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TechNews | Tuesday,Apri123,2013

    

Arguably, the worst week in recent history

Hannah Larson
ASSISTANT EDITOR

Perhaps you’ve been following the news

To say there have been a few notable, awful,
episodes is the understatement of the year

Let’s start with a local scope

The weather in Chicago is always fickle,
but this past Wednesday night and Thursday
morning proved to be quite the surprise A
routine thunderstorm produced five inches of
rainfall, causing a massive amount of flooding
Governor Pat Quinn constituted that 38
Illinois counties were “disaster areas," and
Chicagoland seemed particularly impacted;
major interstates were closed, the Chicago
River’s flow was reversed into Lake Michigan
to relieve tunnels and reservoirs, and a sinkhole
swallowed three cars on the south side Albany
Park experienced a major overflow of the river,
which Mayor Rahm Emanuel wasted no time
using this unfortunate event to announce
plans for construction of a tunnel to avoid this
annual occurrence; the tunnel will cost $45 to
$55 million (with $40 million already pledged)
according to the Chicago Tribune, and is
expected to start next year

Temperatures are expected to return to
the 60s this weekend On the brighter side of
things,the Illinois Househas approved abill for
comprehensive sexual education (based on new
curriculum requirements in middle and high
schools), and passed another bill outlining the
basis of a medical marijuana industry (a four
year contract, and strict requirements, a feat
nonetheless)

Hippies and liberals, rejoicel

On to national news

The deadly fertilizer plant explosion in the
town of West, Texas death toll has officially been
set at 14, where as many as 200 were injured
according to Fox News (CNN had originally
reported up to 35 deaths, but this is no surprise
concerning their credibility, especially after
their dayilong broadcast of false information
concerning the Boston Marathon suspect)
Authorities have reported that a significant
portion of the town was leveled in the explosion
President Obama declared the region a state of
emergency, bringing in national disaster relief
efforts

Speaking of the Boston Marathon, the
bigoted and judgmental reaction has been
extremely crude, and just as devastating of a
phenomenon as the terrorist act itself Three
people have been declared dead, while roughly
100 people have reported injuries (CNN again
inaccurately reported up to 141), according to
the Chicago Tribune and local Boston outletsl

These aren’t the only victims of the Boston
Marathon explosions

Subsequent victims of this backlash

include the Bangladeshi man who was beaten
by another man for being “an Arab" in the
Bronx (according to New York Police), the
Palestinian woman who was with her young
daughter and a friend (both women happened
to be wearing hijabs) who was attacked in
Boston; the salacious man white man hurled
“terrorist" and other profanities at the group,
punching the woman in the shoulder (according
to Iezebellcom), as well as the two young men
(one a high school student who feared for his
life and family according to multiple reports)
who were featured on the cover of the New York
Post with the headline, “Feds seek these two
pictured at Boston Marathon" Other reports
of Islamaphobic backlash according to local

Boston Muslim groups and news outlets
have reported more incidents, like the Saudi
Arabian national who was injured, interviewed
by authorities, and inaccurately dubbed a
suspect by the media (insert the Glen Beck
conspiracy theory, implicating this person’s
involvement in the explosions, that my Editor,
iniChief has just informed me of), a Brown
University student who was literally tagged as a
suspect on Facebook; not to mention the surge
of violence that gripped Boston following the
attack, resulting in the death of an MIT police
ofiicer, death of one of the bombing suspects,
plus the essential shutdown of Boston; finally
resulting in the apprehension of FBI’s suspect
Dzhokhar Tsarvnaev

Let’s just take a moment Breather

This barrage of morbid national incidents
has had yet another unfavorable outcomeia
cloud of judgment of foreign affairs, as well as
important domestic mattersl

Wednesday proved a significant point in
the nation’s debate over gun control measures
The Senate procured 55 votes in favor of a bill
that would expand background checks for gun
purchasers, a ban on assault weapons and high
capacity gun magazines The sponsors of the
bill failed to secure the 60 needed to pass the
bill through the Senate This decision outraged
President Obama, as well as those who were
there on the behalf of the Newtown shooting
victims

That same day, authorities apprehended
Paul Kevin Curtis, the Mississippi manwho has
been implicated in sending ricinilaced letters to
President Obama, and Senator Roger Wicker
(RAMS) The Elvis Presley and Hank Williams
Jr impersonator is an active conspiracy theorist,
and has an online presence rife with alternative
opinionsl This domestic terrorist throwback
is reminiscent of the anthraxilaced mail that
surfaced shortly after 9/ 1 11

Honestly, when’s the last time we
considered foreign affairs?

Important foreign affair stories developing
include India’s growing frustration, and

increased sexual violence Following the
outrage the public expressed over the brutal
and fatal gang rape of a 237yeariold woman,
another demonstration has unfolded due to
the report of a 5iyeariold girl being abducted,
raped, sexually, and physically assaulted, in East
Delhi according to NPR Details include a two
day protest by local citizens, allegations that the
local police were bribed in order to keep the
incident quiet (the equivalent of $40), and the
call for the death penalty for the two men that
have been implicated in the crime

Following an onslaught of domestic
terrorism, due in part to the elections that took
place this Saturday, a series of explosions killed
nine people who attended noon prayers at two
mosques in Baghdad, Iraq this past Friday The
Thursday before saw 32 deaths from a suicide
bomber who targeted a cafe Imagine our
grievances of the Boston Marathon bombing,
on steroids

Articles reflecting the gloomy state of
current affairs are certain

Notably, author (and staunch New
Englander) Tom Perrotta published an article
in the New Yorker, comparing his experience
9/1 1 to that ofthe Boston Marathon attacks, in a
lovely metaphor The Onionpublished an article
simple titled “Iesus, this week," and various news
outlets have published their onlineiversions of
the enumeration of this week’s tribulations; most
of them include a picture of an adorable kitten,
with an equally adorable captionl

December 21, 2012 was the supposed
Mayan doomsday, but it was implemented
as a date of change Five months of heinous
occurrences make me second guess the
apocalypse

Not the change that we elected President
Obama for his first time (incidentally the last
time I had a hair cut), but the kind of change
that is dismissive and transforms the way we
interpret the world; whether we are aware ofthis
or not, isn’t as easy as posting a Facebook status

This week, the news was rampant with
negativity and everyone was on the same,
solemn page We disregarded Justin Bieber’s
Anne Frank “belieber” comment, and engaged
in conversations about social constructs, social
protections, and social problems

Though the fact that many of these
conversations came out of racist and illiintent,
they happened nonethelessl

Unfortunately the efficacy of these
conversations won’t be felt until long after these
current events become historical junctures,
where we branch off, and change daily behavior

This week won’t be remembered from
the onslaught of appalling events, but the
abundance of overreactions, false information,
and actions that make me seriously doubt the
humanity and kindness left in the public sphere

Harmony within, and in each moment

Ameena Payne
TECHNEWS WRITER

Last week I wrote a bit about attaining
authenticity in each moment, and I thought
that would be the perfect Segway into attaining
harmonywithin and in each moment WhenI
speak of harmony, I am speaking of a peaceful
bliss between mind, body, and soul 7 a peaceful
bliss that you can feel running to the depths
of your core Currently, this topic resonates
because I just participated in an evening of
Pranayam in an informal setting 7 with a group
of friends apracticing Ujjayil

Pranayam is the art of yoga breathing,
and because breath is life 7 literally r it is a
wonder to me why we don’t focus more on
understanding how breath influences and
can manipulate our disposition Growing up,
I would participate in Pranayam (as I tagged

along with my Dad to Chicago’s International
Association for World Peace) however, the
meanng was a bit lost on me as a child, and it
wasn’t until very recently, that the importance
ofbreath guided me back toward this practice

Breath is one ofour most vital functions
Proper breathing brings more oxygen to the
blood and to the brain, controls the Prana,
the vital life energy Pranayam is considered
one of the highest forms of purification and
selfidiscipline, covering both mind and body
, the focus is not only intrapersonal healing
but interpersonal as well

Think about when you’re angry, anxious,
and/ or fearful What is your breath like? What
would you say is your default reaction to
pressure at this current moment?

It is likely that it’s vastly different than
the breathing you experience when you’re in
peaceful bliss (that place that was discussed a

few weeks ago in which you feel most natural)
That’s because your body is not separate from
your mood and your actions When you’re
confronted with a challenge, your body reactsl
Your body, your mood, your words, and your
actions are all interconnected and typically
pretty consistent with one another

Becoming aware of your breath, the
practice of Pranayam, is a way of being mindful
of (and attentive to) yourself Eventually, this
will spread into dailylife and interaction with
others That’s what makes this practice so
powerful and so practical

I am not the expert in these practices,
but if you are interested in being connected
to organizations and individuals that support
these values and practices, please email me
at Ameena@AmeenaPayne as this is not
subjugated knowledge