U.S. Drone Kills Two Hostages

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/23/politics/white-house-hostages-killed/?iid=ob_article_topstories_pool&iref=obnetwork
President Obama announced Thursday that two innoncent hostages were killed in January by a U.S. drone targeting an al Qaeda compound. President Obama took full responsibility for what happened and apologized on behalf of the U.S. government. The two hostages were Warren Weinstein, an American, and Italian national Giovanni Lo Porto. Two other American citizens that are al Qaeda operatives were also killed in the same region by U.S. counterterrorism attacks. American officials at the time had no reason to believe either hostage was present. They had the compound under surveillance for hours and had saw no hostages. Unfortunately that assesment was incorrect and led to this tragedy. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said, "No words can fully express our regret over this terrible tragedy." The death of the hostages raises questions as to whether protocol has to be improved before launching an attack. Weistein was an American USAID worker focused on helping Pakistani families and was captured in August 2011. Lo Porto was an Italian aid worker who had been a hostage since 2012. Weinstein's wife says they are devastated by the news but ultimately Weinstein's captors are responsible for his death. The information was classified and Obama decided to go public with the information because he believed the families had the right to know the truth. Earnest assured that all the attacks were legal and autorized and Obama still stands by the counterterrorism attacks even though they have been criticized for their drone attacks and killing civilians. I believe we need to review and revise our counterterrorism program. We need to have precise attacks that take out the terrorists and not anymore civilians. I don't think we need to stay involved for much longer. If we don't get out of there soon we are going to be there forever. We need to put it into the hands of the Pakistani government.

NASA: First photo of Pluto

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/15/tech/pluto-nasa-new-horizons-first-color-picture/index.html
The NASA probe New Horizons launched in 2006 and has traveled nearly 3 billion miles since then averaging 726,000 miles a day. The probe took the first ever color photo of Pluto and its largest moon Charon and is expected to reach Pluto on July 14th.

The probe will send back much clearer images and we will begin to learn more about Pluto and other dwarf planets. New Horizons' principlal investigator Alan Stern said this is purely for exploration and learning more about what is out there. Pluto was discovered in 1930 and thought to be the smallest of all the planets. But scientist have since reviewed that status and determined Pluto is a dwarf planet. By discovering more about Pluto it will shed a light on the third zone of the solar system beyong the rocky planets and gas giants. This third zone is called Kaiper belts and contains many small planets and is known for producing comets such as Halley's Comet which orbits the sun every 75 years. New Horizons will use its array of cameras and other instruments to phtograph the planet and its moons and collect information about its surface and atmosphere. Stern says that this encounter is set to be as storied as that of the Voyager mission in 1980s. The exploration of space is amazing. We can learn so much more about what is out there. The fact that we can collect information about the surface and atmospherre of Pluto by just flying by is absouletely mind blowing. Also that this probe can travel 726,000 miles a day is astonishing. This can open our eyes to a whole new unkown region of our solar system and can be beneficial in learning new things.

One and Done

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/07/politics/claire-mccaskill-ncaa-duke-twitter/index.html
Senator Claire McCaskill finally adressed what has been a problem in NCAA men's basketball for the past few years. Many players are "one and done" they play one maybe two years in college then move on to the NBA this is a major problem. What if these athletes get hurt or retire early. They haven't finished college or have a degree all they had was basketball. They wouldn't be able to get a real job. McCaskill really singled out Duke in her tweet.

In the past years Duke has really had a history of outstanding freshman that play one year and then move on to the NBA. This year many would agree they won because of their four star freshmen. In Sen. McCaskill's tweet she was also referring to Wisconsin's basketball team which is made up of mostly juniors and seniors. Frank Kaminsky their best player and the national player of the year is a senior he decided to stay and get his college degree. He will probably go on to have a good NBA career but once that is over at least he has his degree and can move on and do something else. Top high school prospects must wait a year before sigining up for the draft. Mant just go to college for one year. What good does this do? I believe that athletes should be required to complete college and get a degree before signing with a NBA team. Education is important and it's what really matters. The money and basketball is all temporary but your education and knowledge lasts a lifetime.

Fighting Cancer

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/25/tech/webster-nanoparticles-cancer-mci/index.html

Taking down cancer and other diseases like Ebola has been a goal of medicine researchers for decades. There has been a new breakthrough in nanotechnologies that could be a promising cure to diseases. Dr. Webster and his team at Northeastern University our making new advances every day. At the core of the new technology is the ability to attach drugs and in some other cases metals and minerals to bind themselves to life threatening diseases. In one of the studies they attached a gold nanoparticle to cancer cells. Then they use infrared light to heat up the nanoparticles killing the cancer cells but leaving the healthy cells alive. The problem they run into is toxicity and how internal organs like the kidneys can expel these nanoparticles. With the use of selenium nanoparticles in animal testing the results have been promising. Selenium is a natural part if our diet and doesn't harm us. Nanoparticles have a lot of research ahead of them but they have a promising future. This would be a huge breakthrough if the researchers figure can produce these nanoparticles. It could mean a cure to cancer and other diseases. With the use of nanoparticles you wouldn't have to go through chemotherapy and lose your hair. Cancer has a personal impact on me. Both my sister and mom were diagnosed last year. My mom went through chemo and lost all her hair. She doesn't complain but I know she would rather still have her hair. Through the use of nanoparticles you could avoid this hair loss and not have to go through chemotherapy.

My Story

Hello, my name is Andrew Houston. I’m a sophomore at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha, Nebraska. I have three siblings who are all older than me. They are out of college and living on their own. My hobbies include basketball, baseball, golf and other sports. I also like to watch movies and listen to music. My favorite movie is Sandlot and my favorite song is Riptide by Vance Joy. My favorite sports teams are the Nebraksa Huskers for college football and college basketball. My favorite MLB team is the St. Louis Cardinals and my favorite NFL team is the Green Bay Packers.  I can play the piano; I have played since I was 5 years old. I like to travel; I have been to 36 of the 50 states but not out of the country yet. The coolest places I have been is Washington, D.C., Salt Lake City, Utah, and Chicago, Illinois. Salt Lake City is awesome I had a great time skiing and going to the University of Utah basketball game. Also I have been to Houston, Texas it's a pretty cool place. 

I hope to travel out of the country to somewhere in Europe. In the future I want to go to college. I’m going to premed school to study to be a doctor.  I want to go to Northwestern or somewhere in California. Then I plan to go to medical school and become a radiation oncologist. I wouldn't mind studying abroad somewhere in Europe. Hopefully I get to go somewhere cool like California for my residency. Then I will work, probably get married and start a family.