Tyler Adair

National: Dan Rather Back In The News

Summary- Former CBS Anchor Dan Rather is suing CBS for using him as a scapegoat. He asking for 70 millions dollars, 20 million in compensatory damages, and 50 million in punitive damages. CBS and Dan Rather came under fire after a report which aired trying to discredit President Bush’s National Guard duties. The report came almost entirely from a commander over seeing Bush at the time, and some documents he presented. The documents were later found to be fraudulent and the commander was discredited by an investigation, but Rather and CBS stuck by the story until an independent investigation was released. The investigation revealed that CBS, Rather, and some producers “jumped the gun” on the story before finding out if the facts were correct, then even after finding the information was incorrect, still pushed the story. After the incident CBS news fell far away from NBC and ABC in the rating and Rather stepped down.

Opinion- I believe, if your going to report something to millions of people around the nation and world you better make sure your facts are straight. That’s with every story, but this one should have been checked even more because of the content of trying to discredit probably the most powerful man in the world. Dan Rather throughout the years was shadowed by people angry at his liberal bias in his reporting, and this story took it to far. He was more excited about slandering Bush’s name, then he was about reporting news. I say boot him off and don’t give him a penny!



National:

73,000 UAW members went on strike on Monday at 11:00. The United Auto Workers launched a strike because, even after being nine days late, union contacts had not been signed. One of the main issues holding back an agreement is the push to have 51 billion dollars in healthcare placed into union trust funds. 59 U.S. plants and facilities are idle as of Monday at noon. Anaylists say a prolonged strike could potentially hamper efforts to see American automakers turn a profit this year, but GM should be able to handle a short term strike.

I believe that strikes are a good thing in these terms. The workers are displaying their disappointment with their employer, which is protected under the first amendment. I believe it could also be a stupid idea, if the strike lasts to long, but there contract was supposed to be renewed 9 days ago, and if there is no sign that the contract is going to be renewed shortly I don’t blame them for striking.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/24/news/companies/gm_uaw_strikedeadline/index.htm?cnn=yes



INTERNATIONAL

High amounts of rain fall have caused high river levels and mud slides in Mexico this fall. And on Sunday, a deadly mix of the two caused atleast 16 people to go missing. After a mudslide fell in a large river near San Juan Grijalva Sunday evening, the already over flowing rivers submerged a village. Relatives tell the story of how they saw there families affected by the flood; one man working on a nearby mountain said he saw the crash into a home of family members where he guessed atleast 9 people would be in, another man working far away from the mudslide, said he saw his grandmother get picked up by the wave, he rushed down and came to her aid after she had been carried nearly 600 feet by the water. Gov. Juan Sabines called the combination of the mud slide and overflowing water a “mini-tsunami.” The U.S. is sending 300,000 dollars in aid.

This is horrible situation down in Mexico and I would be pretty scared if I was one of the tens of thousands of people who are still awaiting aid. I’m still not sure how I feel about the $300,000 we’re sending down there, I think maybe paying for all of the illegal Mexican citizens who are using our hospitals for free, might be enough aid for Mexico. I understand trying to help out the international community (actually I don’t really understand it) but we’re in enough of a budget crunch right now.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/11/06/mexico.floods.ap/index.html#cnnSTCText



International:

Last Thursday a cyclone swept through Bangladesh like a storm of “hundreds of demons.” 10,000 men women and children are expected to be killed because of the massive storm. And 800,000 are currently left homeless. One man tells of being separated from his wife and two children during the frantic rush to a shelter during the storm, and after the storming finding all of them dead. The government of Bangladesh promised “we will help you the best we can.” U.N. Secretary General said there would be many millions of dollars available to the storm struck nation. An American military medical ship is already giving treatment to people in Bangladesh.

This is a horrible situation. I think it’s another example of how awesome, scary, and powerful nature is. From the sounds of it there are a lot of nations helping out the Bangladesh people, but with 800,000 people displaced it is going to take a lot to get the nation back inorder. The Tsunami which swept through the Indian Ocean killed 2 people in Bangladesh, but killed over 200,000. Lucky that’s not the number in this case, but this is still horrible for the family of those 10,000 people.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312138,00.html