Monthly Archives: March 2018

World faces tequila shortage

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By DREW COHEN

Alcohol has been a very important part of the beverage world for many years. The earliest alcoholic beverages have been traced back to China around 7000 B.C. and was made from fermented grain. Today, there are many different types of alcohol from many different regions of the world.

Tequila was first produced in the city of Tequila, Mexico in the 16th century. When Spanish conquistadors ran out of their favorite brandy drink, they resorted to the blue agave plant. They roasted the “Pina” (the bottom core of the plant) and then fermented it. After the three to 12-month distillation process, the tequila was finally ready to drink.

Tequila soon became very popular and was the first alcoholic drink to be produced in North America. Around the turn of the 17th century, tequila began to be exported to the United States, South America, and Europe and is still an extremely popular choice among drinkers to this day.

Fermented blue agave can be made in different regions of the world where blue agave thrives; however, “tequila” can only be called tequila if it’s from Jalisco, a Mexican state. The multi-billion-dollar tequila industry has thrived since the turn of the 19th century and is one of the worlds most consumed alcohol. For tequila lovers, unfortunately, there is a higher demand and production is decreasing, which is causing a shortage.

The blue agave plant takes around seven years to fully mature, so planning for this year’s harvest began back in 2011. There are only 18 million blue agave plants that were planted in 2011 and are now ready for the tequila making process; however, the estimated demand for this year shot up to around 42 million blue agave plants.

According to Reuters, tequila prices have shot up six-fold over the past two years. Solving the problem wont be quick either. The next time tequila prices are projected to return to normal is 2025, which is when the next planted blue agaves will be ready.

Kimmel exposes Trump’s hypocrisy

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By GRACE SMITH

Popular night time show host Jimmy Kimmel announced he planned to file a federal complaint against the Trump family’s new Trump Store.

A screen capture from Jimmy Kimmel’s show clip on YouTube where he presents the box and letter from the Trump Store.

The talk show host of has been vocal about calling out the Trump administration’s policy issues and controversial political decisions.

On the latest episode of his show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” questioned Trump’s “Buy American!” rhetoric.

It has been a phrase the president has pushed since the beginning of the election and most recently reiterated while moving for high foreign tariffs.

Kimmel expressed agreement with the idea of supporting American businesses and manufacturers, and also stated that Trump’s sons, who run the brand new online Trump Store, seemed to hold the belief t even stronger than he did.

As a test, he ordered several items from their merchandise site and found that all of them were made in China, though several left out the country of origin. Kimmel stated that an omission of such could bring around half a million dollars in fines and he has already filed a federal complaint against the store.

Though he expressed this as a honest move to fix a possible oversight, the action will surely bring to light the two-sided nature of Trump’s words.

One of the items from the online store, a coin bank, with no marked country of origin.

But the most interesting part of this story is not the federal complaint placed but the way Kimmel laid out and physically showed the lack of American-made products from the Trump Store. I

n a way very unique to television he was able to open a box from the legitimate store and show the inscriptions, embroidery and tags (or lack of) describing the Chinese, Peruvian, or Taiwanese origin of the products. He ordered everything from a golf club cover to a baby’s bib and did a simplistically wonderful way of showing the range of places these items came from.

John Oliver, host of “Last Week with John Oliver,” often directly presents reports, interviews and documents while exposing politicians.

In an age where the public has become less and less trusting of news and entertainment media and gravitates toward sensationalized stories, flashy headlines and personal echo chambers, the earnest and straight-forward way Kimmel presented the physical evidence can not be denied by even the most staunch Trump supporter.

Many late-night talk shows have begun to take this approach when it comes to politics and cite specific phrases from government guidelines and show actual documents of fraud, theft or deceit.

It seems in an age of appeal over quality, this is the only way to keep people from blindly believing whatever Twitter headline they come across next. No one can deny cold, hard presentation like that.

Zuckerberg responds to privacy scandal

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By SOPHIA CONSTANTINO

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has found himself under immense pressure to address the safety of Facebook users after The New York Times and The Guardian published an investigation into Cambridge Analytica’s supposed breach of privacy against millions of unknowing Facebook users in 2013.

According to The New York Times, voter-profiling company Cambridge Analytica, which engaged in work for the Donald Trump campaign, bought the data of millions of Facebook users under the pretext of “collecting it (data) for academic purposes,” while in reality the company used the information to tailor individual content, with the intent of influencing 2014 midterm elections.

Despite the clear breach of user privacy and unethical use of information, the controversy remains heated in that, technically, Cambridge Analytica was not, in fact, a breach of any Facebook privacy policies at all. It was intentionally deceiving, but its actions were within Facebook’s privacy rules.

Facebook gave permission to University of Cambridge psychology professor Aleksandr Kogan to access information of users who downloaded his app “thisisyourdigitallife.” Kogan then turned the information over to Cambridge Analytica, which used this information to allegedly tamper with midterm elections.

Former contractor for Cambridge Anayltica Christopher Wylie exposed the company to The New York Times and The Guardian.

The scandal has raised great concern over Facebook’s seeming lack of privacy regulation and account for user safety, as it is unclear whether Cambridge Analytica’s actions technically broke Facebook’s privacy policies or simply duped the company within its own allowances.

The news media, therefore, has turned to public figure and founder Mark Zuckerberg to respond. Though it is not uncommon for major CEOs to remain behind the scenes in such incidences, Mark Zuckerberg’s public presence and personal branding demands a response from him directly.

Five days following the exposure, Zuckerberg has finally issued a response via Facebook, claiming that user security is of the utmost importance, stating “…if we can’t (protect your data), then we don’t deserve to serve you.”

The statement has been met with mixed responses, most focusing on his line, “The good news is that the most important actions to prevent this from happening again today we have already taken years ago.”

The line contradicts itself; if the steps were taken years ago as he claims, the whole incident would not have occurred in the first place. Supposedly, Facebook began refining its policies in 2014, which would have been just after the incident occurred.

As the speculation into Zuckerberg’s claims continues, the media questions how much the company knew about the information leak, when they knew it and how safe the trailblazing social media platform really is.

UMBC pulls off historic upset

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By JUSTIN SOBELMAN

Well, it finally happened. For the first time since the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament moved to a 64-team format in 1985, a 16-seed toppled a 1-seed.

The UMBC Retrievers became an instant sensation as they pulled off what will go down as the biggest upset in NCAA basketball history, blowing top overall seed Virginia out of the gym in a 20-point thrashing.

It was shocking to watch, as a UMBC team that had lost to Albany 83-39 in January made UVA—a team that made mincemeat of its home Atlantic Coast Conference with just one  loss, a team with one of the best defenses in college basketball history, a team that ground far better squad than UMBC into dust— look like it didn’t belong in the tournament.

Unsurprisingly, the Retrievers’ notoriety ballooned nearly as quickly as their second half lead did. The UMBC Athletics Twitter account became just as big a star as the team itself, as the account lobbed clever insults and pure bliss into the world. Any analyst who wrote off the Retrievers became a target, as CBS’s Seth Davis did before the game.

Even the man behind the account had a swell in popularity.

Everyone’s general reaction to the upset was disbelief and happiness. It was hard not to get behind UMBC, sports fans love an underdog, and you couldn’t pick a more unlikely David to topple the Virginia Goliath.

UMBC became everyone’s new favorite team for the weekend and UMBC went from “Who’s that team that’s going to get destroyed by Virginia?” to an acronym that sports fans will remember for decades, and whose highlights will pop up every time a 1-seed is on upset alert for years to come.

More than that, it was obvious that the stars of the team, like Jarrius Lyles and K.J. Maura, were playing their hearts out, even as the odds overwhelmed them.

This was especially evident in their second match-up, a loss Kansas State. The game itself was truly a slog to watch, and the Retrievers looked every part of the 16-seed they had earned. However, even as they struggled mightily to score, their effort and hustle never waned, particularly on a remarkable series of saves to retain possession in the contest’s closing minutes.

The scrappy underdog vibe was played up considerably by the game’s commentators, who acted like the UMBC players had dunked from the free throw line every time they dove for a loose ball, but they deserved it.

Like others have said, a champion is crowned every year, but nobody else can claim to have accomplish what the kids from UMBC have, and that’s something that deserves to be celebrated.

United Airlines under fire, yet again

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By ABBY LLOYD

United Airlines seems to be one of the most controversial airlines after it continues to have crises left and right.

A French bulldog, Kokito was found dead in the overhead bin of the United Airlines flight from Houston to New York City.

Before the flight took off, the flight attendant assured owner of Kokito that her dog would be safe in the overhead bin. Although owner paid $125 to have her French bulldog sit comfortably under her seat, the flight attendant insisted that he was not allowed.

June Lara, who sat behind Kokito’s family, posted on Facebook a summary of his trip with United, according to ABC News.

June Lara reports his story on Facebook, found on ABC News

However, there was a different story told by someone else on the flight. One woman believed the flight attendant didn’t know there was a dog in the bag and that is why she instructed Kokito’s mom to put the bag overhead.

However, many people on the plane said there were barks coming from the bag, which makes this woman’s claim unlikely, reported ABC News 13.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was a dog. I thought it was a normal bag,” the flight attendant reportedly said to Kokito’s pet mom.

Since the upsetting incident, animal rights activists and protesters have had a frenzy with  United, but more importantly, all pet passenger rules. Protesters held a “dog-in” at LaGuardia Airport and displayed a “Kokito’s Law” in honor of the life that was just lost.

There has been a lot of coverage on this topic, mostly by local news like ABC and Time.

U.S. bans purchase of Venezuelan Petro

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By ANDREA ILLAN

On March 8, the Florida Senate took action to ban the state from engaging in business with companies supporting the regime in Venezuela and U.S restrictions with the Venezuelan economy continue.

President Donald Trump took recent action to prohibit the purchase of new Venezuelan cryptocurrency called the Petro. This new medium of exchange was created by President Nicolas Maduro as an attempt to fix the country’s weak economy at the moment and the increasing inflation rate, an article on Bloomberg explained.

The executive order was signed on March 19 and prohibits U.S citizens from buying this cryptocurrency.

While Bloomberg gives a brief description of the situation, an article on CNN Money further explains what this means for both countries.

According to CNN, Trump’s recent action follows his previous ban of U.S investors from buying bonds issued by the Venezuelan government or state-run companies, such as the leading oil company in the country, PDVSA.

Maduro stated the currency will be backed by oil, the primary resource in the country. This does not mean, however, that investors would have ownership of this resource.

Additionally, Maduro stated on a tweet that the Petro’s private auction raised $735 million. But CNN reports this amount has not been confirmed.

This executive order is a significant action for the Trump administration, as it actively recognizes the illegitimacy of the Venezuelan government.

Both articles can be found at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-19/trump-prohibits-u-s-purchases-of-venezuelan-cryptocurrency and http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/19/news/economy/trump-bans-venezuela-cryptocurrency-petro/index.html

SXSW bomb threat halts concert

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By ALLIE SIMON

On March 16, a bomb threat at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas, resulted in the cancellation of a performance by The Roots.

The event, sponsored by Bud Light, was cancelled at 4:30 p.m. via Twitter, following a bomb threat that had been sent through email to the Live Nation Music event promotion company. Bud Light tweeted, “your safety and the safety of all fans at SXSW is our most important priority.”

Twitter effectively helped to cancel the show and publicize news of the bomb threat. Bud Light representatives took to twitter to say that as information is made available, it will be posted on Twitter. Austin police arrested 26-year-old Trevor Weldon Ingram as the main suspect of the threat. Ingram was charged for making a terroristic threat – a third-degree felony in the United States.

Before the arrest, police were already scared of ongoing bombings in Austin. The threat came a few days after homemade bombs exploded in the city, resulting in two fatalities and three injuries. Two packages exploded at Austin homes on March 12 and March 2.

Statement issued by the Austin local government regarding the bomb threat via Twitter.

According to neighbors, the packages were so powerful that windows and walls of houses blocks away shook when the bombs went off. The explosive devices inside the packages were detonated when the residents picked them up.

According to The New York Times, Austin civilians have been warned to call 911 in the case of receiving any suspicious packages. Since the warning, the phone lines at the police station have been consistently busy with news of suspicious packages.

Police have not ruled out the incidents as being hate crimes, as the two victims of the bombings were African-Americans whose families were very involved in the community.

The bomb threat at SXSW targeted The Roots concert – a primarily African-American hip hop group. The Roots were supposed to be performing alongside several other musicians including Ludacris, Rapsody and Tank and the Bangas, who are also African-American performers.

The Roots drummer, Questlove, addressed the cancellation as the result of a “severe emergency”.

Is Snapchat’s time up?

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By KATHERINE CERAVOLO

It all started with a tweet from Kylie Jenner. The 20-year-old influential social media user tweeted on Feb. 21 asking her followers if they still use the app anymore and claiming it is “so sad.” Jenner is one of Snapchat’s most popular users and after that tweet, Snapchat’s market value dropped $1.5 billion. A day before, there was a 1.2 million-signature petition on Change.org to bring the old version of the app back.

Jenner was most likely informed of the damage she had done, so she rebutted her tweet with “still love you tho snap.” It was too late, and the downfall continued. Jenner has millions of followers on all of her accounts; this negative feedback from a popular user is horrific news for an app that tried to update itself.

Users all around the world commented on the app’s “upgrade.” The complaints seemed valid, as the upgrade switched around the order of friends on one’s friend list, which made it difficult to see people’s post on a daily basis.

To top it off, Snapchat has been added to another celebrity’s bad list. Rihanna was recently a victim of an ad that users were to see on the app. Just a few days ago, the famous singer posted on her Instagram handle about an offensive advertisement that used her domestic violence incident in 2011 as a game for users.

The ad was called “Would You Rather” and featured an image of Rihanna and Chris Brown, offering users to choose to “Slap Rihanna” or “Punch Chris Brown.” Rihanna responded to the advert and said, “I’d love to call it ignorance, but I know you ain’t that dumb!” Snapchat claimed the ad was approved in error and apologized to Rihanna, saying Snapchat supports the National Network to End Domestic Violence and the VP sits on the Snapchat Safety Advisory Board.

The news media are not covering who approved this message and what the consequences are. This shows negligence as to what Snapchat allows to advertise on the app. Since this incident, “Would You Rather” has been blocked. However, what about who monitors these advertisements as well as who reads through reviews of the upgrades. It is evident that the update was unsuccessful, yet Snapchat has neither made any notice of it nor offer to change the app back to normal.

Rihanna made her point that she could care less about her personal feelings, but worries for other domestic violence victims who see this and feel post-traumatic stress from their experience. Stock continues to fall, at nearly five percent as of now. It doesn’t look too good for Snapchat.

Disney’s ‘Wrinkle in Time’ omits Christ

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By KATE JOHNSON

Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time” film is facing backlash and controversy for the blatant omission of the Christian ideals and various Biblical passages that are prevalent throughout Madeleine L’Engle’s original novel.

L’Engle passed away in 2007.  The writer was a devout Christian who used her book, A Wrinkle in Time, to express her thoughts about God.

“If I’ve ever written a book that says what I feel about God and the universe, that is it,”  L’Engle wrote in her journal about the book.  “This is my psalm of praise to life, my stand for life against death.”

After the release of the film adaption of the story, many noted the omission of the Christian themes of the book.  The screenwriter for the film, Jennifer Lee, gave an interview with Uproxx in which she explained why she decided to remove the Biblical references and Christian values.

“What I looked at, one of the reasons Madeleine L’Engle’s . . . had that strong Christian element to it wasn’t just because she was Christian, but because she was frustrated with things that needed to be said to her in the world and she wasn’t finding a way to say it and she wanted to stay true to her faith,” said Lee.

Lee noted that there are Christian themes central to the book, A Wrinkle in Time, but she opted to omit or alter these for the move in order to portray a more inclusive and secular message.

“That’s what inclusiveness is to me in this film, is really looking at all of us have a role to play in this no matter where we come from or what we look like,” Lee told Uproxx.

In an article discussing the controversy, CBN emphasized L’Engle’s deep faith and how the author said her book spurred from her personal relationship with God.  CBN, in a covert manner, expressed that Lee’s adaption of the story was an attack on the Christian faith.

“It appears Lee believes espousing such Biblical truths are somewhat irrelevant and outdated in today’s modern world,” wrote CBN.

Movieguide gave a more neutral perspective on the differences between the book and the film.  Their review of the film expressed that although Christianity is omitted from the film, it still does send children a positive message.

“Overall, ‘A Wrinkle In Time’ has a positive moral, redemptive message about a relationship between a father and a daughter being restored, as well as a clear picture of good versus evil.”

Nevertheless, Movieguide did make note that the omission of the Christian themes of the story was a dramatic alteration of the book.

“A Wrinkle In Time is based on the best-selling novel by Madeline L’Engle.  However, many of the faith statements and themes in Madeline’s book aren’t included in the movie.  Instead, the movie adds lots of New Age content, including an emphasis on being one with the universe and the energy people create with positive or negative thoughts.  At one point, one character mentions every ‘spiritual,’ ‘religious,’ and historical icon, but seems to exclude Jesus Christ, as if Christianity was the one thing they didn’t want to include.  In the book, however, Jesus is the iconic figure.”

Vox wrote a lengthy article about the film giving L’Engle’s life story growing up in the Episcopalian Church and facing persecution for her fantasy writing.  In its coverage, Vox chose to discuss the trend in Hollywood of shying away from religious undertones in children’s movies from an analytical perspective on the matter.

“This may be, in part, due to the demands on big-budget fantasy ‘family’ films to easily lend themselves to theme park rides and merchandising sales, something harder to do with films that take a divisive or complicated approach to faith.  ‘Good triumphs over evil’ is a lot more salable and straightforward than ‘the universe exists because God became man,’ even if the paradox of the latter lends Wrinkle its existential weight,” said Vox writer Tara Burton.

The Washington Post covered the response to the new film with a lengthy story on L’Engle and an interview with Sarah Arthur, author of a upcoming biography of L’Engle titled “A Light So Lovely.”

“There are a lot of people who believe the strength that you need to fight the darkness is in you,” Arthur said. “But it’s because they were connected to the source of light who is Jesus.  If it’s unmoored from Madeleine’s Christian faith, it’s missing a big piece of the spiritual thrust of what she was doing,” said Arthur to The Washington Post.

The Washington Post article, similarly to the Vox article, took a more analytical approach to how Christian themes are translated from children’s books to movies and the effect that has on the box office crowds.

“Early reviews of ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ are mixed, drawing a 44 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  And a film starring Oprah, who is also controversial among some conservative Christians, might not attract the same kind of crowd that soaked up films such as ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ ‘The Blind Side’ and Disney’s adaptation of Lewis’s ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,’” said Washington Post writer Sarah Bailey.

Cirque du Soleil performer dies after fall

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By KRISTIAN DEL ROSARIO

A Cirque du Soleil performer died Saturday night during a performance held in Tampa, Fla.

The Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group stated that aerialist Yann Arnuad fell more than 15 feet while performing during the show ” VOLTA”. He immediately received medical attention and was taken to a hospital where he later died.

Daniel Lamar, president and CEO of the entertainment company said in a statement, “The entire Cirque du Soleil family is in shock and devastated by this tragedy. Yann had been with us for over 15 years and was loved by all who had the chance to know him.”

The last two performances of VOLTA have been cancelled due to the tragic events.

Julien Martinez was in the audience Saturday night and told CNN affiliate WFLA that he witnessed the accident. He noticed that the performer was straining to hold onto the rope.

“It was awful,” he said of the fall. “You heard all the cries of the audience. There were children there and they were freaking out.”

” it kinds of colors our opinions of what is going on behind the scenes,” Martinez said. “What is the cost of our entertainment at that point?”

This is the second tragedy to happen to one of Cirque du Soleil performers. In June 2013, 31-year-old acrobat and aerialist Sarah Guillot Guard died after a fall during a show in Las Vegas.

After this incident, the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Cirque du Soleil and casino for violations which resulted in both facing thousands of dollars in fines.

The news media covered this story in a very respectful manner. This is an issue that could be reported in a hateful way due to people not agreeing with acrobats being made to do unsafe stunts.

The reporting was also informative; when reading it, I felt as if I was there witnessing it myself.

Ups, downs for Florida Panthers

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By AMANDA TORRES

The Florida Panthers played against the Edmonton Oilers at the BB&T Center on Saturday afternoon. It seemed like the Panthers were going to win the game before the intermission, but they ended up losing to the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2.

Florida Panthers on their home ice on March 17 (Photo by Amanda Torres).

The Miami Herald said that despite losing this game, the Panthers are playing better this season, winning nine of the 11 home games they have played thus far.

Since Feb. 12, the Panthers have had a 3-2-1 record. The Miami Herald added that “two of the games the Panthers failed to win during that stretch were decided by just one goal.”

The Panthers have played 27 home games this season so far and have won 17. The next seven games the Panthers will play will be on the road. Being on the road could be a challenge for them, since the opposing teams are known to have road records that outshine those of the Panthers’.

According to the Herald, even though the opposing teams have better road records, their winning records show that five of next nine teams they will play against have had more overall losses this season than the Panthers have.

An interesting factor that the Herald included in their news story about the game were five bolded questions that answered some concerns that Panthers fans probably had in mind after yesterday’s game.

“Will the Panthers make the playoffs?” The Herald objectively answered this question based on statistics from Hockey-Reference.com. This website predicted that the Panthers probably won’t make it to the playoffs, but only by a couple of points. It will all depend on their upcoming road games.

“What the heck happened on Saturday against the Oilers?” The Herald answered this question in a clear and concise way that helped readers understand what went wrong in Saturday’s game. The Panthers made the choice to go for a 0-for-6 on a power play and “also allowed a shorthanded goal in an uncharacteristically poor performance.”

The other three questions were, “How good is Panthers center Sasha Barkov? Is help on the way for the Panthers? And who can be a surprise for the Panthers down the stretch?” These questions and answers focused on explaining how Barkov is a strong player and an asset for the team, on Henrik Borgstrom, a talented, incoming player who could join the team next year and on Frank Vatrano, a recently acquired hockey player from the Boston Bruins, who has scored two goals in the past four games.

Let’s hope the Panthers beat the odds in these upcoming seven road games.

Pastors welcome ‘miracle baby’

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By KATE JOHNSON

On Jan. 23, 2018, Pastor Rich Wilkerson, Jr., of Vous Church in Miami, and his wife, DawnCheré Wilkerson, welcomed their first child, Wyatt Wesley Wilkerson.

“Of course, we’re not getting much sleep, but we’re enjoying every single moment . . . . We laugh about it, and we’re having fun every step of the way.  Our home is just so full of life and we’re loving every second of it,” Wilkerson told the Christian Post.

The Wilkersons call their son Wyatt a “miracle baby” because they struggled with getting pregnant for eight years. The couple credits the Lord for the incredible blessing it was to be able to conceive Wyatt and bring him into the world.

“We waited eight years for him, and today he’s six weeks. God is so faithful and loving and merciful,” said Wilkerson.

The couple has been very open about their struggle with infertility.  Wilkerson frequently references their journey in his sermons and the couple starred in a reality show about their lives and ministry called “Rich in Faith.”

“The cool thing about that show was, my wife and I were so open about our journey, that a lot of people walked through it with us,” Wilkerson told the Christian Post.  “When a miracle did show up, people around the world were able to rejoice with us.”

Wilkerson said that he would never take back those difficult years of struggling with infertility.  “We learned so much about Jesus during that time . . . . We learned that we are complete with or without a child.  I’m just grateful that God decided to grant us this blessing.”

Vous Church is one of the biggest churches in Miami. Thousands of young Florida residents attend the services every Sunday, which have to be held in the auditorium of a middle school in order to seat the mass amounts of people.

Rich Wilkerson shot to fame in 2014 after he officiated the celebrity wedding of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. The Wilkersons together have more than 600,000 followers on social media.

“When you hold your miracle” (Photo via Instagram).

The celebrity value of the Wilkersons led the story of the birth of their son to be picked up across multiple media outlets, both religious and secular, such as People magazine.

The People magazine story does not mention God once.  Instead, the focus is on the struggle with infertility and the strains it took on the couple.

“I was told on my 25th birthday by my doctor that we would have trouble conceiving,” DawnCheré told People.  “I honestly thought the doctor was wrong.  I never dreamed it would take eight years before we heard the words, ‘You’re pregnant.’”

The article in People is considerably shorter than all articles in religious publications.  The interview and coverage of the Wilkersons in People is very generic. The quotes taken from the couple do not mention faith at all.

“I’ve talked to everyone about becoming a dad.  It’s a big step to become parents, and we know that!  Everyone’s got advice,” Wilkerson told People.

Given that the couple are both very prominent Christians, minsters of a megachurch and have dedicated their entire lives to faith, I am highly skeptical that they would not mention God in their interview with People magazine. This strikes me as very unlikely after frequenting Vous Church and reading the Wilkersons’ quotes from other interviews.

Therefore, I am led to believe that People magazine chose to cut out any quotes about God or Christianity in the article covering their interview with the Wilkersons and the birth of their “miracle baby.”

The question arises: Does not mentioning the Lord, leaving out such an important fact about the Wilkersons’ life story and their response to the birth of their son, make the People magazine story more than inauthentic – but inaccurate?  In my personal opinion, the answer is yes.

In sports, there are consequences

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By BRENNAN PRUSAK

The unspoken rules of sports might be the some of the hardest to understand, but result in some of the harsher punishments. For example:

  • Don’t steal when you are up more than 10 runs in baseball.
  • Don’t run up the score when you can take a knee in football.
  • Don’t take the open layup in the end of a basketball game that was decided long ago.

Do any of these and you’ll find yourself at the mercy of the other team. Essentially, you need to play hard enough to win a game but not too hard to the point of showing up the other team even if you weren’t trying to do so in the first place.

Easy, right?

The Philadelphia 76ers were up by eight points with 12 seconds left when Dario Saric ran the floor for an easy one-handed dunk. The Cavaliers were not a fan of this move and Jordan Clarkson threw the ball at Saric in disgust, causing a small scuffle to break out on the court.

“Uh, basketball, that’s it,” Clarkson said after the game. “Part of the game. If anybody says different, that they wouldn’t have did that, that they’d have did something different or anything else, they are lying. Especially if it was at that [point] of the game.”

Clarkson seemed to take exception to the fact that Saric took an easy bucket when the game was “already over,” but analysts and former players alike were quick to take the other side.

Many said that if Clarkson didn’t like the fact that he scored as late as he did, he shouldn’t have let him score. If the Cavs kept it a close game, the problem wouldn’t have risen. Others said that if they were Saric, they would have dunked it twice as hard and stared down the crowd to put an exclamation point on the game.

However, Saric can likely expect a hard foul the next time these teams meet just like a baseball player should expect a fastball to the back after taking too long to round the bases after a home run.

It’s not too often that you see the news media take the same side as the players but, in this case, it’s usually only the team that’s losing that feels their actions were justified. If it were the other way around, the Cavs would have looked at it from the side of the Sixers and news media, but athletes, no matter what age, hate nothing more than getting shown up in a loss.

Shalala running for Congress

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By PATRICIA SANTANA

On March 7, former UM president Donna Shalala announced her candidacy as representative of Florida’s 27th Congressional district.

Shalala is one of many contenders vying for the vacancy created by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s retirement. Shalala is running as a Democrat. Her platform includes issues such as LGBTQ rights and environmental conservation.

The Miami Hurricane did an excellent job of covering this story.

On Feb. 14, they published a speculative piece discussing the rumors that Shalala would run for Congress. This article displayed a commitment to the story and indicates that they were on top of any developments long before Shalala filed for candidacy.

There are also a number of corrections on the bottom of the article dated Feb. 16. These corrections show their transparency, since they could’ve made the corrections and not announced it in order to not risk a negative perception of their mistakes. They also could have avoided any corrections and hoped nobody would notice, which would have been very lazy reporting.

The Miami Hurricane’s Facebook page was very prompt in posting Shalala’s announcement on March 7. The timestamp on their “Breaking News” post was 10:39 a.m. The next post on their page was of a complete article on Shalala’s announcement, posted at 11:08 a.m. This gap of about half an hour shows how quick they were to produce a complete article in order to provide readers the full story in a timely manner.

In comparison, The Miami Herald’s Facebook page did not post about Shalala’s announcement until 1 o’clock in the afternoon. Granted, The Herald has many other stories they need to be covering and Shalala is a campus icon at UM, making her story one worth prioritizing for The Miami Hurricane.

The story by the Miami Herald focused on Shalala’s anti-Trump platform, her Clinton connections and what the competition will be like for that congressional seat. The story by The Miami Hurricane focused much more on the impact the news had on campus and included quotes from UM administrators, such as Vice President for Student Affairs Patricia Whitely, and faculty such as Associate Professor of Political Science Joseph Uscinski.

The Miami Hurricane story also focused on Shalala’s impact during her tenure at UM to a greater extent than The Miami Herald did. These differences are illustrative of how different newspapers report their stories based on the audience. Whereas The Herald must tailor their stories to a greater Miami audience, The Hurricane can focus more on capturing the attention of the UM community, a much more specific audience.

Facebook is the blue-collar LinkedIn

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By KATHERINE CERAVOLO

LinkedIn was designed to offer high-skilled jobs, so Facebook decided to offer low-skilled jobs. Facebook is expanding to 40 more countries to help people get jobs as well as help businesses get the needed extra labor.

Partnering with ZipRecruiter, Facebook hoped to bring more job openings to its social media platform. The feature has expanded to Britain, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. There will be a Jobs tab on Facebook for all information on job offerings. There will also be a Jobs dashboard, Facebook Marketplace, and the News Feed that the business owners can promote with ads, additional information, ways to contact, and any other news they wish to share about their business.

Facebook will offer similar ways of searching for jobs by offering specific filters, such as industry, part-time or full-time, salary and proximity (just like LinkedIn).

The media is focusing on the most amazing part: how more people will have access to more job opportunities right at their fingertips. Facebook is just like LinkedIn, but with so much more. Job applicants who need the chance to grow their resume and educational level will be able to do so while also earning an income and improving the quality of their lives.

Facebook is just getting started, but what about LinkedIn? The news covering this information does not seem to mention the overlap it could potentially bring. Facebook has been to known expand on every endeavor the company chooses to conduct.

For example, Facebook became the new YouTube by posting videos on users’ newsfeeds, even when they weren’t searching for any. This new alternative has caused YouTube celebrities to post more on Facebook to increase viewers and feedback. So what if it suddenly wants to offer a range of white-collared jobs as well?

The news media need to mention how this could potentially lead to a bigger problem, regarding LinkedIn users and the site in general. However, for now, Facebook is enjoying the publicity and corporate social responsibility to help its users enhance their lives.

State to end business with Venezuela

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By ANDREA ILLAN

Venezuela has been experiencing the worst economic crisis in the country’s history since current president, Nicolas Maduro, came to power. Yet, American news media often overlook this collapse and focus more on the crises of other counties.

However, recent article from local Miami Spanish-language newspaper, El Nuevo Herald, reported on a new decision that might be good news for the Venezuelan people.

This decision, taken on Thursday by the Florida Senate, prohibits the State of Florida to engage in business with companies that support Maduro’s regime. The article reported that the vote to move forward with this regulation was unanimous.

Finalizing of this decision is especially important for the state of Florida in that it would prevents the state from indirectly contributing to an oppressive regime. The last thing Florida Senate needs for this motion to go through is Gov. Rick Scott’s signature.

State Sen. José Javier Rodríguez.

Additionally, the article reported on the Florida Senate’s point of view by interviewing one of its members, Sen. José Javier Rodríguez.

He said he expressed his support for the action and explained how it favors the Venezuelan people and the struggle for democracy in the country.

Given the high Venezuelan population in South Florida, El Nuevo Herald does a great job at catering to this group of likely readers. However, stories such as this one are still not being reported enough at the national level. The article can be found at http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/sur-de-la-florida/article204132024.html

Pepe the Frog creator sues ‘InfoWars’

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By GRACE SMITH

Matt Furie, creator of Pepe the Frog, is suing Alex Jones’ “news show” “Infowars” after a poster featuring the character showed up for sale on the site’s merchandise page.

“MAGA” poster for sale on the Infowars website

Though it started out as an innocent comic character in Furie’s comic “Boys Club” in 2005, the image and its various versions such as “Sad Pepe” or “Smug Pepe” quickly spread across the web as a popular meme.

Many consider it to be the first major meme and was used by Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, and was the most retweeted meme on Twitter in 2015.

However in 2016, as the presidential election began, Pepe was adopted by the republican party after candidate Donald Trump retweeted a version of “Trump Pepe” that featured his blonde hair, suit and stance at the presidential podium.

His son, Donald J. Trump Jr. also retweeted a parody of the movie poster for “The Expendables” that featured Pepe as part of the Trump family on the poster and other popular right-wing and conservative figures.

As the right wing became more and more extreme and radicalized up to and following

A common use of the original Pepe and “Sad Pepe” meme on Twitter.

the election, so did the causes, groups, and alt-right news sources Pepe was associated with, to the point where the Anti-Defamation League, a watchdog group opposed to antisemitism, added Pepe to its hate symbol database.

The image became deeply associated with hate groups and white supremacists and the Trump campaign did not distance themselves from it.

“Infowars,” a sensationalized “news source” hosted by extreme conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, is yet another outlet taking Furie’s image and continuing the misconstrued message now associated with the character.

A screenshot from the ADL website with examples of the hijacked Pepe images

Jones called the lawsuit “frivolous” and insists the suit is part of a larger attempt by news media outlets to make Infowars “public enemy number one.”

This will not be the first time Furie has had to sue over the depiction of Pepe however. A children’s book that used the Pepe promoted “racist, Islamophobic and hate-filled themes,” according to a federal lawsuit filed by Furie, and the out of court settling required the removal of the book from sale.

Furie also killed off Pepe from his comic as a reaction to the corruption of his character.

This issue brings into consideration the way a meaning can be attached to an image and how quickly it can be propagated as such. Social media’s speed with condemning or supporting an image and inventing the unspoken meaning behind them is a powerful one and is frequently carried over into real life.

Even in the earlier days of Pepe’s alt-right association, news outlets struggled with dividing the comic character frog from the hate symbol he had been painted over as and they raised the unspoken question of where to draw the line between the creators intent and the current usage. I consider it similar to the swastika.

Though it was created and used across many eastern religions as a symbol of good luck, awareness, and even the footsteps of Buddha, today we know it as the symbol of the Nazi party and their acts of hate and genocide. However, Furie’s quick rebuttal to all attempts to use his character and hopes to redefine him could change how we see Pepe five years down the road.

Porn actress Daniels sues Trump

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By ABBY LLOYD

We’ve all heard the story of President Trump’s affair with adult movie star Stormy Daniels. What we didn’t know was the extent to which Trump tried to cover this story up days before his election.

Daniels secret relationship with Trump began in 2006, when they first met at a golf tournament. Since then, Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen has wired Daniels $130,000 for her silence on the matter while Trump ran for office. Daniels lawyer, Michael Avenatti, has stated: “Trump failed to sign the hush agreement, therefore, nullifying it.”

The below image is taken from NBC News from the actual contract between Trump and Daniels. They had different names due to privacy.

“The Today Show” interviewed Avenatti on the gruesome details of Daniel’s sexual encounter with Trump. Avenatti declined to comment on some questions but did state: “She believes it’s important that the public learn the truth about what happened. I think it’s time for her to tell her story and for the public to decide who is telling the truth.”

The interviewer questioned Avenatti about Daniels action to take the $130,000 instead of just saying no the agreement.

Avenatti declined to comment and said that this was Daniels story to tell, not his. However, he did comment that there was a lot of side interrogations from Cohen to persuade Daniels from not coming forward.

CNN reported Daniels has given conflicting statements about her relationship with Trump. Avenatti came out with a statement saying, “Cohen was concerned the truth would be disclosed … through intimidation and coercive tactics, forced Daniels into signing a false statement wherein she stated that reports of her relationship with Mr. Trump were false.”

Celebrities reveal mental health battles

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By JUSTIN SOBELMAN

The term “mental health” has been a big buzzword in the last few weeks. Mainly it has been used in reference to the ongoing discussion of gun control as a major talking point for a population that shouldn’t have access to guns. At the same time, some of the rhetoric coming from people in power is scary.

President Trump has floated the idea of reopening mental health institutions and being able to place potential risks in them involuntarily. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, who has completed a rapid arc from sympathetic figure to total buffoon, stated in a CNN town hall two weeks ago that he believes that police should have the power to pluck people that they deem a mental health concern and put them somewhere to protect the rest of society.

Yes, their ideas and the similar thoughts that other prominent figures have issued, are noble in their intention, but the reality that changes like this would create is downright terrifying.

What makes a person a risk? Is it depression? Bipolar disorder? Panic disorder? What a lot of people don’t seem to understand is that diagnosis isn’t as simple as: “You are depressed.” Every single diagnosis (and there are dozens) has many different symptoms, and a person can have experience some of them that are potentially dangerous. Do you need to be diagnosed to be a threat to others’ safety?

So, do we take people away from their lives without their consent? Do we want to be a country that abducts people off the street and puts them in an institution, which by the way are generally ineffective in treating mental health disorders? I know I’m asking a lot of questions, and I certainly don’t have the answers to most of them, but these are things that must be discussed when people like our own president are suggesting plans this extreme.

In our culture and in many other cultures, it’s an unspoken rule not to talk about our problems, especially if you’re a man. However, in recent years, many celebrities have opened up about mental health disorders from which they have suffered. In the past week, two NBA All-Stars, DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love, have written their own stories and participated in interviews in which they have discussed their battles with depression and dealing with a panic attack, respectively (https://www.thestar.com/sports/raptors/2018/02/25/raptors-derozan-hopes-honest-talk-on-depression-helps-others.html).

Both had the same core idea: they spent years not talking about their problems but decided to publicize them now because they know that almost everybody has gone through something. Maybe looking at someone who is rich, talented and successful and still deals with a form of mental illness could inspire a person who looks up to them to seek help of their own, and give them a person to point to and say, “I’m not alone.”

I love that they did this and I believe that the more people like DeRozan and Love who talk about mental health aid the fight against the negative stigma associated with it.

DeRozan’s story is especially powerful in my opinion. DeRozan is from Compton, Calif., an area notorious for being the epicenter of rap and gang violence in the 1980s and 1990s. For a black NBA star who hails from an area that would lead many to assume he is tough-as-nails and hardened to reveal that he is battling depression must be eye-opening for people, especially young black kids.

You just don’t see people like DeRozan talk about depression and I hope his bravery and inspire others to do the same. Opening the conversation will only help people get the help they need, and maybe we can treat people before they resort to violence.

News media baffled by Nunberg outburst

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By SOPHIA CONSTANTINO

Nearly every major news media outlet across the country stopped in their tracks Monday afternoon to gape at a live MSNBC interview with a former campaign adviser to President Trump, Sam Nunberg.

The afternoon began with a Washington Post story by Josh Dawsey reporting Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office had subpoenaed Nunberg to testify before a federal grand jury regarding Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Nunberg refused.

Approximately 15 minutes after the story was released, MSNBC cut short an interview to go to Nunberg in a phone interview. The interview spiraled into a 20-minute, seemingly no-holds-barred spiel from Nunberg during which he divulged what he claims Muller’s office asked of him and that he had no intention of cooperating. Most shockingly, the former Trump-aide said that he thinks Trump “may have done something during the election” and that Muller may “have something” on the president, according to CNN.

Nunberg proceeded to call into various news media outlets, including two different CNN interviewers and New York news station NY1. He then reappeared on MSNBC, this time accompanied by three lawyers, to discuss whether or not he should cooperate with Muller.

The White House is baffled by Nunberg’s outburst, calling it “nuts” and “bizarre,” according to CNN’s Kaitlin Collins. National news media certainly share the sentiment.

Though Nunberg could have perhaps been motivated by his own alleged mistreatment by Trump along with Trump’s similar treatment of Nunberg’s mentor, Roger Stone, why Nunberg would then defy subpoena remains unclear. Nunberg suggests that Trump did something questionable during the 2016 election and, if so, has no interest in testifying.

Speculations as to why Nunberg, who actively hates Trump, would not testify, point towards Nunberg’s allegiance to Stone; according to Nunberg, Stone is suspect to collusion with Julian Assage, who is believed to have ties to Russian intelligence. If there is something to cover on Stone, it seems Nunberg is covering it.

Despite being initially adamant, The Washington Post reports that Nunberg may testify after a night of considerable advice gathering through his various news media appearances. It seems Nunberg’s obstinate resolve and speculative protection of Stone will not withstand the risk of jail time he could face for defying subpoena.