Lives Cost

Who would have ever thought people living longer could be something bad? Well Medicare is losing more and more money for every person who lives longer than expected. Hospitals and science itself have improved facilities and medical practices Now,patients with cancer, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's are passing their life expectancy. The federal government is requiring hospices to repay all their debt to Medicare, adding up millions of dollars. The big issue here is soon Medicare and other health care services will go bankrupt and people will no longer have any type of insurance. This affects us greatly because when the boomers start to get older and need more medical services the well will completely dry up. We need to find an alternative so this doesn't need to happen and when we get older there will be some type of medical services available for us. As of now, as long as people continue living passed their expected longevity, hospices and Medicare will continue losing millions of dollars and the government will eventually shut these programs down.

Democratic Debate

On November 15th The Democratic candidates met in Nevada to persuade the public about their policies and ideals they have for presidency. Hillary Clinton is leading the election with 46% and Obama falls to second with 17%. The candidates felt the need to form an alliance against Hillary instead of the Republican party. They tried to make her look like the fool and fall behind in the polls. Obama and Clinton had a heated argument about universal health care. All the candidates support leaving Iraq, but their policies for doing so are different. Education is a major concern for all the candidates, especially Bill Richardson the Hispanic candidate. They believe in setting a minimum wage for teachers at 40,000 a year. Clinton felt the need to justify and fight back creating an intense argument among all the candidates. Clinton, Obama, and Edwards remained the key players in this debate whereas Kucinich, Biden, Dodd, and Richardson were called on much less. All in all it seems the candidates are more about fighting with each other than grouping up against the Republicans and unifying on certain issues.

Pat Robertson Endorses Giuliani

The Evangelical Christian television broadcaster, Pat Robertson, announced that he would endorse Rudy Giuliani for President in the 2008 election. Everyone is very surprised by this odd pair and is wondering what formed this unlikely alliance. The friendship began when Robertson and Giuliani were on a flight back from Israel in 2003. Many people see this as a stunt that Robertson is trying to pull in order to get more public support for his Christian movement. Robertson wants a Republican in office and one that will bring along his own beliefs. However, what I don't understand is how a anti-gay anti-abortion religious man could coincide with Giuliani who supports gay rights and abortion. Also given Giuliani's history he's definitely not the most religious candidate out there. Both Robertson and Giuliani are relying heavily on September 11th and Giuliani's response as mayor of New York City. Who knows how much support may come with Robertson's endorsement, the truth is many people do follow and listen to his broadcast "religiously". The two of them are good friends, but what is striking is that previously Robertson sued Giuliani for New York’s recognition of same-sex domestic partnerships. However, after their heart to heart on a long plane ride they realized they agree more on political issues than they disagree on. Robertson feels Giuliani will rescue America from “the blood lust of Islamic terrorists.” Robertson feels that he had to choose one candidate and Giuliani would represent his beliefs while making a great president. In all honesty, I think both Rudy and Pat are looking for support from other groups to up their ratings...whether it be for President or the Christian movement.

Stress Free is the Way to Be

Being a senior in high school, I think I can vouch for all of us when saying we definitely all are stressed out or have multiple things going on in our lives. Some schools in Massachusetts have decided to take it upon themselves to fix this problem. They have initiated a de-stress program and have began requiring seniors to take yoga in school. The problem is teens feel they do not have the time to take out of their busy schedules to eliminate stress. They want to replace study hall with yoga, but students use this time to do a lot of their homework and feel this would just add something else to their to-do list. However, the other side is that it is not healthy for a 17 year old to constantly be overwhelmed and methods must be taken to help students overcome their stress levels. The program director of this initiative decided not to publish the honor students names in their local newspaper. Parents and students were outraged and he began receiving hate mail including a comment from Jay Leno on his late night television show. There is a constant competition among students especially when senior year roles around and college applications are due. It is not healthy for a student to stay up all night to get their project done or study for a test, so how can we help find a solution? I think this might be a good option to help students feel less stressed out and teach teenagers how to cope with their stress levels.