Media quiz 2

Jeremy Langston

MCOM1003

Professor Reppert

9-12-20

Media quiz 2

1)  Recreational vehicles from several states are expected to begin rolling into downtown El Dorado today for Airstreams on the Square 2020.  Several downtown streets will be blocked first thing this morning to make way for the RVs, which will set up around the Union County Courthouse. (El Dorado News Times)

2)  When you drive up to South Arkansas Fights AIDS (SAFA), you will see a small brick storefront with red lettering in the window displaying its name. Though the space this non-profit organization works out of is small, the cause they support is mighty. SAFA’s founder, the late Sue Worsham, always had to make do with very little and small spaces. She started South Arkansas Fights AIDS in September of 1990, operating from the trunk of her car. September marks the thirtieth anniversary of SAFA and the strides the organization has made in Union County towards combating the spread of HIV/AIDS and educating community members on the importance of safe sex. (El Dorado News Times)

3) A huge fire broke out Thursday at the Port of Beirut, the site of last month's catastrophic explosion that killed nearly 200 people and devastated parts of the capital. The new fire nearly 40 days after the blast triggered widespread panic among traumatized residents of the area. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the fire at the facility, which was decimated by the Aug. 4 explosion when nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate detonated. The blast triggered a shock wave that blew out windows, doors and walls miles away and was felt as far away as the island of Cyprus. (Arkansas Democrat Gazette)

4) President Donald Trump talked privately earlier this year about the severity of the coronavirus threat even as he was telling the nation the virus was no worse than the seasonal flu and insisting the government had it totally under control, according to a new book by journalist Bob Woodward. "You just breathe the air, and that's how it's passed," Trump said in a Feb. 7 call with Woodward. "And so that's a very tricky one. That's a very delicate one. It's also more deadly than even your strenuous flus." (Arkansas Democrat Gazette)

5) President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced he is adding 20 names, including Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, to a list of Supreme Court candidates that he’s pledged to choose from if he has future vacancies to fill. The list also includes U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Christopher Landau, the current ambassador to Mexico; and Gregory Katsas, a Trump nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, among others. (Arkansas Democrat Gazette)

6) They seemed like natural allies. Both are women in the male-dominated world of French politics. Both partners in the leftist alliance governing Paris. Both feminists. But the two women have come to define the competing strains of French feminism from different generations and recently found themselves at opposite ends of an old-fashioned political brawl. Anne Hidalgo, 61, the second-term mayor of Paris regularly mentioned as a future presidential contender, embodies a tradition of French feminism that fights for the rights of women within the legal framework in keeping with the country’s universalist values like equality and liberty. Alice Coffin, 42, a freshly elected city councilor and longtime feminist activist, is a part of France’s newest wave of feminism, which places the issue of violence against women at the core of the movement and is not afraid to take on a powerful, entrenched male establishment. (New York Times)

7)  The latest frontier in worker activism: Zoom union campaigns Carolina Rodriguez said she had never thought much about joining a union until a co-worker lost his job. The colleague, a fellow teacher at a charter school system in San Jose told Rodriguez that his contract had not been renewed, and he feared it was in retaliation for speaking out about a pay issue. Although Rodriguez had never been a big fan of unions, she soon found herself on a Zoom chat with other teachers and an organizer, who began to tell them about the process of forming a union. Talking from the privacy of her home made her feel more comfortable about organizing. (Wahingston Post)

8) The 19th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks took place at the official Arkansas State 9/11 Memorial on the south lawn of the El Dorado Conference Center on Friday. A small crowd with police officers and first responders were in attendance. Nineteen American flags served as the backdrop and theme of this year’s ceremony.The memorial’s curator and South Arkansas Community College professor Sterling Claypoole led the ceremony.(El Dorado News Times)

9) Julian Assange, the embattled founder of WikiLeaks, made his first appearance in a London court in months on Monday, as an evidentiary hearing began in his U.S. extradition case, a crucial moment in a prolonged legal struggle that has spanned a decade. In the hearings, Mr. Assange and his lawyers will argue against his extradition on the American charges, which accuse Mr. Assange of violating the Espionage Act. The charges stem from the publishing of secret military and diplomatic documents by WikiLeaks in 2010. (New York Times)

10) A portable toilet in Albuquerque fell victim to another kind of whiff this week after strong winds gave it a trip along Route 66. A virtual video showed the porta-potty rolling down a busy intersection of the Mother Road as curious motorists looked on. A virtual video showed the porta-potty rolling down a busy intersection of the Mother Road as curious motorists looked on. Severe gusts appeared to have dislodged the mobile toilet and forced it down a journey through a road that once connected Chicago to Los Angeles. Several motorists and passengers caught footage of the traveling portable toilet. Some social media users posted videos of the traveling porta-potty to the song “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas. No injuries were reported and it was unclear if anyone was inside. (Huffington Post)

11) Gusts of up to 40 mph (64 km/h) are expected in parts of southern Oregon, with no rain. Fires have been raging for three weeks in Oregon, California and Washington, burning land and destroying homes. Tens of thousands of people have had to flee and at least 33 have died. Dozens of people are missing in Oregon alone, with one emergency official saying the state should be preparing for a "mass fatality incident". Cooler, moister conditions on Saturday allowed firefighters to make some progress with the fires. However, the forecast for Sunday prompted a warning of winds of 15-25 mph and gusts of 30-40 mph in the Shasta Valley and east of the Southern Oregon cascades. A red flag warning is the highest alert for events which could result in major fires, and which demands extreme caution by residents. This area includes in Jackson County, Oregon, where the Almeda fire has destroyed hundreds of homes and remains only 50% contained. (CNN News)

12) China's Defense Ministry on Sunday blasted a critical U.S. report on the country's military ambitions, saying it is the US instead that poses the biggest threat to the international order and world peace.The statement follows the Sept. 2 release of the annual Defense Department report to Congress on Chinese military developments and goals that it said would have "serious implications for U.S. national interests and the security of the international rules-based order." (Times of India)

13) New York teen was arrested Thursday when he showed up at his school after being suspended for violating its coronavirus protocols. Maverick Stow, 17, had first run afoul of the rules at William Floyd High School on Tuesday, when he arrived for classes on a day when he was supposed to be staying home. Because of social distancing rules, the Long Island school has been operating on a system that allows half of its 3,000 students on site each school day. Maverick was suspended for five days, and the school district issued a statement emphasizing that “students who refuse to adhere to their scheduled in-person days and/or flagrantly disregard directives to leave school grounds and cause a disruptive environment for other students will face disciplinary actions.” (The Mercury News)

14) Josef Koeberl knows how to keep it cool. The Austian has managed to spend two hours, 30 minutes and 57 seconds inside a custom-made glass box filled up to his shoulders with ice cubes – wearing nothing but swim trunks. “I’m fighting the pain by visualizing and drawing on positive emotions so I can dampen this wave of pain," Koeberl told reporters Saturday as a small crowd gathered in the town of Melk to watch the feat. "That way I can endure.” Koeberl, the Associated Press says, beat his own record from 2019 by 30 minutes. It reportedly took more than 440 pounds of ice to fill up the box. (Fox News)

15) A wild mouse has passed out after chewing on a Canadian man’s crop of cannabis. “I've caught this little pot-head taking leaves off of my plant and eating them until he passes out,” said Colin Sullivan from New Brunswick in Canada, where growing small amounts of cannabis is legal. Sullivan cared for the stoned rodent and weaned him off the substance before releasing him back into the wild. (The Week - Odd News)