Stuff YOU Should Know
Trump Proposes Middle East Peace Plan
Every presidential administration since the post-World War II era has tried to find a way to establish lasting peace between Israel and Palestine. So far, none of them have been successful long-term. But now, Trump thinks that he has a plan that will work. He calls it a win for both sides. Israel says it is excited about the plan, but Palestine disagrees. This is because the new plan would require Palestine to give up a lot of its independence to Israel. Under the terms of Trump’s plan, Israel would be in charge of security over Palestine, and would also gain control over areas of the hotly-disputed West Bank. Furthermore, the city of Jerusalem, which both Israel and Palestine claim and value as a holy site, will be the capital of Israel.
In return for accepting the plan, the United States would award Palestine a $50 billion investment plan. At the same time, over the next four years, the U.S. and Israel will determine whether or not Palestine can achieve independent statehood. But Palestinian leadership finds the deal completely unacceptable, and as a result, they rejected it last week before it was even formally announced.
In addition, critics argue, this is a bad time for the U.S. and Israel to come forward with a plan. Not only is Trump currently undergoing an impeachment trial in the Senate, but Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, was also formally indicted last week for criminal corruption. Palestine has already severed all diplomatic relations with the United States after the U.S. has made a series of proposals that they see to be anti-Palestine.
Dig Deeper Use Internet resources to help you determine the source of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. Why is the relationship between these two nations so volatile?
Chinese Drones Grounded
Drone technology can be controversial. While some people argue that they are a great security tool, others worry that they violate privacy. In the past several years since Trump took office, the federal government has been using drone technology more than ever before. In fact, the Interior Department reported making over ten thousand drone flights in 2018 alone. Drones, they argue, are helpful in aiding law enforcement, assisting with natural disasters, surveying land, and more. But as of last Wednesday, the government has now grounded all 800 of its drones. Why? Because they were made in China. According to the Interior Department, this is a problem for several reasons. First, the government wants to support and promote American drone manufacturers instead. And second, there are concerns about cybersecurity, or important data falling into the hands of foreign governments.
But the Chinese company that makes the drones argue that they pose no actual cybersecurity threat and that the decision to ground them was politically motivated and without reason. To prove this, they point out that the Interior Department actually released a long report last July recommending that the government use the exact Chinese drones that they are now banning. Nevertheless, even though the ban is temporary, it has no deadline–meaning that the drone fleet could be grounded indefinitely. However, it still allows for drones to be used in certain emergency situations, such as fighting wildfires, search and rescue missions and other natural disasters.
What Do You Think? In your opinion, does the usefulness of drones outweigh the potential security risk, or not? Explain.
Legendary Journalist Honored With Stamp
Have you ever heard of the journalist Gwen Ifill? She was best known as a news anchor who was a host of Washington Week and PBS NewsHour. She was also the first woman and the first person of color to host a national political talk show (PBS’s Washington Week in Review), and the first African American woman to moderate a televised vice presidential debate.
But before all of that, Ifill had a long and important career as a journalist. She graduated college in 1977 and took a job as a reporter for The Boston Herald. From there, she moved on to The Baltimore Evening Sun, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. While at The New York Times, she served as a White House correspondent and covered Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. In 1994, Ifill made the switch to broadcast journalism, where she worked for NBC. Later, she became the senior political correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. During the course of her career, Ifill covered seven presidential campaigns and was known for her fair, unbiased, nonpartisan reporting. Among other awards, she was the recipient of Harvard’s Goldsmith Career Award for Excellence in Journalism, and in 2012, she was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame.
Ifill passed away from cancer in 2016, at the age of 61. But this week, the U.S. Post Office is honoring her legacy by issuing a commemorative stamp in her honor. Ifill’s will be the 43rd stamp in the Post Office’s Black Heritage Series.
Dig Deeper Create an annotated timeline of key events in the life and career of legendary journalist Gwen Ifill.
Not Your Typical School Night
It’s Monday morning, and the alarm goes off. The sun hasn’t even come up yet, but it’s time to get ready for another day of school. Sound familiar?
If this scenario fills you with dread, you’ll be happy to learn that Eastern High School in Lansing, Michigan, has decided to do things a little differently. During the day, it’s still a traditional high school. But after school lets out for the day, the building transitions into Eastern Flex Academy, where students attend school from 3:00 to 8:00 pm. They go to class for a few hours, break for dinner, and then complete the rest of their classes online. Students enrolled in the program take all the same classes as their peers, as well as all the same state and standardized tests–just on a slightly different schedule.
So why does the district offer this alternative option? There are several reasons. First, traditional models of education are built on an agrarian schedule; in other words, they were developed to accommodate the role of young people as helpers on their family farms (hence, summer break). But that model no longer fits today’s modern society, where teenagers deal with a completely different set of responsibilities, from jobs to family commitments and more. Practically speaking, there are other advantages as well. If they go to school in the evening, students can get a full night’s sleep. They can pursue jobs or internships during the day. And the district makes better use of a building that would otherwise stand empty every evening.
So far, the program is proving to be a success. The district plans to expand it to several other schools in the area–including some middle and elementary schools–this semester.