Iraqi Christians cancel Christmas amid threats

Christians from Iraq called of the celebration of Christmas this year because they are scared they will get attacked like they were at a church in Baghdad where 68 people were killed 2 months ago. They aren’t going to decorate their houses because al-Qaida said they have bombs ready for Christian homes. Christians called of the celebration of Christmas this year because they are mourning for the people killed in the attack too. Mass is canceled and Christians are just supposed to celebrate at home without large groups. One Bishop says that there isn’t a single source of joy that makes them celebrate.

Reading this article makes me grateful that we can celebrate whatever we want without having to worry about being attacked or bombed. Christmas in America is such a happy time and it’s sad that it can’t be like that everywhere. Christians in Iraq should have the right to celebrate Christmas without being threatened. It really sucks that instead of celebrating Christmas they have to be mourning the deaths of those 68 people that were killed earlier. I think it’s unfortunate that Christians don’t have any joy to even celebrate.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40791595/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

Issue # 2

Medicare patients are going to be going to doctors that will be paid 5 to 10% less for having them as a patient. People are trying to come up with a plan to lower the cost of medicare but keep doctors doing quality work. Right now doctors get paid for how many patients they see not by how well they treat them. A pay-for-performance program was approved which lets medicare pay doctors 1.5% more if they report their treatments and if it is quality work. Administrators are going to work with medical experts to put in guidelines for what quality care is. People that support the pay-for-performance plan think that guidlines are a good way to have better communication on which treatments work the best. People that support this researched hospitals with the program and saw that they had 1300 less deaths from heart attacks. People that are against this don't think that federal officials don't know enough about medicine to decide what is the best medicine. They also say that 1.5% will not cover the wasted time and resources that have to be used to fill out the paper work for the bonus.



I don't think that there should be a pay for performance program. Doctors shouldn't have to fill out paper work to get a bonus when they should be doing their job right in the first place. Federal officials don't know enough about medicine to make requirements so they should just leave things alone. The government shouldn't have cut doctors pay in the first place because it's not their fault that not everybody can afford health care. If doctors get paid for curing people of their illness then why would they ever take a patient that smokes or is obese. Dr. Deane Waldman agress with that and thinks that pay for performance should stop. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deane-waldman/stop-pay-for-performance_b_233208.html

http://bryceholm.blogspot.com/2010/11/3-health-care-safe-to-eat.html

http://briannalynn22.blogspot.com/2010/11/issue-1-comprehensive-vs-incremental.html

Terror verdict deals blow to Obama Gitmo plan

On November 17th, Ahmed Ghailini was the first person being held at Guantanamo bay in cuba to have a trial and people have been put into this terrorist prison starting 8 years ago. He was tried for trying to blow up government buildings in 1998 and was sentenced to life in prison. This was tried in civilian courts and they had a split decision. This shows that Obama's plan to try prisoners of Guantanamo bay in civilian courts isn't for sure going to work. Representative Peter King says that "We must treat them as wartime enemies and try them in military commissions at Guantanamo." This is not going to help Obama close Guantanamo bay like he had said he’d have closed by his first year in office.

I don’t think that the terrorists should be moved into the U.S. They should stay where they are. The people in Illinois aren’t going to be happy if all the terrorists we have contained are moved to their state. The terrorists at Guantanamo bay shouldn’t be tried by a civilian court because they are not like normal civilians. They should be tried as wartime enemies in a military court because they killed many people and they don’t deserve to be let off easy. I don’t think it’s surprising that Obama didn’t follow through with what he said. This is just another thing he hasn’t done that he promised he would.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40248961/ns/us_news-security/

Facebook says apps shared user data, promises fix

Facebook said that some of its applications violated the social networking company’s policy for sharing user information and Facebook said the problem will be fixed. They also said that the information sharing was not intentional. Farmville was one of the applications that gave id information to outside companies. The vice president of facebook wrote a letter to congressman Joe Barton and Edward Markey saying that the applications would be deleted and that the id info would be deleted too.
It annoys me that information can be given to other companies from applications. Facebook has privacy settings that shouldn’t have been violated. Facebook should be a safe website where people don’t have to worry about their information being stolen. Even though facebook said they didn’t know that applications were taking information, I still think it is there fault. They should check into applications more before they let them start up on facebook. I’m glad that Facebook is trying to stop this problem and get rid of the bad applications though.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39994197/ns/technology_and_science-security/

Experts ask: Did U.N. troops infect Haiti?

In Haiti, 442 people have died from an outbreak of cholera and researchers are trying to figure out if the UN peace keepers were the source of the outbreak. U.S. center of disease control thought that the strand came from south asia. There is debate whether time should be spent on investigating the outbreak or not. People are worried that the disease started from a Nepalese base with men from Nepal. Experts can’t prove anything but they are pretty sure that it was carried into Haiti.

I think that outbreaks in diseases happen too much. People don’t usually know what to do about them either. It’s not fair that Haiti had to suffer through a bad earthquake, and is now struggling from disease. People should spend time trying to figure out where the disease came from and how it works because then they can prevent it from spreading and killing other people. If there was an outbreak of cholera in Nepalese then those men should have been tested for the disease before they were allowed to enter Haiti which was already suffering.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39996103/ns/health-infectious_diseases/

After 'shellacking,' Obama laments disconnect with voters

The Republicans now control the House and improved in the Senate too. They want to roll back government and the health care law. Obama thinks that the democrats lost the election because they lost track of the ways they connected with the people that got them there in the first place. He says he has to do a better job. Boehner thinks that the people want less government and want the health care law changed or repealed.

People should have to work hard to pay for what they have, it shouldn’t just be given to them. Obama just wants to raise taxes so that he can give people food stamps and other free money. We shouldn’t have to be responsible for anybody else because this is a free country. People want less government and the health care law changed. Before Obama was elected he talked about change and he hasn’t done anything to help anyone which is why they voted opposite. We are just in more debt nohttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39987154/ns/politics-decision_2010/w and unemployment is still high.

Quake Hits Indonesia

The quake hit around 10:42 in the morning and was reported to be a magnitude of 7.2. Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency at first issued a tsunami warning but ended. it within a short while. The quake would create waves that would do some damage and be irregular but nothing that would intiate a tsunami. Indonesia is prone to quakes and volcanic activity because it it located on the pacific ring of fire.
I think that too many quakes hit countries that are not prepared for any environmental crisis's. There is no known way of stopping a earthquake or any other thing like it but i think that most countries that have expirienced them before should become better prepared but maybe having shelters ready that are stocked with water and food. If these countries were better prepared then it could lead to much less deaths and better coping.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39831929/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

Time Square Bomber Gets Life Sentence

The Pakistani who tried to set off a car bomb in time square was sentenced to life in prison on tuesday. He did not feel any remorse for what he had tried to do. Him and the judge did not get along very well and she told him he had lots of time to think about if the koran wants him to kill many people. She also said that she needed to set an example to help protect people from this happening again. The Pakistani warned that this was just the start of muslim attacks if we do not leave his land alone.
I believe that the judge did the right thing. The only thing that the judge could of done better was to give the death penalty which is most likey outlawed. I believe that we should take more action against the muslims and either bomb the whole middle east and end it or just pull out and leave them be to better protect our soldiers from dying over there and for better protection of our own people from attacks like this one. If the man wasnt lying and there will be more attacks then we need to be better prepared.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39513363/ns/us_news-security/

War Dollars

The constitution says that the president is the commander in cheif of the armed forces but he shouldn't be able to spend money for war in any way he wants. Congress has the right to aprrove or deny the way the president wants to spend the money. The people vote for who they want to represent them and then those people end up in congress. Congress having a say in what happens to the money means that the people will generally be kept happy because they elected who is in congress. The people should have control over how money is spent because it is their money in taxes that are paying for it. If the american people don't like the war in iraq then they should be able to stop funding it and then possibly get a taxcut.


The president shouldn't have to worry about what congress says when it comes to war dollars. The american people elected the president in the first place so they should give him a chance to spend their money in the right way. The president is better prepared to make war decisions than congress anyways which is why the president is our commander in chief.


I think that congress should still have a say in how the president spends money when it comes to war. We elected the president but the war is being supported by our tax dollars so we should be able to monitor his spending through congress. When the president was elected war might not have even been an issue at the time so we should still be able to control how he spends money in war just in case we don't like how he handles it. War costs a lot which is why the people should know where it's going. The National Priorites Project shows that the war in iraq and afghanistan has cost each tax payer almost $8000 since 2001. In just iraq, the war has cost the u.s. $750,658,711,552 and it's still going up. This shows that the people are paying for the war so the people that they elect in congress should be able to control how it's spent.


http://www.costofwar.com/

http://www.peaceactioncleveland.org/files/imagemanagermodule/

http://erin-oneil.blogspot.com/

http://connorsundberg.blogspot.com/

@random4655e8fc14dca/military_budget09_graph_1_.jpg

Gay Ban in Military is Unconstitutional

A Federal Judge in California declares that she thinks the gay ban in the military is unconstitutional. She also says that she will help to stop it. She says that the ban is in a direct violation of the first ammendment rights of gays and lesbians. The policy says that the military doesnt ask about the soldiers sexual orientation but will ban any that are aknowledging being gay or involved in homosexual activitys. She says this policy does not help military readiness in any way.
I believe that the military should ask the orientation of the enlisted soldier to be fair to everyone else. Everyone should have the right to know about it to better protect their rights. If a homosexual were to be in the shower with other soldiers who are heterosexual it wouldnt be fair the the heterosexual soldier. Also i believe that the military shouldn't just kick them out of the force but should instead find a different solution such as maybe different showers for them or something along those lines. They should still be able to fight for their country but in fairness should have some differences that the normal heterosexual soldiers.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39089475/ns/us_news-life/

Gary Coleman funeral plan 'pending' as executor takes over

Gary Coleman died on May 26th and arrangements for his funeral are still being made. Shannon Price, his ex wife, had made plans to have an evening service but Coleman’s life-long friend Dion Mial says that Price has no right to an opinion on what happens to Coleman’s body or the funeral. Coleman had to be put on life support on Thursday after he had a bad fall, and by Wednesday, his ex-wife decided to take him off life support and he died that day.

I listened to the 911 call that Coleman’s ex wife made and she doesn’t even sound sad or upset on the phone call. I don’t think that she should have any say in what happens to the body or about the funeral. Even though they lived together she didn’t seem like she cared very much when he fell. She wouldn’t put pressure on his head wound or help him at all because she was too grossed out by the blood and she was afraid she was going to have a siezure. I think that if someone cares about somebody else then they wouldn’t just watch them bleed to death because they were scared that something bad would happen to them. The person that cares about Coleman most should decide where he is burried, and that sure isn’t his ex wife.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/05/gary.coleman.funeral.fight/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

The 911 call
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/06/02/bpr.gary.coleman.911.call.cnn?iref=allsearch

BP tries again to cap well as protests against oil giant set to start

On Thursday, BP severed a damaged riser pipe which helped make progress in containing the ruptured oil well. Even though they have made progress, the oil could continue to pour into the Gulf of Mexico until the end of August. This disaster has lasted for more than 45 days now and BP is getting attacked from every angle. They released an ad campaign trying to improve their bad reputation. Tony Hayward apologizes in the campaign and says that he is going to “make this right.”

I think that it’s about time that they make progress on this oil spill. It has been 45 days and things just keep getting worse. The spill is very close to Florida now and it could continue to get worse until August. This is a horrible disaster. 11 people died when the oil rig exploded in April and the United States has to spend millions of dollars building sand walls to prevent the oil from getting to the shore of Louisiana. The oil spill is killing fish and other wildlife that live in the ocean and on shore. This mistake made by humans isn’t only affecting us, it’s affecting the environment too which is unfair. 37% of the Gulf is already off limits for fishing and it’s just going to keep getting worse.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/03/gulf.oil.spill/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Charge to Obama: 'Go off!'

During the weeks of the oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama has been nothing but calm. The longer it takes for the spill to be stopped and cleaned up, the angrier people get at Obama instead of the oil company of BP. This is the worst oil spill in American history and director Spike Lee urges Obama to go off because this is a disastor. Many people are waiting for the Obama to take charge and inspire them like he did during is election. A senior political analyst for CNN named Gloria Borger says that we got the president we elected.

I agree with Spike Lee. This is a serious issue that is affecting a lot of wildlife and it’s about time Obama does something about it. Obama has seemed too calm about the oil spill and if the president doesn’t seem motivated then America isn’t going to be motivated to clean up the spill either. The Presidents job is to inspire America to work together to improve the country. Obama has only been to the sight of the spill twice and he isn’t putting in an effort to make any moving speeches like he did during his presidential election. Obama tried to impress the country when it came to being elected but now that he is elected, he has lacked the powerful speeches that America needs. He claims that the oil spill really hits home because he grew up in a place where the ocean was very important, but if he really is concerned, then he should start showing it.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/02/obama.oil.spill.tone/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

U.S. issues travel alert for Jamaica

The U.S. State Department says that there are criminal gang members forming in Kingston and the Jamaican Defense forces are starting to mobilize. Because of the violence, they issued an alert for travel to Jamaica. If the situation gets worse, the roads leading to the airport might be blocked off. The U.S. Embassy in Jamaica says that they are taking extra percautions until June 21st when the alert isn’t in affect anymore. U.S. citizens in Jamaica are advised to stay in doors in the Kingston area.

This alert is really disappointing because I went to Jamaica in March and it’s a really fun place to vacation at. I understand why there might be violence because when I was driving from the airport to my resort I saw that there were small shacks all over and people sitting on the side of the roads. There were wild animals eating garbage and even though the country had really cool scenary, I could still tell that it was very poor. When people don’t have food or money some might be willing to steal and be violent to feed their families. Or they might even take up selling drugs. When I was near the edge of the resort on a walk, a man and his small child came up to the fence and they wanted me to buy all kinds of drugs. I hope that the violence will stop soon because I would like to go back.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/05/22/jamaica.travel.alert/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

"Calorie Commando" pleads not guilty to alleged murder plot

A man that used to be a the host of the show called Calorie Commando, named Juan-Carlos Cruz, was accused of trying to hire two homeless men to kill his wife. Juan-Carlos’ plan was given away when one of the homeless men told Santa Monica Police about it. The judge set a 2-million dollar bond for Cruz and the prosecuter thought that if he was convicted that he would face a sentence of life in prison. Santa Monica Police said that they were fortunate to have a relationship with these homeless men and that they were able to give the police information.

I think it’s really surprising that a man that hosted a show for the Food Network would do something so terrible when he had a well respected job. Hiring homeless men to kill your wife is probably one of the lowest things you could possibly do. If Cruz is proved guilty then I think he should have to sit in jail the rest of his life and never be able to see the sun again. Even though he didn’t succeed in killing his wife, he still made a plan and was willing to pay other people to kill her which is worth going to jail for if not the death sentence. I think if you kill somebody else or hire people to kill someone else then you shouldn’t be able to live either. It’s a life for a life.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/16/tv.chef.arrested/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

More websites:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/05/15/2010-05-15_food_network_calorie_commando_chef_juancarlos_cruz_accused_of_recruiting_homeles.html

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/celebrity-chef-juan-carlos-cruz-charged-with-attempted-murder/story-e6frf7jx-1225868000072

7-year-old girl killed in Detroit police raid

A 7-year-old girl named Aiyana Jones was shot in the head and killed by police when they tried to search her home for a suspect in a murder. The police were trying to find the muderer of a 17-year-old boy that was suspected to be hiding out in Aiyana’s home. The police arrived at the home, announcing themselves and tossing in a flash bang to try and help secure the area. A woman in her forties approached an officer and physical contact was made. While being confronted, a round of the officer’s weapon went off, hitting Aiyana in the head and neck. The police agreed that the warrant was to be carried through as soon as possible, and the suspect was arrested at Aiyana’s home.

The death of Aiyana is tragic and hypocritical. The police were trying to find a murderer to prevent him from killing again, but instead ended up murdering an innocent little girl. What’s worse: A shooter on the streets that isn’t necessarily going to kill again, or police killing a 7-year-old girl in her own home? Now Aiyana’s parents and other loved ones have to suffer a terrible loss. There should be a warrant out for the man that lost control of his gun, just like there was a warrant out for the killer of that 17-year-old boy. The police did not handle the situation well. They should have found out who was living at the house and they should have gotten the innocent people out first. One arrest isn’t worth a little girls life.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/16/michigan.police.child/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

For more information on this story go to:
http://www.necn.com/05/16/10/Aiyana-Jones-father-Yall-ruined-my-life/landing.html?blockID=235766&feedID=4215

http://www.freep.com/article/20100516/NEWS01/100516014/1319/

Schools chief: We're unfairly blamed in bullying-related suicide

A 15 year old girl hanged herself in South Hadley, Massachusetts because she was bullied a lot at school. Phoebe was a very private person and she did not tell anybody her problems before she commited suicide. People are blaming the school for her death because they did not do enough to punish the kids that were bullying her. The school said that they took appropriate action against the students and that those that were guilty of bullying Phoebe were expelled. The school also says that this is a terrible punishment because it changes the students’ whole lives and they have to figure out a new way to finish their education.
I do not believe that it was the school’s fault that Phoebe committed suicide. At every school there is bullying and it is not right but the school expelled the students responsible and that is about all the school could do. Phoebe did not talk to anyone which the school cannot be blamed for. Maybe the parents should have better communicated with their daughter and this could have been prevented. There are many factors that cause someone to hang themselves and it isn’t just because they were bullied at school. Some parents say that they don’t want their child’s life runned by the school but when their child ends their own life then it is the school’s fault for not being involved enough. It can’t work both ways and it wasn’t just the school that was responsible for Phoebe’s death.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/01/massachusetts.bullying.suicide/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29