Immediate Repairs to Japanese Nuclear Plant and Contamination

In The New York Times, Ken Belson, Hiroko Tabuchi, and David Jolley discuss the situation in Japan after the 9.0 earthquake hitting the nuclear plant in Miyagi prefecture as of March 21, 2011. They said that at this moment, reactors 1 and 2 are still unable to function due to a malfunctioning cooling system in combination with gas been ventilated out of it. Reactor 3 seems to be more stable than the other two, so the Japan electricity company along with plant workers have built and connected an extended power line to connect to it. Unfortunately, there still wasn't enough power to boot up the cooling system.

The N.R.C. is advising the United States Embassy, supplying assistance to the Japanese and gathering information to benefit American reactor safety.

The United States is currently contributing by supply victims with Potassium Iodide which will combat the potential radiation from reaching the thyroid glands. However, the Japanese are still waiting to explain the pharmaceutical effects of the pill before sending them out to victims in bulk. On the other hand, radiation seems to have leaked into the water, milk, and other crops as well. Residents are advised to not drink the tap water, but using it for bathing, washing hands, and daily needs are still permitted.

More Cancer Survivors!

In a report released this year, cancer induced survivors has dramatically increased up to 20% since 2007. Pam Belluck, of The New York Times, describes the common misconception and that:

“There’s still a concept that cancer is a death sentence,” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control.

The facts are very evident that cancer still leads to eventual death if not treated, but the time is limited to five to fifteen years of survival. However, with a progressive scientific area study in cases such as breast cancer, new techniques and tools have become available for immediate treatment and post treatments that will allow patients to cope with their "disability." One major point that is brought up is that many are still not educated in this field, so action is not taken. The fact that statistics and reports like this one are given out annually for public viewing helps the community know of the high chances of success in cancer surgery. On the other hand, some cancers, such as prostate cancer in males, are said to have little to no effect on their lives and will not be the cause of their deaths. As the variation and complexity is taken into account, one must be actively tuned with the state of one's own body.

Government passively forcing Insurers out of the Medicare Business

In The Washington Post, Christopher Weaver wrote an insightful article on the situation of America's bigger insurance companies. Many are being to move to new areas of business such as "technology, health-care delivery, physician management, workplace wellness, financial services and overseas ventures..."

In December, Aetna acquired Medicity, a business that helps hospitals share patient information. The federal government will reward hospitals and doctors with more than $30 billion in increased Medicaid and Medicare payments by 2015 for adopting electronic medical records, but only if they can share their data.

Many companies have decided to move out of this field this early is that they expect a decline of profits with the currently increasing government involvement and regulation that is accompanied with Obama's health plan. Nevertheless, the government is using what some might call a bribe, as mentioned in the quote above, to obtain more information and therefore, more power. In an indirect method, the U.S. government is slowly forcing the insurance companys' claims and discontent with Obama's health care plan. Hopefully in the future, we may see a semi or even nearly free government regulated health care for all citizens.

Community Radiation Monitors

Eric Niiler describes in The Washington Post that many Japanese residents and some "fearful U.S. residents" are buying Geiger counters as a forewarning of any radiation that might be in the vicinity of their neighborhoods. Originally used to detect radiation in mines and excavation sides, these newer refined Geiger systems have been revamped for economical use.

 “I believe they have an agenda not to cause panic or concern and I don’t think they provide accurate information,” Krubsack said. So far, he hasn’t seen anything unusual, though.

Fears such as those from people similar to Krubsack are apparent in the U.S. Whether or not the government is actually withholding or even falsifying information is still unknown but being to actively confirm one's safety is crucial in maintaining one's peace of mind. On the other hand, researchers such as Smolinski feel that it's not a matter of physical safety. but rather the curiosity of those on the western coast. Nevertheless, one must not ignore the fact that the distributors of these Geiger counters are making a lot more money due to increased demand. Whether their opinions, such as Smolinski, are biased or not cannot be confirmed.

CSU's Critical Crisis

Nanette Asimov of the San Francisco Chronicle discuss the new problem CSU's have to facing and are facing at this moment. Currently they have to turn down as much as 10,000 students from the school, many faculty members and teachers, and foresee more trouble to come. This devastating financial issue at this time is termed as:

"...the worst financial situation the CSU has ever had," said Trustee Bill Hauck, chairman of the university system's finance committee.

CSU's are important campuses that bond many students that hope to go into an university in the future, but could not get in. This bridge is now being threatened by this problem and it still remains to be seen for students who don't want to apply to a community college. In California, there are currently 23 campuses that are concerned with this particular problem. In the upcoming year, it is very vital in how we, the community, should deal with it by voting or reforming tax policies and budget cuts. If Jerry Brown does not properly allocate more support into the CSU's, we will be looking at a surge of many students who will either jam pack the community colleges in California, or worse case scenario, drop out of schooling entirely.

Clergy men on the Loose no longer

On Tuesday in Philadelphia, 21 Priests under the Roman Catholic Church were suspended and discharged permanently from the order under charges of sexually molesting minors. Besides these 21, there are another 35 that have suspicions pinned to their reputation. Article writer of The New York Times, Katharine Q. Seelye, has quoted Cardinal Rigali,

“I am truly sorry for the harm done to the victims of sexual abuse, as well as to the members of our community who suffer as a result of this great evil and crime”

This is obviously another meaningless public statement in which the higher-ups of the Roman Catholic Church has decided to ease some of the raging arguments against their bad deeds. There is no doubt that many members of this order is definitely flawed, some obviously in illegal ways as well. The main obstacle to the society around them is that they exert so much power and has such a long history of tradition that bringing them under complete surveillance cannot be done easily. However, it is a little bit more reassuring that the Church is already hiring inspectors to investigate members of the Church which shows that they do intend to root out internal problematic people in order to rid themselves from dirtying their organization.

Malaysia the Next Supplier?

In The New York Times, Keith Bradsher describes in his article the pursue of Malaysia in what seems to be a potentially good source for rare-earth metals. Currently, China owns 95% of the worlds supply of rare-earth metals which are generally needed to manufacture new technology such as Apple's Iphone and even smart cars such as the Toyota Prius.China has setup a monopoly over this category of metals and have gained massive amounts of profit by dictating, also known as raising, prices of these particular metals.

Despite the potential hazards, the Malaysian government was eager for investment by Lynas, even offering a 12-year tax holiday. If rare earth prices stay at current lofty levels, the refinery will generate $1.7 billion a year in exports starting late next year, equal to nearly 1 percent of the entire Malaysian economy. 

While there are some other potential sources to mine these metals such as the United States' Death Valley, there are strict environmental mandates and regulations that stop potentially radio-active waste from accumulating. On the other hand, China does not need to second guess themselves because all their mining sites are typically away form urban civilization as well as having much more lenient if not as many environmental rules. By adopting this mentality, Chinese society is able to accept the lower standard of consciousness. But have no doubt, these mining facilities create an abundance of waste. If Malaysia is able to successfully over the financial barrier and ignore the expulsion of semi-radio-active waste, then it can possibly serve as a link to lessen if not destroy China's currently impenetrable monopoly. However, China trying to take over the Malaysian mineral sink through bribery still remains a viable course as well.

Mental Health Break

Strengthening Memories

Benedict Carey describes in his article in The New York Times that neurologists have recently started focusing harder to develop a drug which can enhance memory return and strengthen that memory in one's mind. The researchers have only been testing on rats which show promising results, but the act of testing on humans still display an unknown factor. Unlike the short term effects of memory recovery with caffeine or nicotine, these neurologists are trying to create a long or longer term drug with less addiction factors.

Such a substance would have obvious appeal — for people at risk of dementia, to name just one group — but the search has been very slow going.

The thought of having a helping aid as a learning tool will inevitably change the educational world for students entirely. Much stress can be relieved by taking this drug to stimulate and enhance the learning and memorization stage. This possibly revolutionary product will create a community with better and more efficient learners and in effect, workers. The only worry is still the possible side-effects. The best possible scenario would be that there are none, but human nature has shown that addiction is a hard quality to overcome.

Drug Misuse

As displayed in a 2007 research sample, 44 percent of the people who have to go to the emergency room have problems from drug misuse and poisoning. The costs of care for these patients were up to $14 billion. Not only is the estimated cost outrageous,but that it is one of the main reasons that explain the crowding of emergency rooms. Roni Caryn Rabin quotes in The New York Times

Children younger than 6 had a higher rate of emergency visits for accidental drug poisoning than any other age group, but most of the visits were precautionary, said the study’s lead author, Dr. Gary Smith

 This is absolutely stunning because most of the incidents are originating in the rural areas of the nation. This just goes to show that many people are very under-educated and uninformed by their regional physicians about what they're taking and the possible side effects. While this does not concern those who take illegal drugs because those who do probably don't care about the consequences, the sheer amount of injuries is surprising how many of us don't know how to read or take directions.