Missing Cruise Passengers in Australia

There has been yet another setback for the now infamous Carnival Cruise Line. While traveling on a ten day Pacific Island cruise, a couple was discovered to be missing from the Carnival Spirit. It wasn’t discovered that they were missing until last Thursday when the ship arrived in Sydney, Australia to dock. They didn’t come to pick up their luggage. However, they were on the cruise with family and friends, who probably should have noticed that they were missing. After watching surveillance footage, it is thought that they were about halfway up the ship when they fell off supposedly near Foster, New South Wales. It is 135 miles from Foster to Sydney, but police believe that they will be able to find them.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/09/world/asia/australia-missing-cruise-passengers/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenews

 

Sentence for the Seller of Fake Bomb Detectors

            James McCormick was sentence to 10 years in prison by a London judge after he profited from selling fake bomb detectors to various agencies and companies throughout the world. It was discovered that the ADE, or Advanced Detection Equipment, that he sold was really just a golf-ball finder that had its label taken off. Although they cost McCormick less than $60 to produce each of his devices, he sold them for anything between $2,500 and $30,000 each. He has shown no remorse even though he made millions from his fraud that he used to live a luxurious lifestyle. Some devices are still in use and are threatening security throughout the world.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/02/world/europe/uk-fake-bomb-detector/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Rise in Minimum Wage?

For the past 22 years, the federal minimum wage for workers who also rely on tips for their income has remained at $2.13 an hour. This is the reason that many restaurant and hotel workers are living in poverty; according to former waitress, Gina Deluca, 19.3% of those who make $2.13 an hour are living in poverty. However, President Obama has made a proposal that will raise the federal minimum wage to $9. Although most states have their own minimum wage levels that are higher than $2.13, 13 states rely on the federal minimum wage. Many are hoping that the bill will be passed.

Hepatitis Spread through Violating Dentist Office

Dr. Scott Harrington has surrendered his dentistry license after an investigation found numerous violations and many patients were diagnosed with Hepatitis B and C.  The Oklahoma-based dentist office has been under intense scrutiny after 57 patients tested positive for Hepatitis C and three tested positive for Hepatitis B. There was also at least one patient that tested positive for HIV. Although it is not known if all of these patients contracted the virus and Harrington’s dentist office, an investigation has revealed many problems with sterilization. Employees were using improper methods of IV sedation and were unlicensed to use it at all. The drug cabinet had drugs that had expired in 1993, and there is also evidence that it was “unlocked and unattended.” All of these issues resulted in the voluntary surrender of Harrington’s license.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/18/health/oklahoma-dentist-investigation/index.html?hpt=he_c2

Uruguay to Allow Same-Sex Marriage?

Same-sex couples were first allowed to be married in 2001 in the Netherlands and, now, other countries are considering allowing the same privilege. Last week, Uruguay had a marriage equality bill that was passed by lawmakers and only needs the president’s signature before it becomes the second country in Latin America and the twelfth country in the world to allow same-sex marriage. The Roman Catholic Church, a prevalent force in Argentina, which allows same-sex marriage, and Uruguay is opposed to the new laws, citing that it is interfering with the foundation of marriage. Despite this opposition, Uruguay was the first country in Latin America that permitted children to be adopted by same-sex couples.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/10/world/americas/uruguay-same-sex marriage/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

Middle School Students Without Lunch

Although kids that attend schools that have their meals supplied by the Whitson’s Culinary Group would normally receive milk, a cheese sandwich, a fruit, and a vegetable if their accounts had a negative balance, middle school children at the Coehlo Middle School in Massachusetts were denied this. Last week, 25 children were not given food as a result of having debt in their lunch accounts. Students in this situation were instructed to throw out their food before they could eat it. Parents of children that attend the school were outraged. The principal of the school and the Whitson’s Culinary Group both apologized for the incident.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/05/us/massachusetts-lunch-denied/index.html?hpt=us_c1

Charge for Facebook Use

On Friday, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will not be able to operate unless it issues a fee to its users. Starting next week, logging into Facebook will result in a $5.00 fee that will be charged through a credit card that users must provide. The charge for posting statuses will be $0.20 per character. Posting a photo or video will be $3.00. Active Facebook user, Arianna Fearing, said “I am willing to pay this extra charge to fulfill my love for Facebook and social networking in general.” However, many others are considering deleting their accounts and relying solely on other forms of social networking.

Link Between Abuse and Having a Child with Autism

According to a new study completed by The Harvard School of Public Health, there is a link between being abused as a child and having a child that develops autism. Though a reason for the connection is not yet apparent, it was found that women who were abused were 60% more likely to have a child that developed autism. A possible explanation lies in the fact that people who are abused are more likely to have inflammation in their blood and have poorer responses to stress. These two factors are often associated with autism. Many scientists believe that more studies need to be completed to discover why this link exists.

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/20/abuse-could-mean-higher-risk-of-autistic-children/?iref=allsearch

Increased Cost of Diabetes

According to research by the American Diabetes Association, the cost of diabetes for the U.S. in 2012 was $245 billion. This is a 41% increase from the money that was spent in 2007. The president of medicine and science for the American Diabetes Association, John Anderson, believes that the rise in cost is due to a increase of the number of Americans that have been diagnosed with diabetes. In 2012, there was an estimated 22.3 million people that had either type 1 or 2 diabetes. Increased obesity and the aging of the baby boomers are likely causes for this sharp increase.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/06/health/diabetes-cost-report/index.html?hpt=hp_bn13

Fukushima: Psychological vs. Health Effects

The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan’s coast and nuclear power plant two years ago has had long-lasting effects. Though the risk of developing cancer as a result of the explosion of the nuclear power plant has risen slightly for people who live in the area, the psychological effects have been much greater. The stigma associated to the people who once lived near the Fukushima power plant, currently a “ghost town,” may have severe psychological results. The disaster itself has caused anxiety, depression, and fear in many of those who were involved. Although the exposure to radiation has not greatly increased the former-residents’ chances of developing cancer, it has caused mutations in local butterflies and  cesium levels in fish to be 250 times greater than the excepted amount.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/28/world/asia/japan-who-radiation/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2

The Cause of Back and Foot Pain

People complain of back and feet problems constantly, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science has announced that his may be because of evolution. They said that humans are the only mammals that have these problems; scoliosis, an abnormally curved spine, is only seen in humans. Archeologists have said that skeletons dating from 1.5- 3 million years ago also show evidence of back problems. Walking upright and the need to carry heavy loads are associated with humans’ unique back problems. Jeremy DeSilva, anthropologist at Boston University, said “Likewise, the human foot’s structure has evolved in a way that also causes problems.” He believes that the arch in people’s feet is what causes many foot problems, but that people have them to assist in running and absorb energy when walking. This proves that evolution is not immune from imperfections.

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/20/why-your-back-feet-hurt-blame-evolution/?hpt=hp_bn13

Cancer Caused by Even Moderate Amounts of Alcohol

In the past thirty years, 20,000 people in the U.S. have died of cancer related to alcohol consumption. Although 60% of these deaths were the result of drinking three or more glasses of alcohol a day, 35% were caused by drinking less than 1.5 drinks per day. For women, the most deaths from alcohol-related cancer fatalities were from breast cancer. Most people are not aware of the connection between alcohol consumption and cancer. Drinking less alcohol is something that experts are suggesting as a result of this study. This study proves that even drinking a little alcohol can result in cancer.

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/14/16963130-even-a-drink-a-day-boosts-cancer-death-risk-alcohol-study-finds?lite

Lance Armstrong is Being Sued

Lance Armstrong, who recently admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs while he participated and won several Tour de France titles, is going to be sued by SCA, a sports insurance company. Though the lawsuit has not been filed yet, SCA is planning on it. The company wants Armstrong to return $12 million that he had received as a bonus after he had won several titles. Armstrong had previously sued the company after they had acknowledged allegations of him doping during the competition. However, they eventually settled. Mark Fabiani, Armstrong’s attorney, said that they can’t “reopen the matter.”

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/06/justice/sports-lance-armstrong-lawsuit/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1

Another Toyota Recall

Last Wednesday, the car company Toyota recalled 1 million cars that were sold in the United States. This follows recalls in 2009 and 2010 that involved 8 million vehicles and problems that occurred during the tsunami that decimated Japan in 2011. Toyota also recalled 7.4 million cars in October of 2012 because of problems with the power windows. This latest recall for “the world’s largest automaker” is the result of issues with windshield wipers and airbags. The faulty airbags are present on 2003 and 2004 models of the Corolla and Corolla Matrix while the problems with the windshield wipers affect the Lexus IS models sold from 2006 to the beginning of 2012.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/30/autos/toyota-recall/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Catholic Hospital Sides Against Religion

Seven years ago, 28-week-pregnant Lori Stodghill was at the St. Thomas More Hospital in Canon City, Colorado after going into cardiac arrest in the lobby of the hospital. She and her unborn twin boys both died. Jeremy Stodghill, Lori’s husband, sued the hospital for the deaths of his sons and wife but they took the defense that an embryo is not a person until it is born. The hospital won the case and sued Stodghill for $118,000. However, they offered to drop the charges if he would drop his appeal of the case. Now Stodghill has petitioned the Colorado Supreme Court to rule on the case. He is also hoping that the Catholic Church will speak out.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/26/us/colorado-fetus-lawsuit/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Flooding in Indonesia

Flooding in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta has resulted in the death of 15 people, with almost half of the deaths being caused by electrocution. Though the month of January is when the monsoon rains are most common, the city received more rain in the past week than it normally does throughout the entire month. The polluted water has forced 19,000 of the 95,000 people that are affected by the flooding to relocate.  The water has even begun to flood the presidential palace. A state of emergency has been declared as schools and businesses remain closed.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/18/world/asia/indonesia-jakarta-floods/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2

Gun Control Debate

After the shooting that occurred at a school in Newtown, Connecticut that killed 27 people, the citizens of the United States have been calling upon the government to implement stricter laws on ownership of guns. Vice President Joe Biden has been given the task of creating recommendations for President Obama on this important issue. Biden has discovered that many people strongly believe that background checks should be performed on everyone who tries to purchase a gun. After Biden’s meeting with the National Rifle Association, the group was disappointed that the conference did not focus as much on mental diseases and school safety as they had hoped.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/10/politics/gun-control-battle/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenews 

Jobs Report for December

Economists that had been surveyed by Briefing.com believed that the unemployment rate would stay the same and 150,000 jobs would be created in the month of December. The actual report stated that 155,000 jobs were created in December and the unemployment rate fell by a tenth of a point from November to 7.7%. The increase in jobs and slight decrease in unemployment rates in 2012 was about the same as in 2011. “That’s not enough to make a significant dent in the unemployment rate,” said economists. The number of long-term unemployed Americans was about 4.8 million, which was not very different from 2011.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/04/news/economy/december-jobs-report/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Handcuffed Teenager Shot and Killled by Police Officer

Last Wednesday, 18 year old Lamon Khiry Haslip was handcuffed by police who were in Moreno Valley, California in response to a “man with a gun” call. On Friday, the teenager died from his wounds at a hospital. After Haslip was arrested, the police say that he moved and revealed that he had a gun. The witnesses to the shooting say he did not resist his arrest. Although his neighbors, friends, and pastor are aware that he was a part of a gang, they do not believe that anyone should be shot while handcuffed.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Teenager-Fatally-Shot-by-Deputy-in-Moreno-Valley-185339072.html