Blog Marley

The World Cup only comes around once every four years, but when the matches begin our world is brought together to watch the best soccer in the world. The World Cup is a premiere international soccer tournament with 32 countries from all over the world fighting for a common goal. This event will take place in South Africa from June 11 and go through July 11. This will be the first time that an African country will host the World Cup. This event is a massive attraction that will have the whole world watching and bring thousands of tourists to South Africa.

The 2010 World Cup has been a huge economy booster for South Africa. Because South Africa is hosting the biggest sporting event on the globe, the country is benefiting from the construction of new stadiums, hotels and other structures. The building of these things provided many jobs to people who really needed work and money. This is a very good sign for the South African economy because it is providing money to families who need money for essentials like food and water. Also, new railways and other forms of transportation have been created and or updated in order for the tourist to get around. The rail system is called the Gautrain that will run from Pretoria to Johannesburg to Tahmbo International Airport, with stops in between. This is good in the long run because now South Africa will have a good way of public transportation. Also, there are going to be thousands of thousands of tourist that have come to watch the games. Having all the tourist in South Africa will boost their economy because they will be shopping, eating, and spending money.

Not only is the World Cup good for South Africa because it dramatically helps boost their economy, but it also brings our world together. Our world always has problems whether it is an oil spill, a war, or poverty, but the World Cup brings everyone together as a whole. When a team like Spain plays someone like Germany, both countries stop what they are doing and watch the game. The world cup can unite our globe as a whole and give each country something to cheer for.

On May 3^rd, 2010 tragedy occurred at the University of Virginia when Yeardley Love was brutally murdered. She was found face down in her bedroom with a pool of blood on her pillow, one eye swollen shut and a large bruise on her face which appeared to have been caused by “blunt force trauma.” Police arrested 22-year-old George Huguely who is accused of her murder. Waiving his Miranda rights, Huguely told Charlottesville police that he had kicked through the door to Love’s bedroom. Police documents said Huguely told investigators that he shook Love and her head banged into the wall several times. Both Huguely and Love were members of the University of Virginia’s lacrosse programs. The men’s and the women’s teams have made the NCAA tournament.

Interview with Police Chief

For Huguely, this is not the first case of violence and trouble. In 2008, Huguely a had a run-in with a Lexington, Va. police officer, a female cop who felt so threatened she had to use a taser to take him into custody. He was charged with resisting arrest and public intoxication. Also, a former teammate has come out and said that last year, he actually had a fight with one of his teammates because he supposable kissed Love. Huguely was described as a person who “partied really hard and when he was drunk, he could be violent. He would get out of control.” Huguely is a man who is extremely violent and is very unstable.

Yeardley Love was described by her teammates and friends as an “angle.” She was a star lacrosse player and meant a lot to the UVA community. Love was a 22-year-old senior and was graduating just a month after her life was tragically taken. Love and Huguely were once dating but things took a violent turn. Huguely was described by the summer league teammate as “obsessive, constantly texting and calling Love, to the point that people close to her worried about the relationship.”

This is truly a tragic story and the loss of Love’s life devastating. I think that there are very important lessons that we can learn from this incident. First of all, people were aware of Huguely’s anger problems and someone should have stepped up and said something. Huguely clearly needed some help and if someone said something than this all could have possibly been prevented. It only takes one person to step up and make a difference. I think if any of you are put in a situation where you know someone who needs help you should confront them because you never know, it could save a life.

Lacrosse is becoming a bigger and bigger sport everyday. Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport not only in our country, but the entire world. For those of you who do not know what lacrosse is, it is a team sport where the objective is to score on the other teams goal. You use a stick, which has a plastic head and a metal shaft to cradle, pass, check, and shoot the ball. Lacrosse began hundreds of years ago with the Native Americans tribes in the United States and Canada. The Natives called it Baggataway which was a much more violent sport than today’s version of lacrosse.

Lacrosse has been known to be the “fastest game on two feet” and just like the game, it is spreading fast throughout the world. In United States, lacrosse has been known to be most popular in New England, New York, and Maryland, but now it has been expanding to the entire country. In 2000, there were 1,273 high school programs throughout the country. Only 7 years later, in 2007, there were 2,612 boys lacrosse programs across the country. Click here for map. That is more than double the amount in such a short period of time. No sport has grown faster at the high school level over the last 10 years and there are now an estimated 169,000 high school players. Everywhere you look lacrosse is becoming more and more popular. It is amazing the amount of people who are starting lacrosse and love the sport. It all starts with the increase in of youth players picking up lacrosse. The amount of US Lacrosse players 15 and under has tripled since 1999 to 100,000 players. More and more youth are playing lacrosse, which is the stem of all the growth.

Not only has lacrosse dramatically increased in the US but also internationally. There are now over 30 countries that are part of the International Lacrosse Federation and many more emerging countries set on joining. The most competitive countries are Canada, Germany, Japan, and Australia. The International Lacrosse Federation has conducted a men’s world championship tournament since 1967. More and more countries worldwide are beginning to start lacrosse and make it one of their countries main sports.

With the increase in the amount of people playing I think that it is necessary that lacrosse becomes an Olympic sport. As of right now there still aren’t enough countries that play lacrosse but with its huge popularity there will soon be enough countries. It is a very lengthy process for a sport to join the Olympics but I think that it will eventually happen. There is no way for a sport this big not to be able to participate in the Olympics. There are also many sports in the Olympics that don’t deserve to be there over lacrosse like Archery, Badminton, and mountain biking. “I’m quite optimistic lacrosse will be in the Olympics, it’s just a matter of when,” said Hayes, a member of the ILF. Overall, lacrosse is a great sport that is rapidly growing worldwide. CLick here for LAX VID

Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano began erupting last Wednesday, sending miles of ash into the air. The winds pushed the ash over the same jet stream that airplanes utilize over Britain, Ireland, and Scandinavia and into the heart of Europe. The most noticeable affects of Iceland’s volcano are in the airline industry. Airports throughout Europe have closed all air traffic, which was the first time since the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks. Brian Flynn, Head of the European air traffic control said, “The extent is greater than we’ve ever seen before in Europe.” This is a serious problem for many travelers because thousands of flights are canceled. The volcanic ash is extremely dangerous for planes because it coats and clogs the planes sensors causing the plane to shut down in mid air. The International Air Transport Association said the volcano is costing the industry at least $200 million a day and almost a billion in total. The five largest U.S.-based international carriers Delta, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, and US Airways collectively are loosing 21.9 million dollars per day according to arilinefinancials.com.

The cancellation of European air traffic affects everyone because when planes aren’t flying, tourists cannot travel, merchants are unable to transport their goods, and businesses are confronted with new challenges. Families, businesses, individuals, and airline companies’ worldwide are dramatically affected by this event. People who want to fly to Europe are faced with canceled flights with no options and people who are in Europe are stranded with very few choices of leaving or places to stay. This situation does not just affect the average person but it also greatly impacts our world leaders. For example, President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton had to cancel their trip to Poland to attend the funeral of Poland’s president, Lech Kaczynski. Like Obama, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel was unable to get to Poland for President Lech Kaczynski’s funeral on Sunday. She had to get home from Italy by crossing the Alps in a car. Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was stuck in JFK Airport last Friday and had to govern the country from his laptop.

In Poland, author Anne Applebaum said the situation with Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano reminded Europeans how much they depend on airlines. If air travel were to become unreliable for an indefinite period, she wrote, “the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean would suddenly seem deeper, the continent of Europe wider and longer — almost as if we had gone back in time by a century.” Clearly, this situation has taught us all how much we take for granted our technology and how we all can learn to be more resourceful.

Al Qaeda violence have occurred for the second time in three days in Baghdad on Tuesday leaving the Iraqis fearful that peace and stability is not in their future. The bombings took place in Shiite and Sunni residential areas. There were at least seven bombings that occurred killing 35 people and wounding more than 140.  One attack was in a Shiite neighborhood where a parked car with explosives was detonated.  Other homemade bombs were placed in apartment buildings killing civilians. “I saw one woman being pulled out of the collapsed building and about five others who had been injured,” said Hussein al-Marsumi, 48 a laborer. “They were screaming and covered with blood and dust. They looked like they had been buried in their graves.”

These Tuesday attacks happened after diplomatic buildings in Baghdad, including the Iranian Embassy, were bombed on Sunday killing 30 people and wounding 240. The violence seems to be a result of the political instability after the March 7 Parliamentary elections. Al Qaeda wanted to disrupt the election and is frustrated that they didn’t.  Now that Iraq is in flux they are trying to intimidate and take advantage of the instability. Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad’s security network, said insurgents connected to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia are trying to destabilize Iraq during its post-election confusion. “We are in a state of war with what remains of Al Qaeda” he said.

There is also the lack of strong leadership in the Iraqi government. Small groups and coalitions are forming that divides the country. “The security forces have lost direction,” said Bahaa al-Araji, a Parliament member. “They don’t know what will become of them. They are scared they will lose their positions if government changes. What we need now is a kind of selflessness among all blocs to quickly form the next government.”

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki made no public statement regarding the bombings but he and his advisors seem to be just as confused as the rest of the country. Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi criticized Mr. Maliki’s reaction by saying he is unable to make decisions, his government is not a national government and is dysfunctional. This division and inability to work together only hurts the people of Iraq and can make Al Qaeda stronger. A forceful government must emerge and a unified front needs to overcome Al Qaeda so, American forces can leave Iraq as plan by August 31, and be totally withdrawn by the end of 2011.

Today was a very important day in Iraq because the results of the latest parliamentary election were released. Ayad Allawi beat Nouri al- Maliki and Ibrahim al-Jaafari in one of the closest elections in history. Allawi had 2,631,388 popular votes, al- Maliki had 2,620,042 votes, and al-Jaafari had 1,976,412. It was so close that Allawi had 25.87% of the votes and al-Maliki received 25.76%, a difference of .11. This election decided the 325 members of the Council of Representatives of Iraq. Allawi’s party won 91 seats, al-Malika won 89 seats, and al-Jaafari won 70 seats in the Council. The Council will now elect the Prime Minister of Iraq and the President of Iraq. Al-Maliki was the previous Prime Minister but since Allawi won there will be a change in the political power in Iraq. Allawi now has the extremely difficult challenge of putting together a new government. This will be a very demanding task because the Iraqi government is extremely weak and unorganized. Maliki claims that he needs to remain Prime Minister in order to complete the complicated task of forming the new governing coalition, but the majority of the Iraqi people feel that Allawi can do a better job. Iraq is in desperate need of a strong leader who can turn their country around. Iraq has been going through some very hard times for a very long time, and need Allawi to bring some positive for the Iraqi people. The reactions of the Iraqi people varied. A local Iraqi man said that “some people partied in the streets, honking horns and firing weapons in the air; others stockpiled food in case of violence and renewed curfews.” One problem with this election is that if violence increases than it could threaten the plans to withdraw the troops. Hopefully everything goes as planned and this election turns out to be a positive outcome. If so, this could be the beginning of the new Iraq.

This article was about a thirteen year old boy who lived in Iraq at the start of the war. Karrar had a great life in Iraq before the war but once the war started, everything changed. His Grandfather, grandmother, aunt, and his uncle all died due to the war. Karrar was devastated because most of his family was dead or unstable. Karrar explains how scary and horrifying it is to live in Iraq. He says “But I am also afraid for my life. What I am living right now is constant fear. Our only purpose here in Baghdad is to make it out alive for a day and then the next. “ This is an awful way to live, always in a constant fear for your safety and your life. This is a way of life that most Americans don’t have to deal with. Obviously we aren’t invincible and anything could happen to any of us, but it is nothing like Iraq. Living there you have a fear that when you go for a walk a suicide bomber will kill you or you will be caught in the middle of a gunfight. Karrar’s family has seen how horrifying war can be and now are constantly in fear that it could happen to them. Karrar had to watch the terrible sight of his uncle dying. He says, “We saw my uncle basically drilled with 16 bullets. It was as though when taking a fish out of the water and waiting for it to die slowly and he was just flip flopping. Karrar also says how “you cannot even have dreams because at any moment those dreams could fade away, at any moment your ambitions could be wiped out.” The Iraqi people have to live with the constant fear that they could be killed at any moment. This fear will not go away until the war is over, and Iraq is a safe place. The only problem is that will take many, many years.

The legalization of marijuana is a long overdue topic that should be addressed immediately. There are many reasons why marijuana should be legal. The first is that in order to overdose, one would need to smoke 40,000 times the amount that one would normally smoke. This is nearly impossible and would be extremely hard to overdose and die from. There are many things that are legal that are much more harmful to your body. For example, 400,000 people in the U.S. die from tobacco every year, over 100,000 die from alcohol, over 20,000 die from legal drugs, over 15,000 die from illegal drugs, and over 2,000 die from caffeine. Marijuana has ZERO directly caused deaths.  Why should a substance that kills 400,000 people a year be legal while a substance that causes zero be illegal? It makes no sense. Also, there is no evidence that marijuana is physically addictive in any way. Caffeine, tobacco, alcohol are all extremely addictive but yet are legal. I feel that if marijuana was legal there would be be a major reduction in the abuse of alcohol which leads to fewer drunk driving deaths. An argument against marijuana is that it causes short-term memory loss but shortly after a person stops using marijuana their memory returns to its normal state. There is also no evidence that it causes permanent brain damage. Marijuana is also used for medical purposes. People use it for helping physical pain, neurological condition, and to take some pain away from cancer. Marijuana is often less addictive than the other medicines doctors prescribe.  Another reason why marijuana should be legal is that it would save our government a lot of money. Every year we waste millions of dollars on trying to chase and catch people who smoke weed. Why waste so much money on such a harmless substance? Also, if it is legal, you immediately eliminate the illegal Pot market and get rid of crime associated with Pot money. If marijuana were legal the government would be able to tax it. In California alone, 1.4 billion dollars per year would be raised off of marijuana taxes. Think about how much money our country could raise if it were legal in all 50 states. This money could help our struggling economy and help raise money for more important things. Overall, our government needs to come to the realization that marijuana is not harmful and having it legalized would dramatically help our country. There are a lot more positives than negatives that come from marijuana There is no question about it; marijuana needs to be legalized.

Shout out to TT, PO, OG-C, SB good luck my dudes and hope everything turns out well

On February 21, 2010 the United States Olympic hockey team battled the favored Canadians. This game had been highly anticipated and was guaranteed to be a classic. The United States had not beaten Canada in an Olympic hockey game since 1960. USA is 2-10-3 all time against Canada and was the clear underdog in tonight’s game. This game was a rematch of the 2002 Olympic finals when Canada beat USA 5-2 to win gold. USA got the first goal of the game which got team USA started. It quickly quieted the host country, Canada, loud and passionate fans. Team USA goalie, Ryan Miller, reminded everyone of the 1980 Olympic goalie Jim Craig. Miller stopped 42 of 45 shots, standing on his head to secure an American victory. Without the strong performance by Miller, the United States would not have won this game. It came down to great goaltending, hard work, clutch goals, and a few lucky bounces, but team USA pulled off the upset.

This game shows how just because one team is the underdog does not mean that they will not win. Team USA stunned everyone but them selves because they believed that they could win this game, despite what everyone else was saying. This game reminds me of the 1980 Miracle on Ice. In the 1980 Olympics team USA pulled off one of the greatest victories of all time against the top ranked Soviet Union. The Soviets were the supposed to be the best hockey team in the world and arguable the best ever. They just flat out did not loose. The United States were a bunch of young, hard working, gritty players who believed in them selves.  Team USA stunned the world when they defeated the Soviets, very similar to the victory over Canada in the 2010 Olympics. Both American teams were clearly the underdogs and no one thought that they could win, but they all had a common goal of winning and worked together to achieve this goal.  It isn’t always about who has more skill, but it is about who has the biggest heart, who works harder, and who wants to win more. If you are ever put in a situation where you are not as skilled as your opponent, just remember that it is not always about skill but about believing in yourself. If you do this, you will succeed.

The Pro Bowl

The Pro Bowl is when all the elite players in the NFL play in a game. It is the all-star game of Professional football and you see the best, and often favorite athletes play in a game. It is extremely exciting to watch. There is nothing better than seeing all the best players in the league playing against each other. After many successful Pro Bowl’s the NFL has decided to change it up, which has caused many fans and players to lose interest in this great game. The NFL has changed a few things; one of the changes is the location. For three decades the Pro Bowl has been in Honolulu, Hawaii and everyone loved it. The players loved being able to take their families on a vacation to Hawaii while playing a great football game in beautiful weather. This year they have moved the game to Miami, Florida. A lot of people are upset with the change because it is takes a lot of fun out of the game. The other change that they made is the timing. Timing was the most important and most controversial change that the NFL made. The timing is so important because before this year, the Pro Bowl would be after the Super Bowl, this year it is before. This causes many issues because the players from the Super Bowl teams will not be able to participate. This takes away from the point of the Pro Bowl because many players will not be attending. That outrages the players and fans because it makes no sense to host the game before because the players on the top two NFL teams wont be able to play. The ratings for the Pro Bowl were lower this year mainly because of these two changes. Due to the large number of complaints the NFL is changing the game to the way it was before this year. This is great for the game because now we can all enjoy watching the elite NFL players compete in an All-Star game in beautiful Honolulu.