Out of Control

"Even the children are dying on the frontline in the war against terror," said Khawaja Asif, the defense minister. "The smaller the coffin, the heavier it is to carry." 
This quote has so much meaning behind it. This is unlike any "war" we have seen. The Taliban targeted this school and children because they were children of army men and because they are who ran the school. They say they do not want these kids growing up to be like them. The Taliban went in with enough ammunition for days and knew they would not come out alive. It is so impossible for me to understand how twisted and brainwashed these people are. To kill for such horrible reasons the most innocent and know you will not live either just blows me away. 
Children were a main target but also an office assistant who was shot and burned alive. The Pakistan government has attempted to peacefully end this in the past by releasing Taliban noncombatants but ended when attacks kept occurring. A major problem is this group is going far beyond their "Conservative Islam Teachings" and seem to have no limits anymore except to kill whoever is not with them. Even Taliban In Afghanistan who are close with this group criticize the killing of women and children being against Islamic teachings. What is their goal anymore? They are far beyond their religions teachings and need to be completely stopped. The violence is out of hand and a disgrace to the world. In our time and generation, nothing like this should exist. They have no will to end this and will stop at nothing. They do not fear death so what is the government left to do?
 http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/17/world/asia/pakistan-peshawar-school-attack/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Live

On a weekend trip to New York City to visit my brother, Anthony, Michael and I encountered a scene that we had been learning about. On Saturday night on December 13th, we were walking to a smoothie place when we noticed an unusual scene. A street not filled with cars but with people, thousands of people. Earlier that day we had noticed police on every street corner as if preparing for something bu thought nothing of it until then. As we got closer we began to realize this march was about the justice system and how unhappy they were with it. We saw people leading cheers such as "Whose streets? Our streets!" being yelled with the crowd and motions where one person would up their hands and everyone would follow in suit saying "I can't breathe." We were in East Village near Manhattan where we saw them at around 5 and later that night around 1 am we saw them in Times Square. That is an extremely long march and from what I experienced was very peaceful and appropriate. The only news I heard on it was that it caused major traffic problems.  We were amazed by how large this was and how many people participated. 1/10 people were holding signs and everyone was participating in chants. Many people, including Michael and I, stopped on the sidewalk to take videos and pictures of this. This was the first time we ever saw something like this and was just amazed as to how something we talked alot about in school was right infront of our eyes. I looked up news on the march and here is the link. From reading this I learned that there were MILLIONS there. Wow.
http://occupywallstreet.net/story/join-millions-march-new-york-city-saturday-december-13

Terror in Pakistan

The Pakistani Taliban attacked a school and killed 141 people, the deadliest ever by Taliban. 132 of the people killed were children. After the suicide bombs went off, shooters went to class rooms killing everyone in sight. All 7 attackers were killed. Apparently this school was a target because it was run by the army and operations. These attacks have quite a history in that area. I feel horrible for the citizens there with no control as to what is going on. For danger to be at a school, where we think of as a safe-ground is unbelievable. When going to school becomes a fear, something drastic must be done. But with these terrorist groups so large and powerful, countries like Pakistan do not even know where to start or how to until an attack comes. To hear such stories where children lay to appear dead since they have so much blood from the people around them to survive is heartbreaking. Children should never have to go through such horrid events as these. No one should.

2014 in Picture

I found this "article" and was immediately captured by the amazing, sad, and unbelievable shots taken this year. It was a nice, new way to summarize many events that occurred this year rather than a video or bullets. The pictures bring you to the time and place and and give a great representation of that event. I advise everyone to check out these pictures! These pictures are showing events all around the world, not just America.
Here is an example of one of my favorite and not at the same time. This elephant fell and was stuck after a ditch collapsed, but is unharmed.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/05/world/gallery/2014-year-in-pictures/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
Here is the link for the page!
http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/05/world/gallery/2014-year-in-pictures/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Threat Close to Home

    Two men held a charter boat captain captive and illegally broke into the U.S. The men fled by foot as soon as they reached land and are as of now missing. They were last seen in Porter, NY which is only a couple minutes from Youngstown.
    A popular question being asked is Why? Why did they come and what do they want or pursue? They have possession of knifes and possibly other weapons. Anyone with information is being asked to contact the county and state police. Both men are said to be in there early 20s and have French accents.

Animal Cruelty in WNY

Over the past couple days I have heard a couple stories of local stories of animals being mistreated in homes. One story was a dog was found that had four pounds of hair matted all over it to the point that they thought the dog was dead because it could not move.SPCA officials were called to the house when police though they found a dead dog in the basement of a house. Robert and Shelly Brier have been charged with animal cruelty. It took around two and a half hours to remove all the hair from the little dog, Dori. How these people could let this happen to such an innocent animal is beyond words. I am happy that this dog was saved and now is on the long road to recovery that it needs. Thank you to SPCA for everything you do.

The Main Issue

The case itself does not even seem to be the main focus anymore. Racism has taken over. People take the claim on "this happened because he was black." But in reality, picture this where everyone was the same race, and the same situation occurred. Do you think so much focus and attention would be on this case? The difficulty with this case is that the stories and opinions never end. Everyone has a different witness opinions and everyone is definitive on what they "think they know." With so much information and evidence floating around, deciding on what is true or not can be very misleading. From what I have read I see the reasoning behind the cops actions. In such a quick moment so much can happen, and those are the most picked apart moments.Something I do not like about how this case is going is that many people only look at their side or what they want to see. They do not look at the other side or what is being said against their opinion. Having a mindset where you investigate both stories is how people should approach a situation like this.

Tragedy Hits Home

Many hearts in Western New York were hit hard from the horrible news on the death of former Canisus graduate, Nolan Burch. Only a freshman at University of West Virginia, he became a member of the fraternity Kappa Sigma. To think of all of my fellow classmates and self so close to entering college, this brings a reality check to the dangers that a fraternity can have. A major problem of them is the event of "hazing." This is known as a kind of "initiation" into the group for incoming members. Unfortunately, they become very dangerous and out of hand. Many colleges try to do all they can to prevent any of this from happening. I know of many people who knew this person and it can be quite a shock when something that makes national news all draws back to WNY. My parents have talked to me about their feelings on my college involvement in a sorority.I agree with their opinion on not encouraging me to join one. They take such drastic measures and these dangers can be so easily avoided.

China and America Agreement

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120242/us-and-china-reach-agreement-climate-change

 Yes, the agreement is settled and both countries have set their goals to refine the use of greenhouse gases and lower their threats to global warming. The writer supports her reporting by going in depth about both countries together and separate. She also gets quotes from people with power such as the World Resources Institute Climate Program Director Jennifer Morgan and experts like Jake Schmidt, director of the International Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. The article influenced me in a positive way because I am happy that the two most dangerous countries with the threat of global warming are taking a stand to try and reduce this greatly. The article does not pick one side or put down a certain countries. It supports each and gives informative descriptions to help not influence readers to be bias. I am curious as to what specific plans they will take, how this will be followed up upon, and why these countries allowed it to get so far. This writer could strengthen their article more by having more visuals and past observations vs. what they hope the future looks like it compared to. She did have a very nice way of concluding the article however by saying that there is more work to be done and that this is just the start. 

Runoff!

WELL, unsurprisingly Louisiana ended in a runoff. This means in December an additional  voting. It is left down to, as predicted, Mary Landrieu and Bill Cassidy. Politicians are saying that Landrieu will be the underdog. I agree and believe that Cassidy will still be the winner.

1. 1. 

Runoff!

Louisiana Outcome

Louisiana will most likely end up in a run off. This means two will make it and they will have to do another election in December. Mary Landrieu and Bill Cassidy will most likely be the two that must continue with their elections and campaigning. I believe in the long run it will be Cassidy that wins.

Halloween Flocab

Two stories caught my interest this week...

• The school shooting is such a sad tragedy to see. Especially the fact that he shot his own cousin and friends. One of the hardest parts about this, despite the shooting itself, is we may never know what or why he did what he did. By shooting, and killing himself, it leaves his family and even the country just in complete confusion. I leave my prayers and thoughts with the families and everyone affected. 
• The story on women trying to move up int the world was also interesting. I can see both sides. Women simply want to be treated equal meaning pay and opportunities. But I also see how it can get a little much when the majority is just talk and not much action. Men get these spots by pushing for it, not sitting around complaining on what they don't have. They do what has to be done to reach their goal and women should follow in suit. 

LOUISIANA
In an ultra-red state that went for Mitt Romney by a landslide in 2012, Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu is sounding more like an anxious novice than a seasoned lawmaker, with 18 years under her belt, as she battles Republican challenger Bill Cassidy. The presence of a third contender, Rob Maness, could lead to a runoff vote.

THEY SAID IT: Landrieu has attacked Cassidy for not turning up for candidates’ debates. “If you are not man enough or strong enough to come to these debates, how in heavens are you going to be strong enough to represent the citizens of Louisiana?” she asked. A Cassidy spokesman dismissed her complaint as “silly.”

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/10/24/the-most-expensive-u-s-midterm-election-ever-why-both-sides-know-they-have-everything-to-play-for/

Total money- $14,967,569

Republican (against)- 8,921,172

(for)-1,177,539

Democratic (against)- 4,597,979

(for)-270,879

Times are changing

 Things are changing in Louisiana. A state that has had the pattern of democratic senate representation, is soon to possibly be taken over by the republican party. Bill Cassidy is the projected winner for t his race. Mary Landrieu, who is not far behind, is hoping to pull forward in the race and win for her third time election. being in the senate for so long, she has the knowledge and experience needed. She knows how to approach problems and how to deal with others at that level.

The End of an Era

Everyone is watching the polls these next two weeks very closely. Since this run is so close and the fact that it could be one that determines if the Republican stake over the Senate. Senator Mary Landrieu has been senator for 18 years and last year may have been her last. As from what I have seen, Republican Bill Cassidy has been giving her a tough battle. After not much changing with her promises of helping poverty lower, the citizen have lost trust and interest in her. They believe that she is representing Obama, while Cassidy promises to stand up to Obama. Of course, he says this now, but in reality, will it really happen?

Right now, Bill Cassidy (Democratic) and Mary Landrieu (Republican) are at the top of the race. Democratic is at 53 while Mary Landrieu is at 49. Tea Party voters for Rob Maness is rising that while lowering Landrieu. This ends leaving Cassidy in the lead.
It seems that Landrieu is running on the worst conditions for her re-election. From what I have read, the circumstances and events that have happened have affected her and also the rising of the Tea Party voters.