1.
Run for your lives, the UN is out to take your sweet meats! The WHO published a study that is great tabloid news that says that processed meats are linked to colon cancer, which, if you think about it makes perfect sense. I find it ridiculous that people are freaking out that meat causes cancer when we have known for like forever that it is linked to a plethora of other horrible horrible diseases and Heath issues.
2.
The beef industry is probably in damage control right now because of all of the hypothetical colon cancer lawsuits being lobbied against them; environmental groups are lobbying for warning labels, and some guy who just watched Food, Inc. is outraged.
3.
Meats being placed in Group 1 means that scientists are as sure of the link between meat and cancer as they are of the link between asbestos and cancer, not that asbestos and meat are as likely to cause cancer, but maybe a lie can really travel half way around the world before the truth can get it's pants on, then again, what was the truth doing with its pants off?
4.
The cartoon is illustrating the anger of meat eaters at the crumbling façade of willful ignorance toward the negative effects of meat, and who can blame them? I doubt people will stop eating eat, and now all this study means for most people is that their moms or wives or health conscious family members are going to buy tofurkey or some such crap for a week or so.
5.
Bish's contention is probably that people don't want to know what is in their food, and while this report may have a small impact on the choices people make when buying meat, it probably won't make a significant dent in meat eating.
6.
I eat all the meat, yesterday I ate a whole steak and I will continue to do so until I drop dead from whatever ailment plagues me. I don't care. I want to eat meat for as long as it is feasibly possible.
Jack's Journalism Blog
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Attribution: Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
1.
A reporter should attribute their details at the end of the paragraph after the quote or source.
2.
The speaker is first introduced at the beginning of the paragraph or quote if the speaker is not already introduced or if a previous speaker is the assumed source.
3.
It is important to establish the credibility for sources involving a crime to assure the readers that information is not speculative.
4.
It is usually at the end of a sentence to clarify the speaker's identity.
5.
One. There can only be one source for each quote, if the speaker changes, there needs to be a new paragraph.
6.
The writers should never state their involvement in gathering the information, that is implied.
7.
When introducing a new speaker.
8.
When the speaker is already known.
9.
If the speaker has given two related quotes, they should be broken up with attribution.
10.
Said. Usually, the speaker says what they were reported for. Sometimes, if the source is not a speaker the verb will not be said, but it usually is.
11.
Past tense, the news story is always about something that has happened, unless you are some sort of minority-report style freak.
12.
Full name and title should be given.
13.
By their last name, or just by their full name.
14.
Punctuation should fall outside of the quote unless it is an integral part of the statement.
15.
A direct quote is in quotation marks and was something that was told to the writer by a person, an indirect quote was not told to the writer, and is not in quotations.
16.
The speaker usually comes first.
17.
When the attribution contains a clause with more information on the speaker.
18.
"I'm proud of each and every person on this team", Coach Ed Hullender said.
19.
“Dancing in the Super Bowl will be a once in a lifetime opportunity”, said junior Laura Duke, the only Wheeler High student to audition who is not currently on the dance team.
20.
“They’re not real wrestlers, and I think it actually hurts the sport. I wish they would change their name from wrestling to acting”, Coach Steve Lattizori said.
21.
Correct
22.
Incorrect, said sophomore Jessica Moran
23.
Correct
24.
Correct
25.
Incorrect, Mr. Lebow did not say the statement verbatim, it should not be 'said'
26.
Correct
A reporter should attribute their details at the end of the paragraph after the quote or source.
2.
The speaker is first introduced at the beginning of the paragraph or quote if the speaker is not already introduced or if a previous speaker is the assumed source.
3.
It is important to establish the credibility for sources involving a crime to assure the readers that information is not speculative.
4.
It is usually at the end of a sentence to clarify the speaker's identity.
5.
One. There can only be one source for each quote, if the speaker changes, there needs to be a new paragraph.
6.
The writers should never state their involvement in gathering the information, that is implied.
7.
When introducing a new speaker.
8.
When the speaker is already known.
9.
If the speaker has given two related quotes, they should be broken up with attribution.
10.
Said. Usually, the speaker says what they were reported for. Sometimes, if the source is not a speaker the verb will not be said, but it usually is.
11.
Past tense, the news story is always about something that has happened, unless you are some sort of minority-report style freak.
12.
Full name and title should be given.
13.
By their last name, or just by their full name.
14.
Punctuation should fall outside of the quote unless it is an integral part of the statement.
15.
A direct quote is in quotation marks and was something that was told to the writer by a person, an indirect quote was not told to the writer, and is not in quotations.
16.
The speaker usually comes first.
17.
When the attribution contains a clause with more information on the speaker.
18.
"I'm proud of each and every person on this team", Coach Ed Hullender said.
19.
“Dancing in the Super Bowl will be a once in a lifetime opportunity”, said junior Laura Duke, the only Wheeler High student to audition who is not currently on the dance team.
20.
“They’re not real wrestlers, and I think it actually hurts the sport. I wish they would change their name from wrestling to acting”, Coach Steve Lattizori said.
21.
Correct
22.
Incorrect, said sophomore Jessica Moran
23.
Correct
24.
Correct
25.
Incorrect, Mr. Lebow did not say the statement verbatim, it should not be 'said'
26.
Correct
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Current Events Activity 2.2 - Oh, Canada
1.
Previously, the Bastrop Fires were thought to have been caused by a paper shredder, apparently one that turns the paper into fire, however now the authorities believe that the fire may have been started by a burn pile, which sounds just as obvious as one would expect it to sound. The Bastrop Country officials are letting people return to their homes, however for the people that live in the 64 homes and 4,600 acres of land that were ravaged by the fires, there may not be much of a home to return to. The people seemed very genuinely sad as I read the article, and deeply hurt by the loss of most of their possessions is a deeply troubling aspect of life that I'm sure many of them are now struggling to deal with, I felt terrible, but I also felt like these were the Okies in John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, and that they had silly prairie accents.
2.
The school districts in the Austin area are too poor to buy books, a quintessential Texas problem to have, and so a lot of schools have switched over to digital textbooks in a move one could only describe as a decade too late. It's really silly that paper textbooks have been around for this long in the first place, or that school districts around the country haven't gone even further in digitizing the school process to save money. Just make all the teachers computer programs, make class only happen online, and make all the work digital. Remove every possible third party. Make school sporting events video games, have nobody ever personally interact with anyone else ever in their time as a human ever again. In theory, you don't even need students, just give money straight from the school district to McGraw-Hill. The Robertson Family doesn't understand how technology works so they bought a textbook for $75, a great idea for other families who can't learn. Melissa Prepster, a woman who has had to do too much boring paperwork in her 23-year teaching career is super hype for the new tech, because it probably makes her job considerably easier. Eanes district is having an easier time giving tablets to all of their kids, than Leander, because there are fewer students that are in the Eanes District and they have been working at this since 2011. McCallum should no longer exist. Technology is too advanced. Digitize everything. Assimilate everyone.
3.
Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party has a majority in the new Canadian Parliament and Trudeau is set to become the next Prime Minister of Canada, replacing his Conservative party strongman and gopher lookalike Stephen Harper after a 9 year, three term ministry. Trudeau is from the Liberal Party, and his policies are very similar to President Obama's. Where there may have been tension between the US and Canada under the Harper Administration, the new government is likely to pursue changes to make it's economy less dependent on Fossil Fuel exports and be less involved in military action around the world.
4.
Alan Guckian, a teacher at Eastside who is not my father is up for the 2016 Music Educator Award, which is for being an educator of music, and a very good one at that. He was one of 4,500 people nominated for the award, and now there are considerably less people in the race; Guckian is one of 25 semifinalists left in the drawing, and if he is the last man standing, his kids get a pizza party. Pretty cool.
5.
Shaka Smart, good basketball coach of the Longhorn Basketball team, is changing the mindset of his player going in to the upcoming season by doing crazy endurance drills like getting his players to swim to try and mold them into a more cohesive and endurance team to play the time of run and gun style he is used to from his old school, VCU.
Previously, the Bastrop Fires were thought to have been caused by a paper shredder, apparently one that turns the paper into fire, however now the authorities believe that the fire may have been started by a burn pile, which sounds just as obvious as one would expect it to sound. The Bastrop Country officials are letting people return to their homes, however for the people that live in the 64 homes and 4,600 acres of land that were ravaged by the fires, there may not be much of a home to return to. The people seemed very genuinely sad as I read the article, and deeply hurt by the loss of most of their possessions is a deeply troubling aspect of life that I'm sure many of them are now struggling to deal with, I felt terrible, but I also felt like these were the Okies in John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, and that they had silly prairie accents.
2.
The school districts in the Austin area are too poor to buy books, a quintessential Texas problem to have, and so a lot of schools have switched over to digital textbooks in a move one could only describe as a decade too late. It's really silly that paper textbooks have been around for this long in the first place, or that school districts around the country haven't gone even further in digitizing the school process to save money. Just make all the teachers computer programs, make class only happen online, and make all the work digital. Remove every possible third party. Make school sporting events video games, have nobody ever personally interact with anyone else ever in their time as a human ever again. In theory, you don't even need students, just give money straight from the school district to McGraw-Hill. The Robertson Family doesn't understand how technology works so they bought a textbook for $75, a great idea for other families who can't learn. Melissa Prepster, a woman who has had to do too much boring paperwork in her 23-year teaching career is super hype for the new tech, because it probably makes her job considerably easier. Eanes district is having an easier time giving tablets to all of their kids, than Leander, because there are fewer students that are in the Eanes District and they have been working at this since 2011. McCallum should no longer exist. Technology is too advanced. Digitize everything. Assimilate everyone.
3.
Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party has a majority in the new Canadian Parliament and Trudeau is set to become the next Prime Minister of Canada, replacing his Conservative party strongman and gopher lookalike Stephen Harper after a 9 year, three term ministry. Trudeau is from the Liberal Party, and his policies are very similar to President Obama's. Where there may have been tension between the US and Canada under the Harper Administration, the new government is likely to pursue changes to make it's economy less dependent on Fossil Fuel exports and be less involved in military action around the world.
4.
Alan Guckian, a teacher at Eastside who is not my father is up for the 2016 Music Educator Award, which is for being an educator of music, and a very good one at that. He was one of 4,500 people nominated for the award, and now there are considerably less people in the race; Guckian is one of 25 semifinalists left in the drawing, and if he is the last man standing, his kids get a pizza party. Pretty cool.
5.
Shaka Smart, good basketball coach of the Longhorn Basketball team, is changing the mindset of his player going in to the upcoming season by doing crazy endurance drills like getting his players to swim to try and mold them into a more cohesive and endurance team to play the time of run and gun style he is used to from his old school, VCU.
Friday, October 9, 2015
Current Events Activity 2.1 - One of My Friends Said He Wrote This At Drake
1.
Apparently the Parks and Rec board get fee VIP passes and so on for one weekend of ACL, which cost a lavish and exorbitant sum of one thousand big ones. This reeks of the most mild and petty attempt at corruption as well as lousy muckraking. Rick Coffer, a lily-livered worrywart, is concerned with the slippery slope to becoming some horrible Atlantic City mob-style cartoon villain caricature and won't take the "bribe" of a free show, which may as well be a thank you present for ACL and C3 for paying about one hundred thousand dollars, still an inconsequential sum of money, to rent the park for a couple weekends. Don Zimmerman, city official and man of honor, said - and I'm sure very pretentiously so - that he wouldn't accept any gifts that could sway his fickle little opinion. Sabine Romero said it's okay, and it's her job to say what is and isn't okay, and she's okay at her job. Ann Kitchen gave some of her passes to her staff and Ora Houston gave her passes to the 311 people who work in her office. I personally would accept my pass almost without hesitation or guilt, in all honestly, if I was a city official, I would want to be a corrupt one if only to get my ACL passes.
2.
The Okies have placed a temporary hold on all state executions in their state until I can only presume their top chemists graduate kindergarden and learn how to tell the difference between the words "potassium acetate" and "potassium chloride". Other states are having weird problems trying to kill people as well, because they keep trying to use midazozam and hydromorphone, both of which sound like the names of DC comic book villains but are actually chemicals that are mostly very good at making state sanctioned killing seem humane but are sometimes very bad at it. Their constitutionality has been disputed and while it is being sorted though, other states are using other cool and funky ways to kill people. Utah has gone back to using the firing squad to execute people which must make for great conversation if that is your profession. Tennessee is using the electric chair maybe because they have grown tired of people use the word electrocute out of context, and Louisiana is considering using nitrogen gas as it's backup.
3.
Israeli Prime Minister and human peanut Benjamin Netanyahu has banned members of his parliament from visiting the Al-Aqsa Mosque/site of the Temple of Jerusalem because Israelis and Palestinians aren't getting along so well at the moment. Per usual, someone took something a little too far; Muhanad Halabi stabbed some orthodox Jews, the police shot him dead, and now everything is all coming up lemons. It is usually a troubling thing that both Muslims and Jews contest who has dibs on the Dome of the Rock/Temple Compound area, but when one of the people antagonizing to build a third temple on the spot of the Al-Aqsa mosque is your agriculture minister, Muslim people have a right to be offended.
4.
Svetlana Alexevich, a Belorussian Journalist and reporter won the Nobel Prize in Literature for fighting the power in a really hardline communist country. She is the 14th woman to win the prize but the first person ever from Belarus to win the award, not that Belarus really is a cosmopolitan or interesting or colorful place. Svetlana's writing is a sort of blend of journalism and nonfiction, and wrote plenty of stories about the regular people instead of focusing on the big shots in her country.
5.
Daniel S. Hamermesh quits his job as Microeconomics teacher at UT because you can now have guns on school campuses. The statesman found out because the UT Paper, the Daily Texan, attained a copy of Hamermesh's resignation letter. Hamermesh is one of many teachers that said they would leave if SB1 became law, however the Microeconomics teacher was the first to properly leave his job.
FREE RESPONSE.
I went to the Baseball Extra section and they had a story called "Astros on a Roll" and they had a huge picture of George Springer hitting a hone run in the game last night and they had some baseballey statistics, quality reporting with some solid facts is exactly what I expect from a sports section of a newspaper and as an extra I got a really big color picture. The really neato thing about it was probably the fact that with the online statesman I get more info and more pretty pictures than I do in the real paper version. In almost every way the online Statesman is a more viable product other than the fact that it is not real. The one reason left to buy the paper Statesman is, in my opinion, the fact that it is a real paper news source item thing. If I wanted to read my news online, I would not try and find the online version of a paper, rather, I would seek out the publication's website and sift through the articles there. If I wanted to read a newspaper, I would get the paper edition because it feels right to read a newspaper in newspaper format if it is a real paper, however it makes no sense to leave a newspaper in the same format if it is published online.
Apparently the Parks and Rec board get fee VIP passes and so on for one weekend of ACL, which cost a lavish and exorbitant sum of one thousand big ones. This reeks of the most mild and petty attempt at corruption as well as lousy muckraking. Rick Coffer, a lily-livered worrywart, is concerned with the slippery slope to becoming some horrible Atlantic City mob-style cartoon villain caricature and won't take the "bribe" of a free show, which may as well be a thank you present for ACL and C3 for paying about one hundred thousand dollars, still an inconsequential sum of money, to rent the park for a couple weekends. Don Zimmerman, city official and man of honor, said - and I'm sure very pretentiously so - that he wouldn't accept any gifts that could sway his fickle little opinion. Sabine Romero said it's okay, and it's her job to say what is and isn't okay, and she's okay at her job. Ann Kitchen gave some of her passes to her staff and Ora Houston gave her passes to the 311 people who work in her office. I personally would accept my pass almost without hesitation or guilt, in all honestly, if I was a city official, I would want to be a corrupt one if only to get my ACL passes.
2.
The Okies have placed a temporary hold on all state executions in their state until I can only presume their top chemists graduate kindergarden and learn how to tell the difference between the words "potassium acetate" and "potassium chloride". Other states are having weird problems trying to kill people as well, because they keep trying to use midazozam and hydromorphone, both of which sound like the names of DC comic book villains but are actually chemicals that are mostly very good at making state sanctioned killing seem humane but are sometimes very bad at it. Their constitutionality has been disputed and while it is being sorted though, other states are using other cool and funky ways to kill people. Utah has gone back to using the firing squad to execute people which must make for great conversation if that is your profession. Tennessee is using the electric chair maybe because they have grown tired of people use the word electrocute out of context, and Louisiana is considering using nitrogen gas as it's backup.
3.
Israeli Prime Minister and human peanut Benjamin Netanyahu has banned members of his parliament from visiting the Al-Aqsa Mosque/site of the Temple of Jerusalem because Israelis and Palestinians aren't getting along so well at the moment. Per usual, someone took something a little too far; Muhanad Halabi stabbed some orthodox Jews, the police shot him dead, and now everything is all coming up lemons. It is usually a troubling thing that both Muslims and Jews contest who has dibs on the Dome of the Rock/Temple Compound area, but when one of the people antagonizing to build a third temple on the spot of the Al-Aqsa mosque is your agriculture minister, Muslim people have a right to be offended.
4.
Svetlana Alexevich, a Belorussian Journalist and reporter won the Nobel Prize in Literature for fighting the power in a really hardline communist country. She is the 14th woman to win the prize but the first person ever from Belarus to win the award, not that Belarus really is a cosmopolitan or interesting or colorful place. Svetlana's writing is a sort of blend of journalism and nonfiction, and wrote plenty of stories about the regular people instead of focusing on the big shots in her country.
5.
Daniel S. Hamermesh quits his job as Microeconomics teacher at UT because you can now have guns on school campuses. The statesman found out because the UT Paper, the Daily Texan, attained a copy of Hamermesh's resignation letter. Hamermesh is one of many teachers that said they would leave if SB1 became law, however the Microeconomics teacher was the first to properly leave his job.
FREE RESPONSE.
I went to the Baseball Extra section and they had a story called "Astros on a Roll" and they had a huge picture of George Springer hitting a hone run in the game last night and they had some baseballey statistics, quality reporting with some solid facts is exactly what I expect from a sports section of a newspaper and as an extra I got a really big color picture. The really neato thing about it was probably the fact that with the online statesman I get more info and more pretty pictures than I do in the real paper version. In almost every way the online Statesman is a more viable product other than the fact that it is not real. The one reason left to buy the paper Statesman is, in my opinion, the fact that it is a real paper news source item thing. If I wanted to read my news online, I would not try and find the online version of a paper, rather, I would seek out the publication's website and sift through the articles there. If I wanted to read a newspaper, I would get the paper edition because it feels right to read a newspaper in newspaper format if it is a real paper, however it makes no sense to leave a newspaper in the same format if it is published online.
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Current Events Activity 1.1 - Back to the Past
1.
The University of Texas came under fire for hiring students that had been the assailants in an attack against a gay man back in 2004. The University is withholding any information it may or may not have on the two men based on federal law that prevents them from releasing confidential information on students. Weather the University knew or didn't knew is up for debate, however it is doubtful that the University hired wither of the two without first consulting their record as hate criminals.
2.
The city of Baltimore reached a $6.4 million settlement in a deal revolving around the police killings of Freddie Gray back in April. The mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, stated that the settlement did not reflect weather the officers involved were guilty or innocent and was simply "in the best interests of the city [of Baltimore]". The trial for the six officers involved is still pending.
3.
The Vice Chancellor of Germany, Sig-mar Gabriel, has stated that his country will be taking in half a million immigrants from the Middle-East and Africa in the coming year. Many people think that the policy of accepting half a million immigrants is foolish and will hurt the economy, however the government has stated that the people should be proud of their governments response to this humanitarian crisis.
4.
Ted Cruz invited Donald Trump to his anti Iran-Deal Rally, which is an odd move considering that most of the republican party is trying to kill the Donald. Cruz is trying to play nice and say things like "I am glad he in in this election." or that he shone a light on immigration issues and got Republicans excited. Trying to target Donald Trump in this election has proved to be political suicide for anyone who has attempted it so far, and Cruz has built his platform on attacking the Washington Insider "Campaign Conservatives" like Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio.
5.
Hillary Clinton apologized for using a private server for e-mails when she served as Secretary of State, however two Republicans, Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson, are not letting her drop the ball on this one anytime soon. People are also pestering Hillary for voting for the Iraq war in 2002, which turned out to be a big mistake, but was something that happened in 2002.
6.
Two players for John Jay high school teed up a referee after he purportedly used a racial slur against them during a game, which is exactly what I would have done, but not during the game, especially if we were losing 15-9. The assistant coach of the secondary line got suspended after he decided that the referee would have to "pay for cheating [them]".
ESSAY RESPONSE.
A story was published called A Record Reign for Queen Elizabeth due to the queen officially becoming the longest serving monarch in British history. The story is uniquely relevant to it's proximity to a date - September 9th, 2015, however the human interest to people fond of monarchies and to British ex-pats may have been high. This is a milestone for a western monarch, whose landmark reign was not met with much fanfare or celebration. The reporter chose to keep this story mostly based in fact and to interview one historian, Hugo Vickers, for commentary. As far as a quiet passing of time is concerned, the report was done it's due. It was reported with all of the historical significance necessary and well reported in it's short column.
The University of Texas came under fire for hiring students that had been the assailants in an attack against a gay man back in 2004. The University is withholding any information it may or may not have on the two men based on federal law that prevents them from releasing confidential information on students. Weather the University knew or didn't knew is up for debate, however it is doubtful that the University hired wither of the two without first consulting their record as hate criminals.
2.
The city of Baltimore reached a $6.4 million settlement in a deal revolving around the police killings of Freddie Gray back in April. The mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, stated that the settlement did not reflect weather the officers involved were guilty or innocent and was simply "in the best interests of the city [of Baltimore]". The trial for the six officers involved is still pending.
3.
The Vice Chancellor of Germany, Sig-mar Gabriel, has stated that his country will be taking in half a million immigrants from the Middle-East and Africa in the coming year. Many people think that the policy of accepting half a million immigrants is foolish and will hurt the economy, however the government has stated that the people should be proud of their governments response to this humanitarian crisis.
4.
Ted Cruz invited Donald Trump to his anti Iran-Deal Rally, which is an odd move considering that most of the republican party is trying to kill the Donald. Cruz is trying to play nice and say things like "I am glad he in in this election." or that he shone a light on immigration issues and got Republicans excited. Trying to target Donald Trump in this election has proved to be political suicide for anyone who has attempted it so far, and Cruz has built his platform on attacking the Washington Insider "Campaign Conservatives" like Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio.
5.
Hillary Clinton apologized for using a private server for e-mails when she served as Secretary of State, however two Republicans, Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson, are not letting her drop the ball on this one anytime soon. People are also pestering Hillary for voting for the Iraq war in 2002, which turned out to be a big mistake, but was something that happened in 2002.
6.
Two players for John Jay high school teed up a referee after he purportedly used a racial slur against them during a game, which is exactly what I would have done, but not during the game, especially if we were losing 15-9. The assistant coach of the secondary line got suspended after he decided that the referee would have to "pay for cheating [them]".
ESSAY RESPONSE.
A story was published called A Record Reign for Queen Elizabeth due to the queen officially becoming the longest serving monarch in British history. The story is uniquely relevant to it's proximity to a date - September 9th, 2015, however the human interest to people fond of monarchies and to British ex-pats may have been high. This is a milestone for a western monarch, whose landmark reign was not met with much fanfare or celebration. The reporter chose to keep this story mostly based in fact and to interview one historian, Hugo Vickers, for commentary. As far as a quiet passing of time is concerned, the report was done it's due. It was reported with all of the historical significance necessary and well reported in it's short column.
Friday, September 25, 2015
Current Events Activity 1.3 - News Encyclicial
1.
The Pope is in town adressing throngs of Catholics and infidels alike, trying to instill some of the churches values in them. There are many facets of traditional livelihood that the church has upheld for centurites as it's most sacred tenets - the family, and the community. Before industrialization, a materialistic outlook on life was uncommon among most people, as relatively few people had the potency to aquire large sums of wealth through their own endeavors. The Church was intsrumental in maintaining a sense of community, but also instilling christian values of piety, humility, and above all, kindness into the heart and minds of it's congregation. Francis is worried that here in the states our keen adoption of the Protestant Virtues of wealth and hard work as exemplars of faith has become very dangerous, and our reckless abandon of the Church's communalism may lead us to destroy important societal institutions. This is the first time that the Pope has visited the United States in his life, and it is the first time that many of his more skeptical critics here in the United States have borne witness to his teachings. He was invited to speak in front of a joint session of Congress by Speaker of the House John Boehner, an Ohio Republican and Catholic.
2.
Apparently some high school linebacker teed up a ref, which in my book is pretty awesome, and also totally justified if he was spewing racist bile. I honestly whish I was surprised, but this sounds like something that happens in some silly Friday Night Lights spinoff show. I doubt the kids or coach will ever play ball again if they didn't show up to their hearing, but this whole story seems sort of overblown.
3.
So apparently a bunch of parents are going to be crybabies about not having a teacher anymore because the district is too stingy to just hire a new one. AISD wanted to avoid breaking the law and they did, and in the process they disrupted the learning of sixth graders at Maplewood. I'm sure knowing that you might have to have a new teacher is hard, but it sounds to me like these Yuppie parents need to get over themselves.
4.
John Whitmire asked the Attorney General, Ken Paxton, to issue a non-binding legal opinion on the subject of SB-17, a bill that the Texas Legislature passed that either:
a) Allows firearms to be carried and concealed on outdoor areas of public school campuses, you know, in case you want to do a little target practice during recess.
b) Allows you to carry a firearm everywhere on public school campuses, because having the power to quickly and efficiently kill schoolchildren needs to be magnified.
5.
There was a stampede in Mecca when a bunch of people rushed in to complete the pilgrimage by doing circuts around the Kaaba, a giant black box with a meteorite inside. 700 people died, which is surprising considering that it was because of a stampede. Couldn't you just slow down for a while, it's not like the Kaaba is having 70% off Black Friday deals or anything, it takes a while to complete all of the circuts, there is absolutely no reason to rush.
EXTENDED RESPONSE.
Poor Yogi, smarter than the average Bear. He will be missed. An Obit is a lot of things, remeniscent, elegaic, maybe a little sad and sappy, bt overall, it is a tribute to the life that the person lived and the great feats they acieved in their lifetime, or the modest and humble way by which they lived. An Obituary is a sending off, a way of bridging the gap bewteen the peson, living and dead, and helping all those who knew them or who were inspired by their character to mourn, and to accept thier passing.
The Pope is in town adressing throngs of Catholics and infidels alike, trying to instill some of the churches values in them. There are many facets of traditional livelihood that the church has upheld for centurites as it's most sacred tenets - the family, and the community. Before industrialization, a materialistic outlook on life was uncommon among most people, as relatively few people had the potency to aquire large sums of wealth through their own endeavors. The Church was intsrumental in maintaining a sense of community, but also instilling christian values of piety, humility, and above all, kindness into the heart and minds of it's congregation. Francis is worried that here in the states our keen adoption of the Protestant Virtues of wealth and hard work as exemplars of faith has become very dangerous, and our reckless abandon of the Church's communalism may lead us to destroy important societal institutions. This is the first time that the Pope has visited the United States in his life, and it is the first time that many of his more skeptical critics here in the United States have borne witness to his teachings. He was invited to speak in front of a joint session of Congress by Speaker of the House John Boehner, an Ohio Republican and Catholic.
2.
Apparently some high school linebacker teed up a ref, which in my book is pretty awesome, and also totally justified if he was spewing racist bile. I honestly whish I was surprised, but this sounds like something that happens in some silly Friday Night Lights spinoff show. I doubt the kids or coach will ever play ball again if they didn't show up to their hearing, but this whole story seems sort of overblown.
3.
So apparently a bunch of parents are going to be crybabies about not having a teacher anymore because the district is too stingy to just hire a new one. AISD wanted to avoid breaking the law and they did, and in the process they disrupted the learning of sixth graders at Maplewood. I'm sure knowing that you might have to have a new teacher is hard, but it sounds to me like these Yuppie parents need to get over themselves.
4.
John Whitmire asked the Attorney General, Ken Paxton, to issue a non-binding legal opinion on the subject of SB-17, a bill that the Texas Legislature passed that either:
a) Allows firearms to be carried and concealed on outdoor areas of public school campuses, you know, in case you want to do a little target practice during recess.
b) Allows you to carry a firearm everywhere on public school campuses, because having the power to quickly and efficiently kill schoolchildren needs to be magnified.
5.
There was a stampede in Mecca when a bunch of people rushed in to complete the pilgrimage by doing circuts around the Kaaba, a giant black box with a meteorite inside. 700 people died, which is surprising considering that it was because of a stampede. Couldn't you just slow down for a while, it's not like the Kaaba is having 70% off Black Friday deals or anything, it takes a while to complete all of the circuts, there is absolutely no reason to rush.
EXTENDED RESPONSE.
Poor Yogi, smarter than the average Bear. He will be missed. An Obit is a lot of things, remeniscent, elegaic, maybe a little sad and sappy, bt overall, it is a tribute to the life that the person lived and the great feats they acieved in their lifetime, or the modest and humble way by which they lived. An Obituary is a sending off, a way of bridging the gap bewteen the peson, living and dead, and helping all those who knew them or who were inspired by their character to mourn, and to accept thier passing.
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Dogs Playing Ultimate Frisbee - The Jackson Gattis Biography
"You'd have to train them when to catch the frisbee, like if you were throwing it all the way down court you would have to somehow signal the dog to go and catch the frisbee, but if you were just doing short passes down the field you wouldn't want your dog to try and bite your hand off - you'd have to have some way of telling the dog when to catch the frisbee, if it didn't catch it in the goal, you'd have trouble getting it back from the dog because it would probably want to walk, and you'd get a carrying penalty and then the disk would just go to the other team."
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Current Events Activity 1.2
1B.
Long Term Republican Candidates were in a way by reviving a preferential treatment by the CNN crew - any candidate had the chance to respond to any claim or allegation made against them with a rebuttal, giving certain people who are frequently the object of scrutiny, namely Donald Trump.There is no way for mainstream candidates to avoid coming under fire and being tasked with responding to claims or comments by log shot candidates. The Donald tends to be center stage because of a vicious cycle of high polling numbers and oversaturated coverage by the media, he also happens to be very good at using that media coverage to make aggrandizing statements to attract controversy.
2.
John Brennan visited the UT campus in order to release 2,500 new documents from the LBJ and JFK presIdencies. The CIA is currently undergoing a process of declassification, and releasing a bunch of previously confidential presidential daily briefs might held the Agency in their effort to appear more transparent. The briefs apparently give keen insight into the dizzying array of challenges faced by both presidents during the 1960's.
3.
Hungarian Security Forces used water cannons to repel migrants who had been attempting to cross through the border with Serbia on their way to elsewhere in Europe. The refugees crossing through the Balkans must deal with land mines, which are left as a residual from the decade long crisis that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Xenophobic governments, especially the Hungarians, have arrested migrants en masse, and other obstacles along their route to Western and Northern Europe.
4.
A 14-year-old engineering student named Ahmed Mohammed made a clock and brought it in to his class in McArthur High School in Irving, Texas. The clock had posted no problems until the alarm went off, at which point, presumably because the student was a Muslim, he was detained by police and arrested. Islamophibia in the wake of 9/11 is nothing new, and the demonization of an entire religious group based on the actions of a few people is something that should and did spark national outrage of the purest kind, a Twitter hashtag. President Obama invited the kid to the White House. The Irving City Council passed an anti-sharia law law in an attempt to curb the looming threat of radical Islam or some such made up boogeyman, because Irving, Texas can sometimes be not that welcoming to Muslim people.
ESSAY QUESTION
I first heard of this story on Twitter in a typical slightly misinformed tweet about the subject involving a few pictures of Flavor Flav, it was a pretty ridiculous few minutes. I am not typically someone who gets easily outraged at news articles about islamophobia, I guess I go get outraged, but it is fairly outrageous. I don't think that it should have deserved front page attention, but the story about Hungarians with water cannons could probably have been bumped. I think the underlying problem with the story's placement has to do with the quality of the writing more than with the story itself. I would have put the story on the second page, I don't think that incesence should take prominence away from political debates, no matter how outrageous it is.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
RESEARCH SCENARIO, PART 1
First things first I would try and obtain a copy of the PowerPoint presentation that the teacher had used in the class to verify that it was in fact the PowerPoint supplied by the district. If it was, bad teaching ethic by the teacher is in play, and I could write a piece about how the district still teaches creationism and interview some students and parents about the outrage. If the teacher was teaching creationism on his own initiative then I would probably wrote a piece about this troublesome practice, also including student and parent interviews. If I could swing it I would try and interview the teacher himself if he was alright with it however circumstance might prevent me from running it.
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