BlackBerry Lover Gets BlackBerry 10 Tattoo Ahead Of Phone's Launch by Carlos Walcott

Do you like Blackberry's? No? Well Brian Heffren loves Blackberry phones so much that he decided to get the logo tattooed onto his upper back. His reasoning for this, besides it already being stupid enough in the first place, was because he wanted to win a "What Would You Do For A BlackBerry 10 Phone?" contest on BlackBerry fansite CrackBerry. According to CrackBerry, Heffren is an engineer technician and field planner for Time Warner Cable who has been working on LTE towers and setting up fiber optic routes for businesses since 1996. He became a BlackBerry lover years ago while using one at work and now even buys old, broken BlackBerrys to restore. I really think this guy is obsessed and should sit down and rethink his life. Out of all the other contestants, Heffren's tops the charts. Other people did normal stuff like take pictures in bikinis or eating super hot burgers, and ya know, not get tattoos. It makes me kind of wonder if they hold a similiar contest like this when the Blackberry 11 comes out, will he keep getting tatted up for each logo. Well, his love for Blackberry's will forever be carried on his back. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/30/blackberry-10-tattoo-brian-heffren_n_2581313.html?ir=Technology#slide=2043364

Syrians flee violence in dangerous nighttime trek to Jordan

Syrians flee with their children and mothers to escape the violence that is occurring in Syria. The journey is treacherous and filled with many dangers. According to Jordan's Border guard officials, many fleeing families have been shot in the past two week and several people were injured trying to get across.Yesterday on a cold night one of the border guards let an injured family to safety and fed them and sheltered them. Hopefully the violence in Syria will end soon and people won't have to go through a lot just to save their families and get them to a safer place.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/28/world/asia/jordan-syrians-escape/index.html?hpt=wo_c1

GODZILLA- By Jorge Olvera

     Guangzhou, China experienced a big ol' sink hole swallowing up an entire building that destroyed everything in its path. The sink hole is apparently 32,000 square feet deep. This event of mother nature occurred around a neighboring area where a good number of people witnessed the sink hole take place. It caused a power outage and trembling sounds of the streets cracking open. The crazy thing about this is that these are very common in certain parts of China. I would make sure to have some kind of insurance on my house and everything. 
resources:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/massive-sinkhole-china-swallows-building-215523079.html
        

RIP LIL NIGGA by Rachel Almquist

A secret service dog died after falling 6 stories while preparing for Joe Bidens appearance in New Orleans.The dogs name and identity is not being released to the public at this time. Secret Service spokesman Max Milian called this accident "tragic."

3 Year- Old Forced to Get Tattoo- Taiina Ayala

Over the weekend, photos and videos were posted of a mother in Havana, Cuba restraining her three year old son, while he was getting a tattoo. I first heard about this on the radio this morning and they first played sound clips from the video. From hearing the cries and screams mixed with the sound of some buzzing object, one might think it is just a small child at the dentist's office or something. Nope. The mother was forcing her child to get a tattoo on his arm. This article from "The Daily Mail" states that the content of the tattoo was not visibile, however, I cannot bring myself to watch such a horrendous video. But, when I first heard about this on the radio, they said the tattoo was of the numbers "666." THAT IS CRAZY. These people are disgusting. After the content was uploaded, the mother began to recieve a bunch of hate mail. Some might say they are over the top. I mean it's ridiculous what she did, but you can't mix ridiculous with even more ridiculousness! SMH.


Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2269615/Horrifying-moment-mother-restrains-terrified-year-old-Cuban-boy-given-TATTOO.html

Assault Weapons Ban - Paolo Buccino

      As many of us are aware, in the wake of all these recent shootings some politicians have been pushing legislation for the control of certain types of guns. Personally, I do not think that this ban is a good idea. It just seems poorly thought out and shady. It is shallow. The legislation seems to be based on the idea that creating laws prohibiting certain guns will somehow prevent these shootings from happening. How in the world would these laws even be enforced? What about the black market?

      The politicians pushing the legislation also seem to being ignoring a fundamental problem. That problem is mental health.  There is no way the Aurora, and Newtown shooters were sane. It has been realized that the Columbine, Tuscon, and Virginia Tech shooters, among others, were suffering from severe mental problems that caused them to act the way they did. If these people feel so inclined, how would some silly law ever stop them from gaining access to whatever gun they might want to use? It isn't very difficult to obtain illegal drugs is it?

     Whatever happened to teaching people about gun safety? So many people die each year from accidents because of ignorance about gun safety. Its ridiculous. And Dianne Feinstein, the politician who is leading the Assault Weapons Ban movement, who is a self proclaimed authority on gun safety is no exception to this ignorance. She can be seen in this picture muzzle sweeping the reporters, her finger is on the trigger, her control of the gun is lose, and the bolt is closed. Guns are only as dangerous as you make them.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c360/sirscrotum/ak47_5a_zpsd677ccb3.jpg

Quite dangerous in this case.

    This is a just a little bit of my opinion that I wanted to share with everyone. This topic is very important and relevant to us today.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/01/24/lawmakers-to-unveil-new-assault-weapons-ban/

Basketball dad causes columbine?

I'm sure everyone has heard of freedom of speach, but a man from Washington takes that right slightly to far. At his son's basketball game he get's alittle to rowdy, by telling the oposing team, “Camas fans!!!!! Worst in the league!!!!! I hope someone shoots up their school real soon!!!!!!!!” With all the drama and caos with violence, homicides and other terrible horific tragedies,I believe the police have every God given right to take this to the highest level.

Video Link: http://www.katu.com/news/local/School-Frustrated-parent-posts-alarming-Facebook-message-188116491.html?tab=video&c=y

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/basketball-dad-calls-school-shooting-altercation-son-game-110722656.html

Chicago reaches 40 homicides in january: by fredy medina

Chicago is about to have the deadliest january since 2002 when there where 45 homicides. Days before the month ends there has been 40 homicides this january in Chicago. The police say their gang-fighting strategy has been effective and that violence might have been worst.


http://us.foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?page=26048&external=1929014.proteus.fma

Missing teen found 'covered in leeches' by Jonathan Landeros

An Australian 18 year old teen that went missing on November 27 has finally been found, after disappearing near westleigh by his home. Matthew Allen was found by two hikers that reported a man in a pretty bad condition not far from westleigh. When police found him they say he was exhausted and dehydrated and also had mosquito bites and leeches. He has lost up to 50% of weight and is suffering from partial blindness.He has been taken to a hospital and reunited with his family, but the story is still unclear since, he went missing during a time of a great heat wave and reporters have not been able to speak to him, the only thing they know is that he drank water from a near by creek that was going dry.

Opinion: well, I'm glad he's fine now and reunited with his family, but the mystery of how he disappeared wont come out til he tells us.

URL:http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/28/world/asia/australia-teenager-found/index.html

In Surprise, Educator Tied to Cheating Rejects Deal- Natalie Newman

When a teacher is caught cheating, something must be wrong. In Memphis Tennessee, a teacher by the name of Clarence Mumford Sr was indicted of 63 different accounts of fraud. Mumford was convincing teachers to take certification exams for other, prospective teachers. In doing so for 15 years, he collected tens of thousands of dollars in fees. Mumford was helping other teachers beat the system in order to "help somone out." He is now arguing that he does not deserve a sentence of 9-11 years for this wrongdoing. His argument is that he has not killed anyone and the facts that he has diabetes as well as high blood pressure could mean that 9-11 years is a sentence until death, for Mr Mumford.
Yes, he was trying to help people out, but in the end he is giving people jobs that may not be able to truly educate children. He deserves the 9-11 years senstence because he has done the crime, and must do the time for his actions.

Natalie Newman
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/education/in-surprise-educator-rejects-plea-deal-over-test-cheating-ring.html?ref=education

Jake Evans' Confession: Killing Mom, Sister Inspired By Rob Zombie Film by Carlos Walcott

Jake Evans is quite a disturbed 17 year old. He says that the 2007 movie, Halloween, by Rob Zombie inspired him to murder his mother and sister. He said that while he was watching it, he was amazed at how at ease the boy in the movie seemed when he killed people, and how little remorse he seemed to have. A copy of his confession was released on Thursday by Parker County Judge Graham Quisenberry. Evans killed his 48-year-old mother, Jamie Evans, and his 15-year-old sister, Mallory, inside their upscale Aledo home Oct. 3, 2012. In a four-page written confession police said that Evans wrote hours after his arrest, he said he watched "Halloween" three times that week."I set the pistol on the bed and was nervously opening the cylinder over and over again," the confession reads. "I then spent probably over an hour walking nervously around the house thinking how life will never be the same and how I would never see them again." It was about 11:15 p.m. when Evans says he finally came up with the courage to kill, police said. "I knocked on my sister's door and told Mallory that mom needed her. She came out and out of the corner of her eye saw me pointing the gun at her. She thought I was joking and told me that I was freaking her out. I shot her in the back and then in the head. I ran down to the study and shot my mom three times," the confession reads. After he shot and killed his mother and sister, he called 911 and told the operator what he had done. His bond was $750,000 and his father, who was out of town at the time, refused to bond him out. I'm really starting to wonder what our world is coming to. People are killing like it's nothing, and are getting influenced by the stupidest things, such as movies and video games that are violent. To kill your own flesh and blood though, man that's sick. I think he should be sentenced to a death penalty, because what he did was just horrible. Words can't even describe how bad what he did was. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/jake-evans-confession_n_2552173.html?utm_hp_ref=crime

At least 5 killed in shootings by Carter Brown

"At least five people were gunned down Saturday in Chicago, including a 34-year-old man whose mother had already lost her three other children to shootings. Ronnie Chambers, who was his mother Shirley's youngest child, was shot in the head while sitting in a parked car on the city's West Side. A 21-year-old man who was also in the car was wounded, police said. Shirley Chambers, whose two other sons and daughters were shot in separate attacks more than a decade ago, was left grieving again on Saturday, WLS-TV reported. "Right now, I'm totally lost because Ronnie was my only surviving son," Chambers said. Shirley Chambers' first child, Carlos, was shot and killed by a high school classmate in 1995 after an argument. He was 18. Her daughter Latoya, then 15, and her other son Jerome were shot and killed within months of one another in 2000. Chambers said despite this latest tragic chapter in her life, she's not bitter or angry. "They took my only child. I have nobody right now. That's my only baby," she said. A few hours after Ronnie Chambers was killed, a gunman opened fire on three men near a South Side eatery, killing two of them and wounding the third, police said. On Saturday afternoon, detectives were called to the scene of another shooting in which a man in his 30s and a teenager were shot to death. There had been no arrests. Chicago's homicide count eclipsed 500 last year for the first time since 2008. As grim as it is, Chicago's homicide rate was almost double in the early 1990s — averaging around 900 — before violent crime began dropping in cities across America." I thought this article was particularly sad. To have a mother lose all of her children to violence. I can't even begin to fathom what that must be like. I sympathize with all the other families of victims as well. Violence, as we all know, doesn't solve anything. Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/27/at-least-5-die-in-shootings-on-bloody-chicago-day/

New Mexico teen accused of gunning down family

Nehemiah Griego has been charged in connection with the shooting deaths of his family. Official said that Griego has been planning this shooting since last week. When the shooting occurred, Griego sent pictures of his dead mother to his 12 year old girlfriend. He was arrested on Saturday night when police recovered the bodies of his mother, father, brother, and his two sisters that were found near their home that was located in the outskirts of Albuquere. All I have to say about this tragedy is that this generation only gets worse from here how can someone kill their own family? Also I hope the media doesn't blame violent video games for this gruesome act.


Source:  http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/23/justice/new-mexico-shooting/index.html?hpt=us_c2

Are Violent Video Games The Cause Of Violence? LaTerria Whitfield

A teacher believes that the violence in video games & movies is the cause of the violence in the world today. Do you agree?

http://cnnstudentnews.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/22/violence-connection/

Police Officer Kills Wife and 5 Year Old Son: LaTerria Whitfield

A Las Vegas police officer went on a rant and killed his own wife and five year old son. Shortly after he called a local police station and told him that he was planning to burn his house down and he would kill anyone who tried to stop him. When SWAT arrived to his home he was standing in his getting yard holding a machine gun. Police begged him to put the gun down, but with no prevail. He then began to run back into his flaming house. It is then determined that is when he took his own life.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/22/justice/nevada-police-murder-suicide/index.html?c=us&page=1

Cuba Easing Up on Restrictions- Taiina Ayala

Okay, so I already wrote one on this but it didn't save -__-
So I guess, I'll do it again!
So if you guys haven't already heard, Cuba is now allowing their people to travel! Which is kind of a big deal, because we all knew Fidel Castro, their dictator, is a very strict one. Now, his brother, Raul Castro is "President" of Cuba, but some question whether he is any better than his brother. This is also important to U.S. History because this could be the beginnings of a reunited partnership with America and Cuba, who have had a 50 year old feud! We have an embargo on the island, meaning we stopped all flow of trade with them.
Basically, this could be big! Or... it could be not so big. Experts are saying that theeir might be some hidden motives behind the brothers' actions. Well, for now, it's looking pretty good! I personally know people who will be affected by this decision to let Cubans travel to the U.S. I'm very happy about this guys! Improvement! (hopefully)


Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/12/cuba-travel-restrictions-ease/1827713/

Weird but true by Carter Brown

In a collection of news stories called "Weird but true" published in the New York Post, I found an interesting story that caught my eye. Vincent Bright, 48, has been accused of stealing his deceased father's body from a cemetery to a funeral burial. Because the story did not go into much detail, I had to do a little research. I found the full story on Huffpost Detroit. The son reportedly wanted to "bring him back to life". Police found the Dad's body in a freezer in the son's basement."It's an unusual case, it's not something you see every day," Gerald Karafa, Bright's court-appointed lawyer, told the Detroit Free Press. Clarence Bright's body disappeared from a cemetery on Monday morning, just hours before it was to be buried. Police arrested Bright and another man the next day after finding them with an empty casket in the back of their van. Officers, acting on a tip from other family members, found the corpse in Vincent Bright's home on the city's east side. Police Lt. Harold Rochon told The Detroit News that the son was religious and took the body hoping for it to be miraculously resurrected. I thought this story was just... Too funny and too weird. While I enjoy the theory of reanimating dead tissue, I do not, however, steal bodies from cemeteries, stuff them in my basement freezer and hope to perform experiments on them. Sources: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/18/vincent-bright-detroit-corpse-stealing_n_2504753.html http://www.nypost.com/p/news/weird_but_true/weird_but_true_fQ2EBQSvNi9CJ3PMDAf6wI

Mona Lisa Goes To Moon As NASA Laser Carries Image To Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter by Carlos Walcott

Using a well-timed laser, NASA scientists have beamed a picture of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, to a powerful spacecraft orbiting the moon, marking a first in laser communication. The laser signal, fired from an installation in Maryland, beamed the Mona Lisa to the moon to be received 240,000 miles (384,400 km) away by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting the moon since 2009. The Mona Lisa transmission, NASA scientists said, is a major advance in laser communication for interplanetary spacecraft. That's pretty cool. We're advancing quite nicely in technological ways.

Violent Video Games, Blamed For Promoting Violence, May Benefit Brain by Carlos Walcott

Violent videogames are said to be making kids lazy, subordinate, and prone to murderous violence. Adam Lanza, the troubled young man who killed 27 in the Newtown, Conneticut shootings last December, was said to have been obsessed with violent video games. Also, a 2011 Norway shooter said that he had trained for the massacre by playing Call of Duty. Well, just because violent video games are sometimes associated with real-life violence doesn't necessarily mean the games cause it. A 2011 study showed that men who played violent video games for one week at home showed less activation in brain regions associated with controlling emotion and aggressive behavior. But the short-term increase in aggression "seems not to be something specific to computer games," psychologist Vaughan Bell said. I honestly don't think that videogames are the cause of violence and aggression. After all, they're just videogames..for fun. That's like playing the Nintendogs game and saying you forgot to feed your dog in real life because you forgot to feed your virtual one on the game. Get it together people. I understand the violence in our nation is going up, but don't blame it on videogames.

Silvercrest Foods, Irish Plant, Suspends Operations After More Horsemeat Found In Burgers by Carlos Walcott

In Ireland, Food Quality Officials identified horse meat traces in beef burgers. Ireland's second-largest manufacturer of supermarket beef patties shut down its production line in response. The Irish Agriculture Department said nine of 13 burgers analyzed were found to have horse DNA in them. The processing plant at the center of the controversy, Silvercrest Foods in the Irish border county of Monaghan, announced it would suspend operations indefinitely pending further investigations into why horsemeat keeps getting into its products. The company already has recalled around 10 million beef burgers from supermarket shelves here and its main export market, Britain. I think it's pretty disgusting that they have horse meat in the burgers that say BEEF!! They need to get it together and find out why horsemeat is getting into their burger patties. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/18/silvercrest-foods-horsemeat-burgers_n_2501909.html?utm_hp_ref=food

U.S. Navy Ship stuck on Coral Reef by Carlos Walcott

In the Phillipines, a U.S. Navy ship got stuck on coral reefs. The crew struggled to get the ship out of the coral reef. The Phillipine authorities are taking the ship to a protected marine park to be evaluated. The Navy's 7th Fleet said in a statement that the crew of the USS Guardian was working to find out the best method of safely extracting the ship. Angelique Songo, head of the government's Protected Area Management Board says that the ship doesn't appear to be damaged. I'm glad the ship is ok, no severe damage was done, and no one was injured. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/philippines-minesweeper-stuck-on-coral-reef_n_2492749.html?ir=World

DAMN DEM DAMS DECAYED by Rachel Almquist

Across the US, our levees have been deemed unacceptable. They have earned D-minus by for the overall condition from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Now, normally I wouldn't be too concerned with this, but one of the decaying levees in located in Dallas. I personally, do not want to be put into a situation like those affected by Hurricane Katrina were in. Our gov. needs to get their heads out of their asses and start fixing the things that need to be fixes and protect the things that need protecting.

DO NOT TAKE AWAY OUR 2ND AMENDMENT by Rachel Almquist

Recently, it seems our country and its inhabitants have jumped off the deep end and into the crazy pool. With all the recent "shootings" that have been going around, many of us have had this fear of guns and fire arms instilled into us, when in actuality, we should not be afraid of the weapons. I personally do not believe that any of these recent shootings have been done out of the blue by these people who have gotten trigger happy. (seriously guys, do some damn research before you start instagraming pictures of yourself crying over the kids of Sandy Hook or Aurora.) These events are being used as a scapegoat under the Obama administration to take away our 2nd amendment rights and to demonize weapons, fire arms, guns etc.. The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. The Bill of Rights is what keeps us free people. Our gov. CAN NOT take those rights away from us..

WHOLE FOODS AINT SO WHOLESOME by Rachel Almquist

The CEO of Whole Foods previously said that Obamacare is like socialism, but he has now revised it to "It's more like fascism," Mackey recently told NPR. "In fascism, the government doesn't own the means of production, but they do control it -- and that's what's happening with our health care programs and these reforms."
Although I do not completely agree with this statement, I do agree that the government is controlling way too much of our lives. Last time I checked, America is for the people by the people. Not for the government by the government. We need to place the power back in our hands and out of the big spenders of our gov.

IDIOT GETS ATTACKED BY RHINO AFTER TAKING A PICTURE WITH IT by Rachel Almquist

Some dumb broad got attacked by a rhino after standing two feet away from it. According to the story, the wildlife expert told her to get closer so that they could take a picture. UM, HELLO. WHY WOULD YOU EVEN DO THAT. ITS A RHINO. DO YOU SEE THEIR HORNS? THOSE HORNS ARE NOT MEANT FOR CUDDLING, THEY ARE MEANT FOR KILLING AND HURTING AND PROVING DOMINANCE OVER WHITE GIRLS WHO THINK ITS COOL TO MESS WITH THEM. True tea, she deserved it. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/15/chantal-beyer-south-africa-rhino-game-park_n_2477639.html?ir=Green#slide=1106031

Eritrea Denys Forced Labor by Rachel Almquist

Eritrea's government denied the accusations made by the Human Rights Watch stating that forced labor was used to build a gold mine that is being shared with Canada’s Nevsun Resources Ltd. “The use of conscripted labor at the Bisha site is not allowed,” it said. The company “acted quickly” to start checks and to obtain a written assurance from Segen that no conscripts would work at the mine, it said. Over $614 million of gold was mined in 2011. Eritrea, which became independent from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year war, is “one of the most closed and repressive countries in the world," according to bloomberg.com. Honestly, this is no surprise that they have used forced labor, and that they're denying it. If your economy sucks and your country as a whole is a repressive dump, you're going to used force to try and make it better.

Getting pot legalized By Vicky Lau

In this report, David Nathan talks about how our society is starting to gradually learn the truth about marijuana and seeing the good in it being legalized. Nathan does discuss the pros and cons of pot, but shows how it isn't any worse than alcohol. Pot may increase your chances of getting in a wreck when under the influence, but so does an alcohol level of .05 which is under the legal driving level of .07. Also, when pot is legalized, he states how the government can put a tax on the drug and use the tax money to teach students still in grade school the facts about drugs which will help any kid thinking about smoking, decide if it will be the right thing for them to do

I'm gonna be honest and say I'm pro-legalization. I don't see how it's any worse than alcohol or tobacco. Anything is harmful because "too much of a good thing is bad." So too much alcohol can cause kidney failure, tobacco can cause lung cancer and the same with pot. The only difference between pot and tobacco is that pot can harm a person's way of thinking when high. Except, doesn't alcohol do that, too? I've heard more on the news about people in fatal car crashes while intoxicated than I have of someone being high. Plus, numerous people are fined and/or sent to jail for being in possession of pot. That kinda seems like a cheep way to get money.


POT LEGALIZATION.

President Obama Passes Law about Joseph Kony- Taiina Ayala

President Barack Obama has signed law law S. 2318, the Department of State Rewards Program Update and Technical Corrections Act of 2012. This law states that monetary rewards will be given to people who have important information on foreign accused of international crimes and individuals involved in transnational organized crime. The top target? Joseph Knoy, warlord of Africa. We have all seen the video, Kony 2012. And the makers of the video have finally gotten a step closer to what they wanted. They got the government to do something about it. Althought the motives of these film makers were being questioned by some, the fact is, President Obama has done something about Kony. Now, this is only a step but I think it's a big imporvement. As President Woodrow Wilson said, a threat to democracy in one place, is a threat to democracy everywhere.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2013/01/15/obama-state-department-terrorist-tips/1836725/

School-Shooter Training for Teachers by Andres Munoz

  As schools across the country review their lockdown procedures, more than 100 teachers and administrators in Alabama took crisis-management preparation a step further by participating in an active school-shooter training session in Jefferson County. During the Jan. 2 simulations, nearly a dozen administrators donned protective gear and played the role of law-enforcement officials while teachers tried to follow the standard safety procedures amid the sound of gunfire and heart-pounding adrenaline.

  Training the teachers how to react in a life or death situation is exactly what should be done. With all the events lately its essential that actions take place to protect schools. http://nation.time.com/2013/01/04/after-newtown-school-shooter-training-for-teachers/?iid=us-main-belt

Four-year old shoots man in Richmond by Andres Munoz

   A man in his 50′s was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after he was shot by a child inside his home Sunday morning.
The shooting, called accidental, happened in the 2300 block of Whitcomb Street.
It’s not just police wanting answers about the shooting, neighbors said they’re concerned after learning a four-year old had gotten a gun and accidentally fired a shot.
That bullet hits a relative in the home who is now serious condition at VCU Medical Center.
Richmond Police said the call came in at 11:20 Sunday morning.
Officers arrived to find the man with a life threatening injury.
Neighbors said they’re shocked to hear it was a four-year old who pulled the trigger and some said they fear video games are partially to blame.
Others say guns need to be locked up and out of sight.
  
  Video games are what we find to blame for such an obvious problem. If you're going to keep a gun in the house you should keep it as much out of kids reach as possible. No matter what the object is if a kid sees something he has never seen before he is going to play with it. A simple solution to accidental gun violence is simply to take better care of your guns.http://wtvr.com/2013/01/14/accidental-shooting-richmond/?hpt=us_bn8

Flu emergency by Jonathan Landeros

At almost 20,000 cases of flu were reported in New York for this season that is 4 times more than last years cases.7.3% of lasts weeks deaths were caused by pneumonia and flu.Flu vaccines have been given as a solution, but have only given 62% of effect.H3N strain and other severe diseases have started earlier this year and have given pain to many, but analysts have said the worst part has passed already.The only dates that have shown no sign of too many cases were California, Hawaii, and Mississippi.

Opinion: This is actually very serious. I got very sick for almost two weeks but I'm not sure what it was.

URL:http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21002381

Suicide and Attempted Suicide- Very Prominent in Teens Today by Taiina Ayala

 Just about a year ago, on January 25, Debbie Kreuger found herself in a position she had no idea she would ever be put in. The fact is, no one ever thinks they will have to deal with their own child attempting suicide. A couple of night earlier, Debbie had just found out her son had been smoking pot. She gave him two options- go to rehab or move out. But instead of doing either of those things, he tried killing himself. Almost a year later, he is doing much better and the family has really struggled with the recovery process.

These are the articles that make me so sad to read. I just finished reading a book yesterday, called The Burn Journals. It is a personal memoir of a 14 year-old boy who set himself on fire, in an attempt at suicide. The book took the reader through the incident and through the months of recovery that receeded it. The fact is, in today's day and age, suicide and suicide attempts are becoming very common in teenagers. It's really sad to think about. This article really gives tips and insiders. It's really very prominent all around us and the main thing is getting help. If you know someone who is going through this, tell someone. You wouldn't want anything to happen and then regret not saying anything.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/13/young-attempted-suicide-survivors/1566348/

Gun rights group says home invasion proves their point by Andres Munoz

  The concern in Donnie Herman's voice was clear as day. So was his stress. With two telephones to his ear, he listened to his wife, Melinda, as she fled into an attic of their Loganville home. With her: Her two 9-year-old children and a loaded .38 revolver.

  In the house: An intruder with a crowbar.On another line was the 911 operator Donnie Herman had called for help. Herman's words to his wife, as he sat helplessly, an hour away from the home, were recorded. "Stay in the attic," he instructed her, calmly. "He's in the bedroom," she told him. He repeated the words to the 911 operator. "Shh. Relax," Herman said, trying to calm his wife. Then he instructed her to do what was fast becoming a realistic possibility. "Melinda -- if he opens up the door, you shoot him! You understand? "What happened next has made the Hermans the new faces of the right to bear arms.Melinda Herman fired a six-shot revolver at the intruder, hitting him five times, in his torso and in his face. Surprisingly, he managed to flee.

  Gun rights groups are all over this case. The right to bare arms in my opinion is one of our most important amendments. It justifies why we started the country. With our own arms we took back a country that was taken from us. Protection is the same. If someone were to come in your home, would you want to take action or just sit by as someone takes all the stuff you have worked for, or even possibly take your life? With that being said there is no arguing that we need stricter gun policies. But who is to say that a responsible law abiding american citizen should not be able to bare arms for protection?http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/10/us/home-invasion-gun-rights/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

White House rejects petition to build Death Star by Carter Brown

The Obama administration (unfortunately) rejected an official petition calling for the U.S. government to build a Death Star, the fictional planet-destroying space station featured in the "Star Wars" movies. Paul Shawcross reportedly said "The administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn't on the horizon". The White House accepts petitions and responds to the most popular ones. Most of the petitions on the website address weighty policy issues. But in recent weeks, national attention has been drawn to quirky petitions, such as one that supports the minting of a trillion-dollar platinum coin to avoid a debt default if Congress fails to raise the U.S. debt limit next month. The petitioners of the Death Star plan claimed that the creation of the project would create a lot of jobs and increase national security, but the drawback would be the enormous amount of money it would cost to build, especially in a time of great debt when the government is trying to find ways to reduce spending and cut taxes. I thought this article was pretty awesome. I mean.. Who wouldn't want to see an enormous Death Star from a fictional space movie being erected before their eyes and sent into space? Although it's a very fun idea, no one, especially the U.S. has money for this sort of thing. Source: http://news.msn.com/pop-culture/white-house-rejects-petition-to-build-death-star?ocid=ansnews11

Tick Tock by Clara McLain

This story by Sabrina Tavernise is shedding light on the short life expectancy of Americans.  "Deaths before age 50 accounted for about two-thirds of the difference in life expectancy between males in the United States and their counterparts in 16 other developed countries, and about one-third of the difference for females. The countries in the analysis included Canada, Japan, Australia, France, Germany and Spain."
So why is this?  The abuse of alcohol and drugs could be a possibility as well as unhealthy food choices.  Firearm homicides are also 20 times higher in the U.S. than any other developed country.  
American adults also has the highest rate of diabetes and young adults have the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases.  
All in all, Americans have the lowest possibility of surviving past 50. 
I don't know if this is true or not.  I actually thought our life expectancies were longer than they have been in a while.  I understand most of us aren't as healthy as we should be, but will a big mac here and there take thirty years from our life? 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/health/americans-under-50-fare-poorly-on-health-measures-new-report-says.html?_r=0

Teacher talks armed student into giving up by Andres Munoz

  The teacher stood in the classroom, face-to-face with his 16-year-old student, who was holding a shotgun.

Ryan Heber, 40, talked to the teen, trying to persuade him to end an armed assault in which one student had already been shot.

Heber had no idea whether the student -- whose pockets were filled with ammunition -- would put the gun down or pull the trigger.

Campus supervisor Kim Fields helped distract the teen, allowing other students in the classroom to escape, while Heber talked to him, according to CNN affiliate KGET.

Eventually, the teen let go of the gun, and police took him into custody.

These school shootings are getting more and more common. Which only raises the question; why? Why would anyone feel the need to shoot somebody else? A kid at that. Something must be going wrong in the world. Whether its the media or whatever other social scapegoat we blame it on, something needs to change.  http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/11/justice/california-school-shooting-teachers/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenews

Richard Blanco Representin' - Taiina Ayala

Richard Blanco will be the 2013 inaugural poet. Mr. Obama picked Mr. Blanco because the poet’s “deeply personal poems are rooted in the idea of what it means to be an American.” I love this! He is Latino and gay, he is just really representin’ all kinds of minority groups and I will be routing him on from home when I see him on TV this month! He is right up there beside fantastic poets such as Maya Angelou and Robert Frost, former inaugural poets. YOU GO RICHARD BLANCO. Represent! It’s great to have Latino figures involved. This really connects with me obviously becasue I am hispanic and I just feel proud because I personally believe that there are not enough Latino figures to look up to when it comes to these things. YAY. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/books/richard-blanco-2013-inaugural-poet.html?hp&_r=0

Man wins lottery, killed by cyanide poisoning by Carter Brown

The case of Urooj Khan, an Illinois scratch-off winner of 1 million dollars, death is being re-investigated after receiving notification that Urooj Khan had an unhealthy amount of Cyanide in his body at the time of his death. Originally officials believed he died of natural causes, but after being prompted by a relative, the case was re opened and new information was found.

I thought this story was pretty fascinating. A man wins 1 million dollars from the lottery and then he is mysteriously found dead the next month. Scary... The fact that he was poisoned really says something. I am assuming someone wanted him dead in order to receive the money he won..

Source; www.cnn.com/2013/01/07/justice/illinois-lottery-death/index.html

Hot air balloon ruins the wedding! By Rivera Omar

During the sunset on a nice windy afternoon in San Diego a wedding ceremony took place in a hot air balloon. Just as the couple was going to complete their vows, the hot air balloon crashed in a backyard of a San Diego's families home. Out if 14 people only one was injured and experienced back damage.

This story is a little funny to me. Why would you have your wedding ceremony in a hot air balloon in the first place? The fact it crashed an interrupted their vows says a lot. Maybe they weren't meant to be and this was a sign they shouldn't get married. Although its funny, I feel bad for the people that got injured and the family who got interrupted as their home was crashed with a hot air balloon. This event will be memorable in weddings history.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/08/hot-air-balloon-crashes-san-diego-backyard-wedding/

Court in Bahrain Confirms Jail Terms for 13 Dissidents- Natalie Newman

In February of 2011, 13 dissidents were arrested with charges for attempting to over take the government. Even as the government is being taunted by critics that are demanding the government take action and make a change, the government continues to stay silent. The government has even stripped 31 people of their Bahrain citizenships because of their criticism. I personally believe the government needs to be more open minded to what their criticizers are trying to portray. Perhaps they have some good ideas on ways to improve the government and make it stronger. No progress will be made unless the government of Bahrain decides to begin to listen to their citizens. Communication is key.


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/08/world/middleeast/court-in-bahrain-confirms-jail-terms-for-13-dissidents.html?ref=world
Natalie Newman

Innocent Children Stabbed

Kevin and Marina Krim are surviving a parent's worst nighmare. Marina Krim walked into her Manhattan Upper West Side Apartment to find her two children, Leo( two years old) and LuLu (6years old) dead from stab wounds. They were left with there then nanny, Yoselyn Ortega, she also suffered from stab wounds to the throat. The world has come to such an angry and bitter place.I never thought it would come a time when people would purposely murder childreas young as two and six. I can only pray for the families going through such a tragic stand-still. God bless them and their families
http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/parents-children-murdered-nanny-thank-surviving-child-saving-192400459.html

Florida couple faces charges of abuse, cruelty after hoarding nearly 300 animals by Fredy Medina

A Florida couple was arrested after calling 911 reporting a missing child. The police found out the couple was drunk and a relative had left a note saying they had taken the baby. The couple was arrested after the police found they had over 300 animals in their house. The couple was breeding animals ranging from reptiles to dogs, and selling them at a flea market and craigslist.


http://topstories.foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?page=17224&external=1888069.proteus.fma

Bomb threat prompts evacuation of Calif. school by Fredy Medina

An elementary school in Los angeles, California was evacuated. All of the children were taken to a supermarket parking lot about a block away. Monday at 8:30 R.D. White Elementary School, received a bomb threat by an anonymous caller. The police searched the school building to make sure there were no explosive devices.

http://us.foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?page=33150&external=1888348.proteus.fma

Sandy Hook students return to class for first time since Newtown shooting

Today, students from Sandy Hook Elementary return to school today after the shooting that occurred on December 14, 2012 that killed 26 people. Parent Christine Wilford dropped off her 7-year-son Richie.When it appeared to be safe, students ran to a nearby fire station. Nearly a month later, Wilford said her son had trouble sleeping and was often being scared of loud noises. It is claimed that Richie isn't afraid of returning to school and says he looks forward to coming back and seeing all of his friends. Security measures have been increased to ensure the safety of all the students. Hopefully another tragedy doesn't happen again.

Newspaper Article Controversy by Clara McLain

Late Blog Post

The Journal News in New York has recently gone to the extreme of hiring a private security company to protect them due to an outrage of an article which had earlier appeared in the newspaper.  The article contained names and addresses of legal gun owners while advocating strict gun control.  Countless angry emails and phone calls, the newspaper decided that its employees and establishment was unsafe.  
Critics of the newspaper article sees it as an invasion of privacy and to be illegal. "The newspaper created the map of pistol owners in its coverage areas of Westchester and Rockland Counties (with Putnam County refusing its request) using information obtained under the Freedom of Information act, which states that public records, such as the identities of gun permit holders, are open to the public, unless restricted by statute." This story was written by Regina Wang.
I believe this is an invasion of privacy, the legal gun owners aren't the people who should be punished for the misuse of guns.  Yet, they are as well as associations like the NRA, 4-H shooting sports.  

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/01/02/newspaper-hires-armed-security-guards-after-backlash-over-gun-owner-map/

Guns Only Used For Entertainment by Clara McLain

This is a story by Victoria Cavaliere is about the celebrity anti-gun video spoof.  The original video (Demand A Plan) has celebrities such as Jamie Foxx, Jeremy Renner, Cameron Diaz and many others, all starring and/or appearing in movies which uses guns are used as props.  And so, many people are calling these celebrities hypocrites for appearing in the video after they have made money appearing in movies which are promoting gun violence.
I believe that it was a mistake for these celebrities to appear in the video, especially since they are they target of the new spoof video.  I'm all for expressing your opinion, but don't be hypocritical about it.  Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner appeared in the 2007 film "The Kingdom" which has very intense scenes with gun violence.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/video-slams-hypocrite-celebrities-calling-gun-conrol-article-1.1231345

This is an attachment of the Demand A Plan spoof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr37b-FYj8g