Washington Mudslide Tragedy
                                                             by Larry Lugosi

    A fatal mudslide in Washington has lead to at least 8 dead and at least a dozen people missing

Snohomish County sheriff's Lt. Rob Palmer said four more bodies were discovered late Sunday to bring the

total number of fatalities to eight. Earlier in the day, authorities said one body had been found on the debris

field. Three people were already confirmed dead on Saturday.

"We didn't see or hear any signs of life out there today," Fire Chief Travis Hots said, adding that they did not

search the entire debris field, only drier areas safe to traverse. "It's very disappointing to all emergency

responders on scene."

Despite this, teams of rescuers are still searching the area for any possible survivors. Lets hope they do.

     
                         Nintendo's Wii U and Microsoft's Xbox One: Losers of the Console Wars
                                                         By Larry Crane

   It seems that Nintendo and Microsoft need to improve if they are to One-up Sony's Playstation 4, the

current favorite of gamers in this generation of video gaming. Though the Wii U and PS4 are nearly tied

in terms of how many consoles have been sold, the major difference is that the Wii U has been in stores for

at least a year longer than the PS4, with some stating that the Wii U is failing for the same reasons as

Nintendo's Virtual Boy, citing the Wii U's game pad as a gimmick, no launch title being included with

the system, and it's rather high price tag.

The Xbox One, while failing, was, according to gamers, doomed from the start. It's emphasis on television

innovation rather than gaming is a big let down for Xbox fans, though recent titles such as Titanfall may

help the console. If not, its no big loss for Microsoft, as the company is far more than a gaming company,

while Nintendo is and always has been a pure gaming company.

Sorry, Nintendo. Mario can't save you this time.

                              Former Microsoft Employee steals trade secret: Email reveals all
                                                                 By Larry Crane

An ex-employee of Microsoft, whose name has not been revealed to the public, is currently jobless and is

facing charges for stealing a trade secret. However, what may be more shocking is how the company

obtained their proof. Microsoft probed the suspect's Hotmail account, which shows the company has

access to their employees' email accounts, an act of privacy piercing that apparently will have no

repercussions from the law. According to Microsoft's privacy policy, they company "may access or disclose

information about you, including the content of your communications, in order to - protect the rights or

property of Microsoft."

Was this the right thing to do? Does this invasion of privacy secretly happen to all Microsoft employees?

Has Microsoft, the company responsible for the Xbox 360, committed a bigger crime than it's

ex-employee? It seems the company may have gone too far...

                                  Japan to turn over Nuclear stockpile to USA
                                                   by Larry Lugosi

      The nation of Japan will turn over their supply of sensitive nuclear materials, which could be used for

the making of bombs, to the United States of America for downgrading and safe disposal.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated that all uranium

and plutonium would be removed from the Fast Critical Assembly at the Japan Atomic Energy 

Agency. Though plutonium and uranium are used for research purposes as well as fueling power 

plants, they are also essential ingredients to nuclear weapons, a partial reason for the

Fast Critical assembly, to study the physics of these so-called "fast reactors."

This effort involves the elimination of hundreds of kilograms of nuclear material, furthering our 

mutual goal of minimizing stocks of HEU (highly enriched uranium) and separated plutonium 

worldwide, which will help prevent unauthorized actors, criminals, or terrorists from acquiring 

such materials," said the joint statement released by the White House.