Death Toll Is On The Rise For Washinton State Mudslide

Posted on March 31, 2014 by brittany

On March 22, 2014 at around 10:45 am one of the deadliest mudslides in U.S. history, struck  the rural town of Darrington, which is about 55 miles from Seattle. The slide cut off the city of Darrington and dammed up the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River, causing the water to pool behind the dam. Not only have peoples lives been lost as well as some missing, a great majority of homes have been destroyed, and Most of the area is covered in debris and deadly household chemicals.

What started out as just a 3 person death has risen to eight time the amount of people lost. The number of confirm deaths rose from Twenty one to Twenty Four. Seventeen of the victims have been positively identified and authorities are working with forensic specialist to identify the rest. The number of people missing was lowered from Thirty to twenty two Monday afternoon. There are currently Three other bodies that haven been found but not identified, they were not include in the report.

There has been an estimated of Ten million dollars in financial loss in relation to the mudslide. As stated in a letter from governor Jay Inslee Nearly Seven million dollars were in structural loss and an estimated Three million in household contents, he is currently requesting the National government to declare this a major disaster. Not to mention the many lives that were lost that have no price tags and can not be simply paid out. Emergency crews are currently facing Toxic challenges with propane, sewage, household solvents, and other toxic chemicals and the non stop rains are not making it easier to clean up.

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Rearview Cameras To Be the New Standard For Vehicles

Posted on March 31, 2014 by rhinopm

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has just passed a law that will require that all vehicles under five tons have rearview cameras. As of May 2018, all manufactured motor vehicles will have to include this feature.

The rearview camera was first implemented as a luxury feature to be ergonomic for drivers, but has proven to be much more than that. This is in attempt to decrease the amount of accidents and deaths that occur while drivers are moving in reverse. The majority of victims in these types of accidents are children under 5 and seniors over 70. The law does not specifically state that a rearview camera is mandatory, but it does require that the vehicle must allow for the driver to see at least the ten by twenty foot area directly behind the car. The most plausible way to accomplish this is by using a camera.

I am very curious to see how much this law will decrease accidents. Currently, the average number of people injured in back-over accidents is 15,000 and the amount of yearly deaths is just over 200. This number is very disturbing as these deaths are completely avoidable. I think that a big cause of this is recklessness, not necessarily a visibility issue. Currently, there are a few higher end cars that are currently on the market that can detect surroundings and even automatically brake in order to avoid an accident. It’s only a matter of time and technology before those are all standard features in cars. The main cause of car accidents is humans, so the less we can take ourselves out of the equation, the safer we’ll be.

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Ultra Music Festival 2014 Might Have Been the Last

Posted on March 31, 2014 by pascalk09

Ultra is an outdoor electronic music festival that is held in Miami, Florida. These electronic music festivals seem to get a bad reputation for disorderly conduct and above all the use of drugs. During one Ultra festival a woman overdosed on drugs that led to her death.

According to the Miami Police Department there was 71 arrest, 48 felonies, and 23 misnomers. 160,000 people attended this year’s Ultra. 45 of the 71 arrests were narcotic related and there was 150 rescue runs.

Among these crimes was a tragedy of a security guard being trampled. The security officer was trampled when a gate broke leaving ticketed people to begin trampling over the security officer. The officer was rushed to the hospital with brain injuries and a broken leg. She is a 28 year-old woman who is in critical condition.

This incident seemed to be the straw that broke the camels back. The mayor of Miami, Tomas Regalado, stated that he did not want his city to be seen as “the city of chaos.” Regalado told NBC that these injuries and arrests were no accident. The coordinators of Ultra were told to reinforce it’s fences because of the incidents that happened the year before. Regalado said that he will do all he can to have the permits denied for next year’s festival.

Zel McCarthy a contributor to Billboard’s website and editor of SoundBleed.com suggested that the mayors push to end ultra will fail by stating, “Still, it’s unlikely Regalado’s campaign will get far; a 2012 report from Ultra’s promoters estimated that the festival and its fans infuse a cool $40 million into the local economy each year, with nearly another $40 million in indirect and induced spending in the weeks surrounding the event.”

 

 

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Concern Over Climate Change and Pollution Mounts.

Posted on March 31, 2014 by jsjones

Last week, the World Health Organization released findings that described a rather startling fact regarding the issue of air pollutants.

In a report released regarding an estimate of the amount of deaths related to exposure to air pollution in 2012, the data showed that nearly seven million people died as a result of the atmospheric pollutants.

Due to the fact that the numbers are steadily rising, many are calling for serious change and the implementation of regulations in order to reduce the high mortality rates.

The reports showed that the atmospheric pollutants were strongly linked to such health issues like cardiovascular disease which accounts for such problems as strokes and heart disease. Additionally, data showed a strong correlation between exposure to air pollution and the occurrence of certain cancers.

Environmental issues are clearly coming to the forefront of many agendas worldwide. The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change even released their own findings today regarding the issue of climate change and global warming. Reports showed that such issues were quite noticeable across oceans especially in the areas of Antarctica where sea levels continue to rise due to melting ice caps.

As Earth Day 2014 draws even closer, these findings are evidence to the fact that much needs to be done in the way humans think about their environment and the Earth.  Through such simple things as recycling and carpooling, everyone can help in making the world more sustainable and fit for generations to come.

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Champions League Quarterfinals preview: Is there a clear-cut favorite?

Posted on March 31, 2014 by ballspach

This week marks the beginning of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals, which offer some enticing matches where every team can be a potential winner, excluding Manchester United. United are still in a transitional period after Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of the club since 1986, retired from the position at the end of last season, leaving David Moyes to take the reins at the club. Anyways, here are the different match-ups and the buildup surrounding them, which could make or break a club’s season.

Paris Saint-Germain vs. Chelsea FC: Chelsea will start this tie away at PSG, coming off a crushing 1-0 defeat against a Crystal Palace team who is nearing the relegation zone, which manager Jose Mourinho commented after the match that their title hopes have been dented a bit. An away win or draw at PSG will be favorable for Chelsea, who will come back to Stamford Bridge next week to finish the tie. PSG are led by striking duo Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani, who are coming off 9 consecutive wins in all competitions. However, the team will need to step it up a few notches after a not-so-convincing win at Nice. A bit of Ibrahimovic magic will be surely needed to beat a back line and goalkeeper of Chelsea’s quality.

Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich: United will be facing a daunting task of overcoming defending champions Bayern Munich, who have already clinched the Bundesliga title with 8 games remaining. Bayern manager Pep Guardiola will lead his team to Old Trafford on Tuesday to begin the tie. United will need to pull out all the stops and have a great performance to even think about an upset over the German team, United needing the win to salvage a forgettable first season under David Moyes, who is being called by fans to end his tenure at the club.

Borussia Dortmund vs. Real Madrid CF: These teams will undergo a rematch of last season’s semifinal, in which Dortmund fought hard to defeat the Spanish giants and proceed to the final. Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp recognizes that this time around his team are the “Cinderella” team of this season, a team that will include pivotal figures from last year’s tie, striker Robert Lewandowski and midfielder Marco Reus. After letting Bayern Munich proceed this year to dominate the Bundesliga, Dortmund have all to play for in the Champions League. Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has called his team the most complete, and will look to keep up the pace after a 5-0 win versus Rayo Vallecano. Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo will be keeping focus on the task at hand after the home crowd booed him at the Rayo match. Madrid are the heavy favorites in this match.

FC Barcelona vs. Atletico de Madrid:  The all-Spanish matchup will be one of the highlighted fixtures of the quarterfinals, which pits the two top teams in La Liga against each other. Both teams will be able to get a preview of the final match of the La Liga season, which could ultimately decide the Spanish title. Top strikers Lionel Messi and Diego Costa will be one of the more examined faceoffs, with both men facing shaky defenses. Another feature of this game will be the absence of goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who tore his ACL in Barca’s previous match, leaving backup Jose Manuel Pinto to strap on the gloves and face one of the top strikers in La Liga. Atletico will be looking to make a statement at the Camp Nou and bring a favorable outcome back to the Vicente Calderon next week in the second leg.

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Why You Should Pay Attention to Orlando’s Music Scene

Posted on March 31, 2014 by kelly.karsch

As we all know, Orlando is never lacking in local events or things to do in the city. Similar to any large urban and highly developed metropolis, any standard civilian can check up on their local news source and find a bar that’s hosting a celebration, contest, or on the best of nights, live music. Being the theme park capital of the world has caused Orlando to be a very attractive stop for bands and all types of musicians alike to spread their tunes to the locals and tourists alike.

What most people don’t know however, is that there is talent gushing all over the city every week. The variety of acts that one can take part of is extremely varied as well. Whether you’d like to see famous and renowned artists like Paul McCartney or Muse at the  massive Amway Center, or go into your local punk rock bar Will’s Pub and let them showcase local bands like Abandon The Midwest, there’s something out there for you.

Personally, I find that venues like The Social, The Beacham, and The House of Blues (to an extent) tend to be the best due to their constant influx of great performing artists, along with their intimate appeal and organized structure. Just this weekend I was able to participate in a great show with Orlando reggae rock legends The Supervillains at The Social and two days later jam out to some Sublime classics by the tribute band Badfish at The House of Blues.

The most important thing I can try and relay onto everyone though is to support your local music scene as much as possible. You don’t realize how much hard work and talent these young artists put into their music, and with your help they can hopefully make it someday to a nationwide acclaimed tour band.

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The play of Right Winger Jarome Iginla for the Boston Bruins and should they extend him?

Posted on March 31, 2014 by anthony loprinzi

Last season at the NHL trade deadline, Jarome Iginla had the choice of where his current team, the Calgary Flames at the time, would trade him. He had a short list of teams that were at the top of the standings and had the best chance of winning the Stanley Cup, the one thing that has evaded his Hall of Fame career. The Boston Bruins general manager thought he had completed a trade for Iginla, however, the winger switched his preferred destination and was traded to the Penguins. This ignited the Bruins fire and were able to beat Iginla and the Penguins in the playoffs, but were unable to win the cup.

Now in this season, with Iginla signing with the Bruins on a one year deal over the offseason, he is the Bruins leading goal scorer and a key part of their recent winning streak. This begs the question whether or not the Bruins organization should extend his contract to keep the 36 year old for a few more years. The cons of doing this include the fact that he is up there in age and could decline in his play and the organization wouldn’t want to have to commit to a declining player. The pros of this move would be that it can continue the chemistry that has shown between Iginla and his first line teammates Milan Lucic and David Krejci, much more chemistry than he had with the Penguins.

In the end, I think Iginla will stay in Boston after this year due to the teamwork that he has shown with this team and his strong play in their recent winning streak.

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State of Florida Senate Bill Would Offer Undocumented Immigrants In-State Tuition Fees

Posted on March 31, 2014 by the one and only

Undocumented students will probably now be able to go to school in Florida and pay in-state college tuition rates if the state legislation goes through that the college officials and immigrants are pushing for. For example, at Valencia College, the in-state tuition costs roughly $1,200.00 per semester. For undocumented students, the tuition increases to around $5,000.00 each semester. Some students from Osceola County, Florida will never be able to make it to college due to the fact that they are undocumented residents.

One of the undocumented residents from Osceola County named Abastida said that, “Paying for college is an uphill battle, the American dream is possible but it’s very hard”. The undocumented student has worked in side jobs with his parents, car washes and landscaping jobs. It took Abastida a year to be able to pay for the out of state college fees but he said that it was all worth it. These undocumented students have a dream to one day be able to attend college where they will be able to afford it and they just can’t with the outrages prices that they charge for out of state students. This student has lived in Florida since he was the age of 12 but because he is an undocumented immigrant, he is ineligible for the in-state tuition rates, many different scholarships and financial aid.

Abastida plans to speak up for thousands of students that are in the same situation as him by testifying for a senate committee that will consider to pass a bill that will offer in-state tuition to undocumented students. The state representative John Tobia said that his main concern about the bill is the cost. The state of Texas passed a similar legislation about 10 or 11 years ago and there was an immediate impact on the budget of $25 million a year said the state representative Tobia. Abastida will go to Tallahassee with the support of some of his fellow students.

Most of these undocumented students are scholars, athletes from their high schools and valedictorians. A lot of supporters say that it is wrong to deny any help to the students who were brought to Florida when they were children. The legislation faces opposition in the state senate. Some of the republicans say that Florida should not give benefits to someone whose family broke the law.

 

 

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The Persecution of Snowden, and His Get Away From World Governments

Posted on March 31, 2014 by samsheres

Since the mid year of 2013, a few events had happened already in terms of delivering secret information from the world’s most powerful countries. With the arrival of Wikileaks with Julian Assange. The countries involved have began serious persecutions on these of individuals, in order to avoid any more leaks about secrets governments.

The past year, a new crisis exploded with the revolution of Edward Snowden, an ex computer specialist that worked for the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and the NSA (National Security Agency). The ex formant of these institutions had acquired secret information from other countries, and decided to spread making the relationships among governments a bit fragile.

Everything started when Snowden released to a newspaper that the NSA had access to every phone call and Internet registrants belonging to the company of Verizon. A few weeks later, The Guardian and The Washington Post published that the NSA had been recollecting data directly from big companies present in everyone’s day by day, such as Google, Skype, Facebook, Yahoo, Youtube, and Apple.

Until the actuality, Snowden has been sheltering from country to country, and making more trouble for different countries but the United States. Has also been involved in some of the leaks, when it was relased that the US government was spying China. However and China promised to cooperate in order to achieve his detention.

Even Russia had confirmed to locate Snowden near Mosku, where he was staying as a refugee. After that, he had solicited asylum in 21 different countries.

Currently he is staying in London, in the embassy of Ecuador, where he has been staying since the end of 2013. According to El Mundo, a Spanish newspaper, the British government had ordered all the airlines to deny any customer service to Edward Snowden.

 

Source: http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2013/06/14/internacional/1371204718.html

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NYC sues FedEx for shipping untaxed cigarettes.

Posted on March 31, 2014 by keegan.kennedy

Cigarettes in the US are pretty expensive. A pack of twenty cigarettes is anywhere from 4 to 10 dollars. People who smoke more than a pack a day are spending thousands of dollars every year to feed their habits. A lot of the reason cigarettes are so expensive is because they are heavily taxed. Perhaps its an effort from the government to keep us from smoking, as its one of the leading causes of death in the world. Or maybe its because the government knows once people get addicted they’ll continue buying them, even at high prices. Whatever the reason, the fact is that governments receive huge amounts of tax dollars from cigarettes.

No one likes paying taxes, and a lot of big companies try to find ways to avoid them. Cigarette vendors often make illegal shipments of their products to avoid paying taxes. FedEx has apparently made over 33,000 shipments of these “illegal cigarettes” in the past decade.  Every carton sold should have brought in anywhere from 15 to over 40 dollars in tax revenue. Its estimated that New York has been cheated of over 10 million dollars of tax revenue. The attorney general is suing for almost 200million in penalties to punish the company. FedEx has of course pointed out that they are only the carriers and that the blame should go to the companies buying and receiving the contraband cigarettes. Its pretty clear to me that its more than just FedEx at fault, but they definitively contributed. I don’t think they’d allow shipments of illegal drugs, so illegal cigarettes shouldn’t be any different. I think their “Don’t shoot the messenger” defense will not hold up very well in court.

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