This was a crazy week in the news. There are so many stories I am having a hard
time deciding which one to choose from.
Below are a summary of my top four:
Pope Benedict XVI
Resigns
Pope Benedict has decided to retire after 8 years of
service. At the age of 85 he no longer
feels as though he can completely fulfill the duties of the Papacy. This breaks a 600 year tradition of the Pope
serving until death. The news of his
chosen retirement has sparked many questions.
We may be witnessing the start of a new tradition of the Pope retiring
instead of dying in office. He has set
the date of February 28 as his last. The
speculation of who the next Pope will be extensive until the Cardinals meet to
elect the new Pontiff.
The State of the
Union
The President’s annual message to Congress was delivered on
Tuesday evening. This is the time for
the President to reflect on the accomplishments of the past year and set the
presidential direction for the coming year.
With our current economic situation, many Democrats and Republicans were
supportive and critical of the president’s ideas about how to best support the
continued growth of our nation’s economy.
I have not read the complete text, but I did read about money dedicated
to fixing bridges and roads in addition to a proposed increase in minimum wage.
In addition to the economy, the
President addressed other matters of foreign affairs, including North Korea
(see below).
Christopher Dorner,
former LAPD, is thought dead after massive manhunt
Christopher Dorner, a former member of the LAPD, has been at
large for the past week. After being
released from his position as a police officer, this former Naval reservist
vowed to bring revenge on the police force and their families for his
firing. He killed the daughter and
fiancé of a former co-worker last week.
After evidence indicting Dorner was found, a manifesto was discovered on
Facebook in which he listed the names of his potential victims. For the past week he has committed numerous
crimes over and above murder. On Tuesday
evening he was allegedly found in a cabin in the mountain resort of Big Bear. A shootout occurred between police and Dorner
which resulted in an additional death and injury of San Bernardino
officers. Eventually, Dorner’s cabin
caught on fire. The police are still
investigating to ensure Dorner was in the building at the time.
North Korea Third Nuclear Test
On Monday evening, North Korea conducted its third nuclear
weapons test. The U.S. Seismological
Department detected an earthquake with a 5.1 magnitude in the mountains of
North Korea. Later it was discovered and
confirmed to be a nuclear tests carried out by the North Koreans. North Korea is a communist state. It is estimated that at least 25% of the
country’s children live in absolute poverty.
One of the contributing factors is North Korea’s continued investment in
nuclear warfare instead of investment in the necessities for its people. This test was held against the direct wished
of the United Nations and their biggest ally, China. North Korea has continued to invest in
weapons of mass destruction in order to defend itself against the cruel
treatment and ongoing aggression of the United States. Although many experts agree it will be
sometime before North Korea will possess the ability to launch an attack
against the United States, with each test they get one step closer.
Have you heard of any of the above stories? What about the stories interests you? Which story do you think is the most
important and why?
niko
ReplyDeleteI have heard all of the above stories, except for the state of the union one. i think all of them bring my atention but for different reasons. for the pope, i feel really sorowful for him and all the people of great importance to him. i feel that he didnt just retire because he was getting old, but maybe because of something he did, or maybe god spoke to him about retiring. to me it seems a little fishy. and i am quite scared of the nuclear tests in Korea because they may find the need to fire them at the united states. and last but not least the dormer case. this is not a goos time for this to happen because of the shooting in conneticut. and now the us is considering taking guns away which may cause a revolt in some people.
Jacob_I have heard all about these stories from my parents. They tell our family about current events so that we can stay informed about the things going on around us in the world and we can pull life lessons away from them. I am really interested in all of these stories. I feel a little bit strange about the Pope resigning. I didn't even know before Pope Benedict XVI decided to resign. I always considered the pope as a lifelong position. I hope that this pope resigning does not set precedence for future popes to resign before they die. This would give the pope some say in the next election and he would not be living his life entirely for God. He's basically saying, "God, I'm too tired for you right now so I'm gonna stop living my life for you." I do not think that the pope should be able to retire.
ReplyDeleteI am a little scared about the story of the former police officer Christopher Dorner killing people and fighting the way that he did. I am almost positive that there is something wrong with his brain. There has got to be something wrong. Why would someone who upholds the law one minute, completely switch gears and start killing a bunch of people and fighting colleagues. It scares me because this man was completely trained and able to fight. This man is very dangerous because of that training and he could cause a lot of trauma by himself. I think that the police force should do very extensive background checks like they do but also randomly check them while they are in duty to see if there is any mutations to the brain and any change in their lifestyles at home.
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ReplyDeleteSena- I heard about most of the stories but I didn't hear about the manhunt. The thing that interests me the most is the LAPD officer. Its very ironic that someone who is a police officer would commit such terrible crimes. Also, it is crazy that a Pope hasn't resigned in over 600 years. I find it odd that our Pope would do that now. I think the most important story is about the Pope. It is something completely new to us. Because this hasn't happened in anyones lifetime.
ReplyDeleteMatea- I have heard of all the stories except the nuclear test. The story that interests me the most is the Pope resigning. A Pope hasn't resigned in 6oo years, it is a really big deal. I think the most important stories are the Pope resigning and the nuclear test in North Korea. In North Korea they are spending money on their money on weapons than their people. I don't think that is very good to the people that live there. About the Pope resigning, it is making me wonder what will the Popes in the future are going to do when they get older.
ReplyDeleteCatie-The only story above that I have heard of is the one about the Pope resigning. The story about the LAPD former cop interests me. I find it sad and horrible that someone who had dedicated their life to protecting the people's well-being would suddenly become one of the most wanted men. I think the Pope resigning is the most important one because I think that it really surprised the Catholic church. The Pope hasn't resigned in 600 years and now that it finally happened again, we don't know what to do. But I know that we will be able to work through it smoothly.
ReplyDeleteJackie- The only story I heard about was the Pope. The story that I found most interesting was the LAPD one. I found it extremely intriguing and interesting. It is a very sad story and I hope that the man was caught. I also find it a little nerve wracking with the nuclear testing. It is a very worry some topic, but we can never predict what will happen. The most important story I think is the one about the Pope resigning. I think is because he effects, and influences a broad group of people and this might change the Catholic community. The Pope was a good man, and I hope that our next Pope will be strong and do great for the Catholic community.
ReplyDeleteConor- I have heard all of these stories. All of the stories are interesting. The Pope story is interesting because we haven't had a resignition in over 600 years. It is also interesting because we have nevere had an African or Hispanic Pope. Our church is growing on all continents and it would be nice to see them represented. The interesting part about the state of the union is how the President is going to plan how our country is going to run. Is he going to go a little out of the box because he doesn't have to worry about reelection. The interesting part about the Dorner story is how he went from protecting citizens to killing them. Also this brings up the issue on gun control. We cant have anymore innocent shootings. The North Korea story is interesting because they are getting closer to developing nuclear weapons that will be used on the United States. Now they will start demanding money. It will be interesting to see how much we give them. The most important story to me is the one about the pope. He is the head of the largest religion in the world and he just decided to quit. Now we will just have to wait and see who our next pope is and what he is like.
ReplyDeleteStephanie-I have heard of all of the stories except for the one about the police officer. I think it is very scary that America is having people going insane and killing other people. It is becoming more common. I also think it is strange that the Pope would retire. I think it is weird that a Pope hasnt retired in 600 years. I think the most important story is the one about North Korea. I think it is scary that foreign contries are testing new nuclear weapons. I think that eventually the United States will be in danger of nuclear bombs.
ReplyDeletebelle-i have heard the stories above, in todays world you really can't miss big news like these things. i think the most interesting story was the one about nuclear bombs ahhhhhh thats realllllllly scary i mean i know in the past that there have been treats and stuff but this time could be different and thats scary! also the pope retiring is really crazy he is the first one to do that in like a century. so it will be really interesting to see who the next one will be. the dorner story is strange and shocking. someone who was supposed to protect us turned on us and killed us so that is very confusing and hurtful. all these stories are crazy and all we can do is watch and see how it all plays out.
ReplyDeleteKordell Seidler
ReplyDeleteI defiantly heard of the pope resigning. But I think I heard about the Cop one. I maybe heard it by my dad talking about it. I think the story of the pope because he was the first pope to resign. But the other one was the nuclear one because that would be nerve wracking. the most important one is prob.the pope one because hes the pope man the pope. Hes the first ever pope to resign. But i could agree with him why he resigned.
Gabi- I have heard all of the stories above except for the union one. I think that the one about Christopher Dorner is awful. that is so sad. And a lot of innocent lives were lost because of him. The one about the nuclear test is really scary. And i do feel really bad for our pope. but he has been a great pope. But it is kind of shocking that he is stepping down and it will be interesting to see who the new pope is. There was a lot of big news this week.
ReplyDeleteAmaia- I have heard of half of these stories. I think that they interest me because they are things that could potentially have an effect on all of our lives, with the exeption of the LAPD story. That one is intersesting because it's kind of scary to think that something like that could happen. I think the nuclear bombs in North Korea is the most important because it could be fired on the U.S. or it could cause something like another World War which is really scary to think about.
ReplyDeleteAbby: i have heard a lot of all o these stores and i think they are all really important. i think the most interesting is the one about LAPD because i could never imagine a cop shooting and killing people. i think the most important is the north korea storey because no one knows if they could successed. also i am scared tto see what could happenm to tge north korean people because they use all of there money on weapons
ReplyDeleteEmma Grant- i have heard a lot about all of theses stories but the one that most interests me is the north korea one! It is kind of scary in a way but interesting in the same way. I think it is scary that they have all of these things with them but also because they are mad at the united states. I think this is good to know because if they do try to attack the united states we will be prepared and ready to fight back.
ReplyDeleteVincent~ I have heard of some of the stories but not all of them. I think that the one about North Korea doing bomb test is the most interesting. The part of the story that interests me the most why they are doing nuclear bomb tests when is could possibly kill or destroy the people or country. I think that the story about the North Korea nuclear bomb testing is the most important. I think that it is important because North Korea is not allies with the U.S. and they have been talking about bombing us. I also think that it is a little nerve racking that they have been doing nuclear bomb tests to potentially bomb the U.S.
ReplyDeleteRaphie- Yes I heard extensively about the Christopher Dorner story. I thought this story was important because he killed many innocent people. Also he sent the message that if you go on mass rampages you almost become a celebrity. When people like Charlie Sheen said on the news that Chris should just give him a call it sent a message that doing things like this are ok and that you will get publicity for it.
ReplyDeleteAaron-Yes i have heard about all of the stories above. i think the one about Christopher Dorner interested me the most. this is because even while being one of the most wanted man he still doesnt give up and just give himself away, he wants more killing and more drama. i dont know why in the first place he would want to kill people, possibly for the publicity, but still! WHY! i think the story about the pope was the most interesting. i think this was the most interesting story because even while he was in pain he took the job until he was FULLY unable to take it more.
ReplyDeleteNatalia- I heard about the pope retiring and the former police officer trying to get revenge on police officers. I think the Christopher Dorner one interests me most because when people go on killing sprees it interests me for my safety and others and i would like to know what happens to them. I think they are all equally important but i might have to go with the one with korea trying to bomb us because we havent had a war or bomb or something like in a while because we live in a safe country where that doesnt happen anymore. I think it is important because we need to watch our safety and the safety of others. If they do make a big enough bomb and do bomb us then alot of people could die and many problems would result from this.
ReplyDeletePeter-Yes I did hear a lot about these things but the thing I heard about least was North Korea testing nuclear bombs. I mainly heard about these things through the radio, tv, and my parents. Well I would love to be a cop when I get older so probally the LAPD officer story.I think that the Korean story is the most important because all the other ones don't potentially injure millions of people. I think all the story's are imports to our society.
ReplyDeleteKatie h.- I heard sbout a lot of these things this past week. I think the pope made a gooa decision to leave office because he won't be able to lead the Church as well because of his health. I didn't hear much about the State of the Union other than that I just read, but it sounds like they're going to make good changes this year. I think its crazy that a person would go to such lengths to get revenge because they got fired. Lastly, I think that its a little scary that North Korea is making bigger and more powerful nuclear bombs and they could possibly attack the U.S. Its sad that they spend so much time and money making something that causes more lives and destruction than on their own people who are suffering.
ReplyDeleteKatie H.- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I forgot to add that I think the story that I think is the most interesting is the police officer story and I think the most important one is the North Korean bombs because they could possibly cause a lot of danger and could affect a lot of people.
ReplyDeleteRyan- I have herd about all of them except for the sate of the Union. The stories that i'm most interested is the manhunt, and the nuclear test. Im most interested in these stories because there different, You don't here about it everyday on the news. I also wondered why would A person go on such a rampage if he doesn't have any mental issues or he does and the police are not realizing the information to the public. The most important story i think is the one about north korea because it could easily start a war. They are also extremely dangerous.
ReplyDeleteEmma Sabala- I have actually heard of all of the stories listed above. I think the one that interests me most is the one about the guy who is missing. It more frightens me than interests me more not knowing where that creepy guy is. It does no one any good with him still out there somewhere and its really scary to think about. I don't think there is an absoulte important one out of the few listed above because they all have there own things that make them each important.
ReplyDelete"Ozzy" Worrell- Um.... I have heard of the Pope resighning and why. HE was getting kind a old but we havent had a pope resign in over 600 years so it's a bit concerning because the pope before him lived really long with a lot of illness and health that kind of deteriated and he still stayed pope but you know, it is what it is. All the storys are concerning and interesting. Um.... I am really concerned about the nuclear test because I don't want to be in danger of the bombs and death and that kind of stuff. I also think we should treat each other as family not enemy. i think that the police guy going out to kill people really messed up. I am kind of worried now about the thing that are ging on in this wourld.
ReplyDeleteDan- I have heard all these stories.The story that interests me is the pope and the guy that was missing. The pope because there hasn't been a pope to retire in such a long time. Cristopher Donar story is terrible and very sad. i think the state of the Union is the most important because it is our country and how we may endue in the future
ReplyDeleteTaylor- The only story I have heard about is the Pope resigning. The story that interests me the most is the one about the former police officer. I can't believe someone would go that far just because he got fired. There might be other reasons but that's a little extreme. I think the Pope resigning is definitely the one that almost everybody has heard about because he's the Pope and the whole world knows who the Pope is. He's the leader of the whole Catholic Church how would you not know who he is and that he's resigning.
ReplyDeleteCaleigh- I've heard all of them. The one that interests me is the cop one. The LAPD is important because i think we do need to look into not giving our police so much power because they can become corrupt. Also we do need to watch North Korea more careful because we don't know what they are up to and that is scary.
ReplyDelete~Alli~ I've only heard about the pope's resignation. The story that interests me is the one about the former LAPD person. I thing the story about the pope is the most important because it affects more than half the world. The story about North Korea is also very important because its telling us that we need to be ready for them, and wach them.
ReplyDeleteDillon - I have heard about all of these these stories except the one on North Korea and nuclear testing. The story that caught my interest was the one on the Man Hunt. This story caught my eye because because it was involved with U.S. citizens dying. When someone is a threat to our society it always catches my interest because U.S. citizens should be protected at all costs. I think that the North Korea Nuclear Testing is the most important because if they were to launch a nuclear bomb on us it would not just kill a few citizens. It is capable of blowing up whole cities. That would be a lot of U.S. citizens dying.
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