This week's New York Times

This week when reading the NY Times, I focused a lot on all of the stories involving the stimulus package that Obama wants passed. I was really interested to see how muchthe Democrats were going to have to change of the original plan in order to get enough votes for it to pass. There were several other stories, however, that also caught my eye.

Monday- Besides the story about the stimulus bill, I was very interested in the story about the peanut plant and the problems that were over-looked, causing the salmonella outbreak. This caught my eye mainly because it has been such a big topic lately, and because I love peanut butter! I couldn't believe some of the horrible conditions that were present at this plant. It was truly disgusting, and I was shocked at all of the mistakes that were made at the plant. Some of the most basic safety measures, like not storing raw peanuts next to finished peanut butter and having the roaster set high enough to kill deadly germs, were not met, and this really upset me. I think that businesses should have higher standards than that, especially when the product they are making is consumed by the American people.

Tuesday- Today I read a lot about the stimulus package and Obama's plan to restart the economy. While the plan that Obama is proposing seems ok (it is certainly going to be putting a lot of money into the economy!), I am still worried that it won't be enough. I am concerned mainly because I read that although this plan does involve putting huge amounts of money into the economy, economic experts are saying it is not enough money to really save the American economy from its current disastrous state.

Another story that really caught my eye in this paper was the story about how Catholic churches in New York City are offering indulgences to people once again. I was shocked by this, since when I think of indulgences, I think of the selling of indulgences that began the Reformation. Even in the Catholic schools that I attended up until high school, indulgences were always talked about in a way that made them seem looked down upon. I never would have guessed that the Church would bring them back. To me, even though the selling of them is outlawed, giving out indulgences seems to be almost making religion materialistic. It also just kind of seems like another way for the Church to scare people into sinning less. I do not believe that scare tactics should be a part of religion.

Wednesday- Today the story that really caught my eye was the story about the tornados in Oklahoma. I was drawn to this because of its drama. Tornados are really scary, if you ask me, and the fact that this one happened during the winter made the story even more dramatic. Looking at the pictures of the damage, along with the words of those people that had survived the storms was very sad, and it really showed the devastation that occurred. It reminded me of the tornado that touched down in New Hampshire this summer. The pictures from that were just terrible, and I knew people who lived very close by to where that storm touched down, so I think that experience helped to bring this story closer to me.

Thursday- Today I was interested in the story about the stimulus bill again. I was mostly interested in reading about what parts of the bill were changed, with one of the major changes being less money given to schools for rebuilding and renovations. While this is unfortunate, it really made me think. When I was in high school, my school was in the middle of undergoing a 10 million dollar renovation, including an entire new wing to the school building, a fourth parking lot, and a brand new field and stadium complex. And while all of these things were really nice, and the field was great for playing my field hockey and lacrosse games on, in several of my classes we did not have enough books for all of the students. We would not be able to bring the books home and would have to share them with other students in the class. I couldn't understand then why my school was spending millions on a new football field when we didn't have books, and I wonder now if the focus should be giving money to schools to use for whatever they may need most, and not simply to rebuild or renovate. While nice school buildings are important, learning materials are even more important.

Friday- Today I read some stories online, and was drawn in by the stories about the plane crash in Buffalo. This is just so sad, and makes me a little nervous to fly, seeing as that is the second plane crash in about a month that happened in New York. However, the saddest part of the story for me, was when I saw a headline that stated that one of the people who died in the Buffalo crash was a 9/11 widow on her way to celebrate what would have been her husband's birthday. This completely shocked me and really got me thinking. It's just so strange how life works sometimes, and this story just really made me feel for the family of that woman and her late husband.