Poll: Blacks optimistic about future

In a recent poll taken, blacks nation wide commented that for the most part that in the year 2009, blacks rights and racism against the race have improved at a drastic rate. 39% of the poll agree with this, which is amazing compared to the 2007 poll where only 20% of voters agreed with this quote. Many citizens and government officials agree that this is in big part that the President of the United States was voted into office and he as well is African American.

It is always kind of weary to try and find accurracy in public polls, especially about a topic such as racism. When you think about it, can something like racism be measured and prevented by a poll? Racism is apart of some people, if they are taught to only get along with a certain kind of people of course they can change this, but that doesn't mean we can just erase racism off the end of the Earth. People are imperfect. Some of us may like to think we are perfectm, but we are not and when we try to fight a cause it may be well known and become a part of the Earth, but it does not stay in the people. People grow old and new ones come, the new comers were not around when these people implemented these ideas so how will they know and fully understand them. Racism like gay marriage, politics and stealing is something that we cannot rid the Earth of, but it is something that we can not live by if we infact have a problem with it.

30 injured in Hong Kong acid attack

In Hong Kong Saturday, people at a shopping center on Temple stree were victim of an acid attack. In the past few years around Hong Kong, there has been many records of people being attacked by acid bombs. This act of crime is described as someone standing on top of a building around where many people are, they then throw a bottle full of corrosive acid down onto the street and it spread leaving many people injured. The police responded right away finding a man hiding on a near roof top with two bottle caps that had traces of acid on them. He is believed to be involved in this crime and may also be involved in acid attacks of the past.

I find this act of crime rather akward. In the sense that what are the people trying to gain out of hurting someone with acid? Is this some kind of sick group of people that are bored or trying to fight some system or for some activie right that is not happening for them in Hong Kong. Imagine being a person down on the street while looking up and seeing a random bottle come beating down on you. Just the fear of the acid would scare me. If I survived through it, it may affect me to the point where I would want to look up everytime I went outside for the next few months.

British journalist killed in Afghanistan

A British journalist was killed Saturday in Afganastan when the vehicle he was in was struck by an IED. Rupert Harner,39, was amongst another journalist and five marines that accompanied the Ministry of Defense on a patrol to Nawa, a place in Southern Afganastan. Their vehicle was struck by an IED leaving Harner dead and injuring a fellow reporter and five marines. This was believed to not be a planned attack and just a tragic accident. Harner left behind his wife and three young children.

I think this is very sad to see. When you read reports about people getting killed in Afganastan the first thought in your head is not if the reporter that is reporting about it will be the one to die a few months later in another accident. As a fellow journalist in the coming feature, it scares me a little to think that I could be like that journalist in another country. Risking it all for a story or a chance to be in some action. That is the type of thing you have to ask yourself as a reporter. Do you want to be a reporter who does reports about the passive stuff or do you want to get on with the nit and grit and be dangerous? Then comes the family. With the war in Iraq over and Afganastan beginning,will the children of this reporter ever understand why their father died? I think at first they will not understand but then become aware of the facts of life. They will have a hate for war and military but then come to terms that their father was actually doing something he loved.

New DOT rule limits airline tarmac delays

A Department of Transportation rule announced earlier this morning will go into affect after it is entered into the Federal Reserve. The new rule or law of flying states that no airline may allow their planes or flights to sit on the tarmac for more than three hours. The people are tired of getting their rights bent when taking into affect the "minor delays" quote most airlines say before boarding the planes. The airlines have a duty as a business to deliver these people on time to their designated places. If a plane is going to sit longer on the tarmac now, they must schedule in advance so that the passengers and the Department of Transportation-Aviation will know ahead of time.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/12/21/airline.delay.tarmac.ruling/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

I think as a passenger of planes, that I agree in full with this law or rule. People that run the airlines and fly the planes hire flight crews to do a job that they are designated to do. When people are buying tickets from Minnesota to Michigan and the expected time with minor delays say 1 hour and 45 minutes, then they expect it to be around 2 hours total. They do not expect to get on the plane and wait fourty five minutes to ascend and fourty five more minutes to deboard when they arrive at their destination. It would just make flying so much easier and I think it would even be better for the companies. Employees would get use to do things more efficiently and it would cut down on delays and time lost so that they can get more flights out each day.

Boosting the Minimum

In late 2007 many voters supported the Democrat's plea to raise minimum wage from $5.12 per hour to $7.25 per hour since the minimum wage had not been raised in over ten years. This would increase the earned income for full-time workers, people on food stamps, and people who receive EITC. President Bush included this in his Iraqi war funding bill, but there is contraversy over whether it is affective or not. Supporters of the bill say that the increase of money being taken home will better the economy, with more money being spend nationally. Also, it will better the lives of the poverty, such as single parents and those who are disabled. They do agree though that more tax cuts should not have been added to the bill because with more tax cuts, it will removed needed revenue from government coffers. People against the minimum wage increase say that it is a poor way to touch the need of the poverty because a large percentage of the people that receive this increase are teenagers, not people in poverty. They say that making businesses pay more will make them more prone to going out of business due to increased costs of paying for their business. They finally think their should be an increase in the EITC that the poverty receive.

I think the Democrat's inititives and efforts to pass the minimum wage increase is right in every way. I have an idea for the nonsupporters. When they say that the increase is not worth it because most of the money is seen only by the eyes of the teenagers who are not in poverty or in diar need of money. I think as a teenager we are having to pay for more and more stuff independently. Due to the economy, the price of everything is skyrocketing and we need to become aware at a younger age to prepare ourselves to the reality of America. That you cannot let your parents pay for you your whole life. This wage increase is much needed. President Bush said, "So I support pairing it with targeted tax and regulatory relief to help these small businesses stay competitive and to help keep our economy growing." I agree with Bush's plan. Increasing the minimum wage while providing tax cuts to small businesses will create an even mark for the scare of businesses not being able to support the growth of money that they have to pay their employees. So the people may lose a few hours a pay check to get a higher pay. You have to lose some to gain some.

Other issues:

#1-Joe Wymore- All Things Being Unequal

#3-Jon Schwegel-Putting Welfare to Work

Keep ugliness out of immigration debate

Ruben Navarrette Jr recently overheard a radio host on the radio debating the issue of immigration. In this debate, the radio host made clear that his views are against illegal and legal immigrants. He thinks that illegal immigrants should be focused on for the time being. To keep them from getting into the country to stop the flow of disruption and filthiness to "Our America." Then legal immigrants must go as well the host went on to say. The legal immigrants are the ones who wreck our demographics, culture and the English language. Navarrette is a reporter who wrote an article in San Diago-Union Tribune against this radio host and confronted his slander and racist comments.

I think immigration is a serious issue these days. People are trying to escape poverty and come to the land of the dreams and freedom. Though we have strict residency issues in America that does not stop illegal immigrants from coming into the country. Am I against this process, yes. Do I think the radio host was right about what he said, no. Instead of ranting about facts that the illegal immigrants are doing to America he boldly goes and comments on the immigrants changing who America is in a bad way. You do not do that. You cannot judge someone by the way they speak or the color or shade of their skin. When you do that , it is rather fascist and hypocrative I would say. I could not live with judging everyone based on the color of their skin. I think Navarre's efforts to confront the host is right. He should use the freedom of speech that he was given to stand up for what he believes.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/14/navarrette.immigration.bigotry/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Giant iceberg heading towards Australia

This morning around noon a gigantic iceberg was spotted heading towards the coastlines of Australia. This iceberg is a familar one, being tracked since 2006 by the Australian Antartic Division. This iceberg is believed to be 54 square miles long. The scientists of Australia named it B17B, they believe it is about 1,700 km close to the coastline, but due to the water temperature heating up, they think it will melt before even coming closer to the shore. This iceberg was washed off another iceberg. Global Warming is believed to have played no effect in this event.

The cool thing that went through my mind when I first read about this article was the fact that if something like Global Warming actually existed, what if the whole world like became a big winter wonderland and became covered in snow and ice like the supposed ice age? We would all be doomed. Something like this is kind of a scary thing because how serious do you take it? Yes, it is a very big issue, but do you really worry about the whole world or one continent being overtaken by one glacier? It could be and it could not be. I think that Americans need to put more faith into scripture than that of science. When you think about it people always comment on how faith is hard to follow because it is hard to tell when you have faith. Well if you are faithful then you do not have to question your faith. Whereas in the defintion of science, it is an estimated guess. I think that is what they are doing with new things like this glacier. They are guessing that it will be super harmful as to ending the world.