Milestone testing week packs current events
April 29, 2016
Students taking Georgia End-of-Course Milestone standardized tests this week aren’t the only people setting milestones. From presidential candidates to legislation protests, the world seems to be making groundbreaking milestones in the news.
Cruz, Kasich vs. Trump (4/25)
Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and John Kasich are making unprecedented decisions in modern campaigns. The two White House hopefuls are working together to deprive front-runner Donald Trump of additional primary wins.
In preparation for the upcoming primaries in May, Kasich’s campaign will allow “a clear path in Indiana” for Cruz on the third, providing Cruz with a potential 57 delegates. In return, Cruz will give Kasich a path for the 28 delegates in Oregon on May 17 along with the 24 New Mexico delegates on June 7.
While anti-Trump Republican strategists have been advocating this Cruz-Kasich partnership for quite some time now, Trump sees this move as a meaningless last resort. He sent out a Tweet calling the two out for their “desperation.”
If no GOP candidate reaches the 1,237 delegate count by time the party’s national convention rolls around in July, delegates may have the opportunity to switch their allegiance.
North Carolina Protester Arrests (4/26)
More information was released on Tuesday regarding the Monday North Carolina protest arrests. At least 54 individuals were taken in during a heated protest outside the state house in Raleigh. Anti- and pro-LGBT advocates faced off, debating the recently-enacted “bathroom bill” that curbs local LGBT ordinances and restroom use. This act, more formally known as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, requires transgenders to use public restrooms corresponding with the sex at their birth.
The bill is facing serious backlash from citizens, businesses and celebrity figures. Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato canceled their “Honda Civic Tour: Future Now” shows in Raleigh and Charlotte. The two artists hope to create an environment in which “every single attendee feels equal, included and accepted for who they are.”
Fiorina Joins Team Cruz (4/27)
On Wednesday, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz announced former GOP rival Carly Fiorina as his running mate. Cruz hoped to throw a loop in the race for the White House against front-runner Donald Trump. Candidates Cruz and John Kasich’s last chance to become the Republican nominee is to stall Trump from reaching a delegate majority.
Trump brushed off Cruz’s running mate announcement as another “act of desperation,” following the impending alliance between Cruz and Kasich in upcoming primaries.
Choosing a running mate this early in the race isn’t the norm, but Cruz believes it is the best way to ensure that the GOP goes to a Brokered Convention.
North Korea vs. America (4/29)
On Thursday morning, North Korea charged a South Korean-born American for “subversion and espionage.” While prosecutors sought a 15-year sentence, the American citizen walked away with a ruling of 10 years of hard labor. Kim Dong Chul reportedly committed “offenses in a scheme to overthrow the socialist system of the DPRK.”
While Chul’s defender admitted that the alleged crimes were serious, he argued that Chul is old and should have a reduced sentence if he repents. The U.S. State Department declares that the wellbeing of American citizens is among the most important items on its agenda.
Department spokesman John Kirby said that in such cases involving North Korean detainment, the State Department “work[s] closely with the Swedish Embassy, which serves as the United States’ Protecting Power in North Korea.”
Chul’s hard labor sentence is the second case in the previous two months, the first being college student Otto Frederick Warmbier’s 15-year sentence for attempting to take a political poster from a North Korean hotel back in March.
