Child Stars Bound to Break

   Many Teen icons have been under the spot light for too long and just want to live a normal live. We have seen Britany Spears for example go completly down hill. She never experienced what is was like to be a real teen. I believe that Miley Cyrus will be next, she has been in the spotlight and is an icon to many teens. This pressure will cause her to slip even more. The thing that is sad about child stars is they will never get that experience of being just a normal kid walking down the street and no one knowing who they are. America has grown up with many child stars and watched them go downhill. Hopefully Miley will not go down the same road.

Will The Oil Industry Ever Learn?

  America’s oil industry is furious at the Obama administration for not allowing them to do exploratory drilling off the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast. The article states:

“Given the disastrous oil spill in the central gulf, and industry’s inability to clean it up, one might have expected a little self-knowledge. Not from this crowd, which continues to lobby for more risky drilling instead of focusing all its energy on improving its capacity to prevent and respond to future blowouts.”

Because of BP’s inability to prevent blowouts, as well as the inability to contain and clean when blowouts occur, Obama made the overall right decision to deny new exploratory drilling. The oil industry argues that for a nation that consumes a quarter of the world’s oil, but only controls 3 percent of the oil reserves, “delaying drilling will increase America’s dependence on foreign oil.” The government has taken everything into consideration but the delay still stands. The government also takes accountability for part of the BP disaster due to there lack of oversight. It is said that, “one of the main reasons for putting the March drilling plan on hold is to give the government time to upgrade its staff and focus on creating a more stringent regulatory regime.”

Increase in Energy Research Spending Urgent for U.S.

   With the economy being the way it is in America today, which can be defined as terrible, funds for subjects such as energy, have been cut. America, who is now behind Japan, China, France and Korea in energy research, drastically needs to increase it’s spending efforts. The article states:

           

"The United States needs to more than triple its spending on energy research, development and demonstration projects, from about $5 billion now to $16 billion"

   The U.S. in lagging behind other industrialized nations in energy research spending which may eventually result in the U.S. being overtaken in the development of new energy technologies. In Obama’s 2008 election campaign he spoke of increasing energy research spending, but with the collapse of the economy, that money has gone elsewhere. And, although this necessity to increase spending is urgent, a bill being passed through the house looks grim due to it’s incoming republican leadership.

Mental Health Break

Off-Shore Drilling in Cuba

Gazprom, a Russian energy giant, has recentlty joind a slew of other companies to begin searching and drilling for oil off the coasts of Cuba. The article states:

"Cuba produces little oil now, but petroleum experts say the country’s northern coastal waters could hold plentiful reserves, which could help revive the island’s economy and ease its dependence on oil imported from Venezuela."

Because of this possible economic boom, Cuba has willing signed contracts with half a dozen oil companies to begin drilling as soon as next year. But, because of a 48 year-old oil trade embargo on the United States, The U.S. is unable to drill and more importantly, might not be able to aid the foreign companies if there is an oil spill which could be as close as fifty miles off the coast of Florida. Ocean scientists say that if there is a spill it, "could send oil spewing onto Cuban beaches and then the Florida Keys in as little as three days." I believe because of this possibility alone, drilling off of Cuba is a bad idea. Our planet has become too dependent on fossil fuels. Instead of investing money in looking for oil and increasing pollution, we need to put more money and effort into finding clean, alternative sources of energy. But, in the end Cuba, a struggling country, Is going to do anything to improve their economy and make a quick buck. 

North Korea Needs Aid

   As of now North Korea is in desperate need of food aid from the United nations and South Korea. Although North Korea has had a decent autumn harvest, they desperately need food, especially for their women and children. The article states:

"But even in the best of years, North Korea is unable to feed itself. Government food distribution provides only half the necessary daily calories," the report says.

   No matter what North Korea needs assistance from anyone they can get it from. The worst part about this is that due to lack of foreign currency and credit, agriculture is “the main contributor to the national income" in North Korea. With a nine percent drop in the countries Gross Domestic Product, the economy and Government are suffering. And, due to the long term tension between North and South Korea, it is unlikely that the South will provide enough assistance to improve North Korea's status. As of now the children of North Korea are losing the battle of malnutrition, and it looks as though the United Nation's are the only hope for North Korea. Unless the UN drastically steps up its efforts, North Korea will continue to suffer.

Another Trajedy for Haitins

   Haiti, being one of the most poor nations in our world, was not only was devastated with a major earthquake but is now facing an outbreak of Cholera. This disease is transmitted through drinking water, some of the symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting. Many don't even know they have the disease and are spreading it to others. Denise Grady, the author of this article states:

"They can carry the bacteria for two weeks and shed them back into the environment, where they can infect others, which is most likely to occur when sanitation is poor and clean drinking water not available."

 Haitians that are infected with Cholera may be spreading to others with out any knowledge. Clean drinking water is not available tho the people of Haiti so the out break is bound to infect many. Grady states "As of Sunday, there were 3,015 known cases and 259 deaths in Haiti". This Infection is taking the lives of many and there is a possibility that it could travel outside of Haiti. It is a mystery how Cholera appeared, but there are many theories such as, "An infected person could have brought the bacteria in from another country, or it could have arrived in food or even on board a ship that discharged infected wastes into a local waterway. Once it landed, the squalid conditions were ideal for its spread". It is scary that this outbreak is happening and we don't know how it happened. The Haitians have already suffered a massive earthquake and now are trying to prevent themselves from getting this scary infection.