The "Killer" Whale

Tilikum, an orca, drowned his trainer on Wednesday, drawing much attention. Tilikum has already participated in three other human deaths, and many people are concerened about how dangerous this whale is. Tilikum was a whale that was captured from the wild in 1983. This whale was used to basically unlimited spaces, not a small tank-this might result in stress for the animal. Officials claim that high levels of stress, as well as its high hormone levels, were probably high factors in Wednesday's tragedy.
I personally think it silly that people are over-reacting to this event. Everybody knows that when you are working with a dangerous animal, there is a high risk of death or injury, especially when dealing with an orca in a confined space, such as in this tank. This risk is much higher if the animal is captured in the wild, instead of being bred in captivity. Thus, it is no surprise to me that this animal has played a role in the deaths of humans-it should have been expected. However, some people are suggesting that the animal be released into the wild, because it is so "dangerous", which is absolutely ridiculous, since an animal that has been kept in captivity for so long is unable to survive in the wild. Thus, Tilikum will remain in human captivity, and it would not surprise me if there are other "incidents" with this orca. However, people knew the risks of taking this animal from the wild, and now they have to deal with it.

The Hummer Dies

The car company called Hummer, known for the cars by the same name, is being discontinued after GM failed to sell the company to a Chinese heavy equipment maker. This company, having created only three models (H1, H2, and H3) (yeah, they're that creative!), had been experiencing great losses since Summer 2008, when gasoline prices reached over $4 a gallon. Usuallly, companies are not impacted by gasoline prices much, certainly not enough to drive them into bankruptcy, but Hummer is special in that the H3, the most fuel efficient of the three models, only averaged 16 miles per galon. That means it requires a LOT of gas. Thus, sales had been dropping gradually,until they reached a record low December 2009-only 325 Hummers were sold worldwide. After the failed attempt of selling the company to a Chinese heavy equipment maker, GM decided to shut it down. Environmentalists rejoice! Hummer is not alone however- Pontiac has been discontinued as well by GM.

Austin Plane Crash

Earlier today, Thursday the 18th, a man with a huge grudge against the IRS crashed his plane into an IRS office in Austin, Texas, committing suicide and injuring two other people. The man also burned his house down before commiting suicide. This man, his name now confirmed to be Joseph Andrew Stack, piloted his Piper Cherokee PA-28 into an IRS office with 199 employees, right next to the interstate. The aviation fuel that spilled due to the crash, caused the most damage by burning away at the building until firefighters were able to extinguish the flames approximately 75 minutes later.
Joseph Andrew Stack wrote a letter, which has now been revealed (read it at: http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/18/stack.letter.pdf), in which he explained, to some extent, why he committed this attrocity. The following is an excerpt from the note: "I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different," the online message says. "I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let's try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well." The government states that this is an isolated incident and does not appear to be connected to terrorist activity. Though the IRS will not reveal any transactions or interactions with Stack, one has to wonder what must have driven this man to kill himself by deliberately crashing into that building. The full article is at :http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/18/texas.plane.crash/index.html

Palin lashes out against "Family Guy"

We all know who Sarah Palin is, and we all have a different opinions about her as a political figure, but what we might not know is that her youngest son suffers from the Down Syndrome. This is the highlight of today's blog, as a TV show, "Family Guy", supposedly portrayed Palin's son in a recent episode.
In said episode, Chris falls in love with a girl that suffers from Down Syndrome. This girl says that she is the daughter of "the former governor of Alaska". and Palin somehow saw this as an "attack" on her family (Sarah Palin was the former governor of Alaska). Take in mind that the character in "Family Guy" is a girl, while Palin's son is the one that suffers from said disease. We all know tha "Family Guy" can be offensive sometimes, and many other TV shows can be too, but I personally believe that Sarah Palin is just overreacting. "Family Guy", "South Park" and countless other shows make fun of political figures, races, countries, and specific people all the time, but it is important to know that they what they portray on television is only (at least in "Family Guy") for entertainment; It isn't meant to be an "attack" as Palin claims. I'm Mexican and I watch "Family Guy" along with other TV shows from time to time, and there are a lot of "Mexican" jokes in these shows, yet I don't complain every time I see one. I think Sarah Palin is really forgetting that the media can and will be offensive. She needs to be able to deal with these sorts of "attacks", especially if she's planning on running for president in 2012.
This is only my opinion though, and I would be intersested in hearing whether or not you all agree. Do you think that Sarah Palin is just overreacting, or has "Family Guy", and the media in general, gone "too far", as Palin claims? Do keep in mind that this is by no means the most controversial thing that "Family Guy" has ever done; However, do you think that this show is offensive or simply a good laugh?

Oil Crisis

Virgin CEO Richard Branson talked about a chilling fact: a new report that was just published predicts that demand for oil will exceed supply in a short 5 years. Many reports have warned of peak oil and the lack of such in the face of increasing demand, but so far the world has failed to react appropriately to such predictions, and only continues to use petrolium more and more every year. When demand does in fact exceed supply, horrible social, economic and political consequences will occur, such as the rapid skyrocketing of oil prices, but most importantly, a number of countries, such as China and India will be paralyzed if they cannot obtain the oil they have come to rely on. Wars could easily break out, and in short, the world could easily be thrown into a state of crisis. In your opinion, is this report accurate or exagerrated? Do you think that the countries around the world are preparing correctly for the coming oil shortage? And lastly, what do you think will happen around the world if the oil shortage does come and we are not prepared?

War on Drugs

Mexican President Felipe Calderon is scheduled to make a high-profile visit to Juarez, the most dangerous city in Mexico and currently the battleground in the drug war in Mexico, next Thursday. Since President Calderon declared the war on drugs in 2006, over 16,000 Mexicans have been killed due to drug related incidents, and the number of deaths keep rising. Drug trafficking in Mexico had been escalating in the North of the country and becoming a real concern, but violence really erupted when President Calderon declared an open war with the drug trafickers. Now, Mexico is on a full-out campaign to elimintate the drug cartels from Mexico once and for all, but the battle is only getting bloodier everyday. Progress has been made, as many drug traffickers have been caught, but in your opinion, was it right for President Calderon to declare the war on drug cartels? These organizations were and still are a very real concern to Mexican national safety, and removing them was becoming more and more imperative, and in a government that had been corrupted for so long, President Calderon was the first person to address this issue and push towards new reform, but do you think that the bloodshed that is going on is necessary or at least justified in order to imporve the country and push it towards social and governmental reform?

Where is the "Common Sense"?

A 9 year old boy, Patrick Timoney, was almost suspended earlier this week for bringing a 2-inch lego toy gun to school. The boy was called into the principal's office for bringing in this "weapon" and was severly scolded, and if the principal had had her way, suspended. Timoney's mother was outraged about this and was "in disbelief" that the school had reacted in such a ridiculous manner. After a talk with the principal, all charges were dropped for the boy, but Timoney's mother said that she was outraged and was considering sueing. I wrote this blog to highlight how irrational and sometimes ridicuolous school policy can be, and wonder why people follow such procedures sometimes. I doubt the boy was going to shoot anyone with his lego "gun". I ask: Is it right to follow rules and regulations, even if they make absolutely no sense or are completely unecessary? Would it have been justified by the principal to punish the boy, as the rules stated she should, or should she have ignored this minor "infraction"? Why is it that sometimes people follow blindly, like in "The Crucible". Truly, "where is the common sense"?

Spending

I just read an article about the spending that goes on in our government, and the biggest "budgest buster" in the Pentagon is the development of the new F-35 fighter jet program. This plane, which is currently being produced by the Lockheed Martin, was supposed to be an "economic" substitute for the current fifth-generation fighter jet, the F-22 raptor (this is the most expensive plane in the world, costing approximately $350 dollars per plane), by only costing $122 million. The government plans to buy 750 of these planes. Also, the cost of running the program has increased, however, and only threatens to get higher (298 billion dollars). I just brought this up in order for us to see what the government is really spending its money on and ask why they are doing so.