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News Blurb: Riverside Shooting

By Emily Griesenbeck, Staff writer

On Friday the 24th of October, a crime spree began in Riverside County. The suspect shot and killed a deputy, 15-year veteran Danny Oliver, and point blank range and fled with a woman. While fleeing, the gunman proceeded to shoot another driver at point blank range and steal the victim’s car. After that, the suspect stole a another vehicle and shot two Placer County deputies, only one of which is expected to survive. Eerily, the Placer deputy who did not survive, Michael David Davis Jr., was killed in the line of duty on the exact same day that, 26 years ago, Davis’ father was killed, also in the line of duty.

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News Blurb: White House Break in

By Emily Griesenbeck, Staff writer

On October 3rd, 2014, 42 year-old Omar Jose Gonzalez scaled the fence of the White House, ran across the lawn, and into the North Wing of the White House before being apprehended by Secret Service. In his car, Mr. Gonzalez had eight hundred rounds of ammunition, two hatchets and a machete. He was previously arrested in July of this year and when his car was searched, officers found a vast array of guns, some with scopes and bipods (like those a sniper would use), and a map of Washington D.C. with a line drawn to the White House. Luckily, the President and his family were not in when Mr. Gonzalez ran through the White House grounds. Gonzalez, a US military veteran who fought in the Iraq War, is facing charges of unlawful entering and carrying a deadly weapon. Immediately following the incident, the Secret Service increased surveillance around the fence’s perimeter and changed procedures for making sure the White House entrances were secure.

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News Blurb: Chicken Murders

By Emily Griesenbeck, Staff writer

On September 20th, 2014 over nine hundred chickens were bludgeoned  to death with a golf club and other blunt objects in a Foster Farms facility in Fresno. The Fresno police have arrested four teenagers for the crime- two brothers who lived about a mile away from the farm, a relative of the brothers, and a friend of theirs. The teens were charged with animal cruelty and burglary. Police attribute much of the information they received to the news coverage and social media. Many of the Fresno police officers are concerned about what this act of violence means for the teens in the future, even saying that this act of brutality was that of a psychopath.

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This Album is All Mine

By Emily Griesenbeck, Staff writer

Relaxed. That’s how I would describe Alt-j’s new album, This is all Yours. It’s like going from 100 to 0.  Alt-j’s first album, An Awesome Wave, was just that– an awesome wave of instruments and vocals, all thrown down at once, like a wave crashing against the sand. It was everything from weird noises and chaotic instrumental backgrounds (Fitzpleasure, specifically) to fifty-three seconds of soft, cooing voices (Interlude 3, anyone?).

This is all Yours brings a different element to the table. Their second album is like An Awesome Wave, but after their neighbors asked them to turn the music down. It’s calmer and doesn’t have as many explosions of sound thrown into generally relaxing songs. As I listened to it, all I could think about was things in slow motion because, overall, the album is a lot slower and smoother than their first album. It did, however, include much of the indecipherable English that so frequently appeared in their first album. Much of This is all Yours was easily identifiable with the style of Alt-j, but many of their songs were also songs that you would assume a yoga instructor would play during final relaxation.

Although I felt that this was a more mature and toned down version of the Alt-j that I know, I liked it. As I lay in my bed, headphones in, listening to the album, I felt as if I were falling, slowly, so incredibly slowly, through the air for an infinite distance. Not to mention their sixteen minute song, Leaving Nara–that went by pretty slowly.

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Jon Stewart: A Double Threat

By Emily Griesenbeck, Staff writer

Not only does Jon Stewart host a great political talk show, but he is also an amazing movie director and screenwriter. When Jon Stewart came out with a movie, I was not expecting anything half as good as what I saw. His film, Rosewater, based on the true story of the journalist, Maziar Bahari (played by Gael Garcia Bernal), was riveting, revolutionary, and rebellious!

In 2009, a young journalist, Maziar Bahari, traveled to Iran to cover their elections. What he finds, and records, is that Iranians are rising up against “the dictator” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in favor of a more democratic leader, Mir-Houssein Mousavi. In the midst of all this, Bahari participates in a Jon Stewart spoof segment, where Bahari is called a spy, which subsequently lands him in solitary confinement for 118 days.

During his time in prison, Bahari is interrogated relentlessly by a man dubbed “Rosewater” for his familiar scent. Bahari is completely torn apart by Rosewater, but stays sane by seeking guidance from his Communist revolutionary father and sister. Stewart’s portrayal of Bahari’s time in prison is one of pain, but also a little joy and very Jon Stewart-y humor. We see Bahari lose all hope of leaving prison and returning home to his pregnant wife and loving mother, but we also see his ingenuity and wit guide him into some preposterously funny scenes.

Rosewater, I think, has the potential to become a film to guide revolutions because it shows the emotion of the Iranian people and their relentless fight for freedom. The fact that such a powerful and informative movie came from the hard work of the marvelous Jon Stewart is just the cherry on top.