Andrew Reiff

National

Summary- Obama criticizes Bush, McCain on economy

Barack Hussein Obama criticized the Bush Administration on their assessment of the economy. Bush said today that the economy was not in a recession, but Obama claims that it is on the brink of one. He went on to say that it was the fault of the Bush economic plan and those that endorsed it, such as John McCain. This was the second day in a row that he went directly after John McCain, not even mentioning his competitor Hillary Clinton. Yesterday, Obama said that he would consider further military action in Iraq if al-Queda decided to have a base there, to which President Bush retorted, "Well, that's exactly what they've been trying to do for the past four years."

Opinion-

I remember the good old days, when a President looked at the brighter side of things in order to encourage the American people. It seems as though those days are over, as Barack Hussein Obama is painting a very bleak picture of America to contrast with Bush's. Well, only because it is politically beneficiary to do so... If he was in Bush's position, he would be painting a brighter picture as well, because if he did not, then everyone would accuse him of being defeatist or something. Obama wants to paint a bad picture of the country so everyone will think the present administration is doing a bad job. His policy at the moment is highlight the negative, hide the positve, then as soon as he gets into office, it reverses. Watch...

International

Summary -Canadian wins one million dollars in hockey contest

A Canadian sawmill worker won one million dollars overnight by scoring 15 goals within 24 seconds in a National Hockey League contest, local media said Thursday.
Darwin Head, 35, of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in western Canada, fired 15 out of 20 pucks from the far blue line at the Vancouver arena into an empty net during intermission before a sold out crowd of 18,630 and a national television audience for the Vancouver Canucks-Colorado Avalanche game. Head was chosen from 8.6 million entries to participate in the promotion.
He said he had practiced for two hours every night in his backyard in bone-chilling weather for the event. Head is only the second Canadian to win a million dollar sports skills contest.
In 2006, an Ontario native kicked a 50-yard field goal during halftime at a Canadian Football League game to win one million dollars. Head said he planned to use the money to pay off his house mortgage and save for his children's future. He also planned to keep his job at the sawmill, he said.

Opinion-

Wow this just proves that everyone in Canada is crazy about hockey. A sawmill worker?? You have got to be kidding me. It would be hard to make five goals in twenty seconds from that distance, which was like two thirds of the way down the hockey rink. Good for this guy, because he practiced for it. If he had not practiced, and just been chosen at random from the crowd or something, then I might have been mad... but I guess he earned it.

Summary- Israelis debate rocket defense

Israel is debating what system to use to best protect its people against the continuous rocket attacks from Gaza. They have approved over two hundred million dollars to install the system, and they have decided to build a system developed in Israel, called Iron Dome. Iron Dome uses interceptor rockets launched from many mobile launchers, and is very effective, except it takes fifteen seconds to dectect a missile and launch its interceptor. This would leave several Israeli border towns out of its protection area. The other system under advisment is Nautilus, a laser-based system that works nearly instantly and is cheap to fire, while Iron Dome costs 30-40,000 dollars per missle. The only problem is that Nautilus is still in the research phase, only a prototype has been built, which is in White Sands, NM. Also the system will not work in fog.

Opinion-

Well I am glad the Israelis have decided to protect themselves from rocket attacks. It is certainly needed. I don't know which system is better for the defense of the Israeli people, but I think I have to lean toward Iron Dome, because it can protect the entire country except for a few border towns. What Israel needs to do is create a buffer zone, where people from Gaza can't go, and where no Israelis live, so the crude rockets that Gaza launches have no effect. Then if Iran or Syria decide to launch real missiles, they will be ready. However if they choose Nautilus, what keeps Iran from launching a nuke while there is fog over Jerusalem? The defense of the entire country must take priority over a few border towns.