Wall in Rio, Segregation or Environmental?

The citizens of Rio de Janeiro are divided physically and mentally because of a new wall put in place by the government. This wall officials say is to, save the rainforests by building a wall surrounding them to prevent residents from creating houses which knock down the trees. The less fortunate people living in Rio, claim this wall is an attempt to shut them out, just a way for the city to get rid of the "eyesore" their homes create. The poor people live in shantytowns, which the new "eco-wall" coincidentally runs right around and blocks peoples view into the less fortunate housing complexes.

Many residents feel that Rio de Janeiro is establishing this wall to help stop the expansion of these slums before the 2016 Olympics. The people feel the shanty towns already created a subconscious barrier between the upper and lower classes, and they believe this wall is further cementing the division of society. In this CNN article, many residents and officials comment on the construction of this new wall in Brazil.

Picking Your Child's Gender

Usually parents who are expecting a child are in for a surprise on the day of the birth, will it be a girl or a boy? Now thanks to huge scientific leaps people can have the option of picking the gender of their new baby. A new technology called, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, allows parents to mainly test the embryos for genetic diseases that might have been passed down from the father or mother. This process is done through in vitro fertilization, in which the egg fertilization is completed outside the body, therefore allowing the parents to select the gender.

This process is, like other controversial topics, having to withstand debates from each side of the spectrum. Some people feel this new procedure is uncalled for and allowing us to "play God." Others believe this is just another "cosmetic procedure," for which we should be able to pay the $18,000 fee if we want and if we are financially capable. This debate is not going to end any time soon and more details are available in this CNN article. Now all that's left to think about is if you would determine your child's gender?

Google Introduces Search By Sight

Normally Google offers a search engine in which users type in text and results are compiled according to the "keywords" entered. The company launched a new technology yesterday, which will offer the ability to search the web by submitting a photograph. Google has numerous applications the public doesn't even know about, most of the companies immediate users are only aware of the main search engine. This new technology called, Google Goggles, can recognize images anywhere from album covers to landmarks. The users simply take a photo with their camera, submit it as a search, then the computer runs it through its database.

The database can recognize faces but is not right now because of the millions of images it's holding right now. The brains at Google decided to not do facial recognition at this time but it may very well be an option soon to come. In this CNN article an example they show, was a user snapping a picture of a wine bottle they weren't familiar with, Google Goggles presented them with, "hints of apricot and hibiscus blossom." That description is in depth and far beyond what the user could come up with himself, all from uploading a mobile picture to Google.

U.S. Offers Native Americans $1.4 Billion for Their Mistake

In 1996, American Indians filed suit against the U.S. Department of the Interior, because they failed to give the Indians their revenue from a fund of Indian assets, which the department managed. Now the lawsuit is trying to come to a close as the U.S. Department is offering the American Indians $1.4 billion, to try and make up for the mismanagement of their trust and lands. If the Indians were to accept this offer, each would get as much as $1,000. According to Cobell, a member of the tribe, the Indians who really needed the money are already old and on their way to death.

The Indians feel horribly mismanaged and have lost huge amounts of faith in the U.S. and our government. This money will not make up for the fact that many of the people involved in this suit lived their entire life in severe poverty. In this article, CNN goes into more detail about the specifics of each side of the American Indian case. Hopefully our government will learn from this and take more action in future cases like this.

Victoria Principal to Space!

The actress from the TV show "Dallas," Victoria Principal, is going to be one of the first celebrities to make it into outer space. The star paid $200,000 to be one of the passengers on the Enterprise, a two-pilot space craft with room for only six people. She is one of the daring people who wants the once in a lifetime experience of seeing the Earth's shape, going to the edge of space, and feeling weightless. Although she paid for a ticket to be on this shuttle, by the Virgin Galactic company, the first passengers will be chosen at random.

The first commercial space shuttle was introduced Monday by Sir Richard Branson and Burt Rutan, both innovators in the world of space. Principal says this has always been her fantasy and she will get to fulfill it sometime in 2011, after the company begins testing in early 2010. Just like this first article, CNN will be sure to cover the next events as they unfold.

Single Drug Execution Used In Ohio

Today in Ohio the execution of Kenneth Biros took place and for the first time in the U.S. it was completed by a single drug method. He was sentenced to the death penalty for raping and brutally killing a woman in 1991. This execution was the first in Ohio since September because the governor put capital punishment on a hiatus due to a failed attempt to find a prisoners vein. This new one-drug method of capital punishment uses only one of the drugs, sodium thiopental, normally used three-drug method. Some people are concerned that using on this one drug, also used to euthanize animals, might keep the inmates alive enough to feel the end of the killing procedure.

In this CNN article, Biros's entire execution is described and many experts add their insights of the pros and cons of using this new way of capital punishment. He was the first but not the last to have only this one drug injected during the execution, although a two-drug injection was there for backup. There will be many more debates regarding this controversial topics, which should all be interesting.

Cheaters Beware

With all of the recent publicity of Tiger Woods and his alleged affair, the media unveiled a law that many people aren't aware could be done. If a person is cheating with someone who is already married, they could be served an expensive lawsuit by the spouse of their lover. These lawsuits are known as "alienation of affection," and are used to sue the person interfering in the already established marriage. Even though these suits are only allowed in seven states such as, North Carolina, New Mexico, and Illinois, they are still something to think about.

This law is rooted in older times when a wife was considered the husbands property, giving the hurt party a way to receive some sort of justice. Although in today's world these suits are only filed for the two reasons of money and revenge. Many people are watching to see if Tiger's wife will go down this path but the more interesting road will appear if any of Tiger's mistresses were married. In this article, it describes the way the husbands of Tiger's lovers could come after the insanely rich golfer.

Homosexuality Illegal in Uganda

Before the end of the year, lawmakers in Uganda are saying the bill to make homosexuality illegal will be passed and people breaking the law will start to be punished. It's always been looked down on and quite unsafe to be an openly gay person in this African country but making it against the law will shine a whole new light on this issue. People who are having gay sex might be sentenced to life in prison and would even be given the death penalty.

Gays and Lesbians aren't the only people in dangerous territory if this new bill passes in December. The government will also prosecute people who test positive for HIV, who may be executed merely for having this illness. If the citizens know they will be sentenced to the death penalty for having HIV, no one is going to get tested for this deadly disease. This will definitely undermine the progress the entire world has achieved for awareness of HIV. This CNN article goes further into the horrible outcome if the leader of Uganda pass this bill.

Abortion Amendment Rejected

Today in the Senate, the amendment to the health care bill regarding abortion was rejected. There is an increase of restrictive language on abortion compared to last month if the Senate health bill is approved. This amendment was introduced by Senator's Ben Nelson and Orrin Hatch, it lost with a 54-45 vote. After the movement lost the Senate agreed to table, or kill it, meaning it can no longer be up for consideration. The amendment would have made restrictions more intense by increasing the limitations of federal funding for abortion.

Since it was rejected, the bill will not change, meaning no abortions may be paid for by federal funding except in the cases of incest, rape, or if the pregnancy is life threatening. In the article, Senator Hatch expressed Americans strong opposition to this bill by saying, "Taxpayers should not be called upon to pay for abortion." Each side of the debate has threatened to not pass the entire health bill depending on the outcome of this abortion issue. Hopefully they will find a way to balance between women's rights and not angering taxpayers.

Peanut Farmer's Hit Hard Time Again

The Department of Agriculture released this year's crop report, which shows another troubling time for peanut farmers. The farms were starting to get back on track after the decrease in the sale of peanut butter last January. Peanut products were recalled in January, and even though peanut butter was not affected, the numbers showed consumers were still uneasy buying the product. Sales started to increase, especially in August for back to school shopping, which showed America putting their trust back in peanut products.

After the farmers survived the last dry spell in purchasing peanut based foods, they are now facing another slow period. The intense rain and flooding in the Southeast has delayed harvest at the major peanut farms because of the wet fields. This set back, further described in this article, is more bad luck for the families who base their living off harvesting peanuts. Even though this might not be the best year for these farmers, the peanut industry has come a long way since the recall this January.

Toyota Addresses Accelerator Pedal Problem

In this article, Toyota has finally addressed the recent issue of the dangerous car defect that has occurred in several of their most popular car models. The possible outcome from these problems would result in the accelerator pedals getting trapped in the floor mats. In such models as Camry's, Prius's and other models of Lexus's, this potential risk has been all over the news recently and consumers have been waiting to see what Toyota is going to do about this. Although they did issue a consumer safety advisory to the public and they have mailed notices to the specific model owners, America would like to know what action they will take next.

Now Toyota Motor Sales has made a statement addressing what they will be doing to fix, and also prevent, this scary problem for the owners of their cars. In the statement they said they will be doing two things, fixing the shape of future accelerators and putting in a new version of floor mats in the next models. Along with these two alterations Toyota will also put in a brake override system in a couple of their future cars. They will also train their dealerships to be able to replace all the older models with the new safer floor mats for no cost to the owners.

They will be announcing other remedies in 2010 to further fix these problems. America has appreciated Toyota's speed with creating solutions to this dangerous situation and will be awaiting the other changes the company will state in the next year.

Good Step Towards Saving the Environment

Even though it is public knowledge that our environment is slowly deteriorating, this news is surprisingly not making a big enough impact on our society. If we want our Earth to survive, our experts need to put more money and time into exploring other avenues of making energy. The experts of Lockheed Martin and MIT understand what it means to take action in trying to make a difference. Lockheed Martin, a global security company, has announced their plans to invest $5 million dollars into the MIT programs which are dedicated to researching new energy processes.

According to this article, Lockheed Martin has agreed to finance and promote many projects for environmental and energy issues, over the next five years. With their donation they have become members of the MIT Energy Initiative which focuses on figuring out ways to alter our dependence on foreign oil.

Lockheed Martin is also educating it's customers on the importance of each person doing their part to help keep the environment healthy for the future generations. We need more companies and people like this to help inspire the whole world to take care of this planet.

Finding Love in the Air!

Making a profile on an internet dating site is the way of the past, the newest trend spreading through the country is finding love on an airplane flight headed to New Zealand. This new company, The Matchmaking Flight, partnered with Air New Zealand to create a flight in which a huge group of singles will attend parties, holiday festivities, and speed-dating events on an actual airplane. On October 13th, the passengers strapped in for a long flight, all hoping to meet that special someone as advertised.

Jason Mesnick, from The Bachelor's last season, and fiance Molly attracted clients by hosting and participating in the meet-and-greet attractions. The couple traveled on this flight to New Zealand, where the season finale of their show was filmed, once again as a tribute to their past and as a wonderful vacation.

Before customers filed onto the aircraft, the company provided their website as a semi online dating network for their future customers. People who purchased tickets could log on and create their own profile just like any other fully established dating site. This allowed the travelers to "start the search" earlier and get to know a few of the other passengers before being trapped in an airplane with them. I think this way of meeting people will attract many American's with it's ability to assist in the love department while also taking out the dull factor of over sea flights.

Global Warming Debate

United Nation's Climate Change Convention is meeting in Copenhagen to try and deter the sever impacts of global warming. World Leaders are calling this meeting to come up with ideas on how to reduce emissions and carbon footprints all over the world. This is a serious issue that is going to effect our future generations and needs action sooner rather than later.

YouTube has teamed up with this United Nations convention and has started a channel to broadcast approved videos about global warming. There will be a range of videos from educational, humorous, and ones that pose concerns and questions about the serious topic of Global Warming.

This video is an example of a contestant expressing his views on global warming through an educational lecture.

The top rated videos will be viewed by world leaders and they will come to a consensus on which two videos will be chosen for a live debate held on YouTube that everyone can view.

Vote for your favorite videos to see them in a live debate!