B-K Current Events due 2/23 & M-W Current Events due 3/1. by Amy Brown

Current Event- Zombie Fires

paijoh0149 — 2024-02-19 19:10:58 UTC

With zombie fires raging under the heavy layers of snow at an unusual rate, Canada's winter is having a record-setting wildfire season which has raised concerns about the next summer. Zombie fires, also known as overwintering fires, are caused by peat moss and many layers of snow, which allow flameless smolders to slowly burn under the surface and support themselves. Concerns regarding the upcoming wildfire season have been raised by the extremely high number of 106 active zombie fires that occurred in British Columbia in January. Winter fire activity has increased throughout the province drastically. At the start of February, there were 57 active which is about ten times the number as reported five years before. One reason for the large amount of zombie fires in British Columbia is the disastrous wildfire season since most of them were out of control because of a lack of resources. Also, with a lack of snowfall in the province, ski resorts were forced to close for the season. Although officials keep an eye on these fires, there is still worry that they can flare up again in the spring if there isn't much snow or rain.

addgen7653 — 2024-02-19 20:42:12 UTC

For decades El Salvador has been known as the “murder capital of the world”. They have many gangs such as the Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 who have kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered innocent people. They forced the communities to pay reparations or else the citizens would feel the wrath of these gangs. However, their current president, Nayib Bukele, created an impenetrable fortress for these gang members to live out the rest of their days. Cecot (Center for the Confinement of Terrorism) was established on January 31, 2023. Each cell can hold 10 prisoners, but to cram as many in as possible, they force up to 20 into a single. Within these four walls all they have access to are two sinks and two toilets which the inmates have to use without any privacy. There are no blankets, utensils, workout equipment, or even mattresses to sleep on because they could become makeshift weapons. The prisoners have to eat with their hands and are only allowed outside for 30 minutes each day in order to get at least a little exercise. Every inch of this prison, which is as large as seven football stadiums, is well maintained. Beyond these walls there are two more concrete walls, two electrified fences, and 19 watch towers which stay on high alert for anyone who might try to escape. Due to his idea of reducing crime, President Bukele received over 80% of the presidential votes for the whole country. This prison allowed El Salvador to become one of the most peaceful places in the world. Those who commit the simple act of guarding guns for the cartels and gangs are arrested as well because even if they were being threatened, they still aided those who only try to harm innocent citizens. The people of this country were tired of living in fear every day and they wanted to put a stop to all of it. Also, some people claim citizens have been unlawfully imprisoned simply because they seemed a little suspicious. Even those who suffer from gang violence admit that there are some people imprisoned who did not commit a single crime. Aside from the “concrete and steel pit” there are other prisons which are in much worse conditions. They aren’t well maintained and inmates aren’t just dying from violence, but from the poor physical conditions they are living in. People who aren’t incarcerated can live happy lives, but those inside the prison system see things from an entirely different perspective. No one will ever truly know which side is telling the truth because there are very few people who are even allowed to visit the regular prisons, let alone the grand concrete fortress.

Current Event #3

kaidec6912 — 2024-02-20 18:25:29 UTC

Pollution in the air has become all the more prevalent throughout the years as modern technology has increasingly industrialized. According to statistics, only one percent of the global population lives in an area with truly clean, purified air. The other ninety-nine percent finds themselves in essentially every part of the world, breathing in harmful particles on a daily basis. Although progress has been made in establishing air pollution protocols so as to better air quality, experts expect for air quality to only worsen in the coming years. According to expert opinion, by 2050 it is expected that the amount of people regularly exposed to harmful air quality will increase by over fifty percent. An impactful force in such air pollution recently has been wildfire smoke. In regard to breathing in harmful particles, PM2.5 is the air pollution of reference. PM2.5 consists of particles that are practically microscopic, measuring in at 2.5 micrometers in width. Such matter may be comprised of solid or liquid components, the inhalation of which can cause respiratory inflammation, and may even create concern for neurological health. For instance, Siberian wildfires in 2023 resulted in great amounts of smoke, the effects of which made their way into Alaska, and other northwestern US territories. Meaning, wildfire smoke and its effects don't only impact the specific area in which the wildfire occurs, rather, the harmful effects reach areas around the world. Such effects vary, but in connection with the potential for causing neurological damage, matter found in some wildfire smoke, such as PM2.5, can affect the brain in a manner that leads one to develop poor judgment, resulting in potentially severe bad decisions, increased crime rates, and more. To show such effect, many of the poorest communities in the world are ones that suffer from poor air quality. Such communities often also suffer from high crime rates, lower educational levels, and a lower quality of health. Although limited availability of beneficial resources within these communities may also contribute to these effects, research has shown that poor air quality factors in as well. With this in mind, we understand that depending on where one lives and what the environment is like, not everyone is going to have access to the best air quality. This is why we as a universal society must continue diligently in our efforts to better air quality by whatever protocol and means necessary, so as to provide more areas and communities with better air quality, and consequently, better living conditions, health, and quality of life.

Current event- Four new films, all the beatles

alybra8634 — 2024-02-21 17:04:41 UTC

Oscar award winning director Sir Sam Mendes has been granted full permission and music rights to proceed with a beatles film project. Mendes project is to be comprised of four films, each from the perspective of a different beatle and their feelings and experience in the band "the four new films would "explore each Beatles unique story and to bring them together in a suitably captivating and innovative way."". The films, set to release in 2027, will, according to producer Dame Pippa Harris "be a uniquely thrilling, and epic cinematic experience".

Carson Phillips - Current Event

2024-02-22 15:15:33 UTC

Are sports in the United States becoming too serious? The Kansas City Chiefs brought home their 3rd Super Bowl victory in the past 5 years, and though the NFL (National Football League) fans loved them in 2019, the love is over. At the Chiefs celebratory parade last week, some people who were frankly sick of the Kansas City success, took it upon themselves to take revenge, and committed a mass shooting at the Parade. As of the time of this article, 1 person has lost their life, and 22 others were injured, and yet social media doesn't seem to believe this should be considered a mass shooting, and other fanbases have gone as far as to down-play the events that happened. The shooters claim self defense was the primary purpose for shots being fired, though the people they were "defending" themselves from may or may not have drawn guns. Speculations still rise as does the anger of the general public. Lyndell Mays (one of the shooters) when reminded that the person he was aiming for was in fact running away, simply replied "I know".

(This is a remedial padlet from last week)

Article Link:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/kansas-city-chiefs-parade-mass-shooting-2-adults/story?id=107379141

Current Event- Elizabeth Cowan

2024-02-22 18:35:23 UTC

Bryce Pedicini, a US Navy sailor stationed in Japan, is accused of spying on a foreign government by disclosing classified material. Pedicini allegedly tried to give foreign agents pictures of military computer screens and gave documents to them on several occasions between 2022 and 2023. This took place in Hampton Roads, Virginia, as well as Japan. The US Navy is taking these acts seriously, and as a result, Pedicini was arrested and has been in custody since May 2023. He is accused of bringing personal electronics into secure areas, transporting classified material, and neglecting to report foreign contacts.

This case is similar to current concerns in the US military about foreign influence and espionage. Following another incident in which sailor Wenheng Zhao admitted to giving information to Chinese intelligence while he was stationed at a naval base in California, it happened soon after. The military still faces difficulties in protecting classified material, as shown by Zhao's case. These events are severe reminders of the need for extreme attention to safeguard national security concerns.

Current Event- Anna Brinke

annbri2475 — 2024-02-22 22:57:55 UTC

Over 74,000 individuals were without cell phone service on Thursday morning. AT&T customers across the United States were very upset when they woke up to find out they had lost their lines of communication. Cell phone users were not able to call, text or use the internet from their handheld devices and there was much frustration. The Federal Communications Commission is investigating the outage. They are still not sure what exactly happened. Customers who had Verizon and T-Mobile service also had some sporadic outages as well, but this could have been attributed to not being able to reach AT&T customers and not a direct result of those networks having issues.

The issues started around 4 am and then leveled off and by 2 pm. At 2 pm fewer than 5,000 customers were still reporting issues. The customers were encouraged to use Wi-Fi calling by AT&T until the problem could be restored. As a result of the outage AT&T’s stock value fell more than 2% on Thursday.

AT&T did not provide an official reason for the outage, but it is speculated that it is related to how cellular services hand off calls from one network to the next known as peering. There is no indication or reason to think that the outage was related to a cyber-attack, but many agencies have become involved in the investigation including the FCC, US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Homeland Security Bureau, as well as White House National Security. These agencies will work closely with AT&T to determine the cause of the outage and look into its impacts. They will continue to provide assistance as needed.

It is of note that anytime there is an outage the cell phone carriers seem to be very cautious about discussing the reason behind the outages. There have been times that networks have had outages due to accidents where cables were cut or issues with programming errors or in fact human errors. The FCC continues to monitor and investigate the situation and there may be fines associated with 911 outages as customers who can’t contact 911 in an emergency could have been in danger.

Overall, this was a significant interruption to the daily activities of many individuals, companies and government agencies and could have been dangerous in serious situations that required immediate help. There will be more information about this story in the next few weeks as more information becomes available.

Current Event - Raegan Curtis

raecur2146 — 2024-02-24 02:10:15 UTC

Today, the US military intercepted a high-altitude balloon over Utah. This is not the first time this has occurred. Last February, another high-altitude balloon belonging to China was destroyed off the coast of South Carolina after flying all the way across the United States. This balloon episode sparked a diplomatic crisis between Washington and Beijing. The balloon caught the eyes of most citizens, making them worry and raising national security concerns. Last year, the Chinese authorities had denied it was a spy aircraft, describing it as a weather ship blown astray. However, as of today the origin and purpose of the balloon over Utah is unknown. I believe the United States should heighten their security awareness and not even allow a balloon or any type of aircraft to enter into the United States unknown. Even if it poses a no harm risk, it is still unacceptable and causes concerns among the American people. We simply do not know what other countries are capable of.

Current Event- Allison King

allkin7481 — 2024-02-24 16:18:58 UTC

AI is becoming more prevalent in our world every single day. We use it for many things that we might not even know about. Something that is starting to adapt to the changing world is our airlines. In this article, an Air Canada chatbot promised a discount to a passenger that wasn't actually available. The passenger was told that he could book a full-fare flight and then apply for the bereavement fare after. When he did as the chatbot said they denied the request and the airline said the chatbot had been wrong, that the passenger had to submit the request before the flight. The airline claimed that the chatbot is "responsible for its own actions" and that if the passenger clicked on the link provided, he would have seen the actual policy. In the end, the airline had to pay the passenger $812.02 for damages and tribunal fees. It brought about the controversy of if the airline was responsible and the conclusion was that it makes no difference where the information comes from. If it comes from a chatbot that is associated with your airline, then it should have the same information as the website and the passenger is not at fault. This has not been the first time that an AI has been wrong, nor will it be the last. Something that we can learn from this situation is to not trust everything AI tells us. AI will continue to improve but as of right now, it is not perfect. This goes to show that not everything can be done with technology and sometimes you still have to use "old-fashioned human help."

Current Event- Kaydence Walton

2024-02-26 18:27:12 UTC

This current event/link talks about how on February 22, 2024, a Chinese hacking firm is likely to release private information shortly. The business has already been connected to a number of security lapses and has a history of cyber attacks. The website explores the possible threat the Chinese hacking firm will release sensitive data. The company's history of cyberattacks and its role in other security lapses give rise to worries about how this impending disclosure would affect privacy and national security. Sensitive information about government activities, national security, or the personal information of individuals may be included in the leaked papers. The revelation may have significant repercussions for both federal agencies!

Today, U. (2024b, February 22). Leaked documents from Chinese hacking company I-Soon reveal insight into state surveillance. USA TODAY. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2024/02/22/chinese-hacking-company-i-soon-document-leak/72696462007/

Stephanie Wacholz - Current Event: Young Adults are growing ill

stewac1792 — 2024-02-26 19:19:46 UTC

According to a study held by Mr. Siva, there are claims that social media is the one of the leading causes to making young adults grow ill. This can be supported based on the amount of time people spend scrolling and the findings that appear on their "for you page", and how it affects their self esteem. As social media becomes more popular, people are leaning more towards it to talk about both the ups and downs in their life, more so the ups than the downs. This is where the problem comes in, because when people see these things on social media, they tend to compare it to their personal lives to what they see on their phone or computer. This, over time, can cause the individuals to feel like they are not worthy of who they are or feel like they are a failure. Not to mention, Mr. Siva also adds that, "Kids look to their mates on social media for likes or followers for validation and worth". This quote adds more in-depth commentary to the main topic because it is not just adults experiencing this issue, it is also found in children too. So maybe instead of bragging about the amazing things in our personal lives, we could look for ways to encourage each other, rather than bring ourselves and each other down using social media.

Carson Phillips - Current Event

2024-02-28 16:32:44 UTC

The Nascar race in Atlanta this past weekend would end in one of the most phenomenal finishes since the sports inception in 1948. As the field entered the back half of the speedway a wild push from Bubba Wallace #23 would send Kyle Busch #8 into a three-way battle for the lead. The field stormed off of turn four at speeds of around 188 miles per hour three wide for the lead. Daniel Suarez #99 on the outside, Kyle Busch on the inside, and Ryan Blaney #12 on the inside. The three were quickly praised for almost perfectly recreating the scene from the first Cars movie where three cars cross the finish line dead even. Suarez would take the win over Blaney by an astonishing 0.003 seconds, the third closest finish in the history of the sport, and Kyle Busch was only 0.007 seconds behind them. It was without a doubt a wonderful end to a spectacular showing of speed and engineering, possibly one of the best races in Nascar history.

Article Link:

https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/sports/nascar/2024/02/26/2024-nascar-cup-series-earnhardt-jr-others-react-to-atlanta-finish/72742686007/

Current Event-Gracey S

grasne0571 — 2024-02-29 16:02:42 UTC

The singer we all know and love has finally made a decision to leave American Idol after being on the show since 2018. Katy Perry, who is now 39, had an interview with Jimmy Kimmel where he asked her how long she planned to stay on the show. Granted, she has been on this show for going on 7 years so it is a valid question. Perry said in her explantion that she wanted to "go see the world" and fans are hoping that this means she will be releasing new music and potentially go on tour again.

Madison Munz- Current Event: Why South Korean Women aren't having babies

2024-02-29 17:18:42 UTC

South Korea currently has the lowest birth rate and continues to decrease each year. In the year 2023, it fell by 8% to 0.72. This puts the South Korean population in an unsteady position and if this continues, their population will halve by the year 2100. So, if this is causing such a huge impact then why are they doing this? Well women like Yejin and Stella have their own opinions on why they aren't bearing children. Yejin wants to focus on her career and tradition Korean work hours are very long, this leaves no room for having a child. She fears that "if she were to take time off to have a child, she might not be able to return to work." Yejin doesn't want to put her job at risk because she is so passionate about it. So as we see, women have fought hard to be able to have the right to work and they don't want to give that up. Stella Shin is a teacher for young children and loves her job. Stella loves children but made the decision that she doesn't want to have any. Her reasoning is because she has a full schedule and realized "her lifestyle makes it impossible." There have been financial incentives to try and convince women to get married and have children, for example, couples have had their bills and financial struggles covered for having children. This didn't work for women in South Korea just want to be heard and hear their needs. This makes me wonder, how will South Korea get their birth rate back up?

A New Drug for Food Allergies - Kinsley West

kinwes5727 — 2024-03-01 15:06:40 UTC

The FDA has approved the use of Xolair in adults and children over one year old. In situations where an allergen is inadvertently consumed or exposed to, it lessens the possibility of reactions, including the potentially fatal anaphylactic reaction. When it comes to treating food allergies, Xolair is revolutionary. Xolair belongs to a class of medications known as monoclonal antibodies. It functions by attaching itself to IgE, the antibody that triggers allergic reactions in people who consume allergens. People on Xolair may be able to tolerate tiny amounts of foods that they had previously suffered allergies to. It is hard to determine when Xolair starts to work due to the study's restricted duration and the absence of a meal test challenge until 16–20 weeks. Even with Xolair's clearance, carrying an EpiPen and avoiding foods that trigger an allergic reaction are still crucial for people with severe food allergies.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240229-xolair-asthma-drug-new-hope-for-food-allergies

Star Dunes - Addyson Ward Current Event

2024-03-05 13:15:25 UTC

In the remote deserts of Morocco, scientists were puzzled by the strange, small luminescent pieces in the sand. These bits of sand resembled small stars that could confuse travelers of what was sand and what was sky. Scientists have no discovered that these bits of sand are radioactive. While these sand dunes are not dangerous scientists have said they are a thing of natural beauty. Professor Duller commented "As you climb, you go up two and slide back one. But it's worth it - they're absolutely beautiful from the top,". This would be a wonder alike with black sand beaches and bright blue lagoon water. These sands have also inspired a number of travelers, would you travel to Morocco to see these terrestrial stars?