Super Bowl 2018
In a historic win the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots 41-33. Not only was this historic for the Eagles, being that it is their first Super Bowl win, but the cities and fans of both teams had to deal with a lot afterward. Philadelphia erupted in riots after the win, with crowds storming the streets and celebrating. Though the Eagles didn’t just win the Super Bowl and Philadelphia didn’t just celebrate, there were whispers of protest for the NFL team. The Eagles fight song, which many sang afterward, carefully included the line of “Free Meek Mill”. Not only was this statement said in the song, but the Eagles ran out onto the field Sunday night to Meek Mill’s song “Dreams and Nightmares”. Meek Mill is a rapper from Philly, who is currently incarcerated for violating his probation. This sentencing has been protested and many people have called out how broken the American justice and probation system is. There has also been protests to the riots in both Philadelphia and New England, especially on social media. People pointed out how it is acceptable to riot and take to the streets when a sports team wins, but people are often met with opposition when rioting or protesting against things such as police brutality and human rights issues. This points out a big flaw in the way the US views sports and people, and how people are willing to turn a blind eye when they benefit from it.
Nancy Pelosi Filibuster
A few weeks ago, on January 20th, the US government shut down for the weekend after failing to pass a budget bill. The government opened again January 23rd after it was voted to continue to fund the government for four more weeks in order to come to a conclusion. Part of the protest against the budget bill was the lack of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) funding within the new budget. And yesterday Nancy Pelosi set out to hold the longest filibuster, a whopping 8 hours and 10 minutes, since 1909. Her filibuster was a protest against the stalled negotiations for DACA. She continued her speech to convince House Speaker Paul Ryan to allow a floor debate on immigration, and also came out with one of the longest filibusters in history.
Earthquake in Taiwan
On Tuesday February 6th, Taiwan suffered a 6.4 earthquake that claimed at least 10 lives and left many more missing. On Thursday February 8th, a 5.7 earthquake hit Hualien, leaving the city devastated. Rescue and search teams have been sent across the city to search for the missing and rescue anyone who is trapped. Many residents and citizens are leaving their homes in fear of aftershocks that could damage even more infrastructure.