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.