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