Mental Health Break: Christine O'Donnell's Greatest Hits

The Many Massacres of Mexico

There have been a stifling number of killings and kidnappings in Mexico. Gunmen have been showing up at local gas stations, recovery centers and even birthday parties. The victims have ranged from being children to adults and from men to women. It is thought that most of this violence stems from the rise of drug cartels. Drug gangs form from these cartels who are then dangerous to the citizens of Mexico. In the article, E. Eduardo Castillo, reports that, President Felipe Calderon, feels that the rise of the drug cartels were not acted upon in time. He goes on to explain that,

"I have a great respect for former president Fox," Calderon said. "But I think he made a lot of mistakes on this issue. Perhaps the most important was not acting in time on this.

"I think that if Mexico had started to fight against this problem 10 years ago, we would be talking about something completely different now." 

Hopefully, it is not too late for Calderon to make some changes to alleviate the problem. It is most important that the violence be subdued as soon as possible.

Haitian Citizens Reject Aid

Over 420 cases of Cholera have been confirmed in Haiti and there are now 284 total deaths. Help has been brought, but some has actually been rejected by protesters in Haiti. In the city of St. Marc, rocks were thrown at a cholera treatment center. This is quite puzzling. For some reason, the citizens of this city in Haiti fear that the treatment center will only make the problem worse. In Jonathon Katz's article, he explains further that,

Some of the roughly 300 students and other protesters said they feared the Doctors Without Borders-Spain clinic would bring more of the disease to their seaside town, which is one of the hardest hit in the week-old epidemic that has killed 284 people and infected 3,769, according to United Nations figures.

Right now, anyone crossing the border must wash their hands and fill out a medical form. Security has tightened in order to control any riots around the border.

Indonesia Under Attack of Natural Disasters

Slamet Ryadi reports that Indonesia got hit Tuesday, October 26th, with both a volcanic eruption and a tsunami. The eruption of Mount Merapi killed at least 25 people while the tsunami killed at least 100. 500 people remain missing after the tsunami hit. Ryadi explains,

The eruption of Mount Merapi on Tuesday killed at least 25 people, forced thousands to flee down its slopes and spewed burning ash and smoke high into the air on the island of Java.

Meanwhile, off the coast of Sumatra, about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) west of the volcano, rescuers battled rough seas to reach the remote Mentawai islands, where a 10-foot (three-meter) tsunami triggered by an earthquake Monday night swept away hundreds of homes, killing at least 113 villagers, said Mujiharto of the Health Ministry's crisis center. Up to 500 others are missing.

The twin disasters happened hours apart in one of the most seismically active regions on the planet.

Scientists have warned that pressure building beneath Merapi's lava dome could trigger its most powerful explosion in years.

But Gede Swantika, a government volcanologist, expressed hope the 9,737-foot (2,968-meter) mountain, which sent rocks and debris cascading down its southern slope, could be releasing steam slowly.

"It's too early to know for sure," he said, adding that a big blast could still be coming. "But if it continues like this for a while, we are looking at a slow, long eruption." 

Coffee vs. Tea...

Eduoard Guihaire explains in an article, the emergence of a new political party called the "Coffee Party." It seems that this party is completely opposite of the tea party. The founder, Annabel Park, describes its beginnings all on Facebook.

"I've never created a fan page before and then within a couple of days all these people start to join it... It just kind of started to go viral," added Park, who says she is politically closer to the Democrats than to the Republicans.

It stands in direct opposition to the Tea Party's professed goal of stopping "intrusive government" in favor of "common sense constitutional conservative self-governance."

Despite the quick rise in fans, the Coffee Party will not become any sort of political heavyweight for a very long time.

 

Michael Moore Sees the "Biggest Box of Fruit Loops"

Michael Moore feels that there are a lot of candidates in the upcoming election that are a little out of the ordinary. He expresses that he does have confidence in American citizens in that we will make the "right" choices though. See the video below to watch the interview between him and Larry King.

Google Finances Building of 'Superhighway' for Wind Power

The article written by, Juliet Eilperin, discusses Google's involvement in the building of an underwater tunnel that funnels energy from off-shore wind farms to 1.9 million homes. This project would eliminate the need for off-shore wind developers to build transmission lines that reach peoples' homes. The 350-mile network of cables will reach from northern New Jersey to Virginia. Wondering what Obama thinks? Eilperin reports that:

"The Obama administration has identified offshore wind development as top energy policy priority, and administration officials have vowed to ease the way for wind farms off the East Coast.
"By identifying high-priority areas offshore for potential wind projects, we can explore the development of a transmission backbone in the Atlantic Ocean to serve those areas," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said last month. "Rather than develop transmission infrastructure plans on a piecemeal basis, we should - in close coordination with the private sector, states and tribes - lay out a smart transmission system up front."

This project will be quite a feat and the predicted construction start is not till 2013. The estimated finish of the tunnel wouldn't be until 2020. Although the project will take awhile Google officials explain that,

"We believe in investing in projects that make good business sense and further the development of renewable energy."

What's my Party?

I used this website to take a quiz that tells me my political party. Here are my results:

Conservative/Progressive score: 11
You are a social progressive. You generally consider yourself a humanist first. You probably think that religion and patriotism go too far in society. You probably consider yourself to be a citizen of Earth first rather than a citizen of your country.

Capitalist Purist/Social Capitalist score: 7
You are a Moderate Capitalist. You support an economy that is by and large a free market, but has public programs to help people who can't help themselves or need a little help. Pretty much you believe in the American economy how it currently is.

Libertarian/Authoritarian score: 7
You're a Moderate. You think that we all have certain inalienable rights that must be protected, but that sometimes laws need to be made to protect the majority's lives or quality of lives. You might think that the 2nd amendment isn't necessary anymore because letting everyone a gun is extremely dangerous to the community. You might also be against illegal drug use or public pornography because of its possible harmful effects to society.

Pacifist/Militarist score: 1
You're a Pacifist. You are angered that the United States thinks it should dominate the world through its military force. You think that the only time war is necessary is when we are in direct danger of being attacked. You also believe the US spends way too much of its money on defense, as we can practically cut it in half and still easily defend ourselves, and use that money to fix all our economic problems.

Overall, you would most likely fit into the category of Democrat

Bakonyi Released From Custody Despite Major Damages Done

The manager, Zoltan Bakonyi, of the company linked to the red sludge spill in Hungary, has been released from custody without charge. His lawyer argued that sufficient evidence seems to be lacking in order to prosecute Bakonyi. In an article from the New York Times, the writer, Dan Bilefsky explains that,

"The court had met to review possible charges of Mr. Bakonyi’s negligence — including the contention by his critics that a failure to prepare emergency warning and rescue plans — had contributed to the calamity."

Unfortunately the spill ended up killing eight people and injured hundreds. For now, a state commissioner has been appointed as the new manager of the company and the Hungarian government has made sure that the company will pay for the damages and for all who were affected by this event.

Anger Drives Citizens to Vote

An article titled, "Who's upset over the economy? Everybody, everywhere" by Jane Sasseen, discusses the difference in attitude between Republicans and Democrats. She also goes on to explain how these attitudes effect the poles. Apparently Republicans tend to be more angry which causes them to vote more and Democrats are just dissatisfied giving them less motivation to head to the voting booths. Not only is there a difference in attitude between the political parties, but there are differences between generations. The article explains that:

"While many Americans middle-aged and up have lost jobs, seen the value of their homes collapse and their retirement savings eviscerated, younger adults, despite the drab job market and daunting levels of college debt, probably feel they have more time to wait out the downturn."

"Millennials have not lost as much in the downturn, so they have less to be angry about," says Michael Cornfield, an adjunct professor at the Graduate School of Political Management at the George Washington University. Moreover, he adds, "They don't have as high expectations from government as boomers do."

Sasseen summed up the end of the article by making clear why an angry person is more likely to vote than someone who is just dissatisfied.

"Everyone is unhappy today, but when you get the higher level of intensity, those people are more motivated to vote than those who are just dissatisfied," says Cornfield. Republican voters, along with an increasing number of independents, don't like what the government has done; they're eager to put a stop to policies they see as both intrusive and ineffective. Democrats, on the other hand, are unhappy with the pace of change but think the administration deserves more time to right the economy. "If you're a Democrat, you're in favor of waiting," he adds. "But waiting doesn't get you to the polls." 

Chilean Miners are Almost Out

It has been 69 days since 33 Chilean miners became trapped about half a mile underground. Today, Tuesday October 12th, the first miner was finally able to breathe fresh air and see his family. A customized escape capsule was constructed specifically for retrieving the miners. It is about a 20 minute ride up if everything goes smoothly. Many safety precautions had to be considered in order to ensure the most successful escape. The article reports that:

"As each miner is hauled up, a small video camera in the escape capsule will be trained on his face so rescuers can watch for panic attacks. The miners will wear oxygen masks and have two-way voice communication.

Their pulse, skin temperature and respiration rate will be constantly measured through a biomonitor around their abdomens. To prevent blood clotting from the quick ascent, they took aspirin and will wear compression socks.

The miners will also wear sweaters because they'll experience a shift in climate from about 90 degrees Fahrenheit underground to temperatures hovering near freezing if they emerge at night. Those coming out during daylight hours will wear sunglasses."

As soon as the miner reaches the top they are ushered over to a triage center to receive immediate medical attention. Next, they will be air-lifted to a nearby hospital that has prepared two entire wards  specifically for the care of these miners.
The Chilean government has put in immense time and effort to assure that the miners will receive the best possible care and to also show the gratitude it has for their hard and dangerous work.