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.

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.

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