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/

Issue #3- Safe to Eat?

Summary: In more recent years there has been an increase in the number of food-borne illnesses. All of these cases have gotten the nation's attention and even the government is now worried. A bacteria that has caused many of the illnesses and deaths has been Escherichia coli (E. coli.) Just last year there was an incident that killed 3 people and made over 200 people sick. This case originated from a California farm. Many other outbreaks occurred that caused more people to become sick. There are many reasons for the sudden outbreaks but experts say the most likely reason is because Americans are trying to eat healthier which leads them to eating more fresh produce. Often times the produce is eaten raw unlike meat or fish which is cooked which usually kills harmful bacteria.) Another thing that America has started doing is going their produce locally, mainly in Arizona and California. One last reason that experts think is because processing and distributing the produce happens in large factors and numbers that when a bacteria gets in it affects more produce which will affect more people. As of right now safety standards are not very enforced and quite lenient. The fruit and vegetables are watched over right now by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and meat and poultry are very watched over by the Department of Agriculture. Many large groups have began developing their own standards to regain their costumers trust in their product. Consumers are starting to believe and argue that there should be just one agency that controls and regulates the safety of the U.S. food supply. The supporters of this idea believe that the agency could have mandatory guidelines for all the processes that go into our countries produce production. Supporters of a government run agency also believe that the FDA should be better funded. They believe that way there can be more jobs and be able to do more research on how to prevent such outbreaks of food-borne illnesses. People who do not believe there should be a government run agency that looks over the food industry and specifically produce believe that it will put many businesses at stake. Even though the sales went down of produce after many outbursts the industry was still able to recover. "Critics of the government regulation point out that the industry can respond faster and more effectively than any federal agency." Also pointed out is that if there were a government run agency the cost of producing produce would increase which would get passed along to the consumer who would have to pay more for their fruits and vegetables.

Opinion: I think that there should not be a government run agency that deals with mandating and controlling our produce. I do think that the rules should be much more enforced so that outbreaks like this do not happen as often as they are happening now. I feel that tax payers do not need to pay for something that we won't really get to hear about and see what kind of progress is happening. I also think that it is a good thing that Americans are trying to eat healthier and we should not be punished for that by having the prices of produce raised. Tom Mullen agrees with me in that there should not be a government run agency. He talks about how since the FDA has been created the drugs for foods aren't any safer and there really hasn't been much of a change in the way our produce has been handled and he believes it has not helped outbreaks and creating something like this or expanding the FDA would not be a benefit to Americans either.

Issue #1
Issue #2

1 in 10 kids in U.S. has ADHD, new study says

Summary: In recent years more and more kids have been diagnosed with ADHD. Some think that the actual percent of kids is not growing but because there are better screenings and awareness for it that may result in more cases being shown. It is said that almost 1 in 10 U.S. children have ADHD. ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and it results in kids having a hard time paying attention. This can be treated with drugs or therapy though. The children that are diagnosed 2/3rds of them are seeking medical attention. In recent studies it have been calculated that approximately 5.4 million kids have been diagnosed with ADHD which is 1 million up from the last calculation that was done. Researchers are not positive why such the increase but they are sure that many more parents are telling their kids they have ADHD. One thing that the researchers did was keep tract of who had ADHD and of those who had it last survey about half of them had a mild case.

Opinion: I feel that I have even noticed more awareness about ADHD and that it is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. i feel kids are more comfortable talking about it which could a reason why there seems to be such an increase in the amount of kids diagnosed. I think that it is good to have kids on medication just in case. Also I feel that parents are becoming much more acceptable and supportive towards this. I feel that the more and more research that is done and new tests that come out the more people will be able to learn from this. I feel surveys like this one should be done more often so they can be up to date and continue accurate research.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40113826/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/

15 buried alive, Costa Rica on storm "red alert"

Summary: Today in Costa Rica a hill that was soaked with rain collapsed and many homes killing at least 15 people and several dozen people are still missing. search parties have already gone out but only corpses have been found. The slide was due to an excessive amount of rain over the last couple of days. A river has already flooded and that sent 600 people to shelters alone, and this slide will not help any. Also a problem now is getting places. Many areas you can no longer drive because there are boulders piled 10 feet high. there has been attempts of making tunnels or moving the rocks but the workers have had to stop because of the fear of another land slide. To add to all these problems a dam broke in Parrita which is close to the Pacific coast. Along with a dam, many bridges have collapsed. Because of all these destruction's some 1,500 Costa Ricans are in shelters. The rain is said to continue into tomorrow.

Opinion: I think that this is an awful awful thing to happen to anybody and any country! I can't imagine what these people are going through and how much stress is being put on their life! Not only do they have to deal with everyday things but now having to worry about where they are going to sleep and what their next meal will be, I can't even imagine! I really hope that other countries can step in and give a helping hand. Hopefully  these rains will stop soon and that they can get this mess cleaned up as quickly as possible! I also hope that they can find as many people and not give up! I feel that if Costa Rica handles this well it could really bring them and surrounding countries together.