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.

Existing home sales on the rise

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/25/news/economy/existing_home_sales/index.htm?hpt=T2



According to this CNN article home sales are once again on the rise. This is the second straight month of improving home sales. During September, over 4.25 million houses were sold, each averaging about $171,000 in price. Over the past two months home sales have steadily rose, after July, where home sales plummeted. This is good news according to many economists, but home sales are no where near what they were before the recession, and still lower than even last year.



This seems like very good news to me. After like three years of hearing all negative things about the economy, it is nice hearing something good. I think you have to put this all into perspective though, the housing market is up 10%, but it was very low before this month. I believe that many people probably won't want to buy a house until they get a better job, as many people were laid off. Hopefully, the market continues to rise.

As rescue drill nears, miners in Chile still have long way to go

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/10/05/chile.miners.rescue.plan/index.html?hpt=T2

The Chilean miner's ordeal might finally be coming to an end. Within a few weeks the the 2047 foot hole will be down to the miners. For months the miners have been receiving food, water, and other things they need through a smaller hole. They have also been in contact with their families through satellite computers. The miners have been stuck in the collapsed mine for months. The last step of the project will be to reinforce the tunnel and to make sure all of the trapped miners can fit through it.

This is truly an amazing story of human survival. First off, these people had to survive the explosion that mad the mine collapse, then before they were found they had to eat whatever they could find. I hope that they all get their jobs back and maybe some form of compensation for their ordeal. Finally, I hope that all the families are able to be reunited.

Federal Budget Blog: Issue One

The President, part of the executive branch, is the commander and chief of the military. Congress though has the power to declare war and to decide how the country's money is spent. This is called The Power of the Purse. Many times throughout history the President has wanted to go to war or make changes to an on going war, but Congress has stopped them. Even today many people think the President is unfit just by himself to dictate how a war is run. These people tend to think that Congress should use it powers to stop the spending spree that we are currently on. On the other hand, some people think that the President should have the power to run a war without the interference of Congress.





I believe that Congress should have the power to make decisions about war because there is more than onbe person in Congress. If only the President made decisions he could become corrupt with power, which is why we have checks and balances. Many people think the same as I do, for example http://www.freecongress.org/ this group believes in Congress's power. It is called the Free Congress Foundation.

Issue Two Lucas Beireis:http://beireis.blogspot.com/2010/10/issue-2-spending-what-we-can-afford.html

Issue Three Andrew Strater: http://astrater.blogspot.com/2010/10/issue-3-social-insecurity.html