1.6 Million Cribs Recalled

Delta Enterprises has issued a voluntary recall on older versions of its cribs after two infant deaths. According to the company, the cribs were made between 1995 and 2007. The cribs apperantly required safety pegs which may have been lost in reassambly. Delta's web site urges consumers to return them if they were made in China before 2006 and used spring pegs. The dead infants suffocated in their cribs. In one instance, there was no safety peg, and when the crib's side detached, it left a gap that left the infant trapped. The other infant died in a similar fashion when a spring-peg failed to lock and a side detached.


Qin Gang, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said the "the [Chinese] government attaches importance to product quality, especially the quality of products relating to children." This statement seems to provide little reassurance to many, especially in light of the recent melamine poisoning of milk, which got thousands of Chinese children sick.
In conclusion, recalls from products made around the world are becoming increasingly common.

Joe The Plumber

The third and final presidential debate between Democratic candidate Barack Obama and Republican candidate John McCain occured on October 15th. There seemed to be a focus on many things, including "Joe the Plumber", Joe Wurzelbacher, who is getting his fifteen minutes of fame. He was mentioned appproximately 25 times in the debate by both candidates. John McCain, however, was the first to mention him. He was almost exclusively discussed when the candidates were debating taxes and the economy. McCain accused Obama of making Joe pay a fine and "spread his wealth around". Obama, however, repeatedly denied such claims. MSNBC tracked down Wurzelbacher. They interviewed him, and he, previously uncommited, now supports John McCain. When will the Joe the Plumber story be "in the toilet". The world may never know.

Article #3.../ 2nd presidential debate

On October 7, Barack Obama and John McCain faced off in a town hall presidential debate at Belmont University. Obviously, in such tough economic times, the focus was on the economy. Some of the questions were from moderator Tom Brokaw, some were from people in the debate, and some were from people who submitted their questions via the Internet.
Both of the candidates made attempts to portray the other as a taxer. Obama tryed to portray John McCain as a deregulator. McCain and Obama both made claims on the other's tax policy that ranked a "False", "Pants on Fire" or "Barely True" on the Truth-O-Meter run by Politifact. John McCain said that Barack Obama has voted 94 times to raise taxes or to not lower them. However, McCain's record shows that he voted that way 114 times. However, McCain has been in the Senate for much longer. At one point, the "excitment meter" of uncommitted Ohio voters was at the maximum level during one of Barack Obama's speeches about the economy.
The candidates disagreed on foreign policy. McCain showed a far more interventionist policy. However, Obama said "We must act" if there is genocide. McCain said Russia's behavior is outside the norm, and that Russia is "kind of" evil. He also expressed moral support for Georgia and Ukraine. He also said that we must support Israel if they are invaded by Iran. Barack Obama said that killing Osama Bin Laden and crushing Al Qaeda is our number one security priority.
Obama said that there are three top priorities in domestic policy. 1. Energy Independence. 2. Health Care. 3. Education. McCain said that "We can take on health care and energy with one bullet". Both of the candidates discussed helping out lower gas prices. Barack Obama said that the environment is the biggest challenge, and the biggest opportunnity. Both of the candidates agreed that every American deserves health care, but they disagreed on how to handle it.

Second Article

Vice Presidential Debate on October 2nd

On October 2nd, vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin debated. Overall, on the excitment meter of uncommited Ohio voters, Joe Biden scored higher. Most people in the interviews thought that Sarah Palin exceeded expectaions, but Joe Biden won. Democrat Mary C. Byrd, who attended the debate, thought that both candidates did an excellent job of connecting, but Joe Biden clearly won.
Sarah Palin focused on Alaska's importance as a state in issues such as energy. She insisted that Alaska's proximity to Russia and Canada helps her with knowledge on foreign policy issues, however Tina Fey mocked her on Saturday Night Live. Sarah Palin was praised for her ability to connect to your everyday "Joe Six-Packs", however criticized for being too phony. She was also mocked by Tina Fey for repeated use of the word "maverick". Many political cartoons focused on her statement about the "gotcha" media.
Joe Biden scored very high on thte excitement meter with men, and fairly high with women. At one point, the orange line (which represented the men) on the meter was at the very top. Despite this, many members of the mainstream media said that Joe Biden was "ranting" and the excitement meter went down. Joe Biden was also mocked on Saturday Night Live for his adamant support of gay rights, but opposition to gay marriage.
Most of the time, the candidates focused on their running mates. However, they kept on using the terms "Obama-Biden Administraion" and "McCain-Palin Administraion". Mrs. Byrd says this was because people don't vote for the vice presidential candidates, they, at the end of the day, always vote for the person at the top of the ticket.
Moderater Gwen Iffil was accused of bias toward Joe Biden. However, Mrs. Byrd thought that she was too soft on both of the candidates. Her reasoning is that neither of the candidates would really answer the questions. The mainstream media has had much debate over such bias.
Overall, most people think that this debate won't matter because it is only the vice presidential candidates debating, but overall a lot of people I have talked to thought that this was a very interesting debate.