Kelsey Kuhlman's Weblog

The big thing that happened this past week in sports was the retirement of the great quarterback, Brett Farve. A small town boy from southern Mississippi makes it big in the NFL. He might not have won any super bowls but he set all kinds o f records. He threw the most touchdown passes, had the most passing yards, the most wins for a starting quarterback, and also got the most MVP awards given to any playing in the NFL. Yet after setting all this records Brett Farve is going to be remembered for his fun while playing the game we all love. He did set all those records and played the game for a very long time but it’s his personality and love for the game that is going to caring on forever. There was not one quarterback that ever showed as much enthusiasm as Farve. After he threw a long pass he would sprint to where the catch was made celebrating all the way there. He would stand up to some off the biggest defensive ends helmet to helmet talking crap and just laugh about it that is why we all like Brett Farve. With all these records he is still not the greatest to play the position. But with his personality and records combine he creates another category all on his own. He played the game the best he could and without any complaints. He well be remember as the gun slinger in pads and a Packers favorite forever.

The movie Shattered Glass came across as not being very good and boring at first. It seemed like it was going to be about some magazines that picked each other stories apart and did nothing but critique it turns out totally different due to the characters in it. Stephen came across in the beginning of the movie as if he was well educated in the field of reporting and enjoyed what he did. He loved digging up evidence about weird topics that interested him and stuff that nobody had ever thought of writing on before. Stephen interacted with his coworkers in a way not often seen. He kind of flirted with his receptionist by commenting her on what she wore and telling her how fabulous her lipstick looked. He interacted with them like there was not a care in the world. Most of his coworkers really liked him and supported his articles and loved the stories he would tell them about his research. Some of his stories at the beginning of the movie sounded too good to be true. He tells how the kid that hacked the internet site and did all the stuff to it eventually gets employed to work for them as an internet specialist. He gets what ever he wants and the company just drops it like that nothing happened. And if I was given the chance to hang out with Stephen I think I would have to pass. He was a little out there for me and was way to into reporting.

Roughly every three weeks there are huge chunks of debris weighing two tons or more that fall to the earth uncontrollable. These pieces are from satellites and broken rocket parts that have fallen off. These giant chunks of manmade space junk get shot down by the United States government and fall to the earth regularly. Yet there have been no reports of anyone getting hurt by a falling piece of space junk. The government has just stepped in and started shooting the broken pieces for just three years know. Go back in time and countries didn’t control any of these falling objects. The two ton chunks fell to earth steadily compared to today. Every year somewhere between fifty and two hundred large pieces of manmade space debris falls back to earth. In the past forty years, about twelve million pounds of manmade space junk has survived re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. With all of this debris falling to earth you would expect some people to be hurt or even killed. But to this day there has only been one account of someone getting hit by a piece of space debris. In 1997 a lady was hit in the shoulder by a small piece of a delta rocket and was unhurt. The reason that nobody has been hit is due to the earth’s surface. It is made up of about seventy percent water and most pieces end up in the ocean. Also it is said that the odds of being hit by a piece of space debris in one in a trillion. So I don’t think you need to worry about it.

This past Tuesday Barbara Mulert was arrested for stealing money from Kay Dahman. Mulert was Dahman caretaker for over seven years and is now a thief. Dahman’s money started disappearing in 2001. It has been flowing out of her account for nearly seven years know without her knowledge and against her will. It is ending up in the hands of her caretaker who has been using on whatever she wants or needs. Dahman is 93 now, widowed, childless and blind. She has lot over $487,000. Mulert used the money to buy a car and pay her own mortgage but nothing to help in the caretaking. The scam was discovered by Dahman’s friend. Her friend was reading her mail and found weird purchases. Mulert went to jail on charges of felony theft, organized fraud and exploitation of the elderly. Dahman’s relationship with Mulert, her caretaker, was not all bad. Mulert threw Dahman an elaborate 90th birthday party, complete with music and a buffet. More than 100 friends passed through, Mulert had them pose with Dahman for pictures. Dahman is a beloved figure in Lutz and is a retired schoolteacher. She once had a rhinestone-studded key to the city. Dahman still attends Tims Memorial Presbyterian Church. She comes to church every Sunday at 11 o’clock, and if the sermon goes over, she has a little talking watch that gives a reminder that it’s 12. Mulert was released on $45,000 bail on Wednesday. Dahman is still very emotional about the whole situation.

Tigers in Sumatran are being killed and sold for their body parts. Laws that protect these endangered tigers have not stopped the parts of the tiger’s form being sold openly in Indonesia. The parts from the tigers that are being sold are canine teeth, claws, whiskers, and bones. Those body parts where found in 10 percent of the 326 retail outlets in the cities around Sumatra. It is estimated that some 23 tigers were killed to supply the stores with the body parts due to the numbers of canine teeth found. But in previous years it was estimated that some 52 tigers were killed a year. The numbers are down but that is due to the decrease of tigers in the wild. The poor enforcement is why the Sumatran tiger is falling right before our eyes. There is only 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild and such a small number can’t sustain this level of poaching. If the enforcement isn’t stepped up the Sumatran tiger will be wiped out just like the Javan and Bali tigers were. The struggling issues with land use is driving the tigers closer to humans and creating human-tiger conflicts. Also the tiger’s habitat is under threat. The deforestation by the pulp and paper and oil industries is destroying the habitat plus the illegal trade will be the final blow for the Sumatran tiger if no action is taken immediately. The Sumatran tiger is already listed as Critically Endangered which is the highest category of threat before extinction. We cannot afford to lose any more of these magnificent creatures.

The monster of the NBA has been traded again in a quick deal that was finalized on Wednesday. The 7-foot-1, 325-pound Miami Heat center was traded to the Phoenix Suns this past week for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. With two years on his contract Shaq will get paid some20 million a year while in phoenix. Shaq is going from the team with the worst record in the NBA to the one with the best record in the Western Conference. Phoenix is without a title in the team’s 40-year history but has been one of the flashes teams to watch play these past couple of years. Shaq’s streak of 14 consecutive All-Star appearances ended this season due to the ongoing injuries. Shaq has been out for past two weeks with a hip injury. O’Neal said he hopes to be able to play before the All-Star break (Feb. 15-19) but it is more likely he will return after the All-star break. Phoenix’s first game back will be at home against the Los Angeles Lakers, the franchise he helped win four titles. The biggest rumor is that Shaq will not be able to keep up with the Suns fast break game style. O’Neal says he will fit right in and if he is not the one getting the rebound and starting the fast break he will try to be the first one down on the other side of the court looking for the ball. Overall Shaq seems happy with the trade and says a championship is coming to phoenix.

This past December a research team launched the first ever “thermal glider” off the coast of St. Thomas. It has made more than twenty uninterrupted trips in the Virgin Island Basin. Researchers say that the “green powered” glider could be on a mission for over six months. Gliders are different than vehicles with motors. They are propeller driven and propel themselves by changing their buoyancy to go down or up. The wings create the lift and the tail fin and rudder steer the glider. A job that humans can’t do in the ocean is where the glider steps in. They can work without interruption so weather conditions don’t affect them at all. Gliders carry a variety of sensors to collect measurements such as temperature and salinity. This glider is the first to patrol the ocean running off of green energy. As of right know most gliders run off of batteries and pumps to move water or oil from inside the vehicles pressure hull to outside. The green glider gets its energy for propulsion from the changes in water temperature. The heat from the ocean warms wax-filled tubes inside the engine. The expansion of the warming wax converts heat to mechanical energy, which is used to push oil from a bladder inside the vehicle’s hull to one outside, changing its buoyancy. Cooling of the wax at depth completes the cycle. The only thing limiting the green glider right now is the fact that the transmitters are powered by batteries. This is in the process of getting fixed so they will run off of the stored energy created by the glider itself.

Giving one of my hard earned dollars to somebody I don’t even know sounds unthinkable. At my minimum wage job I would have to work 10 minutes to earn one dollar. Although one dollar might not seem like that much to some, I don’t believe that my own hard earned money can be fully appreciated by anyone else. I wouldn’t even give my friend a dollar because he shows no responsibility in money management. He has no concept of what a dollar is worth and feels no guilt wasting his parent’s money. Even if I did give my hard earned money to someone, how do I know it is going to be used for what they say? An example of this would be a homeless man setting on the corner with a sign begging for food. Giving him a dollar is great and ever thing but he has the money know and can spend it on whatever he wants. I believe it is going to be spent on other things like alcohol and cigarettes not food which he should actually buy. Also the way I was raised has a lot to do with my view of a dollar. If I wanted something when I was younger I had to work for it and save, not give up and beg for money. Begging is one of the lowest of lows and knowing that there is always a job somewhere you just have to find it means that nobody should be panhandling.

How would you like to kick the game winning field goal in overtime to send your team to the Super bowl? That’s exactly what Lawrence Tynes accomplished in the sub zero weather in Green Bay. Thanks to Tynes the New York Giants are going to the Super bowl in Phoenix, Arizona this coming Sunday. Tynes hasn’t ever had it easy. Just six months ago he was sleeping on a bed he made in the hospital to be with his wife who was struggling with the final weeks of a high risk pregnancy with twin boys. Five years ago he was all over the place when it came to football. He was in and out of NFL training camps, NFL Europe, Canadian Football League and never knew where his career was going to hold at. Even on his 25th birthday he had it rough. He was driving to his sibling’s home to play video games but once they got there they saw federal agents storming the house, and accused his brother of being the head of a huge marijuana smuggling operation. Tynes says, “I don’t need a pity party for me. Everyone has troubles. I think it builds character. It’s helped me come through some tough times getting traded, getting cut. And I wouldn’t trade my life for anything in the world. Any of it.” Tynes was born in Scotland and was raised on soccer. He moved to the U.S. and played one year of high school football and turned it in to an NFL career. Know Tynes is living the dream of a lifetime and enjoying it.

I choose to do my blog on Hilary Clinton’s Campaign commercial Warned. She talks about how our economy is in big trouble and how Bush only helps out his friends and is dumps the rest on the middle class. Clinton claims she warned Bush last year to act about the foreclosure of many homes but says Bush did nothing. Hilary says a proven leader is needed to help the middle class and get them back on their feet. In the commercial Hilary Clinton uses logos as numbers and facts about the middle class to show how President Bush has created this problem by favoring only his friends and no one else. Clinton shows pathos by telling how before Bush was President there was no pressure on the middle class. She puts you in the middle class and says how would you like to be part of the two million foreclosures that are going to happen thanks to Bush. For ethos, Clinton says we need a proven leader that has an economic plan which she says she has. She would give immediate tax rebates for the middle class that would freeze foreclosures and create millions of new jobs. It’s about the people and we need solutions says Hilary Clinton. Being that this is a presidential campaign commercial there are going to be very strong ethos, pathos, and logos. I think Clinton’s campaign commercial is very good in that it was short but hit all the topics she wanted to cover with strong support.