Band of Brothers

Over the weekend I read a book called Band Of Brothers which is a novel written be Stephen E. Ambrose. This story is about E. Company from the 101st Airborne divison fighting their way through Europe. The story starts with the men in training and earning their airborne wings. None of the men knew what the airborne was or what it had in store for them they just knew it paid 50$ more than infantry. The Airborne is groups of soldiers who jump out of planes behind enemy lines. These men were dropped into the worst combat situations of all regiments and they had the lowest death count. The men of E. company gained one of the greatest brotherly bonds between each other and that is what led them to their great success. When I read that these men were so close the would die for one another I really realized that their brotherly bond, not their skill is what made them such a successful unit.
307 pages
Band Of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose

Pirates

Off the shores of Kenya an American cruise ship was traveling with hundreds of passengers. The ship was comandeered by somali pirates. The six men were in two little boats firing rifle shots at the cruise.( yes this is for real). The cruise quickly sped away. Even this little attempt of piracy has sparked increased security measures in maritime matters. Other cruise lines have re routed their vessels to avoid the coast of Somalia. When i read this article I just started laughing because the thought of piracy is just a joke now with modern ships. Espically when it is just six men in dingys with rifles. This attempt was just probabally an act of stupidity and was in no way piracy. When i heard that security measures were increasing after this event i felt safer because the people are now concerned about small acts of violence.
3 pages
http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-world/20081202/Piracy/

Barack

On november 23 Soon to be president Barack Obama declared that he will dedicate more U.S. aid and military power to Afghanistan. He personally spoke to the Afghan leaders and said he would provide more aid to end the conflict in that area. The United States have around 32,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, this number will increase by thousands next year. The Afghan leaders quoted Obama saying about fighting terrorism. " in Afghanistan, the region and the world is a top priority.". These measures of action will increase the nations security. These actions of reinforced security has pleased the middle eastern nations. Barack is doing a very good job as to creating a good reputation. The actions of adding more troops has probabally angered Americans. Although he is creating good foreign relations, he has made American families un-easy. This action really makes you wonder if we elected the right guy? I think Barck is just to this as peace keeping measures and in no way shape or form is this an act of agression.
3 pages
http://www.startribune.com/world/34954429.html?page=3&c=y

Down goes the wall

Today the New york stock exchange or Wall street plunged to an all time low in the last 5 years. The most fatal drops were in the financial and energy stocks. The Dow Jones which is one of the biggest exchanges has gone down almost 6 percent. The stock market is crashing rapidly as our great nation is slipping more into a depression. The stocks that are dropping really scare me because the country is becoming un stable. Our national debt is increasing as we speak which isn't helping the decline of our economy. People need to start having faith the economy will get better and invest their money, that is how countries are pulled out of terrible economic times like this.
1 page
http://finance.comcast.net/www/news.html?x=http://76.96.38.13/data/news/2008/11/20/1120129.xml

Wild fires

In California there have been many wild fires spreading through the region of southern California. These fires have been very fierce with dry coditions and high winds. The flames have almost destroyed one thousand homes. tens of thousands have evacuated to safe regions. Some officials have said that around twenty thousand acres of land have been schorched. The fires have damaged the star filled areas around los angeles. The fires have lasted for 4 days. The smoke clogs almost all line of vision in the surrounding areas. This article i found was very intresting because this fire spread very rapidly throught that region of California. This also is scary because I have family in California being affected by the fires right now. I really hope that hte fires can be stopped and the people who were affected can go back to their normal lives. These fires also show that one of mans best creations (fire) can also be a very dangerous thing that is very destructive.
http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20081114/NEWS-US-WILDFIRE-CALIFORNIA/
2 pages

Refusal

In London England a thirteen year old girl turned down a heart transplant so she could live a normal life instead of in a hospital bed. She was diagnosed with leukemia at age 4 and has had a dozen operations on her heart. She refused this treatment becasue she says she is sick of being in a hospital bed. She was threatened by the hospital for refusing this care. A social worker was sent to talk with Hannah, and she said the welfare not the health is more important for the child.
This is a very powerful story for me because the girl is willing to give up more years on her life just to have a few more years normally. This girl made a very strong decision to deny the advanced medical care in path of a new life. She just wants to have a good mindset towards life and not that of a sick person. I believe she just wants to live normally for these last years and just go with the flow. Hannah really emphasizes the point of quality not quantity.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-world-europe/20081111/EU.Britain.Refusing.Care/
2 pages

Gettin lucky in North Dakota?

In a small town called Parshall in North Dakota was struggling economically. It is an Indian reservation with around 100 citizens. The town is very close to the Canadian border. About 400 personally owned buildings have been leased in the recent years. There is an oil reserve near the town that big Texas companies own. Nobody thought it was a large reserve at all. The investors who bought the buildings and the mineral rights below it are being paid big bucks for the oil below them. The town has prospered in recent months because of the output of their oil reserve. The town is on the up rise during a time of despair in our economy today. This article show the wealth of oil today and how just one natural resource can change the lives of just a small North Dakotan town. This town has become a town desired by oil companies, that is what makes it a town that has value to the economy.
3 pages
http://finance.comcast.net/www/news.html?x=http://76.96.38.13/data/news/2008/11/09/1110126.xml