Cody Writes at Night
Recently two people had life changing experiences. They won a lottery prize of $380 million dollars. The two people have not stepped forward as of yet, but they will share the prize. The tickets were sold in the states of Washington and Idaho.
The jackpot is the second largest in U.S. history. The winners can receive their prizes in installments or take a lump sum payment of $81 million dollars. The numbers that won were 4, 8,15,25,47, and had a Mega ball number of 42.
I think that everyone who drives has realized that gas prices have been steadily rising over the last several months. The bad news is that the prices are expected to continue to rise over the next year. The cause seems to be increased demand from countries like china.
To add insult to injury, the oil companies are once again set to make record profits. This really gets my gall especially after all the money we spend cleaning up their messes. I hope our government will do something about this outrage!
One thing I read about today was how some 8 to 10 year old kids got their science experiment published in a major science journal. The kids did an experiment involving training bees to go to certain color flowers by using sugar as a reward. The experiments showed how bees see patterns and colors.
The report was published by a journal called Biology Letters. This publication is peer-reviewed by Britain’s Royal Society. Many scientists were impressed by the work done by these kids and say that the experiment is a real advance in the field of science. I just have to say way to go kids!!
It seems that the recent election where republicans made great gains in the house and the senate are paying off for the party. They have effectively forced the Obama administration into extending the tax cuts that were due to expire at the end of the year. The compromise will affect millions of Americans.
Democrats still strongly object to the cuts as they say it will strangle the government’s ability to put money into other programs where it is needed. As for me, I am just glad to know that my taxes won’t be going up anytime soon.
The financial news in Europe has not been good lately. It seems that many countries are in need of a bailout similar to the one given to the country of Greece about six months ago. The next country that is ready to accept a bailout is Ireland. Their mounting financial troubles have them scrambling for answers.
Other countries such as Portugal are considered to be financially weak and could soon be in need of a bailout as well. The good news is that many of these countries are taking steps to avoid bankruptcy by trimming their budgets and cutting government jobs. I hope they will get this mess straightened out soon so the financial worries don’t spread around the world.
It seems that the news today is all about the economy and how bad it is doing. One thing that comes to mind is the fact that so many American jobs are being transferred overseas. I read an article today about how many things are no longer produced in the U.S. it was amazing to me and it’s no wonder our economy is doing poorly.
Many major industries have shipped their jobs overseas. It’s hard to believe that there are no TV’s made in America as well as no cell phones. We also buy nearly all of our shoes from overseas as well as our toys, steel, and baseballs. I hope our congress will realize that we need these jobs back and will work to get them back in the U.S. where they belong!
Since the republicans made major gains in the recent election, president Obama has decided to start making a few deals with the other side. The latest deal that could be in the works is taxes. The Bush administrations tax cuts will expire soon and many want to extend the cuts for years to come.
The tax cuts are scheduled to end in January. The cuts will affect nearly every American including the richest Americans. Republicans have argued that the tax hike will hurt small businesses and put a damper on the struggling economy. We’ll have to wait to see the outcome of this important issue.
In the beautiful land of Indonesia, there is a mount Merapi. The problem with the mountain is that it has an active volcano that is making life a deadly game for many Indonesians. Lava flows and deadly clouds of searing hot ash have fallen on the people killing at least 38. The mountainside is home to thousands of farmers who make their living on the sides of the mountain.
Whenever the mountain erupts, thousands flee down the hill to safety. When things are all clear, the people return to feed their cows and goats. Officials are trying to keep the farmers off the mountain, but are having little success. It seems that the deadly game will continue until the mountain quiets.
One thing that has many companies worried is the illegal production of fake merchandise. It is a problem for many around the world and the problem seems to be growing with the advent of the internet. Law enforcement is trying to combat the problem but is overwhelmed by the shear numbers.
The illegal trade is costing legitimate companies a bundle. The trade is estimated to be worth about $250 billion dollars a year. China seems to be behind most of the counterfeit goods and the Obama administration is tying to address the problem by talking it over with them. I hope the illegal sale of these goods will soon be stopped.
This story may seem a little weird, but by all accounts it’s true. Two men from Russia have won the Nobel Prize. They credit scotch tape as a key element in their experiments. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov are credited with discovering some of the properties of grapheme. It is a form of carbon that has incredible properties.
This type of carbon is only about one atom thick. The thing about it is that it is 100 times stronger than steel. The new materiel has the potential to be used in many products including airplanes and computers. The men used scotch tape to peel off layers of the material in their research.