Stuff YOU Should Know
It’s a Panda!
On August 23, Mei Xiang, a giant panda at the National Zoo in Washington D.C., gave birth to a female cub. DNA testing showed that the father panda was Tian Tain, a male panda at the National Zoo. (The testing was needed because the zoo staff also attempted to mate Mei Xiang with a male panda from the San Diego Zoo. Following Chinese tradition, the female panda cub will not be named for 100 days. She will also not be seen by the public for approximately four months. Mating is not an easy task for pandas that are kept in the captivity of zoos. Many males do not appear to know how to mate. For example, the first pandas to live in the United States, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, took 10 years to successfully produce an offspring. Even then, none of those five cubs lived into adulthood.
America’s fascination with pandas began when former President Richard Nixon visited China in 1972. It was considered an historic event because no U.S. president had ever visited he country since it became the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The Nixon administration was successful in improving relations and opening up trade between the countries. While visiting the Bejing Zoo, the First Lady became enchanted by the panda exhibit. As a result, China gave the United States two pandas, Ling-Ling and Tsing-Tsing, as a gift of friendship. They lived at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. where they became a very popular attraction. After they died, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian arrived in 2000.
Dig Deeper Check out the PandaCam. What do you think of the new panda cub? China owns all pandas in the United States. Do you think this is fair? Why or why not? Support your answer with research.
Latest Jobs Report
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly report on the state of the economy. In August, the unemployment rate dropped slightly to 7.3 percent. 169,000 new jobs were added–44,000 of these jobs in retail and 33,000 jobs in health care. Manufacturing added 19,000 jobs, after losing 10,000 in July. The average wage of private-sector employees increased by 5 cents to an average of $25.05 an hour.
Even thought the numbers are positive, the response to the August Jobs Report is mixed. For example, even though the unemployment rate is lower than it has been since December of 2008, many economists think that there are a large number of people out of work who are not being counted. This is because they have either given up on looking for work or their benefits have expired. Some are calling this the slowest recovery of the job-market since World War II. The Economic Policy Institute believes that given its population the United States should have 8.3 million more jobs than it currently has.
What Do You Think? Market-watchers think that upcoming Congress votes over debt limit and spending, as well as tensions in Syria could greatly effect the economy. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Blowing Vapor
An electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) or personal vaporizer (PV) is a battery-powered inhaler designed to mimic a traditional cigarette. These new products first entered the market in China in 2004 as a way for smokers to stop smoking, by eliminating the toxins associated with burning a tobacco cigarette. However, many health groups believe e-cigarettes may be causing just as many problems. First of all, the e-cigarettes still contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance. In addition, health experts see these new cigarettes as a new pathway to smoking to those who would not have otherwise smoked. As evidence, there has been a steep rise in use among minors since 2010.
Regulations that prevent underage children from purchasing the product is scheduled to take effect in October. Meanwhile, two-dozen states have introduced legislation to ban the sale of e-cigarettes. Sales of e-cigarettes are projected to grow to an estimated $1 million by the end of this year.
What Do You Think? Do you think that the sale of e-cigarettes should be banned? Why or why not? Do some research. What details about possible regulation can you find? How does it compare to the regulation of traditional cigarettes?
38th Annual Toronto Film Festival
Credit: Corbis/SuperStock; The Toronto Film Festival has been generating interest in some new movies that may be coming to theaters near you.
You may have heard of film festivals in Sundance, Colorado; Cannes, France; or Venice, Italy. Over the past decade, however, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has grown into a respectable showcase for serious film. This year’s festival just finished, running between September 5 and September 13. More than 280 films from 72 countries were screened in 34 different venues throughout the downtown of Toronto, Canada. Around 400,000 people showed up, including backers, distributors, exhibitors, stars and film buffs. Unlike other film festivals, TIFF is non-competitive–no jury of filmmakers vote on awards for the festival films shown. Instead, the TIFF has three People’s Choice awards and three Canadian awards.
TIFF started out in 1976 by screening films that had already won other festivals around the world. In 1994 the Toronto Festival began developing its own reputation as a place for serious films by great filmmakers. The film getting the biggest buzz at this year’s TIFF was August: Osage County, based on a play by Tracy Letts. The original play won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008. There were also a number of directorial debuts by famous actors, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jason Bateman.