Monday, December 12, 2011
The Death of Bin Laden
According to the New York Times, there has been a possible turning point to the war in Afghanistan. After a whole decade of fighting in the war throughout the Middle-East, and Afghanistan, U.S troops have finally found Usama Bin Laden hidden in a city in Pakistan meant for hiding people. During an era of terrorism (which includes all the attacks before, and including 9/11 in New York and Washington), Bin Laden was one of the most wanted men in the history of the world as he was the leader of both Al Queda, and basically all of the terrorist attacks within the last two decades. According to Barach Obama, “justice has been done” (New York Times). He also stated that Bin Laden has been “Al Quada’s leader and symbol” (New York Times). This was a time of serious triumph in the U.S as many people throughout D.C. and New York City have waved the American flag, and sang the Star Spangled Banner many times. However, the impact that Bin Laden’s death has on Al Quada is currently unknown. For that reason, a senior Pentagon official decided to warn American citizens of any travel outside the U.S. At the same time, it was very important that Obama had plenty of troops in the Pakistan area to ensure safety from any possible attack. One thing that I really hope is for no more tragedies caused by terrorists to occur especially because Bin Laden is deceased.This was very exciting news and I hope that it stays this way
Fatal Worcester Fire
http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2011/12/worcester-firefighter-killed-apartment-building-collapse-second-recovering/odg25gQJjWhhaT1Sap4FRI/index.html?camp=obinsite
On December 8, a firefighter named Jon D. Davies, was killed in Worcester when he was going into a burning house to try and find someone who was trapped inside. The building collapsed before he was able to make it out. But the part of this story that upset me most was that he went into this fire to save a life and not only lost his own, but there was no one else found inside the house. It's hard to see someone die for there job but its even harder to see someone die on false pretenses. Another aspect of the story that's even more troubling to me is that the owner of this house had, "refused to fix code violations, including structural defects in the building’s foundation and the repeated failure to permanently solve a rodent problem." Also, Davies was also scheduled to get married on New Years Eve and has three sons, two of which currently serve in the military. My deepest thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Davies who died at 43 years old. I had no connection to this particular family, but I couldn't help but sympathize with their tragic loss and think their must have been someway to have avoided this from happening? It's terrible to think that this man may have lost his life for no reason. I hope that Jon D. Davies is remembered for his bravery and courage.
Casey D'Eon
On December 8, a firefighter named Jon D. Davies, was killed in Worcester when he was going into a burning house to try and find someone who was trapped inside. The building collapsed before he was able to make it out. But the part of this story that upset me most was that he went into this fire to save a life and not only lost his own, but there was no one else found inside the house. It's hard to see someone die for there job but its even harder to see someone die on false pretenses. Another aspect of the story that's even more troubling to me is that the owner of this house had, "refused to fix code violations, including structural defects in the building’s foundation and the repeated failure to permanently solve a rodent problem." Also, Davies was also scheduled to get married on New Years Eve and has three sons, two of which currently serve in the military. My deepest thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Davies who died at 43 years old. I had no connection to this particular family, but I couldn't help but sympathize with their tragic loss and think their must have been someway to have avoided this from happening? It's terrible to think that this man may have lost his life for no reason. I hope that Jon D. Davies is remembered for his bravery and courage.
Casey D'Eon
Developing artificial intelligence systems that can interpret images
This article was a very interesting read. The article profiles Antonio Torralba and his work into the field of artificial intelligence. Recently, Mr. Torralba developed systems that allowed artificial intelligence to recognize individual objects within a scene based on the context of those objects. For example, this new technology would allow artificial intelligence to recognize things like magazines on top of a coffee table or a toaster on a countertop. I believe this new technology will benefit us both in the short term and in the long term. In the short term, this technology could allow for more searchability of images on the Internet or other databases. The technology would recognize individual objects in the scene and then proceed to tag the image according to the bigger picture of the scene. For instance if you needed to find a picture of a cat juggling in front of a house with white shutters, you could simply type into a search engine using this technology “cat juggling house white shutters” and the results are far more likely to be accurate than without this technology.
On the other hand, another benefit of this new technology could be in robotic applications. Being able to recognize objects in the room could allow for robots to have more situational awareness. The robot would be able to use this technology to recognize where in a house it is or to locate a specific object in a room and use it to complete a task.
Whatever the purpose, this new technology is sure to impact us as any other new technology does; slowly and behind the scenes. It’s these emerging behind the scenes technology however that drives the digital revolution that we find ourselves in the middle of.
Eric Weiss
Kevin Lunsmann, U.S. Teen Kidnapped By Filipino Militants, Free After Five Months
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/10/kevin-lunsmann-free_n_1140685.html
Reports from yesterday, December 11, 2011 tell of a 14 year old boy by the name of Kevin Lunsmann, a resident of the united states, who escaped the jungles of the Philippines and the holding of a Filipino terrorist organization. The boy claims that he had escaped his captors by telling them that he was going to take a bath in a near by stream, and that is when he made a break for it. He states the he survived the harsh conditions of the forest by climbing trees for coconuts and on candy bars he had stolen from his captors. The boy was kidnapped while on vacation to the Philippines with his mother and his cousin. The while group had been captured, and the mother was released after two months and the boy's cousin had escaped last month when Filipino army forces approached the encampment. There have been many accounts however on the teen's escape. The military forces originally had told the media that the boy was released. Then they claimed that the boy was rescued after a gun fight with the terrorists. But finally, people were able to get the story directly from Kevin. The United States ambassador Harry Thomas has said that the boy will be reunited with his family. Thomas also states, "In this holiday season nothing makes me happier than knowing that an innocent victim is returned to his family in time for holiday celebrations. I also want to acknowledge the courage of Kevin himself, and his family, throughout this long ordeal." This whole situation only shows that there is always hope when times are darkest. Kevin is the portrayal of a living hope that one can survive under the harshest elements. He used his quick wit and was able to gain the trust of his captors and used that to his advantage. He is a shining example of the human intelligence, and is a credit to his family and to him self. Now he and his loved ones can live peacefully knowing that they are all safe.
-Jay Souweine
Reports from yesterday, December 11, 2011 tell of a 14 year old boy by the name of Kevin Lunsmann, a resident of the united states, who escaped the jungles of the Philippines and the holding of a Filipino terrorist organization. The boy claims that he had escaped his captors by telling them that he was going to take a bath in a near by stream, and that is when he made a break for it. He states the he survived the harsh conditions of the forest by climbing trees for coconuts and on candy bars he had stolen from his captors. The boy was kidnapped while on vacation to the Philippines with his mother and his cousin. The while group had been captured, and the mother was released after two months and the boy's cousin had escaped last month when Filipino army forces approached the encampment. There have been many accounts however on the teen's escape. The military forces originally had told the media that the boy was released. Then they claimed that the boy was rescued after a gun fight with the terrorists. But finally, people were able to get the story directly from Kevin. The United States ambassador Harry Thomas has said that the boy will be reunited with his family. Thomas also states, "In this holiday season nothing makes me happier than knowing that an innocent victim is returned to his family in time for holiday celebrations. I also want to acknowledge the courage of Kevin himself, and his family, throughout this long ordeal." This whole situation only shows that there is always hope when times are darkest. Kevin is the portrayal of a living hope that one can survive under the harshest elements. He used his quick wit and was able to gain the trust of his captors and used that to his advantage. He is a shining example of the human intelligence, and is a credit to his family and to him self. Now he and his loved ones can live peacefully knowing that they are all safe.
-Jay Souweine
Arizona Immigration Laws to be challenged by Supreme Court
http://www.washingtonpost.com/supreme-court-to-hear-challenge-of-arizonas-restrictive-immigration-law/2011/12/12/gIQA4UYepO_story.html
Today on Monday, December 12th the Supreme Court decided they were going to take the court case regarding the legality of the immigration laws passed by Arizona in the past year. These laws have sparked a lot of other states to try to pass similar laws and it seems as if before any other state does so the Supreme Court needs to decide the legality of the legislation.
For a long time the Obama administration has frowned upon the laws passed by Arizona and had tired to repeal the laws in the state courts. However, the courts disagreed with the administrations review and so no decision was ever met about the case. Since then Arizona's government, as well as several others that support the laws, have passed laws to prevent the Obama administration from committing any other lawsuits against the states government. This lead up to today where the Supreme court finally decides to take up the case.
My opinion of this whole situation is in favor of the Supreme Court. Now where I do believe there should be serious immigration reform, I believe Arizona's Laws are both unjust and unAmerican. Therefore the fact that the Supreme Court is taking up a case gives there a chance of repeal of the laws. However, even though the laws may seem morally wrong and constricting of freedom they are not actually unconstitutional. Therefore, I don't believe they will repeal, however I am not an expert on the matter and therefore cannot say that for certain.
Today on Monday, December 12th the Supreme Court decided they were going to take the court case regarding the legality of the immigration laws passed by Arizona in the past year. These laws have sparked a lot of other states to try to pass similar laws and it seems as if before any other state does so the Supreme Court needs to decide the legality of the legislation.
For a long time the Obama administration has frowned upon the laws passed by Arizona and had tired to repeal the laws in the state courts. However, the courts disagreed with the administrations review and so no decision was ever met about the case. Since then Arizona's government, as well as several others that support the laws, have passed laws to prevent the Obama administration from committing any other lawsuits against the states government. This lead up to today where the Supreme court finally decides to take up the case.
My opinion of this whole situation is in favor of the Supreme Court. Now where I do believe there should be serious immigration reform, I believe Arizona's Laws are both unjust and unAmerican. Therefore the fact that the Supreme Court is taking up a case gives there a chance of repeal of the laws. However, even though the laws may seem morally wrong and constricting of freedom they are not actually unconstitutional. Therefore, I don't believe they will repeal, however I am not an expert on the matter and therefore cannot say that for certain.
Virginia Tech's 2011 Shooting
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/12/virginia-tech-shooting-funeral.html
“It happened again?” Like many other people, that was my first reaction to the news of the shooting at Virginia Tech last thursday. Ross Truett Ashley, a student at the school shot campus police officer, Deriek W. Crouse, for no apparent reason. He then killed himself. This event brought the public’s attention back to the shootings on April 16, 2007 on the same campus. The gunman, Seung-hui Cho single-handedly killed thirty-two people on that day, making it the deadliest rampage made by an individual in history. The students don’t want these shootings to define their school. I have sympathy for them. Innocent people have been killed at the hands of their own peers. That’s wrong on so many levels. The instability of two individuals became the insecurity of hundreds of students and their families. For no reason at all. There are far more than thirty-three victims here. And the terror and grief goes beyond those two days. Now the school has a reputation that it doesn’t deserve and the students have to live in fear at their own school. This is all because of two kids that decided to take away the future that these victims were building for themselves. These kids don’t deserve to be part of the daily news’ body count. It’s just wrong. I don’t know what else to say.
-Daniel Xavier Tierney
“It happened again?” Like many other people, that was my first reaction to the news of the shooting at Virginia Tech last thursday. Ross Truett Ashley, a student at the school shot campus police officer, Deriek W. Crouse, for no apparent reason. He then killed himself. This event brought the public’s attention back to the shootings on April 16, 2007 on the same campus. The gunman, Seung-hui Cho single-handedly killed thirty-two people on that day, making it the deadliest rampage made by an individual in history. The students don’t want these shootings to define their school. I have sympathy for them. Innocent people have been killed at the hands of their own peers. That’s wrong on so many levels. The instability of two individuals became the insecurity of hundreds of students and their families. For no reason at all. There are far more than thirty-three victims here. And the terror and grief goes beyond those two days. Now the school has a reputation that it doesn’t deserve and the students have to live in fear at their own school. This is all because of two kids that decided to take away the future that these victims were building for themselves. These kids don’t deserve to be part of the daily news’ body count. It’s just wrong. I don’t know what else to say.
-Daniel Xavier Tierney
5 Situations That Are Secretly Terrifying For Awkward People
http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-situations-that-are-secretly-terrifying-awkward-people/
Daniel O'Brien never fails to entertain as the senior writer at Cracked.com, a website dedicated to humorous columns and articles. One of my favorite entries of his from 2011 is "5 Situations That Are Secretly Terrifying For Awkward People." In the article, he examines five different scenarios that are uncomfortable for socially inadequate individuals. Not only are his observations very accurate, but he also tells them with a hilarious angle and experience.
I always look forward to Dan's upcoming work for Cracked. His style of writing, while hugely entertaining, also has this sense of superiority to it. Perhaps this is because of his position on the board of columnists on the site. That almost too confident style apparent in his articles allows him freedom in his writing, which opens up new creative doors and usually makes it more enjoyable. He writes this way because he can, and he's well aware of it.
This particular piece hits a little too close to home, unfortunately. As I read "5 Situations That Are Secretly Terrifying For Awkward People," I became increasingly concerned at how well I could relate to every point O'Brien was making. Now, this undeniable truth that I'm an awkward human being wasn't just sprung onto me at this point. There was no sudden clarity. The concerning part is that Dan O'Brien is able to literally recite my inadequacies in the form of a five thousand word comedy article for the internet. I suppose we can all relate to some of the things here, so it's okay. Let's all be awkward. Together.
Cullen Ryan
Daniel O'Brien never fails to entertain as the senior writer at Cracked.com, a website dedicated to humorous columns and articles. One of my favorite entries of his from 2011 is "5 Situations That Are Secretly Terrifying For Awkward People." In the article, he examines five different scenarios that are uncomfortable for socially inadequate individuals. Not only are his observations very accurate, but he also tells them with a hilarious angle and experience.
I always look forward to Dan's upcoming work for Cracked. His style of writing, while hugely entertaining, also has this sense of superiority to it. Perhaps this is because of his position on the board of columnists on the site. That almost too confident style apparent in his articles allows him freedom in his writing, which opens up new creative doors and usually makes it more enjoyable. He writes this way because he can, and he's well aware of it.
This particular piece hits a little too close to home, unfortunately. As I read "5 Situations That Are Secretly Terrifying For Awkward People," I became increasingly concerned at how well I could relate to every point O'Brien was making. Now, this undeniable truth that I'm an awkward human being wasn't just sprung onto me at this point. There was no sudden clarity. The concerning part is that Dan O'Brien is able to literally recite my inadequacies in the form of a five thousand word comedy article for the internet. I suppose we can all relate to some of the things here, so it's okay. Let's all be awkward. Together.
Cullen Ryan
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