Apocolypse Fear Leads to Deceased Family

A family of five were found dead in their master bedroom of their Utah house. The children, ages 11, 12, and 14, were laying on the floor while the parents, Kristi and Benjamin Stack, were on the bed. No suicide notes were found except for a note from the oldest son saying he was giving possession to his friend because he was worried he was going to die. The parents allegedly poisoned the family with drugs such as heroin substitute methadone, with the father the last to die. It is said that the their reason was because of a fear of a soon apocalypse. Friends and family were familiar that the topic of "leaving the world" was something the family had spoken about before.
  I feel so sorry for the children since they were so young and innocent without any say as to what happened. To kill your whole family in fear of something that is so extreme as the end of the world is heartbreaking. My thoughts and prayers are with family and friends and may the family rest in peace.

Unfamiliar Terror

  All of the recent attacks in Paris I believe has been sparked from Al-Qaeda and ISIS since it is suspected that they advised the attacks. Many of the attackers have been found, thankfully. However, this is so bazaar for a place like Paris where this kind of violence is not usual. This was the worst terrorist attack for Paris in more than 50 years. The city and its people were in shock.

  Al-Qaeda had taking responsibility for attacks and threatened France with more violence. France is not alone. Obama said,"The United States stands with you today, stands with you tomorrow." The Parisians and people around the world are feeling that we are a people that stand for freedom, hope, and dignity. This spirit of freedom will continue forever. This was evident in the march and protest of 3 million people in France that rallied against terrorists. Many countries are there supporting with around 40 world leaders present.  Personally, I would not feel comfortable traveling to Paris at this time. I know that police is doing their best and working around the clock, but the risk is to high at the moment and the acts are very random and violent. I have no desire to put myself in possible danger until everything the problems are resolved. 


 Since the attack, Charlie Hebdo's newspaper has released a cartoon with the message that "All is forgiven" to the terrorists. One worker said, “We feel that we have to forgive what happened. I think those who have been killed, if they would have been able to have a coffee today with the terrorists and just talk to ask them why have they done this … We feel at the Charlie Hebdo team that we need to forgive.” I am happy they are attempting to take a step forward but am curious as to what the public thinks about this. Many leaders, see this in disgust and annoyance. I would like to end with this quote because I believe it concludes the feelings of many. 
“You cannot have a march through the streets of Paris attended by 46 world leaders, 4 million people, climaxing with a shout of ‘We are not afraid’ and then not print the central object of contention,” he said. “Of course they are right to do that and I am afraid it is absolutely vital now that everybody stands up and defends their right to publish. You may not agree with what they have done, you may be offended by what they have done, but you should defend their right to publish it.” 
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jan/13/charlie-hebdo-cover-magazine-prophet-muhammad

Fuergoson Furry

All of the protests that have been occurring around the country all have a common theme of either protesting because of police brutality, racism, or defending the police. Personally I witnessed a protest in New York City in December. Earlier that day when walking around I was curious as to why there was police officers on every corner but soon I learned it was in preparation for the protest that closed many major streets coming from Manhattan to Times Square with 25,000 people. They were protesting police violence. We stopped, like many did, and watched the enormous crowd go by. 

Many people were driven to participate in protests because of anger at the justice system. They were unhappy with the result of the case and had lost trust in police. People believe that they are being unrepresented and that the government is taking advantage of them. I feel that they seem to be unrepresented because of their reactions. I do not have a clear stand on this situation because it has so many elements to it, however, I do believe in peaceful protests. I witnessed a peaceful protest, but have heard of many violent ones regarding this case such as setting fire to buildings and police cars.

When it gets to that point, I start to get embarrassed for the people who are attempting to make their point peacefully only for others to take such drastic and unnecessary actions that end up lessening the meaning of the others. Ferguson has so many different angles to view it from which is why I choose not to take an opinion. I do hope that a solution comes so that we can reach that peaceful trust between government and society before it gets worse. 

Louisiana's Future

   In the Louisiana run, Mary Landrieu and Bill Cassidy were the top two from the beginning. Cassidy was the projected winner and was hoping to beat the three time winner, Landrieu. The big surprise of this election was that a state where it had a pattern of  Democratic senate representation, was soon to be taken over by the Republican party. Not much changed over the course of the running since Bill Cassidy was the projected winner from the beginning. The only upset that happened was from Mary Landrieu since she wanted to keep her 18 year spot. 

Candidates

Bill Cassidy (R)

Mary Landrieu (D)*

  As projected, Louisiana ended in a runoff for the first voting since Louisiana works under a jungle primary system. Since neither of  the candidates received majority of the votes, the next election happened on December 6th. In the end, Bill Cassidy beat Landrieu by 56% compared to Mary's 44%. Bill Cassidy was the first candidate to hold his Republican position since 1883. 
  
  One of my favorite things about Cassidy which is why I agree with the voters decision is because he is pro-life and this means that both representations from Louisiana are pro-life. I am a supporter of the pro-life party and its message. Mary Landrieu had always had a confusing take on this situation, acting as if she was pro-life but voting against it in senate. After voters heard of her record with this, many changed their minds. Overall, I am happy that Bill Cassidy won and the state of Louisiana is getting a different party representing them. Hopefully their needs are heard. 

Niagara Catholic News

As many of us know, Niagara Catholic closed today due to the large number of illness' of students and faculty. Many students were relieved of this due to the pressure of coming in just because of college finals this week or other important events. Ultimately, many of us would not of done our best if this did not happen. A day to let this sickness ware off was much needed. The rate that this cold spread is scary. For half of a school to either be out sick or in school with the same symptoms shows how fast this germ is spreading. Unfortunately, when this news was taken to major news networks such as WGRZ on twitter, the responses to their simple informational tweet was very shocking. 

Many people, mostly adults, made rude comments about the school being closed. I was very confused and angry as to why people would respond like this as if we are all disgusting. Obviously something had to be done to let the kids that were sick have a day to rest and recover and for the people that were not sick to have more of a chance to remain healthy! Thank you Mr. Buggs!

Too Young

Ciarra Johnson of Monroe, La. is being charged with two counts of negligent homicide. Her two daughters, Tashae, 4, and Clifton, 3, were found dead in their house. Ciarra had a hair appointment at 1:30 that day, however was gone since 10 am. She told police that she had made arrangements for someone to watch the girls but investigations prove that she did not. Two space heaters were left on all day with flammable materials to close and are reported to have been the cause of why the wood framed house caught on fire. Johnson was found locked in her car at the house. 

This story is so sad and unbelievable.The fact that a mother of two young girls would leave them home alone for such a long time and not even bother to call someone to watch them sickens me. I feel horrible and cannot even imagine what their life must of been like if their mom left them home when they were barley potty trained. R.I.P to Tashae Thompson Johnson and Clifton Thompson Johnson. 

Lost Hope

An extreme snowmobiler was riding one day into an area that was not meant to be visited. He was so confident in his ridings that he didn't have basic needs like water and food,  part of the mindset was to ride without any survival gear. The 54-year-old Idaho man said he was snowmobiling along a steep ridge last Sunday. The snow apparently cut loose beneath him, sending him 3,000 feet down hill. His snowmobile landed on top of him but he was able to push it off, and ran its engine for heat over the next 30-plus hours. Lost and with no hope for survival left, he wrote goodbye notes to his wife and kids on his cellphone. But about two hours later, five friends who had followed his snowmobile tracks rescued him. The men gave Sadler dry clothes, blankets and food. However, it took five hours to hike out of the drainage and they had to walk another two miles to reach the snowmobiles they rode in on. It took another six miles to get to Sadler’s home. Sadler suffered some broken bones in his hands and had frostbite. Thank gosh this man had trustworthy and caring friends like he did. 

NYS Ready for the Snow

   Governor Cuomo is preparing the state for another hit from the snow on its way. Plans have already been made to close major parts of the I-90 and I-190 starting at 12:00 a.m. tonight. Cuomo said New York State has prepared a total of 1,793 plows, 4,184 plow drivers, 55 front-end loaders and nearly 500,000 tons of salt in preparation for the snow. He activated the emergency operations center to monitor the storm and storm response. This sends out a message of relief to Western New Yorkers who had bad experiences regarding the last storm. Knowing that precautions are being taken before the storm hits rather then after can make such a difference in situations such as driving accidents, stranded people outside and in cars, lack of supplies, and assistance and responders. 
  This is a step in the right direction of avoiding the obvious and that is very reassuring! 
 

One Survivor

In Kentucky, a man named Larry Wilkins opened a door to a little 7 year old girl named Sailor Gutzler. She had been in a horrible plane crash that killed her parents, sister, and cousin. Somehow the little girl miraculously survived, got out of the plane, and walked about three quarters of a mile to his house, which is the only one of the three houses near her that were occupied at that time. How a girl so young and alone could find her way out of the plane, leaving her family, and make it to safety is amazing. No one may have found her for days or weeks if she hadn't. This story is very heart breaking since Sailor is now left alone, with no immediate family at such a young age were she may be just starting to make memories that stick with her. Hopefully she has many family members that can take her in and give her all the love this brave girl needs.