Stuff YOU Should Know
Mass Shooting at Navy Yard
On September 16, a civilian named Aaron Alexis killed 12 people and injured 8 others at the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) headquarters in Washington D.C. Because the facility is located just a few miles from the White House, part of the city was placed in lock-down. Alexis was working as an information technology subcontractor on a computer system revamp. After searching other potential suspects, authorities determined he had acted alone and was not as part of any terrorist organization. Police surrounded the NAVSEA and exchanged fire with the gunman. Alexis was wounded and killed during the fire fight.
While authorities are still searching for a specific motive, they did find that Alexis had a history of “anger-fueled arrests” and had been discharged from the Navy Reserves for previous misbehavior. In the wake of this tragedy comes continued debate over gun control. Those in favor of more gun control hope Congress will impose stricter laws and close loopholes that enable people to buy guns with no background check. On the other hand, more than 20 states passed pro-gun legislation in the past year. A recent Gallup poll shows that Americans blame the rise in mass shootings on failures of the mental health system.
Dig Deeper Congress seems to be hopelessly stalled on passing any sort of gun control. Do some research and determine their biggest arguing point. Do you think they are likely to find a suitable compromise? Why or why not?
Underdogs Rule the Emmys
The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 22 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Neil Patrick Harris of television’s How I Met Your Mother was the host. The drama American Horror Story, which airs on the cable network FX, led the nominations with 17, followed by HBO’s drama, Game of Thrones with 16. It was the underdogs, however, who were the big winners of the night. Merritt Weaver from Showtime’s series Nurse Jackie was so startled by her win that she only managed an 8-word thank you before quickly leaving the stage. Behind the Candelabra, a biopic of the life of legendary pianist Liberace won three awards, the most of any show. Modern Family won Best Comedy for the fourth time in a row. Breaking Bad, in its final season, won its first Best Drama award.
The Emmys are presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the telecommunications industry. The name Emmy is a variation of Immy, short for the image-orthicon camera tube, a major component of early television sets. The Emmy statue is in the likeness of a winged female (representing the muse of art) holding an atom (representing the science of the medium). The first Emmy Awards were presented only for programming in the Los Angles area, with the very first statue (for Outstanding Personality) awarded to the star of a local children’s show.
What Do You Think? Did you watch the Emmys? If so, did any of your favorite shows or actors win? If not, what shows do you watch? Do you think any of them deserved an award? Why or why not?
House Republicans Vote to Cut Food Stamps
Credit: ©Brand X Pictures/PunchStock; The fate of federal food stamps was dealt a blow by Congress.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 217-210 in favor of a bill that would cut spending on food stamps by $40 billion over the next ten years. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the reasoning behind the bill is that too many people are abusing the system and costs have grown too high. The bill would require childless adults between the ages of 18 and 50 to either find a job or enroll in work-training. It would also restrict eligibility to three months and keep those enrolled in other social welfare programs from being automatically eligible for food stamps. Democrats are concerned that the reduction would plunge large numbers of struggling people further into poverty.
In response, the White House announced that President Obama would veto the bill if it came to him. Back in May, the Senate passed their own bill that called for only $4.5 billion in cuts. With such a major divide in Congress, a bipartisan bill seems unlikely to become law any time soon. Those in favor of cuts says the Republican vote should be seen as a serious effort to manage the country’s growing budget problem. Critics believe cuts will make life significantly harder for the nation’s poor.
Dig Deeper Find out which Representatives voted for this particular House Bill and who didn’t. See if you can find out his or her reasoning. How would you have voted? Why?
JP Morgan Receives Record Fine
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that JP Morgan Chase, one of the biggest investment banks in the world, was fined a total of $920 million in penalties for securities violations. An investigation that began in May concluded that JP Morgan”s problems stemmed from senior management failures. Around $300 million will go to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and $200 million will go to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Federal Reserve. The rest will be divided among other regulatory organizations like the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
The bank is blamed for not having the proper risk controls in place. For example, stock traders were able to cover up massive losses by hiding them in a complicated portfolio of different stock purchases. Chief Investment Officer Ina Drew has since stepped down.