Kidney-swap sisters releasd from jail

Summary: Earlier today in Pearl, Mississippi two sisters who have been in jail for 16 years for an armed robbery were released. They were released only because one needed to donate a kidney to the other. The sisters (Jamie and Gladys Scott) waved and yelled "we're free" and "God bless y'all" to reporters once they had left the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. Now that the sisters are out they plan to move to Florida with their mother and grown children. Jamie is on dialysis which is costing the state about $200,000 a year. The Governor of Mississippi Haley Barbour agreed they could be released from prison only under the condition that Gladys donate the kidney within one year. The idea was Gladys for petition for early release. The sisters want a good meal and want to shop. While in prison they did probably not see much of each other so their releases will be a reunion with family and also with each other. The Scott's robbery was in 1994 and the net amount have ranged from $11 to $200. The kidney transplant details are still under way and they still have to be tested to see if they are even compatible.

Opinion: I think that is great that a sister is will to give her kidney away to her sister! I definitely think the one with the medical problems should be released because she needs attention and that is costing the state a lot of money that could be put towards something else. One thing that I am not in full agreement with is how long they have been in jail for. Their burglary was probably around $100 dollars and i don't feel people should stay in jail for 16 years and cost the state so much money when they committed a not very bad crime. I think I will stay followed up on this story to see if she can actually get the transplant done in a year because what would they do if they released the sisters and then the transplant never happened? hopefully the sisters have learned their lessons and will be thankful they are out.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40963267/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Mexican teen dies after Arizona border incident

Summary: Earlier today in Nogales Arizona a young Mexican teenager was throwing rocks at Border Patrol agents. Rames Barron Torres was just 17 years old. The reason for his death is still up in the air. There have been different disputes about whether the boy fell off of a fence and hit his head on a rock or if he was shot down by one of the U.S. border agents. There have been many questions asked about how Rames was killed and an FBI spokesman declined to release any information on the investigation.Some information that was released was that there was warning shots fired once the boys crossed the border. Once at the hospital Torres' three companions left him around 3 a.m. Before his friends left the hospital they told a hospital guard once again that Torres was shot and that he feel to the ground. There were many scrapes and bruises on the boy but an autopsy was done and it showed there was a bullet wound had gone through his right arm and chest causing a punctured lung. The punctured lung was the cause of Rames Torres' death.

Opinion: I don't think that anybody should have to suffer like that. The border patrols could have maybe chased after him if he tried  to run away. But i think that the patrols over reacted to much by shooting him and killing him. I know they had warning shots but they still should not have shot him. It is very sad to hear about these kind of things and listen to what our world has become. I think that we need to learn to get along better with our neighboring countries and not have such harsh punishment for coming over to the U.S. The U.S. needs to come up with a better way of keeping our border patroled bcause clearly our method right now is not working if we are having to kill innocent people.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40935657/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Blockbuster plans to close 182 stores by April

Summary: Many companies are suffering and the video rental chain Blockbuster is no different. They have become bankrupt and plan to close 182 stores by April to try and get back into the swing of things. The company will do this in chunks though. hey plan to close 72 by January 1st and the remaining 110 by April. Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in September, they are not the only rental chains struggling as Netflix and Redbox and really starting to take over video rentals. Blockbuster still has 2,900 stores in the U.S. and has already closed about 1,000. The company does not want to shut down as they are trying to renegotiate leases with many landlords. The company hopes to be out of bankruptcy around July. They are hoping with fewer stores the stores remaining will have higher profits. There are also new investors Carl Icahn and his crew who hope to help the company come out of bankruptcy and help them regain consumers.

Opinion: Many people believe that our economy is starting to turn around but with stories like this I can't help but believe it still  isn't ready to come around again. I do hope that Blockbuster is able to start up again though. And I will admit that I am definitely one who has started using Redbox. Redbox is only a dollar a night for a movie while movie stores are usually about 3 dollars for a new release. Also I know many people who use Netflix because it is only $10 a month and you can chose from just about any movie you can imagine. It is hard to compete with such good deals. I think that movie stores should really lower their price or start to extend the amount of nights you can have a movie (especially the new releases). Hopefully movie stores and Blockbuster will begin to realize what consumers are more attracted to and start to run their shops that way.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40753485/ns/business-retail/

Fancy Florida ATM skips the folding cash, spits out gold

Summary: In Boca Raton Florida there is a new type of ATM, a gold ATM. This small machine instead of spitting out cash spits out 24-carat gold bars and coins. The machine originated from Germany and is going to be installed at an upscale mall. Thomas Geissler is the inventor of Gold To Go machines and he says his purpose for these machines are to help the more serious investors who don't want to go into a pawn shop and buy gold, instead they can just receive it from this machine. Also he said they will  make good gifts. Instead of having jewelry, flowers or candy this gold will stay around for hundreds of years! The way the machine works is just like a ATM in that all you do is insert a credit or debit card and pick the weight and style of golf they want. The gold then comes out in a sealed wrap box. The machine carries about 320 different sized-bars and coins. The costs all vary and the machine reflects the market so the prices change. One thing that people forget about is the size of the golf that an ounce is only a little larger than a quarter and a gram is only about the size of a fingernail. Because of the price there are security guard and live cameras around the ATM. The ATMs are becoming more and more popular and soon investors are saying there needs to be one in Las Vegas. "Gold always comes back to its real value, it's not diamonds, it's not silver, it's not real estate. It's just gold." Geissler said. A few select people believe it may become currency so the want to install about 40 more machines in hotels and malls around the U.S.

Opinion: I am still a little confused on the whole idea behind such an ATM. I feel that gold will not become a currency of the U.S. I think that it is a good idea for serious investors who do not want to have to go and deal with pawn shops. I don't think that it is a very good idea to give these as gifts because I do not know what they would use it on. Also I feel that these would not be very practical because who wants to carry around a bunch of gold in their pocket. Also there are not very many of them in the world so they would be very hard to get to. I want to know if people will actually use these and how safe and practical they are. I would also like to follow up on this to see if these actually take off or if they will just crash.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40716205/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/

Man dies after punch from Burger King worker, police say

Summary: On Thursday in Detroit a Burger King employee punched an older man who was a costumer and he ended up dying. The 20-year-old worker punched the 67-year-old man, the man fell and emergency rushed him to the hospital where he later died that night. The police are still not sure what caused the death but it have been from choking on his dentures, an autopsy will soon take place. The names of the people have not been released but the worker is in custody and could face criminal charges. Some of Detroit laws make it very likely that he will be charged with some type of criminal charge. It did not seem that the two were fighting but Burger King does accept the incident and the owner is dealing with the police.

Opinion: First off I never think that it would be okay to ever hit an elderly person no matter what. most of the time they have medical problems or are very fragile. I think that burger King should at the least fire that employee and that employee should face some types of charges because he was the one who caused the fall which lead to his death so I feel that he is the one responsible for the man's death. I would like to follow up on this report because if nothing happens to the employee i feel that would not be fair to the mans friends and family at all. But I do feel strongly that no matter what you should never punch or hurt anybody but especially older people because they really have no way of sticking up for themselves.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40604515/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Snowman with noose appalls home's neighbors

Summary: Last week a man from Hayden, Idaho had visits from the police and many complaints from his neighbors regarding a snowman that was shaped like a member from the Ku Klux Klan. The county sheriff said it could be possible that Mark Eliseuson could be charged with crime because the snowman looked as if he was holding a noose. Mark could have been charged with creating a public nuisance because the states defines it as "anything offensive to the senses." Once he found out he was maybe going to be charged he knocked down the snowman and told others he didn't feel there was anything wrong with it. But clearly other people did. People are concerned because children are wondering why that snowman looks different and why it looks like that. This is not Marks first warning  though, one Halloween he passed out bullets casings once he supposedly ran out of candy.

Opinion: Personally I feel like this guy is crazy. I know that as Americans we have our own freedom of speech but I think that is taking it too far. Obviously the KKK was abolished for a reason and there have been war and fights over racial tension that still go on today. I don't think that he even should have made the snowman and just kept his feeling to himself in the first place because if he knew better he would have known that people would get upset. I feel that in a way he could have just been doing this for attention but I guess nobody will really know. I strongly feel that this was not an okay thing to do especially in a neighborhood with families and you children at home.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40480194/ns/us_news-life/

Save money during holidays; get a rebate for programmable thermostat

Summary: With winter approaching quickly and heat being turned on there could not be a better time for these new rebates on programmable thermostats. But action must be done by November 30th. Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) is a Minnesota based group and has made it much easier for people to get the thermostats and recieve rebates. Along with CERTs, Honeywell is also very excitd to offer people such great deals! They say they will provide great comfort, save engery and lower energy bills. Many utilities are also offering rebates that can be found around the state. Honeywell rebates are around $10. What programmable thermostats are is they allow you to pre-set your home's heating and cooling system on the schedule you want. Many changes can be made during the summer and winter months. For families that have switched over to programmable thermostats many have saved up to $200 annualy.

Opinion: I think that programmable thermostats are a very good idea. I know that we have them in my house and that they have worked very well for us. I know that a nice feature about them is that you can determine when you want certain temperatures, for example if you like to sleep at a cooler temperautre then you are able to set the temperature at night cooler then the rest of the day. I feel that now with the economy and the holidays coming up people should be trying to save money where they can. This is an easy way to save money and will benefit people in the long run. I feel that these would be good investors for most people.

http://www.echopress.com/event/article/id/80021/group/News/