Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The State of the Union Speech: Did America Catch All 6,986 Words?


The night of January 24th, 2012, Barack Obama gave the State of the Union speech. As expected, the Republicans seemed unresponsive to his ideas, except when Obama praised America’s armed forces and when he promised to move people from welfare to work, and they dashed out quickly after he finished his speech. While the Republicans were expected to act in this manner, the Democrats were not. They followed the speech and clapped at the right times but failed to seem fired up about what he was saying to them. Obama discussed liberal polices such as new financial regulations, investment in clean energy, and education for the workers of the 21st century, about which they applauded as if they were in a fog. Except two people who seemed to follow Obama’s entire speech, Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, Obama only had the attention of everyone in the room twice - when Gabby Giffords walked in and when he brought up the death of Osama bin Laden. As Obama reached his 6,986th word, it seemed as if not all of the words spoken would be remembered.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Concordia Cruise Ship


44,200 people were on board the Costa Concordia, a cruise ship on January 13, 2012. The 114,500 ton boat hit a reef near the coast of Italy which created a 70-100 meter hole in its hull. Most were rescued safely but 6 were found dead and 29 are still missing. The coast guard is still searching for the bodies. The captain has been questioned and arrested and now he has been charged with manslaughter for causing a shipwreak and abandoning the ship before all of the passengers were off safely. More than 70 of the passengers joined a lawsuit against the owner of the boat. Carlo Rienzi, the head of the Italian consumer rights association said that he is going to try to get every passenger at least $12,773 for what they went through and the possessions they lost.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/282979/20120117/cruise-ship-sinking-costa-concordia-suit-schettino.htm