The article “do we have the courage to stop this?” by Nicholas D. Kristof is about how important it is to regulate guns and how it can save live, up to 10,000 each year. Limiting gun purchase and tightening the rules on how to get a gun can decrease the amount of gun deaths even if it is just by one-third.  Nicholas makes a point by saying that we need to take the same drastic stand for gun shooting just as we did for automobile accidents. The amount of people die each year due to gun violence is said to be more than the amount of troops that die in war. Soldiers killed for protecting this country from invasions and terrorist attacks but here we are raging war against each other kill each other. The importance of regulating guns is significant because there are innocent children lives that are at stake and we need to know that our kids will be safe when we are not in sight.  I think all of America’s hearts fell when they heard of the 20 beautiful innocent kids that lives where cut short due to the school shooting in Connecticut. It makes me think if the gun man did not have a gun in his possession if those parents would still have their children with them today. Now I’m not saying that citizen should not be able to own a licensed hand gun for safety but    we need to realize that gun deaths are increasing and we need tighter rules so less innocent lives are not taken. 

The article “Marijuana law just creates criminals” by Hakeem Jeffries is about thousands of young people getting arrested each year due to marijuana possession. The arrest for small amounts of marijuana in the last 10 years has increased with more than 400,000 people arrested which make marijuana possession arrest number 1 in the city of New York.  In the city of New York they spend $75 million every year on arresting people because of marijuana possession. In 1977 a law was passed that made the possession of marijuana a crime even if not in public view. Black and Latinos make up 85% of the people arrested with possession. People arrested with more than 25 grams of marijuana Possession in the public eye is fined $500 and can spend up to three months in jail. If marijuana remains in someone’s pocket it would not be a crime but in cooperation with the police on a search the marijuana is now in public view which causes an arrest. This criminal offense being predominant in black and Latino neighborhoods gives these races a bad name, getting arrested because of possession is so often in these neighborhoods police ten to rade these neighborhoods looking to find people going against the law hoping that the more criminals they take off the streets then there will be more peace. What they fail to see is that when that make an arrest the person now has a criminal record and instead of cutting down the criminal rate they are raising it but with make unnecessary arrest.

The article "low water levels on Mississippi threatens shipping"  by Jim Salter and Jim Shur is about the Mississippi river becoming too shallow not enabling shipment overseas. This problem is causing shipping businesses to be in chaos and unable to make shipments across the country which can cause these businesses to crash. Head of marine operations Rick Calhoun said "You can’t just wait until it shuts down and suddenly say, ‘There’s a problem." the shallowness of the Mississippi river makes it impassable for barges carrying harvested crops. “The longer it lasts, the worse it gets,” said Don Sweeney associate director of the Center for Transportation Studies. The Mississippi river has a depth of 15 or 20 feet less than the normal depth of the Mississippi. The predominant concern is the stretch of the Missouri River near St. Louis and the Ohio River that are I which there is lack of rain and the normal width of 1000 feet is now a few hundred feet. The lowering of the Mississippi river can be cause because of global warming, mother nature, or because the pollution of the world. Most of the time a nature related issue comes up most people think that is because of time and global warning but if we accept that is because of the amount of pollution in the world we can see that it’s our fault. Air pollution causes less rain less rain causes less water to multiple. We need to cut down pollution and then maybe mother earth can provide us with what we need.

The article “should 16-year-olds drive” by Ted Gregory is about the insurance institute wanting to higher the minimum driving age. More than 50 percent of adults think it should be higher too. “Do these teens need to be driving as early as we are allowing them to drive?” said Lund. Teens driving at a young age tend to be less responsible than older people, which can be more mature. Even though there are people who want to raise the age limit to drive there are others who disagree, “I don’t think it matters what age you are, as long as you have the practice and experience” said Hinsdale central high’s sophomore Linnea Greci. Some ones age should not affect the ability of some one’s mind to be able to drive. Statistics have proven that 5,000 teens die every year from car crashes. It is believed that if the age limit higher then the drivers will be more mature and are more responsible by following rules. Kids of a younger age tend to be more vulnerable whereas kids of an older age or able to make logical reasoning. The age limit of the ability to drive should not affect whether are not they are good drivers because they’re people that have been driving for a long time but drive wild and there are people that have been driving for a short amount of time and drive good. Making the age limit higher does not affect some one’s ability to know right from wrong and know the proper way to drive on the road.

The article "Fuel scramble as storm-hit gas pumps dry up" by David Sheppard and Edward McAllister is about the amount of gas stations in the New York area and New Jersey that were closed due to hurricane sandy.  Some gas stations either had not power to generate gas or ran out of gas. People from all over New York and New Jersey drove many miles to find open gas stations so that they can full up car tanks and collect gas for generators at home. “It’s making people think about whether they can get to work, whether they have enough gas in the tank to get there and back,” said Jenn Hibbs. "More than 80 percent of filling stations in the state were unable to sell gasoline as of Wednesday morning", said Sal Risalvato, head of the New Jersey Gasoline, Convenience, Automotive Association. Based on the quote Gas stations which are closed have either been out of power and have no supplies to get the power back on. “I have gas in the ground but no power. For many others they’re facing the opposite problem, with power but no gasoline. For the few stations that are lucky enough to have both they’ve got huge lines out front,” said Kevin Beyer. In order to be prepared for the upcoming storm people had to be prepared because of that gas stations ran quickly out gas or lost power and gas stations that had gas had  long lines of waiting customers waiting to fill up what they need to get through the storm.

The Article “Yah! Boo! So? Reactions to Obama win vary” by Peter Mncha is about the reactions of citizens after President Barack Obama was elected President for the second time. The reaction people varied some feel it was a good thing that Obama got re-elected others believed that is was not so much of a good idea because they have yet to see changes and claim that all he has it empty promises others are still trapped in the middle. Mary Szybist, 43, of Media, describes her reaction as “very Happy” she also goes on to say, “I didn’t feel like a got a sense of who Romney was and that I could trust anything he said.” While Mary has good things to say Linda Halpern says, “I am physically ill.” Thou the reactions may vary there are still citizen that have nothing much to say about each candidate. Citizens like Noreen Kirland have very little to say so only states, “it’s all in God’s hands.” This topic being such a delicate topic for reasons such as race Obama already being in office. In every election there will be people that are going to be happy, excited, and thrilled but there will be people that will be disappointed and devastated.  There is always going to be someone elected to be president from either the democrat party or the Republican Party so not everyone will love the result of an election because not everyone is for one party and the supports of the opposite party will feel upset to see that who they would like to win did not.