World Cup- Ashton

This whole artcle talks about how Ireland was basically cheated out of a world cup appearance by France. Apparently a France player used his hand to bat the ball out of the air just before going out of bounds, which then led to a pass out front and a header goal. Not to mention this all happened in stoppage time. For anyone not aware of stoppage time in soccer its the last few minutes after the regulation playing time. The amount is decided by several aspects whether it will be 2 minutes, maybe 3, give or take a minute. The FAl (Irish Football Association) sent a game replay request to FIFA to atleast get a rematch. FIFA's reponse was no, they stated a game couldnt be replayed because of a mistake made by a referee.
It's hard to say which way im leaning in this controversy and I no many others feel the same. Soccer being the most popular world sport, I can imagine millions of people are going to be upset either way it goes. I somewhat agree with FIFA, just because a referee makes a mistake does not mean the game should be replayed. This happens all the time in other sports, but those game are not made up so why should this. On the other hand it is a lot of littles kids dream to grow up someday and play in the World Cup and for the players who may not succeed with that dream I feel greatly sorrowed. However you don't always get what you want. Some players may sit and complain, however the good ones will use this as a drive to push themselves even harder to make it to the following world cup. After some thought im going to have to agree with FIFA. They stood there ground and as long as they stay consistent with their decisions I have no complaints.

Google phone service- Ashton

This whole article basically stresses how important phones are to Americans. Mobile phones being as expensive as they are companies are constantly trying to find an edge and lower costs whille still getting paid. This last week google has finally came out of the closet. They've been working on this issue for some time and finally bought Gizmo5 an online phone company. The idea behind it is since google has such cheap fiber they will be able to lower phone costs dramatically, putting a little more cash in our pockets. "If AT&T is Coca-Cola, Google is now 7-UP," Abramson said. By this he means google will most definately be able to compete with other major phone services if not surpass them in the upcoming years.
I would just like to say an early congratulations to Google. If they plan lives up to the talk this would be a huge step in lower phone bills. Im lucky enough to have parents who pay for my bills, however ive seen the numbers and they arent pretty. It's a little ridiculous how spendy cellular devices are, but the sky is clearing up. I have nothing more to say except I support this plan 150%. By saving so many people hundreds of dollars each year its much larger than we think. A plan would cost roughly 6 dollars a month (just an early estimate give or take a few $) compared to the 50$ and up price per phone might i add. With technology becoming more and more advanced it seemed bills would only increase, not the case. Thanks Google, i hope everything goes accordingly.

Health Care blog- Ashton Gronholz

Issue #3- Safe to Eat?

Issue 3 focuses on the sale of organic products throughout the U.S. that can be linked to the health care system. It talks about some food born illnesses like E-coli, and an outbreak in 2006 that came from a California farm where pigs and cow manure spread in a spinach field and contaminated the food. Many experts say the increase of illnesses such as these, the blame can be put on us somewhat. We eat alot more raw and organic food to stay healthy so obviously the risk of spreading problems will also increase. Most food is becoming centralized partially because certain foods can only be grown in certain climates so for states such as California and Arizona about half of the nations produce come from them. Another problem we can work to solve is making one government regulated agency that should account for all meat, and agricultural products. The FDA for example oversee the fruit and vegetable industry. Where as the Dedpartment of Agriculture watch over meat and poultry. Many argue that there should be just one and these other agencies should merge together to form 1 mass regulator. They think the government could respond much quicker and efficiently than before.

Better health care, isn't that what we all want. Well if we had one major inspection agency for all food products, we could then focus on the necessities. Food is a major part of our economy, however health care is 1/6. That is a staggering statistic. With something that plays such a major role in this country we need to do our best to make it succeed. In my opinion were struggling to do that. Prices are soaring and we need to fix that. A major issue talked about is how people need to feel safe when they eat food; 1 agency could do this. They could all work together to better the country. Rush Limbaugh Somewhat agrees with my stand on the issue. Put into different words he is a conservative and he favors what the government already has but bradual change is sometimes needed. Aaron Rentschler issue 2, Tim lukes issue 1.

Tropical Storm Ida- Ashton Gronholz

The most recent tropical storm known as Ida has been getting alot of desired attention lately. It finally reached the Gulf coast of Tuesday. Although it lost alot of power on the journey it still created some heavy rains across the southeast. It arrived at Dauphin Island, Alabama around 5:40 C.T. By 7:00 it was 25 miles within Alabama mainland. The storm at maxed out winds up to 45 mph and stronger gusts mixed in. The heavy rains have caused some floods in Alabama and Florida. Authorities have warned people of flooding, but since this is not a major storm not much consideration was recieved. Most Alabamans plan to wait it out and hope for the best.
In my opinion a storm of such low caliber should not even be allowed on the news. There is no threat to human lives unless their stupid enough to stay under water if their city does flood. Not many people want to hear about this kind of stuff when it doesnt affect them at all. I understand hurricanes can be deadly, but hurricane Ida at the moment is not much of a threat. Tornadoes are deadly also, but we dont see those stories spewed all over the news and internet every time one hits some hick down. Sure there are occasional reports, but it seems like every time there are small tropical news alot of fuss and complaining is done. Major news in Florida "it's raining," big deal. It's little thing that frustrate me about the media they blow stories way out of proportion just to get attention. Storms are natural occurances and we as people need to accept this. Deal with it people the world doesnt revolve around us. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against helping people in need, but when they actually need to help then it should be on the news. Dont waste our time.

Yankees Win 2009 World Series- Ashton Gronholz

The Yankees won the world series last night over the Phillies 7-3 for the national championship. They took the series in a total of 6 games, ending with last nights thriller. They started off the new ball park good winning the pennet in it's first year of existance; the same goes for the old ballpark which was built in 1923. Hideki Matsui had a record breaking night with a hr, double, single, and 6 RBI's, this is probaly why he was awarded MVP of the world series. While Hideki was crushing phillies pitchers, the opposite could be said for Andy Pettite the Yankees pitchers who was keeping the phillies offense in check. This was the Yankees 27th title and first since 2000.
In my mind the baseball world should expect nothing less then a national championship out of the Yankees every single year. With a roster like that it leaves competetion in the dust. Now im not trying to take away from the players who worked so hard to achieve this goal, but it's a disgrace that the MLB officials and commisioner allow such a stacked roster. The Phillies, a team within the salary cap might i add, played their hearts out and recieved, well in my mind a treasurable experience, but should have had more. We need to set limits on teams, that's why we have the salary cap. It would make baseball so much enjoyable to watch. On the other hand if the Phillies would have won, it makes the thrill that much better being able to say they defeated a team like that so i guess the arguement could go both ways. But put it up to the fans, we should decide the Yankees fate, because after all without the fans the MLB would be just another lost hobby.

Yankees advance to world Series- Ashton Gronholz

New York defeated the Los Angeles Angels last night taking the best of 7 series in 6 games. The 5-2 defeat knocked the angels out of the running for the world series while the Yankees make an astonishing 40th franchise world series visit. Their next game will be against the Phillies on wednesday night in the Bronx. There was a record breaking 50,173 fans at the new yankee stadium that cost 1.5 billion. The Yankees recorded their first AL pennet since 2003. Rodriguez is looking forward to his first world series appearance and he did all he could to make that happen with a .586 on-base percentage. Including the division series win against the Twins, Rodriguez has hit five home runs with 12 RBIs. In previous playoffs he lacked the batting touch swinging in at just .148.
I think its a joke that the yankees are even allowed to participate in MLB. With an outragous salary cap of around 160 million it unevens the playing field dramatically. Just look at their roster, every single name is well known or atleast heard of by even the smallest fan. With players like Rodriguez, Jeter, Sabathia, and the list goes on and on it's no wonder why they make the playoffs every year. They should be ashamed when they dont make the world series because of that roster. Being a Twins fan i feel people just may feel im jealous my team lost, however a proper baseball fan would agree with me. A team thats allowed so much leway when it comes to salary cap should not be allowed to participate. Something needs to be done immediately to even this team out and make it fair for every other team in Major leage baseball.

Current Issue Blog

Spending what we can afford is a major topic being discussed in our national government at this time and age. Many issues are spread across the sheet, this sticks out the most for me. "Paygo" a rule congress thought up in 2007 requires that any tax cuts or increases in entitlement spending be offset with spending reductions elsewhere. This means exactly what the title says. However much money we have to spend, thats all we can use no more. It is unsure whether this would be the right way to go because they say it will only cause tax increases to pay for new programs. On the other hand many agree with this idea because they say it will stop the national debt from going up, or better yet start to decrease it. Alot of people are afraid it will only cost most to make this happen, but congress believes they can do it without increasing the national debt, and the program has the mobility to be suspended in times of recession or crisis. Social Security, and Medicare for example are two programs we have right now we are running out of money for. Programs like these do help the American people greatly that is why we need money for them. It is said that by 2017 the government will be spending more money for these programs than they are recieving from taxes meaning the debt will keep going up. With pay go we will be able to limit the programs use to people that really need them, and in turn not spend more than we have.

I believe pay go would have a fantastic outcome for us. I dont see how it would have a negative effect except for limiting the people taking advantage of benefits they dont actually need. Which would actually be wonderful. There is no reason why our social security should be running out if all citizens over 18 pay taxes. Our government needs to tighten up on those people using programs they have no use for. If people thought about others for once rather than just themselves we would be much better off, Civic Virtue. Pay go would be a great add on to our counry. It would have only positive effects. Take a look at a smaller idea. People who dont use credit cards for example and stay out of debt by only spending what they earn are in much better condition than people in debt. I know people like this and that is why i can say they dont have financial problems, atleast from debt. That is why pay go would be great. People (especially Americans) need to realize by spending no more than what you have life would be so much easier. Jim Hightower, generally has the same opinion I do when it comes to lowering the national debt. What better way than use Pay go to limit government spending and only put the money where it is truly needed. JIM HIGHTOWER. HALLEY THUL current event article on social security/ Jon Schwegal blog warfare spending.