was estimated that the airlines had lost $1.7 billion.

It interesting how a volcano in Iceland can affect so many people around the world. I can't believe that they airlines lost $1.7 BILLION due to the stranded flights. That's a lot of money. I also find it unbelievable that 29% of aviation was down due to the ash. It's good to hear that the planes are finally able to fly again.

To read the full article click here.

Does Facebook user pray for Obama's death?

On Facebook there have been several postings "praying for" the death of disliked leaders around the world. The one posted about President Obama said,

"Dear Lord, this year you took my favorite actor, Patrick Swayzie (sic). You took my
favorite actress, Farah (sic) Fawcett. You took my favorite singer, Michael
Jackson. I just wanted to let you know, my favorite president is Barack Obama.
Amen."

There was also similar posts about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. While some people feel that these postings are disrespectful, Facebook says it is not against any of their policies.

These posts are probably not liked by many government officials however, I think that these people are expressing their freedom of speech. As long as they are not threatening anyone, then I think they are alright. If the people of the country don't agree with their president I think they have the right to say so. Also, I think that these posts were meant to be more of a joke than anything. And I have to agree that they are pretty comical.

To read the full article, click here.

Aerial search for missing oil rig workers to resume Thursday morning

On Tuesday, around 10pm, a explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon, an offshore drilling rig. There were 126 people on board the Transocean rig when the incident happened. 115 were rescued with only 17 of them suffering major injuries. However, there are still 11 people that have not been found. The Coast Guard has been searching for them. They did have to call the search off overnight but they were already back out they are dawn this morning.

Its sad anytime a tragedy like this one occurs. However, what really surprised me was that only 17 people had major injuries. I would have thought that from the looks of the fire on the rig that many more people would have been injured. Hopefully, the Coast Guard will find these missing people soon! The longer it is, the less likelihood that they will still be alive if or when they're found.I feel bad for the families of these missing people. I can't even begin to imagine what they are going through. I look forward to hearing about the cause of the explosion in the weeks to come.

To read the full article, click here.

Gov. Manchin: Let's honor miners Friday with safety review

West Virginia's Governor Joe Manchin stated today that he wants miners to return to work on Friday. However, he wants that instead of mining coal on Friday they all take the day to re-evaluate safety procedures. The accident in the Big Branch Mine in Naoma killed 29 miners and proves to be the worst incident since 1972, when 91 miners died. Manchin wants that everyone works together to come up with better, safer working conditions in the mines. Afterall, he feels safetly is the number one concern. Upper Big Branch Mine, the part where the explosion took place, is closed until the investigation is complete. There have also been some interesting details leaked about the record of Massey Energy, the owner of the mine. Davitt McAteer, whose overseen other mine investigations, states that Massey Energy has a "checkered" record. Massey Energy also has a record of doing things the cheapest way, not the way that follows safety laws. In fact, just last year, Big Branch Mine got 450 citations.

It's sad to hear about another mining tragedy. I hope that West Virginia's governor keeps pushing to get safety laws re-evaluated. But even with better laws, I think that what's really important is the follow thru and the actual carry out of these safety procedures within the mines. It seems way too often companies focus more on the cheapest, fastest way to produce a product that they push safety to the sidelines. It can't be this way. This is why accidents keep occurring. Also, the federal inspectors need to keep checking these mines and making sure they are following the laws. If they aren't following the laws then the owners' of the mines need to be punished and severely fined. Hopefully then, there would be less mining accidents like this one.

Check out the full article by clicking here.

Healthcare Blog

President Obama is now getting ready to start making speeches around the country to sell his healthcare plan. His first stop will be Iowa City. Three years ago this is where he first starting pushing for healthcare overhaul. This trip around the country will be very important since 40% of Americans are not in favor of the healthcare bill that Obama is pushing. It will be crucial that Obama is able to pursuade Americans to be in favor of this legislation. Robert Gates has stated that there are 16,500 people already signed up to hear Obama speak in Iowa. It seems that this healthcare bill is very important to many Americans and they want to hear more about it. Obama will be speak on the details and effects of this new law and that is exactly what Americans want to hear right now.

I think that healthcare does need to be reformed but right now our country simply can't afford the cost to reform it. However, I think it would be very interesting to be able to hear more of the exact details of this new healthcare plan. This current plan will affect so many Americans and even younger generations to come. I understand why so many Americans are not in favor of this bill because we know so little about it and what we do know we don't like. I think it is going to take a lot for Obama to persuade Americans to agree with him on his new plan. Although, it should be interesting to hear what Obama has to say about healthcare in the weeks to come.

To read the whole article on CNN click here.

Iceland volcano could have world consequences

On Saturday the volcano Eyjafjallajokull (AYA-feeyapla-yurkul) erupted, in Iceland. It has been dormant for 200 years. At least 500 people around the area had to evacuate. But by today many of these people have returned home. Some however, are still being advised that it is unsafe to return yet. Today on the island there were still minor tremors. Now, many scientists are worried that one of the bigger volcanoes on the island may be next to explode. If one of these bigger volcanoes exploded it would likely impact the whole world, like the eruption of Laki in 1783. Weather patterns changed and smog was seen around the earth. In some cases the gases released from the eruption were deadly.

It too bad that there was an eruption. However, there is always something happening, it's just a fact of life. I hope there is not a bigger eruption to come. However, it seems that history repeats itself so I wouldn't be suprised at all if there is a huge volcano eruption on Iceland again. It's only a matter of time.

Please click here to see the full article.

10 states line up to sue over health bill, Florida AG says

The healthcare bill is causing a big uproar. Today Bill McCollum, the attorney general of Florida, stated that when President Obama signs the healthcare bill into law there will also be a lawsuit filed. This lawsuit would be filed in part with 10 states, Florida, Alabama, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington. They will argue in their lawsuit that it is unconstitutional to mandate Americans to buy healthcare coverage. Also, this bill would force states to spend money they don't have and that would be a violation of the 10th amendment of the Constitution. Despite all this, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has already announced that the Obama administration believes they will win any possible lawsuit filed against this healthcare bill.

It is great that Obama wants to have healthcare for everyone. However, it is not the right time to be pushing such a costly bill onto the American taxpayers and future generations. The people who presently do not have healthcare in many cases can't afford it and passing a bill to mandate healthcare coverage is only going to make it harder for these individuals. Then, if some are unable to pay for healthcare coverage the cost will simply be passes on to others. It is not right but it's likely what will happen. Not to mention it should be an individuals choice to decide whether or not he or she wants healthcare. It should not be mandated! Overall, I believe this bill will simply be adding to our deficit. The United States and the American people cannot afford a spendy bill like this, especiallly when it is taking away a bit of our freedom of choice.

To read the full story click here.

Wal-Mart customer: 'I can't go back in'

At a Wal-Mart in Turnersville, New Jersey on Sunday night an annoucement came across the PA system that suprised many local shoppers. A 16 year old boy, announced, "Attention Wal-Mart shoppers all blacks need to leave the store." While some customers waited to hear an apology others left in disgust. In fact, one frequent Wal-Mart shopper now states she will not go back to the Wal-Mart. Managers of the store did come on the PA and apologize and the local authorities are investigating the incident. Hopefully in the following days a report will be released with details of exactly what happened.

Wow! I can't believe someone would really go to Wal-Mart and say that. I'm thinking that it was probably something that some highschool students thought would be funny so they dared their friend to do it and he just happened to get caught. It is good that he was caught though and hopefully is being punished for his actions. It's too bad that many former customers are now going to somewhere else due to the incident. I hope that details are released to the community and everyone just moves on.

Click here to see the full story.

2 wolves shot; tests to determine whether they killed woman

Last week Candice Berner, 32, was killed by two wolves while jogging near Chignik Lake, Alaska. Authorities tracked down and killed what they assumed were the two wolves responsible for the attack. They are now running test to confirmed that they were the wolves that killed Berner. The small communitiy of Chignik Lake was quite suprised and shaken by the incident. They often see wolves but never imagined anyone to be injured by them. In fact this is only the second fatal wolf attack in North America for more than a century. Wolves do tend to avoid humans and all contact with them. This truely is a rare occurance.

I am suprised to hear about this wolf attack. It's too bad someone had to die. However, I think that it is a little strange though that they just tracked down two wolves and killed them hoping they were the right ones. They might be but still they could've just shot them with a traquilizer to make sure they were they right wolves before they killed them. Not to mention since it is a very rare thing to have wolves killing people, I can't help but to question was it really necessary to even kill these wolves? Was she provoking the wolves in the first place? Or have they had other issues in the community with wolves? It might be interesting to hears how this all turns out.

To see the full story click here.

Fargo a fortress of sandbags

Fargo, North Dakota is surrounded by 700,000 sandbags. This is in hopes to safe the city from the raising Red River. During the last 24 hours the river has risen nearly 3 feet. Karena Carlson, the spokeswomen for Fargo, stated that they hope the sand bags will allow the city to be protected up to 40 feet. Just last year the record was set when the river hit 40.8 feet. As of early this morning the river was already at 32.54 feet. That is more than 18 feet above major flood stage. The good news is experts are predicted the crest to be at 38 feet, which will likely occur already this Sunday. College students in Moorhead are also preparing for the flooding on the otherside of the same river.

I think that many people have been working very hard to protect Fargo and Moorhead from the rising Red River. I can't believe that Fargo alone has 700,000 sandbags! It is good news to hear that hopefully the flooding will not be record breaking. Next year, as a college student in Moorhead, I will likely be part of this crew helping to sand bag the city.

Click to see the full story

Health care foes 11 votes shy of defeating bill

Today, five more democrats said that they would be voting against Senate healthcare legislation. That means that the Senate is only 11 votes away from getting a majority and voting down healthcare reform. Mike McIntyre of North Carolina stated that he believes healthcare reform is necessary. However, he thinks that the present bill is much too expensive. He said that the bill would include spending at least $1 trillion to reform healthcare and when the deficit is already so large he wouldn't vote for the bill. Many representatives feel the same. Healthcare needs to be re-evaluated and reformed but at a reasonable cost.

I am glad to hear that more democrats are deciding to vote against this bill. I think that the current healthcare bill is much too expensive and it will be a burden to future Americans. I think that healthcare in America does need to be evaluated and changed but at a reasonable level that Americans can afford to pay. Also I feel that socializing healthcare is not the way to go. I think it will cause many people to have to pay for themselves as well as those who are not insured or willing/able to pay for their own insurance. I hope that the current healthcare bill is not passed and that it can be re-evaluated and made much more reasonable.

Issue 3-Social Insecurity

Social Security was founded in 1935 to help fight poverty during the Great Depression. However, it now serves more than 47 million people. Two thirds of those people are retirees while the other third are disabled workers. Social Security, as well as Medicare, are programs that are suffering right now due to aging population of Americans. The programs are having to provide for more people than ever before. Not to mention the government has also been taking money from the Social Security Trust Fund to pay for other programs. With these issues, it is estimated that by 2017 the government will be paying out more in Social Security benefits than it is taking in. Medicare is already spending more than it has and the fund it relies on will be exhausted in 2019. There are two arguements about the current situation of the Social Security Program. One side believes that the Social Security Program needs a complete overhaul. This could include private investment accounts or cutting benefits to Americans that are in true need. In 2005 President Bush proposed a plan that would have allowed Social Security payroll contributions to private accounts. However, the plan was rejected. Many members of Congress believe that the program can be fixed with small changes over time. Raising the cap on taxable Social Security income and raising the retirement age gradually are just two examples.

I believe that Social Security needs to be reformed soon, otherwise this program will be no more. This program is important and for many retirees their main source of income. Without it, it will be very difficult for many seniors to meet their basic needs. Also, the coming generations, as well as the current working generations, need this program to still be around when they retire. Not to mention, the issue that many Americans, like myself, are facing is that they are paying into a program that they may never get benefits from. The government also needs to stop taking money from the fund to use for other things. Something needs to be done to fix the deficit of the Social Security Program now, not later. I don't think that merely raising the retirement age or income cap is enough. Yes, that might help but I feel that it will simply put off the problem for a few years. Like John McCain, I feel that right now a plausible solution would also have to include private investment accounts. Instead of current workers paying into a big pool and then having the money dished out to current retirees, the money from both the worker's and employer's Social Security tax contributions would be put into an account for that one person. The money could then be used to invest in stocks and bonds. A great thing about this is that many Americans would get more money from the investment returns than they would with the current payouts of Social Security benefits. Also, this would help ease the fears of younger workers not getting anything from the program. In fact, many workers would probably be more willing to pay the Social Security tax knowing that the tax money would actually benefit them, not just the older generations or government officials. McCain also feels that Republicans and Democrats need to start working together to agree on a Social Security Reform. I agree, both parties need to make compromises and fix the program so it will still be around for upcoming generations of Americans.

Also, be sure to check out a few of the other issues with the Federal Budget:

• Issue 1- War Dollars
• Issue 2- Spending What We Can Afford

Prius owners blame wild rides on cruise control

Owners of Toyota Priuses are speaking out about the problems their cars are when using cruise control. Several owners have stated that once they hit the cruise control button the car accelerates out of control. The drivers then stated that they couldn't stop the car from accelerating. They tried taking off cruise control, and slamming on the brakes but the car resisted. Many owners have contacted Toyota about the issue. However, Toyota responds saying that the issue is due to the floor mats or sticky gas petals. Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, states that he believes it is not a problem with the floor mats or with a sticky gas petal but with the computer software running the car. But when he tried to contact Toyota about the issue they didn't listen. This seems to be a problem for any owner that speaks up. Toyota has to step up and deal with this problem sooner rather than later.

It seems like there are lots of complaints about Toyota vehicles lately. When I first heard about Toyota recalling numerous vehicles due to sticky gas petals, I thought that the company was taking action and responsiblity for their products and doing the right thing. However, after reading this article it seems that the company might not be taking the responsiblity for the problems of their products after all. I think that it is interesting that it may not be a gas petal problem but a software problem in the Toyota Prius. I hope that Toyota will start investigating this problem soon and look into the software and cruise control of the Prius.

See the full story here.

Why the 9/11 trial belongs in New York

Obama officials have stated that they are considering moving the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,commander of the 9/11 attacks, out of New York City. There are fears that holding the trial in New York may cause danger to the city, maybe even another attack. However, some are argueing that having the the trial in New York won't make the city a higher terrorist target since it is already number 1. Also, many people feel that having the trails and justice take place in New York would help the healing process for families who lost loved ones in the attack. New York's federal courts have a 100 percent conviction rate on terrorism trials.

I think that having the trials in New York City will increase fears of another terrorist attack. However, it seems to me that no matter where the trials take place there will be that same fear. I do agree that having the trial in New York City may help the families who lost people in the 9-11 attacks. Since it will be near their homes and workplaces it will be easy for them to hopefully see justice take place. Not to mention I would like to see the trial take place where the terrorists will be punished and convited for their actions and since New York has a 100% conviction rate I think its the right place.

Girl, 16, rescued in Haiti

A 16 year old girl in Haiti was rescued from the rubble. It is possible that she may have been trapped since the January 12th earthquake. A group of people near the embassy in Port-au-Prince said they heard her voice and then French rescuers came with them to where they heard the voice of the girl. After 45 minutes the girl was rescued weak and dehydrated, but ok.

First of all, having been in a location where an earthquake occurred would be scary enough. It would be even harder to lose family and friends in a natural disaster. Yet, being trapped in a place where I couldn't get out of would be unbelievable. I can't imagine being stuck under rubble for 15 days! I wonder what thoughts were going through her head as she laid trapped for that long of time? It is unbelievable that she was still alive and was able to be rescued. I wonder if there will be other stories of people being rescued? I think that it is great that people from other countries are helping the people of Haiti to recover and move on from this stressful and devastating event.