Teen has surgeries to look like Jolie

By VIVIANNA ONORATO

A young lady from Iran wanted to look like her muse, Angelina Jolie. She lost 90 pounds in four months and went under 50 different surgical procedures to do that.

Her name is Sahar Tabar, she transformed herself to look more like her favorite actress. However, her more than 400,000 followers in Instagram and they are struggling to see the change.

The photos posted to her Instagram serve to showcase her drastic new look. Tabar has undergone lip injections, cheek implants and a nose job, in addition to the weight she’d already lost prior to the surgeries.

However, the severity of Tabar’s new look have several people calling her out for using prosthetics and makeup to make her face appear more angular and enhance certain features.

People and her followers have pointed out that pictures on her Instagram account – which appears to be fairly new, since only about 30 photos have been posted – are inconsistent with nose and cheek placement. Frequently her nose is more upturned than others. Her jaw also appears to be more defined in certain photos than in others.

Her new look – whether real or fake – has been heavily criticized on social media, with many nicknaming the seemingly-malnourished teen “Corpse Bride,” after the 2005 animated Tim Burton film.

Argentine Navy declares submarine lost

By VIVIANNA ONORATO

The Argentine Navy has lost a submarine and its crew.

According to the Navy’s Capt. Enrique Balbi on Thursday, “Despite the magnitude of the efforts made, it has not been possible to locate the submarine.”

The submarine, named the ARA San Juan, made last contact on Wednesday, Nov. 15.

The hopes of finding survivors faded after a suspected explosion was reported near its last-known location.

Balbi said the search for the submarine had been “extended to more than double the number of days that determine the possibilities of rescuing the crew,” but added that teams would continue to search for the vessel on the seabed.

On Tuesday, Balbi told reporters that water had entered the submarine’s snorkel, which can be used to take in air from above the surface when the submarine is submerged.

The water got inside a battery tray in the prow, causing the battery a short circuit, he said.

The Argentine navy’s last contact with the vessel was at approximately 10:30 GMT on Nov. 15. During that point, the sub’s captain had reported that all hands within the sub were well.

Despite this, Vienna-based Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organisation quickly noticed a strong noise hours after the sub’s last transmission; this was after eight days of the submarine’s disappearance.

The group labeled the noise a  “hydro-acoustic anomaly” and stated that it had occurred which operates a network of listening posts to monitor nuclear explosions, said that there had been about 30 nautical miles (60 km) north of the sub’s last-known position at 10:31 (13:31 GMT).

The Argentine Navy said it could have been the sound of the submarine imploding — news that hit relatives of the missing crew members hard.

Bitcoin value subject to ups and downs

By VIVIANNA ONORATO

The value of cryptocurrency known as bitcoin has dropped 16 percent, down to $9,600 from the record $11,434 that it had reached on Wednesday.

While not universally accepted, the digital currency is used online due to its entirely-digital nature. Serving as an alternative currency, it is usually considered an attractive to conventional currency, due largely to its financial independence from governments.

However, the digital currency is usually traded like a financial investment; in fact, at its peak, Bitcoin had increased substantially from the $1,000 value it had when the year started.

It’s worth noting that Bitcoin is “prone to wild swings” due to lack of regulations, as well as the lack of traders. Financial analyst Neil Wilson described trading in recent times as a “rollercoaster like nothing I’ve ever seen” and he equated it with small investors that lacked market experience with the coin.

Because they have no way of discerning the coin’s fair value, as well as the perception that the coin is not a currency, bitcoin has been perceived to be going through a bubble similar to the dotcom crisis.

Financial analysts have warned that bitcoin is not an official currency and should not be treated as such. It is simply a commodity with people choosing to invest and trade it whenever they feel like it.

This has led to some scrutiny by financial entities, whom warn investors about the inherent risks with the coin, whom have warned investors that they might lose their entire savings if they are not careful.

Billions invested in futuristic cities

By VIVIANNA ONORATO

Bill Gates and other big companies has invested $80 million in a high-tech planned urban development outside Phoenix.

The society in Belmont is planned to be designed around high-speed networks, autonomous vehicles, high-speed digital networks, data centers, new manufacturing technologies and autonomous logistics hubs.

The group that is leading the project, is called Belmont Partners. This project will be a similar in size to nearby Tempe, Ariz., which has a population of 182,000.

Big companies such as Uber, Wymo, and Intel are testing their innovations in the state. Since Arizona has a reputation as being a technology-friendly state, these autonomous vehicle companies are willing to increase their brand in this project.

The investment is the latest example of excitement surrounding rebuilding cities from the ground up with a digital mindset.

The smart cities trend has gained momentum as Silicon Valley’s disruptors shift their focus to transportation innovations such as autonomous vehicles and ride sharing services.

Belmont’s developers are counting on the expected development of Interstate 11, which will serve the area, to boost development. But right now, the company is not rushing to move forward.

Sexual harassment no longer tolerated

By VIVIANNA ONORATO

At the start of October, there was one man whom was in the news for his lewd acts towards women. Harvey Weinstein, a man that used his position of power in the movie business to pressure women towards providing him sexual favors, saw his throne collapse when so many people, both men and women, came out and simultaneously accused him of his acts.

Since then, there has been something of a domino effect, with women from all walks of life coming out to accuse him. This led to his company removing him from his position of power. Now, however, there’s someone else who’s suffering from the same situation: Terry Richardson.

A photographer known for his sexual, sometimes near-pornographic shoots, Richardson has been accused of abuse during his shoots, often using his position to solicit sexual acts from his models. In fact, he himself has appeared nude alongside his subjects, perhaps as a further show of his position of power, with many of these stories publicly known since 2001. While Richardson has insisted that many of these acts have all been consensual in nature, the fact is that he is a man in a position of power over these women and is abusing the trust that they have toward him in order to receive a benefit that was not agreed upon  in their contracts.

It’s worth noting that while these accusations were an open secret in the industry, it’s only recently that Richardson has been fired from his position. As a result, we can see that there has been significant effort towards removing abusive men from positions of power, and returning power towards women. More importantly, it’s a return to form for the industry, an implicit threat that establishes that women will no longer put up with sexual harassment, regardless of who carries it out.

Vegan documentary released on Netflix

By VIVIANNA ONORATO

The recently released pro-vegan Netflix documentary, “What the Health,” has come to the attention of many health experts. The film, co-directed by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn, has been criticized by some health professionals for exaggerating data, as well as misrepresenting science to promote a diet that avoids all animal foods, rather than one that strikes a balance between the various kinds of foods.

Throughout the video, the directors talk about the presence of processed foods in our diets, as well as the prevalence of chemicals that are used in their creation. Preservatives, flavor enhancers, and other items are often pumped into these foods with little to no regard for safety.

This is all in spite of the negative effect that it has in the human body, which often leads to unhealthy foods becoming a natural part of our diets. The documentary itself frequently offers facts and research studies to support their research, including papers that determine that diabetes and heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S., all of which is directly tied into our diets.

As expected, the film is skewed towards a low-fat vegan diet. In the opening, Kip Anderson, a film producer by trade, describes his qualifications as a “recovering hypochondriac.” The film advocates for a vegan diet and an expert on the panel states there is no room for “moderation.” The word “terrifying” is used when describing food, as though to foster action against the meat industry. The documentary itself also frequently uses scare-tactic approaches to push its agenda of persuading viewers to a low-fat vegan diet, rather than arguing about the balance of foods, in addition to justifying the body’s need for meat.

Anderson tries many times to contact many representatives of nutrition associations and it was seen that many of them were unable to answer questions via phone. He repeatedly calls or shows up personally to major organizations, such as the American Diabetes Association and American Cancer Society, asking why certain foods are recommended on their websites. However, many of them declined to show their information; in fact, Dr. Robert Ratner of the American Diabetes Association refused to discuss the role of diet and diabetes citing that there are too many different types of diets possible to recommend one specific diet.

What the documentary is good at doing is showing how the diets affect a person’s well-being and health. A lot of food affects our well-being, including our health and aesthetics. However, the documentary does not go deep enough into advocating the differences in bodies and diets and, instead, chooses to lean into a one-size-fits-all approach to dieting.

Las Vegas: A change in this country

By VIVIANA ONORATO

The world is changing and not for the better.

There’s a desensitization among people; parents do not raise their children as they should, with many of them losing their values as they grow… if they even had any to begin with.

If a family doesn’t guide you, you will never grow up to become a true and proper person; without a proper moral compass, you will pick and choose at your own whim, potentially being influenced from the wrong people.

Part of the problem seems to be the issue of culture; we are desensitized to problems that we do not acknowledge as negative; we simply choose to accept them as a part of our everyday lives. Gun violence is perhaps the most notable of them, as we believe that it is something that comes with our rights. The Second Amendment itself is embedded into the Constitution; however, it is sometimes abused by many in power.

The leaders of our country do nothing to stop this; some of them pander to the gun lobbies, while others dismiss claims of the problem outright. The end result is that while we all agree that there are problems, we are not doing anything to solve them.

We should be talking and discussing about how to make our country better; instead, we resort to childish insults and raucous conversation, disregarding all viable discussion for petty arguments.

After the shooting in Las Vegas, Jason Aldean wrote that “something has changed in this country.” Looking at the state of society, it’s hard to argue against this.

Weinstein: Big time violation of our idols

By VIVIANA ONORATO

In recent times, it’s become apparent that there are more than one way to hurt a person. Usually, we understand that a punch to the face or a kick to the chest will hurt badly; however, we will recover from this. The soreness will be gone in a few days and we will forget that it happened.

However, there are sometimes when the physical pain will pale in comparison to the scars in our minds. What we feel in our bodies will never be as bad or as hurtful as what we feel in our spirits; this is why recent revelations have made it so hard to feel human.

It’s in no way possible to see that a single person could be this malicious towards so many peers. Harvey Weinstein, a man in a position of power and influence, used his connections to hurt women, to degrade them, to make them feel like they were less, all while reaping the benefits of his actions.

What makes this matter even worse is the fact that so many people knew about it and no one said anything. Weinstein’s own team has stated that “any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.” And yet, more than 20 women have come out to attack Weinstein, including actresses Kate Beckinsale, Heather Graham and Cara Delenvigne.

What this story does is show not just the horrors that some women have experienced in their working lives, but also the way in which some people are willfully ignorant to the problems that they observe in their work habits. The fact that 27 women have come out to attack Weinstein means that this was not something that was unknown to the world; people knew that something was going on. They just chose not to act on it; silence, in this case, was not golden.

Irma slows Florida’s transportation

By VIVIANA ONORATO

Hurricane Irma caused around 6.3 million people to evacuate from Florida’s coastal and low-lying areas.

“Lifting the tolls cut millions of residents a break before, during and after what became the largest evacuation in Florida’s history,” said Florida Gov. Rick Scott. He lifted the tolls on the Florida Turnpike and other state highways with tolls on Sept. 5 to ease the traffic in order to cause a better flow on the roads.

The result of this hurricane was chaotic, making the highways of Florida unbearable with hours of traffic. As reported by CNN, “Transportation officials said Friday that there were long areas of congestion on segments of I-75 northbound and I-95 northbound.”

There is no surprise that basic necessities like finding gas, water or hotels created more long hours to travel north.  

“We stopped at three places for gasoline. Two places were out,” said Florida resident Carol Lang. The congestion lasted up all the way to I-10 interchange in North Florida.

These stop and gos made Floridians double the time that they had expected.

“The GPS tracker did not change the hours left, which resulted us being on the road for a whole 24 hours,” said Chiara Bruzzi.

There were rest areas throughout the highways that provided food and bathrooms. These rest areas were full, which resulted that some cars and trucks were forced to stay on the sides of the roads.

Venezuelans fight for their future

By VIVIANA ONORATO

The situation in Venezuela is critically bad.

There is poverty, unemployment, insecurity, lack of political input, among other issues. A large number of Venezuelans have died because of a shortage of food, medicine or being killed defending their rights.

The quality of life in Venezuela is getting worse every day. People live with the risk of dying without being able to buy food because of its high cost or because there is no food at all. For the last five years, people have been starving. About 75 percent of the country has lost an average of 19 pounds per person since the food crisis.

In addition, the minimum wage does not cover all the necessary expenses in a low cost living. For these reasons, the people in Venezuela decided to take to the streets to defend their rights. Once again, this freedom could not be achieved so there is a lot of emigration in the country not only by the people but also airlines and importing companies.

Venezuela has always been a country that has a lot of potential and wealth. It was the richest country in Latin America and now it is broke thanks to the collapse of the oil industry and general mismanagement of the economy.

It used to welcome many foreigner visitors and today, this beautiful country full of landscapes, beaches and tropical climates has become the most corrupt country in South America.

President Nicolas Maduro isn’t helping to improve the situation. While people are starving, president Nicolas Maduro focuses on changing the constitution in order to give himself more power. This means, people in Venezuela would not be able to have the right to vote anymore.

We as journalists need to stop ignoring the situation in Venezuela. We need to be the voice for those who do not have one. We need to make the world see the reality of Venezuela and contribute to those Venezuelans desperate to have that freedom they have fought so much.