"Top diplomat under Saddam Hussein's regime dies" by Sam Schaffer

Tariq Aziz, the former top diplomat under Saddam Hussein's dictatorial regime, died of a heart attack last Friday- according to Iraqi officials. Before the overthrow of Hussein's government, Aziz was the foremost public face of the country, often defending Saddam's policy to the rest of the world. After they were conquered during the Iraq War, he was tried and sentenced to life in prison in the city of Nasiriya. He was taken to the hospital a few weeks ago, when his health began to deteriorate in prison. He was 79 when he died.

Aziz was fluent in English, and had been a close friend and supporter of Hussein's Ba'athist party before it was banned in the 50s. In the deck of cards handed out to US troops that identified wanted members of Hussein's government following the 2003 invasion, he was the eight of spades. He was a high-ranking member of Ba'athist Iraq and an important diplomat.

"Chinese have hacked the gov't" by Sam Schaffer

US government servers experienced a major hacking last April. Authorities, who detected the security breach with the EINSTEIN detection program, claimed that information on up to 4 million federal employees had been stolen. They have put the blame on Chinese hackers, who somehow infiltrated federal cyberspace and stole valuable data. 

Investigators traced the breach with the EINSTEIN program, shortly after they experienced it. Apparently, it originated from somewhere within the Chinese government. Chinese officials responded to the allegations either negatively or neutrally; the Foreign Ministry neither confirmed nor denied the allegations, whereas a spokesman from the Chinese embassy objected to the accusations of being behind the massive breach. 

Many Americans and federal employees have responded to news of the hack with indignation and fear. One senator, Ron Johnson, (who happens to be the chairman of Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs) called the breach ‘disturbing’ and called out the Office of Personnel Management’s incompetence in protecting itself from cyber attacks. Many other employees have responded with anger at the incompetence as well.

Microsoft CEO to women: Not asking for a raise is 'good karma' by Jack O'Connor

Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella has taken back comments he made at a women's tech conference, suggesting that women who don't as for raises will receive, "good karma."
Now he is trying to cover up his controversial comment by tweeting, "was inarticulate [on] how women should ask for raise... Our industry must close gender pay gap so raise is not needed because of a bias."
Instead of asking for a raise (women) they should just have faith that they will be "rewarded over the long arc of a career."
Women make about $11,000 less than men each year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's latest report on income and poverty. The United States is all about "unity" but are we? Equality is a big thing but nothing is truly "equal," some places are still fixated on the color of your skin, or what gender you are. Think about the struggles women had to get their rights, we just want it to be equal and fair. It annoys me that the gender gap is so big.

money.cnn.com/2014/10/09/technology/microsoft-ceo/

At least 16 dead in Carnival parade accident in Haiti by Jack O'Connor

During Haiti's national Carnival parade, an accident involving an electrical shock on 

a float killed at least 16 people. A video from the incident showed a power line 

striking a man standing on the float. 

This is something no one could have prepared for.  It's so tragic.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/17/world/haiti-carnival-deaths/index.html

Who ever thought bingo was this intense? By Jack O'Connor

An 82 year old man at the Lakewells retirement home slashed people tires are a bingo dispute. Sore looser? i think so too. Everything was caught on camera but the man was not charged. Poor 82 year old man, all he has is bingo. Guess why he did it... She took his favorite seat at bingo... People always say that when you get really old you turn into a kid. I think this is a prime example. It is hard to think of him as a criminal because he is an 82 year old man. You almost feel bad for him. The mans name is Fred. if you're reading this Fred, you need to calm down. its just a game.

Parched America by Jack O'Connor

Cities across California are almost giving up. They are starting to change salt water into drinking water. While California has been in a drought for a very long time, they have had enough. They are actually about to run out of water. California's solution does not come easy, it is super expensive to do this process. There are currently 15 stations that can change salt water into drinking water, which produce 50 million gallons a day. This is pretty awesome that we have come up with the technology to do this and i wonder if this will be a thing one day all across america.

Heavy rains in Texas by Jack O'Connor

In the month of may alone Texas has had over 35 trillion gallons of rain. That is enough to cover 8 inches of water all over Texas, cover manhattan almost 4 times, fill up California's water reservoirs 3 times and enough for everyone in the world to have a water supply for 10,000 days. This is absolutely crazy. I personally have not been enjoying this harsh rain, in fact it has ruined my month of may. With summer coming up so soon i hope that the rain stops now. Texas is not used to this and this is the most rainfall dallas has had in decades with 21 inches. STOP RAINING TEXAS!!! seriously.

Us Gov hacked Jack O'Connor

The United States believes china is behind the latest hack. Someone has been hacking the US government for 2 months now, and they have taken information from all branches of the US government. Including social security information along with top secrets that our government has. As of now we do not know what China wants to do with this information, but all Americans are told to look at there information. Cyber Attacks happen all the time, Russia attacked us earlier this week. Cyber attacks may be the new thing.

"Love Story Between the US and Cuba" by Sam Schaffer

Adrian Cárdenas, a former Major League Baseball player, tells CNN about what it means to be the son of a Cuban immigrant and how it shapes his view on the world and himself. His dad made several attempts to come to the United States in search of the liberty he was denied in Cuba but was caught every time. In 1970, his father, Juan, finally managed to stow away in a cargo ship to Jamaica where he later sneaked his way into Miami, Florida and started the life for him and Adrian.

i like turtles

"Texas biker sues Waco, officers after deadly shootout" by Sam Schaffer

A Texas biker indicted in the recent shootout between bikers and police is speaking out against his treatment. Matt Clendennen, who was one of 177 people arrested last month on charges of participating in organized crime, was one of the only bikers able to pay the $1,000,000 dollar bail set for the imprisoned. Now, he is accusing the city of Waco and other federal authorities of having acted without any probable cause, and arresting him simply because he was in "the wrong place at the wrong time". Although Clendennen was a biker at the scene of the crime, he claims that he did not participate in any sort of criminal activity, as did many of the bikers present at the shootout. He has pointed to the 150 others still imprisoned, and addressed the concerns of their families and loved ones.

"Why Putin leapt to FIFA's defense" by Sam Schaffer

In the midst of a high-profile investigation into accusations of corruption within the international governing body of soccer (FIFA), Russian president Vladimir Putin has leapt to the defense of its discredited leadership, Sepp Blatter. He claims that the United States, who has accused both Russia and Qatar of participating in the corruption (with bribes), is wrongfully pointing the finger at Blatter in a subversive attempt to implicate Russia, in order to further sour relations with the country. 

The fact that Putin leapt to FIFA's defense is indicative of a key characteristic of Russia (under Putin's regime). Specifically, he is a strong supporter of authority- to Putin, the loss of leadership (under Blatter) would mean that FIFA would not have a single leader issuing commands from the top down, and thus it would lose its authority as a governing body of soccer. Since Putin came into power, Russian government has been marked by a cult of personality and reckless usage of executive authority. This trend has been reflected in Putin's defense of a corrupt organization in order to preserve authority in a certain area.

Her Name Is Caitlyn (Ashton Garcia, 2nd)

As I'm sure many of you know, Bruce Jenner isn't Bruce anymore. SHE is Caitlyn. One of her photos just came out (dang she is gorgeous) and has finally showed the world that Caitlyn has made her decision to further transition as a woman. This has been hurting Caitlyn since she was a little girl, or since "Bruce" was a little "boy". Many people are shocked that such a previous manly man could turn into a woman... But Caitlyn told the world that she has always felt this way, and although she hasn't decided to fully transition until 65, she never knew exactly what it was that made her feel like a woman rather than a man. Many people don't transition until around their 50's or 60's. In fact, the first transgender person to get a full transition was a former soldier who transitioned into a woman (and she got quite a lot of attention from men because she was very beautiful) in the 50's, when she was middle aged. This is very exciting news, especially for the transgender community. There are very few people who transgender people can look up to, although these past few years many transgender people have changed that. One transgender man (who mad a full transition, Aydain Dowling) has possibly become the first transgender male model, creating an interesting and important history. A college in India has hired their first transgender principle, also making history. Caitlyn is another inspiration, creating history among the transgender community. She has a lot of courage, and I hope that her transition is as peaceful as possible and that she is safe and sound.