Thai airports to reopen after PM ousted by court

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081202/ap_on_re_as/as_thailand_political_unrest;_ylt=AkO7v54N9_l0baR9SPZnSzqs0NUE

This past Tuesday the second of December, anti government demonstrators in Thailand gained not only a victory for their rights as citizens under thier present government, but also that date for a democratic governemt to take power. After a court ruling that forced the current prime minister from office, people are now able to take a breath and are enthusiatically awaiting change.

What many people in the region of Thailand do not seem to understand is that change is a process that take lots of time–possibly between a decade to even hundreds of years– and does not simply happen overnight. Similar to the victory for the Obama supporters in the United States, Obama who promotes change, his ascension into the oval office is only the first step of a series of difficult obstacles that would ultimately bring about “change.” The people in Thailand also do not yet have an understanding that even democratic rulers can be devilish and let the power go to their head, placing restrictions on the people through use of force, and carrying out military operation incognito. This is life, and everyone has to learn from other peoples experiences of learn the hard way… History only seems to repeat itself.

U.S. Supreme Court: State Medical Marijuana Laws Not Preempted by Federal Law

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=5614

This article is about the refusal of the supreme court to review a landmark decision regarding marijuana in the state of California. Following the decision of the California Supreme Court, that it is not the responsibility of state law enforcement agencies to pursue marijuana agencies within the parameter of the state, this issue angered many people. “It’s now settled that state law enforcement officers cannot arrest medical marijuana patients or seize their medicine simply because they prefer the contrary federal law,” said Joe Elford, Chief Counsel with Americans for Safe Access (ASA).

What is going on? Why is this even being disputed? Isn’t marijuana the all-bad drug that everyone knows it to be, like cocaine and heroine? Well apparently, due to the rapid increase in marijuana usage within the state of California over the past decade, people have begun questioning its motives. Recent research has shown that marijuana can help lessen anxiety as well as many other medical ailments, and considering that even alcohol is a drug, why should this one be illegal. I have a feeling that over the next ten to twenty years we will be seeing a drastic change in the laws and the division between the power of the state and US government. 

NEW APPLE COMMERCIAL TOUTS “GREEN MACBOOKS.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqJl6huz4y0

Lately, it seems as though everyone is infatuated with being “green.” But what specifically defines ‘being green’; does it mean more economical? More nature friendly? Less pollutant and hazardous to the environment? With all this recent commotion and the efforts towards this cause, it seems that almost all large corporations have diverted their attention towards this new movement, not because they care about the environment, but because they want to shine in the public’s eyes and grasp the attention of the certain group of people who are only interested in purchasing the products of an environmentally friendly company.

Apple Corporations newly developed laptops are now green. They have found a way to carve out almost the entire laptop from a single block of titanium–making it more sturdy and reliable. However, along with their efforts to develop this new means of creating their laptop, they have discovered that it not only completely recyclable, but it now runs on a fourth of the power of it’s predecessor, and is created without many of the harmful toxins that many computers are made from (like mercury). Has apple sold their soul to the ‘green cause’ or are they simply attempting to grasp the group of people who are interested in aiding the environment. With fewer activists on their tail, apple could better concentrate on persuading the public of the holiness of their products.

Corporations also have not been the most honest, reliable and upstanding entities; they have lied, cheated and made aggressive actions under a cloak to get whatever they want. What if the facts that apple is stating is out of context? What if the Mac books are entirely recyclable, however, the process of creating the LCD screen, carving the titanium block, and even recycling the Mac book is not the most economically friendly process that we presumed from the commercial. What if… we were shown all of the information out of context…and nothing is what it seems. 

Make Take-Out as Healthy as Home Cooking

http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/make-take-out-as-healthy-as-home-cooking/article15996.html

With how busy people are lately, they have less and less time to create dinners for their family from scratch. Many people are aware that purchasing prepared meals from the frozen section is a lot less healthy than the more work intensive option, however, with the restrictions placed on them in term of time and money, people have no choice. This article informs people about how to minimize the unhealthiness of frozen foods through various methods. By only purchasing the portions of their means that they do not have time to prepare and creating the remainder from scratch, you can for the most part, see what are most of the ingredients that go into your food. 

With all of the chatter about health going on, it is no wonder that people are infatuated with finding the healthiest and best tasting alternative. However with the apparent restrictions placed on them, it will be interesting to see where this competiton of “tug ‘o’ war” leads. On one side health and living as long as possible, on the opposing side, the working class people who are too busy as well as tired from their daily routines, to prepare their own meals from scratch. Eventually there will be a collision between the two, and we will have to wait to see which option is triumphant.

Getting Paid for Your A’s

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1863113,00.html

 

Out of all the ludacris ideas floating around in the world, who would pay students for getting good grades?! Actually, this might just work…On a website named gradefund.com, people are able to create accounts, upload their transcripts and recieve money for their grades. This program was created to fight the growing number of unmotivated students in areas such as New York and various southern states. In addition, many students are feeling overwhelmed due to the prospect of having to repay student loads. 

Recently, the literacy rate in the US is almost at 100%, however, many more students have begun dropping out of school earlier on. This trend must make us reevaluate our schooling systems and eventually perform an verhaul of the entire thing. Thus far, our education program has been declining steadily, but I have a keen feeling that over the next few years we will be seeing vast changes in the way our children are brought up as spend their time in schools.

GM To Get Rid Of Their Planes

http://jalopnik.com/5100871/gm-to-get-rid-of-their-planes

 

With all of the talk about the trouble the “big 3″ have gotten themselves into, one must wonder if anything worse could happen… The three largest american car companies that eat one out of every fifteen american jobs in the US are nearly bankrupt and only have months left to survive. One of the imediate actions we have seen to minize their overall loss is the sale of four of their private jets as well as the relocation of their remining planes. 

A few days ago the three large car companies appeared infront of congress requesting for grants and bridge loans in the billions of dollars. However, is it fair for them to recieve the money? With the number of people that willl be layed off if they completely flop, and the already difficult market situation in the US, would it be wise for congress to give them the money or see what happens as this recession progresses?

Are we watching the death of OPEC?

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/are-we-watching-the-death-of-opec.aspx

Are we watching te death of OPEC? It is with this profound question that we observe the drop of pertolium prices from around 150 dollars a barrel to a third of this value, and still declining. The prices for petrolium are established almost entirely by demand and supply, basic economic concepts. Supply and demand however are also overseen by wallstreet as well as the speculative market, and it is through this that the prices became inflated. Will it ever reach such a high cost ever again? Well the fufture is almost always uncertain, however, if you follow past incidences, at one time in the country Interest rates were twenty or so percent and business men were suffering profoundly. 

As for whether or not we are watching the death of OPEC itself… one might venture to ask are we completely depended of foreign oil yet? In addition, almost all of the major petrolium companies are selling all of their real estate in the US to not only to avoid the unbearable real estate market, but also to accumulate enough cash to create a new, cheaply manufactured source of power.

Old Beijing Subway Trains Get Second Life As Homeless Shelters

http://gizmodo.com/5100683/old-beijing-subway-trains-get-second-life-as-homeless-shelters

 

This article begins by posing a question many people have never pondered before…Ever wonder what happens to the older subway cars as they adopt newer models? Well in Beijing atleast, they are making good use of their hand-me-downs by using them to counter poverty. With poverty and the lower social groups booming in beijing, they seem to be on the minds of almost everyone. Poor quality of life is not the way to go, so people in Beijing have converted the older subway trains into Winter shelters for the poor and poverty stricen people. However, in comparison to the number of homeless in all of China, let alone Beijing, the cars are only able to hold a meesly 1,200 people. However, as many people will agree, every little aid makes a diffence. Just imagine what the US could do to help it’s poor if we diverted our resources from war into domestic issues? We could give imense tax reductions for all people, we could build very nice homeless shelters, and we could even divert more funding towards developing a more successful schooling system for children in lower-class areas. Imagine the possiblities…

Memories may be stored on your DNA

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026845.000-memories-may-be-stored-on-your-dna.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

 

Everyone remembers their first crush, or the first time they accomplished anythin monumental, well newly discovered research has shown that special, important, and significant memories might be inbeded within your DNA molecules. ”We think we’re seeing short-term memories forming in the hippocampus and slowly turning into long-term memories in the cortex,” says Miller, ”the cool idea here is that the brain could be borrowing a form of cellular memory from developmental biology to use for what we think of as memory.”

It seems as though the computer was only discovered thirty or so years ago, and now children can surf the internet on their phone and other miniscule gadgets. Now the resoning power of the computers have been advanced so greatly that they can carry out incredible experiments, and uncover concepts about the human body that we may have never even thought could be possible. One can only poder where out civilization will be in another decade or so with scientific research. Pobbly a cure for cancer or Huntingtons disease, the ideas are endless as long as people are willing to pursue them and continue to be passionate about their line of work. This is out present environment… and as it changes little by little each day, we barely notice how far it’s come over the last decade… somewhat scary when you think about it.

Atheists want God out of Ky. homeland security

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008460349_apheavenlysecurity.html?referrer=digg

This past Tuesday, a group of Athiests filled a lawsuit againt the State of Kentucky regarding the removal of a line within the codes of the Homeland Security which simply states that the presence of god is needed to bring about the safety of all the state’s inhabitants. The plaque, posted at the Kentucky Emergency Operations Center in Frankfort, includes the Bible verse: “Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”

“It is one of the most egregiously and breathtakingly unconstitutional actions by a state legislature that I’ve ever seen,” said Edwin F. Kagin, national legal director of Parsippany, N.J.-based American Atheists Inc. In the list of tasks that are enscribed within what will be changed come the new decade, the separation between church and state surely will be one of the greatest. Nothing is ever certain, as shown by the Iraq war, and so even though there needs to be a separation between religious details and that of state and government agencies, nothing is certain. If the future, possiblities can always arise, however with the growing number of athiest people within this nation, it seems very unikely that a monumental declaration of the separation between church and state will ever be overturned. However, what we can still count on is that along the line of racists, sexism, and ratial profiling, this enticing topic will continue to rattle peoples cages for many, many years to come.