Mother and 2 Kids Dead in Potential Murder

In dallas a mother and her two children were found shot to death, the suspected murder is the mother who had attacked that family several times in the last two weeks. Police responded to reports of gun shots. It was then when they found the bodies of 49 year old Jeanmarie Geis, and her 2 children, 8 year old son and 4 year old daughter. Although no official rulings have been made until they get the test back to determine it as a murder/suicide. When the murder occured Jeanmarie's husband, Frank, was at a doctors apointment and is not being looked at as a suspect.

Police have visted their home several times in the past couple weeks for things such as home invasion, assult, and kidnapping. The other visits are being looked into to see if they should be considered as valid offences.

On December 13th Frank was intervied at his home by a police officer after he was assulted at his home. the story his wife told was that two men wearing black entered the home and beat her husband with a hammer. After the assult, she was kidnapped, the men tried to sexually assult her and she resisted. She was then pushed out of the car and they fled the scene.

The fallowing day he was approached in her driveway by a man with a gun. The man reportedly said "This is for what your sweet daddy did to my family." Jeanmarie was the daugter of the late State District Judge Mark Tolle. The men once again fled the scene.

To me this story seems fishy, If there were these reports that were given earlier, why didnt the police look into the investigation more throughly. If test dont come back as being murder suicide, then i think the police officers should re-look the complaints made earlier. From the sounds of the article, they didnt really look into the complaints that were made. Since Jeanmarie's father was a State District Judge that delt with some high profile cases i dont know why they didnt take those complaints more seriously and look into the home invasion, and assult. If a man is assulted with a hammer, it should be pretty obvious. Those would be hard to hide. If a house is broken into it would be difficult not to see that. To me, the complaints that were made earlier should have been looked into more instead of just being blown over. The assulters may have been the murders if the test come back negative for murder suicide. The previous accusations of assult seem like a motive for murder.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28322614/

Today's Veterans Seek Companionship Online

The times have changed. Instead of the ways vetrans spent their time after returning from war finding support and comfort in things such as everyday conversation, the newer vetrans returning home from the war in Iraq and Afganistan found comfort, online.

There is a new online community called "www.CommunityofVeterans.org" that returning vetrans are encouraged to becom a part of. This online community isnt just for the new vetrans but also is available to other vetrans. This is a useful tool for many people to find others that have gone through simular experiences from all over the world.

Many of the young veterans returning from the current war dont have time the join other veteran groups that are available to them such as the American Legion or VFW. Therefore, those groups have seen a decline in memberships. The new veterans group that is now available online gives them the option of having contact with others in the same situations, and gives them the opertunity to find comfort in friendships with others who relate.

The online group is unique because it allows the veterans to feel comfortable talking about the things they went through while their time in the war, and the effect it has had on them afterwards. "About 1.7 million veterans have fought in Iraq or Afganistan and as many as one-fith are estimated to have problems such as post-tramatic stress disorder or anxiety," according to the Fox News article.

From that statistic nearly 400,000 veterans be effected by post-tramatic stress disorder or anxiety. That is shockingly high to me, and because they are in the armed forces to protect the United States and everything that it stands for. When they return they should have the support and help available for them because while their time in service they go through many tramatic experiences. But as most people who have problems at horrif as they have, they need to talk to others that have experienced simular situations. And in the fast pased life that many Americans live in, online is the most convienient way of communication. I think that this online community for veterans is a great oppertunity because it allows veterans to talk to any veteran of war, anywhere.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,450307,00.html

Record Number of Voters Expected To Deluge Polls

Early Tuesday on electionday there are already problems emerging in the mid-Atlantic States. Voters are using paper ballots because of all the problems with voting machines in New Jersey. The Board of Elections spokeswoman in New Your said that people were lining up as early as 4 in the morning at polling places to avoid lines. Because of this there were many reports about polling areas weren't opening on time.

One of the poll workers in Chappaqua, N.Y., John Ritch, said:"By 7:30 this morning, we had as many people we had at noon in 2004.

The Governor from Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell urged voters to "hang in there" as they faced the huge voting turnout. One voter joked "I could stay an hour and a half at the fournt end or three hours in the back," when over 160 voters were lined up at a voting site waiting for it to open.

In counties surrounding Richmond Virginia it was reported by election officials and voters that there were paper jams on some of the machines and balky touch screen machines had people considering to use paper ballots. In Chesapeake, there were approximately 1,000 voters waiting in line to vote. There were also several reports of machines malfunctioning.

In Ohio, a state that normally suffers from several voting glitches they have reported that there dealing with the normal glitches they face such as jammed machines but Ben iscitelli, the Franklin County Board of Elections spokesman said "We're taking care of things like that, but theres nothing major or systemic."

Another thing that the election officals are working on this year thanks to one of the U.S. district Judges, Richard Williams demanded that "officals publicize that people in line by 7 p.m., the polls' closing time, would be allowed to cast ballots."

As any of the election battles law suits become common. McCain's campaign sued the Virginia electorial board for wanting to count the late-arriving militiary ballots from overseas. but McCain himself, a POW from vietnam aked a federal judge to order officals to count absentee ballots from abroad as late as November 14th.

Because the system is set up for a low turnout it was said that tsince there going to have alot of new voters and not a lot of resources . The election directors just have little to work with said Tova Wang a government watchdog group, Common Cause.

I think that because many young, and new voters are starting to truely care and realize that they have a voice they are going to be more interested in voting than what many of the new 18 year olds have in the past but because there is such a large turnout that all of the difficulties they are facing now, and have faced in the past just seem to be a bigger issue. I was really supprised to hear that people were waiting in line as early as 4 am to vote, to me that came as a shock. But that just shows the dedication and excitement the new voters have for this election.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081104/ap_on_el_pr/voting_problems

Kennedy Targets Health Care Reform From Home

Senator Edward Kennedy has a new plan for healthcare that hes hoping to have a break through with next year. Although many people worry that it will be more difficult to carryout because of the current economic conditions.

Kennedy himself has been fighting brain cancer from home and has had video conferences with lawmakers. Kennedy has a diferent health care plan than what the former President Bill Clinton had. Obama's intial healthcare plan was the starting point for Kennedys effort.

Senator Max Baucus, a few weeks ago spoke with Kennedy and he is confident that Kennedys and Obamas health care plan will hav e some simular components, but he feels his plan will be what is best for our contry. Durring the meeting Kennedy didn't focus on Obama's health care plan or McCains he is focusing on the current health care issues.

Any of the health care plans are going to force the country into more debt but the country is headed in that direction even if the changes dont occur. When ever some one big needs the money, they happen to be able to find it because they are viewed to be too big to fail such as AIG and Freddie and Fannie. Now the health care system is failing millions of people daily, to this could be anothing thing that is too big to fail.

I think that this health care system is a good idea by "lowering the prices so it is more affordable, will help the average family and the fact that children will be covered is a great idea because childrens health and well-being is so important to our government." as Kinzie Hauer said in her blog (http://kinziehauer.blogspot.com/) and i couldn't say it better. Children are the future and they are going ot be the ones makeing decisions in 20 years down the road, and children dont really have a say in their lives such as health care. They arent capable of having a job to get their own health care, so i think its important for the government to step in to make sure that their people are taken care of. Although it is unfortunate that Kennedy has been battling cancer he is very well aware of the expences that add up with these horrible illnesses and he may be more understanding when it comes to health care for others.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,444016,00.html

Terrorist watch lists shorter than previously reported

Terrorist watch lists have become a lot shorter than they have been in the past. Micheal Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security stated that there were only 2,500 people currently on the "no fly" list. From that list of 2,500 people, 10% of those people are citizens of the United States. The People that are on this list are not allowed to board any aircraft because intelligence believe that they are a threat.

Less than 16,000 people are put on the "selectees" list. From that list, the majority of them are not americans. These people are alowed to fly but they recieve extra securty because they still pose a threat but it is isnt as big as a threat that the people on the "no fly" list pose.

Since September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that occured on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon there has been more than 1 million names added to the lists. The Screaning base the FBI uses to screen terrorsts, in Augest, the lists were said to have about 400,000 people on.

Since then the goverment has being trying to get a program to address the problem and on Wednesday the program they came up with was announced. This program's main issue was to secure the flight for travelers. In order to do so they have to provide their date of birth, gender, and full name when they make reservations for an airline. They will then transfer all this information to Transportation Security Administraion, and then be compared to the watch lists. The extra information that you will now have to provide, The Department of Homeland Security feels that they will reduce the number of people that are on the watch list for false reasons.

Individual airlines currently compare names ont he tickets with the "no fly" and "selectee" lists but if is felt by the Transportation Security Information that their perfomances havent been even. They also feel that having the goverment match the information will improve security and also increase efficiency. It also will help weed out the names that are on the list for false reasons, and the people that are on the list for false reasons maybe be denied a boarding pass for the plane or they could be searched agressively at the airports.

I feel that this new plan is a good idea. By providing extra information it would make finding and identifying "terrorists" that are on the watch list easier to identify. Many people have the same names, because expecially in the US there are some very common last names, along with first names. When your have to provide a full name, and date of birth may help correctly identify certian suspected terrorists. I think that if the goverment does this it will take a lot of weight off of the airlines, but in other aspects it may be more troublesome for the airlines because they have to wait to get the OK from the government to make sure that they can book a flight for each individual. But in the long run i think that becouase the Department of Homeland Security makes the potential terrorist lists, they have the most access to the lists and there for they may be able to be more efficent when it comes to checking the lists for booking flights, and the OK to get boarding passes.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/10/22/no.fly.lists/index.html

The End Of American Capitolism?

As our economy continues to enter a financial crisis, the economy is in the worst condition it has been since the Great Depresssion, the reasoning might be because of "American-style capitalism." The fee-market economy and financial system Americans have use to be encouraged but our nation's wealth is draining.

The Bush administration is thinking about buyuing up portions of shares to restore our economy with the $700 billion bailout plan, which has been the topic of discussions for several weeks since Bush announced his idea. If they did this it would be nationalizing some banks, and going against what many see as the "American System." But the current administration feels that there is no other option.

"'People around the world once admired us for our economy, and we told them if you wanted to be like us, here's what you have to do — hand over power to the market,' said Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize-winning economist at Columbia University. 'The point now is that no one has respect for that kind of model anymore given this crisis. And of course it raises questions about our credibility. Everyone feels they are suffering now because of us.'"

Even other countries find themselves wondering how the United States economy could be so weak? Despite everything that is going on with our economy people do not seem to be conserned about the death of capitolism but they are encoraging free-markets because the free-market economy has helped "lift hundreds of millions out of poverty in recent decades."

The United States crisis is global, Strauss-Kahn mad a slide show shoing the global impact of a finacial crisis. Because of this i think that we as americans citizens, should be concerned about the economy of the whole world. Its not just the United States that is feeling this recession, but the whole world. Government officials everywhere should be brainstorming possible solutions to this recession. As it stated in the article we are in the worst economic situation since the great depression, and although we arent to that point, the economy isnt very well. When it comes to crisis' everyone seems to point the fingure at someone else just so you feel that you arent the one responsible. Currently that fingure is pointing at Capitolism.





http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27112481/

Obama accuses McCain of looking for distractions

Democratic nominee for president, Barack Obama confronted John McCain for using "Swift boat-style attacks" instead of running a compaign that addresses the country's problems. "Sen. McCain and his operatives are gambling that they can distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance. They'd rather try to tear our campaign down than lift this country up," Said Obama. Sarah Palin, John McCain's running mate made the comment that associated with "terrorists who targeted our own country."

As the election time nears, mudslinging will more than likely become more prominate, to tear apart their competition, and make themselves appear to look better. People should care more about the views the canidates have instead of the gossip. One thing voters should focus on is Obama's health care plan. He hope to create a nationwide healthcare plan for people who do have have insurance provided by employers, and all children.

McCain doesnt agree with the nationwide healthcare plan because he thinks that competition would improve the quality of health insurance, which is different from Obama's plan. Obama feels that a nationwide healthcare plan would be benificial for everyone.

Personally, i agree with Obama when it comes to this nationwide healthcare plan, i think if people are garentteed healthcare for children, and if they are working it will encourage people to work, and potentially help everyone in the US. But aside from that i think Obama has new views on issues, and he is different from the typical politician. He allows different views and fresh ideas to enter our government. I think that the "mud slinging" is just going to increase as we near the election, but i wish the canidates would focus on what they are planning to do for our country instead of what the others canidates have done, that they dont agree with. Digging for trash, to change others views of the other canidate, just to tear the other canidate down, is effective, but it doesn't contribute valuable information that we should consider about electing our future president in the next few months.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/05/campaign.wrap/index.html

Dow Comes Back Big

The stock market is finally begining to prosper. Dow managed to jump 485 points, with the hope of the $700 billion package is passed by Congress. Despite the stock market starting to rase the credit market has stayed the same. This contributed to fears about the banks, the banks lending has reached a high, and firms have begun to keep funds hidden. Although Dow has added 485 points that doesnt make up for the 777 points that were lost the previous day.

Stock gains continued to raise and the agency is willing to insure depositors money, and are trying to increase the amounts they are willing to insure to reassure depositors if they had the fear of bankfailure. Due to all of this individuals and businesses are less willing to rush to withdrawl money from the accounts they have set up. According to the vice president at Performance Trust Capital Partners, Brian Battle is convinced that any impact will be because of psychological effects because, "They're trying to make bank deposits more sticky so people won't pull money out."

President Bush urged many people to support this bill because it would be able to provide finacial stability to our economy although many people dont feel that it will. Like Brian Battle said that its just a psycological effect, when people are told that the econmy is safe and secure they are willing to invest in the economy since they feel that the economy is going to prosper. By investing in different accounts in the stock market when the economy is low the stocks are cheaper than when the economy is good, the stocks are often more expensive. While investers have this false sence of security because of the "Bush's Bail Out Plan" they are willing to invest into the stockmarket, to make money easy, because if the economys rising, so will the stockmarket, and the investors would be making money. But if this "Bail Out Plan" doesnt end up helping the economy as it is suppose to many of the people that invested in the stockmarket will be out of money because many of the companys wont be able to insure all the money that they invested.

I think that if the plan works out the way that it is suppose to then that will be great for our economy, but just because this "$700 Billion Bail Out Plan" is suppose to stablize the economy it doesnt mean that it will even get passed, or end up helping our economy like it was planned. I think that if the plan becomes passed that it potentially could help our economy, and since this plan was suggested it is a very good sign that the stockmarket is already raising points. Many of the stocks that tumbled, are now bouncing back such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Merril Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Wachovia and many others have already rose, and are continuing to rise. Hopefully they all continue on this upward trend bettering the economy even after the bill was suggested, so if the bill is passed hopefully it will just contribute to the rise in the economy.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/30/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?cnn=yes

Bush: Bailout plan necessary to deal with crisis

George W. Bush, the President of the United States of Anerica is concerned about the economic standing of the country. He said "our entire economy is in danger," and made a $700 billion bailout proposal. After the collapse of several influental money lenders, in the morgage market it became very obvious that our country is in a financial crisis. President Bush feels that this $700 billion perposal is the approprate action in regards to the given circumstance we are currently in as a country.

Bush feels that if the proposal passes it will allow the country to have confidence in the current market. Although Bush normally doesnt support government involvement in business, he feels that the current conditions the country is in is not normal, and that with the market not working the way that it should be, there needs to be action. Without action, the United States may be in a panic. "Bush said that if this proposal does not pass, the country would have to face a "long and painful recession."

The current Wall Street crisis is considered to be the worst the nation had faced since the end of WWII. Even the Federal Reserve cheif Ben Bernanke warned Congress to take action on this bailout package that is being proposed. Congress has to make the decision on whether or not they should allow the feederal funds to by up $700 billion in morgage related securities that has caused instablity on Wall Street, and credit markets throughout the world.

I think that this proposal isn't a typical decision that President Bush would make, a decision like this is normally thought of being a democratic decision because they are looking out for what is better for the group versus what is better for individuals. But like President Bush said, that our economy is not functioning. He feels that this would be able to stablize the economy, which at this point is very necessery.


http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/24/bush.bailout/index.html

Alaskan Is McCain's Choice; First Woman on G.O.P.

Republican nominee for this upcoming 2008 election, John McCain has elected his running mate, Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin is the governor of Alaska and she has little foreign policy experience. Although she's not in the Washington Beltway, McCain said to a rally "She's not from these parts, and she's not from Washington, but when you get to know her, you're going to be as impressed as i am."

Sarah Palin is sticking to her beliefs, but she applauds other women that are willing to try to take a stand and try to run for a presidential ticket like Hillary Clinton tried to do. Palin said in one of her rallies, "Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America, but it turns out the women of America aren’t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all." She has a strong belief that women are more than capable of running for a postition that used to be viewed as a "man's job", and she is very supportive of other influential women in politics for taking a stand, even if they do not have the same political views.

Although Palin is McCain's running mate they do not have the same political views. They both have their own opinions on several different topics, but in general they do agree on most things. Some of the few things that Palin and McCain have different views on are, Palin believes that Alaska should drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and McCain doesnt agree. Palin isnt convinced that global warming is driven by pollution, which is different for most of the people in her political party. Most people in her party accepts that global warming is driven by pollution, like McCain.

Personally, I approve McCains choice of picking a female running mate because she may provide a different outlook when it comes to politics about how things should be run. As a women she would be able to relate to how women feel when it comes to politics and how women feel like a country should be run, where as typically the country is run by males. I also feel that with McCain picking a women as his running mate he may have been hoping to gain a few of Hillary Clinton supporters. I like the idea of Palin having different views and opinions on some issues that are different from what her party usually supports, such as global warming. Although i feel that she may not have enough experience to hold her own when it comes to politics once it goes to DC. Shes use to being the governor of Alaska, which is relatively small when comparing populations of some of the larger state governors may have more experience on how to run and keep order in a country, when they are use to having to run, and impress more people.


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/us/politics/29palin.html?pagewanted=2