Archive for August, 2009
How Is College Life Contributing to the Spread of Swine Flu?
August 31st, 2009 | No Comments »How is college life contributing to the spread of swine flu?
The H1N1 or “swine flu” has spread to hundreds of college students in the first few weeks of their new college life. Why is this happening?
Apparently, doctors blame fraternity and sorority parties as well as sports practices and dorm living. In layman’s terms, college is making kids sick.
This new evidence lends credence to the notion that the swine flu virus is in a period of resurgence.
The United States is experiencing the rate of influenza infection since the spread of the 1968 “Hong Kong flu” according…
Will the Swine Flu Vaccine Be Ready in Time?
August 28th, 2009 | No Comments »Will the swine flu vaccine be ready in time?
Amid reports that suggest that millions of Americans could be “hospitalized” in the coming flu season due to the convergence of swine flu and more traditional influenzas — some bad news.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, swine flu vaccine won’t be available to anyone in America until the middle (or end) of October, probably too late for the earliest onset of swine flu and more traditional flu cases.
In fact, news today suggests that President Barack Obama’s science advisers are begging the President and his cabinet…
Did the Government Go Too Far in Pursuing Steroid Users in Major League Baseball?
August 27th, 2009 | No Comments »Did the government go too far in pursuing steroid users in Major League Baseball?
Three of baseball’s biggest stars (Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, and David Ortiz) have been outed in the past couple of seasons after investigators from the Federal government seized a list containing the names of players testing positive for steroids and other performance enhancers. These “leaks” have had something of a negative impact on the careers of these players, most notably Manny Ramirez who recently completely a 50 game suspension for his actions related to performance enhancing drugs. Those players who didn’t face these kinds…
What Will Ted Kennedy’s Legacy Be?
August 26th, 2009 | No Comments »What will Ted Kennedy’s legacy be?
Edward M. Kennedy was something of a fluke.
He was the only Kennedy to outright lose a run at the Presidency of the United States. At age 48 (older then than any of his brothers lived to be), he came in second in a two man race for the Democratic nomination. That was 1980, and unbeknownst to anyone the Reagan years loomed ahead. Many have wondered how the course of American history would be different if Kennedy had won the nomination — not Kennedy. He was always looking toward the future, unwilling to…
What Are the Obamas Doing on Vacation in Martha’s Vineyard?
August 25th, 2009 | No Comments »What are the Obamas doing on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard?
The President of the United States (and family) deserves a little time off. Has there been a President whose every move was followed as closely as the 44th? And what about his family — from the covers of fashion magazines to the back page of gossip rags, Michelle Obama and family have been in the news at times more than the President himself. Every President gets a chance to take a breather (some, like George W. Bush, take that chance as often as possible) and this is no different…
Is the Economy Recovering from Recession?
August 24th, 2009 | No Comments »Is the economy recovering from recession?
The state of the economy has become a kind of cliche lately, with most people bored of discussions of recession and stock market ups and downs. In fact, the economic downturn has been a buzz word for so long that comedians and talk show hosts are starting to turn their focus elsewhere — there’s simply not much material left to cover.
More news is popping up this week about the state of our nation’s finances. On Tuesday the White House and the Congressional Budget Office are set to release a series of new…
How Did Hacker Albert Gonzales Steal Over 130 Million Credit Cards?
August 20th, 2009 | No Comments »How did hacker Albert Gonzales steal over 130 million credit cards?
Recently, the US government announced the capture of one of the web’s most wanted hackers. Albert Gonzales, a Cuban American, is accused of running what is believed to be the largest credit card scam in history. Unfortunately for corporate America and law enforcement nationwide, the questions and trouble didn’t end when handcuffs went around Gonzales’ wrists.
Major US businesses and cops from Miami to Seattle are trying to come up with answers today — how did a single man perpetrate this widespread scam right under their noses? it…
Why Did Brett Favre Come out of Retirement … Again?
August 20th, 2009 | No Comments »Why did Brett Favre come out of retirement?
Having just written about Brett Favre’s wise decision to stay retired, I was shocked to browse across this article [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/american_football/8208522.stm] from the BBC, of all sources. I was doubly stumped — how did Brett Favre put on such a good show of retiring for good not even a month ago? AND, how did a British news service know about this before I did? You guys should see what they call “football” over there.
I was only embarassed about his move for a second. I don’t know Brett Favre personally — why…
Who Is Ray Kurzweil?
August 19th, 2009 | No Comments »Who is Ray Kurzweil?
My first exposure to Raymond Kurzweil, better known as Ray, came while reading Rolling Stone magazine earlier this year. In the January 2009 issue, Kurzweil appeared in David Kushner’s article “When Man and Machine Merge”. Kurzweil’s words in that article stuck with me. Ray Kurzweil said in Rolling Stone that he wanted to clone his dead father via an exact genetic copy obtained from DNA in the father’s grave. That’s right — Kurzweil expressed an honest desire to build a copy of his dead dad by inventing special nanorobots that could enter his father’s grave…
Is Gardasil Safe?
August 19th, 2009 | 2 Comments »Is Gardasil safe?
Gardasil is a somewhat controversial vaccine. Gardasil promises to protect girls and young women from cervical cancer. Why is this drug considered controversial? Because Gardasil doesn’t actually protect against “cervical cancer” — rather, it is a vaccination against the most common types of Human papilloma virus, or HPV. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease, by some reports the most common STD in America, that can cause many symptoms, the deadliest of which is cervical cancer.
You can see where this is going. Many people suggest that an education in abstinence (and the practice of abstinence itself)…