W.H. apoligizes for turning down a hero's family.

The White House turned down a war hero's family from receiving a Medal of Honor.  Why?  Because the 10-year-old grandson was wearing shorts.  Yes, shorts!  Vernon K. Baker was the last surviving black winner of the Medal of Honor from World War II.  He was belatedly awarded the Medal of Honor in 1997 by president Bill Clinton.  Baker died in July and was buried last Friday, September 24.  His widow and grandson were being given the Medal of Honor and were turned away because the grandson was wearing shorts and a t-shirt with a picture of Baker on the front.  The White House apologized for this.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101001/pl_yblog_upshot/white-house-apologizes-for-turning-away-war-heros-family-over-dress-code
Would you have turned them away?

Joshua Tree hiker found alive.

A real estate broker survived six days without food or water in Joshua Tree National Park.  He didn't think he would survive, so he wrote messages on his hat telling his family what he wanted his funeral to be like, who they could trust, and how much he loved them.  Edward Rosenthal went on a day long hike and took a wrong turn trying to get back to his car on September 24.  Park employees stated that the temperatures reached over 100 degrees in that week.  He walked 13 miles before realizing he was lost, so he stayed low and waited, and wrote on his hat.  His wife said that what he wrote was very heartfelt, he wanted her to thank his employees and told them how much he loved them.  He is very lucky to be alive.
I used http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101001/ap_on_re_us/us_joshua_tree_missing_hiker.
What would you have done if you were stranded and lost in the desert?

Cancer Drug: How much is a life worth?

Many new drug treatments cost around $100,000 a year.  One of those most recent drugs is called Provenge.  Provenge costs around $93,000 a year.  Patients are wondering how much a life is really worth.  Most are not willing to spend this much a year for their life.  "I would not spend that money, because the benefit doesn't seem worth it," says Bob Svensson, age 80, a former corporate finance officer from Bedford, Massachusetts.  For the last decade, new cancer-fighting drugs have been reaching $5,000 a month. Only a few of these keep cancer in remission so long that they are cures. For most people, the drugs may buy a few months or years.  Some people are in it for life and more people are uninsured because of job layoffs in the recession. The nation's new health care law eliminates these lifetime limits for plans that were issued or renewed on September 23 or later.  Many people would rather die early than pay so much to be treated.
I found this story on http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100926/ap_on_he_me/us_med_costly_cancer_drugs.
Would you pay this much to be treated?  If not, how much do you think a life is worth?

Amputated twice, but keeps fighting.

When a bomb exploded under Dan Luckett's Humvee in Ashoqeh, Afghanistan, he lost one of his legs and part of his foot.  He thought he wouldn't be able to fight anymore and that he would have to go home, and he didn't want to leave.  Only two years after the accident, Luckett is back on duty with only one leg and part of a foot, fighting on the front lines of America's Afghan surge in one of the most dangerous parts of this country.  Luckett was a platoon leader on his first tour in Iraq when this happened. An explosively formed penetrator flew through his vehicle on a Baghdad street on Mother's Day 2008.  His Humvee filled with smoke as the bomb blew up.
I went to http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100925/ap_on_re_as/as_afghan_amputee_soldier.
Would you have gone back to Afghanistan being a double-amputee?

Current Event 1- Obama urges students to be tolerant.

Obama is urging students to be tolerant of each other.  He is saying that students must ignore students and be respectful to others.  He acknowledged that school can be tough, and is made more tough when students are being made fun of, so we should all celebrate our differences and be kind to one another.  "We shouldn't be embarrassed about our differences," Obama tells a school in Philadelphia.  Some parents threatened to pull their children out of school because of Obama's speech last year, how he is trying to put politics into the classroom.  He urges students to stay in school and receive education, and be respectful to each other.
I used http://www.yahoo.com/ to find current event number 1 for the first quarter.
Do you agree with Obama, or disagree?