Week 5

Reading Log:
Mon:  25min  Tues: 20min  Wed: 15min  Thurs: 30 min  Sun: 20min
CNN.com


A story from Kansas made the Top U.S. stories on Sunday. The grain elevator in Atchinson Kansas had an explosion that killed three people and left three others missing. The explosion was said to have been felt up to three miles away. The cause of the explosion is unknown but the article did mention that the grain can generate toxic gases that can cause explosion under certain circumstances. I was surprised to see that this story was listed on the Top U.S. stories section on cnn.com.


Earlier this week I read a little bit about the Conrad Murray trial. He was the doctor that is said to have been responsible for Michael Jackson's overdose that killed him. The trial is finally coming to an end. they have recently been discussing who if Murray gave Jackson the last dose of medicine that killed him or if Jackson gave himself the dose. I didn't read a ton about it because it doesn't really interest me.


I have continued to read about baby Lisa from Kansas City, Mo that is still missing. Lisa's two half-brothers were supposed to be interviewed this week, but the parents cancelled the police interviews. There was also an announcement made by the family's attorney, Cyndy Short, that she will no longer be representing the family. She didn't say why and there was no mention of another attorney taking over. I still think this whole story sounds off. The parents, especially the mother, have acted very odd. I also think it is weird that they didn't want their half-brothers to be interviewed again. I would think that they would want to do anything and everything they can to find their daughter. The half-brothers were in the house at the time baby Lisa went missing, so I would think they would want to allow the police to interview the boys so as to make sure that they didn't see or hear something that could help with the investigation. 


I read an article about how Kim Kardashian is catching flack for tweeting that she "had Justin Bieber's phone number". She tweeted that along with a 1-800 number and said that he was accepting calls for the next hour. In reality, the number was actually the number to call and vote for her brother, Rob, on Dancing With The Stars. Apparently some of the other contestants were upset and thought that this caused him to get more votes than he would have on his own. She did tweet that she was joking, but people are still thinking that there were people thinking they were calling Bieber. I thought this story was funny because I can't believe that people would actually think she would be putting Justin Bieber's phone number out for all to see...and it was a 1-800 number.

Week 4

Reading Log:
Mon:15min  Tues: 15min  Wed: 20min  Thurs: 25 min  Fri: 10min  Sun: 30min
CNN.com

This week I continued to read about the ongoing search for the Kansas City, Missouri 11-month old that went missing from her home several weeks ago. There have been a few new developments. The mom has changed her story (again), and has admitted that she was drunk the night her daughter went missing. She also said that the last time she saw her daughter was around 6:40pm instead of 10pm as she had originally stated. The police also got a warrant that kept the family from being able to return to their home. They have searched the house and removed several items for evidence. A cadaver dog was also brought into the house. The dog is trained to track and find the scent of a deceased person. It was reported that the dog did get “a hit”, as they described it in the articles. Baby Lisa’s parents still claim that they did not do anything wrong and that they refuse to believe that Baby Lisa is not alive. I still think this story is very odd. It seems to me that the mom is hiding something. I’m not sure about the dad, but something about the mom just rubs me the wrong way.

Another topic that I read quite a bit about was the Republican Presidential Debate that took place early this week in Las Vegas. I didn’t watch it, so all of my information has come from the many articles written about the event. Apparentley there was a lot of arguing and shouting between many of the candidates. Several articles have specifically talked about the arguing between Romney and Perry. It seems that Perry was a little aggressive with his verbal attacks on Romney, but that both candidates were exhibiting undesirable behaviors. There have been many quotes from people who watched the debate talking about how they were really disappointed with the way the candidates interacted with each other. Many people also commented on how they had really liked Perry but they are now hesitant to support him because of his behavior during the debate. Obviously people are either surprised or upset, or both, by how the debate actually went down. There have been several articles everyday since. 

I also read a few articles about Giuliana Rancic announcing she has breast cancer. I was interested in this because I have watcher her reality show before. She and her husband have been trying to have a baby and during the process, the doctor discovered the cancer. She has said that it appears they caught it early and she had surgery this week to remove the tumor. She has started radiation as well. She is still wanting to have a baby because she feels like her efforts to have a baby are what has saved her life.

Week 3

Reading Log:
Mon: 25min  Tues: 25min  Wed: 30min  Thurs: 20 min  Sun: 15min
CNN.com

This week, there were a ton of events that happened that I continued to read about all week. I read a lot about Iran’s alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. I have read a number of articles about this. There are articles about the man arrested and just talking specifically about him, there are articles telling what Hillary Clinton has said about the situation and there are also articles stating that this is all made up to steer attention away from problems in the United States. I find it interesting to hear what all the different articles have to say about everything.

Another topic that I have been reading about is the shooting at the salon in Seal Beach, California. It is a tragic event that resulted in the loss of eight lives. A man went to a salon where his ex-wife was and shot and killed eight people. It appears that he is going to be facing the death penalty because of the eight counts of first degree murder he is charged with. The two were apparently having issues over the custody of their son. Sad, sad story.

I have continued to follow the story of the missing baby in the Kansas City area. I still think that the whole thing seems a little odd. The more the parents talk, the more I find them to be a little suspicious. Just today, it came out that the mom admitted to being drunk at the time the little girl was taken. The National Guard has joined in the search for the little girl. I will continue to follow this story.

I have read about some political issues going on right now, but nothing that is really worth mentioning!

Week 2

Reading Log:
Mon: 20min  Tues: 20min  Wed: 20min  Thurs: 20 min  Sun: 25min
CNN.com

I read CNN.com every night because I don't usually watch the news. I read news from several different sections of the site.

This week I read a lot about the little girl who was taken from her home in Kansas City, Missouri. She is still missing and there have been many different search parties, flyers and vigils that have taken place over the last week. The ten month old girl was taken from her crib in her home. Her parents also reported that their cell phones were taken as well. The parents are continuing to talk with police, but I am wondering if the police are starting to suspect that the parents had something to do with the disappearance of their daughter. The mom took a polygraph test and failed it. There are several other things that seem to be red flags, but I don't know if the police have actually declared the parents as suspects.

I read about the death of Steve Jobs. Many of the articles about Jobs talk about his history with the Apple company and how he got to be where he was in the company. I found it really interesting to see how Jobs rose to be such a successful business man. I was surprised to learn that he was a high school drop out who developed that Apple Computer in his parent's garage. His story is definitely interesting.

One of the most interesting articles I read was about a new backpack that costs $39,000. The backpack was designed by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (The Row designs) and is a part of their new handbag collection. It was the very first thing to be sold from their collection. They are also having a hard time keeping up with the demand for the bag. I found this article to be extremely disturbing because I'm in awe that people would spend $39,000 on a backpack. All that I could think of when I read it was that the backpack costs as much as a nice brand new car. It kind of freaks me out that the bag is so popular. It's odd.