E. Coli on the Attack

a new strain of e. coli broke out in germany recently infecting over a thousand and killing seventeen.  there have been some cases in other countries like the united kingdom and and switzerland.  the source of this new virus is unknown and is being hunted for.  at first it was thought the culprit was spanish cucumbers, but they have been ruled out.  russia has actually banned all produce importans from any members of the european union in order to keep the new virus outside of their country.

in a world filled with anti bacterial soaps and numerous vaccinations its not a suprise a new, stronger, virus has emerged.  i understand russias concern and respect their decision to temporarily shut down imports with the european union.  even though only one if five cases of e. coli are transmitted from human to human that can very easily lead to the rapid infection of highly populated areas.  i think its absolutely fascinating how these teeny tiny bags of dna can so easily kill us humans and our great technologies.  they are truly a force to be reckoned with and i can only hope we will be prepared to battle them whatever they might throw at us.

Violence Begets Violence

After not hearing much about the unrest in the Middle East, specifically Libya, some news has come from two other countries—Syria and Yemen.  Both are undergoing violent opposition to the government and equally if not more violent suppression by the respective countries governments.  Yemen experienced the worst of it as the government’s military continues to experience the defection of senior military leaders.  The latest attack was a result of attempting to suppress a military leader from supposedly defecting.  In Syria government forces shot into crowds of protesters, and ended up killing an eleven year old girl.

Still more violence in the Middle East it seems…I highly doubt it’s going to be done until better governments are put into place.  Simple as that.  The only problem is a lot of people want a government that bases its laws off of the Muslim religion and its holy book the Quran.  This would result in a society where women are suppressed, not even allowed to leave the house without head covering and certainly not entitled to an education beyond what they need to function as good housewives.  This is something many Americans do not understand because they did not grow up in Muslim society, while they need to exercise their cultural relativism, I understand people wanting equality for women in Muslim societies. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43234473/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

Beware the Power of a Tweet

New York Representative Anthony Weiner recently had his Twitter account hacked and a picture of bulging underpants tweeted to a woman in Seattle.  The tweet was quickly and effectively deleted. Weiner apologized for the inappropriate picture.  It may have all been a joke, but just in case Weiner will be hiring one the best and most expensive lawyers he can find in order to insulate himself from any legal blame, also, the lawyer will serve as an advisor on how to attack the hacker who had the audacity to steal use of Weiner’s Twitter account.

It seems a bit ridiculous to me that a lawyer is needed for this situation.  First off, our society needs to stop being hypersensitive in situations such as these.  It really isn’t a big deal, and was quickly fixed.  In addition, I doubt there were many young people who were following Mr. Weiner that would have seen the image.  They are all adults and should act as such.  I do respect the man for apologizing and removing the pictures so quickly, but he does not need to waste taxpayer money on such a superfluous escaped to fight an unnecessary legal battle.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43222914/ns/politics-more_politics/

Mmmm...Salt

A recent study found that salt is not the main culprit behind our unhealthy American diet, the true blame is placed on, surprise surprise, fat.  The reason we have so much salt in our food is because it is a taste enhancer, without it our food would taste something like dishwater.  Only about 5% of people have salt to blame for their hypertension.  For people at a healthy weight salt is by no means a bad thing, but when you consider that 65% of Americans are overweight it’s no wonder people are linking salt to hypertension, obesity, and hear problems.  Salt is easy to take out of their diets, the fatty foods aren’t.

I am a big salt lover, I can eat the stuff plain, so when I heard it wasn’t healthy for me I admit to being a bit disappointed that something I enjoyed so much was so unhealthy for me.  But thanks to this article I see it’s just one reason of many Americans are unhealthy, and a small one at that.  Salt is essentially a scapegoat taking the fall so people can feel good about cutting down on salty foods but continue to eat the fatty foods that are making them so unhealthy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43171460/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/

It's Museum Time

The space shuttle Endeavor is currently in its last mission before it is retired to a museum.  It brought several experiments, including the $2 billion experimental Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, and will bring back the results of several experiments back with it.  The astronauts of the ISS went on a space walk to set up the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and do some maintenance of the station.  Their space walk was cut short however when the gauge that measured CO₂ levels broke on one of the suits.  Since there was no way to tell just how much oxygen the astronaut had left NASA called it a day and brought the men in to make sure of their safety.

I think it’s sad that our space program—NASA—is ending thanks to budget problems.  It has been an important part of American society, especially when JFK made his famous announcement that we would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.  A goal we met.  In that moment America was truly united, thanks the NASA, the program we are not cutting.  When the Challenger disaster occurred it united Americans as well in respect for those who died.  NASA has been a unifying force throughout history.

A Little More than Knee Deep

Flooding along the Mississippi is currently some of the worst it has been in almost a century, records are being broken left and right.  Because of heavy rains and extensive snow melt levees and dams are at their breaking limits, threatening large cities like Baton Rouge and New Orleans.  In order to protect the larger cities Cajun country is being flooded, where hundreds of hard working Americans are being forced to evacuate despite the fact they have nowhere else to go.  People are being told they need to evacuate but many are uncertain whether or not their homes will actually be flooded.

This flooding seemed to creep up on Americans.  It started in the Fargo Moorhead area with not quite record flooding that the citizens were prepared for.  The people farther south, however, were not prepared for the extensive flooding that is going on.  The decision to open flood gates and destroy dams is a difficult one, either you allow the large cities to be flooded, or land essential to the life of those who live on it.  It is a decision that will have a large effect on Americans in the region for years to come.

Hide and Seek

                With the recent death of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan there have been some questions about whether or not members of the Pakistan government knew about and were protecting Bin Laden.  His compound was in Abbottabad, an army town only two and a half hour's drive outside the capital.  The close vicinity of the compound to Abbottabad and the Pakistan capitol is what has caused people to question the Pakistan government, and has spurred the main opposition party to criticize the governing party with renewed vigor.

                While I revel in the death of Bin Laden the proximity of his secret residence, which he lived in for over five years, to parts of the Pakistan government is unnerving.  I don’t understand why the Pakistani government, in today’s day and age of intelligence, couldn’t find this million dollar compound just outside a city that was practically run by the government for military reasons.  But I’m glad a new controversy hasn’t started over America’s unauthorized entry into Pakistan for this operation.  I’m just happy we found and killed him, regardless if he was armed or not.  He poses less of a problem and rallying point dead.  I hope that we can find out just why the Pakistani government was unaware of his presence for so long.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42955171/ns/world_news-death_of_bin_laden/

Are We at War?

Last night President Obama gave a speech on the battle for Libya.  While people agreed it was necessary many feel as though the president’s answers were lacking.  He tried to avoid directly answering questions on how much it will cost, how long we will be involved, and what are the criteria for our involvement like this in other nations of the world.  The GOP reacted by saying the president was nine days late in this speech and that he should have talked to Congress before taking our country to war.  The Democrats supported the speech and said Obama needs to keep up the stream of information to the American people.

                My biggest worry when this trouble with Libya started was that America would get stuck in another foreign war without the help of the international community.  I commend Obama on handling this situation in such a way that we are not the main force in this effort, and that now control is being turned over to NATO.  While I agree this speech did come a little late, I also understand why Obama acted first, without going to Congress.  Action was needed in Libya, there can be no doubt of that.  Had we waited too long the rebel forces may have been destroyed and I’m sure the international community would blame America for not acting fast enough.  A speech telling the American people what our goals and involvement should have been issued sooner than nine days after our involvement started though.  This situation does leave a sense of inquisitiveness as to what the exact criteria for international aid to a country actually is.

Violence Once Again...

The international community, with the support of the United Nations has exhausted all possible peaceful options in ousting Gadhafi from his tyrannical position in Libya.  Embargos, isolation, sanctions, and demands for a cease-fire have resulted in nothing.  The international community is now launching military attacks in support of the Libyan rebels.  The support is coming in the form of planes missiles though, as of now no international ground troops have been deployed.  At least eight countries have sent some sort of military support to Libya.

                Here we go again.  Another war began in the Middle East last week when a French fighter jet launched the first international strike on Gadhafi’s forces.  This is an action that is needed, Gadhafi’s rule was one of oppression and violence that is exemplified by his treatment of his own people as they started to protest.  I’m glad that the U.S. is helping this effort, but are not alone and have the full backing of the U.N.  We don’t need another foreign war where we alone are fighting the enemy.  As of now there are no international ground troops supporting the rebels.  Personally I hope U.S. ground troops stay out of Libya, we have too many troops deployed overseas to add another country to the list.  In addition with an economy that is starting to claw its way back to success we can’t start spending more, that would lead to a large increase in debt and could possibly turn into a double dip recession. 

The Dominoes Continue to Fall, Making a Big Mess

Not to beat a dead horse but the violence in the Middle East is continuing this week.  Unlike the peaceful transition in Egypt Libya has turned into an all out war zone as rebels try to oust Gadhafi who has been in power for 41 years.  With oil prices rising due to this conflict who controls the oil fields has become an important factor in this rebellion as well.  On top of all this three Dutch troops are being held by the Libyan government who were captured as they tried to evacuate a Dutch citizen.  Some rebels and other people from the international community are calling for a no fly zone over Libya but the U.S. is hesitant to get involved in another foreign war.

The times we are living in right now are truly some eventful and history changing times.  As more Middle Eastern countries are succumbing to the domino effect it makes me wonder just where will it stop?  In my opinion this fervor for rebellion has the possibility to spread outside the Middle East to other, oppressively run government, mainly China.  They earn $7,500 per person per year there while the government and corporations continue to gain more money.  With housing and resources becoming more expensive I feel as though there is a strong potential for at least protests to start in China, especially due to their censorship of the internet which many hackers continue to fight and break trough.  All in all I’m glad the U.S. has not taken a stance on this war yet, we don’t need to get involved in another foreign war, we are already way too far in debt.  The international community may not like it, and say we are picking and choosing our battles, I call it learning from our mistakes.

The Next Domino is Falling

Libya is under siege from the inside by rebel forces that want Moammar Gadhafi, the dictator of Libya has been in power for decades, out.  Rebel forces are moving closer and closer to the capitol of Tripoli.  They recently took Zawiyah, a city that is considered the gateway to Tripoli, causing many to believe its only a matter of time before Gadhafi is ousted.  The reporter of this story was supposed to be taken to Zawiyah to show how in control the government was, but before they could it was taken by the rebels.  It has gotten so bad that government troops are defecting to join the rebels.

This article is closely related to my article on Egypt.  It looks like Libya is the next domino to fall in the Middle East with protests going on in Yemen, Iraq, and Iran as well.  We have coverage of the Yemen and Iraq protests, but since Iran won’t let any press into their country we have no access to what is going on there.  This protesting is going to continue in the Middle East so long as the old governments try to cling to power.  The people of the Middle East are sick of tyrannical and corrupt leaders and are ready for democracy.  Many Americans are feeling the reverberations of these protests in their wallets as gas prices have shot up recently.  We can only hope that this violence comes to a quick and speedy end.

Issue #3 Social Security System

This is issue #3 in a series of issues, to view a blog on Issue #1 follow this link, for issue #2 follow this link.

The Social Security System is becoming a very debated topic as the average age of Americans continues to age, along with the retirement of the “baby boomers”.  The Social Security System is an entitlement program, meaning that if the government fails to put adequate sums into the system then they are breaking the law.  With a soaring National Debt the government is having a hard time not breaking the law with the Social Security System.  Soon, in order to keep up with the increase of retirees, the Social Security System will be spending more money than it takes in, causing many people to say its time for a change.

I have to agree with those people that are calling for a radical change in the system.  I don’t see how a system that is so quickly going into debt can be shored up by a few quick fix changes.  The American population is getting older, therefore more money will be given out through the system.  With one in four Americans being eligible for Social Security benefits soon, and only a third of the actually employed American population will be paying for those benefits.  The working force of America would be hard pressed to pay for a fourth of Americans Social Security benefits, not to mention all the other government spending.  The Young America’s Foundation agrees with my thoughts on what needs to be done with the Social Security System.

What does it mean to be a....?

Sweden is facing a large number of immigrants coming from the Middle East, and they are bringing their religion of Islam with them.  The Swedes are not sure how exactly to deal with this problem.  They are a country who has one million immigrants out of their total population of nine million.  Sweden traditionally is a very accepting and tolerant country, but with this influx of immigrants and their religion and the violence associated with it a new political party called the Sweden Democrats has emerged that wishes to keep the Muslim population subdued and keep the Swedish identity the same as it has always been.  There has been violence against the Muslim population by Swedes as well as violence against the Swedish population by Muslims.  The Swedish people have to decide how to deal with the Muslim population and feel as though their decisions will be an example for the rest of Europe.

In an age where peoples from different countries are constantly moving to new countries to live it is getting harder and harder for people to retain their national identity.  For example there’s the cliché question of “what is an America?”  It’s a hard question to answer because everyone has different ideas about what it means to be an American.  The Swedish are now asking themselves the very same question.  They want to know just what it means to be Swedish and there will be some political duels between different ideals for a time until they come to a consensus and decide where they want their country to go.  I completely understand their desire to retain their national identity, I know that I would not want to lose who I feel I am just because some people who have a different idea of what I should be move to my country.  But then again we can’t just ostracize those people, we need to find a way to keep our national identity without compromising too much to the ever demanding minorities.

"Curveball"—The Iraqi Who Lied

This is a disturbing article.  Either our government didn’t know better than to trust an untrustworthy source or our government chose to ignore that fact in order to invade Iraq.  An Iraqi code named “Curveball” told American intelligence about WMDs that Saddam Hussein supposedly had.  He made up stories bioweapon trucks and factories that produced chemical weapons in order to get the U.S. to invade Iraq sooner.  Curveball is proud of his lies and said that since it helped Saddam be ousted sooner that there was nothing wrong with what he did.  This circumstance has many people questioning the credibility of our countries intelligence. 

Personally I believe that regardless of the reasons America would have invaded Iraq anyway.  In the post 9/11 atmosphere Americans overwhelmingly wanted to invade Afghanistan.  That fervor for action against those who were possibly a part of the attack, or those who possibly were aiding those terrorist had not died down.  This basic desire for revenge pushed us into Iraq.  If President Bush had come out and said that we invaded for revenge the opinion of the world would have turned against us.  If Bush had announced we were invading because Hussein was an evil dictator America would be expected to invade all the countries in the world with dictators who were cruel to their populace.  But, if Iraq had WMDs ready to be used against the American public, then the other countries of the world would be okay with the invasion of Iraq.  Curveball provided this information that helped justify the invasion, his credibility was ignored, in my opinion, because America needed an excuse to invade Iraq because their thirst for revenge had not yet been sated. 

Another Facebook Stalker...

It’s is a common story in the time of social networking for someone to be stalked via the internet.  Story after story has been reported on this occurring and ending up in court cases and restraining orders if it’s a happy ending.  So maybe by now you are wondering why exactly I would be blogging about such a story, and the answer is because the maker of the largest social network is the victim this time, Mark Zuckerberg. Through his own creation of Facebook he has been stalked by Pradeep Manukonda who has continually asked for money and threatened Zuckerberg.  In one of the messages he even told Zuckerberg "please help me, then I am ready to die for you ... Please understand my pain."

This situation absolutely reeks with irony.  I laughed out loud when I first read the headline of this article.  Of all the people out there with Facebook it is the creator that is facing problems through the site.  I think it is great to have the world so interconnected, but this shows that no one is safe from the internet.  Anyone can get access to some of your information on the internet, especially through social networking sites.  It makes me wonder how easy it would be for someone to get all the information they needed to pretend to be me, or even steal my identity.  As I was applying for college and all they asked for was my birth date to verify who I was I decided it was time to change my birthday on Facebook.  Sure it’ll mean having all my “well wishers” telling me happy birthday on the wrong day, but my real life friends that I spend time with outside of the internet will know the truth, and they are the important friends.

The Domino Effect of Egypt

Arab leaders in the Middle East and Africa are afraid that the events currently going on in Egypt are going to spread to other countries.  Egypt wasn’t the first country to set off the series of dominos, that was Tunisia. Those protests then spread to Egypt, but to understand why these protests are spreading so quickly you must understand that many countries in this region share the same characteristics: young populations, poverty, unemployment, suppression of human rights, and leaders that have been in power for decades.  Yemen is the perfect example of this domino effect.  Already civil unrest has spread there against the leader who has been in power for over 30 years.  In Jordan, the people began by asking for food, but now are protesting for a new government.  Lybia looks to be another country poised to fall in this domino effect.  They have a leader that has been in power for over 40 years, but he is trying to prevent his downfall by cutting taxes and other small things to placate his people.  Islamic Fundamentalist groups are the driving force behind almost all of these protests, they are well organized and ready to come into power.  The question many are asking is "Is this a good thing?"  Only time will tell.

I am torn when looking at this situation.  These revolutions need to happen, these leaders have clung to power for too long.  There is a reason we vote for a new president every four years.  Change in leadership is good.  Without that change dictatorships come into power, they forget that the only reason they rule the people of their country is because the people let them rule in the first place.  These leaders have forgotten this and have forsaken the people of the countries they run.  Then I think about this situation on a larger scale, and what implications these revolutions could have for the rest of the world.  Looking just at that specific region of the world there is Israel to think about.  If the Islamic Fundamentalist groups organizing these protests do come into power Israel would be in trouble.  The Muslim world does not get along with Israel, there’s proof enough of that in the Six-Day War.  Putting Fundamentalist Islamic leaders in charge of these protesting countries could lead to a lot of future problems, maybe even war.  Then I thought about what these changes in leadership would mean for the United States.  I’m afraid successful revolutions would be a problem for America.  These Fundamentalist Muslims do not like America any more than they like Israel, so while there may not be direct consequences, there still would be a great potential for increased tensions with the U.S. and the countries of the Middle East.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/41359553#41359553