News Week Of April 19

O’ Neill, Ann. Tsarnaev guilty of all 30 counts in Boston bombing. cnn.com. April 8, 2015. Cable News Network. http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/08/us/boston-marathon-bombing-trial/index.html. web

It has been roughly two years since Boston Marathon bombings took place, and for many, the terrible event has receded into the back of our minds, however old memories are resurfacing as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev received his verdict on April 8, 2015. After 11.5 hours of deliberation, the jurors reached a verdict. Tsarnaev was found guilty on all 30 charges and is currently facing the death penalty. The verdict took 26 minutes long to announce and 17 out of the 30 charges could send him to the death row. Tsarnaev act is seen as worst act of terrorism since 9/11 and the jurors now have to decide whether Tsarnaev should receive the death penalty. Now its up to Judy Clarke who is an expert at keeping her clients off the deathrow to convince the jurors to spare Tsarnaev life where he would receive life in prison. Many of the victims found relief from the verdict but were completely satisfied.

I believe that Tsarnaev should be killed for his heinous act but the victims that were affected by the bombing will never receive complete justice. How can the death of Tsarnaev repay the lost lives or the loss of limbs that occurred at the bombing? A sick person like him shouldn’t have the right to live and shouldn’t even be considered a human. What startles me is that he was influenced by his religion Islam, which is expected to surpass Christianity in the number of followers in a couple decades. The propaganda released by terrorist organization are affecting many muslims in the western world compelling them to join and support their organization by committing act of terrorism or betrayal. The hatred for America will cause for act of terrorism unless US decides hunt down terrorist groups. One of the most important tool for the terrorist organizations is the internet, where they communicate their messages and beliefs to thousands of other muslim to carry out act of terrorism. So the US government should focus less on stalking their own citizens and try to limit the terrorists access to the internet.

Gupta, Sanjay. Dr. Sanjay Gupta: It's time for a medical marijuana revolution. cnn.com. April 17, 2015. 2015 Cable News Network. http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/16/opinions/medical-marijuana-revolution-sanjay-gupta/index.html. web

On April 17, Dr. Sanjay Gupta advocated for the legalization of weed which is significant considering that he’s CNN’s main medical correspondent and a highly respected doctor. A recent document hosted Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows the benefits of marijuana and sees a potential revolution in marijuana as 53% of Americans( a majority) voted for legalization of the complete usage of marijuana with 77% supporting the legalization of medicinal marijuana. There are plenty of evidences proving that marijuana could positively impact ten major diseases in the world such as cancer, AIDS, Glaucoma, and epilepsy. Marijuana can help reduce the demand of pills which is the one the biggest cause preventable deaths. Dr. Gupta claims that there are many patients whose lives have improved by the usage of marijuana and sees it as a major medicine. Marijuana contains the chemical compound CDM, which is shown to help patients suffering from diseases like epilepsy. Dr. Gupta accentuates that the country should come together nationally and work to legalize marijuana in order for more research to be done on this mysterious plant.

A recent study done by Niskayuna HS shows that a majority of sophomores never smoked weed? It is stigmatized by the media and the school and we are often warned to stay away from it. However I feel like we have been deceived thinking that marijuana is worse than tobacco and alcohol since it is illegal furthermore, the school has failed us to show the benefits of marijuana. After reading the article, I discovered that there are new things about marijuana, like strains of plant that are meant for medicinal purposes only and its potential to cure Epilepsy or Glaucoma. Also by legalizing weed, drug cartels would go out of business since there is no need for them to ship the drugs to US, thus the expensive drug war would finally come to an end or abate. What is startling to me is that alcohol and tobacco kill more Americans than weed yet it remains legal while weed is illegal. I feel like Dr. Gupta’s article will cause a huge stir in the country and we will be seeing more things about the legalization of marijuana in the future.

Mack, David. Video Purports To Show ISIS Executing Dozens Of Ethiopian Christians. Buzzfeed.com. April 19, 2015. NYC. http://www.buzzfeed.com/davidmack/video-isis-ethiopian-christians#.cq86kDRVqD. Web

ISIS on April 19, released a gruesome video of them executing dozens of Christians in Libya by either shooting or beheading them. The video begins with an ISIS member who condemns America and promises to kill every last infidel before the Christians are executed. The Christians that were in the video were either shot in the head or beheaded with a knife. The footage was condemned internationally and convinced Egypt to take action by carrying out airstrikes on ISIS targets. Many analysts believe that the men in the video are locals of Libya that claims to have affinity with ISIS. The video was released by ISIS to intimidate the west by showing them what ISIS will do if they establish a new Islamic Caliphate. The video may have also inspired some muslims to join ISIS.
After seeing some of the pictures from the article’s page, I am horrified at how far ISIS will go to refute Christianity. This video serves as a stark reminder of the terrible atrocities that ISIS had committed in the past years. How can this group consider themselves to practice Islam when they are killing people that worship the same God as them. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all worship the same God but through different ways, so why were the ISIS member killing Christians who worship the same God as them? The Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate allowed Christians and Jews to live in their realm peacefully known as Dhimmi and prospered for centuries, so why do ISIS have to take their belief to the next level if their predecessors were more pragmatic? I feel that ISIS is just like cancer and must be stopped before they get out of control.