30 Years in Jail...And for What?

In 1979, a Texas man named Cornelius Dupree Jr. was charged with rape and robbery with a deadly weapon. In 1980, he was convicted and sentenced to 75 years in prison - a lifetime sentence for the then 20-year-old. And today, 30 years later, he was declared innocent.

A few months ago, the Innocence Project ran DNA tests on 30-year-old evidence taken from the victim. And guess what? The test results cleared Dupree of the crime. Now, a hearing is being held to confirm that the biological material does indeed match the victim's DNA, which would officially exonerate Dupree.

But Dupree isn't the first Texan to be convicted of a crime that he didn't commit. Actually, far from it. Although 51-year-old Dupree did spend more time in prison than any other DNA exoneree in Texas, the state has released 41 wrongly-convicted prisoners through DNA since 2001, exceeding any other state. And in Dallas specifically, where Dupree will be exonerated, there have been 21 DNA exonerations since 2001 - more than any other county in the country. This is owed to Dallas' crime lab, which keeps biological evidence decades after a conviction.

At first glance, it seems as though Texas has wrongly convicted so many citizens because of what Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins calls "a convict-at-all-costs mentality." Shouldn't Texas, and any state for that matter, be more careful when convicting people of crimes - especially when the sentence is practically for life? Or can convicting people without sufficient evidence be justified as a protection of the people, some kind of precaution?

But there's a second idea presented in this article. Maybe Dallas has exonerated so many people because of its unparalleled crime lab. Shouldn't all counties take these steps to ensure that those wrongly convicted are eventually exonerated - even if it is 30 years later? But hey - at least now Dupree can live the rest of his years outside of a cell.

House GOP plans two-pronged attack on health law

On Wednesday, the Republicans will officially take control of the House. However, they already have plans on what they will do with their majority. The incoming House has plans to schedule a vote to repeal the sweeping health care overhaul before Obama's annual State of the Union address later this month. In march, the bill passed with only 7 votes more in favor. Incoming chairman Fred Upton said, "“If we pass this bill with a sizeable vote, and I think that we will, it will put enormous pressure on the Senate to do perhaps the same thing." After getting it repealed, they intend to go after it "piece-by-piece." Obviously their majority in the House has given them a lot of confidence in the repeal. Many of the Republicans have stated their own reason for wanting to repeal the health law: as the public learns more about it, the less they like it; costly, but doesnt yield much; doesnt fix the root of the problem (payment of billions of dollars to non-existent entities); and the common "we-could-do-so-much-better" reason. However, several Democrats say that the repeal is a lost cause. They believe that all the good that the bill has done will cause the repeal to die. Wasserman Shultz says, "It's not going to happen. If it's about jobs and the economy and reducing the deficit, wasting time and money and adding to the deficit by repealing health care reform or on the attempt is irresponsible.”

Do you think that the health law will be repealed? Should it be repealed?

What will Schwarzenegger be up to?

Oh no! Our governor of seven years, Arnold Schwarzenegger won't have a job on Monday since his term of being governor is up. What is he going to do next?
Well, according to Schwarzenegger himself, he will still be involved in political activism and possible writing an autobiography of himself. He may even start acting again if there is a good script out that suits him very well but he isn't quite sure if he will be willing to spend months filming a movie but as of right now he has no plan at all.
Schwarzenegger has always wanted reforms to happen to help with environmental issues and protecting the environment. He asked governments to address the problem of global warming and California regulators have approved a system of offering major polluters to the environment financial incentives to lower their discharge of greenhouse gases into the environment which is a big step in protecting the environment. He may possibly help promote the idea of protecting the environment more after he gives up his spot to the next governor.
As for running for office again, that would probably be very unlikely for him and plus his wife apparently never wanted to enter the world of politics anyways so I guess that's a good thing. He can spend more time with his family down south instead of having to fly to Sacramento ever so often. He doesn't know what he will be doing next but he will for sure continue with doing charity work and giving to others which is always a plus.

So....what do you guys think he should do next?

Happy 100th Birthday to the Republic of China/Taiwan

Today, the Republic of China celebrated its 100th anniversary. When the Republic was first founded by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, it was one of the only democracies in Asia on January 1st, 1911. The Republic effectively ended the 5000 year history of monarchical rule.

Since its founding 100 years ago, the country has evolved into a high-tech industry filled with companies such as Acer, Asus, Gigabite, HTC, MSI, and Thermalright. While hosting grand events such as Computex (2nd largest electronic trade show after Cebit in Germany) and the 2010 International Floral Exhibition. The country has becoming widely known for its superb education, which according to many is among the best in the world. It has also been recognized as one of the "Four Asian Tigers" in most recent years and a defender of the traditional character system used for thousands of years.

As Taiwan looks to the future it is still the only Chinese democracy in the world, but is always under thread from its larger, richer neighbor: China.

As President Ma stated in his address today, Taiwan must be a beacon of more traditional Chinese culture, but also ideas such as freedom and democracy.

I find it quite amazing that this country has lasted so long and proves that at the end of the day, some values will never disappear. Happy New Year to all.

Thoughts? Opinions?

Minimum wage earners in 7 states getting raises

Happy New Year! Oh what's that? a gift for the minimum wage earners? Seven states which is about 650,000 people that are working minimum wage will be getting raises this year! Individuals working minimum wage will be getting a raise of 9 to 12 cents an hour if they on Saturdays, which good since everything nowadays cost a lot more than it used to be so these 9-12 cents an hour may come in handy if prices of food and other daily necessities continue to increase. Any little raise in income would help a family greatly.

Only 7 of the 50 states in America are getting this small raise next year. The states that are receiving this so called "raise" will be Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. Some states, especially Colorado, can really use this increase in salary because the minimum wage in Colorado dropped by 3 cents last year due to deflation so it's a big improvement in the salaries for the individuals that are living in Colorado.

Some minimum wage people are unable to afford things so this raise in minimum wage can help individuals in being able to afford the things needed daily.  More and more people are going into poverty so this increase in minimum wage will surely help a little to those living in poverty with a minimum wage income.

New Mexico governor decides not to pardon Billy the Kid

Infamous long-dead outlaw Billy the Kid was denied pardon of his crimes. Governor Bill Richardson made this decision after long debate that has directed a lot of attention not only nationally, but also internationally. If the pardon had been granted, it would have covered an amnesty offer given to the Kid by Governor Lew Wallace for the 1878 killing of Lincoln County Sheriff. However, Governor Richardson's deciding factor was Billy the Kid's actions to kill two law enforcement officers after the unfulfilled pardon offer. Gov Richardson says that "This is American history... We should not neglect the historical record and the history of the American West." But Billy the Kid is long gone. Several governors agree with Gov Richardson to take this case, while other governors have called it a waste of time. Do you think it matters whether or not his pardon is significant in the grand scheme of history?

Sri Lanka to scrap visa on arrival

Issuing land permits will be discontinued in Sri Lanka so people wouldn't need to go through the hassle of going to the Sri Lankan embassy to obtain a visa. After fighting in Sri Lanka stopped in May of 2009, there has been a 50% increase in tourism and Sri Lanka wants to have more than 700,000 tourist next year.

What's cool is that they are trying to start up a system in which people can apply for their visas online! That would be much easier than going through millions of paperwork in order to obtain a visa that works for 30 days. Imagine being able to apply for any kind of visas online! That would be so much more convenient and people who don't have the time to go out to get a visa can do it whenever they want online. But I guess being able to get all kinds of visas online would cause some people to lose their jobs since people wouldn't be going into offices to get their visas done even though doing it online is so much easier.

Anesthesia puts you to "sleep"? Not really

That's right. Your doctors, dentist and other medical professionals have been lying to you. Anesthesia doesn't put you to sleep. A new study shows that it actually puts you into a "reversible coma" or like being knocked unconscious. This was figured out by looking at the pattern of brain waves while under anesthesia and comparing them to sleeping brain wave patterns. However, the brain waves of an anesthetized patient was more like a deeply unconscious coma patient. But just because the affects of anesthesia are a little different than what you thought they were, it doesn't mean that it is better or worse than what it was before. Hopefully, people won't start fearing that they will slip into an actual coma from anesthesia when this study has the opposite affect. This study could help fix sleep disorders or recovery from comas.

Will you "print" your next instrument?

It was the goal of a researcher Amit Zoran of the MIT Media Lab to print a fully functioning musical instrument through the use of a "Computer Assisted Drawing" or CAD drawing. CAD drawings are drawings that are made through a computer. The most commonly used programs include AutoCAD, Google Sketchup and others.

It seems that this project was finally realized using an Objet Connex500 3D printer. The entire printing took 15 hours and was assembled through 4 main sections. There were some flaws within the design and still need to be ironed out, but the overall sound was supposed to be quite good. There is a Youtube video on the site, which is worth watching.

Just imagine, you may not buy your next instrument, but print it out. It will require a simple CAD program and a 3D printer.

What next will a 3D printer do? Thoughts? Is this the future? Will we eventually place orders online and be able to print it out the next second?

"Hey, Congress: Keep Your Day Jobs"

With the change in the Congress occurring quite soon, more weird ideas start to pop up. "We use to pay farmers not to grow crops. Let's pay congressmen to stay out of Washington DC," says Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby Jindal. Jindal and some other conservatives out there want to go back to the "good old days" when being a congressman was not a full time job and back to the time when they worked part time. They want to make congressmen closer to the general public by making them play "by the same rules as the rest of us". While any radical change is unlikely to happen soon, we do have to remember that Congress has not been very popular in the recent years, so something needs to happen, right? I can see the benefit of having congressmen also working in other things being beneficial, like working for a nonprofit group or other small business type of things, but not having our part time Congress be filled with people running large companies. If that happens, there goes regulation, especially with the conservative base growing with the change in seat allocation. We also have to realize that if they do become part time, they might be less focused on good policy as they have to spread their attention out to other things. With a part time congress that means that the Executive branch becomes even stronger as he won't have to deal with pesky congress for longer. Part time congress also makes it more of a part time people's voice with a strong leader. Part time congress might also lead to a conflict of interest, let us all do something that benefits Google or Yahoo.

So what do you think of a part time Congress? Tell me your thoughts?

-a G.U. from the Spiral King

China cutting rare earth export quotas?

China has officially declared that they are going to cut their rare earth export quotas by more than 11% next year which will be terrible for the countries importing these goods from China. China produces the most rare earth materials, approximately 97% to be exact, and by cutting the number of exports, goods such as hybrid cars will be harder to make and it will shift the supply curve causing less supply to be produced.

The decision to cut these supplies may also damage U.S. relationship with China, which has already been hurt from situations such as arguments over human rights, Tibet, Taiwan, and other events. The current leader of China, Mr. Hu Jintao, will come to America to talk about situations with President Obama to sort things out. Hopefully their meeting will make things better rather than making the situation between U.S. and China worse because it wouldn't be smart to create tensions between China and America.

This year, China has already started to cut the amount of exports it has by 40%. Cutting it down by 40% has already hurt he trade relationship between the United States, Europe, and Japan. According to the people in China, they decided to cut the amount of exports for environmental reasons, have supplies for themselves for projects they are currently working on, and also so they can have more control over the prices of their exports.

US Companies Trend to Create More Jobs Overseas Keeps Jobless Rate High

Even though many companies are reporting an increase in their workforce, the majority of jobs have been created in developing countries such as China and India. There has been an increase in these areas not simply because there is an abundance of cheap labor, but rather as the middle class in these regions grow there is more incentives for companies to build their factories in areas where they can quickly sell their goods. Consumer demand in the United States has pretty much flattened out whereas demand in these Asian countries are increasing as more and more people possess a greater income. According to the article "By 2015, for the first time, the number of consumers in Asia's middle class will equal those in Europe and North America combined." Thus it seems natural that companies would want to shift supply lines closer to where to their costumers are in order to make the most profit.

However, this trend of opening more jobs overseas versus at home has kept the jobless rate high and has lead to more Americans struggling to get by. The United States also faces the fact that its ranking in higher education has been decreasing while others have been rising. The recent recession has worsened this as less money was put into the education of the youth and colleges and universities faced cuts as less money was available in state's budgets. While it would be unlikely that the United States would be able to experience the same growth in demand as Asia, we should have the obligation to increase the quality of our higher education system so that the United States would have more incentives for companies to create jobs here.

Don't shoot guns in air on New Year's Eve

What goes up must come down. So, don't shoot guns in air on New Year's Eve. Apparently, people get so excited for New Year's Eve that they want to start off the New Year with a bang (ha). However, they don't understand the consequences of their actions. Because eventually that bullet is going to come back toward that ground, and it might just hit someone. Even starting pistols for races have not been loaded guns for ages. If the public can't understand guns or physics, will this lead to harsher gun control laws or possibly stricter police oversight during the holidays? Prevention is key. However, implementing it is harder than it sounds. What do you think is the best way to get people to stop something? (Just in general, not necessarily for death on New Year's Eve)

"This Congress did a lot, but what is next?"

As the 111th congress comes to an end, we must realize, for all the grief and irritation they have given us, it had managed to pass a whole lot of legislation. In fact, the 111th passed more legislation than any other congress since the 60s. It even managed to go out with a bang, with the repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell', the passage of the start treaty, and the Bush era tax cuts.

This can be quite similar to 1964 with the 89th congress when the Democrats gained a majority in both houses. In the two years it was in session, it and LBJ managed to pass a whole lot of legislation, like the Voting rights act and Medicare. However, in the 1966 midterm elections, public backlash to LBJ's Great Society helped the Republicans gain 47 seats in the House. This shows that productivity doesn't always mean success in the elections, sound familiar? I can't say that I know that 111th's legislation can be considered successful and important legislation, since time hasn't told anyone yet, but the story sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it?

I doubt we will see that the next congress will be just as productive, but we can never rule out the possibility (yes we can actually, but always look on the bright side of life, right?). Hopefully, we can manage some bipartisan stuff down the road. So what do you think?

-a G.U. from the Spiral King

Suing E-mail spammers as a LIVING?

Daniel Balsam quit his job eight years ago after receiving numerous spam e-mails and created his own website called danhatesspam.com. He then decided to go to law school and graduated from University of California Hastings College of law. Before he even graduated from law school, he filed numerous law suits regarding e-mail spammers.

Balsam says that "I feel like I'm doing a little bit of good cleaning up the Internet," which he is because he is suing companies that offer cheap drugs, free sex, unbelievable vacations, etc. By filing law suits against e-mail spammers, he is basically saving many individuals from having their e-mails flooded with unwanted spam.

The number of victories that Balsam won has allowed him to make enough for a living with an excess $1 million with filing law suits against companies that send illegal spam. San Mateo Superior Court Judge Marie Weiner has also ordered a company to pay Balsam $7000 because the company has over 100 e-mails and recipients are unable to stop them. Even though there are some companies that are fighting back, Balsam responds to them with "I feel comfortable doing what I'm doing... and I'm not going away."

Filing law suits to companies that send spam e-mails is a great "career" that Balsam has because he can help cleanse the internet. Many younger individuals that have e-mails don't really need to be receiving e-mails about cheap drugs and what not so suing companies that are sending mass e-mails to people about inappropriate things is a great step in society! 

Will oil prices decrease?

The new oil minister in Iraq has announced that oil exports that are from the Kurdish region of Iraq will resume as part of the national oil export policy even though Baghdad has argued that the oil they have is part of the natural resources owned by the central government. Baghdad has considered the oil deals that the Kurd's made with Western countries illegal but the Kurd's still continue with their deals.
By next year, the Kurd's are planning on exporting about 150,000 barrels of oil a day, which is good because oil prices can be expected to decrease allowing individuals to spend more money on other goods rather than the bulk of it on gas.

Happy Holidays from the Spiral King

2010 years ago, a boy named Brian was born (along with another famous person). One year ago, a man decided to stuff explosives in his pants and went to the airport. Fortunately (or unfortunately), nothing major for us happened this Christmas, except the suicide bomber in Pakistan (quite unfortunate).

I just need today to geek out on everyone, and have fun too, so here is a gift from the Spiral King that no one (maybe one or two people actually, but no one is on the blog now, so it doesn't matter) will understand:

Happy Holidays from the Spiral King

The Christmas Spirit Forgotten as 43 killed in World Food Programme bombing

This morning in Islamabad, Pakistan a World Food Programme distribution was attacked by a suicide bomber. According to the latest figures 43 people have died and 90 people have been injured.

There was about 300 people going through the checkpoint (which are in most distribution center due to the presence of bombs), but luckily undeterred these volunteers are going to distribute and do their part to help the world. According to the UN, the actual distribution of food should not be affected to much. The full extent of the blast is yet to be determined, but preliminary reports are not sounding good.

I feel this is really sad and they could not have chosen a better day. Thoughts? What does this symbolize?

I really hope all of you have a peaceful and merry Christmas. It is sad that things like these happen.

Update: It seems that the bomber was a female suicide bomber who seemed to have been working for the Pakistani Taliban. The death toll has risen to 46. 600 meters of the building was removed. None of the volunteers were injured. The Taliban also claims that the bomber was a man, but reports are still unclear.

"US to make 'wild' public land eligible for protection"

Another example of the change in Presidents. Apparently, we are going to make millions of acres of public lands eligible for wilderness protection. This reverses the orders given by President Bush.

In 2003, Bush opened millions of acres of land in the Rocky mountains for potential commercial development. On Thursday, the US Bureau of Land Management announced that they now have the authority to mark off public land as 'wild' and rope it off to future development.

So what do you think about this? I'm not to big on the out doors, but I find it good that we can now have some more potential for some undeveloped lands. But will this be revoked by future presidents, especially considering the changes in representation?

-a G.U. from the Spiral King

Strong Anti-Terror Effort During Holidays

The White House says that the federal government will step up its national security during the holidays. I think this is very good because times of relaxing and fun is when our country is most vulnerable. Take Pearl Harbor for example, Japan attacked us during Christmas and did a lot of damage. Could this possibly happen again? The White House says that since Wednesday, they have been working with a lot of other officials from other countries to make sure nothing bad happens this Christmas. The Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan stated that "there are no specific credible threats at the moment." Which I think is very releiving because we aren't expecting anyone to attack us. He also says that we are in much better position this year for our defense compared to last year when terrorists failed bombing a Detroit bound plane last Christmas.
I admire how our government officials are sacrificing their holidays to keep us safe. We should really thank them for all their sacrifice. While we are all feasting and enjoying time with out families, they are out there working to make sure we stay safe and no one hurts us. They are making sure another Pearl Harbor doesn't happen. What were to happen if these officials decided to take a day off? How much risk would our country be in? Could a big terrorist event be planned as we speak?
Let's not worry about this and let the people whose job it is to keep us safe worry about it. I hope you all enjoy your holidays and stay safe!

Stricter Regulations Needed to Protect Biodiversity

The illegal trade in wildlife has been going on for years and has proven itself to be a threat to many endangered and threatened species across the world. In 1963, 175 countries came together to monitor and control the trade of almost 34,000 species. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITIES) was an important step in protecting endangered species from the black market. However, many species still remain endangered as a majority of the world's biodiversity are in the tropical regions of South America where high rates of corruption and weak governments decrease the ability to control the black market of wildlife.

"Brazil, a key source of illegal animals, does not have a functioning central program to report wildlife confiscations, while the United States, a leading importer of wildlife, lacks a coordinated national authority for monitoring such imports."

Protecting biodiversity should be high on our list of priorities as these areas possibly possess animals or plants that could prove vital in our research of cures for deadly diseases and viruses such as cancer or HIV. However, the weak regulations that are currently in place to prevent the illegal trade of organisms are not efficient enough to protect these species from dying out before we get a chance to realize their beneficial qualities. Additionally, the extinction of each species decreases the world's overall biodiversity and makes the world more susceptible to a lethal outbreak of viruses that could threaten both mankind and the organisms we utilize in our everyday life.

This article speaks of the need for major wildlife importers as well as exporters to increase the amount of money spent to enforce the regulations on wildlife trade if the CITIES treaty is to remain effective. Currently, the initiative only received $5.2 million annually from 2009 to 2011. Researchers reccomend that the amount recieved each year could be increased by raising the trade levies and penalties for industries and individuals behind the illegal trading. While it may be difficult to raise the money for the treaty, something must be done if we are to preserve the biodiversity of wildlife across the world.

Is the 787 Ever Going to Take Off?

The Boeing 787 will soon be flight testing, once again after a fire on the most recent test flight on November 9th. The fire came into question the true safety of this new type of carbon fiber airplane.

Already about 5 billion US dollars have been paid for late fees. It is already 3 years behind schedule. There are also almost 30 planes sitting on the tarmac with no engine. Both Rolls Royce and GE are supplying the engine.

Meanwhile, Airbus has been making good time with its Airbus A380 and the A320 "re-engining". Their sales have been going up.

Is Boeing on its last strand or is this just overhyped? Thoughts? Both the 747-8 Intercontinental and the 787 are both years delayed and forced to pay huge payments.

The Gap Between Rich & Poor is Growing

The gap between the rich and middle class is now the biggest than it has ever been. It says that the gap has grown even though the wealthy's average net worth went down 27%. But at the same time, the average family's net went down 41%. The article blames this gap to the "bursting of the housing bubble." The reason for the big decrease in the average household's wealth is because most of their wealth was in the value of their home, but home values have been dropping.
I think that this is a very scary thought. That as the people's wealth in our country is going down, the bridge between rich and middle class is still growing and is even at its highest right now. This article also sort of gives me second thoughts on how other articles are saying that our economy is going up. Do you think our economy is getting better or not? After seeing this article, I had a lot of different opinions about how well our economy is doing. How will our economy look in the future? Will the gap between rich and middle class get smaller?

Is the Green Movement Hopeless?

I was reading the New Yorker for this week, when I came across this article called the "THE EFFICIENCY DILEMMA". According to the article, which described the Jevons Paradox, efficiency is not necessarily as hopeful as it sounds.

It seems that for years many have stated that greater efficiency is better as the article quotes "fuel economy of their new-car fleets thirty per cent by 2016..."Everyone Wins". The Secretary of Energy seemed to agree.

The article talks about Jevons Paradox, which basically stated that as things grow more efficient, it is actually worse. The example that was used was the air conditioner. At first, no one used it as the price was much too high. As the efficiency grew greater, the price came down and more people started to rely on air conditioner to cool their homes. As the author states, everyone had lived well before, but suddenly it was not cold enough. Soon the system grew even more efficient and it was placed in cars. This represented a whole new place for air conditioner. With time, air conditioners trickled down to even the cheapest cars. Since, air conditioner makes the car less efficient, at the end, it seems that the air conditioner actually used more electricity then its original inefficient state. The author also provides a very similar example with the refrigerator, as with time these grew bigger and better, but more food is wasted.

In the end, the author states "'It is rather hard to demonstrate the validity of his proposition, but certainly the historical evidence to date is wholly consistent with what he was arguing.' That might be something to think about as we climb into our plug-in hybrids and continue our journey, with ever-increasing efficiency, down the road paved with good intentions."

I think the article has some really valid points, it's quite persuasive in proving that this gentleman from the First Industrial Revolution could be correct. India and China are now seeing cars for more people, though they like the Tata Nano they are small cars, but they still emit more pollution than motorcycles, bicycles, trains, or walking.

Any thoughts? Is it better to not strive for efficiency? Too much to ask? Can we prove otherwise? Will history repeat itself?

Do note: the linked article on the New Yorker's website does require a subscription, which is why I tried to quote most of the big items. It is also on Page 78-85 on the DEC. 20 & 27, 2010 issue.

Signs of an Improving Economy

A decrease in jobless claims and an increase in consumer spending has some economists suggesting that the nation is undergoing an important recovery after the recent recession. This is potentially good news for the millions of unemployed as when the spending rate increases there is a greater need for workers. In California especially where the unemployment rate is one of the highest in the country, an increase in consumer spending would create a chain reaction in which more workers are hired by companies and the jobless benefits that the state has to pay to the unemployed will decrease. As a result, California's spending deficit could decrease drastically and the state could have the revenue needed to fund it's education programs as well as decrease it's debts. This would act to positively reinforce the growing economy. While spending tends to increase in the winter months as consumers purchase gifts for the holiday season, this has been the seventh consecutive month of gains for businesses after growing at a 2.4% rate from July-September. In addition, new home sales has risen about 5.5% after the market has stalled for so long after the housing bubble burst. The article also reports that there has been an improvement in the overall mood of consumers as these signs of a more promising economy have appeared. While the economy has quite a while before it will recover to pre-recession levels, I believe this new data enforces the idea that the economy is improving and that the worst of the recession is likely over. By the time we Seniors, graduate from school and eventually enter the job market there will hopefully be a more promising economy awaiting us.

The Korean War Episode 5: Korea strikes back

Prepare your old M*A*S*H collection, because we might be needing space for a season 12. The almost sixty year old war may decide to reopen anytime.

After the largest live fire exercises in Korean history, involving tanks, fighter planes, and helicopters, North Korea says it is "ready for a 'sacred war of justice' using a nuclear deterrent". The great leader Kim Yong-chun accuses South Korea of preparing for war, while the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak promises immediate retaliation for any Northern aggression.

The South Korean military admits that the exercises was aimed to display their power and both sides continue to throw threats at each other, but will they back it up? China, Russia, and the US wish to defuse tensions between the two countries, but the US, Japan, and South Korea do not wish to return to the six nation talks, which previously involved rewards for North Korea if it cut back on nuclear development.

Will both countries fail to back their bark, or will they act upon it? Will this be the first nuclear war? Only time will tell.

-a G.U. from the King of Helixes

Will Sandy Bridge Change the Computer Market?

As the launch of the much awaited Sandy Bridge happens next month at CES, some experts are wondering whether nVidia and AMD(and the now defunct ATI) will still have its current market share. The new Sandy Bridge running on the LGA1155 platform combines an integrated graphics processing unit or GPU with the central processing unit or CPU. It is interesting to see Intel's market share change in the computer marketing as it grows with every chipset release, but also seeing it expand into tvs with the Google TV's Intel Atom processor and security market after the successful purchase of McAfee earlier this year (and the recent approval by the America government). The Sandy Bridge should effectively knock both AMD and nVidia out of the low to possibly mid end graphics market. Some analysts expect nVidia to grow larger as its new releases of the 400 and 500 series. Or will AMD come back swinging with their new Vision products and their new Radeon series. Others expect the Sandy Bridge to not sell well and be dominated by the cell phone/tablet market. Already pre-sales and leaked sales in the Asian markets have been lower than expected. There are some who say this is Intel's final straw as it has been dominated by the ARM Cortex family chips, with modifications made by Texas Instrument, Samsung, Qualcomm and others.

Thoughts? Expected products besides Sandy Bridge at CES this year? What's the future of the "personal computer"? Are we sitting at the edge/beginning of a revolution?

The other side of earmarks

In general, the term "earmark" has received a negative connotation, bring forth the image of wasteful spending on bridges to no where and the like. While some people are trying to get rid of earmarks, others are willing to defend them, saying that overall they are not as bad as we think. In Miami, one of the busiest ports in the US, Bill Johnson, Miami port director, plans for a "dredging project to accommodate massive cargo ships that will soon use an expanded Panama Canal". He says it would be able to open before the expansions are complete, if the project receives 75 million from the Fed. He also points out that all of America's major ports have been funded through federal earmarks.

Even environmentalist groups argues that some earmarks are okay. Earmarks spent on the Everglades go beyond 400 million, not only helping to preserve the environment, but also providing over 400 thousand jobs in the long term and 26 thousand short term construction jobs. Although they do admit that some reform might be necessary, they worry that Congress might give up too much power to decide which projects deserve appropriate funds.

So here are two examples of earmarks being used for the general good, contrary to the standard image of earmarks. Unfortunately, people tend not remember the questions that they guessed correctly and only get angry for guessing incorrectly. While earmarks, are not necessarily good or bad, they do help things move through Congress a little faster and can provide funds in places that need it.

So what do you think about this? Should every speck of earmark be obliterated and destroyed, or should they be kept around?

-a G.U. from the Helix King

Effort to ease tensions between Mainland and Taiwan.

On Tuesday, December 21, Mainland China and Taiwan signed an agreement that allowed them to come together in developing new drugs. When President Ma, of Taiwan, became president, he promised to improve relations and ease the tension between Mainland and Taiwan. This new agreement that was just signed is the 15^th agreement between Mainland and Taiwan since Ma’s presidency.

Signing this new agreement will allow Taiwan to enter into a bigger market instead of being restricted and limited in its small market on the island. When Taiwan split from Mainland China, there has always been a lot of tension but with these new agreements, 15 to be exact, Taiwan and China’s relationship has gotten better than ever.

Along with cooperating in the biotechnology field in creating new drugs, Taiwan and China has also agreed to let more people enter Taiwan per day. It used to be only 3,000 people can enter but now they are increasing it to 4000 people per day, which in my opinion isn’t that big of a different compared to China’s large population.

President Ma hopes to help Taiwan’s slow economy by engaging with China. Even though Taiwan’s economy may improve, many people might seek this as an opportunity to move to China and start a business there. It may cause the unemployment rate in Taiwan to increase which is bad. Being Taiwanese myself, I think it’s good to engage in activities with China to ease tension because there has always been some tension between Taiwanese and Chinese people but it is also a bad idea because with Taiwan getting closer and closer to China, Taiwan may lose some of its democratic values.

After this decision was made, some people started protesting that President Ma was selling Taiwan to China, which is partially true with all these agreements bringing Taiwan and China closer. 

Obama Repeal's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy

Today President Obama signed the the repeal on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy meaning that the ban for openly gay men and women in the military will be over. Obama says that this will uphold our country's ideals because "no longer tens of thousands of people will have to live a lie." He means that the people dying for us across seas will no longer have to worry about being prosecuted for their sexual orientation. This also helps Obama because promising to end the ban for gays in the military was one of his goals, showing that he is trying to keep his promises which will help his publicity. Now that the repeal has been signed, the Pentagon must rewrite series of policies and regulations for the current law so that the repeal can take effect "swiftly and efficiently."
I think it is great that gays in the military no longer have to fear being prosecuted. Gays work just as hard as every other person in the military and shouldn't worry about being prosecuted. I also like seeing that laws and actions are being made even though recently there has been a lot of plans that are being denied because of a divided Congress. I also do agree that this will help Obama because it will show that he is keeping his promises which could benefit him for re-election. What do you think about this ban? Do you think that this will help promote equal rights? What will happen next?