More Storms, More Chaos

A massive blizzard has been hitting the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic the past day or so, and it's greatly affecting the metropolitan areas it is striking, such as NYC and Boston. These areas can expect as much as two feet of snow over a 48 hour period.

While it didn't hit the metro areas as badly, it still shut down NYC schools and public transit, while other areas declared a state of emergency. People were told that the storm could potentially be one for the record books. It was too, at least for areas further north, such as Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They received up to two feet of snow, with another foot or so expected today.

It was good that NYC's mayor took these precautions, even though most proved unnecessary, because the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area is a massive one, with millions of people living there.Even though it wasn't as bad as thought, it was still better to be safe than sorry, considering the large population of the area.

I hope that all those affected are safe, and that they took the necessary precautions to prepare for this storm. I also am glad that it didn't hit us, especially considering the massive snowstorm we received in November.

Charlie Hebdo - What Happened?

One of the worst terrorist attacks in Paris happened recently due to the controversial nature of the magazine's content. Charlie Hebdo's offices were attacked by the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda, resulting in 11 casualties and more injured.

What had caused this was the satirical nature of the magazine. Many publications made fun of religion; Catholicism and Islam in particular. The magazine would often mock Islam, and would also publish magazine covers with parodies of Muhammad on them. This is a problem because some sects of Islam prohibit its worshipers from viewing images of Muhammad.

translation:
Sharia Hebdo
100 lashes if you are not dying of laughter

Regardless, the offensive nature of the magazine had caused an upset among not only radical Muslims, but Muslims in general, which led to al-Qaeda planning attacks on them since 2011.

After the initial shooting, more terrorist attacks occurred near Paris, some involving hostages. Because of this, security in the region has been heightened, also causing people to fear travelling there. Personally, I would not risk travelling, because even though those at large are now either captured or dead, it doesn't mean that other terrorist threats can't infiltrate the government of France.

People feel as if this is a violation of freedom of speech, both in France and here at home. The entire situation is heartbreaking, but I don't think we should necessarily support the magazine's message. While we should most certainly mourn the losses and do what we can to help Charlie Hebdo recover, it doesn't mean the magazine is no longer offensive. Many cover photos, such as the one above, would often mock other religions, causing controversy. This is still absolutely no reason to shoot up the building, however. Hopefully the magazine will be able to recover from its losses.

Ferguson Is Still Relevant

It's Still Relevant

Even though Michael Brown was shot and murdered over five months ago, unrest and protests are still going on across the nation. Even just this past Monday, people marched and protested on Martin Luther King day. People are still protesting. Police are still trying to suppress it. 

Civil Rights protests, 1960s

Ferguson protests, 2014

People may believe that racism is over, and that it ended with Martin Luther King Jr's speech and March on Washington, but the truth is, it most certainly isn't. Prejudice doesn't automatically stop when protection laws are created. It won't change the viewpoints of everyone, unless they are taught that prejudices are wrong. And even then, it won't change people's minds. It's hard, having to fight for equal rights. The only way that someone can do that is by fighting, and by protesting, and by not giving up until they see results. 

Different Protests, Same Goal

The Ferguson protests, the Eric Garner protests, the die-ins, the marches, everything has one common goal: for people of every race to have equal rights. Minorities are still being profiled by police because of their race. Black people are still looked at as inferior to the white person, even though it might not seem like that. The new 'acceptable' attitude that all black people are 'thugs' is racist, and it turns an entire group of people into a stereotype. 

What people have been trying to accomplish in these protests is the right to be able to live without fearing someone harming them because of their race. It sounds absurd, still having to fight for this in 2015, but it's true, unfortunately. Even in all of this, there are groups of people that are also underrepresented. This especially includes black women. All of the shootings and deaths that are reported (Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Eric Garner) are black men, you never hear about black women being fought for. While they are most certainly included in the #BlackLivesMatter protests, the man is thought of first. Recognition for both genders should be also noted in these protests. What should also happen is more representation in media in general. 13.4% of people are African-American, and even though there is always the token minority in television shows, it feels forced in some contexts.  

By taking all of this into consideration, maybe reform is what we really need in this nation.

Elections: Democrats Lost Majority

Throughout the entire election, the Democrats had struggled. They struggled with maintaining the majority they had in the Senate, which they ultimately lost. Now that there's a Republican majority in all of Congress, the Democrats have had time to reflect on what may have gone wrong during their elections last fall.

Because of their conflicting core beliefs, there was obviously a huge competition in the elections themselves. Conflicts in beliefs between Republicans and Democrats included the following:

• who is responsible for the citizens 
• the involvement of government
• taxes
• military funding
• immigration

One of the main things the Democrats focused themselves on is distancing themselves from President Barack Obama. Because of Obama's unpopularity at the time, even among other Democrats, those running and campaigning had tried their best to ensure voters that they wouldn't become involved in scandals like Obama did, and that they would be more honest than him as well. They didn't want to associate with him at all; they wanted to run their own campaigns without his support.

They had tried to appeal to voters as well. Voters had wanted representatives and senators that would be honest with them and that would act in their best interest. Democrats  would also try and convince voters to vote, since not many Democrats would vote for them. During midterm elections, the majority of voters are older conservatives who would definitely vote Republican. The Democrats tried to appeal to younger liberals, which was who they needed to vote in order to win the election.

Of course, there was a major upset: the Democrats had lost their majority in the Senate, ultimately losing the majority in the entirety of Congress. There were many close races, but even then, polls from newspapers and agencies showed that the Republicans would win regardless, with statistics showing as high as a 91% chance of the Republicans winning.

Patriots Using Deflated Balls?

The Patriots are currently under investigation by the NFL after being accused of using deflated footballs in order to win the championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, where they won 45-7. If they weren't up to standard, or were altered by the team, it can lead to fines or draft picks being lost. According to some sources, deflated footballs are easier to throw and catch, giving the team an unfair advantage.

I normally don't follow sports, but both sides of this story is too ridiculous not to mention. On one side, you have a team so desperate to win that they're willing to resort to cheating (which the Patriots have done before). On the other hand, there are people so mad the Colts lost that they would accuse the other team of cheating.

Things like this is why I don't follow sports; people obsess too much over these games and their teams, in my opinion.

More Clues to the AirAsia Flight

Recently, the fuselage of Flight QZ8501 has been found in the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia. This part, which is the plane's main body, will hopefully lead to some clues as to how the plane crashed, and possibly also lead to the recovery of more bodies in the coming months. 50 bodies have been found so far, and searchers are hoping to find approximately 100 more in the fuselage once they start searching on Thursday.

While there is a good portion of the plane, along with the black boxes being found, it still may take a couple of months to investigate and find out what had happened to cause the plane crash to occur. At least with these new discoveries, the families of the victims will be able to find closure and peace.

Anti-Islam Rallies?

Ever since the attacks on Charlie Hebdo, anti-Islam groups, especially in Europe, have held rallies and protests on 'Islamization'. One group in Dresden, Germany, PEGIDA, has one of the biggest turnouts. They believe that Muslims are overrunning Europe and are stopping Europeans from having the freedom they deserve. These groups have held marches for a while now, but they've gotten larger since the recent terrorist attacks and threats from ISIS. Other concerns brought up included how 'dangerous' Islam is, and if allowing asylum-seekers into European nations would cause ISIS to pose a threat.

They may claim that they're merely advocating for peace, but all they're doing is driving people out of their nation. The belief that all Muslims are terrorists has struck fear in people around the world, when they are just like everyone else. A small group of terrorists doesn't define a group over a billion people strong. Fearing Islam and it spreading isn't fair to those who immigrate to other Western nations in order to find a better life for themselves. Everyone should have the opportunity to live in freedom, and to the dismay of some, immigrating to new nations is part of that.

NYPD Turn Their Backs - Again

NYPD officers have recently turned their backs to Mayor Bill de Blasio during the funerals of two slain police officers. Blasio had said the act itself was disrespectful.

It is their job to protect and serve the city, it is Blasio's vision of a safer city that they should be working towards. Just because someone calls them out on their flaws within the force doesn't mean they have to make a fool out of themselves yet again by immaturely turning their backs on their mayor. Doing this may seem like expressing their rights to protest, but these same people praise the police for standing up against 'the man', while simultaneously blasting protests and marches against police brutality.

Where's the difference? The NYPD are supposed to show respect to their leaders, and are supposed to responsibly use their positions of power. Instead, they choose to protest at a funeral, which is blatantly disrespectful to the deceased. If they want to protest, fine, but don't do it at the funeral of one of their own. It's absolutely inappropriate. By doing this, they're also losing the faith the public has in them. The public is starting to realize that maybe the police aren't as perfect as they previously thought.

Simply put, they need to show respect to Blasio and the citizens of NYC.

Transgender Lives Matter, Too

A tragedy happened over the holidays in Kings Mills, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. Transgender teenager Leelah Alcorn, born a male but identified as female, committed suicide by standing in front of a tractor trailer on a highway after posting a suicide note, crying for help, on her Tumblr blog (which has since been deleted by her parents).

In the note, she talked about her parent's abuse, stating how they didn't support her transition, and instead chose to take her to conversion therapists and cut her off from the outside world by taking away access to social media and enrolling her in an online school.

Even after she died, her parents referred to her as a male, stating that while they loved Leelah, they didn't agree with her gender identity because their religion didn't support it.

This needs to stop. This ends here. There is absolutely no reason why any child should be abused because of their gender identity or sexuality, something they can't control. LGBT rights activists have since called her parents out, along with conversion therapists and those against transgender rights.

Rest in peace, Leelah.