9/11

I remember that I was around 5 or 6. I remember watching the smoke rise from the ruins. I remember my mom calling some of her friends that where in New York to make sure that they were okay. I remember feeling scared. I remember holding the phone listening while my grandparents, living just outside of NYC, said they were okay. Up to that point there had not been very much that just plain terrified me. Sure, there was Halloween or scary movies, but nothing real like that. A couple days after one of our magazines we got had a list of firemen and civilians who had perished in the fire. I remember looking at the pictures of the people who had died and wondering why someone would do that to them. I remember that I cried. For some reason I never forgot any of those, I still remember them all vividly

I think that the cause of 9/11 was American Foreign Policy. I believe that the Jihadist's believed that america had some sort of prejudice against them. That is what caused them to try to destroy 3 of america's most important buildings. Four planes where hijacked by al qaeda. Two went for each tower of the world trade center, one went the pentagon, and one went for the Capitol Building. The first three were successful, crashing into their targeted buildings. But the fourth going for the capitol crashed in a field because the passengers knew what was going on. About 3,000 people perished. Because of this a all planes in america landed in the closest airport. This left thousands stuck, not able to go home because the airports were shut down for a while. This had many consequences. Security was upped in the United States to stop future plots. There were very many health problems (from inhaled fiber glass, burns, etc.) The War on Terror was started.

That is what I know about 9/11.

Waterborne Illnesses

Introduction
About 3 million people die each year from a water related disease. And almost every 20 seconds a child dies from a water related disease. At any given time, almost half of the world’s hospital beds will be occupied by patients with a disease associated with water. Including lack of access, poor sanitation, and bad hygiene in developing nations. Water becomes contaminated by waste that gets into the water from dumping and/or poor filtration or processing of the water. Many harmful chemicals are present in tap water that we drink even in America.

Diseases
​ There are many water related diseases. Just to list a few cholera, Guinea Worm, e. coli, dysentery, salmonella and many diarrhea related conditions. These are caused by pollutants in the water. Corporations, and governments dump waste into rivers and other locations that end up in people’s mouths. The diseases caused by this are often times fatal.
Cholera: This is a bacterial disease of the small intestine. Cholera make you incredibly dehydrated and watery diarrhea. This is what has become an epidemic in Haiti, killing 2,013

Guinea Worm: this is a parasitic infection that grows down through the leg or foot. You become infected by drinking water with its larvae. Found in 4 African nations.

Many of the pollutants in water are man made, but some are natural. Including arsenic, mercury, chlorine, asbestos, and parasites. All which cause severe diseases. There are cheap ways to filter these out so that children and adults will be safe from disease. It is easy. But none of us have done it yet. Some organizations are trying, but they need help!

What can you do?
In order to stop waterborne illnesses we need to step upon the quality of the water that contains these bacteria. If we can get it to the point the quality of the infrastructure is safe and free from external contaminates then it will lower disease rates. Also if we can raise the level of awareness as with most problems it will help as more people will want to help since more people will know about it, in order to raise awareness you could do something as simple as email your friends or something as radical as book a time on nbc or some other news network to talk about water.

Conclusion
Waterborne illnesses kill millions each year. Mainly children in developing nations. These tragedies have plagued our world, and they are mainly our fault. According to water.org the ancient Romans had better infrastructure and water than half the people alive today. We need to stop that. It is very important.

Sources:

http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/

http://www.unicef.org/wash/index_43106.html

http://www.home-water-purifiers-and-filters.com/water-contaminants.php

http://www.dhpe.org/infect/guinea.html

http://www.lenntech.com/library/diseases/diseases/waterborne-diseases.htm

http://uk.amref.org/what-we-do/fighting-disease-/waterborne-diseases-/

http://www.articlesbase.com/tools-and-equipment-articles/stop-spread-of-water-borne-disease-with-water-purification-638080.html

Million Book Read: Adam, Eliot and Ellery

World Today Week of 1/24/11

Apple:

There have been a couple of major announcements about CEOs of major technology companies lately. One was that Steve Jobs is taking another medical leave, and the other is that Larry Page, the founder of Google, will now be taking Eric Schmidt's position as CEO of Google.

First up is Steve Jobs. As you probably know, Steve Jobs is the CEO of Apple. Jobs has taken time off from Apple to focus on his health a few times before: in 2004, it was announced to Apple employees that Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (a less aggressive type than the normal type of this cancer). Then, in 2006 and again in 2008, many noticed that Steve Jobs looked extremely thin. Apple responded to this in 2008 saying that he had a "common bug" that he was taking antibiotics for. In 2009, Jobs announced that he had been suffering from a "hormone imbalance" for a few months, but Jobs told Apple's employees that his "health-related issues" were more complicated than he thought, causing him to take a 6-month leave of absence to let him focus on his health.

On Monday, January 17th (MLK Day), Jobs announced that he would be taking another leave of absence to focus on his health. If you're interested, click here to read Steve Jobs' e-mail to his company announcing his leave. Tim Cook, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Apple, will be running Apple's "day-to-day operations," states the letter, but Jobs will still be involved in making "major strategic decisions for the company." Cook also took over when Jobs took his medical leave in 2009. It is suspected that Tim Cook will be the next CEO of Apple (once Steve Jobs retires).

Since this announcement, there has been a lot of concern about things like Apple's stocks falling (which they did). There has also been some concern about Jobs possibly not returning, but a leading doctor in the type of cancer that Jobs has said that if Jobs' cancerous tumor has come back, he could still live for "many years."

This issue is important for many reasons. First, Apple is a very big company in stock market terms, so if Apple's stocks continue to go down, that could affect the stock market (not that I'm a stock market expert or anything). Also, from a technology standpoint, it is rumored that Apple will be coming out with the iPad 2 soon, so Jobs' leave, in my opinion, could affect the date of the iPad 2 coming out.

Google:

Also in the technology news, the CEO of google has surprisingly stepped down. Eric Schmidt was brought into the company over a decade ago because the Google Board needed a CEO with more maturity than the very young co founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. This was announced 4 days after Apple's Steve Jobs took health departure.

The news was anounced formally in Google's quarterly report. Schmidt was believed to have stepped down, but some still wonder if he was "forced" to let go of control. Schmidt wasn't having a very good year, with multiple controversial interviews, and other "bad choices".

Larry Page will be the new Google CEO. He was the co-founder of the google search engine, and before Schmidt stepped down he was the head of Products and a president of the company. He has no prior experience with heading a company, and some wonder how he will do.

Schmidt will remain an advisor to Page and still have a position in the company, as the executive chairman.

Sources
http://blogs.forbes.com/parmyolson/2011/01/17/steve-jobs-taking-medical-leave-of-absence/
http://blogs.forbes.com/briancaulfield/2011/01/17/timing-of-steve-jobs-return-worries-investors/
http://blogs.forbes.com/ericsavitz/2011/01/17/what-happens-to-apples-stock-if-steve-cant-return/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/audio/2011/jan/25/tech-weekly-audio-ceo-google-apple-spolsky
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Gastroenterology/PancreaticDiseases/12482
http://gizmodo.com/5735566/steve-jobs-taking-medical-leave-of-absence-from-apple

http://www.google.com/corporate/execs.html

http://www.freep.com/article/20110121/NEWS09/101210354/1011/NEWS09/Google-s-Page-replace-CEO-early-April

The Guardian: Barack Obama's Hopes for a Nuclear-free World Fading Fast

Borger, Julian. "Barack Obama's Hopes for a Nuclear-free World Fading Fast." Guardian.co.uk. The Guardian Media Group, 16 Nov. 2010. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. .

Click HERE for the article I used to write this.

Barack Obama’s hopes of remolding US foreign policy stand on the brink of failure. After two of his favorite initiatives – nuclear disbarment and better relations with Russia – were dealt serious setbacks. Meanwhile in Washington, a republican leader in the Senate signaled that the arms control treaty signed in April is unlikely to be ratified this year. Together the setbacks mark a new low point for Obama’s ambitions set out on a path to abolish nuclear weapons. They also rob the president of the main objective to “reset” US-Russian relations. Advocates of disbarment still hope the door to withdrawal could be left open in another strategic review, next year.

The Guardian: Haitians Turn on UN Peacekeepers They Blame for Cholera Outbreak

Port-au-Prince, Carroll In. "Haitians Turn on UN Peacekeepers They Blame for Cholera Outbreak | World News | The Guardian." Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. 16 Nov. 2010. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. .

Click HERE for the article I used to write this

In 2004 UN peacekeepers came as saviors to the wrecked capital of Haiti. 12,000 UN peacekeepers, one of the biggest UN troops ever, kept peace in Haiti, stopping gangs and criminals. But now, they are being blamed for the cholera outbreak in Haiti. The peacekeepers may have brought the disease when they arrived after the series of hurricanes and apocalyptic earthquake. The epidemic that hit has caused over 1,000 deaths, and has infected thousands. The strain appears to be from Asia, and the soldiers from Nepal, a country with the disease, moved into a base in early October near a river. They are thought to have infected the river. All tests made by the UN show this is false accusation, but appeals from epidemiologist and Haitian leaders have been ignored.

The Guardian: Barack Obama Begins 10-day Asia Tour

Washington, MacAskill In, and Burke In Delhi. "Barack Obama Begins 10-day Asia Tour | World News | The Guardian." Latest News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. 6 Nov. 2010. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. .

Click HERE for the article I used

Obama is going on a 10 day tour of Asia beginning in India today. But it is likely to be overrun with political turmoil. In India they have caught the Obama fever we once had. They have made a Bollywood film starring him, a special fish and chicken dish for him, and they have stripped the coconuts from the trees so they don’t fall on his entourage. But Obama will be unable to leave his political troubles behind. He aims to focus on job creation, the #1 concern of voters. Obama says the trip is mainly economic. Some political analysis complain that he is leaving the country behind, but others say that it’s okay because congress still doesn’t come back for another week. Before leaving Obama looked at the job numbers and then said, “Today, we received encouraging news. We have now seen private sector growth for the 10^th consecutive month.” On Tuesday he will fly to Indonesia, then on Wednesday to South Korea, on Thursday a dinner with China’s leader Hu Jintao, On Friday G20 meeting, then fly to Japan for several meetings.

I think this is important because it shows how much the British follow our news, and our presidents. Many of the other stories in the “World” section included the senate race, and other US events. We follow the British much less with an occasional story on their prime minister.