Discovery set to launch next week for space station

The space shuttle was arranged to take off Tuesday August 25th at 1:36 a.m. to the international space station for a mission. Seven astronauts were sent on a mission to bring equipment to the space station and to replace Timothy Kopra, as mission specialist, with Nicole Stott, who is a flight engineer. An External Resistance Treadmill, also known as Colbert, will be brought up to the space station as well. It was given to the space station by Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's " The Colbert Report" so the astronauts can receive some kind of excercise while in space.

This will be the 30th shuttle mission and the Discovery's 37th mission to the space station.

While in space, astronauts Danny Olivas and Christer Fuglesang will prepare for their moon walk by camping out in the Quest airlock. The Quest airlock gets the astronauts ready by "swapping ammonia tanks that helps keep the station cool" for them. A space walk plan was reviewed by fellow astronauts and they got together their spacesuits and tools they need for the mission.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/08/19/shuttle.launch.advance/index.html?iref=mps...

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

It would be so amazing to go to the space station and witness how incredible it must be to see the earth and walk on the moon. The astronauts that go on these missions have had the chance of a lifetime to be able to be a part of something so incredible. If I was given the chance to go on the space shuttle, I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Dogs in fatal attack rounded up, euthanized

In Lexington, Georgia, an older couple were attacked and killed by a group of dogs that lived in their area. Eleven grown dogs and five puppies were euthanized because of the killings of the Georgia couple. The dogs lived on an abandoned property down the road from where Lothar Schwedar and his wife Sherry lived. The owner of the dogs left because he was having health and money problems, but would go out to feed the dogs frequently.

Sherry Schwedar went for her morning walk on Saturday but met up with the dogs down the road at which point they jumped on her to knock her down and killed her. When she didn't return home, her husband went out looking for her. He found her laying in the middle of the road and got out of his car, trying to get the dogs away from her. The dogs jumped on him also to knock him down and they killed him as well.

Investigators believe that eye contact with the animals might have triggered them to attack her and act in such a way. They say that the animal might have felt threatened from the eye contact. The dogs were not big dogs that you would think couldn't do the amount of harm that was done, but there were a lot of them at once going at them.

All of the dogs were rounded up and were euthanized in about an hour and a half and then were cremated. The dogs were said to be maggot infested, which meant they were not well taken care of.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/19/georgia.dog.attack/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

For this to happen to them in such a way is terrible to think about. The dogs should never have been left alone at the house. The owner should have put them in an animal shelter instead of leaving them to roam around. If that was the case, this couple would still be alive today. I'm just curious to know why the animals acted like that? What made them react that way towards the couple at two seperate times?

Michael Jackson hoax was 'experiment,' broadcaster says

Michael Jackson's death on June 25, 2009, has sparked a lot of controversy. Many people believe he is living elsewhere. YouTube hosts a video contributed by the user "michaeljacksonhoax" that contains footage which makes it seem as if Michael Jackson was alive. More than 880,000 people have clicked on the link to view the video only to find out it was nothing more than a clever hoax.

If you look closely, it does look like MJ, but then again theres no significant evidence to prove that it is him. I think Michael Jackson has had more than enough time in the spotlight. If he is alive, it's probably because he wanted to get away from all the critisism. He went through a lot as a kid and left him with scars for life. If he has passed away, then let him rest in peace. If he is alive, I think people should leave him alone and just think about the things he has been through. MJ came a long way from where he used to be, and I think he deservers some credit for that.

Click here to view the video directly on YouTube.

Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/31/michael.jackson.hoax/index.html

John schools' try to change attitudes about paid sex

Prostitution has been a big issue for quite some time now. Now there is an institution called John Schools which are for men who get caught hiring prostitutes. The majority of the people attending were average people who have never committed a crime in the past. The main idea of this program is pretty much based on supply and demand. If men don't buy sex, then women will stop selling it. For the most part they believe it will work out. There are some women who actually support prostitution and they are a part of an organization which tries to have it legalized. It was denied in the court room very quickly without a chance of it ever been legalized. Some people also believe sending men to John Schools is a mere slap on the wrist, and they believe it may lead to business. I believe this program will be a success, but I think that also they should be punished for longer than the current sentence. Maybe sitting in the jail sell will get them to start thinking about what they did and how it affected their loved ones.

Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/27/tennessee.john.school/index.html

CIA memo details procedures for breaking detainees

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was named a special prosecutor to probe Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) prisoner abuse cases on Monday. His discussion came after the justice departments watch dogs recommended prosecution for CIA employees and other contractors that were involved in the interrogations of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The claim is that persons involved went beyond their approved limits while interrogating. According to the agencies memo the techniques use by the CIA consisted of sleep deprivation, insult slaps, dousing with water, strapping them to walls, and slamming the detainee's head against a wall(http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090826/pl_nm/us_usa_cia_interrogations)
While these where effective ways to gather information these people are still under fire, most just doing as they were told. I think this is unfair. We are supposed to be the good guys. Nobody should be penalized for doing their job they were hired to do then prosecute them for being too good at it. Have this justice Department forgot that these detainees are the same terrorist we are shooting and bombing those detainees should be happy to even be alive. If these detainees just gave up what they knew there wouldn’t even be a need for any of those harsh techniques. This CIA employee’s where doing their job so we can be safe.
Emil Gilbert