Mayor Signs Bill 54 Into Law

Mayor Carlisle signs bill 54 into law

        This article is about the mayor signing Bill 54 in to law. For those who do not know, Bill 54 allows the city to remove personal property left on sidewalks, in parks, or on other public property. The one point that I found very interesting in the article was “that the bill applies equally to everyone and does not target the homeless or any specific population”. The entire purpose of the bill seems to be aimed at homeless people. Most of the people that leave their belongings and property in public places are the mainly homeless people. Granted that there are some occasions where a homeless person is involved, but this bill is geared towards the homeless. I do agree that the bill will allow the city to clear paths that should be accessible for the public, but they are trying to cover up the fact that it is for the homeless people.

Here is the article for more information: http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/16231158/mayor-signs-abandoned-property-bill-into-law

Britain Suffering In European Financial Crisis

From the article that was from the New York Times, Britain is in a tough spot with the Europe financial crisis. The crisis is about the euro and Britain’s refusal of using it. Britain’s economic status is not very stable and if the euro depletes in value then Britain is going to be following shortly after. The main leader in the European Union is Germany with France being a very big supporter.

At this point Britain has a problem because the country is torn between being anti –Europe and still having a benefit to any financial improvements that Europe produces. When attending the meeting in Brussels about the euro, Prime Minister David Cameron made it clear that he was out to protect Britain’s national interest. This type of behavior from Britain has Germany and France very annoyed because they are trying to save the euro and to impose policies that will keep the southern economies out of hot water. “We are sick of you criticizing us and telling us what to do. You say you hate the euro and now you want to interfere in our meetings” said Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France.

Cameron’s political opposition uses this problem to point out the prime minister’s “power” in the meetings. “The problem for Britain is that at that most important European summit for a generation, that matters hugely for businesses up and down the country, the prime minister is simply left on the sidelines." said Ed Miliband, Leader of the Labour Party. 

For more information and quotation reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/world/europe/britain-suffers-as-a-bystander-to-europes-crisis.html?pagewanted=1&hp

A New Planet That Can Possibly Harbor Life

NASA’s Kepler space telescope has discovered its first alien world that is in the habitable zone.  The habitable zone is a zone where the distances are just the right range that could allow liquid water to exist. The new find by the telescope has made its total haul of 2,326 potential planets in the telescope’s first 16 months of operation.

The new planet is called Kepler-22b. The planet is located about 600 light-years away and orbits a star similar to the sun. Kepler-22b is 2.4 times bigger than Earth and has similar temperature as Earth.

To read more about the planet and the Kepler space telescope: http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-telescope-confirms-alien-planet-habitable-zone-162005358.html

"Occupy DC" protesters arrested

Police arrested “Occupy DC” protesters after the activists had set up a wooden building in McPherson Square. The police showed up and this prompted a 9 hour standoff. Once the police converged on the Square, some of the activists climbed up on the wooden structure and refused to come down. The police then brought a cherry picker to pull off the protesters on the structure.  The last protester on the building clung to the structure adamantly, holding off officers for about 30 minutes. After removing the last protester from the building, the police got a fork lift to tear down the structure. 

For more information on the event: http://news.yahoo.com/occupy-dc-protesters-arrested-standoff-035150675.html