Saturday, March 6, 2010

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 6, 2010

*Although relief efforts continue in Chile, they are being hampered somewhat by how spread out some of the population is, especially along the coast. Because of this, an accurate tally of the dead and injured has not been completed. Meanwhile, infection and disease are now a growing concern in Chile as tons of dead fish, washed up from the recent tsunami, lie rotting in the open awaiting clean up and disposal.
*United States President Barack Obama still hopes Congress will pass some version of a much needed Health Care Reform Act, despite the fact that Congressional Republicans are now wanting to scrap what little has been accomplished on the matter and completely start over from scratch!
*Some individual states are warning their citizens that those expecting a refund from their state income tax returns may be waiting longer than they originally thought until funds can be secured to pay the refunds.
*The United States Postal Service is far from the only business that is trying to improve their financial health. Amongst the possible ideas for getting the organization back into fiscal shape are cutting back deliveries by either dropping Saturdays all together or a more serious measure of limiting deliveries to three days (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) a week. It should be noted that the Postal Service has never maintained a profit margin since the days of its first post master general: Benjamin Franklin!
*An air traffic controller working at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport has been suspended by the Federal Aviation Authority pending the results of their investigation into his recent actions. It seems the controller honored the spirit of "Take Your Child To Work Day" by not only taking each of his children to work with him, but each sibling also got to radio instructions to planes preparing for take off!
*It's been reported that California Republican Senator Roy Ashburn was arrested for Driving Under the Influence (of alcohol) with a "male friend" in the car with him after the pair left a gay bar. This event is ironic since Ashburn has supported the state's Proposition 8 ban against same sex marriages and has voted against any pro-gay legislation since first taking office. No one directly connected with the case has commented publicly since the arrest, although a local radio station that Ashburn had a talk show on has since dropped him from their programming schedule and Republican Party officials will only say that the matter is under investigation.
*Scientists have finally agreed that it was probably an asteroid crashing into Earth that triggered what became the climate change known as the Ice Age that killed the dinosaurs.
IN SPORTS...
*The NCAA prepares for March Madness as the collegiate men's and women's basketball teams compete in the final tournaments to determine the brackets for "The Big Dance".
*The 2010 Winter Olympics have concluded in Vancouver, Canada. For those interested, the final medal tallies are: The United States with 37. Nine gold medals, 15 silver, and 13 bronze. Next was Germany with 10 Gold, 13 silver, and 7 bronze. Host country Canada had 14 gold, 7 silver, and 5 bronze. Athletes from Norway earned 9 gold, 8 silver, and 6 bronze; while Austria accumulated 4 gold, 6 silver, and 6 bronze.
*The facilities in Vancouver will next host the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games beginning March 12. Meanwhile the games of the 22nd Winter Olympiad will be held in Sochi, Russia during the month of February 2014.

For more news at any time, just scroll down to the IN OTHER NEWS feature at the bottom of your screen.

No comments: