Gasoline

Does anyone remember a time when gas was under 2 dollars? Has anyone noticed that gasoline prices have been steadily increasing over the past couple of days? I was getting gas and a few days later the same gas station had gas priced at 2 or 3 cents higher. According to CNN gas prices has once again hit another "all-time high."

Some of the numbers that they talked about were:

• In one day the national gas price went up by .8 cents
• Gases prices have rose 19.9% since last year
• California has the most expensive gas price at 3.737 dollars a gallon, while New Jersey is the only state to see prices below 3.10 a gallon

But what does this all mean besides the fact people will have to start selling their organs in order to pay for these high prices? I think that with gas prices at an all time there is a much larger incentive for scientific companies to think of other sources of energy. This is especially true for large corporations as diesel prices have gone up by a lot with in the last couple of months. These larger corporations, as pointed out by the article, use diesel for their large trucks so they will want to find a cheaper way to transport things. This also hopefully will sway more people to either carpool or take public transportation which will help the environment. I certainly don't see the gas prices decreasing any time soon...

Prom...

I know that this post isn't necessarily all that relevant to what this blog is necessarily intended for, but I couldn't pass up its relevance.

Everyone knows that prom is just around the corner--tomorrow to be exact. With the school assembly that we seniors recently had, I felt that everyone could enjoy this article.

Here are some tips from the Onion on how to make your Prom "Unforgettable."

Prom-Planning Tips

April 2, 2003 | Issue 39•12

Prom season is just around the corner. Here are some tips to help make your prom night unforgettable:

• The prom is a magical experience, a chance to do such grown-up things as get all dressed up, drink nine Smirnoff Ices, vomit in a limo, and pass out in Mom's azalea bushes.
• The theme is one of the most important elements of a prom. Choose carefully between "Tropical Paradise" and "Stepping Out In Style."
• Don't forget the corsage! Fresh flowers are necessary to mask the smell of sweat and foot odor in your school's dank, poorly ventilated gym.
• Try to plan ahead, so you are not more than two or three months pregnant for your prom.
• Next to a bridesmaid dress, a prom dress is the most important dress you will ever wear.
• If you were not asked to prom, you can still have fun by putting on a dress, buying a taco-salad party platter from the local Pic-N-Save, and dancing in your bedroom as a portable radio plays the latest Top 40 hits.
• This will be the biggest night of your life if you happen to die in the next few weeks.

(This post has been censored)

From China's Point of View

I found an article in Reuters today. It was titled: China says unity at stake over Tibet. In this article Chinese officials were saying the dispute with Tibet derives from "National unity" rather than human rights, or religious/ethnic conflict. They continued by saying that they were "hurt" by the fact that the European nations were considering not attending the Opening Ceremonies.

I think that it is very interesting that the Chinese are so quick to criticize others for their condemnation. They believe that other countries aren't looking at all the facts, and their actions are justifiable. This is ridiculous that the Chinese not only are doing horrible things to the Tibetan people, but also are surprised and "hurt" that other nations look down upon them for their actions. Do you think that is is outrageous? Any other comments?

Speaking of Polls

Here's another poll talked about on CNN. It suggests that a McCain-Rice ticket would beat a ticket with both Obama and Clinton in New York, a mostly Democratic state. Of course, this doesn't really mean much, since Rice isn't going to run for VP. Also the percentage difference in the polls were so small that it probably wasn't accurate. But it goes to show, like Derek said, without party unity in the Democrats, a Republican might be in office for four more years. You can draw your own conclusions from these two polls.

Election 2008...again

I know that the presidential election can sometimes get too much attention from the media, overshadowing other important current events, but I think that this poll is worthwhile to look at. CNN has looked at an Associated Press Poll, and while it may not be all that accurate, it does show something that should be considered. Between the three candidates they seem to be almost neck and neck with each other.

Because McCain doesn't have a huge opponent in the Republican Party he has a huge advantage over both Obama and Clinton. According to the article: "Close to a quarter of Obama supporters reported they will back McCain if the Illinois senator fails to get the nomination, while a third of Clinton backers said they'd vote Republican if Obama is the Democratic nominee."

This division within the Democratic Party may lead the U.S. to having another Republican President. If McCain is elected as President you know the war will only continue. Do you believe that we are going to have another Republican President? Is the divide too wide that if a voter's candidate doesn't get elected they will vote for Republican?

Rich v. Super Rich

Some of you may have seen this already, but it's a mock skit from the Onion dealing with the upper class of America. It would have fit in with the poverty unit, but still pretty relevant. Just another aspect of capitalism.

The Widening Gap Between America's Rich and Super-Rich

Petraeus Plan

General David Petraeus has asked to stop troop withdrawals. Although this is bad, it wasn't necessarily unexpected. However, this does mean that we should not expect major troop pullouts until after the November Election.

The general proposed "we undertake a 45-day period of consolidation and evaluation. At the end of that period, we will commence a process of assessment to examine the conditions on the ground and, over time, determine when we can make recommendations for further reductions." Some say that this may be a plan which never ends. The general doesn't even promise that troop withdrawal will even begin after this "45-day period" only that it will once again be evaluated.

This may cause the war in Iraq to become an important issue in the presidential debates leading up to the November election.

Here is the US News article on this issue, which also has links to other newspapers.

Stem Cells

As many of you know, government funding of stem cells was greatly reduced in 2001 by the Bush administration. Companies were only allowed to do research on the less than 60 lines that were created before Bush's announcement.

But now that a new president will soon be elected in November 2008, stem cell funding from the government might be possible. Although the candidates (McCain, Clinton, and Obama) all have different views on this issues, they all believe in some relaxing on the restriction of stem cells. The Pew Forum has their exact views on this issue as well as their views on other topics.

I think that government funding of stem cells would be a great move. There is so much to be found in this field, even the possibility of curing cancer. Do you think the government should be involved in its funding? If not, do you even think stem cell research should continue?

China's Actions: A Bit Closer To Home

Because Matt recently posted on a topic similar to this one, I'm not going to ask whether or not you believe the U.S. should "boycott" the Olympic Ceremonies. However, I will bring up a slightly different topic.

As many of you know the Aragon Music Program a group composed of almost 200 people when including students, parents, and teachers will be traveling to China this summer. They have already been kind of thrown into this Tibet controversy. Because they are going to China, they need to get visas at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco. As you can imagine, there were hundreds of protesters screaming at people who were entering in the building.

While Aragon Music Program certainly doesn't support China's actions, some people are beginning to speculate whether or not they should even be going to China. I believe that it just needs to be clear to the students that this is a time of controversy and they need to be aware of the facts.

More on the Recession

Federal Reserve policymakers slashed key interest rates last month to fight a widening credit and housing slump. Stocks are falling. 232,000 jobs were lost in three months. Sounds like that recession part of the cycle we learned about in class. Even Bernanke, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, finally acknowledged the possibility of a recession.

Jon Co had a similar post last week about a recession, but my question isn't whether or not we're headed for a recession, but what's going to happen to us, meaning students, once the economy starts falling more. We're going to college and/or joining the workforce soon, so what effect would a recession have on us for the next couple months or years? I think we'll be fine, since our needs are pretty basic. What do you think of all this?

Boycott Olympic Opening Ceremonies?

Senator Hillary Clinton urged President Bush today to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games because of China's policies in Tibet and Darfur, referring to the recent protests in Tibet and the Chinese government's lack of pressure on Sudan to end the violence in Darfur.

While this view is shared by some, Barack Obama isn't so sure about boycotting the opening ceremonies. He says that he thinks the events in Tibet are "a real problem," but is "hesitant to make the Olympics a site of political protest."

I'd have to agree with Obama on this one. Sure, not having the US at opening ceremonies would be a good sign of protest, but would it really make China change its policies? How effective do you think a boycott would be and is it worth it?