Dry Shampoo: Life Saver or Health Hazard?

A big beauty trend in healthy hair is to (supposedly) not wash your hair daily. The thought around that is so your hair's natural oils can soak into your hair to give it more shine and hydration. Although, your scalp has different oils than the rest of the body. When not washed often, you collect a build up of dead skin cells and excess oil. When that bacteria grows, it can cause dandruff, itchy scalp, hair flakes and possibly hair loss. 

“Dry shampoos do absorb some of the oil, but they also sit on the scalp and allow the oil to stay there, and again the yeast and the bacteria to overgrow, so use those sparingly,” said Dr. Melissa Piliang, a dermatologist at the Cleveland Clinic.

Source

Only 8% of the world breathes clean air

     According to a recent study by the World Health Organization, 92% of the world population breathes in polluted air.
     This comes a few days after the article I posted about Brazil making a pact to join the Paris Agreement.  I think this statistic just shows how much damage we have caused and how it can directly impact everyone.  In the article, doctors outlined some issues that come with breathing in pollution.  It affects many vital organs like the lungs, heart, and brain.  It also causes premature death, at least 2 million per year.
     I'm so glad that many countries are working together to fix this problem.

Music Industry Aims to Take Down "stream ripping" Sites
By: Chiloo Vang


The music industry is looking to take down "stream ripping" websites beginning with YouTube-MP3.org.  According to Torrent Freak, the music team aiming to sue YouTube-MP3 consists of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI),  Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the U.K.'s British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Being able to rip music from YouTube and turn them into MP3 files makes "stealing" music very quick and easy.  Not only are people ripping music from YouTube but on the website they are able to distribute the music out as well.  The music industry have taken notice of this due to the reported 60 million users on YouTube-MP3.org each month.  

BPI's chief executive Geoff Taylor was interviewed and had some words regarding the lawsuit against YouTube-MP3 and other stream ripping services. "It"s time to stop illegal sites like this building huge fortunes by ripping of artists and labels.  Fans have access now to a fantastic range of legal music streaming services, but they can only exist if we take action to tackle the online black market."

Miles Fired, LSU Expectations Too High?

The LSU Tigers fired their longtime head coach Les Miles this past Sunday, one day after the team's loss to to Auburn 18-13. This is a very bold move to LSU, a school with national championship aspirations each and every season. Miles was said to be on the "hot seat" late last year after not leading the Tigers to the four team College Football Playoff at season's end. Miles is still considered by many to be one of the top coaches and recruiters in the nation.

Personally, I think LSU made a poor-decision in this case. Miles is still a great coach, and will likely get a top job before the start of next season. To my knowledge, he had a good standing with campus administrators and the athletic department as a whole. Rumors are already swirling that USC may look to make a move for Miles before next season. LSU fans and administrators seem to feel that their team is on the level of a Ohio State or Alabama, where they should be winning their conference and contending for titles on a yearly basis. A reality check may be coming, as the only real big time head coaching candidate out there is Tom Herman at Houston. Herman seems to love his situation at Houston and will likely not leave there so soon, especially after the success he has had.

LSU may be on the verge of a down slide, all because their big time coach has struggled for a short time span. LSU is in need of a reality check, and it looks like it is coming sooner than later.

For more on this news check out this article.

Priests Murdered in Violent City in Mexico. Is Anyone Safe?

People paying respects to  Rev. Jose Alfredo Suarez de la Cruz, on of the slain, at his funeral. September 21, 2016.

Two priests were found shot to death on outside the town of Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico, the town the priests had once called home. Revs. Jose Alfredo Suarez de la Cruz and  Alejo Nabor Jimenez were two of the 14 priests killed in Mexico since Pres. Enrique Pena Nieto took office in 2012, and at least 30 have been killed since 2006.

The state of Veracruz is well-known for it's violence and fatalities, mostly the fatalities of criminals. However, it's a very rare and shocking occurrence that two respected, religious leaders in the community have been slain. The church is outraged at the authority's inability to protect church officials.

To read more about the conditions of the state of Veracruz, Mexico, click here: http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/regional_news/latin-america/priests-murders-rattle-mexican-city-gripped-by-violence/article_ad0f7454-e822-5569-ac10-5ef862b739e1.html 

The Next Battle Against ISIS

The Next Battle Against ISIS

 By Hailey Lawrence

 

Before  going into one of the most highly anticipated battle to retake the city of Mosul, US and Iraqi troops have one more battle to fight in their strategical way to defeat ISIS--a tactical and a psychological battle.

US troops at an Iraqi military base will be training troops for the Mosul battle

The city of Mosul has been under ISIS control since June 10, 2014, according to Daily Beast. At that time, Iraqi troops occupied it but fled due to the number of ISIS fighters. ISIS claimed Mosul to be their capital in Iraq. Since then, many operations have been in effect to retake Mosul from ISIS, many including air strikes and the US training Iraqi troops which will come to a close mid-October. The numbers needed to take back Mosul would require as many as 12 Iraqi brigades, as well as an untold number of Iraqi police, Kurdish peshmerga forces, and Shiite-dominated militias, according to the latest US estimates. Furthermore, on Wednesday, the Pentagon said that they will be sending 615 US troops to help fight alongside Iraqi troops.

While the numbers and strength seem very promising, there is one last thing to do before taking back Mosul--annex ISIS so they have nowhere else to go.

The last battle before the battle at Mosul will include taking the city of Hawijah from ISIS. The city has a population of 450,000 and is one of the last cities that ISIS has control over. In previous battles for reclaiming cities, ISIS has struggled with holding onto cities before fleeing to other cities. Because of this, they have focused more on claiming and keeping control over Mosul more than any other city. When Hawijah is taken, ISIS will have nowhere else to flee to. It is considered a tactical and a psychological victory, defense officials say. This operation will be quick and easy; it will be done long before the battle at Mosul will take place. Victory is nearly certain.

“We can’t say for certain because it is up to the Iraqis, but it looks like that is where they are headed next,” one defense official explained to The Daily Beast. “It’s back clearing.”

After the battle at Hawijah, ISIS will only have Mosul and after the taking of Mosul, that would be considered the "final battle" to rid Iraq of ISIS. The battle to take back Mosul is said to begin in early November.

Click here to learn more

Congress Overrides Obama's Veto

For the first time in President Obama's tenure, Congress voted on Wednesday to override his veto, overriding the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, the bill that would allow families of the victims of Sept. 11th to sue Saudi Arabia. It was overwhelmingly bipartisan, with the Senate voting 97 to 1 and the House voting 348 to 77. According to Steinhauer, Mazzetti, and Davis' article, "The law allows families of the Sept. 11 victims to alter lawsuits already underway — or file new suits — to directly sue Saudi Arabia and to demand documents and other evidence. It amends a 1976 law that grants foreign countries broad immunity from American lawsuits. Now nations can be sued in federal court if they are found to have played any role in terrorist attacks that killed Americans on United States soil." The confusing part of this is that the Sept. 11 investigatory commission found, "'no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded' Al Qaeda, the terror group that carried out the attacks."

Understandably, President Obama was not thrilled about the results of the vote, saying that he had hoped that Congress would have done what's hard."[I]f you’re perceived as voting against 9/11 families right before an election, not surprisingly, that’s a hard vote for people to take," he said, and that sums up the difficulty of Congressional voting while running for re-election. 34 senators and all 435 members of the House are on the ballot in November, and now more than ever, their actions in their job are under scrutiny. Now, instead of the results of the bill taking precedence, the optics of how one voted becomes the number one reason for actions, which can make it pretty difficult for a member of Congress to do his or her job. If this bill had come up for vote another time, maybe the results would have been different; maybe the president would have been able to sway more members of Congress; maybe it wouldn't have gotten to the president's desk in the first place. But one thing we know for sure, in an election year, substance matters less; what matters more is how the public sees you. And, for good or bad, this can- and has- heavily dictate how our public servants act. This is a practice that has been in motion for many years but with campaigns and elections on the precipice of huge change, this is going to play an even bigger role. And it is up to us as voters to decide which matters more.

New York Public Library gives away free wireless internet

According to the Staten Island Advance,  the Department of Education and the mayor's office will give public school students who qualify free, wireless internet, loaned out for a year.

Teaming up with Google, Sprint and the New York Public Library (NYPL) will give the students the the option to borrow one of the 5,000 free hotspots. Families qualify if they have a fine free library card, at least one child in pre-k to 12th grade,  and attend a lending event at a branch.

MoMA's Entire Exhibition Goes Live Online

The Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) has launched a new digital archive of every exhibition it has ever staged since its opening in 1929. The MoMA may exclusively feature contemporary art, but it has been around for quite some time now. From Van Gogh, to Andy Warhol, to work by modern-day singer and Artist Bjork, the MoMA houses a permanent collection of 150,000 pieces that has just been released online.

The first exhibition spotlighted works by Cezanne, Gaugin, Seurat and Van Gogh, uniting four great post-impressionists. Since then, the MoMA has celebrated 3,000 exhibitions of paintings, performance art, film, photography, and design.

MoMA states that they will be continuing to update the collection as a living publication. The collection itself is a modern form of art special to those of us living in this digital age. The increased accessibility of modern art will be influential to artists everywhere. The archives can be found here on the MoMA website.

Brian Anderson, Skateboarding Star, comes out as Gay

   Brian Anderson, Skateboarding Star, comes out as Gay 

     Last week Brian Anderson, a professional skateboarder of many years known for his achievements of  Thrasher Skater of the Year and World Championship winner in an event in Germany, announced to thousands or more that he was gay.
    Brian Anderson is the first professional skater to openly say that he is gay.
    He posted on Instagram to over 40,000-plus Instagram followers to prepare themselves for a forthcoming video which was telling everybody how he is gay and how he came about telling people he was gay.
    Linked here is a video of the story of Brian Anderson, on being gay.

Finally, A Face to this Crime

  

 It's April 15th, 1992 and Lisa Ziegert of Southern Massachusetts was at work at a card shop when all of a sudden she disappeared. All of her belongings were left behind. In the years to follow, police had chased down thousands of leads, and looked at hundreds of suspects with no success until now. 
    It is 2016, 24 years after Ziegert's murder and a new DNA process called phenotyping has helped to try and put a face to the killer. When the police first found Ziegert's body, they found a sliver of DNA. They are now using that DNA with phenotyping to create a potential face picture. The process of phenotyping uses DNA to make predictions about the suspects ancestry, eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling and face shape.
    Ziegerts killer was likely a man of European decent with fair skin. He had brown or hazel eyes and brown or black hair. There is a 40% chance he had freckles. 
   “For the first time in twenty-four years, we have a face to this crime, No expense, effort, or means will be spared to bring the person(s) to justice who killed Lisa. We will never forget her.”  said Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni. 

Below is an image that depicts what the suspect would have looked like at age 25, and at age 50.

This was the first real breakthrough in Ziegert's case in decades. Unfortunately, phenotyping is inadmissible as evidence in court. But it brings life into cases that have been long cold. 

For the suspect picture and article, click here
For Lisa Ziegert's picture, click here

Welcome to Atlanta

Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) had dabbled in many different forms of media. He is an amazing musical artist and producer. He has been featured in films, and has now fallen into the realm of television. Glover's series community is a comical show guaranteed to make you laugh, and now he has another show; Atlanta. Though the show premiered on FX just a few weeks ago it has already been renewed for a second season! I am excited to say the least. Go check out Atlanta on FX Tuesdays at 9 PM.

Snapchats first hardware product

September 24th Snapchat announced the arrival of its first hardware product! Spectacles are sunglasses outfitted with a camera that will capture up to 10 second videos and send them to your Snapchat Memories feed. From there your can post them to your Snapchat story. The glasses, which will cost $130 and be available to buy sometime this fall.

click here to see these glasses in action ----->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqkOFLBSJR8

Week 3 starts here

The IRS orders a few million dollars from Nelly and his fans are seeking to help him pay it back.

By: Chiloo Vang









https://cbsstlouis.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/gettyimages-471942486.jpg?w=640&h=360&crop=1



TMZ is reporting that the IRS wants the 41-year-old rapper Nelly to pay up what he owes to them, $2,412,283.  TMZ also goes on to say that sources have mentioned that Nelly has already began working on resolving the issue.

Nelly's fans heard about the demand by the IRS and have started a trending hashtag on social media, #SaveNelly, in attempt to spread awareness and help the fellow rapper out.  Besides spreading the hashtag around, fans have been going onto music streaming apps such as Spotify to play his songs in order to create a small amount of revenue for Nelly.

According to Spin, his songs would have to be streamed between 287,176,547 and 402,880,500 times in order to generate the amount needed for pay off the IRS.

Brazil pledges to join the Paris Agreement

     Unless you've been living on the mountain tops or deep in the woods, it would be safe to assume you have heard of climate change; it is no secret.

     Whatever your beliefs may be, it is an issue and the United Nations (UN) have been making strides to make developing countries more sustainable and environmentally friendly.  Last year in December the UN made a pact to "keep a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels." According to the UN's website. This is known as the Paris Agreement.

     This week Brazil decided to make a pact to join the agreement.  This is really big news, since Brazil takes up 47% of South America.  It could potentially lead other countries in South America to join in on the Paris Agreement and make a bigger impact in the right way for the environment.

      One of my favorite sites to read news, Vox, made an interesting article about climate change that has a diagram of how the temperature of the Earth tends to fluctuate and what the recent trends are going toward.  Seeing that more countries are joining the Paris Agreement gives me more hope for the future and I look forward to seeing the projected trend broke.

Teenager to be Next Drug Kingpin in Honduras?

The father (left) and uncle (right) of the arrested minor, drug cartel leaders Luis Alonso Valle Valle

 and Miguel Arnulfo Valle Valle upon their own arrests in 2014 for drug trafficking.

A minor charged with the murder of three people was released from jail upon rumors of him being the next in line for his father’s drug organization.

The son of the notorious criminal Luis Alonso Valle Valle was released just days after his arrest, due to “lack of evidence”.

On September 9^th, police detained Valle Valle’s son, as well as two other suspects; a number of weapons were found and seized during the arrest.

This wouldn’t be the first time a Valle Valle family member has been arrested. Valle Valle and his brother, the minor’s uncle, Miguel Arnulfo were arrested and extradited to the U.S. in 2014 for drug trafficking.

The Valle Valle family has affiliations and connections to drug trafficking and infamous criminals, and has been under investigation for years.

To read more about the charges of the Valle Valle minor, and about the Valle Valle crime family with its connections to drug trafficking, click here: http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/honduras-minor-latest-heir-to-father-criminal-throne

Note: the name and picture of the arrested minor was left out of this article for legal reasons.

NCAA Games Exceeding 4 Hours

NCAA football games have always been longer than their NFL counterparts, but this is starting to get a little ridiculous. Stats show that the average FBS games have lasted around 3 hours and 25 minutes so far this season. The NFL averages just over 3 hours per game. There has been three games that exceeded 4 hours so far this season and a few more that have approached that mark as well.

This issue is becoming more of a focus for universities located in the southern portion of the country due to concerns for fans, players, and coaches dealing with the higher humidity. There are several reasons for the college game exceeding the pro game in length. These include longer halftime and time stoppage for first downs.

There is not a major push by conferences or the NCAA as a whole to make changes to decrease game times. I would recommend moving to the NFL clock rules but maintaining a longer halftime, as the band is a huge part of college football games.

Check out the article from ABC News here

Share your thoughts on NCAA game length below.

ISIS Suspected of Using Mustard Gas Against US Troops

ISIS Suspected of Using Mustard Gas Against US Troops

By Hailey Lawrence

 

ISIS attempted to attack the Qayyara air base in Iraq with what was believed to be mustard gas on Tuesday where US and Iraqi troops are stationed. 

The Qayyara air base in Iraq where US and Iraq troops were attacked by ISIS

The artillery or rocket shell landed on the base that is just south of Mosul, a ISIS-occupied city that US and Iraqi troops are making an effort to take back from them. While the attack appeared to be a threat to some, US officials said they they "had expected" that ISIS would try to use chemical warfare as US and Iraqi troops advance towards Mosul, according to CNN. 

The Pentagon is currently working on proving if it is ISIS or not, but it is highly suspected since ISIS has been known to use mustard gas. In an effort to stop their chemical warfare campaign, the US has been doing airstrikes on several locations that are believed to be chemical production plants, such as mustard gas. 

The chemical was poorly weaponized and was seen as ineffective, said officials.

Because of this, there was no harm done to soldiers. There were no US troops that were hurt or displayed symptoms of being exposed to mustard gas. As a safety precaution, those who were involved in the incident went through decontamination showers.

While the attack was unexpected, US troops are supplied with gear and equipment in the event of a chemical weapons attack in the future. Do you think we have to fear for the future of chemical warfare?

To learn more about the attack, click here 

Former President George W. Bush's Art Book To Be Released At Exhibition in March 2017

George W. Bush To Release An Art Book...

Former President George W. Bush will be releasing an art book February 2017, and an exhibition of this collection will be on view March 2, 2017 at Dallas' George W. Bush Presidential Center.

The upcoming book, Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribune to America's Warriors, will feature 66 portraits of men and women who have served in the military since 9/11, according to the Huffington post.

The art is meant to highlight the issues veterans face when they return home from service. Bush has included a story along with each portrait that explains the veteran's experiences with both war and civilian life.

Although the subject matter is extremely important, there are many themes obviously relevant that you may not find in Portraits of Courage such as, “paintings of prisoners held without trial at Guantanamo Bay, paintings of the millions of Americans who lost their homes during the 2008 financial crisis, or paintings of ‘the ghost of the Iraqi child that follows him everywhere.’"said Carey Dunne on Hypoallergenic.

Despite criticism from the art and political worlds, all proceeds will benefit a non-profit organization focused on helping post-9/11 veterans.

Stumpf Falters, Warren Triumphs in Senate Hearing

Senator Warren questions Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf Tuesday
during Senate hearing

In Senate hearings held Tuesday, Senators from both sides of the aisle were not shy in sharing their disappointment in Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf. But it was Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren who seemed to prevail, and many are praising her intense questioning and frank candor. Wells Fargo is being fined $185 million by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after it was discovered that "as many as 2 million fake bank and credit card accounts were opened by employees under intense pressure to meet steep sales goals and reap bonuses," according to Victoria McGrane's  article in The Boston Globe.

Senator Warren called for Mr. Stumpf's resignation after asking many pointed questions about Mr. Stumpf's position in the company and on the board, the fate of senior executives, as well as Mr. Stumpf's personal financial gains made from the fraudulent activity. His unwillingness to take responsibility for the actions of his bank rang reminiscent of "not my circus, not my monkeys," except for it being his circus crumbling to the ground and his monkeys acting under the pressure set forth by him, the Ringmaster.

Senator Warren's accuracy in her questioning of Mr. Stumpf and the answers- or lack thereof-  it produced shows us what thorough and detailed research can help uncover and reminds us all that putting in the work can go a long way.

You can watch Senator Warren's questioning of Wells Fargo CEO Mr. Stumpf here, and I can tell you, its worth the 18 minutes.

   

  At 67, Force Gets 146th Career Win

Last Sunday (9/18/16) John force won the Countdown-opening NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C. for his 146th career victory and his third of the season as well. John Force is 67 years old and is a 16-time.
    The car that he drives is a Chevy Camaro Funny car that goes 3.946 seconds at about 324.05mph the fastest car on the earth. To give a better idea of how fast these cars really go I posted a video below.
   

   

Fitness Trackers: Health Enhancement or Fashion Trend?

In a study done by John Jakicic, a researcher of health and physical activity at the University of Pittsburgh, took two years to see whether or not fitness trackers really help with weight loss.

He gathered 470 overweight adults, all agreeing to eat healthy and exercise regularly for the sake of the experiment. Half of the adults were asked to self report their progress while the other half were given fitness trackers. Overall, the participants without fitness trackers lost 13 pounds. The ones with the devices lost only about 7.7 pounds.

"These technologies are focused on physical activity, like taking steps and getting your heart rate up," says Jakicic. "People would say, 'Oh, I exercised a lot today, now I can eat more.' And they might eat more than they otherwise would have." Additionally, when seeing the results on the tracker might motivate one person, yet discourage another. Therefore not having the same value to each consumer.

"Overall, it doesn't look like assigning someone wearable technology will make that big of a difference," says Jakicic.

Source

"Stop and Frisk": Trumps Idea for Fighting Crime

Stop and Frisk, what does that mean?

 This is a practice that allows police to detain and search people based on a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. According to Donald Trump at a speaking event on Wednesday, "I would do stop-and-frisk. I think you have to. We did it in New York, it worked incredibly well. And you have to be proactive."

The idea of Stop and Frisk has to be based on "specific and articulable facts". This is a controversial idea because sometimes police do not have specific evidence of a crime being committed. Critics of this idea say it creates racial profiling and disproportionately affects minorities. 

When Trump referes to New York city, he is talking about the drop in crime when Rudy Guiliani was Mayor. Guiliani is one of Trump's supporters, and he connected the drop in crime to the stop-and-frisk program. It has been proven that there were other factors related to the drop in crime that weren't necessarily correlated to the stop-and-frisk program. By 2013 Mayor Bill de Blasio was committed to stopping the program all together in New York City. 

Trumps comments come in the aftermath of two fatal police shootings of African Americans over the last week and the protests that have erupted. 

For a link to this article and picture above, click here

Nike's Self-lacing Shoes are Coming

Nike is creating new shoe designs on a daily basis. In the article, Nike talks about one of its newest and most technological yet, which they say is similar to the self-lacing shoe seen in the movie Back to the Future II. The HyperAdapt 1.0, have an official release date of November 28.

TheHyperAdapt will require charging, the batteries that are included, which has to be done by a magnetic adapter. It will take three hours to get a full charge and Nike anticipates the battery will last about two weeks between recharges.Wearers will adjust the laces by pressing a "+" button by the tongue of the shoe to tighten and a "-" button to loosen. Lights on the side indicate how much battery power remains and give you an idea of when you should recharge. Blue is a full charge, yellow signals a few days' worth of battery life remains, and red means you should get to your charger said Tiffany Beers, a senior innovator at Nike.

Pretty Little Liars Final Season

Pretty Little Liars an, ABC network show, has officially announced its last season. In a final interview that was posted on Facebook, the ladies of the series announced that they would still be perusing their acting careers and doing different work, that they loved one another, and have learned so much from the experience. After seven seasons of intense drama, I do not know what I will do to fill my time! Last season's trailer was posted on YouTube and I am devastated. Who wants to cry with me?
Pretty Little Liars Season 7 Trailer

SGNL Watchband turn your hand in to a phone!

The Sgnl watchband wraps around your wrist and works by sending vibrations through your whole hand. By sticking your index finger into your ear, you can hear those vibrations as clear sound. Combine this watchband with a smart watch and you won't even have to pull you phone out of your pocket.

Click here to see this Watchband in action!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40LfELeoAIw

Self-driving cars; paving the road to a better environment?

Lately self driving cars are becoming more of a trend.  For now, it's only for the mega rich, but later down the road they will become more affordable for the working class.  What does this mean?

According to a Time magazine article, it would mean about 90% less emissions into the environment, ideally anyways.  However, it would also mean miles traveled per trip.  We all like convenience and if we are not driving, what is a few extra miles to the mall or grocery store? Unfortunately, this would mean more emissions into the atmosphere, which is something everyone should be worried about.  

There is a small group of researcher who are trying to fix the problem before it becomes a huge problem.  Some are talking to the programmers about making more direct routes to each destination, to lessen the amount of time on the road.  While other are talking to politicians about the potential of rewarding those who carpool and do not have the cars driving around unattended.

Still there are so much potential with self-driving cars and I am excited to see how it takes off!  

New African-American museum in D.C. stands out architecturally

Los Angeles Times

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is set to open Sept. 24 in Washington D.C. Carefully situated near the National Mall, the Smithsonian, and the Commerce Department, the NMAAHC poses as an architectural anomaly. The $540 million museum is coated with bronze panels of a lattice pattern drawn from the ironwork of early slaves. Its contemporary design contrasts greatly against the blank, neoclassical architectural style D.C. is well-known for.

While our nation's capital remains a place of patriotism, the NMAAHC stands defiantly to remind the nation of an issue that has always been prevalent, but is often shied away from discussing - and that is the issue of racial discrimination. However, with the Black Lives Matter movement and the refusal of professional athletes to stand during the national anthem, race has increasingly become hard to ignore; the NMAAHC aims to do just that. It not only reminds us of our faults as a nation, but our ongoing efforts to confront our shortcomings while coming up with solutions at political, social, and artistic levels.

Carriers driving up iPhone 7 sales by offering them for free

Apple has headlined the month of September with the release of its new iPhone 7 and the second series of the companies iWatch.  With the official release of them being today, September 16, people have only been able to preorder them. This release of an iPhone has been the biggest one to record according to phone companies, but Apple hasn't released any sales numbers as to how many.

Now to help increase the sales and competitiveness; Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile are all offering promos that allow customers to get iPhone 7s free of charge by trading in their old iPhone models and committing to two-year contracts. Others are now providing the ability for you to start a new trade in contract that allows you to upgrade to the newest iPhone in a yearly upgrade contract.

Some information that Apple has released is how it has been doing as a company in our economy this week. This week alone Apple shares added 3.5 percent to close at $111.83. That capped an increase of 8 percent this week which has brought Apple’s market capitalization to $602 billion, its highest level in the past nine months. This company continues to strive in the global economy.

http://nypost.com/2016/09/14/apple-is-driving-up-iphone-7-sales-by-offering-them-for-free/

Doctors Push to Change Rules in Professional Sports

        Doctors Push to Change the Rules of Professional sports mostly aimed at football. If anyone has played sports before then you would know all the injuries that are possible such as strains to muscles, cramps, head injuries or even broken bones. Doctors are pushing to change things up so that people are less likely to come across things like these in professional sports.
        As mentioned in the article "The downside is that protecting players from one injury can lead to injury in other areas." Some things that are mentioned are things like "No longer allowed to hit high, football players are aiming low, spurring an increase in Knee injuries."
       Many players would rather have a head injury than a knee or lower body injury because it puts them out most of the time for the whole entire season.
       I do believe that they should maybe make some changes to professional sports mostly aimed towards football because it is very easy to get injuries, but on the other hand, I do not think that it is such a good idea.        
       One reason that I do not think that this would be a good idea is because it is taking away the fun in the sport to the point where it will just be touch football and not tackle football, and no one would want to see it go that far.    

Article : http://www.sportingnews.com/other-sports/news/doctors-push-for-rule-changes-in-professional-sports-to-help-keep-players-safe/1di68rjhsboae10ou934bjx1sq

Lady Gaga in talks to perform at the 2017 Super Bowl halftime show in Houston, Texas.
By: Chiloo Vang


http://www.eonline.com/news/794386/lady-gaga-in-talks-to-play-the-2017-super-bowl-halftime-show


Multi-platinum singer and actress, Lady Gaga, is reportedly in talks with the NFL to perform at this upcoming Super Bowl in Houston, Texas according to sources at Billboard.  She was just at the last Super Bowl earlier this year singing the national anthem prior to the game's kickoff and it seems that the NFL took notice of this.  Although it hasn't been 100% confirmed, a NFL rep has responded to the rumor that of Lady Gaga performing at the upcoming halftime show, "At this point we do not have a final decision.  We're happy there's so much excitement about the show."

Lady Gaga is arguably one of the most popular singers in the world with millions of album sold so it wouldn't be a surprise if she was picked for the show.  With a large discography of music and previous great performances on stages such as the Academy Awards, she is no slouch when it comes to impressing the audience.  On September 9, 2016 she release a brand new song, "Perfect Illusion," from her upcoming album for those who may happen to be unfamiliar with the singer's music.  Only in due time will we finally know whether Lady Gaga will be the confirmed choice or not but we'll have a good time waiting as we continue to root for our favorite football team to make it to the Super Bowl!

The Growing War Between ISIS and Boko Haram

The Growing War Between ISIS and Boko Haram

By Hailey Lawrence

Abubakar Shekau, former Boko Haram leader

After shocking the world with their allegiance, the world's deadliest terror groups, ISIS and Boko Haram, might be in the most dramatic break-up in history over the value of each other's morals.

After having Boko Haram pledge its loyalty to ISIS in 2015, ISIS had strong influence in West Africa. ISIS put their trust in former Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau to head their new campaign in West Africa. In a very surprising change of opinion by ISIS, ISIS deemed Shekau's notorious actions as "disappointing" and "was accused of 'perverting' Islam", according to David Choi of Business Insider.

The perversion of values that ISIS is accusing Shekau of includes--but not limited to--sending child suicide bombers into mosques and crowded places. Shekau is known for being very violent in his campaigns for Islam, according to political analyst Issoufou Yahaya.

"You can't really be more barbaric and savage...," Yahaya said. "He is the pinnacle of barbarism."

Those who didn't join Shekau were seen as targets in his campaign, including Muslims. ISIS noticed his strategy and they had enough. With that, ISIS replaced Shekau with a new leader, a new "governor," according to Business Insider. Abu Musab al-Barnawia is the newly appointed governor that was formally announced in a ISIS newspaper. Shekau saw no reference of him as a leader and thus, the feud between Boko Haram and ISIS began.

Since their split, Shekau has been in a battle to prove who is the more powerful leader against al-Barnawia.

While al-Barnawia is now backed by ISIS, Shekau has more resources and has more control in territory and wealth. al-Barnawia's forces are small, considering he says his campaign will focus on eliminating Nigerian Christians by  “booby-trapping and blowing up every church ... and killing all those we find from the citizens of the cross.” Shekau has a loyal force that, unless driven towards al-Barnawia's campaigns, will give him the advantage of having a more formidable group. Atta Barkindo, a Nigerian insurgency analyst, says that unless al-Barnawia is directly given support by ISIS, their forces will dwindle as they have been losing territory and sources of revenue within the past month. For all that we know, its only a matter of time before we truly see if ISIS and Boko Haram will recover from this feud.

Will a stronger force come out of this or is this the beginning of a crumbling system? Only time will tell.

For more information, click here

Image source

Facebook and Twitter Coalition

Facebook and Twitter Coaltion

Social media started the fight against Fake News Stories, which now includes giant social platforms Facebook,and Twitter. Announed Tuesday by First Draft News backed up google, reported 20 other news organizations will partner with Facebook and Twitter as to get of the "toxic"  fake news stories off of the internet. "Filtering out false information can be hard. Even if news organizations only share fact-checked and verified stories, everyone is publisher and a potential source," said by the managing director of First Draft

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/facebook-twitter-join-coalition-improve-online-news-193958420.html

Death of black 19-year-old, Charges: Hate Crime

Hate Crimes have begun to sweep the nation lately.

 This particular case of a Portland,Oregon man and his girlfriend running down a 19-year-old black man isn't the first one of it's kind, but it is unique in its own ways.

On August 10th, Russell Orlando Courtier, 38, with the help of his girlfriend Colleen Hunt,35, fought and ran down Larnell Malik Bruce, 19 outside a Gresham 7-Eleven. It all started with an argument, which then turned physical. It was heard Hunt shouting during the fight,"Get him, baby, get him". While at the time, Bruce had been armed with a machete.

Soon after the argument, Courtier and Hunt got into his 1991 Jeep Wrangler and begun to chase down Bruce around the 7-Eleven parking lot. The video cameras clearly show Bruce ducking, running, and weaving around the parking lot on foot. The surveillance videos then show Courtier's jeep turning around and quickly accelerating towards Bruce.

The videos do not show the moments that Bruce was struct, but a responding officer later found Bruce unconscious on the ground bleeding from his ears and head.

Bruce died of his injuries 3 days later.

Now what caused these two people to argue and then kill a black man they did not know? It still isn't clear what the argument's had been about, but according to Courtiers Facebook pictures, he has a tattoo of the letters "EK". These initials may stand for European Kindred which is connected to a white supremacist gang. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough evidence to charge him of a hate crime.

Investigators then began to further analyze the couples motives and past records, along with witness statements and experts on white supremacists. This then led a jury to re-indict the couple Monday.

According to Oregon state law, a charge of intimidation means the defendants are accused of acting based on their race, color, religion, and disability. Courtier is pleading not guilty to charges of first-and-second degree intimidation.

Hunt denies any involvement in the death of Bruce, and pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree intimidation.

To read this article, click here.
Images from link above.

Help for Flint May Be in Sight

After years of waiting, there is finally a glimmer of hope for the residents of Flint, Michigan. The Senate- in a largely bipartisan vote- approved legislation that would give $270 million to the people of Flint and other communities plagued by lead-contaminated water. This is a big win, not only for Flint residents, but for Michigan senators, who have been pushing to include aid for Flint in other pieces of legislation. In addition to this aid, the bill provides $9 billion to repair damage to water infrastructure in 17 states.

According to Coral Davenport in her article for the New York Times, “The Flint package would provide $100 million in grants to assist states with drinking water emergencies and $70 million to subsidize loans for water infrastructure projects. It would provide $50 million in grants to help small and disadvantaged communities comply with drinking water standards, $30 million in grants to reduce lead exposure among children, and $20 million to develop a national lead exposure registry.”

While this may seem like a good fix, many (including myself) are hesitant to declare victory just yet. In her article, Davenport consults Stephen Ellis- the vice president of a nonpartisan “budget watchdog” organization called Taxpayers for Common Sense- who, concerning the funding for Flint, is thinking past tomorrow. “The question will be whether Congress will make this a priority in the future, or is this just a flash in the plan,” he says. As the world saw with Flint, this community has had to- and likely will continue to- deal with the aftermath of the effects of lead in their water. Will Flint, and communities like it, be given the long term help that they deserve, or will they be forgotten by the next news cycle?

But more pressing is the action of the House. “The House is expected to take up a smaller $5 billion water infrastructure bill next week,” Davenport writes, “but it does not include the Flint spending.” Members are trying to attach the Flint spending to other legislation to ensure that this Flint spending becomes a reality. Said Representative Dan Kildee who represents Flint, “We just need to get it to the president’s desk.”

Although the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 with the Flint spending passed overwhelmingly in the Senate- 95-3-, in regards to its future in the House, “its prospects…remain unclear.”

Small-Town Honduran Mayor Arrested, the Reason Why Will Shock You

Mayor Delvin Salgado arrested and escorted by police (Source: © BBC, 2016)

Mayor Delvin Salgado of El Negrito, Honduras was arrested September 7^th on suspicion of associating and directing a group of assassins.

Salgado was not the only public official arrested on this charge. Honduran authorities investigated 35 deputy mayors and mayors for being linked to organized crime in as early as 2015.

Although he claimed his innocence to both the public and the courts, this was not Salgado's first arrest. This menacing mayor was also accused of murders between 2013 and 2014, along with having affiliations to criminal groups. 

Unfortunately, unscrupulous leaders and high levels of violence are both very common issues present in Honduras. Honduras' underdevelopment, as well as its history of crime and poverty, still leaves the country at a state of unrest. Nicknamed one of the murder capitols of the world, Honduras' murder rate in 2014 was 84.6, and it will only keep on rising. Police crackdown on corruption is a wake-up call as to how much crime is in Honduras than what most people initially thought.

To read more, go to http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-37348638

What Concerns Americans The Most About Their Health?

Dr. John Wald, medical director of public affairs at the Mayo Clinic helped conduct a survey in order to get an opinion on American's health concerns. Cancer surpasses any health issue across the board according to the survey. 

"This survey allows us to extend this same principle beyond the walls of our campuses to assess the current state of the American health consumer and to begin to define gaps and opportunities to better interact and educate these same consumers," he said. "It is only through effective listening that you begin to define the best solutions." 

Source

NEW! Apple Air Pods

Apple has introduced the next cutting edge device in head wear technology. The Apple Air Pods. These are the first Bluetooth wireless ear buds Apple has ever come out with. They are described by apple as "Simplicity and technology, together like never before."

Picture from apple.com

For a video and more information on that Apple Air pods click on this link here--->> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc6eQMcLdBc

What Are Your Plans for Valentines Day

Yesterday morning (Tuesday September 14th) the internet went crazy! 50 Shades Darker, part two of a three part trilogy released its official trailer, time stamped with a Valentine's Day release date! The 50 Shades trilogy began as a set of books written by E.L. James, which then evolved into a movie deal with Universal Pictures. Three books means three movies! The first movie, 50 Shades of Grey produced an opening day box office gross of $36,752,460 and an opening weekend gross of $85,171,450, breaking a record previously held by the Twilight Saga. 50 Shades Darker will be in theaters everywhere February 14, 2017. I will be there, will you?

Did the NCAA & ACC Just Break the HB2 Camel's Back?

The Atlantic Coast Conference has followed the lead of the NCAA by deciding to pull all neutral-site championships from the state of North Carolina in opposition to the state's House Bill 2 that limits transgender people to using restrooms in government buildings as stated by their birth certificate. Emma Margolin of NBC News provides the details in her article Will NCAA, ACC Pullout of North Carolina Be Final Straw for HB2 Bathroom Law?.

This is crushing blow to the state of North Carolina, which will lose, according to the article, nearly $450 million in tourism and local convention business. The NCAA was not the first major sport entity to pull games from the state, as the NBA decided to pull the All-Star Game from Charlotte earlier this summer. Other major attractions have also been pulled from the state including a Bruce Springsteen show.

The Republican leadership in North Carolina has dug its feet in on the HB2 bill and plans no changes unless they are forced to by the courts.  Representatives of the GOP have called the decision by the NCAA and ACC "so absurd it's almost comical." However, both the University of North Carolina and Duke University, the state's major schools, have supported the NCAA and ACC in their decision.

Ultimately, like everything else, this decision seems it will come down to money. The state is losing a large amount of revenue, and if things continue this way, I cant see how the legislature does not eventually move to repeal HB2. If protesting against the social injustice does not create a change, the economic fallout certainly will.

Look out for more major events to be pulled from the state of North Carolina in the future.



Image from: http://www.ncaa.org/

3 steps to a perfect score on this assignment

This is where we will be blogging this semester about the news.

You will find that Google News Alerts will make this assignment a lot easier.

As you can tell, this is not a great blog post.

You can do much better!