Self-Driving Cars?

It is almost the year 2014 and technology is advancing quickly. Many things are advancing in technological  like phones, tablets, televisions, and cars. As years go on, car technology is advancing pretty rapidly and cars are now nearing being able to drive themselves. The car company Ford has created a self parking car that no one has seen before. There have been other car companies who have achieved assisted parallel parking but not like Ford has done.
       Mercedes- Benz is has created technology that has the car correct the driver when driving if the driver is not in the center of the driving lane. It simply just slowly moves the car in whichever direction the car needs to be to be in the center of the lane.
       With all this new car technology we are slowly coming to an age where cars will be doing the driving for us while we can sit back and brew our cappuccinos. That's right, the car company Fiat has created a cappuccino maker in their cars. You can brew them while the car is in park but not while you are driving.
      Self- driving cars will get rid of a lot of accidents and will get rid of who is at fault for the accident. Technology is rising rapidly, it will be very interesting to see if we will actually to make full self driving cars. A lot of people will probably be against the idea but a lot will be for it as well. What do you think?

2014 Olympic Hockey Tournament

          With the 2014 winter Olympics coming in the next couple months it means that so is the Olympic hockey tournament. Last year Canada beat U.S.A. 3-2 in overtime. Weeks before this game the Americans beat the Canadians 5-3, but the American team couldn't win in the gold medal game. The American team this year is looking for a little revenge against the Canadians. While the U.S.A. coaches are still making final cuts for the final team, many young players are hoping to make the team. One of them being T.J. Oshie, a foward for the St. Louis Blues. 

         The 26 year-old American hockey player was born in Washington, but played for Warroad Minnesota's high school team in high school days. He attended the University of North Dakota and played hockey for them as well. 

Coaches have taken much more notice of him as of late. This season has been his season yet; he has 4 goals and 23 assists in 30 games played this year. Almost averaging a point per game. He is a fast player that can also lay some good hits. He is really hoping to make this years team with a few other hopefuls as well. U.S.A. is looking to beat whoever gets in their way to win the gold this year, with new players coming in and a lot of veterans staying, they have a good shot at winning the gold this year. 

Miley Cyrus Nominated for Person of the Year

Miley Cyrus is One of the finalist for Time Magazine's Person of the Year. Really you have got to be kidding me. Is there not anyone else that out there. This is what people are voting for:

 

Or this:

 really people.

 

I don't care what people might think of me, but this is someone that should be last on the list. Someone that no one can control; not even her parents can control her. I don't want my kids to watch anyone like this. What happen to the Miley everyone love. Noiw that Miley should be nominated. 

New generation of Christmas

Christmas time is again and  kids are focused on making  there list for Santa and he will decide weather you receive gifts or not depending on if your naughty or nice. The parents are spending there last and bill money  to make sure the kids are happy and that Santa does provide toys and other gifts. It seems like this generation has lost touch of what Christmas is all about. It has become more of a materialistic holiday, rarely do you see any houses decorated with lights and other holiday spirit decorations. This should be the time when families get together and decorate, enjoy carols, and to tell children stories of Jesus. I don't to much like teaching kids a whole lot about Santa, I mean its okay to know who he is, but I think I would prefer to take credit for spending my hard worked money on buying their presents. I miss the days when I was younger we had family, food, singing , and now my family are all telling me what they want as a gift.

Should Athletes Have A Respected Workload?

After doing a little research on a few football players for my fantasy football team i came across some really weird results on some of the football players. Not only are these football players in the NFL and are star athletes but it talked about there past so i was interested and read a little. Studies show that 4 out of 5 athletes that attend school mainly struggle with workloads because they are athletes. Not only do i struggle personally but it became  a huge interest that i looked into.

So personally this semester at Century College i was playing soccer for the mens team which required every week day of training and other weekend days for games. But not only did i play soccer but i also had a part time job at a pizza shop while at school in order to pay for school. Soccer was a very serious playing field this year considering we went to nationals and i was extremely lucky to be able to receive an All-American Award which will hopefully pay off in the future with school. During that time i was working part time at a pizza shop trying to earn enough money to pay off school which is why im here writing this blog in the first place. I always know that school comes first but when you have to mentally put a focus on multiple things like school, work and soccer things begin to get very stressful. I struggled a lot my first semester for school but when the only way to pay for school is through working at part time job and hopefully a soccer scholarship in the future, then that's all i can do.

This article on sports illustrated showed that athletes not only can exceed a higher level of thinking but the 4 out of 5 that usually struggle with school workload and sports are proven to be more effective than the average student when they received the same amount of time as the other average students. That isnt only interesting but could be a true thing in the future that schools have looked into, actually editing due dates and workloads according to the amount of time spent to put into their sports.
I know i wouldn't mind this idea. Any other thoughts or questions?

Caution with taking Picture on your Smart Phone!

Almost all people have smart phone but do you know every time you use smart phone to take your picture, and it tell you where you are. A lot of people post their photo in Facebook, Tweeter, Photobucket or online. It will take the risk to tell other people where you are and what are you doing? Most people did not realize they can put their family or friends into a danger zone. People can just click on your photo and it will tell the location where you are. The picture will give people the Latitude and Longitude. This storage data is called Geotagging. A smart phone automate add geolocation information to the pictures at the time they are taken. Most people don't forget that the action of automatic geotagging takes place on their smart phones. People forget that because of it is enabled by default, not exposed the user as an option, or was asked and then forgotten. Do you think this is too much information or to much of your privacy to give to outside people that you don’t know. I think it too much information to give to the world to know what are you doing and where you at. In this case if you don’t want other people to see where you are while you taking picture with your friends or family and put your picture in the social media. You can go to fix the setting on your smart phone.  

Cyber Monday Dissapointment?



Cyber Monday Dissapointment?

The once a year trend that almost every one loves to take a part in is BLACK FRIDAY and CYBER MONDAY.

                      

 

This years trends seemed to be utterly dissapointing to many people. I went out on Black Friday and there was a very large decrease in people that i saw compared from this year to last. It has been the first decrease in Black Friday shoppers since 2009. But is that because of Cyber Monday? For those of you who do not know what Cyber Monday is, it is the Monday after Black Friday for people to shop online and get the same deals that they had in store on Black Friday. Also other online websites that only sell online take advantage of the sales opportunity too. But this Cyber Monday seemed to have also placed a huge dissapointment to shoppers. The average deal for shoppers on most websites we to get free shipping and that was the Cyber Monday deal.  

 

 This year was by far the worst year for black friday/ cyber monday shoppers. So hope for a better shopping day next year shoppers!!

E cigs are in and Cigarettes is out

 

 

In the past years or so we have seen many people with E cigarette in their hand than a roll up paper tobacco. The E cigs was market to consumer in 2007 and has become really popular. E cigs don't have the same tobacco law as regular cigarettes so any one who is under the age of 18 can buy one without being ID. Why are they so cool? Well they don't have any tobacco because it all vapor smoke.

 There is no research on E cigs to see how healthy they are compare to regular cigarettes, but it still have almost the same toxin and is still very addictive. So in other words it can still kill you until proven otherwise. One thing why a lot of people like this is because of the different flavors that you can buy for it.

You won't smell bad any more. your kids will love to come to you now. Another reason is that it is cheaper to buy one then to buy a pack of cigarette twice a week. Cigarette price has gone up so much in the last year and so people are turning to other solutions and the E cigs are one of them. The only thing you have to change is the thing that holds the oil every month to two,and that is only about $4 to $5. One more thing you can smoke this almost any where because most place like bars and clubs had banned smoking inside. Now they will let you smoke them inside.

I don't beleive in smoking because I hate the smoke and the after smell, but i guess this is better smelling the flavors of the oil than the smoke. What do you guys think of this?

Ps4 Vs. Xbox One

Throughout the years, gaming has becoming larger than was ever thought possible. With new consoles coming out every generation or so, there is no sign of gaming slowing down, but only getting bigger. Generations, companies like Microsoft and Sony have produced the newest and best products keeping themselves as the lead rivals for the gaming world. Both companies have given us the latest in their consoles called Xbox One for Microsoft and also Sony's new PS4 (Play Station 4).

Bigger than ever before would just be a simple phrase to use to describe how powerful these new consoles have become. Slim and futuristic like, these consoles have definitely raised the bar in the competetion.

Every gamer has their own opinion on what's the best between the two, but honestly, they both have their advantages and disadvantages. The Microsoft has really tired to push their Xbox onto a whole new level of multimedia entertainment system, providing more social media and other apps giving it a more modern push. Seeing this being done to the Xbox is not too much as a surprise  because more and more products now a days are resorting to that same system with more options with the internet.

PS4 has definitely pushed to make their product faster and better quality instead of the streaming apps, even though they can do almost the same as the Xbox, it just doesn't offer as much but will add more throughout the next year.

PS4 and Xbox Ones will have the majority of their sales from the loyalties of their past customers and friends around with influence. Seeing that both consoles have their plus and minus, history will show itself again who will be the victor in sales.

Ps3 history: Over 80 Million
Xbox 360: 80 Million
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360
http://www.vg247.com/2013/11/06/ps3-sales-pass-80-million-worldwide-4332-titles-on-system-to-date/

Red Cross helps Phillipines-Typhoon

The Phillipines are having a rough year. The typhoon that hit the Phillipines was a level 5 hurricane, almost as bad as Hurricane Katrina when it hit New Orleans. Many Red Cross companies from around the world has been helping out with people still stuck there.

Red Cross from Los Angelas has done a bake sale. They united with Los Angelas best chefs and bloggers to help. 35 LA's best restaurants and more than 25 local food bloggers came to help support. The name of this bake sale is called "Eat My Blog Charity Bake Sale"

Why is LA helping out? It's because most of the Fillipino population are living in Southern California outside of the Phillipines, and they are helping Red Cross to fund money for their families and friends.

Best of Luck for the bake sale!

Rewards For Doing the Right Thing

Often times you hear about people getting recognized for being outstanding citizens by doing something very generous. One news story that recently came up was a young boy, Joey Prusak, who was working as the manager of a Dairy Queen in Minnesota when a blind customer came in. That customer dropped a twenty dollar bill and a woman behind him simply picked it up and put it in her pocket.

Joey confronted the woman and asked her to give the man his money back and when she refused he kicked her out of the store, told the blind man what had happened and then paid for his Dairy Queen using twenty dollars out of his own pocket. Joey is now being recognized by the president of Dairy Queen and random customers are coming in to give him twenty dollars for the kind act he did. What Joey did was a great thing but it was also the right thing. When did it become unusual for people to show these acts of kindness and when did they not become a regular thing. Americans have stopped trusting people and not giving people enough faith to do the right thing that when someone does something that should be recognized as normal it is made out to be a heroic act instead. Simple things as holding open the door for the person behind you, or giving back someone their money they have dropped is now becoming something people see as generous when it used to be apart of peoples everyday lives. People who did not practice these kind acts were seen as rude and now it is seen as normal. Will we ever be able to go back to trusting strangers and having these kind acts be normal again?

Power will Consume us All

Fat Man bombing on Nagasaki 

One of the most devastating types of power is nuclear power. Nuclear bombs like Little Boy and Fat Man have shown a good example of what humans are capable of. Death tolls around 60,000+ deaths for Fat Man and 90,000+ deaths for Little Boy.
The advances in technology has come a long way since. With the spread of technology, anywhere and anyone can have control of nukes. We know that nuclear warheads are produced and kept hidden from the public to avoid public outbreaks. Some nukes are also kept under a deterrence, a nuclear deterrence. One of them is U.S and Russia.

The military doctrine that an enemy will be deterred from using nuclear weapons as long as he can be destroyed as a consequence; "when two nations both resort to nuclear deterrence the consequence could be mutual destruction."

Yes it's possible for humans to blow each others to smithereens, but it hasn't happened yet. Are humans able to handle the raw power of destruction? We have yet to prove ourselves. Will we be able to set aside our differences? We have yet many trails to face.

Are Electronic Cigarettes a Healthy Alternative?

Smoking tobacco cigarettes has continually become less attractive and unhealthy within todays culture. In the 1970's around 40% of people smoked tobacco cigarettes, today only 19% of the U.S. population are active smokers. With the decline in cigarette smokers, quitting has become a trend, and so has the electronic cigarette.

Many tobacco smokers started because they thought it was a way to look cool or fit in with a crowd. With the abundance of health risks associated with tobacco smokers, the desire to become smoke free has increased. Quitting smoking methods are available everywhere for cigarette smokers, but the one that strikes me as odd is the electronic cigarette. How does this help you quit smoking if you still have the hand-to-mouth motion and you are inhaling pure nicotine vapor? Many people claim they have become more active and healthy after using an e-cig but the facts are unclear. The FDA claims that they are not sure that it is safe and that studies have not been completed when concerning the inhalation of pure nicotine.

Also, whats up with being able to smoke e-cigs inside? Although there isn't any smoke or burning, there is still nicotine vapor that is being released into the air and other people can inhale it therefore making it second hand vapor. I mean if some countries like Canada and Mexico have already banned electronic cigarettes, shouldn't we take a second look? Not a lot of research has been done and nobody can prove they're safe.

As a cigarette smoker myself, I feel it is a disgusting habit and i want to quit. Do you think the electronic cigarette will help wean people off tobacco cigarettes or is it just a new way to smoke?

Is black friday shopping a thing of the past?

    Black friday shopping can be great, but there are many problems that come with it. Black friday shopping is meant to held midnight following thanksgiving, but thats not the case anymore. There are stores opening before midnight on the night of Thanksgiving. That wouldn't be called black friday then, it would be black thursday because stores are technically opening before friday even starts.  Back friday is a day of great deals on many expensive things, but is it worth the hassle of getting them? As you see in the top left picture there is a little girl who was pushed to the floor, because people don't look before running through the crowd. Shopping on Black friday can be very dangerous not only for children but for adults and teens also. There are people who camp outside these stores for hours and ruin their thanksgiving for this day, and there are fights that break out every year and the police have to get involved. For some people all this is worth getting something for cheaper then retail price, but for most it's not worth the troubles. When going black friday shopping make sure you know what you'r getting into. The bottom right picture is of all the people rushing into at a store for shopping on black friday. Is it worth it to you?

Lazy...Or Productive?

In todays society we rely a lot on technology. Is buying things online being lazy or is it actually saving time and money?

 

A lot of people like to buy things online because when they receive their order "its like Christmas" or "A Gift to Yourself from Yourself". Not only is it fun to get but many stores have items that you can only buy online. Also, when buying clothes online, almost always they have a range of sizes.

 



As seen in these pictures, stores have sales that are ONLY online.

Here's the thing the holiday season is upon us and people hate dealing with big holiday rushes at the stores. There's too many people, often items you want are out of stock or sold out and to top it off you wait in long lines. Many people don't have the time to do this while planning everything else for the holiday festivities. Shopping online is easy, all people have to is click on an items and add it to their cart! Even if they don't have the money for it now, many sites have a place they can save items to called a "wish list".



But does our society go to far with online shopping?

Now days people can order their groceries online...is this lazy or productive? One sight that is pretty well known is Schwan's. They have an extensive menu with many products and they deliver straight to your home.














They even have a menu for special diets...

Is buying your food online any different then clothes or gifts?


As American's our society has become so reliant on other forces, whatever is easier, must be "better".  But as people do we need that aspect of social involvement with other people? Or do we need to learn to manage our time better?

"Where in the World is Thanksgiving?"

We all know that Christmas is on its way we have seen the evidence of its arrival in stores and on television. We all get wrapped up with the holiday spirit and we forget about Thanksgiving. Is Thanksgiving slowly being eliminated from American Culture? The only thing that is keeping this holidays head above water is the massive sale called Black Friday. I have noticed holiday decorations and products being put into stores much sooner than I remember when I was a child. I have even witnessed Christmas décor before Halloween! I think that we all need to take it easy on Christmas and slow down and remember that Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful and spend time with family. Many people are already decorating their homes for the Christmas holiday when they still have not hosted for Thanksgiving. As much as I love cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies I too must remember it is still a little early for Christmas. So let’s put frosty away for another couple weeks and remember this is the time to be thankful for what you have.

Hockey City Classic coming to Minnesota

On September 3rd, the University of Minnesota announced that TCF Bank Stadium will be hosting a doubleheader of outdoor hockey on January 17th.  The Gopher womens hockey team will be playing the Minnesota State Mavericks at 4:30 p.m., and then the Gopher mens team will be squaring off against the Ohio State Buckeyes at 8:00 p.m.  The Gopher mens hockey team actually played in last years Hockey City Classic as well.  They played the Wisconsin Badgers at Soldier Field in Chicago,Illinois.

With the Hockey City Classic just less than 2 months a head of us, you might want to hurry up and get your tickets now! Tickets have been flying off the shelf so far.  With how hockey crazy us Minnesota are, I don't see that changing.  Speaking on behalf of Gopher hockey fans, we are more than pumped about this game.  Having a big game at TCF Bank Stadium on Friday night against long time rival Ohio State is going to call for an exciting game atmosphere.  The stadium will be loud and rockin', and all you'll see in the stands is a sea of Maroon and Gold! And maybe some red...Go Gophers!

The One That Lied Its Way

What kind of person would call their own child ugly, and be horrified with they way their child look?

Jian Feng, a Chinese man successfully sues his wife for being ugly, after he had found out that she had undergone $100,000 worth of plastic surgery.

Jian Feng had started accusing his wife of infidelity after the birth of their daughter, because he said he could never be the father to an unattractive child. Jian told Irish News "I married my wife out of love , but as soon as we had our first daughter, we began having marital issues. Our daughter was incredibly ugly, to the point where it horrified me." But after DNA tests proving that he was the father, his wife finally came clean and admitted to having about $100,000 worth of surgery done to herself in South Korea before they ever met.

Feng sued his wife for not telling him the truth about the plastic surgery and duping him to believe that she was beautiful. A judge agreed and ordered her to grant him $120,000.

Yes although she should have came clean before they ever got married, who would have known the outcomes of the child's appearance. There's no control over how the kid would turn out to be. Two very beautiful people could "have" a not so attractive looking child together and vise versa.

Winning that $120,000 wouldn't help with the fact that he has an "ugly" kid. 

What would you have done if you found out your spouse had plastic surgery to make her/him more attractive? 

THE TRUE BATTLE: WHICH ONE DO I ANSWER?

Have you ever taken notice to which phone you truly answer the most? I was walking around my house, and i was in a zone writing music. My friend noticed that i was completely ignoring my home land line. He proceed to ask" Are you not going to answer the phone"? Which inspired me to write this blog. Is technology revered differently among generations? I have seen my mother on that relic in technology for hours conversing. Myself on the other hand hates using the home phone. I view it as a reminder of me being an adult, because I only handle business on it. I also share the same outlook on the postal system as well, the only thing good about the mail is receiving money to pay the bills that come with it. Though there is a problem of over using your cellphone. Cellphones allow me to continue with my day. My question to you is land lines really necessary besides the use of  911? Maybe its my youth and adaption of technology that wants to do with land lines but can you blame me?

Brandon Bryson

Where is Humanity??????????

Ethiopian immigrants killed in Saudi Arabia. we do not know how many people died or arrested because we could not find information from right sours. how can  we trust media ? where are human right, Untied Nation, World medias, BBC, CNN, when we need just. Why the keep silent. When you read this post I know you will say what he talked about because this is hidden for all world. Readers we lost our innocent brothers and sister. we couldn't get chance in media to get ears. we cry in all social media to tell the
truth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Popping flicks of your food

One thing I really dislike is when you are going out on a date, or hanging out with friends and they  are taking pictures of their food and posting them on Insta Gram or Facebook . Most of the time the food don't look to appealing.   When you are on a date that would be  the worst in the middle of a meal and the other person is popping flicks. They are more worried about how many likes they will get instead of if there date likes them.  I have never experience this on a date myself but if it was to ever occur I would get up leave. Social media has truly taken over peoples lives. People cant put there phones away for 1hour to enjoy a meal.  Some of my friends are guilty of It and I drives absolutely crazy and it is embarrassing as well. I know it can be great advertisement for companies but it has it can be a little extra.

  

The Tale of Good Ole Mayor Rob Ford

This is the tale of Mayor Rob Ford. A Canadian businessman and politician, Rob Ford is the current mayor of Toronto, Ontario, Canada... only in title. How he remains in office is a miracle. As the current Mayor of Toronto only in title now, Ford is known for drinking with his constituents and stumbling around his city drunk thereafter. Several Months ago Gawker.com produced a series of posts wherein it was claimed their existed a video of mayor Rob Ford smoking crack, and that the video was for sale. Soon once the money for the tape was raised the seller mysteriously disappeared. However the series of posts had already been damning enough evidence for the public to demand an answer.

Eventually once forced to, Mayor Ford held a press conference where he admits "Yes I have smoked Crack cocaine" but that he didnt currently. Through subsequent press conferences Ford announced that he would not resign and that he would be in fact, running for reelection.
In recent weeks Mayor Ford has faced accusations of going down on a staffer where he replied that he quote "I didn't eat her pussy.. I have plenty to eat at home", a drunken and cocaine fueled office party on St.Patrick's day in 2012 and many other drunken shenanigans most certainly not befitting of a mayor. Ford has apologized for his comments and actions while asking for forgiveness and announcing that he will be rerunning for office and fighting the city councils actions against him. The City Council of Toronto has striped the mayor of his power but not his title and Mayor Ford has said he will bring them to court, not caring about the cost to his constituents. Surely still a major growing story who knows what else will become of "Mayor" Rob Ford.

Why Do We Love Zombies?

Why We Love Zombies

To be more accurate, I should say why we love the idea of killing zombies. Of course not every one is a zombie fan, but with a record breaking 16.1 million viewers of the premier of season 4 of the Walking Dead, its fair to say that a lot of people enjoy watching zombie apocalypse unfold. But what it is about these undead brain eaters that we enjoy so much? 

Sticking it to The MAN!

A theory that Sarah Lauro, an English professor at Clemson Univeristy who studied zombies while working on her doctorate, has about why zombies and zombie shows like the Walking Dead are becoming so popular is that we have become dissatisfied with our government or society. She theorizes that when we are dis-empowered by and dissatisfied with our government or society, we begin to feel like a mindless consumer of what ever they put in front of us, or in other words a 'zombie'. So by watching the few survivors of a zombie apocalypse blast the heads off these zombies and fight to not become one themselves, we can begin to feel like we are sticking it to the Man by refusing to conform to mindless, everyday life.

http://thestir.cafemom.com/entertainment/152391/shocking_zombie_research_explains_why

It's Just Everyday Life

In Chuck Klosterman's Article, My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead, 

he states that one of the main reason why zombies are becoming so increasingly popular in our society is because our world is becoming more and more like a zombie offensive. That's not to say that the need to kill zombies has literally increase in our society, but our everyday lives have become very similar to that of someone surviving in a zombie apocalypse. We can relate to killing zombies so easily because it is very similar to completing our everyday tasks, day after day, over and over and over again. Zombies are easy to kill, one shot to the head at a time, the problems arise when we stop killing them or when to many come at you at once and they pile up, that is when the zombies overcome you. The same goes for our tasks in real everyday life, if we do them and stay at them everything goes smoothly, its when you neglect them or when to many come at you from no where at once that it becomes overwhelming.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/arts/television/05zombies.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 

Maybe a Combination of It All

Maybe it a little of everything! We can relate easily and that is why we get drawn in and so easily make a zombies apocalypse a metaphor for our lives. But along with the metaphor, we also see it as a freeing sensation from the bonds of our society, fighting off the mindlessness of consumerism with a symbolic shotgun in hand. Along with that, as Klosterman also stated, "Zombies are just so easy to kill", so why wouldn't we want to exchange our currently 'oppressive' and tedious society for a stress-releasing, zombies infested one? Not only then do you get to satisfy that primitive longing to kill without consequence, but you also perhaps get that opportunity to be the hero by mowing down that hoard of zombies and saving the day!

Superfund Sites: Not Super Fun

Until the 1970s, laws governing the disposal of hazardous waste materials were virtually nonexistent. Large corporations, such as 3M and Dow Chemical Company, were free to dump tons of waste materials in both landfills and bodies of water. The first law to regulate the removal of dangerous wastes was RCRA, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, in 1976. Then, in 1980, Congress passed the Superfund law, which provided for the treatment and removal of previously abandoned waste sites. Today, many of these Superfund sites still exist. Federal and state governments, as well as liable companies, have been slow to respond to the problem due to a lack of funds. 

A typical toxic waste dump. They are not hard to spot from a satellite-view map.

 There are thousands of hazardous waste sites all over the United States. Just over one thousand are still at the top of the National Priorities List. In Minnesota, there are currently twenty-five sites on the NPL. Of these, two are in Washington County—the Baytown Township Ground Water Plume and Oakdale Dump—and three are in Ramsey County—Koppers Coke, the MacGillis & Gibbs/Bell Lumber & Pole Co. site, and the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant site.

Elizabeth Copper Mine Superfund site in Vermont.

As more and more toxic landfills grow around the country, the number of people at risk for a plethora of unnatural health problems also increases. Cancer is often developed by those living in close proximity to a dump site. Children and unborn babies are at the greatest risk; their development can be greatly inhibited, even to the point of death. The variety of health problems associated with hazardous waste is caused by an equally large variety of contaminants. Lead, mercury, asbestos, dioxin, benzene, TCE, and carbon tetrachloride are only a handful of such pollutants. 

For a map of toxic sites, see <http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/toxmap/main/index.jsp>

This article provides a great example of an organization lobbying to prevent toxic waste reforms: <http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/09/09/13323/new-battleground-over-toxic-reform-american-chemistry-council-targets-states>

PS4 VS XBox One!

Video Gamers have talked about new generation consoles for over years since XBox 360 and PS3 came out. They have been talked about how the game system will change, graphic improvement, new type of video games that no one has played before etc...

Finally PS4 just came out today November 15th! And XBox One will come out in a week, November 22nd!

These new consoles will be a nice gift for your children, relatives or anyone that you share a lot in your life for Christmas gift! However, they cost a little bit too much as a gift you small kids.

XBox One costs $499 and PS4 costs $399. Compared to PS3 cost when it just came out (which was about $600), it's reasonable, but still it's a bit pricy.

Although PS4 released a week before XBox One and people imagine many people would buy it first because they are so excited for new generation console, XBox One release date is in thanksgiving holidays which I think it's better idea because gamers tend to have an idea that they would like to play games when they have enough time to play. When I was a hardcore video gamer, I did not play new game when I had only a bit of time. I would save for the weekend and enjoyed it during weekend (when I have more time) because I really hated to distracted by something.

From my point of view, I think XBox One focused more on online gaming, and PS4 focused more on offline gaming. Of course, you can play Online/Offline by using these consoles, but I feel like XBox consoles are more for online and PS consoles are more for offline.

So far, there are not any completely "New" stuff out for these consoles yet, but I believe they are making something really cool new type of video game for the consoles. However, graphic got better compare to the old consoles, which I think FPS (First Person Shooting) gamers love to see. I don't really have time to play video games lately, but I hope I'll have time to play these new consoles with friends soon.

Blackjack

Blackjack is also known as twenty-one and is the most widely played casino banking in the world. Blackjack is comparing card between a player and a dealer, meaning that players compete against the dealer but not any other players. This game is played with one or more deck with 52 cards. The object of the game is to "beat the dealer." This can be done number of ways. Get 21 on your first two card, reach a final score higher than the dealer without going over 21, let the dealer draw additional cards bypassing 21 and busting. When playing people can hit, stand, double down, split, surrender or even ask for insurance when the dealer have an ace face up.

      Later in the 1800 blackjack was bought to America where gambler embraced it, loving the challenge of overcoming the odds and beating the house. Whether you haven't gambled or not. Blackjack is a fun game to play and it's easy to play too.

Protecting Your Heart with the Flu Shot

The flu vaccine is recommended for anyone six months or older in the United States. It is recommended for people who includes of having heart disease. In a study, researchers looked at all clinical trials on flu vaccine from 1947 through mid- 2013 that included nearly 7000 people in their study.  The researchers concluded that those who got the flu shot were thirty-six percent less likely to have a heart issue than those who did not receive the vaccine. People with heart problems who gets the flu vaccine has a fifty-five percent of not getting another heart issue. Also the risk of fatality from heart disease were twenty percent lower for those who receive the flu shot compare to those who didn’t.

The influenza vaccine is believed to protect against heart disease by preventing its influenza and its inflammation in which your immune system may make you ache and put you in pain. With the flu, ache, and pain inflammation, it can cause plaques in the arteries to burst.

Some people say that after getting the influenza vaccine, they would get sick from it and refuse to get it again. But if heart disease is preventable in this case then it should be an action to take. You can be one of those people who are less likely to get a heart disease with the continuation of getting the flu shot. Something that I would think twice on considering again.

PS4 -Offically Released

November 15 is the official release of the PlayStation 4 or PS4. For $399, you can get your hand on this amazing gaming console that got everyone waiting for a long time. The PlayStation 4 comes with many different features. The PlayStation 4 can still play Blu-rays and DVDs, but it won’t be able to play any CDs, MP3s, and any files form a USB external storage device.

                I think it can be a win/lose features because now a days many people don’t have CDs or MP3s, instead, people now are steaming music right from the internet.

                Other feature I think is cool is that there are entertainment apps that you can download such as Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon. I really like this feature because with apps like Netflix, I am able to enjoy a movie night with the family.

                Unlike like the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 4 require you to have a PS Plus account to play multiplayer. We know this is a bummer, but look at the bright side, it only $50 for the whole year unlike the Xbox 360, which I think is 30 bucks a months.

What do I think about the PlayStation 4 overall? I can’t wait for it!!! I have always been a fan of the PlayStation consoles, so with this one, I would say it'll top my X-mas list this years