Stuff YOU Should Know
Mass Shooting at Texas Church
Last Sunday, at least 26 people were killed and 20 more wounded when a lone gunman opened fire on a congregation at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Sutherland Springs is a small, close-knit community about 30 miles east of San Antonio.
The shooter was Devin Patrick Kelley, a 26-year-old white man from New Braunfels, Texas. Kelley served in the U.S. Air Force from 2010 until 2014, and was stationed at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. In 2012, he was court-martialed for assaulting his spouse and their child. At 11:20 am on the morning of the shooting, Kelley was spotted at a gas station across the street from the church, wearing all black and dressed in a bullet-proof vest. He then left the gas station and entered the church and began shooting.
As Kelley left the church, a local resident began firing his own weapon at the shooter, who ran away. The citizen chased him. Later, after a brief chase, police found Kelley dead in his vehicle of a gunshot wound. Authorities aren’t sure yet if the wound was self-inflicted or if Kelley was fatally shot by the citizen. Additional firearms were also found in the vehicle. So far, the shooter’s motive is still unknown.
The shooting victims range in age from 5 to 72 years old. Among those killed is the 14-year-old daughter of the church’s pastor.
Dig Deeper Using internet resources, research how many mass shootings have occurred so far in the United States in 2017. Based on this information, how many more mass shootings can we expect to see, statistically speaking, in the United States before the end of the year?
Tax Cuts Don’t Add Up
Ever since his campaign last year, President Trump has been talking about cutting taxes. Now that he’s actually trying to do it, however, Republican lawmakers are finding that a lot of the proposed cuts just don’t add up.
The problem is that Trump wants to cut taxes for corporations (from 35 percent to 20 percent) and for the wealthiest Americans, but also for the middle class. That leaves the federal budget with a massive shortage of hundreds of billions of dollars.
One of Trump’s more unpopular suggestions has been to link the tax cuts with health care reform. In other words, he wants to make up for the loss of revenue from tax cuts by eliminating the Affordable Care Act (also known as the ACA, or “Obamacare”). Getting rid of the ACA would save the federal government about $416 billion by 2026. Sounds great, right? The problem is, cutting the ACA would also leave millions of Americans without health care–all to save corporations money. For this reason, most Republicans in Washington want to keep tax reform and health care reform as very separate issues.
In the meantime, Republican lawmakers have proposed a “band-aid” solution to the problem: phasing some of the tax reductions in overtime, and making others temporary.
What Do You Think? President Trump has reportedly suggested calling the new tax bill “The Cut Cut Cut Act,” which lawmakers rejected. Imagine that you are a member of the Trump administration. What would you call the new tax reform bill, and why?
Climbing Banned on Sacred Australian Landmark
Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is a giant, 1,141-foot-tall sandstone plateau located in the central Australian desert. About a quarter of a million people visit the site every year. Most come just to admire it, but some–roughly 20 percent–come to climb it. As of next year, however, climbing Uluru will be specifically banned.
Scenic View Of Ayers Rock During Sunset
The site is historically significant to Australia’s indigenous Anangu people, who stress that Uluru is a sacred landmark, not simply a tourist destination. In 1985, the Australian government returned ownership of Uluru to the Anangu, who then leased it back to the government as part of the agreement. Today, the site is jointly managed by a board of “traditional owners” combined with national park service employees. At the moment, a sign sits at the base of Uluru, asking people not to climb it. But people do anyway. A total of 36 people have died climbing there since records were first kept in the 1950s.
The traditional owners are worried that climbing the rock over and over again will damage it. They have chosen to enact the ban on October 26, 2019, because that’s the 34th anniversary of the day the Australian government returned ownership of Uluru to the Anangu people.
It is likely that Uluru will maintain its status as a popular tourist destination, despite the climbing ban. Several alternatives to climbing are offered at the site, including a camel ride around Uluru’s base.
Dig Deeper Uluru is listed as a “world heritage site.” What does that mean?
Oysters Can Hear?
If you’ve ever been bothered by a noisy neighbor or lived on a busy street, you’re probably familiar with the concept of noise pollution. But did you know that noise pollution occurs underwater as well? In fact, it can pose a real problem to marine animals. Scientists have already identified the negative effects that underwater noise pollution can have on marine mammals, such as dolphins and whales, and also fish. Thanks to a recent study, we now know that invertebrates are impacted as well.
Researchers exposed 32 Pacific Ocean oysters to a range of noises to see what would happen. Normally, oysters and other bivalve mollusks keep their shells open. They only clamp them shut when they feel stressed or threatened. However, when exposed to noise pollution from large commercial shipping vehicles, wind turbines, man-made explosions, oil exploration, and recreational vehicles, the oysters closed their shells. Higher-pitched noises, such as those from wave runners and smaller recreational vessels, did not cause the same effect.
When bivalves close their shells due to unnatural stimuli, such as man-made noise pollution, it can have dangerous consequences for the animals. Keeping their shells shut tight means that they can’t hear things they need to hear in order to survive, like breaking waves and water currents, which signify to them when food might be coming their way. Also, if they can’t hear weather patterns, such as thunderstorms, they miss out on nature’s way of signaling when it is time for them to reproduce.