Current Event #9

Article: http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/09/new-jersey-boy-scouts-rescue-nbc-journalist-ann-curry/

New Jersey Boy Scouts Rescue NBC Journalist Ann Curry

NBC journalist Ann Curry was hiking in Harriman State Park in New York with her husband and children, when she broke her leg at a trail intersection. She was found by a scouts of Boy Scout Troop 368, who were practice hiking for their summer trip to Philmont, New Mexico. The scouts splinted her ankle and made a stretcher to carry her down the mountain to safety. The doctors said the injury was severe and might take 10 months to fully recover. A few days later, she sent the troop a personal thank-you card, “I feel enormously lucky you came along at just the right moment, and were so willing to help a stranger in need. You are a credit to the Boy Scouts and to your families, and I want you to know I am deeply grateful for your kindness and skill.” (Curry, Thank-you card).

The connection with what we are learning in school is with my Health 112 class. The lessons this week included a unit on wilderness first aid. We have learned many of the same techniques in class as these Scouts used on Ms. Curry.

My position on this article is that it was nice to see something in the National news crediting Boy Scouts for doing their duty. My reaction to this story is that as a Boy Scout, I am proud of what these Scouts did and how they reacted to this situation. The Boy Scout motto is ‘Be Prepared’ and these fellows definitely were. Their situation does not affect me directly, except to remind me that the things I have learned in First Aid training as a Scout and in Health Class at Gaston Early College High School might have to be used at any time. You don’t get much warning of an emergency.

To answer the question about the author’s point of view: the author of the article points out that the Scouts really had no idea that Ms. Curry was a famous person and they performed their duty to help her as they would any other person.:

“We were hiking along, and we came to a trail intersection, and a lady was sitting on the ground with her one leg out. We didn’t think anything of it, but one of the guys asked if everything is OK. She said, ‘No, not really. I think I broke my ankle.’ She told us to keep going, but the guys refused.” (Jurgens)

“No matter who that was, we would’ve done the same exact thing,” the scout leader beamed. “The guys didn’t know this was a special person at first and treated her with the most dignified respect. It was all on the guys.” (Jurgens)

Greer, Scott. "New Jersey Boy Scouts Rescue NBC Journalist Ann Curry." The Daily Caller. N.p., 9 May 2014. Web. 11 May 2014. <http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/09/new-jersey-boy-scouts-rescue-nbc-journalist-ann-curry/>.

Shankbone, David. Ann Curry. 2012. Wikipedia. Web. 11 May 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ann_Curry_2012_Shankbone.JPG>.

Current Event #8

Article:http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/24/travel/shakespeare-plane-easyjet/

Shakes on a plane: Airline hosts dramatic performance

The "actors" performing.

On April 23, passengers on an EasyJet flight from London to Verona were treated to three actors performing parts of every comedy and tragedy written by Shakespeare. EasyJet is supporting the creation of ‘National Shakespeare Day’ in England which requires 100,000 signatures on petitions to be considered by the House of Commons. The flight to Verona was chosen for this performance since that is the setting for ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The article reports that passengers were entertained by the performance and they had received no complaints about the flight.

The connection I am making is with our English class. In English, we are learning about Shakespeare’s plays; as groups of students will be performing them in class. The three actors on the EasyJet flight had fun with the passengers while they performed in these rolls, similar to how we will perform some of Shakespeare’s acclaimed works. We’re going to show that Shakespeare’s plays are still enjoyable to watch and listen to even though they are four hundred years old and use phrasing that is not how people speak today.

 

The EasyJet plane with Shakespeare painted on to it.

My reaction to this story is that this sounds like a fun flight to have taken. I have flown on an airplane, but maybe a flight like this would be very relaxing for me. I do not know if they could have done this in the United States, since the airport rules here are pretty strict. I think that England should have a ‘Shakespeare Day’ and it would be a holiday that would recognize their greatest playwright on his birthday.

The author of the article is supporting what the airline did. She starts by describing the event – actors performing bits of Shakespeare on the plane. She goes on to include a quote from a passenger: "Certainly, this was the most entertaining flight I have ever taken. It was a fabulous performance and great for the children” (Cureton, Simon, Shakes on... performance). The author inserts her own opinion by implying that anyone who would have complained about this event would be ‘crotchety’ (Cha, Francis, Shakes on... performance).

Cha, Frances. "Shakes on a Plane: Airline Hosts Dramatic Performance." CNN. Cable News Network, 24 Apr. 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/24/travel/shakespeare-plane-easyjet/>.

Actors on Plane. 2014. CNN. Web. 26 Apr. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/24/travel/shakespeare-plane-easyjet/>.

Engerbeau, Bastien. G-EZBI. 2014. Flickr. Web. 26 Apr. 2014. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/87351071@N08/13509833843/>.

Current Event #7

Cities Advance Their Fight Against Rising Inequality

Original Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/07/business/economy/cities-advancing-inequality-fight.html 

Protestors in Seattle

This article discussed a debate in the Seattle, Washington city council to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour from $9.32 per hour because no changes are coming from Washington to raise the national minimum wage. The article used charts and statistics to show that the gap between the people making the most money and the people making the least. Since the article was based on Seattle, they used the numbers that the “top 10%” of households in Seattle made eleven times as much as the “bottom 10%”. The article also featured a woman who was 47 years old and working in a fast-food restaurant who was having her hours cut back and who could not afford to pay her bills on the $9.50 per hour that she was earning. “It’s very stressful for me. Things are just so tight.” Mrs. Fuentes tells NY Times. Ed Murray, the mayor of Seattle, talks about this issue, “The accumulation of 30 years of rising income inequality is finally having its impact. People can’t afford to live a decent life.”

The connection to what we are doing in class is with the Russian folk tales and the difference between the upper class and the working classes in Russia. In class, I am reading A Christmas Tree and a Wedding, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. This story is about a man who attends a rich person’s Christmas party and how the people at the party treated a poor child who was also there. In Russia in the 1800’s and up to the 1917 Revolution, writers like Dostoyevsky wrote about how bad conditions were for the poor and that the rich people didn’t care about them or how they lived and that the rich could basically do whatever they wanted.

My reaction to this story comes from learning about how businesses work in my Personal Management class and from my Business class at Gaston College since I have never had a job where anyone paid me by the hour. Small businesses will have to raise their prices or cut jobs to be able to afford to pay $15 per hour. If Wal-Mart and other businesses cut jobs, then the people without jobs will not be able to shop there. Jobs like working at McDonalds should be for teenagers just starting to work and not for people trying to take care of their kids. If someone doesn’t like their job, they should go back to school and get a better job or work really hard to earn more where they already are.

The author used charts and statistics to try and show their idea that these people needed to be paid more and the connection with affordable housing. The interesting thing I see in this chart is that the cities that were the most expensive to live in were the worst in the gap between the top and bottom 10%. This did not convince me that the minimum wage needs to be raised; instead, it convinced me that people who live in the expensive cities need to move.

The article also included a chart that shows the minimum wage by state and states that were trying to pass local laws to change the minimum wage. In North Carolina, the minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour – this is the Federal Minimum. In the District of Columbia, the minimum is $8.25 per hour and is scheduled to move up to $11.50 per hour by July 2016. The author showed all of these rates to illustrate the differences in minimum wages between the states. The states with the lowest minimum wages were also the ones with the lowest cost of living.

Lowrey, Annie. "Cities Advance Their Fight Against Rising Inequality." The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 Apr. 2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/07/business/economy/cities-advancing-inequality-fight.html>.

Isett, Stuart. Seattle Protesters. 2014. Seattle. New York Times. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. <Lowrey, Annie. "http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/07/business/economy/cities-advancing-inequality-fight.html>.

Urban Divides. 2014. New York Times. 6 Apr. 2014. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/07/business/economy/cities-advancing-inequality-fight.html>.

Current Event #6

Original Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/28/bishop-arrested-immigration-rally_n_5050704.html?utm_hp_ref=religion

Sally Dyck, Methodist Bishop, Arrested At Chicago Immigration Reform Rally

Protesters protesting the deportations

A protest that included an estimated five hundred people outside the Chicago office of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency resulted in the arrests of forty people, including ten Methodist pastors. The group was protesting against the current immigration policy of the United States and how immigrant families are disrupted by the enforcement of the law. According to a letter to the President published in this article, the leader of the protests, Methodist Bishop Sally Dyck, says “I participated in civil disobedience because I find the policy of mass deportations to be morally reprehensible and one that must end.”

The connection to what we are doing in class is the story of Antigone, by Sophocles. Antigone was the sister of Eteocles and Polynices.  After their father dies, his sons (Eteocles and Polynices) are to share the rule of Thebes. The two quarreled over how this was to be done and Polynices formed an army and attacked the city of Thebes. The army of Thebes was led by his brother, Eteocles. Both brothers are killed and a man named Creon becomes the ruler of Thebes. His orders are that the body of Polynices is to be left on the battlefield to rot. Antigone has the moral choice of following a law which she felt was immoral or to follow the customs of her faith and bury her dead brother, Polynices. She chooses to follow her morals and is sentenced to be buried alive for her disobedience – she kills herself before this can happen.

My reaction to this story is that I want to learn more about why people are being sent back to other countries when they have come here to get a better life. The story talks about a family that’s been split up, and I don’t understand why a family would be split up, even if they are not here legally. The protesters want the President to do something about this, but passing laws is something that Congress has to do, not the President. This event does not affect me personally, except that I have friends whose parents were born in other countries, like Mexico.

The author of the article is taking the protesters side of the issue since he has no interviews or quotes from anyone in the government. He uses language in the article such as “…March 27 rally to demand President Obama cease deportations until humane immigration reform is passed”. The author also tells that the Methodist Church “has in recent months thrown support behind a growing immigration reform movement, building upon the denomination's Interagency Task Force on Immigration”. By describing the movement as ‘growing’, the author says that more people are in support of changing how immigrants are treated.

Blumberg, Antonia. "Sally Dyck, Methodist Bishop, Arrested At Chicago Immigration Reform Rally." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/28/bishop-arrested-immigration-rally_n_5050704.html?utm_hp_ref=religion>.

Vollmer, Micheal. Protestors. 2014. Huffington Post. Web. 29 Mar. 2014. < http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/28/bishop-arrested-immigration-rally_n_5050704.html?utm_hp_ref=religion>.

Current Event #5

Malaysian Officials Open Criminal Inquiry Into Missing Jet

Article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight.html?hp

Location A: Kuala Lumpur

Location B: Beijing

9M-MRO, the plane that is missing.

Last Saturday (March 8, 2014), a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 heading from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, China mysteriously disappeared, never making it to its destination. Initially, there were no answers, only theories about what happened to this plane. There are reports that the engines continued to run for hours after the disappearance – this came from the engine manufacturer who receives automatic updates from their engines through satellite transmission. Most authorities now believe that this plane was deliberately taken by hijacking. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak had originally tried to calm to the public and tell them that the government was doing everything it could to find the missing plane. Many people, along with searchers along the coast of Malaysia, multiple satellites, and searchers from other countries, have been looking for signs of the missing plane. According to the satellite information, the plane apparently changed course shortly after it left Kuala Lumpur. Searchers have found no debris or other sign of the plane in any of their target areas.

Mr. Razak now believes this course change to be a result of the actions of some individuals: “These movements are consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane”. Thepublic and reporters have speculated on two Iranian passengers who weretraveling using stolen passports. Both of these paid for their flight using cash instead of credit cards and both purchased tickets less than 24 hours before the flight. If this was a hijacking situation, there have been no ‘demands’ or claims of ‘credit’ for the hijacking that have been made public.

          The author used the quotations from Mr. Razak to show the official opinion of what happened to the flight and possibly to prepare the public for more bad news about this flight. The search area for this flight has also changed – originally, it was the route the plane should have taken and now it is a larger circle with the plane’s last location at the center.

Bradsher, Keith, and Chris Buckley. "Malaysia Officials Open Criminal Inquiry Into Missing Jet." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight.html?hp>.

Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. 2010. HD Wallpapers. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. <http://www.hdwallpapers.in/kuala_lumpur_malaysia-wallpapers.html>.

Beijing: The Forbidden City. 2006. Travel-earth. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. <http://www.travel-earth.com/china/>.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. 2003. Plane Spotters. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. <http://www.planespotters.net/Production_List/Boeing/777/28420,9M-MRO-Malaysia-Airlines.php>.

"Two Iranian Men Identified as Stolen Passport Holders on Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight."South China Morning Post. N.p., 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. <http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1446086/iranian-teen-identified-stolen-passport-holder-malaysia-airlines-flight>.

Current Event #4

Ukraine Mobilizes For War, Calls Up Reserves

Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/02/ukraine-russia-putin_n_4884064.html?utm_hp_ref=world

Russian soldiers around one of the captured Ukraine airports



Crimean Peninsula (white), along with Ukraine (green) and Russia (orange-red)

Ukraine is mobilizing for war in response to Russian activities inside Ukraine and the seizing of Crimea. The disagreements between Russia and Ukraine escalated in recent months with protests in the city of Kiev. The president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, had announced in November that Ukraine was going seek closer ties with Russia instead of with the European Union. After three months of street violence, the Ukrainian parliament voted to remove Yanukovych from office and stage new elections. Last week, pro-Russian residents of Crimea protested against the government in Kiev and Russia has sent military forces into Crimea to seize Ukrainian bases. Russia wants the Crimean Peninsula because of their naval base and access to the Black Sea (and the Mediterranean Sea).

This article relates to what we are doing in class (studying World War II) in that the Germans annexed a region called the Sudetenland, annexed Austria and seized Czechoslovakia to 'protect' ethnic Germans. There are similarities between what is happening now and what happened before World War II. Russia has just hosted Olympic Games and Germany hosted the games in 1936. Russia invades Crimea to protect ethnic Russians and the Germans did the same in to their neighbors. The West did nothing to stop Hitler and we will see what is done to stop Russia now.

The authors point of view is that Ukraine is practically defenseless against Russia. The authors of this article said that Ukraine's "tiny armed forces would be no match against the might of its superpower neighbour". Natalia Zinets and Alissa de Carbonnel back this up by described the small army and "planes barely able to fly". They quote the commander of a navy post, Colonel Igor Manchev, refusing to surrender and saying that his men will "...carry out our duty until the end."

I believe that war is not a good way to settle these issues and that violence will not help the situation in Ukraine. I do think that Russia and Ukraine will wind up going to war but that it will be a short war with Russia winning. The west will try to help with speeches, but has done nothing to stop Russia in the past, such as when they invaded Georgia to 'protect Russian citizens'. There are many people in Ukraine who are ethnic Russians who want to be united with Russia again.

Zinets, Natalia. "Ukraine Mobilizes For War, Calls Up Reserves." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 02 Mar. 2014. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/02/ukraine-russia-putin_n_4884064.html?utm_hp_ref=world>.
Russia Soldiers. 2014. Photograph. CNN. Cable News Network, 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 2 Mar. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/28/world/europe/ukraine-politics/>.
Electionworld. Crimean Map. 2006. Photograph. Wikipedia. Mediawiki, 29 Dec. 2006. Web. 2 Mar. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crimeamap.png>.

USHM Article Blog Post

Auschwitz
Read Article Here: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189




Auschwitz, located Oswiecim, Poland, was one of the largest concentration camps built for extermining the Jews. The Auschwitz included three camps, each one could hold more than a thousand Jews. As the article progresses, it explains about the three Auschwitz camps and some brief history about them.

Haghettaot, Beit. Auschwitz Entrance. 1940's. Photograph. United States Halocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_ph.php?ModuleId=10005189&MediaId=1051>.