Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Alyssa Sartuche- this moon looks like the Death Star

By Madeline Holcomb
On wed January 25, 2017

Summary: NASA took amazing photos of a large moon that was circling Saturn but now people are talking about how it really looks exactly like the Death Star. Similar to the Death Star, Tenthys has a crater that NASA named Odysseus. NASA is just saying that the moons crater is from external impacts which makes sense. A lot of people are just asking to call it the Teth star because it's saturns fifth largest and also it's shape is a result of its own Star Wars.

Analysis: When i found out about this, it caught my attention very fast. I have always loved outer space and everything in it. It's neat to see how somethings can look so similar on the outside but have two completely different centers just like people and their personalities.

Link: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/01/25/us/saturn-moon-death-star-trnd/index.html

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Kiri Luckey

Kiri Luckey: Gunman found dead after shooting that locked down Southern Calif. polling places

A gunman who opened fire in Azusa, Calif., was found dead in a nearby home Thursday night after the shooting forced two polling places in the area to go on lockdown.
The shooter killed one person and wounded at least two others, police said. Officials locked down the two polling places, Dalton Elementary School and Memorial Park, in the moments after the shots rang out. It was unclear whether the shooting had anything to do with the election.

Analysis: This is so scary! People need to really be careful these days because this generation has become very freightful. Only people with a license should be carrying a gun and only can use it when in danger.







Kiri Luckey

Kiri Luckey: Georgia dad convicted of murder in death of toddler in hot SUV

A jury in Georgia Monday found a father guilty of murder in the death of his 22-month-old son who was left for hours inside a hot SUV -- a conviction expected to send the man to prison for the rest of his life. Prosecutors say 35-year-old Justin Ross Harris intentionally killed his son, Cooper, in June 2014 to escape from family responsibilities while he sought sexual affairs outside his marriage. Defense attorneys say Harris loved his son and that the boy's death was a tragic accident. Prosecutors charged Harris with malice murder and felony murder, which required no proof of intent to kill -- just that Cooper died as a result of his father committing the felony of cruelty to children. Both convictions carry mandatory life sentences. Prosecutors indicated earlier in the trial that they would not seek the death penalty.

Analysis: This is so so sad! But if they didn't have any type of proof that the boy's father intentionally killed his son I feel it was unfair for him to be accused of the crime and sentenced for life. But if he did intentionally kill his son that is just sickening like why would you want to kill your own son. This whole situation is just tragic on both sides.



Kiri Luckey

Kiri Luckey: How Ohio State University harnessed tech to alert students of campus attack


Ohio State University’s Buckeye Alert system warned students of a campus attacker within minutes of the car and knife attack unfolding Monday morning. Nine people were injured in the attack and the suspect was killed by a campus police officer. Monica Moll, the school's public safety director, told reporters the attack took place in front of Watts Hall, the location of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, around 9:52 a.m. ET. A campus officer nearby engaged the suspect, who was attacking people with a butcher knife, and shot and killed him within minutes.

Analysis: This is such a tragedy for those students and their loved ones. All schools should be required to have a device or something that can tell when an attack is coming their way minutes before the attack takes place. This man couldn't have been in his right mind because of how cruel his actions were. This is so sad and I feel tremendously gloomy for that entire campus.


Kiri Luckey

Kiri Luckey: Charges possible over deadly Oakland warehouse fire, DA says


OAKLAND, Calif. – Terry Ewing was among the anxious family and friends who received confirmation Monday of what he already knew in his heart: His girlfriend was among the three dozen killed in the Oakland warehouse fire. Authorities confirmed the death of Ara Jo as the death toll rose to 36. Prosecutors also said Monday that murder charges could result from their investigation into the fire that broke out during an underground dance party at a building known as the "Ghost Ship." Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern told The Associated Press he didn't believe there would be additional bodies found in what is the most lethal building fire in the U.S. in more than a decade. But he cautioned that it was "impossible to be absolutely positive" until the entire recovery effort is complete. Authorities had gone through about three-quarters of the building by Tuesday afternoon. Investigators said they believe they have located the section of the building where the fire started, but the cause remains unknown.


Analysis: This is such a tragic event. I feel so bad for the families who have lost people and for those who have lost their lives. I hope the investigators get to the bottom of how the fire started and where exactly it started. I also hope they eventually are able to identify the rest of the bodies that were in the building so their families can be notified and aware of the situation.







Kiri Luckey

Kiri Luckey: Terminally ill child dies in Santa's arms

A 60-year-old Tennessee man who spends time volunteering as Santa Claus at a local hospital granted a 5-year-old terminally ill boy his final wish this holiday season, and held him as he died in his arms. “I Schmitt-Matzen, a mechanical engineer and president of Packing Seals & Engineering in Jacksboro, Tennessee, had arrived at the unidentified hospital and met the boy’s mother and family members, who were also unidentified. A nurse had called with the special request and given him a toy to offer the child during his visit, USA Today reported. I spent four years in the Army with the 75th Rangers, and I’ve seen my share of [stuff],” Eric Schmitt-Matzen told USA Today. “But I ran by the nurses’ station bawling my head off. I know nurses and doctors see things like that every day, but I don’t know how they can take it.”


Analysis: This is so sweet and sad at the same time.Its so sad because the poor boy was only five years old with a life threatening illness. Doctors telling him he may not live much longer is very tragic for a five year old little boy. Its also sweet because well he got to see santa and and talk to santa which is something children love to do. The boy got to say his last words to someone children admire and look up to.


Economists report surging income inequality-Austin Wallace

The top one percent is now making an Income almost twice as large as the bottom fifty percent of people, a group, by definition, fifty times as large.Economist have analyzed tax reports, national surveys and national data to come to this determination. They suggest state officials consider improving education, access to skills, reforming the labor market and instituting a higher minimum wage.

This is not very shocking. We've always known that the upper echelons of society had the majority of the power in the country. What s being debated is weather that is a good thing. Many say that the free market should not be touched, or it would risk the integrity of the system. My rebuttal however, is that integrity has already been compromised. We are living a a very different world than before the internet. It has created many new opportunities, yes, but has also created new exploits for those few to take power.

Many would say that we have no class system in america, and maybe not inherently, but it has become very clear that we do. It reminds me of the long standing english caste system, who's presence from colonial times can still be felt throughout the United States and England.

http://phys.org/news/2016-12-economists-surging-income-inequality-states.html#jCp

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Kenyan Girls Hide in Schools to avoid FGM-Austin Wallace

Rather than spending the holidays with their families, like so many of are inclined to do, hundreds of Kenyan girls are hiding in schools and churches to avoid female genital mutilation (FGM). Where Christmas and other holidays are a relatively peaceful time for many people, for these girls it is a time of fear. Often December holidays are times of initiation rites like circumcision. Many times this means that the parents have promised the daughter to another man in order to obtain the dowry. While sanctions against this practice have been put in place, it has not been stopped, rather, pushed underground. This has made it become even more of a dangerous procedure than it had been before. Often times girls go to school in order to avoid being married off at a young age, making them refuges in the eyes of many of these children. Approximately 1 in 5 girls in Kenya have been circumcised.

The way these girls must feel during this time of year, and probably most of their lives, is truly horrifying. The fact that FGM procedures are still going on in many parts of the world is baffling when compared to all the evidence of its cruelty.

This is a horrifying example of the need for feminism and human rights around the globe.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38382837

49 Found Dead in Russia After Drinking Bath Lotion-Austin Wallace

In 49 bizarre and seemingly unrelated incidents this year, people in the Russian city of Irkutsk have died from drinking a brand bath lotion. All the victims were poor, aged 35 to 50. Many people in Russia drink alternatives to alcohol in the form of house hold products such as after shave and window cleaner. While poisonings like this are common, this is by far the deadliest to date. Apparently the ethyl alcohol normally in the product had been replaced by methanol, a deadly poison. The label read "93 percent spirit." Western economic sanctions have made this type of risky behavior much more prevalent in recent years.

Russia has a long history of intensely self destructive drug use. Crocodile is a form of street drug that causes its user's skin to grow lizard like and peel off. When government restrict safe recreational drugs, it only causes the problem to get worse. Instead of getting high safely, people resort to taking dangerous substances that end up killing them.

This is very much like the war on drugs in america. If the government continues to criminalize safe recreational drugs like alcohol or cannabis, this could very well be a glimpse into our future. With the republican control government, however, i believe that is the inevitable path we now find ourselves on.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38363441

Indigenous Tribes Risk Their Own Lives to protect The Amazon-Austin Wallace

Indigenous people from the amazon have been protesting oil companies from destroying the Rainforest, its ecosystems, and their very way of life. They have told the Peruvian government that they will, "physically block" any attempts to bring oil drilling to their area. The area in which they live is particularly rich in fossil fuels, making it highly desirable for the Peruvian government to exploit. It is also, however, healthy and fertile rainforest, and the home to many people. PetroPeru has a very bad history in safety as well, and the indigenous people fear that it will make the people sick. They have already reported a sharp decrease in the river fish population due to extreme pollution.

The native people, like all human beings, have a fundamental right to the land on which they live on, and have lived on for thousands of years. The Peruvian government is treating these people not only as second class citizens, but as less than human. It is my opinion that they are not so much putting their own lives on the line, but rather the Peruvian government is endangering them.

This is reminiscent of what is happening with the pipeline in the united states. Both are cases of major world governments proving with their actions, despite their words, that they have no regard for the lives and wellbeing of indigenous people.

https://intercontinentalcry.org/perus-amazon-tribes-will-risk-lives-stop-oil-drilling/

Plastic Debris in The Great Lakes-Austin Wallace

There is growing concern amongst scientists and ecologists about the dangerous levels of plastic concentration in the great lakes. While protecting our oceans from this threat is often more prevalent in the public eye, The ocean's are very large, and so don't suffer the same level of impact that the enclosed great lakes do. There is an estimated 9887 metric tons of plastic and micro plastic in the great lakes right now.

While the concern for our oceans is greatly justified, we can not neglect to take care of all our planets ecosystems, water or otherwise. It is unfortunate that this problem has become so overshadowed and dismissed in the way that it has, but we must work together to protect the unique ecosystems that exist in our great lakes.

This reminds me of how, during the oil boom, many people neglected the fact that it was doing irreparable damage to our ecosystems. That however was due to ignorance of facts that had not been discovered yet. These facts HAVE been discovered, so there is no longer an excuse to neglect this problem.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X1630981X

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Qiaunci Jones- Tennis star robbed and attacked



Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova was injured in a robbery at her home in Czech Republic.

(More info in the video)

It's crazy how our world is made up where there is daily attacks on people. The world is a dangerous place. This event happened today right before Christmas, they may not celebrate it. This can synthesis to the kardashians getting robbed, or any other robbery case in the world. Someone pretends to be who they aren't, and you get hurt for it.

Article

Madison Harvey - Minimum Wage Increases

Summary:  Starting January 1st the minimum wage will be increasing in many states.  The current minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and has been the same since 2009.  This is the national minimum wage set by Congress but they haven't done anything since to raise the rate so many states are raising the wage themselves in their own states.  Some increases will only be a nickel or a dime while other states will be $1 and $2 dollars per hours.  There are 21 states in all that are increasing their minimum wage.

Analysis:  This article was written by Jeanne Sahadi with CNN Money to inform the public about the states that are taking action about the minimum wage.  This is a positive thing that these states are doing although it is unfortunate that only 21 states are doing this and that some of the states that are increasing the wage by a nickel or a dime should be ashamed of themselves.  This small of an amount will not help and I can't believe they would even waste their time.  It isn't much better than the states that did nothing.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/19/pf/minimum-wage-increases/index.html

Caitlin King- cyber bullying continues even after Texas teen committed suicide

Cyber bullying is a serious problem, just ask Raul Vela, the father of Brandy Vela who shot herself in front of her parents two weeks ago. No parent wants to watch their child kill themselves, and after such a tragic event the family just wants to be left alone and mourn. Social media is making that quite hard for them. Shortly after her death, someone started a social media page for her in her memory. It wasn't long before the page was filled with degrading comments such as "You're a coward" and other gems like "You should have done this a long time ago." Vela is now meeting with local legislators and community representatives to try and devise strategies in order to combat the crisis. It's truly sad that it takes this kind of crisis to rouse social change. 

This article represents one of the struggles many children, teens, and even adults are forced to face in this modern era. With an anonymous username to hide behind, anyone can say anything, and tragedy is certainly not getting in the way. This article was written on December 14th of 2016, making it current. Hopefully this families message will inspire others to face this cyber crime head on and stand up against it before it's too late.


http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/14/health/teen-suicide-cyberbullying-continues-trnd/index.html

Monday, December 19, 2016

Anna Czyzewski - Trump Once Called Russian Hacking A 'Big Problem'

Summary: In 2014, in an interview with Fox News, Donald Trump called out Russia and China's hacking as a "big problem". Now, as the 2016 presidential election comes to a close and evidence has surfaced of Russian hacking, Trump has discredited these claims. Refusing to listen to the CIA, who will be communicating with him everyday soon, and suddenly disagreeing about the intent and ability of Russian hackers, Trump only continues to prove his hypocrisy.

Analysis: Few presidents have been so abrupt in their beliefs. We know that Trump only ignored the CIA for the reason of his presidential victory, if not also for some business deals in Russia. In fact, if there was such a president in the past, I would think it would have caused an uproar. But the country is divided, just like Trump's opinions.


(source)

Devyn Lemack- Woman Arrested for Leaving Children Unattended

  An African American Woman, Laura Browder was arrested at the Memorial City Mall in Houston, Texas, for leaving her children unattended during an interview. She stated that they weren't far away from her and she had her eyes on them the whole time, yet officers say the two children were crying when they found them at a table in the food court. Browder was arrested seconds after getting her new job. She was accused of abandoning a child with intent to return. She admitted it wasn't the smartest decision and would never have meant to harm her children in any way.

  I believe that leaving her children unattended was not the best choice, but she said she had her eye on them the whole time. The police should be worrying about worse things that could be happening at the mall, not little things like this. Also, this woman for sure shouldn't have been arrested, if anything just a warning. Being arrested was completely unnecessary for the problem that occurred. If this has anything to do with being racist that is just awful. I had seen this on twitter prior to reading this article and it really drew my attention. I hope in the future officers can decide reasons to arrest and reasons not to.

http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/07/20/mom-arrested-leaving-kids-alone-food-court-during-job-interview



Sunday, December 18, 2016

Nadia Blanton Week 15 Dec. 5- One of several Lawsuits that Lead to the Consumer Review Fairness Act

Summary:
John Palmer from Clayton, Utah bought his holiday tchotchkes as known as keychains or desk toys from KlearGear, which never arrived. The company's costumer service wasn't much with the situation and therefore Jen Palmer, his wife, went to a online business review website to share their negative encounter with KlearGear. Four years pass by and the company sends an email to Jen and Jon Palmer concerning the negative review. The company demanded that they remove the review and argued that they had the right to do this because the Palmers had violated the "non-disparagement" clause in the terms of service. The company threatened to charge $3,500 to the Palmers if they refused to take down the review. The Palmers were not willing to remove the review or pay the fine. Following a long and strenuous legal battle, Jen and Jon finally won a default judgement in federal court.

Analysis: The Consumer Review Fairness Act was created as an result of cases like Jen and Jon's. The act prohibits companies from fining customers for posting negative comments or reviews. However, this does not protect those from "defamation suits" in cases when the information is shared under false pretenses.

Source: How One Couple Fought For The Legal Right To Leave A Bad Yelp Review : All Tech Considered : NPR

Nadia Blanton Week 16 Dec. 12-Facebook Has Plans to Eliminate Fake News

Summary: Facebook is planning to reduce the amount of fake news in the media by employing Third Party Fact Checkers and a combination of algorithms.
Users have been able to report something as false information since the beginning of 2015. However, now they are given the option to send this to a third party fact checker. After a significant amount of people have flagged something as false the fact checkers will be notified. When more than one fact checker has identified something as fake it will appear to users as disputed news.

Analysis: False information has influenced many voters in this year's election. Many of Facebook's users believe whatever headline appears on their news feed. Some feel (conservatives and right wing media) that having the third party fact checkers could corrupt and censor real and significant news.
However, for each thing labeled as disputed there will evidence giving support as to way it is false.

Ciaja Beck :{4th period} Being Pro Black doesnt mean you're Anti White

Summary : Going through these difficult times as a black individual there has been many questions about being "Pro Black" and the meaning of what this stands for. Many Caucasians think that being Pro black means being Anti white, but how does being Pro for your skin tone means that you are against white individuals ? Why cant you just be proud of your skin color? 

https://hellobeautiful.com/2834226/black-lives-matter-racism/playlist/beyonces-best-street-style-moments/item/2905411


Analysis: It's such beauty in black people and it really saddens and upsets me when were not allowed to express that pride in being black, and that if you do its considered "Anti White" You're just Pro black, and its totally fine to be that way the two don't go together .Because you celebrate black culture does not mean that you don't like white culture or that you belittle it. It's just taking pride in it, but what's irritating is when somebody says, you know, "They're racist!", "That's reverse racism!" or, "They have a Black History Month, but we don't have a White History Month!" Lets be honest all we have ever been taught is white history!   My ancestors have been through too much for me to not be black and proud. Why are you trying to suppress my culture ?

Sydney Bridgeforth - Judge Orders School to Restore Charlie Brown Christmas Decorations

Summary:

A Texas school district learned a very important lesson Thursday:  do not mess with Charlie Brown, do not mess with the Baby Jesus and do not mess with the Lone Star State's Merry Christmas law.

Judge Jack Jones issues a temporary restraining order against Killeen ISD.  The district had backed a principal's decision to remove Christmas poster that referenced a poignant scene in the beloved holiday cartoon, "A Charlie Brown Christmas."  Dedra Shannon, an aide in Patterson Middle School's nurses office, created the door-length poster featuring Linus, a scrawny tree, and dialogue explaining the true meaning of Christmas.  The poster was well received among the staff and students - but a few days later she was told by the principal that the decorations had to come down because non-Christian students might feel offended or feel uncomfortable.

Religious discrimination towards Christians has become a holiday tradition of sorts among certain groups, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement.  He was glad to see that the Court broke through the rhetorical fog and recognized that a commitment to diversity means protecting everyone's individual religious expression.

The school district's decision to affirm the banning of the poster violated the Merry Christmas Law.  That law, passed in 2013, stipulates that no school official in Texas can silence a Biblical reference to Christmas.  God bless Texas!!!!  Merry Christmas, America!!!🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄


Analysis:

This article was written by Todd Starnes and published on December 15, 2016. I have not previously read any article by this author.  The point of view of the article is in support of the teacher.  I had heard about this event on KLUV one morning and thoughts surely this is going to be a joke, but to my surprise it was not.  As a result, I was then intrigued by what the district was demanding and wanted to follow up on the event.  This article was written for people who are open minded with a positive influence on the audience.

The point this article was trying to convey is how so many people attempt to be what they think is politically correct and end up making a mess of an innocent situation.  Like, who really does not like A Charlie Brown Christmas?  This article relates to United History because so many times people have confused church and state and it takes a judge to issue or an order to reinstate the persons' rights.






www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/12/15/judge-orders-school-to-restore-charlie-brown-christmas-decorations.html





Friday, December 16, 2016

Grace Schwall- Pentagon Demands China return US underwater drone

            This week near the South China Sea in international waters a Chinese ship took an underwater US drone. The ship had been following the US vessel the Bowditch. The US drone was on no espionage mission but was rather only there for oceanic research and statistics. The government in DC has requested that China return the drone. The motives of the Chinese government for stealing this drone are currently unknown.

This article was written by Barbara Starr and Ryan Browne from CNN on December 16th. It was written to educate the public on current US- Chinese tensions. The main recent issues (Including the drone) have been over islands in the South China Sea region. Hopefully the reasons China had for taking the drone. Washington issued an official statement requesting the drone back, but China's response is unknown. This incident can be synthesized to when german submarines would sink US ships before World War One. The US government won't take as drastic measure but there are definite similarities between the issues.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/16/politics/chinese-warship-underwater-drone-stolen/index.html

Putin Confronted ~Harper Jones

Summary: President Obama says he confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the hacking of the 2016 presidential election, on his trip in China. Despite, the circumstances, Obama says that we did not retaliate, but if he didn't, there would be consequences. He also states that there wasn't any further tampering. The evidence is on wiki leaks.

Analysis: I have prior knowledge to the election being tampered with, but I didn't know about foreign countries being involved. Honestly, I believe that when it comes to politics, unless it effects YOUR country and world, DO NOT GET INVOLVED. This whole ordeal is just unnecessary and petty.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/16/politics/obama-final-2016-press-conference/index.html
tessa ward



"Former Milwaukee police officer charged in fatal shooting": 



summary: 

Officer Dominique Brown from Milwaukee shot Sylville Smith fatally with two shots. Witnesses state that Smith was armed with a gun of his own, which was charged with 24 rounds. Smith had ran from a traffic stop when police, including ex-cop Dominique Brown, pursued him. Complaints came back as Smith was running towards a fence with his loaded gun in his hand. It was when Smith raised his arm containing the loaded gun that Brown shot him once in the upper arm. Brown shot him a second time in the chest when Smith threw his gun over the fence into an adjacent yard. The officer was charged with homicide and from years earlier, sexual assault and was fired. 

analysis:

I don't know what to think about this. Smith didn't do anything wrong to deserve being killed. I understand that the police would take caution when he raised his gun, looking as if he were to shoot back, but shooting him a second time (fatally) is wrong considering Smith hurled his gun away from him. News reporters say that Brown faces a maximum of 60 years for killing someone and sexual assault, which i think is completely unfair. I think he deserves life in prison because once he gets out of jail with his current sentence, there is a chance that he go back to his old ways that got him imprisoned in the first place. 


source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/15/us/milwaukee-shooting-officer-charged/index.html

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Kanye, do YOU care about black people? -Bakari Williams

Summary: This article covers the feelings of people toward the Meeting of Kanye West and the president-elect, Donald Trump. Many people feel that Kanye West meeting with the president-elect was a sort of 'treason' to the African American community. A question was brought up during the article which was, "Are celebrities the new black political leaders in the age of Trump. This question could be considered a very vital one because of the fact that little to none of the cabinet, the house, and the senate are black which means we will be coming into an age of minority under representation in which the most prominent characters are media stars.

Synthesis: The actions of Kanye West could easily be tied to when during the civil war, some of the Border States never seceded from the union which left the southern states which had seceded questioning if they were really ever with them in the first place. The Southern states more or less, lost their trust in the slave holding states that didn't secede because it made them think that they never truly supported the system or they were just 'wishy-washy' and only supported it when the times were good but the moment they had to defend the system they were too scared to do anything or risk anything to uphold it.

Madilyn Weems - Russia's New Tool

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/us/politics/russia-hack-election-dnc.html?action=click&contentCollection=us&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

The article from The New York Times, discusses a new tool the Russians created in cyberhacking the United States system, and being able to see all the files via internet. Yared Tamene was hired to look into this, His first moves were to check Google for “the Dukes” and conduct a cursory search of the D.N.C. computer system logs to look for hints of such a cyberintrusion. By his own account, he did not look too hard even after Special Agent Hawkins called back repeatedly over the next several weeks — in part because he wasn’t certain the caller was a real F.B.I. agent and not an impostor. “I had no way of differentiating the call I just received from a prank call,” Mr. Tamene wrote in an internal memo, obtained by The New York Times, that detailed his contact with the F.B.I. It was the cryptic first sign of a cyberespionage and information-warfare campaign devised to disrupt the 2016 presidential election, the first such attempt by a foreign power in American history.


It’s amazing to me how the world has developed in such ways to the point that everyone uses the Internet or cellular devices, so if a country has the power to tap into the system to see everything and use technology than they would be invencible. The United States nationality makes us seem the “strongest” but in all reality we are very weak compared to these countries, such as Russia and China, who are dominate in science etc. I believe the United States should stop caring less about looking in the mirror but learn how to advance everyday as a nation. This can relate to the advancement in nuclear power, such as the atomic bomb, during World War II. It became a scary, horrible tool, that could ultimately destroy a nation if possessed to. It’s important to know what something can do, and how much harm it can create in an instant, before pressing the green button.

Aleppo civilians Lance Jackson 6th Period

 On Friday a chilling video  of Aleppo showing citizens escaping the destroyed city.  During this time the occupier Russia, agreed a type of armistice, agreeing not to attack the city with airstrikes and allowing citizens to escape and evacuate.

Analysis: In every war there is civilian casualties theism war in Particular reminds me of the Vietnam War where American soldiers torched rebel villages in its jungle.

Sydney Bridgeforth - Stylish Shoes Crafted Entirely From Chocolate

Summary

With Christmas and Valentine's Day around the corner, have you thought about the perfect gift?  The chocolatier, Motohiro Okai, who works at the Riggs Royal Hotel Chocolate Boutique L'eclat in Osaka, Japan, has been feverishly working to perfect an exclusive lines of shoes that will delight even the most discerning man.

Dubbed "Gentleman's Radiance," the meticulously crafted chocolate shoes look like high-end footwear and even include shoe care accessories, like a shiny shoehorn and a tub of "shoe cream" filled with discs of tempered chocolate.  Though only available in one size - 10.2 inches, or the equivalent of US shoe size 10.  Buyers do have the option of choosing between dark, light and reddish broken colors.

Shoes this exquisite and delicious do not come cheap.  A pair will cost $258.45 each; close to the price of wearable high-end shoes.  Only nine pairs will be crafted.

Analysis

This article was written on December 4, 2016 by Jeffrey Shao.  This article was slightly written with a bit of satire.  It was intended to give gift ideas for holidays such as Christmas and Valentine's Day, but the pointing out only nine pairs will be made and the cost was enough to turn off any reader.

The article is relevant because it is all about limited supply and the great demand.




https://www.dogonews.com/2016/12/4/these-stylish-shoes-are-crafted-entirely-from-chocolate


Tuesday, December 13, 2016

JonBenet's muder in 1996- Evan Daane

While not current this case came under light again because of a segment done by CNN. They recapped the case of JonBenet, the pageant star's, murder. It was during the holidays when JonBenet Ramsey was found dead in her families basement. She had been kidnapped the day earlier but after search after search with no avail, the lead detective told John Ramsey to check the premises. He went into their underground room and discovered a dead raped ducktaped beauty pageant contestant. After a short court case light was brought against the family but they were not convicted. Years later dna evidence proved the family not guilty. To this day no-one knows who committed this horrid act.

Why would someone ever do this? Who in their right fucking mind want to do this to a child? I'm done with this one.


http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/13/us/jonbenet-ramsey-case/index.html

Kobe Williams (1st Period) - Chicago Reaches Bloody Milestone

The Chicago Police Department has said that the city of Chicago has now topped over 700 homicides this year alone. Completely passing its last year's number (480 in 2015). It seems to be that the driving force of this violence has been with guns. With over 90% of these homicides being gun-related, there is no doubt that gun violence is a big problem within this city. A big problem that is definitely worth debating over, in order to find a solution.

This, obviously, is something that need to be fixed. Or at the very least, decreased. The big problem most government officials are probably dealing with is how. As a suggestion, I would say gun control. By gun control, I don't mean blocking the people's 2nd amendment. I just mean to create some sort of special and reasonable procedure for it.
This event relates VERY closely to the situation in Chicago nearly 2 decades ago. Where, in 1998, Chicago gained about 704 homicides.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/01/us/chicago-homicides/index.html

Cute Dogs and the Search for Grandma - Wallis Brown

A video uploaded on youtube recently shows two enormous malamute dogs, running around and jumping. The woman behind the camera, their owner, says that they can smell their grandmother, her mother, and know that she's in the house. After two full minutes of pure husky curiosity and barking, the owner opens the door that leads to the stairs. The two bull-dozer dogs bounded up the stairs excitedly, still searching for the smell. Then, one of them busted open a door, revealing their grandmother on a bed. The video ends with the woman laughing, being tackled by both humongous dogs.

Sometimes I find a  new story that proves that animals love us. Other times, I find stories that prove yet again, that animals are able to be smart. This video was a breath of fresh air, showing that dogs can just tell that someone they love is somewhere in the same house as them. This is such a sweet video. This video is in the link below.

http://www.sunnyskyz.com/happy-videos/5402/Grandma-Hides-Upstairs-Now-Watch-When-The-Dogs-Catch-Her-Scent

Lauren Cargill - Report finds skyrocketing rate of babies going through opiate withdrawal

Summary: Babies born to parents who were addicted to heroin and other opiates constantly scream and cry after birth. They also suffer nausea, diarrhea, and they shake uncontrollably. This is because they are born with an addiction, and have to go through withdrawal right after birth. Dr. Sean Loudin works with these children and their parents and a facility called Lily's Place. He says the rate of babies going through this, called neonatal abstinence syndrome, has skyrocketed in recent years. Incidences of babies going through withdrawal have increased from 1.2 to 7.5 per 1,000 hospital births among rural infants and from 1.4 to 4.8 per 1,000 hospital births among urban infants. "The most alarming thing to me was the growing disparity that we are seeing between rural and urban areas," said Dr. Nicole Villapiano, a lead researcher on the topic. Lawmakers are working to shut down the pill mills that feed this issue.

Analysis: I think it is awful to imagine the pain that these newborns have to go through. Its one thing for a grown person to go through this, but a baby is even worse. I think it is so sad that the newborns have to go through, they don't know what's happening or why they feel like this. I think that this whole this is incredibly sad. They could compare to the temperance movement because of the effects that alcohol has on newborn babies.

Hayley Cagle, China ‘Seriously Concerned’ About Trump

Summary: China is severely concerned about Trump's new position of leadership regarding the "One China" policy. They are urging U.S. Administration to fully recognize the sensitivity of the Taiwan question and to properly deal with Taiwan-related matters in a delicate manner. The U.S. has accepted  "One China" since 19732, but recently, President-elect Trump has put that into question.




Analysis: Trump being elected president has not only caused domestic worries but foreign ones too. Just as miniorities in America have been concerned about their fate, other countries are uneasy as well. This can synthesize to the World Wars.

http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2016-12-12/china-says-it-is-seriously-concerned-about-donald-trumps-one-china-rhetoric

Monday, December 12, 2016

Madelyn Dean- The Power of Outsiders

A man in the 1930's, Malcom McLean, found himself trucking cotton daily and waiting a horrendous amount of time at docking stations for them to unload the line of trucks. Malcom had the simple idea of rather than creating faster boats to reduce the time people should focus on the transfer from the trucks to boats and so on. With the use of shipping containers you could simply transfer a whole trucks worth of cargo seamlessly. Many people did not acknowledge this idea till 20 years later when it finally became relevant. Rather than taking a week to load a ship it took 8hrs. Malcom McLean, an outsider, had the capability to shape and change our globe and economy witha simple idea based merely on the fact that he wanted to get home in time for Thanksgiving the next day.

The purpose was to inform people how anyone is capable of helping change and shape our world for the good and that you don't have to be anyone or somebody. To be honest, anyone from history that has improved our world for good change could connect with Malcom McLean. For Example, Hariet Beacher Stowe wrote Uncle Toms Cabin transforming many views on slavey and in old Abe's opinion, shes the woman who started the civil war.

https://www.nytimes.com/video/business/100000004807604/the-power-of-outsiders.html

Maggie Gibson : Sources: Trump to pick ExxonMobil CEO Tillerson as secretary of state

President- elect Donald Trump will select Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil CEO, as his Secretary of State. There have been many criticisms of this choice, considering Tillerson has had no formal policy experience and his opinions on things such as NATO. His appointment reflects Trump's former statements on how he hopes to increase the closeness in relationship with Russia. Tillerson has dealt with many world leaders on behalf of business, but never for anything else. His businessman point of view reflects Trump's interests in pursuing free trade and business. There have been many criticisms of the nomination: no experience, pro-business, pro-Russia, and not to mention Tillerson is just another cookie cutter old white millionaire in Trump's cabinet.
The author obviously doubts the soundness of logic behind Tillerson's nomination, sharing the many problems this could cause and the many sources of distrust and concern about his nature. I think this nomination was to be expected from Trump- the pro business and pro Russia was a major theme in his campaign. However, it is worrying to me that this man will control the nation's foreign policy without knowing how to go about things diplomatically instead of a businessman, because the difference between saving lives and saving money is a large one. This can be synthesized to dark horse presidential candidate, James K. Polk.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/politics/donald-trump-rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state-exxonmobil-ceo/index.html

Jay'La Sims - Well, I killed them, I guess’: Jury watches Dylann Roof’s confession to church massacre

SUMMARY: When confessing to his massacre of 9 people Dylan Roof was calm , even laughing at times. He could explain himself when asked why he chose to gun down the people in the church. He knew there would be a group of black people inside. Roof demonstrated how he pulled out his Glock .45-caliber pistol and fired — 77 total shots. He talked about sitting inside with the churchgoers for about 15 to 20 minutes as he briefly questioned what he was about to do. Roof was quick to explain his reason for his actions.“I had to do it because somebody had to do something,” he said. “Black people are killing white people every day on the street, and they are raping white women. What I did is so minuscule to what they’re doing to white people every day all the time.” He also said the Trayvon Martin case prompted him to do this. During the trial, Roof did not look at the dozens of victims’ family members in the room.


ANALYSIS: Watchinf Roofs confessions and reading his reasonings for the killings make me sick. It's sad to think that 9 innocent people lost there lives to a racist coward , or thatt a black person looses there lives to a racist coward almost everyday. People like Roof are blinded by their own ignorance and don't look at the statistics of crime. He thought Zuckerberg was in the right of shooting Trayvon Martin and has nothing to do with his race ,  and the same for all other murders of whites on blacks. Yet he gets to come out of the church safe with a bullet proof gun but a man like Mike Brown is shot because he's accused of stealing. So for him to say there's no racism in those situations is a lie. Cowards like him are have the audacity to say and do these things but not even look at the families he's broken in the eye. This trial makes me really upset and saddens me to see that people can just kill whenever they want because of their blinded views. This can connect to the 16th street baptist church bombing.


Gracie Darlington: Report finds skyrocketing rate of babies going through opiate withdrawal

New research has shown that the rates of babies being born with opiate withdrawal symptoms have skyrocketed in the last decade. Addiction is a growing problem in the United States, and more and more people have turned to using heroin since the supply of opiate has gone down. Babies born to mothers who are heroin users face neonatal abstinence syndrome (withdrawal). Their dependence on heroin and other opiates cause them to scream, shake, cry, vomit, and have diarrhea right after they're born. Research also shows that the significant majority of these cases are happening in rural rather than urban areas, a trend that has only sprung up in the past few years.
This article was written to inform its readers of the recent trends of neonatal abstinence syndrome. The ever increasing rates of this in rural areas is disturbing and worrisome. America's addiction problem is really awful right now, and these babies exposed to drugs are a direct consequence of it. The different trends between rural and urban areas can synthesize back to the many social and economic differences between the urban cities and the agrarian societies before the civil war.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/health/heroin-opiates-babies-new-research/index.html

Anecia Forbes: Diner at Florida restaurant reportedly asks eatery to change ‘offensive’ Christmas music

Summary:  Florida restaurateur says he was shocked by a note a patron recently left after dining at his St. Augustine establishment. Michael Lugo, the executive chef and manager of Michael’s Tasting Room, a modern tapas bar in the historic Floridian city, has been playing holiday music in his dining room post-Thanksgiving to promote a festive spirit among diners.  But on Dec. 3, one patron allegedly thought Lugo’s music was too much. A waiter at the restaurant found a note scrawled on the back of a receipt that read, "Christmas music was offensive. Consider playing holiday music or less religious themed." “My server in concern had to show me and we posted it," Lugo told First Coast News. The chef posted the note to Facebook with the caption, "'Really...what's wrong with people'."The post has since received over 800 comments and dozens of shares, with many rallying in support of the restaurant manager's decision to play Christmas tunes this time of year. Spite being surprised by the receipt's message, Lugo says he wasn’t trying to demonize the note’s writer or complain about the situation. Instead, he says he just wanted to protect his staff. "Thank you all for the support. I'm very comfortable with these situations, but the stress it puts on my staff is unfair,” Lugo posted after the outpouring of support, according to First Coast News. “Between social media and review sites I swear they are under constant pressure that someone is going to write something bad about us. People no longer deal face to face, and feel it's their duty to tell everyone one else how bad you are. The crazy part is no longer is it regarding facts, and now it's opinions about decor or opinions about Christmas music."

Analysis/Synthesis: I agree with Michael Lugo, honestly if you have problem with the music they are playing leave and find another restaurant because last time we checked you don't own it. Also Christmas is based on a religious belief so I don't understand how someone is saying Christmas music was offensive when that is what the holiday is based on. Concluding this restaurant has the right to play whatever type of music they want if they want to play Reggae, Classical, Halloween, Pop, Indie, or Christmas they can play it. This could be synthesized to when the Puritans fled England because they were being victimized for their religious beliefs.

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2016/12/12/diner-at-florida-restaurant-reportedly-asks-eatery-to-change-offensive/

Sophia Jalilvand: Terminally ill boy dies in Santa's arms

Summary: Eric Schmitt-Matzen, with his white beard and 300 pound frame, is a very popular Santa in his area. A nurse he knew at the hospital told him of a terminally ill 5-year-old boy that wanted to see Santa Claus. This was their interaction:

'"They say I'm gonna die,' he told me. "How can I tell when I get to where I'm going?"
"I said, 'Can you do me a big favor?'"
"He said, 'Sure!'"
"When you get there, you tell 'em you're Santa's Number One elf, and I know they'll let you in."
"He said, 'They will?'"
"I said, 'Sure!'"
"He kinda sat up and gave me a big hug and asked one more question: 'Santa, can you help me?'"
"I wrapped my arms around him. Before I could say anything, he died right there. I let him stay, just kept hugging and holding on to him."

Analysis: This is truly a heartbreaking Christmas story. I can only imagine how the parents must have felt to know their son died (everyone left the room when he was with Schmitt-Matzen) and how Eric himself must have felt. He attempted to explain himself and even said he considered quitting being a Santa. Although he was truly shaken up and couldn't stop crying for weeks, he watches children at play and is reminded of his job: to make children happy.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/living/santa-terminally-ill-boy-irpt-trnd/index.html

Jada Brown Donald Trump doesn't believe that Russia...

Summary: Donald Trump says that he doesn't believe that Russia was behind the "hacking" of the votes.

Analysis: He says that when he reads things that people say and different theories, they're uncertain of the facts because they don't know everything. Trump also says that once someone starts to hack, and they aren't stopped in the beginning, there's no stopping them. "It could have been Russia, China, or even someone somewhere in a den. You never know."

Synthesis: Many people in before elections, specifically in the 1900s, when people didn't like the chosen candidate, they'd make up lies about them and cause them of cheating, or the people who voted for them as traitors and cowards.

Source: play newsstand app

Ava Noble: Life Expectancy Dropping in America

Summary: It's the first time since 1993 that life expectancy has dropped in America according to a study conducted in 2015. Even though the drop is only .01%, is this a trend for the future? Still, Americans can expect to live an average of 78.8 years. Women still live longer at 81.2 years vs men at 76.3 years. Both of these estimates were lower in 2015 and 2014. Look decent expectancy at 65 remained the same in 2015 and the average American can expect to live another 19.4 years once that age is reached. The average leading 10 causes of death remained the same in 2015 and almost 74% of all deaths were caused by those. Leading the list was heart disease followed by respiratory illness and stroke. The age-adjusted rate of death caused by cancer decreased in this 2015 study. The death rate for flu and pneumonia did not change by much. According to the Center of Disease Control, this slight blip may foreshadow what will be seen in the 2016 numbers.

Analysis: This article was published on CNN. CNN constantly maintains a great reputation for publishing truthful and meaningful information to the world. Before reading this article, I had not heard of this issue. It is a shame that people's lives are getting shorter. This article is very important because it is strongly impacting the future of our lives. Although we will not still be on this earth when it is severely dropped, it is important that we recognize what is happening around us. I hope people put in more effort of researching ways to prevent respiratory illness, stroke, cancer, pneumonia, and other death- causing illnesses. This article reminds me of taking AP Human Geography. We learned a lot about life expectancy in developing countries versus developed countries. Developing countries constantly has a low life expectancy rate, but the United States being a developed country, this surprises me. 

Matthew Zapata - Teen Worker Fat Shamed

  CNN released a video report about a teen worker at Cold Stone in Layton, Utah who was fat shamed by a customer. They claimed that during Justine Elwood's shift, a lady and her kids came into the store and while purchasing the ice cream the mother told her children not to eat too much ice cream or else they will end up look like Justine. As if that wasn't enough the lady took to yelp to write a revue on how she looses her appetite every time she walks into the ice cream shop because of how obese Justine is. This video is honestly just so sad to hear about and quite frankly a little shocking. I knew people in this world were ignorant but how ignorant do you have to be to go out of your way and write a bad review for a place based solely on the BODY TYPE of ONE worker. It was nice to see the outpouring love and support brought to her by the media and her community though. In todays world people judge other people sadly based on their physical attributes, which also is  completely relevant in history when talking about how white people saw anything that had a dark complexion as lesser and considered Africans as slaves just because of their skin color completely ignoring the humanity held within them.

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2016/12/12/utah-woman-fat-shamed-at-work-orig-vstan.cnn

Tragedy in Santa's Arms-Karina Enriquez

Summary:
This past weekend a very sad incident happened in the arms of a part time Santa Claus. A young five year old boy in Tennessee who was very very ill and in the hospital shared his last words with this part time Santa.The name of the young five year old boy was not given or shared to public. The kid had a big desire to meet and encounter the magnificent Santa Claus.A nurse from the hospital contacted Schmitt-Matzen who has a very popular in the town as a Santa Claus as soon as he heard the cause he rushed over and was at the hospital in 15 minutes. The kid mentioned to him as soon as he got on his lap that he was soon dying and that he wasn't sure if he was going to get into heaven but 'Santa' responded with "tell them that you're Santa's number one elf,and I know they'll let you in" after that they give each other a very big hug and in that moment the little ill five year old boy died wrapped around Santa's arms.

Analysis:
This was written by Alex Leninger on Monday, December 12,2016 for CNN US News section.This news report was very interesting and upsetting to hear about.I was very saddened when i finished reading it, the writer himself even said how he had not touched or written over an event as sad as this. The writer also included that many but many hearts were broken. This event reminded me about the devastating events many slave families had to go through having to be separated  from their parents,brothers and sisters, crying and having their heart broken up into pieces just as how it did to the family of the poor five year old boy.


http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/living/santa-terminally-ill-boy-irpt-trnd/index.html

Seanelle Higgins: Malaria Could Be Eradicated... but it's not

Summary: This article covers the topic of malaria and how in the near future it can be eradicated.  However,  the world is not joining on the opportunity.  It goes on to say that funding for research and prevention has recently flat-lined.  Some deeply affected countries in South Asia plan to be malaria free by 2030. Malaria can cause serious problems and since it's last major outbreak,  the cases of malaria has increased to a whopping 212 million.  This us also partly due to healthcare that is focused mainly on countries affected and regulated by those countries. Prevention methods such as bed nets and possible"super drugs" need to be placed as a staple for malaria prevention in order to see tremendous results.



Analysis: I think that this is a great thing to have a study on.  Considering how many people are affected by malaria, it is time that we take measures to control it and get rid of it. Malaria is responsible for many deaths in third world countries and often they do not have the supplies and technologies to help themselves. I hope that one day more advanced countries will pour more of their effort into the pot of malaria eradication.

Syn: small pox, a disease that was quick to spread amongst native Americans at alarming rates and caused many fatalities. Other successful civilizations did not work to help them out.

Report finds skyrocketing rate of babies going through opiate withdrawal by Macey Kanaman 8th Period



    Summary: Many babies born today are already addicted to heroin. These babies suffer from diarrhea and violent shakes. The outbreak of heroin overdoses in West Virginia has caused the recent born babies to suffer from withdrawals. Women are addicted to the opiate and become pregnant which then leads to the baby also becoming addicted. Some serious side effects result in seizures and delays in growth. To help prevent these babies from suffering from birth we need to start at the source and provide health to the women who suffer with addiction.


     Analysis: I agree with this article in that to prevent more babies from suffering with withdrawals we need to fix the problem from the source. To provide women and men with help for their addiction. The scariest thing is that the rate of addicted babies has increased greatly. That means more and more people are suffering with addiction. Instead of sending people to jail for having drugs on them I think they should be sent to rehab where they can solve their problems. I am synthesizing this to the Antebellum Age when people began to focus on cleaning up many prisons and making them more livable. Also, when they began to treat people who suffer with mental illnesses more humanely. I believe just like in the Antebellum Age people are realizing the faults in our prisons, who is being sent into them and why. Now, we need to provide people with the correct help they need, not just what seems to be the easiest.


Sources:http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/health/heroin-opiates-babies-new-research/index.html





Joshua Klein- Dispute Over Russia Reflects Growing Republican Resistance to Trump




https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/dispute-over-russia-reflects-growing-republican-resistance-to-trump/2016/12/12/55fd679c-bbf0-11e6-91ee-1adddfe36cbe_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_oversight-0630pm-winner%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.ea76d1d9f4a5




Joshua Klein


Summary- Whilst drama has been swarming around the question of Russian influence in the past election, Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell made know his thoughts saying “The Russians are not our friends”. The article goes on about the internal conflict within the republican party specifically over thoughts on Russia. Within the article it also outlines the potential conflict of interests with president elect Donald Trump.


Analysis- I think that this refusal to comply with the republican party over this issue really does not help Donald Trump, specifically when there is speculation regarding the legitimacy of the election. This inner turmoil within the party has made for a rocky start with the Trump administration, and I don't think that is a great thing for Trump because he will not be able  to get anything done without being backed up by some one on capitol hill, and those people who would support him would be the republicans he is  butting heads with now. Just an observation.

Kate Pinkerton - KKK members say they aren't white supremacists

Summary - KKK members held a trump victory party. They said that his election and Trumps idea of building a wall is proof that White Americans have begun to take back over the United States. KKK members are against blacks, immigrants, Jew and other non white groups, saying that they are "criminals and freeloaders". Their belief that America should be a whites only country has led to the labeling of the group as white supremacists, because of their racist ideology and proclaimed dominance over other races. However, the KKK and other white, racist groups of their type like neo-Nazis and alt-right, have rejected the term and said that they aren't white supremacist, and that they just "believe in our race." The group was created after the civil was to terrorize blacks after they were freed and reclaim the confederacy.

Analysis - Groups like these are, in my opinion, the cause of many hate crimes. KKK members say that the bible told them to separate themselves from other races but joke's on them! Jesus was Jewish, and from the middle east. The group was created after the civil was to terrorize blacks after they were freed and reclaim the confederacy. The point of view of this article was  against the KKK. They had interviews from people supporting calling them out on their racist view, which I too think is important for making the United States more open and equal to all races and religions as the "Land of the Free".

Townley Jordan: New Texas Abortion Ruling Challenged By Women's Groups

Summary: Women’s rights groups said they would file a challenge today on the latest attempt by Texas legislation to restrict access to abortion. Under the law that is to take effect in seven days, embryonic and fetal tissue from abortions will have to be either buried or cremated, regardless of beliefs or wishes. Currently, clinics dispose of fetal remains through special medical waste services. Gov. Greg Abbott approved this legislation, saying fetal remains shouldn’t be, "treated like medical waste and disposed of in landfills.” The Center for Reproductive Rights, however, argued that the rules were designed to reduce women’s access to safe, legal abortions, by increasing the cost as well as the shame and stigma around abortions. With exception to those that occur at home, this rule will also apply to miscarriages. All of this was proposed a few days after the Supreme Court struck down Texas laws requiring that doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and that abortion clinics conform to the same building standards as walk-in surgical centers, saying that those rules obstructed women’s rights of access to an abortion without medical benefits. Reactions have been mixed, with a rape victim stating that burying the fetus would be like rubbing her rape in her face, but with another saying that it gave her a sense of peace.

Analysis: This article was written to inform it’s readers about what is presently going on in Texas regarding abortion. It seemed to favor women’s rights and abortions over the Texas legislation. It did include testimony from both sides, but in order for them to be able to testify, both of these women were getting abortions. And said in a general statement, that seems to be what the Texas government is against. By passing these futile laws that make it harder, or more expensive for women to get abortions, they are trying to sneakily go against women’s right to abortions. Texas passing laws to indirectly go against abortions can synthesize to southern states passing the black codes and the Jim Crow Law, which didn’t completely stop African Americans from getting their freedom, but seriously hindered it.

Link: New Texas Abortion Ruling Challenged

Jordyn Chapman- VA Hospital Left Deceased Veteran in Shower Room for 9 Hours, Report Finds

Summary: This article revolves information about an unnamed veteran dying in February after spending time in the hospital. A report inside a Veterans Affairs hospital located in Florida blaming the staff for leaving in a body of a deceased veteran to decompose in a shower for up to nine hours. They attempted to cover it up and reports showed that the hospital failed to provide appropriate post-mortem care to the body- "falsely documenting" the whole situation. "Unsurprisingly, not a single VA employee has been fired following this incident, despite a clear lack of concern and respect for the veteran. The men and women who sacrificed on behalf of our nation deserve better," Gus Bilirakis said. The administrative investigation board followed up with ordering retraining of the staff.
Analysis: The article was published on December 11, 2016 by FoxNews.com. The article had a more negative tone and wasn't as neutral. It provided information that was believed to be 100% wrong without consequences. This article was written to make us more concerned with hospice care involving the people who previously serve our country. Making it important for the citizens of our country to know and making it more relevant.
Synthesis- This article can be connected to the deleterious effects of hospital care on various patients during the 1800s and before when modern medicine wasn't very prominent-rejection the idea of moderation.
Article: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/12/11/report-va-hospital-left-body-in-shower-room-for-hours.html 

Income Inequality

Economists report surging income inequality

The top one percent is now making an Income almost twice as large as the bottom fifty percent of people, a group, by definition, fifty times as large.Economist have analyzed tax reports, national surveys and national data to come to this determination. They suggest state officials consider improving education, access to skills, reforming the labor market and instituting a higher minimum wage.
This is not very shocking. We've always known that the upper echelons of society had the majority of the power in the country. What s being debated is weather that is a good thing. Many say that the free market should not be touched, or it would risk the integrity of the system. My rebuttal however, is that integrity has already been compromised. We are living a a very different world than before the internet. It has created many new opportunities, yes, but has also created new exploits for those few to take power.
Many would say that we have no class system in america, and maybe not inherently, but it has become very clear that we do. It reminds me of the long standing english caste system, who's presence from colonial times can still be felt throughout the United States and England.
http://phys.org/news/2016-12-economists-surging-income-inequality-states.html#jCp

Elijah Macias- "Dispute over Russia reflects growing Republican resistance to Trump"

Summary: There is much debate over President Elect Trump's choice of Secretary of State, Exxon Mobile's Chief Executive, Rex Tillerson. Tillerson has ties to Russia, after he received the "Order of Friendship" from Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2013. This only exacerbates the Russian involvement in the Presidential Election situation, which the CIA thinks that Russia had something to do with Trump's win. Many Republican lawmakers have stated that Russia is not our friend and that, Putin is a criminal. Trump has stated his mistrust of the CIA.

Analysis: Wow, never thought that a crazy thing like this would happen...... If this is indeed true, that trump is a Russian Puppet and Putin is the Puppet master, i think we should be a little scared; We don't need the Russians controlling us. I really hope Trump doesn't have any Russian influence on his win, because many many problems would arise..... and he may face impeachment. Americans do not like Russia..... at all. This can be synthesized with the Corrupt Bargain, when John Q. Adams promised Henry Clay the position of secretary of state. which is eerily similar to our current situation with Tillerson.
Russia are not nice and friendly people, they have committed many war crimes In Ukraine, and should be held accountable. But also, i don't think we want to be on their bad side.
Link to article

Audrey Gavitt- Russia hacking

Summary-Washington Russian hackers breached accounts of GOP individuals and organizations prior to the election - including GOP House members, thought leaders and non-profits tied to the Republican party - a former senior law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation told CNN Monday. Since most of the GOP material was not released, whereas the emails of Democratic Party groups and officials were made public, the intelligence community has growing confidence that hacking of US entities was meant to steer the US election toward Trump. There is evidence that entities connected to the Russian government were bankrolling "Troll farms" that spread fake news about Clinton, according to the former official. McCain concerned about Russia hacking McCain concerned about Russia hacking09:21 All of these findings provide a greater understanding of what the intelligence community relied on to assess Russia's intentions. Even before the election, the US intelligence community was "Close" to assessing that Russia's intention was to aid Trump, rather than simply to disrupt the election process, the former senior law enforcement official said. There was disagreement - particularly between the intelligence agencies and the FBI - as to how certain this assessment was, multiple officials told CNN. The former senior law enforcement official made clear Monday that assessing the intentions of a foreign power is imprecise by its nature. A separate US official explained that the FBI is very conservative in its conclusions and typically doesn't give any definitive assessment if a conclusion can't be proven without a doubt.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/politics/gop-russia-hacking-trump/index.html

Analysis- This article was written By Jim Sciutto and Pamela Brown, and published by CNN on december 12th. I did a current event blog about the possibility and the speculations of Russia hacking the polls. States said they were going to take extra safe measures to make sure the votes were safe. But here we are a month after the election and investigations are under way about possible Russian hacking.


Mollie Hamman- Venezuela closes border with Colombia

Venezuelans at the bridge from Cucuta in Colombia returning to San Antonio de Tachira in Venezuela, on July 10, 2016.

After dealing with the "mafia" (a general term for organized crime) the socialist government in Venezuela closed their borders so their economy would heal from the economic damage that the "mafia" had done. The "mafia" would take items such as diesel and petrol and sell it for a high price over in Colombia. This was hurting the economy, so the socialist government decided to close their border without warning Colombia first.

Qiaunci Jones- KKK members insist they're not "white supremacist."

"We’re not white supremacists. We believe in our race,” said a man with a Midwestern accent and glasses just hours before a pro-Trump Klan parade in a nearby town. He and 3 others wore a robe and pointed hood and wouldn’t give his full name it would go against  rules. According to the Klan, white supremacist flies in the face of its very nature. The Klan’s official rulebook, the Kloran - published in 1915 and still followed by many groups - says the organization “shall ever be true in the faithful maintenance of White Supremacy,” even capitalizing the term for emphasis. Watchdog groups also consider the Klan a white supremacist organization, and experts say the groups’ denials are probably linked to efforts to make their racism more obvious. 

This article was written on December 11, 2016. Which means, that to this day, the KKK is still alive and a fully working organization. This article was written to prove how rascist the world still is. This KKK relates to black codes and earlier KKK actions. White supremacy is a prominent situation in our growing economy, and I doubt it will ever be fixed because it isn't easy changing one's opinions and beliefs. 

Article (:

Jenna Pitre - "Ahead of Pro-Trump Rally, KKK Members Claim They're 'Not White Supremacists' "

Summary: In this article, several unidentified Ku Klux Klan members attempted to defend their
"organization", one man claiming "We're not white supremacists. We believe in our race." They have said that Donald Trump's victory is proof that whites are "taking back America from blacks, immigrants, and Jews." Their "official rule book", which is over 100 years old. the Kloran, says the the Klan "shall ever be true in the faithful maintenance of White Supremacy."  And still they claim that they aren't white supremacists. Klan members all over the country have been hosting parades in "celebration" of Trump's win.

Analysis/Synthesis: This just feels stupid to me. I don't understand how you can argue an invalid point. Like, you guys (the group, not the individuals) used to go around killing people?? Beating them and hanging them from trees?? Just because of their skin color?? Why would you even need to "believe in your race" when white people have faced absolutely no oppression just because of their skin. And how are they "taking America back"??? From who??? The immigrants struggle each day just trying to put food on the table because they can't get a decent job? The African Americans who have lived in constant fear of being murdered for their skin color since before you could spell supremacist?? The Jews, who already faced mass genocide from another racist dick.....tator. "We believe in our race" Yeah well I believe in all the OTHER races that ACTUALLY NEED to fight for themselves. Assholes. This can be connected (I think) to when the Nazis rose up in support of Hitler when he gained control of Germany.

Link to the article: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kkk-other-racist-groups-claim-they-re-not-white-supremacists-n694536

Madison Harvey - US Military Drones Play Key Role In Fighting ISIS

Summary:  According to the Pentagon, US military drones were successful in killing Boubaker Hakim, 33 years old and a French ISIS member on November 26, 2016 in Raqqa Syra.  Boubaker Hakim was suspected of enabling a terrorist attack on a tourist beach in Tunisia back in June of this year where 38 people were killed.  Boubaker Hakim had a reputation of being one of the most notorious and ruthless members in global jihad.  Peter Cook a spokesman for the Pentagon said "His removal degrades ISIL's ability to conduct further attacks in the West and denies ISIL a veteran extremest with extensive ties".  The drones play a key roll in the fight against terrorist.  They are unmanned air craft that gather information such as tracking IP addresses, wifi, mobile wifi and more to help track down the terrorist leaders.  The US has had a series of successful strikes against ISIS leaders killing Junaid Hussain and Haji Mutazz within the past two weeks.

Analysis:  This article was written by Paul Cruickshank of CNN.  It was written to inform the public of the headway that is being made against the terrorist and how the drones are assisting in the fight.  It does give me some comfort to know that the drones seem to be helping in the fight against terrorist.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/09/middleeast/boubaker-hakim-drone-strike/index.html