Douglas County Hospital now designated as Level 3 Trauma Hospital

About the article:




The Douglas County Hospital in Alexandria MN recently added on a new surgery center but that is not the only good news, they are now certified to be a Level 3 Trauma center, meaning that when someone comes into the Emergency Room with a life threatening injury they will be able to get more of the care that they need right here in Alex. Rather than being sent to St. Cloud or even being sent to HCMC in Minneapolis, The problem as Barb Friedrichs, RN, Senior Clinical Director said, is that "the time from injury to getting sustainable medical care is considered the Golden Hour, many patients who come in with severe life threatening injuries do not have a very long 'golden hour' so to be able to care for them here should help significantly."
I am glad that DCH is now a Level 3 Trauma center, I plan on going to college for Nursing and hope one day to work in The Emergency Room, I think that a level three trauma center would be a great addition to the hospital; No, Alexandria doesn't have that many critical patients but; when it is does happen, we need to have the staff with the correct know how to handle the certain patient with their life threatening injury. Fast, professional care is very important. I think that definitely the addition of a Level 3 Trauma center will really make a difference during that critical golden hour.









http://dchospital.com/news/News_level3.pdf

5th Graders honors Buddy who drown

About the article:
3 Carlos Elementary 5th Graders wanted to come up with a way to honor their "buddy" Kortni Botzet of Carlos who drown at the Holiday Inn in Alexandria. The boys felt that they should do something and were persistent about it. At the track and field event for the 5th Graders, Kortni was honored. With all of the Carlos Students participating, there was not a dry eye to be seen as Austin Johnson-Wakely gave a speech and devotion as to what the bandannas were for. The 5th Grade class is led by Mr. Tim Urness, who said that the boys and their parents did most of the work to make this idea a go. He couldn't be any prouder of his students.

I think it is fabulous that these boys were persistent about honoring Kortni at their Track and Field event. I am so proud to say that I attended Carlos Elementary and I too, had Mr. Urness as a fifth grade teacher. I am so impressed that these boys went above and beyond the call of duty for Kortni and her family. I know that it was well appreciated by the Botzet family and their friends.

http://www.echopress.com/event/article/id/75201/publisher_ID/2/

The haunted Hotel- The Palmer House

About the article: KSAX Alexandria's local news source investigated what has been known as the most haunted hotel in Minnesota, The Palmer House, Located in Sauk Centre. The hotel was built in the early 1900's and has weathered many years and has been a famous hotel and bar for the last 110 years. Still in operation today, The Palmer House has been known to have strange light Anomalies, unexplained cold spots, and strange voices. Until KSAX investigated these reports, many were skeptical. This is a phenomenon that is unusual, but as reports and cameras show, there were strange voices, one in particular saying "get out" in a tone that appeared to be very real. There is more to it though, like the sounds and sights of pots and pans flying off of the cabinets or books flying off the wall, just falling for no apparent reason.

I agree that it is creepy a local hotel could be haunted but I could understand how it happens when I think about where I work, Bethany, lets be honest; lots of people have died there it would be easy to understand how that could be haunted. But a hotel/ restaurant doesn't seem as though it could be haunted but as Kelley explained "this hotel was the first building in Sauk Centre with electricity so it was a very popular place." I don't believe that explains why the place is haunted but, it would however explain why so many people know about the books flying off the wall, etc.


I know that I will not be going there alone!

http://ksax.com/article/stories/s1571931.shtml

Twin Cities Hospitals Spokeswoman Fired after theft

About the article:

Trish Dougherty was dismissed from work just Hours after news had broke that she had been caught stealing money, surgical supplies, and patient information at a South Dakota hospital that she had previously worked at.

I can't believe that someone would be so dumb as to steal from a hospital, especially the place where you work. Not only is stealing wrong but if you get caught you will also be sentenced in a court of law but, you will probably get fired from your job. I really don't understand why someone would try to steal patient information. What use do you have for it? I realize that is a form of identity theft but, honestly their is not much point in that. Just causes more trouble for you in the long run. To steal surgical supplies you would have to be a complete idiot! For one, what would you need them for? Also, those supplies are counted so the place needs to know where their supplies are being distributed to and what for. I work in a nursing home, I work in the medical field. I know how much medical supplies are worth, I know how important it is to protect patients rights, and lastly, I know how important money is in the workplace. Working at a nursing home I am aware of the fact that doing those things would be so easy, walking down to the nursing supply room and loading up your car when no one is looking. It takes honesty. If its not yours; don't touch it! That is a concept from Kindergarten; everyone should know that. BE HONEST! If not; you are only hurting your own image.

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=850980

Man sentenced to workhouse for luring children in Edina

A Fairbault man has been sentenced to 180 days in a Workhouse, not much time to pay for trying to lure several little girls in the Edina area? No, I think that a case like that the person should be put in jail not just placed in a workhouse for 6 months, seriously? What is he going to learn? How to clean toilets for 6 months? I just don't believe that the penalties for trying to abduct little children (or anyone for that matter) are strong enough, the girls were reportedly 9,10,11,12 at this time the names of the girls is not being released due to privacy issues. It has been reported that Wolters had coerced the 12 year old girl by suggesting that he could make her "very happy" The girl then screamed and proceeded to try punching Wolters who then took off to attempt to get the 9,10, and 11 year old into his car. Wolters told them that he would "show them a good time, not to worry girls do this all the time" It is apparent that he was trying to persuade all 4 girls to have sex with him, but according to police; the girls all ran from Wolters and were not molested. Wolters was in jail for 4 days and now resides at the Hennepin County Work house.

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=849966&catid=14

6 Year old Carlos Girl drowns in Jacuzzi

About the article: this is a story that pulls thousands of heart strings, On Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 Kortni Botzet, a 6 year old girl from the small town of Carlos Minnesota, just about 8 miles north of Alexandria drowned in the Jacuzzi at the Alexandria Holiday inn, according to police and witnesses "this was freak accident and no foul play is suspected, no charges will be made." According to Kortni's dad, Jim, "Kortni was in the jacuzzi along with a few others and some parents, (Jim was close by watching her but was not in the Jacuzzi with her) when the man noticed she needed help and pulled her out of the water, immediately began performing CPR." As to be expected Kortni's family is devastated along with the parents who were hosting the birthday party.
My opinion: I believe that accident is a complete tragedy and first of all my condolences and sympathies go out to Jim and Nicole and the rest of their families. I had the pleasure of getting to know Kortni as I attended Kindergarten Buddies with her, she was a very caring and beautiful young girl, who was taken way too soon. Accidents like this one happen far too often, but when it hits so close to home the reality is intensified. The accident has hopefully raised some attention to the fact that you can never be to careful and how precious life is. May Kortni rest in peace! I hope she can fulfill all of her dreams in Heaven.



http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=849429

Issue 2- Boosting the Minimum Wage

Living below the poverty line is difficult and unhealthy, it is not okay that so many people are still living in such conditions were they have to decide are they going to send their child to school or are they going to eat lunch today. The minimum wage was raised from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 but that is still not enough, families can apply for benefits such as food stamps and earned income tax credits even then people still can't seem to stay afloat. I make more than the minimum wage and I know that I couldn't support a family on my income without help, so I can understand how these people struggle to even have just the necessities.

Many people say that the minimum wage earners are high school and college students only, sadly that is not the truth. Most of the minimum wage earners are single parents, hence why we need so many support programs and financial aid. Below I have a picture that represents the working class struggling to make ends meet and I also have linked to other students blogs. Enjoy!

Putting Welfare to work

All things being unequal

10 Killed in 3 Weekend Crashes in Minnesota

About the article:


The title is pretty self explanatory. I believe of those 10, 6 of them were teens, any people who die from a car crash is unfortunate, but myself, also being a teen think that it is scary how many people are in car accidents. The sad reality is that about 1 in every 3 teens will be in a car accident and about 1 in every 5 of them will die or have serious life altering/ limiting illnesses after that, just about a year ago I had a friend, Jesse that was in an accident, an older man side-swiped him on ice and caused his truck to roll into the lake in the middle of winter, plunging through the ice, ultimately plunging to his death. He was "lucky" his truck became hung up on the bottom of the embankment in a gnarl of trees, he was trapped upside down in his truck for four hours before he was noticed and help could arrive. Jesse now is a quadriplegic (he is paralyzed from the neck down) and has some severe brain damage, he is living in a nursing home at the age of 24 and will never again be able to walk or breathe on his own will, he lives off of a ventilator and relies on a feeding tube, he is able to talk in short sentences that appear to make no sense, but to Jesse's family and friends it makes perfect sense, he "left behind" a wife and an unborn daughter, as Traci, his wife puts it "essentially Jesse is dead to the world, as morbid as that sounds he has no idea who Ayden (his son) and the rest of his family are. He lives off of machines, two seconds without them and he will be existing no more."
That is a tough thing for anyone to think about but especially for Ayden, he will be growing up never knowing who his father is.
The idea of so many young people losing their lives because of the actions is unfair and very sad, but what can you do? their is not alot. We do have laws that say 16 Year olds cannot drive with more than one person in the car and cannot drive between midnight and 5 AM and we all know that teenagers cannot legally drink, but the girl driving one of the cars had just gotten her license three weeks or months prior, and the smell of alcohol was pouring from the car and she was driving at two in the morning, what did save her though was her seat belt, with all that she has to face in the days to come, she probably won't want to live and move on... the mistakes you make once will be with you forever.














http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=848758&catid=14

"Infections in Hospitals get worse, Despite Safety Focus

About the article:

Nearly 100,000 deaths from infections in hospitals yearly... doesn't make you want to go to the hospital very badly do you? True but if you need help what are you going to do? Tough it out? Go to a different Doctor? What will you do? My hope is that you would get the help you need, but not be afraid that you could get sick and maybe even die. The article goes through the formality of sharing information that the Health Department has created and observed. The information is supposed to be true and accurate as to date, however, many believe that the Health Department surveys are only out to find the negative of a Health place, which is not true, but many people do not see the side that shows what places are the best hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics but also health care professionals. The Health Department surveyors are responsible for creating and compiling these lists.



http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/04/patient_safety_in_hospital_rem.html

"Need Cash? Some Thieves Are Taking The Whole ATM"

About the article:
With the economy in a slump people are in desperate need of money and will go to extreme lengths to find the money that they need, including stealing an ATM machine, no not just the money bin, the whole thing! It seems ridiculous to steal a whole machine, doesn't it? well No, according to detective Greenat, "if thieves take the whole machine there will be no fingerprints left just a bare spot that once was a source to get money." Makes sense, Yes, but why would you want that big machine just chillaxin in your living room? It's a sign of prestige says Greenat, in the "gangster" community stealing is the norm but the bigger the item and more worthy the better you are if you were able to successfully steal it. Also a valid point, but how would your conscience rate if you were convicted of stealing no not, a car, not a person, not a few groceries, but yes, an ATM machine. The logic behind the theft is completely stupid, seriously? dude come over, check out my ATM machine! NO! nobody would do that. I am not saying that stealing is right but seriously if you want the money that bad, take it. But don't take the whole d*** machine! People these days, get a life, go for a walk without coming back with things that you did not buy or you "found" they are someone Else's and you with your dirty little mitts need to leave it alone. Stop it. You are not cool. Not at all.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125621359

"Democrats send Obama final health measure"

About the article:

According to the many opposed (Republicans) of this bill, it should have been "dead in the water" but according to Obama supporters, that's not true. The bill was a long time coming and was a welcome change in pace. The articles strongest point was that Obama wouldn't seem like such a "horrible" President if he didn't have such a huge mess to clean up from our previous President... (...eek... a Republican.) This is where I drift from what the article says to how I feel about the issue. Okay. Here I go.... If Mr. George Bush would have ran the country like a President is supposed to we would not be on this train running wide open about to fly off the tracks. Anyone who tries to blame all of the worlds problems on Obama, and the huge, sky rocketing deficit on him, also needs to be put in their place. Obama did not run the government into this hole. That would be Bush. I am not saying that everything Bush did was bad, I mean he didn't bring back the draft, but if given the chance (he probably would have). Bush also didn't come up with a health care bill that will help with a large part of our economies downturn. Many critics (Cough, cough... you know who you are.) say that they cannot afford to have a percent of their income taken for health insurance, but here's the A- Bomb! If you currently have health insurance through your employer, you ARE paying a percent of your income for health insurance, if you are paying through a private agent, you are paying a little larger portion of your income; their is a chance that you do not have health insurance, but then one cannot help to think about who will be paying your bill if you need to visit the doctor, the hospital or have a surgery. That will be part of your income also! If perhaps you are on a Government subsidized health care program, I would like you to think real hard about whose income is paying for that, congrats, you got it.... I am! So are all tax payers.
I understand that we all hit road bumps and need to have a little help to get through that rough patch, and I also, realize that we need to help out others who cannot work; but I don't believe it is my job to pay for someone to have a free life because they just don't want to work and would rather just bring more kids into the world that they cannot pay for. I am not opposed to helping people out but their is helping people out and then there is doing everything for them.
My rant about the unfairness of our health care system is directly parallel to that of this article. Definitely I agree that this health insurance overhaul was necessary, leaving you on that note I hope that describes the article and gives a taste of my thoughts.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_health_care_overhaul

"Fargo Begs for flood help."

About the article:

Fargo and its officials have done their usual routine... beg for flood help. The issue is that every spring the Red River rises and floods nearly the whole town becomes a large swimming pool. With every spring comes the argument from those of us taxpayers that we should not have to pay for Fargo- Moorhead to be rebuilt once again.
The irritating part about this is that year after year the residents of Fargo-Moorhead know that they will be flooded in the fall when the Red River expands, suggestions that have been posed to them were simple, such as building a Barrier (Barricade) or a berm (a permanent cement/ tar pile) the problem with that is the residents of Fargo- Moorhead do not want to have nice river front property blemished with a cement berm or piles of sand obstructing their views, which is understandable but, you have to ask yourself would you rather have protection or do you want glamour. I realize for some it is a no brainer- protection but the vast majority would rather look at the vanity side. I just think we need to focus on fixing the problems we have rather than allow people year after year to get a new house because they have become victims of yet another flood.



http://www.chinapost.com.tw/international/2009/03/24/201371/US-officials.htm

"Drowning in Alzheimer's"

About the Article:


Minorities are more capable of getting the devastating, nasty, deteriorating disease affectionately know as Alzheimer's (actually no one can be diagnosed with that form of the disease until they have had a thorough autopsy... but as one of my co-workers once told me; You can start and autopsy when the person is alive, I guarantee they will be deceased when you are finished :) .... not to make light of a serious situation!!!!)

Unfortunately, Dementia is so popular in women it is not uncommon for 1 in every 2 women after age 50 to get the nasty disease. With men it is not as common, but still alarmingly high, 1 in every 4 men after the age of 50 will be diagnosed with Dementia. Unfortunately, Dementia is a progressive degenerative disorder; with that being said, there is no stopping the progression, but keeping your mind sharp, and active can't hurt (doing sudoku puzzles, crosswords, word searches and reading... just to list a few) actually studies suggest that people who keep their minds active before the age of 50, and the years following will have a 60% less chance of becoming a statistic that Dementia patients are.



My Opinion:



I think that Dementia is the worst disease a person could probably have, I have a Grandmother with this degenerative disease, the hardest part is not for the patient themselves, but their family. My Grandma was diagnosed 10 years ago and lived at home up until about 5 years ago, my Grandpa had to have a constant watch on her because she tended to roam outside with inadequate clothing on. Which could potentially lead to her demise. Immediately after she entered the nursing home, she had enough mind-set left to realize that she really did not want to be there. She became abusive and increasingly agitated with the staff and attempted to escape several times in a day. Now as her condition has progressed she is unable to identify her children, her husband and even her location. Most days she is combative towards staff as they assist her to dress, and do her personal cares. She cries and tries to isolate her self most days and does not seem a bit interested or aware of her surroundings. Did I mention the hardest is on our behalf? It was always hard for me to imagine what it would feel like to go and visit my grandmother and for her to look at me with tears in her eyes, lost, feeling so alone, but having no idea who I am or why I am there. That is not easy for me, or the rest of my family. When my Grandfather (her husband) passed away in August of 2009, she was unable to comprehend what had happened; she just looked dazed, confused, and sad. But in my heart she knew, I told her how much I loved her and she leaned in, gave me a hug and said "I love you, too." Difficult to see? yes, but I know she is well taken care of and that is all that I can hope for. I just hope that some day there will be a cure or a treatment to help slow down or prevent this nasty disease that has claimed so many people.















http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/09/alzheimer.minorities.hispanics/index.html

H1N1: Pandemic was emotional as well as physical

About the article:

H1N1 was considered to be an issue that affected many people emotionally more than physically. When contracted, H1N1 can be a very deadly illness that is said to have killed more than 500 people in the United States alone, that is however, implying that some of these people had other factors contributing to their deaths.

My thoughts on the article:

I do believe that many people believed they had the "swine flu" just because it had been talked about so much. It is hard to differentiate between what is fact and what is fiction when people scrutinize everything you say. Although the H1N1 Flu is a serious problem (that was blown to mass proportions) some people were able to find a light at the end of this dark tunnel... they cracked jokes (actually they photo shopped them!!!!)

Attached is a link of the actual toll H1N1 had on the world.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_07_06/en/index.html

Source:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/23/h1n1.flu/

Aviation safety rate: One accident for every 1.4 Million Flights

About the article:

Accidents are not as common as one thinks, the article discusses that although when an accident is reported it seems all too common; however that the media makes such a big deal about an isolated incident and they blow it to mass proportions, creating more problems! Such as "the Miracle on the Hudson" That was an isolated incident that was a "miracle", yes but we need to focus more on what the Officials and everyone on board the aircraft should do in the case of an emergency like that. Not make such a big deal, and a Premiere TV Special about the incident. Yes, Don't get me wrong "Sully" was a hero but there are everyday heroes who do not get recognized like he did, The difference was that the task he performed was very difficult and stressful knowing that the lives of so many people were at stake. I agree with the article, people need to calm down! It is only nature for people and machines to make mistakes and malfunction, but we should not dwell in it; We need to accept it, and change it! as one of my former teachers always said "embrace change, don't fight it!" so.... all that is left to say is that Airplanes are still the safest mode of transportation; we should be proud of that! Something that people operate is still safer than something a robot operates!

My Opinion: I did somewhat share my opinion about the issue but my biggest hang-up with the media dominating the Aircraft agency is that, if they own the information they can twist and turn it as much as they want. Fact or not; people believe what they see and hear, especially if it was from their favorite news source.


http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/02/22/aviation.safety.report/

Federal Budget Blog: Social Insecurity

Issue #3 Social Insecurity

Background: The Social Security System is a form of pay for retired, disabled, and others who are unable to work for different reasons. The problem with Social Security is that currently and in years to come; there will be more people drawing off "the system" then there will be paying into "the system" meaning that within a matter of years, (maybe even months) Social Security will be overdrawing its income (spending more than it is taking in.) The idea that has been talked about the most to fix the Social Security deficit, is to raise the age that you have to be before you can draw your Social Security income out(raising the retirement age). Currently the ages are being adjusted depending on when you were born; if you were born in (or before) 1937 you could have began withdrawing Social Security at age 65, but if you were born from 1938-1942 you cannot start withdrawing until the age of 65 and 1/2. However at the current rate it is estimated that every four years after 1946 your benefits will be delayed 2 years (1946- 1950= 67; and so on...)







My Side: I believe that the Social Security Officials need to do a thorough evaluation of the people that are withdrawing money; Not only to retirees withdrawing money that they rightfully earned and worked hard to put money into for many years, but the biggest issue of people on welfare. I am NOT opposed of people getting help that are honestly trying but just need some help to get through a rough patch, but I am opposed of people getting welfare "free money" that have not worked a day in their life! Recently I was talking to a woman while waiting to go to the doctor. The woman that I was talking to was actually bragging about how much free help she gets; in disbelief I asked her how she gets free health care, free food, gas, and housing and has not worked a day in her life. Mind you she also had a nicer car than I have, and I work a full-time job in the summer and when I have time off {I am working hard for my money, that I am happily putting into Social Security (: can you sense the sarcasm? GOOD! } But back to the big issue, when I asked her how she got all of the "free stuff" she said "oh, it was simple. I have 4 kids, with 4 different fathers and I have never been married, but I claimed that my first three boyfriends (babies fathers) beat me and my children, so we all get free health and mental health care for life. But with me being disabled because of the beatings I can't work so I get disability. I will NEVER have to work! My kids get a free K-12 education and after that they will not have to work either, they are disabled, too." She also went on to talk about how she does have a "job" where she gets paid in cash and gets to stay in hotels... you get the point. That is not what is important, the problem is that this woman and her kids will never have to work but they have a "free life" because of us (the taxpayers) who work hard to make ends meet and have to struggle in life; but because we are honest people we do not qualify to have a "free life."

Public opinion- A Louisiana Politician (John LaBruzzo) wants to pay poor women $1,000 to have their tubes tied, which seems like a lot of money; but if we would pay that much to prevent more people using welfare, it would certainly be less costly than supporting children for 18 years; and then probably even the rest of their lives. I agree with Mr. LaBruzzo paying $1,000 to prevent more people from withdrawing money from the "system" that have not payed their fair share!

John LaBruzzo

Issue #1 War Dollars

http://felicia01.blogspot.com/2010/02/issue-1-war-dollars_18.html

Issue #2 Spending what we can afford

http://mayaseverson.blogspot.com/2010/02/issue-2-spendin-what-we-can-afford.html

"Life after denial"

What this article is about: President Obama's Foreclosure- prevention program, the affects that it has on people who were promised the help that they needed and did not receive. The program boasted that it would help nearly four million people in serious need, however with the state of the economy, the Federal Government decided they could not help; that much. So many who were/ are in need of assistance to prevent their homes from being foreclosed on are not able to obtain the help that they so desperately need. These people are seeing their dreams and futures being "flushed down the toilet that we can't even use because we have been evicted." All because they were promised help and relied on it, when it no longer became available, several people struggled to hold on to what they had left, and after the evictions because of foreclosures wiped them out, many had nothing left their cars, jobs, homes, and belongings were all sand in the hourglass of time, that didn't mean anything to the "confiscators" but meant everything to its owners.

Obama aide says that many of the people who are not receiving assistance that were previously guaranteed help, are families whose income is close to the poverty line but not close enough that they need immediate assistance, the aide who did not want to be named also said that "if these people would learn how to spend their money wisely, and save perhaps they would not be in such a hurting position." Based on this article, the generalization that I made is that with all of the people that need help, the numbers are much higher than expected. With that being said, the Government officials had no choice but to inflate the numbers so that the poverty line would be lower and many low-income people/ families would not be considered below the fluctuating poverty line.

As Bert Carvajal stated : "Life has to go on, if (the) Government is unwilling to help like they had previously guaranteed then it is up to my wife Mery and I to make all the ends come together." Unfortunately, with Bert and Mery's situation they do not qualify for assistance, as they do make too much money. Their situation was considered to be not at a crisis point either, but like Bert revealed; "If we are not at a crisis point, what are we at? Once we get evicted from our home, we don't have enough money to buy another or rent. We will be homeless."

How I feel about the issue:
I feel that it is terrible how the Government can promise a lifesaving measure, (which saving someone from eviction could be!) and then go back on your promise and tell them that they currently are not at a crisis point and that they will not receive any money to prevent them from being dislocated from their homes. I think to a certain extent it is a little bit naive or dirty for the Government to say that if the people "fasten their budget belts" they will be just fine. In all reality a person that is unemployed is only making at the most 75% of what they made before their position was terminated. That is 25% less than you were making before. 25% is also the magic number of the percent of your income that you should save (or spend, rather) on housing per month, so in some situations where money is tight when all occupants are working; losing 25% of your income can mean that you are losing the 25% of your income that is used for your housing.



Source:
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/real_estate/1002/gallery.Life_After_Denial/index.html?cnn=yes&hpt=Mid

Obama aide: Ending "don't ask, don't tell" must wait

Description of don't ask, don't tell: In the simplest form, don't ask, don't tell is a policy that gives all people the chance to become a member of the United States Military, regardless of their sexual orientation, thus meaning that gays and lesbians can be part of the military so long as they don't "tell" that they are homosexual. The stir is being caused because homosexual people are upset that they are not allowed to be in the military and show displays of affection such as: (holding hands, kissing, etc.) whereas; heterosexual people in the military are allowed to do that with no such disciplinary action.

Outline of article: Within the bounds of the article the author shares his thoughts about the issue, based on his writing style I inferred that he wants the policy to be changed so that people are allowed to be openly homosexual and be able to enlist in the military. The man that wrote the article did also, include the poll on iReport.com: 'Gays in the military? No thanks' and how only 17% said No thanks, they would not like to serve in the military with an openly homosexual person.

How do I feel about this article: I do not like the thought of excluding people from the military based on their sexual orientation, I believe that as long as they are willing and able to perform the demands that are set fourth for them in the military, they should be able to. However I do not see anything wrong with the don't ask, don't tell policy... it is simple. I don't ask you if you are homosexual, you don't tell me you are. But there is also a flaw with this policy, if, in fact we are free to choose then why are we being punished for choosing someone of the same gender, I think that if we are going to be flat out honest about the issue it all goes back on the shoulders of our older generations where only WHITE, HETEROSEXUAL MALES were allowed to be in the military. Times have changed and if we can allow women and blacks then why not homosexual people, there is a double standard that is very unfair to our dedicated Americans that ONLY want to serve our country. As one soldier had said "It's not like if we have gays in our military they are going to come after us for sex, and expect us to just give in, the military is not a sex cult." I think that he nailed it by saying that, it takes a lot of courage for people to stand up for what they believe in especially when they know that they will be criticized for everything that they say and do.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/14/obama.gays.military/

Herbal remedies, heart drugs a dangerous combo

Taking both of these do sound like a really bad idea! I believe that if you are going to take prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs you should NOT be taking herbal remedies, because of the fact that most people do not use both at the same time, they, until recently had not been tested together so people did not know the potential side effects. "'These products are not by themselves dangerous,' says the lead author, Dr. Arshad Jahangir" proving that neither drug is unhealthy or unsafe just that together they can be a potentially lethal combination.

The article goes on to discuss how certain Herbal Remedies (ginseng, ginkgo, garlic, black cohosh, St. John's wort, hawthorn, saw palmetto, and echinacea) can significantly dilute or strengthen heart medications, neither side effect is good. Dilution would cause the body to not get the full dose that is required. Strengthening would cause the body to over-react, as there is too much of the substance within the bodies organs. I now can see how this would affect a person, Herbal Remedies are typically stronger than prescription drugs because of the fact that the doses are not as easily measured, and often times as the article says the drugs are not created to work with herbal solutions. With that being said the CDC urges people to consult their Doctor before taking Herbal Remedies while on prescription medications.

Living in America I have the liberty to say what I think, so I am going to take this opportunity to share my thoughts on Herbal Remedies, Prescription drugs, and how the combination is a dangerous idea. When I first read this article it shocked me that people would even think to do such a thing, but it was then that I realized other people may not realize that Herbal Remedies are usually used as part of a religious practice, there are religions that do not believe in Drugs that are made in a lab (legal or not) since these "medications" do not abide by their practices and beliefs, their only other option is to create holistic or herbal remedies. This is strictly my opinion but I do not believe that a herbal supplement will give the body what it needs to become healthy once again. I do however believe that if Holistic, or Herbal remedies, rather, are used faithfully over an extended period of time. They can prevent disease. But I don't believe that they are as successful at treating disease as prescription drugs are.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/01/moh.healthmag.remedies.avoid/index.html

Amputation Patients get only Motrin

Summary/ Opinion:

Amputation Patients get only Motrin, to me that is horrible that the Haitians are so devastated that when surgery is necessary the only thing that they are able to give them is Motrin. Motrin is a "Junior" form of Tylenol which would not be strong enough to kill the pain that one would experience from a procedure that is removing body parts. Not including the risk of infection that you have in such a devastated country where they are not technologically advanced enough to be amputating body parts. I think that when there is a need such as in Haiti right now people need to pull together and help them out, I realize that many are but just yesterday when I was watching the evening news (while eating supper) a mother was giving birth to her child and she was lying on the ground (in the dirt, mind you) all that she got to relieve the pain was Motrin, and the Medicine Man that was there was telling her to use Lamaze Breathing, which is to focus your attention on an object such as a prominent fixture {Lamp, Curtains, Person (that is not moving), Television (that is not on.)}

In this woman's case Lamaze breathing would not be efficient in the sense that the only "prominent" fixture was the pile of rubble that use to be her home and the hospital that she planned to give birth in. With such devastation she could not focus on any object without obstructed thoughts. The woman did give birth and is doing fine, but due to the lack of medicines her child died four hours after her painful delivery.

Source:
CNN News:
http://therebeller.blogspot.com/2010/01/video-amputees-in-haiti-get-only-motrin.html