http://www.ops.org/high/benson/news RSS feeds for Benson High News 60 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/714/Critics-react-to-Obama-winning-Peace-Prize.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=647&ModuleID=3999&ArticleID=714 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=714&PortalID=2&TabID=647 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/714/Critics-react-to-Obama-winning-Peace-Prize.aspx The decision to give Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize was met with criticism. Martin Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:09:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:714 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/602/Swine-Flu-around-the-world.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=647&ModuleID=3999&ArticleID=602 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=602&PortalID=2&TabID=647 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/602/Swine-Flu-around-the-world.aspx The Swine Flu has been reported in 11 countries. Martin Fri, 01 May 2009 19:45:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:602 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/564/The-Island-of-Enhancement.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=647&ModuleID=3999&ArticleID=564 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=564&PortalID=2&TabID=647 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/564/The-Island-of-Enhancement.aspx Puert Rico recieves the first United States quarter with Spanish inscription. Martin Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:30:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:564 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/535/Chinas-rock-scene-is-not-popular-but-cool.aspx#Comments 1 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=647&ModuleID=3999&ArticleID=535 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=535&PortalID=2&TabID=647 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/535/Chinas-rock-scene-is-not-popular-but-cool.aspx  China has taken a page from Americas music book by gradually growing their own Underground Rock Music scene.  Martin Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:49:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:535 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/464/Black-History-Month-around-the-world.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=647&ModuleID=3999&ArticleID=464 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=464&PortalID=2&TabID=647 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/464/Black-History-Month-around-the-world.aspx The United States is not the only country to celebrate the History of African culture. Martin Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:33:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:464 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/431/Baseball-is-big-in-other-countries-as-well.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=647&ModuleID=3999&ArticleID=431 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=431&PortalID=2&TabID=647 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/431/Baseball-is-big-in-other-countries-as-well.aspx The World Baseball Classic is being anticipated by baseball fans all over the world Martin Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:01:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:431 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/410/US-not-the-only-country-affected-by-Obamas-election.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=647&ModuleID=3999&ArticleID=410 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=410&PortalID=2&TabID=647 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/410/US-not-the-only-country-affected-by-Obamas-election.aspx Kenya declares national holiday while China expresses concern. Martin Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:02:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:410 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/386/Afghanistan-Gets-Americanized.aspx#Comments 1 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=647&ModuleID=3999&ArticleID=386 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=386&PortalID=2&TabID=647 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/386/Afghanistan-Gets-Americanized.aspx What was once frowned upon, is now recognized as a key to rebuilding afghan culture. Martin Mon, 12 Jan 2009 02:28:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:386 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/360/Bush-signs-security-agreement-on-surprise-visit-to-Iraq.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=647&ModuleID=3999&ArticleID=360 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=360&PortalID=2&TabID=647 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/360/Bush-signs-security-agreement-on-surprise-visit-to-Iraq.aspx         BAGHDAD _ George W. Bush made his last visit to Iraq as president on Sunday. But instead of highlighting progress from the "surge," it became a reminder that many Iraqis see him not as a liberator who freed them from Saddam Hussein but as an occupier who pushed their country into chaos.         As Bush finished remarks that hailed the security progress that led to a U.S.-Iraq agreement that sets a three-year timetable for an American withdrawal, an Iraqi television journalist leapt from his seat, pulled off his shoes and threw them at the president. Striking someone with a shoe is a grave insult in Islam.         "This is a goodbye kiss, you dog," the journalist, Muntathar al-Zaidi, 29, shouted.         Bush ducked the first shoe. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, standing to Bush's left, tried to swat down the second. Neither hit the president.         Another Iraqi journalist yanked al-Zaidi to the ground before bodyguards collapsed on al-Zaidi and held him there while he yelled "Killer of Iraqis, killer of children." From the bottom of the pile, he moaned loudly and said "my hand, my hand."         Al-Zaidi was hauled to a separate room, where his cries remained audible for a few moments.         It wasn't clear whether al-Zaidi was hurt. His employer, Cairo-based Baghdadiyah Television, released a statement late Sunday demanding al-Zaidi's release from Iraqi custody.         "Any action taken against Muntathar will remind us of the actions and behaviors taken by the reign of the dictator and the violence, the random arrests, the mass graves and confiscations of freedom from the people," the board of Baghdadiyah said.         Friends said al-Zaidi covered the U.S. bombing of Baghdad's Sadr City area earlier this year and had been "emotionally influenced" by the destruction he'd seen. They also said he'd been kidnapped in 2007 and held for three days by Shiite Muslim gunmen.         Bush said the shoe-throwing incident didn't faze him. He tried to laugh about it, saying, "It didn't bother me, and if you want the facts it was a size 10 shoe he threw at me."         (EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)         He continued with the press conference, taking a question from an Iraqi reporter and another from an American.         "That's what happens in free societies when people try to draw attention to themselves," he said.         Two other Iraqi journalists were briefly detained after the press conference. An Iraqi security guard hauled them away because one of them called al-Zaidi's actions "courageous." They were released. One of them said American officials helped free them.         (EDITORS: END OPTIONAL TRIM)                    The incident was a sharp contrast to Bush's message at the press conference, in which the president touted his collaboration with al-Maliki to "do something different, not to allow Iraq to fall into civil war" in 2006 and 2007, when sectarian violence peaked.         That partnership resulted in the "surge" of U.S. forces and a parallel increase in the number of Iraqi security forces. It benefited from radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's decision to call a cease-fire in his Shiite militia, and a movement among Sunni tribes to work with Americans against al-Qaida in Iraq cells.         Those security gains have resulted in a steep drop in violence throughout Iraq _ a decline of more than 80 percent in Baghdad _ which Bush said is contributing to political stability.         "This is the future we've been fighting for, a strong, democratic Iraq that will be a force for freedom," he said.         "The American people have sacrificed a great deal to reach this moment," he continued. "Thousands of our finest citizens have given their lives to make our country safer and bring us to this new day."         Despite his descriptions of progress, Bush was cautious in discussing Iraq's future in his fourth visit to the country. He said the drop in violence would give President-elect Barack Obama an opportunity to cement the gains with a stable Iraq.         "Is it the end? Absolutely not. There's more work to be done," he said.         Al-Maliki, who spoke only briefly at the start of the press conference, praised Bush's record in Iraq.         "You have stood by Iraq and the Iraqi people for a very long starting with getting rid of the dictatorship to fighting terrorism," he said.         (EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)         Al-Maliki and Bush built a close working relationship during the past few years, which included regular conferences between the two leaders.         Part of that relationship featured al-Maliki sculpting a reputation as someone who was willing to stand up to the U.S., and Bush.         Al-Maliki won concessions when negotiating the security agreement that the U.S. was reluctant to yield ground on, such as setting a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces and gaining legal jurisdiction over military contractors who commit crimes in Iraq.         That bargaining enabled al-Maliki to promote the agreement as a win for Iraq despite fears in Iraq's parliament that it would open the country to an extended U.S. occupation. Some lawmakers refused to sign any deal with the U.S., arguing that it would infringe Iraqi sovereignty.         Al-Sadr's party was resolute in its opposition to the deal. Thousands of his followers rallied in a central Baghdad square three weeks ago, where they beat an effigy of Bush with their shoes before they burned it. They're planning to rally Monday to protest Bush's visit.           By Adam Ashton and Mohammed Al Dulaimy McClatchy Newspapers Bob Jenkins Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:01:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:360 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/326/Mystery-phone-call-put-Pakistan-and-India-on-the-brink-of-war.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=647&ModuleID=3999&ArticleID=326 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=326&PortalID=2&TabID=647 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/326/Mystery-phone-call-put-Pakistan-and-India-on-the-brink-of-war.aspx  ISLAMABAD, Pakistan _ A mysterious night-time phone call brought nuclear India and Pakistan close to the brink of war at the height of the crisis over the Mumbai terror attacks last week, Pakistani officials said Sunday. They said the "threatening" call was made, ostensibly by India's foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee, to Pakistan's president, Asif Zardari, on Friday, November 28, two days into the Mumbai assaults, in which some 170 people died. India had, by then, declared that the militants who had stormed Mumbai were all from Pakistan. The heated conversation left Zardari believing that India was about to mount an attack on Pakistan and led him to place Pakistan's armed forces onto "high alert," according to Wajid Hasan, Pakistan's ambassador to London, a close associate of Zardari. Given Pakistan's inferiority in conventional forces, it might not have been able to respond except with nuclear weapons to an Indian attack, analysts said. India, however, did not put its forces on the alert. Zardari quickly mobilized Western leaders in an attempt to avert war, telephoning Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State, and British foreign minister David Miliband, among others, who in turn frantically called India, Hasan said. Pakistani reporters who were briefed by the Indian Embassy in Islamabad said they were told that Rice telephoned Mukherjee in the middle of the night and demanded: "Why have you threatened war?" According to those same sources, Mukherjee told Rice he made no such call or threat. Nevertheless, Rice, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates rushed to the region. Indian officials in New Delhi, who like other sources could not be identified by name because they were unauthorized to speak to the public, said they suspected the call had its origin in the Pakistan's own Inter Services Intelligence agency _ suggesting a deliberate attempt to foment war between the two neighbors. Meanwhile, Pakistan's growing internal security crisis spilled over into U.S. military operations in Afghanistan when as many as 200 armed assailants overran a depot housing military supplies for U.S. and coalition forces in Peshawar, Pakistan, capital of the North-West Frontier province. The assailants, believed to be Pakistani Taliban, set the depot on fire and destroyed around 100 trucks carrying equipment, food and other supplies. About 70 Humvee vehicles were turned into smoldering hulks of metal. Around 70 percent of the supplies to international forces in landlocked Afghanistan are trucked through Pakistan, and Pakistani militants have mounted a campaign to try and choke off the route. The news of the tension created by the mysterious "Indian" telephone call emerged as the Bush administration, in the face of growing pressures from India, put Islamabad on notice that it must clamp down on the Islamic militant groups accused of targeting India. According to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who flew to Pakistan after a visit to New Delhi, Indian officials are now threatening the use of force if Pakistan does not move swiftly to act against those responsible for the Mumbai assaults. "I did say to the Pakistanis that the argument that these are non-state actors is not acceptable," Condolezza Rice said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" program. "Non-state actors in your territory are still your responsibility." In a separate appearance on Fox News, Rice added: "The United States expects the full and complete cooperation of Pakistan, and Pakistani action. And that yes, it is a matter for our relationship." As if on cue, Pakistani security forces Sunday raided a camp used by members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, the provincial capital of Pakistan part of Kashmir. India had pinpointed the group as the outfit which carried on the attack on Mumbai, though it is only one of dozens of jihadist organizations active in Pakistan. On Sunday, India lashed out at Pakistan over the phone call episode. It was "worrying that a neighboring state might even consider acting on the basis of such a hoax call," Mukherjee said in a statement. "I can only ascribe this series of events (the story of the call) to those in Pakistan who wish to divert attention from the fact that a terrorist group, operating from the Pakistani territory, planned and launched a ghastly attack on Mumbai," he added. Pakistan's government insisted that the phone call came from a number in Indian's Ministry of External Affairs. Pakistan's ambassador in London said a caller ID system was used to identify the origins of the call. "They did it (made the call). It was not a hoax call but an instrument of psychological warfare. They were trying to scare Pakistan, test the waters for our reaction," Hasan said in an interview. Hasan added that he had received information that India was "about to launch a very drastic action" on that Friday, and it was only intervention from Western leaders that averted it. To add to Pakistani injury, first news of the phone call was leaked to a select group of Pakistani journalists at a briefing given by the Indian embassy in Islamabad, in an apparent attempt to make Zardari's government look weak, according to reporters present and Pakistani officials. It is unclear who actually made the call. Indian officials, who did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, theorized that Pakistan's ISI made the call by using technology to make it look like a number from India's foreign ministry. That suggests that the ISI, which is part of the military, was trying to break relations between the governments of the two countries, which had already been torn by the Mumbai assault, in order to leave Pakistan's military in charge. Meanwhile, McCain, who had had talks in New Delhi with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, told Pakistani journalists that India is ready to order air strikes. The defeated Republican presidential candidate said Indian officials told him they had evidence of the involvement of former ISI officers in the planning and execution of the Mumbai assault, according to reporters who met him. "The democratic government of India is under pressure and it will be a matter of days after they have given the evidence to Pakistan to use the option of force if Islamabad fails to act against the terrorists," McCain told the journalists, according to an account by a reporter present and published Sunday in Pakistan's Daily Times.       By Saeed Shah McClatchy Newspapers ___ (c) 2008, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. Bob Jenkins Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:01:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:326 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/301/Obama-Unveils-National-Security-Team.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=647&ModuleID=3999&ArticleID=301 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=301&PortalID=2&TabID=647 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/301/Obama-Unveils-National-Security-Team.aspx By Steven Thomma McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) CHICAGO _ President-elect Barack Obama named his national security team on Monday, vowing to bolster U.S. military strength with a renewed focus on diplomacy and alliances with other countries to combat terrorism and spread American values. "The national security challenges we face are just as great and just as urgent as our economic crisis," Obama said as he unveiled the group. "In this uncertain world, the time has come for a new beginning, a new dawn of American leadership to overcome the challenges of the 21st century." Underscoring his commitment to a high-profile diplomatic push overseas, he named former Democratic primary rival Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state, perhaps the only other American political figure as well-known around the world as himself, outside of President George W. Bush and former President Bill Clinton. Obama noted Clinton's "tremendous stature" as he selected her to be the nation's chief diplomat. The president-elect lauded his choices as an experienced and diverse team that will bring him sometimes dissenting views to inform his governing decisions, then will work together to implement his policies, focusing on using "all elements of American power." The team includes: _Robert Gates as the secretary of defense. Gates, who now holds that job in the Bush administration, is the first civilian defense chief ever asked to stay on when a different party took over the White House. He's highly regarded for having steadied the military after six years of tumult under former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. _Eric Holder as the attorney general. Holder was the number two at the Justice Department in the Clinton administration and served on Obama's search team for a vice president. _James Jones as the national security adviser. Gen. Jones is a retired commandant of the Marine Corps and a former supreme commander of NATO, a post that requires as much diplomacy as it does military skill. He's expected to be looked to as a consensus-forger. _Janet Napolitano as the secretary of homeland security. The Arizona governor recently won her second term and is an expert on illegal immigration. _Susan Rice as the ambassador to the United Nations. Obama will restore the position to Cabinet rank for his campaign adviser and former assistant secretary of state in the Clinton administration. Throughout, Obama stressed a shift in foreign policy from the Bush years to one stressing cooperation with key allies and with international organizations such as the United Nations, many of which felt a cold shoulder from the Bush administration. Rumsfeld once famously dismissed allies such as Germany as "Old Europe" when they questioned the drumbeat for war in Iraq. "We will renew old alliances and forge new and enduring partnerships," Obama said. "To succeed, we must pursue a new strategy that skillfully uses, balances and integrates all elements of American power: our military and diplomacy, our intelligence and law enforcement, our economy and the power of our moral example. The team that we've assembled here today is uniquely suited to do just that." He called his team bipartisan, though when pressed he couldn't say for sure that Gates is a Republican just because he serves in a Republican administration. Still, he said he had and would reach out for advice from both parties. "When it comes to keeping our nation and our people safe, we are not Republicans or Democrats. We are Americans. There's no monopoly of power or wisdom in either party," he said. He also conceded that many of his appointees have disagreed with him on key points. Clinton, for example, criticized his willingness to talk without precondition to any foreign leader, even a dictator. Gates opposes setting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. "I assembled this team because I'm a strong believer in strong personalities and strong opinions. I think that's how the best decisions are made. One of the dangers in the White House, based on my reading of history, is that you get wrapped up in 'groupthink' and everybody agrees with everything and there's no discussion and there are no dissenting views. So I'm going to be welcoming a vigorous debate inside the White House," Obama said. "But understand I will be setting policy as president. I will be responsible for the vision that this team carries out, and I expect them to implement that vision once decisions are made. So as Harry Truman said, the buck will stop with me." With his economic team announced last week, Obama now has filled in most of the top slots in his Cabinet and White House staff. Still to come are such secondary Cabinet posts as the secretary of commerce, expected to be New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. "Now is the time for us to regain American leadership in all its dimensions," Obama said as he unveiled the group. ___ BILL CLINTON'S AGREEMENT: The path was cleared for Hillary Clinton's nomination when her husband signed an agreement to limit conflicts between his international work _ making money from speeches and on issues such as AIDS _ and his wife's diplomatic work as secretary of state. Bill Clinton agreed to: _Disclose the names of roughly 200,000 contributors to his foundation and all new contributors. _Abandon day-to-day management of the foundation. _Refuse foreign contributions to the Clinton Global Initiative, his annual conference. _Stop holding that meeting in foreign countries. _Submit his speaking schedule to ethics reviews by the State Department and White House counsel. _Submit any new sources of income to ethics reviews. The ethics reviews still could raise questions: The State Department would be controlled by his wife and the White House counsel would be Greg Craig, one of Bill Clinton's lawyers and a chief defender at his impeachment trial over lying in testimony to conceal an affair.   Nick Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:52:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:301 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/266/Economic-Recession.aspx#Comments 1 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=647&ModuleID=3999&ArticleID=266 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=266&PortalID=2&TabID=647 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/266/Economic-Recession.aspx      Some people in the nation do not believe that our country is in an economic recession. Others believe we’re in the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression. Regardless of our individual opinions, most of the people living in America have had to give up many of the luxuries we so take so  much for granted, including many of the students attending Benson High School Magnet.      “Extra things I wanted had to be given up to help support my family,” said freshman Jasmine Schramm.      Senior John Moreno had a different insight.     “I’ve had to give up nothing at all. I get what I want when I want because I simply don’t ask for much,” said Moreno.       Many of the students at Benson High have had to give up more than just the junk food. Some haven’t been able to get some of the newest electronics on the market, or some of the nicer vehicles.      From 2005 to 2010 alone, the value of all the stocks, bonds, CDs and other assets held worldwide have and will soar from $118 trillion to $200 trillion, the highly respected McKinsey Global Institute reported in a just-released report. That’s an increase of $82 trillion, or 69%, in just five years.      There isn’t much we can do, except get only the necessities in life right now. Maybe if we did that, we’d be able to create a surplus in the things we want, therefore lowering the prices of them.      For more information, visit www.moneymorning.com/us-economy-report.   Story by: Konnie Keiser konnierae Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:16:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:266 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/189/For-some-Iraqis-returning-to-their-neighborhoods-home-means-death.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=647&ModuleID=3999&ArticleID=189 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=189&PortalID=2&TabID=647 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/189/For-some-Iraqis-returning-to-their-neighborhoods-home-means-death.aspx By Corinne Reilly McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) BAGHDAD _ Haj Ali's family had been home for less than a month when a makeshift bomb blew off part of his garage. The message was clear: Go back to wherever you came from. Two years ago, when Sunni Muslims began killing Shiites in Ali's west Baghdad neighborhood, he quickly gathered a few belongings and fled. Last month, his family returned home. They didn't stay long. "We thought it was safe," Ali said. "Now I see that for us, home means death. There are still people who don't want us there." Only a small fraction of the roughly 5 million Iraqis who have fled their neighborhoods in fear since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion have returned, although returns have picked up since the Iraqi government last month began urging people home. In Baghdad, where most of the sectarian cleansing has taken place, about 8 percent of the people who moved within the country have gone back to their neighborhoods, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Many Iraqi families have returned to their old homes in peace, but a disturbing trend already is emerging: They're being targeted and attacked, and in some cases killed, for returning to their homes. Some returnees have been threatened. Others have found explosives tied to their front doors. Some have had their homes blown up. The trend, along with an uptick in sectarian and ethnic violence in northern Iraq and growing tensions among rival Shiite factions in the south, is a worrisome development for American political and military leaders who are increasingly eager to declare victory and begin withdrawing more U.S. troops from Iraq in order to send more forces to Afghanistan. Sectarian cleansing has helped to reduce the violence in Iraq to a four-year low, but the small number of returnees who've been targeted could be a warning that the violence could return, too. "There are insurgents still remaining on all sides who don't want the situation to improve," said Bassim al-Hassani, a member of the Iraqi parliament's committee on displacement. "So they are targeting a few to send a message to many." There are no formal estimates of how many people have been attacked or killed for trying to return to their homes, but U.S. military officials, aid organizations and the Iraqi government acknowledge that some returnees are being targeted. At least a few families coming home to Baghdad and Diyala province have been killed, an Oct. 1 study by the IOM reported. American commanders in several parts of the capital said the homes of some returnees have been targeted with explosives. "It's not happening every day, but it is happening," said Army Capt. Dave Lombardo from Kennesaw, Ga., the commander of the 4th Infantry Division's Troop B, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Hood, Texas, who oversees Baghdad's Khadraa neighborhood. "It's usually explosives taped up to people's front gates. It's an intimidation tactic." In Ghazaliyah, a west Baghdad neighborhood where about 250 families have come home since Sept. 1, attacks on returnees are carried out or attempted about twice a week, said Lt. Col. John Hermeling, a native of Green Bay, Wis., the commander of the 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment from Fort Campbell, Ky. In southern Ghazaliyah, an area once dominated by Sunni insurgents and al-Qaida in Iraq, Shiite families have come home to makeshift bombs, military officials said. A few returnees' houses have been blown up, and at least one returnee has been killed, a Shiite who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting. In other neighborhoods, returnees have been kidnapped, said Mazin al-Ajaili, the head of the Baghdad city council's displacement committee. "We are hearing of people coming home and finding letters with a bullet tucked in, or they find messages written on their doors," Ajaili said. "Sometimes one family member is killed so the rest will leave again." The Brookings Institution began recording threats and attacks against returnees this summer, said Elizabeth Ferris, a senior fellow at the center-left Washington policy group, which uses on-the-ground researchers to track displaced Iraqis. As the number of people returning home has increased, so has the targeting, Ferris said. "We're hearing about some pretty direct threats _ people getting phone calls or finding notes on their doors telling them they'll be harmed if they don't leave again. ... But we're just getting individual anecdotes. It's still hard to say how widespread it is." Brookings hasn't noticed that either sect _ Sunni or Shiite _ is being targeted more than the other, Ferris said. "I think it just depends on the neighborhood and who's in control." At least some of the attacks targeting returnees may have more to do with simple economics than Iraq's sectarian divide. As families have fled, others have taken up their homes, often living rent-free in houses nicer than the ones they left. Understandably, Iraqis in that category are in no hurry to see mass returns. "We think some of the attacks are probably coming from squatters who aren't ready to move out, so they try to scare people from coming back," said Capt. Thomas Melton of Shreveport, La., who oversees south Ghazaliyah as the commander of Troop A, 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment. "It makes sense." Even if the attacks aren't widespread, they may already be achieving their aim. Bassim Salman, a policeman who fled Baghdad's Furat neighborhood in 2005, said he was preparing to go back until he heard that some returnees' homes had been burned down. "Just two days ago, I heard a man was killed in Furat while he was cleaning out his house to bring his family back," Bassim said. "They say it is safe to return. But I won't go." Despite the uncertainty, the Iraqi government is shutting down camps for the displaced, offering money to those who go home and opening centers across Baghdad where families can register for help resettling. On Sept. 1, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, ordered all squatters who have taken over homes of people who fled to get out. When they're evicted, however, some squatters can't afford to pay for new housing. Rents have risen substantially since many of them first fled, and unemployment across Iraq hovers around 50 percent. In some cases, squatters can't return to the homes they left because other squatters have moved into them. Many say their neighborhoods are still too dangerous to go back. "A lot of the people who have been forced out to make way for the people coming home are angry," said Tahseen al-Sheikhly, Iraq's civilian spokesman for Baghdad security operations. "Sometimes when a home is blown up, it is for revenge." ___ (Reilly reports for the Merced (Calif.) Sun-Star. McClatchy Newspapers special correspondent Laith Hammoudi contributed to this report.) ___ MORE FROM MCCLATCHY New U.S. intelligence report warns 'victory' not certain in Iraq: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/53605.html Displaced Iraqis, now told to go home, fear for their lives: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/53483.html Fewer black funeral banners blanket Baghdad: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/53491.html ___ © 2008, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com. MRZ Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:15:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:189 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/143/Scientists-meet-to-discuss-effect-of-plastic-litter-in-worlds-oceans.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=647&ModuleID=3999&ArticleID=143 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=143&PortalID=2&TabID=647 http://www.ops.org/HIGH/BENSON/StudentLife/tabid/647/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/143/Scientists-meet-to-discuss-effect-of-plastic-litter-in-worlds-oceans.aspx By Susan Gordon McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) TACOMA, Wash. _ Nobody likes looking at pictures of baby sea otters strangled by cast-off, plastic, six-pack loops or albatrosses who died trying to digest discarded cigarette lighters and old toothbrushes. It's wrong to litter the oceans with plastic debris _ and you don't have to be a scientist to see it. Even so, when the world's leading researchers in the field of marine debris gathered Tuesday and Wednesday in Tacoma, they were reminded that the science has not progressed much beyond the obvious. Some of the scientists have found poisons, such as DDT, in tiny plastic fragments collected from coastlines around the world. But they said they don't know how those bits affect creatures or whether, as some suggested, the plastic soaks up contaminants that otherwise might settle to the bottom. More than 33 scientists and others turned out for the conference at the University of Washington Tacoma, which was sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. UWT environmental scientist Joel Baker, the science director of Tacoma's Center for Urban Waters, organized the event. The group's goal was to identify gaps in scientific understanding about the fate and effects of small plastic marine trash. "Estuaries are famous for being able to trap particles," Baker said at one point Wednesday. Hoping to prompt discussion, he flashed an image of Puget Sound on the screen at the front of the small auditorium. "This might be an area where we would want to focus our investigation." No one knows the volume of plastic debris in Puget Sound or precisely where it originates, Alan Mearns a Seattle-based NOAA staff scientist said during a break in the proceedings. "Before anybody points a finger, they better find out if they're not the source," he said. Most plastics enter the world's marine waters from the land, Baker said. It's not just beach debris or dumping. Plastics spill out of storm drains and persist in the treated sludge from sewer plants, he said. Right now, NOAA's marine debris program helps pay for Puget Sound efforts to identify and collect abandoned fishing gear, such as nets and crab pots. The workshop didn't deal with the problems of derelict geoduck tubes, a source of controversy in the South Sound. Baker, who also leads the scientific committee guiding Gov. Chris Gregoire's Puget Sound Partnership to clean up the estuary, said shellfish farmers don't intentionally release plastic tubes they use to protect baby clams from predators. "I don't think the plastics issue is going to drive decisions about geoduck farming," he added. More than 260 animal species around the world either consume plastic waste or get caught up in it, said Richard Thompson, a marine ecologist from the University of Plymouth, England, the conference's keynote speaker. Even lugworms, a type of fish bait which lives in marine sediment, consume plastic. "They're eating this stuff, but does it really do them any harm? I think that's one of the questions we need to work on," Thompson remarked, as he explained details of his group's research on Tuesday. ___ © 2008, The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.). Visit The News Tribune online at http://www.thenewstribune.com/ Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. MRZ Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:32:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:143