Day paid da cost but BIG JAM MASTA JON is still da boss 4 life ya dig

International- The North Pole in Russia?

Summary: The Natural Resources Ministry releases a statement saying soil samples taken from the sea floor show Russia is linked to the Lomonosov Ridge, which extends well under the Arctic Ocean. If Russian claims are true, a large part of the Arctic would be Russian territory, going against international agreements which state a countries territory extends 200 miles from that countries territory but leaves leaves most of the Arctic in international waters. Russia has aggravated other countries bordering the Arctic going as far as to plant a Russian flag 4,000m below the surface of the Arctic Ocean. Denmark has responding by sending an expedition to refute Russian claims, the U.S. has also sent a scientific expedition to the region, Canada has issued the greatest response stating it will increase the size of it's ice breaker fleet and build two new arctic military bases. The scramble for the Arctic comes amid growing concerns about the worlds ability to meet current energy demands, and it is believed the Arctic may hold huge amounts of natural gas and oil. The territory claimed by Russia is believed to hold as much as 10,000 billion tons of conventional fuel and would increase Russia's seabed by over 463,000 square miles.

Opinion: Russia's claims are no surprise, as proven natural fuel reserves dwindle it has created a scramble to claim isolated regions of the globe whose resources have not yet been exploited. Russia owes it's resurgence to it's huge natural fuel reserves and no doubt believes that it is paramount to it's own security to discover greater reserves which it believes lay in the Arctic. However Russia is not the only country to have interests in the Arctic and its clams could lead to an Arctic land grab. It is not unimaginable to think someday soon the entire Arctic will be claimed by countries in pursuit of it's resources.

National: 89.6 million Americans lacked health insurance in 2006

Summary: Last month the U.S. Census Bureau reported 47 million Americans went without insurance all of last year. Using this data the nonprofit Families USA group calculated 89.6 million Americans went without health insurance for some period of time during 2006 and 2007. The study also found most of the people who lacked health care were middle class and employed. As the states and federal government cut money from Medicaid, and programs to insure the poor and children, fewer employers are offering benefits leaving a huge proportion of Americans uninsured.

Opinion: It speaks volumes when the most industrialized and advanced nation in the history of the world can not take care of it's own people. I am not going to get into the debate over what kind of healthcare system our country needs. I only want to point out that it is a tragedy when 1/3 of this nations population under the age of 65 lacked insurance for a period of time during the last year. Life is only going to get harder for the middle and lower classes and if the current trend is any indication things will get worse before they get better. I do not believe health care reform will happen for some time, and in the mean time we are left wondering how many people will die, how many will "fall through the cracks", before our country realizes that we can not wait any longer.

International: Blackwater USA in Hot Water

Summary: After a shootout in BaghdadSunday involving Blackwater USA which allegedly killed 20 civilians the Iraqi government has banned the company from operating within the country and are launching a full investigation into the mater. However the firm has already begun to operate convoys of diplomats. "We will never allow Iraqi citizens to be killed in cold blood by this company which doesn't care about the lives of Iraqis," PM al-Maliki said. Blackwater USA is a private security firm contracted by the US State Department to protect its personnel inside Iraq. There are thousands of private security contractors inside of Iraq doing a multitude of jobs with little oversight into how they go about their activities. Blackwater USA has been accused of killing civilians before and no one from the company has been punished.

Opinion: The US government needs to take responsibility for all of the private contractors in the country. The war has been outsourced to an unprecedented extent involving over 100,000 privately controlled security personnel in the country. The actual number is unknown by both the US and Iraqi government. Blackwater USA is the largest of security companies and has received hundreds of millions of dollars from the USA government to protect State Department employees. The company even operates a fleet of Little Bird helicopters. The company has killed civilians in the past and investigations have found Blackwater USA guilty of excessive force, yet no one has ever been prosectuted. The Iraqi government needs to say enough is enough and have the guts to stand up for it's people, why else would it's people stand up for it.

National: Two students shot at Delaware State

Summary: Two students were shot and wounded, on seriously on the campus of Delaware State University around 1 a.m. Friday morning. The campus has been locked down and police have launched a regional manhunt to find the suspected shooter. So far there are few details as to why the shootings happened.

Opinion: This is only the latest in a string of campus shootings, I thank God that no one has died and this was not a massacre like at Virginia Tech. The US has a gun problem, there is almost one gun for every person in the US, I believer that is far to many guns. It is hard to say why this shooting happened but whatever the explanation it will not justify what happened.