Homework - current events, waterboarding

Read the Info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions.

President Obama said that he is comfortable with his decision to ban waterboarding. 

Waterboarding is a torture technique that was used to get information from terrorist suspects that were held prisoner by the C.I.A. in Cuba. 

Waterboarding is when people hold you down and pour water over your face, over and over again. It makes you feel like you are drowning but it does not actually kill you.

President Obama made it a point to stop waterboarding because he feels that it is wrong.

Questions:

1) Who banned waterboarding?

2) What is waterboarding?

3) What does waterboarding feel like?

4) Why was waterboarding stopped?

Info taken form the Guardian. Pic taken from howstuffworks.com

Due 5/1/09

Homework - current events, myspace dangers

Read the info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions.

Be careful what you write on social networking sites.

That’s the recent message from a California court. Those who post on MySpace cannot talk about an invasion of privacy if their words are put in a newspaper without their permission.

The court case is about a University of California student (Cynthia Moreno) who wrote on her MySpace account about how much she hated her hometown of Coalinga, CA. 

The Coalinga Record, the local newspaper, printed her myspace words. She sued the paper for invasion of privacy after members of the local community allegedly ran her family out of town and threatened to kill them.

The court said she had no privacy rights to her internet speech and threw out her lawsuit.

Questions:

1) What was the name of the student who posted on myspace?

2) What did she post about?

3) What did she sue the newspaper for?

4) What happened to her lawsuit?

5) Is the information you put on myspace public or private?

Due Thurs 4/30/09. Info and Picture taken from Wired.com (D. Kravets)

Homework - current events, Air Force One

A Boeing 747 plane used by the president flew over lower Manhattan along with a US air force fighter jet on Monday (4/27/09) as part of a government photo opportunity and training mission, causing a brief panic among office workers near the site of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Workers from several office buildings poured out on to the streets before they learned that the flights were just a training exercise.

John Leitner, who works downtown, said about 1,000 people "went into a total panic" and ran out of the building about 10am after seeing the planes whiz by their building, which is near the World Trade Center site.

He said the workers gathered along the Hudson river until a security officer with a bullhorn told them it was a planned exercise and not another terrorist attack.

Mayor Bloomberg is very angry and wants to know why he was not informed of this training exercise. The Department of Defense said no one was told because of security reasons. 

Questions:

1) When did the planes fly over Manhattan?

2) Why did the planes fly over Manhattan?

3) How did the planes flying over the World Trade Center make people feel?

4) Why did the fly-over make them feel that way?

Due 4/29 (Wed). Info taken from the Guardian. 

Read the info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions.

Info:
8 NYC Students Probably Have Swine Flu 

Mayor Bloomberg announced on Sunday morning that there are cases of swine flu in a Queensschool.

The mayor said St. Francis Preparatory School will be closed on Monday, and asked students, faculty and staff at the school who are feeling flu-like symptoms to stay home for at least 48 hours. 

Those who are sick are also advised to cover their mouths, wash their hands regularly, and stay away from other people in order to stop the illness from spreading.

Health officials think that the swine flu came to the school through a student who went to Mexico on vacation. The virus has killed over 100 people in Mexico and has infected over 1600. Normally, people get swine flu from being around sick pigs but now the virus is spreading from person to person.

Questions:

1) How many NYC students have swine flu?

2) What is the name of the school that has this virus outbreak?

3) Which borough is the school located in?

4) How did this virus get to the school? 

5) How many people have been killed in Mexico by the swine flu?

Homework - current events, Suicide Bombers

Read the info. Look at the pictures. Answer the questions.

Info:

BAGHDAD, IRAQ — Two suicide bombers struck outside the gates of a holy site in Baghdad this morning, the bomb killed at least 60 people. An interior ministry official said that most of those killed appeared to be Iranians making pilgrimages to the shrine. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up as they stood in the crowds gathered in front of checkpoints at the main entrance to the shrine. In addition to those killed, at least 125 others were wounded.

The streets around the shrine have already been hit by two other suicide bombings this year.

Questions:

1) Where did this bombing take place?

2) When did this bombing take place?

3) How many people did it kill?

4) How many were wounded?

5) How many suicide bombers blew themselves up?

6) Why do you think there are so many suicide bombings in Iraq?

Due Monday 4/27/09

Info taken from NY Times

Homework - Current events, Baby Shaker

Read the Info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions.

Info:

A game called "Baby Shaker" for Apple's iPhone, which encouraged people to try to quiet a crying baby by shaking it, has been removed by the company after complaints from angry parents' organisations.

The 99-cent game, which showed black-and-white line drawings of a baby, was played by shaking the  phone meant until the baby would get large red Xs over its eyes.

The game first appeared on Apple's iPhone App Store on Monday (4/20). It was removed on Wednesday after a number of blogs and review sites had pointed to the distasteful - and dangerous - behaviour it was promoting.

Questions:

1) What was the game called?

2) When was it removed from the Apple store?

3) Why was it removed?

4) Do you think it should have been removed? Why or why not?

Due 4/24/09 

Info and pic taken from the Guardian

Homework - current events, hijacking

Read the Info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions.

KINGSTON, Jamaica – A gunman forced his way though airport security and hijacked a Canadian airliner, holding six crew members hostage for eight hours and firing a bullet that grazed the co-pilot's face before police and soldiers stormed the aircraft and captured him Monday.

The ordeal ended with a raid near 6:40 a.m. after talks broke down with a 20-year-old Jamaican hijacker.

"We were getting nowhere with the negotiations," Jamaican Information Minister Daryl Vaz said. "Police and military went on the plane and captured him."

Questions:

1) In what country did the hijacking take place?

2) How many crew members did he hold hostage?

3) How old was the hijacker?

4) How did the situation end?

Due Thurs 04/23/09 - Pix and info taken from Dallas News

Homework - current events, pirates

Read the Info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions.

On April 12, the Navy rescued Captain Phillips from Somali pirates by shooting 3 out of the 4 pirates that were holding him on a lifeboat. Captain Phillips had given himself to the pirates as a hostage so that they would let his crew go. President Obama gave the Navy permission to take the shots. Now, the pirates have vowed revenge against American ships and sailors. Some groups say the Navy should not have shot the pirates because some of them were teenagers. 

Questions:

1) What was the name of the Captain the Navy rescued?

2) How many pirates did the Navy shoot?

3) What do you think the pirates will do for revenge? 

4) Should the Navy have shot the pirates?

Due Tuesday 4/21/09

photo taken from Salem News

Homework - current events, North Korea

Read the Info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions.

Info:

North Korea launched a rocket on Sunday (04/05/09). The international community does not want North Korea to make rockets or missiles but they did it anyway. North Korea says they used the rocket to put a satellite in orbit. The United Nations security council is worried because they think that the rocket launch was a military exercise. They say that the rocket could be used to carry warheads and can travel 4160 miles. This means that it can reach parts of the US (Alaska and Hawaii) from North Korea.

Questions:

1) Which country launched a rocket on Sunday?

2) What did North Korea say they used the rocket for?

3) What is the United Nations worried about?

Info and pix taken from the Guardian.

Due Mon 4/20

Homework - current events

Read the info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions.

Info:

At 3:30am yesterday (Monday 04/06/09) an earthquake struck Italy. It was the deadliest earthquake the country has seen in 30 years. People are still trying to find the bodies and hoping for more survivors. The earthquake has killed more than 200 people. It has also injured 1500 people and left many people homeless.

Questions:

1) What are the people in the picture doing?

2) How many people were killed by the earthquake?

3) How many people have been injured?

4) When did the earthquake occur?

Due Wed 4/8/09 

Picture and info taken from the Guardian newspaper

Homework - Pirates

Read the info. Look at the pictures. Answer the questions.

INFO:

Pirates have just captured another ship off the coast of Somalia this morning. The ship's name is MALASPINA CASTLE. The crew is believed to be safe, for now. The waters off the coast of Somalia have become famous for pirate attacks in recent years. The number of attacks is increasing. Last year, there were 130 pirate attacks in this same area. 

Questions:

1) What is the name of the ship that was attacked this morning?

2) Which country has become famous for having a lot of pirate attacks?

3) How many pirate attacks were there last year?

DUE TUESDAY 4/7/09

homework - current events

Read the info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions.

Info:
Madonna has unexpectedly lost her attempt to adopt a second child from Malawi, court sources said today.

A judge and a lawyer said the US singer's application had been rejected because of a requirement that prospective parents had to live in the country for 18 to 24 months.

Madonna had wanted to adopt Chifundo "Mercy" James, who is about four years old.

Had the court approved the 50-year-old's request, she would have been expected to return to the US with the girl tomorrow.

Malawi's child welfare minister had backed the singer's latest adoption proposal but, as when she adopted a 13-month-old boy in 2006, critics accused Madonna of using her fame and money to win favourable treatment. (info from the guardian website, pic taken from theolivepress)

Questions:

1) What country does Madonna want to adopt a child from?

2) Why rule stopped Madonna from being able to adopt the child?

3) What is the child's name?

4) Do you think? Should Madonna be allowed to adopt another African child?

Due Monday 4/6/09 

Homework - Tupac cont'd

For Poetry month we will be studying Poets of the West including Tupac Shakur. He had a lot of drama in his life before he died. 

What do you know about the Biggie Vs Tupac controversy? What happened? What is your opinion of the events? One paragraph please.

Due 4/3 (friday)

Homework - Write a poem

Release your inner poet!

Write a poem about one of the following topics:

1) Spring

2) Happiness

3) Sadness

4) Relationships

5) Your own topic

Due Thurs 4/2/09

(Picture taken from psamp.com)