Review: NSA snooping program should stay in place

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/18/politics/nsa-report/

The NSA has been scrutinized by the media and public for their snooping around taking information from electronics and saving it for "safety reasons."Although this seems like a clear violation of our right to privacy, Obama thinks otherwise and thinks we need to keep this controversial program in place. Because of the Patriot Act the government has the right to strip you of your rights and do whatever they feel the need to do if you are considered a terrorist or threat to the security of the nation. The NSA claims they are only collecting all this information to protect the U.S. from possible threats but is that what is really going on? Of course they wouldn't tell us the truth behind their reasoning so one can only guess. The presidential Review Group on Intelligence, which was only created because Edward Snowden was able to expose all this corruption to the public in our government, decided that the organization needs more strict judicial oversight and boundaries. This is the first step in taking action to protect our civil liberties guaranteed to us by the constitution and hopefully there will be many more to provide a clear distinction on how deep the government can go into our personal lives.

"Known Unknowns about Obamacare"

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/04/politics/obamacare-secrets/?iref=obinsite

President Obamas new Obamacare has received a huge amount of scrutiny, especially due to the fact that the website made to sign up for this health care policy did not work at all. Now they say they finally have fixed the issues on the website but why are they not being upfront about three things: How many people actually visited the site, how many signed up, and just how messed up the information that the insurance companies are getting. This new health care policy is obviously a total mess and they people running it aren't even giving reasons for it, they are simply avoiding discussing the issue. White House press secretary Jay Carney said that over one million people visited the site which proves that a massive amount of people would like quality affordable health insurance. However, they are being blocked by the system which won't allow them to receive health care. The most disturbing issue is that the information that is going to insurance companies is not accurate and this is how they decide what to charge you on a monthly bases. My personal opinion is that they need to shut it down completely and actually fix all the bugs and issues embedded into the program before embarrassing themselves again.

U.S. Veteran gets detained in North Korea

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/21/us-korea-north-detention-idUSBRE9AK00P20131121

North Korea has recently detained an 85 year old Korean war veteran visiting from California. He was there to visit the land he once walked on so many years ago. He was there to study the culture and see how things have improved since the time he was there. While boarding his flight back to his home country he was forcefully taken off the plane by officials and taken away to be held in an undisclosed location says his son. The North Korean officials claim that he brought over "propaganda materials" to overthrow the state which is complete nonsense. He was approved by North Korea to come into the country, had all the right visas and passports, and is an elderly man who was seeking no harm in his visit. I think it is now an issue of human rights as to when and how soon the North Korean officials release  Newman. U.S. and North Korea's foreign relationship has not been very good in the last decade and this will not help any of these issues.

FDA and Trans Fat

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/07/health/fda-trans-fats/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

FDA Takes on Trans Fat

A positive change that is currently taking place in our country is the regulation of the use of trans fat in our foods. Trans fat is used by distributing companies to add flavor, elongate shelf life, and to make food look pretty. However, trans fat has no purpose other than that. Our bodies don't know how to break down trans fat and therefore proposes complications to our health such as heart disease, raises bad cholesterol and lowers good, and increases risk for heart attacks. I am really proud of our government for our government to focus on something as important to the publics health as this. This is hopefully the first step of many to reforming what goes into our food and what we eat. This applies to AP Gov because the FDA is part of the government and they are trying to pass a new law.

Ethiopia signs $4 billion geothermal deal

http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/ethiopia-signs-4-billion-geothermal-081026261.html

Ethiopia signed a $4 billion deal Wednesday with American-Icelandic company Reykjavik Geothermal to develop a 1000-megawatt geothermal farm which when completed will provide energy consumption and export will be the largest source of foreign direct investment in Ethiopia. Reykjavik chief executive officer Gudmundur Thoroddsson is quoted saying, "This is an epic moment for all of us... bringing Ethiopia to the forefront of geothermal development." This type of energy is very reliable because it does not rely on the weather and is a very successful renewable energy plant. Ethiopia has seen a mushroom effect of foreign investments from countries such as China, Turkey, and India investing in a range of industries, including manufacturing, agriculture and construction. This will allow for an economic growth period in Ethiopia in which their goal is to be a carbon-neutral, middle income country by 2025.

US Military Spending

Without a doubt the US military has been the most influential military power in recent years. Its power is directly connected to the massive influx of funds it receives but how much is too much? The amount of money that is pouring into the military has been on the rise due the the so called War on Terror and the invasions of many of the middle eastern countries. As you can see in the first graph the US military funding has steadily increase since 2001, only decreasing in recent years due to the Iraq war reduction and redeployment  into Afghanistan. The second graph shows how much money we spend on military in comparison to other domestic institutions.

I do not necessarily agree with this massive funding that is directed to the military. We have a plethora of other issues that could be solved with all the money that is being endlessly poured into our military.

Colorado Flood

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/09/130919-colorado-flooding-causes-oil-spill/

The flooding in Colorado has become a major issue not only with humans but now putting the environment in a threatened state. The massive flood has damaged multiple oil tanks which all have the potential to start leaking their contents into the rivers and streams nearby and contaminating massive amounts of land. There is no guarantee to how bad the oil spills are because the crews examining them are just basing it off of visuals.    It is difficult to even get to the main points of damage and much less to fix the problem "because many roads are still inaccessible,'' says Todd Hartman. He goes on to say that most operations are underwater and are too difficult to fix for now. There is also a huge concern for the hazardous wastewater and toxins that are often near these oil wells that have the potential to start leaking out into the waters. I think that they aren't taking enough measures to be as safe and cautious as they should be. Basing the amount of oil that is spilling into the environment by visual perception is such an inefficient way of measuring and could lead to serious issues later on.  

Nuclear Spill at Fukushima

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/fukushimas-radioactive-ocean-plume-due-reach-us-waters-2014-8C11050755


Japan was hit with a massive earthquake followed by a tsunami in 2011. This caused the Fukushima nuclear plant to be crippled and started to leak massive amounts of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. A new study shows that these radioactive plumes coming from Japan will likely reach the U.S. in 2014. While this long journey of radioactive water courses through the Pacific Ocean, researchers will be able to tack its flow and understand how the ocean's currents circulate around the world. Luckily, The spill occurred in the two ocean currents off the eastern coast of Japan, the Kuroshio Current and the Kuroshio Extension, which played a major role in diluting the radioactive material. However, cancer concerns are high on the health risks due to the spill. Japan estimated about 24-2,500 deaths from the spill and the plume of radioactive material is headed our way.