What we can learn from Joplin, especially those who covered it

I just spent the last fifteen minutes reading an account of New York Times reporter Brian Stelter's time reporting from tornado-ravaged Joplin, MO and it struck a cord on a few levels, part of why it seems fitting to publish this thought here, on the newly christened Cord World Blog.

What is interesting to pull from this particular Tumblr post is while most of the reporting emanating from Joplin has been the same devastation and tragedy from the outset, now we see the people that felt it necessary to chase that event and spend time there with those it impacted most. As well, the chronicling of such an event using almost exclusively an iPhone by a correspondent for about the most old-fashioned news outlet there is, the NYT, speaks volumes on the future of this sort of reporting and potential for near-instantaneous reporting that retains some semblance of journalistic pedigree.

Those of us at The Cord are here for any number of reasons, but foremost I feel like there's a calling to report and inform and do a thorough job of putting what we see happen in the world into words for the benefit of others. Every day this world becomes more and more chaotic. With the incessant 24-hour news cycle we live in, someone always has to be there, someone needs to be telling everyone else - watching TV in bed or reading the paper (or tablet) on the subway to work - what happened and why.

So for now, as Doomsday predictions come and go but the tornadoes, hurricanes and volcanoes continue to interrupt peoples' lives elsewhere in the world, it seems like there will be no end of this sort of necessary reporting any time soon, nor will there be people who feel compelled by something in their gut to jump into that situation or comment on it critically from afar. Whether it's breaking news like the tornadoes in the U.S. or longer drawn-out issues that have been forgotten by most of the world after they fell from the headlines, someone will need to be there. Someone needs to jump in a rental car, not sleep or be generally ruthless in pursuit of information that will be of benefit to others and those who it affects on a personal level.

While that was a bit of an idealistic rant, there is something to be said for this idea behind all that we do at The Cord and will continue to do with this blog.

Immigrants found illegally heading to the U.S

Over 500 illegal immigrants were found packed in two tractor trailers. Each one had payed a fee of $7 000 to travel to the United States. The immigrants came from many different places such as China, Dominican Republic and India.

After being caught for traveling in 'inhumane conditions', Mexican authorities provided shelter and food until they could all return to their appropriate residence.

Last year, 25 000 illegal immigrants were found in Mexico, making this another occurrence of that same problem.

-By Sam Polzin

Who needs a hard drive?

Thanks to the latest edition of the Academica's Top 10 mailing list, I came across Google's newest toy. The Chromebook, which operates only using the web (ie no system programs or fluff), is set to hit the U.S. on June 15. Hopefully it will be available to the Canadian market at the same time as well. It will be interesting to see how it holds up in comparison to tablets and laptops.





-By Linda Givetash

Japan provides nuclear disaster survivors with a compensation plan

Victims who have been effected by the nuclear disaster known at Fukushima Daiichi, will be receiving the help that they need. The Japanese government has released a compensation plan that will help the victims as well as the operator of the plant it self.

The plan will issue special purpose bonds and provide credits but will also be fueled by other nuclear power plants that will be asked to donate.

Due to the large amount of families living in local gyms and shelters, Tokyo Electric made a generous down payment of $12 000 per household which will help to house the families in need. Tokyo Electric is a $157 billion company that has been suffering because of this disaster. Bankruptcy has been a close call because of the effect the disaster had on farmland, housing and shop keepers.

The expected amount coming out of the compensation plan is an estimated $124 billion. The video below focuses on the volunteers who have assisted in cleaning the residue from the recent earthquake. Volunteers also take the time to share stories from the survivors.

-By Sam Polzin

British Students Have Opportunity to "Buy Places" at Top Universities

Some of the richest students in Britain will soon get the chance to purchase extra places at a high cost but allow them to attend the university of their choice. These students would get charged the same tuition fees as international graduates and would be asked to pay the money up front. Students who are able to do this will not be eligible for student loans which means very few will be taking advantage of this new opportunity.

A quota was released by the government, stating the places that the universities are allowed to offer. Charities and employers are being encouraged to sponsor "off quota" places which will be outlined in the summer.

This will all be of benefit to undergraduate students living in lower income homes because the more publicly occupied places will now be available to them. The universities' minister is in the process of receiving feed back and working out the benefits of these new rules.

The government is in the process of cutting 10,000 publicly funded places, so this new opportunity allowing wealthy students to buy places could be criticized as happening during an inconvenient time.

-By Sam Polzin

The six men in charge of the death of Osama Bin Laden: Their lives as Navy Seals

The 12 Month 'London Prepares' Series Begins to Prepare for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London

The 2012 Summer Olympics are set to be held in London next year!

A £40 million program is being launched titled the "London Prepares" series and will be used to test out the equipment and venue as well as familiarize the staff with their jobs and responsibilities for the ceremony.

This opportunity also gives the public a chance to see some of the games and events in advanced and get a feel for what it will be like next year.

Over the next 12 months, the various components of the Olympic games will be tested and tweaked to perfection. Tickets will be on sale to witness four events this summer including BMX, basketball, beach volley ball and mountain biking.

Their goal isn't to have everything run smoothly, but to run into mistakes and fix them so they don't happen again.

This will ensure that the 2012 Summer Olympics in London will no doubt be a success.

- By Sam Polzin

Teenagers are Unaware of Important World Issues

After many searches were made on Google questioning "Who is Osama Bin Laden", the results revealed that majority of those searches were made by teenagers.

This news segment features interviews with kids in New York City and shows the shocking results that kids are uninformed about world issues such as 9/11 and the recent death of Osama Bin Laden.



- By Sam Polzin