IRB blog post 3- Midcentury Modern: Yuletide Pop's Golden Age

The article discusses how writing a Christmas song is a song-writers jackpot. In the 1940s and 50s there was an explosion in the amount of people writing Christmas songs because they witnessed the instant success of "The Christmas Song" by Mel Torme. Recently Mariah Carey has made a new Christmas Song but not many others have. It will be difficult to writers to compete with classics like "Frosty", "Rudolph", and "Jingle Bells". Right now the radio stations mostly play songs written 50 or 60 years ago.
Will a new song ever become a new classic?
Will modern songwriters be able to figure out what it takes to write a successful Christmas Song?

IRB blog post 3- BP, 8 other firms sued by Justice Dept. over gulf oil spill

BP along with 8 other companies are being sued by the Justice Department for the damage caused in last summer's oil spill. It has been called the worst oil spill in history. The case accuses BP and the other companies for not abiding by certain regulations and neglecting to stop the fires and explosion which caused the oil rig to fail. It is estimated that the companies will owe tens of billions of dollars in fines. Even though the spill has been contained the Justice Department is determined to finish investigating this case and to prevent disasters like this from occurring in the future. The criminal investigation is focusing on BP, Transocean and Halliburton, the companies most responsible for the spill. So far BP has been cooperating.
Will large companies like this be able to recover from the enormous amount of negative publicity they have received?
Will the fines be enough of a punishment to discourage other large companies from cutting corners?

IRB bog post 3- Judge Bars Twitter Updates From London Courtroom During Assange Bail Hearing

At the beginning of the hearing for the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, the judge banned the reporters, lawyers and others present at the hearing from "tweeting". One journalist didn't understand the point of banning technology in the court room. In a previous hearing she publicly posted, "In open court what difference is typing from pen & paper. Lawyers have laptops & blackberries. Why not public? …" It is interesting how easy it is to communicate information to the entire population even if something occurs behind closed doors. With this new technology there could be a whole new issue of allowing certain technologies in places like a courtroom where information is usually relatively private. The judge said that tweets could pose as a distraction. Even adults are being limited on their technology use now? This courtroom sounds like a school.
How are these new technologies going to be limited?
Should they even be limited? Maybe we should just embrace the fact that we have these capabilities.

http://news.ie.msn.com/world/article.aspx?cp-documentid=155564357

IRB blog post 2- Move Over, Betty White

Cloris Leachman is now 84 and in a new TV show called "Raising Hope". The title of this article caught my attention because I didn't realize anyone didn't like Betty White, also, because Cloris Leachman appeared as the grandmother in "Malcom in the MIddle", one of my favorite shows. Cloris, when asked about Betty White said, "I'm so sick of Betty White. Never liked her." There is clearly some rivalry among the grandmother-aged television stars. Leachman won an Academy Award in 1972 for her performance in "The Last Picture" and she has yet to retire. When asked why she hasn't retired, she said "Money".
Has the recession really been that bad as to effect actors who have been in the business for 50 years?
Why does Cloris have such an issue with Betty White?

IRB blog post 2- WikiLeaks spurned New York Times, but Guardian leaked State Department cables

The article adresses WikiLeaks - a new site for the purpose of exposing secrets in organizations such as the government. Over the summer, WikiLeaks worked with the Times when releasing 90,000 documents about the Iraq and Afganistan wars. Bradley Manning is the Army private assused of releasing the documents. More recently, WikiLeaks turned to the Wall Street Journal and CNN to release new information. WikiLeaks asked for financial compensation for disclosing the information but was turned down by both. They stated that the demands and terms for the agreement were "unacceptable".
Is this new site, WikiLeaks, going to present a national security issue?
Are people in the government or military going to continue to want to expose issues like the Irag and Afganistan wars?

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-29/opinion/frum.wikileaks.iran_1_julian-assange-wikileaks-iranian-nuclear-weapons-program?_s=PM:OPINION

IRB blog post 2- Obama Rallying Support for Pact with Russia

President Obama is currently working with Russia to create a new "arms control treaty". The goal is for it to be done by the end of the year. Democrate are currently showing more willingnes to vote for the pact. However, they will have to make some trade-offs regarding other pressing issues. A question brought up by some of the democrats is; should he be focusing on more prominent issues like immigration and gay rights? “This treaty is in the best interest of the United States of America, best interest of the world and frankly the best interest of the Russian Federation,” said Colin Powell, former secretary of state. The Democrats are confident that they will be able to aquire the two-thirds majority necessary for the Senate to pass the treaty.
What exactly is this treaty going to control?
Will there be any obvious effects or reactions regarding the new treaty?

This article adresses more specifically the treaty and what it will accomplish.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/08/barack-obama-nuclear-treaty-russia