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/