Energy or Death 10/26/10

Presidents of many colleges have taken trips to the FDA to get a certain product taken off of shelves. What could this be? Maybe a certain drug, possibly steroids? Nope. They are trying to take an energy drink called Four Loko off the market. This because there has been 5 deaths and 110 heart attacks allegedly from this jolt of caffeine with also contains the equivalent of 3 beers. Mixing caffeine and alcohol is very dangerous. It causes people to have boosts of energy in which they would not if they were to drink just alcohol or just a plain energy drink.

This a very sad story that there are products on our market that could cause us to drop dead any minute. But then again there was a clear warning not to consume these drinks multiple times within a short period of time. So is it the consumers responsibility to watch out for what they put into their bodies or is it the producers responsibility to make sure that their product will be save in any situation. I believe that it is the consumers duty to look after themselves. Nearly everything that we can buy could ultimately kill us somehow or someway. Medicines that are made to help us can have the opposite effect but we are the ones that need to watch how much we are consuming. So the FDA should take a closer look at this product possibly just take the alcohol out of it and have another disgusting energy drink. Producers shouldn't have to take everything they make off of the market that COULD have bad outcomes.

100% 10/19/10

This summer was a record breaker for the number of tornadoes that occurred. Floods have also effected many people in Southern Minnesota. But what happens after these towns are not on the news anymore? Nothing. Wadena was hit badly after a tornado ripped through the town like paper. But there is one thing you need to rebuild...money. Fortunately the towns that were flooded and Wadena will be apart of The Disaster Aid Bill. There was a 100% vote on this bill which makes 100% sense. Flooded towns and Wadena will be apart of the received $80 million to fix public roads and buildings. Wadena High School alone will receive $6.6 million to rebuild which is a fantastic thing because the school is destroyed.

Even though this bill will cost a lot of money I think this is actually a good way to spend money. The people in these towns were victims of things they could not control, Natural Disasters. But it is amazing how people can come together when terrible things happen. This summer I took a drive through the town of Wadena and saw the utter devestation all around me. A High School should never have caution tape around it, summer swimming pools shouldn't be empty, and families should never become homeless in a split second. But the people of this town have to go through it. But with this Disaster Aid Bill they can take the first step in getting back to normal and begin to heal.  

No Increase? 10/11/10

Social Security is one of the biggest Government programs of all time. It was established during the time when Americas economy was the worst, The Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt make this idea come to life in his New Deal plan and it was not an easy thing to pass but it was certainly worth it. There has been a steady 3.2% increase but this year there is a 0% increase. People are mad about this and they should be because our hard earned money gets taken out of our paychecks and put into Social Security so that one day it will be there when we are too old to work.

There is a reason why Social Security has been around for decades, because it is actually a good Government program. Sure we don't really like the money that we work hard for vanish but it is put towards something that will benefit us in the end...literally. But when you have too many hands in the pot good things go bad. Social Security would still be a great thing put our elected officials are using it for things it is not intended for. This giant piggy bank would be useful if unintended hands would stay out of it. It is already established that Social Security will run out by 2063 and what I don't understand is why will MY Generation have their money taken away and never ever see it back? What kind of world are the officials in our great Government leaving for us?     

American Hero 10/6/10

Would you put your live on the line for a complete stranger? What you do it if you were the only person that could save an innocent 8 year old girl? Victor Perez didn't have time to think about this in the split second that he saw the description of the truck that abducted a little girl drive by his house. Perez didn't question what he saw he just acted on it and because of this a little girl can have her life back and her parents can watch her grow up. After Perez saw the truck he jumped into his car and followed him and after many attempts he was able to have the abductor, Gregio Gonzales pull over and he let the little girl free.

A Parents worst nightmare is to discover that their child is missing. I can't imagine the terror that they feel and unfortunately some of those parents feel that terror everyday for the rest of their lives. Children are abducted everyday and some never return home, some parents never get to hug their children and they have to go out of their mind wondering what could have possibly happened to the most precious thing in their lives. Those parents pray for a miracle and for the parents of an 8 year old girl in California, Victor Perez was that miracle. He was not only a hero because he knew that was the right thing to do, he is a hero because he put his own fears aside to return a child to the loving arms of her mother.

Goldilocks 9/30/10

Imagine another world that was just like ours but better. Where you could wipe the slate clean and build a better world from the lessons that we have learned from the mistakes that we have made. If this was possible and you could have anything you have ever dreamed of. Now, would you still want to go to this place if it was 120 trillion miles away? Yeah, I didn't think so. Well apparently scientists that are studying the planet of Goldilocks think that this is a great idea. In another galaxy there is a planet by the name of Goldilocks, why that name your wondering? Simple, this planet is not to cold and not to hot and it is said to be 3 times bigger than our planet and it is made up of 75% water and can sustain life.

This wonderful planet sounds like a great idea, I'll pack my bags and leave this rotting planet called Earth that I share with 6 billion other people. There is only one problem, that there is no human way I would ever be able to get there. So now I ask this what is the point of spending money researching something that will bring no value to humans ever? Personally, I think that researching the "universe" is a big waste of time. Especially now when our country is in a very bad place. Why do scientists feel the need to look through a giant telescope when they could have invested their energy and money into research that actually matters. It will help absolutely no one to know that there is a magical planet 120 trillion miles away, I want to live my life on the only planet I can so put away your telescope, put on a lab coat and find the cure for cancer.  

Oil Oil Go Away 9/20/10

An astonishing 152 days since the explosion on the BP Oil Rig that has leaked 206 million gallons of oil has finally been sealed. On April 20th the rig had an explosion and 11 men died and the oil rig has been leaking thousands of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico everyday. British Petroleum (BP) has been pegged as having responsibility for this disaster. They were fined $4300 for every barrel of oil which in total is $34 billion that they will be fined for. The Gulf of Mexico and its surrounding people have been feeling the pain from this disaster for quite some time.

This oil leak has been a major issue for a long time. One good question that is on every ones mind is how did this happen? More importantly, why did it take so long to fix? Sure, accidents happen but when it comes to a major operation like this one there are safety precautions in place. But human beings tend to take the easy way out and that is most likely what happened in this case. I don't live by the Gulf of Mexico and I don't depend on catching fish to survive so I can't imagine what these people had and have to still go through. But I can imagine the anger they must feel for the people that took the easy way out. I am sure that a lot of people would agree that BP is responsible for the devestation and that they should go out of business to pay all the fishermen and their families that are hurting from the lack of income. But then again we should ask ourselves this...Who are the ones that are addicted to oil?