Farewell, Sochi

           

           The Huffington Post's "Closing Ceremony Ends Costliest Olympics Ever With Fireworks, Russian Pride" article was written by John Leicester on February 23, 2014.
            The Sochi Olympic Winter Games was a whirl-wind of ultimate victory, defeat, and record-breaking history. With the Russians collectively hauling 33 gold medals, they are back on top like the old Soviet times. The opening and closing ceremonies extravagantly displayed a spectacular myriad of Russian culture, history, and pride. The stage was beautifully lit up with the nation's trademark performances of ballet, theater, and circus. Despite the shows' brilliance, a malfunction with one of the Olympic rings refusing to open up furiously shocked the crowd in the beginning. However, that was later made up as the ceremonial organizers humorously referenced the technical mistake. Towards the extinguishing of the flame, dancers rippled out into circles to display the image of the rings once again. As each group routinely spread out into its formation, the last bunch stubbornly refused to do so like the lighting did previously. However, after a few seconds, it reluctantly and successfully created the last ring as supposed to.
             The Games were not only one of the most entertaining, but as well the costliest. By surpassing Beijing's forty-one billion dollar budget, Russia spent fifty-one billion dollars into beautifying its city and setting up the Olympic program.
             However, the Games were not always so friendly and buddy-buddy. In the midst of the guts and glory, serious political issues erupted. The Ukrainian revolution has escalated to terrifying new levels over the parliament's decision to turn down Europe's economic alliance. Its country's athletes were left with mixed emotions, celebrating the Games while mourning over the thought of the Kremlin burning down in flames. Putin as well sat at his Olympic throne reveling in his nation's wins, while dreading the loss of coherence with Ukraine.
              Overall, the 2014 Games inhabited tense situations as well as festivities and a sense of international unity.

African Miners Rescued and Arrested

            The Huffington Post's "South Africa Miners Rescued, Face Charges For Illegal Gold Mining" article was written by the Huffington News Team on February 17, 2014.
             The situation is quite ironic itself. Likewise an injured criminal is healed before jail time, a dozen miners in Johannesburg, South Africa were charged for illegal gold mining after rescue from being trapped underground. Nowadays, the practice has become a common business in South Africa due to the abundance of precious metals hidden within the mines. However, this unlucky bunch were ambushed on the job by a falling boulder which constricted the entrance and exit of the abandoned mine shaft. Many suspect the seasonal heavy rain triggered the sliding of the rubble. Fortunately, local policemen heard the cries of the miners under the debris. Although a rescue team soon rushed to save the miners, a few of the assumed culprits refused to rise to the surface in fear of arrest. Surprisingly, none of the miners were fatally injured. However, reportedly, the twelve miners were only the 'tip of the iceberg' to the number of others still trapped in the mine. 200 prospectors currently keep digging deep within the trench, in hopes of discovering another way to escape without running into the authorities.

Communities

                A community is one in which holds a population of like-minded individuals who strive to thrive as a people based on a common interest. By interacting with each others' strengths and weaknesses, each being takes a role and contributes to his or her crowd. Each community is unique based on agenda. Groups form to either achieve a goal, share knowledge or creation, chat, or  all three! Other divisions of communities are also dependent on ethnicity, gender, age, hobby, and belief. Although, one must not allow themselves to dissolve into a community, but to hold tightly to their identity. For each individual must be different to have an abundance of various services and perspectives.
               Rarely one is found anywhere but in a community. By attending Rose and Alex Pilibos, I exist in a Armenian, Tashnag, and Apostolic community. I am bound to it because of my religion, race, and political position. With daily Armenian class and weekly Hay Tahd lessons, each person is inspired and encouraged to fight for the Armenian cause by promoting the advancement of our nation.
               Fandoms are also another prominent category of communities. Most, including myself, idolize celebrities, movies, and TV shows through multiple networks. For example, those who are captivated by One Direction's music and image are compelled to support them by joining communities who are as well mesmerized by the British boys. By following related blogs and accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr, 'fangirls' unite globally to cheer on the fellows. I, as a proud 'Directioner', am driven to also buy their albums and concert tickets to get more of them. My obsession would have never been supplemented if I have never had the chance to either interact with other 'fangirls' or research 'One Direction' content. Only through communities like Youtube and inquirer sites I had the ability to do so.
           
           

The Shutdown of Flappy Bird

               The Huffington Post's "Creator says game over for maddening Flappy Bird" article was written by Tran Van Minh on February 10, 2014.
               Nguyen Ha Dong, the young Vietnamese creator of the hit mobile game 'Flappy Bird', made a fortune off the app ever since is outburst of popularity in the beginning of this year. However, later he became tormented from the craze the simple, yet addicting and frustrating game brought.
                According to App Developer Magazine, Nguyen hated how everyone overrated his game and only wanted to restore peace. He tweeted, "I can call 'Flappy Bird' is a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it".
                Although 'Flappy Bird' was reportedly making $50,000 per day, Nguyen modestly added that he will not even sell the app. He was not even able to enjoy the huge profit he made out off of the viral game.
                 After hearing an immense amount of suicidal tweets and murder cases as effects from 'Flappy Bird', the idea of his own creation had become extremely distasteful to him, even if it brought him wealth. However, violence was not the only factor as a reason for the shutdown. Rumors circulated the internet about the assumed corruption Nguyen participated in. Many thought that he bribed critics to rate his game five stars on the Apple Apps. But as the man said himself, it was all a part of the trash that rotted with 'Flappy Bird' itself.

The Great Gatsby Movie

               The Great Gatsby movie, in my opinion, was a work of art.  Although its dramatic over-exaggerations were sometimes annoying, most of them spectacularly brought the book to life. Unlike many other major production films, The Great Gatsby nearly stood to every aspect of its plot. There were only a few skips of details and a couple fabricated additions for the director's vision, but none in which I found offensive. 
              One added cut to the movie that I noticed was how Nick's introduction as the narrator was completely different from the book. In the beginning of the novel, Mr. Carraway is given credulity as an un-bias author as he shared his father's advice of never judging anyone who does not have the same advantages. However, in the film, Nick is first shown with a therapist trying to rid his alcohol issues from the trauma after the incident. Ironic, being that his first impression in writing was prestigious and stable, while in the movie, he was simply a wreck. Nonetheless, that was the only major difference that shook me throughout the motion picture. Other minor changes included the disregard to Jordan's dishonesty and the luncheon at the hidden corrupted bar.
              Other than that, I absolutely loved The Great Gatsby soundtrack! Its music dug the depth of the roaring 20's. Sure there was already plenty of jazz music throughout the film to understand the era of the time as well. However, the nostalgic and romantic voice of Lana intensified scenes between Gatsby and Daisy. Likewise, Jay Z's powerful rap told of corruption as Wall Street boomed with business. Bringing in familiar genres of music was not a negative in my opinion, it was in fact a genius way to connect the movie to the audience's perspectives. 
               I praise The Great Gatsby movie because it was a golden classic for us to watch, rather than the traditional mindless film productions that are usually released nowadays. 
             


           
             
             
           

The Suffering of India's Children

The Huffington Post’s “The Subhuman Conditions That Slaves And Child Laborers Face In India Are Worse Than You Imagined” article was written by Eleanor Goldberg on January 30, 2014. 
Think our world has fully promoted civil rights? Think again. Looks like child labor laws have not been enforced yet in India unfortunately. Recently, the Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights has conducted one of the largest research studies on modern slavery. Shockingly, according to statistics, they have found around 3,000 startling cases on forced labor in the Indian carpet industry alone. Horrifically, most of the businesses’ “workers” are kids. As quoted, the data discovered was only “the tip of the iceberg”. Factory owners and guards often denied the researchers access to many work sites, avoiding further evidence to be documented. 
According to the “Tainted Carpets: Slavery and Child Labor in India’s Hand-Made Carpet Sector” report, the children trudge ten to twelve hours a day, six to seven days a week. Usually, they are crammed into filthy, contaminated, hot, and humid factory shacks to weave for the rest of their adolescence. They were even physically abused with frequent beatings with sharp tools like scissors. To top it off, most of the kids earned long-term health issues from the unbearable conditions of the workplace. Many suffered from eye disease or even a loss of vision due to the insufficient light. Others eventually developed spinal deformation due to countless hours bending over and sewing. They all have also experienced headaches, muscle pain, cuts, infections, malnutrition and serious psychological trauma - not quite the ideal childhood.
Bihar, a fourteen-year-old male weaver, pitifully reported “We work from seven in the morning until ten at night”; “I sleep on that mat over there. I want to go home but the owner will not let us leave”. 
         Hopefully, one day our world will gain its humanity back. 

Ukraine Uprises

         Huffington's Post, "Ukraine Protests: Tens Of Thousands Hit The Streets Of Kiev" was written by the Reuters on January 19, 2014.
        Up to 100,000 Ukrainians gathered up in the center of Kiev on Sunday to defy the government's laws that aimed to put an end to the Reuters' protesting. The newly passed rules were published on January 15, which included forbidding any form of public expression of opposition, like camping outside the City Hall or wearing protective head gear. If broken, prosecution held heavy jail sentence. Even other countries denounced these set of laws as unconstitutional. This lovely reunion was far from a peaceful demonstration. All those people who piled into the streets on that day knew that soon they will be known as rebels. 
        It all started when President Yanukovich closed off a great economic deal with Europe just to keep close ties with Russia. From there, Ukrainian citizens began to suspect their authorities of being corrupt. 
        "Yanukovich and his henchmen want to steal our country. Ukraine is united as never before in its struggle against those in power today, in its determination not to allow a dictatorship," declared politician Vitaly Klitschko, a strong enemy and potential runner for future presidency.
          From Syria to this? Our world is just getting darker by the minute.