Month: December 2015

By Billy Ung & Kylie Cheng

While politicians argue over admitting refugees out of worry about terrorist attacks from outside the nation, incidents of terrorism already occur within the US.  The San Bernardino and Colorado Springs shootings both occurred within two weeks; however, media portrays the two shootings differently.  The Planned Parenthood shooting was seen as a less threatening shooting, perhaps because the shooter was not Muslim, while the San Bernardino shooting was seen as further evidence for Muslims being terrorists.

On Wed., Dec. 2, a married Muslim couple opened fire at a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, Calif.  Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, husband and wife, dressed in “assault style clothing” and “armed with assault rifles and handguns,” killed 14 people and injured at least 17, according to The Wall Street Journal.  The shooting took place before noon, and around 3pm police surrounded an SUV on East San Bernardino Ave.  The two suspects were killed and an officer was wounded.

Five days earlier, on Nov. 27, a shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo. killed three people and wounded nine, according to CNN.  After a six-hour shootout, police arrested the suspect Robert Louis Dear, 57, who was formally charged last Wednesday.  One police officer and two civilians were killed, while all Planned Parenthood staff members and patients were accounted for.

Mr. Farook and Ms. Malik were both radicalized.  Just before the attack, Ms. Malik posted a Facebook message, pledging allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of IS (Islamic State).

Investigators determined that the couple practiced shooting days before the attack.  Furthermore, they found out that the couple had amassed an arsenal of weapons costing about $6500 at the time of the San Bernardino shootings, getting around California’s strict but complicated gun laws.

Mr. Dear, after his arrest, muttered anti-government and anti-abortion comments about “baby parts.”  Although no motive has been announced, officials infer that he attacked Planned Parenthood with anti-abortion intent.  Investigators who found propane tanks in the vicinity of his car suspect that he wanted to blow up the clinic.

While in court last Wednesday to be formally advised for a total of 179 charges against him, Mr. Dear admitted guilt and shouted that he was “a warrior for the babies,” according to USA Today.  He also refused to be examined for mental illness.  In the past, he was accused of domestic abuse and animal cruelty.  His former wife called him deeply religious but conflicted, and indicated that he likely targeted Planned Parenthood because of abortion.

The shooting at San Bernardino furthers the misconception that all Muslims are terrorists.  In response to the San Bernardino shooting, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump called for “complete shutdown” on Muslims trying to enter the US.  Almost all headlines describe the San Bernardino shooting as an act of terrorism.

The attack on Planned Parenthood occurred while the organization faced responses to videos released by an anti-abortion group.  The tapes, which Planned Parenthood disputes as heavily edited and distorted, showed the clinic selling body parts of aborted fetuses for profit.  Debate about the organization’s morality ensued, and on Thurs., Dec. 3, the Senate passed a bill to defund Planned Parenthood.  The Colorado Springs shooting, along with vandalism and violence directed at other clinics, has largely been glossed over in comparison to the San Bernardino shooting, even though officials such as Planned Parenthood chief experience officer Dawn Laguens has called it “domestic terrorism.”

By Kylie Cheng

Here in California, we joke about welcoming severe rainstorms with open reservoirs.  This year, though, the predicted most powerful El Niño on record has started changing annual weather patterns and increasing the destructive forces of weather-related disasters.  Floods and droughts alike can wreck havoc on countries and on lives.

In a normal year, trade winds push warm ocean surface water toward the west, allowing cool water to rise in the Pacific Ocean.  In an El Niño year, the winds push more weakly, so the mass of warm water settles around the west of Peru.  Because of that shift, El Niño impacts weather all over the globe.  This year, the effects are even more powerful due to rising ocean temperatures.  According to the LA Times, this year’s El Niño will be stronger than the one of the previous record-setting year of 1997.

The typical monsoons in India have contributed to floods throughout the country.  Heavy rain from tropical lows has caused devastating floods and landslides.  As the levels in dams rise and piping breaks down, water fills even the streets.  The Times of India states that strong currents lead to drownings even with low water inflow.  Flooding in Chennai, capital of the Tamil Nadu state in southeastern India, was exacerbated by poor infrastructure unprepared to handle the rain.  Residents remain marooned.

Flooding in Brazil, although incited by dam-building mistakes rather than rain, also spells disaster.  The collapse of two mining dams released waste-contaminated water from Minas Gerais, which has killed wildlife and could irreversibly damage the ecosystem as it further pollutes the Rio Doce, according to Reuters.  In the short term, Brazil’s current drought, brought by El Niño conditions, coupled with its now tainted water supply spells a lack of clean drinking water.

These examples may have made the news awhile back, but the effects of weather tragedies persist long after they hit the headlines.  Climatologists cannot predict exactly what El Niño will bring, and it should not take the blame for every storm that hits California.  When we joke about it, we demonstrate our lack of understanding of how other parts of the world suffer from bad weather outside of our sights.  We must drop our quips and become aware of the reality, not just for our own safety, but also for the sake of others.

By Walt Leung

On Nov. 13, a series of attacks claimed by ISIS was coordinated across Paris, with 482 to 488 casualties reported.

Social media followed the November Paris attacks closely, with Facebook releasing a feature that allowed people to “check in” and confirm their safety.  On Twitter, people across the world used “#prayfortheworld” to show their support for the French.   On Instagram, Jean Julien’s “Peace for Paris” went viral after being shared on Instagram’s official account.

The attacks were carried about by three different teams.  In the suburbs of Saint-Denis, three suicide bombers detonated their explosives near the national sports stadium at 9:20, 9:30 and 9:53pm.  Fortunately, none passed security and into the stadium, where possibility of collateral damage may have been far worse.

At the same time, the first shooting occurred at the rue Bitchat and rue Alibert, where people were shot outside a café, bar and restaurant.  Perpetrators fled from the scene in vehicles after causing 25 casualties.

Seven minutes later at 9:32pm, 13 casualties were reported outside Café Bonne Biere, where a gunman fired at bystanders using a machine gun.

Four minutes after the shooting at Café Bonne Biere, 28 casualties were reported after two gunmen fired at the restaurant La Belle Equipe.

Two minutes later at 9:40pm, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at the Comptoir Voltaire café, causing 15 casualties.

At the exact same time, a mass shooting and hostage situation occurred at the Bataclan theater.  Three men wielding assault rifles stormed the hall and seized the theater.  By the time police had finally retaken the theater, 89 hostages had already been killed, with more wounded.

Although much is not known about the planning of the attacks, France had been on alert ever since January and had increased its security detail in preparation for the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference.  This was further compounded by ISIS (now being referred to by some global leaders as Daesh) claiming responsibility for bombing a Russian passenger flight and suicide bombings in Beirut just a few days earlier.  Intelligence experts also warned French authorities of an impending attack, but to no avail.

By Billy Ung

The Paris attack on Fri., Nov 13, has prompted world leaders to take action against the rise of terrorism.  The US, Russia and France are working out plans to fight against ISIS.

“The killing of innocent people based on a twisted ideology is an attack not just on France,” President Obama responds to the Paris massacre at Group of 20 summit at Antalya, Turkey last month.  “It’s an attack on the civilized world.”  World leaders at the G20 summit vow a forceful response following the Daesh (an Arabic acronym for ISIS) attacks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a deeper international partnership, citing the attack on Paris, in the war against the Daesh at the G20 summit.

“It seems to me that everyone is coming around to the realization that we can wage an effective fight only together,” comments President Putin, after leaders at the summit agreed that “defeating ISIS is a major priority for all of our countries” and pledged allegiance.  The allegiance promises to accelerate “the measures to combat cybercrime and trade in illegal firearms, improve the exchange information and clamp down on the financing of criminal networks,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

France swore its loyalty to the allegiance by striking back at ISIS headquarter in Al-Raqqah, Syria.  This was the first offensive move that came from France after French President François Hollande declared war on ISIS after the Paris attack on Nov. 13.  The airstrike was coordinated with the US and the coalition fighting against a common enemy.  French aircraft managed to destroy a Daesh command center, an arms depot, a recruiting post and a training camp.  Airstrike will be the coalition’s continuing effort to combat the Islamic State.

The cause of the Nov. 13 massacre was partly because Europe opened the border to Syrian refugees; so the question to all the US politicians is “should the Syrian refugees be allowed to come into the United States?”  While almost all Democrats grant Syrians permission to enter the US, the Republicans don’t want Syrian refugees to enter.  23 Republican governors don’t want to see Muslim refugees in their home state.  Furthermore, “Congress passed a new bill that requires the nation’s top security officials to personally certify that each refugee admitted from Iraq or Syria is not a threat,” according to American political commentator Stephen Colbert.