Monday, March 28th, 2011

International News
CNN News
China's First Blogger Speaks Out


In Hong Kong, China, Isaac Mao speaks out against the censorship of the Chinese government. He is the "first blogger" from China and presents new ideas about the firewall. He says, "I think the problem to the whole country is that if we censor more and more keywords, we will be stopping the country from more and more innovations." Although there have been people who got around the censorship, the majority of society is being blockaded from understanding more and being exposed to new ideas. With the internet accessible, one has the world at their fingertips and Chinese government is trying to keep their citizens from getting out of their grasp. Words such as sex, Jasmine, protest, and Empty Chair (ignifying the Chinese dissident Liu Xiao Bo) are censored. IT is Mao's goal to "try to persuade the authorities that it will hurt the whole country's development in the future, and the economy eventually."


<http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/03/28/China.blogger.mao/index.html>


National News
The New York Times
States Weigh Fighting Meth With Drug Prescriptions


Nashville Texas and many other states are contemplating weather or not to have a prescription required for simple decongestants such as Sudafed. According to the New York Times, decongestants like such have a lot of pseudoephedrine, which is the most prevalent ingredient in methamphetamine, "and the police say past efforts to keep them out of the hands of meth cooks have failed."Although many over the counter drugs do not contain pseudoephedrine, there are those that do, meaning that there is a higher probability of meth being produced. One lady complains, "“It’s very irritating,” she said of the limits and the requirement to show identification whenever she buys Zyrtec-D. “I’m 77 years old with a head full of white hair, so they should look at me and know I’m not making meth.”"


<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/us/29meth.html?hp>


Local News
The New York Times
Come Together For Japan

At the Riverside Church on the Upper West Side on Sunday, March 27th, people of all ethnicities, races, and religions joined together to pray for those in Japan. The service was called Interfaith Time of Reflections For Japan brought out the city's diversity, "outside of subway cars and rush-hour sidewalks, when the population truly blends in a common pursuit" and this was a perfect example of the melting pot New York City is perceived to be. The event fundraised for Japan relief and also brought a feeling of hope amongst those who attended.