Since October 8, firefighters in California have responded to 250 new wildfires. In 2017, 7980 fires have burned 1,046,995 acres of land in California, according to CAL FIRE. One wildfire, the Tubbs Fire, has broken the record for most destructive wildfire in the history of California, burning 36,793 acres, destroying 5300 structures, and killing 22 civilians as also reported by CAL FIRE. In total, the wildfires have killed 42 civilians, according to CNBC. These wildfires pose serious questions about the nature of climate change and how we should treat our environment, as well as questions about how the government should respond to natural disasters.

In an article by Scientific American entitled “Scientists See Climate Change in California’s Wildfires,” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain explains how climate change exacerbated the California wildfire crisis. The summer of 2017 was the warmest in more than 100 years, which dried out vegetation which in turn acted as fuel for the fires. This drying out of vegetation is also related to California’s recent historic drought, also linked to climate change. Additionally, strong winds blew the fires farther and into urban areas.

In the same article, climate scientist LeRoy Westerling says that climate models predict California to have continuing cycles of drought and rainfall due to climate change, a deadly combination when it comes to wildfires.

On October 19, a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation to combat wildfires in California and elsewhere, according to The Hill. Among other things, the bill would include a program for the U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department agencies to treat the most potentially dangerous areas for wildfires by removing dried vegetation, which might drastically decrease wildfire destruction for reasons previously explained. It would also provide $100 million to prepare against wildfires for communities most threatened by potential wildfires. This would be in addition to $576.5 million in disaster relief funds for wildfire recovery recently approved by The House.

The wildfire crisis is not just a Californian phenomenon. So far this year, The Hill has reported that over 50,000 wildfires have burned over 8.8 million acres in the United States, a massive increase over the average number of acres burned per year over the last 10 years, which is only 6 million. As well as wildfires, hurricanes and other natural disasters have also been occurring at an alarming rate in the United States. We must work as a country with our government to respond to these situations and aim to prevent them in the future by addressing their root causes, including climate change.

You can donate here to help two of the counties most affected by the California wildfire crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/napa-sonoma-fires

For information on how to contact Minnesota senators to discuss wildfire prevention and relief, click here: https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/senators_cfm.cfm?State=MN

Early on morning of October 11, North Korean hackers were able to hack into the South Korean government computers and stole about 235 GB of data. The stolen data included 300-lower classified, confidential documents, and there were also classified wartime plans drawn up by the U.S. and South Korea.

Mr. Rhee Cheol-hee, a South Korean lawmaker, had stated to reporters that one of the documents that was stolen included South Korea’s military plan of removing North Korea leader, Kim Jong-Un, if war between the Korean Peninsula breaks out. The hackers had used a computer vaccine service, and South Korea had been able to trace the IP address, of the vaccine, which originated in Shenyang, China.

In 2010, the U.S. broke into North Korea’s computer system; targeting Reconnaissance General Bureau, which is North Korea’s equivalent of the US C.I.A. Last month, U.S. strategic bombers, and fighters jets, flew along the East Coast of North Korea. North Korea claimed a right to shoot any American warplanes flying near the country.

The Pentagon hasn’t yet released a statement, but spokesperson, Army Col. Rob Manning, stated that “I can assure you we are confident in our security in our operations plans and our ability to deal with any threat from North Korea.” He also added, “The operations plan that they are referring to is a bilateral plan, so the Republic of Korea-U.S. alliance remains steadfast in their commitment to make sure they safeguard that information and ensure readiness on Korean Peninsula to counter any North Korean threats.”

Trump tweeted on Monday, October 9th, “Our country had been unsuccessfully dealing with North Korea for 25 years, giving billions of dollars and getting nothing. Policy didn’t work.” He then tweeted later in the afternoon “Presidents and their administrations had been talking to North Korea for 25 years, agreements been made and massive amounts of money had been paid…hasn’t worked, agreements violated before the ink was dry, making fools of US negotiators. Sorry but only one thing will work!” When the reporters asked Trump what he meant by his tweets his only response was “You’ll figure it out pretty soon.”

by: Ali Limback and Eddie López

The definition of gender roles (according to Google) is basically a set norm of what each gender is supposed to be/act/look like.

The typical norm for guys is to be fit, act very tough, and be interested in sports. Guys can also be intrested in other things besides sports, like video games, and more. Most of the time when guys find things of interest, that are typically “girly” things, they get excluded. Often, since they are not intrested in the same thing as most guys, they find the person weird, so they call them names like “fag” or “queer.”

The typical norm for girls is to be super social, very dainty, with no muscle, and very much into their looks. It’s not the usual to have short hair because that’s a “boys hairstyle.”

A good example of exposing people to non “normal” looks is through celebrities and their fashion choices. Honestly, it is more socially acceptable for a girl to wear “boys” clothes than the other way around. That is why I chose to focus on male celebrity

fashion choices.

Harry Styles has recently been wearing outfits that don’t fit into the standards of normal masculine fashion. He has been seen wearing a lot of woman’s clothing (like blouses) and colors men wouldn’t typically wear. We personally think that it’s great to see someone so high in the music industry (a lot of people look up to him) wearing what he wants to wear, and showing people that we can mix fashion, and there’s not a set gender in clothing. A lot of people are being really great about his recent change in fashion and supporting him through it all.

From Glee, the character, Kurt Hummel, was known for his fashion choices. He was bullied and called very rude things because of what he wore because he was different. He was definitely a character to look up to because even through all the bulling, he did not change his fashion choices because of what other people said. It ended up great in the end because he got such a great job in fashion, and he never gave up on himself.

On early Friday, September 29, a US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey aircraft crashed in Syria due to an unknown reason. There is still an ongoing investigation, but it is assumed to be an mechanical issue. The aircraft had around 2 dozen Marines abroad and two members were injured, but according to Operation Inherent Resolve, the injuries was considered non-life-threatening. The injured members were transported to a medical facility and examined.

According to CNN, the military official told them that the hard landing completely destroyed the plane, and that it was not due to enemy activities. The aircraft crashed early in the morning, in a combat zone at a base. The base was where the U.S. maintains Special Operations forces and artillery support. Operation Inherent Resolve released a statement confirming that the crash did happen, but did not give the location. They gave a vague response, saying it was in the Middle East. Later, the officials were able to tell the location of the crash, which was Syria.

The Pentagon will not disclose either names or series affiliation in this mishap. Right now, the U.S. has more than 1,000 troops in Syria. Ospreys are often used to transport troops within Syria. U.S. advisers are working with Syrian Democratic Forces to train them in combat and against Islamic State militants. Earlier this year, the Marines established an outpost in Syria against Islamic State forces, preventing them from retaking hold of the northern city of Raqqa. The U.S. also backed Arab and Kurdish fighters, with Syrian Democratic forces, to secure Raqqa Old City on September 4. U.S. troops had been in Syria since October 2015, to support Operation Inherent Resolve.

On Friday, the 29th, lots of reports from doctors and medical aid groups say that many of the hospitals are at risk for being targeted. Syrian troops had began targeting hospitals, which is considered violating a human rights rule. Human rights groups have protested that the Syrian troops have been violating the rule in “an egregious violation of the laws of war and a callous attempt to inflict suffering on civilians.” According to Physicians for Human Rights, the latest attacks were the most intense since April. Brice de Vingne, of Doctors Without Borders, said that the attacks had been taking place near Idlib. The United Nations has deemed attacks against hospitals a systematic attempt by the Syrian government to target health care facilities.

By: Riley Lumpkin and Gabe Mattick

Hurricane Harvey made landfall near the Texas Gulf coast late on August 25. In just 56 hours, Harvey grew from a regenerated tropical depression over the Gulf of Mexico into a Category 4 hurricane. According to weather.com, wind gusts reached 132 mph in Port Aransas and 125 mph near Copano Village. With the wind, also came massive amounts of rain; an area near Highlands, Texas reported an astounding 51.88 inches of rain!

Various airports in Hurricane Harvey’s path had to cancel or delay more than 12,000 flights, and according to the express.co.uk, Harvey has left 30,000 people homeless. With the staggering amounts of rain, wind, and flooding that occurred, many have lost homes, and some have even lost their lives. As of September 22, 2017, as reported by the Houston Chronicle, 75 people have lost their lives due to the storm. And as they continue to clean up the areas affected by the hurricane, the death toll could rise.

Amidst the chaos, millions have donated to organizations like the Red Cross to help the victims of this terrible storm.

Many people are donating to help the people in Houston, and one significant person is J.J. Watt. His fundraiser raised more than $37 million. J.J. Watt is not the only one donating, the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army have each donated $300,000.

With the excessive damage to over 200,000 homes, there is a lot of debris. According to CBS News, there is an estimated 8 cubic yards of debris, consisting of furniture, clothes, toys, drywall and other items, inside of the damaged houses. Cleaning up the streets of Houston will take months, especially since resources will be divided to help with the damages from hurricane Irma. The debris will go into the landfills. San Antonio and Houston help each other after disasters, and so some of the debris will go there.

Everyone is volunteering and helping out, even though Federal Emergency Management will cover about 90 percent of the costs. Houston is slowly but surely recovering from the traumatic hurricane.

For more information, please visit: https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/tropical-storm-harvey-forecast-texas-louisiana-arkansas