Thursday, March 6, 2014

Save the Tigers!



Police aren’t quite sure yet how Greenpeace activists made it past security at the Procter & Gamble towers Tuesday afternoon, rappelled down the building and strung out 60-foot banners in protest, but they are sure of one thing: The protest drew some attention.

“It was quite an extensive operation they had; all the rappelling gear, banners, these jack braces to prevent anyone inside from opening the windows,” said Cincinnati police Capt. Paul Broxterman.

The environmental activist group is accusing P&G of enabling destruction of rainforests in Indonesia by working with an irresponsible palm oil supplier.

Palm oil is a common ingredient in detergents, shampoos and cosmetics. Greenpeace is specifically objecting to P&G buying supplies from BW Plantation Group and unnamed traders it claims have contributed to the deaths of orangutans and threaten tigers that live in the rainforest.


What do you think?  Is P&G mass murdering orangutans and wiping out the race of sumatran tigers?!

Are these protesters exercising their constitutional freedoms or are they eco-terrorists?

What can/ should you do if anything?

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Blonde Bias?


Gracie Gold could feel herself crooked in the air and knew she was about a second from splatting on the ice.

"No way," she thought. "Not here."

Showing instincts that would impress a cat, Gold managed to save the landings on not one, but two of her jumps in the short program. They may not have been the prettiest landings she's ever had, but they did the trick, keeping alive her chances for a medal at the Sochi Olympics.

Following the short program, Yuna Kim, Adelina Sotnikova and Carolina Kostner make up the top-three with Gold a hefty 5.49 points behind Kostner for third.


Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Black Widow



Of particular concern to Russian authorities at the Sochi Olympics are the "black widows," frequently young women whose husbands have been killed by Russian forces. Last month, Russian security forces published photographs of three such women allegedly planning to bomb the Olympic torch relay, and another of a 22-year-old woman called Ruzanna Ibragimova, who they said might be in the Sochi area.

How common are female suicide bombers?  What motivates them?

Are suicide bombers Crazy?

Monday, February 10, 2014

Sochi's Terrorism Problem


A Man suspected of trying to hijack plane to Sochi was detained in Turkey as passengers were evacuated.

A Ukrainian man tried to hijack a Turkey-bound flight to Sochi, Russia, as the Winter Olympics were kicking off Friday, but the pilot tricked him and landed in Istanbul instead, where he was stealthily detained after a four-hour stand-off on a plane full of passengers, an official said. The hijacking drama came as the Winter Olympics opened in the Russian resort city, with thousands of athletes from around the world pouring into the tightly secured stadium amid warnings the games could be a terrorism target.




Monday, January 27, 2014

Same Love



Call her Queen Commish.

Queen Latifah said she was sworn in as a temporary commissioner by the state of California on Sunday, so the 33 marriages she performed from the Grammy stage during a performance by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Madonna were legal.

The landmark nuptuals took place during a medley of the rap duo's breakout hit "Same Love" — an anthem for same sex marriage advocates — as Latifah stage to officiate the simultaneous wedding of 34 couples of varying ages and sexual orientations. The ceremony continued as Madonna took the stage and performed her own classic "Open Your Heart."


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Exponential Times



We live in an 'information age' and yet the more informed we are the less we seem to know. Watch this video and then answer the questions below.

1.) Do you believe that the last statement about the New York Times is a good or a bad thing? Why or why not?

2.) Is there such a thing as ‘news overload’? (Getting exposed to too much news). How might this affect how people view their news sources?

3.) Twenty years ago, the primary form of the news was the newspaper. Today, the primary sources are websites. How might this change in your lifetime? (Example – getting the news from social networks like Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

4.) How has technology changed in your lifetime? In what ways have these changes been good or bad?

5.) How have these changes affected the way you communicate (both through oral and written language)?

6.) Predict three technological advances  that you believe may happen in the next twenty years that will affect how we communicate with one another.