http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/04/26/aid-starts-to-arrive-in-nepal-as-quake-kills-nearly-2000/

Nepal was hit by a 7.8 magnitude on Saturday, which resulted in over 5,000 confirmed deaths.  The very next day a 6.7 after shock shook their already rattled lives.  This after shock alone has claimed 2,500 lives and has made search and rescue efforts even more challenging.  Many authorities worry that there will be more aftershocks, and with many homes and buildings destroyed or too unstable to live in, Nepal is facing some tough times.  Nepal is home to roughly 27 million people and their economy relies heavily on tourism, mostly tourists looking to climb a mountain, so with some of their city destroyed, no tourism, and slow going search efforts, what will happen to Nepal?

Nepal is in a horrible situation because without a very strong economy and with the chance of more aftershocks, it will take a very long time for them to even start to get back on their feet.  Many countries have already started to help by sending mobile field hospitals, search and rescue workers, and even basic supplies such as food and water.  I think that in these types of situations it is vital that countries come to one another’s aid as in Nepal’s case.  Often times, however, we will forget in about a week maybe a month or two that this tragedy has occurred.  Nepal will no doubt be dealing with this fallout for years, and their economy and infrastructure won’t start to rebuild for awhile.  So what happens when the next big story comes along such as a new development in someone’s political campaign for presidency?  Do we just move on to the next big story, or will we still remember what is happening in Nepal and continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers?

Selling Guns to the Mexican Cartels

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/foreign-policy/item/13473-us-troops-working-with-mexico-on-drug-war <%22>

 Recently two members of the U.S National Guard stationed in La Mesa tried to sell military grade weapons, ammunition, and body armor to various drug cartels in Mexico.  Fortunately the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives caught both men in a sting operation before any items were sold.  These men were Jaime Casillas and Andrew Reyes, and both have been arrested and are set to appear in court the 16th at 2 P.M.

In Mexico Drug Cartels run the country, and there is nothing the Government can do about it.  The cartels have the Mexican Government out gunned, out manned, and even have more money.  Often times cartels will go to war with one another and these rivalries can turn into very bloody feuds. These small wars between cartels all have to be fueled with guns and ammunition and if one cartel has access to U.S. military grade equipment then the situation in Mexico could become much deadlier.  Already there is plenty of controversy over how the U.S. Government has dealt with our neighbors to the south, and finding out that two active military members tried to sell weapons to the Mexican cartels will only make the situation worse.  If these cartels had access to this type of weaponry, not only would the Mexican authorities be in a lot of danger, but so would many American soldiers who have been positioned in Mexico to help fight this ongoing drug war.

kentucky fans

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12622053/kentucky-wildcats-fans-take-streets-30-arrested-loss

On Sunday night Kentucky went head to head with Wisconsin and lost.  Many enraged Kentucky fans, unsure of how to cope with this loss, decided to head outdoors to light t-shirts and even a lawn chair on fire.  However, the police were waiting with full tactical gear and dispersed the crowd once it got out of control.  The police spokeswoman stated that she was pleased with how the situation was handled and that no serious issues arose.  Only 31 arrests have been reported, and three people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.  

 

If you or your bracket is devastated after Kentucky’s loss last night you are not alone.  In total here at Creighton prep 49% of the students who filled out a bracket had Kentucky tacking the NCAA championship.  What are we to do now that we have lost our one “ unbeatable team”?  Kentucky’s fans knew exactly what to do as they took to the streets and set things on fire, as any sensible and passionate college basketball fan would.   I can understand why Kentucky fans would be upset since their team was on their way to an undefeated season, and that all the alcohol being consumed only helped make matters worse for them, but what caused them to set fire to random objects.  Heated arguments and maybe one or two fights could be expected when anger and alcohol are mixed but setting t-shirts and even a lawn chair on fire is a little out of the ordinary.  At the end of the day sports are sports, and unless you had a massive amount of money bet on Kentucky going all the way there isn’t a reason to act the way Kentucky’s fans did.

 http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/27/europe/france-germanwings-plane-crash-main/index.html

All over the news right now there are stories about the crash of the Germanwings plane.  It is now known that it was intentionally crashed into the Alps by the co-pilot.  Although many facts are starting to come to light, we still are unsure of some elements of this tragic event, such as why he intentionally crashed the plane and also the identities of all the passengers on the plane.  It is presumed everyone on the flight died in the crash, but authorities have not yet released a full list of the casualties stating that they must go through and use DNA testing until everyone has been identified.  The biggest question that still remains is why did the co-pilot deliberately make the plane descend and eventually crash into the Alps, taking 150 lives.

            The most disturbing part about all this is that we have not found out the motive of the co-pilot.  It is easy for us to put blame on a terrorist group and immediately come out with a plan to help prevent similar events in the future.  The authorities have found many destroyed doctor’s notes in the man’s apartment, and it is implied so far that he was suffering from some type of mental illness.  In my opinion his employer should have been more vigilant about the over-all state of their employees.  It would be very surprising that this co-pilot did not shown some signs of distress, or mental illness in the events leading up to the crash.  Also, how did his family and friends not now about how bad his condition was? It seems to me that the only explanation is that the co-pilot led a very solitary lifestyle, and that the ones who could have helped him didn’t know the severity of his distress.  I don’t know that even when all of the facts do come to light if we can ever truly understand how someone could not only take his own life but the lives of 150 innocent people.  Perhaps one positive result of this tragic event will be the spotlight on the seriousness of mental illness and getting proper treatment.

My First Blog

Hello, I'm Matthew McClellan, and this is my new blog called matthewsmind.  I don't like the name of it, but I don't really have time to think of one that's more clever.  I'm making this blog for my sophomore english class at Creighton Prep.  Here is a little bit about myself.  I'm 16 years old and love to play soccer, ski, and scuba dive and occasionally dabble in Wii sports.  My favorite color is blue, and I love to eat pasta.  I have a mom and a dad, two sisters, and a brother.  I live in west Omaha and have a trampoline in my back yard which I can do some awesome dunks on. I will continue to blog on this account so stay tuned.