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Slide # 5 The game in the Early Stage
It was invented in 1891 by a Canadian named James Naismith, he simply just put two baskets at the end of the gym in a 10 ft. ladder and described this way of playing as basketball. It was invented at a local YMCA gym in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Slide #8 Early Ball vs. Modern
The first ball for basketball consisted of lace, in order to play you would have to unlace and then lace back up again until the pressure inside the ball would be just right for the game.

Slide #10 Associations and their Criterias
FIBA: The International Basketball Federation, the ball had to be a size 7 have the name of the manufacturer and have a serial number.
NCAA: The National Collegiate Athletic Association, the ball has to be around a circumference of 29.5 and 30 inches and it must weigh 18-20 pounds. The official ball is the Wilson SOLUTION.
NBA: The most recognized among us is the National Basketball Association. Their criteria was that the ball must be manufactured by Spalding.

Slide #12 Associations Game Durations
Rule FIBA NBA NCAA
Game Duration Four, 10 min. Periods Four, 12 min. Periods Two, 20 min. Periods
Overtime Duration 5 Min. 5 Min. 5 Min.
Duration of Periods 2 minutes 130 s.(2 min. 10 s) Not applicable
Half-time length 15 minutes 15 minutes 15 minutes
Shot Clock 24 s. 24 s. 35 s.
Backcourt Violation 8 seconds 8 seconds 10 seconds
Foul limits 5 6 5


Slide #14 Structure and Position
1. Point Guard: the fastest player and usually the
Smartest he/her organizes the team and what
Happens on the field.
2. Shooting Guard: takes multiple shots on teams
Offensive.
3. Small forward: Usually makes
Points by penetrating into
Opponents defense.
4. Power forward: Plays offensively
And defensively.
5. Center: Size and Height to score
And get rebounds.


Slide # 15 Zone Defenses
There are many zones that have evolved to use both defensively and offensively. Zones like the 2-3, 3-2, and 2-1-2 Zones can make a defensive game into an offensive game within less than a second.
The most popular play in use of offense and defense is the man to man defense it creates an emotional effect and a well organized part of the game.

Slide #16 Events
 In the United States(locally) there are a lot of events:
All-Star game
Hoop It up 3 on 3
The Olympics although not played here every four years.
Dallas Mavericks Hoop Camp
SMU Basketball Summer Camp

Slide #17 Fundamentals
 Shooting: the act of aiming at the goal most likely with the concept of making it
 Rebounding: act of getting the ball back after it has been shot
 Stealing: act of taking the ball away from your opponent at any given time.
 Blocking: the act of not letting the opponent get away.
 Passing: act of creating a play and organizing the game.
 Dribbling: act of moving around the field. .

Slide #18 variations Upon the game
 These are activities in which we all have played once in our life time.
 Games such as:
• H-O-R-S-E
• 21
• 42
• Around the World
• Knockout
• Tip it
• Tips
• Basketball War and the list goes on and on…..
Slide #20 Modern Day Basketball
 Today the game is not only played with skills but also with fashion. It seems as most trainers try to get the best quality in their uniforms. Nowadays
there is 32 teams separated
into the West and East
Conference which contain
16 teams.

Slide #21 Pegs in Basketball
 Social: Cultural diversity gets united(North Americans, South Americans, Asian, European, Africans, and others) get together no matter their skin color or their language to watch a game of basketball. The Olympics play a major part in basketball as well.
 Political: the first basketball stamp is issued In the Philippines, as well as people Nations get united it creates a huge phenomenon specially when the Olympics arrive.
Slide #23 What I learned
 Why is basketball so perfect and what makes the game so abstract and passionate?
Perfect in many ways: it creates diffusion against culture, peace acts towards racism and discrimination and the game is so unique that is fun to play. Basketball is passionate anything can happen in the game, and is a matter of seconds in which a game can turn from victorious to disastrous. Basketball is the holding together of America and the culture diffusion that takes place in an everyday life that makes Basketball a sport of major importance.

Slide #24 What this means to us
 Knowing thoroughly pieces of the history of basketball we have concluded that it will be easier to watch a game of basketball. We know the fundamentals and the structure of the players which definitely give us a better understanding of how the game is played. I would also like to know if there is a very first video clip of the first game in the Basketball history. I would put videos descriptions and more illustrations to create a better understanding of the topic.
Slide #25 Awards
James Naismith had won many awards
such as:
o Nashville Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1951.
o FIBA Hall of Fame
o Won multiple Wick steed medals for outstanding gymnastics performances
o Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame
o Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame
o Canadian Sports Hall of Fame
o The Ontario Sports “Legends Hall of Fame”
o The Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame
o University Sports Hall of Fame
o Kansas State
o Sports Hall of Fame

4 "summary" Newspaper/magazine ''Navy Seal killed in Afghan honored ''

I think that this is a real big honor for someone that has gave their life up for this country. Is not easy being up there and knowing that at any second you can lose your life. The security and emotion towards losing your life is just indescribable. It is a real honor to name a street after a fallen soldier and im sure that he is greatful. Although the war is insignificant until this moment we should just be thankful that we still have a life and that we are lucky to not be put in the situation that this guy was put in. The Navy and the united States Of america did something really honorable for this navy man.

4 Newspaper/magazine ''Navy Seal killed in Afghan honored ''

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (WSVN) -- A special honor was held for a South Florida Navy Seal killed in Afghanistan to ensure he will forever be remembered.
It was a bittersweet unveiling of a street which, from now on, will be known as Louis Maxwell Jr. Street. It was named after a man described as a hero, who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Louis' family and friends gathered for the street dedication ceremony Monday. "It really makes us very proud because that means he's not forgotten. He paid the ultimate price, he sacrificed his own life in order to save others," Louis' mother, Sandra Maxwell said.
The stretch between Northwest 37th Avenue, from 199th to 215th Street will, from now on, bear his name. Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson said, "For the City of Miami Gardens, it is indeed an honor for me to bring greetings from the City, where we are most honored to be able to say, geographically, this street is in the City of Miami Gardens."
An ex-Navy seal, the 27-year-old was a protection officer for the United Nations when he was killed in Afghanistan, after Taliban militants stormed the guest house he was guarding in November 2009. "He died because his father and I instilled in him that you do your best and then some to make sure you're fulfilling your obligations," Maxwell's mother said.
At the ceremony, Louis Maxwell Sr. said, "To my son, I'm very proud of you. You did good."
Maxwell will always live in the hearts of his family and loved ones. They said they are truly happy and grateful that, from now on, anybody who drives on this street, will get a chance to remember the hero he was.

3 "Summary" Newspaper/Magazine "18 year old for Shreveport Mayor"

I think is a bit too rethorical to let this young man take a chance at being a cities mayor. It is big responsibilty and he is a soon the be senior? the kid is a Junior. I mean the young man probably has no clue of what he is doing he is not too mature yet and there needs to be a tough guy that can run a whole population not a kid that still doesn't even finish high school. Shreveport is a major city and for him to take charge would be an eyes turnaround. Not wishing him anything bad but just stating that i believe he is still too young and that he needs more time for him to toughen up and become better at what he is about to do. If he makes it to become major than way to go but my opinion is still for him to get more time he does need it.

3 Newspaper/Magazine "18 year old for Shreveport Mayor"

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) – The race to become mayor of Shreveport is about to get a whole lot more interesting. An expected third mayoral hopeful is expected to 'throw his hat into the ring' later this week. And, he's already raising some eyebrows.
His name is Parker Ward. He is a soon-to-be high school senior and a former Elvis impersonator. And this 18-year old Libertarian has one message for anyone who chooses to take him lightly in the race for Shreveport mayor: Watch out.
"This is an actual Elvis scarf that he wore across his neck," pointed Parker Ward inside his home in southwest Shreveport. Ask Ward about his two favorite subjects, Jesus and Elvis, and he'll tell you everything he knows about both.
In fact, his love and fascination with Elvis led to a 13 year run, from the ages of 3-to-16 as an Elvis impersonator, performing mostly at birthday parties and festivals. "That's what's given me my skill to be able to talk with people," credited Ward.
He lives with his aunt, Tammie Wilhelm, who won't soon forget her first reaction to Ward's intended run for Shreveport mayor. "I mean I thought he was actually crazy. I did. I honestly, I honestly did," revealed Wilhelm. She added, however, that feeling didn't last long. "Now I think, I think it's a good idea. I really do."
We wanted to know what some of his fellow classmates at Southwood High School thought of Ward's pending announcement. We caught up with fellow junior Jacorey Washington who told us, "Oh, Parker's a very good person," before Washington gave a thumbs up and smiled to our camera.
With no large war chest, Ward plans to run an internet-based, grassroots campaign. And Crescent Landing Catfish Restaurant in southwest Shreveport will be the place where it officially kicks off. That news conference is scheduled for this Thursday (5/27) at 5 p.m.
Restaurant owner Chester T. Kelley said he has no plans to endorse any of the candidates, choosing to stay neutral. But, Kelley did acknowledge Ward's loyalty to the end, as a campaign staffer, during Kelley's most-recent failed bid for congress.
Kelley continued, "I'm always intrigued how his sights are set so high at such a young age. But at the same time he has the enthusiasm certainly that you would want one to have for that position," said Kelley.
Ward's first big challenge: Getting a thousand signatures to get on the election ballot. Until then, he has time to polish up his Libertarian message. "It would be less government, less taxation and personal freedom," concluded Ward.
Besides Parker Ward, State Representative Roy Burrell announced his intention to run for mayor at a news conference Saturday afternoon. Shreveport Councilman Bryan Wooley was actually the first candidate to officially announce his intention to run.
Current mayor Cedric Glover is by all accounts expected to seek re-election. But, there's been no official announcement, yet. We'll keep you posted.

2 "Summary" Newspaper/Magazine "Over 100 and still Driving"

I think that this is real dangerous because there is alot of drivers out in the ral world and all these majority in age people are out in the roads like an innocent child out in a racing track. the elderly now are driving in such a slow pace as if they didn't know that the earth is revolving much faster and that time is passing much more quicker than it was back in their days. Is dangerous because all these teen drivers are speeding up and going over the limit while we have these elderly people out there going ten fifteen miles below the speed limit. They are already fragile so any little hit and they would result back in the hospital or even death. Young teens and the elderly people out in the streets just isn't a good match and is hard to understand in what way do these two age groups have any similarities.

2 Newspaper/Magazine "Over 100 and still Driving"

COATESVILLE, Pa. - May 24, 2010 (WPVI) -- She's about to turn 104-years-old, yet she lives alone and still drives!
She doesn't look like it.
"I'll be 104 in 2 weeks."
And she doesn't act like she's over 100-years-old.
"Many people my age and even younger aren't able to cope and do what I do."
Gladys Flamer lives on her own in Coatesville, Chester County and does everything for herself.
"I make my own decisions, and do my own business and everything."
The feisty senior is also the owner of a two-toned 1979 Cadillac Coupe Deville.
"I tell you I always wanted to drive one."
And while many of us would be concerned for a woman her age driving a car that big, Miss Gladys says she wouldn't have it any other way.
"Well I've always drove a bigger car, I've been driving since I was 15-years-old."
She took us on a ride through her hometown of Coatesville to show us what being more than a century old is all about.
"I go wherever I want, cities or wherever."
Though a lot has changed on the roads over the years, Miss Gladys always gets to where she's going - even if she has to put a few extra cushions on her seat to reach the pedal.
"A lot of them think they can drive better than me. Maybe they can. But I don't have any problems with accidents. The cops don't bother me, so I think I drive alright."
So what's her secret?
"A lot of it is mental, a lot of people give in to something and they wait for the graveyard. It's going to come anyhow whether you wait or not, so why wait for it. Keep on doing what you been doing."

1 ''Summary'' Newspaper/ Magazine article OIL SPILL

I think it was dumb for the people working at the place not being able to react with what happened. The oil spill was announced to come i mean the oil was not functioning out properly and less oil was being produced that has to tell you something! The people were just too lazy to inspection the tubes and the area to see what was going on. Now we humans are just polluting the ocean and our earth by a simple mistake that was pronounced to come very quickly. We are in bad economical substances to be letting that much oil get out of our power to a total disaster, and waste. The tube just needed a simple attachment that anyone could of do with a submarine but these people were too lazy and this is the outcome. Well things happen for a reason and this oil spill is not causing the US to get money is causing for us to loose the money.

1 Newspaper/ Magazine article OIL SPILL

Editor's note: Mahlon C. Kennicutt II is a professor of oceanography at Texas A&M University and president of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. He is a consultant for TDI-Brooks International, which is doing chemistry analyses for the damage assessment of the Gulf of Mexico spill and which does work for the oil industry; Kennicutt is not working on spill issues but might in the future.
(CNN) -- If the debate and blame game under way concerning the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico sounds familiar, that's because it has happened many times before.
The stakes in events such as this are high for all -- politicians, government agencies, private sector companies, the response firms that stand to make millions, the innocent bystanders whose livings are put at risk, and all people who value our natural resources.
Each time oil is spilled into the environment, we seem to debate anew how bad it is or how bad it might get, why such a systemic failure happened, who bears responsibility for the damage, and what is the best way to respond. This is mostly because of politicians' and the public's short attention span -- once a spill is off the front page it is no longer of general interest -- and the lack of historical perspective that might inform the debate.
In U.S. waters, spills of this size happen about once every 20 years or so. Every oil spill has its own characteristics: the quality of the oil, how much was spilled over what length of time, the exposed environments that are most at risk, how natural processes will either exacerbate or mitigate effects, and even what time of year it happened.
But the reactions follow a pattern. The first pronouncements are that the spill is minor and can be quickly controlled.
Next, estimates of the severity of the spill gradually increase and opinions vary widely depending on the perspective of the assessor.
As the public outcry increases, the maneuvering to spread the liability for potential damage begins. Because these operations are almost always complex industrial partnerships, there are plenty of entities to blame.
We are only at the early stages of this 'kabuki' theater as the Gulf of Mexico oil is still leaking.
--Mahlon C. Kennicutt II The government is seen as not merely complacent but is perceived to be in collusion with the energy industry. Regulators and agencies responsible for policing the industry and assessing natural resource damage enter the debate. This setting is ripe for politicians to grandstand, getting their 15 minutes of fame on the nightly news. The more indignant and irate they become, the more attention they get.
In parallel, the response effort gathers momentum, and a secondary debate begins over what is the best response -- skimming, dispersants, burning, bioremediation. The sad truth is that our attempts to clean up after a major spill, once the size of the release approaches millions of gallons, have little effect. However, to decide to take no action is politically unacceptable, even if it might be the least damaging solution.
Thus begins the expenditure of millions of dollars in response with little measurable change in outcome -- in fact, some responses can cause more damage than just leaving the spill alone.
At some point, the response is all but forgotten, and the years of litigation begin. Few injured parties ever receive what they believe is just; companies believe they have been sufficiently punished, and begrudgingly they pass these costs on to consumers who are none the wiser.
Does this sound familiar?
We are only at the early stages of this "kabuki" theater as the Gulf of Mexico oil is still leaking, response has just begun, lawyers are circling the region in search of clients, blame for the Deepwater Horizon spill is still being passed around, and politicians and regulators have only just begun to saturate the airwaves.
In the meantime, the insult to the environment continues and grows, estimates of long-term damage are speculative at best, and, in this case, the oil is just beginning to come ashore. In a technologically advanced and scientifically savvy society, is this the best we can do?
A long-term strategy for such disasters and a response to them should already be in place, liability should be assigned before the drill bit hits the seafloor, formulas for calculating natural resource damage agreed, an endowment set aside for response and damage claims provided by a tax on oil and gas production, and a response procedure for a government-private sector partnership should be poised to react within hours, not days.
Although it is difficult to prove after the fact, surely ecological and economic damage would be minimized by a realistic response, supported by sound methodologies, technologies and scientific foundations. Unfortunately, in 10 to 20 years, when the next accident happens, this op-ed could most likely be rerun with few changes.
Isn't it time the entire risk and reward of exploration and exploitation be fully taken into consideration in the cost of the fossil fuel recovered?

6 Sixth Weeks Personal Narratives

This six weeks went by flying there was a lot of things to do and it seemed as if we were just going back and forth. Taks and ACP reviews are major and i really dont feel like taking the ACPs but well they determine part of my grade. Death week was this week's name. There is so much to do in such a few amount of time. Although we actually had seven weeks this six weeks we had a lot of days off and thats what is killing many students. My averages dont look good at all and with so small amount of time i feel like is impossible to put my grades up. I dont want to fail my last six weeks but oh well i guess it reflects how much effort i put into this week period. Well i got one new notice today. One that i was real happy but sad at the time because i got the notice in which i have had passed all my test but in none i recieved commanded performance. It disappoints me because I have always got commanded and this is the very first year that i failed to accomplish that. Truth is i really slacked off this year and im not planning on letting that happen to me next year or the year after next specially not my senior year. I dont want to get the senioritize. THis six weeks have been kinda fun at the time because is when we all got to meet each other fully in many classes and is the time for parties to start popping up. Which is a good thing. Well hopefully next year i approach it in a positive way.

6th Event "Sunday a day to Chill"

well sunday is sort of a fun but busy schedule. I will have to wake up in the morning at eight get ready for church from ten to one and then after church come back get dressed or go to eat with the family. And then come home and get ready for a volleyball game at a church's person house. we do that every sunday. We always order food or pitch in to buy the drinks like the sodas gatorades waters etc. or buy fajitas to cook while we are playing just to have a relaxing time. Get back at eight in the house. Take a shower and then go to sleep well i lie maybe talking on the phone or watching tv wont be too much of a bother. Sunday is my favorite day of the week because i aactually enjoy the day. The sunday that i always hate the most is the one right before school starts again. Having this schedule i will be back in skyline doors as if summer vacation was a week long. Which kind of bothers me. I have to enjoy this summer.

5th Event "Staying home or partying"

Every Saturday the church is coming up with this activity in where we are going to unite bands to play at night. to have a laid back chilling time with the church members. Different bands will show up and we will be able to talk to them, share our emotions, get advice, and just have a pleasant time. Food and Drinks will be offered in which i think will be the best part of all. Maybe after that i can go to my girlfriends house and watch a movie but not too late because in the morning the next day i got church to go to. Maybe this sounds like a plan but we will just have to see if her parents agree on it. Or the other option staying home, there is nothing to do at home but stay and watch soccer games i expect to watch all the World Cup games but i find it hard the times are too ocmplicated and well i do got church school. maybe the best option is going partying every saturday night dont you think?

4th Event "Piano Lessons"

Piano lessons are great i bearly have a month and i am a natural sport. I have learned a lot of new things such as the a b c d e f and g chord. The minor and majors are no exceptions those i learned the first day that i started to practice. Well im learning nothing but Church songs in the piano in which i truly like and who knows maybe you will see me performing in a big band one of these days. My practices are from monday to thursdays after school. From 4 15 pm to 5 15 because i have to start getting ready for my under 12 practice which starts at 6 or 6 15. Well hopefully i will finish up my whole piano lessons on this upcoming summer. Then i will probable try the guitar and slowly by slowly try the base, then the drums, and then maybe the accordion. They are all instruments that ive been interested since i was younger.

3rd Event "Church Summer School"

Well for our church we are coming up with a summer school sort of speak. We are planning many activities, games, sports, and alot of reading to do. IT will be such as a day care but all the work will be voluntary. Speaking of volunteering i have to get my hours in, im planning of completing all my hours by junior year that way i wont have to worry about the missing hours for my senior year. I am looking forward to doing this in church. Besides i dont think that ama have alot of things to do while the summer school for church is available. And my brother can go with me to, we will just be bored in the house anyways. What better thing is there to do than to go to church and learn new things daily instead of staying in the house watching the same television shows over and over again it gets boring sometimes. Well this is my third event that im planning to do for my summer vacation.

2nd Event "Coaching for the Love"

Well i have started to coach a new soccer team for kids under 12 and is going pretty good i started to coach them about a couple of months ago and we are on our way to the finals. I am just afraid that the Cup of Champions if my team makes it will interfere with my family plans/vacation. We have been training hard and we have been putting in alot of effort. We are pretty confident in the way that we know for sure that we are the best in our league. There are three outstanding players in the team that im pretty sure will go big and make it to pro. Jose is an outstanding forward and he is a for sure candidate in atleast making two goals in this upcoming final game. Oswaldo is the best defense the league has and to his surprise the MVP trophy that the league gives out every year is for him, but dont tell him that is a surprise. And then The goalie, Kenny, he has a lot of personality and is capable of stopping alot of shots for this game this guy is one of the best you will ever see and i hope that in the final game a scout will put an eye on him. Well coaching has been real good and i think next year ama start to coach an under 5 team. i hear they are a pain in the butt but im up for it i like working with kids specially in things that i do best such as soccer.

1st Event: Summer is Approaching

Well my family and i are making big plans for this summer and the final vacation site will be said one day before i get out of school. We are planning on going to a crusade at Galveston, going to Oklahoma, To Cancun, Mexico, and or to France. We have saved up money since two years ago and this time is approaching to make our decision. we are undecided as we are researching on many places to go that we believe will be a good spend on our money and on something that we will for sure enjoy. I feel like the best place to go will be to Cancun, Mexico. The beaches are amazing and just fantastic. besides while we are over there we can make time to go and visit our family and friends. Oklahoma i feel makes no since we can go any weekend without the use of many money so i want that to be out of our list. Well i guess time will say it all but im pretty anxious to see our destination and how many cool things are we going to be able to do.

Pic of Modern Marvel Structure

2 Article Summary

Whats up with the gas money? The US needs to come on and become allies, is just funny how nations have their dignity. One day we will all end up needing each other and we are all going to need backup and social necessities from each other why cant we just loosen up and work our way to becoming allies and all its really no big deal. The big deal is in the price of the gallon of gas. Ever since the year 2005 prices have been speeding their way up to the top and the us government simply doesnt have an answer to that.

2 Article

Gas prices increase nearly 4 cents
Prices at the pump are up nearly 4 cents in the past three weeks, continuing a trend of rising prices since mid-February, according to a survey published Sunday. The national average national for a gallon of gasoline is $2.85, Lundberg Survey found in the survey conducted April 9.
The rise in price coincides with a rise in crude oil prices in past three weeks. Crude prices rose the equivalent of 10 cents a gallon.
Although not assured, the trend points to a possible national average of $3, said survey publisher Trilby Lundberg.
The biggest determinate of whether gas prices will hit the $3 mark will be oil prices, she said.
"If it does (hit $3), it will be crude oil that does it, because gas demand continues to be very weak," Lundberg said.
While demand for gasoline typically increases in the summer months in the United States, high unemployment rates will keep demand weak, she said.
The current average price is 80 cents above the price of a gallon of self-serve a year ago, Lundberg said. The survey tallies prices at thousands of gas stations nationwide.
The city with the lowest average price in the latest survey was Newark, New Jersey, at $2.64. The highest was Honolulu, Hawaii, at $3.43.
Here are average prices in other cities:
Chicago, Illinois – $3.15
Portland, Oregon – $2.92
Portland, Maine – $2.88
Boston, Massachusetts – $2.80
Des Moines, Iowa – $2.79
Tucson, Arizona – $2.77
Atlanta, Georgia – $2.74
Salt Lake City, Utah – $3.01
Denver, Colorado – $2.68

1st Article Summary

I think that this is a waste of time Obama is trying to destroy all these nuclear weapons but at the time something is going to go wrong. There is going to be alot of sickness or plagues since the weapons carry out a lot of uranium that can easy contaminate a persons whole body. Or for instance china might have a backup plan they might just get a plan and a good one full of army ppeople and just simply fight their way out to stealing the weapons. All this is a waste of time all the nations want to be the most powerful there is a big doubt that this will ever happen. Then there is the followers the one nation that is always like ill go only if this nation goes there is no solution lets face it.

1st Article

• Summit is centerpiece of Obama objective to prevent spread of nuclear weapons
• Leaders from 46 countries are coming to Washington for the two-day summit
• Obama signed treaty with Russia last week to reduce nuclear stockpiles of both
• Obama holding meetings with some of the visiting heads of state starting Sunday
(CNN) -- President Obama hosts leaders from 46 countries for a two-day nuclear security summit starting Monday that will focus on how to better safeguard weapons materials, both old and new, to keep them out of the hands of terrorists.
The gathering at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in the nation's capital is considered an unprecedented effort to rally global action on securing vulnerable nuclear materials.
It also is the centerpiece of a major Obama objective aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and technology.
As the summit begins, the United States is negotiating with the four other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council on tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear ambitions.
"The central focus of this nuclear summit is the fact that the single biggest threat to U.S. security, both short term, medium term and long term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon," Obama said Sunday, appearing with South African President Jacob Zuma in Washington.
"This is something that could change the security landscape in this country and around the world for years to come," Obama said. "If there was ever a detonation in New York City, or London, or Johannesburg, the ramifications -- economically, politically and from a security perspective -- would be devastating. We know that organizations like al Qaeda are in the process of trying to secure nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction and would have no compunction at using them."
Obama signed a new treaty with Russia last week to reduce the nuclear stockpiles of both nations, and his administration issued a revised U.S. nuclear arms strategy intended to reinforce the nation's nuclear deterrent while isolating terrorists and rogue states that fail to comply with international regulations.
It all fits together as an ambitious effort to mobilize a unified global effort against nuclear proliferation, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in interviews broadcast Sunday.
"We want to get the world's attention focused where we think it needs to be, with these continuing efforts by al Qaeda and others to get just enough nuclear material to cause terrible havoc, destruction, and loss of life somewhere in the world," Clinton told the ABC program "This Week."
Of particular concern are older nuclear weapons and materials that aren't safeguarded as well as they should be, particularly in Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union, Clinton said on the NBC program "Meet the Press."
It used to be considered a U.S.-Soviet issue, Clinton said, rather than the high international priority "we intend to make it in the coming week."
"Unfortunately, we have a situation in which there is a lot of loose nuclear material around the world," Obama said Sunday. "And so the central focus of this summit is getting the international community on a path in which we are locking down that nuclear material in a very specific time frame, with a specific work plan."
South Africa, he said, is a moral leader on the nuclear issue, since it began and then dismantled a nuclear program.
The summit's goal is to get an agreement and working plan on how each of the participating countries will control nuclear materials or otherwise prevent their spread, Clinton said on the CBS program "Face the Nation."
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs announced last week that nations participating in the summit would be Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Switzerland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Ukraine and Vietnam.
In addition, the United Nations, the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency will be represented at the summit, Gibbs said.
Obama also is holding bilateral meetings with some of the visiting heads of state, which started Sunday afternoon with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, followed by President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, South African President Jacob Zuma, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan and acting President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria.
Obama's nuclear strategy has been criticized by Republicans as too weak in the face of threats and defiance by Iran and North Korea.
"While the treaty [with Russia] may be in the right direction and the nuclear summit that's coming to town may be an impressive group of people, the nuclear posture statement that the president put out is troublesome to me," Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said on the "Fox News Sunday" program. " I mean, it takes away the ambiguity about our use of nuclear power. Ambiguity in foreign policy is sometimes very useful."
On Sunday, Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Obama administration "poses a threat to international peace" and is "wicked and untrustworthy."
Khamenei made the remarks Sunday in a meeting with the Armed Forces chief of staff and other top military officials, according to IRNA. According to the news agency, Khamenei said Obama had recently threatened Iran with nuclear weapons and called for Iran's military to prepare itself.
Khamenei apparently was referring to last week's announced shift in U.S. nuclear strategy, in which the administration said it would swear off developing new generations of nuclear weapons and would not use its existing arsenal to attack non-nuclear states that are in compliance with nonproliferation agreements.
Gates made clear Sunday that the new policy left Iran vulnerable to a U.S. nuclear attack because Iran refuses to comply with nonproliferation agreements.
"All options are on the table" regarding Iran and North Korea, which also defies international regulations, Gates said on the CBS program.
Clinton defended the Obama administration's policy of seeking a unified international response to Iran's nuclear ambitions, including stronger U.N. sanctions.
The policy, which broke with President George W. Bush's nonnegotiation stance, has exposed Iran's intransigence, Clinton said on the NBC program.
Now, with the U.N. negotiations on tougher sanctions, "the Iranians have been beating down the doors of every country in the world to try to avoid" a new sanctions resolution, Clinton said.
However, when asked whether Iran had the capability now to develop a nuclear weapon, Clinton avoided a direct answer, saying it was unclear.
Gates had no hesitation, declaring immediately that "it's our judgment here they are not nuclear capable."
"We're doing everything we can to try and keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons," Gates said, adding that there probably would be another Security Council resolution with tougher sanctions on Iran.
He called such a resolution important on its own and as a legal platform for others to take their own steps.
"At the end of the day, Iran has to decide that not having nuclear weapons is a better defense strategy than having them," Gates said.

Family History essay

Well i am Mexican American and come from a mexican family obviously. As far as my parents can remember is as far as my grandma. I dont have any communication with my grandma for family purposes so i really dont know much about my family history. I have two parents my mom and my dad which is my step dad but for respect i treat him as my real dad. I have two grandpas and two grandmas which in their early ages they all dedicated to farming and running businesses. My moms side have a big business in Mexico in which they sell tacos, tortas, burritos, etc., all those good foods. My dads side of the family dedicated themselves to farming, enough for their family to eat, which is called subsistence farming. Over the years they have been buying large pieces of land which are now becoming the wealthiest people in Mexico. Many large companies are going to their land provinces and buying mostly all their vegetables fruits and beans. Maybe a 20 acre piece of land is alot for us but as far as they are concerned thats nothing companies some times end up asking for more as they sell quick products and there is a huge demand. I have alot of siblings such as cousins and uncles. yea if there is one thing that my family is known for is by not loosing any time. I have 65 Uncles and cousins altogether. Thats alot. Although i do not no many of them because they live in mexico and the situation is getting real bad to go over there i chat with them through yahoo or face book thats how i know about twelve of them but the rest who knows. This is all i can say about my family history as i recall my family is going through problems so there really isnt much to say.

5th Six Weeks Personal Narrative

This six weeks have been the hardest of them all so far. My grades are looking pretty bad and im trying my best to bring'em up. Failing two classes is nothing simple to make up but im managing to bringing those grades up. Is also very difficult to figure if im going to eventually come up and recieve the credits for those classes. is not looking anything good to this point. I still have that fifty nine in my chemistry class and so far thats the only class that im struggling with but im pretty sure that i will be alright by the end of these six weeks as i am doing alot of extra credit work and attending tutoring to manage to get better in that class. Next six weeks i think are going to be the easiest but i also think that we are going to start to lack off so yea is going to be pretty difficult. My parents are pretty upset about last six weeks and they are pushing me to pass all my classes if not i might not even have a phone or my laptop for next six weeks which pretty much sucks. Many of my teachers and my classes are loosing up and im getting to approach them with better ease which i can describe as kissing their behinds to get those grades at least to a flat out seventy. i am hoping to get better and as most of my class mates i am looking out for the summer vacation. Which does not seem to far from now. Theres alot of things that i want to do but little time to get it all done.

6th Event

Erupting volcano boosts tourism in Iceland

Tourists gather to watch lava spurt out of the site of a volcanic eruption at the Fimmvorduhals volcano near the Eyjafjallajokull glacier on March 27, 2010.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• Curious onlookers are paying to get a closer look at Eyjafjallajokull volcano
• Tours depart from the capital, Reykjavik, toward the southern part of Iceland
• The volcano is located underneath a glacier
• Contrast of snow, ice with the lava flows called 'amazing'
(CNN) -- A long-dormant volcano in Iceland that began erupting last month has sparked a tourism trend as curious onlookers are paying to get a closer look.
Despite the Eyjafjallajokull volcano's remote location, beneath a glacier to be exact, the area surrounding it has been teeming with tourists in search of spectacular views of its lava flows and volcanic plumes.
Various vendors have surfaced, offering tours of the area by helicopter or jeep.
For less than $400 a person, tours depart from the capital, Reykjavik, toward the southern part of Iceland. Part of the roughly 100-mile trip includes a drive on the Myrdalsjokull glacier. Finally, at nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) above sea level, the fire from the volcano comes into view.
"It's amazing to see the volcano because of the season," says Vidir Reynisson, Iceland's Civil Protection Services Department Manager. "There's a lot of snow, and it's quite spectacular to see the contrast" with the burning lava.
A few isolated spots are open for sightseeing, but a one-kilometer radius encircling the immediate area is restricted to tourists and some areas of the glacier are off-limits.
Reynisson says there's no immediate threat to onlookers, and nearby residents who were evacuated last month because of flooding concerns have returned to their homes.
"The situation is good," he said. "We have rescue teams, police and lots of tourists traveling to the areas."
Reynisson said the only problems security crews have encountered are hikers who are not properly equipped trying to make their way toward the area on their own.
The volcano, which last erupted in 1821, continues to be active since it came back to life March 20. Two additional fissures erupted Thursday, directing new lava flow toward the northeast.
Glaciers in the area are not affected, but authorities are on alert if changes develop, according to the country's Civil Protection Services.

5th Event

Economy getting better, but still 'a long way to go'

Lawrence Summers tells CNN's Candy Crowley that the economic trend has turned.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• Alan Greenspan says recovery so far has led to conditions for compounding growth
• Lawrence Summers refuses to say when the unemployment rate might decline
• 162,000 jobs were created in March; unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent
Washington (CNN) -- The slow but steady U.S. economic recovery appears set to continue, with underlying indicators signaling a growing strength, some of the nation's senior economists said Sunday.
"The trend has turned," said Lawrence Summers, director of the White House National Economic Council, on CNN's "State of the Union" program. "But to get back to the surface, we've got a long way to go."
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told ABC's "This Week" that the recovery so far has led to conditions for compounding growth. In particular, Greenspan cited an increasing demand for inventory that spurs production as a signal of a possible significant buildup in growth.
"I suspect it's month by month," Greenspan said of continued economic growth, adding that "a statistical aberration is possible."
He said he doubted there would be another drop in growth to create what economists call "double-dip recession" after the downturn of 2008-09, saying the odds were "very much against that now."
On NBC's "Meet the Press," the chair of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, Cristina Romer, said the recovery would have to be systemic rather than consumer-driven because, in the wake of the recession, "we're not going to be see people maxing out their credit cards again."

Romer predicted economic growth for the year of 3 percent, which she said would be enough to keep creating jobs but not enough to significantly reduce the unemployment rate.
All three spoke two days after the government announced 162,000 news jobs created in March but the unemployment rate remaining at 9.7 percent.
Obama, GOP spar over new jobs figures
Summers refused to be pinned down on when the unemployment rate might decline, noting that the increase in jobs does not automatically reduce overall unemployment.
As jobs are created, Summers told the ABC program, more people re-enter the labor force to look for work, so unemployment figures stay stagnant or can even go up.
On "State of the Union," Summers cited steps the Obama administration is taking to reduce the unemployment rate, including continued implementation of the $800 billion economic stimulus package from February 2009; new tax credits intended to encourage businesses to increase hiring; incentives for small businesses to expand; and initiatives to create a "new energy economy" that focuses on energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy.
Republicans complained that the administration's policies were creating government jobs for political expediency, rather than stimulating private sector economic growth.
"At this time of high unemployment, when we need to focus on jobs, we should not be expanding government spending, government commitments, and government promises that crowd out the small businessman and businesswoman," said Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-California, in the GOP weekly radio address.

4th Event

Seven killed in West Virginia mine blast
(CNN) -- Seven miners died Monday and 19 others were unaccounted for after an explosion erupted inside an underground mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia, the mine's parent company said.
Another 21 miners were injured in the blast at the Upper Big Branch Mine, according to Michael Mayhorn, emergency dispatcher for Boone County, which was called in to assist in the response.
At least 20 ambulances and three helicopters were dispatched from surrounding counties, and the state medical examiner was heading to the scene, Mayhorn said. At least one miner was evacuated by helicopter, according to Mayhorn.
Don Blankenship, the chief executive officer of Massey Energy Co., which oversees the mine, said in a statement that the company is "working diligently on rescue efforts."
"Our prayers go out to the families of the miners," he said. "We want to assure the families of all the miners we are taking every action possible to locate and rescue those still missing."
The explosion happened about 4:30 p.m. at Massey Energy's Performance Coal Co. mine in Whitesville, West Virginia, 30 miles south of Charleston, West Virginia, CNN affiliate WCHS reported.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately known, but methane gas has been blamed in several deadly mining accidents in recent years, including the 2006 explosion at the Sago mine, also in West Virginia, that killed 12 people. Five miners in Harlan County, Kentucky, were killed five months later in a methane gas explosion in Kentucky Darby Mine No. 1.
Manchin, however, said spring is an unusual time of year to see such explosions, which typically occur in winter as barometric pressure changes occur inside mines.
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin said he had spoken to Blankenship, who told him that the mine was equipped with rescue chambers, a safety measure put in place following several deadly accidents in 2006. The chambers are stocked with such supplies as first-aid kits and oxygen tanks in the event of an emergency.
"We're very hopeful that the miners who are missing were able to make it to those rescue chambers," said Manchin, who was on his way to the site.
Manchin also spoke to President Barack Obama, who offered his condolences and federal government assistance in the rescue effort.
Miners paced outside the mine shaft, trying to help emergency responders treating their injured colleagues, said Shawn Kline, a reporter for CNN affiliate WVVA.
"The look of worry is on just about everyone's faces," Kline said as dozens of fire trucks, ambulances and police cars streamed into and out of the site.
CAMC spokeswoman Elizabeth Pellegrin said the hospital received one person from the mine via a helicopter at 6 p.m. That patient is getting treatment in the hospital's intensive care unit, she said, declining to elaborate on the person's injuries.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, said in a statement Monday that he is "working with state and federal officials to get as much information as possible and ... doing all I can to help make sure all resources are made available for this rescue effort."
Massey Energy Co., based in Richmond, Virginia, has operations in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. It is the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia, it said in a statement.
Three other deaths have happened in the Upper Big Branch Mine in the past 12 years, according to federal records.
In 1998, a man was killed when a beam he was constructing collapsed; in 2001, a worker died after a rock fell on him; and in 2003, an electrician who was repairing a shuttle car was found dead, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Monday's explosion is the latest in a string of problems for Massey Energy, which operates 44 underground and surface mines and controls 2.2 billion tons of coal reserves in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee, according to the Environmental Protection Agency and Massey's Web site.
The company has been fined for several incidents, some fatal, at its facilities in recent years, including a 2006 fire that killed two miners in Aracoma Coal Company's Alma Mine No. 1. Aracoma is a division of Massey. The company pleaded guilty to 10 criminal charges in connection with the fire and was fined $2.5 million in 2009.
In 2000, a coal sludge impoundment owned by Massey Energy broke into an abandoned underground mine, oozing more than 300 million gallons of coal waste into tributaries in eastern Kentucky.
Also in 2000, a series of accidents at Massey facilities killed eight miners during the course of the year, according to Davitt McAteer, former director of the Mine Safety and Health Administration during the Clinton administration.
"Massey has had difficulty with their accident records and their numbers of citations and penalties that have been issued against them," McAteer said. "There is a problem here, and it's a problem that we hoped had gone away."
The U.S. mining industry in 2009 saw its safest year in the history of American mining with 18 deaths. Prior to Monday's explosion, two deaths had been recorded for 2010.

3rd Event

U.S. seeks $16.4 million fine against Toyota
Federal safety agency hits Toyota with largest possible fine for a single reporting violation. More fines still possible.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is seeking the maximum fine of $16.4 million against Toyota Motor Corp. for failing to notify the agency of a "sticky pedal" defect in its cars for at least four months.
Under federal regulations, automakers are required to inform the agency within five days of determining that a safety defect exists in one of its products.
NHTSA learned, through documents obtained from Toyota (TM), that the automaker knew of sticky gas pedal problems since at least September, 2009, the agency said in an press release.
"We now have proof that Toyota failed to live up to its legal obligations," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "Worse yet, they knowingly hid a dangerous defect for months from U.S. officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families. For those reasons, we are seeking the maximum penalty possible under current laws."
NHTSA is still investigating to see if Toyota committed any additional violations that may warrant more penalties, the agency said. Under federal regulations, $16.4 million is the most an automaker can be fined for a single violation.
Toyota said it has not received a letter from the NHTSA about the fine, but responded to the announcement by saying the company has begun to address the agency's concerns.
"We have already taken a number of important steps to improve our communications with regulators and customers on safety-related matters as part of our strengthened overall commitment to quality assurance," the company said in a statement. "These include the appointment of a new Chief Quality Officer for North America and a greater role for the region in making safety-related decisions."
GM to expand use of brake override system
Toyota cars and trucks have been the subject of at least three separate major recalls in the past year. One was for the "sticky pedal" situation in which gas pedals, as they age, begin to stick in a partially depressed position. Another was for gas pedals that can stick on some floor mats and a third was for braking problems on Toyota Prius hybrid cars.
The biggest fine that's ever been levied was just $1 million taken from General Motors in 2004 for failing to deal promptly with a windshield wiper issue, an amount that was negotiated down from the $3 million NHTSA originally asked for.
Toyota could challenge the penalty and question how the NHTSA determined the record amount, especially since the difference between Toyota's and GM's fines is so large, said senior analyst Jessica Caldwell of automotive Web site Edmunds.com.
"It'll be interesting to see how Toyota responds," she said. "But $16.4 million is a drop in the bucket of cash Toyota has, so they might just find it easier to pay and avoid a bigger news story."
It also strikes experts as odd that regulators would seek the maximum penalty in a case in which the specific defect involved resulted in no serious crashes, injuries or deaths. "I see this as politically motivated," said Ed Higgins, a Michigan attorney who has worked with automakers in defect cases. "NHTSA is under a lot of political pressure to get tough."
In documents filed with NHTSA, Toyota has indicated that it did not originally believe the sticky gas pedals were a genuine safety issue. At worst the pedals got stuck only an inch or so down resulting in a situation the driver could easily control using the brakes.
That belief gives Toyota a ready defense, Higgins said. The regulations state that the automaker has five days from the time it determines a safety-related defect exists to report it. If Toyota didn't see this as safety related, Higgins said, the clock wasn't running.
There were injuries and deaths alleged to result from a separate issue in which gas pedals could become stuck on floor mats. NHTSA has not announced a fine in that recall.

2nd Event

Martin: Purge clergy who allowed sex abuse

• Church must focus on rebuilding trust
• Martin says some clergy are playing victim when they should be rooting out those responsible
• The church seems to want to denounce the acts, he says, but offer compassion to abusers
Editor's note: Roland S. Martin, a CNN political analyst, is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith," and the new book, "The First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House." He is a commentator for TV One Cable Network and host of a one-hour Sunday morning news show.
"If it would just go away."
That could be the new motto of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, a plea for an end to the constant drumbeat of stories related to years and years of sexual abuse against boys by priests.
And I'm sure that same statement is uttered daily by those same boys, now men, who desire to have the thoughts, memories and raw feelings of being sexually abused by priests in the United States, Europe and other countries go away as well.
But it won't. And just like the boys and men have to deal with the fallout from this criminal behavior -- yes, sexually assaulting a minor should have sent these pathetic men to prison -- so must the church.
And frankly, I'm sick of some officials of the Catholic Church playing the victim. We don't need to hear another priest, bishop, cardinal or even Vatican official decrying the constant news stories that reveal the depth of the sins committed against boys by these sexual predators masquerading as men of the cloth.
The reality is that had these deplorable priests been prosecuted for their crimes (some were) other church officials would have been liable for obstruction of justice, for hiding the evidence, for shuffling priests from one parish to another, depositing them in homes for spiritual healing and renewal and doing everything to keep the sordid details under wraps.
What apparently has raised the ire of church officials is that the latest round of stories hit during Holy Week, considered the holiest of all weeks for Christians since it marks the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So exactly when is a good time for these stories? Can the priests, bishops and other leaders let the media know what days and months we should plan our editorial calendar to bring them the least amount of pain and scrutiny?
Let me be clear: I do not care about the bruised feelings of church leaders. What matters the most are the hundreds and hundreds of abuse victims who were victimized, and that the church did not protect them, choosing instead to cover for these wretched men who preyed on them.
In Oregon, Archbishop John G. Vlazny asked all of the church's ministers in the diocese to cancel their subscriptions to The Oregonian newspaper because of an editorial denouncing the church's feeble reaction in the past to the scandal.
The paper reports that Vlazny sent an e-mail on Wednesday to the diocese's ministers, saying: "The editors arrogantly scolded the church for its past failures in handling this matter of child abuse and, in an insulting and unfair attack, chose this most holy time of the year, during our church's Year of the Priest, to connect the practice of celibacy among our clergy with the problem of child sexual abuse, when everyone knows that most abusers by far are married persons!"
The fierce defense is coming right from the top.
The Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal household, or commonly known as Pope Benedict XVI's personal preacher, even had the audacity to compare the assault on the church to the persecution of Jews.
The New York Times quoted Cantalamessa as saying: "They know from experience what it means to be victims of collective violence and also because of this they are quick to recognize the recurring symptoms."
He added that he got a letter from a Jewish friend that said, "I am following the violent and concentric attacks against the church, the pope and all the faithful by the whole world. The use of stereotypes, the passing from personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt, remind me of the more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism."
The Vatican was quick to point out that Cantalamessa's statements, made during a Good Friday service with Benedict sitting just a few feet away, wasn't an official statement, and were merely his personal thoughts.
The Vatican has reacted with such force because the pope has come under heavy criticism for his lack of involvement, according to his critics, in stopping abuses in his homeland.
The fundamental reason the sexual abuse scandals continue to widen is that the Catholic Church, as an institution, has tried to have it both ways. Leaders want to issue statements denouncing the acts, while offering compassion, counseling and forgiveness to those who committed the sins.
But the real issue is trust. When the church protects these priestly predators, they are aiding and abetting them. Instead, the Catholic Church should do like Jesus, who turned over the tables and threw out the money-changers. He needed to root evil out of the synagogues.
The church must remove every priest, bishop or cardinal who turned a blind eye and allowed this to fester, even if it means cutting all ties with them. There have been settlements nationwide, and remaining lawsuits should be disposed of globally. The church should also establish transparent rules and procedures that let the faithful know that any allegation from this point on will be dealt with immediately -- and won't just be investigated by the church but will be referred to local law enforcement authorities.
Making excuses and lashing out at critics in the present will do nothing to rebuild the unshakable trust many people once had in the church.

1st Event: Health Care Bill

Health Care Bill: What Does It Mean for You?
Watch live coverage of President Obama signing the health care bill into law at 11:15 a.m. ET on ABCNews.com or your local ABC station.
The $938 billion health care bill is to be paid by a combination of tax hikes on the wealthy and cuts in Medicare. The bill will expand coverage to 32 million Americans, but many of the provisions -- with the exception of prescription drug coverage for older Americans and children who have been denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions -- are not expected to go into effect until 2014.
A majority of Americans -- about 60 percent -- get health insurance through their employers. If those Americans make less than $200,000, they are unlikely to see any changes, since the health care bill is designed to maintain the role of employers in providing health insurance benefits and penalizes those that don't. But the bill will affect those in the high income bracket and poor Americans who currently cannot afford health coverage.
Here is a look at what the health care bill entails and when Americans can expect to see those changes go into effect:
Insurance Market Changes:
Starting this year, insurance companies would be barred from denying coverage to children because of pre-existing conditions. Effective when the bill is signed, they will also be prevented from placing lifetime caps on policies, or from dropping a patient's insurance if he or she gets sick.
In the next three months, "high risk pools" will be established for those who who have pre-existing conditions, to provide safeguards until all the provisions are fully enacted.
Also this year, insurance companies would be required to cover preventive services, which includes such medical procedures as vaccines that are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
By 2014, insurance companies will be prohibited from denying coverage to adult patients with pre-existing medical conditions or charging them more because of these conditions.
In a move that has made many college students and young Americans happy, the health care bill allows parents to keep their children on their insurance plan until the age of 26. That provision takes effect this year.
Prescription Drugs:
Proponents of the health care bill have been touting how it aims to close the "doughnut hole" in prescription drug coverage. What that means is that older Americans who hit the cap on their Medicare prescription drug benefits will be given a rebate, starting this year. Once they spend $2,830, older Americans will receive a $250 rebate. Starting in 2011, older Americans who go past the allotted amount will be given a 50 percent discount on prescription drugs. The bill aims to close the "doughnut hole" completely by 2020, but older Americans will still have to pay for 25 percent of their drugs. Health Care Bill: Tax Increases:
Individuals with incomes of $200,000 or higher, and families with combined incomes of $250,000, will be subject to a new 3.8 percent "Medicare Tax." They will also be taxed now on unearned income, including dividends, interest and capital gains.
If the Senate passes the "fixes" that the House of Representatives has proposed, as it plans to, there will also be a new tax on high-cost insurance plans, called the "Cadillac tax," which employers will have to pay. Insurance plans with a premium of $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families would be subject to a 40 percent tax. Many say such high-value, generous insurance packages that include luxuries such as no co-payments and deductibles are responsible for increasing costs in the industry, but many labor union members and teachers negotiate such plans in exchange for lower pay.
Companies in the medical industry will also be subject to higher taxes, including insurers, pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.

Pic of Me with Close Friends

Delaware pediatrician accused of sexually abusing patients

(CNN) -- A Delaware pediatrician has been indicted on 471 felony counts in the alleged sexual abuse of his patients, prosecutors announced Monday.
The Sussex County grand jury indictment accuses Dr. Earl Bradley, 56, who has had a practice in Lewes, Delaware, for more than 10 years, of victimizing 103 children -- all but one girls. The charges range from rape and sexual exploitation of a child to endangering child welfare and assault.
Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden told CNN Radio the indictment is based on "video and digital evidence" seized from Bradley's home and medical practice in December. Authorities have not ruled out additional charges, he added.
"The reality is that as a prosecutor, the rules prohibit me from telling you exactly how I feel -- and I'm feeling a great deal today," Biden said.
Bradley also has medical licenses in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida. Authorities have said they have contacted officials in those states.
He was initially arrested and charged in December.
Bradley's attorney, Eugene Maurer Jr., said he would base his client's defense on mental health.
"Most of the evidence in this case comes from videotapes -- it's kind of hard to argue with videotapes," Maurer said, adding, "The issue in this case is going to come down to his mental health at the time."
Biden said Bradley will be arraigned within four to six weeks.

British Airways cabin crews vote to strike

London, England (CNN) -- Union members representing British Airways cabin crews said Monday they have voted overwhelmingly to strike, though no date was announced.
The industrial action by the Unite union is over the airline's plans to change cabin crew conditions. Unite said then that working hours were to be extended and crew levels cut, changes that it said would damage customer service and hit the BA brand.
In all, 81 percent of the nearly 80 percent of Unite workers who turned out voted in favor of the plan, the union said Monday.
A Unite representative told reporters the vote was an "indication of deep sense of grievance that our members feel" and shows that the airline must resolve this "through negotiation and not through litigation and certainly not through intimidation."
Shop stewards are to meet Tuesday to consider a strike date.
British Airways said in a posting on its Web site that it regretted the strike announcement.
"The outcome of the ballot is very disappointing and brings a renewed threat of industrial action, which is completely unjustified," the airline said.
"In the weeks before and during the ballot period, Unite claimed that we had breached individual crew members' contracts by making modest changes to onboard crew numbers on flights from Heathrow. We have always said this claim was false, and it was rejected by the High Court three days ago.
"The vast majority of crew who voted in this ballot will have done so before the High Court decision. We hope Unite will bear this fact in mind as it considers its next steps."
The airline said it believed it had made progress in recent talks and said it wanted to resolve the issues.
"However, we will not allow Unite to ruin this company," it added. "Should a strike take place, we will do everything we can to protect your travel plans as far as possible."
Last December, a judge blocked a planned 12-day strike by Unite that was to have begun just before Christmas.
The airline, which lost hundreds of millions of dollars last year, has said the changes would save the carrier $665 million

Labels urged for foods that can choke kids

Children 4 and younger are at the highest risk for choking on food, the American Academy of Pediatrics says.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
One child in U.S. dies every five days from choking on food, pediatrician group saysAmerican Academy of Pediatrics wants a food labeling system warning parents of risksGroup lists hot dogs as the highest risk food for young kids; grapes, raw carrots called riskyPediatrician group wants data collected on children's deaths, injuries from choking on food
(CNN) -- It's a silent, often overlooked danger that kills dozens of children every year, and it's easily preventable: choking to death on food.
Now the largest pediatrician group in the United States is calling for warning labels on foods that pose the highest risk for choking.
The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates at least one child in the United States dies every five days from choking on food. The academy rates choking as the leading cause of death among children 14 and younger.The group is issuing a new policy statement calling on the government and manufacturers to implement a food labeling system warning parents of these risks.
"This is a call to action," said Dr. Gary Smith, a pediatrician and immediate past chairman of the Committee on Injury, Violence and Poison Prevention of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"For many years, the U.S. has protected children from choking on toys. We have legislation. We have regulation. We have voluntary standards. We have labeling. We have recall programs," said Smith, also director of the Center for Injury, Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
"But we don't have a consistent set of measures that have been put together for prevention of choking on food."
Children 4 and younger are at the highest risk for choking on food. Most only have their front teeth. They can bite off a piece of food, but they don't have molars in back to grind it.
"There are certain types of food that have high-risk characteristics that pose severe choking risks," Smith said. "For example, foods that are round or cylindrical in shape and are roughly the diameter of the back of a child's throat -- these types of foods can completely block the child's airway. When that happens, the child cannot move air. They then lack oxygen. And if that obstruction is not removed within a short amount of time, brain damage and death will ensue. So these are very serious choking risks."
The American Academy of Pediatrics lists hot dogs as the highest risk food for young kids. Grapes, raw carrots, apples and peanuts are also dangerous. Smith said he has treated many children who later died from choking on hot dogs and grapes.
"If I took the best engineers in the world and asked them to design the perfect plug for a child's airway, they couldn't do much better than a hotdog. It is exactly the right size and shape to wedge itself down into the back of a child's throat. It's compressible so it fits in very snugly, and it's almost impossible to dislodge."
Katherine Zuehlke knows this problem firsthand. She had a close call with her 2-year-old daughter, Tiffany, but her quick thinking helped save the child's life. Zuehlke said a candy-coated peanut became lodged in her daughter's throat.
"We flipped her over and started to pat her back pretty heavily," Zuehlke told the pediatrician group. "We were all really scared."
Zuehlke was lucky. As many as 100 families a year are not -- a rough estimate of how many children choke to death on food every year, according to the most recent statistics from a 2002 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.
There is no centralized system for collecting data on child death and injury from choking on food.
Smith and the American Academy of Pediatrics want to see that change. Smith said he believes it's important to start a central database that includes those kinds of statistics.
"We can do it now for toys and other consumer products. But we can't do it for food. That's one of the things we're calling for in this new policy statement," he said.
In the meantime, the American Academy of Pediatrics lists a few tips on its Web site to help parents with problem foods. It suggests parents:
• Cut hot dogs lengthwise and grapes in quarters. This changes the dangerous shape of the food, which can block throats of young children and even teenagers.
• Avoid giving toddlers other high-risk foods such as hard candy, nuts, seeds and raw carrots.
• Never let small children run, play or lie down while eating.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' new policy statement on foods that pose a high-choking danger for children 14 and under appears online. It's scheduled for publication in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Toyota hit with grand jury subpoena

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Toyota said Monday it has received a federal grand jury subpoena for documents relating to the unintended acceleration of its vehicles and braking systems in the Toyota Prius.

The carmaker also received a request and a subpoena for similar documents from the Los Angeles office of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The subpoenas and request were revealed in an SEC fililng.

Top of FormBottom of ForToyota (TM) has recalled more than 8 million vehicles related to possible unintended acceleration. The 2010 Toyota Prius was the subject of a separate recall involving problems with its brakes.

The federal grand jury subpoena was from the Southern District of New York. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District declined to comment on the matter, saying "It is our office's policy to neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation."Toyota intends to cooperate with the investigations, the automaker said in its filing.

Toyota president Akio Toyoda and other company executives are expected to testify in Washington on Wednesday before the House Oversight Committee. The committee is looking into how the automaker and federal auto safety regulators dealt with concerns over unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.

Internal documents leading up to the hearing show Toyota executives boasting of the cash saved by negotiating down the severity of the recall related to acceleration.

Separately, the company said late Monday it will offer a brake override feature on more models to "provide an additional measure of confidence" for customers.

The feature automatically reduces engine power when the brake and accelerator panels are applied simultaneously. It will be added to the 2005-10 Tacoma, 2009-10 Venza and 2008-10 Sequoua when modifications are made to fix the sticking accelerators. Toyota said the brake override feature will be incorporated into most models sold in the United States by the end of this year.