There is no doubt that right now there is a great deal of global warming affecting the world right now.Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades, according to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The rate of warming is increasing. The 20th century's last two decades were the hottest in 400 years and possibly the warmest for several years, according to a number of climate studies. The Arctic is feeling the effects the most. Average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have risen at twice the global average, according to the multinational Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report compiled between 2000 and 2004.
Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing, and the region may have its first completely ice free summer by 2040, or earlier. Polar Bears and other cold living animals are already suffering from the sea-ice loss.Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting—for example, Montana's National Glacier Park now has only 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910. In the Northern Hemisphere, thaws also come a week earlier in spring and freezes begin a week later.Coral reefs, which are highly sensitive to small changes in water temperature. Experts expect these sorts of events to increase in frequency and intensity in the next 50 years as sea temperatures rise.

The World Baseball Classic(WBC)

Every decision Bud Selig makes and every project he undertakes is usually widely criticized. Most of the time, he deserves it.It's generally accepted that he looked the other way on steroids until baseball was called out on it, he botched the handling of the All-Star Game, and he's still despised by many for overseeing the first World Series canceled by a strike.
The World Baseball Classic also drew a lot of criticism, mostly for the timing of the event. While the other complaints about Selig are mostly reasonable, I'm not completely sold on the argument against the WBC being played during Spring Training.
The league has shown in the past that it's unwilling to suspend the season to have its players compete in international competition, that's one of the main reasons why baseball won't appear in the next Summer Olympics. Even though the WBC is a byproduct of Major League Baseball, it would be unreasonable to expect them to take three or four weeks to hold the tournament in the middle of the season. Baseball's season lasts long enough, the last thing we need to see is the World Series being played during Thanksgiving.
Holding the tournament at the end of the season likely wouldn't work, either. The league would likely run into the same problem the NFL does with the Pro Bowl. Many players choose to decline invitations because they're looking ahead to a longer offseason or need to go in for surgery. Also, scheduling the WBC during the winter would conflict with events like the Caribbean Series, which many major league players already compete in.
I feel the baseball classic is just like spring training and it does the players well to be able to practice and get into shape before the season.Playing for and with their respected countries is a bonus for those players.

Bad Economy

Most people either know about the bad economy right now, or they feel the affects from it first hand.The miserable economy is causing even more suffering to those battling serious illnesses. Members of a Seattle breast cancer support group called "Cierra Sisters" say they’re seeing more and more people losing their jobs, homes, insurance and hope.

"Some people are being forced to stop treatment because they have no insurance," said Bridgette Richardson-Hempstead, organizer of the group. "The insurance companies say 'sorry if you have no job, you have no insurance.'"

The group says there is a huge difference in care for people who have private insurance and those who have to rely on Medicare or Medicaid.

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Cierra Sisters

"One woman had to start selling her belongings because she had to pay out-of-pocket for her treatment. She died one month ago today. She had a rare form of cancer. It was so unfair," added Richardson-Hempstead.

In a recent meeting, another woman, Sally Frederickson, said she ended up homeless when her father died, her husband left her and she lost her home shortly after being diagnosed.

"There were many nights where all I did was cry. I had to choose between buying food for my son and saving money for treatment," she said.

Frederickson is one of the many Cierra Sisters success stories. She now has a home and has hit the five-year mark for survival.

"I don’t know what I would have done without this group," said a tearful Frederickson. "We just keep on living like there’s no tomorrow."

Steroids

As most of the people know in the world, steroids are bad for people. Well they are especially bad for the sports industry. Many athletes over the years have taken steroids to enhance their ability to play the game they are getting PAID to do. I try and make paid the key word here. I feel most athletes are forgetting that this is basically a job, and that they are basically playing for entertainment purposes, as well as, being on a professional team to show their talent. When taking steroids they enhance their playing ability and give themselves an advantage over everyone.
Arguably the greatest baseball player ever has been caught using steroids. Alex Rodriguez, currently playing for the Yankees, was finally caught using steroids. The only controversy that is going on is that he used them while being on the Texas Rangers in 2000-2003. Most people feel like he should not be punished because it was so long ago.If you look at his stats, however, that is when he did most of his damage at the plate. Some people also see it that he should have his records taken away and should be band from baseball.
I feel that the baseball commissioner should make the drug testing policy a little more strict and make sure nobody in the major leagues is using steroids.That way when people do really well in a season, there is no question about if they are clean or if they cheated. This would make the fans happier, due to the fact that big names like A-Rod and some others wouldn't have their reputations damaged by something like steroids.

Place

Last weekend i went to Phoenix Arizona to play Grand Canyon University with my Cal State baseball team. It took us about 5 hours to get there. On the way there we went through a lot of flat land that had nothing exciting to it. Once we got there i noticed that it looked nothing like where i live. The off ramps looked different and even the main streets were different.It just makes u realize where u live in comparison to some other places you travel too.
While we were there the people seemed nicer, which made the town seem more peaceful and nice.The people couldn't hide the town fully however.The buildings in Phoenix seemed run down and old. In a way it was sort of like my neighborhood. It seemed as though people didn't care to much on how the buildings looked and let them look that way.In some ways this is exactly what Kuntsler was saying in his speech. Kuntsler,however, was way to blunt with his presentation and he made it seem as though the whole town was that way and that people didnt care. That is true to a certain extent. There are bad areas in every part of towns. I just happened to find the fairly old and rundown part of Arizona.

The area i live in isnt so much like that of what James Howard Kuntlser describes. He describes the houses to be basically run down and all small. The track home i live on is fairly old and has more of the older characteristics to the way it was built. All the homes aren't big, but they have a decent amount of room in between each other. He talks about the "suburbain sprawl" and that basically means that there is no order for the suburb and they aren't worth caring about. That is not how my suburb is, I feel the suburb i live in is very well taking care of and doesnt have as much problems as how is being described by Kuntsler.
However, some of the stuff he talks about does come into play. The way the buildings are built is mainly to just make it as small as can be so we can fit more into an area. Its not about privacy and what the people want. All people do is just build to attract business. There really isnt enough "public space". That is what Kuntsler talks about, that there isnt enough public things to do for pleasure.

Where Im From

I am from tall mountains,
whose peaks are white and cold in
the winter and hot and dry in the summer.
I'm from the windy cities,the dry
air and hot soil.
I am from the San Andreas fault line,
the earthquakes everyone dreads.
I am from the fast life and slow
respect for one another.
I'm from a respected highway,
which everyone knows about and loves.
I'm from the boring days and
the filled nights.
Where people try and live their life.
I am from the smell of wet earth,
and dry dirt.
I am from the yes ma'am,
and no sur's.
I am from my Grandmothers death,
talking to her in the backyard.
From the baseball field i played on,
to the bed i layed my head on at night.
I'm from the big county and the
packed freeways and streets.