Week #7 – Photo of the Week

The above photo was featured in this week’s The Atlantic Photo of the Week. It depicts a flock of starlings flying over a Polish village. In a photo collection mostly dominated by COVID-19, this photo holds something of a special significance. While other photos detailed people walking down the street in masks, or empty tourist attractions, or efforts being made by people to help other individuals through the pandemic, this one plainly depicts animals going about their merry way. What I believe it may be trying to convey is that while the human world is suffering, animals (and the planet itself) are thriving even more than they were before. More time spent holed up in our homes means less time spent interfering with nature.

Week #6 – #Trending

The coronavirus has taken the United States and the rest of the world by storm more than any other thing from 2020. Going a day without hearing or thinking about it proves to be a difficult task. With the first confirmed coronavirus death in the U.S. taking place mere minutes ago and a White House coronavirus press conference being held as I type this post, the disease isn’t set to go away anytime soon. Across Twitter, people are giving Trump his usual dose of criticism, this time with how he plans to handle the outbreak (especially after he called it the Democrats’ “new hoax”), as well as commenting on his unhealthy appearance. Others are comparing it to Ebola and Zika, saying it will be inevitably contained like they were. Health organizations are tweeting out coronavirus prevention methods, which they say are as simple as washing your hands. What struck me the most, though, was the tweet below, which is about as humorous as it is worrying:

Week #5 – Things I Mean to Know

One thing I’ve always wondered but never before bothered to research is: What is the difference between the work done by the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA? According to Los Angeles Times Article “There’s more than the CIA and FBI: The 17 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community”, the American intelligence community is comprised of far more than just these 3 organizations. The highest office in this area, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, is comprised of only one person. The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) is tasked with covert foreign policy dealings. The NSA (National Security Agency) is the largest American intelligence agency and focuses on data collection, and defense of U.S. information systems. The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) directly protects the U.S. against terrorism and other foreign threats. Other important organizations include the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency), whose focus is on gaining information on foreign militaries, and the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for all forms of domestic protection.

Week #4 – TED Talk

This week, I watched the TED Talk “How sampling transformed music” by Mark Ronson. Ronson is a British music producer and DJ who became a fan of music at a very early age. This talk was given in 2014, the same year he released “Uptown Funk”. The audience is of prominent individuals selected by the TED committee. In the talk, Ronson plays a song he created exclusively from TED talk samples, discusses the use of sampling and his experiences with it, and intends to prove its permanent shift in the way modern music is made. I felt that the song he played at the beginning was an excellent way to engage his audience and that Ronson’s own musical experience made him a more convincing speaker. His example of “La Di Da Di” by Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick as a song that provides “endless soundbites and samples for future pop records” such as those by Biggie Smalls and Miley Cyrus was a good way to demonstrate what makes a song show sampling potential and distinguish sampling from stealing to a largely unfamiliar audience. He also addresses points of view that sampling is indeed stealing, but clarifies that sampling is acceptable to a degree, as well as that “the dam has burst” for the continuous use of sampling in music.

Week #3 – Documentary

I recently watched the documentary Forks Over Knives, which is about the benefits of veganism, the risks of eating a standard American diet, and the lies and misinformation we have repeatedly been told by the food and pharmaceutical industries. It details the similar but separate journeys of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, a biochemist from Cornell, and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a former top surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, to uncover the truth about chronic diseases. Campbell’s “China Study”, which looked into the diseases and health habits of people all across China, revealed that in areas where people ate plant-based diets, death rates from Cancer, Heart Disease, and other diseases were lower. Esselstyn’s studies have also found a plant-based diet to decrease chances of Cardiovascular and Coronary Disease, and his son, Rip, was able to lower the dangerously high cholesterol levels of his firefighter coworkers by having them eat in this way. Forks Over Knives went back and forth between the experiences of the two doctors, as well as a variety of other inteviewees, which include those who became significantly healthier from Campbell’s and Esselstyn’s diets. The movie talks at length about the vastly exaggerated importance of dairy and meat and the cost-efficiency of using plants as medicine rather than pharmaceutical drugs. There was one statistic that really stood out to me: I don’t remember it exactly, but it essentially said that if we fed all the plants we were feeding animals to humans instead, we could feed millions upon millions more people and save billions of dollars.

Week #2 – Political Cartoon

I chose to look at this political cartoon because of its focus on a different Democratic candidate than I usually see in political cartoons. Its writer was clearly anti-Trump, given the comic’s implications that he is not thoughtful, decent, or patriotic. This was written during the ongoing preparation for America’s 2020 election, wherein portrayed candidate Pete Buttigieg became unexpectedly popular, even garnering the most Iowa delegates. The comic is meant for American voters and intends to sway them towards voting for Buttigieg, but more importantly, against Trump. Lastly, the comic’s subject, Pete Buttigieg, is openly gay, as the man in the green shirt was likely about to say. I feel that what is being said in this comic’s subversion of expectations brings to mind an important point: Any democratic candidate being elected would result in a much more “normal” president in office, comparable to presidents past, and Americans would have a difficult time adjusting.

Week #1 – Volunteering

For the past five months or so, I have been volunteering as a Sunday school tutor and classroom assistant at my synagogue. Now that we’ve been confirmed, most of my confirmation class and I came back to each work with a different grade. For the first half of the Sunday school day , I work in the inclusion room, where I assist kids who need extra help or a break from the classroom, usually helping them read Hebrew. For the second half, I work in the 6th Grade class, where I mostly supervise the kids and assist in passing out supplies, but also listen to their discussions about morals and ethics. I find it interesting hearing the point of view of today’s 6th graders on issues that affect them, especially with technology being thrown into the mix. Having tutored for the Glen Ellyn Children’s Resource Center beforehand, I was more prepared for this experience and able to better understand what makes kids behave in they way that they do. In the inclusion room, I directly take on the role of educating, unlike with the 6th grade class. However, in the inclusion room, I usually work with a different child every week, whereas I get to know the 6th graders more week after week. Overall, I enjoy my experience in the inclusion room because I can spend time building children’s skills with a one-on-one approach, and I enjoy my experience with the 6th graders because of my ability to help on a new generation of honorable people in the same classroom I once sat in.

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