Ben Thieroff

National #1

Summary-- Gas has hit five dollars in some places in California today. In Santa Cruz the average price for gas was $3.37. In Salinas the AAA (American Automotive Association) recorded a $3.39 average. Up near Big Sur gas was reported to be at Five dollars a gallon. All of this is in response to the increase in crude oil prices, which are at an all time high of $98 a barrel.

Opinion -- The world is going to end right here and now. Well I will say that this may be a blessing in disguise thought. With the sudden increase of petroleum products the increase for ethanol and biodiesel may climb also. But honestly let’s go drill in Alaska; leave all these Arabs with all their oil. If they have no market for it than what good is it?

International #1

Summary-- There was a helicopter crash in Italy today. The helicopter a U.S H-60 Black Hawk was carrying 11 military personnel when it went down. The crash was just 22 miles form its home base in Aviano, Italy. 4 people were killed in the crash, one a woman. One of those evacuated from the crash succumbed to their wounds earlier today.

Opinion – This really sucks. Investigators still don’t know why the aircraft crashed. It’s just an inherent risk of aviation. You might crash today, but probably you won’t. No names were released as of yet. This is a bad enough tragedy for it to happen in combat, but on a peace-time mission, that’s even worse.

National # 2

Summary—There is a church in Las Vegas that is putting up billboards to advertise for the new sermon series about the biblical perspective on sex. The pastor in charge believes that we cannot just be ignoring the fact, especially not in the city of Las Vegas.

Opinion—Good of this church. I think that churches are too embarrassed about this kind of thing, like there’d some stereotype that they have to stay true to. I think this might be a kind of step forward for churches. You don’t have to be all backward and old school all the time. Welcome to 2007 guys.


International #2

Summary-- A Boeing 737 was forced to land on Wednesday after an engine malfunction. This was not a faulty wire or fuel line but the engine just plain came off. All 100 passengers were not injured. A woman seated over the wing saw the whole thing happen. After the loss the plane just continued to climb out and turned around and landed safely in Johannesburg.

Opinion-- This was a major problem one time ago. There is a pin that holds the engine on its clip and if this pin fails than the engine rips itself off of its mounts. Modern airplanes are designed to climb, cruise, maneuver, and land on only one engine. With only 2 engines on a 737 this is a necessity. These people had better be thanking the Engineers at Boeing, and the stringent aircraft safety laws here in the U.S.