Josie's Journey

According to the Washington Post YouTube is actively removing videos and video channels of influencers that are anti-vaccine activists, in order to ‘prevent’ further skepticism of the COVID-19 vaccine .

The article says that the US is behind about 20% in vaccinations compared to other countries, sitting at 56% fully vaccinated Americans. Biden claims that “social media platforms are partially at fault for the decrease in vaccinations”.

Although untrue and false content should have some restrictions, social media companies are going too far. They are nearly being controlled by the government. YouTube is not the first to begin such drastic measures in regards of ‘fact checking’. Facebook and Twitter have had policing enforced on their sites as well.

Originally, these companies all had policies that maintained an open platform which is important for freedom of speech and press. Now that regulators of status and lawmakers are able to pressure companies into regulatory policies, what other influence do they have on social media companies?

Although that remains a mystery, it is obvious that they are not targeting anti-vax influencers in general, but anti-corona-vaxors that share their studies, theories, and inquiries specifically about COVID-19 vaccinations.

I personally agree with medical freedom, but during this time of a pandemic it is very difficult to decide what is right and what is wrong because nothing is clear. In my point of view extremists, and those of large influence, should be monitored, but not taken down in order to protect our first amendment right to freedom of speech.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/29/youtube-ban-joseph-mercola/

Payton Miller

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an incredibly infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that sent the globe into a state of panic and fear.

When COVID initially struck, many questions were asked. It changed the entire way of life, especially for those just starting up school. I interviewed Payton Miller, a Morningside swimmer who graduated with the class of 2020, about her transition into college during a pandemic. Miller explained that she comes from a small town in Wyoming, so many of the mask mandates and social distancing precautions weren’t so strict. Miller stated.”I knew it was going to be a huge transition and I would have to compromise”.

As if the jump to a completely different environment during a pandemic wasn’t a challenge enough, Miller faced many limitations coming in as a Freshman in college. “I remember people being like ‘your freshman year sucks’ because we didn’t get to experience many of the activities previous classes did”. One of the largest problems college students came upon was the socializing, no one could really do it. The masks made it hard to recognize your peers, and sometimes even hear them, social distancing prevented any major gathering, and there was a lot of fear and mystery to what would happen if you contracted COVID.

Along with the fear of COVID, there was the fear of being quarantined. Due to quarantine students would be taken out of classes and activities for two weeks to be secluded in a specula “covid hall”. Miller explained her time in quarantine, saying “quarantine led me to miss out on a lot of experiences in swimming as well as school and other activities like homecoming and Mak events, etc”. Miller also explained that her time in quarantine was really hard on her mental health because of how secluded she was while sick. “I got quarantined the day before I was supposed to travel home, so I didn’t get to be comfortable at my own home while sick”. To add on to this Miller also said the food provided was ‘pretty rough’– that may be true unless it was the COVID that took her taste buds!

On September 11th Gabby Petito’s family reported her missing after she did not return from her cross country road trip with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, who returned to his home without Petito.

During their trip there had been multiple eyewitness accounts of the couple arguing, some even reporting that Petito was hitting and punching him in the arm/face as she was trying to get into the van. According to CNN there is a 911 recording of an incident the couple had in Moab, where witnesses had called police and reported a “domestic dispute” between the couple.

Flash forward to September 17th, Petito’s remains have been located in the Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest and Laundrie is reported missing buy his parents.

According to his parents, Laundrie was last seen leaving their home with a backpack to the T. Mabry Carlton Jr. Memorial Reserve in Florida. Currently, law enforcement underwater diving team known as SURF, have arrived to the swampy 25,000-acre reserve in Venice, Florida to continue the search for Laundrie.

This story has captivated people all over the country. Gabby Petito’s story in particular has grabbed peoples attention regarding domestic violence as well as missing persons cases. Everyday people go missing ranging from ages 2-62. This case is no more important than any other case, but it has opened doors for awareness, showing how well communities can work together to solve something so dire.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/22/us/gabby-petito-brian-laundrie-update-wednesday/index.html

Tuesday night McGregor was honored with the chance to throw the first pitch at the Chicago Cubs game.

According to Fox News it looked like McGregor had lined up his pitch to go down the line to home plate, but instead the ball went to the far right nearly taking out the front row. McGregor claims that his ‘power’ was the same as the other ball players, “just the accuracy is a little off”, he told sports reporters.

Although everyone make poke fun of the fighter, McGregor recently underwent surgery in his leg to repair fractures from his most recent fight against Dustin Poirier. McGregor states that, “you can see me based fully on the left leg that was just recently injured”, indicating that may have been a contribution to his wonky throw.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/ufcs-conor-mcgregor-awful-first-pitch-cubs-game

For my scavenger hunt I went over to the Krone Center. Primarily most of those who work in this building are in charge of Morningside’s marketing, social media, photography, and much more. I spoke with Carly Hanson, Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communication. “Over here we do a little bit of everything, jack of all trades really”, said Hanson. Although there are many tasks that Hanson does she explained that she does a lot of the writing and editing for the Morningside magazine as well as talk to other news reporters that do stories about the college. Hanson said she “enjoys writing the most” out of her many jobs.

As I was asking her questions about her job I had her creatively bend a paperclip to any shape she desired. She said that, “I want to make it unique, most would bend it into an ‘S’ shape”. With that, she definitely made it a uniquely twisted shape. Her mindset fit well with her favorite motivational quote: “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense”.

Although our conversation was brief, I got to know more about Carly Hanson and I even discovered that I may occasionally work with her for sports information, my work study job here on campus.

Big bargain announcement made between two steel companies and work union to discourage strike set for midnight tonight.

The strike, which would have resulted in a halt of all production and 475 workers unemployed, for midnight has been cancelled due to the joint announcement of a bargaining agreement between the Ambrose Steel Company and Charles Pointer the president of United Steelworkers Local 923.

President of Ambrose Steal Company, Clyde Parris, does not state the amount of the bargain, but claims the contract includes “substantial wage agreement”.

The exact terms for the agreement will be read at a meeting later tonight. A vote over the contract will take place next weeks union meeting.

Cancer causing radar guns to be banned from East Dakota Highway Patrol.

As of yesterday, reports claim studies are being conducted regarding possible links between the hand-held radar guns guns and cancer after three municipal officers of Central City filed for workmen’s compensation after using the hand-held devices, claiming they caused cancer. The ban will result in the withdrawal of 70 radar guns from service due to the long term exposure to radiation waves from the devices.

Adam Smith, the spokesman of the state policy agency says, “The feeling here is to err on the side of caution until more is known about the issue”. This issue is a ‘first of its kind’ within the department. Smith explains, “the whole situation is under review”.

State troopers will continue to use the radar units that are mounted outside of their patrol cars.

Police report one deceased and one in critical condition in two car collision two miles east of Sioux City on Highway 28.

At 11 a.m. yesterday morning, officials received a call regarding a two car collision which lead to the death of 65 year old Moyer Quick of South Iowa City. The other driver 17 year old Randy Radin of Swan Lake, and the two Quick passengers Dorothy Quick,  61, and and Maxine Steuerwald, 43 were transported via ambulance. Reported to have internal injuries and a fractured skull, Radin is in critical condition.

According to Highway Patrolman, Patric Stewart, both of the vehicles were proceeding west when Quick passed Radin. Upon the completion of the merge, Quicks rear-end struck Radins vehicle, sending both vehicles into the northern ditch. Quick’s vehicle rolled once.

The road was clear with weather conditions being cloudy skies with possible rain in the forecast. The accident is still under investigation.

Local merchant passes after donating “educational rides” to City Park.

Robert T. F. Ho, former owner of the Quick Stop Laundry recently passed away two days ago after he anonymously donated $11,000 to install playground equipment for local parks.

His wife Mrs. Ho said, “Robert always enjoyed watching the kids play in the park across the street. He felt sorry for the kids who had to wait to use the equipment, especially the little ones.” The compassionate businessman provided funds to install a “Hanging gate” and a “Super Slide” for toddlers to use and enjoy.

The first record of a late Jurassic pterosaur, described as the ‘flying dragon’ by The New York Post, was recently discovered in Chile by Osvaldo Rojas, the director of the Atacama Desert Museum of Natural History and Culture.

Previously, these kinds of remains from this period were only found in North America. 

Although there is no evidence of ‘fire breathing’ abilities, the discovery of this creature in the Atacama Desert of Chile helped scientists paint a bigger picture regarding Gondwana and how much land masses have moved over the past 150 million years.

According to the APP archeological journal, the remains consist of the left humerus, a possible dorsal vertebra, and the shaft of a wing phalanx all related to the same individual. Reuters described the creature to have sported wings with a pointed tail and large outward facing teeth. John Jamison of Outsider described the “dragon” to be similar to the commonly known pterodactyl.

The Atacama Desert, a vast barren dry-land once submerged under the Pacific Ocean, has become an increasingly popular area for paleontology excavation.

The discovery suggests that migration took place between North and South America during the time of Gondwana, the ancient supercontinent. Even with a sparse amount of materials, studies show that the traits of the remains classify within the ‘clade Rhamphorhynchinae’ pterosaurs. This includes pterosaurs from the Jurassic era which are located in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Originally, the reptile’s remains were discovered in 2009. Recent studies have revealed that the rhamphorhynchine pterosaur discovery is “the oldest known pterosaur found in Chile,” according to Alarcons documentation in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. It is also the first of its kind to appear in the supercontinent Gondwana which later formed the southern landmasses.

Even though there is further research to be done on ‘why’ they migrated, Jhonatan Alarcon, head scientist of investigation from the University of Chile says, “this shows the distribution of the animals in this group was wider than what was known up to now”. 

As technology progresses, researchers have a variety of ways to get answers about the past as well as get an idea for the future.

https://www.slashgear.com/flying-dragon-pterosaur-fossil-discovered-in-the-atacama-desert-14690744/

https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app66/app008052020.pdf

https://outsider.com/outdoors/flying-dragon-dinosaur-fossil-discovered-desert-scientists/

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/flying-dragon-dinosaur-roamed-southern-skies-too-scientists-say-2021-09-10/

https://nypost.com/2021/09/12/flying-dragon-fossil-discovered-in-chilean-desert/