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. 

Comparing the Great Recession and the Great Depression By: Louis Jacobson Politifact.com

When Obama was elected in 2009, he was asked whether the economy he took over was as bad as the Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s. Louis Jacobson does a great job of detailing “where Obama has a point” and “where Obama is wrong”. When comparing both eras stock price patterns were similar, and the rate of decline. Although the banking situation was much worse in the 30s, the modern financial system and technology allowed the crisis to “spread further and faster”.  Although Obama is wrong when it comes to recovery rate. The statistics showed that “mid 2009 also recovered more quickly than they did during the Great Depression”. Beyond that, the statistics were worse during the Great Depression “no matter what time frame you look at”. Unemployment was terribly worse during the Great Depression, even though the method of calculating has changed. The statement is similar to many other presidential statements, “certainly not true in any important way”.

Sean Anisi

I'm Just a Free Spirit Who is Entirely Financially Dependent on Others

http://www.theonion.com/articles/im-just-a-free-spirit-who-is-entirely-financially,33905/?ref=auto

I thought this was funny, to an extent. So this guy pretty much does what a lot of people do but to an extreme. Showing no remorse for actually mooching anyone he can mooch from, whether it be their food their shelter or even their luxury items. He does a great job at saying all that he can do and get away with, even by saying that the people he is living off of would not kick him out because of past experiences with him.

I believe this is an over exaggeration but an accurate one. Some countries, people and pets do this. Although pets genuinely are our choice. People do this to their parents a lot, thinking that their parents will pay for everything and not being thankful for it at all. That is the only thing I find quite interesting about this fake article. Realistically, people would go about thanking people through actions. For example, if my parents paid for everything such as school, food, clothes, etc. I would in return make the best use out of them. Get good grades, be frugal with the food, take really good care of the clothes and so forth. This would be the case if they said that they did not want anything in return or for me to pay them back.

However, in this case, the by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of guy deliberately states that people would never kick him out or show him the door because its awkward and they feel bad for him. Those are very gullible/ weak willed people that are getting used, I should say, can and should kick the "free-spirit" out. Not only for their well-being but for his as well. For this I'd like to say it is both parties responsibility to move forward and be more productive.  

Would US strike on Syria be legal? (Politifact)

For the past few weeks the hot topic of discussion on all news channels was Syria's use of chemical warfare and the question whether the US should get involved. President Obama has vowed vengeance for the death of hundreds of children, claiming he is justifiable because Syria broke international law using chemical weapons. His speech given on September 10 stated he has the authority to strike with permission from congress or not. But the interesting part is that in this article the United Nations security council claims that if Obama strikes on Syria, he would be in direct violation of International laws of war himself. He has no backing for a self defense rule as the US was threatened in no way. But since the US is a powerful sovereign nation we could strike without authority to protect our "interests". The author of the article was clearly against the attack because he made every effort to put Obama in the wrong.

Starbucks Asks Customers Not To Carry Guns

I read the article "Starbucks Asks Customers Not To Carry Guns" from the American voices. The issue is about Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said the coffee giant is not going to ban guns in its stores. Absolutely, due to this controversial topic, people will give different feedback about this propose. 
Some people think "Sounds like some coward CEO is just trying to avoid a mass shooting at his stores." and some people will agree with the CEO's suggest. Schultz said customers who bring in guns will still be served and won’t be asked to leave. Starbucks isn’t imposing a ban on firearms because “we don’t want to put our people in the position of having to confront somebody who’s carrying a weapon,”he said.
The CEO said "We believe that gun policy should be addressed by government and law enforcement -- not by Starbucks and our store partners." It's their right as a private business to set whatever policy they want. Several American states allow people to carry licensed guns freely despite the country's epidemic of school and mass shootings." If more people had guns that were legally owned, those nut cases would have been stopped right away. Some people said. 
Let’s see, opponents of guns in Starbucks don’t want legal, licensed, law-abiding gun owners to be there when an illegal, criminal robber breaks in and starts shooting? Makes sense to me! I’d rather have the place filled with legal guns than having some jacked-up nitwit come in blazing away. When are these crybaby anti-gun people going to stand up and defend themselves against crime instead of blaming everyone else for what one deranged person does?