Spinning Premium Rates (Fastcheck)

This article was about Obamacare. Obviously the author was against the program beacuse it thoroughly pointed out statistics and statements given by Obama that were false that made his argument look economically feasible. Mostly about premium percentage rates and individual market prices. There has been much discussion on what Americans can expect to pay for insurance on the state-based and federal exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act. The program is set to launch on October 1st. Republicans and critics of the law have claimed the rates will be too expensive, while Obama and the White House have said they’ll be affordable for those needing to buy their own coverage. The interesting thing is that an average is hard to discuss when each state carries a different premium charge so it does not take into account living expense or inflation. So we clearly have a biased journalist on our hands.


http://www.factcheck.org/2013/09/spinning-premium-rates/

PBS Newshour Article: "Pursuing Higher Education Without A Social Security Number"

I read the PBS Newshour article “Pursuing higher education without a social security number”, written by Elisabeth Ponsot and watched 2 videos attached to the article reporting on real life examples.  The article focuses on the issues “undocumented” (non-US citizens) face when attempting to go to college without a social security number.  In the two cases highlighted, the young adults were brought to America by their parents when they were extremely young, spent years in public US schools but when trying to get into college ran into numerous issues.  One includes the cost of tuition for undocumented people.  They would not qualify for in-state or out-of-state tuition but would fall under the international tuition bracket, which is extremely high.  The second issue is to try and pay for that higher international tuition, they cannot apply for any scholarships/grants either as they do not have the proper requirements (social security number/license/etc).

This issue has been a government debate as to how best approach this situation.  A fact claim was provided noting that in April of this year 2013, the Oregon governor, John Kitzhabler approved a new law called “tuition equity” which allows those students to be placed in the “in-state” tuition category if they’ve spent a certain number of years in that particular state and in those public schools. However currently not all US states are on board and those decisions have been highly debated as it may seem unfair to those here in the US as true US citizens who do not get that same treatment.  Although not outright stated, I believe the heart of the article had pieces of value claims with a general belief that there should be tuition equity as a means to help children, by no fault of their own, came to the US and have since spent the rest of their lives here.

Scientists Recommend Having Earth Put Down

"According to climatologists, putting the suffering Earth down now would be the humane thing to do."
This article reports on the announcement of the diagnosis of Earth, the route that is best to deal with it and stayed with all the way to the end decision. This reported on a policy claim by the world's scientific community, namely Dr. Robert Wyche who stepped up the the plate and tell the hard truth like it was. Course of action from the initial claim is to do what is needed to relieve the poor, suffering planet. Grounds for this claim is also a fact based claim of responsibility of welfare for sickly Earth would revert to humanity and as time goes on that continues rise in difficulty level. Their argument worked, for humanity thought about it seriously and consented to do what was right. Humanity has been given a few moments to say good-bye before Earth is released from it's pain. We will miss you Earth.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/scientists-recommend-having-earth-put-down,34034/?ref=auto

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/09/zombie-apocalypse-drug-reaches-us-not-joke

I have heard about this drug, on television and in an ethics class. This drug, Krokodil, is basically just killing yourself and feeling good while doing (like most abused drugs I should say). It isn't hard to say as to whether or not someone who is going to start up on the drug is making a death wish, because that essentially what it is. Just because it is a cheap way to get high, doesn't mean that it should be done at all. Looking at the photos of the users, this stuff seems like it would never in a million years be worth it.
Originating in Russia, but now seeing that it has made it to the US, it seems as though many are willing to take those risks to save some money, not experience life to its fullest-but instead self-serving escape. And by escape I mean in multiple ways, everyday stresses, and life in general.  

Wresting back in 2020 Olympics, NASCAR still out
As I'm sure all of you are aware, wrestling is back in the Olympics (1). However, the favorite pastime of both America and the other part of the world (Historians call it "Not America") is still not an official Olympic event. I've heard some people say that the Olympic games are abut things like sportsmanship and taking the human body to its limit, but my television screen has convinced me that it is actually about advertising. To this end, NASCAR is the perfect Olympic event, as it is the most watched sport in America, and I'm sure it is popular in Not America as well. It is also a huge advertising opportunity that wrestling simply cannot hope to match (at least until the committee finally reads my letters and forces competitors to wear coca cola brand singlets). In addition, this accredited source suggests that sales of the feminine product Vagisil are actually directly related to NASCAR viewership (2). Finally, the astute observer may notice that while the games have a large following in the Stadium and in living rooms across the world, they lack a profitable tailgating community, something NASCAR is known for. Beer sales alone would be astronomical. Now, I'm not saying they should cut wrestling to get NASCAR in, unless the only other choice is Speedwalking, in which case definitely do it.

1. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2013/09/08/olympic-wrestling-wins-ioc-vote-2020/2781887/
2. http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s14e08-poor-and-stupid

Four Fox Lies About Seniors' Obamacare Coverage

Amy Frederick of the anti-Obamacare group 60+ Association was on Fox and Friends, and had a lot to say negatively, while including tons of false information. The opinion presented is claiming that Obamacare is "sticking it to the seniors". This is incorrect in many ways. According to Kaiser Health News, elders are receiving many more benefits under the health care law. ACA also offers free preventive care to Seniors, who don't need to hold off on care because of costs. Also, over 6.1 billion was saved on prescription drugs since the Affordable Care Act was installed. Basically the claim that the medicare budget was cut is incorrect, but rather that increased spending is increasing at a lower rate over a 10 year span. This entire interview was infested with falsified facts and exaggerated claims. Each statement made in this interview was refuted factually throughout this article. The author does a fantastic job of refuting each stage of dialogue with an organized and structural approach.

http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/09/26/four-fox-lies-about-seniors-obamacare-coverage/196102
Sean Anisi

No, the Navy Yard Mass Shooter Did Not Target a "Gun-Free Zone"

This article looks to debunk the proposal that mass shootings are targeted towards places where guns are not allowed, looking specifically at the Navy Yard shooting. The conservative viewpoint on this issue displays that the shooter, Aaron Alexis, chose this specific venue since guns are not allowed on the grounds and he knew that he could get away with it. Information has since surfaced providing that this viewpoint could be wrong, using evidence regarding Alexis' mental state now and at the time of the attack. Alexis suffers from severe mental illness and this shooting was not done as an attempt to brutally murder and get away with it, since there is a lack of guns on the property. It was meant as a suicide mission, meaning that his intent was to be killed in the line of fire due to his mental illness. There is video footage displaying his demeanor and stealth like movement at the time of the attack. This article insinuates that due to his reviewed mental state and the way he was creeping around the premises, there would be little evidence to support the claim that he meant to target a place with no guns, simply to massacre a plethora of people.


http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/09/washington-navy-yard-mass-shooting-aaron-alexis-gun-free-zone-fbi

First Cases of Flesh-Eating Drug Krokodil Surface in US

Today, Fox News dropped a devastating story detailing the first two reported cases of Krokodil use in the country. Doctors in Arizona who are treating the cases explain that while the drug has shown up in a big way in other parts of the world, such as Russia, it is still relatively new and unknown here in the US. The drug, composed of substances such as codeine, paint thinner, gasoline, oil, and alcohol, is mixed together and shot up into users veins and even directly into the skin to produce morphine or heroin like effects for a fraction of the cost. Krokodil get's its street name, "Crocodile" from from the green, scaly appearance that breaks out across the skin at the injection site. Krokodil first emerged in Russia around the year 2002 and has since began to spread into the underworlds throughout the global community. Due to the danger and intensity of the drug, doctors doubt that it will gain an incredible amount of popularity in the US. There is fear, however, that the most extreme addicts within our country, particularly heroin addicts, may try the drug to to it's similarity to heroin and cheaper price point. Here's to hoping we can stop the outbreak of this incredibly dangerous drug before it starts.

For more, read here: First Cases of Flesh-Eating Drug Krokodil Surface in US

Qatar Slavery (PBS)

This article is about a recent investigation in Qatar over the deaths of dozens of Nepalese workers. These migrating workers account for about 40 percent of Qatar's workforce. The laborers were working on a massive infrastructure project in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup that is to be hosted in Qatar. According to the Nepalese embassy, "44 workers have died between June 4 and Aug. 8 with most of them dying of heart attacks, heart failure, or workplace accidents." The investigations sprouted accusations of lack of pay, long work hours in the desert heat without food, drink and rest, and physical abuse. The theory is that Qatar can not afford to pay the labor since they have blown all capital to build the new futbol super dome. But if these accusations turn out to be a reality, it is most likely that Qatar will most likely lose their bid to host the world cup anyways. 

America's Nuke Plants Are in Trouble

The article 'America's Nuke Plants Are in Trouble' by Stackpole claims the fact that nuclear power plants in the United States are facing serious industry crisis. A few plants in the America have been shut down rather recently. The articles gives three major reasons of the streak of plant closures. Firstly, regulation: people has experienced nuclear accident in the America. Therefore, people take extreme caution when considering power plant construction. More than half of the future nuclear plans that were proposed have been put on hold or canceled., court blocked new permits and many on going projects are experiencing delay or cost overruns. Secondly, expensive upgrade: the industry rather keeping old reactors and extending their lives than building new reactors due to too high of budget requirement. But most nuke plants in the U.S. are in their senium. Thirdly, cheap natural gas: the price of natural gas going down recently really makes the nuclear power industry lose their economic favor. The simple fact is that electricity from nuke has become too expensive. After listing the disadvantages of nuclear plants and the reasons causing it, Stackpole says that the reactors mothballed are actually less than people predicted. And there is still hope to this industry as a new project of making a new kind of nuclear reactor that fueled by nuclear waste has been proposed and under further determination.
Nuclear power plant is one of the most important renewable energy of the United States. Even the industry is facing difficulties, I don't believe it going to its end anytime soon. Stackpole tells us that there were four closures this year but there are still few dozens of plants in the America and most of them are running fine. As long as the safety issues are settled and waste are proper deal with, nuclear energy should has its advantage over other natural resources since they will be ran out one day in future. Besides, as technologies developing rapidly every day, nuclear power industry should find a economic-sufficient way to survive.



http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2013/09/americas-nuke-plants-are-trouble

UN Arms Treaty will be Menace to US for Years to Come

 The article named “UN Arms Treaty will be menace to US for years to come” claimed that UN Arms Treaty signed on Wednesday was a big mistake and would be harmful to the United States, because the Senate would have no real opportunity to reject the treaty. There was a loophole in the process of ratifying treaties, meaning that we have to obey the treaty that the Senate has never ratified. Since treaties today are not what they were yesterday, they are not just about international conduct but also about our daily life. The Treaty would be more troublesome because the administration will use all the powers to enforce the treaty. Relevant terms of the Treaty are “international humanitarian law” and “international human rights law.” By committing to these terms, the United States will give other countries new opportunities to affect the U.S. firearms market as well as domestic firearms market. Proponents of the Treaty are still seeking to protect their human rights, which will cause uncontrollable circumstances of the United States. Opponents of the Treaty are voicing their opposition in order to call for the president’s rejection on signing the Treaty and thus avoid the far-reaching menace for the U.S.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/09/25/un-arms-treaty-will-be-menace-to-us-for-years-to-come/?intcmp=trending

Article: “FBI Releases Video of Navy Yard Gunman Stalking Prey” - www.FoxNews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/25/fbi-releases-video-from-navy-yard-that-shows-gunman-carrying-gun-in-hallways/

I read the Fox News article (www.FoxNews.com) who wrote about the latest surveillance videos released by the FBI in regards to the Navy Yard shootings last week by the hands of Aaron Alexis who killed 12 people.  Within the article, there were more details in regards to what the shooter was wearing, where the video was captured (both in hallways as well as parking facility) and how the shooter maneuvered the hallways with his own shot gun, purchased two days prior and a separate gun “…believed to have been taken from one of the victims”. 

Fox News reports that the head of the FBI office in Washington, Valerie Parlave, stated that Alexis had a “well-documented history of mental illness” and that he, Alexis, “held a delusional belief that he was being controlled by extremely low frequency waves or ‘ELF’ waves”.   There was also a video snippet tied to the article which showed a few images of the FBI video.  The article did not include any other claims or commentary except quotes from the FBI and their latest news conference, however feel they (Fox News) used fairly strong vocabulary/phrases (…”Talking Prey” and “stealthily hunting down victims”) for an increased dramatic feel.

Cereal Companies are Evil.

The Onion article entitled, "Cereal Commercial Completely Neglects Showing Numerous Life Problems Character Faces Beyond Breakfast" takes a look at the phenomena of cereal companies failing to show the hardships that characters in cereal commercials. The article claims that by cereal companies failing to show the rest of character's life, they are portraying an inaccurate lifestyle for the character. This portrayal misleads viewers by not showing the social and fiscal hardships experienced by the character. The claim is that cereal companies show an inaccurate life of the commercial's character. The grounds for this claim are that the rest of the life of the character fails to be seen by the viewer, as well as the unrealistic acts done by the character such as pouring the milk into the bowl for twelve to fifteen seconds. The warrant being that people have lives outside of breakfast, and anyone who poured milk for that long is crazy.

Matt Stemper, The 2nd Amendment

In this Article the author, Maxim Lott, discusses the debate regarding the 2nd Amendment. Does it mean the right to bare arms for any lawful reason, or does it mean to bear arms and maintain a militia. Well, that is what the senate webpage states. The author is very obvious on where he stands, he states that there is no debate, because the Supreme Court has looked over many of these cases and every time they have stated that people have the right to bear arms for lawful uses, such as self defense. The author clearly takes a stance when he states that the Senate website administrators are simple wrong, and need to revise their website. The argument was brought up that a Texas history book states that there has been a debate over the meaning of the 2^nd Amendment, but that is debunked when the author writes that the book was made before the Supreme Court ruling, so it is irrelevant. 

 http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/25/senate-website-gets-2nd-amendment-wrong-critics-say/

"Obamacare will question your sex life?"

       I looked at the link for The Tampa Bay Times which publishes a fact-checking piece called “PolitiFact Check.” Through the column researcher Becky Bower, analyzes the supporting data for the arguments made in the articles of other journalists. Her objective is to determine whether the facts they uncover are accurate. Rather than research the databases for accuracy I chose to analyze the claims of the original piece, which was a New York Times exposé that was published by former lieutenant governor of New York Betsy McCaughey, on September 15, 2013. In her composition entitled “Obamacare Will Question Your Sex Life,” McCaughey makes the blanket argument that Obama’s new health care guidelines will facilitate the prying of doctors into our private lives. However, she offers no supporting data to prove what specific healthcare questions will be imposed upon doctors nor if those responses must be included. The warrant for her claim is that our private information once obtained will somehow be used against us. The author supports her first claim with theoretical examples of questions that the doctors will ostensibly be asking. Among these are “are you sexually active, and “with how many individuals?” However, she goes on to back up her claim with an unrelated assertion that fails to connect to the first: Namely that that Obamacare also demands that doctor’s shift to online record-keeping.  Finally, she ties these premises together with the assertion that since Obamacare requires everyone in the United States to have health insurance or pay a fine, all personal data will be intrusive, the information will be public, and it will be available. This is where the argument breaks down. While McCaughey does offer backing to support the claim of online documentation she does not support her inferences of standard questions that will be required to be asked by physicians. Nor does she offer data to support the claim that the responses to questions about sexual behavior will be automatically placed in online files. Finally, she does not make an attempt to support the assumption that online files are unsafe or have a tendency to be used maliciously.     

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/sep/19/betsy-mccaughey/betsy-mccaughey-says-obamacare-will-question-your-/

World Cup preparations forge ahead in the middle of the Amazon

The article I read is named "World Cup preparations forge ahead in the middle of the Amazon", which claims the challenges of building a stadium in the rainforest and how this stadium benefits the city of the Amazon region.

At the beginning of the article, the author mentions 2014 FIFA World Cup first and then talks about the challenges of the stadium construction in the middle of the Amazon. The first challenge is logistics. It is difficult to get the material of construction to city surrounded by rainforest because the stainless steel is too heavy and large. Secondly, the rain is a challenge since crews have to install most materials before the rainy season, which may also cause the flood that threatens the construction. The third challenge is material should be used on the seats to prevent the damages caused by the sun. The author quotes from a former Brazilian national team player to explain that some people do not agree to build the stadium since it might not be used after the World Cup. Then the quotes of local officer argues that it is a good chance to show the city and the Amazon region to the world.

3D printing aims to deliver organs on demand

The claim of this article is that the 3D-printing may be help to create organ for patients in the future, supported by the evidence that some university labs and private companies have already started to use this technology to tiny chunks of organs.

Since regenerative medicine has proved that the first three types of all four levels of complexity in building organs can be implanted into patience, scientist and researchers have the reason to look forward to that 3D printing can contribute to the widespread use of such organs. For printing an organ, one lab wants to use 3D printers to print both an artificial scaffold and living cells, while another lab uses 3D printer to situate the building blocks in layers to build tiny slices of organs. So far, no lab has succeeded in 3D-printing organs with the tiniest scales of blood vessels and organs, but bioprinting pioneers wish to make use of the smallest 3D-printed organs, and they believe the bioprinting revolution would happen in 10-15 years, which would change many patients’ life.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/09/24/3d-printing-aims-to-deliver-organs-on-demand/ 

850 snakes found at New York animal control officer's house

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/09/20/850-snakes-found-at-new-york-animal-control-officer-house/#ixzz2fcpKG5CZ

This article addresses a contradiction that an animal-control officer, Richard Parrinello, was hiding numerous snakes for selling them on the illegal side. He committed an immoral business utilizing the animals at his private place even though he is an animal-control officer being involved in an animal rights group. There were Burmese pythons among the stash of snakes he had, which are illegal to have in the state of New York because the snakes can grow to thirty feet long and have potential to kill human. According to the author, it actually happened that there were two young boys who were eaten by a Burmese python in the state. In my opinion, Parrinello deserves an aggravated punishment since he was caught not only running a business at his house without a permit, but also owning the Burmese pythons which are illegal to have in the state of New York.

Hidden camera catches culprit taking man's Second Amendment sign

I read the article that argues the violation of freedom of speech and his property ownership by a law-enforcement officer. Jon Gibson, who is living in the rural town near New York, claims that a police officer continues to remove his pro-Second Amendment sign. The sign contains the phrase “protect the Second Amendment” with an illustration of a firing gun. Gibson argues that the police officer removes the sign even he put the sign inside of his hunting field. He claims that removing the sign in his property is clearly a behavior of theft and the violation of his freedom of speech. The stealing of the sign was captured by the hidden camera that Gibson had fixed near the sign. The sign was disappeared twice before which made Gibson to fix a hidden camera. However, Somers Town Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy counterclaims that the sign was removed because the sign was put on the public right-of-way. The supervisor says that “the town does not allow signs in the right of way, […] the police chief had received numerous complaints from neighbors and it was determined that the sign was posted in the right of way.” Murphy also denies the vandalism of the sign which is claimed by Gibson. Murphy clearly states that the sign does not have any kind of damage and can be picked up by Gibson from the police department any time he wants. Conversely, Gibson argues that he captures the scene with his camera that the officer was trying to destroy the sign by kicking it. Murphy explains about this scene that the scene can be interpreted as a behavior of loosening the sign from the ground. Gibson says that this is about his First Amendment and even his Fifth Amendment because the sign was taken from him without due process. I personally think that the due process and the acknowledgement between Gibson and the Police Department should have been taken because it might reduce the chance to ease the conflict about the violation of Amendments. 

Fox News: Hidden camera catches culprit taking man's Second Amendment sign

Lets Compromise Over Obamacae!

In this article by Kevin Drum the author believes compromise is the way to make Obama care get passed into law and actually help those without health insurance like it is supposed to. The author surmises that if the “employer mandate” which would require employers to pay the subsidy costs for low income workers (30hrs or less), were dropped that Obamacare would have a very good chance of being passed into law. He also argues that in his opinion Republican’s will do anything to kill this proposed law. Simply because they do not like it in principle, as shown by Ted Cruz’s not-filibuster filibuster. So even compromising on the employer mandate would solve nothing. The author gives relatively few examples to support areas of compromise that might be dropped from the law in order to get Republican support, but I think that is his whole argument that no matter what was removed from Obamacare the Republicans would still want to kill the proposed law that is Obamacare.

Reference-

"Kevin Drum." Mother Jones. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2013.

'Yellow brick road' leads to Massachusetts pirate booty, explorer says

The article I read is ‘Yellow brick road’ leads to Massachusetts pirate booty, explorer says from fox news. This news is to record the experience of an explorer-Barry Clifford and report it so there is not a clear argument. But this article does write about a claim from Clifford and show his evidences supporting the claim - more artifacts can be found from the wreck of the pirate ship Whydah.

The experience of the Whydah shows there is a big chance that a lot of treasures are on board. “The Whydah sank in a brutal storm in 1717 with plunder from 50 ships on board” wrote in this article. According to Colonial-era documents discovered in April, the Whydah raided two ships before it sank. The Whydah was a pirate ship and these evidences show it raided a lot of ships so Clifford believes that when the Whydah ship sank it had plenty of treasures on it.

What they have found indicates there are more treasures. Clifford pulled up some compelling evidences on the prior trip: “a cannonball piled with 11 coins and a foot-and-a-half long piece of iron stacked with 50 coins”. (Fox, pars. 15) Clifford believes those coins is an example of what’s left because the possibility that all of those coins just happen to fall on these pieces is very small.

Clifford will get back to the wreck of the Whydah in the spring and he is very excited about looking for more artifacts.

Link: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/25/yellow-brick-road-leads-to-massachusetts-pirate-booty-explorer-says/

Obama: "Raising Debt Ceiling Does Not Increase Our Debt"

This is a transcript from the Rush Limbaugh Show between a caller and Mr. Limbaugh going over the idea of national debt and a small bit of state debt. There are two claims, in my opinion, made in this transcript. First claim was brought about by the caller asking if her state governor was able to get Arizona out of debt and back into the black within two years, and a few other states able to do the same, why is the federal government not able to do so.  Mr. Limbaugh's claim is they do not want to be debt free due to the power it gives them. He backs it up with democrats not wanting to limit their spending or anything else they want financially wise. I see his argument as the more they can collect or outright take from the people the more the people will have to go to the government for help/assistance or approval.  Second claim I picked up on was that Obama doesn't think there is any correlation between raising the debt celling and the total amount of the country's debt.  Mr. Limbaugh took President Obama's words to make an argument of the exact opposite. His stance seems to be that raising the limit only means you have that much more to pay back.  That does not equal free and clear money. Along with the fact that the money being printed now by raising the amount of debt allowed, has nothing to back it up and is basically the same as counterfeit.

The Blackberry Buyout

Five years ago, Blackberry was the most popular phone on the market. Many big name corporations saw it as the most efficient smart phone and handed them off to their employees. The innovation of the full keyboard smartphone exploded on the cell phone scene. Unfortunately for Blackberry, all good things do come to an end. The new Apple Iphone became the phone of the future and stole all of the Blackberries popularity. Over the past 5 years the Blackberry has gotten less popular and finally the buyout has arrived. Now that Iphone is extremely popular among consumers, its extremely difficult for any other company to rise to the top when this industry is dominated by companies such as Apple. Once Blackberry shot past the rest of the field, they never really did anything that put their phones ahead of the game. They were playing catch up with the other big companies and like Manjoo said, "They were just copying what other people were doing." I had a Blackberry in 8th grade and once i was finished with it i knew it was time to move onto bigger and better things. They never really made a push to make a product that consumers would fall in love with once again.

7th-graders suspended for playing with airsoft gun in own yard

I read the article, "7th-graders suspended for playing with airsoft gun in own yard" on Fox News. This article states that 13 year old boy Khalid Caraballo and his friends were suspended from the school because they were playing airsoft guns on private property. This article seems to have very clear opinion which suspension from the school is ridiculous and unfair treatment. The principal of the school made this decision because one child who was only 10 feet from the bus stop was shot. However, the article shows that Khalid did not intend to shoot the child and he even admitted his mistake and regretted. In addition, the child who was shot was not hurt and the child that got shot said that he did not even mind it. The article also discovers that Khalid used toy gun only on his own property and he never took the toy gun to the designated bus stop or the school through an interview with Khalid Caraballo. The article emphasizes the statement “his own property.” They seem to think that playing the gun on private property breaks no squares. They think that the punishment is ludicrous and completely unfair. The term “zero-tolerance” shows the article’s opinion about the punishment very clearly. They describe schools’ policy as a “zero-tolerance.” Overall, the main argument of this article is that suspension from the school due to playing with the toy gun on private property is totally unfair and excessive for punishment. They claim that this excessive punishment deprive the children of their opportunities(such as getting into a good university).

 Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/24/7th-grader-suspended-for-playing-with-airsoft-gun-in-own-yard/

Living Micro: Single Residents Embrace Tiny Apartments

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/july-dec13/microapartment_09-22.html

I watched the video on PBS.org about these new tiny apartments. The apartments are typically less than 400 square feet each, and everything, except for the bathroom, is all in one room. These apartments utilize the concept of transformable furniture in order to conserve space. These apartments are starting to pop up in some of the larger cities in North America, including New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and Vancouver, Canada, just to name a few.

These apartments are targeted toward younger people who are living on their own and don't need much space. Seeing how these apartments are being built in bigger cities, the fact that they are being called "affordable" is definitely relative to the prices of regular sized apartments in those cities. In order to be able to live in one of these apartments, you would definitely have to decide what are true necessities or not.

The video informs us that these apartments are still in experimental stages. Many cities are trying to figure out ways to adapt to the increasing population, and this is one of the ideas. Although these apartments seem to be a great idea for these larger cities, some people are concerned about the fact that these new apartments will cause a lack of housing for middle-class, lower income individuals. In some communities, people are concerned that "these units crowd too many people together and that they make neighborhoods less stable as young people come and go".

Personally, I believe that these apartments are a great idea for single people who are living by themselves and don't spend a ton of time in their apartments. I don't think I would be able to live in one because I personally wouldn't want to live on my own, especially in a big city such as New York. Only time will tell whether or not these new tiny apartments will become a common thing around North America.

Food Allergies Costing US Families Billions

First off all, standing 6'9 and 225 pounds, thank goodness i don't have food allergies. Cleaner and non allergenic foods along with lost productivity are costing American families nearly 25 billion dollars every year. This fact hits home close to me because i had a teammate i would go grocery shopping with last year and i was blown away at the money he was forced to spend at specialty grocery stores. He was basically allergic to every food. All i ever saw him eating was dry foods such as organic chicken, eggs and potatoes. When i would spend approximately 40 dollars at the store, he would purchase the same amount of food but spend over 100 dollars. His family has gotten used to the unfortunate situation because his mother struggles with the same problem. With my grocery bill being so expensive every week, i couldn't be more thankful that i don't struggle with this problem.

Joey  King

"Are We Alone? British Scientists Say 'No'"

“Are We Alone? British Scientists Say ‘No’”

The News Desk at Pbs.org published an article today presenting some very intriguing and exciting news! Scientists at The University of Sheffield claim to have finally discovered some substantial proof of extraterrestrial life. As an experiment, a team of scientists launched a balloon 16 miles into the stratosphere. Upon its return, the balloon was found to be carrying small, strange biological organisms. Although the possibility is quite exhilarating, PBS cautions that we should remain cautiously skeptical, as the scientist team has not fully analyzed their findings. Still, the team’s leader, Professor Milton Wainwright, attests that he is 95% sure these bizarre little organisms could not possibly have come from Earth, as organisms that size cannot be lifted that far off of the Earth’s surface. The final test that the team has yet to perform is called, “isotope fractionation”, a process by which the scientists will be able to deduce whether the ratio of certain isotopes matches organisms found on Earth. As a reader, I have to remain skeptical, as other groups of scientists have made big claims like this before. However, the idea that life in space exists and is coming to Earth is incredibly fascinating, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a miracle.

Read more here: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/09/are-we-alone-british-scientists-say-no.html

"Are We Alone? British Scientists Say 'No'"

“Are We Alone? British Scientists Say ‘No’”

The News Desk at pbs.org published an article today presenting some very intriguing and exciting news! Scientists at The University of Sheffield claim to have finally discovered some substantial proof of extraterrestrial life. As an experiment, a team of scientists launched a balloon 16 miles into the stratosphere. Upon its return, the balloon was found to be carrying small, strange biological organisms. Although the possibility is quite exhilarating, PBS cautions that we should remain cautiously skeptical, as the scientist team has not fully analyzed their findings. Still, the team’s leader, Professor Milton Wainwright, attests that he is 95% sure these bizarre little organisms could not possibly have come from Earth, as organisms that size cannot be lifted that far off of the Earth’s surface. The final test that the team has yet to perform is called, “isotope fractionation”, a process by which the scientists will be able to deduce whether the ratio of certain isotopes matches organisms found on Earth. As a reader, I have to remain skeptical, as other groups of scientists have made big claims like this before. However, the idea that life in space exists and is coming to Earth is incredibly fascinating, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a miracle.

Read more here: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/09/are-we-alone-british-scientists-say-no.html

Gun increase breaks all logic

The main purpose of this article is to further the debate as to whether or not guns should be legal everywhere in the US. It was done in response to the shooting that occurred this past week and was discussed between a person with a pro-gun standpoint and two with an anti-gun standpoint. Although the specific issue that raised concern was new, the whole debate was just a further discussion as to if the solution is more guns or no guns. The republican party argues that with more guns, people will feel safer and if they see an issue arising in which someone will become violent with a gun, they will then use their gun to save those others who are being threatened. On the contrary, the democratic response is that more guns will just mean more violence in America. They do not want to take guns away from citizens, just regulate who gets to use them through a mandatory background check. This could deter from the amount of shootings that occur. Americans would still have the right to bear arms, but that right would be monitored to those who are unstable to handle owning a firearm.