North Korea threatens nuclear 'holy war'

North Korea’s Minister of armed forces said that they are ready to start nuclear defense after they claim that the south tried to initiate conflict. The South Korean drills that were only twenty miles away from the border of North Korea were seen by Minister Kim Yong Chun as a way to show military strength and threaten North Korea. A month ago South Korean drills near the border had triggered a showering of bullets from North Korea which  killed two U.S. Marines and two construction workers. South Korea’s next drill was over the top to prove that North Korea shouldn’t mess with them again. Tension has been high with these two countries since March when a South Korean ship was sunk killing forty six sailors which South Korea blames on North Korea. North and South Korea are technically still at war today because their conflict in 1950 ended with a cease-fire not a peace treaty.

I believe that there is going to be a war between North and South Korea. These smaller attacks and threats are just the begginning and things aren’t going to end quickly. North Korea is too defensive and has a bone to pick with South Korea for no reason. I believe that North Korea is the reason there is a conflict because South Korea was just protecting it’s citizens. North Korea should be more careful because if other countries get involved they are going to stand behind South Korea. North Korea doesn’t stand a chance if the U.S. gets involved which will happen because the U.S. can’t mind its own business. I personally think that all the officials of North Korea should be bombed with no survivors.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40788151/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

ISSUE #2 - Ensuring Quality Care for Medicare Patients

With the new health care reform bill, people are trying to make sure that doctors will be paid by quality not quantity. Doctors who treat Medicare patients are going to be seeing a 5 to 10% decrease in their bonuses from the Federal Government. Right now Medicare is set up so that doctors get paid by how many patients they have, not by the quality of their care. In 2006, a “pay-for-performance” bonus was put into place so that doctors could get paid 1.5% more from Medicare. They could get this bonus if they provided information on the type of treatment and details on the quality. Hospitals that use the “pay-for-performance” program had 1,300 less deaths from heart attacks than other hospitals without it. People that support the “pay-for-performance” believe that guidelines help with better communication about the best treatments, and a better quality of work.  The people that don’t support this bonus system think that federal officials don’t have enough knowledge of medicine to decide what is a good treatment and what isn’t. They also say that setting standards for treatment is undermining doctors’ judgment and training.

I think that doctors have the right to a bonus for quality work. Medicare is the reason that they’re salaries will be cut so they should be able to have a way to get that back. The government is getting too involved in what was supposed to be a country of independence. We are getting too reliant on the government. It isn’t their responsibility to make sure that everyone has health insurance. It is the individuals’. Of course I think that all doctors should be doing quality work but that isn’t always true. Those that are doing great work should be rewarded for that. Sam Nussbaum, a chief medical officer says that rewarding quality is a way to keep quality. He also says “We’re at the earliest stage of identifying, recognizing and rewarding quality. Over time, we would want to say a lot more than just, ‘Did a mammogram get done?’” Rewarding quality is the way to get there.      

http://www.leapfroggroup.org/media/file/Leapfrog-Pay_for_Performance_Briefing.pdf

ISSUE #1 -Comprehensive vs. Incremental Health Care Reform

http://kellimontbriand.blogspot.com/2010/11/issue-1-comprehensive-vs-incremental.html

ISSUE #3 -  Safe to Eat?
http://maxineannec.blogspot.com/2010/11/issue-3-safe-to-eat.html

Four in 10 say marriage is becoming obsolete

More people are accepting that getting married isn’t needed to start a family. The Pew Research Center did a study involving marriage, divorce, and single parent families. About 29% of kids under the age of 18 live with a parent that was never married or is divorced. The Pew study shows that 39% of Americans say that marriage is becoming obsolete. The Census Bureau says that unmarried partners that are living together jumped 13% from last year. They believe that people are less likely to marry right now because it is hard to find jobs with steady income. Although things aren’t looking good right now for marriage, it’s not going to disappear anytime soon. 67% of Americans still believe in marriage and the traditional family.

I believe that marriage is an important part of having a successful family but I don't think it's the only way to have a functional family. My older sister is a single mother and she is raising her daughter very well. Sometimes I think it'd be nice for my niece to have a father figure but she is also doing fine without it. Thankfully, I don't think that marriage is ever going to go away. I look forward to getting married someday and starting my own family. It's understandable that couples that are living together are afraid to get married because they don't want things to start off on a bad note; trying to find or hold a job for enough money to survive. Marriage is still an aspiration of most people under 18 and it's not going to go away.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40239472/ns/health-behavior/

After 'shellacking,' Obama laments disconnect with voters

Now that the Republicans are in control of the House and have gained in the Senate, they plan to decrease the size of government and the health care law. Obama said that the Democrats “lost track of the ways we connected with the folks who got us here in the first place." Obama thinks that people are frustrated that there was not enough done about unemployment. He says that he takes responsibility for not making enough change. John Boehner took the Republican win as a mandate to shrink the government. Boehner said that he wants to start “tweaking” the health care law before it is repealed. 

I’m glad that the Republicans are getting a chance to make the changes that the Democrats never made. Government is getting too involved. This country is about the individual, not about everyone working together as a team.  I think that the way Obama connected to the people that voted for him in the first place was by lying. I think he made people think that he was going to make changes that would benefit America, but never even followed through with what he said. From the results of the mid-term election we can see that universal health care was not what we really wanted and that it should be repealed.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39987154/ns/politics-decision_2010/

here is a video of Obama's reaction to the mid-term elections.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/39995711#39995711

Study: Alcohol more dangerous than heroin, cocaine

British Researchers took a look at alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana and evaluated them on their destruction when it comes to the individual and to society. They also looked at how addictive the drug is, how it affects families, how it affects the environment and how it affects the economy. Heroin, crack cocaine, and meth were the most harmful to the individual but alcohol was found to be the deadliest to the individual and to overall society. Excessive drinking damages almost all organs and is involved in the highest death and crime rate.

Alcohol may do the most damage, but that is because it is the most common. If all the other drugs were legal and were sold at regular stores, there would be more damage done involving these other drugs too. Alcohol isn’t bad in moderation, it is only bad to the people that drink often and drink a lot at a time. Even though alcohol is supposedly the most destructive drug, it shouldn’t become outlawed because our culture is so used to it that making it illegal wouldn’t stop the problem. Bringing back prohibition would only cause more crime because people would have to smuggle in alcohol to get it. The majority of people that drink do not have a drinking problem and they should not be punished because of the people that do abuse alcohol.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39938704/ns/health-addictions/

Democrats make pre-election pitch to help seniors

Democrats came up with a last minute pitch before the election to give those with Social Security a 250 dollar bonus to make ends meet as the cost of living goes up. This check would be given out to 58 million people. A problem with this proposal is figuring out how this 13 billion dollar cost is going to be paid for. Obama hasn’t offered any suggestions as to where the money is coming from, and the Senate rejected this pitch because they thought it would just add 13 billion dollars to the 12 trillion dollar federal debt.

I think this is the Democrats way of trying to survive the election. In a way, Democrats are bribing the seniors and others with social security to vote Democratic because they will magically give 58 million people 250 dollars each. Democrats have no way of paying for this proposal and it is just going to add billions of dollars to our trillion dollar debt; that is something that will hurt the U.S. rather than help it. Democrats just started putting effort into this proposal now which shows that they aren’t really trying to find a solution for social security, but they are just creating a temporary “quick fix” that will get seniors on board with the Democratic Party. In the long run, 250 dollars will help for a months time at max, and then seniors on social security will just be back to struggling.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39736338/ns/politics-decision_2010/

Fla. pastor wins car for not burning Quran

When the Florida Pastor, Terry Jones was threatening to burn the Quran on September 11^th, a New Jersey car dealer named Brad Benton offered Jones a 2011 Hyundai Accent over a radio add if he didn’t burn the Quran. Jones did not end up burning the Quran so he called Benton asking when he could pick up the car. Jones says that he is not going to keep the car for himself. Instead, he is going to donate it to an organization that helps abused Muslim women. Benson debated whether to actually give the car to Jones, but listeners encouraged him to “be a man” and keep his word.

I believe Brad Benson made a bold move when offering to give away a car in exchange for the Quran not being burned. I think that  most people realized how burning the Quran would effect our country and would most likely cause more lives to be lost in Iraq and Afghanistan. Benson said that he didn’t think Jones’ planned act would be the best thing for our country right now. Although Jones is planning on giving the car to an organization for abused Muslim women, he doesn’t deserve that car at all. In fact, he deserves to pay some sort of fine for endangering the lives of the men and women fighting for our country. If Jones wants to donate to a good cause, he should have to take the money from his own pocket instead of having it handed to him for threatening to do something bad.

This is a picture of the type of brand new car Jones is going to receive.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39683559/ns/us_news-life/

No pay, no spray: Firefighters let home burn

In Tennessee, a home burnt to the ground because firefighters refused to put out the fire only because an annual $75 fee wasn't paid. In Obion County, Gene Cranick and his family lost all of their belongings, 3 dogs, and a cat when his grandson was burning garbage and it got out of control. The family called 911 and said they would pay the fee but the fire department only showed up when the fire spread to the neighbors house who had paid the fee. The mayor of Obion Couty said that they couldn't allow families to pay the fee on the spot because then the only money they would get would from the family with the house on fire. One of Cranick's sons was arrested on an assault charge because of his extreme aggravation.

I believe that the fire department intentionally neglecting to save a home from a fire is unacceptable. Whether the family paid the small fee or not, it's not okay to ignore a 911 call over money. The fee could have been paid to the fire department after the fire was out, but instead  they had to send a message to everyone that you better pay your $75 fee or we'll let your house burn too. I don't think that Cranick's son deserved to be arrested for assault because his son had the right to be angry, especially because he lost 3 of his dogs and a cat. If somebody let my house burn down with my dog inside just because I didn't pay a fee, I would come pretty close to killing them. A pet is a family member too, which the fire department failed to even try and save.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71f6B0AqZAU&feature=player_embedded

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39516346/ns/us_news-life/

Missing Blog

I had two other posts that were lost in blog confusion. One was titled "Judge: Military's gay ban is unconstitutional", and the second one was called "Natalee Holloway's mother sneaks into jail,  confronts suspect". Sorry about the inconvenience.

Issue #1 - War Dollars

The Commander in Chief of the U.S. has the right given to him by the constitution to direct the U.S. Armed Forces, on the other hand, Congress has the right to approve or deny the way the President spends money when it comes to war and any other federal spending. This way the people can elect those that represent what they believe and then congress can monitor federal spending in a way that makes the people happy. The taxes that the general public has to pay is the reason the government has money to spend so they should have a right to control where it goes. The war in Iraq caused the United States' spending to skyrocket. The budget deficit reached $412 billion in 2004 which was an all-time high.

The other point of view is that the people originally elected the president and the president being the Commander in Chief should have the right to spend money on war in whichever way he thinks is best without having to worry about congress interfering. The president and congress fighting about how to spend the money when it comes to war will only distract us from the goal and end up losing us the war.

I believe that although we elected the president, congress should still have to monitor his financial spending when it comes to war because that way the American people will still be able to control the government's actions. Like John Locke believed, the people have the right by the constitution to elect those that share similar beliefs, but we also have the right to remove those same people from government if we do not like what they are doing. The money paying for the war is coming from the people which makes it their business too. Scott Sipprelle, a republican running for a seat in the house in New Jersey agrees that more needs to be done to control how the tax payers dollars are spent. Here is the article explaining his plan for this to become a reality.
http://www.supportscott2010.com/2010/02/control-government-spending-and-national-debt/%20

Total Outlays (Federal Funds): $2,650 billion
MILITARY: 54% and $1,449 billion
NON-MILITARY: 46% and $1,210 billion

HOW THESE FIGURES WERE DETERMINED

http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm

Issue #2: Spending what we can afford

http://heatherseventblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/issue-2-spending-what-we-can-afford.html

Issue #3: Social Security

http://theresasocial.blogspot.com/2010/10/issue-3-social-insecurity.html

History shows Obama, Dems face stiff headwinds

President Obama and the Democratic Party’s voter approval have dropped extremely which isn’t looking good for them considering the midterm elections are only just over a month away. People have negative feelings about the direction the nation is going which could lead to mid-term losses. The NBC Political Unit created a VCI (Voter Confidence Index) and they discovered that Obama and the Democratic Party averaged a VCI of -38 for September. The lower the number, the worse off the President's Party is when it comes to the mid-term elections. That number is eights points worse than President Clinton when his party lost 54 seats in the House, and eight seats in the Senate.

I'm glad that America is now looking down on Obama like I already did before he was even elected. I'm not really big into politics but I know enough to realize that Obama has not done half the things he said he was going to do prior to election. In November of 2009, Obama's VCI dropped into the negatives and has continued to drop ever since to the point where he is worse off than President Clinton was. Obama does not have enough experience to run this country and he is just trying to socialize America. Everybody should be responsible for themselves because it is a free country where the individual has the right to make something of themselves through hard work. I believe in helping others but not when the government makes you. It should be a choice not an order.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39333049/ns/politics-decision_2010/