Saturday, April 25, 2015

Bhav Singh
English 10H
News Articles for Week of 4/25/15
"Charlotte Police Kill Unarmed Man Who Was Asking for Help." Gawker. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://gawker.com/charlotte-police-kill-unarmed-man-who-was-asking-for-he-1319654578>.
Link:
Another example of police misconduct took place in September of 2013. Jonathan Ferrell, 24, a former Florida football player crashed his car and was looking for assistance from his injuries. When he approached a woman’s house asking for help she notified the police. On the spot, Jonathan was shot by Charlotte police. The officer who shot Ferrell, Randall Kerrick, was charged with voluntary manslaughter which means that it the killing was in self-defense. The police shot him because Ferrell was running towards them and was seen as a threat. This tragedy has been seen as unlawful by the police itself and the community.

This is a continuously growing matter of why the police need to use their weapons in such cases. I think that the officer needed to better analyze the situation and realize that Ferrell was in desperate need of assistance because of his car accident. The police say that “Ferrell had to climb out the back window of his car” and that he was in shock when he approached the officer. The severity of his condition when he approached the officer was understood when he died on scene immediately. What troubles me more is that the women that called 911 got scared because a man knocked on her door. I find that her reasoning is weak. When did knocking on someone’s door become a crime? The police have made some good decisions unlike past situations when they declared that "The evidence revealed that Mr. Ferrell did advance on Officer Kerrick and the investigation showed that the subsequent shooting of Mr. Ferrell was excessive”. Why do we see this trend of police officers who want to be portrayed as warriors instead of guardians?



"New Violence Spurs U.S. Fear of ISIS Spreading Like a Virus." NBC News. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/new-violence-spurs-u-s-fear-isis-spreading-virus-n347991>.
Article 2: New Violence Spurs U.S. Fear of ISIS Spreading Like a Virus
During the month of April, 2015 there have been multiple bombings by ISIS that are putting the United States into a state of fear. For example, on April 18 there was a suicide bombing in a city called Jalalabad. In the article there is a picture of civilians running for their lives when they heard the explosion. ISIS claimed responsibility for this attack and the final outcome was a death toll of 34 and 100+ wounded. Another event in Saudi Arabia claimed ISIS was plotting up to seven car bombings in Riyadh based on evidence found on the cellphone of one suspect, who was arrested after he allegedly killed two police officers. These jihads claimed to be speaking for their organizations.

This news has been terrible to hear how low people can get when it comes to taking people’s lives. This article definitely shows how the wrath of ISIS is beginning to have a more broad area in which they will target. There has also been evidence of U.S citizens going to these remote areas to help ISIS, currently the count is 39. These 39 people have been stopped and fined at airports, bus stations in their attempts. There are also other places that have been sending their own people to fight with ISIS such as Morocco. The United States has been known so far to have had 180 citizens go there and fight with ISIS. I think this is awful and outrageous how these people are going to foreign countries to help terrorist organizations. I find it weird that they are going to help kill innocent people. U.S. officials say that the cause is religion and they want to do it because of their beliefs. Why won’t more countries get involved to get rid of ISIS? Why is it that these jihads will go to such an extent for their religion?
Dettmer, Jamie. The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/24/the-isis-hug-of-death-for-gays.html>.
Article 3: The ISIS Hug of Death for Gays

During the month of April 2015 in Syria two gay men, a couple, were murdered by ISIS. These two men were murdered by ISIS members who threw rocks at them until their death. Public executions in ISIS-controlled territory--and the posting of the atrocities on the Web--serve to terrorize locals into strict obedience. The strange occurrence was that the ISIS members hugged the gay couple before actually sending down death row. It is argued that the hugging and embracing is meant to show that by murdering them, the jihadists are helping the victims to expiate guilt for their supposed crimes. “They hug the men to show the people who are watching that ISIS is not at fault.”.

This shows how they treat gays, and how they are trying to show that they are good and not at fault. I don’t understand why they would want to not be at fault when they commit to other crimes. The fact that the staging and the method of execution are carefully choreographed by the Islamic state shows how they actually do not feel any remorse for those who are going to die. I personally find the method of execution very gruesome because they are scaring the public and at the same time killing the couple in an awful manner. Why won’t somebody go over to Syria and stop this mess? I think that a group needs to be organized which focuses on world peace, especially in Syria and Iraq.
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Sunday, April 19, 2015

Bhav Singh
English 10H
Articles for 4/19/15

Article 1: Fleeing ISIS terror: A Yazidi family's horrifying tale
"A Yazidi Family's Horrifying Tale of Escaping ISIS - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/13/middleeast/yazidi-refugee-camp-arwa-damon/>.
Summary: This article talks about an incident of a mother and other civilians and what they have been threw because of the wrath of the ISIS group members. On April 13, 2015 in Duhok, Iraqi Kurdistan CNN crew members recorded the story of Ahlam who was part of the Yazidi prison. In the prison she witnessed raping and torturing of other prisoner. She tells the story of what she has gone through in the camp. After not being able to handle the intensity of the camp anymore Ahlam and her family try to attempt to escape. After her parents were taken from her home is the real spark that encouraged her to take such a big step. Ahlam gives some new insight into what the ISIS treatment is really like.

Response: In these camps the horrible things that occur are horrific. After reading about what Ahlam herself has gone through I feel lucky to be living in such a safe neighborhood. Ahlam says that “she was spared because she was breastfeeding and she had young children, which makes her impure and therefore unable to be used as a sex slave”. When I read this piece I wonder what the United States and other countries are trying to do to resolve this continuous situation in Iraq. What I found to be very intriguing is the strength that it took to make a decision to escape. The one thing that was seemed to be inhumane was when I read what they did to two previous prisoners who tried to escape. Ahlam says that she recalled that two prisoners in their 40s or 50s bones were broken and their bodies were tied to the back of a truck and driven through the village. What keeps coming to my mind is: what is the law enforcement doing to resolve this situation and even the military? The Yazidi captives were forced to watch their gruesome actions and they were soon thrown into a ditch and told not to be buried. This seems like such a low thing to do and shows how some people just aren’t seen as equal. Don’t they realize that they are human like them too? This article overall to me seemed in a way like a wake-up call of current world crises.


Article 2: We Need Gun Control to Stop More Than Criminals
Milligan, Susan. “We Need Gun Control to Stop More Than Criminals.”USNews.com. U.S. News & World Report, 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 13 July 2014.
Summary: This article pretty much talks about issues that occurred around 2014 that could show how a gun law could have stopped certain criminals from conducting a crime. One example was from Indiana and how a criminal with a gun who invaded a grocery store could have been avoided with a simple background check. Another example includes how a 12-year old in a New Mexico was able to get ahold of a gun in middle school(and shoot two classmates)and how that could have been avoided if the guns were required to be stored in a locked structure or if there were safety-gaps. According to the author of the article the “why” for all of these incidents is because of the lack of enforcement upon gun rules, mainly that there should be background checks and required safes for these guns.
Response: My response to this is just brings me to the question of how did a 12-year old got ahold of a gun? The fact that were careless enough to let a kid get ahold of a gun and take it to school just surprises me. I feel that in that scenario it was more of a psychological problem than a gun safety problem. In the case where the Indiana shooter at the grocery store seems more of a gun law problem. If gun laws were enforced upon these people and background checks were mandatory I support the theory that there will be a decrease in crime and death itself. Another incident includes how a retired police officer shot a person in a theater when he stomped on someone’s phone purposely and broke it. This scenario seems like a very previous article that I worked on that talked about how cops are more warriors than guardians. This seems like too much of a simple situation for him to shoot a person. Well anyway from the author’s perspective he thinks that if there were laws that you could not bring guns into a theater would resolve the situation. I think that is just funny in a way because than you are basically saying that in any community attraction locations that you would need to ban guns. But what if they are needed? What do you do in a no gun-zone when a person like a cop needs to use his? Overall this article didn’t seems to essential because it seems that the author is making up silly ways that he/she believes will decrease crime and death.

Article 3:             Security expert pulled off flight by FBI after exposing airline tech vulnerabilities

Zimmerman, Malia. "Security Expert Pulled off Flight by FBI after Exposing Airline Tech Vulnerabilities." Fox News. FOX News Network, 17 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/04/17/security-expert-pulled-off-flight-by-fbi-after-exposing-airline-tech/>.
Summary: A man named Chris Roberts of the Colorado-based One Worlds Labs, a security intelligence firm that recognizes risks before they are exploited, was pulled off of a Boeing 747 on April 17 of 2015 for unleashing airline tech vulnerabilities.  On his flight to from Denver to Colorado to Syracuse he was found to have been telling passengers of the technological vulnerabilities. He says that it is easy to bring down a plane with just your computer because of the flaws in the in-flight entertainment system. It was the duty of the FBI to pull him off because he could be seen as a harm to the country’s protection. He also says that “If you don’t have people like me researching and blowing the whistle on system vulnerabilities, we will find out the hard way what those vulnerabilities are when an attack happens”.
Response: This article stands out to me because it shows how the country could potentially avoid another act of terror just by fixing the flaws in the in-flight entertainment system. I understand that the FBI did have to question Roberts because he posed a threat but why would you take him off the plane and disturb his important and vital safety aerospace meeting? Like the gun laws couldn’t you just have done a background check? In my opinion, I think that Roberts is one of the good guys and that the United States needs more people like him to ensure the safety of our civilians. Roberts even explains how at the press of a button an airplane’s engines can be shut off once they reach 35,000 ft and not even alarm the pilots located in the cockpit. I think that we should put more time and effort into fixing bugs in flight systems and other systems that could cause harm to people if they are altered.

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Sunday, April 12, 2015

Bhav Singh
English 10H
News for the week of 4/6/15

Article 1:   Police Shouldn’t Ask If a Shooting Is Justified, But If It’s Avoidable

MLA: Stoughton, Seth. "Police Shouldn’t Ask If a Shooting Is Justified, but If It’s
    Avoidable." New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
    <http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/04/09/
    are-police-too-quick-to-use-force/
    police-shouldnt-ask-if-a-shooting-is-justified-but-if-its-avoidable>.

Link:


In this article Seth Stoughton discusses the way that the police in America evaluates their decisions on whether the use of force is necessary. The most controversial part of this is why policemen are using force when they could simply choose a much simpler solution. He discusses the tragic shooting of 12-year old Tamir Rice of Cleveland on November 22, 2014. In this incident a police officer, Timothy Loehmann, shot 12-year old Tamir Rice thinking that he was armed when he actually was only holding a toy airsoft gun. Police officer Timothy Loehmann says that Tamir “pulled out” his fake toy gun and that was what led them to shoot the young boy. Seth Stoughton suggests that this incident occurred because police officers behave like warriors who want to eliminate the enemy and not like guardians who wish to protect the community.
This article discusses the main issues on why officers do not know when to take force and when to conduct  a more peaceful method. This passage to me came as a surprise because you would think that a police officer would have the proper training to know when to pull the gun or not. What seemed the most intriguing to me in this article is that the officer shot within two seconds of exiting out of the vehicle and that shows the complete carelessness of the officer as he did not follow necessary steps to evaluate the “enemy”.The lack of responsibility within the emergency members as well because they were warned by the caller of the emergency call that “it may be a fake gun”. The issue that police officers want to be seen as warriors and not  like guardians creates a breach of community peace and protection. The question raised by Seth: “Why do most officers, charged with serving and protecting their communities, persist in asking whether a use of force was justified rather than necessary?” gave me some new insights into foundations of bad choice making by police officers. It raises some new ideas that when this situation goes into court that an officer’s perspective must be taken into account. The officer’s choice to determine whether it is justifiable or not plays a huge role because the officer has to think about himself and repercussions if a wrong form of force is used. Still the decision made by this officer was not right and repercussions should be enforced. Overall, poor judgement of the situation on the officer’s behalf resulted in the death of an innocent 12-year old boy which I find atrocious.



Article 2: Google Is Testing Delivery Drone System
MLA:Barr, Alistair, and Greg Bensinger. "Google Is Testing Delivery Drone System."
    Wall Street Journal. N.p., 29 Aug. 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
    <http://www.wsj.com/articles/
    google-reveals-delivery-drone-project-1409274480>.


This is an article that applies to me and I feel very strong about…
In this article various companies are discussed on their new delivery enhancements. Amazon(Washington), Google(California), and Dominos(Michigan) are all discussed. This is a vital article in the controversy of the FAA drone regulations. These companies are planning to create autonomous drones which would essentially bring your package to you. But these new ideas have made the FAA furious and worried about civilian protection. Google is launching an aircraft like “drone” that drops a package. Amazon is creating a quadcopter and Dominos is creating a hexacopter and quadcopter. In early 2014 these companies developed efficient ways of delivering packages with taking into account the privacy of civilians. The main reason to create these drones is to make an efficient way of transporting goods. These drones will decrease the amount of pollution in the country but are limited to a certain weight for their payload. Each drone for these companies is one less complaining employee.

This article means a lot to me because it has a bad impression on the FAA rules. I am the president of Aviation Club and would not appreciate if “drones” had rules such as having a permit to fly a little machine. These vehicles provide great opportunities for the world especially in medical emergencies, education and advancements in aviation vehicles. The issues that the FAA argued that the drones will pose a disruption of peace, privacy and are not always the most reliable. Well no, as long as these machines have altitude sensors and proximity sensors they should be fine in my opinion. The FAA is limiting the introduction of an opportunity that could engage students in aeronautics. Google, Amazon, and Dominos all seemed to have safe ways of delivering their packages and pose no threat to civilians in my opinion as well. This article continuously develops the question: Is the U.S ready to welcome new drone devices in their airspace? Does the U.S really want unmanned devices flying everywhere? The FAA, in my opinion, is trying to maintain the strict air control in the United States but they should not be so strict on devices that weigh less than five pounds. This article overall, shows the new technologies developed and how that affects the new FAA regulations.






Article 3: Hens, Unbound

Bittman, Mark. "Hens, Unbound." The New York Times. N.p., 31 Dec. 2014. Web. 10
    Apr. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/01/opinion/
    mark-bittman-hens-unbound.html?ref=topics>.


In this article the extreme issue of factory farming is described. California’s Prop 2 was passed in 2008 and it required that egg and meat producers house their animals in more humane conditions. The former governor of California: Arnold Schwarzenegger passed a bill so that you cannot sell a egg from any other state in California unless it is sanitary. Factory farming is the name for those people who abuse their animals by crowding them just to get more product, eventually these animals die of disease and improper treatment. The primary reason for the creation of the new law in California is the heinous acts committed by farmers. These acts include baby calves and gestational pigs being kept in crates so small they cannot turn around and egg-laying hens may not be held in “battery” cages that prevent them from spreading their wings. For the safety of the animals and for our safety this law has been passed and will make the treatment of animals a lot better.

This article definitely gave me a new insight on the treatment of animals. This article, weirdly, reminded me of the cattle cars that the Jewish people were forced and crowded into during the Holocaust. This tragedy came to me as a surprise as I was oblivious to this matter. To think that animals are forced to be crowded with each other and put into little crates just hurts to think about. These issues need to be resolved quickly because this looks like a domino effect to me. First the animals get sick, then we eat that meat, and then we get sick. Then before you know it 200 million people sick because of some careless farmers who were in it for the bank. My question though: Why have we never tried to stop this dilemma before? This can’t be something new, why haven’t we noticed this before? I think that there should be a routine checkup of each farm each month or so and this would serve as an inspection and this could save a lot of lives, both humans and animals.


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