Tropical storm leaves more than 100 dead in Central America

The office of Guatemala's president handed out this aerial view of a crater that opened up after Agatha hit


After a tropical storm hit in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador over the weekend, at least 115 people have died. Guatemala was hit the hardest with about 92 deaths. Nearly 112,000 people have been evacuated and more than 29,000 are living in temporary shelters. This has been a devastating catastrophe for Guatemala and has destroyed many homes. Rivers have risen to high level, destroying bridges. School classes have been canceled this week throughout the nation. More rain was possibly forecast for Monday. Agatha was determined from a tropical storm to a tropical depression Saturday night and lost its status as a depression Sunday evening. Agatha was the first named storm for the Pacific hurricane season. The Atlantic hurricane season starts on Tuesday.

I am always shocked as to how much damage these tropical storms can do. They are so powerful, and I am very thankful that I do not live in a region where I am effected by the damages of tropical storms. It is crazy how many deaths there were, even when the storm was not even that large. It is a shame that the tropical storm has to do so much damage to countries like Guatemala, who really don't need more damage and poverty. I feel very sorry for all of the people that have evacuated their homes and had their homes destroyed. Hopefully the Hurricane season sill not be bad this year, but it possibly could be with global warming in effect. It is a shame many of these catastrophes throughout our world are happening due to global warming. The storms are getting bigger and bigger.

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Passenger who was locked in empty plane sues airlines

A women from Michigan woke up on an airplane, only to find herself locked in the airplane. She filed a lawsuit Thursday against United Airlines and a partner airline. The 36 year old women spent about four hours in the plane until she was found by a cleaning crew. "Waking up on an empty airplane and not being able to get out was very horrifying. It's a very dramatic word, but it was a little much," said MiGuire, the women. The United Airlines and Trans States Airlines are investing the incident. McGuire is would like between $25,000 and $75,000 in the suit for her emotional distress and other factors. The Airlines are especially checking on the airline stewardess that was suppose to check the aircraft after landing, obviously the procedure wasn't followed.

I honestly couldn't even imagine waking up to find myself locked in an airplane. I would have probably panicked a little bit, but then found it actually pretty funny. I don't know if I would have been so upset to the point of filing a lawsuit. I think that the women wants the money for unnecessary reasons. I also don't understand why she would get stuck for four hours. I would think that she would have a cell phone to call somebody. Although I was shocked that the airline stewardess did not notice the women before everyone was done getting off the plane, mabey she just forgot to check. But as far as I am concered, it is the womens own fault. If kids are sleeping on a bus and they miss their spot, they dont get dropped off. She has no excuse, and she shouldn't file a lawsuit. She could have purposly hide herself so she could come up with a lawsuit like this.

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Western troops join Russia's Victory Day parade

Troops from the United States, Britain and France marched in the annual Victory Day parade through Red Square for the first time ever on Sunday. The Victory Day parade celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany by the Soviet Union and its Western allies. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said, "is indicative of our solidarity, and of the understanding that universal humanistic values are becoming increasingly important for the development of the modern world."Over 10,500 troops paraded through the capital this year. Many Russians watched the parade on television. More than half of Russians also approved the invitation of foreign troops, according to a poll by the independent Levada Center. And 20 percent of Russians they disapproved of inviting international troops to the parade, and 8 percent were strongly against it. During WWII, the Soviet Union suffered the most losses of any other country, with 7.5 million soldiers killed and 5 million wounded, and millions of civilian deaths.




I think that it is really interesting that Russia would invite so many countries to celebrate their Victory Day celebration. I was surprised that Russia is still pretty accepting of the United States and other countries as well. Looking at some pictures from the celebration, I could not believe how many soldiers were there from all of the different countries. It is nice how they can all come together to celebrate the defeat of Nazi Germany to this day. I like how we can all come together and celebrate with a big parade. I wonder if many of the Russians hated how America was there, and what their reactions were when we arrived. I hope that someday, all of the countries will accept each other and live in a world of peace.

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Ireland reopens airports after brief shutdown

On Friday, after shutting Irish airports down for several hours because of ash from an Icelandic volcano, Irish authorities reopened the airports. It had been the third time in four days that some airports in Ireland had to be shut down due to volcanic ash. The IAA said, "While the northerly winds are keeping the bulk of the cloud out in the Atlantic, the increased size of the cloud continues to pose a risk especially if the winds change." The Eyjafjallajokull volcano that had erupted last month had been expelling denser ash into the air since Tuesday afternoon. This ash is being carried form Iceland towards Ireland, causing many flight problems. Volcanic ash is a serious problem because it reduces visibility for air crafts and can damage flight controls which can cause the airplanes to crash. The volcanic ash ultimately stranded tens of thousands of passengers around the world.

I did not know that volcanic ash could be such a hazard for the airplanes. I was shocked to read that the ash could cause so many problems. Quiet honestly I did not even know that there were volcanoes in Ireland. It is crazy how ash can cause such problems and cause flights to be delayed. I wish I could see how thick the ash actually is, so I could understand how it effects the aircrafts. I also which the atricle gave more information about the size of the volcanoe and more numbers kind of information. Also, I was suprised that the volcanic ash can linger in the air for days and days. I did not know that it could be around for that long. It is crazy how thick the ash actually is and also how dangerous it can be.

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Issue #2: Boosting the Minimum

1. Many Americans argue that boosting the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour is a good thing for the economy and will help bring more people out of poverty. They think that with the help of food stamps, EITC, and the minimum wage at $7.25, many people will be able to rise above the poverty threshold. They also believe that raising the minimum wage will positively effect groups like single mothers, who are at a risk of ongoing poverty. Also, that by more people having more money, this will help the economy because those people will have money to spend. On the other hand, some people disagree with raising the minimum wage. They think that raising minimum wage is only affecting a small percentage of the workforce, and mostly targets teens, not necessarily people in poverty. They also say that this will lead to higher prices on business products will lead to more job cuts, which will hurt business and overall more low- income workers. Instead, they say that the EITC program should be extended, because this wouldn't interfere with the market.

2. I believe that the minimum wage hike is actually hurting more people that it is helping. With business' having to pay their employees more, they have to increase their prices on products on order to make a profitable income. With this, I think that Americans are actually buying less products, which leads to unnecessary employees, and therefore business's are firing more low- income employees. Overall, this is just hurting our economy, beacause less money is actually being spent by the low-income people. Professor Stiglitz also disagrees with raising minimum wage saying, "If government attempts to raise the miminum wage higher than the equilibrium wage, the demand for workers will be reduced and the supply increased. There will be an excess supply of labor."

Professor Stiglitz Link

Links:

Issue #1 All Things Being Equal : http://rachaelbeers951.blogspot.com/2010/04/issue-1-all-things-being-unequal.html

Issue #3 Welfare: http://tarynthompson.blogspot.com/2010/04/issue-3-putting-welfare-to-work.html