Cholera from Haiti to Florida

"The first known case of cholera in the United States linked to the outbreak in Haiti was confirmed Wednesday by health officials who said a southwest Florida woman contracted the disease while visiting family in a region at the heart of Haiti’s epidemic." 
Original Article 


     On Wednesday, November 17th, heath officials confirmed that a case of cholera was linked to the outbreak in Haiti. The woman who was diagnosed with cholera had spent some time in the Artibonite region in Haiti. She has spend five days in the hospital and is expected to have a full recovery.

Obese Women and Pregnancy

"Obese women who lose weight during pregnancy may have a lower risk of certain pregnancy complications, but -- with the exception of extremely obese women -- those benefits may be outweighed by negative effects on the baby's birth size, a new study suggests."
Original Article

     Everyone knows that when women are pregnant, they do gain weight. New research shows that obese women who actually lose weight during pregnancy, may have less complications with the pregnancy. Obese women who are pregnant have a high chance of having complications with the birth and with the baby, but if they lose weight during the pregnancy, it is less likely. "Overall, those women who shed pounds generally had lower risks of emergency C-section and pre-eclampsia than obese women who gained weight during pregnancy. They were also less likely to have a larger-than-normal baby."

Terrorist Trials and Guanatamo Bay

"The mixed verdict in the case of the first Guantanamo detainee to be tried in a civilian court on Wednesday quickly re-ignited a fierce debate over the Obama administration’s effort to restore the role of the traditional criminal justice system in handling terrorism prosecutions."
Original Article

     Ahmed Ghailani was tried because of his relation to the embassy bombings in Africa in 1998. His sentence is 20 years in prison.  Representative Peter King, Republican of New York, says that the Obama administration should not try any of the Guantanamo terrorists and that "we should treat them as wartime enemies and try them in military commissions at Guantanamo.” King is going to become head of homeland security and says that he will try to influence the administration when it comes to handling terrorist trials.

Prop 19 Loses

"Fourteen years after approving marijuana for medical purposes, the state’s voters refused to make it legal for anyone 21 or older to grow, possess and use small amounts of pot."
Original Article

     On November 2nd, majority of the residents in California, and many from outside of California, were keeping a close watch on the polls because this time there was a very interesting proposition on the ballot. Prop 19 is for the legalization of the use of marijuana for anyone who is 21 years or older. There are limits though. "Possession would have been limited to less than an ounce, and cultivation to 25 square feet of private land, but marijuana would have remained illegal under federal law."
     Many people think that the legalization of marijuana would have benefited the state because of the high tax that would be put on it, but the majority of California think that the state would not benefit from it and as a result, prop 19 was not passed in California.

How True is the Crime Rate Records?

"Year in and year out, the New York Police Department proudly broadcasts its statistics for major crimes. And each year for more than a decade, its numbers have showed how reports of murder, rape, robbery, serious assault and theft have hit historic lows."
Original Article

     The rate of major crimes in New York City is at the lowest it has ever been in recorded history, but the record only accounts for major crimes. Many people who live in New York City also wonder about smaller crimes, such as misdemeanor thefts and assaults. Should the data that the police put out also involve smaller crimes in order for the people to get a more full understanding of the crime rate?

Why Did BP Continue With the Well?

"Halliburton and BP knew weeks before the fatal explosion of the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico that the cement mixture they planned to use to seal the bottom of the well was unstable but still went ahead with the job, the presidential commission investigating the accident said on Thursday."
Original Article

     11 wrokers were killed in the explosion that led to the very well known BP oil spil. It is recorded as the largest oil spill in history. New news has now come out saying that the cement mixture that they planned on using did not meet the standards that they are supposed to meet. One of the test results were given to BP, but they did not respond to it and the other test result was never even given to BP. An investigator of the spill,  Fred H. Bartlit Jr. said, "that if the cement had done its job and kept the highly pressured oil and gas out of the well bore, there would not have been an accident."

College Touition and Financial Aid Goes Up

"As their state financing dwindled, four-year public universities increased their published tuition and fees almost 8 percent this year, to an average of $7,605, according to the College Board’s annual reports."
Original Article

     Right now is the time that High School stuudents are starting to apply to college. They mainly determine where they apply to based on classes, sports and the location of the college, but now that college tuition is going up, that is starting to become a critical factor when applying to a college. The good thing is that as the touition rises, financial aid is increasing also.