America's National Security Association (NSA) revealed to have been spying.

Foundational Documents

          More than 200 years ago the Declaration of Independence was signed by the founding fathers. Two hundred and thirty seven years later Ms. Castillo's AP English class would be analyzing and annotating the very same document. The writers and signers of the declaration of independence had a vision for the land of America and through words and blood were the able to take the first step of creating the United States of America. Eighty-seven years before the Declaration of Independence was the English Declaration of Rights of 1689. The English declaration changed the way the government and Monarchy of England will work forever. All through the power of words. Moreover, in 1848 the Declaration if Sentiments and Resolutions was signed for woman's rights changing the role of women in the US for future generations.
         It's incredible to see how a handwritten document of two hundred years ago still have so much effect today. A whole nation born out of one of those documents, a call to reform a government of one of the strongest nations of the world in one of those documents, and equality for women in one of those documents. It shows what we can accomplish by putting pen to paper. Looking closely at the documents you will see that they all have everything in mind, the purpose of the document, their audience, the style in which they write the document, every minute detail is accounted for. That is what it takes for a written paper to be great: focus and control. The amount of focus and control the authors of these foundational documents have over their papers is astonishing and truly electrifying. In my opinion, the foundational documents are inspiring for what they were able to accomplish in that day and age and with such sophistication and intelligence. It is something to marvel at and try to live up to.

U.S. Government Shutdown Affects European Economy

http://www.standard.net/stories/2013/10/02/europe-fears-global-impact-us-government-shutdown

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/30/business/u-s-shutdown-global-economy-iwan-morgan/index.html

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/europeans-warn-of-us/834326.html

It is no recent news that the european economy has been suffering the last few years. Recently the economy of Europe has started to recover but still remains very fragile. The current shutdown of the United States government has proposed a possible risk to the vulnerable European economy. "If this situation lasts, it could slow down the ongoing economic recovery," says Pierre Moscovici, the finance minister of France. If the shutdown is less than two weeks estimates are that the effects are benign but if it drags on for longer than two weeks the European economy and US economy are faced with major problems.

Spain Bans Smoking

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/20/smoking-ban-in-spain-last_n_769571.html

Many Spanish citizens are smokers; so much so that smoking has become apart of the spanish culture. It's normal to enter a restaurant and find the patrons and the workers smoking. A new law- expected to pass January 2- prohibits people from smoking in restaurants, near playgrounds, and on the grounds of hospitals and schools. In my opinion the Spanish people will have a very tough time adapting to this new law but it will also save the lives of many future victims of secondhand smoke.