Monday, November 30, 2015

Jury Selection For Freddie Gray's Trial --Madeleine Norton, 4th period

Beginning Monday, Court will start to choose jury members for the trial of an officer involved in the death of Freddie Gray based off of evidence and knowledge of the case. It is also to be noted that movements like Black Lives Matter and rioting have again been stirred up due to the in justice apparently surrounding Gray's death.
All seventy-five of the jurors questioned had heard of the incident, several members having family who were also in law enforcement. Many expressed deep emotions for the case, and others gave indications of having been charged/in jail or victimized in a crime. These seventy-five will be dismissed and replaced by a new set of seventy-five jurors soon-to-be-interviewed tomorrow.

In accordance to the officer and his crimes, Fox News stated today "William Porter is one of six officers charged in the death of Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died April 19 of a severe spinal injury he suffered while in police custody. Porter, who is also black, is accused of failing to get medical help for Gray during several stops made by the police van that carried Gray on a 45-minute trip. At the end, officers found Gray unresponsive. He was taken to a hospital and died a week later."

Although not mentioned until later in the article, many homicides and violent riots had a occurred a while after Gray's death, and it seems to have definitely spiked the crime rate up a large percentage. This and the amendment centering around right to a fair and speedy trial (#6) deeply connect, and it shows that our government still upholds important parts of our constitution, even if modern-day members of law enforcement question and retaliate against these freedoms/unalienable rights/constitutional values.

Article in further detail here: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/11/30/high-stakes-for-baltimore-as-freddie-gray-trials-begin/

Kiyanna Elliott Meet the 15-year-old kid who's suing Obama over climate change

Summary: Xiuhtezcatl Tonatiuh at six years old became a climate change activist when he saw an environmental documentary. Now fifteen, he is one of twenty one young activists joining climate scientist James Hansen in suing the Obama administration for failing to stop the usage of fossil fuels. President Barack Obama gave one of the most anticipated speeches of the summit where he acknowledges the U.S. stake in the problem and vows to take measure to combat the damaging effects. Obama also was expected to join billionaire Bill Gates in announcing an international group of investors and governments to fund development of clean-energy technologies, but Tonatiuh also knows it's not enough to meet the world's goal of limiting warming to two degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. In order to do that, we'd need to ditch fossil fuels completely.

Analysis: I think Obama is handling this very well. From reading the article, the lawsuit was created to bring to the issue of climate change to the top of the government's priorities. Part of the job of protecting the citizens of the U.S. is to protect their well being and focusing on climate change is one of the most prevalent issues today that need to addressed and taken care of to accomplish this. If there was a cleaner ways to do things, I would hope the government would see to it that the measures to enact theses ways would be important enough to make happen.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/30/opinions/sutter-obama-climate-change-cop21-two-degrees/index.html

The Effects of Blackface - Michaela Molden - 5th Period

The article I read was addressing a national holiday in the Netherlands that involves people dressing up in costume and wearing blackface paint. When Americans responded with distaste, the Dutch argued that it is a children's holiday where they celebrate the Moorish helper of Sinterklaas, Zwarte Piet. Zwarte Piet is a character from a children's book popular in the 19th century. The Dutch insist that the costumes and blackface were never meant to degrade but it is a traditional celebration of the character. Many American speculators have written the occurrence off as simply Dutch innocence, but there are others who take it as ignorant racism.
Blackface, in American history, was practically centered in racism. Minstrels were little shows put on where the African American people were depicted by white men in black makeup, as happy and dumb all of the time. The show were demeaning and wildly racist. Worse yet, the shows became massively popular and were know throughout the country for a long while. Nowadays, blackface is strongly frowned upon, and roles that were previously played by white people in black face, such as Othello, are played by black people.

Streisand calls Trump "terrifyingly scary" - Ari Robinson, 3rd period

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/barbra-streisand-calls-trump-presidency-terrifyingly-scary-thinks/story?id=35403476




Summary: Last Tuesday, while recieving the Medal of Freedom, Barbara Streishand spoke about how dignfied President Obama is, and how she couldn't imagine Donald Trump in that position. She went so far as to say it would be funny, but scary. She said she probably would've choked. She also remarked that a Clinton-Trump race would be one of the biggest moments in television history, but that she wasn't worried about Clinton.

Analysis: The number of celebrities vocally against Trump is many and growing. However, they seem to have no bearing on the polls, as Trump is still doing well. Streishand's comments were no surprise, as she is an avid supporter of both Clinton and Obama.

Donald Trump denies mocking disabled reporter Jasmine Rodriguez Period 4

Donald Trump was accused of mocking a disabled reporter (Serge Kovaleski who has a congenital joint condition) when referring to an article the reporter has written about 9/11. Trump had flailed his arms around, much like someone would have done uncontrollably due to a disability, when referring to the article. He insisted that he did not know about the reporters conditions, and was only trying to mimic a reporter in distraught, as he imagined Serge may have been at the time of writing the article.

This is similar to the black face plays put on by white settlers during colonial times. The white settles would paint their face and bodies with black paint, and put on comedy shows mocking African Americans. Although they were fully aware of their mockery (unlike Donald Trump, who claims to have not been aware), the situations itself were similar. Both were making fun of someone they saw as subordinate to them in some way because of a physical feature. Black face was a direct form of discrimination, and one of the earliest prominent examples seen in history.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34940861

refugee crisis - julie shilling p.4


More than half the nation's governors say they oppose letting Syrian refugees into their states, although the final say on this contentious immigration issue will fall to the federal government. States protesting the admission of refugees range from Alabama and Georgia, to Texas and Arizona, to Michigan and Illinois, to Maine and New Hampshire. Among these 31 states, all but one have Republican governors.

 Issues with Muslim radicals terrorizing people dates back all the way from the 1800-1805 on the Barbary Coast. The announcements came after authorities revealed that at least one of the suspects  involved in the Paris terrorist attacks entered Europe among the current wave of Syrian refugees. He had falsely identified himself as a Syrian named Ahmad al Muhammad and was allowed to enter Greece in early October. The scary part is there is absolutely no way of us telling who is a radical /terrorist and who is not. This is exactly why Syrian refugees should not be allowed into the country, at time especially and in mass amounts. The Middle Eastern countries are the only ones that should be dealing with this issue of Syrian refugees. By doing this it puts all American lives at risk. 



Reagan Rees Period 5

The man accused of killing three people and wounding nine is set for trail. He only acknowledges his charges and has no questions for the judge. He is said to have been motivated by a video he found not to his liking. He is said to have been acting on an anti - abortion platform.

Some may blame gun laws, or other governmental issues. However, the problem lies in people's views on planned parenthood. If people became more open minded and accepting of others views, a lot of the hurt and damage in the world would likely begin to fade.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/colorado-planned-parenthood-shooting-suspect-to-appear-in-court/article27529178/?cmpid=rss1

Abby Walker 8th period

"Airpocalypse now"

This article includes an analysis of the city of Baoding, China, the most polluted city in the world. The city is covered by smog and on a bad day people cannot see the building directly next to them. They are discussing ways on how to stop it from spreading and putting an overall stop to the pollution there. The smog is thick enough to see and can burn your eyes.

This really makes me think about the things we take for granted. Everyday we can look out the school windows and see a nice blue sky but the kids in Baoding see a gray one. And just opening our eyes in public we take for granted! The smog there can burn your eyes! I knew that a city's pollution could get to that point but I never knew how serious it really was. George Washington warned us about using our natural resources in harmful ways. It's a shame how little we listen to him.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/30/asia/china-pollution-baoding/index.html

15 Year Old Sues Obama for Climate Change // Uriel Cruz, Period 6

Ever since he saw an environmental documentary at the age of 6, Xiuhtezcatl Tonatiuh became a climate change activist. Now that he's 15, he's one of the 21 young activists who are joining climate scientist James Hansen in suing the Obama administration for not ditching fossil fuels.

Xiuhtezcatl and Hansen and the other 20 young activists have a good case here. If the world doesn't stop using fossil fuels, the entire planet could be in terrible danger. Ever since the Industrialization of Britain and America, the skies have been filled up with polluting clouds of waste. All of these nonrenewable resources being exploited for money for over a century and a half. These activists are trying to stop what our forefathers started, and save the world if you will. America's lack of motive in taking a step forward into a less polluted world is very upsetting. I hope this is a wake up call to America, and the rest of the world as well.

Video and about Xiuh // http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/30/opinions/sutter-obama-climate-change-cop21-two-degrees/index.html


Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood Shootings-Molly Mitchell 5th

Summary:

The recent shooting at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs reportedly resulted in 3 deaths, one of which was Iraq veteran Ke'Arre Stewart. Apparently, only minutes before the shooting Stewart learned that his wife was pregnant with his third child. According to reports his military training kicked in and he was able to save many lives before his own was taken. The other victims, Officer Garrett Swasey and Jennifer Markovsky, both were parents and married.

Analysis:

The shootings at planned parenthood were truly nothing more than a horrible disaster, and the shooter is to blame. The fact that he could just walk into a place and kill three people is terrifying, and although it may say that we have a right to bear arms in the constitution, I'm pretty tired of hearing about these tragedies and having no improvement to show.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/30/us/colorado-planned-parenthood-shooting-victims/index.html

Threatened shooting on school campus - Reece Clark 6th

After the murder of 17 year old Laquan Mcdonald by a Chicago police officer, one 21 year old man decided to take to the internet and "avenge" the teen. He posted online that he was planning on shooting 16 white students and/or staff at the University of Chicago, one for each time Laquan was shot in the chest.

Although the man was arrested, his posts do raise caution and suspicion on issues of police brutality, gun violence, and campus security. Much must be taken into consideration.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/30/us/university-of-chicago-closed-threat/index.html

Teen taking a stand for climate change -Bethany Wolfe 3rd

summary:
Xiuhtezcatl Tonatiuh is one of 21 young activists suing Obama for failing to ban fossil fuels.  He claims to be part of the "generation with the most to lose". Obama responded to this case by defending Tonatiuh and promising to increase solar and wind power even more. However, Tonatiuh wasn't totally convinced. Because America is the world's 2nd largest emitter, Obama can't just make pledges and promises. He said that we need to forsake fossil fuels completely.
analysis:
It's awesome that so many young adults are so invested in the environment and its repercussions. I'm inclined to agree that many of Obama's promises are more or less empty and we need to focus on concrete actions to impact the rate of change. Similar to the slavery reform during the Civil War, we should take responsibility for our actions in order to stay united with the world. Abolitionists, unlike politicians, weren't selfish in their efforts but wanted to create a better future for everyone.In the same way, decreasing or even eliminate fossil fuels will benefit our future.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/30/opinions/sutter-obama-climate-change-cop21-two-degrees/index.html

Hillary Clinton emails released Paul Radke (5th)

Summary-  The state department today released the largest batch of emails from Hillary lintonserver to date. 1,800 pages. some 66 percent of the 52,000 pages of email she turned over to the government are now available for review and the state department is on pace to have all the documents released by January 2016, as ordered by the federal government

Analysis- there has been a lot of controversy over Hillary Clinton' emails and what she is sending in them. to have the first woman president of the united states be sending this kind of stuff on her email would be a problem. people have yet to analyze these 7,800 pages of emails but hopefully this does not affect her as a candidate for president.


http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-email-coming-today/story?id=35488800





I Dead in Atlanta Police Shooting-Nicholas Watson, 9th

Summary:
   On person was killed in a Atlanta Police shooting on Monday night. It took place shortly before 8 o'clock on Ted Turner Blvd. outside Aloft Hotel. According to WXIA one person was killed, but no officer was injured. The hotel also says that the victim was not any guest or staff of the hotel, but that the incident happened to take place near the hotel.


Analysis:
   Honestly these types of news stories are becoming like an every day deal. I just feel like as long as there are police shootings being intentionally broadcasted in the news, even if it was a justified shooting, I feel like it will continue to generate and create a justification for ill-willed feelings from civilians for Police. To me people are starting to believe more and more that any Police shooting that occurs is always going to be unjustified. Although I don't feel like all Police should be blamed for being given a bad name, but I do see why those few incidents that do happen to be un justified can create these hatred feelings towards the law. I feel like there is no reverse for these feelings, but that the only way Police may contain some type of respect, that they are staying true and upholding the law, is that they make sure that everything they do is to protect the law without using intentional deadly force against people. This relates to history when, for example, the shooting of M. Brown created deep hate for cops, although that particular cop may have been in the wrong, I can see why its is frustrating to other Police that are doing the right things , to get frustrated at these mistakes and actions that are mad by these other, questionable cops. \


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/11/30/1-dead-atlanta-police-shooting-near-hotel/76592100/  

"Human and Animal Cruelty" -Aleah Washington 1st period

A woman, who claims to be a dog lover duct-taped her dogs mouth closed because it wouldn't stop barking. After posting it on Facebook the image went viral and she was immediately threatened by people world wide with angry comments causing her to feel unsafe. Even though she tried to post another comment saying her dog was okay and finally stopped barking, people still continued to call he a monster. Slaves were treated as property and could be physically abused by the people who owned them. Some whites agreed that slaves were property but they shouldn't be treated like wild animals. The owners who were really abusive were looked at as monsters to there slaves as Katie Brown to her dog.

The choices we make can label us negatively if we aren't careful. She now has to go to court to deal with animal cruelty charges. Despite her saying she loves her dog and her taking care of him for all these years, she is looked at as a harmful person to dogs. This teaches us that we should think before we do something and we should decide what pictures are appropriate to take especially if we are planning on posting it online.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cops-track-down-woman-who-taped-dogs-mouth-charge-her-n471781

Meet the 15-year-old kid who's suing Obama over climate change - Lia Kerkman 6

       Ever since he was six years old Xiuhtezcatl Tonatiuh decided he would become a climate changing activist. He has now joined a group of young activists in pursuit of suing the Obama administration for not properly ditching fossil fuels. Obama arrives at the summit starting off with admitting that he is aware of whats going on and how big of an impact the u.s. has. He ends with claiming that he will work harder towards better efforts in properly ditching fossil fuels.
      Obviously you cannot deny that global warming is happening and has the potential to be a huge issue in the future. I applaud Obama for admitting to all the problems actually going on. I guess its good that all of these people are standing up for a good cause and at such a young age too. Weather he is telling the truth will show in the future if he takes any further actions.

www.cnn.com/2015/11/30/opinions/sutter-obama-climate-change-cop21-two-degrees/index.html

Cassidy Jones Reports on "Dear Basketball"

     In Kobe Bryant's most recent game, he has annoyed his retirement at the close of the 2015-2016 season. The 37 year old wrote a poem titled "Dear Basketball" explaining his love for the sport since a young age and how he's "ready to let go". Since his public announcement in his press conferences and during the game, teammates and coaches have expressed there respect for his decision. Because Bryant has been apart of the team half of it's existence, it's difficult to let go of family. 
     Washington's "resignment" from office is reminded. George Washington was a phenomenal country hero, well respected and knew what he was doing. His farewell address is familiar too, listing his tips and tricks for the well being of America. Washington loved his country, and was willing to "let go". 


http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14254236/kobe-bryant-los-angeles-lakers-announces-retire-season

Threat causes man to be jailed By: Emma Wall

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/30/us/university-of-chicago-closed-threat/index.html

The article above discusses the major threat that was directed at the University of Chicago.  This threat basically stated that the man would show up to the school at 10:00 am with fully loaded weapons and kill 16 white boys and staff along with many policemen. It is inferred that he set out to do this for revenge of the death of Laquan Mcdonald.  He was later arrested for the threat.

This is terrifying.  I can't even imagine how scary it must be for those living on the campus.  I think that it is good that they evacuated the campus and had FBI outside investigating.  It is good to see that people are taking more caution. I can connect this to the Civil War because the south was warned not to secede from the north but they did anyway and it started the Civil War.  In this case the threat was actually taken and people listened and took caution.  The Civil War might have been avoided if the south wouldn't have taken their threat lightly.

Erin McElhone 3rd Period: Millennials Of Color Can't Get Ahead, why?

     Millennials or a person reaching young adulthood around the year 2000 are not able to gain wealth easily, especially the African-American population. In the current issue of Washington Monthly, reporter Mel Jones dives into why the racial wealth gap persists for a generation of young black and brown Americans who've had educational and work opportunities rivaling those of their white peers. A major reason for this is the way money flows in the family. In most white families the millennials rely on their parent for financial support that leads to upward social mobility — money that sociologist Tom Shapiro calls "transformative assets." For black and brown millennials, money tends to flow in the opposite direction.

To read more of Mel Jones's article click here.

     It makes me sad that these men and women will almost never be able to amount to anything. They will get a job latter, start families latter, and eventually retire latter. The trouble that millennials are facing while trying to build wealth, indentured servants and African-American sharecroppers dealt with to some extent as well. Indentured servants and the African-American sharecroppers never could get just the right amount of money to overtake their owners. These men,women,and families would work extremely hard all throughout the year just to be told that they didn't do it. 

Find the NPR article here

Morgan T. Smith Period 4 Black religious leaders criticize Trump group



Black religious leaders criticize Trump group

 

 By Morgan T. Smith

Summary: On Monday, Donald Trump met with more than 100 black pastors in a two and a half hour meeting in New York City and dismissing criticism from some of the black community that he is a espousing racist rhetoric. 

 "This meeting was amazing. Amazing people," Trump said. "The meeting went so much longer, and it went longer only because of the love. It didn't go longer for other reasons."

 

Victoria Garza "Target and PayPal Sites Report Problems on Cyber Monday"


Some of the sites used on cyber monday experienced temporary failures caused by the overload of people using them. Foot Locker, Groupon, and Victoria's Secret were just some of the online stores that experienced these brief outages. On Monday, Target explained that they were experiencing their biggest glitch in response to a previously annouced 15% discount.

Black Friday shopping has been a major savings day for a large number of families and individuals. These days it is absolute chaos trying to shop for good deals. There are always insane stories stemming from trips to stores on Black Friday. With our increased use and developement of technology and the internet, it's only logical that we begin shifting our shopping to the online world. Online shopping is easier because you are able to avoid the chaos of the stores and shop in the comfort of your home. It is kind of ironic that we shifted to the online world to avoid the troubles of shopping in real life yet we are still facing problems and back ups caused by the amount of people wanting to save money. This could be similar to the California Gold Rush where large numbers of people migrated to California (the stores) in search of gold (good deals).

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/technology/target-paypal-website-cyber-monday.html?ref=us
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/30/us/los-angeles-county-abandoned-baby-found-under-asphalt/index.html




Police searching for mother of newborn baby found buried under asphalt
by Adrianna Martinez


A baby girl estimated to be four to five days old was found buried underneath asphalt and rubble. Two sisters walking along a popular walking path heard strange noises and called 911. The baby was rescued and is receiving treatment at an intensive care unit at an undisclosed hospital.  Detective Jennifer Valenzuela is urging the mother to come forward, suggesting she could be a mother in trouble, and that there may be no criminal charges.

Tristan Spohn 3rd Period

The popular song, 'Hot Cross Buns', exceptionally beloved by the children of our generation, has officially been outlawed in the United States of America. This is because studies have shown that 75% of the children that listen to this song grow up dangerously depressed from the fact they have never been able to actually eat some Hot Cross Buns in their lifetime. The United States congress feels this is a cruel predicament, and has finally decided to take action. This directly correlates to Uncle Tom's Cabin. Similar to Hot Cross Buns, it was banned because of explicit content that the South (and congress) did not wish for others to hear/ read.

Tajia Stroud (5th period): Equine Therapy~ Harnessing Horses to Conquer Mental Illness***

Summary***
   Professional ballroom dancer and teacher, Shelly May was diagnosed with systemic lupus at the age of 19 followed by arthritis at 20. She was immobile and bedridden for months at a time and thought that she was going to die many times at the hospital. Although she was going to the hospital and visited with friends and family that helped her recover mentally and physically,  she still needed more that human support to get back on her feet. So she proceeded to engage in equine-assisted psychotherapy. Twice a month, May visits a center where old donated show horses help with conditions like hers. Horses are very sensitive and accepting creatures and are an asset in the readjustment process. May claims that reacting with horses has "taught her to become more aware of herself and her surroundings." She made a connection with a particular horse, named Demi, who also suffered from severe arthritis. It was a special breakthrough for her. 

Analysis***
   Even though the use of animals in human therapy sessions was not a modern idea, it seems like it is often over-looked. When someone says that they are going to therapy, the first thing that comes to mind is two humans discussing life problems in a room face to face. As said in the article, animals are non-judgemental and don't take anything personally, so it can be exhilarating to feel a deep connection with them. I think that also having something in common with that animal can also jump start a wonderful relationship with them right then. Animals have been used in many situations well before our generation. For example, during the Civil War. At the time, war dogs participated in the war effort and served with distinction. They served both North and South. When trained, a strong bond between them and their handler was created. They were always there for each other, and stood side by side when at war. 

Sources***
   thing 1
   thing 2
   my brain


Thank You! :)

Finding a Newborn Buried Alive by Jack Higgins period 6

I don't even know how to begin this...

Friday afternoon, on a walking strip in Los Angeles, two sisters were taking a stroll together when they heard what they believed to be cries of a cat nearby. They followed the sound to it's source, finding that it was coming from beneath the ground. The sisters called 911 and let the operator listen to the cries, and as they were doing so, 2 officers were sent to the scene.

They discovered a newborn baby buried alive underneath the asphalt and gravel, which would have hardened overnight in the cold temperatures, easily killing the newborn.

The child was rescued from the rubble and immediately comforted by one of the officers, who happened to be a father himself, stopping the crying. The child is now at an unnamed Los Angeles county Hospital in Intensive Care, but as of now, it seems as though she's going to be alright. It is horrid to imagine this ever happening to anybody, being buried alive, much less a 4-day old infant. The mother (who is being searched for now) obviously needs a great deal of help, hopefully she will receive it and things such as this will begin to stop occurring.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/30/us/los-angeles-county-abandoned-baby-found-under-asphalt/index.html

Claudia Anthony "White House fence jumper sent for psychiatric examination"

Joseph Caputo, a man who jumped the White House fence on Thanksgiving day, had his first appearance in court on Friday and was sent to have a psychiatric evaluation. He has another hearing scheduled on Monday after he is evaluated at the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program at St. Elizabeth Hospital. Caputo had left a suicide note with two associates and a message to his mother in which he said he might not see her again. He made statements, such as "I love my country" and "I knew I would be locked up" after he was caught by secret service agents on Thursday. 

I think it is a good thing that the court decided to send this man to get a mental evaluation, and possibly help him after he is evaluated. That is very different from life in the 1800s, when mentally ill people were believed to be acting the way they were by choice. Thanks to Dorthea Dix, it became evident that mental illness was not a choice of the individual, but rather something they could not help.

Click here for article

Zoe Norton-Rodriguez-9th-Ghostly ships filled with dead bodies arrive on Japan's shores


In the past two months, ships filled with decomposed dead bodies have washed up in Japan. There have been at least 20 bodies found. One idea is that its a fishing boat gone astray but a more likely explanation is that the ships are from North Korea and contain people attempting to escape. There is limited information so there are different theories about who is on the ships and why.

A more traditional means of escape is to go through China, however they are policing the borders more heavily resulting in different ways of escape. Throughout China, Mongolia, Japan, South Korea and most of Southwest Asia there is an secret system of safe houses for people escaping North Korea. This is similar to the Underground Railroad because oppressed people are escaping through the help of a secret system. In China, the borders are getting more heavily policed and this is similar to the fugitive slave laws. Chinese police and officials are in connection with North Korea and will get paid to return those who try to escape from North Korea.

Cue World War III // Kai Jones 1st period

 this article details the rising tension between countries around the world before and after the terrorist attacks in Paris. During the cold war, we would all be expecting a shower of nukes anytime soon. Turkey is a member of NATO and refuses to apologize for their destruction of the Russian fighter jet which was passing through turkey on its way into Syria. Turkey and Russia have a common goal which is to take down ISIS. The war in Syria is what is turning into the 21st century's world war. After President Bashar-al-Asad killed protesters in response to their cries for democracy, everything has started falling into a vortex of violence and unrest.

These events are familiar to those leading up to previous world wars and with increased mobility and communication conflicts are more easy to arise. Political unrest is thriving across the globe and things are starting to get really ugly. World War II started when Germany invaded Poland. Now it is just a question of who will invade who first? Wishing I had a fallout shelter right about now.

Rising Rates Pose Challenge to Health Law by Caroline North 9th period

Insurers have raised their rates for their most popular premium plans in 2016 partially due to the large quantity of high cost customers they're receiving from the government due to the Affordable Care Act.  The law does not allow for insurance companies to turn away patients with existing health conditions, and as a result, all customers are facing "higher premiums, fewer doctors, and skimpier coverage," making ObamaCare less popular. 

While the theory of the Affordable Care Act is quite noble, the money to be able to accommodate all types of patients must come from somewhere, and the solution is being solved by all customers paying higher rates, and/or the quality in service being compromised.  I think although the act is frustrating to many Americans, just as in many other developed countries, quality health care should be a right to all United States citizens, not a privilege, and the Affordable Care Act is something worth investing in further to promote good health, and give every single person the opportunity to seek medical attention when necessary no matter what class they are. 

http://www.studentnewsdaily.com/daily-news-article/rising-rates-pose-challenge-to-health-law/


LIncoln Anthony (8th Period)-"Waivers let thousands graduate from Texas high schools despite failed end-of-course exams"

A recent survey conducted released some amazing yet startling information. It stated that a great many of high school "graduates", seven of every ten to be exact, failed to pass two or more of the five courses which are required to graduate. These students were able to graduate by being issued a waiver. The man who created this waiver system, Kel Seliger, said only that the system was "not perfect".

So basically what this says is that the school system has allowed tons of ill-equipped students loose into our society to fend for themselves, though they will obviously fail because of the school system's allowance of this system. We are not living in the 1800's anymore. Everybody is entitled to a good education in order to prepare them for the world. I'm not saying that DISD prepares us for the world, but it's a lot better than just faking your way through high school. These students will be able to get jobs probably, but they will probably be completely useless in them.

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2015/11/survey-waivers-let-thousands-graduate-from-texas-high-schools-despite-failed-end-of-course-exams.html/

Federal ends "to big to fail" system for loaning to banks by: Luis Ceja flex

The federal reserve adopted a new rule that limits there ability to loan out money to banks who are going bankrupt. This rule is mainly taken from the Dodd-Frank act of 2010 that was passed following the recession and irresponsible policies from executives in wall street. Basically federal reserve can't use emergency funds on major banks. Now some people see this as a big step forward and common sense stuff that should've been done earlier. While this is common sense it doesn't actually do much in the way of stopping corruption with banks. It does allow for more control over federal reserve spending but it really is just a start. The fed can still judge a firm and determine whether it needs help it just can't come from emergency funds and wont work on huge firms like a citi or wells fargo. At the end of the day this along with a re-institution of Glass-Steagal could help prevent such problems that hurt us in the future. The fact is this idea is very similar to what federalist wanted but instead of just a national bank we want to regulate the commercial banks to protect U.S citizens from bad practice. Now these laws may not seem like they can keep banks from not using risky practices like sub-prime lending. Thing is they actually could if the banks aren't sure they'll get bailed out by the government they shouldn't be willing to take such risk. Hopefully this first rules can help push forward more legislation to deal with these mega-banks that have amassed so much money.



(Zoe Roberts, 3rd Period) New clues in hunt for Nefertiti's tomb By: Slma Shelbayah

Summary: Egyptologists believe they have found a second chamber to King Tutankhamun's tomb. This comes after they released scans of the Valley of the Kings, archeologists believe the second chamber could house Nefertiti's long lost remains. This August archeologist Nicolas Reeves theorized that Nefertiti's remains were probably hidden away in a secret tomb somewhere. This theory prompted additional research into the Valley of the Kings and clues to her burial places. Researchers did a thermal scan of the tomb and found a vacant spot behind the primary chamber room. All this suggest that there is more to the tomb than suspected.

Analysis: It is always interesting when new information on mysteries that have been around for ages. It also brings about new ways of looking for clues in the future. As we expand our knowledge we expand our ways of learning and teaching. All of this amazes me. It makes me excited to watch and learn as more and more is discovered in regards to Nefertiti and her disappearance and death.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/28/africa/possible-clue-nefertiti-tomb-egypt/index.html

common Hillary! - Simon Waranch- 3rd period

Earlier this week, Some new Benghazi- related emails have been released by the state department. Most of these emails are between Hillary clinton, the leading democratic candidate and her daughter, who was using a pen name. In these emails she talked about a certain attack and her feelings of grief toward the americans who died.


In my opinion, These Hillary Clinton emails are not that bad...  I guess the idea of a possible president sharing classified information over the internet is kinda scary though. Now a days fox news just wants to put Hillary down in some way so they just keep bringing up these emails. The fact of the matter is, all of the Presidential candidates are bad. That is the problem here.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/30/politics/hillary-clinton-benghazi-emails/index.html

Teen sues Obama over climate change - Kate Fehan 8th Period

15 year old Xiuhtezcatl Tonatiuh and several other young climate change activists are suing the Obama administration over failure to get rid of fossil fuels. Obama's push for clean energy has reduced carbon emissions, but not by enough. At the rate the world is warming, Tonatiuh argues that we need to do away with fossil fuels completely.

America has been very dependent on fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution, and the amount we're using just started to decrease in 2000. We're still using 35 quadrillion times the amount of petroleum that we were in 1900 and 20 quadrillion times the amount of coal. Climate change is no longer a problem we can leave to younger generations. The rising sea level and temperature is starting to affect civilization now, with lasting consequences.

Fed ends 'too big to fail' lending to collapsing banks- Erin O'Day

The fed has decided to cut the emergency lending to big wall street banks in financial trouble. Before, in sever economic crisis, the federal government would lend money to banks under threat of bankruptcy in order to keep their assets and such there. But it's always risky to do that, because it's never guaranteed that the bank will be able to pay back the government, so to prevent that risk, the government has made a rule that restricts their lending. But of course there are loopholes, loopholes that many wish to see closed to prevent further economic difficulty.

The dangers of the banking system have existed since our country's outset, and financial difficulty has always plagued us, such as the panic of 1857, or the Great Depression, where banks going bankrupt caused the biggest financial depression yet seen, or the recession that happened recently. In fact, it was economic strife in 2010 that spurred on a series of economic reforms, of which these restrictions are part of.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/11/30/news/economy/fed-adopts-rule-to-end-too-big-to-fail/index.html

US running low on bombs -Carli Copell, Per.6

Is the Us running out of bombs to drop on ISIS?

This article is explaining how America has already used 20,000 bombs on the middle eastern areas said to be containing ISIS members.

Synthesis: To me this is really worrying. Though our troops are doing everything in their power to keep us safe budget cuts and lack of materials is making that really hard for them to do. America has always been a top military power and we are known for saving other countries/ nations from hard times during many different wars. ant to think that we wont be able to fight our own war when it comes is worry some. This relates back to both World Wars here we saved many others from their problems and we might need them to save us from this one.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/04/politics/air-force-20000-bombs-missiles-isis/index.html

"Planned Parenthood Deals With Unplanned Shooter" Julia Plummer pd. 1

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/30/us/politics/shooting-at-planned-parenthood-adds-to-challenges-for-congress.html?ref=us&_r=0

This week, a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs suffered a terrorist attack. The shooter, Robert Dear, killed three people and wounded nine. This man had previously been charged with nine criminal filings including personal intrusion, and animal cruelty. He lived in a secluded trailer with his wife, whom he also was allegedly violent towards. After the shootings, Dear held interviews with many sources, and he is quoted talking about "baby parts." This all ties into the argument that Planned Parenthood sells baby parts and should therefore be shut down. This claim is ridiculous because PP doesn't do that, and also because they provide so many other vital services besides abortion- including birth control and other reproductive services.

It's kind of like John Brown's Harper Ferry raid, except for the fact that his raid was against slavery (which is bad), and Robert Dear's terrorist act was against Planned Parenthood (which is good and helpful).


Texas and Syrian Refugees - Bernadette Negrete

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/30/texas-syrian-refugees-international-rescue-committee


Summary: This week a person has sent a letter to the Texas government threatening to sue. They believe that the fact that Texas is allowing Syrian refuges in to the state is wrong and is risking Texans safety. The person suing believes that it needs to stop and is trying to gather more people to advocate change .

Analysis: Syrian refugees have very hard time theses last few years with the ongoing war and its selfish to deny them freedom. There are many things Americans take for granted and for one of us to say no to the less fortunate is idiotic. this person is a moron. this reminds me of Dred Scott VS. Sandford due to the fact that this person is trying to deny a human being of rights they were born with.

Luz Lopez(4th period)- 8-year-old battling rare breast cancer

     Chrissy Turner found a lump in her right breast and asked her mom what was it. Her mother then took her to the hospital right away because she didn't know what it was. The doctors said it was a rare of secretory breast carcinoma. This type of cancer is a 1% chance a person will get it and a child is 0.01%. There have been a total of 34 cases in all. Chrissy has gone under surgery to get the lump removed. She will have another one in December.
     This article spoke out to me because a little girl has a rare breast cancer. Her family is probably worried sick about her health. It's god that the hospital is talking about plans on how to pay for the surgeries. This kinda reminded me during the times of the bombing in Vietnam during World War II. People who were affected by the bomb couldn't drink water or else they died. They had severe burns on their bodies.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/27/health/girl-rare-breast-cancer/index.html

Fighting Against ISIS Alexis Williams




          The White House has announed its new plan to fight terrorism. Specifically ISIS. After the horrible attack in Paris that killed 130 people, the government has decided too tighten up on securityto make sure of America's safety. Specifically the visa wavier. The visa wavier makes it easier for immargants to enter the U.S. with minimal screening. This could be a way for terrorists to sneak into the U.S. very easily. Josh Earnest the Secretary of press says " We're cognizant that our global campaign to degrade and ultimatley destroy ISIS has a special residence in this city". The U.S. is very optimistic that America will be safe nd hopefully be protected by any terrorism.
          This incedent connects to 9/11 which was the horrible day when terrorists crashed int the Twin Towers in New York. It was a very sad day in America and many lives were lost. That day Americ was scared and in panic not feeling very safe. Of course that day The White House decidede they needed to crack down on security. They wanted to prevent this kind of event from ever happening again. Terrorism is a big deal and I do belve that America is doing the best it can to protect us.\

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/30/politics/white-house-counter-terrorism-campaign/index.html

Margaret King 1st- Parents Help Pay Their Children's Debt

Susanne and Bill Walsh wanted to retire and travel the world by their late fifty's but they have not been able to as they still have to work to help both of their sons pay off their college debts. 24 year old Tim has approximately $129,000 in debt while Sean has $60,000. All together there is a total of $189,000 in debt. The parents lost their jobs in the 2009 recession and have since become employed again giving their sons $744 a month.

This is not the only family in this situation. Thousands people suffer from college debt and are losing everything because they cannot get a job. I think it is terrible that society makes it so in order to get a job you have to go to college, they make the price to go to college outrageously expensive, and then after you finish it there is no guarantee of a job and you could end up doing all of that for nothing. Something needs to change.

To read the full article click here

Chicago Threat Closes University - Olivia Browne (Period 6)


A 21-year-old man was arrested Monday, accused of threatening to kill students and staff at the University of Chicago in an apparent attempt to avenge the death of Laquan McDonald, authorities said. Jabari Dean, 21 was arrested without incident. He is expected to appear in court later in the day.
According to a criminal complaint, Dean posted a threat on social media over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Analysis: The Author is Dana Ford and she appears to be a non-biased party. This article was created on November 29th, right after the incident had taken place, adding to the urgency. I had no prior knowledge of this event. The Audience is the concerned American public and this story has a negative effect on them. The reason for writing this article was to educate the American public on this shocking event. This directly relates to the education reforms in the antebellum era in making schools safer. 

Sleepy Baby Pictures with Santa by Shelby Linker, 8th period

Zeke Walters, 6 month old, and his dad, Donnie, went to their local mall in Evansville, Indiana for Zeke's first pictures with Santa Claus. While waiting in line little Zeke fell asleep, his dad planned to walk around until he woke up but Santa said, "Don't wake your child; we got the perfect shot." Santa laid Zeke on his stomach as he continued to sleep. Donnie posted the pictures on Facebook and they spread like wildfires.

With everything going on lately I feel like this is a really sweet story about a child's first encounter with Santa. Since this is a history class I'll talk about the history of Santa Clause. It's believed that his origin was a monk named St. Nicholas who was born near modern-day Turkey. He was known for his kindness, one of the most well known stories was when he saved three impoverished sisters from being sold into slavery and/or prostitution by their father. He soon became known as the protector of children and sailors. Now that you have some extra Christmas history, enjoy this cute picture of baby Zeke and Santa.

 

Sources

Desiree smith period 4 Mom who left her infant on side of road in car seat pleads guilty; will attend parenting class

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/11/30/mom-who-left-her-infant-on-side-road-in-car-seat-pleads-guilty-will-attend/

Summary:
They say a woman charged with leaving her weeks-old daughter on the side of a road has pleaded guilty. She was sentenced to time served and put on probation for five years. She must undergo drug and alcohol treatment and complete a parenting class. A resident found the 6-week-old child in a carrier just before midnight July 4 on the side of the road near her house. The baby was in good conditions. They said that after an argument with her boyfriend, she drove off without her boyfriend and the baby.

Analysis:
This was published November 30, 2015. It took place in Annapolis, Maryland. I already knew about mothers and father abandoning their children. This was written for parents and it has a negative effect on them because of the consequences of abandoning your child. This article was written to stop parents from treating their own child like this. Parents are supposed to protect their children from harm and danger but yet doing it themselfs. This is heartbreaking.

Adriana Hinojosa, 8th Period, Chicago Gang Kill 9 Yr. Old Boy

Revenge. Revenge seems to be a motive a lot of people choose to justify their actions but in my opinion it never does the proper justification. It might give a good reason but even then, acts of revenge will never undo the initial bad act done. A month ago in Chicago a 9 year old boy was lured into an alley where he was shot and ultimately killed. It wasn't until now that the Chicago police has made an arrest. One man, Corey Morgan, was arrested and was found to be part of a famous gang in the city. The police have since stated that this gang and their rival gang will be completely obliterated until they are no more since this crime shook the city. Corey Morgan has not turned in any of his fellow gang members but he has given a "motive." Morgan's brother was killed violently and his mother was shot earlier in his life and so he said he felt he needed to kill mothers, brother, grandmas, pretty much everyone in order to deem revenge on what was done to his family. How this innocent Tyshawn (9 yr. old boy) has anything to do with that, I don't know. But unfortunately, the death of many innocent people has occurred in history. A specific example that comes to mind is the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Not only was this man innocent but he advocated for an entire people in a peaceful way and did not deserve to die the way he did. What really is disappointing about this case in Chicago is that with the amount of racist-related murders we have been having you would think this would just be another one of those, but no. The gang which Morgan belongs to is an all-Black one and they boy they killed was also Black. I hope that Tyshawn's family may find peace and that no on in that family seek revenge in any way but especially not in a violent one. Just like Tyshawn's family can do nothing to bring him back, Morgan could not have done anything to bring his brother back and that was proven after killing this boy out of "revenge."


http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/27/us/chicago-tyshawn-lee-arrest/index.html


 Corey Morgan


Tyshawn Lee











In Indiana, Raising the Bar Raises Questions About Special Education- Tori Gilchrist, 1st period

The state of Indiana has recently passed regulations that will make a high school diploma more difficult to achieve. The motive behind it is to increase the value of a diploma. All students will be held to the same standard, with requirements like four years of math and experience working an out-of-school job. Special ed. students will be expected to do the same. One student with down syndrome said he might not be able to graduate because he can't keep up with the new fast-paced system. So far nothing has been done to assist the disabled students.

This unfair treatment of disabled people reminds me of the antebellum age when disabled people would suffer inhumane treatment- this case is obviously much less extreme, but still unfair nonetheless. Hopefully in the near future, we can find a way to uphold fair standards for special ed without a need of separate environments.

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/11/30/457141663/in-indiana-raising-the-bar-raises-questions-about-special-education

Kenley Turner 3rd period- Gun Violence Threat Closes University of Chicago Campus

Summery: The University of Chicago heard news online that someone was planning a school shooting Monday morning. The school alerted the students and took precautions. The reactions of the alert are going different ways. Some students and faculty are genuinely scared, and others think its silly and a waste of time. A criminal investigation is now taking place.


Analysis: This is a modern phenomenon that schools are pretty recently having to deal with. The first  school shooting is probably Columbine, and if it's not, then it is definitely the one that brought awareness to the school shooting issue. This took place in the 90's! That's not that long ago. Again, this is a fairly new problem. Because it is a new problem, people are still going through trial and error on how to deal with it. Is it the most efficient thing to do, is to just shut down the entire school over a threat? What we need to do is figure out how to solve the issue of spontaneous school shootings, because were not gonna get a warning every time.


Source: CLICK HERE

Adriana Hinojosa 8th period, Abandoned Baby Found

This past week a newborn baby was found on the streets of Los Angeles, CA under a block of asphalt. A woman who was walking by it with her sister heard the sound of crying and knew that she had to investigate. The two girls were both stunned when they saw this infant who was stone cold fighting for its life. Officers from the L.A.P.D. came to investigate. Officers and paramedics are amazed on how the baby is still alive considering it had only been born a maximum of 48 hours before. For me, all of this goes back to abortion. They still have not identified the parents in this case so I do not know the story or the motives for this occurrence but this is when I do not understand people who are pro-life. Is this life? Hours after being born you are abandoned on cold pavement near deadly chemicals? This is why we should fight for life? Sure, the baby was luckily found alive but what kind of life awaits this baby? I want to believe that this happened under circumstances in which the parents had NO choice but my brain has a really hard time coming up with such a circumstance and believing it. Let's say that hypothetically the "mother" of this child was against abortion and so then decided to keep the baby, how is this any better? You are attempting murder. I had the same reaction when I heard of the Planned Parenthood shooter. He shot up a Planned Parenthood office in order to fight for LIFE. He ended the lives of others in order to advocate for life. This world continues to confuse me.

Newborn was found under asphalt along popular Compton walking path
Image: Colorado Springs Shooting Suspect Robert L. Dear
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/29/us/los-angeles-county-abandoned-baby-found-under-asphalt/index.html

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/planned-parenthood-shooting-suspect-made-comment-about-no-more-baby-n470706


Video of Chicago teen shot by police released over a year later By: Luis Ceja flex

Dash cam video of the shooting of 17 year old Laquan Mcdonald has finally been released to the public. There's no debate about the police officer's actions and if there justified or at least there shouldn't be. There are a couple problems I have though with the whole handling of the situation. It took the video over a year to be released and was only done so because of a court order. There's a lot of other questions to be asked. Like why there was no audio and why video wasn't released from other police cars make no sense. Another thing is there was a burger king right next to where the shooting took place. The police went to the burger king to ask about the security footage. The manager showed them. When reporters went to ask about the video they found 90 minutes had been wiped by the police. This was such a blatant example of corruption in the police force. What's even more Disturbing than the corruption is the individual cop him self who fired 176 rounds into Laquan in less than 16 seconds. Not hesitating once even when he was on the ground not moving. The cop has now been charged with first degree murder as local politicians such as the district attorney try to cover their ass and get re-elected. Hopefully that won't happen though. This runs so many parallels to systemic violence that was going on through out the U.S in the 80's. Something that has seen a recent resurgence. Something that needs to be honestly addressed and snuffed out.


Video and Article: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/what-do-we-know-about-the-fatal-shooting-of-a-chicago-teen/

Colorado Planned Parenthood Shooting: 3 dead, Suspect Captured - Angelica Fischer - 9th

CNN News made this article to let people know that gun violence is a major issue in the United States. Two civilians and a police officer were killed in a Colorado shooting. The shooter's motive is thought to be a, "poisonous environment that feeds domestic terrorism." Domestic terrorism is terrorism practiced in your own country against your own people. In the past month there has been many shootings and terrorist attacks. The issue of gun control should be talked about more than ever before. This article was written to show U.S. citizens how important gun control is and how there has been too many shootings lately. The significance of this article is to show how gun violence is a major problem and the government needs to talk about gun control.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/27/us/colorado-shooting-probe/

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Layla Maynard: Deadly Storms Close to Home

Summary: Multiple deaths have been reported recently due to serious storms in Kansas and Texas. Due to single car accidents in Kansas, five people have died in the past few months. All of these accidents were caused by hazardous road conditions, which drivers in the south, for the most part, are unaware how to deal with. In Texas, more and more lives are taken due to severe flooding. One deputy was left hanging onto a tree for two hours while trying to rescue a vehicle that had been swept away during a flood.

Analysis: I find it interesting that I have heard very little about these incidents, especially ones so close to us. I am also surprised that, due to the multiple problems arising from these hazardous road conditions, there hasn't been some sort of program set up by our local government, news networks, or police stations to help drivers in the south get more accustomed to driving under new conditions.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/28/us/weather-texas-oklahoma-heavy-flooding-ice/index.html

Jumped the Fence -Julianne Swaykus 6

    On Thursday a college student, Joseph Caputo, was draped in an American flag and jumped the White House fence with a "rewritten constitution". He claimed to have no intension of harming anyone or himself but prompted a lockdown while President Barack Obama was celebrating Thanksgiving with his family. "Caputo was the first person to jump over the White House fence since the Secret Service installed additional metal spikes earlier this year in response to a series of security breaches." As of right now, he has been charged with illegal entry which has a maximum penalty of 1 year in prison. 
     It is good that this man wanted to try and improve our economy, but, especially with all of the threats going on right now, he could've chosen a much better way to get his message across. It is said that his constitution contained "an expression of desire for change in various areas of society including education, the judiciary, voting rights and privileges" This reminds me of ideas such as the Anaconda Plan introduced by General Winfield Scott, but was vetoed by almost all Union Commanders. He tried to develop a different strategy to win the war without all of the violence but was shot down.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WHITE_HOUSE_FENCE_JUMPER?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-11-29-18-57-38

Emily Rosuck 4th - Planned Parenthood Shooting Creates Political Turmoil

This week, a Planned Parenthood was shot up by Robert L. Dear Jr. , killing 3 and wounding 9. This is the result of incitement of hatred for Planned Parenthood from scientifically ignorant politicians, and it's creating a problem for congress. Multiple Republican candidates, such as Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee have made - FALSE -  claims like "Planned Parenthood harvests baby parts" including - falsely - live fetus' brains, or "they sell body parts like the parts of a Buick." Many Republican political figures have reported that Planned Parenthood has committed criminal acts profiting from selling body parts, altering abortion procedures to preserve certain organs, even murdering fetuses. 
My first thought is, how could anyone have the audacity to look into the faces of America and make such bold-faced lies? My second thought is, how could America be so stupid as to believe them? While I can't give you an answer to my first question, the answer to my second question is this, ignorance. The public simply doesn't know the truth behind what's actually going on in Planned Parenthood, it definitely isn't murdering fetuses. I got my first clue from the article picture of people protesting PP, and one of the signs being held says "STOP TAXPAYER FUNDING FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD" immediately I know that this person believes anything they hear from whoever they deem credible, which obviously doesn't take much, because taxpayers don't fund PP. In fact, no part of PP is federally funded, not even administration of birth control or pap smears for women. The shooting that happened this week is atrocious and sheds light on the type of people who support the shut down of Planned Parenthood. Insolent, violent, ignorant, monstrous people.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/30/us/politics/shooting-at-planned-parenthood-adds-to-challenges-for-congress.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

More Security for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade by Brenna Hale(6th Period)

       After the recent attacks in Paris the security for the New York Thanksgiving Day Parade was enlarged. This event draws huge crowds every year, but authorities said that there had been no threats. NYPD added 200 officers to the parade patrol from their new counter-terrorism unit. New York mayor Bill de Blasio told people not to give into this "psychological warfare".
       I agree with mayor de Blasio, these events are wreaking "psychological warfare". People are afraid that with every small or large event that occurs a terrorist attack will accompany it, and that's exactly what these groups want to happen. But what these groups hadn't expected was the support and shoulders to lean on provided by other countries to France and everywhere else in other situations. In American history this reminds me of the institution of tighter security in airports after the 9/11 attacks. At the time everyone was afraid of getting on a flight, but over time tighter security helped to protect against terrorism. Now these groups are getting smarter, and going beyond tighter security might be the solution.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34932790

Carlos Joglar- An 18 Year Climate Difference

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/earth-wilder-warmer-place-since-last-climate-deal-125408757.html#

18 years ago, a summit was held in Kyoto to discuss climate change. In the context of 1997, addressing climate change was an attempt to begin an early plan to defeat a future problem. They focused on average temperatures and water levels. Now, in 2015, climate change has been more tangible and has come much quicker than initially thought. People are also realizing its the extremes that are having the biggest effect, not averages. Despite this abrupt change, experts are, for the most part, optimistic. Also evolving at a fast pace is technology. With the advancement of technology, there is hope to discover new ways to dismiss fossil fuels from our global usage. There is also a new wave of businesses determined to do something about the state of the environment. Hopefully, these efforts will reach the masses and we will be able to turn this downward spiral in the opposite direction.

 If we didn't have technology on our side, we may have been hopeless. The main issue is that, back in 1997, it was seen as a future problem when, really, it had already started and was in process. Since the Industrial Revolution, fossil fuels has been our major source of power, and one of our main goals is to wean the world off that toxin. Water also can't be an option, because with 7.5 billion people on this planet, that water needs to go to other causes. Overall, if experts are optimistic, I am too.

FLOCK OF GEESE HITS PLANE AND CAUSES FLIGHT DELAYS Julia Woltjen (3rd period)

SUMMARY:
Thanksgiving eve was an eventful time for a plane ride, as described by passengers from the Sacramento airport. I say eventful in not such a jolly or happy way, because this event was the death of an entire flock of geese that hit one of the engines on the side of the plane. Passengers heard an array of sounds and explosions, and most hit their service buttons overhead in an attempt to understand what was happening. Some say that they could see bright golden explosions, and flashes of light as the plane's engine burst into flames. The plane was able to make it safely to the ground where passengers rescheduled their flights for Thanksgiving.

ANALYSIS:
I am very upset and emotional about this because it just shows how much humans and nature are conflicting. Those geese weren't aiming for the engine and I know that the pilots weren't aiming for the geese, it was just an awful coincidence. And the fact of the matter is that it happens way too often, almost 13,000 times in the last year alone. With this many deaths occurring out of freakish situations along with hunting and natural deaths, it's no wonder why animals on Planet Earth are taking a major hit; or even becoming dangerously close to extinction. Something should be done on planes to sense these animals ahead of time in order to avoid this, and to take away one contributor to their death tolls.

http://fox40.com/2015/11/25/sac-airport-bird-strike-causes-damage-to-plane-forces-emergency-landing/

Planned Parenthood Shooting; Lauren Bush; 9th


On Friday, November 27, a  shooting took place at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs. The event lasted nearly six hours, and it left three people dead and nine more injured. Accused suspect Robert Lewis Dear has not yet disclosed any motives. Dear told officials he has anti-abortion and anti-government views, but that these things weren't necessarily involved in his choice to (allegedly) plan the shooting. Officers also found propane tanks in Dear's car, leading them to believe he was trying to cause an explosion.

Although the true motives haven't been identified, one could guess by the location of the shooting that the shooter was motivated by their opposition to abortion. Abortion has been a long-standing political issue that illustrates the difficulty of mixing politics with religion.

Planned Parenthood Shooting (Bella Di Fazio pd:8)

In Colorado Springs, Colorado, Robert Lewis Dear has been arrested for the shooting inside a Planned  Parenthood clinic, killing 3 people and injuring 9. Dear has been accused of domestic and animal abuse prior to the shooting, but was never charged. He is known for being extremely "anti-Obama". Along with the shooting, there was a bunch of propane found in his car making the authorities suspect that he was trying to shoot at that to cause an explosion.
Many people believe that this is a "crime against women" because he is attacking them for receiving proper and necessary health care.
Recently, Obama released a statement about how a shootings like these happen way too often and in order to truly stop it from happen, there must be stricter gun control.

Planned Parenthood has had many unfortunate events happen to them. As something that is so necessary in providing safe and extremely helpful procedures that aren't just abortions. (Like STD testing, sex education, etc.)  Even if people don't agree with abortion, they should at least educate themselves about how Planned Parenthood works. As for gun control, I do believe it should be much stricter but not entirely taken away.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/29/us/colorado-planned-parenthood-shooting/index.html

Nicholas Godfrey Period 8: Newborn Baby Found Buried Under Asphalt

Summary: Two sisters were walking on a popular path in Compton when one of them heard the crying of a baby. The other sister just dismissed it saying that it sounded like a cat. The one who heard the baby was persistent and they found a newborn baby buried alive under some debris on the path. They called the police and the police have said that the baby was born within 36-48 hours before it was uncovered. They said that if that child hadn't been found by that night, then it would have died and is even lucky to be alive now. LA County has a program where parents can surrender their child to any hospital in the county or any fire department and there won't be any questions asked. This makes the police wonder what was the motive to why they didn't just surrender it. There's evidence that the baby was born at a hospital because of the blanket that it was wrapped in.

Analysis: No matter what the reason was, these parents burying their child is truly horrifying and I'm pretty sure almost anybody would agree with me. What was messed up that they couldn't just give it to the hospital? I'm glad that they found the child in time but thinking about it, how is the kid going to feel when they grow up and learn that their birth parents tried to kill them? That's going to end up being earth shattering for them. My mom adopted two kids a few years ago: a 6 year old girl and a 2 year old boy. My little brother, now 7 years old, thinks that my mom is his real mother so I know that my mom has struggled with thinking of how they are going to be able to break the news to him so I can't imagine how these parents are going to feel when they will have to tell them. When reading this, it reminded me of a part in The Wordy Shipmates when the mother was so distressed with if she was going to heaven or hell, so she killed her child to ensure that she would go to hell so she could have closure. This is an example that shows how people have these insane thoughts that make sense in the moment and do something rash and horrible.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/29/us/los-angeles-county-abandoned-baby-found-under-asphalt/index.html

Man fed son's body to pigs | Jillian Linnear P.8

Today the police have arrested an older man in Kansas City. The man was charged with domestic violence and murder, except this murder was not your average killing. The man beat his seven-year old son and then fed his body parts to the pigs his wife bought at the start of fall. Apparently the boy was dead for quite a while before most of his remains were eaten by pigs.

I'd say that this article is very relevant to us today because we seem to be having more and more cases dealing with children being captured and/or killed by their own family members. This article is most definitely important in opening up people's eyes about how even their closest family members can cause them harm. However the circumstances of this particular case reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe as it seems like it would be something he would write, only with more gory details.

link

Police officer killed- Simon Waranch, 3rd period

Late saturday, a police officer was shot and then later died. A Police officer from Pennsylvania was responding to a domestic dispute call. The officers name is Lloyd Reed, he was a police officer for 20 years. When Officer Reed went to the domestic dispute, he was shot by Ray Allen Shelter Jr, then he fled the scene. Later that night, Ray Allen Shelter Jr was taken into custody.

This police officer was doing his job when he was shot and killed. This is appalling. Now a days the big problem is with Police brutality and know one is thinking about the good cops. Yes there are bad cops.. but most are good and this officer does not deserve this. Rest in peace Lloyd Reed.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/29/us/pennsylvania-police-officer-killed/index.html

Burglar stuck in chimney dies after homeowner lights fire - Paisley Norburg 5th Period

Burglar stuck in chimney dies after homeowner lights fire (Paisley Norburg 5th Period)

        After a burglar tried breaking into a house through the chimney, the whole plan resulted in a death. On Saturday around 3 pm, the man in the chimney was found, because the homeowner came home to light a fire. Not thinking there would be someone in the chimney, he heard a scream coming from the chimney. The owner of the house tried to quickly put out the fire, resulting his own home to smoke up. The firefighters quickly responded to this situation and destroyed the chimney, in order to get the burglar out. Only to find out when they reached the burglar he was dead. The coroner's offices took the body from the scene and are going to investigate and find out the mans identity and the actual cause of the death.

       It's the modern day Grinch. Someone trying to get into a home through a chimney expecting to steal anothers belongings and cherished items that is/are not his own. It's sad that this resulted in a death, but the man did it to himself. If the man would've never broken into this home, he would most likely be alive. It is not the homeowners fault at all! He just came home, wanting to burn a fire and relax and unfortunately there was an intruder in his chimney.




Taytum Buford-NASA Confirms We Will Experience Darkness

Summary: NASA has confirmed that the Earth will experience 15 days of total darkness between November 15 and November 29, 2015. The event, according to NASA, hasn’t occurred in over 1 Million years. Astronomers from NASA have indicated that the world will remain in complete darkness starting on Sunday, November 15, 2015 at 3 a.m. and will end on Monday, November 30, 2015 at 4:15 p.m. According to officials the ”November Black Out” event will be caused by another astronomical event between Venus and Jupiter. Charles Bolden, who was appointed to head of NASA by President Obama, issued a 1000 page document explaining the event to the White House.
Analysis: Considering it is November 29, I do not think we experienced 15 days of darkness. Honestly, I do not understand why NASA would have confirmed this and it absolutely makes no sense to me whatsoever. 

The true meaning of Thanksgiving










  What if I told you that there was more to Thanksgiving than the yummy turkey and etc. So why do we celebrate Thanksgiving you might ask? Well, "Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in 1621. This feast lasted three days, also fun fact it was attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims. So when exactly did Thanksgiving become a holiday in the United States? It had been celebrated as a federal holiday every year since 1863, when, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father. Hopefully this helped you understand more about the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

     Click here for more inforation

Colorado shooting calls for gun control - christa Hamby p1

After a gunman opened fire at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood on Friday, killing three people and injuring several others, democrats are calling fro gun control. President Obama made a statement saying, ”we have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them.” The motive behind the shooting still remains unknown in its relation to planned parenthood. Republican candidate Huckabee calls the shooting an act of Domestic Terrorism. 
I find it highly disconcerting that this President calls weapons available to the American Citizen "weapons of war" and yet his cabinet leaders are arming their agencies with these weapons and even military grade versions of what is sold to the public. I'm talking about the IRS, EPA, Bureu of Land Management (Dept of Interior) etc. Why would domestic agencies of our government need "weapons of war" to serve "we the people” It seems that gun control has been the boiling point between democratic rivals. That being said, the focus right now should be on the victims - not the gunman, not politics, not religion, not refugees, not police policies or practices. The victims.  

Kayleigh Smerud Pd. 1

         A lot of people didn't hear about this ,but  there was a huge explosion in West, Texas  a few years ago after a fertilizer plant burned to the ground. The blast left 14 people dead and hundreds injured. Ammonium nitrate is a key ingredient in fertilizer, which is also highly explosive under the right circumstances. Its the same substance that was used for the Oklahoma City bombing. These people who have been using this fertilizer haven't stopped using it. They keep using it even though they know it's highly explosive.
         Authorities still aren't sure what caused the fire and explosion. This was just days after the terrorist attack in Boston so some people have been suspicious of criminal activity. This is understandable, but in my opinion it was probably just a freak accident. Terrorists are usually pretty obvious about what they do. It wouldn't make sense for their intentions if everyone thought it was an accident. They didn't use this fertilizer back in the day which is why this didn't happen.

NSA ENDS BULK PHONE DATA CAPTURE Julia Woltjen (3rd period)

SUMMARY:
The NSA is now ending its bulk collection of cell phone data which has been going on since the terrorist attacks of 9-11. This data collection captured the amount of calls you made, their duration, and the person you were calling. It did not record the data of the actual call itself though. The collection's purpose was said to be the targeting of  suspected terrorist activity. But it is now being ended because of the obvious reasons like privacy laws and standards for all of the non-terrorists out there (AKA almost all Americans). Now because of the USA Freedom Act, if the NSA wants to collect data on any calls a warrant must be given to them.

ANALYSIS:
I am very uncomfortable with the fact that this has been happening since 2001, and it is just now being ended. We have had literally no idea about this, or I haven't anyways. There have always been conspiracy theories out there about the government listening to your calls, but to think that something along those lines was actually happening is appalling. I understand the reason for it but for real, not all people in America that are on the phone are terrorists.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/28/us/nsa-ends-bulk-phone-surveillance/index.html

Baby Found Under Asphalt- Tea Devereaux

Today, in California, a newborn baby (36-48 hours old) was found under the asphalt in a Californian walkway. A woman found the baby while walking along the pathway after hearing cries of what sounded like a cat. After police got to the location they immediately treated her before sending her to paramedics. They say that if the baby had been there all night it wouldn't have survived. If the parents are found, they will be charged for murder.

BABY UNDER ASPHALT?!
analysis: This is so ridiculous to hear. A young child should never be put under conditions like that until they have the strength to make it out, and even then it doesn't make it ok. California also has a "Baby Safe Surrender Program" which allows parents to drop off babies that they can't take care right into the police's hands. This meas that this parent or parents had no excuse to just bury the baby under asphalt, in my opinion this is just selfish and cowardly and I hope they find the parents and immediately find a safer home for the baby.