Ship Capsizes

   http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/world/europe/italy-libya-migrant-boat-capsize.html?_r=0
 
     What's up homies. Today I'd like to talk about a terrible accident that occurred in the Mediterranean Sea April 21st. The boat was carrying around 850 migrants from mainly African countries. These men were trying to leave their native countries and make new lives for themselves somewhere within Europe. Supposedly the Italian coast guard was alerted of a boat carrying illegal immigrants and when a commercial boat went to check it out, the large ship carrying the migrants made an incorrect maneuver and collided with the other boat. The captain of the boat and some of its members may be charged with engaging in illegal immigration. Stories of survivors varied but most of them had been finding work in Libya until the turmoil became too intense, causing them to try and make it into Europe. Reports say that almost all on the boat were adult men. Many migrant boat crashes have occurred but this is by far the worse one.

   As of late Europe has faced in influx in men and women seeking asylum all throughout Europe. Italy had a policy in place that cost around 9.7 million dollars a month which ended up being way too expensive so they had too drop it. Ever since they have been struggling to stop a constant flow of immigrants from Africa. This recent incident has caused Europe to take another look at their immigration policies and are looking for a more efficient, cost effective way to reduce smugglers and stop illegal immigrants from entering into their countries.

Endangered Species Raises Questions

     Hey fam. I'm back and today I would like to discuss the topic of endangered species and a specific species in general, the Northern White Rhino. This species one of the most critically endangered in the world as there is only one known male in the wild left in the world.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/16/africa/kenya-northern-white-rhino/index.html

     Rhinos are a very popular animal and because of that they have become a target of poachers over the past years. They are often hunted due to the value of their horn, in the East many think that a rhino's horn has certain powers and can heal. Due to the dwindling numbers in recent years they have been a protected species but that did not stop poachers from killing them, as a result there is only one wild male left. This male, Sudan is his name, is already 42 years old and seems to be on the brink of not being able to reproduce. This is a devastating fact for these rhinos but many scientists are trying to find as scientific method for reproducing more rhinos. They are looking to due some sort of an embryo transfer but that seems very implausible. Signs do not look good for these rhinos as they are on the brink of extinction. There are 5 more in captivity worldwide and people seem to be doing all they can to keep these beautiful creatures in existence.

     As human populations are growing and more and more species of animals are nearing extinction, this problem is going to be a issue we could possibly face many more times in the near future. I believe that it is crucial that scientists discover an alternative form of reproduction or else our planet may lose many of its most valuable animals. We need to take action today in order to keep the rhinos, and many other species alive. Thanks for reading, see you soon.

Duke Basketball Reigns Supreme

     What's cookin' bloggers? As many of you may know the NCAA Men's National Championship basketball game took place Monday April 6th in Indianapolis, Indiana. The crowd was crazy and the hype was real going into the game once Wisconsin knocked off undefeated, favorite Kentucky in the Final Four. This matchup of Duke and Wisconsin was labeled to be great one and indeed it was! Around 75,000 were in attendance for what would be an excellent game.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/06/us/ncaa-basketball-championship/

    In this back and forth battle between the country's best Duke ended up prevailing, but not without the help of some wonderful freshman. The first half saw multiple lead changes and provided fans with an exciting but grueling game. Both teams went into the half with 26 points with no large storylines at the time.

     Wisconsin started the second half quickly and raced out to a seven point lead but when it looked like they were going to pull away, one Duke player had an objection. Grayson Allen, a freshman, averages about 4 points a game but is a solid player so when Duke put him in during the second half, not much was expected. Allen came out roaring and scored a quick 8 points to put Duke right back in the game. From there on Duke was hot, and Wisconsin was not. Tyus Jones, another freshman for Duke, scored 23 points and made difficult shots late in the game to keep Wisconsin at bay. Duke went on to stave off Wisconsin and became the National Champs winning 68-63.

     Wisconsin's coach Bo Ryan was slightly upset with the officiating in the second half of Monday's game as 13 fouls were called against Wisconsin in the half. He said, "It's just a shame that it had to be played that way." As Ryan was obviously upset, Coach Mike Krzyzewski was ecstatic as he claimed his 5th National Championship. He now has the second most championships behind the legend John Wooden who has 10. As Duke closed out an incredible year of ups and downs there is no doubt that next year Duke will be right back in the hunt for another trophy.

     Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time!

Ant-Vaccines, Anti-Intelligent!!

Hello again, today I'm going to talk about a current events that irks me like no other, anti-vaccinators. I am completely perplexed by the fact that some parents do not vaccinate their kids, they are making a big mistake!

http://www.newsweek.com/2015/02/20/andrew-wakefield-father-anti-vaccine-movement-sticks-his-story-305836.html

http://www.presstelegram.com/health/20150316/anti-vaccination-movement-likely-to-blame-for-recent-measles-outbreak#disqus_thread

These are two articles that I recently read and would like to make a few comments on them. They both pertain to anti-vaccinators. The first article is about the paper Andrew Wakefield and his team of scientists posted in 1998. This paper supposedly showed links to vaccinations and autism in children. Along with this paper came controversy that continues today and has become more heated in recent months. Since this paper has been posted, multiple reports have concluded that the numbers in it were skewed and is completely false. Furthermore Wakefield has been stripped of his license and all the scientists who worked with him discredited their results. Andrew Wakefield continues to be a strong advocator for not vaccinating, no other reports on vaccinations causing autism have been confirmed true. This past year has had the most recorded accounts of measles since the United States declared measles eradicated. Many people are linking the most recent outbreak of measles in Disney World to the fact that many people are no longer vaccinating their children. If this trend continues to be a problem then we are in for a big problem. The results could be horrendous.

The fact that some parents do not vaccinate their kids is more than puzzling. Vaccinations are one of the most important health treatments and since their discovering in the 1880s have saved thousands, possibly millions of lives. The evidence of a downside of vaccinations is minimal to none, there are no adverse affects to vaccinating. Pertaining to the second article, I believe that there is a direct correlation to the anti-vaccination movement and the recent Disney World outbreak of measles. Many scientists predicted that with the less amount of people vaccinating their children that an outbreak of a vaccinated virus would occur but no one could tell when. I am sure what you and everyone else is thinking is that unless children start to become vaccinated then outbreaks like this could become more common, resulting in more serious illness for more of our population, an outcome no one could want.

Thanks for reading everyone! Keep coming back for more!

Just Me

        Hey ya'll!!!! My name is Matt Wellendorf. I really appreciate everyone who is taking the time to get to know me, I'm gonna pour myself into this blog. I just turned 16 this past July and have not yet crashed my car, my parents say I should look in to NASCAR... HAHAHAHA. I live in Omaha, Nebraska with my mom, dad, and 2 siblings, I have another brother in college. The oldest in college is Bobby, I have a younger sister, Claire, and an even younger brother named Drew. I attend Creighton Prep High School. We have a four year old dog named Ozzy, he is a soft coated wheaten terrier, mini golden doodle mix.

       
       I have visited many places worldwide that include Iowa, Kansas, Colorado,  South Dakota, Italy, Mexico, Germany, France, and many more! You could say I am a bit of a traveler and love a great adventure. All these trips have cultured me a lot and I believe they contribute to my world knowledge, especially in Trivia Crack, LOL!!!

       Living in Omaha, we got a ton of crazy weather, I have experienced blizzards, tornadoes, lighting storms, floods, and more! We always have to be prepared for bad weather. On the other side, we get a lot of great weather too! Some days it is a perfect 76 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny. Just beautiful for any outdoor activity (except skiing of course... LOL).

        Two of my very best friends are named Peter Doran and Jacob Benson. I've known Jacob for the longest time but just met Peter recently in high school. We really get along well. I play basketball on our school's team with Peter and we hang all the time. I am locker partners with Jacob and we are great bffs, friends for life!!! Jacob is on the left and Peter on the right.

       Alright well I am gonna tap out for the day, I have to go work and then do some homework before I go to bed. I just can't wait for Humpday to be over, then it's a downhill slide for the rest of the week!! Adios Bloggers!!