TeEn RePeLlAnT???

A wall-mounted gadget designed to drive away loiterers with a shrill, piercing noise audible only to teens and young adults is infuriating civil liberties groups and tormenting young people after being introduced into the United States. Almost 1,000 units of the device, called the Mosquito, have been sold in the United States and Canada. The North America importer of the device sold under the company name Kids Be Gone. The high-frequency sound has been likened to fingernails dragged across a chalkboard or a pesky mosquito buzzing in your ear. It can be heard by most people in their teens and early 20s who still have sensitive hair cells in their inner ears. "It's horrible, loud and irritating," said, Eddie Holder, 15, who sprinted from his apartment for school one morning covering one ear with his hand to block out the noise. The device was installed outside the building to drive away loiterers. "I have to hurry out of the building because it's so annoying. It's this screeching sound that you have to get away from, or it will drive you crazy." The town of Great Barrington, Mass., banned the device last year after a movie theater owner installed one. "There was an outcry, and people didn't like the idea of torturing kids' ears like that," said Ronald Dlugosz, a town official. "People here don't tolerate that kind of stuff." Milford, Conn., faced similar resistance when the city announced plans to install the Mosquito in a park. They increased police patrols instead. Elsewhere, there have been few or no complaints. A mall in Maryland announced plans to introduce the buzz to disperse skateboarders, and officials and police said they haven't had any outcry. A school district in Columbia, S.C., recently installed one on the front grill of a school vehicle and another in a parking lot where students gather after high school games, with no complaints. "We'd have crowds gather in parking lots, and there'd be the usual trash talk, then you'd have fights," said Rick McGee, the school district's emergency services manager. "Now there's no confrontation at all, they just get aggravated and leave within a few minutes." A spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union said the organization does not yet have a position on the issue. But James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Boston's Northeastern University, said crowd-monitoring devices in the hands of private businesses and citizens is "dangerous." What do you think???

McCain Calls for Summer Vacation from Gas Taxes--MIDQUARTER BREAK..7 MORE TO END OF SCHOOL YEAR-FROM HERE

John McCain presented two ideas yesterday.

1)For the federal government to free people from paying gasoline taxes this summer.

To help people weather the downturn immediately, McCain urged Congress to institute a "gas-tax holiday" by suspending the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day. He also renewed his call for the United States to stop adding to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and thus lessen to some extent the worldwide demand for oil.

Combined, he said, the two proposals would reduce gas prices, which would have a trickle-down effect, and "help to spread relief across the American economy."

2) The federal government should ensure that college students can secure loans this fall.

Lawmakers, students and financial experts are worried that the credit crisis might make it more difficult for students and their families to find loans. Nearly two dozen lenders have dropped out of the federally backed student loan program.

Students, McCain said, "should not be denied an education because the recklessness of others has made credit too hard to obtain."

(He also proposed some ideas to reform the tax system in the US and raise the deduction for dependent children from $3500 to $7000.)

What do you think of his ideas????

Mn Vote-Medical Marijuana

A proposal allowing patients with cancer and other debilitating illnesses to use marijuana has cleared its final legislative committee.

The 13-4 vote by the House Ways and Means Committee means the bill's next stop is the House floor.

The Senate approved the medical marijuana bill last year.

But Governor Tim Pawlenty remains opposed because police and sheriffs say the legislation would make it harder for them to enforce drug laws.

Those who oppose the bill say it would make marijuana more accessible to those who aren't sick. Remember the news clip we watched about California and its medical marijuana problems??? What do you think about having it come to MN?

Letter format

When writing a letter to an elected official-use a proper format. This not only looks better, but will ensure that you receive a response!!
See below:

March 16, 2001

Dear Mr. English:

The first paragraph of a typical business letter is used to state the main point of the letter. Begin with a friendly opening; then quickly transition into the purpose of your letter. Use a couple of sentences to explain the purpose, but do not go in to detail until the next paragraph.

Beginning with the second paragraph, state the supporting details to justify your purpose. These may take the form of background information, statistics or first-hand accounts. A few short paragraphs within the body of the letter should be enough to support your reasoning.

Finally, in the closing paragraph, briefly restate your purpose and why it is important. If the purpose of your letter is employment related, consider ending your letter with your contact information. However, if the purpose is informational, think about closing with gratitude for the reader's time.

Sincerely,

Lucy Letter

123 Winner's Road
New Employee Town, PA 12345

Congress questions Big Oil’s big profits

Top executives of the five biggest U.S. oil companies were pressed by Congress to explain the soaring fuel prices amid huge industry profits and why they weren’t investing more to develop renewable energy source such as wind and solar. The executives said they understood that high energy costs are hurting consumers, but deflected blame, arguing that their profits — $123 billion last year — were in line with other industries. “The anger level is rising significantly,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., relating what he had heard in his district during the recent two-week congressional recess. “On April Fool’s Day, the biggest joke of all is being played on American families by Big Oil,” Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said as his committee began hearing from the oil company executives. The House last year and again on Feb. 27 approved legislation that would have ended the tax breaks for the oil giants, while using the revenue to support wind, solar and other renewable fuels and incentives for energy conservation. The measure has not passed the Senate. Write your senator--tell them what you think about this issue. And/ or comment here