New Russian Missile... Awkward Timing

Its a biggun'...

Russia test fired their newest ballistic missile this Wednesday (And its a mother... just look at the size of that thing!). This is an odd timing considering NATO just recently announced a new missile defense system, claiming it was infallible. "The new intercontinental ballistic missile is intended to strengthen the capabilities of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces, including its capabilities for overcoming anti-missile defenses," Defense Ministry spokesman Vadim Koval told RIA Novosti. The fact that he mentions Russia is trying to bypass missile defense systems is a little... peculiar. World War III? Probably not. Regardless the tension is there but no real debates or arguments between Russia and NATO have happened as of yet. Earlier in the year the Russian president threatened the withdraw of the treaty that stated nuclear weapons need to be reduced internationally. A treaty that dates back to the cold war. Fishy business.... fishy business...

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/23/world/europe/russia-missile/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

European Attack on Somalian Pirates

European Naval forces launched an attack on Somali pirates on Tuesday. “We believe this action by the EU Naval Force will further increase the pressure on, and disrupt pirates’ efforts to get out to sea to attack merchant shipping and dhows,"  Admiral Duncan Potts said in a statement. The attack was executed entirely from the air and there were reportedly no injured Somali. They have claimed to have sunk several skiffs (Which are the small boats the pirates use to speed up to a merchant vessel) and hopefully slowed down their attacks. Permission for European forces to attack Somalian pirates on shore was given on March 23 this year and the agreement was put to good use on Tuesday. This an other similar attacks have reportedly decreased pirate attacks in that area DRAMATICALLY...

Link:http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/15/european-union-forces-attack-pirate-targets-on-somali-shore/?hpt=hp_t2

Intel Reports Taliban is Stronger...

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, claimed he doesn't believe the Taliban will return, but US intelligence reports that the Taliban is stronger than ever. Since the peak of 100,000 deployed soldiers last year, there have been reports of more aggressive and frequent attacks by insurgents in Afghanistan. Republicans criticize Obama's set deadline to have all troops out of Afghanistan by 2014. If congress cannot prove that the war effort is worthwhile, a recent bill will be passed cutting 60% of military funding. Whether this will make conditions in Afghanistan and the Middle East better or worse is yet to be seen.

Link: http://www.military.com/news/article/congress-intel-heads-taliban-stronger.html

China: Forced Abortions

A pregnant Ji Yeqing had her house stormed by Chines authorities. While her husband was being beaten down, she was dragged down a flight of stairs and brought to a hospital. Upon awakening, she discovered she had undergone an abortion while unconscious. This is apparently done due to the Chinese "1 child law", because she was pregnant with her second child. China is the only country where the female suicide rate is significantly higher than the male suicide rate. This is more than likely due to China's "1 child law". Is this law just? The Chinese government claims it is to regulate the male/female ratio.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/30/world/asia/china-forced-abortions/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Mexico steadily eliminating cartels

Nearly 50,000 deaths have occurred in Mexico during the Mexican drug wars since president Felipe Calderon was elected. While many headlines remain negative, the Mexican president is actually making excellent progress in the war against drug cartels by eliminating many high ranking drug lords. Until recently, drug related killings were rising 27, 28, and 29% over the past few years, but now it seems to be leveling out and (hopefully) declining. The Cartels had always bribed or killed off police in order to come into power, so the President of Mexico issued a military force that could easily win a shootout (In other words, Military firepower > police firepower). With the cartels taking heavy losses, Mexico hopes to see an extreme decrease in drug related crime. It is unknown what the future holds for the war, but 83% of Mexicans agree that some action is better than no action at all.

Link: http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/24/zakaria-is-mexico-winning-the-drug-war/?hpt=hp_c1

Officer Kills Dog: He went to the wrong address

In Austin Texas, a 911 call was made about a seemingly drunk man and a woman trying to get away from him on the sidewalk. The 911 caller unknowingly gave the wrong address. When the officer arrived he stepped in front of the car and proceeded onto the supposed property. Michael Paxton was the owner of this property and was playing with his dog in the yard. The dog began to bark and the officer said "Show me your hands! Show me your hands! Get your dog!" and pulled the trigger, giving Paxton virtually NO TIME to react. Cisco, the dog, died. The police department states it is unfortunate that it happened, but there is no law against what he did.

Link to the video: http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t3#/video/us/2012/04/17/austin-police-officer-shoots-dog.kxan

Bus driver down, student takes the wheel

Monday morning a busload of kids was on its way to Surprise Lake Middle School in Milton, Washington. At some point during the trip, the driver fell into a slump and went unconscious. A quick thinking student named Jeremy Wuitschick realized what was happening and ran to take control of the wheel from two seats back. Jeremy could find no way to reach the brake, so he removed the keys from the ignition and guided it to the side of the road where it eventually rolled to a stop. Soon after Jeremy and another student performed CPR on the incapacitated driver while emergency services were on their way. The driver’s condition is not yet released, but he is reported to still be in the hospital.

140,000,001 Dead after Internet crashes

First reported death: Bob Bobson, 26

Last Saturday, March 31 2012, the internet all across the globe failed in a cataclysmic system failure. It is suspected that Google attempted to change their homepage image to something so complicated that the interwebs actually had a seizure and crashed. The 3 1/2 minute downtime caused 140,000,000 people to panic (it is assumed that they were attempting to check their Facebook) and commit mass suicide. One elderly man hated numbers that were divisible by 10, so he too took his own life to make the number of casualties odd.

Morocco rape laws cost a teen girl her life

Amina Filali, a 16 year old girl from Morocco Africa committed suicide last week. She took her own life after being raped and forced to marry the rapist. In Morocco, rape laws state that if a woman or girl is raped, and if the accused rapist agrees to marry her, the rapist will have the charges dropped. After being brutally beaten by her future husband, Amina ate rat poison. She later vomited to death in the streets of Larache. "We need to study in-depth the situation with the possibility of increasing the penalties as part of a reform," said El Khalfi, the communications minister. "We cannot ignore this tragedy." Protesters gathered to try and get reform out of the African government in hope that a tragedy like this one will never have to happen again.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/17/world/africa/morocco-child-rape/index.html

Poor Justice System

Today there are approximately 2.2 million people in prisons across the US. While many of these people are criminals such as sex offenders, murderers, and thieves, many are just suffering a problem in their life. Military veterans suffering from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), the mentally challenged, and those in poverty are just a few examples of the type of person locked away. Not only are people being arrested for unjust reasons, but they are frequently over-punished. An example is a petty thief going to prison for the rest of his life for stealing golf clubs. In addition to THAT, we find that 1/9 of people sentenced to death are innocent. Our prisons and justice system is run poorly, and it should not be ignored.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/11/opinion/stevenson-justice-prison/index.html?hpt=ju_c2

God Particle: Getting Closer

Physicists in Batavia Illinois are working on two separate experiments with their Tevetron accelerator in hopes of pinning down the elusive God Particle, or the Higgs boson. Physicists in the US have mentioned that the Higgs boson is a fundamental particle in the structure and creation of the universe, and that the so called “god particle” is presumed responsible for giving all matter its mass. Scientists compared results from their Tevatron accelerator to that of the Large Hadron Collider’s data and found consistencies. Despite this progress, a representative of the Illinois institution regretfully said that they had “used up all their good ideas” and “Only have hard ideas left”. Even though the data has stopped flowing for now, they estimate they can increase that accuracy of the Higgs analysis from 10-20%.

Link: http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/07/scientists-getting-clearer-picture-of-god-particle/?hpt=hp_t2

First Steps In N. Korea - US Relations

North Korea agreed to cease nuclear weapons production in exchange for energy assistance and 240,000 tons of food assistance. In addition, Kim Jong Un agreed to let international inspectors into their nuclear facilities, something they haven’t allowed for close to five years. Hillary Clinton admits that this is a “step in the right direction”, but the US remains cautious due to nearly 20 broken agreements in past US-N. Korean negotiations. Last week, Korea gave up asking for food more suited for a banquet in honor of Kim Jong Il, and agreed for nutritional items that would better support children, pregnant women, and the Elderly. The US does not want to put too much publicity around this “first step”, as the Obama Administration remains weary that it might not go through.

Link: http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/01/u-s-cautiously-optimistic-after-food-aid-deal-with-north-korea/?hpt=wo_c2

Iran Warns the World

Iran released a statement saying that any outside force that threatens their national interests are subject to attack by the Iranian military, regardless of whether or not that enemy attacked first. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said at a Military university in Tehran, "Iran is not a nation to sit still and just observe threats from fragile materialist powers which are being eaten by worms from inside." Multiple countries have tried pressuring Iran into negotiation against their nuclear program, while Israel has stated they are considering attacking their program head on. The IAEA is looking into whether or not Iran truly has military plans for their nuclear program.


Link: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/21/world/meast/iran-warning/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Iranian Nuclear Facilities

On February 15^th, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was seen on tape putting the first nuclear fuel rods into an Iranian reactor as part of their new nuclear program. They invited other nations to hear their advancements in nuclear energy but was largely ignored. Representatives of the US have stated that according to their own progress calendars, they are far behind and merely boasting. Iran claims they are using nuclear power for peaceful purposes such as cancer treatment, but the UN still frowns upon the production of the plants, saying they are “Unnecessary”. Iran defended its progress, even through the assassinations of multiple nuclear scientists. 

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/15/world/meast/iran-nuclear-rods/index.html?hpt=hp_t3