The Oscar pistorius case

Oscar pistorius, the well loved Olympic sprinter and double amputee, has been charged with first degree murder. He has shot and killed his girl friend. Pistorius claims to have thought he heard a burglar and shot through the bathroom door, not thinking that it could be his girl friend. Pistorius was released on bail earlier last week, a very rare thing to see. (getting released on bail when charged with first degree murder that is)

The stranded cruise ship

The carnival cruise ship, the Triumph, left land thinking about the enjoyable days to come. After a wonderful four day trip, they were sailing home. On sunday, the engine broke down cutting off all electricity and setting the boat adrift. Bathrooms stopped working. The smell of raw sewage wash unbearable. many people moved their mattresses out to the dock because they couldn't breathe. They ran out of food and had to wait in three hour lines to get onion sandwiches. People went insane. After five days in this condition they were finally pulled back to the United States.
The owners of the cruise ship has given every person $500, and a free ticket for a cruise in the future (many people hated the free ticket, never wanting to go on a cruise ever again.)
To read the horrific details, click either here, here, or here.

Obama's state of the Union speech

Last night, President Barack Obama gave a speech on the state of the Union.
One of the first issues he addressed was the national debt. A back up plan formed years ago stated that if the national debt grew to a certain amount (which it did) and both parties couldn't decide on a way to fix the problem, automatically three trillion dollars worth of budget cuts would be made. These budget cuts would effect our military, our education system, and our scientific research. President Obama said that both parties agreed that it would be the wrong idea to let these budget cuts happen. "[We can't] cut our way to zero debt". So the President has decided to raise taxes for the rich 1% and the rich elderly.

But, he said, "deficit reduction alone is not an economic plan", there was a great need for more jobs. He announced that three new 3D printing buildings would be built. And the goal is to get fifteen into place. Obama said that the "next revolution in technology should be in America.

Most children can't afford to go to a private preschool, and so he is going to put public preschools into place and make it a requirement. He is also hoping to redesign public high schools so that they truly equip kids for the future.

A family with two children living off of minimum wage is living under the poverty line. This is wrong, and so the new minimum wage is nine dollars an hour. We are the wealthiest country on earth (according to Obama) so we are raising the income.

They will be better equipping the nations cyber defense system to prevent hackers.

They will we working to improve the voting experience. It's a human right to vote, and with five hour waiting line, that right is often taken from us which is wrong.

Finally, there will be a vote for or against gun rights.

To watch the speech highlights, click here.

Boy Scouts of America: The homosexuality debate

The Boy scouts of America has encountered a problem. A few months ago, a boy scout named Ryan completed the requirements for his eagle award, but his leader refused to sign off on the paper due to the fact that the boy was gay. (To read more about Ryan, click here)
The leaders of the Boy Scouts of America came together to debate whether or not to allow boy scout members to be homosexuals. Some were against the idea because it was against Christian morals. Others believed that a guy was a guy, no matter what his sexual orientation was.
The vote was supposed to come back in the beginning of February, but has been put off until May.
To read a bit more on this subject, click here.