Armed robbers raid Swiss casino

Early on Sunday morning, a casino in Switzerland was robbed by 10 men with pistols and machine guns. They were dressed in all black, spoke French, and had French license plates. They had split into 2 groups. One group tried to break into a vault on the lower level. They couldn't get in so instead they robbed a cashier working down there. The second group went to the upper level and robbed cashiers working the roulette and blackjack tables. After they stole the money they fled to France. None of the 600 people at the casino were seriously injured. Only one person was kicked by one of the robbers. Swiss and French authorities are working together to try and find out who is guilty of this crime.

This article reminded me of Oceans 11. Although that movie was very different, the casino robbing plot was similar. In the movie I was cheering for the thieves, but not in this case. I hope that the authorities will be able to find out who did this. The money needs to be returned to the casino and the robbers need to be punished. Even though I'm not allowed to gamble in casinos yet, I still hope that they would be a safe place. If I ever do choose to visit a casino, I know that I won't want to worry about armed robbers. That would be a very scary thing and hopefully not many people will ever need to experience that.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/28/switzerland.casino.robbery/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Gates eases ban on gays in the military

Robert Gates, the defense secretary, announced that the Pentagon will be less strict about prohibiting homosexuals from serving in the military. There was a "don't ask, don't tell" policy which completely banned homosexuals from serving for our country. This policy has been around for 17 years. It was first implemented in 1993. President Obama and other officials are in favor of discarding this law. Beginning to make this change will take about a year. Another change they're going to make is deciding what's the correct amount of information needed before they research someone's homosexual behavior. This will take about 30 days to be in effect.
Some military members believe that these new changes will disrupt the attitude in a unit and cause problems.

I personally believe that homosexuals shouldn't definitely be allowed in the military. Why not? Their personal life shouldn't interfere with the fact that they want to fight for our country. We need to embrace the fact that these people are willing to give up their lives for our safety. Their relationships shouldn't affect this and they shouldn't be denied anything. This sounds like discrimination to me, and I feel sorry for any homosexuals who weren't allowed to follow the military path they wanted to. The old law is completely unfair. I'm glad that they're becoming more reasonable about it now, but it's still not all the way there yet. There are still restrictions that shouldn't be there. Let these people fight for us and let them make their own personal decisions.http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/25/military.gays/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Judge sends Alabama university shooting case to grand jury

Amy Bishop, a former professor at the University of Alabama, is being taken to court for possibly killing 3 of her coworkers. On February 12th a biology faculty meeting was being held in Huntsville campus at the University. She's accused of shooting 3 and wounding 3 others. There is a lot of evidence that is pointing to Amy. Witnesses told police that she did it and there was also a gun found in the women's bathroom covered with blood and a woman's jacket on top. The jacket belonged to Amy. The gun also belonged to her husband's friend who claims he bought the gun for her husband. She also has a history of legal problems. 8 years ago at a restaurant she hit a woman because she took the last booster seat. Then her brother was shot in 1986 and Amy claimed it was an accident. Finally, both her and her husband were questioned for attempting a mail bombing of a Harvard Medical School professor in 1993. This is also evidence that she has had problems with the law. She's denying this murder case and keeps saying she wasn't there and she didn't do it.



This is a really shocking story. Considering her criminal past, I'm surprised that a school would hire her. I guess we don't know yet if she's guilty or not, but after reading this article, it sounds like she is. All the evidence is pointing to her. Maybe she's denying this murder just like she may have denied the murder of her brother. This woman seems like she has her share of problems and I really hope that proper action is taken place if she's found guilty. We need to be safe, and especially schools need to be safe. Hopefully they'll look more closely at a teacher's criminal record before hiring them. That's something we need to be aware of. http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/23/alabama.amy.bishop.hearing/index.html?iref=allsearch

Sweat lodge deaths ruled accidental

Three deaths that occurred in October of 2009 were ruled accidental by their autopsy results. They all attended a sweat lodge ceremony with James Arthur Ray, a best-selling author. The sweat lodge consisted of tarps and blankets being assembled into a dome shape with water and hot rocks to create the steam. James Shore, who is only 40 years old, died from a heat stroke caused by the steam. 38 year old Kirby Brown died the same way. Lizbeth Neuman organs failed due to this event and caused her to die at only age 49. Along with these 3 deaths were 20 others who became sick. The author pleaded not guilty for killing these people. His lawyers claim he tried to prevent anythings like this from happening by having many nurses and medical professionals at the site. It's been decided that this was all an accident.

I've never heard of sweat house ceremonies taking place before, so that was new to me. I'm surprised those are even in effect. I think when it reaches a point that people are dying or becoming ill, that limits need to be set. The 3 people who died were all very young. None of them were even 50! While I do believe that James Arthur Ray may not have purposefully murdered these people, I hope that he'll either eliminate these sweat lodges or hold proper precautions with it. It has proven to be a very dangerous act and therefore shouldn't be taken lightly. http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/17/arizona.sweat.lodge.deaths/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Avalanche in Canada kills 2, injures 30

On Saturday, March 13th there was a snowmobile competition in western Canada called the "Big Iron Shoot Out". The event was taking place on a mountain in British Columbia when an avalanche hit. Emergency crews used many resources such as canine units to search for survivors. They came to conclude that two people were killed. About thirty were injured from the avalanche as well.

It's always hard to read such tragic stories like this one. I feel sad for those who were killed, and for the friends and families of those two people. If only the avalanche would have hit before or after the competition, nobody would have lost their life. Avalanches appear to be very unpredictable, but I wish there was a way that we could have prevented this from happening. I'm glad emergency crews did all they could in the situation. Hopefully nobody was missed and everybody was found. I'll remember to keep this event in my thoughts and not forget how lucky I am that this won't happen in a place like Minnesota.http://http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/03/14/canada.avalanche/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Police: Couple nurtured virtual child while real baby starved

In Seoul, South Korea, a couple was arrested for the death of their 3 month old daughter. She starved to death because the couple became obsessed with raising a virtual child on a game on the Internet. The father apoligized for what happened, but neither of the parents have been identified. South Korea has one of the world's fastest broadband networks. The couple turned to this after they lost their jobs. It was an escape from reality for them because since they were under severe stress, they wanted to get away from it.

This is one of the sickest things I've read lately. I can't believe that a couple would leave their baby to starve to death as they played video games. It's their duty as an adult and also as a parent, to be responsible and care for their child. Most of the time we hear about kids and teenagers getting too caught up in the internet, but reality is that it affects everyone. This story proves just that. Adults are being phased by this new technology too. That's not the only thing I believe went on with the parents though. They seemed to have poor emotional health if they had just lost their jobs and thought that internet games would allow all their troubles to disappear. I think maybe it would be a good idea for them to see a psychologist. They may not be terrible people, but what they did was basically murder and there will be consequences for them I would hope. http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/07/south.korea.baby.dead/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29