Stuff YOU Should Know
India’s New Prime Minister
In what is being called a “landmark election victory,” Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will become India’s newest prime minister (the highest political office in the country). Modi won 282 seats, ten more than needed to secure a parliamentary majority. He campaigned with promises of reviving the economy and cleaning up the polluted Ganges river. This victory was an important victory because the previous political party in power, the Congress Party, has been accused of corruption for the past several years.
Unlike the United States, citizens of India can vote on a number of different days. Voter turnout hit a record high this year with over 66 percent of its 814 million eligible voters making it out to the polls, up from 58 percent in the last election. It required the help of around 11 million government employees working at over 900,000 voting locations around the country.
Dig Deeper Modi’s Tweet “India has won, good days are about to come,” became the most retweeted message in India’s history. See if you can find him on Twitter and follow the latest comment from or about him.
Michael Jackson’s New Album
It’s been nearly five years since Michael Jackson died. In 2010, previously unreleased songs, including a duet with R&B singer Akon, were compiled in an album called “Michael.” It did not receive very good reviews from critics. Fairing better is a new collection called “Xscape,” which hit the charts this month. It is made up of eight tracks, featuring material he was working on at the time of his death, as well as songs written earlier in his career. Some of the credit of its success is going to mega-producer Timabland and superstar Justin Timberlake.
Opinions about the posthumous works of popular artists are divided. Some accuse record companies or surviving family members of being motivated only by money. Or they believe it is unfair to put out work that was unfinished or the artist didn’t feel was ready. Others believe that if handled correctly, any work of a beloved entertainer can be seen as “enrichment” of his or her legacy. Some of the most popular posthumous albums include “Pearl” by Janis Joplin (which included two signature songs, “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Mercedes Benz”) and Nirvana’s “MTV Unplugged: Live in New York” (which showed a stripped-down and fragile side of the grunge band before the death of lead singer Kurt Cobain).
What Do You Think? How do you feel about Michael Jackson’s music? Have you listened to this release? What do you think? Do you think it was right of Jackson’s executors to give permission to finish the songs? Why or why not?
Riots Over World Cup
Photo credit: Fuse/Getty Images
Back in the fall, btw brought you news of growing tensions over the upcoming FIFA World Cup soccer games in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Protestors are upset that the government (already suspected of widespread corruption) is spending misspending money to host the games instead of providing much needed public services. Protests began one year ago, sparked initially by a metro bus increase and general grievances of what is considered a corrupt and ineffectual government. Around the same time, news of “gross overspending” and financial scandal involving the World Cup had started to spread. Reports say that Brazil is likely spend three-times the amount South Africa did to host the games in 2010.
The World Cup, which kicks off June 12, is held every four years in a different host country. Officials expect nearly 600,000 foreign tourists in addition to 3 million Brazilians to attend this year. New polls suggest that less than half of the people in Brazil support the idea of their country hosting the World Cup. City authorities have called upon the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to help train officers handle the crowds.
Dig Deeper Some are comparing the preparations for this year’s World Cup to the most recent Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Do some research and find out why. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Does Wearing Glasses Make Your Eyes Worse?
There are a lot of health-related myths out there that are now being questioned, such as . . . you might not be losing all of your body’s heat through your head, or it might be true after all that swallowed gum will digest just fine and you can probably swim right after you eat.
One of the latest myths to get some attention is the notion that the longer we wear glasses, the worse it makes our eyes. Three different studies, conducted in different parts of the world, concluded that many people believe the longer they wear glasses, the worse their eyes become. The truth is, our eyes gradually get worse as we age, regardless of how often (or how strong) the prescription.
For kids, in fact, not wearing glasses (if needed) or having the wrong prescription can have long-term impacts. Perhaps it is as simple as becoming more dependent on glasses and less tolerant of eye strain or headaches that lead people to conclude that they make their sight worse. But it’s just not true.