Haiti gets nearly $10B in aid pledges

A wide variety of international donors pledged nearly 10 billion dollars in relief effort for the earthquake that occurred in the country. This occurred at a day-long conference at the United Nations headquarters. The UN secretary urged more than 100 donors in attendance from around the world to provide 11.5 billion dollars over the next 10 years to reconstruct the Nation that was devastated by a 7.0 earthquake in January. More than 5 billion of this money will be readily available over the next 18 months. The rest will be available over the coming years if needed to construct their island.

I think that it is great that people are willing to donate huge sums of money to people who are in desperate need of the money. The whole world has really pulled together to help this poor devastated nation and it will surely be greatly appreciated by the Haitians. 10 billions dollars is a huge amount of money but i can image that this amount of money will only get a good start ont eh reconstruction efforts. Because rebuilding an entire nation to a state of which it will be way better than that of what it was before will cost much more than the money that is being given to them. But hopefully their economy will recover and they can support themselves along with the world's help.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/31/haiti.donors/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/cnn_topstories+(RSS:+Top+Stories)

Autopsy: SeaWorld trainer died from drowning, traumatic injuries

The autopsy report for the SeaWorld trainer that was killed at work have been released. She was drug under water by a 12,000 lb killer whale. She was killed on February 24th while working with a whale named "Tilikum". The whale grabbed her by her pony tail and drug her under water. It is reported that her spine was severed. Also she had fractures to her vertebrae, ribs, and her jawbone. Rescuers were not able to reach her right away because of the whales aggressive nature. Her body was finally recovered forty minutes later from the pool. This whale has been linked to two other casualties but SeaWorld has said that they have no intentions of getting rid of this whale because it is normally very kind and playful.

I think that if this whale has caused two other casualties there must be something done with it. It is clearly dangerous and is a hazard for the trainers to be near it. I know i wouldn't feel safe if I knew that the whale had killed three people in it's lifetime. I know that they can't just get rid f the whale or kill it because animal rights people would be very upset with that decision. But I think that more training or something has to be done to give this whale more anger management because it is a risk to the trainers the way it is right now.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/31/florida.seaworld.autopsy/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/cnn_topstories+(RSS:+Top+Stories)

4 dead in D.C. shooting

Four people were shot and killed Wednesday in Washington D.C. Authorities said multiple shooters opened fire on a crowds Tuesday night. The shootings prompted a lengthy police chase that ended with the arrest of three men. Four officers have been treated due to injuries from an accident that occurred during the chase. An assault rifle was recovered that was used by one of the gun man. There was another shooting on nearby Galveston Street but it wasn't reported to be related to the other shooting in any way. Investigations are under way and no details have been released as of now.

I think that this is too bad that this had to happen. It's just ridiculous how clueless and reckless people are when they take another human beings life. I hope the suspects get many years in jails. Hopefully they get life sentences for their actions. There is no reason that we should have these people on our streets again because i know that i would never trust them with all the freedom we have here in America. I have sympathy for the victims families and their pursuit to get the suspects behind bars for a long period of time, if not life behind bars.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/31/dc.shootings/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/cnn_topstories+(RSS:+Top+Stories)

Flooding affects roads, train service in Northeast

Rhode Island and other pats of the Northeast have been hit hard by steady rain falls that have caused severe flooding in these areas of the U.S. Rhode Islands Gov. said "looking at the positives the water is starting to recede". No fatalities have been caused by the flooding in Rhode Island but there have been some bad accidents caused by the flood. It shows that the citizens are very resilient and respectful of how much damage water can truly do to cars and houses in flood conditions. The rain finally let up today. In the capital city Providence, nearly 8.75 inches of rain have accumulated from the major storm.

My sympathies go out to all the families that have been effected by these flood waters. I have seen first hand the damage that can be done by massive amounts of water. There is sometimes no way to leave the flood waters so you just have to stay in one place and watch the flood waters destroy everything in it's path. I am pleasantly surprised that there have been no fatalities reported from this flood. Normally you get people that just dont respect the power of the flood, but in this case it look like everyone has been very smart and are staying away from the rapidly flowing high waters.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/weather/03/31/northeast.flood.fears/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/cnn_topstories+(RSS:+Top+Stories)

Obama energy plan would open Atlantic and Gulf drilling

Today President Barack Obama Presented plans that show interest in drilling off the Atlantic shore and in the Gulf of Mexico. This plan will impress the energy industry but will upset the environmentalists. The plan would include a 20-year ban on drilling of the Virginia coastline. Parts of Alaska however could be used for drilling sites. Drilling would occur more than 125 miles off the coast of Florida. He has given this issue much thought but in the end he decided that t would improve our economy and reduce our dependency on precious foreign oil on which we heavy depend on today.

I think that this plan definitely has a lot of positives but also a lot of negatives that are mostly environmental. It would save the U.S a lot of money by not depending so much on foreign countries and it would get our nose out of their business and maybe we could leave the middle east alone and worry about ourselves for once. But i also think that it disturbs natural beauty in Alaska and we don't want to risk another disaster with oil spills and such. I think that the price of gas would go way down in America but our taxes would probably go up a tad to pay for all the oil rigs being put up.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/31/obama.energy/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/cnn_topstories+(RSS:+Top+Stories)

Google quits censoring search in China

On Monday Google announced that it has stopped censoring search results in China. The announcement came upon speculation that Google was going to completely pull out of China and it now sets up a showdown with the communist government. Google said they want as many people around the world to use their services as possible, so serving China is for the best for the corporation. They are fully aware that at any time the government could ban their services but for now Google is still in China a completely uncensored.

I think that this is a good move for Google to get more population using their resources. Who knows how the Chinese government will react to this but for now it is a good move. I'm sure the Chinese people will appreciate having Google available for use in their country. I'm anxious to see how this will work out in the future between this corporation and the country, it'll be interesting that's for sure.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/03/22/google.china/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/cnn_topstories+(RSS:+Top+Stories)

10 states line up to sue over health bill, Florida AG says

On Monday Florida's attorney general announced that ten states are lined up to sue over the new health care reform bill being pushed by Obama and the Democrats. Once Obama signs it the states will put a lawsuit in place. The lawsuits would be about law and not politics. The states are Alabama, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Washington. The house of representatives passed the bill Sunday night and Obama is scheduled to sign it on Tuesday. It would challenge the peoples freedom to get health insurance or not and people shouldn't HAVE to buy it says these states.

I think that having a health care reforms have positives and also a lot of negatives. It's taking away peoples freedom which we cherish so dearly in this country. It is going to cost people who are already covered spend more money on other people who they aren't responsible for. But it does cover all the Americans who do not have coverage currently which is good for our country. I really don't know all the politics behind it so i'm unsure if it is really a good thing or a bad thing for our country.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/22/health.care.lawsuit/index.html

FEMA chief to survey Red River flooding

The red river crested at 36.99 ft in Fargo over the weekend. Much less than last years crest. Once the level returns to thirty ft the city of Fargo can start to remove the sand bags along the river. No major damage was done to the city and all major dikes and sandbag walls stood strong. Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was expected to tour Fargo on Monday to survey the area's response to the high waters. 10 people have been rescued by the Coast Guard since the flooding has began. More than 1 million sandbags have been used to keep the water from damaging city property and neighborhoods.

I think that the two cities were very prepared and did a very good job. It is very impressive to see all this effort to go towards the flood efforts. They can use this year as something to look back on and use it to better prepare for next years flood. Maybe even put in a damn or a river diversion to prevent this issue completely in the future. It's nice to see that the whole nation will recognize the efforts minnesotans and north dakotans put in to disaster avoidance and prevention. Overall I'm very impressed at this years flood prevention efforts.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/weather/03/22/severe.weather/index.html