Protesters March for Recent Killings in Ferguson and New York

Today in Washington D.C. a crowd of 5,000+ marched up Pennsylvania Avenue as the moved towards the Capitol Building. Recent deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner sparked a country wide protest as officers who killed the deceased were acquitted of their respective charges. Many people find this to be a very sensitive controversial issue, as it is so. These recent deaths have made national news and people everywhere including celebrities have all come out and spoken on the topic. For example, members of the St. Louis Rams walked onto the stadium with their hands up implying the do not shoot me pose. In the NBA, many players including our own Derrick Rose wore warm up jerseys that read "I can't breathe." Protests have occurred in many cities, and enough people have showed up to shut down major roads, bridges, etc... in these cities. During the marches, protesters were holding signs with quotes by civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King Jr, and were chanting the words, "I can't breathe." (the last words of Eric Garner).

Mentorship Round Two

On Novemeber 18, 2014, I met with my business mentor for the second time. My mentor, Dan Laughlin, and my fellow future business men and women talked about an article we read called "Good is the Enemy of Great" by Jim Collins along with the first chapter of Collins's book called Good to Great. The reading talked about how many companies' struggle to become a great company because they are comfortable with being good. Our mentor discussed questions we had about the reading, and what we thought of it overall. I liked this specific reading because it related to what I want to have in my career: a great company. Dan offered many personal insights that his years of experience brought him, and he gave us many views on how he thought a company can go from good to great. Many things Collins brought up were things that we discussed at length, especially the bus analogy. The bus analogy refers to getting the right people to work with you doing the right things, then to decide where you want to drive off to. Dan completely agreed with Collins, and he used personal experiences to give us examples as to why this is true. He told us that if one day we were the boss, and someone was not on board with our operation, then it has a significantly greater chance of failure, so we may have to find a new person to fill that particular spot. Even one person can make that much of a difference. Dan told us that if we are not headed into the right direction, to start over and get people on your bus who you trust and can work well with to achieve a common goal. To succeed in a company, or any task for that matter, one must be completely open to new ideas and sacrifice in order to obtain the end result. I really enjoyed my session with Dan, and I look forward to talking to him in the future!

Apple CEO says he is Proud to be Gay

Today, the CEO of Apple Tim Cook wrote in an essay that he is "proud to be gay and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has ever given me." People around the country have praised Cook for his writing as he now becomes the most prominent homosexual person in corporate America. Cook has always strove to get equal rights for gays and lesbians including denouncing his home state of Alabama saying that they are changing to slowly when dealing with equality. In contemporary America, the latest issue in state as well as church is the rights of homosexual people.

Many companies including Apple, Facebook, and Google participate in the annual pride walk in support of equal rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Also, the companies, especially Apple, encourage the hiring of people from this community. Times have certainly changed from the time period set during the Great Gatsby. America has evolved into a country where everyone truly can be happy into their own way and find their own American dream.

Mentorship

For this week's blog, instead of writing about a current event that is going on, I will write about my meeting with Dan Laughlin for my mentor-ship. I found the meeting to be extremely helpful and interesting as I got a first hand advice from a very successful man who has worked in the field of business. I learned how passion and patience are key to a success in any career you choose which in my eyes relates to what being great is. If you do not love what you are doing, then you probably will not be good at it. Also, if you try to rush things and do to much at once then you will not accomplish anything. Another thing Dan taught me is how important it is to develop leadership skills. This is necessary because if you are to run a business, then it is essential to be able to guide others to accomplish different tasks. I was extremely happy with my meeting because I was unsure at how effective this mentor-ship would be coming in, but my worries quickly faded as Dan was friendly and very educated in his field. Some questions I plan on asking for future meetings will mostly be about starting a career in business from the ground up, and a good path to take that would help me in my quest. Overall I was very impressed with the effectiveness of my mentor as I thought that it may be awkward, but Dan was able to quickly break the ice and had us laughing and participating almost immediately. I truly am looking forward to my next meeting with him and the other members in my group.

JPMorgan and Chase High-Profile Security Breach

Millions of Americans trust Chase to secure their money and financial information as Chase is one of the most powerful banks the United States has to offer to it's citizens. However, last June hackers were able to penetrate the defense systems Chase has up to protect their clients from these thieves. Chase did not realize they were hacked until June, a full month after the hackers had access. By this time, the hackers had gained access to the highest clearance to over 90 different servers. This means that the hackers had access to over 76 million accounts including extremely private information such as social security numbers.
The strangest part is, Chase says there has been no evidence to suggest that the hackers had stole anything. Perhaps if the hackers were clever enough to indeed get into Chase's systems, they were smart enough to not leave a digital finger print. However, as of now it seems they hacked the system just to hack it. Obviously such a crime is to be taken extremely seriously even though nothing was believed to be stolen, which is why the FBI has gotten involved as this a major federal crime. Also, The Federal Reserve has been on guard in case the hackers are bold enough to try and go after them. Rumors are circling that the hackers were hired by Russia or another country in perhaps southern Europe, and although their is no concrete evidence to support this, it is a very scary possibility. Perhaps Thoreau was right when he wanted to leave society and go back to nature, as this is another clear example as how technology can deeply affect our lives for the better and unfortunately the worse as seen here. Hopefully the criminals are apprehended, and no person was seriously affected by this troubling crime.

Global Efforts Must be Heightened to Stop Ebola

The spread of Ebola has been a scary phenomena that has been growing rapidly over the past two months. Efforts to halt the spread of the disease, according to our president, have not been enough. If the world wants Ebola to no longer be a threat, global efforts must increase to cease this terrible ailment. President Obama wants the world to "donate" doctors to help assist in training of the physicians in West Africa, along as help with the isolation. He told the UN at a crisis meeting for just this cause that America can build a network of treatment centers, but we do not hold enough doctors to fill the demand of patients that need treatment. Countries have basically shut down from this disease, as Sierra Leone's residents were not allowed to even leave their homes for three days. Although countries seem to want to cooperate to end this pandemic, a key problem is that countries have yet to agree to transport the infected aid workers to safety and be treated.

The general consensus among the people who have been working to end this epidemic have agreed that if more action is put into place in order to stop this disease, then it will be put under control. President Obama appealed to the representatives of the United Nations telling them that we are not currently doing enough to reach our goal. Like Patrick Henry did back in 1775 persuading the representatives of the colonies to fight against the common enemy that was Britain, our current president is trying to convince the countries of the world to unite for the against the common enemy that is now Ebola. What the world needs now is to band together for the sake of humanity.

For more information, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/world/africa/obama-warns-of-slow-response-to-ebola-crisis.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSum&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Antibiotics in Contemporary America

"The Obama administration on Thursday announced measures to tackle the growing threat of antibiotic resistance, outlining a national strategy that includes incentives for the development of new drugs, tighter stewardship of existing ones, and improvements in tracking the use of antibiotics and the microbes that are resistant to them."

Everyone in the world has used an antibiotic at some point in their life. These life-saving drugs developed in the twentieth century are responsible for saving the lives of many people who were fighting bacteria infections. Many once fatal diseases can now be easily treated with a simple prescription of an antibiotic provided by a doctor. However, the overuse of these drugs is causing diseases to evolve into new strains of the same disease that are becoming resistant to antibiotics. This trend in the diseases has been noticed for years, but only recently has the government put forth effort in hopes to slow and essentially stop this fearful future of medicine.

President Obama and his administration have passed a law that got approved by both the House and Senate to restrict the overuse of these antibiotics to slow the evolution of resistant diseases. These antibiotics are used in agriculture to keep animals safe, as well as the every day man. However, overuse is making these diseases mutate making antibiotics ineffective. This can be due to the classic example of when a person is given an antibiotic with instructions from his doctor to finish the medicine as prescribed. Many people do not realize how important it is to listen to this instruction because the doctor gives more then what may be necessary to ensure that the entire disease is destroyed. If a person stops taking his/her medicine once they feel healed, it is possible that the virus is still in your system. The disease, like humans, evolves to stay alive. What the government is doing to try to halt this is issuing laws on the ease of receiving these drugs. They are limiting the amount that can be used in agriculture. They are targeting that agriculture industry because up to 70% of antibiotics that are distributed are given to the animals raised on farms to keep them healthy, and the drugs make the animals grow faster. This action by our contemporary government exhibits how a country must reinvent their customs to achieve success in the future that benefits the common good of the people. This ideal of a country revolving around the people goes back to revolutionary times when people such as Benjamin Franklin worked constantly to reinvent the image of America. From colonial times to now, America is constantly adapting to the modern world which we live in.

For more information on the topic go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/health/us-lays-out-strategy-to-combat-crisis-of-antibiotic-resistance.html?ref=science

War on ISIS distracts the Obama Administration from Iran

The article I read deals with the growing news of the terrorist group of ISIS, and President Obama's and his administration's plan to deal with him. Although many people have different opinions on Obama, almost everyone in the nation agrees with him when he says they must be destroyed. ISIS has committed terrible acts against people that violates the rights that we are given as members of the human race. The war against terrorism was enacted by former President George W. Bush, and continues to drain America of time, money, energy, and most importantly our nation's soldiers.

However, if America decides to not stress the growing threat of ISIS as suggested by Israeli officials, and focus on Iran working towards a nuclear bomb, then ISIS will continue to gain power until America and the world realize that they are indeed a force to be reckoned with. In theory, we could do both, but this would put the Pentagon's budget over what Obama wants, and we would not be able to monitor countries in Asia such as China and North Korea. In this very controversial topic, many people are skeptical at how our country will respond to the growing problems around the world. In any case, our mission is to keep the citizens of the world safe and create nations that will be safe for democracy. Hopefully our government will find a way to enact this mission.

We can relate this article to two things that we have read in our class lately. One being The Warrior's Heart, and the other is the article about Benjamin Franklin. The Warrior's Heart  relates to this topic because the entire book was about using your gifts and abilities to serve and help people around, which is essentially what America is trying to do for the rest of the world. The article about Ben Franklin relates because it shows the humble beginnings of America and the person who initiated what would become the great nation it is today. This article shows that some countries need help to initiate their own humble beginnings which I believe is what America is trying to do.

The New York Times

Focus on ISIS Stirs Fears That Efforts to Curb Iran Will Recede

By David E. Sanger