The Purloining of Pangolins

Link to Article and Video- http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/04/opinion/sutter-change-the-list-pangolin-trafficking/index.html?hpt=hp_c3



The pangolin is one of the most unique animals in the world, but the only people who seem to know about it are illegal poachers and pangolin traffickers. Pangolins are scaly mammals indigenous to parts of Asia and Africa that seem more like crocodiles. Their bodies are covered with keratin scales (the same material fingernails are made out of) and they mainly eat ants, due to the fact their skinny tongues are longer than their bodies, allowing them to pick ants out of very small nooks and crannies.


But why would an animal like this be highly valued and trafficked for exorbitant values? People all over Asia want pangolins mainly for medicinal reasons because eating parts of the pangolin is said to act as a form of medicine and help heal the human body, even though this has never been proven. Pangolin is also sold in many Asian restaurants as a delicacy for up to $350.  It is estimated that up to 230,000 pangolins were illegally stolen and then sold over the last two years. This rapid amount of poaching has expedited the shrinking of the pangolin population, now making pangolins one of the most endangered species of animals in the world. Even though pangolins are protected by national parks and local governments, many people in poverty who are in need of money will steal them from the wild and sell them to trafficking agencies. Pangolins are easy prey because they're only form of protection is rolling up into a scaly ball, which can easily be picked up by pangolin purloiners. Despite conservation efforts, very few people are aware of the pangolin's plight. Because of this ignorance, pangolins may become extinct in the next decade before people ever knew they even existed.

This issue of pangolin poaching is just another example of how our modern-day society continues to undervalue the importance of the natural beauty of earth and all the flora and fauna it contains. The fact that the pangolin, one of the rarest animals on Earth, is on the verge of extinction because some people just want to make some easy money selling precious pangolin parts. It is saddening to think that our current world values money and material items more than nature, an irreplaceable gift that doesn't come with a price tag or a better version coming out next year. Its funny how people only seem to care about polar bears or pandas because they're "soft" and "adorable". I find it peculiar that companies like Coca-Cola never try to ensure the longevity of animals like the pangolin, because they look unusual and are unpleasant eye candy to millions of consumers worldwide watching Coke's commercials. Additionally, Chinese restaurants are completely willing to sell plush pandas, but would you ever imagine seeing a plush pangolin for $7.99 plus tax? Large companies don't even really care about the plight of endangered species, just the fact they're good for selling their product or increasing a company's reputation in the eye of the public. Some people, however, do see the true beauty in animals such as the pangolin and are willing to work for the protection of pangolins for years to come, because they know all of nature is a gift from God to us that we must continue to preserve and conserve for generations to come. Overall, the pangolin problem and the extinction crises of many other animals can help us as humans join together and fight to keep all of nature intact, because it is truly the only beautiful thing left in our current world. But why is it only when a great tasting soda tells us to protect animals, that we truly start to care about them?

Awful Ambition

Link- http://calvincorreli.com/2011/04/06/why-ambition-is-bad/

Summary

Calvin Correli discusses the negative and harmful effects of ambition in his article "Why Ambition is Bad". Even though most Americans view ambition as a good thing because it drives them towards success, it is actually not beneficial at all and there is nothing good that comes from it. Ambition causes people to only look towards the future, meaning they view aspects of their lives as mistaken and believe the world they currently live in is flawed and not as good as it could be. Even though ambition may get into your "dream college" or get you your "dream job, it is not going to dramatically improve your life. Since you're always looking towards the future and are always to constantly working to achieve your goals, you never have time to focus on those around you or enjoy life the way it was meant to be. Basically, life isn't about trying to please others, making a ton of money, being well-respected, or proving yourself. Life is about having fun, living for the now, and enjoying all the moments with friends and family. 

Opinion

I completely agree with all of Calvin's statements and ideas about ambition. Life shouldn't be one big board where you're trying to slide every single pawn on the spaces that help you succeed or get ahead. I believe life should be more "seize the day" ("carpe diem" in Latin), than waste the day away by performing meaningless tasks or assignments just to work your way up to another step on the ladder of success. What's the point of being ambitious in the first place? All it does is completely divert your attention and focus to the future. Once you get done doing something to improve your future, you just move on to something else that will improve your future, and so on. But once you get to the summit of the Mountain of Achievement, what else do you have to life for? You will have already wasted a great part of your life away just to get into a position of prestige and honor. But this position will not determine your character, actions, or morality and will do absolutely nothing for you in the eyes of God. The purpose of life is not to become the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company, a famous racecar driver, or even a singer whose songs top the charts every week. The true meaning of life is to love others, live as an image of God, and to treat others the same way which you would want to be treated. Making tons of money is nowhere near as important as making our world a better place. Ambition simply tries to change your future, even though it does nothing to improve the world around you or focus on what you have currently,because you never know when your blessings in life may be gone. 

Taurus vs. Grendel (Glogster)

http://kammandcheese.edu.glogster.com/grendel-vs-bull

Olympic Hockey 2014: Team USA's Tough Road to Gold Starts with Czech Republic

The Americans started off with one of the toughest schedules of the group round and thrived. Slovakia, which is traditionally counted as one of international hockey’s eight strong countries, should have been a challenge for the United States but was humiliated in a 7-1 loss. Next up was a tough Russian squad playing on home soil; they took Team USA to the limit, but the Americans ultimately prevailed. Finally, the group round finished with an obligatory win over Slovenia.

That the United States was able to prevail in a tough situation is to that team’s credit. The U.S. (and for that matter, Russia), just came out of a schedule that might be likened to a difficult river passage, while top opponents Canada and Sweden saw only moderate challenges.

Unfortunately for U.S. medal hopes, that imbalance is not at an end with the completion of the group round. The Canadian and Swedish routes to gold are going to be very difficult, involving two games against top teams. The Americans (and, again, Russian) voyage is going to be extremely hard to make and likely means they aren’t the gold-medal favourites at this point despite their successes.

It starts in the quarterfinals. Thanks to the vagaries of international competition, only six of international hockey’s so-called “Big Eight” teams will compete in this round of games. Canada and Sweden were lucky enough to draw the upstarts from Latvia and Slovenia, respectively, and barring something wholly shocking from happening, they are guaranteed a spot in the semifinals.     

Al Bello/Getty Images

The United States has no such luck. Instead, they face a Czech team capable of beating them. The two teams haven’t played each other in the Olympics since 1998, when the Czechs knocked off the United States in the quarterfinals en route to a gold-medal win.

This year’s Czech Republic team isn’t the equal of that 1998 squad. It is most evident in net, where the team doesn’t have a generational goalie like Dominik Hasek. Instead, they have to choose between one of the NHL’s weakest starters (Ondrej Pavelec) and a pair of KHLgoalies (Alexander Salak and Jakub Kovar).

Making that choice even more difficult is that Pavelec played today and has an ugly history in back-to-back games at the NHL level:

There’s a good argument, too, that the Czechs aren’t making the best use of the players at their disposal. It started with the naming of the team, a team that now includes 42-year-old Petr Nedved and excludes two of the NHL’s top-five Czech scorers (Jiri Hudler and Radim Vrbata).Nedved, incidentally, has been getting more ice time than NHL’ers like Martin Hanzal, Michael Frolik and Ondrej Palat. And that’s not even getting into the fact that Tomas Kaberle, who washed out of the NHL two years ago and is second on the blue line in time on the ice.

Dave Sandford/Getty Images

But for all the controversy surrounding the team, the Czechs are still a medal threat in every tournament, boasting significant talent up front and on defence. There are signs, too, that Czech head coach AloisHadamczik is settling into a more sensible game plan with his roster.

In the Czech Republic’s first elimination game, against Slovakia, the team almost exclusively used NHL’ers in its top-nine forward group, with the lone exception being Roman Cervenka, who scored twice and has 12 shots in the tournament. Michal Barinka, the controversial roster inclusion who the IIHF reveals is also the coach’s son-in-law, was scratched for the game.

The United States is certainly favoured to beat the Czechs, but as every hockey fan knows, anything can happen in a single game, and the gap between the two teams is narrow enough that it wouldn’t be a huge shock to see the Czech Republic knock Team USA out of the tournament. So, while Sweden and Canada play far inferior teams, the Americans will be white-knuckling their way through a game against a legitimate medal contender.

It only gets harder after that. If the Americans prevail, they’ll likely face Canada, the team they lost the gold medal to in 2010. Only if they manage to beat Canada will they meet the winner of the other side of the bracket (Sweden, Russia, Finland and Slovenia) in a gold-medal tilt.

It will be a tough trek, and the riskiest portion of the journey starts tomorrow against the Czechs.

2013-14 Fins Highlights

Nebrasketball Starting Lineups for Illinois

Nebraska Cornhuskersvs. Illinois Fighting Illini Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014 - 8 p.m. CT TV: Big Ten Network / RADIO: IMG Husker Sports Radio Network

Illinois Fighting Illini (14-10, 3-8 Big Ten) Streak: Won 1 Last Game: Defeated Penn State 60-55
PROBABLE STARTERS
POS.	NAME (STATS)	YR.	HT.	WT.
G	Tracy Abrams (averaging 11.5 ppg and team-high 3.2 apg)	Jr.	6-2	190
G	Kendrick Nunn (true freshman averaging 4.8 ppg)	Fr.	6-3	180
G	Malcolm Hill (true freshman scoring 3.6 ppg with 2.2 rpg)	Fr.	6-6	210
G	Rayvonte Rice (leads team with 16.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg)	Jr.	6-4	235
F/C	Nnanna Egwu (ranks third in Big Ten with 2.3 bpg)	Jr.	6-11	250
Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-10, 4-6 Big Ten) Streak: Won 1 Last Game: Defeated Northwestern 53-49
PROBABLE STARTERS
POS.	NAME (STATS)	YR.	HT.	WT.
G	Tai Webster (played just 19 minutes vs. Northwestern)	Fr.	6-4	194
G	Ray Gallegos (ranks seventh in Big Ten with 2.0 3-pointers/game)	Sr.	6-2	182
G/F	Terran Petteway (had 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists vs. Northwestern)	So.	6-6	209
F	Shavon Shields (second on team in scoring with 11.0 ppg)	So.	6-7	219
C	Walter Pitchford (had career-high 15 points against Northwestern)	So.	6-10	234

De Vita Josephi Kammi

Hello, I'm Joey Kamm and I'm Cheddar than you. I am a Sophomore Sweetheart at Creighton Preparatory A.K.A "Champ High" in Romaha, Nebraska. Sum doctissimus omnium. I enjoy avian and ornithological activities such as birdwatching, bird-banding, and collecting Wild Republic Audubon Birds. My personal favorites also known as "Da Nest" are the Snowy Owl, California Condor, and the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock (pictured below).
 
At Prep, I play Football and also participate in Track and Field. I don-t just do the required amount of curricula's, I do extra-curriculars. These include Latin Club, Quiz Bowl, Operation Others, Campus Ministry Advisory Board and other dandy activities as well. I volunteer at the Omaha Henery Doorly Zoo #ZooCrew4Lyfe , tutor kids at Hillside Elementary, and at other places like the Sienna Francis House or Open Door Mission.

I am planning on working as a lifeguard this summer, and possibly other jobs in order to "bring home the bacon". At Prep, my favorite class have to be Native American History, Latin II, and of course the all-important English II.