Week #50 {7-14 January '21}

Articles By Ananya Nayar, Mahin Puri, Param Sachdeva and Misaki Tomiyama

Articles:

• The ‘Don’t Say Gay!’ Bill

• Covid Protocols at the Beijing Olympics

• Sports of the Winter Olympics

• The Canadian Trucker Protest

• St. Valentine and the Coming of Valentine’s Day

• Benefits of Playing an Instrument

• Why Do We… Have Different Blood Types?

• Who Was ... Princess Diana?

• Book and Movie Reviews

The ‘Don’t Say Gay!’ Bill

Article by Ananya Nayar

Just last week, Florida’s proposed ‘don’t say gay’ bill became a centre of controversy for a number of reasons.

This bill is a disputed idea that is said to ensure parents have a choice to decide what their children are exposed to, it seeks to potentially outlaw all LGBTQ+ education discussions surrounding sexual identity and gender in schools. What this will do is further stigmatise the LGBTQIA+ community, create a lack of education which (as we’ve seen) can lead to further issues like hate crimes, marginalisation and more rather than ‘protecting’ the children. This is not the first projected law that has attempted to limit and suppress rights and education associated with LGBTQ+ communities.

The bill prevents all classroom discussions of sexuality and gender identity in elementary schools in Florida, claiming it is not ‘age-appropriate.’ It also permits parents to sue schools if there is a breach of the policy. Furthermore, schools are no longer allowed to withhold any information about a child’s well-being, potentially making ‘outing’ children to their parents legal. What’s more, is that the bill does not specify a specific age category/range exactly, meaning is passed with such vagueness, suppression can be continuous throughout schooling.

So far, despite pushback and retaliation against the bill, it is advancing through Florida’s legislature. Many are in support of it, claiming it protects parental rights and doesn’t create pressure to ‘irrationally’ change gender or sexual identities. Critics, on the other hand, argue that this invalidates LGBTQIA+ issues and marginalises and creates taboo against open conversations about it.

A lack of education and open discussion in increasingly important topics has repeatedly proven that it leads to nothing beneficial, and this new bill will make life even more difficult for LGBTQIA+ youth. As it is, over 40% of LGBT youth had seriously considered attempting suicide in 2021.

President Joe Biden took to Twitter to express his dismay and show support of the LGBTQ+ community and youth, adding that he is working against it.

Covid Protocols at the Beijing Olympics

Article by Ananya Nayar

Amidst boycott and a pandemic, the Beijing Winter Olympics are continuing in full swing (more or less.) The Games began on the 3rd of February and will continue till the 20th. The Paralympic Games will be hosted from March 4th to 13th.

In China, they’re making it a priority to ‘stop the spread of the virus,’ and are implementing some rigorous measures to do so. First of all, tickets to spectate the games aren’t being sold to the public. In fact, only members of the leading Communist party and staff from government organisations are permitted to view the Games, even then, they must follow the instructions put in place.

What’s more, is that all athletes, coaches and officials have been specified ‘bubbles’ that they cannot leave. No matter what, they must not leave their bubble, to minimise all external contacts.

The vaccine mandate and quarantine rules stay strong, which participants arriving in Beijing 14 days before to quarantine, after showing proof of full vaccination. Unvaccinated people must have medical proof of exception but must quarantine for 21 days before being allowed in the close-loop bubble system.

On top of these, daily screening + testing occurs. Whenever athletes aren’t eating, competing, training, being interviewed etc, they are ‘forced’ to be alone at all times to simply minimise all physical reactions.

In the incident of a positive case, as one was reported just a few days ago, the rules require them to be removed from the event and transferred immediately to a hospital or isolation facility. Only two days after initially testing negative will they be allowed back into the closed-loop circle.

Political tension still lingers, after the accusations that China is executing genocide in Xingjiang, where there is mass incarceration and discriminatory abuse of the minority Uyghur Muslims.

Rules have been applied that allow athletes the ability to voice their concerns, apparently, but they have been warned that all athletes must adhere to Chinese laws at all times.

The ‘Zero Covid Policies’ have also been a source for slight controversy, causing the overall event to be a reportedly strained affair.

Sports of the Winter Olympics

By Misaki Tomiyama

The Winter Olympics have started! Here is a brief overview of the winter Olympics 2022 Sports!

• Alpine Skiing-

• Biathlon- sport which combines cross country skiing and rifle shooting

• Bobsleigh- participants compete in completing a downhill route using a sleigh

• Cross-Country Skiing

• Curling- sport in which participants slide stones towards a target area on ice

• Figure Skating

• Freestyle Skiing- winter sport combining skiing and acrobatics

• Ice Hockey

• Luge- form of small sled racing

• Nordic Combined- sport which is a separate test including a 10km cross country skiing and a ski jump contest

• Short Track Speed Skating

• Skeleton- winter sport involving a skeleton sled

• Ski Jumping

• Snowboarding

• Speed Skating

The Canadian Trucker Protest

Article by Mahin Puri

Recently, across the world, vaccines have been made a mandate for many different jobs, and the Covid-19 vaccine mandates for Canada made it compulsory for many important jobs such as health care workers and public servants to be vaccinated. There were even “vaccine passports” implemented into the idea, and introduced to the general population for people using non-essentials services, like going to the gym, eating at restaurants and also certain retailers. Overall, this was widely seen as a successful campaign that supposedly even led to the country’s vaccination rate being one of the highest in the world, and dropped the death rate by large margins. However, after the Omicron variant of the virus was introduced, matters changed for the worse.

With the Omicron variant of the virus, the chances of being infected even while vaccinated, quadrupled, and a booster dose became a requirement, unless you wanted to be infected, and it was around this time, on January the 15th that the vaccine mandates in Canada expanded the requirement for being vaccinated for truck drivers who were returning from the US, which was the turning point towards the beginning of the protest. Even worse, was that the policy was reciprocated by the United States the very next week, which led to further inflammation of the protests.

The main reason for the truckers to protest the vaccine mandates that were set by Canada and the United States was that they had to provide evidence that they had been vaccinated to cross the borders, and not having received the booster doses, they would be unable to re-enter Canada, and so when the reciprocal bill was passed, convoy of trucks departed from British Columbia on their way to Ottawa, where they would protest the vaccine mandate bill. The protests took place over the weekend, on the 28th and 29th of Jan, in which 1000-2000 people participated.

It was estimated by the Canadian Police that on the 5th and 6th of February over 5000 people were part of the next protest in Ottawa, and that above 1000 vehicles blockaded the streets, and there were protests in other cities too, including Toronto, Quebec City, and Calgary. During the first 11 days of the protest, truck horns blasted up to 16 hours a day. Eventually, this led to the mayor of Ottawa even declaring a state of emergency due to the events taking place on the 6th and on the 8th of February, the Ottawa Police department reported that it had made 23 arrests, and issued over 1300 tickets to those involved in the trucker protests.

Kids Article: St. Valentine and the Coming of Valentine’s Day

Article by Ananya Nayar

Valentine’s day on the 14th of February is a day to celebrate relationships and loved ones and express their appreciation and love with gifts and ‘Valentine’s.’

The holiday originated from the Ancient Roman Times, and the story is darker and more gruesome than expected.

Lupercalia was an ancient pagan annual festival held in Rome every 15th February. Contrary to our modern Valentine’s day, it was much more violent and included animal sacrifices and random coupling/matchmaking in hopes to ward off evil spirits. It celebrated fertility, and women were paired with random men on the day.

Although the real story has been told and retold, modified and twisted, legend says that St. Valentine refused to convert to paganism and was executed by Emperor Claudius ii. St. Valentine was a Roman priest and patron of lovers, who actually performed weddings illegally for the people who were not allowed to marry because the Roman emperor insisted that a good soldier was never/could never be married. St. Valentine also is known to have worn a ring of Cupid- the God of desire and love.

The St. Valentine story inspired a prayer, that pleaded the Saint to connect lovers, whether or not they were ‘permitted’ to be together. He upheld the magic of marriage and love, which makes the story so special and the holiday so cherished.

Benefits of Learning an Instrument!

By Param Sachdeva

If you are thinking of learning something new, an instrument is one a wonderful hobby to have. Playing music has various benefits.

• It is extremely helpful in developing hand eye coordination which allows you to perform various other tasks.

• Music involves learning various things such as knowing where chords and notes are and learning sheet music which helps with memory retention.

• Do you know playing an instrument is an amazing way to make friends and be popular ? You can meet people with the same interests and make friendships that last a lifetime.

• Furthermore, it's an amazing stress buster. There is nothing better than playing music by your favorite artist after a long school or work day.

• Composing music is also a wonderful way to express your creativity and display your talent to friends and family.

• It helps build confidence. As you start learning and playing, you will learn to express yourself to friends, family and larger audiences.

• Succeeding at playing and performing an instrument gives you a huge sense of accomplishment and pride, especially when you nail that song you’ve been stuck on for weeks.

Learning an instrument isn't a one day job. It can take many years. You have to dedicate your heart to mastering one. It helps you build exceptional time management skills. But don't worry about taking too long. Just enjoy the process.

Why Do We… Have Different Blood Types?

Article by Ananya Nayar

There are four main blood types/groups; A, B, AB and O, in this there may be A positive, B negative etc. This is an effective system for classifying helped in safe blood transfusion and donations.

Each blood type is unique and cannot be mixed in donations, if there’s an incompatible transfusion, the immune system default attacks new blood cells and destroys them which can cause kidney failure and lung problems.

Blood types are determined by the presence or absence of antigens, which are molecules on the surface of red blood cells that trigger immune system response.

Each blood group has a different formula of antibodies and antigens, for example...

• Blood group A has antigens on the erythrocytes (red blood cells) and anti B antibodies in the plasma.

• Blood group B has antigens and anti A antibodies in the plasma

• Blood group O (a universal donor and also the rarest) has no antigens but both anti-A and anti B antibodies present in the plasma.

• Blood group AB has both antigens of A and B but no antibodies.

Who was… Princess Diana

By Mahin Puri

Born in Sandringham, on the 1st of July 1961, Princess Diana was an influential member of the British Royal family. She was born at Park House, which was part of the royal estate. Her father, John Spencer was the 8th earl, and was a British Nobleman. Diana was born into the British nobility and grew up close to the royal family on their Sandringham estate.

In the year 1981, while working as a school teacher, Diana was engaged to Charles, the prince of wales. Later that year, she was married to Charles. They had two children, named Harry and William. However, their marriage suffered due to extramarital affairs, and they broke apart in the year 1992, and later divorced in 1996.

Diana was well known, and celebrated by those of the media for many reasons, one of which was her approach to charity work. Furthermore, the princess also raised awareness and spoke on behalf of those dealing with illnesses like cancer, and other mental illnesses.

Not only this, but Diana was one of the leading fashion icons during the 80s and 90s, often being on the cover of magazines and considered photogenic. Her death was mourned across the world, and her shy but kind nature that endeared the public to her led to her death receiving global attention, as she was known as “the people’s princess.”

Book and Movie Reviews:

Reviewed by Ananya Nayar

Movie of the Week: The Imitation Game

Set during the climax of the 2nd World War, The Imitation Game (starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Alex Turing) is a true story, moving away from the war-torn battlefields where hardworking soldiers keep their country together, but towards the behind-the-scenes work of cryptologists and intellectual mathematicians who work feverishly intercepting and decoding Nazi German messages that are part of the Enigma code.

I especially enjoyed this movie because of the marvellous acting accompanying the tension in the storyline, the cast brought it on screen in the best way possible. Not only does it deal with cryptology and the painstaking hours and dedication, but it shines a light on life as a homosexual during the 20th century, the importance of being affirming and strong in the workplace and it emphasises the amount of uncredited work that occurs behind the scenes of everything.

It’s one of the most inspiring stories and the movie did it justice, conveying each emotion, situation and relationship extremely well, with excellent acting, cinematography, characterisation, scenes, structure, script and setting.

Age Rating: 11+

Rating out of 5 Stars: 5/5

Book of the Week: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

This psychological thriller was truly a page-turner, especially when it started picking up pace. Nothing prepared me for the entirely unexpected twist at the end which was astonishing and very original. It follows an open and closed case of a ‘deranged’ wife who ended up in the mental hospital after killing her husband violently, but as you continue, more unravels and the story becomes mindboggling.

I love how there were so many themes and concepts explored- in terms of the plot, characters and writing. I loved the perspectives and view in which it was so seamlessly written, the elements of literature and art intertwined, along with the mystery and psychological tension throughout.

Age Rating: 14+

Rating out of 5 Stars: 5/5