NEWS: Darfur in 10 Minutes with a little bit of China

Ok, now Blgoger will let me type..

The conflict in Sudan and Darfur is not new news, but it is something that not everyone fully understands. I might be breaking one of the golden rules of news writing (news has to be new), but that's fine because for today I want to make sure people understand what is going on in Sudan.

This ten minute video clip does an amazing job explaining the complexity of the conflict, along with exposing one of the most unknown factors, China.

China is still considered a "developing nation." Their industry is growing exponentially, as is the need for oil. One of the larger untapped oil areas is Africa, which some countries are now exploiting due to Africa's general lack of infrastructure.

China trading with countries for oil is not necessarily evil; however, the political actions to ensure these ties with trading nations is a moral failure.

It has been proven that China sends modern weapons to Northern Sudan, which has been fuel for the fire. Because Northern Sudan controls the oil ports, China has given an unfair advantage to half the country with better weapons, thus putting more tools for murder in the hands of those committing genocide.

This is not the only example of China's moral lapse. The government also made close ties with Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe. They gave him money and power, both of which enabled him to steal food and lives from those who did not agree with him politically.

Why isn't anything being done?
The answer is simple-China. The UN can't possible do anything because China has a seat on the security council and will always exercise their veto power. The U.S. won't do anything because it will anger China, as it will be perceived as the U.S. encroaching on China's territory. And for now, no other leaders are stepping up to take genuine action.

In the end, many see no end. The common consensus to the current conflict is that it will take the goodwill of a nation, or many nations to realize the injustice occurring.

NEWS: Gas Price Manipulation by Elections

While in college, my mom has started a tradition of a daily random text. Its been our way of keeping in touch, and sometimes informed. A few days ago I received a text that said, "Gas 1.99!"

1.99?! Before I left for college, just two months ago, I was paying around four dollars a gallon.

It makes no sense how gas prices can drop that quickly, that low, for no reason. In 2006, my social studies teacher proposed a gas price theory, that the elections were making the gas prices drop. At the time, I thought he forgot to take his meds and labeled the thought as just another conspiracy theory.

However, in a crucial election such as this, the gas price drop has been so apparent that it makes me wonder if "Crazy O'Connor" was onto something.

Admittedly, I have no evidence to prove this, nor has anyone been able to explain its feasibility. However, no one has been able to prove this wrong or give an alternate theory . To be honest, I think people are so happy with the current prices that they don't want to ask questions, thus the lack of answers.

So I leave it to the only thing I found on the internet. John Zavaglia, a local news producer from Massachusetts, puts his own spin on the gas theory and presents evidence to back up the "conspiracy theory." It's a nine minute clip of two segments from his show, but I encourage you to take the time to watch all of it. It's something that Americans should be thinking about.