My Sisters ( First Blog added class)

When I began thinking about communities the first thing that comes to my mind are my sisters. I am the youngest of three girls. Our ages range from 19 to 26. Even though there is seven years between my older sister and me we are definitely the most alike.  When we are out together we have had people ask us if we are twins.  Sometimes my sister’s friends will even mistake me for her. Not only do we look alike, but we have a lot of the same qualities and annoying habits. She is someone I can always have fun with or just do nothing and end up laughing the whole day away. My other sister Tiffany is 21 and very different from me. She is very motherly and likes to make sure everything is organized. She is always on time or ahead of schedule. Tiffany is also very smart she just graduated early from UF and is going to become a teacher. She is the person I call whenever I need help with a paper or even just when I need to know how to spell a word. We all have our own special characteristics so when we put them all together we can accomplish anything. My sisters are who I go to whenever anything happens good or bad. I know they will always be there for me just like I will always be there for them. They are definitely my best friends.

Bush

I’ve never been really the type to keep up with the news. My friends and family are always the ones that are filling me in on what’s going on in the world today. But whenever I do happen to pay attention and flip to the news, which is rare, I always learn something interesting new in what’s going on. I know that usually when I turn to the news, it most of the time seems to be about a missing person, or shooting, and just bad things like that. And to me it’s crazy that things are like that are always happening all over the world.
Looking at the New York Times website, I can see top stories consisting of news about Bush, Obama, and the Middle East. In the world today, we are still dealing with issues from the Middle East and things dealing with the new president. Seems to me like the usual stuff. But one story that got my attention enough to read it was “A Reflective Bush Defends Decisions on National Security” by Sheryl Gay Stolberg in the top stories. After reading this article, I don’t feel that Bush did anything wrong as president really. Maybe it could be the fact I didn’t really pay attention to the events that occurred while he was president. But from what I did read is that Bush did his best in being the President and he knows he made some mistakes along the way. But I think the important thing is that he accepts and takes full responsibility for them. Everything he did had good intentions, with his priority being the safety of the United States against attacks. Bush discussed how he still remembers the affects of the September 11 attacks and how that affected his decisions stating, “You remember what it was like right after September the 11th around here? People were saying, ‘How come they didn’t see it? How come they didn’t connect the dots?’ Do you remember what the environment was like in Washington? I do.”(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/us/politics/13bush.html?_r=1&hp). After reading this, although many would disagree, I really do believe he had the utmost good intentions for this country. I think I found a blog that relates to the article called “Bush to Deliver Farewell Address on Thursday” by Michael Falcone. He discusses in his own words about the topic of Bush and his farewell. In my opinion it just sums up the article (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/bush-to-deliver-farewell-address-on-thursday/#more-8319).

High Out-of-State Tuition

Very rarely do we find good news within today's headlines. Many of you said this same thing, including in Sam’s “Change… Hopefully” and Kash's "Malicious Madoff?". However when browsing through the USA Today’s headlines I found an interesting and very applicable article to us college students. According to the article more universities are going to offer in-state tuition rates to out-of-state students. This is to encourage more students to apply to the university, meaning opening more doors to intelligent, low-income students. The article states that the costs to attend a 4 year public university in Illinois rose from 19% of a family’s income (1999) to 35% (2007). With these rates we can only imagine what out-of-state students are paying in tuition. I know the idea of equal tuition rates has it negative effects, including on taxes (which I admit know very little about). One person responded to the article in a blog “My state taxes are going to subsidize out-of-state students?”. However the idea of equal costs could serve a great purpose. For some going to a university of choice is impossible, just based upon the out-of-state tuition. What happened to choices and equal opportunity? I know when I was looking for universities to apply to an out of state university was not an option. With Bright Futures and in-state tuition costs, I’d be crazy to go anywhere else but in the state of Florida.

Tebow is Coming Back!

  The news isn't the most exciting thing to be looking at on the internet. Politics aren't exactly my thing and that seems to be all over the news.  So this blog didn't seem like the most exciting thing to be doing until I ran across Tim Tebows name. The article is by Pete Thamel. Even though I am a noles fan I have been watched the Gators since I was little.  For some reason I always seem to have a crush on Gator quarterbacks. So when I first saw Tim Tebow he was definitely not an exception to that.  Not only is Tebow and amazing football player, but he is a spiritual and kindhearted individual. As I'm sure many of you saw he had the Bible verse John 3:16 on his face during the national championship game which, "last week became the most searched  item on google." Which I think helps to show how much of a role-model  he is. 

I'm sure the Gator nation was thrilled after his announcement, “By the way,” Tebow told the crowd, “let’s do it again.” This leaves the Gators with 19 returning starters.  With Tebow returning and 18 other starters the Gators are going to be pretty hard to beat next year. 

unecessary procedure

A couple of years ago my grandmother had to have one of her arteries in her neck replaced with one from her leg. The new artery is called a "stent." A fairly common procedure, about 1 million Americans undergo the surgery annually. The surgery went fine and my grandmother is as healthy as she has ever been, but she may not have needed the surgery.

Dr. Michael Ozner said the surgery could be lifesaving for people who need it, but most of the people who underwent the procedure did it for precautionary measures. He said that the people who did need stents made up a small percentage of patients who did the procedure. Dr. Ozner stated that in a healthy patient, "putting stents in such patients is no more protective than following a heart-healthy lifestyle and taking medication and, if necessary, nutritional supplements to reduce cardiac risk." The stents may even cause blood clots in otherwise healthy patients. As with almost every procedure it is expensive ("about $60 billion a year in the United States") and dangerous. The surgery should be left to those who can seriously benefit from it, those who are seriously ill. Studies done show that people who did not need the surgery were just as healthy without it. If you suffer from severe chest pains or angina, a bypass would benefit you; however, pain receptors surrounding your heart are damaged during surgery so no pain is relieved from having the surgery.

You should consult your doctor before making any health related decisions, but I would think twice before paying for a surgery that I did not really need.

Malicious Madoff?

The New York Times is always an elite source of daily news domestically and internationally. While browsing their website I found many interesting articles that impact no only us but the society that we live in today. Most of these stories, unfortunately, only point out the dim parts of the world that we live in today. Headlines included stories about how the market is dropping again (surprising I know), how Hamas rockets destroyed a civilian area in Israel, and how bombings occurred as Vice President elect Biden arrived in Iraq. The list could go on and on but I have decided to stop. In short the majority of our media market is filled with unfortunate events. The way I have written this introduction would bring one to believe that the story I choose to portray is one of flourishment, and ingenuity on the brighter side of things. However though I would have loved to choose a sotry with that description they were all too long to read. Therefore I bring to you the story of Bernard L. Madoff, a once noted investment genius.
If you havent heard of Mr. Madoff here is a quick background; Mr. Madoff was born in New York City and graduated from Hofstra University. He then went to work for the Nasdaq where he quickly went up through the ranks and became chairman because of his investment knowledge. Soon he left Nasdaq and opened his own financial firm, named Bernard Madoff Investment Securities. He was a tycoon for his era and had big name millionaires throwing extra money at him in order for him to invest. He, at this economic point in time offered a ridiculously high returns yield. One thing led to another and now he has been arrested and charged with fraud and embezzelment of $50,000,000,000 . What the attorny general is trying to figure out is what happend to all this money and how does fifty billion dollars disappear into one mans off shore bank account and not get noticed.
In an article written by Diana Henriques, she takes us into the present life of Madoff. The Feds imprisioned Madoff with no bail. Madoff's lawyers were able to pull a few strings and present their client with a $10 million bailout, which he took. The article states that while out on bail Madoff will be closely monitored by a electronic device and all of his funds/assets will be frozen. On Chirstmas Eve, Madoff supposedly touched his funds and was ready to send between $200-$300 million dollars to different family members as well as sending over $1 million in Christmas gifts. Altough Madoff's lawyers argued that this was a mistake and out of the holiday spirit he still violated the terms of his bond, which for many convicts means: back to the cell. However in Madoff's case the judge ruled against the Feds and said he could stay on bail. The question floating around in everybody's head is one that argues, what makes Madoff different from others in his paralell position?

Cards One Game From Super Bowl

One of the first head line on the Arizona Republic is the Cardinals are one win away from the superbowl. I know this is another rblog about the cardinals but this is a really BIG DEAL FOR ME. Arizona won on Saturday Kent Sommers wrote about it yesterday in the Arizona Republic.

“ Before this season, 61 years had passed since their last home playoff game.” This sentence really stood out for me because Arizona is getting ready to host their second home playoff game in 3 weeks and before that it had been 61 years since their last. 61 years is an entire life time for some people it is hard to grasp being disappointed every year for 6 decades.

“The Cardinals are a game away from the Super Bowl.” That sentence has never been uttered in the history of the world. Not once since Vince Lombardy hosted the first Super Bowl trophy has the cardinals and Super Bowl ever been in the same sentence. And now the cardinals will be facing the Philadelphia Eagles in the cardinals first ever NFC Championship game.

As for next week’s game everyone should be healthy Anquan Boldin who played for Florida State in college was hurt for last Saturdays game and came out with a quote after Arizona won.
"The guys made me a promise," Boldin said. "They told me they would give me another week. They were true to their word."

The NFC Championship is at 3pm Sunday on Fox- go cards adam

p.s. if some one wanted to buy me a ticket that would be cool.