March 25, 2018

Parkland students speak with Harvard students & faculty about the gun conversation. Amazing.

Extraordinary video, but then, that seems to be the norm for these kids.

March 24, 2018

George Clooney to Parkland students: 'You make me proud of my country again'

Stoneman Douglas student journalists guest edited the Guardian US for two days. This is one of the articles they wrote:

Today, our staff at the Eagle Eye, the student newspaper at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida, is taking over the Guardian’s website to run coverage of the March for Our Lives. We hope to use the Guardian’s platform to heighten awareness of the issue of gun control and school safety to such an extent that the federal government can no longer ignore us.

As part of this project with the Guardian, we requested interviews with a number of politicians and celebrities, including Bernie Sanders (he said yes!), Marco Rubio (another yes) and George and Amal Clooney, who gave $500,000 to support the march. They turned us down on the interview, but we loved the letter George sent us back.

– Emma Dowd, Lauren Newman and Rebecca Schneid, co-editors-in-chief of the Eagle Eye

Dear Emma, Lauren and Rebecca,

Thank you for your note and congratulations on the incredible work you and all of your fellow students are doing to make the country a safer place.

It’s terrific that you’re editing the Guardian. It’s a stellar newspaper and they must feel honored to be working with you.

Amal and I are 100% behind you and will be marching in DC on the 24th, but we both feel very strongly that this is your march. Your moment. Young people are taking it to the adults and that has been your most effective tool. The fact that no adults will speak on the stage in DC is a powerful message to the world that if we can’t do something about gun violence then you will. The issue is going to be this, anyone you ask would feel proud to be interviewed by you but it’s so much more effective if it’s young people.

You could talk to a dozen kids like the young kids from Chicago and LA that Emma met with. You could take over the Guardian and make it tell the stories of children by children. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to point to this moment and say it belongs to you. You certainly should do what you want but that would be my hope for you.

Amal and I stand behind you, in support of you, in gratitude to you.

You make me proud of my country again.

Thank you.

All the best,

George

Go to the article and check out the embedded links - more good stuff there.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/23/george-clooney-to-parkland-students-you-make-me-proud-of-my-country-again

March 24, 2018

Parkland student journalists guest edit Guardian US for 48 hours - great stuff here

Parkland students take over Guardian US

Guardian US has invited student journalists from the Florida high school where 17 people were shot dead to direct our coverage of March for Our Lives, a historic protest against gun violence

No one is better placed to tell the story of the burgeoning movement to change gun laws in America than the young survivors of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

That’s why the Guardian’s US colleagues are stepping aside today.

They’ve invited student journalists from the Eagle Eye, the award-winning newspaper at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school, to serve as our guest editors for the next 48 hours and oversee the Guardian’s coverage of March for Our Lives, the massive student-led protest unfolding in Washington and across America. We’re sending 11 students to the nation’s capital as Guardian correspondents, contributing to our live coverage all day on Saturday.

In addition, the students have assigned and commissioned more than 10 stories to be published on the Guardian over the next three days, including a manifesto to end gun violence, an exclusive interview with Bernie Sanders , and a harrowing feature about the impossible choices their teachers faced when an active shooter entered the school. They also wanted to make sure the project included the voices of students in urban communities struggling with high rates of gun violence.


More, plus lots of links in this article to great stuff:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/23/parkland-students-take-over-the-guardian

March 24, 2018

Watch MSNBC uninterrupted coverage of speeches in DC here if you don't have cable:

http://www.livenewschat.eu/politics/
Phenomenal speeches.

March 24, 2018

Teen Vogue Gun Control issue: Brilliant Op-ed by Emma Gonzalez - great video also.

Why This Generation Needs Gun Control

In an exclusive op-ed for Teen Vogue's gun control issue, Parkland survivor and activist Emma González shares why young people are stepping up for gun control.

On Wednesday, February 14, 17 students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, were gunned down on the campus where I also attend school. Their names were Alyssa Alhadeff, Scott Beigel, Martin Duque, Nicholas Dworet, Aaron Feis, Jaime Guttenberg, Chris Hixon, Luke Hoyer, Cara Loughran, Gina Montalto, Joaquin Oliver, Alaina Petty, Meadow Pollack, Helena Ramsay, Carmen Schentrup, Alex Schachter, and Peter Wang. Our lives and our community are forever changed due to this senseless tragedy — one we know could have been prevented.

Since that day, many fellow survivors and I have not kept quiet. We have taken the media by storm through appearances and interviews, met with state and federal lawmakers to beg them to enact much stricter gun control laws, and been joined in protest by students around the nation and the world who’ve held school walkouts and demonstrations that exhibit the energy and power of young people in full force.

In just a few weeks’ time, we, the youth of the United States, have built a new movement to denounce gun violence and call for safety in all of our communities.
And this is only the beginning.

Much more at link.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/emma-gonzalez-parkland-gun-control-cover

Includes some amazing videos, and check out the links at the bottom of the article on other student activists. Extraordinary.

March 23, 2018

Obi-Wan was wrong

...when he said you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

March 18, 2018

David Hogg creates NRA style ad: What if our politicians weren't the bitch of the NRA?

https://twitter.com/davidhogg111/status/974763267984850944

March 17, 2018

More Inspiring Signs from National Student Walkout

https://twitter.com/davidmackau/status/973928349201502211/photo/1

https://twitter.com/SteveGWSB/status/973920437565521920/photo/1

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/974145186770059264/photo/1

https://twitter.com/KaylaEpstein/status/973930932410503169/photo/1

https://twitter.com/sallykohn/status/973967738644418560/photo/1

https://twitter.com/LittleMissFlint/status/973915305247494146/photo/1

More:
https://www.refinery29.com/2018/03/193671/best-national-school-walkout-signs-anti-gun-violence

March 17, 2018

Great sign from the National School Walkout

https://twitter.com/krubinpwrha/status/973822762639855616/photo/1

March 17, 2018

Stephen Hawking VS Donald Trump:

https://www.facebook.com/CREDO/photos/a.121478005967.124121.6851405967/10157271724375968/?type=3

"Sorry, losers and haters, but my IQ is one of the highest - and you all know it."
-D.T.

"People who boast about their IQ are losers."
-Stephen Hawking