FDA Wants More Proof

The FDA announced Monday that some anti-bacterial products suck at killing germs, so from now on, the products releasing their "germ killing" soaps must prove that their product really does kill germs. This doesn't apply to hand sanitizers or wipes because they don't require water to use them. They need proof on the soaps because they are used in medical facilities and food preparation areas. They tell us how to properly wash our hands with the FDA approved soaps.

"To properly wash your hands, use clean cold or warm water and apply soap to both hands before rubbing them together to create a lather. Scrub the entire hand, including between the fingers and the back of the hands, for at least 20 seconds, or until you’ve hummed the “Happy Birthday” song twice. Rinse thoroughly with water and dry completely.  "

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-proposes-harsher-regulations-on-antibacterial-soaps-hand-washes/

A Boy's Mental Illness: A Mother's Experience

Stephanie Escamilla, a mother of a boy named Daniel, videotaped her son talking to imaginary voices. He was shouting stuff like "Go away! Go away!" He suffers bipolar disorder and psychosis, and these voices tell him to kill his family. He has been hospitalized over 20 times in the past 4 years, so this has been happening since he was just 11 years old. The point of this post is, Stephanie feels like the minute a tragedy happens, they blame it on mental illness, and when it actually is a mental illness, they don't do anything to help these people.

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/12/health/mentally-ill-son/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Ariel Castro Commits Suicide

A kidnapper from Cleveland, OH, committed suicide in his prison cell by hanging himself. Apparently, as awkward as this is, he was in an act of autoerotic asphyxiation... a.k.a; choking himself for sexual pleasure. -.- This is just a great possibility though. According to consultants, his death was very unpredictable. Before all this, he was tried and pleaded guilty for holding 3 women hostage, and assaulting them and raping them multiple times. They were 14, 16, and 20, and he had abducted them off the streets. Castro told the judge he is a sex addict, and that he is "sick." They are currently investigating more.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/03/consultants-ariel-castro-death-suicide/3850515/

Emaciated Baby is Saved From Lazy Parents

A young baby boy was found starving almost to death because his parents would "rather smoke pot and drink alcohol" than take care of their child. The parents were sentenced 60 years in prison. The baby was found in the back of a trailer during a party by some random teenagers. He was covered in his own urine and vomit and was very emaciated. The teens told an adult to help and the child was rushed to the hospital. The doctors assumed the baby would not live, considering the parents were not properly feeding the baby for 2 months. The baby is now in a foster home and is a chubby baby, like all babies are supposed to be :)

http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/baby-found-starved-nearly-death-lazy-parents-video/#axzz2l9WRvf39

Aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan

There was a typhoon in the Philippines and the death toll is still rising. I'm not writing about the actual natural disaster that happened, I'm talking about the aftermath. So far, about 10,000 people are confirmed dead  in just one area. People are struggling to find resources, like food and water. That's the main concern. About 2000 people are missing in another area of the Philippines. C130 planes are on their way to supply Philippine residents with food, water, and supplies or their well being. A lot of the people are saying "WE NEED FOOD." Help is on the way, so keep these people in your thoughts. ~

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-typhoon-haiyan-philippines-20131111,0,4024250.story

http://www.voanews.com/content/food-water-are-top-concerns-for-philippines-survivors/1787683.html

Cash Cash Is Back! - Overtime EP

Cash Cash being interviewed by Fuse (source: Facebook.com/CashCash)

Cash Cash has made an electrifying comeback with their brand-new album, "Overtime (EP)" which was released at midnight on October 29th, 2013. After a complete shift in music genres, Sam Frisch, Jean Paul Makhlouf, and Alex Makhlouf are climbing up to the top once again, this time, with a new look. The trio has done remixes for artists and groups like Bruno Mars, Krewella, Capital Cities, and many others. You may have heard their lead single for the album, "Take Me Home (feat. Bebe Rexha)", possibly on the radio, and for the MTV promos during the VMAs. Cash Cash moved on to Big Beat Records, which has produced many of today's popular artists, like Skrillex, Icona Pop, 3oh!3, and etc., but as stated before, the group switched music genres completely. Is mainstream the way to go? Possibly. The band has obviously reached success by doing so. Check the album out! It's available on iTunes and through Big Beat Records.

Here is the lyric video for "Take Me Home (feat. Bebe Rexha)".

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/30/cash-cash-overtime-ep_n_4177853.html?1383150174&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

http://makhloufobsession.tumblr.com/ (my official tumblr blog for Cash Cash [which is my source for how I know my facts about the band.
])

(I also talked to Alexander Makhlouf the other day... yes, I know my sources when it comes to these guys.)

Starbucks Opens First Tea Bar

Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, is trying to help people watch their caffeine consumption, so the company bought from a mall-based tea retailer for 620 million dollars. Schultz expects to have about 1000 bars opened within the next couple years, all with a specific interior. Starbucks will start to add Teavana (the company who sold it to them) bars slowly, starting with about 300. Of course, they are planning to sell both hot and cold tea beverages, and sooner or later, they'll convert from just the U.S. to world wide. They will be sold as either tall or grande (in coffee terms, that means a 12 ounce or a 16 ounce, typically referring to the amount of espresso you want to taste in a latte for example.)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2013/10/23/starbucks-opens-its-first-tea-bar-as-ceo-schultz-bets-on-90-billion-market/

Obama Care and LGBT Rights

This is probably a really controversial subject to talk about, but we all know the LGBT community is becoming more and more acceptable here in America, like it or not. A man by the name of Jeff Jones was not able to have affordable health care because he was not able to legally marry his partner, because same sex marriage is not legal in Kentucky, where he is from. His partner, Nathan Walker, and himself have not lived together long enough to be approved for the health care. Jeff Jones is diabetic, so he really wants to know he's covered with affordable health care. Statistics show that the LGBT community has less experience with insurance and health care rather than the general population. Recently, in honor of National Coming Out Day, which was last Friday (October 11th), Kellan Baker released a LGBT friendly website to figure out insurance marketing places.

Even if you do not support the LGBT community, they are people, and they have rights too, just like we do. It's like not giving affordable health care to someone because they have a different color of skin.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/11/health/obamacare-lgbt-push/?iref=obinsite

Alice Munro: 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature

Alice Munro, a Canadian author, won the 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature. She is currently 82 years old and they refer to her as the "master of contemporary short story." It's obviously a big thing that she won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Most of what she writes about is set in Ontario, Canada, where she grew up. Alice's books are published here in the United States. The Prime Minister of Canada congratulated Alice Munro on her win through a Tweet and she was quoted, saying the award was a "surprise" but it was "quite wonderful." It is such a huge honor to win such an amazing award, and I feel happy for her! What are your thoughts on her win? Do you think she deserves this prize?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/10/living/nobel-prize-literature/index.html

The Pandas Though...

The Government Shutdown is effecting us in many ways. They shut off the Panda Cam... I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING: "Oh no it's just the Panda Cam, no one cares." Yes, we can look somewhere else, but I'm still really upset. This isn't the only thing the shut down has shut off. They turned off their @AsteroidWatch Twitter account, also known as NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. I also read about goats that won't be monitored by the people responsible for the shut down. So why is this such a big deal? Because it's their job to watch these simple things to keep us safe. The good news out of this, the pandas are being taken care of, and no one will die from asteroids hitting Earth because astronomers are watching out for us. There will probably be people freaking out, but I don't know, they do what they gotta do.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/01/us/shutdown-other-effects/index.html?hpt=us_c1

Zac Efron OD's on Heroin: Why?...

Today, a report came in about Zac Efron about his collapse earlier this year. Zac Efron had overdosed on heroin and a few other drugs. The reason that I think this topic is slightly important, is why do people do these things to themselves? Is it pressure? Zac Efron turned from a teenage heart throb to a mess. Zac isn't the only celebrity to go through drug problems. "Glee" star, Cory Monteith had died from a heroin and alcohol overdose, and recently, someone I knew personally died from the same thing Cory Monteith died from. People know it's deadly, yet they treat it like it's candy. People start it so young, that they become dependent on it. It's sad, and I think that people should be more aware on these drugs. Adults just tell us not to do drugs, but what do we know about them? It's scary to think that anyone of us could become addicted to such drugs. Do you think we should be more informed on different types of drugs, or keep leaving it as it is?

http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2013/09/zac-efron-collapsed-hillbilly-heroin-overdose-allegedly-oxycodone/

Cyberbullying: Going Too Far To Stop it?

In Southern California, a school district, Glendale Unified School District, is spending over $40,000 on monitoring the student's social media usage on the internet. Students were being reported for posting suicidal thoughts, bullying, and etc. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more will be monitored at the school. I think that it isn't fair for the school to have to take action. They aren't the people who are responsible for the children's behavior on the internet. Parents and guardians are the ones who should teach their children right from wrong on the internet. A lot of these kids getting into this trouble range from the ages of 12 to 15. Do you think students should be monitored, even when the school isn't responsible for their behavior? Do the students even have enough self control?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/09/16/223185991/why-spying-on-our-kids-to-solve-cyberbullying-might-not-work

Apple Releasing 6in. iPhone

Apple is known for releasing new products quite often, and this time in the near future, they're planning to release an iPhone measuring to be 6 inches long. The model is called the iPhone 5S. Is this a necessary length, or is it a little bit over the top? The creators are planning to unveil the new iPhone September 10th. Personally, I don't think it's necessary to have such a large phone. I remember when the first iphone was half that size. I'm not sure what they're trying to get at with this new iPhone, but if it gets any bigger... I'm not sure how people will get away with sneaking them around during class, or better yet, carry them in their pockets.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57601591-37/apple-testing-6-inch-iphone-models-new-report-claims/

Internet Censorship in China

The internet is a big place to find information throughout the world. Unfortunately, China does not have access to all parts of the internet. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace, are not accessable in China because of personal information being leaked out. Names, numbers, addresses, and etc. are very risky things to get out to the public. Communication is a little bit more difficult through the web, but apps like Skype is still available there. Due to a cyber attack in late August, the Chinese government took immediate action and are making sure another attack to their second "Great Wall" does not happen again or at least any time soon.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/08/26/technology/china-cyberattacks/
http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=af05c81b-7152-4580-ba01-2e804bdb2de1
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/asia/AJ201308300057