acting like animals

A C T I N G L I K E A N I M A L S


DESIGNED AND WRITTEN BYJoseph Kozak

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Copyright© 2012 Joseph kozak

No part of this document may be used or reproduced in any manner without

written consent from the designer.Acting Like Animals

2012

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Civil War is a term that doesn’t get used easily but recently the Syrian uprising has been described as one. The war is an ongoing internal armed political conflict which started over one year ago. It began with public demonstrations and soon developed into a nationwide uprising. The protestors have demanded the end to nearly fifty years of Ba’ath Party rule along with the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. The violence began as the Syrian government called in the army to help contain the uprising with reports of soldiers opening fire on innocent civilians. People have said that when soldiers refused to open fire on civilians they would themselves be executed by the army.

The news of the massacres truly came to light at the end of May after a ceasefire had been announced in April by Kofi Annan, a secretary of the UN. On May 26th over 90 people were killed in what was described as the worst violence since the UN ceasefire started. The attack which included many children, some with skulls split open, was shown in videos posted on Youtube which attempted to shed some light on the disasters that the Syrian Army was bringing to innocent towns.

32 of the victims were all children under the age of 10 which goes to show how what was once used as way of containing protests and violence has turned into nothing more than the extermination of their own people and children. This story has shocked and upset people across the world as we learn more and more about the attacks on civilians from the people that should be protecting them. A civil war is a difficult thing to come out of because there will not be a definitive ‘winner’. With the fighting happening amongst it’s own people it is a complex situation because as soon as another country gets involved it can escalate dreadfully. But whilst the civilians have no protection against their own army there doesn’t seem to be any sign of the violence stopping.


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T H E M I A M I

C A N N I B A L

R U D Y E U G E N E

S H O T D E A D

B Y O F F I C E R S

A F T E R A T T A C K

W H I C H L E F T

V I C T I M

W I T H H A L F A F A C E

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The dead rising, the end of the world, a zombie apocalypse. Some things that are spoken about but most probably would never actually happen. That was until the 26th of May when two naked men were discovered underneath the motorway covered in a large amount of blood. After the 18 minute video was streamed and watched by thousands on the internet the information of the attack came to light with it’s discoveries shocking the world.

It was found that Rudy Eugene had assaulted Ronald Poppo, beating him unconscious and undressed him ( as well as himself). Then Rudy Eugene bit off the majority of Poppo’s face above his beard including his entire left eye. The attack left Poppo with scarring for left with over 50% of his face being bitten. The attack ended as a police officer fatally shot Eugene after he didn’t respond to their previous warnings.

The motives for the attack have never been discovered however police had originally presumed that Eugene may have been under the influence of the street drug known as ‘bath salts’. However after a toxicology report it was discovered that he had not in fact been under the influence of the said drug.

Although in this case bath salts weren’t to blame for the attack other stories of cannibalism or attacks of a wild vicious nature have been reported. With it being discovered that bath salts were in the system of those affected, the drug began to gain quite the reputation.

Cases of people as young as 18 have been seen around America and other parts of the world with bath salts being to blame. Generally the attacks include behaviour such as lashing out violently and in many cases biting or spitting at people including police officers after the restraint or arrest has been made. The animalistic behaviour of the attackers caused by bath salts have got many people asking for the drug to be made illegal.

The use of bath salts has been rapidly increasing in recent years with calls to poison centres concerning the drug rose to 6,136 in 2011 up from just 304 in 2010. In 2012 more than a thousand calls had been made by June. The drug gets it’s name from the packaging which disguises it as a legal product in addition to having the words ‘not for human consumption’ printed onto the packaging to avoid the prohibition of drugs.

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A T L E A S T 3 0 G A N G SO P E R A T E I N U K R A I N E' S

C A P I T AL

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1 . 4 M I L I O N T O U R I S T S E X P E C T E D T O V I S I T U K R A I N E

U K R A I N E' S F I R S T T I M E H O S T I N G A M A J O R F O O T B A L L C H A M P I O N S H I P


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WiTh The european Cup being held for the first time in the Ukraine and Poland, it should have been a time for celebration and triumph. However it was tainted by claims of racism and violence from white supremacy gangs. News channels reported the dangers that travelling to Eastern Europe could bring to foreigners due to the hostile nature of the Polish and Ukrainian gang members. Video footage showed groups of young men training how to fight and use knives in order to not just defend themselves but commit acts of violences against people travelling to watch the football.

People were warned against travelling with claims that any person of an ethnic background would be targeted by racist gangs. This violence has been proven by video footage being uploaded online of gangs in Ukraine picking out a group of Asian men and subjecting them to violence for no reason other than their race.

One of the greatest concerns regarding the racism in Ukraine is the support of the Nazis as many people have been seen waving flags bearing the swastika as well as saluting. The fact that it appears as though the Nazi support is still there in Eastern Europe shows

how things have maybe not progressed as far as many people had previously thought. Other signs of racism in Ukraine have been seen by ‘fans’ making noises like monkeys as black footballers walked onto the pitch.

Is the racism and violence seen in Ukraine really that much of a concern or is it purely sensationalism by the news to gain more attention. It is undoubted that there are definitely racial tensions within Ukraine and Poland however the law enforcements in both countries will have to protect travellers. With 1.4 million tourists expected to visit the hosting countries the police will have their work cut out as they will need to maintain peace during the tournament.

Racially aggravated violence against travellers will cause the European Championships in Eastern Europe to go down in history for something negative when it should be a positive celebration as the European nations come together. However until the tournament is complete we will not be able to see whether the racism that has tainted it before it even started is actually going to come about as reality.

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E U R O 2 0 1 2W A S T A I N T E DB Y C L A I M S O FR A C I S M A N DV I O L E N C EA G A I N S TF O R E I G N E R S

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6 . 5 M I L L I O N P A S S W O R D SD U R I N G T H E L I N K E D I N H A C K

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H A C K E D I N

people haCk for a lot of different reasons. Financial gain, fun, to gain access to information but in this case it was purely a case of boosting an ego. The hacker from Russia worked his way into LinkedIn, one of the biggest social networking websites which centres around connecting businesses and entrepreneurs alike. The website allows you to upload your career highlights and job details online as a way of either obtaining a job or gaining employees. Over 6 and a half million passwords were stolen from the website and leaked onto a Russian forum website for anybody to get their hands on. Over 150,000 passwords were actually cracked meaning that they had everything that they needed to get into the information of users.

The hacker responsible for the attack on the website stated that his intention for getting the information was to show that he simply could. He did not intend to make any financial gain from the attack, nor was he trying to ruin a website. It was an ego boost to prove that websites aren’t as secure as they like to make out to be. With millions of passwords being leaked online it makes you wonder just quite how secure our information online actually is.

As we store more and more information online, including personal information to financial data it’s no wonder that there are people out there exploiting the sometimes weak structure to these systems. Attacks on companies websites appear to be happening much more often than previously and the attacks don’t tend to be against the actual company. The attacks are on the people who use them for they are the ones that are putting money into the companies.

There are ways that we can prevent attacks on our personal data but when we have to trust our information with a third party, it becomes a much more difficult matter. By simply having a more complex or unique password it can make the attacks more difficult but by using a password such as ‘password’ makes the hacker’s lives a lot easier. After the attack on Linkedin it was discovered that a large number of people had used ‘Linked’ and ‘12345’ as a way of securing their information. And with the majority of people using the same password for a lot of different accounts it’s no wonder that many people find themselves on the receiving end of identity fraud when we rely so heavily on our online world.

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W I T H S O M U C H O F

O U R P R I V A T E

I N F O R M A T I O N

S T O R E D O N L I N E

H O W M U C H I S

B E I N G D O N E T O

K E E P I T S A F E ?

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U N A R M E D U N O F F I C E R S H A V EN O P L A C E I N T H E V I O L E N C ET H A T E N G U L F S S Y R I A

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T H E B L A M E H A S B E E N P U T O NP R E S I D E N T A L - A S S A D A N D

G O V E R N M E N T F O R C E S F O R T H ER E L E N T L E S S V I O L E N C E

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U N S U S P E N D S

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due To The esCalaTing violence seen by the Syrian Army against innocent civilians, mainly made up of children and women the UN has suspended it’s monitoring operations. The head of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria said in a statement that ‘This escalation is limiting our ability to observe, verify, report as well as assist in local dialogue and stability projects - basically impeding our ability to carry out our mandate’. He also goes on to say ‘The lack of willingness by the parties to seek a peaceful transition, and the push towards advancing military positions is increasing the losses on both sides: innocent civilians, men women and children are being killed every day. It is also posing significant risk to our observers.

The violence has killed tens of thousands of people and the UN were there to monitor the situation and attempt to find some form of peaceful resolution between the two factions. With those protesting against the regime of al-Assad being shot down by the Syrian Army it seems as though the end to the war is far from close.

With the UN actually pulling out from their involvement within Syria and now in a sense, turning a blind eye to the violence there seems to be nothing that can hinder the attacks from both the Army and the rebel forces. As the rebel forces continue to try and gain a hold over important areas in Syria the Army continues to shell and massacre civilians in other towns. The war as it stands at this point remains purely between the people of Syria and it’s Army. With the UN suspending operations it seems as though it is also an attempt to help contain the violence and stop it from spreading further or for other countries to engage in the war.

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T A X A V O I D A N C E

I S N O J O K E

in June one of Britain’s most popular and well known comedians came under scrutiny by the public and the Prime Minister for using a legal tax avoidance scheme which allowed him to pay as little as 1% tax on his earnings. Although the scheme is completely illegal he was branded as morally wrong due to the fact that in these hard times ‘normal people’ are struggling to cope with high taxes and lower earnings. So the fact that such a well known and very well off figure in society is cheating the system doesn’t go down well. As more wealthy people exploit the system, the more it hurts the average person as they are expected to pick up the pieces and pay the money back somehow.

He has come under such fire by David Cameron as he said ‘some of these schemes we have seen are quite frankly morally wrong’ and chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander stating that tax evaders are on the same moral level as benefit cheats. The news comes just shortly after Jimmy Carr’s most recent tour in which he called someone out for tax avoidance. The joke came about as he asked the crowd to call out where they were from so he could mimic their accent. As someone shouted out ‘Jersey’ he called them ‘tax dodging scum’. Seemingly ironic considering he himself had been using the scheme to his own advantages. However Jimmy claimed that he was unaware of the implications of the scheme.

Just because Jimmy Carr is a popular and well liked celebrity the public certainly turned their back on him for a while due to his tax avoidance. And with a screening of his TV show ‘8 out of 10 cats’ showing on the same week it was time for him to come under scrutiny and at the hands of the comedians for himself being the ‘tax dodging scum’ he so described others as.

Some people have written about the case and have agreed that yes it is morally wrong but that the problem originally lies within the treasury. As Stephen Pollard of the Daily Express writes, ‘let me be blunt...it’s a mistake to attack the people who use tax avoidance schemes for committing crimes that don’t exist’. He continues, ‘only a fool would pay more tax than he has to. But instead of condemning the people who take advantage of tax avoidance schemes, we should blame the system that drives them to do so - and the politicians who created it in the first place.’

It seems as though we are very quick to attack someone for doing something that benefits themselves without looking at the picture and thinking ‘would I have done the same’. Carr admits he has made a terrible mistake in judgement and has apologised profusely to the world for using the tax avoidance scheme but now surely we should look into making it actually illegal. As there is nothing stopping more people using it.

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C O M E D I A N

J I M M Y C A R R

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C O L O R A D O W I L D F I R E

L E A D S T O M A S S E V A C U A T I O N

Colorado springs, Colorado have been affected by the worst wildfire to hit the state. With strong winds and higher temperatures giving the fire more strength than ever before it has grown by more than twice it’s original size. It has also caused tens of thousands of residents to flee their homes, whilst being chased by thick smoke and hot ask. A lot of the evacuees may never return to see their homes in one piece due to the intensity of the fire.

The fire began on the Saturday and by mid week it had burned 24 square miles and destroyed hundreds of homes. At this point over 26,000 people have been evacuated whilst thousands of firefighters continue to attempt to tackle the ferocious blaze. The number of deaths from the fire remains at a low number with two confirmed deaths however the number may rise as people struggle to get out of the city before the flames reach their homes.

But how does a wildfire of such destructive magnitude start? The four major natural causes of wildfires are lightning, volcanic eruption, sparks from rockfalls and spontaneous combustion. However wildfires can and have started by accidental fires being started near woodland or in rare cases, intentional destruction. Weather conditions and especially heat waves can be a huge factor in the ignition and continued burning of wildfires.

Wildfires are an exceptionally difficult thing to stop due to their unpredictable nature and severity of the damage that is caused by them. Wildfires are also known to explode and grow very rapidly without warning. The destruction that is left at the hands of the fire is often disastrous, with wildlife, homes and entire cities destroyed after feeling it’s wrath.

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The quesTion WhiCh has been asked for years, just what started the universe? Was it God or was it the Big Bang. Well on the 4th of July scientists believe they have found the answer in the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle, which has been dubbed ‘The God Particle’. The name ‘Higgs Boson’ comes from the theoretical physicist Peter Higgs, who more than 50 years ago along with five other physicists proposed that an invisible field lying across the Universe gives particles their mass, which allows them to clump together to form stars and planets. Our universe.

According to Professor Higg’s theory in 1964 the field interacts with the particles that make up atoms and gives the mass which causes them to stay still so that they don’t just fly around space. According to the theory, the world would be unrecognisable without the Higgs boson. Without something giving mass to the foundations and building blocks of matter everything would simply float freely and not combine with other particles and create, essentially, the universe.

The Higgs boson relates to the Big Bang theory in the sense that nearly 14 billion years ago, the big bang created the universe which created a huge outburst of massless particles and energy. The scientists behind the theory believe that only a fraction of a second later, part of the radiation energy came together into the Higgs field. As the particles of the universe started to cool down, they gained mass from the field then eventually slowed down to come together to create atoms. The conditions of a billionth of a second after the Big Bang have been recreated in the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva.

The name ‘the God particle’ comes from the physicist from Fermilab called Leon Lederman who wrote a book in 1990 about the search for the Higgs boson particle. The publishers came up with the name ‘the God particle’ as it was a marketable title however many scientists dislike the name as it continues to give the belief of God meaning in the discovery of how the universe was actually created.

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B E L I E V E T H E Y V E

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T H E H I G G S B O S O N

P A R T I C L E.

L E N D I N G

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M A T T E R T O

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WiTh rain levels at an all time high during the summer months many people felt the effect of the downpours and the news were quick to cover the story in as much depth as possible. As rain continued to pour the superlatives increased with the heavy rain and flooding being described as absolute devastation. As the news cuts to another shot of the devastation we see a carpet completely flooded with water as a home owner empties their wardrobe to try and save their clothes.

If we were to rewind a couple of years we would see the news using the same word to describe another flooding disaster being the Japanese Tsunami. The word devastation seems to be thrown around quite freely in describing two similar but in reality very contrasting events. From flooding which had the ability to rip houses from the ground and wash boats onto land to flooding which caused people to have to divert their journeys to avoid water in the road. The differences are quite clearly notable, it would seem as though the BBC were attempting to make more of a story about something which could have been mentioned once.

Instead we were endlessly barraged with story after story about how poor Elizabeth has to get a new carpet fitted and how Richard might need to change his sofa. Do we really need to know about this? Flooding has had the same effect on peoples homes forever but to use words such as devastation and catastrophe seems a little exaggerated. The BBC also outdid themselves in the repeating of their ‘kayak in the streets’ shot which was replayed most mornings. The BBC are quick to skip over some stories with much more important implications but when it something that refers to the weather in England they feel the need to make it breaking news.

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T H E H E A V I E S T

R A I N F A L L T O

H I T T H E U K I N

D E C A D E S

T H E B B C C O V E R E D

T H E D E V A S T A T I O N

W H I C H R U I N E D

C A R P E T S A C R O S S T H E

C O U N T R Y A S

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I N T H E I C E

as oil levels continue to fall, oil companies have to find other ways and other places to get their supplies in order for their business to survive. As news came out that Shell planned to dug for oil in the Arctic, Greenpace activists took action against them. The environmental campaigners have decided to target Shell petrol stations in London and Edinburgh due to the proposed plans.

The protestors way of targeting the stations is to use an emergency shut off switch which will stop petrol going to the pumps and then removing the fuse to delay it being switched back on again. The actions would affect Shell at the forefront of their business and cause delays for the consumers of petrol and in turn cause further problems to travel.

Sara Ayech of Greenpeace said ‘The oil giant Shell is preparing, for the first time, to unleash a drilling fleet of huge vessels upon the fragile and beautiful Arctic, home of the polar bears.’ She continues to say, ‘ It’s time to draw a line in the ice and tell Shell to stop.

That’s why today we’re going to shut down all of Shell’s petrol stations in the capital cities of London and Edinburgh. We’ve got dozens of people who will hit over 100 shell garages throughout the day.’

She concludes by saying, ‘An oil spill in the Arctic would be catastrophic for wildlife such as walruses and whales, and Shell knows full well that it would be impossible to clean up after such devastation. The Arctic must be saved, and made a global sanctuary where oil drilling is banned.’

The Eco-Warriors of Greenpeace feel that the wildlife and environment of the Arctic are far more important than the need for oil. Although there is more importance in life than financial gain, as a society we need oil to cope it seems. With oil being used to run business it is something that this country needs to be able to survive and finding new places to drill is purely just another way of increasing business. And if it means killing wildlife, then that is what’s going to happen even if Greenpeace aren’t happy about it.

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G R E E N P E A C E

A C T I V I S T S

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A G A I N S T

P L A N N E D

A R C T I C

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T H E A R S E N A L I N C L U D E D A R I F L E,C O M B A T V E S T S, P I S T O L S, S M O K E

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on The 20Th of July a large number of people visited a cinema in Aurora, Colorado to watch the midnight screening of the new Batman film, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. People were excited to be there as the film has a huge following, all ages were there from very young children to pensioners. Some dressed as the characters in the film, along with James Holmes who attended the screening with his hair dyed orange and wearing a gas mask attempting to replicate some of the villains from the film whether that be Bane or the Joker.

During the film Holmes would leave through a fire exit and keep the door open whilst he went into his car to get his arsenal of grenades and guns ready. Moments later he would return to commit one of the worst crimes seen in recent times as he shot at the cinema goers, killing 12 and injuring more than 50. The youngest victim being just 6 years old. Colorado isn’t unfamiliar with the effects that a shooting massacre has as the Columbine school close to the cinema had also been hit by a similar situation.

It turned out that the shooter was a very academic pupil studying in neuroscience so there was no reason to suspect him of possibly committing such a horrendous crime. This date will forever be known as the day of the Batman Killer and the film to also be associated with this day. Holmes when arrested apparently said to the officers that he was The Joker which puts the link to why he chose the specific movie as the place to shoot as many people as possible. Although this comes as a huge shock to the people of Colorado, the fact that there has been another gun related crime resulted in multiple casualties does not seem unexpected.

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J A M E S H O L M E S

K I L L E D T W E L V E

W H E N H E S H O T A T A

C I N E M A A U D I E N C E

A T T H E P R E M I E R O F

B A T M A NT H E D A R K K N I G H T R I S E S

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# T E A M G B

on The 27Th of July the world watched as the Olympic Opening Ceremony was launched to start what would be one of the most spectacular Olympic Games in it’s history. Created by renowned film director Danny Boyle ( 127 Hours and Slumdog Millionaire) it was what has been described as the ‘biggest, maddest, weirdest, most heartfelt and lovable dream sequence in British cinema history’. With the pressure on Boyle to produce something as spectacular as what was seen 4 years ago in Beijing, he managed to deliver the goods.

It was a visual masterpiece with huge steaming chimneys growing from the ground and the five Olympic rings being forged in the industrial revolution. He also had the comedy factor with the appearance of Rowan Atkinson and a surprise entrance from the Queen and Daniel Craig parachuting out of a helicopter into the Olympic stadium. It was a fascinating thing to watch with the nostalgic moments coming to light as characters from British films filled the arena. As a huge Voldemort, Cruella Devil and ChildSnatcher emerged from the ground they were fought back by a horde of Mary Poppins who floated down from the roof.

Aside from comedy and nostalgia, it also featured great accomplishments that Britain can be proud of. The ceremony began by showing an image of Britain as a peaceful countryside with people calmly working on the large grassy hills. Then we witnessed Isambard Kingdom Brunel come onto the stage whilst the industrial revolution swept the countryside away. As the peaceful workers walked away, men carrying hammers and axes made their appearance whilst the factory emerged from the ground. The peaceful sounds of the countryside were replaced with the sounds of metal being hammered and workers chants.

The NHS also had a big role in the ceremony as Boyle celebrated the achievements and work that the nurses and doctors put in to Britain’s health care. Overall, the opening ceremony showed the world what Britain has to offer, not only in entertainment value but also regarding the way we have helped shape the world through revolution. It was the perfect start to what will surely be a hugely successful event with the whole world watching. It has been said that London have set Olympic standard which alone, is a huge accomplishment.

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I N T H E W A K E

O F T H E R E C E N T

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T O R I S E

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A T E R R O R I S T - L I K E

S I T U A T I O N

on The 6Th of augusT a man entered a morning service at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin. The man then proceeded to shoot at the people inside resulting in 6 innocent people dying at the place they felt they could call their safe house; a place worship and peace. The gunman entered their sanctuary and took that away from them. The attack comes just weeks after the terrible shooting at the Colorado Cinema, not giving time for people to even grieve the latest shooting to rock America.

With the shooting in Colorado becoming another statistic in America’s long history of gun related crimes it comes as a shock to find that gun sales have in fact increased by over 40% in some states. With more guns in people’s hands it seems inevitable that gun crimes would increase but the fact that they have even increased at all is the concern. You would expect that after so many gun crimes that maybe people would be deterred from purchasing any more guns but instead people want to own more in order to protect themselves.

The main problem seems to stem from the fact that American citizens have a right to bear arms according to their constitution and many feel they should own one for their own safety. All that is required to own a gun in some states is to not have a previous criminal record and to own a driver’s license, with a gun being so easy to obtain it is no wonder so many people do. If there

were tighter rules to the ownership of a firearm then it could deter people from trying to buy a gun in the first place or at least stop some people from being able to get their hands on. However with a large number of politicians in favour of the second amendment then this does not appear to be changing.

The main reason why this news story seems to stand out is not just the atrocious act of violence that was witnessed but the way in which it was described. Law enforcement’s used the phrase ‘ A terrorist - like situation’ as a way of explaining the situation. Why wouldn’t this be a terrorist situation, a man shoots at innocent people, causing terror to not just a small group of people but the people of Wisconsin and Sikh’s across America that may be concerned with the rise of gun related violence. This is undoubtedly a terrorist situation so to mitigate it as being ‘like’ something seems to take away from the seriousness of the crime.

It was discovered that the shooter was part of a neo-nazi faction who listened and made songs with strong racist lyrics regarding white supremacy. The gang had a unified hatred for other races but for one member of the group to take it to this next level is something that possibly should have been expected. With groups like this existing and guns being so readily available it surely was only a matter of time until it came to this where lives were lost.

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When Talking abouT the Olympics, with running in particular, no other name is mentioned more than Usain Bolt. On the 5th of August the world watched, 3 Billion in fact, as Bolt attempted to confirm his place as an Olympic legend. The race pitted Bolt against his partner and competitor Yohan Blake who had previously beaten his time in the 100 metres. Although many doubted Bolt’s ability due to a season defeat and an injury, he managed to run the second fastest time ever. Bolt ran it in just 9.63 seconds, only 0.05 seconds slower than his own world record. The time was a new Olympic best for Bolt.

Bolt spoke about the race afterwards saying, ‘It wasn’t the best reaction in the world but I executed it and that was the key. My coach said ‘stop worrying about the start because the best part of your race is the end’ and it worked’. In July Bolt was beaten by Blake at the Jamaican trials and clocked his slowest every 100m time. After the race he admitted he had an injury and was only 95% fit.

Just 4 days later Usain Bolt and Blake would compete again, this time at the 200 metre final. This would be the day that Bolt would go on to make Olympic athletics history. Usain Bolt became the first man to retain both Olympic sprint titles as the race finished with a complete Jamaican medal clean sweep.

Bolt matched the world record of 19.32 seconds, with Blake following behind at 19.44 seconds and coming up in third was fellow Jamaican Weir with 19.84 seconds. Bolt told the BBC after the race, ‘This is what I wanted and I got it. I’m very proud of myself’. Bolt has proven the doubters wrong as he is now the most decorated Jamaican Olympian of all time.

Jamaica have clearly shown the world that they are the country to beat when it comes to athletics. With Bolt, Blake and Weir holding 2 Golds, 2 Silvers and a Bronze in the 100m and 200m finals, as well as the 4x100m relay. There is no doubting Jamaica’s ability and no sign of them stopping.


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on The 17Th of augusT, more than 30 people were killed at the Lonmin platinum mine where a strike over pay has quickly escalated into a turf war. The South African police have been accused of committing a massacre against their own people as they opened fire on workers in the deadliest day of protest in South Africa since the end of the apartheid. The scenes of the shootings brought back memories of the country’s darker days as national television showed images of police in armour firing at workers to the sound of shouting and a sense of panic and despair. After around three minutes of gunfire bodies littered the ground in pools of their own blood.

A newspaper reporter Poloku Tau tweeted live from the scene saying, ‘Auto guns creaking and cocked like 100 at a time, scary...warzone down here, 1st shot fired...journalist running, diving and hiding amid shots, water canon spewing water at the strikers...my contact has just been shot dead’. The sense of panic is clear in these comments about the massacre.

The violence comes just after a week of turmoil at the mine that saw 10 people killed including two police officers. The deaths caused the world’s third biggest platinum producer to suspend it’s production. The strike has been called illegal and because of this it has

escalated into an alleged turf war between rival unions.South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma condemned the killings but did not mention that the police handled the situation incorrectly. He said, ‘We are shocked and dismayed at this senseless violence...we believe there is enough space in our democratic order for any dispute to be resolved through dialogue without any breaches of the law or violence’.

The chairman of Lonmin said ‘The South African police service have been in charge of public order and safety on the ground since the violence between competing labour factions erupted over the weekend, claiming the lives of eight of our employees and two police officers...we deeply regret the further loss of life in what is clearly a public order’.

The violence escalated when police began laying barricades of barbed wire around the area. The police were then outnumbered by the estimated 3,000 miners who were on strike at the time. Some witnesses have claimed that the miners were charging with machetes and sticks whilst over say they saw some of the miners armed with guns and fired first. The strike and conflict began when miners demanded a pay rise which was turned down.

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