The Government is still on hiatus.
Both the Republicans and Democrats are holding firm in the debate over the national budget and the affordable healthcare act. In a press conference, President Obama said he would not negotiate over the vital act of raising the national debt limit or offer concessions to the Republican-led House to reopen the government. Mr. Obama recently had direct contact with Speaker John A. Boehner. The phone call however, was inconclusive because the president will not negotiate about the affordable healthcare act until the government reopens because he feels that healthcare shouldn’t have anything to do with keeping the government open. Still, Mr. Boehner insisted that Obama must negotiate. The efforts to get the government running again aren’t much further than they were a week ago.
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 Malala Yousafzai inspires others to speak up for their rights.
A year ago a young activists voice was almost silenced when a Taliban gunman shot Malala when she was riding home on a school bus in the city of Mingora. Malala was and still is an outspoken advocate for girl’s education. By attempting to silence one advocate they have created many more “Malalas,” girls who will speak up in demand for an education. Malala now lives in Britain with her family. Since the attack she has won numerous awards and there has recently been a push to nominate her for a Nobel Peace Prize.
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Forecasters predict a not so white Christmas.
Accuweather said this week that they predict that it will be a pretty mild winter for us up here in the Northeast. Snow for our part of the country will most likely hold off until later in the season, especially in coastal areas. However, the western part of the country, especially the Pacific Northwest may get hit hard in the coming months. It has already snowed in South Dakota and surrounding areas.
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A temporary raise in food stamp benefits expires.
 In 2009 a stimulus was pumped into the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, temporarily raising benefits for an average family of four by about 14%. The stimulus comes to an end of its four-year run at the end of this month. Families who depend on this money to eat are bracing for the cut, bringing up the question if it was a good idea to up the benefits in the first place. People will lose money they are used to getting. Therefore, there will be more stress put on emergency food sources, like food banks, that are already stretched to capacity.Â