Issue One: Comprehensive vs. Incremental Health Care Reform

Health care reform is thought of as imminent. Both the republicans and the democrats believe that we need to change something, but their ideas are very different. The liberals, or democrats, think that we need major reform. They believe in a universal system, with the government controlling most of the system. The government would become the single purchaser and everybody would buy from the government. The republicans, on the other hand just want to reform our current system. Medicare which is for old people, and medicaid which is for poor people, basically welfare. The republicans believe that government controlled insurance would destroy the competition and ultimately make the quality poor. They want to enhance HMO's and offer tax deductions for people with coverage.

I believe that the republicans have the right idea. I don't think that the government should have this kind of power. Private insurance companies have strong competition, and it makes the actual healthcare better. If the government runs the program, then quality will decrease. John McCain supports this point of view. This is a website about his specific views on healthcare:http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/19ba2f1c-c03f-4ac2-8cd5-5cf2edb527cf.htm

Issue two: http://beireis.blogspot.com/2010/11/issue-2.html

Issue three: http://kinseydokken.blogspot.com/2010/11/issue-3-safe-to-eat.html

17 buried alive; Costa Rica on storm 'red alert'

Source: msnbc.com

Seventeen people are now confirmed dead in Costa Rica after a giant mudslide. This western part of Costa Rica received 6.3 inches of rain causing an entire hillside to collapse. At least twenty homes were destroyed and all of the survivors lost everything. Rescue efforts are on going, but so far all that has been found are corpses. This is a very poor part of Costa Rica, and most of the homes were just mud huts. There has been reports of hearing cries for help, but not being able to find the person under the layers of mud.

This is a crazy story and I hope that they are able to find some survivors. Hopefully these people are able to get some assistance from their government because they were apparently poor and lost everything. I don't know if this was just a freak rainstorm or caused by a hurricane, but lately I have been hearing about many natural disasters. Sounds like global warming.

S. Korea fires warning shots at disputed border

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39983651/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

On Wednesday the South Koreans fired warning shots at a North Korean fishing vessel. The boat had crossed into South Korean waters and they fired ten shots at the boat to make it turn around. North and South Korea both say they don't know why the boat went into South Korean waters. This incident is right before the big G-20 summit and the USA hopes it does strain the already strained relationship between the north and south. The USA has told urged Beijing to exercise its influence on the North to make them not do anything back.

This is not what these two nations needed. Their relationship is already bad and upcoming peace summit is really important. I don't understand why the fisherman even fished there because the borders between the two are clearly marked and he almost died. I hope he caught a lot of fish to make it worth the risk. Hopefully, these two nations can forgive and forget this incident.

BP lifts cost for spill, denting quarterly profit

BP now owes at least $40 billion dollars of fees because of the oil spill, and the total could reach as high as $69 billion. This was an increase of 7.7 billion from the previous total. These additional fines have put a dent into BP's third quarter profits, but they still have made money. BP is the world's largest non-government owned oil company.

I think this is a good thing. We should make sure that BP pays for everything that they caused, and the people that lost money get the proper amount they lost. Even though BP has gotten fined this much, they are still making a profit and I'm sure that they will soon forget the fines. Finally, BP really needs to make their rigs safer, so that this kind of stuff never happens again.

Police intercept parcel bomb sent to French leader

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39948639/ns/world_news-europe/

Greek police have arrested two guys who sent a package containing a bomb to the French president. The two men were connected to a Greek terrorist group, the police say. Both of the men when found were armed and wearing bullet proof vests. The men were found with other bombs that were addressed to other leaders around the world.

These guys are psychos. Also, they seem really stupid because anyone who thinks this plan would work is obviously retarded. This kind of thing seems to be occurring more often around the world. Seems like every other day I hear about some crazy terrorist trying to blow something up.