Sexual Violence in War

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113980654

Guinean woman are being raped and beaten in public by troops. They are trying to turn the community in on its self by forcing husbands, partners, and families to turn on these woman.

Despite the emotionally and physical toll of the rape and abuse, the women remain determined to improve the state of there country, and punish the ones who have abused them.

First Lady Promotes Health of Children

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114012307

Many past first ladies have had special causes; Laura Bush had reading, Nancy Reagan had "just say no to drugs". Michelle Obama is promoting good health and nutrition, especially for young people.

Michelle Obama says health experts believe we are on track, for the first time, to see the younger generations with a shorter average lifespan.

The article questions whether promoting healthy eating would cause the companies producing unhealthy foods to lose profits. Companies would likely respond to the demand for healthier food by producing healthier food. What's more important anyway; profits or the health of children?

Airlines Sending Repairs Overseas

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113877784

Industry is sending 1 out of every 5 planes overseas.

FAA requires overhaul of planes every two years. Until just a few years ago, unionized American employees of each airline did the work.

Since 2002 airlines have been doing anything to cut costs. Maintenance has been one of the biggest areas.

Using a non-union shop in American, they cut their costs in half, and using another shop outside of America, it can be as little as 1/3 the original cost.

All of the shops have to be approved by the FAA. The last time a plane crashed because of maintenance error was in 2003 - and that was serviced in the US.

But, the inspector general of the Department of Transportation says that FAA and industry inspectors are not monitoring work the way they should.

The FAA does not require airlines to report where their air crafts are being serviced, so they don't even know where to check.

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I'll admit that I am totally and completely biased on the issue of outsourcing air craft maintenance, but it seems like a risky thing to be doing.

When you hire well paid unionized employees, they are more likely to care about there jobs, and therefore do the best they can at making sure the air crafts are properly maintained.

Also, it used to be easy to find the root of the problem. US Airways air craft was obviously serviced by US Airways employees. Now it could be serviced anywhere in the world, by anyone.

If airlines kept employees in the U.S. it would provide many well paying jobs to Americans, and that would help stimulate a hurting economy. People would be able to afford to travel more. Outsourcing is a short term solutions to a bigger problem.

In the airline industry, maintenance seems like the last place you would want to be cutting costs. Especially with people already more nervous about air travel after 9/11.

Office Manager Suicide

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_13548459

On September 29th, Mike Kovac had lunch with a friend, and then disappeared from his office, leaving his belongings behind. When he didn't return home, is wife called him in missing. His wife said he had been showing her how to pay bills, something that he usually did.

Kovac was found in a storage closet behind boxes 9 days after he killed himself with a knife.

6-yr-old suspended

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/education/12discipline.html?_r=1&hp

A 6-year-old first grader from Delaware was suspended and ordered to go to reform school for 45-days after bringing a camping utensil - fork, spoon, and knife combination - to school to eat his lunch with.

Because of the districts zero tolerance policy, they do not make exceptions to there suspensions based on intent.

The boy is being home-schooled while his parents try to overturn his punishment.

I understand being cautious, but I think this is completely ridiculous. If a child is bring weapons to school with the intent of injuring another child, I don't think possession rules are going to be that effective in deterring them. After all, their intention is worse than just carrying around a weapon.

I certainly don't think weapons should be allowed in school. Possession of them should be addressed, but I don't think punishment is always the right option, especially when it is clear that their intention was not to harm anyone.

Obama Pledges Again to End "Don't Ask Don't Tell"

On Saturday at a fund raising dinner for human right Obama plegded to end "don't ask, don't tell".

Some are upset because he hasn't given a timeline, and that he has made the same promise in the past.

Obama supports same-sex relationships, but not same sex marriages because of religious reasons. He has put forth a package for domestic partnership benefits for federal workers (though they did not include health benefits) and has pushed for hate crime legislation.

Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Obama said he was surprised by the Nobel Peace Prize win.

He won it for "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".

He is going to donate the 1.4 million dollars in prize money to charity.

House Expands Definition of Hate Crimes

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/us/politics/09hate.html?_r=1&hp

The house voted by a wide margin to change the definition of hate crimes to cover those committed because of a victims gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

The hate crimes measure was approved as a part of a $681 billion dollar policy measure. Some republicans see this as blackmail. The bill also included military benefits, authorized pay, weapons programs, and other essentials for armed forces.

Some republicans accused supporters of trying to punish "thought crimes". They think it is wrong to punish someone based on what they may have been thinking.

Mike Pence, Republican for Indiana is worried the bill will inhibit freedom of speech and deter religious leaders from speaking their beliefs because of fear of getting caught up in the law.

The bill must still be approved by the Senate, but it has large support there.

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I didn't realize that gender, sexual orientation, gender orientation, and disability were not already included in hate crime legislation.

Sexual orientation is included in 33 states hate crime legislation, but the only groups covered by federal legislation are race and religion.

I disagree with Mike Pence, when he says that he thinks this will inhibit freedom of speech. If religious leaders were going to worry about what they said about sexual orientation, they would also worry about what they said about other religions, because they are included in hate crime legislation.

This legislation is long, long over due and I am hoping it passes.

Dalai Lama Urges U.S. to Address Rich-Poor Issue

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/06/dalai.lama.prize/index.html

While accepting a human rights award, the Dalai Lama chastised the U.S. for not doing much to address the gap between the rich and the poor.

He said the "real greatness of America is your ancestors' principles", while urging the U.S. to preserve those.

Obama plans to visit the Dalai Lama on a trip to China next month.

To Protect Galapagos, Ecuador Limits A Two-Legged Species

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/world/americas/05galapagos.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=world

The population of the Galapagos has doubled in a decade to 30,000 people. The small islands are feeling the environmental impact of so many additional humans.

New species, such as cattle, fire ants, and rats; have been introduced to the islands.

The government has recently expelled more than 1000 poor Ecuadorians.

“We are being told that a tortoise for a rich foreigner to photograph is worth more than an Ecuadorean citizen,”

Pawlenty Rolls Out New Political Organization

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/01/pawlenty-rolls-out-new-political-organization/

Republican Governor from Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, created a new political action group called "Freedom First" to help get republicans elected in 2009 and 2010. He has signed on a number of veteran Washington hands, making this one of the first concrete signs he may be considering a run for presidency in 2012.

Health Care Debate

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1926833,00.html

This article discusses the state of health care in West Virginia. A public option is wanted, but it is worried that by offering a public option private insurers will be put out of business. The Senate Finance Committee voted and the public was voted down 15 to 8 originally, but with an amendment including reimbursements to medicare rates, 2 democrats joined support and it was voted down 13 to 10.

Maine Republican Olympia Snowe has offered an amendment that calls for public health insurance only if private insurers don't do enough to offer affordable coverage. This would be determined on a state-by-state basis and private insurers would be able to change before a public option took hold.

Abortion Fight Complicates Debate on Health Care

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/health/policy/29abortion.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

The article is about a proposal to ban the use of subsidies to fund abortions. They say that people will be free to purchase additional "rider" insurance that covers abortions. States will all have to have at least one plan that covers abortions (private) and one that doesn't .

The is abortion debate is frustrating to me. In this instance especially, it's flat out discrimination. In these economic times, many people don't have the means to pay extra for abortion coverage. If they can't afford to get an abortion, it's going to be very hard to raise a healthy happy child.

For the first time, AIDS vaccine shows some success

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/health/research/25aids.html?ref=world

An AIDS vaccine was tested on volunteers in Thailand. Half were given placebo's, and the other half the vaccine. Of the 16,000 volunteers, 74 given placebo became infected, and only 51 given the vaccine did.

The vaccine is a combination of two other, previously tested vaccines that did not have any effects on humans. Scientists say they do not know why this vaccine was more effective.

Even though the effectiveness of the vaccine is small, it is a huge step in the right direction.

Grocery Wars

http://www.twincities.com/ci_13368907?nclick_check=1

Cub, Rainbow, and Lund's/Byerly's had been the top three grocers in the Twin Cities, but recently non-unionized discount grocers have been moving in and making gains. Super Target, Aldi, and Walmart are all fairly new to the Twin Cities, but Super Target has already moved up to #2 and Walmart is #4.

Similar scenarios have happened before - "In the long run, though, this battle will drive someone out of business. That's always been true in the Twin Cities. The 1950s neighborhood grocers that grandma shopped gave way to Red Owl and Del-Farm, then Applebaum's and Country Club, then Cub and Rainbow."

Long time cashiers and Cub can make up to $22/hour, where at Super Target few make more than $10/hour.

Walmart has avoided the Twin Cities because of the union stronghold. They waited for other non-unionized businesses, such as Aldi and Target, to move in before following.

Discount stores are able to sell groceries like produce at below cost because they save on wages, benefits, and sell large amounts of non-perishables. Stores like Kowalski's are unable to do that because a large portion of their money is going to their employees.

At Least 19 Killed in Ramadan Food Stampede

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/world/asia/15pstan.html?ref=asia

It is traditional for Muslims to give away food for the Islamic holiday of Ramadan. Due to extreme poverty, people rushed to receive their food. 19 women were killed in the stampede and at least another 25 women were injured.

When a parent "I love you" means "do as I say"

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/health/15mind.html?ref=health

This was an interesting article about the top of "conditional" vs "unconditional" parenting.

Conditional parenting is when a parent scolds a child or withholds "love" from the child when they misbehave, or do poorly in school. In unconditional parenting, the parent will address what the child did wrong, but not make them feel as though they are less loved because of it.

The article said studies have shown that positive conditional parenting (praising a child more when they do well) has both positive and negative effects. The child may do what the parent wants, but often they have a feel of being controlled or motivated by an outside source, instead of feeling as though they achieved something on their own. Negative conditional parenting has shown no positives and only increases children's dislike of their parents.

Health Care Reform and "American Values"

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/health/10chen.html?ref=health

People on both sides of the aisle are using incorrect terms, such as "uniquely American", "Canadian" and "British" to describe our current health care, and health care to come.

The premise is that "American values" point to one form of health care - private insurance.

Dr. Allan S. Brett says that when politicians use the term "American values", they are assuming all Americans have the same values.  They are also assuming these values mean the same thing to the different people. Freedom could mean freedom to choose what health plan a person wants, it could also mean freedom from worrying about being able to afford health care if they became too sick.

Choices of physicians and where to go to the doctors are increased in a single payer system, because there are no insurance restrictions.

In the past twenty years, patients have been more and more able to get whatever test or procedures they want done.  Doctors think less about how effective they will actually be, and a lot of money is wasted.

Dr. Brett says that one uniquely American thing about our health care system is that we deny coverage to a portion of our population.

Obama Health Care Speech

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/us/politics/10assess.html?_r=1&hp

This article looked at Obamas speaking skills, and how he is using them to win over congress, and a country that has seemed to be loosing faith in him.

He addressed the issue of health care in a more articulate and simplified manor, talking not just to congress, but also to the American people watching him on their televisions.

He has used his speaking before to come back after difficult times, like after accusations of racism came out because of comments made by his former pastor.

Hatoyama Stands By Campaign Vow For Sharp Cut In Japans Emissions

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/world/asia/08japan.html?ref=todayspaper

Japans presumptive prime minister is stand by his campaign promises to cut emissions from 1990 levels by 25%.  Though he said that his promises were contingent on other countries making similar goals.

The European Union has promised to cut emission by 20% for 1990 levels, and 30% if other countries follow.  In the United States, congress is debating over a bill that would cut emissions by 6%.

Some are worried a 25% cut would be too harmful to the economy of Japan, and thousands of jobs would be lost. 

There is also concern that the Obama administration will not have time to win congresses support on reduction of carbon emission.