Monday, September 28, 2015

Taliban free hundreds of prisoners in attack on straegic Afghan city (5)

Taliban fighters after seizing a police station in Kunduz City.















On September 28, 2015, the Taliban freed hundreds of fighters by braking in and occupying a main Kunduz prison. They also seized the government headquarters, the governor's office, a hospital, a courthouse, and are moving towards seizing the main airport. The Interior Ministry spokesman told the Associated Press that security forces were prepared for an attack, but not one of this size. More than 20 bodies have been found and at least three police officers have been found wounded.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Why Students Hate School Lunches (4)

Ayumi Takahashi, Students not Eating their School Lunches
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which took effect in 2012, has caused a dramatic decrease in school lunches being consumed. 70 percent of school meal programs have experienced a financial decrease since the new mandates went into effect according to The School Nutrition Association. Many students bring their own lunches or turn their noses up to the new meals that are lower in fat, calories, and sodium. Typical school lunches usually consist of a Philly cheesesteak sandwich, streamed green beans, a potato wedge, canned peaches, and an apple. This school lunch is low-fat and low-sodium, but it is not very appetizing. Congress has been considering whether or not to reauthorize the legislation so that students will actually eat the school lunches.

Volkswagon Scandal to Hurt Its Financing Arm (3)

The European Central Bank has suspended purchases of some bonds issued by Volkswagen AG’s financing arm.
Many bonds issued by Volkswagon have been suspended from purchasing at the European Central Bank.

Last week, Volkswagon revealed that the company was able to dodge emissions standards due to the software that more than 11 million diesel cars consisted of. Germany's motor authority is giving Volkswagon until October 7 to fix the scandal. If Volkswagon fails to come up with a technological solution, the company may face a global recall. A global recall like this would have a major impact on the world. Volkswagon contributes to 12.6 million contracts, 15% of which are in North America. This scandal is hurting Volkswagon's financing arm. The company's bonds fell dramatically last week and they took a  €6.5 billion charge to cover the scandal's cost. 

FBI is confident that Clinton emails are being recovered (2)

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Hillary Clinton                                                                                 bloomberg.com
The FBI has made a lot of progress on the investigation of recovering Hillary Clinton's secret emails. The FBI states that "shadows and ghosts" remained on the computer ever after it had been scrubbed. This has allowed the FBI to retrieve a lot of information. The FBI is also hoping to recover evidence that the server had been infriged by a foreign government, but Clinton denies this. 

Fox News: FBI confident Clinton emails being recovered: source

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Pope Francis arrives at Capitol for historic address to Congress (1)

Pope Francis                                               wikipedia.org
Yesterday, Pope Francis arrived on Capitol Hill to deliver the papal address, which has never been done before. He will deliver the papal address to a Joint Meeting of Congress. Thousands of people crowded outside the Capitol to hear Pope Francis' or just to catch a glimpse of him. The pope appeals to many Americans through his views on abortion, immigration laws, and global warming. However, he is not here to cause significant action on social and political issues, instead he hopes "to offer words of encouragement to those called to guide the nation's future in fidelity to its founding principles".

Fox News: Pope Francis arrives at Capitol for historic address to Congress

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

California lawmakers send assisted-suicide bill to governor (5)

Assisted Suicide
The state Senate of California approved a bill allowing terminally ill people to obtain prescription drugs to accelerate their death. Governor Jerry Brown has yet to approve the bill for it to go into act. California modeled their bill after four other states, Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Vermont. The California legislation decided to enact this bill after resident Brittany Maynard, 29, was forced to move to Oregon so she could legally end her life. Brittany Maynard was suffering from terminal brain cancer.

CNN: California lawmakers send assisted-suicide bill to governor

Monday, September 14, 2015

Texas university professor amends his 'God bless you' ban (4)

The First Amendment of the US Constitution, freedom of religion                                             www.sodahead.com
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley professor gave his students a syllabus on the first day of school. This syllabus outlined certain behaviors that would be disruptive to the class, including using electronic devices and saying "God bless you". Students quickly posted pictures of their syllabus on social media, enraged about how their professor was limiting their religious freedom. I can understand why these students were mad because I don't think saying a simple "God bless you" after someone sneezes is distracting. I don't know what the professor was trying to accomplish by doing this.

Fox News: Texas university professor amends his 'God bless you' ban

Understanding our System: Federalism

Understanding our System: Federalism


1. Federalism: a method of government that allows two or more entities to share control over the same geographic region. Each person in the United States is subject to the laws of that city, county, state and our federal government.

2. There are approximately 193 nation-states in the world. 

3. 14 countries in the world have a federal system of government. These include the United States, Brazil, India, Australia, Argentina, Canada, Russia, Nigeria, Switzerland, Mexico, Germany, Venezuela, Austria, and Malaysia. 

4. One thing these countries all have in common is that they are all fairly large countries.

5. Unitary: system of government; a sovereign state governed as a single entity. The central government is supreme, and the administrative divisions exercise only powers that the central government has delegated to them.

6. More than 150 countries have a Unitary system of government. The largest five are France, China, Japan, The United Kingdom, and Italy. 

7. The difference between a federal and a unitary system is that in a federal government, the upper level government gives the lower level government, the states, authority. In a Unitary government, the upper level government has all of the authority. An advantage for a federal system is that states have some authority in the way they want their citizens to live. A disadvantage of a federal system is that some states authorities are weaker than others. On the other hand, an advantage for a unitary system is that they are often very strong and confident systems. A disadvantage of a unitary system is that some states might want some authority over their citizens. 

8. The attitude that I identify in this cartoon is that states say "yes and no" to a federal system. States say yes to receiving federal benefits but say no to federal authority because they want to have all the authority. States want to have it both ways, they want federal benefits but not federal authority. 


9. I think this cartoon is showing that the federal government is not supportive in legalizing weed (assuming from their shirts), but this man lives in a state where medical weed is legalized. The federal government is interfering in the states' decisions. 

10.  The elephant represents the republican party. He is stating that he believes in federalism, that states should be allowed to set their own policies without the federal government interfering. However, when California proposes that she wants to "hold carmakers to stricter environmental standards", the elephant responds by rejecting that idea and completely disregarding what it believes in. The republicans' believe that states should have rights, but when they don't like the policies they're making, they get mad. 


11. This video describes federalism using a three layer cake, with the federal government on the bottom, the state government in the middle, and the local government on top. Each government has a different job- the federal government takes care of space exploration, foreign affairs, and national parks, the state government takes care of education, health care, and recreation, and the local government takes care of police, water and building permits.  

12. The three layered cake pieces were stacked on top of each other, showing the separation of the federal, state, and local government. However, this image shows by the mix of chocolate and vanilla cake that all the governments are mixed in one. This picture would represent a federal system because the powers of the federal, state, and local governments would be shared and overlapped.


Saturday, September 12, 2015

Black Lives Matter leader lands Yale teaching gig (3)

Yale's Newest Professor, DeRay McKesson                                                                                                    nbcnews.com
DeRay McKesson will be joining U.S. Senator Chris Coons, D-Delaware, and the Rev. Nancy Taylor to teach a three-section course entitled "Transformational Leadership in the #BlackLivesMatter Movement". McKesson is a young activist in the Black Lives Matter Movement and will present case studies about the work of "organizing, public advocacy, civil disobedience, and social change, through both Leadership of Presence, and Leadership in the Social Media". McKesson has very little teaching experience- he has only served as a middle school math teacher for two years. It is clear that big universities like Yale want to promote the #BlackLivesMatter Movement.


Fox News: Black Lives Matter leader lands Yale teaching gig

Carson apologizes for questioning Trump's faith (2)

Carson (left) and Trump (right)                                                                                        www.westernjournalism.com
A few days ago, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said he had the impression that "humility and fear of the Lord" were not important to his competitor, Donald Trump. After Carson said this about Trump, he immediately apologized, stating that "I think I did slip, and that's why I apologized. There is no reason ever to question anybody's faith. That's something between them and God". Carson leads by example by apologizing for a mere slip-up, while Trump states that he has no immediate plans to ever apologize unless he's completely wrong. The funny thing is- Trump will never think he's wrong. He's shallow and always makes excuses for offensive things that he has said. Republicans in America need to realize that Trump is just a "non-serious carnival act". 

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Polls show Clinton trailing Sanders in Iowa, NH (1)


Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton                                                                                                         www.foramerica.org
Clinton continues to have the majority lead in national surveys, but recently, a New Hampshire poll and an Iowa poll have shown Sanders leading the way. Clinton's campaign is worried but they have always expected a close race. Sander's campaign is super excited, considering that his percent went up from 33 percent in July to 41 percent recently. This will continue to be an interesting race to watch!

Fox News: Front-runner status challenged? Polls show Clinton trailing Sanders in Iowa, NH

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

CIA, Special Operations forces reportedly launch drone war against ISIS in Syria (5)

ISIS                                                                                       plusemedia.org
President Obama has shifted responsibility for drone missions from the CIA to the Pentagon. U.S. Special Operations forces have been targeting and wiping out senior members, the "highest-valued targets", of ISIS. Junaid Hussain, a computer hacker who inspired jihadists to commit terror attacks, was one of the most significant terrorists that was killed. Despite America's attempts to defeat ISIS, these drone missions have done very little to affect ISIS' manpower.

Fox News: CIA, Special Operations forces reportedly launch drone war against ISIS in Syria

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Missouri Teenagers Protest a Transgender Student Use of the Girls' Bathroom (4)

Lila Perry, a transgender high school student in Missouri
Lila Perry, a 17-year-old transgender who identifies herself as a girl, has been facing cruel responses after using the girls' bathrooms and locker room. Her school, Hillsboro High School, gave her permission to continue using the girls' bathrooms and locker room because the district "accepts all students no matter race, nationality/ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation". This caused more than 100 students and their parents to walk out of school on Monday in protest. I can see why people would get upset over this situation. Some people do not want their children going to the bathroom in the same room as what they perceive as a boy.

New York Times: Missouri Teenagers Protest a Transgender Student's Use of the Girl's Bathroom