Thursday, January 31, 2008

Current Event 3

Study: Caffeine May Boost Miscarriage Risk

A new study has found that pregnant women who consumed more than 200 milligrams of caffeine a day, equivalent to about two cups of coffee, had twice the risk of miscarriage as the women who consumed no caffeine at all. The findings are published in Monday's Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Previous studies have found similar results, but Dr. De-Kun Li, lead author and investigator with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, is quick to point out the significance of his findings. "We were able to address the issue of if the increase is really due to caffeine or due to women changing their drinking patterns. Other studies have reported the same results but had some biases in the research."
The Kaiser study looked at 1,063 women in the early stage of pregnancy. Among women who consumed no caffeine, the miscarriage rate was 12.5 percent. In comparison, 25.5 percent of women who consumed more than 200 mg of caffeine a day miscarried. Although there was an increased risk for women who consumed fewer than 200 mg of caffeine a day, the lead investigator says the increase is not statistically significant.
Researchers say it made no difference whether the caffeine came from coffee, soda, tea or hot chocolate.
Caffeine is dangerous during pregnancy, Li said, because it can cross through the placenta to the fetus and can be difficult for the fetus to metabolize the caffeine. Caffeine may influence cell development and decrease blood flow to the placenta, he added. If arteries are constricted it may restrict blood flow which can result in miscarriage.
Dr. Jennifer Wu, a New York obstetrician who has no ties to this study, said the research is, "accurate and has found a definitive correlation between caffeine consumption and miscarriage." Wu says expecting moms should significantly decrease the intake of caffeine during pregnancy.
Current recommendations from the March of Dimes warn women not to exceed 300 milligrams of caffeine a day. Other groups, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, tell CNN they do not have a recommended guideline for caffeine consumption during pregnancy. Their Web site says, "There's no proof that small amounts of caffeine (for instance, one or two cups of coffee) harm the fetus."
Li hopes this study will lead ACOG and other organizations to reevaluate the current guidelines.
URL: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/01/21/hfh.caffeine.miscarriage/index.html

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Current Event 2

Ruins of 7,000-year-old city found in Egypt oasis
A team of US archaeologists has discovered the ruins of a city dating back to the period of the first farmers 7,000 years ago in Egypt's Fayyum oasis, the supreme council of antiquities said.
"An electro-magnetic survey revealed the existence in the Karanis region of a network of walls and roads similar to those constructed during the Greco-Roman period," the council's chief Zahi Hawwas said.
The remnants of the city are "still buried beneath the sand and the details of this discovery will be revealed in due course," Mr Hawwas said.
"The artefacts consist of the remains of walls and houses in terracotta or dressed limestone as well as a large quantity of pottery and the foundations of ovens and grain stores," he added.
The remains date back to the Neolithic period between 5,200 and 4,500 BC.
The local director of antiquities, Ahmed Abdel Alim, said the site was just seven kilometres from Fayyum lake and would probably have lain at the water's edge at the time it was inhabited. URL: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/30/2149607.htm

Presidential Project

Cori Hume
Amelia Vance

Candidate Profile

Candidate: Bill Richardson

Political Party: Democrat

What other political offices has this person had in his career?
Bill Richardson had been a Congressman for fourteen years, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Secretary of Department of Energy, and on his second term of being the Governor of New Mexico.

What prior political and leadership experiences does this candidate have that makes him qualified to be the next president?
While Bill Richardson was in Congress, he sat on the Interior Committee and the House Select Committee of Intelligence. While he was on the Interior Committee he fought for Native Americans to protect their land and improve the quality of their lives. He has met with Saddam to convince him that the two American contractors who got lost and accidentally crossed the Iraq border should be freed back to America. While being the United States Ambassador to the United Nations he helped Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) transition to democracy, he released hostages in Sudan, and negotiated a fragile cease-fire in Darfur.

He has been nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize, mainly for his attempt to create international peace. Being the Secretary of Department of Energy, he has been fighting global warming for years already. By 2010, he demanded that 7.5% of U.S. energy was renewable energy. He also got the government to begin to pay for medical expenses for nuclear workers who were sick and dying.

While he has been Governor of New Mexico, he has created 80,000 more jobs, the unemployment has been higher than it has in the past 30 years, and the income and teachers pay has also increased. He made a law where every child under the age of five receives health insurance. He used taxes for jobs and renewable energy, raised the minimum wage, and made a law that state utilities need to use four times the renewable energy then they were before.

Issues:
A) The Iraq War: Bill Richardson favors an elongated exist strategy for getting the US soldiers out of Iraq. However, he assures that he would have a deadline set some time in this calendar year that would be determined by the military officials. His rationale is that if any troops are left in Iraq, no matter what the purpose is, they will remain targets as well as provide the opportunity for continued violence. At the same time, he would have a peace convention held with the Shia, the Sunni and the Kurds, as well as a Persian Gulf Middle East peace conference. However, he also believes that some troops should be deployed to Afghanistan and some in other locations in the Middle East, because, in his opinion, “the terrorism is gaining strength.”
B) National Security: Bill Richardson’s views on national security cover a wide range of issues. He believes that human rights can be more important than national security, and he supports the Geneva Conventions. He feels that ignoring the Nuclear Test Ban will create distrust, but that there should still be a focus on international terrorism and materials that can be used for nuclear weapons. Richardson also regards America’s dependency on foreign oil as a liability to the country’s national security. He states that America needs to reduce that dependency from 65% to 20% by 2015.
C) Education: Bill Richardson has great goals for American education. His plan includes $60 billion towards making American education the best in the world, new math and science academies with 100,000 new teachers, a minimum wage for teachers of $40,000 per year, expanding the lottery scholarship program for college students, and supply every 7th grader with a laptop. The education of future Americans is so important to him that he believes that children should start in preschool under the age of 4 and that the both school days and the school year should be extended. He sees charter schools as holding a lot of promise, but if a school is failing, he believes that they should be helped to stop them from collapsing.
D) Healthcare: First and foremost, Bill Richards sees a need for a universal healthcare system, within one year. His goals are to form preventative healthcare without raising taxes, to find cures for HIV/AIDS, make sure that proscription drugs are lower for seniors, raise rates of child immunizations, and overall make healthcare affordable and accessible to everyone.
E) The Economy: On the issue of the economy, Bill Richardson believes that the next president must cut back enormously on spending, especially through elimination of corporate welfare, and to restore our financial strength by decreasing our budget surpluses He also believes that for the economy to be more successful, we must invest in three major areas: the future rather than spending everything now in the present, science and technology and an educated workforce. With science and technology, he wants to create 250 Math, Science, and Innovation Academies.
He also believes in order to maintain a healthy economy we need a highly skilled and well-paid workforce. He wants to keep promises to the Middle Class workers and work towards the future, rather than living day-by-day.
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F) Taxes: Bill Richardson does not just say he will make tax cuts. He has a history in New Mexico for doing it. His tax cuts would focus on the middle class and says he would reduce income tax as well as create a Taxpayer Bill of Rights. He wants to cut capital gains tax and income tax from 8.2%- 4.9%. He believes the tax structure for the wealthiest 2% is unfair and wants t end it. While being Governor of New Mexico, he returned $1 billion dollars from taxes back to families.

G) Global Warming: Bill Richardson has already had several years of experience in trying to prevent the effects of global warming. He has been the Secretary of Department of Energy. He wants to cut oil demand by 50% by 2020, by reducing oil imports. He wants to put the 100 mpg car into the market place, but must force work to get to 50 mpg by 2020. He also wants to reduce carbon impact from liquid fuels by 30% by 2020. He wants to improve the energy productivity 20% by 2020, He wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 90% by 2050. He wants oil companies to become energy companies, and he strongly encourages people to begin driving electric and plug-in cars and the use of transportation. He promotes solar wind, and biomass energy.
H) Nuclear Weapons: He wants to make significant cuts to our nuclear forces, which will encourage other nations to fight against nuclear productivity. He wants to reduce the number of nuclear weapons, and secure nuclear weapons from theft. He wants to free humanity from the threat of nuclear destruction and create a renewed U.S. commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. He believes these are the steps necessary to establish global nuclear weapon safety:
1. Halt nuclear weapons proliferation
2. Halt nuclear weapons production and reduce the size of nuclear arsenals
3. Halt or secure civilian programs that require or produce bomb-grade materials
4. Consolidate and secure all existing fissile materials and all future production associated with nuclear energy and research worldwide

Summary of biography:
Bill Richardson was born on November 15th 1947, having William Richardson as his father, and Maria Luisa Lopez-Collada as his mother. He was originally born in Pasadena, but soon moved to New Mexico due to his father’s job as a banker. He grew up immersed in both American and Mexican culture, celebrating and being proud of both. In 1961, he left his family and moved to Massachusetts for high school where he was on the Varsity Baseball Team and met his future wife, Barbara Flavin. In 1966, he continued his education at Tufts University in Boston. The turning point in his life where he became interested in politics was during a school trip to Washington DC and was inspired by the words of Senator Hubert Humphrey. While growing up, he soon learned that he needed to give back to his community.

He lived with his wife in D.C. for a few years, learning more about politics, and then moved back to New Mexico. He became a staffer for a local Democratic Party, and began to teach Government at Santa Fe Community College. Bill Richardson first campaigned in 1980 against Manual Lujan for New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District. As he lost the first time, he won two years later.
While he was Congressman Richardson, he was on the Energy and Commerce Committee, in which he proposed an amendment to the Clean Air Act in order to have cleaner gas to fight pollution and global warming. He also fought to protect 1,000 acres of New Mexico wilderness and contributed to the Oil Pollution Prevention Act.

He also continued to fight for the rights of Native Americans, and from 1993-1994 he introduced 56 bills, 17 of which became laws. Richardson became more involved in diplomacy and traveled to North Korea and the Middle East. He became the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. While being Ambassador he took multiple trips to Africa which changed his life when he saw the diseases, poverty, and suffering first hand. It made him want to help the conflicts going on in Africa, such as cease-fire in Darfur, and he ended up with five nominees for the Nobel Peace Price.

In 1998, Richardson stopped being the Ambassador, and became the Secretary of Department of Energy, where he started to fight global warming and tried to stop the productivity of nuclear weapons as much as he could. He then decided to give back to the community he grew up in, New Mexico, and ran for governor. He won, and has won again being in his second term now of New Mexico’s Governor. He has helped the people of New Mexico significantly with jobs, health care, minimum wage, schools, and taxes.

Bill Richardson grew up inspired to make a change, and now he has given back to the community by being an inspirational leader for others.

My Point of View
To begin with, I am undecided on my political views. Some of the Liberal concepts make sense to me, but so do some of the Conservative ideas. I am not passionately connected to any of the 2008 presidential candidates. That being said, some of Bill Richardson’s views do make sense to me. For instance, the importance that he places on education, his reasons for viewing it so highly and his investment in the future all seem like helpful points to pursue. On the other hand, as much as getting all the troops out of Iraq seems like a good idea, especially since the current plan is not doing so well, I am not at all convinced that Bill Richardson’s “exist strategy” will work. I think that the Republicans do have a legitimate concern about making sure that there remains some stability in Iraq if we are going to pull all of our troops out.
If Bill Richardson was still running for president, it is possible that I would vote for him. However, I most likely would not, because I think my views tend to lean more towards the Conservative side. Most Democrats seem to me to have high expectations for how they will “fix” the problems and make life better for everyone, but they do not root their theories in reality. Richardson, on the other hand, does for the most part present realistic plans.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Current Event 1

Newly Discovered Ancient Coffin Destroyed in Yemen
The excavation operations at al-Asibia area of Ibb province (Yemen) have revealed a stone grave and bronze coffin in a marble-walled room dating back to the Himyarite period (850 BCE-525 CE). The discovery was made at Jabal Esam eastern of Raidan Fort which is considered as an extension to Dhafar city the capital of Sheba and Dhu Raidan Ancient Kingdom, director general of the antiques office at Ibb province Khalid al-Ansi was quoted as saying. The characteristics of the coffin indicate to a royal one belongs to a king from the Sheba kingdom, al-Ansi said, noting that it is one of the most important discoveries in the Arab Peninsula. However, locals expressed that they found the grave and it is their right to keep the site for themselves, noting that the contents inside the grave would be taken by them as well. Government security forces arrived on the scene when they heard about the discovery and placed a heavy guard around the site to keep it safe and undisturbed. "Locals claim that they do not trust the government and are not sure that the antiques will be in a safe place or not. That is why they want it for themselves," said Abud Al-Rahman Jar Allah, Museums Deputy in the Antiquities General Assembly. He explained that it is routine in Yemen for people to come and try to get a share of the wealth whenever they hear about anything related to antiques. He added that it is very important to understand that these historic places and artifacts belong to the government, not to locals, who he said must not be careless about their own history. According to Jar Allah, a special Yemeni archeological team of experts started working on the site, including two experts in ancient graves and digging and two experts specialized in reparation and mineralogy. In addition, Al-Werafi said that a German team will come to the site to assist the Yemenis. Al-Werafi also mentioned that experts were still excavating the site in search of undiscovered artifacts and any additional information, as no precise knowledge about the grave has been found yet. Moreover, he said the coffin will be moved to Ibb museum once experts are done with it. Unfortunately, in the early morning on January 16th, unknown persons devastated the ancient bronze coffin and stole another one completely. The director general of Antiques and Cultural Properties Protection in the General Authority for Antiquities and Museums Hesham al-Thawr held the director general of the security office in the al-Saddah district responsible for the damage. Al-Thawr said that the security official has ordered the military patrols, which have been guarding the area for five days, to leave the location mentioning no reasons for such action that gave those devastators a chance to do their crime
URL: http://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/002666.html

Friday, January 25, 2008

Why We Fight

The Documentary Video, Why We Fight, covered much of America's military history and presented a wide range of views from previous presidents, to Iraqi civilians, to a father who lost his son in 9/11.

Vocabulary Week 2

This part of a city in Lebanon has been utterly eradicated and destroyed by the bombs that are frequent in that area. Also, this picture makes me think of the many desires for eradication by the Arabs and Jews.
Hitler's goal during World War II was to eradicate all the Jews.

The information on this graph is erratic. It is all over the place: way up, way down, and gradual. It makes me wonder what the conditions were that made the data change so much.
The winds on the high sea became erratic as the storm began to pick up.

It is pretty self explanatory why this object that escalates is called an escalator. Even the sensation while I am on it makes me feel like I am escalating, and not just in the sense that I am moving up. I get a heightened sense of... rising up and things becoming more and greater, even though they are really shrinking.
Marie could hear the argument in the other room begin to escalate.

I think that when most people hear the word eulogy, they think of a dark graveyard where someone has recently been put to rest. However, the word actually carries a positive note, because it praises the person who is deceased. That is why I choose this picture, because the sun is shining, and it is beautiful.
Mr. Jacobson then stood up to present a eulogy about Tom, the boy who had died saving my life.

The light colors, heavenly clouds and air beneath this man's feet suggest a moment of euphoria. He is not only happy, but is also 'floating', his reality a bit scewed.
He kissed me and I felt a moment of euphoria as my blood ran hot and my knees became weak.

1. equivocate-v.-- to use ambiguous or unclear expressions, usually to avoid commitment or in order to mislead.
2. eradicate-v.-- to remove or distroy utterly.
3. erode-v.-- to cause to diminish or deteriorate as if by eating into or wearing away.
4. erratic-adj. -- a)having no certain or definite course; wandering; not fixed. b) eccentric; queer.
5. escalate-v.-- to increase, enlarge or intensify.
6. esoteric-adj.-- private, secret, confidential.
7. espouse-v.-- a) to make one's own. b) to marry; give (a woman) into marriage.
8. eulogy-n.-- a formal expression of praise for someone who has died recently.
9. euphoria-n.-- a feeling of great (usually exaggerated) elation.
10. euthanasia-n.-- the act of killing someone painlessly, esp. someone suffering from an incurable illness.
11. epitome-n.-- a representative or perfect example of a class or type.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Vocabulary Week 1

This sporty Dodge Intrepid is designed to be intrepid. Everything from its bright red color, to its sleek shape, to where it sits on high cliffs near the ocean shows its fearlessness and boldness.
The intrepid boy reached for the spider on the wall.

This angel is flopped over in all appearence of hopelessness. She seems to be desondent and desperate, as though she just witnessed a death.
After she lost her home in a fire, Penny became despondent and wondered if life was really
worth living.

This rocket reminds me of aspring to be something, because their job is to shoot way into space where humans can't normally go, like on the moon.
Although this toy rocket is small, it is aspiring to reach the moon.

Although there is a pictrue behind the blotches of colors in this picture, at first it just looks like a lot smeared spots. Even the picture behind thoughs blotches is desultory. It made me think, "What is that?"
The events of the past few days were desultory to Hayley; she could not make any sense of them.

These mountains, thousands of feet high, would certainly be a formidable obsticle for a mountain climber. Looking up at them from the base would make them appear impossible to scale, but even from a distance, they look cold, hard and threatening.
'This man is a formidable opponent indeed,' he thought as he turned to face the knight who held a 4 foot long sword.

Definitions
1. intrepid - adj.-- absolutely courageous; fearless.
2. trepidation - n.-- tremulous fear, alarm or agitation.
3. despondent - adj.-- feeling or showing profound helplessness, dejection, discouragemnt or gloom.
4. decorum - n.-- dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc.
5. aspire - v.--to have a great ambition or ultimate goal; desire strongly.
6. vacillate - v.-- to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute.
7. desultory - adj.-- lacking in consistency, constancy or visible order; disconnected.
8. fallacy - n.-- deceptive, misleading or false nature.
9. formidable - adj.-- causeing fear, apprehension or dread.
10. heritage - n.-- something that is passed down from preceding generations; a tradition.
11. guru - n. -- an intellectual or spiritual guide or leader.