Detained U.S. hikers get engaged in Iranian prison, relatives say

Of the three hikers that were detained in Iran 10 months, two of them have become engaged. Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd have decided to get married while over in prison in Iran. Shane engaged on the front lawn when the news of their mothers applying for visas was heard. Josh Fattal, the third hiker, has been choosen as the best man for the wedding. They are not sure when the wedding is going to take place because of how the hikers have not yet been formerly charged and it is also said that they will stand trial for espionage charges. The families are overjoyed and cannot wait for them to be set free so they can start planning.

I think it is great that in this time of need for the three that there can be at least a little hope for the future. They have no idea what is going to happen with their situation in the next few months but at least they are together and happy. I think it is really cute that Shane made rings out of a string from his shirt for the two of them to wear while they are stuck in Iran. I hope that they will be set free as soon as possible so that they can start their lives back over in the States and can have the wedding that they are dreaming of right now. Good luck to them. That is wonderful news to hear.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/05/24/iran.hikers.engaged/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Suge Knight is '100 percent innocent,' lawyer says

Suge Knight was arrested and charge with assault with a deadly weapon involving a firearm and also driving with a suspended license. This happened when an unidentified man told police Knight had pointed a gun at him, police later found Knight driving around the same area with a suspended license. Knight was arrested on the spot without incident. Knight's lawyer says he is 100% innocent and that the man that made this accusations is lying. Knight's lawyer says he was only driving in the area to meet with a potential client. Knight posted bail of $60,000 and was released from jail. Knight's lawyer says he should be cleared of all charges because Knight is not someone that would carry a gun on him. He did not do this and shouldn't be charged with the crime. Knight's lawyer says that the man who accused Knight should be the one that needs to be investigated.

We are all innocent until proven guilty, right? It seems as if the police might be looking at Knight's past and 'assuming' he is guilty because of how he was with Tupac when he was shot and killed and that murder has yet to be solved. I feel that Knight needs to be proven guilty before any allegations can be made/proved. They need to show the evidence that he was involved with the man who is accusing Knight of assault with a deadly weapon involving a firearm. Yes, Knight deserves his punishment for driving with a suspended license, he did do that, there's proof. Yet, if there's no proof of him pointing a gun at this man how can you know that he was really involved? This man could have made the whole story up just because he was angry with Knight for not doing what this man wanted. Or, Knight could have pointed the gun at him and evidence will be found and he will be served with the proper punishment. No one is above the law. Someone will be found guilty.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/21/suge.knight.arrested/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Mothers meet with detained hikers in Iran, report says

The mothers of the three hikers detained while accidently crossing over into the Iranian border when hiking in Iraq were able to see their children. It took them six months to be able to get the visas to allow them to go see their children. It was a tearful reunion said reporters. The mothers are also asking for a meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. There is no word on if that meeting is going to happen or not. The three hikers are said to be charged with espionage and put on trial. Swish have been representing the Americans in this case.

I think it is good the mothers were able to see their children. They have been detained for almost a year now. I do find it a little ridiculous that they think the hikers were spies, though. I don't see how accidently crossing over the border makes you a spy but I guess it is a matter of national security for the Iranians so it is important to them. As long as everyone is treated with the rights they deserve it will all work out. I do hope that these hikers are either tried or sent home soon though. They have been away from home in detainment for a very long time and they deserve some answers.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/05/20/iran.hikers.mothers/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Boosting the Minimum

Minimum wage has been a topic of argument for many years. People were angry with minimum wage being at $5.15 so they created efforts to raise it to $7.25 an hour. They wanted this so that it would raise the take home pay for millions of Americans around the nation. This raise helped many people in poverty-with the help of food stamps and Earned Income Tax Credit- out of poverty. In May 2007 Congress signed a large Iraq war funding bill that included the raise in minimum wage and gave small businesses tax breaks. Even with the new law in place, arguments still continue over the minimum wage. There are many supporters to the federal minimum age and many people that are against the minimum wage. Some supporters say that it will positively affect the lives of millions of American workers. It will give more people money that they can spend which will positively affect the economy and counter any negative effect from businesses raising prices to cover increased wages. Some of the people against minimum wage say that raising it is counterproductive. They say poverty only affects a small percentage of Americans and most of the people earning minimum wage are teenagers who aren't living in poverty anyway. Also, critics say that the market works best for the economy when the laws of supply and demand determine wages.

I feel that we should keep raising the minimum wage to increase the amount of disposable income that low-income families will have. Yes, teens are the majority of workforce earning minimum wage, but that will also give us teens more disposable income to spend to help out the economy and keep prices for products reasonable. People earning minimum wage are being paid that to keep them above the poverty threshold. That's the whole point of setting a minimum wage, but yet people that are only being paid minimum wage aren't even close to being above that line. Most are acutally below it. So, why is it that people being paid minimum wage have to be on multiple federal programs to become above that line? Why do they have to rely on food stamps and the EITC to get by every month. Not to mention if they have families to pay for as well. We need to continue to keep raising the minimum wage as the cost of living becomes higher because we don't want millions of our workforce to be in poverty and only a small percentage of high paid workers ruling the nation. Article at the New York Times on Minimum wage.

Putting Welfare to Work, All Things Being Unequal

House passes Senate's health care 'fixes' bill

So the House of Representatives passed a little bit different bill than the Senate passed initially on Thursday night. So this "fixes" bill was sent back to the Senate and was approved by a 220-207 vote. And now the healthcare bill put into law once Obama signs it. Democrats are very happy with this bill being passed because they have been working on a bill like this for almost a century. Republicans are not so happy as the Democrats because they've been fighting against a bill like this for the same amount of time.

I personally do not like the bill. It has things that do not even apply to healthcare that are now going to be regulated. For example, student loans. In what universe are student loans and healthcare related? Why is it okay for politicians to make under the table deals in order to pass bills into law? I have also heard that there is 100 million dollars going to some hospital so that a representative would change their vote from no to yes, all because the Democrats feel that this bill is the right way to go to "help" the American people. I personally do not like the bill. They try to make it sound good by telling us young adults we can stay on our parents' insurance until we are 26 and all of the other "good" things about this bill. But really we are going to be paying for it and it will just make our social security and medicare disappear even fast than they already are. I do not agree with Obama and the Democrats that this is a monumental advancement. I feel that this is taking away our freedoms and it shouldn't have passed in the first place. Get out of Washington.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/25/health.care.main/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Volcano erupts in Iceland; hundreds evacuated

A volcano erupted in Iceland Sunday. More than 600 people were evacuated to a safer area as scientists monitored the fissure where lava was erupting. It was a volcano that had erupted for the first time since 1821 that was underneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier. The fissure measured 1,620 to 3,281 feet. Even though the eruption was in a remote area, if the eruption moves further towards the glacier it could cause dangerous flooding. The Eyjafjallajokull glacier is about 100 miles from the capital of Iceland.

I think volcanoes themselves are pretty amazing. I do not feel that people having to be moved from their homes and put on watch for major flooding is very amazing. I'm glad that scientists were monitoring this eruption and got people out of there in a safe amount of time. I hope that their homes are going to be safe as well. At least they can rebuild homes, you can't however bring someone back from the dead if they got trapped from the volcano. I also hope that no one becomes injured or trapped from the possible flooding that could also occur with this eruption. Hopefully scientists can monitor this and keep people safe.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/21/iceland.volcano/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/cnn_topstories+(RSS:+Top+Stories)

Teacher-student sex 'never the kid's fault'

33-year-old Amy Beck has reported herself to the authorities because of the guilt she has been carrying after she had an inappropriate sexual relations with a 14-year-old student. Amy Beck was a 6th-grade teacher in Burbank, California. She has now resigned and is currently being held in the jail. She is being charged with 4 counts of sex with a person under 16, and 1 count of oral copulation. She is married to a police officer with three children and has been teaching for ten years. Her arraignment was supposed to be held on Wednesday but has been postponed until March 25.

I think this is quite disturbing. How can a teacher let themselves be put in that situation? I cannot believe that this 33-year-old mother of 3 could do such a grotesque action. How can you allow yourself to have sexual intercourse with someone that is 19-years younger than you. She is an adult and this poor child was being taken advantage of. He didn't know that it was wrong. He just knew that it was pleasurable. She should have never let this happen. Now, this poor child is going to be messed up for the rest of his life. He probably just thought that they were in a loving relationship. And now that this news has broke, he doesn't know what to think anymore. How can you mess with someone little kids head like this? I cannot believe what this world is coming to. Teachers should never let this type of situtations even occur that would spark something like this. They are they adults they should know better. This is disgusting.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/12/teacher.student.sex.scandal/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Police: Couple nurtured virtual child while real baby starved

A toddler starved to death in South Korea because her parents were too busy escaping reality by taking care of a virtual child. At Prius Online, a 3-D game, you can raise a virtual baby, Anima, with supernatural powers that grow and increase as she does. The parents were only feeding their real premature daughter once a day between stretches of playing Prius Online at a local internet cafe.

I feel that this is a ridiculous excuse for killing your baby. How can you forget about your living, breathing child? This is one of the most unbelievable things I have ever heard! I just cannot believe how someone can actually forget about a living person. These parents had lost their jobs and were trying to escape but that does not give them any reason to only feed their baby once a day between silly game stretches. I hope that these people are put in jail or at least something like this. I cannot believe that someone can forget about their child like this. This is one of the worst cases of child abuse I have ever heard of. They killed their own child for goodness sake!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/07/south.korea.baby.dead/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/cnn_topstories+(RSS:+Top+Stories)

2 U.S. Army pilots killed in Iraq helicopter accident

On Sunday, there was a military helicopter accident that ended up killing two U.S. Army pilots. The aircraft has said to have made a hard landing inside Contingency Operating Base Speicher in northern Iraq. It has also been said that no enemy forces or hostile fire was present in the accident. The names of the pilots have been withheld due to family notification. These soldiers were assigned to Task Force Marne, which takes care of operations in northern Iraq. The location of the base is also being withheld.

I feel very sorry for the families of soldiers that were killed in this tragic accident. I would not like to hear about this accident over the news and then later find out that it was your family member that was killed in the crash. It is very unfortunate that this had to happen to these brave persons that are fighting for our country. I am proud of our military for putting up with all of the attacks and stress they have to go through everyday to keep our country safe from harm. I am also very proud of every military family that has to go through the stress and worry that is involved with having a service member in the family. I hope that these two soldiers will be remembered for what they were doing to keep us safe and that their actions will never be forgotten.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/02/21/iraq.main/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Spending We Can Afford

The government issued a new way of being able to spend in 2007. They deemed it "paygo". It was a bill that allows Congress to participate in a pay-as-you-budgeting system. Paygo requires that any tax cuts or increase in entitlement spending be balanced with spending reductions in other areas. If they feel that they are spending an excessive amount in one area, they need to reduce spending another to balance out the total spending. Some say that Paygo will hold Congress to spend only what you can afford. It will help force Congress to eleminate wasteful spending and collect unpaid taxes, which will in turn, raise money to cover the National Debt. Others don't feel so warm to the idea. They believe that Paygo will result in tax hikes for Americans that will hurt them in the long run. They believe Paygo will be doing more hurt than good.

I feel that this "paygo" system could work. It makes sense that Congress can only be allowed to spend so much, and in turn they much spend less on one thing than another to achieve that goal of spending only what they can afford. Another plus of this system is that it can be suspended if in a recession or crisis, which is very good for out economy considering we are already in a recession. I believe that this system could actually help Congress get control over the crazy Nation Debt that is being added to by the second in our country. Another supporter of this bill is President Obama. He stated that we was very please that this bill was passed into law during his February Press Release.

For more issues relating to the national budget: Social Insecurity, War Dollars

Snowbound mid-Atlantic faces monumental shovel-out

Snowmageddon is what they are calling the 55 inches of snow that has fallen on the mid-Atlantic this past week. The major snowfall came in two days with record snow fall totals in many cities,
including, Washington, Baltimore, and Wilmington. And other cities, including, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Atlantic City, and New Jersey are on their way to setting records. In Washington, government workers were told to stay home for four days before the snow was cleared enough for them to get back to work. Not only did the government enjoy a holiday, but the students in Washington also enjoyed their three snow days in a row. Airports all over the region were closed with hundreds and sometimes thousands of flights cancelled due to the over whelming amounts of snow that fell. There were also multiple multiple car pile ups on Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania. One crash included 17 cars, and they other seven cars. Unfortunately one person did lose their life, but only one was seriously injured.

I love snow. I think it is a little funny how this amount of snow has literally shut down some cities to the point where they cannot even function. I believe that is this amount of snow had fallen say on our region here in Minnesota, that we would have had maybe a little trouble, but we would have still been able to go on with our lives. I would have loved the three day snow day that the children got to enjoy, but I do not believe that our workers and parents would have had too much trouble getting to work. I believe that we here in Minnesota are a little bit more adaptable to large amounts of snowfall. We ourselves have received large amounts of snow this winter, not quite as much as 55 inches in one sitting, but we did have a nice amount that fell last week with totals near 12 inches. I am a little surprised, but than again not quite so much at how long it took the regions to come back and get going after all of that snow that did fall. Yet, if you think about it 55 inches is almost as tall as I myself am. That would be a lot of snow to try and snowplow off of your driveway, sidewalks, and streets. I personally am jealous of all of the snow that region has received and wish that it was us here in Minnesota that was receiving the record snow totals versus the Capital that doesn't quite appreciated the beauty that causing them to miss work for four days.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/weather/02/11/winter.storm/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

John Edwards admits he fathered child with mistress

John Edwards is finally admitting that he infact is the father of Rielle Hunter's daughter, Quinn. During his previous run for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination he denied his fathering to Ms. Hunter's new born. He did however admitt his affair with Ms. Hunter. He claimed at the time that his affair ended before Ms. Hunter became pregnant. During the campaign, Ms. Hunter was paid $114,000 to travel with Edward's entourage. When Ms. Hunter gave birth in 2008, Edward's denied fathering this child for over a year. Now, he is admitting it. "'I am Quinn's father,' his statement said. 'I have been able to spend time with her during the past year and trust that future efforts to show her the love and affection she deserves can be done privately and in peace.'"

Apparently, for politicians it's ok to deny your child, and then go change your mind and claim them back. It's ok to lie and pay off the woman involved in the scandal. It's ok to cheat on your wife. Why is it that almost everytime you hear about a scandal, it involves some sort of person in power, for example, politicians. I feel that it is extremely dishonorable for Edwards to not only deny the child as his own, but to have the long term affair in the first place! What gives him the right to cheat on his wife and then deny it. So, now that time has past and he has 'decided' it's 'ok' to admit his involvment and the fact that he fathered a child with this women, now he says that that child will get 'the love and affection she deserves'. How would you feel if your father denied involvment with your mother, and then later admitted it, and then later denied the fact that he was your father, and then later admits it! What type of childhood will this poor girl grow up in? Who will save her from the affects of everyone knowing this scandal and telling her about it all her life? Who will help her? John Edwards sure isn't going to help much, considering he is the main problem with this scandal.


http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/21/edwards.baby/index.html?hpt=T2