Sarin in Syria

This past Thursday, there has been evidence that sarin gas has been used by the President of Syria,  Bashar al-Assad, against the rebels who want to overthrow him.  But first off, what is sarin gas?  Sarin is a man-made chemical warfare agent which is classified as a nerve agent.  These are the most toxic and fast acting of the known chemical warfare agents.  It's a clear, colorless, and tasteless liquid that has no odor, in its pure form, and can evaporate into a gas (not cool!)  In the past, it has been used during Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s and in two terrorist attacks in Japan in 1994 and 1995. People can be exposed to sarin through skin or eye contact, by contaminated food or drink, through the air, and even through clothing if that other person has been in contact with it.  What is does is prevent the body's "off-switch" from functioning properly and it makes glands and muscles be constantly stimulated.  Large exposure to the gas can cause paralysis and respiratory failure.

Now that we know more about sarin, let's get back to the topic of it being used in Syria.  We've been discussing a lot about the war going on in Syria, and now with this chemical gas being used, Obama needs to make a decision on whether the United States will be involved. This video from ABC News gives a little explanation about what's happening overseas.

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CNN reports that the Obama administration is working to gather more information on the reports of the sarin gas use, and now the UN is doing further investigation.  So how is the U.S. involved with what's happening in Syria anyways? We first got involved by offering food and medicine to the country.  Obama has also signed off on non-lethal aid to the country and those supplies include body armor, night-vision goggles, and other military equipment.  Just last week there were 200 U.S. troops sent to Jordan.  NATO has also stated that there will be no military intervention is the U.S. decides to get involved.  There are a number of different options that the military has for the Syria situation. These included targeting the Syrian aircrafts, airstrikes, and ground troops.
But what do politicians say about getting involved?  Senator John McCain of Arizona is really pushing at finding a strategy to secure all of Syria's chemical weapons if their government were to fall.  Though he is quick to secure the weapons, he states that the U.S. still needs to take caution if they plan on sending troops to the country of conflict, because that could lead to the Syrians resentment of the "aid." This video is a small clip of McCain's interview and it also leads to other videos with his discussion.

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My thoughts on U.S. involvement? I agree with the no-fly zone that have been brought up.  It stops troops from being on the ground and ensures that Syria won't use any type of air defenses on the rebels.  It also prevents the Syrian nation from being upset with the United States for getting too involved.  I also agree with McCain saying that if the government is overturned the U.S. should go in and secure the chemical weapons that way no one else is using them. However, President Obama did state that if chemical weapons were used it would be a "red line for us" to take action and move in.  Ultimately, the decision is up to our government leaders, but a decision needs to be made quickly to prevent any other chemical, or even biological, weapons from being used.


Posted by: Kara Rivas

Make Earth Day an Everyday Thing!

             

              Our planet Earth is our home, we use all its resources available as well as pollute it with trash and waste. Why let our planet be abducted by waste products and infect the air we breathe in? I know for a fact that I don’t want to breathe in air that can get me sick or infected with a disease. People don’t look into consideration how bad the planet can get if we don’t do our part and take care of it. Does it take something tragic to happen to the environment for people to open their eyes are realize that they need to start taking things more serious about the environment. This brings us to the topic as to why not make every day Earth day.  

                Earth day is a day intended to inspire appreciation of our Earth’s natural environment. But why only celebrate Earth Day on April 22? The main reason behind it is because Arbor Day is celebrated on this day. Arbor Day was created by J. Sterling Morton a Nebraska Pioneer because he planted trees in what was a dusty and treeless prairie. He made this a big event and told people to plant as many trees as they can and prizes would be handed out to those who planted the most. The reason behind it being on the 22^nd was because it was J. Sterling Morton’s birthday and Nebraska felt it seemed natural to have it on this day.  In this article it goes into more depth about why it is celebrated on this day. 

                What is done on Earth Day? On Earth day people plant trees, commute to work by bicycle or walk, pick up trash around the neighborhoods and towns, unplug any electrical device that you are not using, replace light bulbs that save energy, and carry around reusable water bottles.  Basically they are trying to be more earth friendly and take care of the environment for one day only.  Why does it take one day out of the whole year to make people realize how important the environment is?

                In my opinion I feel people need to take this day more serious and make it an everyday lifestyle. If our environment starts to go downhill things can get out of hand. It can possibly lead to a bunch of chaos, riots, wars, and just overall people going crazy not knowing what to do. So where does it all start?

It can start with parents teaching their kids about how to be earth friendly and why it is important for the environment. They can start off by telling their kids to turn the water off when they brush their teeth. This can save about 8 gallons of water. Parents need to explain to their children how important saving water is, especially if we ever hit a drought. When I was younger I was not aware or ever told to turn the water off when I brush my teeth and now I do it every time because I know what the purpose behind it is.           

                I believe if children can see their parents doing the little things like unplugging electrical devices when not in use or turning the lights off in the bedroom. It will be a trend that the kids will follow and as they grow older these little things they have done to become earth friendly would just be habit.

                Make a difference and help keep the environment clean. It doesn't take one person to make the planet clean but the whole population. Try and start a trend to being more earthly friendly, don’t use Earth day as the only day to make an excuse. Be that person to make a difference for your planet. Go Green!

Earthquake in Iran

Last week on Monday there was a terrible act of "terrorism" at the Boston Monday Marathon that killed and injured Americans. Immediately social medias were on overloaded with with pictures and a phrases which is now known around the nation as "Pray for Boston." The catastrophe that took place that Monday shocked most of the nation and gave them a little taste of what we experienced back in 911, our fellow Americans every where were once again reunited once again due to an act of "terrorism." News stations all over t.v. were spreading the little information that was known at the time. The events of that day will forever be stitched in the memory of those who knew people effected by the bombings and the nation seemed to be standing together in another unfortunate tragedy. I for one will grieve for my lost and hurt Americans however I do not favor all the images and videos posted that day.

I deeply believe that they way the media went about informing the nation on what happened that Monday morning is to control the masses. For the next weeks people will watch and repress the Boston incident. They will co-create a reality of fear and anger. If we change the way we think collectively, and repress the right kind of stimuli we can bring change. Not by dwelling and facing a false reality, I chose to be indifferent by no means "turning a blind eye" but to focus on strictly facts not to be easily persuaded on who to blame. Think about how many people are social networking "Pray for Boston" when they genuinely don't care, many posting this like if they are really at home praying or won't give you a straight answer when you ask them about religion. Thousands of people die everyday to countless different things, but you dont see people posting or saying "pray" for them because you weren't told to care.

This is why I blog this, the day after the Boston bombing there was a huge natural disaster in Iran, and earthquake that almost wiped out Pakistan. I understand that the Boston bombing hits home but no matter where another person calls home all lives are equal regardless of way they go. So along with my blog I post an article that talks about what happened in Iran. And to all that have past from a bombing or a natural disaster I say rest in peace.


Posted by Ivan Benitez

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/18/iran-earthquake-2013-pakistan-mashkel-destroyed_n_3112074.html

Ban Fake Pot

            Do you believe “fake pot” should be banned? If you don’t know your answer yet maybe after reading my blog you will come to the conclusion weather fake pot should be banned or not.

            Throughout the years a variety of “fake pot” has been distributed to the store shelves and Tabaco stores. The types of synthetic pot are Primo, Killa Gorilla, Killa Skunk, Brain-Freeze which used to be known as K9 and Spice. What effects does this fake pot cause? The most common ones are vomiting, anxiety, hallucinations, seizures, high blood pressure and loss of consciousness.

            The Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have said these fake substances have sent many people to the emergency rooms or the poison control centers.  In this article it states how a teen nearly escapes death after using synthetic marijuana. They had to remove her breathing tube and stop all medication and nourishments so they could add morphine into her body. Family waited hours until the next day she was still alive and able to speak. These types of fake pot can take a big toll on the human body and nearly kill you if not taking to the hospital right away. There are several other articles about people who nearly survived after consuming so much fake marijuana. In the next paragraph I talk about a video and in that video there is an actual survivor talking about his experience he went through using fake pot and how he will never use it again and encourages others to not use it as well. 

            In Houston Texas, all “fake pot” was banned from all stores a year ago. A new “fake pot” has come out with the same substances in them as the old fake pot but the names have just changed. They are now being sold in stores in Houston Texas.  Why is it? If they banned it a year ago why all of a sudden did they put it back on the shelves? In this video it states that since they came out with new synthetic pot they don’t have an exact clue as to what is bad in it because the compound names have changed. Many police officers came to testify for the bill but one officer said it’s tough to regulate it because they don’t know what is or isn’t on the banned substance list. Texas is one of 23 states who are trying to ban this synthetic substance but they say it will take the backing of the federal government.

            In my opinion after reading a variety of articles about fake pot I am totally for banning the substance completely in every state possible all around the world. But the reason fake pot is going around so much is because it is legal compared to the real marijuana which is only legal in some places like Colorado. There has been no research as to anyone dying from using marijuana, that’s why I believe they should just legalize marijuana and get rid of the fake pot. Fake pot has a bigger and greater effect of killing you than does the real marijuana. In this article it states 10 Facts about marijuana that I found very interesting. It talks about how it doesn’t cause cancer and states numbers as to how many people die per year when using tabaco, alcohol, drug overdose (prescription), drug overdose (illegal), and marijuana. The Law should state that anyone over the age of 21 can consume marijuana but not go into any school related, church related, or work related function high. They should make some type of boundaries when legalizing marijuana and I feel some people would respect it. It then would remove all the fake pot from all the shelves all over the world. Yes legalizing real pot is a controversial topic and can go either way but if it takes helping out children between the ages 12-25 from going to the hospital and nearly escaping death because of consuming fake pot then the government should take a closer look into it. How do you all feel about banning fake pot by legalizing real pot?