South Carolina Shooting

     Area in South Carolina where 6 people were shot dead, including 2 children. Bryan Sweatt killed his girlfriend, her parents, two children living in the home and then killed himself. Prior to the incident, a 911 call was made where Sweatt said he had "a .44" before the phone line went dead.
     Sweatt was in custody battle with girlfriend and was facing a burglary charge that could have led him to jail. Horrible incident cause by a mentally unstable man.

Everett Golson Suspension

http://www.abc57.com/sports/local/Everett-Golson-finally-speaks-about-cheating-scandal-229749101.html

Notre Dame Quarterback Everett Golson suspended for cheating on test confesses. Says watching his team play without him is the hardest thing this season.

World Series Editorial

    Not only did the Red Sox deserve to win the World Series Championship, but the team and city did it with class. From going to the worst ranked team in baseball with a record of 69-93 after the 2012 season to the best team with a record of 97-65 this season. The firing of manager Bobby Valentine seemed inevitable after the 2012 season.

     With the controversial obstruction in Game 3, Boston's luck seemed to be shifting towards St.Louis. Instead of putting their heads down, they bounced back and took the series.

     The teams tribute to the Boston Marathon bombings and the city of Boston's responsible reaction to the winning of the title, proves what type of a city Boston is. Well deserved championship team and city.

Syrian Chemical Weapons

    According to CNN.com, Syria has destroyed all of their chemical weapons mixing, filling, and production facilities. While CNN summarizes the events of destroying the chemical weapons, they talk about the events of the past and also discuss the future plans such as the time Syria has to destroy them.
     Instead of looking at the big picture, NPR.org further explains why destroying the chemicals is such a difficult task. Destroying 1,000 tons of chemicals isn't as easy as it was in WWII where you could simply drop them in the ocean.
    Both news articles are based on the same topic but written with a different purpose.

Social Security Benefits Increase

     For the upcoming 2014 year, Social Security benefits for 58 million people will increase 1.5%. This is one of the small numbers of increase since the automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975. This number is smaller than it has been in recent years as a result of less consumer spending. (NBC)

     This upcoming year's increase is down from the 2013 increase of 1.7%. In 2012 there was a rather high increase of 3.6%, which has been the only significant rise in benefit in recent years. The recent 2014 adjustment will add roughly $19 a month to Social Security checks, raising the monthly benefits to an average of $1,294. (CNN)

     Social Security is funded by a 12.4% tax on the first $113,700 earned by a workers wages. This threshold will increase to $117,000. "Wages above the threshold are not subject to Social Security taxes." (NBC)

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/social-security-benefits-rise-next-year-less-2-percent-8C11496419

http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/30/news/economy/social-security-benefits/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Capitol Shooting

http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/10/03/39632/us-capitol-on-lockdown-reports-of-shots-fired/#video

Video of the women responsible for the Capitol shooting, prior to the incident driving recklessly.

New California Drivers

     Yesterday, California democratic governor Jerry Brown passed a law allowing illegal immigrants to obtain drivers licenses. The Chicago Tribune went on to say how the Legislation marks a major victory for immigration activists. The state is expected for another 1.4 million people to apply for licenses in the next three years.
     According to The Gateway Pundit says that Governor Brown is handing out licenses to criminals. The article opposes Brown's decision as he brings "criminal burdens on our society, who should not be here, the right to have a drivers license." (The Gateway Pundit)
   
These illegal immigrant licenses are specially marked on the front.


http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-77648016/

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/10/equality-for-criminals-gov-jerry-brown-hands-out-california-drivers-licenses-to-illegal-immigrants/

Shutdown Editorial

     Although I view the government shutdown as unnecessary and quite fixable, it proves two things. One, how stubborn and uncooperative both parties are and two, how uninformed many Americans are on their own country's issues.
      If both the liberals and far left conservatives could settle their differences for at least one time a year so the shutdown doesn't reach the debt ceiling then chaos can be prevented. Clearly, the U.S. shouldn't get involved in other countries issues if we can't even run our government without it closing. Maybe Juan Linz, a political scientist from Yale was correct, America's democracy with never run as well as England's, where they have a Prime Minister and Parliament.
      As a 17 year old with what I consider, little political knowledge, even I know that the Affordable Care Act and Obamacare are the same thing. Jimmy Kimmel made several people feel uneducated in his skit, and he was making a valid point.  It's unbelievable how clueless many Americans are when it comes to politics. The majority of Americans say that its the Republicans fault for the government shutdown but only a small percentage of the party is making it a standstill with little progress.

Government Shutdown Summary

     On Tuesday, Washington began to prepare and brace for the government shutdown. The main reason for this shutdown is the House Republicans demand for delay or repeal of the nation's Affordable Care Act, better known as "ObamaCare." The Democrats and President Obama refuse to give in and repeal the act. (Washington Post)
     As a result of the government shutdown roughly 800,000 governmental workers did not go to work on Tuesday, but the 1.4 million critical workers such as Border Patrol and air-traffic controllers would remain working, unpaid. Legislation passed to fund armed forces and services during the shutdown. Parks and Museums are closed, including the Statue of Liberty. (NY Daily)
    The last shutdown occurred 17 years ago in 1996 during President Clinton's administration lasted 22 days, which currently stands as the longest shutdown. There have been a total of 17 federal shutdowns in U.S. history according to the Congressional Research Service. (Watchdog)
     Forty-six percent of Americans say they blame republicans for the closing of government programs and agencies. Another 36 percent say they blame President Obama and the other 13 said both are at fault. (Reuters)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/government-shutdown-begins-senate-expected-to-reject-latest-house-proposal/2013/10/01/ef464556-2a88-11e3-97a3-ff2758228523_story.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/federal-government-appears-headed-shutdown-divided-lawmakers-reach-last-minute-deal-article-1.1471738

http://watchdog.org/107434/fun-facts-about-federal-government-shutdowns/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/30/us-usa-fiscal-poll-idUSBRE98T0J720130930

Women shot down after car chase

Woman involved in police shooting in Manchester dies | Local News - WMUR Home

Woman shot and killed on Monday after police car chase in Manchester, NH. Sounds like something you'd see in Grand Theft Auto V.

Compare and Contrast

    Both ABC News and FOX News did a report on the Naeglearia fowleri parasite and how the waters of Louisiana have been tested and discovered the amoeba present. While ABC introduces the story by talking about how health officials are killing the bacteria with chlorine, FOX is giving a brief description of the situation, but both mention the Louisiana state officials.
    Each article presents the symptoms of the parasite when contracted, but ABC discusses the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) more often than FOX, describing the safety tips and steps. FOX provides a few more facts than ABC as it goes on to say "a total of 32 infections were reported in the U.S. between 2001 and 2010." (FOX) ABC appears to be more proper as FOX is a little more local and laid back.






http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/09/16/brain-eating-amoeba-found-in-water-supply/

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/09/16/new-orleans-water-flushed-for-brain-eating-amoeba/

Brain-Eating Amoeba

Summary-

    Early in July this year, 12 year old Kali Hardig from Little Rock, Arkansas, contracted a form of meningitis caused by a brain-eating amoeba parasite called Naeglearia fowleri. The parasite can be contracted by swimming in still, murky waters with soft bottoms such as sand. Kali is said to have gotten the parasite from a local recreational water park that is built on a pond. The only way to contract the amoeba is through the nasal passage, although getting the parasite through drinking contaminated water is a common misconception. 
     There have only been 132 document cases of the particular parasite since 1962 (NBC) and with a survival rate of less than 1%, there has only two survivors, one being Kali Hardig. Another 12-year old boy contracted the parasite around the same time as Kali but Zachary Reyna was not part of the 1%. (CNN)
    Another incident involving the brain-eating amoeba has arose in Louisiana when a 4-year old boy died from the rare microbe in August after playing on a Slip N' Slide in St. Bernard's Paris, which was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina 2005.(NY Daily News) In more recent news, further investigation of the boys death appeared that the water supply in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana may be contaminated with Naeglearia fowleri from Hurricane Katrina. Water fountains have been shut off, water bottles are being handed out and a swimming pool has been closed in St. Bernard's Parish. (NBC)




Citations


http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/53036982/#53036982 - NBC news report video on Louisiana water supply contamination


http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/12/health/arkansas-amoeba-survivor/index.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/hurricane-katrina-responsible-brain-eating-amoeba-killed-boy-article-1.1461692

HS football player killed by head to head contact

Above is a picture of 16 year old Damon Janes, a junior at Brocton High School in New York who was killed during a high school football game versus Westfield High School on Monday. Janes is a running back and after getting tackled in a head to head collision went unconscious and was rushed to the hospital on Friday night. This is the second time in a month that a high school football player has died due to related sports injury.

Kali Hardig

-Picture of Kali Hardig (story explained in previous post)
- Background picture is the water park which she contracted the Naeglearia fowleri

Miraculous Survivor

Kali Hardig

Opinion-

    With the fatality rate of the Naeglearia fowleri parasite being close to 99%, it truly is nothing short of a miracle that Kali Hardig has out fought the brain-eating amoeba, won the battle and has now almost finalized her stage of recovery. With 128 reported cases of the specific parasite within the past 50 years, only 2 people have survived. I believe that Kali will never understand nor comprehend how tremendous her escape from death was.
    The owners of the water park said they are going to treat the water, to kill any parasites living in the water and hopefully prevent such a scenario from occurring again. They are also changing the sandy bottom to something more solid. These changes were something that should be done to all bodies of water similar to that of the water park, but especially at the spot of the incidident.
    Another 12 year old boy contracted the parasite around the same time as Kali but his case become uncontrollable and sadly he passed away a few weeks ago. Once doctors and scientists are more familiar with the amoeba and more cases arise, I believe the fatality rate with decrease but until then, one should be aware of the harsh symptoms that follow (fever, headache, stiff neck, vomiting) and get the the doctors ASAP because time is the killer.