Insane Windstorms Across the Midwest

Today there have been some high-level twisters and tornadoes ripping across the Midwest. One in Chicago destroyed power for 76,000 homes in businesses, as well as 60,000 in Indiana and another 60,000 in Cincinatti and northern Kentucky. Homes were destroyed throughout the Midwest, but miraculously there have been no deaths, yet. 500 flights have been canceled due to the winds. The storms are predicted to move into the Northeast:

Stretching as far south as Mississippi, the system was expected to weaken a bit, the Weather Channel reported, but still threaten severe thunderstorms in these population centers:

• Early evening to late night: Buffalo, N.Y.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Charleston, W.Va.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Birmingham, Ala.;
• Pre-dawn: Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Md.; Philadelphia, Pa.; and New York City.

There seems to be a lot of natural disasters going on around the world, displacing thousands of people and destroying lots of property. This is very unfortunate, but bound to happen. It's great when there's an early warning, but they're not always available.

Indonesian Volcano Erupts, 18+ Killed

Earlier today, Indonesia's Mount Merapi erupted, killing at least 25 people, including one baby. Some were injured, but a clear number isn't determined yet, but it's probably at least double the death toll. The area's leading volcanologist had warned a few hours earlier of the danger. Now there is a full-scale evacuation alert:

Scientists have warned that pressure building beneath Merapi's lava dome could trigger one of the most powerful blasts in years.
The alert level for Merapi has been raised to its highest level.

Thousands of residents on the slopes have been evacuated. However most who fled were the elderly and children, while adults stayed to tend to homes and farms on the mountain's fertile slopes.

This is clearly a disaster, magnified by the fact that Indonesia isn't a fully developed country. It's not third-world, but its utilities, roads, and emergency systems aren't streamlined, like they are (supposed to be) in the U.S. This may hinder the healing abilities of Indonesia's emergency relief workforce. There may be another blast soon, so Indonesians are taking extra precautions to make sure everyone is safe, in case the next blast happens.

China's Military Tone is Hostile, Towards U.S.

We've never really been on healthy terms with China. We have portrayed an open attitude towards them since Obama has been in power, showing we only want their trust. But the mistrust still remains, as Lt. Cmdr. Tony Cao says he wants America to stop "spying us with the air or the surface.”Clearly we're still suspicious too if we're still spying. Apparently, China's growing army has been using America to rally their troops:

The younger officers have known only an anti-American ideology, which casts the United States as bent on thwarting China’s rise.
“All militaries need a straw man, a perceived enemy, for solidarity,” said Huang Jing, a scholar of China’s military and leadership at the National University of Singapore. “And as a young officer or soldier, you always take the strongest of straw men to maximize the effect. Chinese military men, from the soldiers and platoon captains all the way up to the army commanders, were always taught that America would be their enemy.”

This is not good. If they're trained to think of us as the enemy, it will only perpetuate mistrust for us. This makes me question whether American relations with China will ever be solid. 

Wall Street Blames Foreclosure Mess on Homeowners

Yes, they're blaming it on the people who were tricked and trapped into villainous loan schemes:

The building furor over whether the largest U.S. mortgage lenders used so-called robo-signers and incomplete paperwork to force delinquent borrowers from their homes has mushroomed into a probe by the attorneys general in all 50 states, with U.S. Congressional hearings not far behind. Those on Wall Street, however, are largely unsympathetic, insisting that possible errors in the foreclosure process are beside the point, that the process begins only when a borrower starts missing mortgage payments.

 They had the nerve to simply brush aside the "possible errors" in the way they handled the foreclosure process. Errors with finances are not a simple thing, they usually involve huge penalty and lawsuits, and sometimes prison terms. Furthermore, Wall Street blamed it on the homeowners for not being able to pay off impossible loans that the banks set up fully knowing that barely anyone would be able to pay them.

Even more aggravating is that the banks apparently didn't help their clients to avoid foreclosure:

Thousands of people reported that despite efforts to seek loan modifications or other relief many financial institutions "routinely fail to respond in a timely manner, misplace requested documents, and send mixed signals" about what is required to avoid foreclosures, the lawmakers said.

There's no words for this, it is truly a disgrace on the most massive of scales.

McDonald's Food Lasts for 180 Days, No Decay. I Think It's Cool.

 Food critics, soccer moms, health nuts, and the general public are going crazy over the experiment by Sally Davies from New York. She purchased a McDonald's Happy Meal and let it sit on her shelf in the above condition for 6 months. Everyone is making a huge deal about it, jumping to the conclusion that McDonald's uses some kind of industrial-strength toxic preservative in their food, or that it's composed of mostly chemicals, etc.

So what?

I love McDonald's. The food is delicious, cheap, and fast, plus I'm not dead yet. It is unhealthy, as 4 burgers a day will pretty much max out the 2,000 calorie daily recommendation, but that's why you practice moderation, just like with anything else. I don't care how long it lasts. It dissolves in my stomach and I move on. But for reliability's sake, let's take a look at some facts.

First of all, McDonald's says they don't use preservatives:

“McDonald’s hamburger patties in the U.S. are made with 100 percent USDA-inspected beef. They are cooked and prepared with salt, pepper and nothing else — no preservatives — no fillers,” said Todd R. Bacon, McDonald’s senior director of quality systems and supply-chain management.
“Our hamburger buns are made from North American-grown wheat flour,” Bacon continued. “Our world-famous French fries are made from potatoes and cooked in a canola-oil blend. These are the same foods that consumers buy every day in their local grocery stores — bread, meat and potatoes.” (msnbc.com)

Now while that is somewhat reassuring, it's important to not believe everything you read. After all, this burger did survive 180 days. But what most people are missing is that fast food is packed with salt and fat, which are both natural preservatives that have been used for hundreds of years worldwide.

The next point is that it's important to not solely blame this on McDonald's. Any fast food restaurant will have the same or worse results.

It's no news that fast food is caked with fat and salt, so there isn't really a point to this experiment. I just see it as a funny incident.

Mental Sickness Break 1

Palestine Open to Recognizing Israel as of 1967 Borders

Source: wikipedia.org

Israel and Palestine have been battling over land rights since the early 20th century. Each believes they have the right to the land. Israel has been making offers to Palestine to help resolve the conflict, but the offers are very weighted towards Israel's benefit, so Palestine has been quick to dismiss most of the offers. The most recent offer is that Israel would stop building new settlements if Palestine recognizes Israel as the Jewish state. Palestine recently rejected it, but counter-offered with the proposition for Palestine to recognize Israel as the Jewish state within the 1967 borders, without the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem.

I believe this conflict has been going on for way too long. They're next door neighbors and they haven't been able to settle the fight for many years. A resolution would provide peace of mind and drastically improve the standard of living for the combined 11 million people living in Israel and Palestine. It would also put the United States at ease from worrying about defending Israel in case they got into a war. Many Middle-Eastern nations are tired of the fighting and would like it to end, so a solution should really be found soon.