Israeli police on alert as Jews gather to celebrate the holiday of Sukkot

According to CNN.com, Israeli police were on alert at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount in fear of another Palestinian riot.

About 30,000 Jews gathered at the Western Wall, adjacent to Temple Mount to celebrate Sukkot; a harvest festival.  Police closed the mount to Muslims to minimize any fear of violence. In return, Palestinians rioted and threw stoned and bottles at police forces.  Ten Palestinian youths were arrested after they threw rocks at Orthodox Jews.

Palestinian official Sabri Daidam says that Israel is “stepping up its hostile confrontation” by not allowing Palestinian worshippers visit their own mosque. More violence is possible, he says. 

My Take: I don’t believe that anyone should be alienated form a place of worship, but if others are in danger then action should be taken. I think that Israeli police were justified in protecting the Israelis from any violence while they celebrated one of their holiest holidays. 

More people expected to seek help in paying winter bills

According to 9WSYR.com, HEAP- Home Energy Assistance Program is sending out application in the mail to help families with funding the cost of heat on this winter’s bill.  HEAP helped more than 30,000 households in Onondaga County alone last year.

This year, the state has made changes that will hopefully better the system for those who need the help HEAP provides.  The amount a family of four can earn increased and will still receive HEAP by $127.  People who use natural gas will receive a benefit of $400 and those who use oil or wood will receive $600. 

My Take: After living in an apartment with friends I finally got the sense of how much it costs to keep our rooms warm. I think it is important that there is a program that can provide help for people in the community who cannot afford to blast heat in their homes. We all know the winter in Syracuse is brutal, and it to think of living with no heat is mindboggling

The World may be experiencing a food shortage 

According to abcnews.com, Megan Clark, the head of Australia’s nation science agency says the world will be experiencing a difficult time with keeping up with the produce of food.

In Clark’s speech, given in Canberra, Clark said that the growing population will cause a rising demand and the warmer temperatures will make it more tough to stay away from a worldwide food shortage.  The problem will only become more difficult as more people move to cities and as the climate reaches a point where it is hard to grow crops.

To make sure we never reach this point, Clark predicts, the world will have to produce more food in the next 50 years than we have since the first man was on Earth.

My Take: It is important that we know about this knew discovery because there is a way to help. We can all contribute to food production by educating ourselves on agriculture and starting to plant our own fruits and vegetables. It also takes a different angle on the issue of global warming.  Rising temperatures and change in climate is one part of the problem but it suggests that another factor to the issue is that the population is an increasing at a far greater rate than food