BP's Payment Promises to Gulf Coast Citizens

People of the Gulf Coast affected by the oil spill have been promised to start seeing bigger payments faster, according to the administrator of the fund, Kenneth Feinburg. He said he was responding to many complaints saying that payments were coming much too slow and were not nearly enough to make much of a difference. According to him, he says, "I am implementing new procedures that will make this program more efficient, more accelerated and more generous." But in response to his words, there is much skepticism. The mayor of Orange Beach, Alabama, says he was not moved by the words and says his residents need help now and they don't feel like they're getting it. Many of the people affected by the spill owned mom-and-pop shops and are now totally devestated. Everyday he gets people who leave the town because they lost there home and business, everything. The spill has also not only affected those mom-and-pop shop owners, however. Doctors who relied on tourist walk-ins are also finding themselves in a bind because tourism has dropped significantly this summer because of the spill. These doctors are also having their claims for compensation denied because they don't work in an industry that has direct ties to the ocean.  But now according to the administrator, Feinburg, claims will sorted by industry to let those reviewing the claims apply a more fair and uniform set of standards to decide how much a person or business will be paid. It's unclear if this will help people like those doctors mentioned previous who are not directly linked to the ocean, or if it will just make payments to victims who are being compensated more consistent. The oil spill occurred on April 20th, and has since leaked 206 gallons into the Gulf Coast. A $200 billion fund was set up that so far has paid $400 million to 30,000 claims. However, this is less than 2% of total BP had agreed to set aside. Right now people are getting an emergency fund amount, and later they will get a lump-sum final payment if they agree not to sue BP. We'll have to wait and see if BP follows through.

The Gulf Coast oil spill occurred over five months ago. It was just last week that BP claimed to have sealed the hole for good. In the meantime, for people of the Gulf Coast, it must have been one never-ending nightmare. I can't imagine how it would feel to be a fisherman or shrimper who earned your entire income off the ocean. To have the oil contaminate and kill what you relied on to earn money and live on, and then only be given only a little bit of money by BP while they're still scurrying around trying this and that to stop oil that is continually leaking for 5 months, making your life worse and worse, is crazy. What really makes them think that now it's all going to change and more people are going to be given more money and everything is going to be rosey again? If they were going to really help people and if they were truely sorry, they wouldn've done it right away, not five months later. The damage has been done. They're commercials on TV are all fine and dandy, but I'd much rather have them use that money on helping those Gulf Coast victims. People's lives have been destroyed, and in no way was it those people's fault. They should be given full compensation. I also believe that should include people like those doctors mentioned in the article that have lost alot of money from their income in the effects of the spill, even though their jobs are not directly linked to the ocean because everything connects. Even though the spill may not have been BP's fault entirely- accidents do happen,-I think it is their responsibility to help those affected try to get their lives back on track and that they should've been much more efficient at closing off the leaking well. I hope that my thought are proved wrong, however. It would be great to see BP actually be more helpful to all those affected by the worst oil spill the U.S. has ever had.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39359569/ns/us_news-environment/

Button Batteries are Harming Children

This article talked about button batteries and how if swallowed, they can cause serious harm, or even death in children. New research is also reporting that althought these incidents are rare, they are on the rise. The latest episode has been in Utah where 10 children were hospitalized, and 7 of those children had serious injuries. Last week there was a recall for Chuck E. Cheese battery-containing toys, because if swallowed, they can do alot of harm. Dr. Fuad Baroody from the University of Chicago says these button-batteries "...are bad news. They have to be removed immediately." These batteries are found literally everywhere, however. Just some of the places where they're found are in toys, musical greeting cards, games, remote controls, cell phones, watches, etc. This can be very dangerous because if swallowed, they can block the throat, or even worse, trigger a chemical process that burns through tissue in only a few hours. The window of operating time to get a battery out of a child is less than two hours, and if it's longer than that, seriously harmful events can occur, including death. Dr. Albert Park from the Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City says, "This is a very much under-appreciated problem, and the severity of these conditions is under-appreciated." In fact, more than 3,500 people a year swallow button or disk-shaped batteries according to George Washington Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The most deadly is the lithium cell batteries that are about 20 millimeters in diameter. They're very common because they're light and more powerful than older batteries. These batteries have killed 6 of 10 children since 2003 who swallowed batteries. The numbers are increasing too. Since the 1970's there have been 80 severe cases reported to the George Washington Medical center, and 42 of them have been just since 2004. Also, 10 of 14 deaths from 1977 have occured in the last six years, and many cases go unreported. A little battery can be a lot more dangerous than it looks.

Before reading this article, I had never given much thought to children swallowing batteries. But after I read this, I can see how it's a very real and serious problem. Batteries seem to be in just about everything now, and children's toys are no exception. I think it's sort of sad that it has to be that way. When I was little, I liked to mostly play with my Barbies, stuffed animals, and coloring books that did not include any batteries. Of course some of my toys did contain batteries, and kids still play with those battery free toys I mentioned previously, but it seems kids don't like a toy anymore if it isn't able to make noises and "talk" to them. These toys may be fun, but it's not without risks. A little two or three year old doesn't know yet that they're not suppose to swallow a cool little object inside their toy. We can't expect them to not swallow things, and although we could blame parent's for not watching their children closely enough, accidents can always happen. And if this little accident of merely swallowing a battery can cause death, that is an awful thing. I think the government should work on either finding a way to get rid of these batteries, or manufacture them in a way that makes it either impossible for a little child to get ahold of them, or is not harmful if swallowed. This would probably take a lot of money, research, and time, but if it saves lives I most definitely believe it would be worth it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39273790/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/

9/11 is Full of Political Conflict in 2010

In the years since 2001, September 11th has been a day of somber rememberance and reflection, free of politics. Not this year. Even though there will still be the official ceremonies at Ground Zero lead by Vice President Biden, the Pentagon lead by President Obama, and Shanksville lead by first lady Michelle Obama and former first lady Laura Bush, there is much political turmoil and controversey about religious freedom. This is because there has been a proposed plan for a mosque to be built two blocks north of Ground Zero in New York. Terry Jones, a non-denomination pastor of a small church in Florida, is even threatening to burn the Quaran on Saturday. He says he will not go through with it if he is able to meet with leaders in New York and convince them to not build the mosque near Ground Zero. In response to his threats, at least 11 people were injured in Afghanistan over protests of Jones' plan. In Indonesia, cleric Rsuli Hasbi told his many worshippers on Sunday that even if Jones' doesn't burn the Quran he has "hurt the heart of the Muslim world." Following the events at Ground Zero this year, there will be rallies in protest of the mosque and for it, at a park southeast of the trade center site. Not only is the general public divided on the issue, but so are those who lost loved ones in 9/11. Some say that a mosque being built so close to Ground Zero is "a grevious offense to the sensitivity of 9/11 families." Others say it's just adding more hate and fear to the issue and the past, and that people have a right to free speech and religion. The strained relationship between the Muslim world and the Christain United States is not one that is going to go away anytime soon either. Former 9/11 Comission chairman Lee Hamilton says that this relationship "is one of the really great foreign policies challenges of the next decades." Police in New York are also preparing for the rally, even though they don't expect any major problems. September 11th this year will be one that people around the world will pay attention to, and watch to see what happens.

September 11th, 2001 is definitely a day that no one who was old enough to absorb and understand news will ever forget. That is something everyone can agree on. And now nine years later, the memories and hurt are more prominent than ever. What happened that day was absolutely awful, but so is what is going on this year, I believe. Here we are, fighting about where to build a mosque, filled with hate for a religion and culture that is different than ours, when we should be remembering and honoring those who died. I understand why people are angry at Muslims and the idea that they would want to build a mosque next to a place where thousands died, killed by people of that religion, but a pastor planning to burn the Quran is not okay, and only fuels the fire of hate between the religions. Everyone was terrified of what went on during 9/11, and it's easy to hate all Muslims because we fear them. But we must stop and think about the facts. The people who caused 9/11 were radical Muslims. It's an extremely small percentage of Muslims that are this type, so to think that everyone who believes in Islam wants to kill us is simply not true at all. The mosque would not be built right ontop of Ground Zero, and it would be used as a place of worship, not a place to plot to kill more Americans. The United States has always prided itself on the fact that we have freedom of speech and religion. If we tell a certain group of people that they can't worship where or how they want, we are not following this. Yes, we may not agree with their beliefs, but denying them rights and burning their holy books only makes tensions worse. We do not want Muslims to hate us. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world, and we have to accept that we are going to live on the same planet with them, and therefore we need to figure out a way to get along so that we don't kill each other. And if you put yourself in their shoes, how would it feel to be a Christain living in an Islamic country and you wanted to have a church built so that you could worship your faith, and you were denied? I don't think you would be too happy. As Martin Luther King Jr once said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness;only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39097839/ns/us_news-911_nine_years_later/