Category: general news

Stuff having to do with the news in general.

Herman Cain, You Make Me Laugh

therightliberalLeave a comment

Herman Cain might know something about business and the economy from his time owning a pizza chain. But when it comes to foreign policy he is lost.

Just take a look at this map in which he displays his thoughts on the world.

Now I’m sorry, but I know some kids in middle school that could tell me as much. And yet, this is the most we have heard out of Cain as far as foreign policy goes.

But this is fantastic news. I will personally endorse Herman Cain for the GOP nomination because he is so clueless and such a mess that Obama could laugh his way to a second term.

On top of his ignorance of the world around us, Cain also is a hypocrite…big time. While many politicians often do not practice what they preach, Cain has taken it to drastic levels. He has had an affair with a woman for 13 years, and his wife just found out about it.

Now he has denied these allegations, stating that he was just helping the woman in question financially. Odd that he would be texting her at 4 in the morning and made over 61 calls to her.

Now this would not be such a big deal (it seems like almost all politicians are getting some on the side these days) but the fact that one of his largest points has been the strength of family. Every politician is a hypocrite but Cain has gotten to the point of being a joke.

The whole Republican lineup has gotten to the point of just being a laughing stock and for that I thank them. Every night I can turn on the TV and laugh as I watch them struggle to give coherent answers with the small amounts of knowledge they have.

If you want to laugh some more go read this article.

Waiting Game

rangerthecatLeave a comment

I finally did it. I submitted my college applications to the Cal State schools and the UCs. It was totally stressful, considering how much I procrastinated – I literally met the deadline by one day.

I am so thankful that I have finished the application process. But I am just SO ANXIOUS to know if I will be accepted to one of the schools that I want to attend the most.

So now that I have finished my applications, all I can do is wait to hear back, and in the mean time, stress out. A lot. And wait.

And wait some more.

And as much as I can try to predict it and hope everything turns out well, I have no idea what the future holds.

All I can do now – besides MORE waiting – is cross my fingers and hope for the best.

Alcatraz

thehungryrunnergirlLeave a comment

Alcatraz is a prison where the worst criminals were sent and lived during 1934 to 1963 which is an island located 1.5 miles offshore from San Francisco, California.

5 days ago, me and the family of (kirbyfullyloaded) toured Alcatraz island.

It only took less than 15 minutes to get there from San Francisco bay which was astonishing, because I thought it was too easy to escape! When we get to the island and looked back, it looked very close from the land.

However, most of the prisoners failed to escape when they tried to swim. The reason why was the strength of the water current and cold icy water of San Francisco bay.

When we walked inside of the building, the first thing I saw was the shower room, with the wall painted in white and green, which was very eccentric and realistic to me. It reminded me of the prison from the TV show Prison Break.

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Randoseru

thehungryrunnergirlLeave a comment

In Japan, all the kids in grade 1 to 6 have to have the same back-pack, or “ransel” in Dutch (but later it was called “Randoseru” by Japanese), to go to school. It’s our tradition. Some schools provide them for free, but most of them don’t, so parents have to get their child one. It costs about $100-150. It is made of leather, girls have red and boys have black ones.

Ransel has an interesting history. Back in the Edo period (1603-1868), trading between Japan and the Netherlands was prosperous. At that time, the bakufu (the Japanese government) provided the backpacks imported from Netherlands to the Japanese armed forces, so they called it in Dutch, “ransel,” And today, we still have this tradition.

For me, the school supplied me one, and 6 years later it all worn out; leather was peeled off and cotton inside was visible. I remember when I was in kindergarten I wanted the ransel very bad and couldn’t wait to get it!

The Space Races Finish Line

frog3Leave a comment

The U.S. Space Program if floundering to say the least. Obama, in an effort to cut spending, has cut much of NASA funding. This decline has led to other countries, in this case Russia, to advance their own space programs. They have started conducting unmanned missions, even sending craft as far as Mars.

Russia like many countries in Europe is not alone in their efforts, but has received some support from the European Space Agency. (Even though they are not members.) Russia has assisted the ESA on numerous occasions, most recently locating a lost Mars probe.

The name of the once missing probe is Phobos-Grunts and shortly after its launch on November 9th it disappeared. The accepted theory was that it was not powerful enough to break out of Earths orbit and thus became trapped. On  November 22nd a Russian Space Station picked up a signal from the probe.

They were able to determine exactly were it is and the ESA have several plans to bring it back to Earth. Unfortunately for Phobos-Grunts it will no longer be able to complete it mission to go to Mars. Not only has it missed its window of opportunity but also has very little fuel left.

I for one am glad that countries have banded together to further advance Space technologies

The Wicked War is Over!

frog3Leave a comment

The war in Iraq, often called the “War on Terrorism,” has taken its toll on Americans. From stringent TSA security protocol to the loss of love ones, millions of Americans have been affected by this war. A point of contention for many people is the fact that U.S. forces are still present in Iraq.

In matter of fact, one of Obama’s promises during the 2008 election was that he would remove all U.S. forces from Iraq. (This promise has still not been kept.) Obama has withdrawn MOST of the US forces from Iraq but 11000 still remain. The Obama administration has stated that all US forces must withdraw from Iraq by 31 December 2011.

This removal is happening right now with US forces passing the responsibility of Iraq onto the Iraqi Army and police force. These efforts are being hampered by the further instability of the region.(Nuclear Weapons in Iran for example) It will be very interesting to see if this removal is completed by December 31st.

Currently the U.S. is on track to ship all soldiers out of Iraq. Most of the soldiers leaving Iraq will pass into Kuwait, turn in their equipment and begin the long flight home. After the deadline only 150 troops will remain in Iraq.

Whether you support the War in Iraq or not, we are all glad to have our troops home.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

thehungryrunnergirl3 Comments

Today, I went to Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey with kirbyfullyloaded and her family. Man, everything was so pretty. First, we saw otters playing around, through a glass window. Next we saw a penguin walking on the red carpet right in front of us! AHHHH! That was the cutest thing ever!

Then, we saw a big glass tank full of fish. There were bass, a sun fish, a hammerhead shark, dolphin fish, a sea turtle and sardines.

My favorite was the sea turtle! It was really cute!

The water there comes directly from the Monterey Bay, which is very good for the fish and other sea creatures because the water contains plankton. All the sea animals there are native to Monterey Bay and you can also see the marine life from the deck.

Isn’t that amazing?

New Pets!

rangerthecat2 Comments

I absolutely love animals more than anything. I really do. I love wild animals, and of course, I love pets!

Over the years, my family has had cats, birds, bunnies, guinea pigs, and fish. They have all been pretty amazing pets.

But sadly, this past year, 2 of my cats have died, and the one still living has a fist-sized tumor in his liver. My parents took my cat Smokey to the vet, and she told us we will have to put him down within the next week if he survives for that long. I will miss his so much.

When I found out about it, I couldn’t imagine coming home to a house without my cats, or any pets at all for that matter. So, I was VERY happily surprised when my Mom told me she is going to get a puppy and two kittens!!!

I am completely overwhelmed with excitement right now. My family has never had a dog before. Ever. I have always been so jealous of my friends and other families that have dogs – and now I finally get to have one 🙂

My friend decided she would come help me look for a new dog and kittens that I like, so we took at trip to the Milpitas Humane Society yesterday. There were SO many cute dogs and cats.

I am just so glad my family and I get to adopt a cute animal and provide a home for an animal that needs one.

We’re still searching, and on Monday I am SO EXCITED to go to another humane society with my Mom and hopefully pick out a new member of the family.

Asian population in the U.S

thehungryrunnergirl1 Comment

I see a lot of Asian people (well, including me) in the United States, especially in California. I wondered what percentage of the U.S. population is made up by Asian-Americans.

An Asian-American is a person who has an origin from an Asian country (either combination with additional races, or alone) ; Cambodia, China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Phillipines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.

According to the U.S census Bureau, they occupy 5.6% of the U.S population in 2010 which is 17.3 million people (3.8 million of Chinese, 3.2 million of Fillipinos, 2.8 million of Asian Indians, 1.7 million of Vietnamese, 1.6 million of Koreans, and 1.3 million of Japanese).

Now, if you take a look at by state…

Even though this picture is from 2000, according to the U.S census Bureau, California still has the highest population of Asians than any other state, which is approximately 5.6 million people.

BECAUSE, CALIFORNIA ROCKS.

Anyway, there are many Asian people in America.

Censorship and privacy,Is it really necessary?

frog3Leave a comment

Internet privacy and censorship is an issue that has caused much controversy in recent times. With the astronomical growth of the Internet in the last decade, cyber bullying has become an unprecedented problem. Proponents for the removal of online anonymity have argued that cyber bulling would end if people would have to take responsibility for what they say.

A major problem with cyber bulling is the anonymity of it. For example, if a child bullies another child in person, the child can tell school administration and get the problem sorted out. If a child is bullied on lets say Facebook, it is much more difficult to catch the bully.

A fourteen year old boy killed himself on September 9th at about 2 o clock on an early Sunday morning. He was being bullied for his homosexuality, via the popular blogging site Form Spring. It also happened to be suicidal awareness month.Gay Pride

A very recent issue that has reached attention is Internet censorship. This bill is being debated in Congress right now. What it will do is outlaw “illegal pirating of movies, music and other copyrighted material.” This could be a very big deal to many people.

Many people illegally download copyrighted material on a daily basis. It will be interesting to see the backlash that comes from this bill if it is passed.