Harvard Bomb Hoax

Harvard is known for being one of the smartest and most prestigious schools in all throughout the United States.  On that note, there was a bomb threat by a student attending Harvard University at around 8:30 Monday morning, right as students were taking exams before heading off for a long Christmas break.  There are several theories yet to as why this student did so but authorities mainly suggest that the student’s main goal was to disrupt students taking exams.

Eldo Kim, a twenty year old student attending Harvard University clearly had things going for him; that is until he anonymously emailed Harvard campus police warning them of shrapnel bombs in four buildings.  The buildings were quickly evacuated just minutes after around 9 in the morning.  After learning that the whole thing was just a hoax, students were sent back to classes to resume taking their exams.  As for Kim, his plan of not taking the exams was successful because he will not be allowed back to the school or anywhere near the school anytime to soon.

Something like this doesn’t quite add up though; why would a student like Kim, who had the intelligence to attend Harvard, be so ignorant to think that he could get away with a bomb threat which put several hundreds of students’ lives at stake.  The best solution to the situation would have been to study for the exams that he knew he would have to take. There are still missing details to the case and Kim is sure be in a lot of trouble.  Luckily the whole thing was fake and there weren’t actually any bombs.  It was unlikely that a college student would have four bombs put into four different buildings around campus, but hey you would be surprised at what kinds of things 20 year old college students from Harvard do.

The judge ordered him to live with his uncle in North Carolina or his sister in the Boston area and told him to stay away from the school.  Kim was released earlier in the week on a 100,000 bond and faces up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in charges.  In the end Kim got what he wanted, which was not to take the exams and even more good news for him, he won’t be taking any more exams at Harvard for as long as he lives.  Hopefully Kim doesn’t have any other brilliant ideas anytime too soon.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2013/12/18/harvard-student-ordered-stay-away-from-campus-after-federal-court-appearance/51baSmxXPeIpCy2dzVVvXP/story.html

"Harvard Student Ordered." N.p., 17 Dec. 2013. Web. 20 Dec. 2013.

Mega Millions Jackpot Tops $600 Million

The second highest jackpot in lottery history, 648 million dollars, has finally been won.  There are two lucky winners who both take will home over 120 million dollars after taxes are taken out.  One of these lucky tickets was sold in San Jose, California and another in Atlanta, Georgia.  What will the winners do with all these millions of dollars and will it be put to good use?

The odds were previously one in 176 million but after recent changes the odds greatly increased to 1 in 259 million. Just to put that into proportion for you, if every single person in the whole United States pitched in two dollars, it still wouldn’t be as much as the Mega Millions jackpot.  Even if everyone in North America pitched in a dollar to the pot it still wouldn’t even come close to the Mega Millions jackpot.  Also, the two lucky winners now have a net worth of 120 million dollars which is almost the same as artist Miley Cyrus.  You are more than 1000 times as likely to be killed by an asteroid or comet as you are to win the Mega Millions jackpot.  Also, you are equally as likely to win the Mega Millions jackpot as you are to be getting struck by lightning and eaten by a shark at the same time.

The Mega Millions jackpot was so large because they made it a lot harder to win the jackpot.  Each week someone doesn’t win the jackpot, the money accumulates until someone finally wins, and nobody has won the jackpot since October.  But why would people from Mega Millions want to make it much harder to win the jackpot.  One good reason for the change one might suggest is because it makes the jackpot a lot higher and therefore the winner will get a lot more money.  This can also be a bad thing because I am sure people would rather have several people who won a decent sized jackpot instead of one person winning one tremendously large jackpot.

One main question is still in the way, what will these lucky winners will do with their money.  If you were lucky enough to win, despite astonishing odds, there would be so much you could do with your money you couldn’t control yourself.  You already have more money than most movie stars and a lot of professional athletes.  Hopefully these winners put their money to good use, meaning they donate a large portion of the fortune.  It is already a given that they will go out and buy a large mansion and a few sports cars.  If you had that much money, why not help out the community, full of the very people who helped you make your millions.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/18/us/mega-millions/

Hanna, Jason, Joseph Netto, Holly Yan, Chris Friedman, Christine Romans, Pamela Brown, Julie In, Devon Sayers, and Eliott C. McLaughlin. "Georgia Woman Claims Half of $648 Million Mega Millions Jackpot." CNN. Cable News Network, 18 Dec. 2013. Web. 18 Dec. 2013.

Phil Robertson Suspended From Duck Dynasty

Would you be mad if you got in trouble for speaking your mind about an issue based upon your religious beliefs?  This is exactly what happened to hit television shows Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson.  Robertson made several comments to GQ magazine remarking his religious views about homosexual people, which caused him to get into trouble and be kicked off Duck Dynasty.  Robertson’s claims that he was just remarking his religious values, but whether or not he was doing so, it still made several viewers unhappy which is ultimately what matters.

Robertson made several remarks about homosexuals, first saying "Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men”. Robertson went on to say "Don't be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won't inherit the kingdom of God. Don't deceive yourself. It's not right”.  One last comment that angered several people was when Robertson stated "It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man's anus. That's just me. I'm just thinking: There's more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I'm saying? But hey, sin: It's not logical, my man. It's just not logical”.  These disturbing and hurtful comments made by Robertson are stirring up a large debate and many are questioning if he should have been kicked off of the show or not, which in my view, he should have been.

If Robertson were to have one anti-gay comment that wouldn’t have been as derogatory to the homosexual community, I’m sure this whole situation wouldn’t have caused such a huge deal.  Instead, Robertson made several vulgar comments which led to him getting terminated from the show as well as angering several viewers, which is the last thing any television show wants.  Several people angered by the harsh comments stated that Robertson really knew nothing about homosexuals and knew nothing about what the church believed about homosexuals.  A&E decided that it would be best for Robertson to be completely cut from the show because of his negative comments.  Although Robertson was very popular on the show and was loved by several of the viewers, making comments like he did and upsetting a lot of people caused to large or a problem which would and should have ultimately led to him being let go from the show, as he was.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-duck-dynasty-phil-robertson-sounds-off-on-gays-20131218,0,6319736.story

"'Duck Dynasty's' Phil Robertson Suspended for Comments about Gays."Chicagotribune.com. N.p., 19 Dec. 2013. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.

Miley Cyrus Candidate for Person of the Year

Miley Cyrus, the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus, acquired much of her fame from her the Disney show “Hannah Montana”.   Miley has been getting a lot of public recognition lately, and not particularly for them best reasons.  Being caught several times at parties doing things she shouldn't be is just one of the main reasons she’s been getting so much attention lately. Now what’s next for her but being up for Time Magazines’ Person of The Year?

Time magazine is of the most popular magazines in America and has done their Person of the Year since 1927; when Charles Lindbergh won for being the person to fly a plane across the Atlantic Ocean.  The Person of the year doesn't necessarily have to be a person that has done something helpful towards the world, but rather has done something big to be known around the world.  A prime example, in 1938, Adolf Hitler won Times Person of the Year, notorious for the mass genocide or Jews and several other victims.  The very next year in 1939, Joseph Stalin who was the leader of the communist party in the Soviet Union won.  These two are great examples of people winning for doing horrible things, but were notorious around the world.  However, Miley may not be as evil as Hitler and Stalin, but she has made some bad choices which is giving her the great amount of attention that perhaps she wants.

I can admit, Miley has had a rough year, when her dreamy boyfriend Liam Hemsworth broke things off with her, but haven’t we all been heartbroken as times? Most people think this is what set her on the edge to chop off her hair and start getting into drugs and alcohol at a young age.  In her new album Bangerz, she makes several references to drugs.  In her popular song “Wrecking Ball” which is even more popular for her music video, she is shown without clothes covered only by a wrecking ball, and also is shown licking a hammer.  Perhaps the song is a reference to her breakup which is what several people are saying, but it is still rather vulgar.

As of Monday, Miley was in the lead with 20.2% of the votes but since then her lead has narrowed.  Several people would be please with Miley winning the Person of the Year award but on the other hand, there are a great amount that would be disappointed.  Many people think by having her as a Person of the year will make kids look up to her as an influence which most parents wouldn't be too proud of.

http://poy.time.com/2013/12/02/miley-cyrus-leads-times-person-of-the-year-poll-with-3-days-left/

"Person of the Year." Person of the Year Miley Cyrus Leads TIMEs Person of the Year Poll With 3 Days Left Comments. N.p., 2 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.

Nelson Mandela Fake Sign Language Interpreter

Nelson Mandela, famous for many things but mainly for the tremendous amount of good he has done for the world.  He made several contributions to the world and was South Africa’s very first black president.  Mandela died December 5^th, 2013 of a lung disease at the age of 95.  Many would think that because he was one of the most influential and helpful people in all of Africa, as well as around the world, that there should be a proper ceremony of his death.  The remembrance was several hours long and was televised all over the world.  Many people were in attendance, including Barack Obama, but they were lacking one major thing: a legitimate sign language interpreter.

The man who was hired to be an interpreter for sign language for the televised remembrance or Mandela seemed to be making up several gestures and it raised a lot of commotion on the news. as well as online.  Many people became angry that the man did not even know sign language and that he was standing up looking like a fool, making the ceremony look unprofessional.  The South African government admitted that the man lacked the qualifications it took and that he should not have been on the stage at all.  Not only did he make himself and the ceremony look foolish, he made it unfair for all of the disabled people who wanted to watch the ceremony,, but could not.

Now, several days after the ceremony, and many people have settled down about the ordeal, several people are starting to joke about the man.  There has been a skit of Saturday night live imitating the man.  The skit is hilarious, showing a man in the back as President Obama is speaking. The interpreter is making the incident seem a lot worse than it actually was, which made it funny for the viewers.  Several other people have posted videos of the man on YouTube from the ceremony, along with several other YouTube videos making fun of the man.  The video of him even made it to the popular and most view page on YouTube at one point.

All jokes aside, Nelson Mandela was a great man that made several great contributions to the world throughout his life.  Next time there is going to be a ceremony to remember a significant person they need to make sure that people are actually legit and know how to do the job they are being paid to do.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/12/nelson-mandela-sign-language-interpreter-error-south-africa-government

Smith, David. "We Made Error over Nelson Mandela Sign Language Interpreter – Government." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.

Beyonce Releases New Secret Album

Beyonce, a popular hip hop music artist kept her new album a secret until the day she let it out.  Only a select few knew about the album which was kept a complete secret from all of her fans.  The album has 14 songs and 17 music videos all completely new and never before seen.  There has already been over 400,000 copies of the album sold just a day after the release.

Beyonce is an extremely popular not only for being a great music artist but also for being a positive role model for everyone, unlike a many other celebrities.  Beyonce has several charities in which she donates hundreds of thousands of dollars of her great fortune too.  This is the very first time that Beyonce has released an album without anyone knowing and it’s getting a lot of attention.  The idea of this is very intelligent for several reasons. First, Christmas is right around the corner and people are still out doing last minute shopping for loved ones.  Therefore the album will be the perfect gift for Christmas for many people because Beyonce is such a popular music artist and is widely known.  Secondly because it doesn’t have any suspense for her fans that would patiently be waiting for her music to come out.  Instead when she released her secret album all of her fans get really excited and go out and buy it and that is exactly why so many copies have sold already.

The billboard said that her album is so popular already that it will likely reach the number one spot by next week.  The album was even stirring up a lot of commotion on social media websites like twitter and face book.  It was a trending topic on twitter throughout most of the day on Sunday.  There were 1.2 million tweets about the album in just 12 hours which is 100,000 tweets an hour.  The album also was the most talked about thing on twitter since July when the movie “Sharnado” movie came out.

Just after the album came out, 2 of Beyonces songs ranked number one and two on the itunes charts.  The album isnt quite at the number one spot yet but it is getting there and will be soon.  Many other artist have done something like this also.  In 2011, lady gaga release her album born this way for just 99 cents on Amazon for 2 days.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/entertainment/beyonce-keeps-new-album-secret-until-day-of-release-over-400000-copies-sold-already

"7NEWS - Beyonce Keeps New Album Secret until Day of Release; over 400,000 Copies Sold by Sunday - Entertainment Story." 7NEWS. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.

Famous Actor Paul Walker Dies in Car Crash

Paul Walker was one of the main characters in the famous car racing movies “Fast and Furious”.  Walker was in Southern California Saturday when he died in a horrible car accident later that day.   He was in the passenger side of his good friend Roger Rodas 2005 Porsche Carrera GT when they lost control and ran into a light pole.  Authorities still have the crash under investigation but know that speed was most likely a factor in the incident.  Autopsies on both Walker and his friend, Rodas, are still being waited on to see if drugs or alcohol played a role in the accident but reporters say that they most likely weren’t the issue.

The two were going for a ride in Valencia, in Santa Clarita, which is just 30 minutes north of Hollywood.  They were driving in a zone with a speed limit of 45MPH and most likely lost control of the car, and ran into the light pole which burst into flames upon impact, completely destroying the car.  The wreckage was so bad that it took almost 48 hours to completely indentify the remains to Walker and Rodas.  Dental records had to be looked up to tell exactly which victim was who.

 The Porsche that was driven in the accident is worth $450,000 when bought brand new.  The vehicle is also said to be extremely difficult to handle, which also could be another great factor that lead to Rodas to lose control of the vehicle.  The car is powered by a v10 610 horsepower engine, which is extremely powerful, which leads authorities to think that speed was most likely a factor in the accident.

Could it be pure irony that Walker supposedly died driving like any fast driving scene in the movie he was in that was still in production.  The accident is very sad because Walker and Rodas didn’t get to say goodbye to their families, because they had no idea of what laid ahead of them.  Their families were shocked and horrified by the deaths on the two men who still had a lot of life ahead of them.

In memory of the two men, people from all around California that owned sports cars drove them together across the state.  The accident will continue to be under investigation for several more weeks as investigators look into further details.  Everyone I know was shocked by the death of Paul Walker and I have heard several people talking about his death for the last week.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/30/showbiz/actor-paul-walker-dies/

Duke, Alan, Alan Duke Reported from Santa Clarita; Joe Sutton from Atlanta. Paul Vercammen, Greg Botelho, David Simpson, and Jackie Castillo Also. "'Fast & Furious' Star Paul Walker Killed in Car Crash." CNN. Cable News Network, 02 Dec. 2013. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.

Black Thursday

Everyone knows about the craziness of Black Friday shopping, whether it be the large crowds of people or the insanely low prices and great deals that the store gives.  However, this year stores are trying something new, black Thursday.  There are several pros and cons to this major change, but many people are getting upset about the change.

This year, many stores opened their doors around 5PM-6PM.  I think that their main purpose in doing so is to avoid the large numbers of people spending the night in tents outside the stores in freezing weather and to avoid people getting up really early in the mornings, therefore making it much more convenient for shoppers.

Having Black Friday on a Thursday this year upset a lot of people because Thursday is Thanksgiving and you’re supposed to be with your family giving thanks for everything in your lives.  Wouldn’t it be contradicting to have people go out pushing people around to buy things on the very same day that they are giving thanks for everything that they have in life?  This is the exact reason why tens of thousands pledged not to go shopping on Thanksgiving.  In order to get the things you wanted, many people would have to come and stay outside all day and would be away from their families for most of the day on Thanksgiving.  This was yet another reason why people were angry that Black Friday was on Thursday this year.

There is another side to this as well; many people enjoyed the shopping on Black Thursday for a few reasons.  First, I think people liked that they didn't have to get up extremely early in the mornings to go shopping. Another reason why shoppers liked having the mega sales on Thursday night this year is because they could get up at a normal time and still go shopping and get the good deals they want.

Black Thursday turned out to not be a huge success due to the large numbers of people who refused to go shopping.  Hopefully next year stores stick to black Friday like how it’s always been for the sake of the stores and the shoppers.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/27/news/economy/boycott-black-thursday/

Kurtz, Annalyn. "Disgusted Shoppers Threaten to Boycott Black Friday (Thursday)."CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 27 Nov. 2013. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.

Fast Food Workers in DC Strike

Recently in Washington DC, many fast food workers have are on strike, demanding a higher pay than just $7.25 an hour.  This is not just the case in Washington DC however, several other states across the nation have the same minimum wages.  These fast food workers aren’t even really making $7.25 an hour, but more like a high 6 something an hour; that is if you include all of the state and federal deductions taken out of each paycheck.  Fast food workers finally decided that enough is enough and went on strike, demanding a higher pay.

Fast food restaurants have been notorious for low wages, and usually just pay workers at the set state minimum wage.  The lowest minimum wage in the nation is a whopping $6.25 an hour leading to Washington State which has $9.19 as the minimum wage.  Fast food restaurants make primarily make their money by making their product for an extremely cheap cost to them and then charging a high mark up on the product to generate a large profit.  It may not seem like they mark up prices much because the cost of making the food is already very low.  Another way the fast food restaurants can generate such a large profit is by paying low wages to their workers.  The reason people work at these places is because they demand little or no skill or knowledge and is primarily manual labor, therefore uneducated people or young teens can work at these places as a source of income.

I myself work at a place which only pays the state minimum wage to employees.  I never really hear people complaining about the pay because the majority of my coworkers are still in school, like myself.  Many of us don’t mind the low wages because we are all just glad we have a job and a source of income too either save up for collage or to spend on certain things.

Obama has proposed a set national minimum wage of $10.10 an hour, but that has just been a proposal and nothing that may happen anytime soon.  Many agree with this proposal because it will help several workers, including themselves, by gaining a larger income.  The people who disagree with the proposal side this way because it would only cause the restaurants the raise their prices and therefore anger customers and have a dramatic effect on the economy.

Many strikes like this will continue to happen across the US in the future and there isn’t much the companies can do about it.  There are several benefits to having the workers work for small pay but also negative effects as well.  For now, the businesses are generating a tremendous profit and therefore will continue to pay their workers at the set minimum wage.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2013/1203/Fast-food-strikes-and-protests-planned-for-100-US-cities

"Fast-food Strikes and Protests Planned for 100 US Cities." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 03 Dec. 2013. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.