Media Convergence Initiative

How Human Trafficking Is Changing The Lives of Innocent Girls

Posted on November 23, 2015 by jesusalberto2120

The women in this industry are aware of what’s going on and still want to continue. mean going with a complete stranger you just met and she has a job for you in another country that will get you very little money and she’ll even pay for your ticket to get there? That’s nonsense to me, but I can believe some of these girls actually believe them. They’re so gullible or maybe they just want to believe the good of people, giving them the benefit of the doubt. But look where it gets them, it’s really sad to see this happening to these girls that have no idea what they are getting themselves into.

People should really be more aware of the things happening in the world, not everything that shines is gold. But another thing about this that really shocked me when listening to the facts of these issues is that the police usually don’t deal with prostitution or human trafficking in Europe because they have other “real problems” that matter more to them. Like what is that supposed to mean? What could more important than a woman’s live who is being taken advantage sexually? That it’s so messed up; I really can’t believe that the police don’t want to get involve just because it’s a sticky situation. This is part of their job. They really shouldn’t have that choice of say yes or no to help a family in need of their daughter to return safely back home.

Posted in Audio/Video, Business, Crime, Economy, Odd News, Politics, World News | Tagged Europe, illegal business, odd news | Comments Off

Tropical Forest in Arctic Norway

Posted on November 22, 2015 by julysanchez

According to scientists, weird trees with flared trunks and curved branches made up of needle leaves used to cover the equator around 380 million years ago. Recently, they have found these trees very, very far away from the equator. They happened to find their ancient trees in the arctic part of Norway, named Svalbard. From tropical environment to some of the coldest climates on Earth. The tree were found fossilized and have been estimated to be the oldest sign of forest life known to man. These trees existed during the Devonian period of Earth between 416 million and 358 million years ago. They were the first big trees to ever inhabit the planet. Since these were the the biggest plants around, they contributed to the planet’s massive decrease in carbon dioxide. They are estimated to have reduced the planet’s carbon dioxide level ten-fold. The special about these trees in Svalbard is that they are older than the estimated existence of these kinds of trees. The Svalbard trees are 20 million years older than the estimated age. This means that these trees in particular and most likely the very first spawn of trees that came into existence on Earth. More evidence to back this up is the comparison between the Svalbard trees and the ancient tropical forest found in Gilboa, New York. The forest found in Gilboa was leafy and shruby. The one found is Svalbard is made up of lycopsids, which are trees that have spores and needle leaves rather than leafy trees like we know know-a-days.

Posted in Education, Entertainment, Science and Technology | Tagged ancient, devonian, fossil, svalbard, trees | Comments Off

Facebook Will Now Help You Get Over Your Ex.

Posted on November 22, 2015 by andrewray

You just broke up with your partner of over a year and you’ve spent the last three days glued to your couch. Too devastated to take a shower or to eat anything else that isn’t fast food; you go on Facebook shyly between Netflix shows and you see that picture of your Ex having the time of their lives: It sucks, we know. Breaking up during these ‘social-media’ times are hard. That’s why Facebook is trying a new feature to help you deal with the pain.

You don’t need to cut all ties with your ex’s friends or even delete a single post in which your former significant other was tagged in: Facebook’s new option ‘Take a Break’ will appear on your account as soon as you change your relationship status back to single. You will have the choice to pick from the stuff your ex posts and also approve if you want him or her to see your future posts. If you choose the ‘See Less’ Option, their updates will no longer appear on your News Feed and you won’t receive an invite to be tagged on pictures of “the unnamable”. Don’t worry though, you will still be able to stalk them occasionally while you listen to Adele’s new album, perhaps.

This feature, which includes other more specific options, is being tested in the United States and will eventually reach a global scale in order to amend the broken hearts around the world.

Posted in General, Health, Science and Technology, World News | Tagged FaceBook, love, relationships, single | Comments Off

When the “silly piggies” make you the “silly piggie”

Posted on November 22, 2015 by lyle evan peterson

As of late, if one were to pay a mere five minutes’ worth of attention to the news they would immediately become informed of all of the atrocities and horror stories curing in the world. If the listened for just a minute more, they would realize that a lot of it occurs in our very country. While most of it has been racially fueled, a lot it has to do with the law enforcement of this country. Too many times within the past couple of years, have we heard of people dying unnecessarily, whether it be by the hands of law enforcement itself, or due to the lack of assistance by law enforcement. This has put many of the citizens on edge, fearing for their lives when the people designated to help are, at times, the worst people to call. Now of course, this is just another form f discrimination derived of on the distrust of officers, and one with a speck of rationality has to know that not all cops are the same. Yet, officers are losing respect and trust around the country amongst citizens.

In Wayne, New Jersey early Monday morning, that lack of respect proved apparent from 25 year old Hayley Oates. Oates was arrested by authorities for filing a false police report and then mocking them on social media by calling them “silly piggies”. Oates attempted to distract the police department with a fake emergency call around 3:1 in the morning, so that she could drive home without the chance of receiving a DUI. Officers apparently responded to a call saying a woman was being attacked in the parent lot of Mothers Ale House, but found nothing when they arrived. Oates then turned to social media to boast about the situation, which was then used to track her down.

What’s most disturbing is that Oates found it acceptable to call the authorities on a false alarm, not only distract them from the other more important and real calls, and also so that she could drive home under the influence , putting not only her and her passengers lives in danger but potentially other residents. The mere fact that she found it necessary to boast b on social media as if it could never be tracked back to her, was a performance of stupidity. Oates, arrested on Thursday is being charged with filing a false report and creating false public alarm.

Posted in Crime | Comments Off

Northern White Rhino dies leaves only 3 left in the world

Posted on November 22, 2015 by theblacklink

Earlier this week, an endangered Northern White Rhino (Northern Square lip rhino) dies at San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The northern white rhino named Nola was one of only four northern white rhinos believed to be left in the world.

Nola, was a 41 year old female who had been at San Diego Zoo Safari Park since 1989, when she got an abscess in her hip. On November 13^th, Nola had surgery to drain the abscess in her hip, but her health began to deteriorate along with her appetite. The northern white rhino had begun to have arthritis and was being treated for an infection linked to the abscess in her hip.

The last three remaining northern white rhinos are closely guarded in a preserve in Kenya. These are the last three of this subspecies of white rhino because they have been decimated by poachers who have killed the species for their horn where they are in high demand in Asia for their supposed medicinal properties to cure illnesses like hangovers and cancer.

Earlier this month, to preserve another subspecies of white rhino, the San Diego Zoo took six female Southern White Rhinos from South Africa to help preserve them and save them from poachers. Researchers at the San Francisco Zoo are working to develop embryos of the Northern White Rhino to be implanted into the six female Southern White Rhinos and have them be surrogate mothers. Researchers say they hope this will happen within the next 10 to 15 years.

Posted in Economy, Environment, World News | Comments Off

Pirate’s disease is making a reoccurrence in America’s poor population

Posted on November 22, 2015 by kevinluering

Scurvy is an vitamin deficiency that once plagued pirates because the didn’t have access to the necessary nutrition. While this problem was thought to be a thing of the past it has made a recent reoccurrence in the poorest populations in America because they don’t have the access to necessary fruits and vegetables. Not only does it apply to the poor in America it also applies to college students who spend their days only eating ramen and ice cream.

The symptoms of Scurvy can include bleeding gums, swelling, bruises and fatigue. One nutritionist says that the threshold for contracting scurvy is low that to prevent it all you have to do is to eat a couple packets of McDonald’s ketchup to meet the necessary vitamins. Proper vitamin intake can increase your quality of life and reduce headaches and joint pain.

Today with the access that people have to fast food, there is not always the conscious choice being made about what is best for our dietary needs so these diet based illnesses are on a rise. Eric Churchill said that diagnoses isn’t a common one but when a patient came to his clinic with a Vitamin level of zero he knew what it was, even though his colleagues weren’t quite on board with the test. The patient that was diagnosed said that for a while that he was on track and then he back slide into eating cheese sandwiches again.

Churchill stated that a couple pieces of fruit every couple days should do the trick or a vitamin supplement. It only takes a few small changes to be able to stave of this diagnosis.

Posted in General | Comments Off

Argentina Elects its New President

Posted on November 22, 2015 by williamharrelson

“Today is a historic day, a new era,” said Mauricio Macri, the man elected to be Argentina’s next president.

Running as an opposition candidate, against the former president Christina Fernandez de Kirchner’s hand picked predecessor, Daniel Scioli, his victory marks the end of a political dynasty.

With more than 98% of votes counted, Macri of the Let’s Change coalition had won 51.4% of votes, while Scioli had garnered nearly 48.6%, according to CNN and election officials.

Fernandez watched the counting of the votes with a keen eye, knowing her reign could come to a bitter end, after eight years. A shift in voters mindsets, towards more of the left, played a pivotal role in what could be a shift in the balance of powers.

This is not only beneficial to Argentina but the finance world as well. This could be the long awaited push in the chain to change how the South American country handles its debt problems and interacts with Wall Street. Part of Macri’s campaign efforts was his proposition to modify the countries economy, which made him a cool kid on Wall Street and drew heavy criticism from opponents.

Being the mayor of Buenos Aires and the former President of the Boca Juniors football club, were enough to convince his fellow compatriots that his past experiences made him a perfect fit as a leader. Macri is said to be a center-right candidate, according to CNN, which could lead to a conservative shift.

The state-run Telam news agency reported late Sunday that Fernandez wasn’t being a sore loser and congratulated Macri for his election win and planned to meet with him sometime next week.

Posted in Business, General, Politics, World News | Comments Off

Video Game News Site ‘Kotaku’ Blacklisted by Big Name Publishers.

Posted on November 22, 2015 by emilylupfer

This week the editor-in-chief of the popular gaming news site Kotaku wrote a letter to his readers informing them that the website has been blacklisted by two big name video game publishers. The editor, Stephen Totilo, felt it necessary to bring this information to light as an explanation for why the website’s coverage on certain games has been slow. The two publishers being accused of freezing out Kotaku are Bethesda and Ubisoft, both of which are considered behemoths in the video game industry.

Any dedicated reader of Kotaku could have drawn the conclusion of ostracism based on the late reviews, and lack of previews for games published by the two companies over the last few months. However, it has been strikingly obvious with the rollouts out of blockbuster games Fallout 4 and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate that Kotaku was not invited to the party. In the article A Price of Games Journalism Totilo implies that he believe the blacklisting is due to the negative coverage Kotaku has given these publishers’ games in the past. As well as the history of Kotaku leaking unannounced games that Bethesda and Ubisoft have had in development.

Totilo believes that breaking leaks, and less than favorable coverage is an integral part of gaming journalism. Gaming Journalism is still young and hasn’t cemented its ethics, but Totilo thinks if sites like Kotaku only write in the interest of video game publishers they are no more than a cog in a hype machine. He stands by his writers and their stories, even if it means being blacklisted.

Posted in Entertainment, General | Tagged Bethesda, Blacklisted, Journalism, Kotaku, Ubisoft, Video game Journalism | Comments Off

NFL Catch Rule Strikes Again

Posted on November 22, 2015 by bri yost

The famous Catch Rule is at it again, taking away yet another brilliant catch due to a technicality that defies all common sense. In a game versus the Detroit Lions, Michael Crabtree of the Oakland Raiders caught a ball, started running, took 3 more steps, then dropped it. It wasn’t ruled a catch. Granted, this wasn’t the most game of changing plays to be taken away, but it is an excellent catch that was robbed. It shows once again why this Catch Rule is causing much more confusion and frustration than anything else.

The NFL defines a catch in a series of technical procedures. A receiver must clearly become a runner in order to complete a catch. This is done by catching the ball and touching both feet down and then maintaining control to have the ball long enough to clearly become a runner. If a receiver falls to the ground in an attempt to make a catch then he must maintain control of the ball after contacting the ground. If he loses control of the ball after contacting the ground and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. The ability of a player to protect himself from impending contact has become the rule for deciding if a catch is maintained or not…but not the actual catch itself. This rule has taken away some amazing plays over the years, plays that would have changed the outcome of the game. Reaching the ball out before becoming a runner has been shown as not enough to trump the requirement to hold onto the ball when you land. When you are attempting to complete a catch, you must put the ball away or protect the ball so it does not come loose.

Even by this long, complicated, stupid definition, it looks like the refs made the wrong call. Crabtree took action as a runner and catches the ball while getting both of his feet down and then begins taking another step to get his foot down out of bounds before he’s touched.

This rule has brought about more frustration than any other rule in football. The league has changed the rule already from a football move to an active runner but its only made things worse. Players, coaches, and fans are begging the NFL to clearly define a catch and use common sense.

Posted in Sports | Comments Off

Regardless Of Outcome In 2016, A Historic Administration Will Begin With Big Changes In The White House

Posted on November 22, 2015 by phyzorz

With the next presidential election just one year away, it is already easy to see that a historic race is unfolding. The current selection of popular candidates is guaranteed to deliver an exciting finish to the 2016 elections. The dynamic cast of characters will all be quite revolutionary if any of them get elected. The frontrunners Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders all promise to make a lot of noise if they are elected. But as to which kind of noise only time will.

If Trump were to be elected, it will be very interesting because it would represent an extreme shift to the conservative right for the U.S. voters. This shift will most likely be attributed to a lot of disapproval for the Obama administration. The right wing has been very critical of Obama’s policies and the current global crisis of terrorism is helping to demonstrate that Obama’s foreign policies have been failures. Immigration will be another huge issue. Trump talks the most tough on immigration and with the recent refugee crisis unfolding, Trump’s policies will be intriguing to many voters who appose taking in Syrian migrants.

On the other side of the spectrum, a Hilary Clinton victory in 2016 would be historic and impactful. Clinton could become the first female president of the United States. Also, she would be the only president ever that is married to a former president. Clinton wants to take a strong stand on social issues and would probably run a fairly traditional administration for democrats. She also plans to take a stronger stand on foreign policy and has promised to be tougher on terrorism.

Perhaps the most interesting candidate of them all, Bernie Sanders is about as unconventional as mainstream candidates come. Sanders has no problem using terms like “socialism” and “socialist”. He is the only candidate that promises to go after big banks and white collar crime. Something that many Americans have been wanting to happen for a long time. Sanders believes that he has workable plans for better public education and healthcare. He often references the success of similar programs from other countries and frequently asks why a well established country like the U.S. can’t do the same. Sanders is often criticized by the right for funding controversies and tax increases. Many people believe Sander’s policies will result in higher taxes.

Regardless of who wins the next election for president, the outcome will be extremely impactful and could bring about significant change. All the frontrunners are poised to bring a new style of politics to the White House and will certainly make history with a legacy of innovations and breakthroughs.

Posted in Politics | Comments Off