Man sues police officers

On May 26, 2016, a now 23- year old man named Mateusz Fijalkowski tried to kill himself in a public pool but is now suing the 8 police officers and lifeguard who saved him. Fijalkowski said he was suing because they waited too long to help him when he tried to drown himself. The man walked from the shallow area in the pool into the deep end where he went under water and grabbed two vents on the bottom of the pool to hold himself down. The police watched him under water for about 2 minutes where they finally decided to jump in and save the man. Fijalkowski had $100,000 in medical bills that he has to pay but feels that could have been prevented if the officers had helped him sooner.

Standardized Testing

What can one test really tell someone about a student's academic performance? Not only does standardized testing take away from learning time in the classroom, but it can also cause a lot of stress, especially in younger children. To begin with, standardized tests are unfair and discriminatory against non English speakers who are still learning the language, and people with learning disabilities. They also only measure a small portion of what makes education meaningful. Although the makers of these tests try to narrow down the questions to the basics that every child needs to master, not everyone has had the same education so it is basically all based on the school and environment the student is in, which most of the time they cannot control. The results of standardized testing can mean a lot to children, their parents, and their school and the way they are being done is unfair. I feel like recently they have tried to make testing more based on the students knowledge rather than what the student doesn't know, but in the end a score is still a score and the number is all people tend to focus on.

Peer Pressure

No matter what stage in life one is in, they will experience some form of outside influence or peer pressure. The stages where peer pressure can cause negative effects can happen at anytime in one's life but it is most prevalent in young children and teens. Fitting in with a crowd, wanting to impress someone, or wanting more friends or popularity can cause people to do things they are not comfortable with. These influences can lead to bad habits, drug abuse or even sexual harassment. Peer pressure has a huge effect on the mental growth of young children and teens and many studies have shown that it can actually lead to mental illnesses such as anxiety or depression. Many studies have been done regarding peer pressure and its effects and it is obvious that this subject needs to be more actively researched and taught in schools. Will there ever be a way to get rid of negative peer pressure?

Israeli soldiers shooting Palestinian protesters

Palestinian protesters are being shot in the legs by Israeli soldiers along Gaza's boarder with Israel. In the past month, at least 17 protesters have suffered gunshots to their legs that required an amputation including Mohammad al-Ajouri. He is a medal-winning track star who loved run but now after protesting what he believed in, he had to get his legs amputated because they had become infected. In all, over 2,200 Palestinians have suffered leg injuries. A statement from the Israel Defense Forces stated that under their laws of engagement, what these soldiers were doing was justified but they declined to state the rules specifically. It makes me respect even more our right in the United States to be able to peacefully protest something we disagree with and not have to worry about being physically negatively affected.


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North Korea planning to close nuclear test site in May

I came across an article that showed some big advancements for North Korea towards peace with the rest of the world and especially South Korea. According to the president of South Korea, Kim Jong-un has agreed to stop the nuclear program and publicly shutdown the main North Korean nuclear facility. There have been 6 nuclear tests carried out in this facility and closing it shows great compromise from North Korea. Kim Jong-Un also stated that he would welcome experts of South Korea and the US to disclose the process to the international communities with transparency.


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North-South Korean Relations

Just recently, Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in (North Korean and South Korean leaders respectively) met together at the North-South Korean border for a peace summit. During this summit, both leaders made landmark assertations and agreements in Korean relations. Kim Jong Un vows to discontinue nuclear tests, and both countries agree that denuclearization is a goal they share. Both parties vow for a true peace agreement, where both parties can cooperate peacefully at an equal level. This is a huge change from Kim Jong Un's side, as in this past year, it has seemed that North Korean policy was escalation over peace.  This is a landmark meeting, as it is the first time in many decades that both leaders have met and reached a common goal. At the end of this meeting, both signed a document affirming their goals for peace, denuclearization, and cooperation of both sides.

Youtube Arrests

This week a 2nd arrest took place directly from a youtube video. This time it was a man who gave a pack of Oreos filled with toothpaste to a homeless man. The youtuber filmed the man eating the oreos and posted the video to youtube. The homeless man then would give a statement saying that he threw up due to eating too much toothpaste and sued the man. The homeless man won and got 40k dollars and the youtuber was sentenced to time in prison. This is a good crack down on people who used to post the same videos but instead of getting arrested they would just get striked or have their videos taken down.

Medical Marijuana: Pros and Cons

Should marijuana be allowed to be prescribed by doctors? Many weigh in.
On the one side, marijuana can help with chronic pain associated with cancer, spinal cord disease or injury, severe spasms, PTSD, nausea, glaucoma, Parkinson's and others. We already allow doctors to give out opioids and considering we have a large opioid addiction, switching to marijuana would be possibly better and have fewer side effects. Addiction to marijuana is less and there is no risk of death in dealing with withdrawals. Additionally, marijuana has many misconceptions which could make people reluctant to allow it but with more research coming out it is proving to be a much safer option than alternatives.
However, some argue that we still know too little. They also think prescribing any type of psychoactive drug should be avoided. There is no control on dosage so far and people are unsure of how much to take or to prescribe because it is not regulated enough yet nor has it gone through the tests that all other prescription drugs need to go through. Others say that no type of drug should be smoked or inhaled. If they could break down the components into more a pharmaceutical type of drug it would be better.  Also, by legalizing it for medical use, it could be seen as less of a risk so youth might have an increased usage. They argue that it is a slippery slope to go down.
What do you think? Should marijuana be legal for medical use?

Illegal Immigration: Do we build a wall?

With our recent talk of illegal immigration, there has also been talk of solutions. One current solution proposed is building a wall along our border.
Nancy Pelosi argues that building a wall would be expensive and also split communities. She says that we should be able to protect our borders without the use of a wall. Jeff Corwin also talks about the environmental impacts such a wall could have. Many species migrate across these borders so some of these species could be driven to extinction. The Los Angeles Times says that building a wall would hardly stop illegal immigration. People would find new routes or come into the country legally but stay illegally. They also add that this would not stop illegal immigration from Asia which is greater than that from Latin America.
On the other side, Pete King thinks that a wall is necessary because of the death toll that illegal immigration can have. Matt Mayer refutes the point comparing it to the Berlin wall. He says the Berlin wall was made to keep people in whereas the border wall would be to keep people out. Additionally, he adds that a weak border could be a possible entry point for terrorists. To those that say a wall would be too expensive, the Federation of American Immigration Reform says that the costs would be paid for because of the decrease in spending used on illegal immigrants. The wall would pay for itself after a couple years even if the wall only stopped 5% of immigrants.
Would a wall help? Would its benefits outweigh the costs or vice versa?

Freedom of Speech in Sporting Events

Not too long ago, I had a soccer game that was very controversial to everyone. Mainly, it was controversial to us (my team). The referee would make calls that would not make sense and these calls cost us the game. Our parents were obviously mad at the referee and yelling things. There was this particular parent that would not stop saying things. He was obviously upset with the calls that the referee was making. The referee then stopped the game and told our coach that if this parent does not keep his mouth shut he will be asked to leave the game. Obviously the parent did not say anything after this because he wanted to continue to watch the game. I was just curious, do you think the referee has the right to basically take away this individuals freedom of speech? I have seen this happen many times before and I always questioned why the referee won't just ignore the individual and let us play. In major events that I have been to, people are able to say whatever they want even if they are insulting the referee. I don't see what the difference is here.

Undocumented Immigrants

This topic is a very controversial thing to talk about considering that there are 2 sides. The people that are not documented and the people that are documented. Majority of the people that are documented would argue that these undocumented immigrants are breaking the law and they are committing a felony. I myself could agree with this statement. However, my parents are undocumented so it is hard for me to say that they are breaking the law and that they should simply return to their country. They are always working and they never cause any trouble and they cooperate with the rest of the laws. I feel like for those that are documented, they should have empathy and really think to themselves why they feel like it is important to get rid of these undocumented immigrants. One thing I noticed was that when Mr. Stewart asked us for our opinions during class rarely anybody gave their opinion. Only 2 people participated and this reminded me of one of the readings that we did not too long ago where people were most likely to commit a crime if they were anonymous. I feel like if we were anonymous most of the class would have contributed if we were asked this question by Mr. Stewart.

Anti-Fascist Members arrested during protest against Neo-Nazi Rally

In the small town of Newnan, Georgia, Neo-Nazi's held a white power rally which they got permits from the city for and conducted rather peacefully. As peacefully as you can when you are yelling and chanting about white power and "getting the country back from illegal immigrants." There were a lot of Antifa members gathered around the Neo-Nazi rally to lawfully use their right to peacefully protest. There ended up being 10 protesters arrested because they were wearing masks. In Georgia, it is against the law to "wear a mask, hood, or device which conceals identity of wearer" according to statute OCGA § 16-11-38. I find it a little ironic that the law was implemented to prevent the KKK from wearing masks and now it is used against the protesters of the Neo-Nazis, who were supporting white power. It seems that there was a lot of controversy over how the police dealt with the situation and how "militarized" the police officers look nowadays and I am curious what your thoughts are on the way the law enforcement has shifted over the last few years and if the law prohibiting the wearing of masks is a good idea or not.

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Trump considering pardoning Jack Johnson

I thought this was a pretty interesting article considering that we just saw a documentary about the life of Jack Johnson and the struggle for African American gentlemen back in the early 1900's. Basically, in 1913, Jack Johnson was convicted for violating the Mann Act because he took his white girlfriend across state boarders for "immoral purposes." Sadly, he was put up against an all white jury and lost the case and was imprisoned for a year. It seemed like this law was implemented to prevent prostitution but only was enforced against people of African American race. In 2016, both senators Harry Reid and John McCain petitioned the Obama administration to pardon Johnson because it was the 70th anniversary of Johnson's death but it didn't seem to gain much attention. It was then brought up again now in the Trump administration and Trump tweeted his thoughts about it. Obviously it wouldn't do much for Jack Johnson now but I am curious to hear your thoughts on it. Would it be good to see Trump pardoning Jack Johnson or should he focus on other issues going on right now instead (like I see in a lot of hate filled twitter responses).

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Mark Meechan: The Man With A Nazi Pug

Two years ago in April, British man Mark Meechan, known on youtube as "The Count Dankula" had an idea for a video. As a joke on his girlfriend and a couple friends, he would train his her pug to respond to Nazi propaganda.

For weeks, Mecchan trained the dog. Then, he released the video - A series of clips including Meechan repeating the phrase "Gas the Jews", sitting the pug in front of Hitler's speeches, and saying "Sieg Heil" in front of the dog, which then raises one of his legs up in the air, reminiscent of the Nazi salute.

The video stayed up for about a month, when suddenly Meechan was arrested by the lankanshire police on account for hate crimes.

Two years later, Meechan's trial started. Meechan attempted to defend himself by saying the extremity and offensiveness of the actions he did were meant to be the centerpiece of the comedy, and that the purpose was solely comedic, and not to stir up ill will towards the Jewish community

However, the court disagreed, claiming that it was grossly offensive and normalized anti-semitism. Meechan was found guilty of "using a means of public electronic communications network to send a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or indecent, obscene, or of menacing character".

In the course of this news being publicized, Meechan has claimed to have lost 8 jobs.

This sentencing brings up a very important question though, when do jokes go to far (especially on the internet)? When does something cease becoming a joke and start becoming hateful - and normalizes hateful or harmful ideas?  Did this joke go too far? And most importantly, should the government step in if they perceive that a joke has went too far?

This case was held in Scotland - where freedom of speech laws are a bit more restrictive than here in America, but these questions still stand. I personally think the joke was in poor taste, but the government regulating free speech isn't exactly something I'm comfortable with. I don't think Meechan should have been arrested and subsequently found guilty of a hate crime - That seems a bit far for a dumb and insensitive joke. I'm personally more comfortable with the court of public opinion punishing someone for their actions rather than a legitimate court.

But what do you guys think? I'm interested in hearing your reactions.

For those who are interested, here is a mirror link to the "Nazi Pug" video  - obviously, the content may be shocking to you, so proceed at your own discretion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD_QlnY8Ggg

Bobby Shmurda sentenced to 7 years

Bobby Shmurda was sentenced to 7 years after pleading guilty to a 4th degree to criminally posses  a weapon  and 2nd degree criminal  weapons possession . Shmurda was sentenced to 7 years and will be eligible for parole in 2020. 

4/20

-4/20 came from a group of Cali students in SF, that would look for the cannabis crop, around 4:20pm near the statue of Louis at their high school in San Rafael.  Their code to go look for the crop was "4:20 Louis," then changed over to just "420" a phrase changed to smoking pot
-in 1970 the phrase started to be picked up and used
-the term was spread and soon was excepted that 4:20 was an acceptable hour to smoke cannabis
-around the world 4/20 is a day where people can gather together and smoke pot, but it is mostly is given away on this day
-lots of people believe that it is to celebrate Bob Marley's death or Jimi Hendrix, neither of them died 4/20
-it's not a police code that people are smoking

Stoneman Douglas teacher arrested

A chemistry teacher from Stoneman Douglas high school was arrested for leaving a loaded gun in a public restroom. The 43- year old man Sean Simpson, said he went to the restroom and when he got out he realized he didn't have it so when he went back to go get it, he heard a gunshot. A homeless drunk man found the gun in the stall and started shooting it. No one was injured but the Stoneman teacher was charged with unsafe storage of a firearm.

Undocumented Immigrants

  Undocumented immigrants left their country because they wanted to start a better life here in the U.S.
Undocumented immigrants take the jobs that Americans don't want to do that isn't considered "taking someones job away". They work hard to give their kids a better future, and work up to 2-3 jobs to pay bills such as rent and other necessities.  Jobs that they take up are from working in fields to being dishwasher in a restaurant. They broke 1 law, to come to the U.S illegally but once here they follow the law like pay taxes and staying out of trouble. They learn English to get better paying jobs, to help their kids in school, to be able to communicate  with others when they need help. Anyone around us can be a undocumented  immigrant or the child of a undocumented immigrant but you'll never know by just their looks. Many have been deported some because they committed crime but others for the littles things as said in the video we watched in global even for jay walking they would get stopped and get sent to a detention center. I know many people who have parents who undocumented immigrants, such as myself, and we all have worries that one day I.C.E will come to our house and take our parents away, when we know that they have done nothing wrong.

School In The US

Many people consider the United States to be the top of the world in most things. It’s true we are the biggest country in many different ways, but our country is severely lacking in education. By most sources I have looked into, we are ranked about 14th in the world for reading, 25th for math, and 17th for science. I think one of our biggest reasons as to why we are ranked so low is because of the difference of schools in different areas and the overall access of everyone in the country to a quality education. Another reason I think we are so behind is because of the way the leaders of this country think to teach us and assess our skills. I remember standardized tests and nightly homework since late elementary and early middle school. Since I moved to the Silicon Valley that has all grown tremendously. The teachers and staff at this school think that if they don’t assign enough homework we won’t learn anything and if we don’t do frequent standardized tests then everything were doing is ineffective or not working. School shouldn’t be so stressful and competitive. Maybe the reason we have so many school shootings isn’t just mental health or gun laws. Maybe it’s how the schools run and treat people and what they expect out of us. Another reason I think our country has such poor education is because of the price of colleges and private schools. For example a school like Santa Clara University is $60,000+ a year and out of state like U of O is 50,000+ a year. Most people can’t afford this, especially without immense loans. Finland is Ranked 2nd in the world for education, they have free college, it is illegal for schools to be different from each other or offer different things, private schools of any kind are illegal and you can not charge tuition for any school. They go to school for less time in a day and in a week than people in the US. They have no nightly homework and do no standardized testing. They don’t require bathroom passes or hall passes, they just let the kids do whatever is necessary. Maybe we should stop focusing on minor changes to gun laws and make some large changes to our educational system.

Emmy Göring

In January 1916, German actress, Emmy Göring, married the prominent Nazi and Luftwaffe chief Hermann Göring. During Christmas of 1938, she was given an unsolicited membership to the Nazi Party, in which she served as Adolf Hitler's hostess at many state functions prior to World War II and earned the title of "First Lady of the Third Reich". Being married to one of the richest men in Europe, Emmy enjoyed a lavish lifestyle throughout the war, during which she received much public attention and was constantly photographed by the media. Yet, when the war ended, she was convicted of being a Nazi and was sentenced to a year in jail. By the time she was released, a third of her property was confiscated, and she was banned from the stage for five years, forcing her out of her life as a successful actress. Years later from her release, Emmy was able to afford a small flat in Munich, where she would remain for the rest of her life. She suffered from sciatica neuritis in her final years and died at the age of 80 in 1973.

"Reverse Racism"

Affirmative Action is an idea which first emerged in politics in the 1960's- it embodied the fact that for decades minorities had been disadvantaged within the educational system, which was a major reason as to why minorities in America have higher rates of poverty. The idea to reserve spots for minority students is something very controversial, and their continues to be a long-standing debate about the issue today. I think people widely misunderstand Affirmative Action and for the most part, most people don't mind the topic until they realize their circumstances (college rejections) are easy to blame on minority students. Like Mr. Stewart mentioned in class, there is a clear divide on this issue, either you're in support of it or you are not.
There is an interior issue which fuels most debates regarding Affirmative Action- the concept of "Reverse Racism." I think this concept is really intriguing, personally, I believe there is no such thing as "Reverse Racism." I think you can experience negative biased treatment if you're white, but you cannot experience racism. Why? The answer is in American history. Racism is prejudice and discrimination towards minorities. Racism is rooted in INSTITUTIONAL discrimination. Just because someone doesn't like you solely because you're white, still does not mean racism- for some, this is incomprehensible. The thing is: racism is a societal built construct, meaning that there is no inherent belief in humanity that one skin tone or race is superior to another, rather the idea that white and European features are superior is something that was constructed and spread by personal beliefs centuries ago throughout Western society. Racism can only be experienced by minorities because they are the ones who have throughout history been institutionally disadvantaged and discriminated (ex. slavery, Jim Crow), whereas white people did not experience the same things. The idea of reverse racism is used by people to defend their stance against Affirmative Action. However, the thing is that universities won't admit you just because you are African American or Hispanic, you have still have to be qualified. Affirmative Action is an equalizer between white people and minorities, since before minorities were not even allowed to apply to universities. Affirmative Action is what finally gave students of color serious consideration by universities.
There have even been lawsuits which have reached the Supreme Court regarding Affirmative Action, such as Fisher vs. The University of Texas. Abigail Fisher (who is white) sued the University of Texas for having rejected her, which she blamed on the school's Affirmative Action Program. Fisher lost the case, despite appealing multiple times, this is because the consideration of race in undergraduate admissions is legal under the 14th amendment and also the university publicly stated she was not qualified enough to be admitted.
Anyways I want to know what your thoughts on "Reverse Racism." Do you agree or disagree with me- why?

Undocumented Immigrants

 I still have a hard time thinking and watching videos of people being absolutely racist and saying lots of slurs to Latino's and telling them to go back to their country because they are taking the jobs that half of American's will never want to do. Immigrants come from everywhere to seek a better life and to escape possible wars from their country or the violence and trying to raise their kids in a hostile place. I personally know many people who came to the US from Mexico, Germany, India, and other places to look for a job and try to build a better place maybe settle down and get married. Personally I have a mom that went through a lot in the US and raising one kid on her own was really hard, went from moving house to apartment back to a house only to end up in an apartment once again because it was hard to keep track of one kid and where he can go to get his education. There are tons of challenges that most American's will never live by and probably can't walk in the same shoes as someone who isn't the same skin tone as theirs. I'm not saying that every American is rich and has a good life I am saying to those who just get things handed to them and don't take advantage of so many opportunities because they expect that money will solve every problem although I might be wrong. Everyone is human and we should get along with everyone no matter where that person comes from or what their background looks like it should be getting to know them. The fact that Trump had the goal of deporting 11 Million immigrants is just stupid and if you think about it there are lots of those undocumented that have not gotten in trouble with the law and won't even jaywalk because they are afraid of the deportation and them having to leave their family in the US. Should we really deport those who are here in the US to have a better life? Should we deport all of those immigrants who work in the fields everyday and work at meat stores who try to make a living?

1986 - Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants

Ronald Reagan signed an immigration reform bill into law. It would cause stricter security at the Mexican border and it would also cause stricter penalties for employers who would hire undocumented workers. But this bill would allow immigrants who had entered the country before 1982 to be eligible for amnesty. Amnesty is an "official pardon for people who have been convicted of a political offense".

The law was supposed to stop illegal immigration, but instead, it just made it worse. It went from 5 million unauthorized immigrants to 11.1 million since 1986.

This law was ineffective. There was barely any funding to have good border restrictions.

No immigration laws have passed. George HW Bush tried, then Bill Clinton, and then Obama.

Now, President Trump wants to build a wall to stop it...

Many people hope that legislators have learned from their past mistakes and create better immigration laws.

Starbucks Employee called 911 because 2 men were waiting for a friend

Link to article

Protests took place in a Philadelphia Starbucks after the arrest of two black men for "loitering" in its establishment. An employee called the police, telling them the two men sat inside the cafe and allegedly refused to leave. The official police statement reiterated this, saying the two men did not purchase anything and refused to leave. The police arrested them, only to release them hours later with a simple "my bad".

The two men, whose identities have not been released, stated that they were waiting for a friend and were only accused of loitering because they are black. The CEO starting agreed to meet with these men and to start "unconscious bias" training for its employees.

Do you think the arrest was justified? Or was did the employee really called because they acted on subconscious biases?

We Should All Be Feminists, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

In the essay, We Should All Be Feminists, Adichie focuses on the perception of feminism in Nigeria, her home country. She recounts anecdotes with peers and family members about what it means to be a feminist. “Some people ask: ‘Why the word feminist? Why not just say you are a believer in human rights of something like that?’ Because that would be dishonest. Feminism is, of course, part of human rights in general-- but to choose to use the vague expression human rights is to deny the specific and particular problem of gender. It would be a way of pretending that it was not women who have, for centuries, been excluded”. In this passage, Adichie describes perfectly the significance of the word “feminist”. Women’s rights are human rights, but by trying to put feminism in the broad and general category of human rights, you are diminishing the centuries of oppression. Adichie emphasizes on how humans view gender in the 21st century. She says, “...in a literal way, men rule the world. This made sense-- a thousand years ago. Because human beings lived then in a world in which physical strength was the most important attribute for survival; the physically stronger person was most likely to lead...Today we live in a vastly different world. The person most qualified to lead is not the physically stronger person. It is the more intelligent, the more knowledgeable, the more create, more innovative...A man is as likely as a woman to be intelligent, innovative, creative. We have evolved. But our ideas of gender have not evolved very much”. Adichie makes a brilliant point in describing how time moves on, our ideologies and expectations should as well.

Asifa Bano

There was a news story that broke about the tragic death of Asifa Bano. Asifa was eight years old and her body was found mutilated and brutally beaten in the Indian Provence of Kashmir. Asifa was kidnapped while playing outside and taken to a Hindu Temple and gang-raped by at least five grown men. She was then strangled and stoned to ensure her death. These types of stories keep coming from South-Asia and as a South asian American I am horrified. Asifa was a muslim girl in a highly populated Hindu area. The religious tensions are even higher in Kashmir as this event was religiously motivated. Several men have been taken into custody but the corrupt system in India will most likely set these men free. I think as a western nation it is important to put pressure on the Indian government to punish these men for this heinous crime. 

Can a un fair education really mess up your life?

               As a person that couldn't speak English very well as a kid, the documentary that Mr. Stewart showed us really connected to me. I thought about how bad it was that if you couldn't speak English well then you would get a worse education and that you wouldn't be helped to improve your English. And I thought where would I be if my elementary school didn't give me the chance to go to a after school program and I had the chance to improve my English. And as soon as I graduated from the school program (Elca) I was able to later work on other subjects and not worry about speaking English improperly. And I can honestly say that I have gotten a good education maybe speaking proper English had nothing to do with this but maybe it does. How can somethings like this still be happening in cities like los angles and in cities were there are Hispanic children. They are not allowed to get the same level of education as other kids just because they aren't as well prepared.

Undocumented Immigrants

After watching the documentary about undocumented immigrants from Cuba and Mexico, I felt like I better understood their perspective but it did not change how I viewed the issue. I think that even if you are contributing to society or have a family or whatever, you are breaking the law and should be deported and forced to follow the same citizenship process as everyone else that has come here. Sure it may be unreasonably difficult, which should change, but it’s unfair to everyone here legally to expect to just be able to walk in and be welcome and get all of the same privileges as actual citizens. It’s not necessarily the US not wanting immigrants, it’s a matter of safety and fairness. Millions of undocumented people in a country as large as the US just adds to the chaos.

How has the media changed the way we see school shootings?

When I talk about the media I not only referring to the news programs but also social media like snap chat and Instagram and other social media platforms. When I first hear about the shooting in Florida and recently of the shooting in the YouTube headquarters, I got the notification on my phone about the shootings from the news (abc). Then I thought about how this was gonna blow up in social media and on tv with the news , but one of the things that I saw on social media that I saw that really upseted me was that there was people praising the shooter and they were feeling sorry for him because of what has happen to him his whole life. Which makes me angry because people then start to make lies and change the story to make it seem like the shooter is the victim and other people see this and they think if I do then people will like me. And we can already see this happening , people are starting to solve their problems with violence and aggression. We saw this in the YouTube shooting, and I know that they are separate things but they are both shootings and they both have people that support the shooters and that try and justify them which takes away the real reason why its being broadcasted, which is to tell the world about the tragedy that has happen.

More and More shootings

with more and more shootings now, its as if the only way to protect yourself is to have a gun. If we get a new law on gun control, and we lose all access to guns, do you guys think that can be dangerous or safe?

Children feared to be death after airstrike hits graduation

 Dozens of civilians and children are feared to be dead after government airstrikes hit a religious school graduation ceremony. The Afghan ministry says the airstrikes were targeted for Taliban members plotting to attack the military. Many families that lived near the region said they had seen dozens of fatalities in the aftermath of the bombing. A chef who had been working in the ceremony says he was preparing food for 2,000 people. Footage and photos released from the Taliban show dead and in injured children being buried or carried away from the rubble. The Taliban says none of its forces were present at the ceremony. A witness said those who were killed in the attack are unrecognizable which is hard to identify the bodies as victims or Taliban fighters.      A spokesperson for the Afghan ministry said the aerial footage showed Taliban gathered at the compound with vehicles and branding Pakistani and Taliban flags.  He also stated that 35 Taliban and 18 commanders were killed.  An official investigation was ordered by the Afghan Government as more disturbing reports form survivors come to light.

Weapons being a problem

A few days ago on April 3rd, a 39-year-old women went to the youtube headquarters and shot it up.Nasim Najafi Aghdam was upset at youtubes practices and policies. Police say before the women went to youtube headquarters and attacked, she visited the gun range. Hours after going to the shooting range she went to the headquarters and opened fire hitting 3 people. Nasim Najafi Aghdam apparently didn't know the three people she shot at. After shooting at the headquarters Nasim Najafi, shot herself.

YouTube Shooting

On April 3rd, a 39-year old woman, Nasim Aghdam, arrived to the YouTube headquarters and shot 3 people, then turned the gun on herself. The 3 people who were shot were only wounded and are not in fatal condition, one who hurt their ankle while escaping, and the woman who shot up the company killed herself. Although it is not official, it seems as if her motives was that YouTube had restricted her from making videos on the platform. She had 4 different channels, one in English, one in Turkish, one in Farsi, and one more talking about vegan lifestyle. She is accusing the platform from not allowing her to get views and make money from her videos. Although her bizarre videos were told to have violated many of YouTube policies, her family said that she "hated" the company and when she went missing for two days, they were worried that she was headed to YouTube, which was a correct assumption. They called the police on her but the police struggled to find her before the shooting. Although YouTube kept deleting her account/videos, do you think she really violated their policies and is it possible that her strange music video parodies and vegan fitness videos could have made money?

Self-Serving Bias

Self-Serving Bias is a topic that we discussed recently in class in the Lucifer Effect worksheet. A self-serving bias is people's tendency to attribute positive events to their own character but attributes negative events to external factors. This is a very popular study in psychology. Self-serving biases are generally used to put the blame on others. This is very similar attribute to the Jim Crow times. During this time White's would try to put out any businesses that were successful and run by people of color. Due to the main fact that it impacted their success. Putting the blame on them for their misfortune in that business industry.

White supremacy

I never knew about jack Johnson, maybe i just didn't really care about anything that has to do with great America. The more we learn about segregation and Jim crow, I get more annoyed. People did the most to get people from Africa and sold them, they brought us into this and then didn't want us. How can you blame someone for something you did. Its sad, Lynching, destroying of property, and threatening lives, for what ? if they caused all this, then didn't want anything to do with it. Not everything bad lasts forever, eventually everything comes to an ends. At some point it has too, did white supremacists think it was going to be their way forever. Watching about what people had to go through because of their skin it surprises me.

Sarah Breedlove - Madam CJ Walker

Sarah Breedlove was born on December 23, 1867.  She was born with a scalp ailment that resulted in her losing her hair. She invented a line of African-American hair care product in 1905.
As her brand started to expand, her husband Charles encouraged her to use the name "Madam CJ Walker". They both traveled together promoting her products.

Walker's business was valued at more than $1 million. Her personal fortune was said to be between $600,000 and $700,000.

She is now known as the first American women to become a self-made millionaire. She was loved and appreciated by people. She donated to scholarship funds, the NAACP, and campaigns to stop lynching. Before her passing, she also helped build a black YMCA Indianapolis.

Many other people wanted to start their own business but theirs didn't flourish because they came in the way of "white business". One of the reasons Sarah Breelove's business flourished was because her product didn't have any effect on the white community so they didn't have a reason to stop her.

Propaganda

 
Propaganda is well known for its power and influence. As shown through major events such as WW2 and the holocaust. Hitler made Nazism and all his ideas on superiority spread out throughout his empire when he was in power. It not only gave him his name and his image of wealth but also gave him his strength as many fear and failed to fight against him and his ideas. Propaganda was an essential part of getting the help of a community as well. People became so readily identifiable with propaganda, the very words or images that were said tend to give American soldiers and people the very same attitude towards the one being talked about or criticized. In the last century propaganda has spread widely and now seen and called everything from "psychological warfare" to "information operations" to today's term "psychological operations". 

Many now would prefer not to use the word propaganda as it now is seen and connected to have negative connotations. But as a whole propaganda itself is neither sinister nor evil. It is really no more than the organization of methods designed to persuade people to think and behave in a certain way, and in wartime that usually means getting them to fight or to support the fight. It was the ability to command attention for a product or idea and promote its image of this.

Though in the past it was an associated with a bad thing. Propaganda today is now used advertisement. There are many commercials and advertisements billboards or even bus stops that show propaganda but though company dont want to say they use this this is continually still in use today. 

Los Altos Hills incident

I'm not sure if everyone has heard of the incident that happened in Los Altos Hill last week when a girl was running and a "young" man had come up, put a gun to her head and raped her. She got away and got some help but the man had gotten loose and is still out there. She was a young girl in high school that was on a run in the middle of the day. I was talking to one of my good friends that lives around there and goes running and she said, "does this mean that I am not suppose to go running there anymore?" I totally agree with her because in Los Altos Hills, usually you don't really hear about these things happening because it is high up there and not many people go up there unless they live up there. She was talking about how she just ran around the same path that the young girl did almost exactly 24 hours the day before. It is terrible to say that girls would have to run with someone else because there are people out there raping girls in mid-day and have the desire to do that. What makes people have the desire to stalk someone and then rape them? Does anyone ever think this through and second guess themselves?

YouTube and twitch can sometimes be unstable sources of money

This is something I have observed over the years of watching  Youtube and watching Twitch streamers, and it's that Youtube and Twitch can be unstable sources of money, this is towards people who were once popular and stopped completely or people who's popularity decreased where they don't have as much support as they used to. It is usually based on the content they create and their subscribers.

These things happen when content creators stop making videos of what their subscribers are used to seeing, some may stick around some will leave,  there are other factors to this such as the age group of their subscribers, kids and preteens probably blindly follow, teenagers and older groups are more mature and are aware and decide for themselves. But when they stop making content that their subscribers want, they will usually lose interest in the channel and opt out. Sometimes there are channels that get  with their content and people opt out because they're tired of the repetitive nature of the content.