The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

By Suzanne Collins

Read in 9th grade (though most read earlier)

Book 1 in series

Book 2! Catching Fire (coming soon)

Book 3! Mockingjay (coming soon)

Book 4! The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (coming soon)

    Katniss Everdeen is a teenager in District 12 of Panem, a country that rose from the ashes of the old world. It is controlled by the Capitol which has become every more authoritarian after a rebellion by District 13, which is now in ashes, 74 years ago. To remind every one of the Dark Days, it hold the Hunger Games. Each of the 12 districts must provide 2 tributes, one boy and one girl, to participate. They will be thrust into the arena to battle it out, and the victor will be free from participation and be immersed into the riches of the Capitol.

    To keep the Districts in line, there is a fence, and poaching of wild animals is illegal. Katniss and her friend, Gale, both have families to support, so they hunt anyway. Gale makes good snares, and Katniss's bow never misses.

    Today is reaping day. Both Katniss and Gale are receiving tesserae for their families. The reaping is a kind of lottery. If you enter your name extra times, the government will give you just enough salt and grain to survive. They have both vowed to never let their siblings get chosen. But it doesn't matter.

CNN 10 8/3/2020 ~ 8/6/2020

Go to cnn.com/cnn10 for latest video

Monday, August 3, 2020

Tropical Storm Isaias is the 9th hurricane this Atlantic season. It is moving through Florida and slowed to a tropical storm from hurricane on Sunday, but it is still plenty dangerous. It is expected to dump rain and flood much of the East Coast. There is also a full moon coming up, increasing tides and the effects of the storm. COVID-19 will also impede rescue efforts. COVID-19 is also affecting the NFL. Football is expected to start as scheduled in September with the necessary precautions, even though many players have already tested positive during training camp. NFL officials are confident that proper sanitization and social distancing will be kept by its players. They will also have the option of using specialized helmets for further protection. Unlike the NBA, it will also be traveling, with each team playing at their respective stadiums. The chief medical officer believes that this will encourage players to maintain safety off the field to ensure not only their safety but also their team's. The Players' Association has also agreed on extensive testing during the season.

Time: School's Out

Time: School's Out

By Molly Ball and Katie Reilly

    President Trump has been pushing for schools to reopen. As seen in the photo, some schools have been testing pilot programs for what in-person learning could look like in the fall. Mandatory masks, hand-washing, temperature checks, and plastic shields around desks. Classes could also be staggered to avoid too many students on campus. An even bigger problem is transportation. With buses reduced to just a fraction of normal capacity, families with full-time working parents could have a difficult time getting their kids to school.

    The current federal guidelines suggest that schools reopen during Phase 2 with proper precautions in place. But people like President Trump say that is too restrictive, and schools should reopen faster. It is true that online learning can be problematic in the long run, with many students struggling or zoning out; besides, it just doesn't provide the same stimulus as in-person learning. Still, many parents would rather try their hand at homeschool than put their kids in danger. Learning "pods" with groups of children and tutors have been booming as working parents try to help their kids.

    While it is true that countries in Asia and Europe have successfully reopened, their governments have brought the virus under control. Cases have declined in those countries, and countries that reopened to fast, like Israel, saw a second shutdown. Experts say that if Trump wants schools open again, he has not done enough to control the virus. Until then, schools will just be another casualty of COVID-19.

TedEd: The imaginary king who changed the real world

A TedEd by Matteo Salvadore

In 1165, a strange letter circulated through Europe. It told of the biblical Tower of Babel and the Fountain of Youth. The letter was signed by a certain Prester John. Although we now know this was false, it impacted European history for centuries. It spurred on the Age of Exploration, caused intercontinental diplomacy and indirectly caused Civil War. When the letters first appeared, Europe was in the midst of the Crusades, a series of wars agains Muslims in an attempt to control Jerusalem, the Holy Land. The Church vilified all the other religions that populated the region, such as Judaism and Islam. During these wars, the Christian rulers needed allies, and were interested in the rumors of a powerful Christian king who had defeated the Muslims. This king was actually a Mongol army with a few converted Christians that had wreaked havoc. However, unreliable news transportation ended up with the tale being converted to a Christian army in the Middle East, with a letter by Prester John to back it up. Although obviously Christian propaganda, European leaders were guessing at his location, and began searching for his descendants along the Silk Road a century later. When the Mongol empire fell, Europe began to search along Africa about the time that Ethiopians began to travel to Rome. Because their location and timing matched Prester John, the Portuguese believed the Ethiopian king was Prester John and formed an alliance with them. Over time, however, it became clear that Ethiopia wasn't what they thought it was, and the alliance dissipated. On top of that, the Catholic Church declared the Ethiopian sect of Christianity heretical, which tossed Ethiopia into civil war. Eventually, the myth of Prester John faded into history books.