The World is on Alert & Low Gas Prices for the Travelers this Holiday Week

  The U.S. State Department announced a warning before most American’s and other people from around the world travel for the holidays. This week is Thanksgiving in the U.S. and one of the busiest weeks to travel out of the year. The amount of American’s taking a trip this week is accepted to be 46.9 million people according to AAA (Shapiro). With the gas prices so low AAA is predicting that more folks will travel by automobile to their holiday destinations, also the amount of traveling by automobile has been on the rise for Thanksgiving week again this year. One reason is the gas prices are lower and people maybe scared to travel by airplane. AAA also reported that airfare rates are going to drop this week. If you’re traveling by plane or automobile this week be careful and make it to  your destination safely. We all should be thankful for the low gas prices and the fact that we have a great country to live in. The gas prices haven’t been this low since 2008 (Shapiro).

CNN has reported an alert from the U.S. State Department warning travelers going to other countries to be aware of your surroundings, not to be in large crowds, minimize travel on public transportation, and to be careful everywhere you go. The terrorist groups ISIS, al-Qaeda and Boka Haram have threatened more attacks on the U.S. and Western Europe countries. The terrorist groups have been planning different attacks on public and private interests around the world. With ISIS and other terrorist groups going back to Syria from Iraq this week, the world is on alert for suspicious activities. They are also warning that individuals could carry out their own attacks or they could be in groups. If you’re planning on traveling this week be sure to be alert and try to minimize being in public areas where a lot of people would be. The terrorist groups are attacking places with large numbers of people or very busy places (Bradner).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Be Safe…

 

Works Cited

Bradner, Eric. State Department issues worldwide travel alert. 23 11 2015. Web. 23 11 2015.

Samuel, Martin. New Qatar controversy as World Cup hosts are linked to terrorism. 18 03 2014. Web. 23 11 2015.

Shapiro, Amanda. Posts Tagged ‘Thanksgiving Travel Forecast’. 23 11 2015. Web. 23 11 2015.

The World vs ISIS terrorists

The terrorist group ISIS has been recruiting young men and women from different parts of the world for a few years. The European’s have been the main recruiting grounds for the ISIS militants. The terrorist group that has been growing since 2011 in Syria has been gaining newcomers from Europe and they trained them to be radical and out of control.  According to CNN, “This year the U.S. government has reported that 62 individuals have tried to join ISIS. Out of the 62 individuals 1/5 of them are women, and they are said to be from all different ethnicity and nationalities. A quarter of them were teenagers, and the youngest was fifteen” (Bergen). Socialists and analysts have reported that the people wanting to join ISIS search on social media like twitter or online Islamic web pages and have played a large role in the recruitment of American teens. The threats from the terrorist group have been a reality as of last week, and more are being broadcast on the web that have the U.S. on target.

On Friday the 13^th of November 2015 in Paris, France- CNN reported that, “three teams of gun-wielding ISIS suicide bombers hit six busy locations” (McLaughlin). On Friday night in Paris it is a busy place, and a lot of people are out and about. There was a soccer game going on, a concert, people eating dinner, walking around, and many other activities were happening in Paris. The ISIS militants planned a massive attack on Paris which happened to be on a Friday the 13^th too. CNN reported that “129 people died in the attacks, also the French police are asking for the public’s help with a passport they found at the stadium. The passport is an emergency passport identifying a man by the name Ahmad al Muhammad, and they are saying that this is not his real name that he has a fake passport. The man Ahmad al Muhammad came in to the country as a refugee from Syria, he first was reported in Greece in 2011” (McLaughlin). The President of France, Francois Hollande says his country “is at war”, and is going to pound ISIS targets in Syria with airstrikes.

Here in the U.S., President Obama ordered the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program to accept refugees from Syria in to the United States. There are Governors writing letters to the President saying, we will not accept any refugees from Syria, it is not safe for our citizens. There are 31 state governors that are publicly refusing to take in Syrian refugees, and 6 state governors that are willing to have refugees live in their state. CNN reported, The Council on American-Islamic Relations said Monday, “Defeating ISIS involves projecting American ideals to the world. Governors who rejectthose fleeing war and persecution abandon our ideals and instead project our fears to the world” (Fantz and Brumfield). In 2011 the U.S. accepted 1,500 Syrian refugees, and the Obama administration announced in September that 10,000 refugees from Syria will be accepted next year. I sure hope this is a good thing, but I guess we will find out in the next year. We know who to blame if a terrorist attack happens here in the U.S., and I have a list of government officials in mind. I hope for the best America!

                                                       Works Cited

Bergen, Peter. Who are ISIS’ American recruits? 06 05 2015. Web. 17 11 2015.

Fantz, Ashley and Ben Brumfield. More than half the nation’s governors say Syrian refugees not welcome. 17 11 2015. Web. 17 11 2015.

McLaughlin, Elliott C. Paris attacks investigation: Latest developments. 17 11 2015. Web. 17 11 2015.

Mullen, Jethro, et al. Google Maps Paris. 16 11 2015. Web. 17 11 2015.

Numerous people infected with E.coli: Chipotle Restaurants closed in Oregon and Washington

Another E. coli outbreak to report… The Chipotle restaurants in Oregon and Washington along the pacific coast closed temporarily in October because multiple people became ill from eating food contaminated with E.coli, a super bug bacteria found in animal intestines. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “as many as 42 people 27 in Washington and 15 in Oregon became ill with E. Coli, and fourteen of them had to be hospitalized from the illness” (Goldschmidt). The Washington and Oregon health departments have been testing the forty three establishments to pin point the source of the outbreak of E.coli. Both health departments have tested 900 samples of food and all surfaces that food is cooked or prepared on, so far there has been no positive cultures from those samples. “State and local health officials continue to work with federal health officials to investigate this outbreak”, according to CNN news.

The Chipotle restaurants decided to close all forty three stores in Oregon and Washington, the company said they closed them as a precaution until all the stores are tested and cleared by the Oregon and Washington health departments. Steve Ells, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, said in a statement, “The safety of our customers and integrity of our food supply has always been our highest priority. If there are any opportunities for us to do better in any facet of our sourcing or food handling — from the farms to our restaurants — we will find them. We are sorry to those affected by this situation, and it is our greatest priority to ensure that we go above and beyond to make certain that we find any opportunity to do better in any area of food safety” (Goldschmidt). Thankfully there have not been any deaths reported from this particular outbreak, and Chipotle is sure that the only stores that received the contaminated food were in the Oregon and Washington areas. No other states have reported any people becoming ill from eating at Chipotle, which is good news for all of us in Colorado.  

CNN news online reported that, “the symptoms of E. coli are diarrhea and abdominal pain, usually began two to eight days after a person has been exposed to the bacteria, and resolves within a week. Some cases are severe and patients can develop hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, which is a type of kidney failure. There have been no cases of HUS or deaths from this outbreak” (Goldschmidt). A similar situation has occurred almost every year since the early 1990’s, and some of the cases have been very severe and even caused deaths. The outbreak that I remember from the 90’s is the Jack in the Box restaurants serving hamburgers that were not cooked all the way through. There were multiple deaths reported, because most of the people infected were children under ten years old. Something to always remember is, if you or someone you know becomes ill and has bloody diarrhea, go to the hospital as soon as you realize the illness. If E.coli is left untreated, you will die. Stay aware everyone, and be safe out there!

Work Cited:

Goldschmidt, Debra. Chipotle locations prepare to reopen, officials continue E. coli outbreak probe- CNN. 10 11 2015. Web. 10 11 2015.

Montreal, Universite de. Pathogenic E. coli . 2004. Web. 10 11 2015.

Release, Skagit County Press. Skagit County Health Department closes Burlington restaurant pending E. coli investigation. 30 10 2015. Web. 10 11 2015.

A Russian aircraft crashed in Egypt: Officials are not clear how the crash happened

On Saturday a Russian airline Metrojet Flight 9268 was lost on radar over Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. According to CNN, “Flight 9268 was on its way from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg early Saturday when it dropped off radar about 23 minutes into the flight, Egyptian officials say (Mullen, Shoichet and Yan). Officials are not sure what went wrong in or in the plane that would cause it to plummet to the ground in a ball of fire. Sadly all 224 people on board were killed aboard the Airbus based in Russia. Speculations are going around and surfacing that the militant group ISIS shot the plain down, and that there may have been a bomb on the plain.

The US military satellites detected a “heat flash” before the plane went down according to CNN. The problem about this accident is there are no signs of explosions that have been found yet. CNN reported that, “a top Russian aviation official has said the plane broke apart in midair” (Mullen, Shoichet and Yan). That means that Russian officials think the plane was in pieces before it hit the ground. This is one of my fears when I fly, because one will never know if something happens abruptly then all of a sudden the plain you were in seconds before is in pieces falling to the ground fast. My heart goes out to the families that lost someone. Investigators searching for pieces of the plane and passengers from the flight said they are finishing the fieldwork before analyzing the black boxes recovered from the crash. One official said, “The plane went down in the desert, and that makes it a lot easier to locate critical pieces” (Mullen, Shoichet and Yan). 

Airbus stated, “the A321-200, was built-in 1997, and the airline company Kogalymavia, which flies under the name Metrojet, had been operating it since 2012”. The aircraft had clocked around 56,000 flight hours over the course of nearly 21,000 flights according to the plane maker. The aircraft was inspected in 2003 for major cracks or malfunctions in Russia, but passed the inspection in. The same plane was damaged on the tail in 2001 in Cairo when it hit the runway. The aircraft was registered to a Lebanese carrier in the Middle East. The aircraft was reportedly repaired that same year. The spokesperson at the Adel Al-Mahjoob reported that the aircraft passed a routine inspection before takeoff, Saturday morning.

So far the bodies of the victims have not had any major burns on their bodies. This is why officials are questioning the cause of the plane to go down, because if there were an explosion in the plane the passengers would have been in pieces or burnt fairly bad. There are reports stating that “unexpected and nonstandard (emergency) occurred instantly, which was why the pilots failed to send an emergency or alarm signal” (Mullen, Shoichet and Yan). Another report says, “Russia’s privately owned Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source in Cairo as saying the plane’s cockpit voice recorder had captured uncharacteristic sounds the moment before the flight disappeared” (Mullen, Shoichet and Yan). Once officials can piece together the wreckage and account for all 224 passengers on Flight 9268 then they can analyze the black box recording. They will then be able to paint a clearer picture of how the plane suddenly broke in to pieces and fall to the ground. In the weeks to come there will be more updates as to why?, what?, who?, and how this happened.

Work Cited:

Mullen, Jethro, Catherine Shoichet and Holly Yan. Russian plane crash: Was there an explosion? . 03 11 2015. Web. 03 11 2015.

 

Is the United States population healthier today than in 1969?

What has Americans changed to decrease the cause of death rate since 1969? According to Carina Storrs with CNN, “Researchers compared the rates and causes of death in the U.S. population between 1969 and 2013 using death certificate data from the National Vital Statistics System” (Storrs). The easy way for the U.S. to be healthier are the treatments and medications that are helping control diseases like heart disease. Storrs also stated, “The researchers found that the overall death rate has dropped sharply (42.9%) over the past four decades. And all the leading causes of deaths, with the exception of COPD claimed fewer lives in 2013 than in 1969” (Storrs). The top five causes of death in America are heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, accidents, stroke, and diabetes (2013). In the 1960’s the American men and women smoked cigarettes, and smoking was allowed almost everywhere even in hospitals.

Storrs added, “The current study found the decrease in death rates has lessened for heart disease, stroke and diabetes in the last decade, which the authors suggest could be due to the rise in obesity” (Storrs). The U.S. population as a whole have adapted to eating a high carbohydrate and high calorie diet since the 1960’s, and the reason is the fast food industry made it easy and convenient. The fast food industry changed the way our food is grown, processed, and produced. In the past generations in the U.S., Americans started eating at fast food restaurants, consuming the high processed food and high saturated fat content food that is not a healthy diet. If we were to consume more organic, pure, and unprocessed food the better their health will be, and the risk of at least four of the causes of death will be very low. The younger people in the U.S. are very over weight and obese, because of the life style/diets their parents taught them and for health reasons they may die before their parents. Another major cause for obesity is the lack of physical exercise and motivation in the younger generations. Their parents were taught this behavior then passed it to their children, and now obesity has become an epidemic in the U.S.

Currently heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, accidents, stroke, and diabetes remain the top five causes of death in the U.S. Obesity has spread all over the nation, and could account for more diabetes, heart disease, and people dying at a young age. One of the main reasons the cause of death decreased in the U.S. is because smoking cigarettes is prohibited almost everywhere now. Another reason is we realized that over-eating fast food has caused major health concerns, and a higher risk of diseases. A simple life change can make a huge difference to a person’s health, and would lower the risk of becoming obese, not being able to breath, becoming a diabetic or having a heart attack.

The people of the U.S. are now realizing the effects of bad behaviors, bad choices, and bad diets that are causing this epidemic of disease and obesity. Some Americans have controlled these diseases through treatments and medications prescribed by a physician. While it is helping with some of the diseases, the individual has to take control of their behaviors and change the way they live. The way to help yourself is to exercise more, lower the intake of processed foods, control the amount of sugars you consume, and practice stress control. Here in Colorado we are one of the healthiest states in the U.S.A., and I would like to help keep us that way. I am happy that more and more people are talking about ways to have a healthier and happier life, by controlling their diet and behaviors.

Works Cited

Mercola, Doctor. Mercola. 04 October 2012. Web.

Pinterest. n.d. 27 October 2015. Web.

Storrs, Carina. CNN. 27 October 2015. Web.

Population in Colorado is Increasing too Fast

If you live in Colorado you may have noticed the Interstates being jammed packed most of the time, and wondering why? Well this beautiful state is home to about 5,116,796 people, and according to the US census Colorado is near or close to 5.2 million residents currently in 2015. According to WPR.com “in 1860, the Colorado population was declared at 34,277 and ten years later there had been just a modest rise of 16.3% to 39,864” (WPR.com, 2015). Since the 1800’s Colorado has grown by the thousands and in some years ten thousands. The population in the beginning of the 20^th century was 539,700. Colorado’s population is one of the fastest growing populations in the US. In the 2000 census report by WPR, Colorado grew 16.9% the tally of people was 5,029,196 although on record the state showed only 4,301,262 people. This could be because people moved here, maybe illegally entered the US and moved to Colorado, and/or didn’t register taxes yet.

Colorado has been my home my whole life thirty-two years now, and I can defiantly see a change in the population here. The amount of homes being built-in the Denver and Colorado Springs has been none stop, and the new neighborhoods popping up all over the place too. I’ve noticed even the smaller towns outside Denver have grown in large numbers in regards to businesses, homes, and people. The new trend here in Colorado is apartment living next to the Light-rail system that is being built up and down, east and west of the metro Denver area. Now looking along the Light-rail stations there are apartment homes bunched around them. I have lived in two different apartments in walking distance from the Light-rail station. The best part of living around the Light-rail station is it’s convenient and fairly easy to get all around Denver. I would ride the Light-rail to work, Down-Town for a game, or just to go out and have a night out.

The population growth has increased so much here and is only going to get more inundated with people. The Light-rail system is a great way to stay off of the overcrowded highways and streets in Denver. The population density in Colorado according to WPR “is a large surface area of 104,094 square miles (269,837 square kilometers) Colorado is the eighth largest state in the USA but is relatively sparsely populated. Some of the terrain here is harsh and in particular, the vest Rocky Mountain range accounts for a significant proportion of the state’s land mass” (WPR.com, 2015). In Colorado there are 49.3 people per square mile here living, and of course the majority of the population of people are in the bigger cities like Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Grand Junction, Denver, Aurora, and all of the surrounding cities and towns around Denver. Another statistic that Colorado has been in the news for is the rate of which a county grows in regards to population or jobs. The two that have been growing the most are Weld County and Douglas County which were both named the fastest growing counties.

This new way of living in Colorado is not too bad yet, but remember there are places like California that are way over populated. Another great part about Colorado is the amount of space to grow still or if you prefer to be in the country for the quietness the eastern part of the state is fairly open still. Colorado is a great place to live and to grow old in, and there is mountains to go enjoy too.

Work Cited

World Population Review. Colorado Population 2015. 13 September 2015. Web. 20 October 2015.

Planned Parenthood vs congressional republicans

The government is in the news because of some pressing issues. Congressional representatives are voting to cut Planned Parenthood funding because some information about the president of Planned Parenthood was videotaped spending a lot of money having parties. On top of that, the congress leaders can’t come to an agreement on funding the Planned Parenthood program because the evidence shown paints a different picture of the program. On Tuesday September 29, 2015 conservative Republicans accused Planned Parenthood president, Cecile Richards, of spending $40 million on lavish priorities.

The edited videos that surfaced show pricey parties, first class flights, and fund raisers for the study of embryos, and that Planned Parenthood is selling the embryos for a profit. Although the official document presented in court said that the embryos are not sold, that they are purchased by laboratories that want to study them, and they pay for the shipment of the embryo not for the embryo itself. The hearing had congress asking questions regarding why they needed to spend the $40 million on non-women healthcare. Congress will have to come to an agreement on the funding for Planned Parenthood by Wednesday the 30^th, if not the government could be shut down until they agree on funding or not funding Planned Parenthood’s program. Which means the national parks will be closed, the local government agencies other than the police, fire departments and first responders will be closed, and other important jobs and programs will be halted until the two parties can come to an agreement.

CNN.com writer LoBianco reported that “Utah Republican Governor Gary Hubert announced today that he would no longer allow federal dollars to pass through the state to the group, spurring the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah to announce Monday that it will be suing the state.” (LoBianco) It is a religion motivated issue more than a social issue, which has been a fight for many years to have an abortion or use Planned Parenthood services. The republican representatives have been trying to stop the funding for Planned Parenthood for years now, but there are democratic representatives that are pushing for this funding to stay. Democrats are for helping women in time of need whether it is, birth control, support for rape victims, abortions, or STD treatment and support.

The Planned Parenthood Association helps women and men with free to low cost healthcare. Last I heard, I don’t believe they run specials on abortions. If a women is coming in saying she wants to abort her pregnancy then it should be her decision, not the government official’s decision. There are people that need help from Planned Parenthood programs, and how I see it the government will be paying for the services either way with Medicaid or funding for Planned Parenthood.  Every person, mostly women, have to think about the well-being of their selves and that of a baby, and some people have situations that are out of their control. Those individuals should have the right to do what is the best for them. Our country is supposed to be free, last I knew…

Works Cited

Edwards, Stassa. Planned Parenthood. 26 July 2015. Web.

Gray, Kaili Joy. Daily Kos. 08 January 2013. Web. 29 September 2015.

LoBianco, Tom. Planned Parenthood president grilled at House hearing. 29 September 2015. Web. 29 September 2015.

<http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/29/politics/planned-parenthood-hearing-cecile-richards/index.html&gt;

Controversy in the News!

This week I’m sharing a story in the news that has been trending all over social media, the radio, and television shows. The Miss America Pageant was broadcast last Sunday September 12th. Miss Colorado “Kelley Johnson” chose to do her monologue on her profession, nursing, and gave a great speech about how she is not just a nurse. Patients in her eyes are people, not just a room number or a diagnosis. I personally don’t watch TV at this time, and I have never watched the ABC daytime talk show “The View”. Have you seen or heard about the co-host’s, Joy Behar and Michelle Collins, comment about the stethoscope and then mocking Miss Colorado who happens to be a Registered Nurse? I saw this on Facebook that’s how I heard of this nonsense, plus I work at a hospital with nurses and doctors.

The nursing profession is offended by the ignorant comments that Collins and Behar said about nurses. On the show, Collins mocked Johnson about her monologue as a nurse, then said “Shockingly she did not win”, sarcastically and Behar said, “Why does she have a doctor’s stethoscope on?” (Sacks) Wow! These people are professional talk show hosts on national TV, and don’t know that a nurse uses a stethoscope as much as a doctor or more. I really don’t think their talk show should be about belittling professional working people, especially a nurse or doctor.

A little bit about the hospital I work at there are so many great RNs and doctors, and what we all do every day when we come to work is save people’s lives or help them get better from an illness. Every nurse and doctor has a stethoscope. Some wear it around their neck because they all have to assess the patients bowel sounds, breathing and heart beating. Doing so is very important so the nurse or doctor can diagnose them accordingly.

I personally know what we all have to see and go through every day we are working, and let me tell you it is not a walk in the park. Some people think that nurses stand around and the doctor does all the work, but that is the opposite. The nurses get the patients ready for procedures, surgery, administer medications, and things you would not want to know about. The doctors usually see the patient for about ten to twenty minutes, then they go dictate what they find is going on with them. They then order tests to confirm it or just say you have gas. So please know nurses are very important and without them doctors wouldn’t know what to do.              The talk show is now losing two national advertisers “Johnson & Johnson” and “Eggland’s Best”, for bashing the nursing/healthcare profession. A comment released today said, “Johnson & Johnson values and appreciates nurses and we respect the critical role they play in our health care system,” the company said in a statement Thursday. “We disagree with recent comments on daytime television about the nursing profession and we have paused our advertising accordingly”. (Sacks) Eggland’s Best followed, saying “in light of the comments … we will no longer be advertising on the show in question.” (Sacks) This maybe too much controversy for the talk show, and they maybe firing some people or canceling the show. If I was going to talk about a subject on national TV, and it was about professionals in a certain profession, I would research as much as I could to know the subject. I would probably not belittle the men and women who work in the healthcare profession either.

Works Cited
Hospitalist, The Happy. Memes Responding to The View’s Joy Behar Nurse-Doctor Stethoscope Comment. 2015. <http://thehappyhospitalist.blogspot.com/2015/09/The-View-Nurse-Stethoscope-Comment-Memes.html&gt;.
Machado, Sam. ‘The View’ Cast 2015: Nurse Says An Apology Should Be Given For ‘Doctor’s Stethoscope’ Comment [VIDEO]. 15 September 2015. <http://www.enstarz.com/articles/108470/20150915/the-view-cast-2015-nurse-says-an-apology-should-be-given-for-doctors-stethoscope-comment-video.htm&gt;.
Powell, Erin. ‘The View’ hosts knock Miss Colorado’s talent at Miss America pageant. 16 September 2015. <http://www.abc2news.com/entertainment/the-view-hosts-knock-miss-colorados-talent-at-miss-america-pagaent_copy&gt;.
Sacks, Ethan. “The View loses two national advertisers after mocking nurses. 17 September 2015. <http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/view-loses-national-advertisers-mocking-nurses-article-1.2364943&gt;.

Scientists reveal a recently discovered human species “Homo-Naledi” in a South African Cave

The past couple of years have been very exciting for scientists, geologists, paleoanthropologists, and excavators worldwide. They have been researching a new species in the homo genus, named Homo-Naledi. In the local Sesotho language “Naledi” means “Star”, which is fitting since the remains were found scattered around the Rising Star Cave in South Africa.

According to the New York Times article, the fossils were found where Rick Hunter and Steven Tucker, a couple of local cavers, found a crack in the lime stone that is no more than 7½ inches wide. The two local cavers, Hunter and Tucker, were able to crawl in the small opening of the cave. Once in the cave it was dark, their head lamps lit up the cave, and what they saw were a lot of skeletal bones all around them. They showed fellow caver Pedro Boshoff the photos they took in the cave, and Boshoff let Dr. Berger in on the new findings.

Dr. Berger took a hike to the Rising Star Cave to see for himself, along with a team of international scientists. He also posted on social media that he needed six excavators, and stipulated that “they had to be slender enough to crawl through that crack in the wall.” The team of six excavators were all petite women that could fit through the crack in the lime stone. The team of excavators were called the “underground astronauts”. According to Marina Elliott one of the six excavators, she said the collection and removal of the fossils involved “some of the most difficult and dangerous conditions ever encountered in the search for human organs.” They used small paint brushes, and a small shovel to dig up the fossils in the cave.

Researchers believe that the H. Naledi used the cave as a ritual burial ground for their diseased, although they don’t think it was any kind of religious ritual. Scientists realized that the new species had similar jaw bones to our species Homo-Sapiens. Another interesting fact is that H. Naledi had smaller brains that were about the size of an orange. Their hands were curled most likely for climbing, and their feet were similar to ours. The average height of the H. Naledi was five foot, and they weighed almost one hundred pounds. There were about 1,550 specimens collected and remains of at least 15 individuals, representing a small portion of the fossil content.  Scientists predict that the Rising Star Cave is about three Million years old, therefore the H. Naledi species were living approximately 2.5 million to 2.8 million years ago. (Wilford)

Scientists believe this new species H. Naledi evolved on earth after Neanderthal’s but before the Homo-Sapiens of today. What I find interesting is how many other species were here on earth before we human beings came about? It’s crazy to think that we evolved from the Neanderthal species and now we’re just finding out that there are species that evolved thousands of years before we did. We have a lot of searching to do if we want to know who or what lived on earth before the Homo-Sapiens evolved.

Video: revealing of the new species:

http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000003901516/researchers-reveal-new-human-species.html?action=click&contentCollection=science&module=lede&region=caption&pgtype=article

Works Cited

Wilford, John Noble. The New York Times. Vers. 09/10/2015. 10 September 2015. Article. 15 September 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/11/science/south-africa-fossils-new-species-human-ancestor-homo-naledi.html?action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

 

A Kentucky county clerk is in contempt of court and ordered to jail: over her own religious views

On Friday, June 26 2015 the US Supreme Court made same-sex marriage the law of the land. From coast to coast same-sex couples and their supporters rejoiced as they could now legally enter into legal unions. The battle, unfortunately, was not over yet though. Recently Kim Davis, county clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky, lost her fight against issuing same-sex marriage licenses in her county. Davis declared that her religious liberties were being violated by having to issue and sign off on marriage licenses to same-sex couples. She would not even allow her deputy clerks to issue them in her stead since her signature was still on the documents. This led to a legal battle that she ultimately lost.

The courts ruled that since same-sex marriage is now federal law, by court order she must issue them or not interfere with her deputy clerks issuing them. This was not good enough for Ms. Davis and ended up with her being placed in jail for contempt of court. Just to be clear, Kim Davis was not strictly for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, she was jailed for not doing so by court order and not allowing her deputies to issue them either.

Davis now sits in jail declaring that none of those licenses that are now being issued by her deputies are valid since she didn’t approve them. She has a loyal group of supporters including some republican presidential candidates, like Mike Huckabee. Huckabee supports her religious values and her will to stand up to the law and protect her religious liberties. He is even planning a personal visit to Davis while she is in jail to show his support.

Kim Davis claims that issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples “irreparably and irreversibly violates her conscience.” Therefore, she is claiming to not issue them by constitutional protection of religious freedom. Her supporters call this ‘civil disobedience’, similar to what Rosa Parks did during the Civil Rights movement. Is this really civil disobedience though? It would dishonor Rosa Parks to compare Kim Davis to her. Kim Davis is more like a white person claiming persecution because they can’t force a black person to the back of the bus any longer. Sorry Kim Davis, you are not a champion of liberty, and this is not civil disobedience. Your religious rights fundamentally end the moment you try to force those views on others. As a government employee, you have a duty to separate church and state. You can disagree with a decision, however you have a job to do. Issue the licenses, or maybe that position is no longer the correct fit and you can resign gracefully.

Works Cited

Field, Alexandra. Sgueglia, Kristina. Almasy, Steve. Marco, Tony. LoBianco, Tom. Kopan, Tal. Schleifer, Theodore. CNN. 08 09 2015. Online Article.