McDonalds fires back at Taco Bell- Casey Lampert

Taco Bell fired the first shot with an ad campaign featuring men named Ronald McDonald who "love the new Taco Bell breakfast". In retaliation, McDonalds released a picture mocking Taco Bell by putting Mickey D's Ronald McDonald in a picture petting the Taco Bell chihuahua. It stated, "Imitation is the highest form of flattery." McDonalds longtime holding of 25 percent of the fast food breakfast traffic makes the commercial for Taco Bell little competition.

I have to say that the Taco Bell commercial is pretty awesome. That being said, it probably wasn't the wisest move on their part to pick a fight with one of the largest fast food chains out there. The way I see it, McDonalds is getting the real benefit here with the publicity over this "Fast Food War". Personally, I think Mickey D's will win.

Casey Lampert 4th Period

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/31/mcdonalds-taco-bell-chihuahua_n_5063195.html?ir=Business

Hobby Lobby and the Abortion Pill- Casey Lampert

Hobby Lobby recently sued the Obama administration over having to provide their employees with contraception, which they say are against their religious principles and rights. However, Hobby Lobby's employee retirement plan has mutual funds that invest in nine different companies which make and supply emergency contraception. Of these companies, two are health insurance companies that cover surgical and medical abortions along with emergency contraception in their healthcare plan. These nine investments caused Hobby Lobby's case to be invalid since all of them don't comply with the owners religious beliefs and perception on abortion.

The irony in this situation is pretty awesome. There is nothing wrong with the things that they invested in for the retirement fund, but the fact that there were several companies that they chose to invest in which made or supplied abortions really is fantastic. I know that Hobby Lobby is a store owned by religious people, but those people were either unaware of the investment holdings or knew about them enough to recognize there was a need. Regardless, I'm just glad that the case ended up blowing up in their face.

Casey Lampert Period 4

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/01/hobby-lobby-invests-in-em_n_5070279.html

Nasya King - Flight 370

Everyone knows about the plane that was supposed to be going from Malaysia to Beijing, but took a strange turn and ended up somewhere over the Indian Ocean where investigators believe it took a dive. A lot of officials are criticizing the Malaysian investigators for being inaccurate and careless in what they have supposedly uncovered and what they've been releasing to the public as facts. The search party is moving to a different area of the ocean than they were originally searching. The Australians have sent out a control plane to make sure that all of the air traffic over the search zone doesn't get dangerous, and they have promised to continue the search off of their east coast. Neither of the pilots had apparent motives. There is also high tech navy equipment being sent by ship but it will take two more days to get there and there is only five days until the battery goes out on the plane locator.

It is discomforting that this plane just took a turn and was lost, and that these type of things are happening. It is also very intriguing as the search continues. It seems as if all the involved Nations are coming together to discover what happened but it also seems that they are competing. I just want to know what the heck happened.

Colorado Drivers Accuse Out of State Police of 'License Plate Profiling"- Casey Lampert

Since Colorado passed a law legalizing recreational marijuana in January, Colorado drivers have reported that while driving out-of-state they will be pulled over and  have their cars searched and examined for weed. One couple reported that even though they were following driving laws, a state trooper in Nevada pulled them over after recognizing their Colorado license plate and immediately started to try and smell their car through the window in an attempt to smell for weed. In another instance, a man with Colorado plates was detained and had multiple searches done on his car to find marijuana by an Idaho law enforcement official despite not being in possession of any at the time. It has begun to turn into a Civil Rights violation by the profiling of these plates.

By stereotyping every Colorado resident as a marijuana-smoking citizen, our law enforcement is wasting energy on people that are, in fact, following the law when they could actually be on the lookout for people breaking laws. It's one thing to be pulling people over for actual traffic violations but to just be looking to get a drug bust is ridiculous. I hope that the troopers will stop profiling these plates and instead help prevent other more important things like drunk and negligent driving or whatever.

Casey Lampert Period 4

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/oddnews/colorado-drivers-accuse-out-of-state-police-of-‘license-plate-profiling’-and-marijuana-searches-220423665.html

U.S. Appeals Court Uphold Restrictive Texas Abortion Law- Casey Lampert 4th period

The Texas law calling for abortion doctors to have admitting privileges to a nearby hospital within 30 miles of their practice, has been upheld by the U.S. appeals court. The law was opposed by many who said that it was just another way to impose more costly and unnecessary hoops that someone would need to jump through in order to get an abortion. It also makes it even more difficult for women in the rural parts of the state to receive an abortion. People who support this law claim that it is protecting the health of the mother, but it has closed Planned Parenthood clinics and many say that it will prevent women from getting safe and legal abortions in the state.

It's sad to see our justice system get used to promote unsafe and illegal practices under the guise of protecting and helping the people. When you think about the detrimental effects that could happen by not giving women an accessible option for a safely administered abortion, it begs the question of why our lawmakers would create such a law in the first place. I love Texas, but I am not proud to live in a state that would prevent the well being of their constituents based on religious beliefs.

Casey Lampert 4th Period

http://news.yahoo.com/u-appeals-court-upholds-restrictive-texas-abortion-law-001034774--finance.html

Boy Scouts Boot Openly Gay Scout Leader- Casey Lampert 4th Period

Geoff McGrath, an openly gay Boy Scout troop leader, was removed from his post on the grounds of "deliberately injecting" his sexuality into his job on Monday. This is after the Boy Scouts of America voted to allow gay scouts, but not gay leaders to be involved in their organization. McGrath is not only believed to be the first scout leader to lose his position since the policy change, but it's also believed that he was the only scoutmaster who was openly gay. Earlier in March, Walt Disney Co. announced as a result of the Boy Scouts of America's ban on gay scout leaders, they will be cutting their funding to the organization in 2015.

I think that it's unfair for Mr. McGrath to be removed from his post based on his sexuality, and further I think that it's not right for Boy Scouts of America to allow gay scouts but not gay scout leaders. I am impressed with McGrath for having been the only openly gay scoutmaster in the troops despite the prejudice against homosexuality that the Boy Scouts have so frequently displayed. My level of respect for Walt Disney Co. just increased exponentially by their decision to refuse to let the Boy Scouts get away with not giving equal employment opportunities based on sexual orientation.

Casey Lampert 4th Period

http://news.yahoo.com/boy-scouts-gay-leader-134900753.html

Aubrey Chick- Bones found in Santa Fe from a case in 1952

Summary:
In Santa Fe, bone fragments were found at the former home of Juan Andres Jose Garcia, who was a main suspect of killing his 26 year old wife, Inez Garcia, in 1952. The bones were sent to a Texas crime lab so they could be DNA tested to see if they belong to Inez. When the man died in the mid-1900s, police dug up bones from his property but they assumed they were bones of animals. Later on, investigators decided to revisit this case. The detective's dog that was trained to find human remains immediately began digging at the ground. This discovery makes sense, since there were many rumors that Garcia had buried his wife in the dirt floor, becoming very cautious of any visitors.

Analysis:
A case like this is almost unbelievable. It's crazy to think that after all of these years that have passed, investigators can find the solution to a mystery that happened long ago. Even though it is too late to solve the case completely, it's cool to see how investigators can discover so much after many years.

http://news.yahoo.com/sante-fe-cold-case-bones-garcia-145309896.html