FRIDAY FLAVOR (News, With Some Flavor)
by Janardhan Sutram
This week’s flavor: Nonviolence / no violencia / foréigean neamh / non geweld / Ahimsā
Quote of the week: “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed.” - Martin Luther King Jr.
CIA kept a secret? How ironic?
I’m assuming that most of you know what the CIA is. In case you don't, the CIA (a.k.a Central Investigation Agency) is one of the principal intelligence-gathering agencies of the United States federal government. A few days ago, US Senate released a report on the CIA’s detention and interrogation program.
Fake gun, chokehold, one big mess
Many of you may recall the postdate actions after the grand jury in Ferguson decided not to indict the officer responsible for shooting and killing Michael Brown. But, for those who don’t, let's just say that it was utter mayhem. Here is how it all unraveled: Brown, a teenage boy, was shot by Darren Wilson, a 28-year-old white police officer. The officer was convicted for killing Michael Brown, but wasn’t indicted for the shooting. The St. Louis County grand jury stated, “[...]you must find probable cause to believe that Darren Wilson did not act in lawful self-defense and you must find probable cause to believe that Darren Wilson did not use lawful force in making an arrest. If you find those things, which is kind of like finding a negative, you cannot return an indictment on anything or true bill unless you find both of those things.” The decision sparked anger in Ferguson, especially in the black community. Angry citizens started protesting, which eventually led to riots where people started burning down building and were brawling with the police. The people of Ferguson were hurt and lost all faith in the justice system of the United States.
Guess who has chickenpox?
Friends sitting at home and crying over the fact that you have the most disgusting and awful disease possible, which is chickenpox, I’m here to tell you to stop doing that. You are not the only one who has chickenpox. On Friday, December 12th, Angelina Jolie released a video with the help of Universal Studios on youtube where she confesses as to why she cannot attend promotional events and the premiere of her new film, 'Unbroken.' In the video, Jolie admits that she found out that she has chicken pox; "I just wanted to be clear and honest about why I will be missing the 'Unbroken' events in the next few days, which is that I found out last night that I have chicken pox. So, I will be home itching and missing everyone. And I can't believe it 'cause this film means so much to me," she states. This video was published a few days after Jolie was caught under an awkward and uncomfortable embrace with Amy Pascal. Why is this important? Well, Amy Pascal encountered Jolie at The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Power 100 breakfast in Los Angeles. A few days earlier a band of hackers, Guardian of Peace, hacked into Sony Pictures Entertainment database and released emails exchanged from Amy Pascal, co-chairman of the Sony Pictures Entertainment, to Scott Rudin, film producer, where they make fun of a bunch of movie stars and the President of the U.S. Angelina Jolie happens to be one of the movie stars that Pascal calls a, “minimally talented spoiled brat” with a “rampaging spoiled ego.” They both have a face to face encounter shortly after the nasty email leaks. Awkwaaard. But, there is always a lesson to learn from every mistake. I guess the lesson here is: Be careful what you say, especially on the internet. It may seem like everything is deleted but in an ocean like that, anything and everything can be found; all it takes is some time and few geeks.
Air Jordans? More like chaos
I understand if you are obsessed with sneakers and have a collection of them. But, I don't understand why you need to crack windows at a mall and line up with thousands of people outside the store for vouchers of the new sneakers. This is exactly what happened in Houston, where thousands of people were lined up outside malls for the new Air Jordans 11 “Legend Blue” release. All I have to say to that is, “Now, that is crossing the limits!” Don’t get me wrong; I love sneakers too. But there is a difference between liking them and going crazy about them. Thankfully there were no casualties or arrests reported.
Towel delivery brought to you by robots
What should you do if you run out of towels in a hotel room? I know, I realize that I am asking you a peculiar question, but one that most certainly has an intriguing new answer. The answer is: Robots. I would now like to apologize to my friends that were expecting some dramatic effect before the answer was revealed; unfortunately I am not a video editing professional, although I consider myself an amatuer video editor. If only I was a robot I would be able to fulfill your needs, but at this moment I am totally sure that I am not a robot, so all I can say is that I am sorry but will definitely try my best next time. Anyway...let's get back to the topic. When I look around today, I see people. But, in the future, I fear that many of these people will be replaced by robots. Don’t get me wrong, I love robots and the efficiency and comfort they bring to the human race, but I fear that we are crossing the line with trying to make our lives too comfortable. We must not make our lives so comfortable that we are too lazy to get up and get ourselves a glass of water. I feel that by building robots that comfort the human race, we may be destroying the purpose of our ancestors and our own race. We are homo sapiens; by building all these robots we are destroying our very own code that we run on.
About the author: Janardhan Sutram is a Senior at Cooperative Arts High School in New Haven, CT.
