Melvin, Don, Ray Sanchez, and Manesh Shrestha. "Earthquake in Nepal Leaves Hundreds Dead - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 25 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/25/asia/nepal-earthquake-7-5-magnitude/index.html>.

On April 25, 2015, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck Nepal causing a lot of buildings to collapse and also claiming the lives of hundreds. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 can easily destroy buildings and can be felt as far as 250 km away.  The epicenter of the earthquake was 50 miles west of Kathmandu, Nepal. Nepal being located near two big tectonic plates has always been prone to big earthquakes and unfortunately one massive earthquake struck this month. This earthquake was very devastating because it left cities demolished and destroyed great historical sites. When the earthquake struck the city, the tourists and the native Nepalese people poured out onto the streets to avoid a building collapsing on them. After the earthquake was over, people started desperately to find their loved ones and other people started to dig through the rubble right away to search for people. Two hours later after the earthquake struck, the military finally arrived and started digging through the rubble to find survivors. The earthquake sadly claimed the lives of at least 1,457 people so far and this figure will unfortunately rise slowly as more bodies are dug out of the rubble. In Kathmandu, an emergency outside hospital has been established to treat the wounded. The earthquake also caused a lot of avalanches in the Himalayas and 12 lives were lost at Mt. Everest. With the earthquake damaging electric lines, most of the country will lack electricity for a good period of time.

This unfortunate natural event could not have been avoided and it sadly left Nepal in chaos. I feel it is necessary for other nations to send immediate aid to Nepal because they are left very devastated right now. Considering Nepal lacks proper resources for digging through rubble efficiently, it will be a tough task to quickly find and extract the survivors from the rubble.   Thankfully the US embassy is giving one million dollars immediately to Nepal and also, American disaster response teams are being deployed to Nepal right now. The immensity of this earthquake and the damage is did the Nepal is absolutely ridiculous. The last major earthquake hit Nepal was in 1934 and it had a magnitude of 8.1. The earthquake will have a lasting effect on Nepal too with a lot of its sacred temples and its historical sites destroyed. Also with all the dust coming from the rubble, the people will have a hard time breathing in the dusty air. The road to recovery for Nepal will be a long and painful one in my opinion. WIth many lives lost and with many injuries brought about, this tremendous earthquake will never be forgotten.

Yan, Holly, Ashley Fantz, and Kimberly Hutcherson. "Freddie Gray Death: Protest to Grow as Union Compares It to 'lynch Mob' - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 23 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/23/us/baltimore-freddie-gray-death/index.html>.

In the city of Baltimore, there are protests occurring and mass demonstrations erupting for the death of Freddie Gray. On April 12, 2015, Freddie Gray was arrested for reasonable suspicion and one week later he is declared dead. At some point during the arrest, Freddie Gray received a fatal spinal cord injury which put him into a coma and later caused him to die. The arrest of Freddie Gray was very brutal and a video of the arrest released by a bystander shows his legs dangling and broken. The people of Baltimore are outraged also because of the lack of information released by the police department. The police department have also yet to release information on how Freddie Gray received his spinal cord injury. The people have been directing their anger mostly towards the mayor and the Baltimore police commissioner. So far the protests have been mostly peaceful but a few arrests have been made due to disorderly conduct and the destruction of property.

I feel that the death of Freddie Gray could have been completely avoided. The police states that he was arrested for reasonable suspicion but there was nothing suspicious about him in the first place. Freddie Gray was unarmed at the time and he was also not committing any sort of crime before he got arrested. His arrest is not justified and that is one thing that is maddening the people of Baltimore. The video that shows the arrest of Freddie Gray is also very brutal and violent. I feel that the method that the police use to restrain their arrestees these days is too violent and physical. The procedure of restraining unarmed people should be reformed and certain actions and maneuvers should not be used at all because it is too dangerous. The protesters are looking for a change in the way our policing system works and I strongly agree with them. With more innocent and unarmed people dying in our nation, I feel that their deaths should be the push for change to occur in our nation’s policing system.             

Held by Al Qaeda." The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/world/asia/2-qaeda-hostages-were-accidentally-killed-in-us-raid-white-house-says.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=a-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1>.

On the Thursday of April, 23, 2015, President Obama and his officials released information about the deaths of two aid workers from USA and Italy. The names of the two individuals that were killed were Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto. These two innocent individuals were being held hostages by Al Qaeda in Pakistan and was killed during a US counter terrorism drone strike. The specific location of the drone strike was not released by the government. In a video, President Obama was apologizing and giving his dearest condolences to the families of the two hostages. President Obama states that the CIA did not know that the terrorists were hiding two hostages in the compound before the drone strike occurred. The death of an American by his own government has truly become a sad reality brought upon by the drone war. The use of drones has been slowly increasing and the US government believes that Drones are safer to use because it does not place our soldiers in danger when fighting enemy operatives.        

The use of drones to fight terrorist groups in the middle east should not be used in my opinion. The lives of two innocent aid workers were taken because our government decided to use drones to attack a terrorist outpost. The use of drones in my opinion is too risky and dangerous because we cannot clearly distinguish the enemy from the innocent on a TV monitor. The chances of collateral damage to occur when using drones is very high and our nation should limit the number of drones they use in the near future. Although the death of these two individuals were very tragic, the US government did succeed in their mission by killing members of Al Qaeda. Our nation is upset at the government for the death of an American but, there was no way that the CIA would have known the location of Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto. Warren was kidnapped in 2011 and Giovanni went missing in 2012, many years has passed since the last sightings of the two individuals. Although the US actions aren't justified for the death of Warren and Giovanni, you can’t possibly blame them because no one knew the exact location of the two hostages since their disappearances several years ago.  

Botelho, Greg, and Lillian Leposo. "Kenya: Relocate World's Largest Refugee Camp or We Will - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 11 Apr. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/11/africa/kenya-dadaab-refugee-camp/index.html>.

In Kenya at this very moment there is some tension arising between them and their neighboring country, Somalia. In early april this year, the Kenyan Deputy President named William Ruto has given the message that the Dadaab refugee camp must be relocated within three months or that the Kenyan government itself will move the refugee camp. The Dadaab refugee camp is the largest refugee camp in the world with roughly 600,000 people living in the camp. This camp has existed in Kenya since 1991 and now the government wants it removed from it’s land. This radical decision to have the refugee camp removed is mostly based upon the fear of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group hiding and living in the refugee camp. The Al-Shabaab Islamic terrorist group from Somalia attacked Garissa University College in eastern Kenya killing 147 people this month. The government fears of a similar future attack and wants to make sure that this terrorist group does not pose a threat to the Kenyans any more. The Kenyans in addition to the relocation are building a 435-mile wall across its border with Somalia to make sure the Al-Shabaab terrorist group does not come to Kenya again through rat routes. All of these radical decisions from the Kenyan government is causing some tension between their government and the Somali government. Most of the refugees living in the camp in Kenya will mostly go to Somalia and the Somalis do not want all these people to come into their country. Although this process of relocation will cause a lot of chaos and problems, the Kenyan government wants to make sure that their country is safe.

What the Kenyans are doing is very ambitious but it is necessary to secure their nation from terrorist attacks. The sudden decision to relocate almost 600,000 people is just ridiculous in my opinion. Almost all of these refugees will be forced to return to Somalia and this is going to cause some major issues. Despite the political problems being brought about, how will the Kenyan government effectively move every single refugee living in the camp? Although the Somali government and the Kenyan government agreed for a process of repatriation of Somali citizens living in the camps, I highly doubt all the Somali people living in the camps would want to return to their unstable country. Some of the people have lived in the refugee camp since its establishment in 1991 and will have a hard time leaving. Although all of these problems are difficult to solve, this is necessary for the safety of the country of Kenya. Ever since the Unversity attack by the terrorists, the Kenyan government are making sure that no one poses a threat to their security. I believe the Kenyans are doing the right thing by making sure that no other lives can be taken from the terrorists even if it requires the mass displacement of 600,000 people. Hopefully this issue can be settled quickly before any more problems start to form and I hope that the people being displaced can find a better future with a better standards of life.      

Kirkpatrick, David D. "ISIS Video Purports to Show Killing of Ethiopian Christians." The New York Times. The New York Times, 19 Apr. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/20/world/middleeast/isis-video-purports-to-show-killing-of-ethiopian-christians.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0>.

A video was released by ISIS on the Sunday of April 19, 2015 which shows the execution of Ethiopian Christians. This gruesome video shows the execution of Christians for not wanting to convert to Islam. In the video an ISIS member speaking in english with an American accent tells the viewers that nobody will be safe unless they convert to Islam. The execution was taken place along the coast and the southern desert of Libya. Libya already had its militants pledge its allegiance to ISIS. Since Libya already was influenced by ISIS, its militants captured the Christians in the Libyan capital of Sirte and had them executed to send a message to the world. This video is a propaganda video thoughtfully constructed by ISIS to gain more followers. It shows that those who do not convert to Islam or pay their taxes will be disposed of in a gruesome manner. The only thing this video brings to its viewers it fear and that fear is being used to have more people join its cause.      

The message sent by ISIS to gain more followers is absolutely worthless in my opinion. This is merely a video that conveys a few extremists murdering the lives of innocent people. ISIS does not even have the right to be affiliated with Islam because what they are doing does not tie in at all with the Islamic faith. These murders have no right to call themselves Islamic followers, they are just a terrorist organization that is interested in bringing about chaos and terror to the world. This use of fear as a source to gain more followers is working on some people though living near ISIS territories. This propaganda video is causing a great commotion of occurs across the world because the ISIS is keep murdering innocent people. It is kind of pathetic that the only way ISIS is trying to get followers is through fear.  In February, ISIS released a similar video a Christians being executed in Egypt which lead to a violent retaliatory air raid by Egypt. My question that is brought about by this article is why would this organization find is necessary to forcefully convert millions of people into Islam? I wish that all of these violent activities would die down and hopefully the ISIS will be disbanded so that no more of their extremists attacks can occur.        

Liebermann, Oren. "Ukrainian Holocaust Survivors Forced to Flee Again - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 15 Apr. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/15/world/ukrainian-holocaust-survivors/index.html>.

For Gregory Margolin, the horrors of war never seemed to go away from him. His granddaughter Liora tells many stories of when Gregory was a Jewish soldier that fought for the Soviet Red Army in World War II. After the war Gregory settled in Ukraine and started building up his life until chaos erupted in Ukraine again. This year his family his fled from the brutal war occurring in Ukraine. Gregory and his family used to live right next to Donetsk airport which has been a place of where a lot was fighting was occurring. His family decided to move to Israel for safety after a stray missile unfortunately hit his house killing Gregory’s daughter but missing him luckily. On March 24, 2015, Gregory Margolin and his family came to Israel along with other Ukrainian Jews looking to escape the violence occurring back in Ukraine. An organization known as The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has brought 600 Jews to Israel since December for safety. The organization set up a refugee center for these Ukrainian Jews who had no where else to go for safety. The founder of the organization named Yechiel Eckstein said that about 12 of the Ukrainian Jews are Holocaust survivors.

I am very happy that Gregory Margolin survived the Holocaust and I am also happy that he was able to rebuild his life and his family. Unfortunately it is saddening that Gregory has to suffer through the tragedies of war another time. He lost his daughter and now he is forced to flee to Israel for his safety. No one should ever go through the horrors of war and for Gregory to go through war again is absolutely saddening and unfair. Currently suffering from Alzheimer's disease I was very shocked that Gregory can still remember his experiences in World War II even though it is hard from him to remember. Gregory still remembers how the Nazis were trying the get rid of Jews from the world and how the Nazis were killing many Jews. Gregory deserves more than just being a refugee in Israel and it is truly depressing so see him and his family in this current situation away from home. One day the war in Ukraine will be over and hopefully Gregory and his family can return home safely.          

Yan, H., & Fantz, A. "South Carolina Officer Charged with Murder - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 8 Apr. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/08/us/south-carolina-officer-charged-with-murder/

At 9:38 am on the Thursday of April 9th a police officer alerts a dispatcher that shots have been fired and one subject is down. The place of where this event occurred is North Charleston, North Carolina. The subject who was down is a 50 year old African-American man named Walter Scott. Walter Scott was shot 5 times by Officer Michael Slager, who is white. Walter Scott would unfortunately die later on the scene a few moments later due to his fatal gunshot wounds. A video was released that shows some sort of disturbance occurring between the officer and the subject and then the officer shoots the subject multiple times. Later in the video it would also show the officer giving CPR to the injured subject.The officer tells the dispatcher that the subject lunged for his taser right after the shots were fired. The officer fired at the unarmed man because he was threatened when the subject reached for his taser.

This event has caused a national outcry for people across the nation especially for black people since this incident had another white officer shoot an unarmed black person. This event is very closely tied to the Michael Brown incident too in where another unarmed black person was shot by a white police officer. Protests are occurring in North Charleston in which protesters are demanding an investigation of the Walter Scott case because black lives matter too. The FBI would open an investigation later of this incident and there are many mixed opinions of the shooting of Walter Scott. In the video it does show some shiny black object falling away from the officer which is most likely the taser. I personally feel like the officer did feel threatened enough the shoot the subject because his taser was missing at the moment. I also do understand the opposing viewpoint that Walter Scott was still  an innocent man who was unarmed and was running away from the police officer posing no direct threat to him. I do believe though that 5 fatal shots were not necessary to subdue the subject at that time. Less lethal forces such as pepper spray would have been safer to use than a gun. Regardless of the mixed feelings,  murder charges have been placed on Officer Michael Slager for the death of Walter Scott. With our nation growing more unrest with the numerous cases in where innocent black people have been killed, hopefully Walter Scott’s death will change our nation’s policing.

 

Walsh, Nick P. "An Afghan Nightmare: Forced to Marry Your Rapist - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 8 Apr. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/07/asia/afghanistan-gulnaz-rape-marriage/index.html

In Kabul, Afghanistan, a woman named Gulnaz was raped by a man named Asadullah and she was ultimately pressured to marry her rapist. Although the exact date was not given, Gulnaz was raped by her cousin’s husband when she was merely a 16 year old teenager. Although she was the victim of rape, she was jailed for adultery because her attacker was a married man. In her conservative society, a person who commits adultery is shunned and is shamed regardless of how it happened. Her friends and eventually her fellow family members shunned her because of she did which was forced upon by her rapist. The only solution to end the agony of being shunned was to marry her attacker/raper. This dreadful solution came about after some heaving pressuring to do so from the local population to even people from the government. She was told by the people that she and her daughter would not be protected if she did not marry the man who raped her. Because she was an uneducated, young, single mother, her living conditions would have been terrible if she did not marry the rapist. Losing all her family ties, the pressure eventually won out and Gulnaz married the rapist and she is his second wife.

This incident caused massive outcry from many women’s right groups across the globe. This event truly is demeaning towards women. A woman in Afghanistan forced to marry her rapist because that was her only choice in a better life. I am disgusted by how Gulnaz’s brothers completely disregarded her after the incident and how Gulnaz was sent to jail when she was the victim who was attacked and raped. In the twenty first century I would expect events like these to not happen but clearly women are still treated as property rather than a human being. I hope events like this will bring forth change in how societies perceive women. Gulnaz chose to marry her rapist also to ensure a future for her daughter. After this incident everyone abandoned and shunned her and her only option to keep a future for her daughter was the marry the rapist since Gulnaz was a uneducated and young woman living in a patriarchal society. Although this was a very tragic event I applaud Gulnaz for remaining strong and enduring through all the mental and physical pain. It is sad to see that she has to be trapped living with her attacker. After four years, Gulnaz decides to forget about the incident and decides to move on with her life. I wonder if she will truly forget the incident because she will constantly be reminded of what happened to her while living with her rapist.

Hancocks, Paula. "Defector Sends 'The Interview' to North Korea - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 11 Apr. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/07/asia/north-korea-interview-balloons/index.html

Lee Min-Bok is a North Korean defector that is currently living in South Korea. In the early morning of April 11, 2015 near an undisclosed area in South Korea along the DMZ, Lee Min-Bok sent helium filled balloons with CD’s of the movie The Interview along with US dollars. During this whole event Lee was escorted and watched by the South Korean military and police for his safety. Lee studied the wind pattern and sent these balloons accordingly to eventually fall on North Korean soil where the people there would eventually find the wreckage and goods. Lee is sending these propaganda balloons to inform the North Koreans of the truth rather than the falsified information they are grown to believe since childhood. He is revealing to the North Koreans that their leader Kim Jong Un is a human rather than a god. By the North Koreans watching The Interview the idolization of their leader is completely destroyed because he is portrayed as a weak helpless leader with many moral and personal issues. Lee wants his fellow North Korean people people to know the truth but if you tell the truth in North Korea you will be executed so Lee sends the truth in safety from South Korea.

What Lee Min-Bok is doing is a small thing that might have a remarkable outcome. North Korea isolates itself from other nations to have is people shielded from foreign propaganda. By Lee sending propaganda balloons the people will learn the truth of its country and start to have a different perspective on the isolated country they are living in. As an individual with a South Korean background,I feel what Lee Min-Bok is doing is the first step in reunifying the Koreas since the terrible war that happened 60 years ago. I strongly feel that all tensions between the Koreas will be erased once the countries unify and for this to occur, it is imperative that the people of North Korea learn the truth about their nation. Although what I feel Lee is doing is beneficial for the future of the Koreas, the people living near the DMZ do not feel the same. They feel that they are in danger from the North Koreans as these propaganda balloons cause the North Korean government to become infuriated and fire back towards the people living near the DMZ. On a few occasions the people have physically tried to stop Lee from releasing the balloons because he is potentially putting them in danger by doing so. From coming from a family that suffered so much from the Korean war, I feel that unification would make all the suffering be worth it. The deaths of my great-uncles in the Korean war will have true meaning if the Koreas become unified again and I applaud all small steps taken for the reunification process to become successful.  

The Silent Horror of the Death Camps

Clemens An

Artifact (Picture #22): Available

Passage “One day, as we returned from work….That night, the soup tasted of corpses” (Wiesel 64-65).

“The Silent Horror of the Death Camps”

The Nazis were infamous for their concentration camps which were responsible for the mass murder of the Jewish people. They completely violated every rule of humanity and they not only changed the lives of Jewish people but also everyone on the face of this planet. These atrocious camps had a filthy and terrible reputation. In Night by Elie Wiesel, the narrator describes to us of an execution that takes place and also describes the sheer horror that occurs. In one photograph, there is a concentration camp prisoner slowly dying a painful horrific death. Both the passage and the picture gives a message of how cruel the concentration camps were to a human being and how dehumanized these individuals became at these camps. Another connection is that prisoners were suffering in horrific ways and the prisoners had to remain silent and not retaliate because they were overcome with fear and weakness. 

The picture shows a weak dying man in rags with his life slowly slipping away. He is starving and is too weak to sit up, he clearly has been terribly treated. The picture symbolizes the pure brutality and the horror that occurred to all the people in these concentration camps. On a dirt floor with bodies surrounding him, the individual seems like he is ready to give up his life. This face shows the trauma that he has been through and his eyes show the despair, fear, and torture he’s seen and witnessed. His body is too weak to even speak of his pain so he silently endures the pain. For one human to do this upon another human just pathetically brings insult to our human dignity. 

Elie Wiesel is a prisoner that witnesses the execution of three other prisoners. This passage clearly demonstrates the autocracies that the prisoners went through. The passage starts with the narrator returning from work and seeing three black ravens. These three ravens foreshadow the three individuals that will be executed. The three ravens also symbolizes the darkness that will be brought upon to the three individuals. One of those three individuals is a young child who is referred as a sad angel. The boy being referred as an angel symbolizes his innocence and his vulnerability. As Elie continues to describe the execution, his tone seems very weak and gloomy because he can’t do anything to help the child and the other individuals. Elie is forced to watch the murder of a child in silence. When the hanging occurred the two men were described “Their tongues were hanging out, swollen and bluish” (Wiesel 64). This gruesome statement uses imagery to represent the harsh reality of death. This imagery also emphasizes the experience Elie had with death. Elie then goes on to explain that the young child is still hanging from the rope for more than half and hour lingering between life and death. This occurrence is symbolizing the cruelty and the horrific acts that the prisoners had to endure. Also the child still living while being hung is juxtaposed with the two men who died instantly. This contrast is emphasizing how the men had quick deaths while the child is horrendously suffering a long and painful death. While the child was dying one man was asking where God was. Elie responded inside himself “This is where___hanging here from this gallows…” (Wiesel 65). Elie is stating that the child is God who is hanging and drying from this gallow. This can be perceived as an allusion to Jesus being hung on the cross. By Elie stating this, he also symbolizes his weakening in his faith and religion because God is dying inside of him slowly. Finally as Elie taste his soup he states that it tastes like corpses which simply symbolizes his sad emotions at that moment and it symbolizes the murder that just took place. The concentration camp changed the individual in the picture and Elie Wiesel as a person and they will never be the same after all the things they witnessed in the concentration camps.