Joran van der Sloot, the suspect in the slaying of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman this week, left Santiago, Chile, aboard a military aircraft in the custody of officers Friday morning.
He will be flown to the border with Peru and expelled, said Macarena Lopez, a spokeswoman for Interpol.The Dutch citizen was previously a suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, who was on a high school graduation trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba. Van der Sloot was arrested twice in connection with the case but released both times. He denied any involvement and has not been charged. The suspect was captured Thursday in Chile, authorities said. He is the main suspect in this week's slaying of 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez, who was found Wednesday in a Lima, Peru, hotel room registered to van der Sloot. Chilean police told CNN that paperwork showed that van der Sloot entered Chile on Wednesday.

Joran van der Sloot flown out of Santiago, Chile, on way to Peru . Van der Sloot was previously a suspect in Alabama teen's disappearance. Was detained Thursday in Chile in connection with Peruvian woman's death
Also wanted on extortion charge in Alabama

Customer e-mails CEO; phone company issues warning, then an apologyBy Kristen Hamill, CNN

AT&T apologized to a customer Thursday after one of its agents left a message on a customer's voicemail warning him that he would receive a cease-and-desist letter after the customer e-mailed AT&T's CEO directly about some complaints.Please don't have one of your $12/hour 'Executive Relations' college students call me -- I've found them to be generally poorly informed (Engadget.com readers know more than they do about AT&T) and they have little authority to do anything sensible," reads a portion of Galante's e-mail to Stephenson. He posted this e-mail, along with the offending voicemail, on his blog, "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish," which he began Wednesday after receiving the message. "After I sent the e-mail out [last week], on Wednesday I got that nasty gram back in the form of a voicemail," Galante told CNN.
The message, left by an employee at the company's Executive Response Team, warns Galante that if he continues to e-mail the CEO, "a cease-and-desist letter may be sent to you."AT&T told CNN on Thursday in a statement about the incident, "We are apologizing to our customer. We're working with him today to address his questions and concerns. This is not the way we want to treat customers. From Facebook to significant customer service channels, AT&T strives to provide our customers with easy ways to have their questions addressed."Galante said he wasn't necessarily expecting a response from Stephenson, but he felt that he was at least providing customer feedback to the CEO. He said that he accepted AT&T's apology but wondered why Stephenson was so "out of touch" and wished he had received a phone call directly from the CEO.

I believe that this is uncalled for that a employee of such a company would act this way. This man should be fired from his job for not representing not only himself in the right way but the company. The customers of AT and T have the right to be treated equally and treated how they should be.

109 die in fire in Bangladesh

At least 109 people were killed in a fire in the capital city in Bangladesh, the country's national news agency reported Friday. The blaze was caused by an explosion of an electric transformer in Dhaka Thursday, fire officials told the news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. The blaze then engulfed a plastic factory and four nearby buildings, the agency reported. Flames jumped some 300 feet in the sky as firefighters struggled to control it. Along with the dead, about 50 people were critically injured. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she was shocked at the tremendous loss of life and pledged to support the families of the victims.

This is horrible news, it is never good to hear of people dying especial in such places where the utilities to put out the fire and have no way of getting help. It is good that the prime minister stepped up and helped out these people in times of need.

McDonald's recalls 12 million Shrek glasses

McDonalds has just announced that they will be recalling 12 million shrek drinking glasses due to them containing cadmium. These are chemicals that may cause health care and to be safethey recalled all of them. Each glass is 16 ounces and is valued at two dollars a piece and were used to adverstise the Shrek Forever After 3D. While no injuries were reported and the cadmium level in the glasses is low, long-term exposure to the metal can cause adverse health effects. Cadmium, which at high levels is a carcinogen, can cause kidney and bone damage.
A CPSC spokesman said the agency is working to establish a "highly protective" level of cadmium. These glass products were slightly above that level, he said, even though the agency has not yet established an acceptable cadmium standard.

This is probably smart beacuse a glass is not worth getting sick over. Hopefully this will set an example for other companies who have harmful products that it is ok for them to recall thier items and it will not effect thier sales.

Rigs taking drilling, jobs abroad in wake of moratorium

Of the 33 oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico that have been slapped with a six-month moratorium, at least two are already on track to move abroad, an official in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, told CNN. Now that these companies have been penalized it leaves the door open for other drilling companys to step in and try and solve the problem. The oil companies will be making lots of money and will boost our economy.

I think that this is very good we need new input on this situation and new ideas to fix this problem beacuse as long as we keep doing what were doing it will kill of alot of wildlife in the Gulf and will harm the environment.

After a series of attacks across Iraq, there has been killed at least 58 people and injured another 222 today. Most of the bombings and shootings were aimed at security forces . The attack that took the most causalitiesa happened in Hilla, in the southern province of Babil. Three bombings there killed 36 people and wounded 140. First came a double car bombing that killed 23 people and wounded 110. A suicide bomber struck as medics and security forces responded to those blasts, killing and wounding more. The bombs were detonated by a factory where several people were working. They have not been able to say exactly who triggered the attacks but it most like to be the al qaeda who is known for such actions. The first attacks were on the city of baghdad at dawn. They opened fire on security around 5 30 am wounding 12, adding 3 road side bombings equaling 10 wounded there, leaving the total at 22 already.

This is just sad to read, its hard to know that innocent people across the world are dying for no reason. I believe that we need to stop these killings, or get out of their. I do believe tho that we must end what we started over there because if we werent their they would be doing more terrible things. There is nothing you can really do to prevent these killings, its just a sacrafice these heros are taking to protcet our freedom and show patriotism to thier nations that i have very thankful for.

Some Chicago mothers mark day with tears for slain children

One by one, they filed toward a newly made sculpture at the city's St. Sabina Church, putting small white cards emblazoned with names of the children who were killed and placed them by these scultures."Today, as I woke up, instead of what a lot of mothers get, which are flowers or Happy Mom's Day or a kiss, I didn't get any of that," said Maria Ramirez, whose son, Matthew, was killed at 16. "I don't even get to hear anybody say 'Mama' anymore. I'll never hear that again." Blair, a boy who died, jumped in front of a bullet to save a girl, he was 16.Last month, the streets had taken 7 peoples live and had left 18 wounded. The crime rate increased 11 percent this year, homicide was risen 8 percent. 127 have been recoreded already this year, which is already 3 more than the yearly total in 2008.

I like how these children were honored for the heroic tasks, even if they were young. It takes a lot for someone of that age to give up thier life, just to save another. Reasons like this make me proud to say that i live in America, how many other places could you go to and have this happen. On the downside, these numbers of deaths need to decrease. They need to tighten up on the police force and make the streets a safer place to live, if not, people are going to want to move out of the city, making it harder for people to find jobs which while lead to poverty. Plus, you dont want to be scared or having the thought that any second you could be shot and killed for no reason.

Stock futures surge on rescue plan

The stock market is most likely going to see a raise in the dow jones in the future. Due to the recent progresses in the European stock market, it will likely effect the whole world economy. The euro union approved a 900 million dollar bailout plan to stabalize the market and help greece get out of debt. The European rescue pacakge, valued at more than $1 trillion, has three main components. The biggest provision will use nearly $570 billion to create government-backed loans meant to shore up confidence in shaky credit markets.

This is a good idea, i like how the countrys came together in a tough time to solve their proplems by creating one big group to each chip in. I think that the US should try this instead of being independent we need help, we have more debt than the whole world combined and that is a bad burden we have to live with. This number needs to decrease and we need to stop spending money that are not important. We need to think of plan like this that will get us out of debt.

ISSUE #3: Putting Welfare to Work.

Today, in America, we see the highest poverty rate known to America since it was recorderd in 1975. The Temporary Assistance for Need Familys or also know as TANF has been working on decreasing the number of families they deal with and the number of people on welfare to make the poverty rate decrease. There are less people on the welfare program today, but these are low-paying jobs the people who work this jobs will gain skills to make then excel to find a better job. Most people who are off the welfare plan are forced off because of time limits and are forced to go on other government programs like Medicaid or food stamps. These are not the only government supported groups that are dramatically changing. There is more and more child support money being paid each and every day. In our current country and society you would see more single moms working than you would have 10-20 years ago. The government is encouraging more single mothers to get married so they do not fall through financially. To go along with the poverty, 43% of those people who live in poverty make less than 19,450 dollars a year. This is a umrealistic number to live off of. Many of the children are affected by this new law, they are the few who are seeing a positive outcome, there is less child poverty today.

I believe that these government programs are neccesary, but people should not be to reliable on them. People need to learn how to work and have responsibility, it is not bad to be on welfare for a while if you have just recently had a child but i agree that the plan should be limited. People have become to dependent on such progams. The poverty level will not raise soon, but once people get off government programs and start working you will see the level rise as these people gain skills and eventually work their way up to earn more money. This will boost our economy due to interdependence and business will rely on these people to help out our economy, which will boost those companys these people will eventually work for



Issue 1-http://papaschmoltz.blogspot.com/
Issue 2-mwhiting15.blogspot.com

Healt Care

President Obama has recently signed the health care bill that will require all American citizens to have health care. For many people this is a good thing, such as people who work hard but have little income and cant afford to go to the doctor, now they will be able to for little to no cost. The problem that i have with this is that there are going to be many people who will abuse this luxury. When you think of Minnesota, you generally think of nice, hard working outdoorsmen. I believe that we are all three of these and that most people in our state have earned the things they have by toughning up through the hard times instead of wining and blaming the problem on somebody else. We are going to have to pay more in taxes, but what are we going to get out of it. I know that there are going to be people who, now, will not have any drive to get off their couch and get a job, instead, they know that all of the problems will be paid for by the other hard working Americans. Also, the cost of this plan is very high, and considering that we are already trillions in debt i do not believe at this place in time that the Health Care package is the right thing for our counrty right now.

'We aren't in Google anymore'

This was a joke that google did for april fools day. A little bit a go the mayor of Topeka Kansas( the birthplace of google) said that he was going to change the name of his town to Google just for a month. When asked by CNN the reasoing of why he was going to do this he simply said, for fun. So today google, instead of having the usual google on the home page it said TOPEKA in its usual colors.

I think that this is very clever for Google to do and also i think its good to hear things like this. Now, on the news all you hear is bad things taht are going on in the world, but this still shows that people have a humerous side and there not just all caught up in politics.

Sultan commutes woman's caning sentence, lawyer says. Islamic law dictates caning Muslims seen drinking alcohol. In Malaysia, Islamic courts operate alongside civil ones. She is likely to be fined somewhere around 1400 dollars for drinking beer in a hotel. Caning is not the usaully outcome for a crime of this size.

This is just terrible to think that someone was caned for doing something as little as drinking beer in public. I am not saying that these cultures practices are wierd or wrong, i just do not agree wiht them and think that they should be changed. People should be treated equally around the world. It shouldnt matter what sex you are or race, we are people of this earth. I hope that this women does not get these punishments and that the Islamic people understand that this is wrong of them to do.

Recovery from Rhode Island flooding could take months

Floodwaters begin to recede in Rhode Island as residents survey damage. Officials say cost of flood damage believed to be millions of dollars. Pawtuxet River in Cranston, Rhode Island, is not likely to fall below flood stage until Sunday.

I think that flooding is a very bad thing that really cant be prevented there is only such much a community can do to keep the water level down. You can sand bag and prepare bulidings, house, and things to take on as much as possible. But in the end the water cannot be stopped, all we can do is wait out the storm and hope for the best. It is a bad thing to have experience because of the lack of control we have over it. It these hard times, the real inner person on people come out as they show their support for their friends, neighbors, and community.

Parents stand by teacher at Georgia 'dirty dancing' trial

In a Georgia there was a community who had 3 students practice bad behavior. It was in a choir class and they were playing the game pass the mic. It came time for these 3 boys to perform a song and they started dancing, taking off their shirts and becoming suggesting sexual behavior on the floor. The boys did not get in any trouble, but not the teacher who was in the class room has his trial next week. They said that he was laughing and clapping along and that he was egging on the situation. Just recently the choir teachers lawyer came out and said that the 3 boys will be getting charged too, to prevent them from coming out against the teacher or trying to get him into more trouble. If convicted the teacher could face jail time and his teachers liscense suspended indefinetely. The parents at the school and of the boys who performed these actions are standing up for the teacher. They think he is a great teacher, leader, and all around very good person. Also they think that this issue has gotten way out of hand and that it was the boys fault for what they did but it shouldnt be handled in court.



I strongly agree with what the parents are saying. It was the boys fault who did these foolish things just to get attention but the sitaution has blown up way bigger than it should have. This has nothing to do with the teacher. Although he could have stopped the boys from performing such actions, he probably did, but just at the wrong time. I especially dont think that any jail time should be faced or his teacher liscence taken again because then this little incident would reck this mans life and leave him with nothing.

CDC: H1N1 still causing serious illness

There are many cases of H1N1 that have been reoccuring in small local communitites in the southern states of Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. Georgia has the most lab confirmed cases out all of the states and there has been 190 patients hospitilized bewtween the dates of Februrary 24 and March 15. Most cases are invloving adults who have chronic health issues. There is an estimaed 60 million Americans who have had the swine flu but the number is decreases due to better treatment and virus control for this health issue. The reason of why these cases of swine flue are unknown currently and the main doctor said she is concerned about the supply of vaccines for the common folk because all of the vaccines will be given to those who have diabetes, heart issue, or are pregnant.

I believe that there is only so much we can do with who illiness. Doctors are working long hours and putting alot of effort into finding vaccines that will cure this disease properly. I think there are ways to prevent illnesss' tho by getting a good amount of sleep everynight, eating the right foods, and washing your hands as much as possible will all help your body fight the virus. This is a virus that has killed many of our fellow citizens and we should try our hardest to stop it from killing anymore people.

Moscow Mourns Subway Bombers

Recently in Moscow Russia, two women walked into two seperate statons during a heavy travel hour strapped with explosives killing 39 people and leaving around 60 wounded. On tuesday the people of Moscow mourned these deaths by lowering flags halfway all across town and many people tretreating to the stations where these tradijes occured. Most television stations canceled their shows that day. Atfter being closed for most of the day, both stations opened up around 5 pm on monday with heavy security having a visuale cop on all trains. Federal security in Moscow believes it was a terorist group from the North Caucasus. They believe it was Cherchen people who have been fighting for the independence. The US showed support against these terrorist acts.

I dont really understand why people do such things and would kill themselves just to show hatred or how they think that its supporting a cause they are fighting for. I believe its just stupidity and disagree wiht all of these acts. This group may have a right to want independence from Russia but this is not the way to handle things or to protest. This probably only hurt their cause for freedom becausenow all the did was make the Russian people more upset and will keep them from having any privelages or higher power.

Bank Robber Calls Ahead

In Fairfield Connecticut two people tried to rob a bank by calling in advance and telling them to have 100,000 dollars ready and that they will be there to pick up the money. The teller instantly called 911 informing them of the situation and the bank went on lockdown. The suspect entered the bank right after calling in his request. The teller filled a bag with 900 dollars and then the supsect asked to be released from the bank. He walked out the front door with the bag and was immediately arrested along with his partner.

This is very funny to think of that somebody would do this. They didnt think this one through very well. It was a bad attempt at robbing a bank. They should have known that they would call the cops right after

Social Insecurity- Issue 3

America is facing many problems within its economic world, due to people losing their jobs and the economy struggling this is due to problems within our people and our government. One of the main topics that is being debated is what to do with our social securty dollars that is causing budget deficits within our economy. Many people believe that we should change the ways of how our goverment is handling these causes and others believe that the system will ride out its course and turn out for the better of the people. The supports who think that we should change the Social Securty system say that it must be changed because our nation is promising things to retirees that we can just simply not afford anymore wihtout reducing other government programs. Also, that America should be open to accpeting private donors and by rasing taxes on the middle to higher income families to increase gonverment money and to become further out of debt. On the other hand, many also believe that the system is working and that people are paying into it and that they are getting benefits. They oppose that we could raise the retirement age.

I believe that we should change the ways of the system becasue whatever is happening in our nation now is not the best solution because our total debt just keeps getting larger and larger every second. This issue should be dealt with by the people to secure and satisfy their needs and to not rely our decisions and money all within the hands of our government. There has to be a better way to make the majority of people happy and not be in the pool of debt. Wouldn't you like to be able to retire at a younger age and not have to work into you late 70s? or would you like to be able to go some place warm in the winters like our parents and grandparents will and not have to worry about your financial needs? It is part of being a free nation, is being able to retire happly and life out the rest of your life the way youd like too. Republican Don Singleton agrees with this statement and believes that we should know where our tax dollars are going and we should be able to vote and choose and a nation and not have decisions made just within the government.

Don Singleton's Republican Views



War Dollars-Issue 1
papaschmoltz.blogspot.com
Spending What We can Afford
mwhiting15.blogspot.com

Tiger Woods set to make public apology

Today, Friday Feburary 19, 2010 Tiger Woods will come out and make a public anouncement about his recent sex scandal. Woods allegedly had sectional intercores with multiple women. He has just finished rehab and is most likely going to make an apology statment about hisrecent actions. No questions will be able to be asked at this press conference, due to protecting him from harsh comments. Many newspapers and tv stations will not be even attending such as, Golf Writers Association. Woods has 2 kids both under the age of 3 and wife Elen is suspected to be accepting Tiger back in her life.

I agree and support what Tiger is doing, even if i dont agree wiht his past actions. He owes a statement to his fans about what he had done and to the golf world about what his future plans are in the sport. In all respect, Woods should first take care of his family and personal problems before returning to the sport of golf.

Pope John Paul II self-flagellated to get closer to Jesus

In this article, it mainly discusses the deceased Pope John Paul's views and actions. It is claimed in a newly released book that the ex-Pope was almost conciered an Opus Dei from of the catholic religion. He was part of an old Polish religion community but these sort of actions do not reflect on the main catholic church. People at the Vatacin state that he had a special belt in his closed that he would whip himself and sleep on the floor to become closer to Jesus Christ. Vacatin staff and Cardinals say they could hear him with their own ears.
I strongly disagree with the actions that were performed by Pope John Paul the second. It even states in the holy bible: "any man were to come after me...let him take up his cross daily." This is a very powerful statement. It is hard to see why people would perform such actions when Jesus's life was taken so such things wouldn't have to happen. It is hard to argue with peoples beliefs because all he was trying to do was become closer to Christ, even if i don't believe that these actions were necessary.