Some Chicago mothers mark day with tears for slain children

For a few women in Chicago, Mother's Day wasn't about flowers but a reminder of their loss. They filed one by one towarda newly unveiled sculpture at St. Sabina Church. They placed white cards emblazoned with names of their children on them at the foot of the sculpture. For some of the women, the realistic work of a faceless gunman killing a young girl was too much to bear. Instead of celebrating this holiday, the mothers were mourning the deaths of their children. The children were all victims of gun violence in Chicago. One of the mother's said that noone would be able to call her "mama" anymore. The artist of the sculpture said that he wanted to, "show the pain, to show that something unhuman is going on here." Last month in Chicago 7 people were killed and 18 wounded due to guns in a 12-hour period.



This is another sad case that i hate to hear about. Some how all this killing needs to stop because it's getting out of control and it's terrible. Maybe the gun laws need to change. Maybe guns should be banned all together because guns are suppose to be used for self defense only, not to kill people for random reasons. It seems like the opposite is happening, guns are only being used to kill for stupid and unlawful reasons. Someone who kills another should be put to death or at least life in prison. There are other ways to handle conflict, you should never ever been mad enough to kill someone. Something needs to change, there is way too much gun violence.

Seven dead as record flooding engulfs Tennessee

Seven people have been killed due to some of the worst flooding the mid-South has seen in decades. They have recieved up to 20 inches of rain in some parts of the states and more is expected to come Sunday evening. With all the rain it has washed out major roads, forced evacuations and promted dam failures. In just Nashville more than 600 people were rescued from the water they recieved this weekend. The mayor of Nashville said that all of the major creeks are at about flood level and that there is nowhere for the water to go. The mayor also said that more rain has fallen in the last 24 hours that has ever been recorded. Flooding with spread into Kentucky as well.

I actually had no idea of all this rain in Tennessee until i read this article. It's really unfortunate the amount they're getting there. Rain is nice but too much of it can be disasterous, even cause deaths which is very sad. Mother nature is a powerful force. It seems like where I live we always need rain and when we do finally get it, it's not enough to be worth it or it's too much. And thats what people in Tennessee are thinking, how they are getting too much rain. Hopefully the rain stops soon and that there arn't anymore deaths.

www.cnn.com/2010/US/weather/05/02/nashville.flooding

Jobs and Welfare: Issue #2 Boosting the minimum

Many voters have supported Democratic efforts in Congress to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour. If the minimum wage was increased it would allow millions of full-time working Americans to rise above the poverty line, with the help of food stamps and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). President Bush signed an Iraq war funding bill in 2007. The bill included domestic spending provisions raising the wage and giving $4.8 billion in business tax breaks. Even with the law, there is still debate over minimum wage. Supporters say that that if a raise occurred it would help the economy and millions of American workers. Critics of raising the minimum wage say that it would be counterproductive. It effects only a small amount of the work force and almost half of the people getting the wage are teenagers, and they are not living in poverty. Critics insist that when laws of supply and demand determine wages, thats when the economy works best.

I am in complete agreement with raising the minimum wage. People who work full-time jobs should not be living in poverty. Millions of Americans would greatly benefit from this too. People need money to survive especially in America where the cost of living is pretty high. Getting just enough money to get by isn't enough and really isn't fair. Especially when you look at CEO's salaries. They should take some of their salaries and give it to people that can barely buy their family food. I think it will help out the economy too by putting more money into businesses and companies. Now that the minimum wage has increased and is at $7.25 many Americans are grateful and living better lives. President Bush agrees with me on this issue.

Issue #1: All things being unequal

Issue #3: Putting welfare to work

Man with knife attacks kindergarten in China

28 or more children are injured after a man attacked kindergarteners with a knife. It happened in East China on thursday morning. Most of the victims were 4 years old. Three children are in critical condition. According to the police, they arrested a 47 year old man who is the suspect. This incident happened in Taixing city in Jiangsu province.

This story shocks me. Why in the world would anyone go to a kindergarten class and stab over two dozen 4 year olds? It makes absolutely no sense to me, then again most crimes make no sense to me. It's just really sad that a person would do this. Harming poor, innocent, little children that can't defend themselves is just sick and cruel. Hopefully this man gets put in prison for life because an act like this is just unacceptable. He is obviously a crazy man and he deserves to have his rights taken from him. I don't know what I would do if i was the mother of one of those children that were stabbed. I probably wouldn't feel comfortable taking my child to school and that's just wrong. The parents and the children should feel safe at their school. Maybe schools need more security if incidents like this are happening.

http://www.cnn.com/

New York Yankees to visit Obama on World Series tour

Although President Obama is a diehard Chicago White Sox fan he will be hosting the New York Yankees in the White House. The Yankees including stars Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez will be in town to celebrate the World Series win they had last year. Visiting the White House is just one of several events regarding the team's victory. Players will first take the World Series trophy to a local medical center where they will visit with wounded soldiers. Recently Obama wore a White Sox cap while throwing the first pitch at the Washington Nationals. Obama thought it was terrible that most soldiers preferred the Cubs over the White Sox. After the Yankees visit the White House they will meet with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Also, they will join the U.S. Senate and wounded soldiers for lunch.

I think this is really cool. Not only are the Yankees being recognized for their accomplishment but they are reaching out to their community. Obama is getting really involved with his sports teams and athletes. I think it's good he does these kind of things. Then again, did he invite the Duke blue devils men's basketball team for winning the NCAA tournament this year? I don't know but he might be showing favoritism towards some teams and athletes and not others. On the other side, the Yankees will probably make the wounded soldiers day and year maybe for coming to visit them. It's great that professional athletes go out and get involved with their fans. It would be so much fun to be a professional athlete just look at all the things they get to do.

www.cnn.com//2010/US/04/26/yankees.white.house

At least 11 missing after blast on oil rig in Gulf

11 or more people were missing and seven were critically injured after an explosion occurred on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the Coast Guard Senior Chief, the explosioned happened at around 10 p.m. Tuesday on the rig called Deepwater Horizon. It's located about 52 miles southeast of Venice. The blaze was still going early Wednesday morining. The Senior Chief said there was 126 people on board of the rig when the explosion happened. 17 workers were transported by air for medical treatment. 94 workers were taken to shore with no serious injuries. The company of the oil rig said most workers are safe. They also commented saying that no reports of an oil spill have been connected to the explosion.

This is too bad. I really hope everyone that was injured is okay and going to be fine. Also I hope those people that haven't been accounted for are fine. I doin't think they mentioned or explained in the story how the explosion happened, maybe they're still investigating that. The big question is i think, was there an oil spill or not? If there was it could definantly create some problems. It is so bad for the water and since it's earth week it really makes me wonder what kind of chemicals go into the ocean and even our lakes. This was obviously an accident but other times people put bad things into the water on purpose. It breaks my heart knowing that people would harm out lakes and oceans. I think we all need to be alittle more conscious of what we do with our waste, including garbage and recycles. Anyways, maybe there is a better option rather than getting oil out from under the ocean. If so, we should push to do that instead.

Armed robbers raid Swiss casino

About 10 armed men with pistols and machine guns went into a casino in Switzerland and raided it. They made off into France with several hundred thousand Swiss francs very early Sunday morning. The men were dressed in black clothes and black ski masks. They split into two groups while robbing the Grad Casino Basel. One of the groups tried to break into the lower levels vault but couldn't get in. They did not rob the cashier of the money. The second group was armed and entered the upper level where the blackjack tables are and robbed the chashier. As they were leaving the casino they beat a women who was blocking their cars. There was no serious injuries that occured. Swiss authorities are working with French authorities to find the robbers. The casino is only 100 yards from the French border and the robbers were driving cars with French license plates.

This is just another unfortuante crime. I'm kindof surprised that they all got away. Wasn't there any security? Why didn't someone try and stop them? It is a casino, you would think they would have pretty good security guards. It also sounds like the robbers were able to just walk into the casino and try to open the vaults without any problems. It's lucky for the casino that they didn't get the vault open but still i wonder where the security guards were. I would hope that someone called the cops right away too but they must not have got there in time. The robbers definantly got away with a decent amount of money and hopefully they will be found and put in jail.

www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/28/switzerland.casino.robbery