Last Words

Today I read an article in the Stat Tribune called Presidential race: Closing arguments. Tonight was one of the last nights for the presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain to make their last statements of why they should be president. Barack Obama spent 4 million dollars to put up his 30 minute long infomercial, his infomercial included his rally with former president Bill Clinton and he discussed the everyday problems of the average American like, health care, retirement funds, and the loss of jobs. Obama’s infomercial was intended to hit and win over the swing state of Florida. In response to Barack Obama’s infomercial McCain said to a Riviera Beach audience "When you're watching this gauzy, feel-good commercial, just remember that it was paid for with broken promises." Also McCain appeared tonight on “Larry King Live” making comments like “Senator Obama hasn't told the American people the truth.” But even with John McCain’s counter arguments Barrack pulled ahead in the polls for Florida.

Ethanol, Good or bad?

An article I read today was in the Star Tribune named “Small town making big noise about proposed ethanol plant.“ Now a-days all were trying to do is keep the environment clean while maintaining a healthy economy by producing cleaner “green” products like ethanol fuel. But when the small town of Eyota heard about their town getting a ethanol plant built right to the west of the city their was an instant backlash. One person who doesn’t approve is the towns long time mayor Wes Bussell. Stating, “Prevailing winds will spread odors and air pollutants directly into the city.” Which he believes will have an impact on a day care center and two schools, he also believes that the new plant may make cracks in the ground creating sinkholes. The plant argued against these statements saying that the new plant will create up to 40 new jobs, also the MPCA cleared that the air quality will not be affected by the new ethanol plant in there 101 page long assessment of the towns people environmental concerns.

BANKRUPT!

The current reading I did was another follow up on the Mark Petters scandal that was posted in the Star Tribune on October, 22nd. Since the time that Mark Petters was being investigated for mail fraud it seems that his companies are going down hill fast. Sun Current airlines filed bankruptcy on October, 6th. Along with that Petters co also filed for bankruptcy on October, 13th, and to make this even worse for Mark Petters he also has 30 civil lawsuits filed against him right now. This case has gotten so out of hand in the last moth that the judge has called a “timeout” for the current time. Mark Petters was given an extra 60 days to organize his files for his case. At this time Petters Co only has about 100,000 dollars and that will be enough to “make payroll” said Judge Kishel. Until the final verdict comes out I think we will keep having to see all of Petters companies continue to slide downhill.

Music

Hero in a box assignment. -Music Heroes
Music is a way that people can express themselves while spreading a message that can be inspirational for anyone who wants to listen, a band that did this the best in my opinion was the Beatles. some of their more inspiring songs were, "All you need is love" and "Let it be"

The Beatles continue to be viewed as the Heroes of music even after 38 years of the band splitting up.
Some other heroes of music are, Elvis Presley, O.A.R. Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, and Elton John because they all inspire people with there music and can help pick people up when there down.


THE BLESSINGS OF MUSIC By Aldo Kraas

Music is a gift that feels our heart each day
The blessings of music heal our souls each day
Music relieves the stress in our daily lives
Music is soothing to our ears
The blessings of music heal the sick and comfort the sick also
The blessings of music
Is powerful
It is wonderful to hear
When somebody is playing something for every one to listen
His giving you his gift of music to you and others
And to you also God
The blessings of music Music is powerful
And has a great impact in everybody’s lives
The blessings of music
Music is universal
The blessings of music
You can hear the music being played from far away
Every song is special
Every song has a different meaning and different words

"Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable."- Leonard Bernstein
This quote shows that music can send a message that can't just be spoken with words.

"Were it not for music, we might in these days say, the Beautiful is dead." -Benjamin Disraeli
Music is a way for people to express themselves in any way that they want, and without music it would make it hard for some people to show who they are.

"It Occured to me by intuition, and music was the driving force behind that intuition, My discovery was the result of musical perception" (when asked about his theory of relativity) -Albert Einstein
This is the main quote that shows music can help people do great things and Albert Einstein is a great example being that he is one of the smartest people that ever lived. So him being inspired to make his theory of relativity by music is amazing.

Conclusion
Music is a hero in itself for many people, whether people are making it or just listening to it. It can inspire people to do great things by the messages that the songs put out or it can be a lifestyle for people to make money off of. All in all without music people would be more stressed and they would lack a way to express themselves.

Is collage really worth it?

The last article that I read I was in Chicago for, so my article is from the Chicago Tribune. The article I read was called “Is collage worth it?” This article was posted on October 14th and it argues if collage is really worth the debt you take on. The argument from Sandy Baum was, "If you're going to be a nursery school teacher your whole life, you should not be taking out a lot of loans". Meaning if you going to stay in a lower profession for you whole life maybe collage just isn’t worth it. The counter argument came from Ernest Pascarella as she stated, “There's value added when it comes to critical thinking and moral reasoning” arguing their more that comes out of collage then just the education alone. Not going to collage is a risky decision but as time go’s on it seems that going to collage could be just as risky.

Another Murder in Minneapolis

The article that I chose to read this week was in the Star Tribune about and 18 year old who gunned down outside of a Minneapolis home. The victim was identified as Jesse Mickelson, a local in south Minneapolis. When the police were called they found him already dead in an alley. There was no known reason for the shooting, nothing relating to gang history or anything. Just this year there have been thirty murders in Minneapolis alone. The reason I chose to write about this article is because I think all of the violence going on in Minneapolis is ridicules, the constant loss of life for no apparent reason. I think that Jesse’s death should be a wake up call for our government to step in and really up the police force around the area or to try to create more recreational activities for the younger kids of the future to grow up in a safer environment with out the worry’s of being murdered like Jesse.

Petters Scandle Starts to Unfold

My current reading this week was the most recent article in the Mark Petters scandal in the star tribune. Today Deanna Coleman, Robert Dean White, and Michael Catain admitted their roles in stealing the 3 billion dollars from mail fraud. The one who first came forward and fessed up was the vice president of operations for Petters Co. She said that she would rather go to jail then keep going with their schemes and scamming money from investors. Mark Petters has still not pled guilty but has no bail so he will have to remain in jail until his court date comes around. Robert White is facing up to a 20 years term in prison for a single count of mail fraud, and a maximum or 10 more years for money laundering. Robert White, Deanna Coleman, and Michal Catain were all released on $25,000 bonds per person today. I plan on staying with this story. So yeah.. Stay tuned.

I-35 W Bridge

What I most currently read was an article on the progress of the I-35 W bridge from the Star Tribune. Back in August 1st the I-35 bridge collapsed, and 13 people lost their lives. Though the new bridge opened on September 18th the project on 35 W is not yet complete. On the project of completing 35W the contractors Flatiron Constructors Inc were hired, they singed a 234 dollar contract to complete the project, and they were eligible to earn and extra 27 million if they finished the bridge before their deadline of December 24th.. Although some people are questioning why we can construct a bridge in 11 months, but can’t finish highway 494 before and estimated 4 years of reconstruction. The answer to that question was pure funding from the state. Although the 35W bridge collapsing was a tragic event reconstruction was going to be don’t on the bridge in 2012 and it would’ve taken much longer and funding would’ve been substantial for that two.