Race against Time as U.K. Police hunt murderer

Race Against Time AFter U.K. Prostitutes slain

 Authorities plead for prostitutes to stay off the streets after five killed

    Police hunting a serial killer who is murdering women at a rate unprecedented in British criminal hisotry urged prostitutes on Wednesday to stay off the streets. Five naked bodies have been found near the eastern English port town of Ipswich in the last 11 days, terrifying the community in an aread where serious crime is relatively rare. Detectives have identified three of the dead women as prostitutes. Police said they feared the other two bodies may be sex workers from Ipswich who had been reported missing.

    The discovery of so many victims in so few days has raised fears another Jack the Ripper is targeting prostitutes is on the loose. The most notorious such killer was the 19th century murderer known as Jack the Ripper, blamed for the deaths of five prostitutes in east London in 1888, but never found.  The most prolific was Peter Sutcliffe, called the Yorkshire Ripper, who murdered 13 women, mainly prostitutes, in northern England in the late 70′s before being caught. Reinforcements have been sent in to help the small Suffolk police force in its largest inquiry.

    I personally hope they find the killer soon. Murder is no joke and is in my oppinion totally unnecessary. Their is nothing that would trully instigate murder. I mean to think the consequences of such an action to be less then those of just possibly surrending a little bit of pride at something that could apparently bring murder to your mind is rediculous. I mean I could never see myself coming to the conclussion that murder was the answer for whatever situation. How would that be beneficial to me or to the people I love. Murder is NOT the answer EVER.

Boeing Laptop Stolen

Boeing Laptop Stolen — 382,000 ID’s lost

     A laptop with hundreds of thousands of Boeing Co. employee’s personal information was stolen earlier this month, and the aerospace company will inform those potentially affected by the theft in a complany e-mail today.  Boeing spokeswoman Kelly Danaghy said that “In the first week of December, a laptop was stolen from an employee’s car”, and that “That Laptop had files that contained Social Security numbers for about 382,000 past and present employees, and in most cases it also included a home address, phone number and date of birth”. She also said that there was no reason to believe that any of the stolen information has been used illegally.

    It was unclear Tuesday whether the data was encrypted. No banking or credit card information was stored in those files, but the company will provide free three-year credit monitoring for employees whose personal information was comprised. The company employs about a hundred and fifty thousand employees with 68 thousand of those employed in Washington state. Past employees whose information was stored in the files will be notified of the theft by mail this week. Boeing has denied to reveal what city the theft occurred in because the person who took the computer might not realize what he or she has. But Danaghy said the computer contained information about employees at all Boeing Plants.

    Personally I find this particularly disturbing because this is not the first time that this has happened to a major company. Things like this have even occurred recently to other companies and yet companies are still not taking measures against thefts likes this like they should be. The fact that Boeing allowed for this laptop to leave the premises of their workplace is rediculous. Its one thing to have this information in a mainframe computer in which is always under surviellance at the companies plant. However, to allow an employee to carry this laptop whereever they go is ludacris. They should have a seperate laptop to travel with and then you should just allow the employee if need should occur to access them through their other computer rather then carrying the laptop with that much valuable and detrimental information to other people around at your own whim no matter who the person is.

War Stories: The Soldiers’ Return

The Return: At Long Last the soldiers of the 172end Stryker Brigade are coming. Now for the culture shock.

    The best example of culture shock due to military service would have to be the Vietnam war. You still hear about soldiers coming back and not being the same person before they left, but also not being able to interact with people and handle all the changes at home. However, like the soldiers of Vietnam those soldier coming back from Iraq are feeling much of the same. They are not used to having all the choices and sleeping in a place of comfort and safety. They are used to the monotone food and bunks of service over in the middle east. Even interacting with people is different. They aren’t used to being around so many different people at the same time. People they don’t know and don’t know their “motives” if you will. They are instead used to protecting their patrol mates and their buddy soldiers who are experiencing the same things as they are. At home things are different.

    I find this to be particularly true. I haven’t been put in such as stressful place as in being in continual life or death situations. Which could be particularly difficult and stressful to get over without being in a different location inwhich you haven’t been in for a long time. However, I have been away from “Culture’ if you will for a long while before. I spent two weeks in the Minnesota Wilderness with no communication with 8 other guys. For those two weeks, we spent all our time together, with no long term interaction with anyone else. When I returned home things were strange, guys that had my back out their and new exactly what I was thinking weren’t there anymore and that was strange.

    Another example would be going home after being at college. I am so used to interacting with people at school and having my own personal space and freedom that when I go home and my parents are all in my business I get particularly uncomfortable. Even talking to friends that I used to interact with everyday before I left for college has become strange and catching up is different because for the first time I haven’t been experiencing the same things as those other people, my friends.

Death of a Dictator

Chile: Pinochet’s Divisive Legacy

As more Latin American military autocrats go, Agusto Pinochet’s Legacy will be more mixed then most.

Other Latin American militrary men presided over greater slaughter and left their countries in far worse economic shape when they relinquished power. However throughout the 1970′s and 80′s , Augsto Pinochet was the symbol of repressive right-wing dictatorship in the Western Hemisphere.

    Pinochet took powere after leading the coup of former Chilean President Salvador Allende in 1973. Considered the bloodiest coups of the era, nearly thirty two hundred political dissidents died, and nearly a thousand just up and “dissappeared” during Pinochet’s long seventeen year reign. At the peak of his rulership Augusto PInochet seemed to cultivate the image of a sinister tyrant with his black leather gloves, dark sunglasses and vampirelike capes, yet he still had the support of millions of Chileans who applauded Pinochet at hte peak of his power and backed his ultimately unsuccessful bid in a 1988 plebiscite to extend his rule well into the next decade.  The Economic boom that was felt in Chile in the latter years of Augsto Pinochet’s Rule seemed to outweigh whatever human rights violations that were occuring during Pinochet’s watch.

    However, when he died on Sunday of Cardiac complications at the age of 91, Pinochet had become a political pariah shunned by nearly all Chileans outside his own family and the armed forces. Just days before he was hospitalized on Dec. 3 following a heart attack, Pinochet had been placed under house arrest for the fifth time by a Chilean judge investigating the 1973 execution of two bodyguards of Allende one month after Pinochet had seized power. It was the allegations of murder however, that in the end lost Pinochet his support, but rather the evidence that proved him to be just like every other right-wing dictator/politician. That is what lost his support.

   In my oppinion I find it of no surprise that Pinochet eventually lost his support or the fact that at one point it seemed that he had the Chileans support do to the economic advantages of his rulership. Dictators usually don’t lost after their deaths and usually anarchy usually follows directly proceeding their rulership, because the country is left with out someone to lean on, even if it was a dirty politician as Pinochet might have been. So in the end I am not surprised by the allegations against Pinochet, or the riots that occurred post his passing

Julie Lindquist

“One might conclude that the Smokehouse serves the same function
that neighborhood yards and porches once served before working-class
White moved out from urban centers. That is, is is a physical and
symbolic agent of the local, a repository of folk histories and originary tales.”

~Julie Lindquist Class Identity and the Politics of Dissent : The Culture of Argument in a Chicago Neighborhood Bar

I didn’t really enjoy this work. I found it not to be what I had expected from reading the begining of the passage to the end. Originally when I read that Julie was a bartender I thought she would tell us a story of her bartending. One of those stories that is kind of a tale you pass done, but then I was hit with a totally different thing. I did not think she would talk about how repetitive and consecutive the people at the Smokehouse were.

I was not discourage right out by that either I found the topic interesting, even if her words did not sound like those of a bartender you might run into on a regular basis. It was how she placed herself above everyone else and how they were mere ants for her to squash that I found most irritating. I mean I can not say I haven’t ever looked down on someone because that would be untrue and I don’t think you have totally avoided doing the same to someonelse. However I have been looked down upon as well and I did not find it joyable in the least. Ms. Lindquist not only did that, but she continually speaks about how their views are so narrow and how they are not really at the same level as her. Has she never heard of humility. Yes, you might be more educated and brought up in a better environment, but don’t rub it in. Be understanding and helpful. I can’t not agree with her use of other human beings as test subjects for her own gain. I find that totally unnecessary and uncourteous. I feel that she might have slightly crossed the line, but that is just my oppinion on the matter.

When I got my first job after graduating, I found that life’s real tests start when final exams end.

Newsweek: My Turn: The Lessons I Didn’t Learn in College

When I saw this title it kind of frieightened me because I’m currently a college student myself. I’ve heard over and over again about the problems many college grads face when they exit their colleges and enter the real world. I’m worried about facing the same problem that the author of this article faced. I don’t want to have to hesitate when I’m going to fill out my W-4 or W-2 or whatever other W forms that get thrown out at me. Even my college professors are telling me about their horror stories when they first entered the job market. Yet I have not yet come upon a course to solve this problem. I mean you think with the rediculous amount of money we are putting into getting a diploma that we’d have some worth while skills taught to us. I mean If I really wanted to know the things I’m learning in some of my classes I could just read the books they are making me without the five or more page report attached.

I mean I’m not the only one investing in this piece of paper that I’m supposed to get in four years willing my teachers feel I deserve it. My parents are investing a clear majority in my education, which entails an investment in my future. Yet they too don’t seem to worried about me getting a job after college ends. I mean I’m going to need to know skills that I don’t have now and probably won’t gain in college. Basic business ettiquette is not a class that I’ve seen in the course syllabus I was given before classes were supposed to be rescheduled because if it was I’d be on the list for that class right away. I am eager to pick up any tasks and or skills I can to further my opportunities in the future.

Isn’t the real world scary enough? Why do we have to worry about all this later on? I think that we should be taught those basic skills before exiting college with a degree I don’t know about you. Is a business ethics/ettiquette class really that much to ask for cause I dont’ think it is.I don’t know about you.

Plotting Pluto’s Comeback

Astronomers Fight for Pluto’s Planetary Status

Some astronomers want to reclaim the status of planet for the distant ball of rock and ice. To many pluto is still a planet, and will continue to be. A number of astronomers have spoke of the International Astronomical Union’s definition of what a planet is as to broad. In the words of Alan Stern, the principal investigator of the New Horizons space-probe mission, “The IAU definition is flawed on so many levels that some of us decided we can’t wait three years to come up with a better one”. The IAU’s next meeting isn’t scheduled until 2009. There is currently talk about having an ad-hoc conference of astronomers next year to come up with a new and less vague definition for planets.

I personally feel that pluto is still a planet. We(my generation) has been taught that pluto is a planet since we were young kids doing science projects. I can remember even now the little gray styrofoam ball at the edge of the solar system the farthest away from the sun. So I think that I am going to continue to consider pluto a planet. I mean does it really matter. We thought pluto was a planet for quite awhile. Would it really be that detrimental to believe? How would it hurt anyone in the long run? I don’t see the gigantic dispute here. Then again maybe since I’m not an astronomer with a college degree I don’t know the full extent that this issue might possess.

The Achievement of Desire by: Richard Rodriguez

Richard Rodrieguez lives in two different worlds.  We hear of his dual worlds his home, and his place of education. At school, we hear of Rodriguez’s drive to succeed and desire to become educated like his teachers. Throughout his education all the way through undergrad and graduate school Richard speaks of his desire to be just like his teachers. He wants to speak like them, and know exactly what they know and feel. He does what they do. He is berated with the idea from a young age that reading is the road to success. Even at a young age with the nuns he reads posters saying things like: “OPEN THE DOORS OF YOUR MIND WITH BOOKS”, “READ TO LEARN”, “CONSIDER BOOKS YOUR BEST FRIENDS”. He is told and hit with the idea to learn is to read and visa versa. That is why reading becomes so important to him. When he was at school or at home all he wanted to do was read and gain as much “knowledge” as he could. He would read books even if he didn’t understand the concepts and meanings of the pieces he was placing his interest in. He tells us of his frequent need to get the dictionary to discover the meanings of a number of words he did not know.

At home however, we hear of an entirely different word. A primarily spanish speaking word. We hear of his parents past and how they had had so much hope to become educated themselves, but how for whatever reason they did not get the opportunities or could not do that. Richard speaks continually of how his relationship with his parents and family deteriorates as he becomes  more educated and extends himself further through his schooling. His mother was quick to encourage him, perhaps that is because she went the furtherest with her education. Which unfortunately wasn’t far enough when it came to her typing job. Where she accidentally used the wrong gorilla and was placed back down the totem pole. His father was a manual labor and had given up on education long ago. At one point in his life he had wanted to become and engineer, but had not been given the opportunity. So in the end he had become the family supportered. He worked his tail off to send his children to school. He would have to be remind by his wife to congratulate their children on their achievements. However when it mattered his father took the time. Saving Richard’s high school achievements from possible distruction, disregard and disappearance. 

For Richard Rodriguez there was a lack of respect for his apparently uneducated parents. He felt that because they could not fluently and unaccently speak English they were less then his teachers. He felt the need to protect them, especially when his teacher seemed to be speaking down to his parents during one particular meeting. Even when his parents tried to understand where he was coming from he would not allow them in.

Luckily eventually the realization came that he needed or rather missed his family and their cultural differences from the society of academia. When Richard Rodriguez saw what was in him in other people, he became disgusted with himself and his personality and lack of familial relationship.  

“[the scholarship boy] sees strewn around, and reads regularly himself, magazines which are never mentioned at school, which seem not to belong to the world to which the school introduces him;at school he hears about and reads books never mentioned at home. When he brings those books into the house they do not take their place with other books which the family are reading, for often there are none or almost none; his books look, rather, like strange tools.” 

I found this particular quote to be particularly interesting. I found it to be so because I could sort of relate to it. I was commonly found reading rather then doing work and things like that. I would be berated by teachers for reading my own books rather then the required reading for the class. If you were to ask anyone that was in my high school about me in the majority of high school I was the kid that read during class rather then paying attention. They would even have the audacity to take my book away, when they seemed to completely ignore the kids throwing things and doing other classes homework in their class. Kids playing games or sending text messages on their cell phones were even ignored. I could not believe this. How was it far to punish someone whose actually doing something that is related to educational acts, and not the person doing something purely social and or for themselves.

Medicine’s Racial Gap

Black vs. White: Unequal Health Care

Two new studies found that, when it comes to health care, minorities just don’t fare as well as whites. In 2001, the Institute of Medicine issued a challenge to the nation to strive for equal health care for all citizens, regardless of gender, ethnicity, geographic location and socioeconomic status. The point of the challenge was quite clear at the time, a number of studies had showed that African Americans were receiving poorer medical care than whites.

Five years later you would think we would be doing better, however not many Medical Care programs are showing much improvement. And it is severely hurting the patients themselves. The current studies not only looked at the service at the desk, but also at the care and eventual well being of the patients. Showing that in both cases there was a lack of equal care. Minorities unfortunately took a hit.

Now I am not normally one to like to deal with the race card because of the fact that it is pulled quite often and if you ask me far to often. However, in the sense of medical care, I believe that it is unfortunate and unfair that they are not getting equal care. I believe that if we want to stop other racial tensions we both have be able to stay alive and medical care is part of that. Everyone deserves to live for as long as possible. If we can solve problems one thing at a time we be on the right track. But I urge everyone to think that minorities are the only people to get poor care, even if it unfortunately seems that way. Everyone is entitled to live.

Man admits NFL stadium threat was a hoax

Milwaukee resident said 7 NFL stadiums would be hit with dirty bombs

The threat was dated October 12th and appeared on a website known as The Friend Society, that links to various off-color cartoons and a number of online forums. The author, identifying himself as “javness” said that trucks would deliver radiological ‘dirty’ bombs Sunday to stadiums in New York, Atlanta, Seattle, Houston, Oakland, Cleveland, and Miami. He also stated that Osama bin Laden would lay claim to being responsible.

Following the email, the Homeland Security Department proceeded to alert authorities Wednesday in the cities mentioned in the threat, as well as the NFL and the National Collegiate Athletic ASsociation. But the Federal Bureu of Intelligence and Homeland Security said there was no intellignce indicating an attack would be imminent.

A 20 year old Milwaukee man was questioned by FBI agents in relation to the threat and who it was posted by. The investigation determined that the threat was in fact a hoax and that the public should be reassured of their security as they continue to attend sporting events throughout this upcoming weekend. Authorities released the man, however, did not say that he would not be charged. They know the man is in some extent involved.

I personally believe this to be ridiculous. I can not believe that someone would proceed to threaten a stadium with so many innocent people in it. I am also hopeful that is really a hoax. I could not imagine the damaging effects to society that such a tradegy would cause. Especially after we have finally just recuperated from the World Trade Center attack. I hope that one day things will be different and we will no longer need to worry about things like this. I HOPE