jessicasthebomb

On Monday night in West Virginia a train hauling millions of pounds of oil in a snowstorm, derailed. It sent explosions and fireballs into the air, evacuating the nearby neighborhood and dumping crude oil into a river, shutting all local water supply off.

The train derailed around 1:20 p.m. near the village of Boomer. Several cars jumped the tracks and were piled at odd angels against each other. It isn’t clear to how many of the tankers exploded but there were multiple explosions that sent flames hundreds of feet into the sky. Late Monday night the firefighters brought the flames under control, by then the local authorities had ordered the evacuation of Boomer. They opened shelters in nearby schools, a fire station and a community center. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency for Kanawha and Fayette counties. One person was being treated for potential inhalation issues but other than that no injuries were reported. Nearby residents reported that when the train derailed they said they heard a crack and then said they saw the fire shoot up, they said that they could definitely feel the heat from where they were standing and described it as an atomic bomb.

Crude oil spilled in the Kanawha River, causing the West Virginia American Water to close the intakes to two water treatment plants downstream. State health officials also reported that another water company downstream had closed their intake. They asked customers to conserve water for the time being.

A few months ago I posted a story about a young girl named Hannah Graham. She had gone missing. She was a college student in her second year at the University of Virginia. She had last been seen on September 13th after being at a party the night before she had been seen on a surveillance video running past a gas station, that was early morning on September 13th. On September 20th Jesse Matthews had been named a person of interest, he was the last one seen with Graham before her disappearance.

Jesse Matthew Jr., 33, was indicted on the murder charge Monday the 9th, Albemarle County prosecutor Denise Lunsford said at a news conference. Matthew already was charged with abduction with intent to defile in the case. After police named Matthew a person of interest in Graham’s disappearance, he fled and was later apprehended on a beach in Texas. He was charged with abduction with intent to defile, a felony that empowered police to swab his cheek for a DNA sample. That sample connected Matthew to a 2005 sexual assault in Fairfax County,  He has pleaded not guilty in that case. Police have said DNA evidence also links Matthew to the 2009 disappearance and death of 20-year-old Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, whose body also was found in the county.

Matthew previously had been accused of raping students at Liberty University and Christopher Newport University in 2002 and 2003. Matthew had played football at both schools. The cases were dropped after the women declined to press charges.
Matthew’s first court appearance on the newest charges in the Harrington case is scheduled for Feb. 18. He will appear by video link from Fairfax County, where he is in jail awaiting trial in the 2005 rape case.

Steve Jobs is one of the most well-known names, he was the creator and founder of Apple. Apple is the company that makes the world-wide used Iphone, Ipod, and Ipad. Jobs was known to be a very opinionated stubborn man, which was part of the reason he was such a success. Jobs passed away in 2011, apple continues to make products and new technological advancements. Since Jobs’ death, Apple has come out with different Iphones and Ipads, some things they’re coming up with are things that Jobs’ wouldn’t have done, or approved of.

If you have noticed, Apple had never provided a stylus with any of its products, which is because Steve Jobs never liked styluses because he said “God gave us 10 styluses. Let’s not invent another.” The only Apple product that has ever came with a stylus was a tablet like device that came out in the late 1990s. It came out when Jobs wasn’t with Apple, but in 1997 when he came back to Apple, he killed it. But Ming-Chi Kuo said the 12.9 inch “Ipad pro” will come with a stylus when Apple announces it in the spring according to AppleInsider.

In October 2010, Jobs ranted about smaller tablets coming out in the market. In his opinion, the 10 inch screen of the Ipad, was the minimum a tablet could be. He said that smaller tablets were useless “unless your tablet also includes sandpaper, so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one quarter of the present size.” But yet only a year after the death of Jobs, Apple introduced the Ipad mini, one of the bestsellers of Apple.

I love the new things Apple is doing but I also think that part of the Legacy of Apple is that they always did their own thing when Jobs was still alive. When Samsung and LG came out with their mini tablets, or included a stylus with their products, Apple never did, well until now.

Last week during the Golden Globes and the NFL playoffs game a McDonalds’ advertisement was aired, and wasn’t as big of hit with the public as McDonalds hoped it would be. The commercial featured McDonald’s billboards from across the country over the years. The messages range from birth announcements and birthday announcements to “We Remember 9/11″ and “Boston Strong.” In the background a children’s choir sings a version of “Carry On” by the band Fun.

While the advertisement has been praised by some as a clever marketing tip to get people talking, others have said the reference to the terror attacks and Boston bombing are “tasteless.” Some felt it was insensitive to air the commercial during the Golden Globes and an NFL playoffs game. People tweeted (on twitter) their opinions with the hashtag “#imnotlovinit”.

Executives from McDonald’s said that the ads were intended to show the company’s history in local communities. While they did want to engage with customers and spark “emotion” and conversation, they said, they didn’t expect this level of reaction.

Obviously the ad has gained McDonald’s a lot of attention, even if the attention wasn’t all good.

People will have their difference in opinions in whether racism is a factor in the Criminal Justice system or not. In my opinion there has been cases recently where it has been. The Huffington posted an article about examples of racism in the Justice system a few years back but I thought that since recently racism has been brought up a lot that it was an important thing to share.

The post opens with the statement “The biggest crime in the U.S. criminal justice system is that it is a race-based institution where African-Americans are directly targeted and punished in a much more aggressive way than white people.” A very bold statement in my opinion but I would agree with it 100%.  The writer goes on to state facts that prove the Justice system has a racial influence. A few that stuck out were, ONE, whites and blacks engage in drug offenses, possession and sales, at roughly comparable rates – according to a report on race and drug enforcement published by Human Rights Watch in May 2008. While African Americans comprise 13% of the US population and 14% of monthly drug users they are 37% of the people arrested for drug offenses. TWO, the police stop blacks and Latinos at rates that are much higher than whites. In New York City, where people of color make up about half of the population, 80% of the NYPD stops were of blacks and Latinos. When whites were stopped, only 8% were frisked. When blacks and Latinos are stopped 85% were frisked according to information provided by the NYPD.

This data may be harsh to read but facts are facts and people should face the facts and realize the justice system in based on racial views and [some] people with professions in the justice system have racial views and use their power to control and manipulate the system

In my French 3 class we talk about current events going on in France, thursday we talked about the attacks made in Paris yesterday.

There are 3 suspects. There are two brothers, Said and Cherif Kouachi and the third man, Hamyd Mourad. The brothers are both in their 30s and are of French nationality the third man, Mourad is 18 and his nationality is not known. The men first shot and killed a police officer stationed at the magazine, then walked up to the second floor newsroom and opened fire. Four of the magazine’s founding cartoonists were killed in the attack. Eleven other people were injured, four of whom are in critical condition. A video was broadcasted on French television it shows two masked men leaving the building and then trading fire with a police officer. The officer is injured and one of the men stands above him and kills him at point-blank range. One of them shouts “We have avenged the  Prophet Muhammad.” 12 people total have died, of the 12,  2 were police officers and 8 were journalists. the gunmen escaped in a black vehicle to a paris suburb where they then got into a different vehicle.

A massive manhunt ensued in the Paris area, with some school trips canceled and some metros closed. France has also added a lot more security. Mourad surrendered to, according to multiple reports in French media. It’s not clear whether he had a role in the violence; Mourad’s ID card was reportedly found in a car the gunmen used.

Charlie Hebdo is a magazine that has faced threats over its content in the past. Back in 2011, the weekly printed a drawing of the Prophet Muhammad. Afterward, its offices were destroyed in a firebomb attack. Many in France gathered in the streets Wednesday evening, holding up signs reading “Je Suis Charlie” — I Am Charlie — in a show of respect toward those slain and defiance toward the attackers. Similar gatherings are being held outside the country — including in Germany, Britain, and the U.S. The phrase also became a top trending hashtag on twitter.

While scrolling through the news on Yahoo today, I came acrossed an article about the biggest news articless
of 2014, I decided I’d read it because i needed some ideas of what to write about.
On of the stories was about malaysia airlin flight 17.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MA S17) was a scheduled international passanger flight from Amsterdam going to
Kuala Lumpur, it crashed on July 17th 2014, it had been shot down, killng all 283 passangers and 15 crew members on board
The Boeing 777-200ER airliner lost contact about 50km  (31mi) from the Ukraine-Russia border and crashed near Torez in Donetsk, Oblast, Ukraine.

It was over territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists. The crash occured during the battle in Shakhtarsk Raion, part of the ongoing
wwar in Donbass. According to American and German intelligence sources, the plane was shot down by pro-Russian separatists using a
Buk surface-to-air missle fired from the territory which they controlled. The russian government blamed the Ukrainian
government.

The Ukranian govenement states that the missle was launched by Russian professionals and coordinatedd from russia. Malaysia said intellegence
resports on the downing of MH17 were pretty conclusive but more investiagation was necessaryto be certain
that a surface to air missle brought down the plane, afer which they would look at the criminal side.
The German Federal intelligence Service reportedly concluded the plane was shot down by pro-Russian serparatists
using a captured Ukranian buk system.

The crash of the MH17 was the 5th Boeing 777 hull loss, the third in a little over a year. The MH17 was the deadliest air incident in the Ukraine with
the deadliest airliner shootdown in history and the deadliest involving a Boeing 777, with 298 deaths.

The Boston Marathon has dated back to 1897, it is a tradition that has been help on Patriots Day, or the third Monday in April. It was inspired by the success of the first modern-day Olympics marathon competition in the Summer Olympics of 1896. The event attracts around a half of a million spectators each year, making it New England’s most widely viewed sporting event.  It started with around 18 participants, but in 2013, 26,839 people registered.

April 15th 2013, it started off like a normal day, the runners were getting ready to run. The marathon began and everything seemed fine. At 2:49, three hours after the winners had crossed the finish line, 2 explosions went off, about 200 yards apart from each other and in about the last 225 yards of the course. The race was halted. They later found out that the 2 explosions were pressure cooker bombs, they injured an estimated 264 people and killed another 3.

On April 18th the FBI took over the investigation and released photographs from a surveillance video of the two suspects, they were identified as the Chenchen brothers, Dzhokar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. After the video was released the suspects allegedly killed an MIT policeman, carjacked an SUV and initiated gunfire with the Watertown, Massachusetts police. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was pronounced dead after being hit by multiple bullets and being ran over by the SUV by his brother. On April 19th a manhunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was ensued, thousands of law enforcers were searching a 20-block area of watertown, and surrounding areas. Residents were told to stay indoors, most businesses, public education and public transportation were shut down. Officers found Dzhokhar at around 7pm that night, hiding in a boat in his backyard. He was arrested and taken to the hospital.

Dzhokar has spent 17 months in the Fort Devens medical prison, 40 miles outside of boston. He spends most of his days is “nearly total isolation” he only communicates with the prison personnel, his legal time and very rarely, his 2 older sisters. He has no communication with any other inmates, not verbally or through notes. He is scheduled to appear in a federal courtroom in Boston later this week. He will attend a status hearing about the bombings on december 18th and his trial is set to begin January 5th. He was formally charged with helping to plot and carry out two bombings near the finish line. He is also accused of killing 3 people and injuring hundreds more, along with that he is accused of shooting and killing a massachusetts institute of technology police officer while running from the police. Dzhokar has pleaded not guilty in the case and faces the death penality if convicted.

Every year around Christmas time, an anonymous wealthy business man hands out around 100,000 dollars to random people, taking the whole secret Santa thing to a new level. This year he changed it a little bit, handing it over to the Jackson Country Police department. The police know the man as secret Santa, He gave them each a stack of 100 dollar bills to give to people they thought needed it most. The officers pull over random people in the county and hands them some of the money. One deputy says “Merry Christmas” as he handed a stranger the money, the stranger than responded “You’re kidding. Oh My God. No”. Much like most of the recipients, the woman responded in disbelief.

In my opinion the man behind secret Santa is a truly amazing individual. In this day in age, when everyone seems to be all about the themselves and filled with hate, its is fantastic to see someone doing good in the world, someone who is filled with love and who helps people. And even though we don’t know who the secret Santa is, he is so inspiring to me.

Santa Claus, the big round jolly man who travels the world in one night, is not physically real, But the idea of Santa is real. Santa Claus brings children happiness and that is what people in the world should do for each other. We should all do things for people in our community, even if we cant hand out 100,000 dollars to strangers, we can ALL do things for people who need help, even if it is something small.

And once again i’m writing about a police officer killing someone who never deserved it, On July 17th 2014 in the neighborhood of Tompkinsville in Staten Island, New York, Garner was put into choke hold for 19 seconds by Daniel Pantaleo, the choke hold was banned by the New York police department (NYPD). Pantaleo

This is how the night went, Eric Garner was initially approached by officer Justin Damico with the suspicion that Garner was selling “loosies”, single cigarettes from packs without tax stamps. After a while Garner told police he was sick of being harassed and that he was not selling cigarettes, he asked them to leave him alone. The police then took actions to arrest Garner, Garner asked them not to touch him, Officer Pantaleo then came up behind the much bigger Garner and put him arms around his neck, he used his hands to push his head into the sidewalk. On the video caught by Garners friend; Ramsey Orta’s phone, once Garner was on the ground he was surrounded by four officers as he said “I can’t breathe” eleven times. On a second video recorded by a bystander, Garner lie motionless on the ground for several minutes before an ambulance showed up. Garner was pronounced dead an hour later.

On July 20th the officer who grabbed Garner, was put on desk duty and he was stripped of his handgun and badge, officer Damico was also put on desk duty but was able to keep his handgun and badge. Four of the EMTs that responded to Garners respiratory distress were suspended without pay on July 21st while the hospital they worked at, Richmond University Medical Center did their own investigation on the incident and two of the four have been returned to their regular duties. On August 1st, the medical examiners spokesperson announced that Garners death had been ruled a homicide. As of December 3rd the United States Department of Justice launched a further investigation towards the death, the grand jury was convened to hear evidence prior to deliberating whether to file charges against officer Pantaleo. As of December 3rd the Staten Island grand jury decided not to indict officer Pantaleo.

Eric Garner was a 6’3, 350 pound african american man. He was employed as a horticulturalist at the New York City Department of Recreation. His friends described him as a neighborhood peacemaker, and a generous, congenial person. He was a father to six children. Garner has thirty arrests since 1980 such as assault, resisting arrest, and unlicensed cigarettes.