Oil leak in Gulf may be 5 times worse than feared

Authorities are trying to stop a potential environmental disaster that is being posed by an oil spill that is expanding toward the Gulf Coast. After last weeks oil rig explosion there was a total of three underwater leaks. The amount of estimated oil leaked has now increased to five times more than what was originally thought to be leaked. Officials now believe that as many as 5,000 barrels, or 210,000 gallons of oil are being leaked a day. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation as the oil continues to spread.

I think that it is ridiculous that this much oil is being leaked and that it continues to spread. We need to take action and stop this right away. This will be very detrimental to the environment and we need to stop guessing as to what is happening or what will happen. Officials need to get out there and clean it up. This issue also brings to mind the argument of is it really worth our environment to have oil energy. Alternative resources need to be looked at now more than ever.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/29/louisiana.oil.rig/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Naps boost memory, but only if you dream

A new study suggests that a nap may boost the ability to process and store information. But this is only if you dream while you're asleep. When you dream, your brain is trying to look at connections that you might not think of or notice when your awake. While dreaming the brain tries to figure out what information is important and what it should keep or get rid of. They have even found as they monitered brain activity in sleeping students that it doesn't even need to be a deep sleep. Although the deep slumber known as rapid eye movement (REM) is most closely associated with dreaming, the students' dreaming and learning occurred after as little as one minute of non-REM sleep.

I find this to be very interesting and helpful. Because I am a student I am constantly tired and have difficulty in study and remembering information. This researh could be helpful in the ways in which I will conduct my studying and sleeping habits.




http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/22/naps.memory.dream.brain/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Search continues for South Korean sailors after sinking

1,200-ton patrol ship was on patrol when it sank Friday at 9:45 pm. No one knows why the ship sank, so it is still under investigation. On board were 104 sailors, 58 of those sailors have been rescued. The search for 46 missing sailors continues in very cold temperatures and dangerous waters. It is being suspected based upon the location of the ship sinking that North Korea my have played some role in the sinking. But officials are down playing the incident and don't want to jucmp to conclusions.

North and South Korea are still enemies and I think that something like this is just what either of them needs to fight the other. They need a reason and they will find one. Even if this sinking was a complete incident people in the back of their mind are still probably thinking that is was North Korea trying to sabatoge them. They need to play it safe and make sure this situation doesn't turn into something bigger.

Man says dad's order got him out of accused killer's truck

The case of the "Clinton Avenue Five" may have finally been put to rest. After nearly 32 years Lee Anthony Evans and Philander Hampton were arrested on 5 counts of murder as well as arson. The night of August 20, 1978 Evans came by in his truck and picked up a bunch of teenagers. Roderick Royster was the sixth teen that ended up getting out of the truck because his father told him to. The teenagers later went missing and it was recently discovered that Evans and Hampton had taken the five teenagers to an abandoned building and burned them inside.

This is such a tragic story, but it shows that if you just listen to your parents they might actually be saving your life. Also I think that its good the case was finally solved. It gives the families closure and will hopefully end in the punishment in the doer of the crime. Sometimes it seems a little ridiculous that cases remain open and under investigation for that long but I think its only fair to the family and friends of the victims to solve the case and let them what happened.

Health Care Reform

Basically the health care reform bill provides health care for 32 million Americans who were previously uninsured. This also offers many more plans for the future. For example, people can no longer be denied if they have a pre-existing condition, abortion will not be covered, seniors will get fifty percent off of their name brand prescriptions, etc. There are many things that this bill covers and it will cost an enormous $940 billion dollars over ten years. The way in which it will be payed for is through taxing the people.

I personally don't like the health care reform bill. Yes, it helps a lot of people out that don't have health care but for those that do it does nothing but cost them more money. We live in a society where we all think that everything should just be handed to us for no cost, and its wrong. People need to learn that they have to work for what they want. If you want health care, work for it and buy it. Its ridiculous that people have been paying for health care for years and now all of sudden its free? It doesn't work that way and it shouldn't work that way. We need to take responsibility and action for our own health. We can't sit around waiting for someone else to foot the bill, its not fair and its wrong.

Gates eases ban on gays in the military

It was announced by Defense Secretary Robert Gates that enforcement will be eased on the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. This is a policy that restricts the United States military from investigating the sexual orientation of an individual and prohibiting them from serving in the military. By repealing this policy it gives certain ranked people the power to reveal the sexual orientation of a military member.

I don't think that this is a step in the right direction. First of all I may not totally agree with homosexuality, but that shouldn't keep people from fighting for their country. Nobody's allowed to discriminate certain nationalities from serving in the military so why should homosexuals be discriminated against? I find this to be wrong based on the fact that they are people. And hey, if they want to fight for their country let them do it.

Purported Bin Laden message hints at retaliation

A recent audio message sent to the United States from Bin Laden threatened another attack on Americans. The reason that the al Qaeda leader is sending these messages is because of the prisoners that we hold. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is being held for trial here in the United States for his actions that took part in the September 11th attack. Bin Laden threatens that if we execute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed they will retaliate by executing Americans.

I find this information very alarming because it hasn't been the first message that we have received from Bin Laden. There have been several messages sent prior to this one. We need to crack down on security and ensure that something like September 11th never happens again. We don't want history to repeat itself. Americans need to be aware of whats going on and the government needs to take action. For now these are just messages, but we as citizens of the United States don't want these threatening messages to become reality.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/03/25/mideast.bin.laden/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29