Norwegian Teens Show True Character

It's not always easy to do the right thing, but for two teens in Norway their decision was apparently very easy. Last Wednesday two teens from Norway found 467,200 kroner ($81,500) left in a bag on a train by an elderly passenger. Bendik (16), one of the teens, said, "When I opened the bag, the first thing I saw were these wads and wads of bills." "My first thought was to call the police." The boys were able to find the owner's passport also in the bag so that he could be identified when the contacted authorities.

Wow, what a true display of character. A bag full of money and they don't take a single cent. If you found a bag full of money do you think it would be easy for you to turn it over to the authorities without any guaranteed any reward? I think all of us would know the right thing to do but choosing to do it without a second thought? These boys easily could have took the money and run, but they didn't and for that I applaud them. 

It's March Alright

Last night (Saturday) the ninth seeded Wichita State Shockers shocked the top seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs, 76-70. At one point the Bulldogs were down by as many as 13. Gonzaga however was able to get it going to take a seven point lead with 5:30 left to play. The Shockers weren't going down just yet; they then hit five straight three pointers on their way to victory.

This will not be the last upset of the tournament, but it's not the first either. (13th seeded) LaSalle beat (4th seeded) Kansas State in the round of  64; LaSalle will play (12th seeded) Ole Miss after Ole Miss beat (5th seeded) Wisconsin. (12th seeded) Oregon has already beat Oklahoma State then Saint Louis (5th and 4th, respectively) to advance to the Sweet 16. But of course the big upset was 15th ranked Florida Gulf Coast University absolutely taking care of 2nd seeded Georgetown. I'm excited to see how the rest of this bracket plays out and who emerges as this year's Cinderella.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-ncaa-tournament-gonzaga-wichita-state-20130323,0,3665117.story

One Million Dollars for Christopher Dorner

If you've paid attention to the news at all this week, you should have heard of Christopher Jordan Dorner. Dorner was a Navy veteran and an ex-LAPD member. Dorner is said to have been upset over his firing from the force in 2009. This rage has caused him to go on a deadly shooting spree that has so far killed three people and injured two others. The LAPD is currently sweeping the Big Bear mountains in pursuit of Dorner. As aforementioned the current reward for information that leads to the arrest and capture of Dorner is set at one million dollars.

As with last week, today I've decided to talk about gun violence. However unlike last week where I touched on gun ownership this article, I feel, had more to do with the mental aspect of the current gun law debate. The mental aspect being a man going on a shooting spree primarily because he was fired. While there are most likely other things that provoked him, it makes me wonder how seemingly insignificant of an action can set a person of a path of destruction. All of us have a few things that tick us off and it makes us angry and frustrated. Since almost all people In the world have these thing that make us tick, we as a nation and as a world need to find a way to address these problems in people so that we can help people cope with their anger. Any ideas on how to do this?

Teen Who Preformed at the Inaguration Shot

With Sandy Hook still fresh in Americans' minds and gun laws as the hot topic, we witness another tragic event as a result of gun violence. Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old girl from Chicago, went to school on Tuesday January 29 to take final exams; after school she in her friends sought refuge from the heavy rain in a nearby park. One of Hadiya's friends noticed a man scale the park fence, gun in hand. By the time her friend started giving out a warning, the gunman oped fire. Hadiya was hit in the back, a 17-year-old Eagle Scout was shot in the calf, and another teen's ankle was grazed by a bullet. A nurse who lived nearby went over to help but she wasn't able to save Hadiya. The motives for this attack are unclear but police think that the gunman may have mistaken the teens for rival gang members. The current reward for the arrest and conviction of the shooter is set at $24,000; money raised by clergy and other community leaders. The main reason as to why this story has received much attention is because Hadiya, an honor student and majorette for her dance team, had days before preformed at Pres. Obama's second inauguration.

This shooting really makes me question the need to have guns on the streets. Why does any American, not in the military, need a firearm? The NRA loves to point to the Second Amendment to the US Constitution: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Does that mean that we should be allowed guns? I think not, this amendment says guns shall be allowed for the purposes of a well regulated militia. United States Army and its branches are the only well organized militia that I know of that exists in the US, so there is no reason citizens not in the military should have guns. The US military is more than capable of protecting us; take a look at this chart and tell me I'm wrong: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgu34Tg7YSVjTlvGmD5SLkIJP5PoE8OiUZNfEKh_jpHN-VwD-7kvH6bCGdgrZJSgXZuOdC_LjZLsxx1wZjV4P8uUIJwkAy8toIiRQMQGDuW7cK0LsIOs-a9Pm6E6nn6uvf6VefQK5JR7X6/s1600/country-distribution-2008.png. The only purpose for the Second Amendment is for citizens to protect America from foreign attack and as I said the military has got that covered.

Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-hadiya-pendleton-0201-20130201,0,4698937.story

Brazil Nightclub Fire Kills 232

Murilo de Toledo Tiecher was taking a break from his med school studies last night to go clubbing at Kiss, a nightclub in Santa Maria, Brazil. The night progressed rather smoothly until at about 2 a.m. a fire broke out. The fire was caused by the pyrotechnics of the live band. These flames quickly spread smoke throughout the nightclub; this smoke is what caused many of the deaths early this morning. There was clearly much confusion, especially amongst the the staff. Some reports say that the main doors were locked as a means of making sure everybody had paid for their drinks when they left. Murilo also said on Twitter that it wasn't until the security guards were pushed down till the guards understood what was happening. Ezequiel Corte Real said that he only made it out because he was strong and able to push his way out of the club. All day police and rescue wokers were pulling dead bodies, mostly college students, out of the wreckage. The current death toll for this tragic event is 232. 

The immediate questions that come to mind are: Who's responsible for this? What measures could've been taken to save more lives? Should indoor pyrotechnics be banned? 
This last question is taken form a poll on latimes.com in which 84% are voting yes with the remaining 16% voting no. I personally think that indoor pyrotechnics are fine, when managed appropriately. I saw the rock band KISS a couple of years ago at the Mid-America Center. KISS is know for their pyrotechnics, what with Gene Simmons shooting of a small firework off his guitar. This however was in a big open space with safety as probably the main concern. How I don't know much about nightclubs but this <https://irs2.4sqi.net/img/general/width960/JGCW2XPID0VBC4YGEBM2DMG1U5LRPJPA0CFCITW1N4T2VQQS.jpg> doesn't seem like the ideal place for pyrotechnics.

What are your thoughts?

Links:
New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/world/americas/brazil-nightclub-fire.html?hp&_r=0
LA Times article and poll: http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-brazil-club-fire-may-have-been-started-by-flare-20130127,0,7314817.story
Found the picture link here: https://foursquare.com/v/boate-kiss/4dbc4dd843a1d8504b87ed08

Livestrong Beyond Armstrong

If you watched the news this week then you have heard some pretty interesting stories, from gun law debates to non-existent girlfriends. Another story that caught everybody off guard was that of Lance Armstrong. Everybody know who Lance is, winner of seven straight Tour de Frances, survivor of three types of cancer (at the same time), and founder of the Livestrong organization. A real stand-up guy, eh? Not so much, ever since his amazing Tour de France domination he has faced allegations of using illegal substances to enhance his performance. He viciously fought these claims, trying to maintain his innocence. Last August the United States Anti-Doping Agency stripped Lance of all his titles since 1998 claiming that he had used illegal substances, despite never having failed a drug test in that time. It's not until this past Thursday that he admitted to Oprah that he had in fact used performance enhancing drugs. What a fall from grace. Now what happens to his legacy?

Many who looked up to Lance in the past are crestfallen. However I think that despite his previous lies there is still something to be said for him. As I mentioned before he had survived testicular cancer, which then spread to his lungs and brain, and come back to found the Livestrong organization, which is a charity that has done remarkable work in the fight against cancer. Thankfully though Livestrong has been able to survive without Armstrong. Had Armstrong really been in control of Livestrong, this great organization may well have tumbled by now; however because Lance hadn't tried to micro-manage Livestrong is alive and well and thankfully able to continue its fight against cancer without Armstrong as its face.

It's probably for the best that Livestrong and Lance went their separate ways; do you think that this split takes away from what is left of his reputation as a man against cancer, or has this confession completely destroyed his reputation?

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/17/living/armstrong-livestrong-foundation/index.html?iref=allsearch

Well I was going to inform you about myself right now but Word isn't cooperating so I'm Jack. I"m from Omaha, NE and I'm 15 years old.