current event 5

H1N1 Widespread in 46 States as Vaccines Lag

By JACKIE CALMES and DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

The H1N1 virus has been sweeping along quite nicely. Obama recently declared it a national Emergency. He now is allowing hospitals to set up special sites to accept and treat patients with it, and he is allowing, with a waiver for the patient, to be sent to special treatment facilities or other hospitals if a surge of patients come. The swine flu is getting crazy, and people are looking for vaccines. Obama and hospitals exclaim that the epidemic has nothing to do with the shortage of vaccines though. Only 16 million doses of the vaccine were available now, and about 30 million were expected by the end of the month, and the expect to have around 200 million by the years end. Hospitals are told to accept all people despite medicare or medicade issues. People are so willing to get the vaccine that people are ending up lying about if they are pregnant or not in order to get a priority for the vaccine. They are trying to get more doses out to the public, but doctors and specialists have to grow the strain in eggs, so there is a limit on the speed of growth. Numbers of the flu death are high just like the swine flu, but the problem here is that it more affects young people whereas the regular flu affects more old people.
I will try and get a vaccine.

The Virginia Governors Race?

Alright so this is what's goin' down right now. Republican Robert F. McDonnell holds a seven-point lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deed, 50% to 43%. This was based on a survey held on October 12. The winner will most likely, and i say, be McDonnell. Overall i think he will win because americans are looking for some counter balance with a democratic president. He was bombarded for some social views he showed in his college paper that he wrote in 1989, but come on, that will pass because it was yearrssss ago. Earlier in my blogs, the biggest problem facing virginia was the transportation and McDonnell proposed to fix that problem mainly. This is a big help, especially when Deeds stumbled during the debate and people came to the conclusion that he would raise taxes to fix the transportation problem. Overall, six percent of the vote has not been counted yet in my percentages in the first sentence, but still, those wont help Deeds. You can give the deed of ownership of governors office to McDonnell, Deeds.

What is the biggest political issue facing the state of Virginia?

The most heated debated issue is Virginia now is the Transportation problem. Everytime you hear about a problem or crash with the metro or metro buses or anything, you know that means one thing... huge, huge backups. But that is just one of the more obvious problems. Although a lot of Virginia tax dollars go to the transportation, it is often being used to help all around the state, a lot of which is not nearly used as much as it is in the northern virginia region surrounding DC that would potentially support commuters. They often try to extent Metro railways also, but insufficient funding deters that from happening. Roads up here are frequently used and deteriorate much faster than down in the southern part of our state also. When it takes hours for commuters to get to their job, you know there is room for improvement.

current event 4

Dollar’s Decline Brings Troubles

By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ

Published: October 18, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/business/global/19dollar.html?hp

Due to economic crisis among other factors, the US dollar, which used to rule the currency world as one of the most valuable currencies, has declined recently over the years. Specifically, the dollar’s 16 percent decline since March has made headlines. Last week the dollar neared $1.50 against the euro, compared with $1.25 in March. This brings about many consequences. For the bad part, this drop could force American consumers to get used to paying more for many imported goods as well as trips to their favorite vacation spots. There is one good side of this downturn though. The positive part is that this in fact helps american exporters. A weak dollar could be beneficial to the American economy by helping long-suffering manufacturers, rebuilding a stronger industrial base and improving exports even if it makes life harder for trading partners around the world, especially in Europe. Over the long time, a weaker dollar could close the United States’s long-running trade deficit, helping decrease the gap between exports and imports, and this could mean American products can become more affordable overseas. While some people find this change helpful or necessary for balance, critics say it points to a weaker america. While the White house says they support a strong dollar, they currently make no progress in doing so.

Grade: B

Well, i can say strongly that the task Obama had to take on was a daunting one. Plus we all can see, he hasnt done anything terribly wrong. But some good things! opening foreign diplomatic talks, and even a Nobel Peace prize! wow, i didnt even know you could get a piece prize for doing that, what ever it is he did. peace or something. What he did right intially is that he filled america with confidence. He gave us exactly what we needed to hear in the midst of a war and economic crisis. And the bold moves he has made thus far have shown he does have good intentions. His budget and the stimulus package invested money in the right places. his ideas helped with improving health care and education, rebuilding our roads and bridges, creating green jobs, getting universal broadband, and generally helping the low-income and working class folks most affected by our economy crisis. This is all good stuff. i am just no sure its an A work yet, but hes not doing bad stuff, he wants good stuff done. A small problem was the bail out and how it didnt help banks restructure that much to be sufficient small banks. But overall, hes passing, and close to pretty good.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-lux/obama-rolling_b_192748.html

current even 3

Blogtalk: Gays, Bloggers and Pajamas

By Maria Newman

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/blogtalk-gays-bloggers-and-pajamas/


As we all know, gay rights are extremely important, especially to a country where freedom is meant for everyone. But recently there has been some drama after the Sunday Gay Rights march. There is talk about how the government cares little or none to the interests of this political group, meaning they think of the group as merely a fringe group. On NBC, John Harwood, senior White House correspondent for CNBC was asked whether the White House was worried about the march and he responded, "

Barack Obama is doing well with 90 precent or more of Democrats so the White House views this opposition as really part of the Internet left fringe.

For a sign of how seriously the White House does or doesn’t take this opposition, one adviser told me those bloggers need to take off the pajamas, get dressed, and realize that governing a closely divided country is complicated and difficult."

Well this wasnt a hit for the bloggers/gay rights activists. They began blogging in their pajamas in a huge collaborated rant of how the government really doesnt care about gay rights. Mr. Harwood, in an attempt to fix the problem of what he said, then stated how he wasnt only attacking gay rights activists, but rather anyone who complains about an issue in government. This response didnt really even help him either, but rather insulted all the rest of the bloggers in the world.
What i have to say is to not put down people with an opinion, especially when its the people's opinion, and especially when youre in politics. I believe people can blog when ever they want in their pajamas, too, about gay rights(oh yeah) or about any other boring topic. The politician, although he didnt want to, should have just kept his mouth shut and relished the truth to himself silently in his head. But its good to know the gays are stepping forward tough.

One political issue i am interested in?

Of course, one main issue of politics that interests me in many ways is the issue over gay marriages. The issue is that even today in the free world of America it is still illegal, frowned upon, or not recognized for same sex couples to get married. I happen to live in a unique situation. My neighbors to the right are a gay female couple, and to the right is a gay male couple. They are both really great people. And the lesbians are some of the coolest bunch i have ever met--just overall great people. The lesbians were also married somewhere in the carribean or something. Knowing such people and being friends with such people makes me serious about how this group of humans, doing no harm to anyone, are being restricted in the United States to their access to pursuit of happiness. The idea is wack. There can be regulations on gay couples adopting kids and stuff, but overall they should not be restricted. I also am looking out for my bicurious future.

current event 2

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/us/politics/04jobless.html?ref=politics

Over the recent years, American economy has been plummeting. We are now in a recession, and almost on the brink of a depression. Recently, with bailouts and what not, legislation has been pushing towards pulling the United States out of this downfall. Unfortunatley, 9.8 percent from 9.7 percent and that 263,000 jobs were lost last month. This called for even more changes, and the president was first to speak of the change. In legistlature, they voted to help out the unemployed in America by extending enhanced unemployment benefits past December, continuing a tax credit for workers who have been laid off and extending a tax credit for first-time home buyers. An extended bonus congress hopes to add also is that they add 13 more weeks of benefits to states with an unemployment rate over 8.5 percent. Over the last couple years, the situation has improved, but still needs more help. Democrats are most fervent about this situation. Some critics say Obama's stimulus package wasnt good enough, also.

I think this is a good thing that legislation is acting on this problem. People with no jobs cant help out economic situation. Money is needed by people. I do believe people are giving Obama a hard time about this and his stimulus. The job at hand wasnt an easy one for the rookie president. But overall i think the article was good.