Zac Sunderland started his trip off the coast of Marina del Rey, California when he was 16 and returned 13 months later in July to the same port at the age of 17.
He was raised with a passion for sailing and being on the open sea, as his first home was actually a boat that his family used to sail around Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Mexico.

When he decided to set off on his record-breaking journey, he purchased a boat called “The Intrepid” for $6,000 using up his entire life savings.

While sailing, Zac did not simply spend his days navigating his boat and staring at the horizon.  He kept up to date with all of his schoolwork, including tests which he would email to his mom for her to grade.  He braved the occasional bout of bad weather, and even encountered pirates off the Indonesian coast.  The pirates followed him for most of the day and got ready for a face off.

“I was sitting in the cockpit watching them and suddenly they changed course. At this new angle we would hit. I moved the autopilot over a few degrees to get out of their path. As I did they changed course dead for me again,” Zac explained.  Luckily, the pirates seemed to lose interest at the end of the day.

When he returned to California, he was deemed the first person under 18 to sail around the world alone, and for a little bit he was the youngest person ever to make the voyage.  However, one month later, Michael Perham, a 17-year-old from the UK who happened to be just a few months younger than Zac, returned from a similar trip and knocked Zac out of his position as the youngest person to sail around the world.

Michael’s trip was similar to Zac’s in many ways; they even met each other unexpectedly in Cape Town, South Africa in February.  Their encounter was brief but it gave them an opportunity to trade stories and tips about the huge task they had both taken on.

Michael sailed a boat named “totallymoney.com”, after the website of the same name that was a main sponsor of his trip.  His boat was a point of conflict between supporters of the two sailors, because Zac had bought his own boat, which was rather primitive, while Michael’s boat was larger and much more modern and had been purchased for him through sponsorships.

Regardless of the quality of their boats or the amount of sponsors they had, it’s undeniable that both of these boys accomplished wProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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t most 17-year-olds couldn’t even dream of.

Not only that, but they seem to have started a trend; Zac’s younger sister Abby is planning to set sail in November after she turns 16 in October.  Australian Jessica Watson, 16, will be leaving in September.  Also, 13-year-old Laura Dekker from Holland is hoping to depart in September as well for a two-year voyage, but she is facing some problems due to legal issues involving her young age.

May 14th 1904- The Modern Olympic Games are held in America for the first time in St. Louis Missouri.

May 15th 1990- Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Portrait of Doctor Gachet’ is sold for $82.5 million dollars at Christies’ Auction House in New York, setting a new world record for a single painting.

May 16th 1929- The first Academy Awards is held in Hollywood, Emil Jannings wins best actor, and Janet Gaynor wins best actress

May 17th 1954- The Supreme Court overturns a ruling dating back to 1896 that says education should be “separate but equal,” and prevents segregation in American Schools.

May 11th 1997- IBM’s supercomputer, Deep Blue beats the reigning world champion chess player Gary Kasparov, who, prior to the meeting, had never lost a chess match.

May 10th 1994- Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as the President of South Africa.

Obama is trying to fulfill all the promises he made to the public during his campaign: trying to withdraw troops from Iraq, and revitalizing the American economy.

On his first full day of office President Obama brought several civilian and military leaders into the Oval Office to discuss plans for troop withdrawal from Iraq, although some troops will remain in Iraq to protect diplomats and launch small scale missions.

Obama has also made an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay within the next year, claiming that we as a country should lead by example by maintaining the highest standards of civil liberties and human rights, and restore habeas corpus, which guarantees people the right to a trial by jury, and say no to torture. Obama also left open the option to keep some of the military detainees at other locations.

President Obama has also created a $787 billion stimulus plan that, according to President Obama, should lead to, “five million jobs that pay well and can’t ever be outsourced.”  The stimulus plan should also revitalize the economy by cutting taxes and creating alternative power sources.

As part of the Stimulus plan, the average American would receive $8 a week in tax breaks that is intended to encourage spending over a long period of time instead of all at once.

President Obama has also promised to harness America’s wind, solar, and soil power as alternative sources of energy with funding built into the stimulus plan.

It hasn’t all been fun and sunshine and revitalizing the economy for President Obama−he has also been criticized for abandoning his nomination for Tom Daschle, who owed about about $120,000 in taxes, to be the Health and Human Secretary.

Obama was also criticized for his nomination to Commerce Secretary, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, who gave a lucrative New Mexico deal to a company who contributed to his campaign. He has recently appointed Republican Senator Judd Gregg to be Commerce Secretary on Tuesday, February 3rd, the third republican named to Obama’s Cabinet.

President Obama has done a lot in his first month of office, however he still has a lot of work to do if he is going to fulfill all of the promises that he has made.

Amendment 47: Right to work
What it would do: Prohibit requiring an employee to join and pay any dues or fees to a labor union as a condition of employment.
Yes: 44
No: 56
Final Vote: NO
If I don’t want to be in a union I shouldn’t have to be. Forcing people into unions should be illegal. I thought America was for the rights of the people, not the rights of the unions.

Amendment 48: Definition of Person
What it would do: Define the term ‘person’ to ‘include any human being from the moment of fertilization’. It would illegalize abortion, emergency contraception, some forms of birth control, and stem cell research.
Yes: 27
No: 73
Final Vote: NO
This was super extreme pro-life. I’m pro-life but criminalizing birth control is just ridiculous.

Amendment 49: Allowable Government Paycheck Deductions
What it would do: Prohibit any public employee paycheck deduction except for things like taxes, and other legal matters. It would stop direct paycheck deductions for Unions and other dues.
Yes: 39
No: 61
Final Vote: NO
It gets very complicated involving state governments and payroll but this Amendment would just complicate things.

Amendment 50: Limited Gambling
What it would do: Allow Central City, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek to vote on issues like Casino hours, maximum bet stakes, and the approval of additional games. Gaming tax revenue would go mainly to Colorado community colleges and to the gaming cities and counties.
Yes: 59
No: 41
Final Vote: Yes
The only real downside of this amendment is that it could potentially extend gambling in Colorado. Call me old fashioned, but if people gamble all their money away that is their own fault.

Amendment 51: Sales Tax for Developmental Disabilities
What it would do: It would increase the sales tax from 2.9% to 3.1% over two years. The increase of money would go solely to services for people with Developmental Disabilities like Down Syndrome and Autism.
Yes: 38
No: 62
Final Vote: NO
Now I’m not a huge fan of taxes but helping people with legitimate developmental disabilities is good in my eyes.

Amendment 52: Severance Tax – Transportation
What it would do: Require the state legislature to spend a portion of state severance tax collections on highway projects. Meaning that the money taken from oil, coal, and natural gas companies would go more towards highways than it does now.
Yes: 36
No: 64
Final Vote: NO
The legislation is slightly confusing and complicated. The only real change is that the money would be taken from water projects and given to highways so I really don’t care either way.

Amendment 54: Campaign Contributions Restrictions
What it would do: Prohibit certain government contractors from contributing to a political party or candidate for the contract’s duration and two years thereafter.
Yes: 51
No: 49
Final Vote: YES
This would help voters believe that there are not any underlying agendas with their elected officials. It would promote a higher ethics code and punish corruption.

Amendment 58: Oil and Gas Severance Tax
What it would do: Raise the taxes oil, gas, coal, and gold companies pay primarily by eliminating an existing state tax credit that those companies currently get.
Yes: 42
No: 58
Final Vote: NO
I don’t see how taxing them more would help anybody except the government. Companies aren’t stupid. They won’t just pay more money–they will pass the expense onto the consumers.

Amendment 59 Education Funding
What it would do: Eliminate tax rebates when the state collects too many taxes and spend that rebate money on K-12 schooling by putting the money into a savings account for the schools.
Yes: 45
No: 55
Final Vote: NO
Being a taxpayer I want all the rebates I can get. All this would have done is increase the size of government.

Referendum L
What it would do: Lower the age requirement for serving in the state legislature from 25 to 21.
Yes: 46
No: 54
Final Vote: NO
If you can legally drink than I think you should be able to legally serve your community and state.

Referendum M
What it would do: Remove language from the state constitution that delays taxing land value increases from planting a variety of plants.
Yes: 62
No: 38
Final Vote: YES
Taxes won’t go up or down. All it does is simplify the Colorado constitution. I don’t see any harm in that.

Referendum N
What it would do: Remove provisions related to the regulation of alcohol beverages from two sections of the state constitution.
Yes: 69
No: 31
Final Vote: YES
The parts being addressed in the Colorado Constitution are significantly outdated and have no effect on the states alcoholic powers. This is just trimming the dead fat from the constitution, which isn’t a bad idea.

Referendum O
What it would do: Alter the way initiatives, or bills presented by the people, are handled in the state. It would change things like votes required to ballot the issue, time to collect signatures, and signatures needed from each district.
Yes: 48
No: 52
Final Vote: NO
This would make it harder for initiatives to be on the ballot, which is infringing upon the basic rights of the public. It’s extremely complicated and confusing to voters, which is never a good thing.

Lance Armstrong finishes third at the Sete segment of the 2002 Tour.

Viewed as a champion, as a leader, and as one of the best athletes in the world, Lance Armstrong, the seven time Tour de France champion is returning to competition in 2009 after three years of retirement.

A man that retired on top of the rest of the pack, a man that stopped just at the perfect time, without ever losing the Tour de France, has now decided to come back to the competitive world of cycling.

Why would Lance come back? Why would he put his undefeated streak at stake? Why after three years of retirement would one of the greatest athletes in the world return to the Tour? Because of a race in Colorado!

Lance Armstrong announced that he would return to the Tour after he got second in the Leadville 100. The Leadville 100 is an air grasping high elevation ride through the Rockies.

The race starts and ends in the middle of Leadville whose elevation is a tough 10,200 feet above sea level. Then leaves from Leadville and travels 50 miles to a 12,600ft incline. At that point the riders turn around and head back to the middle of Leadville. The trail has difficult mountain climbs and steep downhill descents. Riders have a hard time completing the 50 miles out and back in under 11 hours!

Lance Armstrong told Vanity Fair in an interview that he was excited to return to the Tour after this grueling race.

“This kind of obscure bike race totally kick-started my engine,” he reported to the magazine.
Armstrong also stated that another reason for returning to the Tour was to raise awareness and money to fight cancer.

Armstrong stated, “This year alone, nearly 8 million people will die of cancer worldwide, and now it is time to address cancer on a global level.” Armstrong believes this is the best way to get people interested in fighting cancer because thousands of people watch the Tour when he rides.
Armstrong shocked Americans and cyclists throughout the world when he announced that he would be returning to the Tour.

“ He is a very determined man,” said Hayden Wambach, 10, “ however, he is too old and needs to retire.” Like Wambach there are many people that think Lance might be past his time, but there are still some fans that think Lance will win the Tour again.

One of these fans is Hilary Warnock, 11.

“He is a very inspirational person, who never gives up on his dream,” said Warnock. Both students agreed that he would be tough competition in the Tour and that he would bring a lot of fans.

“He’ll definitely be a competitor, however I don’t think he’ll win,” said Wambach.

Armstrong, who just turned 37 years old, plans to be a real challenger in the Tour this summer. He doesn’t want to finish in the middle of the pack. He said that he talked to his family and friends and decided that this would be the right thing to do. The support of America is behind him.

Warnock said, “ Of Course he’ll win, he is Lance Armstrong, he is unbeatable!”