“LGBTQ rights hang in the balance at the Supreme Court. Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg just released plans to defend them.” By Anna North and Ella Nielsen news comment

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This article focused on the plan that both Senator Elizabeth Warren and the first openly gay presidential candidate, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, released to the CNN town halls that are supposed to protect the rights of LGBTQ Americans. The article goes on to talk about the specifics of the plan, the legislation, executive actions, and the policies some advocates critique the plan on lacking. LGBTQ rights haven’t been a huge focus in the debates at this point of the political campaigns but some forums will be focusing on them as election time gets closer.

I thought this article was unnecessarily long. It was wordy and repeated itself in certain sections, especially sections where they would mention Buttigieg. And though it was long, the transitions were clear and smooth. They used phrases like “Warren was not the only candidate…” and “The plans don’t encompass all the reforms…” to prepare the reader for more information. Just, again, I just think that the re-introduction to Buttigieg in the section meant for advocates’ critiques made the article seem repetitive and ruined its flow. 

“Marine veteran walked 810 miles in 42 days for veteran suicide awareness” by Ella Torres News Comment

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Ella Torres reported on Travis Snyder, a 32 year-old veteran, who, on Sunday, finished walking around Lake Michigan for 42 days to raise awareness. His need for wanting people to be aware of veteran suicide stemmed a year after he returned home from being deployed in Afghanistan. He learned that a close friend he worked with committed suicide. Snyder wanted this walk to cause people to become more aware of available resources as well as start a conversation on the issue. In result, he met hundreds of new people and learned their stories.

I thought this article was formatted in a story-telling type way. It started off with Snyder’s reason of why he chose to walk and then, from there, got into what exactly he was doing to raise awareness and how people were being affected by it. The title of the article was descriptive and drew people in, so Torres probably thought it be best to build the suspense and offer background knowledge to her readers before jumping right in. I really liked how the article ended with a quote from Snyder. Torres used the quote to capture Snyder’s purpose of walking, ending the article with a hopeful tone, but making sure not to incorporate any of her own opinions on the topic.

Greta Thunberg Speech

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Yesterday at the United Nations Climate Action Summit, sixteen-year-old Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg, successfully convinced 65 countires to change their emmissions efforts by warning world leaders “that change is coming, whether [they] like it or not”.

To begin her speech, Thunberg is asked what her message to world leaders is and, almost immediately, Thunberg bursts out that “we will be watching you”. 

The “we” she refers to is the younger generation “who have to live with the consequences” of the apparent lack of urgency to solve the climate change issue.

The message continues and Thunberg only gets angrier, projecting her need for change by shaming those who have the power to do something and aren’t. Most of this anger is fueled by the fact that she is a child and has to be speaking to adults about the importance of the issue.

“You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet, I’m onre of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”

And, although she is warning world leaders of the disappointment her generation feels towards them, she is also warning them of the realization her own generation is having. 

“The young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.”

At the end of the day, Thunberg’s urgency of the climate change issue got through to 65 countries, announcing efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by the year 2050.