Lauren Hodes- Week 24- Prince Phillip dies at age 99

    Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh died on April 9th, 2021 at the age of 99. The Buckingham Palace issued a statement regarding his death which said "it is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.” Prince Phillip has 4 children Charles, Prince of Wales, Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. He is also the grandfather of future King William and Prince Harry. Additionally, he has 10 great-grandchildren including the future King George. He was born on June 10, 1921 in Corfu, Greece to Princess Alice and Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark. Although his 4 sisters all married high-ranking Nazi officials, his mother Princess Alice hid Jewish families during the Holocaust and was recognized as a Yad Vashem righteous among the nations. Because of this honor, she was buried in the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem (Phillip attended a ceremony in her honor at Yad Vashem). Additionally, during WW2, Prince Phillip was a high ranking commander in the Royal Navy. His great accomplishments throughout the years most definitely make him someone to look up to. Prince Phillip and the Queen of England were married 73 years which is so amazing and something to really admire. They met when the Queen was just 13 years old and Prince Phillip was 18! Through the tragedy of his death, I feel so horrible for the Queen because I cannot imagine losing your best friend and husband of 73 years. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/obituaries/prince-philip-dead.html

Dori Week 24- Daunte Wright's Murderer In Court

        Last Sunday on April 11th, 20-year-old Daunte Wright was shot and killed by former Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter. Wright was initially pulled over due to having air fresheners hanging from his rearview mirror, when the police officers also discovered a misdemeanor warrant for which they tried to detain him. When Wright went back into his vehicle, Kim Potter was heard shouting “Taser!”: except, she never pointed a taser at him. She pointed a gun at him instead and fatally shot him. Let it sink in that this all happened just 10 miles away from the location where George Floyd was killed in May 2020.  

        Two days later on Tuesday, the city’s police chief resigned, along with Kim Potter as she believed it was “in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if [she resigned] immediately.” There was no mention of Wright in her reason for resigning. Justifiably, Wright’s killing by Kim Potter sparked a substantial amount of protest, mourning, grief, and panic. People demanded justice and were filled with anger, especially towards police officials who believed the incident was an innocent mistake. After all, how does someone “confuse” a lighter weight, plastic bright yellow Taser with a heavier, dark metal handgun? Specifically, how does an officer with 26 years of training and experience, who has also trained various other officers, make such a fatal, costly “mistake”? 

        While in most cases, officers have not faced criminal charges for claiming they mistook their gun for a Taser, Kim Potter is being charged with second-degree manslaughter by the Washington County Attorney’s Office. To give context, the definition of second-degree manslaughter is when someone  “causes the death of another by the person’s culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another'' (mahoningmatters.com). With this charge, Kim Potter could be facing a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. On Wednesday, Potter was arrested but then released later the same day after posting a $100,000 bond (npr.org). The next day, she made a court appearance on a brief Zoom call with defense attorney Earl Gray representing her. This case has been formally assigned to Regina Chu, Hennepin County Judge, and May 17th marks Potter’s next scheduled court appearance. 

        In my opinion, what happened to Daunte Wright is absolutely appalling. I think Kim Potter definitely knew what she was doing in pulling out a gun instead of a taser on Wright and that justice needs to be served. It breaks my heart that Daunte Wright’s 2-year-old son is going to grow up without a father and never be able to play basketball or go to the park with him again. I cannot even imagine all the stress now on the mother and the Wright family. This racism and injustice need to end. We are all human and we all bleed the same blood. I seriously wish this hatred would stop, and I truly hope that the circumstances improve over time. For now, all we can do is educate ourselves, speak out, donate resources and money to these grieving, struggling families, and try to spread more love in the world. Let me know your thoughts about all of this in the comments. 

Sources: 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/daunte-wright-killing-chyna-whitaker-speaks-out/ 

https://apnews.com/article/daunte-wright-shooting-minnesota-f70fb7fc4c205740507b7c53d7315f0 

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/daunte-wright-police-shooting-minneapolis-1154900/ 

https://www.npr.org/sections/trial-over-killing-of-george-floyd/2021/04/13/986960763/i-never-imagined-this-daunte-wrights-family-calls-for-accountability 

https://www.mahoningmatters.com/local-news/why-officer-who-fatally-shot-daunte-wright-was-charged-with-manslaughter-not-murder-3636128 

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/14/987228386/officer-who-shot-daunte-wright-arrested-to-be-charged-with-2nd-degree-manslaught 

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/15/987795222/officer-who-killed-daunte-wright-makes-first-court-appearance-in-manslaughter-ca

La Soufrière Volcano Eruption- Coby Russo Week 24

 

    Hey guys! Welcome back to my FINAL blog post! This is so sad but, here we go!

    Earlier this week, the La Soufrière Volcano, located in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines off the coast of Venezuela, began to erupt. The explosive eruptions have spread throughout the country, covering the island in "ash and volcanic flows of molten rock and gas have gushed down the mountainside." The Prime Minister, Ralph Gonsalves, issued a mandatory evacuation for the entire nation earlier in the week. Although they were told to leave, hundreds of people still had to be rescued from a town on the northeastern side of the island (in the danger zone of the volcano eruptions) named Owia. A multitude of residents have been displaced into uninhabitable areas. They are left without with neither electricity nor fresh water, causing a humanitarian emergency. Also, airports have been shut down and traveling by boat is limited. The United States have been working on reducing Americans from this island as well.

    I feel that this is absolutely devastating. The displaced persons should be given survivable living conditions, not places that would just increase the island's death toll. I believe that other nations should reach out and offer help and a shelter for those who lost their homes due to the eruptions. How do you guys feel about this situation, and how do you believe other nations should help out those affected from the La Soufrière Volcano eruptions? Let me know in the comments down below!

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/15/987751362/la-soufriere-volcano-a-growing-humanitarian-crisis

Zev Englander Week 24- Baseball Experimenting with Moving Mound Back

 Baseball is America's pastime. Through 100s of years, the game and players have evolved so much to get to where the sport is now. I used to play baseball and can say it is really fun to play. I was a pitcher so this topic is definitely interesting to me. This week, minor leagues decided to experiment with moving the pitcher's mound back from the traditional 60 foot 6 inches from home plate. They will move it back another foot for every team in the independent minor league starting at the second half of the season. Baseball is timeless, and the mound has stayed the same since the 1800s, so why the need for change? It is common to hear people say baseball is slow and boring. Even I have trouble sitting through a baseball game now and have increasingly lost interest over time. This is largely due to the game slowing down incrementally year after year. Pitchers have developed insane velocity and spin rates leading to an abundance of strikeouts, which means fewer balls in play. No balls in play means no action. The hitter's approach has changed into a power-driven one, and home run rates are at an all-time high. Home runs mean action and the most home runs ever should mean the most interesting to watch right? But no. At bats now end in either a home run or strike out at a higher rate than ever. Batters strike out 25 percent of the time, which is an all-time high. It is boring to sit through. So what does moving the mound back accomplish? It would definitely increase runners on base and decrease strikeouts. It would also hypothetically reduce home runs and increase balls in play as hitters would need to adjust to the new angle the ball is coming in at. I think it's cool that they are able to experimnt with this at a professional level, but as someone that used to pitch every day, I don't see this working. My rotation and motion were muscle memory, and even though a tougher time for pitchers would mean more runners on base, I think they would be from walks not hits. That would mean pitchers need to throw more pitches, which would hurt their arms. The reason I quit was my arm hurt every day. It's cool that they will try this in the minor leagues after the all-star break, but I don't think it will work. Do you see moving the mounds back as a realistic option for baseball at the highest level?

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/14/sports/baseball/pitchers-mound-atlantic-league.html

Maya Melamed 24- Jeffree Star Car Crash

Jeffree star, a huge beauty influencer, and YouTuber got into a car crash earlier today with his friend Daniel. The car he was driving lost control when it drove on black ice and ended up tumbling over. The crash happened around Casper Wyoming, and he was driving his new Rolls Royce. The car ended up flipping over three times due to the black ice and they rolled off the highway. The investigation is still going on, but drugs and alcohol do not seem like a factor in the crash. Jeffree and his friend both ended up in the hospital, Jeffree seems in worse condition than Daniel. He says that he's in “excruciating pain” after suffering fractures in his spine. He also says that it was one of the scariest moments” in his entire life. The cops say that Jeffree was the one driving and both of them were wearing their seatbelts. Jeffree says that he's thankful to be alive and his doctors expect for him to make a full recovery, though it might take a few months. He's currently at Wyoming medical center receiving treatment. His Friend Daniel, is suffering from internal injuries. Jeffree says “ he has survived colon cancer three times, he's having complications with his organs so they are monitoring him.” Thankfully, they are both alive and expected to make full recovery even if it takes some time.https://www.tmz.com/2021/04/16/jeffree-star-car-crash-hospitalized-flip-accident-wreck-wyoming/  

Ethan- Week 24- Jude Bellingham: young new talent

 

Jude Bellingham, an English soccer player, was born in 2003 in England and is now 18 years old. He signed for Birmingham City at age 8 and made his professional debut at age 16! He is incredibly young, although very skilled and talented, and he could possibly be one of the best players in the world in the future. He signed for Borussia Dortmund (team in the picture above) in July of 2020 and in his first match he scored, earning him the youngest ever goalscorer record. Two days ago, in a match between Borussia Dortmund vs. Manchester City, he scored an incredible goal, which attracted eyes from all around the world. This included Manchester City’s head coach, Pep Guardiola who said in a post-match interview “I cannot believe he is 17 years old” and “he must be lying about being 17”. Guardiola also applauded Bellingham when he scored against Man City. I have linked the goal below, so let me know what you think of it. Do you think this player will become one of the world’s best in the near future? Additionally, it is truly incredible how such young players continue to go pro and compete at top levels nowadays. Vinícius Júnior, a Brazilian 20-year-old soccer star, signed pro at age 16 for Flamengo and weeks later was signed to Real Madrid in La Liga for $191 Million! He too is an incredible player and I have also linked his most recent goal below. Do you think these 2 young players will eventually pass Kylian Mbappé or Erling Haaland (the 2 current best players in the world)? Maybe Ronaldo or Messi (the two GOATS)? How do you think such young kids are able to play at such high levels? What do you think the effect will be on these young stars by them making hundreds of millions of dollars as teenagers?

https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/pep-guardiola-jude-bellingham-must-be-lying-about-being-17-borussia-dortmund-15453

Jude Bellingham Goal- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Yp8xv6IVA

Vinícius Júnior Goal against Liverpool- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMSp1yi0ekc

Man City vs Dortmund Game Highlights- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzPvz9wqVx4

Sydney Man Finds Snake in a Bag of Lettuce From Aldi- Diana 24

 The other day my family and I went to the new Aldi that opened right across the street from us, so I thought it was only fitting to write about this snake that a man found in a bag of lettuce from Aldi. Also, I just had dinner with some of the food that we purchased at Aldi, and after we ate we came to a collective decision we will not be buying food from Aldi again. That really tells you how much we enjoyed dinner tonight (: Anyways, Sydney man, Alex White, bought a bag of lettuce at Aldi before he noticed what he thought was a huge worm in his lettuce. He only realized it was a snake in his lettuce when he saw a snake tongue flick. 

   The snake turned out to be pale-headed and venomous. The snake made an 870- kilometer journey to Sydney from the packing plant in Toowoomba, Australia. Right after Alex White noticed the snake he called a rescue organization as well as a snake handler to take the snake away. The rescue organization explained to White that if he had gotten bit by the snake, he would have had to go to the hospital immediately. Aldi is now investigating how the snake managed to find its way into the supermarket. One thing we know for sure is that the snake's natural habitat is not at an Aldi store. Meanwhile, the snake is being shipped back to Queensland state next week. Right now I think I'm just going to keep my distance from Aldi for a little while. How would you feel if you saw a snake in your leafy greens? 

https://www.google.com/search?q=sydeny+man+finds+snake+in+lettuce+bought+at+suspermarket&oq=sydeny+man+finds+snake+in+lettuce+bought+at+suspermarket+&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i10i160l2j33i299.18052j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Isaac Berkower - Week 24 - Chess.com releases a new feature

 Chess.com has just released a new feature to their website. It is called the events feature, and lets you watch live games on a normal chessboard as it is happening. In addition to viewing live games, you would also be able to watch previous games and even analyze the moves that the professionals made in those games with a computer. 

I think that this feature is going to be really cool because it is a better way to watch a professional game. At the moment, you could watch a live game online with commentary from professional GMs, but having the games from past tournaments in this new event mode will be really cool because you won’t need to have to search for a specific game that you may really want to watch and have it not be online.

The coolest part about this is that it is basically a version of the ESPN app for chess. It makes the game more of a sport by showing player statistics and the live brackets of the tournaments.

I think that this is a very good idea, especially because of how it makes chess more of a sport. Before this, chess may have been seen by some people as not being a sport because of the lack of having a section on ESPN, but now that wouldn’t be necessary because chess.com created their own ESPN. This feature has the potential to bring chess viewership to a whole new level like never before.

What do you think about this feature being created on chess.com? Would you start following chess because of it?

https://www.chess.com/news/view/chess-com-events-feature-candidates-2021

Hunter David Week 24 - U.S. Recommends Pausing the Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

 Earlier in the week on Tuesday, reports came out that the U.S. has recommended a pause on the single vaccine usage of the Johnson and Johnson coronavirus vaccine. This is because investigators have found multiple cases where potentially have gotten potentially dangerous blood clots, something that can cause death to those with the infection.

Both the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and the Food and Drug Administration were the ones to find out that 6 different women between the ages of 18 and 48 have gotten these blood clots, with one, unfortunately, dying from the vaccine. Soon after the announcement, Johnson and Johnson said that though they were aware of the blood clot reports, there was no link to their vaccine at the current time. At this time, the J & J vaccines are currently being delayed in their shipment and new vaccinations are being placed into different trials.

I think that the CDC and governments should take it a step further and actually completely stop the usage of the Johnson and Johnson vaccines at the moment. The goal of vaccines is to help and heal people, and if in any vaccines there are signs of negative and deadly effects such as blood clots, then they should be shut down and put on hold until the problem is fixed. It is okay to do this due to the fact that there are other vaccines that are working such as Pfizer, so it is not like people no longer have access to a vaccine, as they do. What do you think, should the CDC completely ban the use of the J & J vaccines at the moment until the issues are fixed, or should they remain as they are, and just be on hold and delayed from being delivered to countries.

https://www.wbtv.com/2021/04/13/fda-cdc-recommend-pause-johnson-johnson-covid-vaccine/

Yair Gritzman Week 24 - Mobile Driver's Licenses

 Mobile Driver’s Licenses

The state of Utah is planning a pilot program to make driver's licenses on phones. Beginning in June, some people will be given ID’s on their phones and the results of the trial will be assessed. Improved technology has led to questions about mobile vaccine passports as well as mobile passports in general. In fact, some countries such as the US allow people to use their phones as passports by filling out their information on an app. Mobile verification is the beginning of a new trend we will probably see in the near future.

Although news of mobile IDs seems exciting, there are some possible flaws. First of all, what happens if your phone dies? Then you do not have an ID. This is probably the most important issue that needs to be solved, which is why people will carry their physical IDs for the time being. Also, there could be security and privacy issues involved with mobile IDs. It is probably possible for hackers to access people’s private information, which can cause serious damage to people’s lives. Therefore, it is important for security to be a priority when developing mobile IDs. Experts have spent lots of time working on these issues, but there is still a way to go before the world transitions to mobile IDs.

The fact the US might shift to mobile identification in the next decade shows how much progress our society has made with technology. The iPhone did not exist until 2008, but ever since we have seen exponential growth in the capabilities of phones. There are an infinite amount of tasks our devices will be able to perform in a few decades as technology becomes increasingly prevalent in our daily lives. As the next generation, we will be at the forefront of the development in technology, which will affect people all over the world. This is very empowering because any person is now capable of making technological advancements to better society, which affects our generation and the generations to come.

What do you think about mobile IDs? What do you think about the current state of technology and its future role in our lives? Have you ever used a mobile passport? If so, what did you think?

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3614771/your-iphone-could-soon-be-your-drivers-license-in-utah.html

Eden Richman Week 24 - Biden wants to pull U.S. troops from Afghanistan Early

     While Donald Trump was in office, his administration made an agreement with the Taliban to pull American troops out of Afghanistan by May first, 2021. After the election of Biden, the new administration wants to push the decision to September first. 

    The Taliban conquered most of Afghanistan after the Soviets withdrew from there, after occupying it for around ten years. The reason the Taliban could conquer Afghanistan so easily was that the Soviets left Afghanistan in an economic wreck - and their intentions seemed to be to simply restore peace in the land that the Soviets had left in ruins. Soon though, they started enforcing Sharia (Islamic) law onto all of its citizens. They took the Sharia Law and twisted it to fit what they wanted to complete. The Taliban led by Osama Bin Ladin in 1996 declared war on the U.S. which led the U.S. to invade Afghanistan in 2001 and overthrow the Taliban. But it wasn't completely overthrown, since many Taliban members and leaders just moved to Pakistan and are still a big political power. In the twenty-tens, there have been U.S. troops in Afghanistan making sure that the Taliban doesn't come back and gain control, and also an Afghani government. 

    In 2017 the Taliban sent a letter to President Trump asking him to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, and he agreed. Now President Biden wants to change the date. I originally felt like U.S. troops shouldn't withdraw, it seems like this exact moment has happened in history before with the Soviets. There are a few differences though, the biggest one being that Afghanistan has a government that would be taking care of their people after the troops leave. The Taliban is not gaining power anymore, their power has been falling ever since bin Ladin was killed. I think it would be better to stay on the safe side and keep troops there, but Biden seems to think that there are other priorities to attribute time and energy to right now, which is completely valid. I haven't looked at what he wants to do once the troops are out (which might be the reason for my hesitation), but that's a subject for another blog ;)

https://us.blastingnews.com/news/2021/04/joe-biden-wants-us-troops-to-pullout-from-afghanistan-by-september-11-003308452.html

https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-taliban-who-they-are-what-they-want-2352797

    

Another Mass Shooting in America... Fedex Facility Shooting Kills 8 Last Night - Dan week 24

 As I'm typing this, more details are being released about the very recent and very depressing shooting that took place a couple hours ago (Thursday night) at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis near the Indianapolis airport. So far what we know is that the shooting happened very quickly and suddenly. The shooter got out of his car, shot and killed 4 people outside, then went inside the facility and killed 5 others, including himself. 5 additional people were taken to the hospital with injuries, and one other was treated at the scene for another undisclosed injury. This marks the ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH mass shooting in America this year. Yes, this year. Yes, we are in mid-April. (definition of a mass shooting is "four or more persons shot in one incident, at one location, at roughly the same time.") (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States_in_2021)

So far, Indiana FBI and police have said that it's too early to speculate over the motive of the shooting. They said that no altercation or arguments took place and that the perpetrator was able to kill those and himself before police arrived at the scene. Police also know that the shooting was done with a rifle, and family members and loved ones of the FedEx employees there have been waiting at a Holiday Inn near the facility for hours waiting until the deceased are ID'd. 

With yet another incident resulting in multiple people dead, it brings about the never-ending argument over automatic weapon availability in this country. I'm not going to get into my opinions and why it is morally one of the most idiotic laws in all 180 countries in the world because I dont wanna argue with Ethan and Isaac in the comments but hopefully in our lifetime we will see the day that the NRA dissolves and its founders burn in hell :)

 

Ellie Week 24: Woman Found with $94K worth of Coke in Her Bra at JFK

A woman at the JFK airport was found trying to smuggle in almost $94,000 worth of cocaine. She was arriving from the Dominican Republic and had hidden the pellets in her bra. Agents at customs discovered the stash after finding some leftover packers hidden in her purse. The woman later admitted that she had hidden more inside a body cavity. The name of the woman is Yerlina Hernandez DeNova and she is facing charges of importing a controlled substance into the US and federal narcotics and smuggling charges. There was a total of 100 pellets weighing about 3 pounds, which is worth almost $94K. In my opinion, I do feel bad for this woman. It’s likely she doesn’t have much money and the Dominican Republic is a pretty poor country and people join drug cartels or become part of drug trafficking just to make enough money to survive. Yes, drugs are illegal and dangerous, and just because I feel bad for the woman, that doesn’t mean she is innocent. It’s also likely she was used as just a mule for a bigger corporation selling these drugs. And now she has to go to jail just for being involved, even if it wasn’t her fault directly. She also probably would’ve gotten away with it if she hid it somewhere else other than her purse. If you’re trying to smuggle in drugs, an obvious place like your purse would be the worst thing to do. Maybe she did it on purpose? Maybe she wanted to be caught instead of living with the guilt? What are your thoughts on this situation? 

https://pix11.com/news/local-news/queens/cocaine-woman-bra-body-jfk-airport/

https://abc7ny.com/$94k-worth-of-cocaine-found-in-womans-bra-at-nyc-airport/10515578/

Romi Avidor Week 24 LaMarcus Aldridge’s Sudden Retirement

This morning basketball player LaMarcus Aldridge announced that he will be retiring from his fifteen year long NBA career. Aldridge is a veteran who has just recently been traded to the Brooklyn Nets. Sources revealed that Aldridge has been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat which he then shared that he would start focusing on his health and family and put his basketball career to an end in order to avoid high health risks. He said that during his last game he played while dealing with his condition which caused him to have bad rhythm as the game progressed. Aldridge was very worried and said that it was “one of the scariest things [he has] ever experienced.” Aldridge was a very successful player from being a Hall of Fame candidate, to being a seven time all star player, to having more than 19,000 points in his career. He was able to establish himself very well. When I read this I thought about how scary it must be to know that you have been playing a high intensity sport that needs a lot of movement and gets your heartbeat pumping while you have an irregular heartbeat. Although he didn’t know until recently, it is very scary to hear this because you never know what could happen. He is very lucky that they were able to diagnose it because if he took his career any further it would put his life at risk. I think he is very smart for putting his health first. Many people would not do that because they believe that they have worked so hard to get to where they did and they wouldn’t want to throw it away, but in his case it is very important for him to put himself first and to take care of himself. I believe that when it comes to a health situation you better be safe than sorry and this is the perfect example of taking the right precautions and being safe. Did you hear about this yet? Do you think that what he did was the right decision? https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/04/15/lamarcus-aldridge-retires/

Week 24, Aly Strauss, Nevada Suspends J&J Covid Vaccine

 Week 24, Aly Strauss, Nevada Suspends J&J Covid Vaccine

 

Nevada recently suspended the Covid Vaccine J&J. The Nevada Health Response team did this on Tuesday after a pause was recommended by the FDA and CDC for the J&J covid vaccine. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are still available though since nothing crazy has occurred with them (yet). They suspended the vaccine after receiving reports that six people developed "rare and severe" blood clots after receiving the J&J vaccine. Also, about 6.8 million doses of this vaccine have already been administered in the U.S..

Other states like California are quickly starting to follow Nevada’s lead. Also, the gender that is suffering from the shot is women. So far as said before, 6 women developed severe blood clots after receiving the vaccine. Since 6.8 million doses in the U.S. alone have already been given out, who knows how many others will suffer from the vaccine. 

So far though the other two vaccines are good, but it’s still scary to think about what’s to come. Also, in the future, Nevada as well as other states are planning on upping the age to get the vaccine in order to protect people just in case a vaccine goes wrong in the near future. They are definitely going to do way more studies on the J&J vaccine and then they will make the decision to keep the vaccine or toss it aside and just give the other two. It’s still early to even know if the other vaccines will work properly. In my opinion, it kinda sucks that some places will soon require the vaccine because we still don’t know the negative effects.

Wow! It’s crazy to think that this would happen! I’m sure though it’s been in the back of people’s minds. What do you think about this?

Week 24 Romy H Daunte Wright Shot and Killed by Police

 

  

    On Sunday, April 11th, Daunte Wright was pulled over in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. He was pulled over because the officer noticed expired tags, and they discovered he had a pre-existing arrest warrant. The arrest warrant details have not been released, so we do not know what they were for. The bodycam footage of the officer on the scene was released. The footage showed that as one officer tried to handcuff Wright, he resisted in some way. This led the other officer to yell taser, but then shot Mr. Wright. It has been announced by the police that it was an “accidental discharge” of the gun, and the officer was reaching for the taser. Information about the officer has not been released, but they were described as a “very senior officer.”

    Crowds gathered around the area and eventually surrounded the Brooklyn Center Police Department. After hours of protesting, police tear-gassed the crowd and used flash-bang grenades to remove them from the area. Damage and looting of a shopping center nearby were also reported. Melvin Carter, the mayor of St. Paul, said "We have to ask ourselves why and how does this keep happening over and over and over again in America, in the world, in Minnesota?” Sunday’s incident happened just miles away from where George Floyd was murdered. Legislators and citizens are advocating for legislative change in police reform so that this comes to an end.

    The Minnesota National Guard and local police have been stationed throughout nearby cities to prepare for civil unrest. They are on high alert because the Chauvin trial is still ongoing, so more unrest is now expected. Advocates, legislators, citizens, and victim's family members feel disappointed and angry because as the trial for George Floyd’s murder takes place, yet another tragic and fatal incident occurs because of the police.

OPINION
    If the officer was described as “very senior,” their training and experience should have been enough to be able to differentiate between a gun and a taser. Not only should they have been able to know what weapon they grab, but they should also be well aware of the weapon in hand. Even if it was a pure accident, there is still no excuse. That would prove the need for extensive police training written in legislative police reform. Clearly, if an officer cannot differentiate between their weapons, they should not have the ability to use them or be in that position. It is obvious and justifiable as to why crowds gathered to protest what had happened. For those who criticize the violence of the BLM movement, I attached a video from the Washington Post that briefly discusses how similar the Civil Rights movement was in “violent” tactics and how they were criticized in the 50s and 60s just as the BLM movement is today. I am not supporting violence, yet one needs to understand that sometimes, violence is a last resort that can lead to change after centuries of injustice. Resistance, a warrant, skin color, or anything of that matter is not a death sentence. Enough is enough.

Video: https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/editorial/if-you-oppose-black-lives-matter-you-wouldve-abhorred-martin-luther-king/2015/10/01/42970e4e-684d-11e5-bdb6-6861f4521205_video.html 

Article: https://www.npr.org/2021/04/12/986458941/police-say-accidental-discharge-of-gun-led-to-daunte-wrights-death 

Chile is back to full lockdown, which is kind of good for me - dan week 23

 Sorry, I know the title is way too long. To be fully honest, I'm not sure how else I could've titled this because it's exactly how it is.

Throughout February, Chile was doing amazing with the vaccine rollout. They were (and still are) far and away the most vaccinated country in South America, and were showing great promise with the future in terms of COVID. Most regions of the country were able to go up to phase 3, meaning no more weekend lockdowns and no more curfews. Sadly, into mid-March and now early April, things have gotten pretty bad. 

Because so many people are vaccinated, a lot of people began getting very relaxed and nonchalant about COVID protocols, which led to a massive rise in cases throughout the country. In a three-week span, most of the country went from phase 3, to then the WHOLE COUNTRY going back down to phase 1! Meaning full lockdown, only being able to go out with a permit. Now, why is this a good thing for me?

My old school in Chile had a spring break in late March- early April, so many of my friends came up to Florida since they have vacation houses here. Since my old school's spring break matched up with Donna Klein's spring break, I was already able to spend a bunch of time down in Sunny Isles and Miami with my friends from Chile, but now that Chile is fully locked down, people can't go in or out of the country, so they're stuck here in Florida. That is literally best-case scenario for us, as now we get to spend as much time we want and do online classes, and then get to go out every night. 

Like my mom likes to say "every cloud has a silver lining" so maybe in the end, Chile going back on lockdown wasn't the worst.

Zev Englander Week 23: The End of a Chess Era

 I've played chess for a while. I was never very good, just played casually. It is a great game to take up to get your mind off of life and erase problems in your head temporarily. It is also fun to destroy somebody and inflict pain. I spend way too much time on my phone with a couple specific games so chess because somewhat of a therapeutic break for half an hour a day. Lately, chess has caused more negative emotions than positive ones. I won 13 straight ranked games on Chess.Com, skyrocketing into the 1400s range. I was excited so kept playing. Then  I lost. Then I lost again. And again. Next thing I know I lost 10 straight, a personal best for me haha.  I never take chess seriously so these new frustrations got to me. Then Isaac asked if I wanted to play a game. We have played our fair share of games and he has never won although there have been some close ones. I got into time trouble and lost some pieces. Badly. Then lost the game, and lost the next. I lost some more online games, dropped into triple-digit rankings for the first time since I made my account, and decided it was time for a break. Apart from some fun games in chess club I haven't played at all and am content with looking at my phone for all of my free time instead of almost all of it. My philosophy when it comes to hobbies is if you aren't enjoying them there is no reason to pursue them. I would still recommend it to the whole world as something to get into, it's great to play at any level. There is just no hope left for me. I can't win and chess isn't worth being angry about even if I do play only once a day at most. Here is a link to chess.com with my account details so you can go play my opponents and maybe increase my rating.  What are your hobbies outside of school besides sports? 

https://www.chess.com/play

Maya Melamed 23- Seeing my cousins

If you didn't know, I have family in Israel and Colombia. Usually, I see both sides of my family at least once or twice a year. Due to covid, I haven't been able to travel to see any of them since the pandemic started, and they haven't been able to come here. This week I was finally able to see my cousins from Colombia and it was great. They came here on Monday and are staying only until Saturday, but at least it's something. It's already difficult when you have a family that doesn't live near you, so not even being able to see them that one time a year was very hard. So far, I'm having a great time spending time with them. I will say that it's definitely different this time. We don't go out as much and do as many activities as we normally would. We went to go see the hard rock hotel because they have never seen it. We actually got there right when the light show started so it was perfect. They have never seen anything like that so they thought it was really cool. Yesterday, they decided to change their flight and stay for another week!! I was so happy to hear because it felt like this week had gone by so quick. If you have any suggestions on where I should take them, let me know. I hope that soon things will get back to normal and we can all start traveling again like before. I think that because so many people are getting vaccinated, it will help us get to that point hopefully by summer. Do you guys have family that doesn't live here? Have you been able to see any of them since corona?

Olivia Ball - Week 23 - My Covid Vaccine Experience

 As you all know, vaccines are starting to become more available for the general population, with the largest distributors being CVS and Publix in Florida. So, a few weeks ago, my mom called by doctor and she wrote me a letter of approval for the Covid Vaccine. Then, I booked an appointment at CVS because that is the main place to get the Pfizer vaccine. Appointments were super limited, so I had to drive 2.5 hours away to Lake Whales to get the shot that took 20 minutes. My only symptom following it was my arm hurt that night, but I was pretty much fine the rest of the day. Now, 3 weeks later, it was time for my second shot. I was very nervous because I didn’t want to get sick, and everyone said mixed results. Luckily I got a new appointment in Delray, so I didn’t have to drive far. On Wednesday, the day of my shot, I felt completely fine, but I woke up the next day and I did not feel well at all. I wouldn’t say I felt super sick and I don’t think I had a fever, but I definitely did not feel normal. I had a headache all day, I felt super tired, and I was cold and sweating at the same time. Overall, I just felt weird and I can’t even explain it. But luckily, the next morning I was completely fine and back to normal. I am so happy now that I got the vaccine and that my whole family was able to so that now we don’t have to worry as much. Have any of you gotten the vaccine? If yes how did you feel? If not, do you want to get it or no? Why?

Jacob Abramchaev Week 23 - Going to NYC!

Dori Week 23- Nostalgia

        Hi everyone! I thought this week I would write about one of the most common feelings I have had these past couple of years: nostalgia. According to Google, the definition of nostalgia is “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.” This is a feeling I have been especially experiencing since 2020, particularly when the pandemic began. During this period, I have been thinking about how much I want to rewatch the Disney movies I used to watch as a child or play older internet games I used to go on like Club Penguin. Similar to many other people, I have also been rewatching older shows on Netflix and Disney Plus, such as iCarly, Victorious, Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and Good Luck Charlie. I’ve even been making playlists with throwback music from the 2000s, including artists like Avril Lavigne, Paramore, Taylor Swift, Ke$ha, Katy Perry, etc. Basically, I have just been reminiscing about all these amazing outlets of entertainment I did not fully realize I had when I was younger and that made me happy. It has also been really interesting to experience all these different movies, songs, and games again as someone who is older because there were so many details I missed or did not understand when I was a child, making everything even more enjoyable now.

        Further, I was reflecting on why I have been feeling this way, and I think I have come to terms with somewhat of an answer. These past couple of years, I think that I have been trying so hard to look for an escape from the constant stress and uncertainties I have been facing during a busy schedule, high school work responsibilities, and a global pandemic: and these nostalgic activities give me the familiar happiness that I desire. After all, I think most people can agree that it was easier being a child who only had to worry about learning how to tie shoelaces or climbing on the playground. Now that I am faced with so many responsibilities and decisions, as well as having to constantly think about young adulthood and the future, I sometimes reflect on how fun it would be to be a kid again. Of course, I am optimistic that the future will hopefully look brighter and be filled with other great things to enjoy, as I wrote about in a previous blog post, but it can be fun to reminisce on your days when you were younger.   

        Those were some of my thoughts on all of this, but let me know what you think! Do you ever feel nostalgic and want to do the things that you did when you were a kid? What were your favorite things to do when you were younger? Let me know in the comments below!

Eden Richman Week 23 - My Vaccine Saga

     Earlier this week, I heard my mom talking on the phone. When she ended the call, she turned around to me and told me that she made a vaccine appointment for me. I was extremely surprised because she was on the phone for 20 minutes at most, and she already got me an appointment. I thought that the people giving out the vaccine at this place must be super organized. My mom told me that the person on the phone said that I could go by myself to get the vaccine and that she just had to sign a consent form. We filled out the consent form, verified that I was going online, and collected all the documents that were listed on the site.

    On Wednesday, I grabbed all of the things that I needed and drove to Quiet Waters Park by myself to get my vaccine. It was a short drive from where I live, which was nice. I drove through the entrance and rolled down my window to have a person tell me to follow the cones on the street. I rolled the window back up, and followed all of the cones for a good two minutes or so until I reached a line of cars in front of a group of volunteers. One of them came over to me and I rolled my window down, they gave me an information sheet on the Pfizer vaccine with which I proceeded to put in the passenger seat of my car and never look at it again. They also asked for my name to make sure I made an appointment to be there. I rolled my window back up and moved forward in the line of cars. After another set of two minutes, I had to roll down my window again for these two women who looked at me like I was doing something wrong. They walked up the car and asked me how old I was. I said I was 17, and one of them said "I think you need a parent with you" but my mom told me that the person on the phone said that I didn't need a parent, so that's what I said to them. They looked at each other skeptically but then walked back to where they were before. I waited in the line of cars for around ten more minutes until a volunteer who did not look like he wanted to be there at all wrote the number 10 with window paint on my window, then he pointed to a little tent that had the number 10 on it. I drove up to the tent and rolled down my window again. The nurse at the tent looked at me and raised her eyebrows. 

    "How old are you?" she asked me. I said I was 17. She asked for my license, and I gave it to her. She said I needed a parent with me to give consent. I then explained to her that the person on the phone said to my mom that I only needed the consent form, and handed her the form. She walked away and brought back with her a man and then she asked him if I was allowed to be here without a parent and he said no. HUH? Then he said and I quote:

    "You can come back tomorrow any time you want," I asked if I needed to register again for the appointment and he said "You don't need to since you already registered for today" So the next day I drove back there with my mom. We got to the first volunteer, and he wouldn't let us through. 

    "Sorry, you need an appointment," he said. I felt like screaming at him. He had to bring in his boss and we had to explain everything that happened yesterday. WE HAD TO DO THIS WITH EVERY SINGLE VOLUNTEER THAT WE TALKED TO. can't these people get walkie-talkies or something? I'm not trying to sound ungrateful because these people stood outside in Florida weather for free to make sure that people are getting their vaccines, but come on! anyway, I got my vaccine and my arm is currently sore. But at least I'm halfway protected from covid. I am not excited to go back there.

me and my vaccine card

Lauren Hodes- Week 23- Passover Break

    Hey guys so this past week over Passover break me and my friend Rebecca decided to go visit our camp friends Pnina and Shayna since we were all on break. After a couple of years of Pnina convincing us to visit her in Atlanta we finally decided to. Usually it is just easier for her to come down to South Florida since both me and Rebecca live down here. It was very nice though since a lot of our camp friends live in Atlanta and we were able to see everyone. After spending the seders and Passover with my family, we left for Atlanta on Thursday morning. I was supposed to leave for the airport at 8:15 for a 12:50 flight (lol) but the flight got delayed for 7 hours because of a “bomb- like” package found on the roof of the Fort-Lauderdale airport. Anyways, we made it there safely which is all that matters. But, after not having travelled since COVID started this was very exciting. To start, when arriving at the airport there were about 4 people in the line to check your bag that just had absolutely no mask. No intention of putting on a mask and basically didn’t even bring them to the airport. The majority of people in the airport had masks on their chin but at least they went through the effort to bring one. My take on this is that it is very stupid because wearing a mask is the bear minimum that you can do to stop the spread and protect yourself. I do understand that people want freedom and are tired of masks but the only way we will stop covid is through taking precautions. Surprisingly, the Atlanta airport was much much more cautious with mask wearing but I guess that it just has to do with the spring breakers in Florida. Overall, my trip was very fun and it was really nice to see a lot of my camp friends. 

Hunter David Week 23 - Visiting the University of Georgia (and others)

 Recently, my family and I have been planning for me to visit some of the colleges that I’m interested in, over the next few weeks and months. Though unfortunately, I am not able to get an official tour with a tour guide of all the campuses, I am luckily able to take a self-tour on my own, starting with the University of Georgia in two weeks on April 21st.

Due to my parents' busy schedules currently, my grandfather and I will be taking the about 11 to 12-hour drive up to Georgia in two weeks, where we will be walking around the Georgia campus, and hopefully, run into a student or faculty member who is willing to show us around the campus for a bit. I am looking forward to finally being able to visit a college; this will be my first one that has to do with looking for my college career.

Besides the University of Georgia, I am also planning on visiting other schools in and out of Florida, such as Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, UF, FSU, and others in May and into the summer. I am looking forward to not only seeing all of these college campuses but also even being able to go to a couple other states that I have never traveled to before. So, have any of you guys started to look at and/or visit any colleges yet, and if so, what did you think of them and your experience? Do you think it’s possible to decide what college you want to attend without visiting it first? It definitely isn’t something I would want to do.

COVID Vaccine- Coby Russo Week 23

 

     Hey guys welcome back to my blog! A couple days ago I randomly decided that I wanted to go book my vaccine online. That day, I learned that I should stay up until midnight to book it on cvs.com because that was the time I would be most likely to find an available appointment. So, I stayed up until midnight completely expecting that I was going to get an appointment and that it would be at a nearby location, but instead I struggled tremendously. I then FaceTime Olivia Ball (you are welcome for the shoutout), and she helped me find an appointment. She then found an appointment at a cvs in Stuart, Florida, but by the time I was able to get to it on my computer it was gone. After around 20 minutes of typing random cities in Florida I found another available time in Stuart. I then ran into my mom’s room to ask for our insurance card, and by the time I got back, the appointment was gone AGAIN. After completely giving up, I thought why not just try again one more time. So for about another 20 to 30 minutes I tried looking for appointments. I then was able to book a vaccine appointment on Sunday at a CVS that isn’t too far away.

     After the hour and a half of searching and searching, I felt so relieved. I am both so excited and nervous to receive my vaccine, but I am so ready to put the coronavirus in the past. I really hope that everyone will get vaccinated so that we can begin to return to “normal”. I also hope that the vaccines will become more easily accessible. Have you gotten your vaccine? If so, how did it feel and how did you feel after receiving it? If not, do you plan on getting it? Let me know in the comments down below!

Trip to Boston - Diana 23

 

Over winter break my family and I went to Boston for a long weekend. My sister is moving to Boston next year because she is going to Nursing school at Northeastern. I have never been to Boston before, but overall my first time their just mediocre. We thought we would just fly up look at some apartments, and then have the rest of the trip to do fun activities around Boston. Well, that was not the case. We spent two out of the four days looking for apartments. We toured about a million apartments and finally, we found something perfect for my sister. Now usually trips are supposed to be relaxing, but this trip was the complete opposite of that. My sister was having mental breakdowns about her future, which ultimately led to me overthinking and panicking about my own future. 

    At first, my sister was nervous of moving to Boston all by herself, not knowing anyone, and basically starting the next chapter in her life. Initially, I thought, well that's stupid, she will be fine and adjust eventually, but then I was oh my god that will be me in a year.  I'm doing the same thing in only a year!!! I have to go to college, where I may not know anyone, and like my sister, I will be starting the next chapter. For some reason, my mind can't grasp how fast time is going. I hate change, but unfortunately, I can't do anything to stop it. When someone even brings up the topic of college, I get mad because I just don't want to accept the fact that I will be going in a year. To sum it up, this little trip to Boston led me down a spiraling hole of thoughts about the future (: 

Are you nervous about what the future holds? 

Isaac Berkower - Week 23 - The Chess Game With One of the Most Impactful Results on the World

 

It was 1997, and Gary Kasparov, the former world number 1 in chess before retiring, was about to play one of the biggest games of his life. IBM had claimed to successfully create a chess engine that could defeat the greatest player in the world. Before this time, chess engines were created, but they weren’t any good at the game. For example, just in the previous year, Gary Kasparov played the same IBM created chess engine called Deep Blue and beat the computer.

Not to spoil the ending, but this year was different. Kasparov would go on to lose to a computer for the first time in his life. In the chess world, this was big. They played 6 games in their 1997 match and Kasparov went on to win one of those, Deep Blue won two and they drew on the other three, making the final score 3.5 to 2.5 in favor of Deep Blue.

The computer that Kasparov played was a huge box that another person sitting across from him had to input Kasparov’s moves into so that the machine could tell him where it decides to move their piece. Today this technology which developed to be much better over the next few years fits in our smart phones and can be played against online.

Although it was very suspenseful at the time, if a tournament like that were to take place today where current world number 1, Magnus Carlson, played a computer, the computer would win every time. It is just impossible for a person to have better vision in chess than a computer that could process millions of possible moves in the time it takes an average person to process just a few.

As we get more advanced as a society, we are building machines that could beat us in almost everything. Some people see this as being very scary because they think that machines and AI will eventually take over the world, but I doubt that will happen (unless someone programs the machine to take over the word) and see these machines becoming better than people as a useful tool to help us with certain tasks that are either really hard for people to do or just take too much time for a person. At the very least, a chess engine is a useful tool for learning chess in that it can be very helpful when you analyze your games.

What do you think about the match between Kasparov and Deep Blue? Do you think machines and AI will take over the world?