No Way To Prevent This...

 ,,,. says the only nation where this regularly happens.

A football player, a volleyball striker, a captain of the bowling team and an aspiring artist.

Those were the four students tragically killed in Tuesday afternoon's mass shooting at Oxford High School and who were identified by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

Late Tuesday, authorities said Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Tate Myre, 16, were the three students who initially lost their lives following a five-minute rampage at the Oakland County high school. A fourth student died Wednesday morning: Justin Shilling was 17, authorities said.

On Tuesday morning, the parents of a 15-year-old sophomore walked into Oxford High School to meet face to face with school officials who had grown concerned about their son’s classroom behavior.

Just about three hours after that meeting started, according to law enforcement authorities, the same student, walked into a school bathroom carrying a backpack and emerged with a handgun. He began firing, killing four students and wounding seven people in the deadliest school shooting this year.

Guns have historically been a distinct feature of American life, but school shootings that have become more frequent recently have raised the question of whether the US government should ban people from keeping guns at home.

Some argue that it is far too easy for young people to get their hands on guns to carry out crimes like we saw in Oxford, Michigan earlier this week.

Others argue the importance of keeping guns in preserving our freedom.

What do you think? Why?

Planet of the Humans

No amount of batteries are going to save us, warns director Jeff Gibbs (lifelong environmentalist and co-producer of “Fahrenheit 9/11” and “Bowling for Columbine"). This urgent, must-see movie, a full-frontal assault on our sacred cows, is guaranteed to generate anger, debate, and, hopefully, a willingness to see our survival in a new way—before it’s too late.

Use these questions to join the debate.

Why is the movie called 'Planet of the Humans?'

What is a 'Catch-22?'

The Fiscal Ship

PLAY THE GAME

The Fiscal Ship challenges you to put the federal budget on a sustainable course. Measured as a share of gross domestic product, the federal debt is higher than at any time since the end of World War II and projected to climb to unprecedented levels. America is looking at a permanent, growing mismatch between revenues and spending, and policymakers are faced with difficult decisions about how to reconcile important government priorities—including retirement and health benefits promised to the growing number of old folks—with the tax revenues that the current tax code will yield. Today’s tax code won’t yield enough revenue to pay for basic services of government plus the retirement and health benefits promised to the growing number of old folks. So your mission is to pick from a menu of tax and spending options to reduce the debt from projected levels over the next 25 years. Small changes to spending and taxes won’t suffice. The choices are difficult, but the goal is achievable.

Were you able to keep your 'Fiscal Ship' afloat? What were your goals? What was the key to your success?  What difficult decisions did you have to make?  Why is balancing the budget so complicated? 

What were President Trump's goals?  What did he cut?

Compare his plan to President Biden's.  How were their goals different?

Should we continue spending money we don't have? Why/ not?

*Songs of the Sea.

Debt Clock

In the time it took you to read this the debt has grown by another $50,000!

What is a Budget?
A budget is a financial document used to project future income and expenses. The budgeting process may be carried out by individuals, companies, or governments to estimate projected income and expenses.

The process for preparing a budget includes:

* Listing of all sources of income
* Listing of all required, fixed expenses, like rent/mortgage, utilities, phone
* Listing of other possible and variable expenses.

Use the sheet given to you in class to plan your own Budget for the week.
Can you balance your Wants vs. your Needs?

How can we expect the Federal Government to balance the budget when most Americans are in debt?

Is it American to be in debt?

Are you ready for a Credit Card?

Border Crisis

 

A United States Border Patrol agent on horseback tried to stop a Haitian migrant from entering an encampment on the banks of the Rio Grande near the Acuna Del Rio International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas, on Sept. 19. Related Article.

Why is this picture so disturbing to many?  What is the complicated history of Haiti?

If you were an adviser to the White House, which approach would you recommend:

-stronger policies that would deter people from trying to cross the border

-a more welcoming stance that emphasizes U.S. humanitarian obligations to migrants fleeing economic hardship, political instability and violence.

READ MORE 

Credit...

What Is the Future of Journalism?

 

Do You Live In a News Bubble?

 

The problem with news algorithms is that they trap us in what is known as “filter bubbles” — the digital equivalent of an echo chamber, in which our incoming sources of information have been so customized to us that they simply confirm and reinforce what we already believe. They insulate us from novel and challenging ideas and distort our perception of reality. And oftentimes they do this with our explicit participation when we eagerly provide information that helps websites and platforms “customize” and “personalize” our experiences.

 READ MORE

Cancel Culture

 

So-called "cancel culture" serves the outrage of both the Left and the Right, and it's not going away. Senior contributor Ted Koppel explores what it means, for our politics and our society, with columnist Andrew Sullivan,

A Year of Pandemic

 

President Biden addressed the nation from the White House on the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic hitting the U.S. and the shutdowns that resulted from the virus. During his remarks, the president announced that he will order states to make all adults in the U.S. eligible for COVID-19 vaccines by May 1. He also discussed reopening schools and increasing the number of vaccination sites across the country. At the beginning of his remarks, President Biden said that to date, the number of Americans who died from the virus is 527,726

Biden Approval

According to FiveThirtyEight’s presidential approval tracker,2 54.4 percent of Americans approve of the job Biden is doing as president, while 37.9 percent disapprove (a net approval rating of +16.5 points). At this time last week, 54.3 percent approved and 37.1 percent disapproved (a net approval rating of +17.1 points).

But despite the increased volume of the debate, public opinion on reopening schools is complicated. The issue is not as black-and-white as many are depicting it, and the variations in wording that pollsters use to ask about it can produce different results. Here’s what the polls over the past month do say.

Do you agree with the polls?  Do you think schools should go back 100%?  Why or why not?  How would this decision affect your approval of the President?

Page One Meeting

Take any WCPO 9 news story and rewind it back to its beginning -- before we shoot a frame of video -- and you'll see reporters, managers and producers debating everything you are about to see and hear.

From the initial pitch, through editorial meetings, to writing, revising, editing and finally airing and publication, our news stories go through a complex life cycle.

We Have Met the Enemy...

Walt Kelly’s phrase, “We have met the enemy and he is us” derives from braggadocio during the War of 1812 in which commodore Oliver Hazard Perry reported, “We have met the enemy and they are ours” to William Henry Harrison after the Battle of Lake Erie. That phrase stands with John Paul Jones’s “I have not yet begun to fight,” and Julius Caesar’s “Veni, vidi, vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered) as one of the most famous battle reports in history.

The phrase lives on, not by constant reuse in similar circumstances, but by clever rephrasing in divergent situations. That is what has kept this phrase from becoming a cliché. As it is artfully applied to different scenarios, it continues to tell us about ourselves—and the world around us.

How can it be applied to the current situation in the US Capitol?  

Who is the 'Enemy' in this circumstance and how can he be defeated?

 

Lame Duck

Once the electorate has voted them out, what have politicians accomplished as they linger in office? And how was the term "lame duck" coined? Correspondent Mo Rocca looks at America's time-honored practice of peaceably handing over the reins of presidential power.

Should President Trump resign?  Why or why not?

Let America Be American Again

Langston Hughes' "Let America Be America Again" was written more than eight decades ago, but is just as relevant now as our nation struggles to live up to its promise of freedom and equality.