On Thursday officials investigating the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 announced that the flight, carrying 150 people, had been intentionally destroyed by the Co-Pilot, 27 year old Andreas Lubitz.  

About 30 minutes into the flight, the aircraft began a rapid 10 minute decent over the French Alps, ultimately crashing into the mountains.  Authorities recovered the cockpit audio recorder and what they heard was both tragic and shocking.  Once the plane reached cruising altitude, the Pilot excused himself to go to the restroom, leaving the Co-Pilot in control of the aircraft... standard procedure.  However when the Pilot attempted to reenter the cockpit with his authorization code, he discovered it had been overridden from the inside.

It can be heard on the audio recordings that as the Pilot frantically tries to get into the cockpit, Lubitz is conscious , calm, and in complete control.  Passengers can be heard screaming as the plane descends into the mountain.

Now authorities are digging into the past of Lubitz in an effort to understand what could have motivated him to commit this mass murder of men, women, and children.  Also, European airlines are looking into changing operating procedures in an effort to stop this type of tragedy in the future.  

Thoughts? 

Last month Matthew Gregory McLaughlin, an Orange County attorney in California, proposed a ballot measure which would make it legal to execute homosexuals.  The so-called "Sodomite Suppression Act" would allow gays and lesbians to be "put to death by bullets to the head."  The law would also ban homosexuals from holding public office.

The State Bar is now investigating McLaughlin claiming that he is in violation of the "good moral character clause" of the California Bar Review. 

Such a law is clearly unconstitutional and calls for the disenfranchisement, expulsion, and murder of citizens, however it is disturbing that such a law would even be proposed in our modern society.  But according to California State Law, anyone can file a ballot measure if they pay the $200 filing fee.  In order for the measure to actually appear on the state ballot, McLaughlin would need 366,000 signatures in support of the measure. 

Thoughts? 

Generally, the modern Catholic Church has condemned all violent actions by the international community.  Their official position is that all human life is sacred regardless of whatever faith a region or country adheres to.  That official stance is not being challenged by the reality of what ISIS (The Islamic State) is doing in Syria, Iraq, and beyond.

This past week Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's top diplomat at the United Nations said this group of Jihadists were committing "genocide" and that they needed to be stopped.  He went on to say that a coordinated, well thought out coalition first needs to do everything possible to achieve a diplomatic settlement - without violence, but that if that turns out to be impossible, the use of force will be necessary.

The Church has stated, officially, that if the world (including itself) does nothing while this genocide continues, many years from now our children and grandchildren will wonder why we sat by and did nothing.

Endorsing violent action against ISIS, or any other group, is not something the Church takes lightly.  However it's belief system is that evil exists and the good need to combat evil... and it views ISIS as a great evil.

Thoughts? 

"The #CollectiveProject is about harnessing the power of the many to bring great ideas to life. Follow us as we shine a light on the stories of these students who are making positive changes for their communities."

Organized by Microsoft this movement seeks to encourage students to find their passion and exploit it... exploit it in an effort to bring real, positive change to the world.  There are a number of Collective Projects currently in motion, and one of the most inspiring is from group known as "Limbitless Solutions."  

When Albert Manero was a child his parents instilled in him a very important, but also simple lesson - do whatever you can to make the world a better place.  Thus he founded the Limbitless Group; a non-profit group which builds affordable, bionic, 3D-printed arms.  Manero is currently a graduate student in mechanical engineering where he is helping others to learn his technique.  

Recently Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) helped deliver one of Manero's designs.  You can see the video below.

We all may not be mechanical engineers, but we can all work to make the world a better place. 

The University of Oklahoma has severed ties with one of its fraternity groups, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, after a video of fraternity members went viral.  The video in question included members chanting, 

"There will never be a n****r in SAE.  You can hang him from a tree, but he'll never sign with me, there will never be a n****r in SAE."

The students in question are on probation pending an investigation, however the fallout for the university could be much more long lasting.  The school is now playing damage control as it fears students will choose not to attend the school due to it now being cast as having a race problem.  Already Jean Delance, a top freshman football recruit, had de-committed from Oklahoma and is on his way to the University of Alabama.

The larger issue here is that that this incident makes clear that issues of race and racism are still very much a part of our society.  Had it not been for social media this incident may never have been made public, and for all the issues caused by social media, it sometimes has the power to expose the more ugly aspects of our society, as well as expose those individuals who choose to spread that ugliness. 

Thoughts? 

In a recent New York Times column the topic of the "Bucket List" was raised.  For those of you unfamiliar with this concept, it is a list (preferably a short list) of things one wants to do before they die.  The list normally includes places a person wants to visit, extreme activities like sky diving, going to a certain concert or sporting event... etc.  

In this case however the column argued that people are often resorting to small scale Bucket List items when faced with the reality that death is approaching.  As an example the column discusses a man suffering from a terminal illness who wanted nothing more than to have one of his favorite dishes from his youth...a ham loaf.  

This choice illustrates what many people believe to be true, that in life it is the small things which truly matter.  Recent psychological research also suggests that when people are faced with their own mortality, more often than not they will seek the simple comforts in life rather than the elaborate.

What about you?  

Perhaps more than any other group, high school students deal with the realities of online bullying.  Twitter "beef", trolling and constant harassment happens so often that we are in danger of thinking this is simply the way it is. Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling is refusing to allow that mindset to set in. 

On February 25, Schilling took to Twitter to announce that his daughter would be attending Salve Regina; below is the text of that tweet:

"Congrats to Gabby Schilling who will pitch for the Salve Regina Seahawks next year!!"


The responses that not only he got, but also messages sent to his daughter's Twitter were shocking.  Various people threatened to physically and sexually assault his daughter and many others favorited these tweets.  Schilling quickly began responding to these tweets, while also doing a little research into the identities of the people behind those Twitter accounts.  Very quickly he had their names, addresses, occupations, schools, and telephone numbers... a good lesson that there is no such thing as "private" when it comes to social media.  Schilling has been in contact with the employers, coaches, and schools of some of these people and they are now facing the consequences of their tweets.


It seems that in the online, digital world, people are very willing to say things, threaten, and harass others, saying things that they most likely would not in person.  Celebrity personalities deal with these types of things all the time (See Jimmy Kimmel's "Celebrity Mean Tweets).  However sometimes normal people fall victim to these types of things.  


In 2013 when the Red Sox were in the World Series, the team had a contest in which they asked fans on Twitter why they deserve to go to Game 1.  Your post needed 20 retweets to qualify, then the Red Sox would choose the winner.  Kelly was pregnant at the time and she tweeted that we would name the baby "Fenway" if they gave us the tickets.  We got the tickets, but not before there were vulgar tweets sent Kelly's way from people who were angry they had not won.

What are your thoughts concerning this issue... either in general terms or the Schilling situation specifically.  

Last week prosecutors from Massachusetts' Bristol County District brought manslaughter charges against 18 year-old Michelle Carter for her part in the death of her friend Conrad Roy.

According to the district attorney, Roy drove his truck to a local K-Mart where he purchased a portable gas powered generator.  He set up the generator inside his truck causing a buildup of carbon monoxide.  Before losing consciousness Roy got out of the truck and texted Carter telling her he wasn't sure he wanted to go through with it, her response via text was simply, "Get back in." 

Prosecutors argue that instead of notifying their school, police, friends, or anyone else she encouraged him to take his own life; and according to the DA this constitutes manslaughter.  Defense attorneys claim that the state is over reaching.  Carter was never with Roy, never helped him commit the actual act, and essentially had no part in his death.

If convicted, Carter facing up to twenty years in prison.

Thoughts?