Blog 3

Saturday, September 21 reports went out about the Kenya shopping mall attack. Nairobi’s Westgate Mall was gunned down for four days by the al-Shabab terrorist. Within this four day massacre there are 67 victims, more than 70 people missing and nearly 200 people wounded.  Forensics reports say all the victims were mutilated. In ways of being hanged with there eyes gouged out, removal of eyes, balls, ears and nose, and their fingers being cut by pliers and sharpened by pencil sharpeners. With that they would tell you to write your name in your own blood. Allegations that some of the hostages had been beheaded and raped couldn’t be verified. Kenya’s National Intelligence Agency (NIS) has been greatly accused my politicians for facts that they had warnings of this attack but when unheeded. Yet, with the same report a policewoman who is pregnant was told by her brother who is with the Kenyan intelligence not to go to Westgate that day warning her of the terror attack.

            This horrifying event is a tragedy that left all ages, women and men killed. When watching a small clip of some of the survivors tell their story it was truly heartbreaking. One lady lay next to a teenage boy shot and heard his cell phone go off and while reaching it she realized he had was dead and put his blood on her to make it appear that she was dead or at least badly wounded. This story should touch the hearts of all because this could have been the mall right up the street. With the NIS knowing this attack was going to happen and not doing anything about it  should bring attention that we really need to buckle down with who is working for the people who are suppose to protect us. Even for the pregnant policewoman not to say anything is an upset. Innocent people, kids, cousins, fathers and mothers were brutally killed all because they decided to go to the mall on the wrong Saturday.


Catrina Stewart, , ed. N.p.. Web. 27 Sep 2013. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/kenya-shopping-mall-attack-nairobi-hostages-were-tortured-before-they-were-killed-says-police-doctor-8842509.html.

Gary Strauss, . N.p.. Web. 27 Sep 2013. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/09/27/mall-victims-tortured-maimed-in-al-shabab-attacks/2882299/.

Natalia Alexander

Blog 4: Mystery of the disappearing bees

     In the past 15 years an important part of our agriculture has been jeopardized by a certain insecticide. The western honey bee and other similar species play a key role in the pollination of many crops we consume. Neonicotinoid insecticides have been linked to the colony collapse disorder. Colony collapse disorder describes the disappearance of bee colonies across a great area. Neonicotinoids are a new type of insecticide created in the 80’s and 90’s. Millions of acres of crops are treated with these types of insecticides. Neonicotinoid imidacloprid is currently the most widely used insecticide used in the world. Neonicotinoids are chemically similar to nicotine, which is found in the cigarettes that many of us smoke. Neuroreceptors are blocked by the neonicotinoids and causes paralysis and death in insects. Over the past couple decades several studies have linked neonicotinoids to colony collapse disorder. Harvard’s school of public health as recreated a colony collapse just be administering small amounts of neonicotinoids to small populations of bees. France and Germany have already took action and banned the use of these types of insecticides. Due to the damage of bee colonies, agricultural entities have introduced changes to increase productivity of the bees. These changes, such as artificial diets and insemination of queen bees, has lead to a decrease in the wild bee diversity. Changes imposed upon bees may cause the species itself to become non existent. Bill McKibben states that “Past a certain point, we can’t make nature conform to our industrial model. The collapse of bee hives is a warning – and the cleverness of a few beekeepers in figuring out how to work with bees not as masters but as partners offers a clear-eyed kind of hope for many of our ecological dilemmas.” Bill’s statement explains that we must not just use the bees as a resource, but have a symbiotic relationship.

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2012/04/09/mystery-of-the-disappearing-bees-solved/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder