Gold Fish

NBC website or www.msnbc.com in the section of World News reported that round gold fish bowls have been banned in Rome. This new banned is in a new law that will sentence people for using these bowls for gold fish. The reason why for this new banned? Researchers feel that the round bowls make gold fish go blind and that there's not enough oxygen for the fish either.
I find this very funny, how do researchers know that the round bowls are dangerous to gold fish? What's funny also is that people will go to jail if they have a round bowl for their gold fish. Aren't law makers going a little too far with this gold fish debate? It's just a fish that is good for young children keep as pets and also for adults who don't want to deal with pets. I beleive in all honesty that this is a stupid law and that the law makers in Rome should reconsider this ban when it comes to animals.

American Hero

I was sad to hear and read that Rosa Parks died on Monday. She lived to be 92 years old and died of natural casues. It's really sad to hear that an hero has passed away, I believe she just wasn't a role model to Amfrican American but also to women. Parks wasn't afraid to stand up for her rights to sit on a bus after a long's day work like everyone else.
I remember learning about Rosa Parks in school and later on in my junior college. What was internesing to learn about Parks was that she was a seamstress and when she refused to give up her seat she was jailed. Unlike the other two women before her, were fined $14 dollars. Her arrest sparked a 381 bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama until the Supreme Court in 1956 said that segregation on transpotation was unconstitutional.
I hope that now Parks has passed away that students won't just look at her as a person that was part of the Civil Rights Movement but also a person who truly beleived in fighting for your rights.

election

Right now Iraq officials are counting the votes that are coming in, also at the same time some ballots from other areas of Baghdad are being delayed. Iraqi people won't know the end result of the election unitl the end of the week. However, Sunni Arab leaders feel that votes were fixed in Ninevah and Diyala, there is also a concern that the constitution will be rejected and split the country in half.
I'll a little concerned about the election myself. I haven't heard that much about it and I would like to see more coverage in the news. I'm sure right now our government is paying attention to the elections and looking into how the end result will affect America. I just hope that the end result from the election won't cause any more blood shed and also that the constitution will be accepted. I truly feel it's time to pull our troops out from the Middle East and take care of our own problems.

Lord God Bird

"60 Minutes" reported on Sunday, that the Ivory Billed Woodpecker or "Lord God Bird" is back in the woods of Arkansas. It was reported and also recorded that the bird was exinct. But last year the Lord God Bird was discovered. The discovery was made by Gene Sparling, an outdoorsman who was kayaking in the Big Woods of Arkansas.
From there researchers from Cornell University secretly went into the woods of Arkansas to see if the rumors were true. The researchers taped sounds of the birds, and video taped as well and didn't reveal anything until last April when the researchers felt they had enough evidence to prove the bird is back.
I think this is really great news. It's good to know that a bird like Lord God Bird is making a come back into the world. Lately the news has been reporting hurricanes, earthquakes, and the war. It's refreshing to me to hear that an animal we thought was gone is still alive and hopefully will stay that way forever.

H5N1 Revision

One of the major stories in the news is the chicken flu or avian influenza. I've been hearing and reading in the news and it's a pretty bad flu that can hurt human beings. But I don't know that much about it so I decided to research it and hopefully develop a better understanding.
The first thing I wanted to know was what is it? The virus that is affecting humans and chickens is the H5N1, it's one of the 15 types of avian influenza that infects birds around the world. The virus is contagious and fatal to birds, and can be transitted to humans.
However, research has shown that its not SARS. This virus can't readily be contained like SARS, and this strain of the virus can hurt human beings more than SARS.
The second question I wanted to know is how are birds being exposed? Poultry is being exposed to it by wild birds. The virus can survive for four days in 71 Fahrenheit and more than 30 days at 32 Fahrenheit. This current outbreak is being blamed in chickens and thier droppings.
The third question I asked and researched was when was the first outbreak? From what I remembered, the first outbreak was in Hong Kong in 1997. From what I researched was that a total of 18 people were hosptialized and six people were reported to have died from the virus. Also, 1.5 million chickens were destroyed.
From what I have been researching, the virus can affect human beings. But how? If the virus gets into contact with a human the virus mutates. The virus will combine itself to a human influenza and can be passed on to person-to person. Since there is no vaccine for this type of bird flu, researchers have found the virus can be treated with flu drugs. The two types of drugs are the Tamiflu and Relenza. To prevent further outbreak, chickens and others animals that have been exposed to the virus are being destroyed.
My personal thoughts on this is that I hope researchers can find a vaccine for people and animals. I believe this virus should ever come to America, it'll do great damage to our ecomony and corporation farms. The only solution right now for the virus is to kill the live stock, however, this too can damage the ecomony becasue it costs money to dispose that much waste. In the end, I just hope America will be prepared if the virus should come here.

H5N1

As of right now, one of the major stories in the news is the chicken flu or avian influenza. From what I've been hearing and reading in the news, it's a pretty bad flu that can hurt human beings. But I don't know that much about it so I decided to research it and hopefully develop a better understanding.
The first question I asked, what is it? The virus right now that is affecting humans and chicken is the H5N1. H5N1 is one of 15 types of avian influenza that infects birds around the world. The virus is contagious and fatal to birds, and can be transitted to humans.
However, reseach has shown that its not SARS. This virus can't readily be contained like SARS and this strain of the virus can hurt human beings more than SARS can.
The second question is, how are birds being exposed? Poultry is being exposed to it by wild birds. The virus can survive for four days in 71 F(22C) and more than 30 days at 32 F (0C). This current outbreak is being blamed on chickens and their droppings.
Third question, when was the first outbreak? From what I remembered, the first outbreak was in Hong Kong in 1997. What I didn't know was that a total of 18 people were hosptialized and six people were reported to have died from the virus. Also 1.5 million chickens were destroyed.
My fourth question was, how can it affect humans? if the virus get into contact with a human the virus mutates. The virus will combine itself to a human influenza and can be passed on to person-to person.
Since there is no vaccine for this type of bird flu, researchers have found the virus can be treated with flu drugs. The two types of drugs are Tamiflu and Relenza. To prevent further outbreak chickens and other animals must be destroyed if they show signs of the H5N1.
In my opinion this is very scary. As of right now, America doesn't have a vaccine made to take care of this new avian influenza strain. This could also hurt our economy and really hurt chicken farmers. I can only hope that if we are exposed, we'll be prepared for it.

Knitting Pictures

Hey everyone, I plan to put some knitting pictures on Thursday night. My sister is helping me take pictures, so Thursday they should be up.

Chief Justice

Well it finally happened. John Glover Roberts Jr. was voted in as the 17th Chief Justice. Votes were 78-22, Republicans were 55 and Democrates and independent 44. I'm not quite sure I like Roberts. It doesn't bother me that's he's a republican, but he's a conservative which can effect old cases that are still being appealed, for example Roe vs. Wade. I'm concerned that the future decisions he makes will hinder many women's lives.

I hope the senate, when its come to finding a replacemnet for O'Connor, that they'll vote someone who's a democrate or at least a liberal. I think that will even out the Supreme Court, making it more balanced.

Ice Shipping

"Nightly News" and now the Register have recently reported that ice FEMA ordered for Hurricane Katrina was shipped all over the place. The ice FEMA orderd is costing taxpayers more than $100 million dollars and it's rising.

I find this absolutely revolting. I find it hard to believe that our government can't look after ice that needs to go to victims of Hurricane Katrina and Ophelia. What does our government plan to do next? The ice can only be good for so long and it has be used sometime (hopefully this year).

I just hope the next disaster that will hit the country, FEMA and other orangizations will be better prepared.