Columbine shooting

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After the occurrence of the shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado, that left 13 dead and other 20 severely injured. The intelligence service group did an investigation at the scene where the shooting occurred to gather information to find out relevant groups that may have ought to get involved in the attack (Birkland, T. A. (2004). Entirely some interviews were done with students, Harris and Klebold who were involved in the shooting were associated with the group called The Trench Coat Mafia. There was a loose group that involved close former social affiliate group of students and some of the current Columbine High school students that had no right leadership democracy, formal organization structure and can only compare to the juvenile gangs that found in the street. Though according to an investigation, this group has got no association worldwide. The Trench Coat Mafia was fascinated by Goth culture.

Trench coat mafia is a group that seems to have got no proper foundation and clear origin. It is said to have begun with a small group of members who started coming to school by putting on black trench coats. Black Trench coat was a common unique symbol that the group used to put on as a sign of membership amongst themselves. The dress code led to several nicknames for instance “outcast” that members used to call themselves and outsiders if you did not belong to the group. Most of the Trench coat members used to take part in different types of activities in school, for instance, playing Doom games, video games as well as producing videos for school projects and most members of the group harassed by the jokes from athletes. In the year 1998, a photographs book was obtained giving identification and the names of people who belong to Trench coat group, and in the following year, a photo was also produced capturing reflecting members posing pointing weapons towards the camera. The image of Klebold and Harris appeared holding guns fantasizing to be firing weapons.

Religiously organized terrorist groups have a more significant influence in the society especially to youth members that have a self-driven ideology. Their actions are personal and secret, and their self-interest hence proper explanations were needed for their cause of such kind of works, their aim and mission should bring to book. Members of the terrorist group are usually devoted and determined to the reason of the whole group. Related Religious groups such as “Trench Coat members’ terrorist groups” use religion ways protect their interest hence in this case, Harris, and Klebold did the shooting to cause revenge and to retaliate for being bullied with other students who based on different religions that were not theirs (Muschert, G. W. (2009). Land, autonomy, and Ethnic difference are frequently the main factors leading to fights amongst the affected religious manner, for instance, the case of the Palestinian – Israeli Conflict and the battle for Jammu and Kashmir (a province in Northern India) between India and Pakistan (Goldstein, 2007).

There are specific implications when individual terrorist groups and individuals are involved and viewed as prominent Eschatology, and terrorist groups come together to form a particular conviction that the end times is almost near and the conditions of violence should prevail to score reward of the holy warrior before their dignity. Most of the Eschatological see themselves as the marshals of end times, and their participation shall be greatly rewarded (Muschert, G. W. (2009). There is no negotiation involvement with the enemy because God doesn’t comprise with wicked.

It sounds so sad that the attack had higher probability chances of being prevented, but it wasn’t

Some years before the attack, the rampage sheriffs the columbine detective’s body law enforcement tried to link a website that belongs to Harris the shooter to the pipe bombs that found near his house. An affidavit was filled for warrant search to be carried out but it was not issued. Within some days shooting occurred that left 13 dead and 20 injured occurred. The report about Harris website asked, but it never brought to court. Information in the affidavit was enough to hold Harris into a count and to ask several questions, and even if the there wasn’t enough information, a search warrant was to be issued to help in the provision of enough information. However, the carelessness of the police, a search warrant was to be released to get more information to do away with suspicion of terror attacks. In today’s world, such kind of information should not assume by the police force or any relevant law enforcement authority.

Terror attack that occurred in Columbine led to a more and better rapid response category. Columbine Response has received criticization widely, but recently a lesson has been learned from their strategy, it has helped save lives of many individuals in Douglas High school in parkland and Marjory Stoneman before the Colorado shooting (Hogan, M. J. (2001). Response officers do set some secular perimeter to surround the crime scene before they could attack the suspected area. Columbine Response has led to the development of more training, police department from the sheriff’s department includes 16 hours course training that prepares responders to distract and isolate. Most of the response officers have trained on the alert programs hence this has helped to save quite some lives.

Americans have created highest priority department called Homeland security this helps in dealing with terrorist attack threats. The United States is facing severe, dangerous terrorist threat; this has enabled a state to use weapons of mass destruction. The nuclear weapons radiological, chemical and biological that has been aimed to harm a large group of people. Homeland security department works tirelessly to prevent terrorist attacks and other threats from engaging in the use of such weapons (Birkland, T. A. (2004). Critical infrastructure is also another physical and cyber system that is important in the united states to, their inability to would debilitate material impact on economic security or public and safety for citizens.

Columbine has acquired some new style of mass shootings and new tricks that both the participant in this case the public and law enforcement responded. Since the attack of Columbine, school security has changed to improve the standard of lives of citizens. Different faculty members undergo thorough training and students are also expected to prepare some attack shooter drills. The police are focused on surrounding a building before the attacking the scene to stop the shooting. Now as from 1999 columbine has never been a deadliest scene so far.

Reference

Lawrence, R. G., & Birkland, T. A. (2004). Guns, Hollywood, and school safety: Defining the school‐shooting problem across public arenas. Social Science Quarterly, 85(5), 1193-1207.

Muschert, G. W. (2009). Frame-changing in the media coverage of a school shooting: The rise of Columbine as a national concern. The Social Science Journal, 46(1), 164-170.

Stretesky, P. B., & Hogan, M. J. (2001). Columbine and student perceptions of safety: A quasi-experimental study. Journal of Criminal Justice, 29(5), 429-443.

Colony Collapse Disorder

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Introduction

During the winter the winter period of the year 2006-2007, a number of beekeepers began to account for unusually high losses of bees in their hives. half of all the affected colonies established symptoms conflicting with any previously known causes of bee death: unexpected disappearance of a colony’s worker bee numbers with limited number of dead bees found in and around the colony.

The mother queen and the brood were left; the colonies had fairly plentiful honey and pollen stocks. However the queen and brood cannot maintain themselves without the worker bees and they would die at the end. This permutation of events resulted in the loss of thousands of bee colonies that is now called the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). No concrete reason has ever been given to explain as to what really caused the CCD, various factors have been put forward to try and explain the causes (Benjamin & McCallum 2009).

One being malnutrition, bees living in the wild had the option of feeding from different types of plants. Bees kept by farmers fed on a few plants nectar or a single crop and in the end suffered nutritional deficiencies which affected their immune. Disappearance of any insect can be associated with pesticides use and the in the case of the CCD it could not be ruled out. Beekeepers were mainly concerned about a probable link between the disappearance of bee and pesticides containing nicotine. Imidacloprid was one such insecticide, known to make insects display symptoms similar to CCD. The insecticide, in other terms, exposed the bees to plague, and in that increasing the possibility of the bees dying early.

A pesticide known as imidacloprid had some effects on bees, visible damage. Because all the affected colonies had large quantities of parasites and pathogens compared to the other colonies and the researchers speculated in particular if it might have weakened the immune system of the insects. To find out the truth, the researchers gave 20 different hives food rich in protein which is usually given to developing larvae that was laced with imidacloprid. In ten of the cases the dosage was five parts per billion (ppb); in the remaining ten it was 20 ppb. Earlier experiments showed that the dosage was not harmful to bees. Another ten were fed on food laced with nothing at all. The young bees appeared a few days later. A doctor Pettis took them and gave them some fungal parasite for twelve days before killing them to find out the extent of the infestation. All the groups that came into contact with the imidacloprid contained an estimate of about 700,000 parasite spores in every bee (Rotner & Woodhull 2010).

Bees that were from the controlled colonies contained far much fewer spores in their bodies about 200,000. Whether this was the reason behind the collapse of the colonies that is still to be determined although it is still a theory, and is a topic to keep the beekeepers occupied. Another cause was the genetically modified crops. Pollen from genetically modified crops especially from corn distorted to produce a toxin. It was found out that not all bees that were foraging for nectar in areas with the genetically modified plants were affected; however there was still a link between the CCD and the pesticide.

Bee migration was another reason given for the disappearance of bees. Most of the commercial bee keepers rented hives to farmers, hives were driven over long distances at the back of tractors which affected the bees orientation to the hives, and being moved every now and then stressed the bees. Shortage of hereditary Biodiversity was another cause linked to the CCD. Almost all of the queen bees in the whole of the United States, and consequently all of the honey bees come from one the many breeder queens. The narrow options may have reduced the quality of bees used for breeding, and were more prone to diseases and pests (Benjamin & McCallum 2009).

Beekeeping methods used by the farmers could have affected the bees, what the bees were fed on, application of chemicals, and all other practices done to the bees could have led to the CCD. Although some of the practices have been used for a very long time they could have contributed majorly to the CCD. Some of the parasites and like the foulbrood and also tracheal mites could not have caused the CCD on their own, but some deduced they make the bee more prone to it. Beekeepers are afraid of varroa mites, as they pass on viruses and the chemicals used to control the mites affects the bees health. Bees affected were found to have traces of a pathogen. And the common thing that the collapsed colonies had in common was, they all had huge loads of parasites and also pathogens.

Disease was another reason that led to CCD. One category of diseases that was found to be present in all the cases was a virus called the invertebrate iridescent. A major connection was discovered between Nosema and the falling colonies, but the presence of Nosema really forecasted a collapse. Exposure of bees to the toxins in the environment was another cause, and some think chemicals were responsible for the CCD. Water can be used to manage insects and chemicals. Bees looking for nectar might have come into contact with chemical either from the homes or the industries (Rotner & Woodhull 2010).

An extensively reported cause is the use of cell phones, which was widely disputed by some scientists who looked into the relationship between the bees and electromagnetic fields, and found no evidence of the electromagnetic field interfering with the bees in any way. Change in climate was another reason given for the CCD. Unpredictable weather patterns which led to floods and droughts which in turn affected the flowering of plants with some plants not flowering at all or flowering early than the bees could fly, thus leading to a shortage of pollen and nectar. Many beekeepers blamed the change in climate for the CCD.

Conclusion

A pesticide called imidacloprid had a bad effect on honeybees. One thing in common with the collapsed colonies was the higher concentration of parasites and pathogens than in the other colonies, the researchers wondered if insect weakening immune system was due to the pesticide. Whether this is actually the reason for colonies collapsing remains to be determined. But it is a plausible hypothesis, and is likely to get beekeepers buzzing with interest. Some pesticides can be harmful to bees. That is the reason why labels should be put on pesticide containers known to be harmful to bees and the more reason why everyone should read the instructions.

References

Benjamin, A., & McCallum, B. (2009). A world without bees. New York: Pegasus Books:

Rotner, S., Rotner, S., Woodhull, A. L., & Woodhull, A. L. (2010). The buzz on bees: why are they disappearing? New York: Holiday House.

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How Slavery was entrenched in the Colonies of British North America.

Introduction

In the 18th century, Slavery was a cornerstone of the British Empire. Indirectly or directly, all the 13 British colonies relied on Slavery, from the southern rice plantations located in South Caroline, Charles Town, to the wharves in Boston. Slavery had become more of a labor system that affected all aspects of colonial culture and thought. The unequal relationship it engendered gave colonialists an exaggerated sense of status. Slavery gave English liberty greater coherence and meaning for white people after comparing themselves to the unfree enslaved Black people held captive in British America. More particularly, African Slavery gave white people a shared racial identity and bond. This essay explains how Slavery became entrenched in colonies of British North America.

How African Slavery in British Northern America All Began

In the 1620s, white indentured servants carried out the majority of the heavy labor. At the time, labor-intensive tobacco cultivation was introduced in Virginia for European markets. Indentured servant refers to a European immigrant, mostly British who worked for another person for a specified time without payment in exchange for free entry into a new country. The first case of African Slavery to be documented in British North America was approximately 20 women and men that arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 (Horne, 34). The group were likely captives from the Ndongo kingdom in present-day Angola. Privateers seized them from a slave ship headed for Mexico before trading them in Virginia. Along with indentured servants, African slaves worked on tobacco fields, although it remains unclear if the former were treated and considered slaves. By 1675, African Slavery had become a well-established practice. By 1700, slaves had completely replaced indentured servants. With lots of lands and available slave trade, southern planters started to prosper and family-owned tobacco plantations became an economic and social norm.

Rising Demand for Slave Trade

In theory, Slavery was already a widely accepted practice before the discovery and exploration of the New World. So, when Portuguese slave traders began exploring the African coast, the practice of indigenous tribes enslaving each other was already being practiced. They started buying slaves and exporting them for sale to the colonies of the New World. Proponents of Slavery argued that the Portuguese had a mission to convert as many heathens (African non-Christians) to Christianity. African Slavery gave them an opportunity to do that more effectively. Although the practice of indentured servitude was rife, British colonies favored enslaved Africans. In addition to their husbandry knowledge and special skills, Africans were appropriate for British use. Slavery quickly became a significant part of the colonial economy. It was integral in the development of the expansion of the British commercial empire across the Atlantic world.

Golden Triangle Trade

The triangle trade is a system of exchange of cash crops, slaves, and manufactured goods between the Caribbean, West Africa, and Europe between the late 16rh and early 19th centuries. The trading system specialized in three main commodity types, including crops, manufactured goods, and labor that were traded across three key Atlantic geographic regions. Ships left Europe with manufactured goods that were exchanged for kidnapped or purchased African slaves (Gordon-Reed, 2). The Africans were carried across the Atlantic Ocean before being traded or sold in America for raw materials. Subsequently, raw materials were carried back to Europe to complete the voyage. A classic example of the triangle trade is the sugar trade. Sugar was often in liquid form, molasses. It used to be carried across the Caribbean to Europe, where it would be distilled into rum. The profits made from selling sugar were used to buy manufactured goods that were supplied to West Africa where they were exchanged for slaves. The slaves would then be taken to the Caribbean and sold to sugar farmers. The profits from selling African slaves were used to purchase more sugar across Europe and other continents. This specific triangular trip lasted anywhere from 5-12 weeks and ended in numerous fatalities for African slaves while the voyage was midway. An estimated 2 million enslaved passengers died from abuse, violence, disease, suicide, or even lack of food and water.

Slave Resistance

It reached a point where slaves everywhere resisted exploitation and tried taking their freedom back using rebellions and uprisings. Some examples are the New York Slave Rebellion of 1741 and the Stono Rebellion. They also employed other less violent resistance means such as running away, slow labor in the plantations, sabotage. Unlike their Caribbean counterparts, American slaves did not successfully overthrow the practice in their colonies. As such, they did not get freedom until a legislative decree was effected after the end of the civil war.

Conclusion

In closing, Slavery was a common practice in the 13 colonies in British North America. African Slavery became widespread after the decline of the indentured servitude labor system, where people exchanged labor for free passage into America. The rising demand for African slaves led the first group of African slaves in British North America to work alongside indentured servants in tobacco farms in Virginia. The British people preferred African slaves to indentured servants because of their skills and husbandry knowledge.

Works Cited

Gordon-Reed, Annette. “America’s original sin: Slavery and the legacy of white supremacy.” Foreign Aff. 97 (2018): 2.

Horne, Gerald. The apocalypse of settler colonialism: The roots of Slavery, white supremacy, and capitalism in 17th century North America and the Caribbean. NYU Press, 2018.

COLONIAL EXPERIENCES IN CHESAPEAKE AND NEW ENGLAND

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Colonial Experiences in Chesapeake and New England

Even though Chesapeake and New England had many similarities, their differences were also astonishing in the face of how their response to the conditions in the environment. The colonial experiences are different in different aspects but also similar in others and therefore varied. Chesapeake colonies included Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, west, and east new jersey, while new England colonies included Rhode island, new haven, Massachusetts bay colony, Connecticut, and Plymouth.. These two groups of colonies began almost at the same time. However, they began for different reasons, which pushed each other further away in terms of the quality of life each of the groups on each side lived. This paper, therefore, discusses the colonial experiences in the Chesapeake and New England islands with a focus on education, purposes of establishment, economy, religion, and life expectancy.

The two different areas where England’s colonization was established for different reasons shaped the experiences each of the two sides got. The puritans mainly settled in the New England area; therefore, the settlement on the land was mainly driven by religious reasons. On the other hand, those who settled on the Chesapeake islands did so for economic purposes. Their form of practice was purely capitalistic. They desired to bring wealth from the colonies to the motherland in England. Therefore focusing on these two different reasons for the establishment, it is clear that the experiences in the two colonies were different. Those in the Chesapeake islands worked more and were more productive, while those who settled for religious purposes were not very productive. Religion in the two colonies also played an important role. This is because most of the Protestants at that time left England to go in search of peace. Therefore these two areas, even though they shared a religion whereby Protestantism was the majority they had no balance since the Chesapeake was not so much concentrated on religion as new Englanders were.

Education was another essential aspect that made the experiences of the two colonial territories challenging to balance. Education in New England was much more than it was in the Chesapeake islands. The difference was almost a 100-year difference in their education levels and which was very difficult to cover. In New England, there were policies like any village with 15 families was to build an elementary school while any town with 100 or more families was to build an advanced middle school. On the other hand, Chesapeake Island had no such rules and, therefore, the education level and quality difference. Therefore the northern part whereby the new Englanders had settled had a higher education than it was for the southerners.

The economy was another defining feature that differentiated these two areas. The southern part of the Chesapeake was mainly focused on the economy and making life better. However, the other part, which is the northern part, was focused on religion, and economic was the least of their concerns. There were distinct social classes in the northern part where the upper and lower classes were utterly distinct. This brought about inequality since the rich made the poor suffer and took away their property, leading to the bacon’s rebellion. The northern side was not so much into the economy; therefore, as long as they had their basic needs satisfied, they did not wish to involve themselves in so much. Most of the individuals in New England were Puritans, and their main focus was religion and education..

Life expectancy in New England was much far higher than life expectancy in Chesapeake. In New England, life expectancy was around 80 years. On the other hand, life expectancy in Chesapeake for men was 43 years, while the life expectancy for women was between 35 and 38 years. This was because the area of the Chesapeake Bay islands was in severe climatic condition. The land chose to build on and cultivate was not wisely chosen; therefore, those who settled there ended up suffering. The water was not clean, and there were a lot of mosquitoes. In New England, the climate was favorable, and the people who settled there were more concerned about each other’s welfare and health than on the Chesapeake Bay islands. This, therefore, explains the difference in life expectancy between the two areas..

In conclusion, the individuals who settled on Chesapeake bay islands were focused on the economy and making the best use of the area, and having as much wealth as possible taken to England. However, new England settlers were focused on finding a good place to practice their religion, and they focused more on education. They were also more communal and social than those who settled in Chesapeake, which is displayed in the life expectancy differences between the two. Therefore colonial experiences were better for the new England settlers as compared to the Chesapeake settlers.

Collegiate athletics are just as competitive as professional athletics. Tailor-made training programs are necessary for athletes as they help reduce incidences of injury and improve performance. An effective warm-up protocol is essential in an effective training program. Warm-up exercises prepare an athlete’s cardiovascular and skeletomuscular system for the strain caused by vigorous training and competition.

Long jump athletes require strength, agility, power, and speed to jump as far as possible from the takeoff point. An effective warm-up protocol for long-jump athletes involves exercises such as heel kicks, high knee skips, and sprint drills. To increase the intensity of these exercises, the long jump athlete needs to perform these exercises while wearing weighted vests of 1kg. The first movement in the warm-up protocol is heel kicks. This movement involves rapidly kicking one’s heels towards their buttocks while bending both elbows at ninety degrees. Heel kicks are explosive exercises that work on the hamstring muscles, the glutes, the core muscles, arms, and back. The athlete should do a five-minute set of 10 heel kicks at 30-second intervals. The exercise is done for 30-seconds, and the athlete rests for 30-seconds.

The following exercise is high knee skips. This exercise involves skipping in place while bringing the knees towards the chest. This exercise boosts lower body strength and endurance by targeting the quads, calves, glutes, hip flexors, and hamstrings. The exercise requires one to keep their arms close to the body while bending the elbows at 90 degrees to maintain balance and control over body movement. This movement keeps one’s heart rate up while improving cardiovascular endurance. An athlete should do this exercise at 30-second intervals for five minutes. Sprint drills involve running at top speeds over short distances. Sprints are total-body exercises that work both the upper body muscles and lower body muscles. The exercise primarily targets the quads and works the shoulders, abs, hamstrings, glutes, and hip flexors. The athlete should sprint distances of 100 meters for 10 minutes. The recovery time between each sprint should be 2 minutes.

The exercises highlighted above target upper-body and lower-body muscles. These exercises also help the athlete build endurance, speed, agility, and power. As the exercises work all muscles in the body, they reduce the likelihood of injury while improving performance.