March 30

Revised and hopefully better issue brief

Fertilizing The World

Introduction

Fertilizer is a huge necessity of today’s world. However, with America cutting ties with Russia and all trading exports, America must be more cautious with what we can and cannot grow in our current economy. To keep America running smoothly as a country, this must be a top priority. There are not many plausible solutions outside of being more aware of our resources and that begins with testing our soil and the preservations of our crops. This situation can be prepared to that of the gas prices. As more people began to notice that gas prices were increasing, they started partaking in different actions like driving less, buying more eco-friendly cars, or using public transportation more often. If people take this fertilizer upsurge as seriously as gas prices, this problem could be solved and set up a plethora of solutions for other economic problems.  As small as the problem seems, fertilizer is the center of our economy and must be replenished to keep America running because sooner or not the problem will arise, and we are underprepared.

How This Issue Came About

For anyone that is curious on how this whole problem came about, well the answer in short is Russia invading Ukraine. You may be curious on how that personally affects the United States when it seems we have little to no relevance to Russia and Ukraine, the matter of fact is Russia has a huge effect on our current, thriving economy. With Russia cutting ties to most countries outside of its own, it leaves a massive hole in food markets globally as Russia accounts for roughly 14% of all fertilizer export.1 After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, most countries, especially western countries have shown little to no respect for Russia. This has led Russia to stop importing very essential needs like oil, steel, and fertilizers to these countries. With the likes of Biden and other Western country leaders, Russia is being isolated from the global trading system after its invasion of Ukraine.2 However, not all the blame goes directly to Russia as these fertilizer prices have been increasing since the start of 2020.3 Within the past 30 years there has been two exponential booms in the fertilizer industry. One in 2008 and one recently in 2021.4 

This has been a sneaky concern previously and is one yet again. If nothing is down to preserve fertilizer, it can stay at this relative rate and maybe even increase to a more dangerous standard.

The Global Effect

There are many problems with the increase of fertilizer. The main concerns are the cost of food is going to increase, or the amount of food being sold is going to decrease. The invasion of Russia has caused the prices of grain to increase by nearly 20% and fertilizer by 14% and further inflates food costs.5 This is only the beginning because if crops like grains are increasing in cost, it is only a matter of time until various fruits, vegetables, etc. also increase. Also increasing drastically are the average cost of compounds, especially the ones that are associated with fertilizer. Fertilizer consists of many different elements like for example, ammonia, nitrogen, nitrates, phosphates, and sulphates, etc. However, within the last year, the prices for these materials have increased by an astounding 30%.6 A 30% increase is a drastic change, especially within a year as it causes people to change their lifestyle and adapt to new ways of living.

Paragraphs obviously aren’t finished but you can kind of gather what direction everything is heading in. Any feedback would be beneficial, thank you. Also don’t worry I will be making a better title soon.

Category: RCL | 3 Comments on Revised and hopefully better issue brief
March 30

Never Take Candy from A Stranger

So for today’s blog, I initially had no idea who was blog was going to be about. I was considering doing someone around the likes of Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, or Jack the Ripper. However, these are some of the most known serial killers in history. So I looked up some “lesser” known serial killers and came along one of the most eery stories i’ve ever read. I have never heard of this killer or the story surrounding it, so we both are going into this blind.

The name of this assailant is Dean Corll. Corll was born in 1939, in Fort Wayne, Indiana and lived a troublesome childhood, as most of these serial killers do. His parents split in 1946, leading to his mother moving to Texas and marrying another man. With this new venture, the Corll family decided to open a candy shop in hopes of making it big in the business industry. At first, Dean has spent nearly all of his time at this store, mostly helping out his mother and step-father.

His lifetime goal of working at the candy shop had to be put on pause because Dean was drafted into the U.S. army in 1964. Surprisingly he only served 10 months before discharged and sent back home to help his mother with her business. Upon his return back home, Dean immediately went back to work for the candy business and devoted more time effort than he had before. Soon enough the business started gaining recognition and popularity. Along with this fame came accusation. There has been incidents of Dean flirting with the younger kids that would stop by and even physically touching them as well. These incidents had never really spiraled into anything special at the time but it was a clear indicator of what was to come.

Within the blink of an eye, these almost feeble flirts have become something extreme. Within the blink of an eye, young boys were being abducted, raped, tortured and killed for one’s “pleasures”. Even more interesting is that Dean had accomplices who would go and fetch young boys for Dean to molest and kill. The one being, David Brooks, who was only 14 at the time, while Dean was in his 30s. The other collaborator was another young boy (Elmer Wayne Henley) who Dean also molested but decided to keep around instead of killing. Between both Brooks and Henley assistance and Dean’s sadistic ways, a total of 28 young men were murdered.

The reason why it took so long for Dean’s reign to come to an end was because the Houston police department would offer little to no help to the victim’s parents as they deemed the kids as “runaways”. This murder spree was eventually put to an end when Dean’s own partner, Henley shot him six times.

According to this article about Corll’s psychology, there is not much introspect on why he committed these murders, besides the fact that his parents split and the possibility of working day and night at his parent’s store may have played an affect. However, not much more than that. He was just a sadistic person who wanted to commit heinous crimes for the hell of it.

Sources:

https://allthatsinteresting.com/dean-corll-candy-man-killer

Making of a Monster: Dean Corll (Pied Piper)

Category: Passion blog | 4 Comments on Never Take Candy from A Stranger
March 29

Issue Brief

For my issue brief, I wanted my issue based around something environmentally related but is also fresh and almost unheard. This led me to my topic of the increase in fertilization cost, what it means for the economy globally, and how a potential world war caused this disparity.

My first paragraph will be my introduction to the topic as probably not many people are familiar with the problem. I will then label some statistics of fertilization prices over the years as well as throw in a little infographic. My second paragraph will be based around why this is happening globally. What really led to the increase in fertilization prices across varying countries. Third paragraph will be about much the economy will be affected. Which countries will fail and which will thrive. Fourth paragraph will be about alternatives to this issue and if they are even plausible. Now the remainder of the work is unknown yet, however, the ending will be if the problem is solvable, and the potential outcome of the world due to this crisis. I will tie everything together and conduct a final conclusion.

Since this is a relatively new topic so more information will be presented as life goes on so I will have more ideas as life goes on.

 

Here is my intro paragraph:

You are probably curious on what a paper about fertilizer may have to do with public policies and issues? And that is where the issue begins. Everybody in the world is currently caught up with the known, Covid, gas prices, and a potential World War III. However, nobody seems to talk about the increase in fertilizer prices as America receives most of their fertilizer from Ukraine and Russia.[1] This is seen as a huge economic problem because if fertilizer prices increase, it can lead to one of two outcomes; Either higher prices among fresh fruits and vegetables or less mass produce as fertilizer would cost more to buy and apply to crops. Fertilizer consists of many different elements like for example, ammonia, nitrogen, nitrates, phosphates, and sulphates, etc. However, within the last year, the prices for these materials have increased by an astounding 30%.2 A 30% increase is a drastic change, especially within a year as it causes people to change their lifestyle and adapt to new ways of living. A rather relevant example would be Covid-19 as it spurted an outrage with people around the world, and people were poorly handing the situation, so to avidly avoid the same situation, when must all as humans be prepared for these consequences

Source:

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/22/fertilizer-prices-are-at-record-highs-heres-what-that-means.html

 

Category: RCL | 3 Comments on Issue Brief
March 22

The Scariest Beings on Earth

Is there anything scarier than a female serial killer? I honestly cannot name one. I think I would rather try to fight a bear rather than get into any sort of conflict with a female. The things that makes female serial killers so worry some is you just would not expect it from them. Not saying anything towards females of course, but them all seem so innocent, then boom you’re dead. The female we will be covering today is none other than Judy Buenoano. She is probably the most known female serial killer of all time, and rightfully so. I mean she only has 3 official murders, and one attempted murder to her name, but this should not be taken lightly. She murdered her husband and future boyfriend through arsenic poisoning, son who was also disabled by drowning, and attempted bombing of her future fiancé. Her motive was simply money. After each person she killed, she would just collect their insurance money and live a lavish life and no one ever suspected anything.

The story behind all of these deaths are so eery and heartless that I decided the best thing to do is include them. I will begin with her first husband, James. James was an air force sergeant who married Judy in 1962. As in any marriage, they were both happy, or so it seemed. Until one day, James was found dead inside his own home. Nothing ever seemed suspicious as James just came from the Vietnam War so his death was ruled as a heart attack. Not too long later, Judy was with another man. his name was Bobby Morris, and just like with James, Bobby suffered the same fate and was ruled dead by “heart attack”.

Now obviously Judy has some of correlation with these murders, however, she had no suspicion to her because poisoning is one of the most lethal ways of killing someone because it leaves little to no evidence behind. However, this next story is even more frightening as it really hints at Judy’s cruel personality. So her eldest son, Michael, who also had previously served in the military experienced signs of paralysis as he was poisoned with arsenic poisoning. He was rendered immobilized and was forced to retire from the military and head back home. Knowing she would receive finance off of veteran’s insurance and life insurance, Judy took her son canoeing and “mistakenly” rocked the boat and caused it to flip over. Reminder that Michael was paralyzed and also had to wear metal leg braces so these factors caused him to end up dying due to drowning. Judy claimed she had no opportunity to save her son as she was fretting for her life and just like that she was let off the scene and received her finance.

As stated before, she was never suspicious until she tried to blow up her future fiancé’s car. He luckily survived, and surrounding all of these coincidences piled on one another and soon enough she was arrested for her crimes. However, just like with most serial killers, Judy suffered from much distress from childhood. She grew up in a dysfunctional family which led her to bounce around foster homes and be abused as well. One psychologist said this about Buenoano, “While average in intelligence, Buenoano, suffers brain damage and serious psychiatric impairments” (Sun). The abuse as a child had definitely played an affect on her mental and psychological well-being and ultimately led to her death by electric chair in 1998.

 

Work Cited

https://allthatsinteresting.com/judy-buenoano

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1990-07-01-9001160462-story.html

 

Category: Passion blog | 4 Comments on The Scariest Beings on Earth
March 17

The Key to Pennsylvania

There are numerous tests worldwide that must be completed by students. For example, PSSA’s, SAT’s and Keystones. Keystones are exclusively Pennsylvania based tests that are mandatory of all students in their high school years. I remember taking both my math and bio keystones my freshman year, and literally after barely passing by say 5 points, my hate for standardized tests really grew. While the math keystone can be taken in the 8th grade, if fortunate enough, bio is available in the 9th and 10th grade, and the english keystone is only offered in the 10th and 11th grade. The worst part is they are mandatory. There is no way bypassing these tests unless your excuse are religious reasons. Luckily for me, these tests are not mandatory to for graduating high schools like it is for the class of 2023 and above. So that means for students, like my brother, are required to pass all three of their keystones to even be standing at their graduation.

This is absurd considering the fact there are most definitely going to be students who will not be able to graduate with their peers because they did not score well on these tests. For comparison, it’s like stating students who do not score a 1200+ on the SAT are not allowed to be admitted into any colleges. It is not a fair evaluation of a student’s potential success later in life and should not be nearly as important as it is currently. Also the keystones being based on different level performances does not do it any justice either. Having students be ranked on a basis of below basic, basic, proficient, and advanced. For starters, having these differing categories are bad enough, but to state someone as below basic and basic is just cruel to say the least. Having someone specified to a certain label can make them feel insecure and incompetent about their abilities within school.

After doing some fellow research on the origin and history of the keystone exams, I have found some rather interesting details that I had not previously known. For starters the test was introduced in 2010 and consisted of many subjects like, English, Bio, Algebra 1, but also Chemistry, Civics, and Government. Thankfully these tests have been narrowed down to its three core subjects because chemistry and government were guaranteed fails for me. Also stated within this article are the motives behind the Keystones. “Establishing high school graduation requirements for students throughout the state; and providing a way for the state and the federal government to hold high schools accountable for educating students” (carautis). Don’t get me wrong, just like with most other standardized test, the keystone has the right idea but is just being executed in the wrong manner. I completely understand the idea of making kids responsible for learning and having a test to prove if students are doing what they are supposed to be doing. But making it mandatory in order to graduate just does not hold fair. Maybe I am being too critical of standardized tests because I am a bad test taker myself, or maybe there needs to be change in how these tests are handled to better fit every ones needs.

Also, within my school, kids were offered incentives for receiving a proficient or advanced on the test. If they received either one, they were given exemptions from final exams their senior years. Not only were people who failed these tests, not given any recognition, there were not given any rewards to push them forward and motivate them to do better.  Another crucial factor that can directly affect the students and the school are the dropout rates. With students learning the only way to graduate is with good grades and keystone testings, there are definitely going to be more dropouts as more students are going to find school even more difficult than before.

It just seems as keystones, let alone all standardized tests, should be revised or discarded as a whole. It just fills a student with a huge amount of anxiety and fear, as well as puts a huge burden on their shoulders to feel accomplished in life. High school should not be a competition, it should be a safe place for students as they learn their place in life. Pitting kids against each other as if it is an all out brawl is not doing any justice except for the kids who are sitting pretty at the top. It just boosts one kid’s self esteem and lowers another. It can be seen in the same light as GPA and class rank as it just puts students head-to-head instead of working together. I know this is true because I would always ask my friends, “what’s your GPA? or what’s your class rank? ” as I always seen it as a competition as well. Then I received my 4.0 GPA and my top 20% in my class rank and soon enough realized it meant nothing. Just like with tests, none of it matters at the end of day. These are just scores that have little to no predictive value of how a student may actually perform later down the road.

If it was not obvious already with my blogs, standardized tests are my least favorite things in the world as I feel they do not accurately represent a student. To sum it all up, correct idea, however, just poor execution.

Work Cited:

  • https://www.carautismroadmap.org/history-and-current-status-of-keystone-exams-in-pennsylvania/#:~:text=In%202010%2C%20Pennsylvania%20passed%20a,History%2C%20and%20Civics%20and%20Government.
  • https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2018/06/momentum_growing_for_killing_t.html#:~:text=Critics%20feared%20it%20would%20lead,complained%20that%20it%20was%20discriminatory.
Category: Civic issue blog | 4 Comments on The Key to Pennsylvania
March 3

LA’s Finest

While the other two murderers had taken place in Kansas, this blog will be centered in Los Angeles. First initial thought that must fly through your mind is the Zodiac Killer. Wrong, instead it someone who actually has been caught for their crimes. None other than Richard Ramirez, aka the night stalker. Ramirez is a serial killer who i’ve shown a growing interest in since his appearance in American Horror Story’s 1984. I even went a far as to watch the documentary, the Night Stalker: the Hunt for a Serial Killer. Richard Ramirez is one of the most satisfying stories to read about because of the person itself. Obviously the murders are intense and gruesome, but it is who Ramirez was as a person that makes his story interesting.

I’m going to give a brief overview of who he was and the crimes he committed. However, want to dive more in depth on his personality traits and mental stability. And ultimately what led to his demise. Richard Ramirez, born on February 29, 1960, was famously known as “the night stalker”. As a young child he was abused by his father and would often even sleep in a cemetery to escape his father. As he grew up he would hang out with his one war veteran cousin, Miguel, who often had stories of his times harassing and raping women. This is probably where Ramirez began fantasizing and imagining the life he wanted to live. Ramirez’s murders would consist of him invading people’s houses, sexually assaulting and robbing them, and sometimes would even murder them. Now this isn’t out of the ordinary. Murder, rape, home invasions all are relatively common when it comes to investigations. However, there was one gleaming factor that was almost unheard of. There was a left on the wall. Symbols representing that of the devil. Richard Ramirez believed he had this god complex to his persona. He would often believe he was invincible because he offered his soul to the devil. “His obsessions with satanism grew to the point where true crime novelist Phillip Carlo wrote that Ramirez believed “Satan was his friend,” and that the devil will protect him from ever being caught for his crimes” (crime sheet).

Growing up Ramirez suffered attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and multiple head injuries. This could have been the likely outcome of what led him to commit all of these crimes. Ramirez’s first act of criminal behavior began as a teenager. “Ramirez worked at a local holiday inn, and used to his access to a master key to enter a woman’s hotel room while she was alone in an attempt to rape her. This violent attempt was the beginning of his independent criminal career – for the first time his imagination was becoming a reality, and he was becoming emboldened while developing sophisticated behaviors” (crime sheet). This was just the beginning for Ramirez for the more crime he committed, the more sadistic he became.

He was eventually caught due to a few major mishaps on his end. The biggest liability was the fact that he never brushed his teeth so his victims would often point out the tooth decay and bad breath. Another key issue was the fact that he was riding a public city bus when a man spotted him and called the police. This led to an ensuing chase and eventually led to Ramirez in jail and sentenced to the death penalty. However, on his last trial he stated, “Big deal. Death always went with the territory. See you in Disneyland.” This quote is so ambiguous and abstract that it still has people wondering what he meant by it.

Cites

  • https://www.thecrimesheet.com/post/night-stalker-peeling-back-an-evil-mind#:~:text=Growing%20up%2C%20Ramirez%20suffered%20from,abuse%20he%20was%20surrounded%20by.
  • https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/1740613/the-night-stalker-always-left-a-pentagram-on-his-victims-and-6-other-chilling-serial-killer-calling-cards/
Category: Passion blog | 4 Comments on LA’s Finest