5/28/08

THE CLASS

Mr.Martinez class is a fun class. The appearance of Mr.Martinez made me think that I will fail his class. Because his assignments that he gives out was alot of work to me and the class. But after a while I see that he gives us time to finish our work. His class didn't seem fun at first and it seemed very serious,but later on it's fun. His learning enivronment was fun and intresting to me you can learn and have fun at the same time. Some things I didn't understand but Mr.martinez help me along the way to understand his point of views.

This class is my favorite class to come to cause in this class its all ways fun. You all ways learn somthing new there is nothing in here you want learn or forget.

5/23/08

current event
title:McCain is cancer-free, say newly-released medical records
who:John McCain
what:Three-time melanoma survivor John McCain appears cancer-free, has a strong heart and is in otherwise general good health, according to eight years of medical records reviewed by The Associated Press.
when:May 23, 2008
where:FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz
why:The details of McCain's health are contained in 1,173 pages of medical documents spanning 2000 to 2008 that his campaign made available to the AP to make the case that he's healthy enough to serve as president, as well as to counter the notion that he's too old. The Arizona senator will turn 72 in August and would be the oldest elected president.
Like many aging Americans, McCain takes medicine to keep his cholesterol in check.
how:This time, the AP examined the documents over several hours Thursday in a conference room of a resort just outside of Phoenix and a few miles from the posh Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, where McCain receives most of his medical care under a pseudonym — which the AP was asked not to disclose. Coincidentally, the release came the same week that McCain's close friend, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, revealed that he had a cancerous brain tumor.
The documents include very personal details, such as the fact that he had earwax removed earlier this year and the dermatologist showed McCain's wife, Cindy, how to monitor possibly suspicious skin spots hidden by his waistband. Though he's known as temperamental, the doctors made a point of repeatedly writing in the documents that McCain was "pleasant."
Also revealed: He has occasional momentary episodes of dizziness, when he gets up suddenly. McCain first told a doctor about them in 2000 — a visit that also uncovered the melanoma — and intense testing concluded they were harmless vertigo. He didn't report any episodes at his most recent exam.

5/22/08

current event
title:Christian music star's daughter killed by car
who:The 5-year-old daughter of Grammy-winning Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman
what:The 5-year-old daughter of Grammy-winning Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman was struck and killed Wednesday by a sport utility vehicle driven by her brother, authorities said.The girl, Maria Sue, was hit in the driveway of the family's home Wednesday afternoon by a Toyota Land Cruiser driven by her teenage brother, said Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
when:5/22/08
where:NASHVILLE, Tennessee
why:The singer's Web site says the couple was persuaded by their oldest daughter to adopt a girl from China. The experience led the family to adopt two more children and create Shaohannah's Hope, a foundation and ministry to financially assist thousands of couples in adoption.
The Chapmans did missionary work at Chinese orphanages in 2006 and 2007, according to the Web site.
"After our first trip to China, my wife and I knew our lives were changing -- our eyes and hearts were opening to how big God really is, and we have wanted to experience more of that," Chapman says on the Web site.
how:"After our first trip to China, my wife and I knew our lives were changing -- our eyes and hearts were opening to how big God really is, and we have wanted to experience more of that," Chapman says on the Web site.
"We've really wondered whether or not we should just go to China and stay there. But I don't think so. I believe God is saying, 'I want you to go, get your heart broken, your eyes opened, and then take this story back to the church in America and around the world."'
The 45-year-old singer also has released a book about being a father titled "Cinderella: The Love of Daddy and his Princess." He has won five Grammy awards and 54 Dove awards from the Gospel Music Association, according to Kelm.

5/20/08

current event
title:McCain to mark Cuban day with Obama attack
who:John McCain
what:Republican presidential candidate John McCain marks Cuban Independence Day on Tuesday with a fresh slap at Democratic front-runner Barack Obama for a pledge to meet Cuba's leader if elected in November.
when:May. 20, 2008
where:SAVANNAH, Georgia
why:Obama's vow to hold direct talks, without preconditions, with leaders of countries hostile to the United States, including Iran, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela and Cuba, has given McCain a broad opening to attack Obama over foreign policy.
how:Obama has said he would like to ease stringent U.S. travel restrictions toward Cuba, granting Cuban-Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send remittances to the island.
Though Obama has not yet won the Democratic presidential nomination over rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, he and McCain are both acting as though they are in a general election campaign against each other, already lobbing stinging attacks.
McCain's objective is to define Obama as too inexperienced to be trusted as commander in chief.

5/19/08

current event
title:China mourns as quake death toll climbs
who:
what:Crowds gathered in the devastated city of Chengdu shouted "Farewell, friends!" and "Rebuild!" as China began three days of national mourning Monday to honor the tens of thousands killed by last week's massive earthquake.
when:5/19/08
where:China
why:The death toll in worst-hit Sichuan province, southwestern China, rose to at least 34,073 with another 245,109 people hurt, Chinese government officials said Monday. Authorities have estimated that the final death toll could reach 50,000, while millions more people have been left homeless by the disaster.
Traffic halted, work stopped and people bowed their heads across the country to observe three minutes of silence as air raid sirens, car, truck and train horns sounded a "wail of grief" at 2:28 p.m. (0628 GMT), exactly one week since the earthquake struck. Even rescue workers paused from the job of clearing debris and searching for survivors to mark the moment.
In Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, the three minutes was followed by shouts of support for the recovery effort, CNN correspondent Eunice Yoon said.
"During the moment of silence they were all holding hands, some of them were weeping... They are in a state of utter disbelief and utter shock that so many people have died," said Yoon.
how:Earlier, Xinhua reported that two women had been pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed residential building in the Sichuan county of Beichuan.
Wang Fazhen, 50, was rescued at about 10:30 a.m. local time Monday. The other woman, who was not identified, was pulled from the same area about 40 minutes later, the agency reported.
On Sunday a 53-year-old man, was pulled out of the rubble in Yingxiu town in Sichuan's Wenchuan county -- near the epicenter -- 148 hours after the quake, Xinhua said. The effort took eight hours, the news agency said.
In Beijing's Tiananmen Square around 2,600 people watched as the national flag was ceremonially lowered to half-mast. Flags throughout the country were also lowered and condolences books were opened in China's Foreign Ministry and Chinese embassies and consulates around the world, Xinhua reported.
CNN's Beijing bureau chief Jaime Florcruz said it was the first time China had formally commemorated the victims of a natural disaster in a period of national mourning.

5/15/08

title:Edwards endorses Obama, praises Clinton
current event
who:Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John Edwards
what:Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards endorsed Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.The reason I'm here tonight is because the Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I," he told the boisterous crowd.
when:5/15/08
where:WASHINGTON
why:After the announcement, Republican National Committee Chairman Robert Duncan released a statement asking, "Why didn't Edwards endorse sooner?"
"Edwards' endorsement of a candidate he previously blasted as inexperienced, hypocritical and lacking substance will not help Obama with voters looking for real change," he said.
Edwards dropped out of the Democratic race on January 30 after poor showings in the early contests.
how:The conventional wisdom is that Barack Obama will pick up maybe 60 percent of them, and in some places, that makes a huge difference," former presidential adviser David Gergen said in January.
Time magazine's Joe Klein said Clinton "represents a lot of the things that [Edwards] campaigned against, you know, the old Washington Democratic establishment that he believes got too close to the corporations in the '90s."
Edwards announced that he was dropping out in New Orleans, Louisiana, the same city where he declared his run for the 2008 Democratic presidential race.
"It is time for me to step aside so that history can blaze its path," he said.
With his wife and children at his side, Edwards said he couldn't predict "who will take the final steps to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," but he said it would be a Democrat.
Edwards trailed Clinton and Obama in the early contests. He came in third in key races in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Klein said Edwards played a positive role in spurring his competitors during the early part of the campaign.
"On a lot of substantive issues like health insurance, he was the first one out of the box with a very ambitious universal plan, and I think he forced the others to become bolder in a lot of their policy prescriptions, energy dependence and so on," Klein said.

5/13/08

current event
title:Clinton focuses on West Virginia; Obama, on future
who: Hillary Clinton
What:The outcome of West Virginia's primary Tuesday may best be foretold by where Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama plan to spend the day.
when:5/13/08
where:WASHINGTON
why:Clinton is expected to be in Charleston, West Virginia, to celebrate what should be her large victory.
Obama has no plans Tuesday night, but he is spending the late afternoon at a campaign event in Missouri. That state has already voted this primary season but is considered a swing state that Democrats and Republicans have in their sights this November.
Clinton, it seems, is concentrating on the present; Obama is looking to the future.
Polling places in West Virginia opened at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Clinton, from New York, is ahead in West Virginia by an average of 40 points in the most recent public opinion polls.
how:The small state, with a large population of older voters and blue-collar workers, a dearth of upscale voters and a tiny African-American population, appears to be a perfect demographic fit for Clinton.
But even a landslide victory in West Virginia, which has 28 delegates, may be too little too late to keep Clinton realistically in the hunt for the Democratic presidential nomination. She trails Obama, from Illinois, in delegates won, states won and the popular vote so far this primary season. Clinton also now trails Obama when it comes to the support of superdelegates, and her campaign is $20 million in the red.

5/12/08

current event
title:Real-life skull worship inspires new 'Indiana Jones' film
who:19th century crystal skull made in Germany is presented to the press ahead of the new "Indiana Jones" film.
what:There is a legend that the ancient Maya possessed 13 crystal skulls which, when united, hold the power of saving the Earth -- a tale so strange and fantastic that it inspired the latest Indiana Jones movie.
when:5/12/08
where:PALENQUE, Mexico
why:In fact, few of today's crystal skulls can be documented any further back than the 1860s, when Europe was swept by a rage for pre-Hispanic "relics." Frenchman Eugene Boban, a colorful antiquities dealer with a checkered past and murky political ties, set up a store here to supply the trade after the French invaded Mexico. Eventually he carted skulls around between New York, Paris and Mexico City, selling them to private collectors.
how:Experts dismiss the hundreds of existing crystal skulls as fakes that were probably made by colorful antiquities traders in the 19th century. But Mayan priests worship the skulls, even today, and real-life skull hunters still search for them.
The true story of the skulls stretches over continents and hundreds of years, and may be even more extraordinary than the tale portrayed in this fourth installment of the Harrison Ford franchise.
It's unclear what version of the tale will appear in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," which opens in U.S. theaters on May 22.
The plot of the film -- the first Indiana Jones movie since "The Last Crusade" came out in 1989 -- revolves around a race against the Soviets to find the skulls.

5/9/08

current event
title:U.N. halts Myanmar flights after aid 'seized'
who:Authorities
what:Authorities in cyclone-ravaged Myanmar have seized United Nations aid intended for victims of the disaster, prompting the organization to halt future relief flights, a U.N. World Food Program official said. The organization, which insists on distributing its own relief supplies, says two aircraft-loads of food, medicine and equipment, were seized by the army in Myanmar's main city Yangon.
"This is another example of them actively getting in the way of relief getting to the victims," said Tony Banbury, Asia director of the World Food Program.
Asked whether the move would jeopardize future U.N. aid flights, he said, "absolutely, from our perspective, it shuts them down."
The powerful cyclone, which swept through the country's low-lying river delta regions last weekend killed 22,000, according to Myanmar officials. Foreign observers say 100,000 may have perished, while many more are at risk of disease and starvation.
when:5/9/08
where:BANGKOK, Thailand
why:Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the ruling military junta in Myanmar has behaved "appallingly" by declining visas to relief workers.
On Saturday, the United Nations had been planning three further aid flights, from Dubai, India and Cambodia. It would bring biscuits, emergency meals, and logistical support and equipment, such as boats, to reach isolated areas.
The United Nations -- which has had a program in Myanmar, where there are 15 international and 225 local staffers -- normally takes responsibility for its own food distribution.
Paul Risley, a WFP spokesman, told CNN the agency has never encountered such resistance to offers of help in such a major humanitarian crisis. "This has never happened before," he said.
To complicate matters, Myanmar's embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, was shut Friday for a three-day weekend, further delaying visa applications as time was running out for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable cyclone victims.
how:The Australian prime minister told a radio interviewer Friday that Australia, the United States and other countries will urge China to pressure Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.
"The obscenity of this is that the people who pay the price are the Burmese people," he said, according to a transcript that Rudd's office published Friday. "The people of Burma don't deserve this."
Meanwhile, a coalition of opposition groups have blasted the regime in a statement Friday and urged the United Nations or foreign governments to intervene -- with or without the government's permission.
Myanmar state media has claimed that shipments from Bangladesh, China, India, Singapore, Italy and Thailand arrived Thursday at the Yangon international airport and were being distibuted. He also urged Myanmar to delay Saturday's scheduled referendum on a constitution backed by the junta. The government has postponed the voting in areas affected by the cyclone.

5/9/08

title:Rotting corpses pile up as Myanmar stalls on aid
current event

who:
what:Myanmar's cyclone survivors do not have enough fuel to burn the rotting corpses of the dead as the country's military junta continues to drag its feet over access for aid groups.Relief agencies said decomposing corpses littered ditches and fields in the worst hit Irrawaddy delta area as survivors tried to conserve fuel for the transporting of much needed supplies.
The international community was growing increasingly frustrated Thursday with the junta's lack of progress in granting visas for relief workers and giving clearance for aid flights to land.
They were concerned the lack of medical supplies and clean food and water threatened to increase the already staggering death toll
when:5/9/08
where:YANGON, Myanmar
why:Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Thursday that it hoped the country would "cooperate with the international community" to help overcome the disaster quickly.
The U.S has also been pushing for access, pledging $3.25 million and offering to send U.S. Navy ships to the region to help relief efforts.
The U.S. military had already flown six helicopters on to a Thai airbase, as Washington awaits permission to go into the south Asian country, two senior military officials told CNN's Barbara Starr.
In addition, several C-130 cargo aircraft aboard the USS Essex, which was conducting an exercise in the region, were available for relief missions.
Eric John, the U.S. ambassador to Thailand, told AP Thursday that they had still not been given permission to send relief flights to Myanmar despite reports to the contrary.
The U.S. and other nations do not recognize the military junta -- which maintained control of the country even after 1990, when an opposition political party won victory in democratic elections. The country's name was changed from Burma to Myanmar in 1989.
how:Myanmar's government has asked for international aid, but the junta has balked at allowing assessment teams into the country -- a step that most agencies and countries take before deciding how much and what kind of aid to provide.
The strategy is not to "flood Yangon" with aid workers, but get 30 to 40 experienced U.N staffers into the country, according to Richard Horsey, a spokesman for the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
"It's quality over quantity," he said from his office in Bangkok.
Horsey said Myanmar's government "is more open to goods" rather than aid workers, but said it was understandable considering the military regime's "reticence to engage with the international community." But he pointed out that such a major disaster "would overwhelm any government."
Horsey said the regime had provided a number of helicopters and a larger number of boats to the relief effort.
He said the main hurdle was getting them into the flood-soaked delta, where nearly 2,000 square miles (5,000 square kilometers) remained underwater.
"When vast areas are flooded.. helicopters can't land," Horsey said. "When you get down to the tip of the delta, it's not much above sea level. When you get a major storm surge ... it doesn't drain back again."
The problem, he said, was compounded by the current monsoon period in South Asia.
One of the hardest-hit areas is Pyinzalu, a small town on the tip of the Irrawaddy delta, which has not fully recovered from the 2004 tsunami, according to World Vision health advisor Dr. Kyi Minn in Yangon.
Survivors from the delta villages described bodies along the road and floating in the rivers as they walked more than 100 kilometers to Yangon. That, Minn said, has had a significant mental impact on the survivors.

5/6/08

title:Last minute Clinton ad: 'What has happened to Barack Obama?'
current event

who:Ms.clinton
what:Hoping the proposal to suspend the gas tax will resonate with working class voters in Indiana and North Carolina, the Clinton campaign launched a last-minute ad in those states Monday that sharply attacks rival Barack Obama for not supporting the measure.
when:5/5/08
where:Indiana
why:What has happened to Barack Obama?" an announcer states in the new 30 second spot, among the campaign's most bruising to date.
"He is attacking Hillary’s plan to give you a break on gas prices because he doesn’t have one," the ad's announcer also says.
The ad comes on the heels of a weekend marked by heated back-and-forth between both campaigns over the issue. Obama's campaign launched an ad Sunday that called Clinton's proposal to suspend the gas tax a "classic Washington gimmick" and argues that oil companies will keep the extra proceeds from the suspension of the gas tax and will not pass the savings onto drivers.
how:The Clinton campaign countered that Obama is siding with the oil companies over hard working voters increasingly pinched by the price of gas.
UPDATE: Barack Obama's campaign released a response ad Monday afternoon that charges Clinton with offering "More of the same old negative politics."
“A war that should never have been waged. An economy in turmoil. Record prices at the pump. America held hostage to foreign oil," the ad's announcer states.
“Her hometown newspaper says she's taking the low road - her attacks do nothing but harm," the announcer also says. “The same old Washington politics won't fix our problems. We need honest answers… And a president we can trust."

5/5/08

title:Lawyer prepares insanity defense for incest captor
current event

who:Attorney Rudolf Mayer
what:The Austrian who reportedly admitted holding his daughter captive for 24 years and fathering seven children with her will plead insanity, his lawyer said.Attorney Rudolf Mayer said he believed 73-year-old Josef Fritzl had a mental disorder, The Associated Press reported. Mayer said someone who was mentally ill "didn't choose" to do what police allege he did.
"I believe that the trigger was a mental disorder, because I can't imagine that someone has sex with his own daughter without having a mental disorder," Mayer said in an interview broadcast late Sunday.
Mayer said Fritzl would be confined to a psychiatric institution rather than a prison if he was certified as insane and convicted, AP reported.
when:5/5/08
where:AMSTETTEN, Austria
why:The horrifying story has shocked many locally and across the world. On Sunday, members of the Amstetten religious community held a Mass to remember Fritzl's family. After the Mass, members of the church signed a banner outside a church in support of the victims.
how:The 19-year-old girl, who had been locked in the basement her entire life along with her mother and two brothers, was in an artificially induced coma in an Amstetten clinic. She was suffering from a kidney ailment that worsened because she did not receive medial treatment sooner, authorities said. Fritzl told his wife that their daughter Elisabeth, who is now 42, ran away from home at age 18.
The couple adopted three of the children who Josef said were left on their doorstep as infants by his runaway daughter.
In the interview Christine R. said her sister, Rosemarie, truly thought that her daughter had ran away to join a cult.
"She never believed him being capable of it," said Christine R. "We were all taken in by him and believed that she (referring to Elizabeth), was in a cult and that she wouldn't come out."
It may have been Fritzl's strict rule over the household that made it possible for him to keep his gruesome secret hidden for so long, Christine R. said.
The unspeakable ordeal has taken a toll on the whole family, Christine R. said, stating that she spoke to her sister on the phone recently.

5/2/08

current event
title:Regulators zero in on credit card reform
who:Federal regulators
what:Federal regulators are pushing ahead to stop abuses by credit card issuers at a time when the $2 trillion industry has come under increasing scrutiny.
On Thursday, the Office of Thrift Supervision, responsible for overseeing the nation's savings and loans, endorsed a seven-point plan to tackle "unfair" and "deceptive" practices by companies that issue credit cards.
The plan would allow consumers more time to pay their monthly bill. It would prevent companies from applying interest-rate increases retroactively to pre-existing balances. And it would ban "double cycle billing," a practice that computes finance charges based on previous billing cycles.
when:may1,2008
where:NEW YORK
why:The National Credit Union Administration board also approved the proposed rules Thursday. The Federal Reserve is expected sign off on it no later than Friday.
Under the proposal, companies that issue credit cards would be required to outline the factors that determine which of several advertised interest rates and credit limits a customer will receive. In addition, the rules would prevent companies from charging fees to open an account and receive credit.
Regulators, most notably the Fed, have been under pressure from politicians to do a better job of overseeing the banking industry in general or risk losing some of their regulatory powers.
how:Americans with shabby credit histories, for example, may no longer have similar access to credit. At the same time, consumers with good credit could soon find themselves facing higher interest rates.
In the early 1980s, before issuers relied on credit scores in vetting customers, interest rates hovered around 18% and everyone paid an annual fee.
Nowadays consumers pay an average interest rate of just over 13%, and three quarters of card issuers do not charge an annual fee, according to the American Bankers Association.
The consumer federation and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group said they were encouraged by the joint proposal, but added that regulators did not address other problems like unwarranted interest rate changes and aggressive marketing to college students.
"It's a good first step in addressing a number of abusive practices," said Travis Plunkett, legislative director at the consumer federation. "However, it will still be necessary for Congress to step in because the proposal only deals with a few of the problems that have been identified."
At the same time, legislators could have quite a fight on their hands. Previous efforts trying to reform the industry have largely failed, while recent legislative proposals have found little support among GOP lawmakers.
The reforms proposed this week will be open for public comment for 75 days. The agencies expect to finalize any new regulatory changes by the end of the year.

5/1/08

current event
title:Pittsburgh overtakes L.A. as nation's sootiest city
who:nation's sootiest city
what: A city outside California has, for the first time, been named the sootiest in the nation, one of the categories the American Lung Association uses to determine the most polluted cities in the country.
when:4/1/08
where:LOS ANGELES, California
why:Los Angeles, California, still took the all-around pollution title, though.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, overtook Los Angeles in the category that measures short-term particle pollution or soot. Los Angeles, the country's longtime soot and smog leader, has enacted aggressive measures to tackle sources of pollution, resulting in a substantial drop in particle pollution levels, said Janice Nolen, the association's assistant vice president of national policy and advocacy.
how:The association's "State of the Air: 2008" report, being released Thursday, was based on air quality measurements reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by state and local agencies between 2004 and 2006. The study looks at three key pollution measures.
The eight metropolitan areas considered to be the nation's most polluted by every measure were Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, Visalia-Porterfield and Hanford-Corcoran, all in California; Washington-Baltimore, Maryland; St. Louis, Missouri; and Birmingham, Alabama.
The cleanest cities were Fargo, North Dakota and Salinas, California.
The rankings were based on ozone pollution levels produced when heat and sunlight come into contact with pollutants from power plants, cars, refineries and other sources. The lung association also studied particle pollution levels emitted from these sources, which are made up of a mix of tiny solid and liquid particles in the air.