Creep man

In Florida, a man was arrested for first degree murder and overpowerment of an officer. He was being taken to a court date, he overpowered the deputy and took his gun. After he took the gun, he shot twice, hitting the deputy once and killing him. After shooting, the man took the van and fled. He abandoned the van and hitchhiked to a pawn shop where he got a ride from a man who was headed to another pawn shop. When they got to the shop, the driver went inside to get something, and saw a report about a man who shot the deputy. He knew that it was the man in his car. He went to get his keys and called the police. The officials showed up soon and took the shooter away.

This story creeps me out and right now I am actually really scared. I don't like when stuff like this happens and now I feel very unsafe. I really don't get how people can be so awful. I don't think I could ever kill someone or anything of the sort. I feel bad for people that know this guy and for the family of the deputy. Especially i feel bad for his wife, she talked to him 10 minutes before he was shot. Poor lady, I bet she is really shaken up about this awful matter. Why do people have to kill each other?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/07/officer.shot/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Discovery!

The space shuttle Discovery safetly landed November 7, 2007 after a horribly stressful time up in space. At first, the mission was going really well and everyone was pleased with how easily they got everything installed and fixed. A problem came about when one of the solar wings ripped. Everyone was upset because of this problem, but 4 days later, a plan was made to fix it. Parazynski, one of the astronauts, went out to fix the wing. Nobody has ever dared to venture so far away from the shuttle to fix something before, especially a dangerously high voltage wing. But the wing was fixed in an amazing job done by Prazynski. Pamela Melroy safetly landed the shuttle after coming back into the atmosphere and brought a former resident of the station back with her crew.

Astronauts are really interesting to me. I think that it would be amazing to go up into space someday. If I ever have the chance to do that, I think I would probably take the trip. I am very astounded as to how calm they seem to be going in and out of our atmosphere, because it is so dangerous. Hearing of safe landings and successful missions makes me feel happy because I know that humans are progressing and learning more about the world and everything else out there. Pam was the second woman to land a spaceship ever. I feel happy for her because she is going to be recorded in history books as one of the first.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/11/07/space.shuttle.ap/index.html

Octalimb girl undergoes surgery

In India, there is a girl that was born with 8 limbs. She had 4 arms and 4 legs. People in her village believe her to be sacred and and some are upset that the girl's parents are having her get surgery. While this girl was developing inside of her mother, a twin did not develop all of the way and was fused to the girl causing her to have 8 limbs. The people in her village are upset and they are thinking about building a temple to her because they think she is a sacred person sent from the gods. The parents of the girl only earn $1 a day so they could not afford the surgery to get her parasitic "twin" removed. The hospital foundation agreed to pay for the surgery for the girl. Doctors think that she wouldn't have lived passed early adolescence if she was still connected to her twin.

I think this is a really cool story. Having 8 limbs would be amazing for a while at least I think. You could do your homework, eat, color a picture, cook, kick a soccer ball, dance, and walk all at the same time! Weird. But i still think it would be great to be special like that. She is FAMOUS for having something different about her. I wish that I had it that easy to be famous. I hope that the girl goes through surgery safetly and she isn't bothered by the media for her whole life. Her parents seem like good people and they try to keep her safe and help her to have a normal life. I mean, when people came around asking her to be in a circus, they hid her. They seem nice.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/11/07/india.girl/index.html

Finnish Shooting

There was a shooting in Finland that resulted in 8 deaths and 10 hospitalizations. The teen who committed this crime posted videos on youtube that fortold what he was going to do. There were even pictures of the school he attended and the words Jokela High School Massacre. He warned about a bloodbath at his school, but nobody did anything. Before authorities got to the building, the boy shot and killed 8 people and turned the gun on himself. A teacher said that he had his students stay in the classroom with the door locked while he went out in the hall to investigate. When he got to the hallway, he saw the boy down the hall with a loaded gun. He fled the building after telling his students to escape through the windows. This teen was an experienced hunter and was a prized sharp shooter at a shooting club nearby. He used a fully licensed gun in the shooting. The legal age in Finland for owning a gun is 18 and he passed this age earlier.

I think it is awful that things like this happen. I feel bad for the families and friends of the victims of the shootings. This teen was definately troubled and i wish that something could have been done before this horrible event happened. It hurts me to think that this could have been stopped. He posted videos on the internet! People should have been worried and warned others in the area of the threatening videos that he made. I really hope that nothing of this sort ever happens in Alexandria. That would be awful.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/11/07/school.shooting/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Don't play with fire!

Officials say that a wildfire that charred more than 38,000 acres in California was started by a little kid who was playing with matches. The child's name and age were not given, but it is known that he is at home with his parents. The case will be presented to the Los Angeles District Attourney to determine if charges will be pressed. California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, said that they were going to "hunt down" people who were responsible for starting wildfires in California. The fire that the little boy started was blamed for 14 deaths, and charred more than 508,000 acres, and destroyed about 1600 homes.

I think this is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard. Really now. Parents shouldn't have matches were little kids can find them. They should constantly tell them not to play with fire, especially if they live in California during the wildfire scare time. I mean, this kid killed 14 people because he was playing around with matches... his parents should have been more careful where they kept things. I think it is totally dumb that anything like this could happen because of a little kid. 14 people died. Fire is fun and all, but 14 people dying is not worth having a little fun with some matches. I think that the parents should get charged for their kid's mistake. The parents should punish the child too so he'll learn not to do stuff like this, but the parents are to blame for this too.

Link:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/31/fire.california/index.html#cnnSTCText

Video:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/31/fire.california/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

Children At Work

Most of the time, people have to be at least 14 to work. Even 15-year-olds can only work a certain number of hours a week. But as it ends up, children as young as 10 are working for Gap in India. A reporter for a British newspaper asked one of the boys working there how they were punished, and the boy replied that he had an oily rag shoved into his mouth after he tried to escape. He also said that it was not unusual to be beaten or hit by the shop runners. The president of Gap North America was horrified to hear about these children working for the company. The contract with this subcontractor was cut off because of this awful turn of circumstances. The president says that she feels violated because of the unwise decision that the subcontractor and vendor made to make these children work for no pay.

I think that it is terrible that these poor children are being forced to work for no money. I don't like working even thought i get paid fairly and am not forced to work. I feel bad for the children who are in sweatshops because their lives are being taken away from them. It was written in this article that it is not unusual to have clothes that were made by children from other countries. I think it is awful to hear about. Children shouldn't have to work when they are 10, they should be able to choose a job for themselves when they are older. It's not fair that these children are being forced to work and I hope that more and more sweatshops are exposed and stopped until there are no more.

This article was written on October 30, 2007

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/studentnews/10/29/sn.transcript.tue/index.html#cnnSTCText

Video Link:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/studentnews/10/29/sn.transcript.tue/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

The Magic Squished Bus

State media stated on Sunday that a bus collided with a train in Cuba. At least 28 people were killed and 73 others were injured, including 15 in critical condition. After the bus collided with the train, it got dragged to a bridge where it fell off. Cuba State media was reluctant to say anything about bloodshed and only put a small article in the paper about a bus collision. There aren't very many buses in Cuba and railroad crossings have very low visibility. At railroad crossings there is usually only one sign saying that there is a railroad crossing but no automated signs or lights.

I think it is sad that people died because of this. There really should be more warning signs and more visibility at railroads. Crossing railroads is dangerous enough with being able to see a ways, without being able to see is extremely dangerous. I think that signs should be posted stating where railroad crossings are, and one should be able to see down the tracks far enough to get across safetly. I feel bad for the families and friends of the people who died. It would be awful to lose someone special to you because of horrible roads and railroads.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/10/07/cuba.train.accident.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview