Declaration of Independence

In 1776, upon the signing of the Declaration of Independence, America was freed from British rule. But that freedom did not come easily. It took Thomas Jefferson and a few other men to put together a document listing all the complaints the colonists had against King George III. One of the eighteen complaints listed in the book was, "He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measure." In this compliment it states that during the times King George would consider the colonists' opinions he would make it as inconvenient for them as he could. He did this by holding the meetings in distant places so that by the time the colonists arrived through inconvenient travel they would be too tired to fight for their rights. In the end they would submit to King George, which is bad for the people but perfectly convenient for him. In modern America, if the meeting is held in a distant place, a comfortable means of travel is provided to the representatives. So they are able to choose what is right, instead of having to submit to others because of fatigue. Another complaint was, "He refused his Assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good." This means King George did not pass laws that were necessary for the colonists. He only considered what is good to the British, not the colonies. Now a days things have changed completely. A local and state government has been put in place and they have the right to make laws that are beneficial to their state. Also the president can only make laws that benefit his own people, not others. The list of complaints are lengthy, but they were the key that changed America's government structure to be more beneficial to their citizens.

Chicago Shooting

- Monica Davey and Timothy Williams 
- September 20, 2013
- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/us/chicago-shooting.html?hp&_r=0

The New York Times reports a shooting in a South Side park located in Chicago on Thursday night, wounding thirteen people. The gunman was armed with an assault-style rifle equipped with a high-capacity magazine. Gary McCarthy, Chicago police superintendent,  states that having a military-grade weapon in the streets of Chicago are not acceptable. Police report that two died during the Cornell Square shooting and the rest are wounded. Among the wounded is a three-year-old boy who was struck in the face, but expected to live. The little boy as well as two other people were hospitalized in critical condition but they are all expected to survive. The police are uncertain on whom the intended target is and what the motive was, they are even unsure of how many people fired weapons. McCarthy said there may have been one gunman or up to three. Chicago had more than 500 homicides last year, that is more than New York which has three times as many people. These violent crimes happen in the poorer parts of Chicago. Mayor Rahm Emanuel states that this crime will be prosecuted and everyone is encouraged to step out with details.  It caused an uproar with community, more witnesses came out for this shooting than any other. In recent months, Chicago has increased the amount of police on duty in twenty zones. That has decreased shootings by twenty percent, but the shooting that took place Thursday night was not one of those zones. The city is doing better, but has yet more improvement to make. 

Monitoring Social Media

The Glendale school district is now monitoring postings on social media by their middle and high school students. They are looking for possible violence, drug use, bullying, truancy, suicidal threats, and use of social media during school hours. The monitoring of 14,000 students costs the distract $40,500. The CEO of Geo Listening, Chris Frydrych, hires no more then ten full time employs to monitor these students. Critics relate the monitoring to government stalking, but school officials say the purpose is for the safety of the students. During a trial run last spring they were able to save a student from taking his own life. In a more recent incident they found a student posting a picture of a gun, the parents of the child were contacted and the child was educated on why posting such photos are wrong. No disciplinary action was taken on that child, in fact no discipline as been needed thus far. But there is no question that authorizes will get involved if the incident is severe enough, such as a threat to shooting the school. Frydrych's firm monitors students ages 13 and older, the parents of students that aged do not need to give permission to monitor their child. The principals of the Glendale schools receive a daily email on the comments that may cause concern. Lee Tien, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says that when the government gathers information on what happens out of school crosses a line. School officials state that they do not view what happens on private accounts. Frydrych's firm does not hack into private postings, emails, or texts. Students can easily switch their account setting to "private", avoiding being watched.
-Michael Martinez
- September 14, 2013
- http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/14/us/california-schools-monitor-social-media/index.html?hpt=us_c2

Rush

- Todd McCarthy
- September 3, 2013
- http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/rush/review/619675?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thr%2Fnews+(The+Hollywood+Reporter+-+Top+Stories)

Todd McCarthy's review of Ron Howard's Rush goes in depth on the negative aspects of the movie. McCarthy uses claim of value and claim of fact in his review. Using these claims he does not give the best review, it is not terrible nor is it good. McCarthy's claim of value is "Universal won't be seeing anything resembling Fast & Furious business at the box office." In this movie Hunt's race team is falling apart but he wants to do everything to beat Laude in the race. Hunt's wife leaves him, that public humiliation motivates him to do better. During a race Laude get's into a terrible accident, blaming Hunt for it. In the end those two characters are far too different to be friends. McCarthy does not have much to say about the movie, he uses claim of fact to say  "Morgan hasn't bothered to add more than one dimension... nor to provide especially memorable dialogue." He also says the reason people (women) would see this movie is because of Chris Hemsworth's good looks. McCarthy compares Rush to other race movies, such as Grand Prix and Le Mans to Days of Thunder. He says these movies did a much better job at showing the excitement of the track and developing the drama. McCarthy goes as far as saying a the racing footage is not great, there are no amazing racing sequences. Todd McCarthy gives a strict thumbs down to Rush, a movie starting Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl. It is evident that this review is for the most part a claim of value, because Rush was good enough to make it to The Toronto Film Festival which is second best next to Cannes.

Electronic Cigarettes

In the article "Electronics cigarettes growing in popularity with teens" it says, in the recent years the use of electronic cigarettes among teens has nearly doubled. A new federal report says that one out of ten American teens have used an electronic cigarette, 3% of middle school students have given it a try as well. That means about 1.78 million children and teens have tried smoking a battery powered cigarette. These electronic cigarettes are no better then regular cigarettes, they have nicotine and traces of cancer causing compounds have been found. The battery powered cigarette comes in flavors such as mint or chocolate which has health advocates fearing that it will turn teens on to regular cigarettes. The risk of nicotine addiction because of electronic cigarettes has become a serious concern. 76.3% of e-cigarette smokers have also smoked regular cigarettes. This shows a concern to those students who have had e-cigarettes but have not yet tried regular cigarettes. Smoking is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States. Erika Sward says with all the flavors offered it is no question electronic cigarettes are being marketed toward teens. E-cigarette manufacturers insist that they are not marketing to youth. The FDA has not approved this product, but according to the authors of the study it is critical to develop strategies to prevent sales and use to the youth.
-September 6, 2013
-Karen Kaplan and Monte Morin
- http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-e-cigarettes-20130906,0,2387959.story

Cookies 'n Cream

My favorite ice cream is simple but delicious. Cookies 'n Cream is the flavor I do not get tired of. I was  young when I first tried this ice cream, no older then 8, but ever since then I have always loved it. I love Oreo cookies and vanilla ice cream, this is a cross over of both which is heavenly to eat. This ice cream has been around for a long time, since 1978 (logos). People often call Cookies 'n Cream "King Kong of ice cream" because of how quickly it topped the World's Favorite Ice Cream Flavor list. Cookies 'n Cream is sweet, rich, crunchy, flavorful (asyndeton). There is debate as to who invented this delicious ice cream, but who ever did is someone I will forever be grateful to. Who ever the inventor is must know the change he made in the ice cream lovers life (rhetorical statement). You can eat  this ice cream in a cone, in a bowl, or with a brownie. All of which are good, but my personal preference is to eat it with a cone. Young or old, happy or sad, Cookies 'n Cream is an ice cream people of all ages and moods like. When eating Cookies 'n Cream do not think about your diet, the calories, or your guilt. Just eat and enjoy.

Interracial Couples

-Emily Alpert
-August 31,2013
-http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-adv-interracial-love-20130901,0,1081986.story

Berto Solis and Nancy Thuvanuti are an interracial couple, their families thought they would never last, but they have been together for 6 years. There are many couples in America whom are in the same situation as these two. Since 2000 the number of interracial couples have more then doubled, says U.S Census Bureau. Racially and ethnically mixed couples are more likely unmarried and living together, than married. Scholars wonder why interracial couples are more likely to move in together without being married. They debate as to if it is because interracial couples have more barriers to cross for marriage. It is easier to move in together because couples do not need a blessing from the families like they would for marriage. Older Americans, between the age of 50-64, are disapproving of marrying out of race. The common reason for disapproval is fearing that the culture will get lost. Some couples will be successful in showing their families that other races have a lot in common, but those who are unsuccessful opt with delaying marriage. Others may not have the same acceptance issue with their family, they simply choose to go the untraditional rout and not get married. 12% of same-sex relationships are interracial. Same sex couples have a "smaller marriage market", making them more likely to be open to interracial relationships.