Nike Removes 'Boston Massacre' T-Shirt

     On April 22, 2013, Meredith Bennett-Smith wrote the article, "Nike Pulls 'Boston Massacre' T-Shirts After Marathon Bombings" in The Huffington Post. A baseball-themed T-shirt from the Nike company was removed after being considered insensitive after the Boston bombings. The T-shirt said
"Boston Massacre" with blood spilled on it to represent the "Boston Massacre", to commemorate two the series sweeps in 1978 and 2006, when the New York Yankees swept the Boston Red Sox. This became known as the first and second "Boston massacres" to fans of the rival teams. Producer of "Late Show by David Letterman", Eric Stangel, was the one who pointed out the offending T-shirt this weekend. The producer tweeted a picture of the shirt, and said that employees told him they had started to take the shirts down. In a statement emailed to The Huffington Post, a Nike spokeswoman said the company was aware of the issue. "The shirts being referenced are older baseball shirts that were predominantly being sold through our Factory Stores Outlets," the representative wrote. "In light of the tragedy in Boston we took immediate action last week to remove this product from distribution. We conducted this process as quickly as possible and are confident the product has been removed from distribution." The T-shirt might become a collector's item now that it is no longer in stores.

Armenian GENOCIDE

     On April 24, 2013, Mark Kellam wrote the article, "Armenian genocide recognition overdue, congressman says" in the LA Times. Representative Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) spoke in Armenian on the House of Representatives floor today, as he honored the 1.5 million lives that were lost in the massacres of the 1915 committed by the Ottoman Empire. As the lead sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution in Congress, Rep. Schiff, in Armenian, said, "I speak to you from the floor of the House of Representatives in the language of your grandparents and your great-grandparents — the language they used to speak of their hopes, their dreams, their lives and their loves in the years before 1915.... I speak to you in the language of sons who watched their fathers murdered. I speak to you in the language of the girls begging the gendarmes for mercy. I speak you in the language of the children begging for a drop of water. I speak to you in the language of those who were lost. Their voices drift across the decades, begging us to remember." This speech was made Wednesday, April 24, 2013, the same day President Obama once again did not use the term "genocide" in his annual statement about the event. For the past ninety eight years, the Turkish government continues to deny the systematic annihilation of the Armenian race from the years 1915-1917, and continues to financially aid the media, along with the United States government for them to disguise and hide any evidence of the Armenian genocide. Rep. Schiff noted that their is "overwhelming evidence" from American diplomats and journalists, as well as Turkish historians, that the genocide occurred, and should be globally accepted and recognized. The Armenian community remains forever grateful for non-Armenian individuals, such as Rep. Schiff, for advocating the truth and endorsing the end of the cycle of denial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX6nHPiuhqg

Poisonous Letter

     The article, "Obama Ricin Letter: Poison-Tainted Mailer to President Intercepted at Screening Facility" was written on April 17, 2013 by the Associated Press in The Huffington Post.  On Tuesday night, a letter sent to Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) was tested positive for the deadly poison ricin. Less than a day later, two more letters tainted with ricin have surfaced, including one to President Obama. The second letter was intercepted on its way to the U.S. Senate. President Obama's letter and Senator Wicker's letters were intercepted in facilities outside of the White House and Senate. On Wednesday, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said police have a suspect in mind who, "writes a lot of letters to members." There has also been a rumor of a suspicious package in the Senate's office, where a bomb squad has been called. Events like these, including the tragedy of the Boston marathon, instill fear into innocent people and make them cautious, in a negative and obsessive way, of their surroundings. Especially after the September 11 incident, the American people are still trying to recover. How are we allowed to do that when the world refuses to offer us peace?

Medical Emergencies from the Boston Marathon

     On April 16, 2013, Svea Herbst-Bayliss wrote the article, "Boston Marathon Amputations: Faced with Legs Mangled By Bombs, Doctors Had To Amputate" in The Huffington Post. On Monday, April 15, 2013, two bombs exploded more than four hours into the race, as hundreds of runners approached the finish line after running the forty three kilometer race, and as a thousand spectators stood cheering them on. Surgeon's at Boston's largest hospitals raced to save the lives injured. Although only three people have died so far, more than 170 are critically injured. Doctors said that the injuries were so gruesome that they had no choice other than to amputate legs. So far ten legs above the knee have been amputated, some of which bones were sticking out and limbs were hanging on by shreds of muscle. However, the amputees woke up to the shock of finding that they only have one leg were graced with gratitude. They believed they were going to die from the bomb, and did not expect to live. Doctors frantically raced around the entire night trying to save the injured, and said that had it not been for those doctors and nurses waiting at the finish line for the usual, minor injuries, this many people would not have survived. Doctors also said it took them the most time cleaning the dirt from patients' bodies and finding metal objects, such as pieces of metal trashcan and carpenter nails implanted in the bomb. Although most have survived their injuries, many still cannot breathe on their own, making it difficult to speak.

Stereotypes

     Stereotypes are the cause of prejudice and hate in society. Often times, they are used in cruel jokes that target a group of people. Stereotypes in society are used as an acceptable way to humiliate and discriminate an individual, or sometimes an entire race. However, it is certain that these stereotypes do not classify and correctly describe someone. With that being said, the question, "What factors contribute to such prejudice and how?" comes into play. The idea of stereotypes generates from many different outlets. The most powerful one is usually the media. The media regulates and decides what can be implanted into people's brains, especially children's. From a young age, children learn through biased media that it is acceptable to make fun of a race, gender, religion, because the rest of the world is participating also. Other factors include parental attitudes, and general viewpoints based off of certain events we see throughout our lives. These factors are not necessarily valid, and contribute to why prejudice takes place in the form of stereotypes. Consequently, the question of, "Is it possible to grow to adulthood without harboring at least some prejudice toward certain groups?" arises. At a young age, we learn it is acceptable to have some sort of discrimination against a certain person, for example if a friend does not share their toys, they are now the enemy. This idea makes its way into adulthood. In adulthood, however, the issue of toys is transformed to the issue of money, well-being, and other advantages that arise. For example, if a coworker is not dressed as fashionable as you are, but receives the promotion you were working so hard for, that coworker is now made suspicious by you and the rest of the staff. The stereotype of appearances plays a major role in adulthood, because of the way life decisions, such as promotions in a job, are made.

Steubenville Rape Trial Verdict

     The article, "Steubenville Rape Trial Verdict: Trent Mays, Ma'lik Richmond Found Guilty" was written on March 17, 2013 in The Huffington Post by the Associated Press. On August 11, 2012 two high school football players, Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond, supposedly digitally penetrated a sixteen year old West Virginia girl, first in the back seat of a moving car after an alcohol-fueled party, then in the basement of a house. The football team of Steubenville, located in Ohio, is the pride of the city, and this case has torn the city into two. The trial opened up last week when prosecutors claimed that the girl was so drunk she could not have been a willing participant that night, and the defense attorneys claiming that although drunk, she knew exactly was she was doing. The girl, who is unknown, testified that she does not remember anything except waking up the next morning lying naked in an unfamiliar house. She believes she might have been drugged, and that she believed she was assaulted from reading text messages between friends and seeing a photo and video from that night that made fun of her and alleged the attack. Two former friends, however, testified that the girl has been known for drinking heavily and lying. A judge announced on Sunday that the defendants in the trial were found guilty. They received delinquent verdicts, the guilty equivalent for juveniles, on all three charges. Mays was also found guilty of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material. The boys will serve their sentence in a juvenile detention until they turn 21.

McDonald's in Trouble Again!

     The article, "McDonald's Franchises in Pennsylvania Accused of Exploiting Student Guest Workers" was written by Dave Jamieson on March 06, 2013 in The Huffington Post. The National Guestworker Alliance, a labor group representing foreign guest workers in the United States, has accused McDonald's franchises near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania of paying lower than legal wages to student guest workers, as well as housing them in unsafe and uncomfortable conditions. Students from Argentina, Peru, Chile, Malaysia, and other Asian and Latin American countries paid as much as $3,000 a person to travel to the U.S., work a typical U.S. student's job usually in the service or food industry, and learn the American culture. This cultural and educational program happens through J-1visas. On Wednesday, a number of students walked out their jobs at McDonald's because they believed their working and living conditions, which consisted of four hour work day's with less than $7.25 an hour, which is deduced by the housing fee, and eight people living in one room, was unfair and protests began in front of their jobs. The Labor Department has dealt with a similar situation, in which the student groups were paid extremely low wages to do tedious work at a Pennsylvania packing plant for Hershey chocolates, in which the Labor Department was able to obtain an agreement from Hershey's to pay the students $200,000 back in pay. Congress is currently trying to extensively change immigration reform, and labor groups have paid closer attention to guest worker visa programs.