Thursday, March 19, 2009

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.

Monday, March 16, 2009

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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"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."