Friedman Finds

From Six Seconds, to Infinite Popularity By Paige Friedman An image from the Vine, "FRE SHAVOCADO." Taken from Know Your Meme. Imagine what you can see in six seconds. Will it be the funniest thing you have ever seen? Are you going to remember it for a long time? If you were watching a Vine, then you could most likely answer yes to both of these questions. Vines are six-second videos that are typically meant to be humorous and entertaining. They are filmed using a built-in camera on the app, helping users create the perfect clip. They also infinitely loop, allowing anyone to watch and relive those moments over and over again. While the videos can go on forever, the app did not. But even though the app was shut down, Vines didn’t disappear. Instead, they became more popular than ever. Vine at the start Dom Hofmann, Rus Yusopov and Colin Kroll created the Vine app in June 2012, where it was a standalone company until Twitter bought it on Oct. 2012 for a reported $3

The casket holding former president George H.W. Bush makes its journey to his final resting place. (Taken from The Gazette) There was so much going on this week in our world! Here are the five stories from this week that stuck out to me the most: 1. Last Friday, former president George H.W. Bush died. Throughout the week, various memorial services were held, including at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Mourners and former presidents gathered to pay their respects in D.C. Then, his remains traveled to Texas,  where he was finally laid to rest on Thursday in Texas . He was buried by his wife, Barbara, and their daughter Robin at the family grave site at Texas A&M University. 2.  Two senior Saudi officials were accused by Istanbul's top prosecutor of being behind the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.  Both of these officials are close to the Saudi crown prince, but they were not among the 18 people the Saudi's said to be in connection with Khashoggi's death. 3.  Last wee

A newly-uncovered mummy found in Egypt. (Photo taken from AFP) Hello again! I am now back on the blog after having my Thanksgiving break! A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks, but I'm going to stick to talking about what has gone on this week. Here are five stories I dug up: 1. In Egypt,  eight new mummies were unearthed.  Three of them have been said to be in good condition. The mummies, which date from the Late Period of Ancient Egypt, may eventually be displayed at museums. 2. Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of Spongebob Squarepants,  died on Monday from complications of ALS.  He was 57. Hillenburg created a legacy for himself with his TV show. Spongebob is without a doubt one of the most recognizable cartoons characters, and new episodes are still being shown on Nickelodeon. The new Christmas special aired the night before Hillenburg past away. 3. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Leicester  to pay tribute to the victims of a helicopter crash.  The

The Prince of Wales poses for a portrait with his family to commemorate his 70th birthday. Photo taken by Chris Jackson. What an week it has been in the news! Here are five stories in case you missed them: 1. The California Camp Fire in northern California has left over 60 people dead. Also, the list of those missing  has grown to over 600 people.  Rescue workers are looking for more survivors, and hope that many of the individuals unaccounted for are still alive. This comes after two major wildfires started in California last week, not only taking the lives of many people but also many homes as well. Even celebrities have lost their homes to the fire. 2. Avigdor Lieberman  resigns from position as Israel's defense minister.  The news comes after Israel and Gaza had a ceasefire. Lieberman said that his choice to resign was "surrendering to terror." early elections could occur as a result of his resignation. 3. After the White House took away CNN reporter Jim A

Ilhan Omar, at her election night party at the Courtyard Marriott in Minneapolis, addresses supporters and the media after being elected. (Photo taken from the Independent) Last week, I was expecting the majority of this week's news to be focused on the midterm elections. Instead, not only was this really not the case, but there was also a lot more going on, just in our country alone. I couldn't keep up this week because every hour or so I would see something big pop up on my news feed. Unfortunately, there were also several more tragic events that happened, and it is so disheartening to see that we still can not manage to find some sort of peace in our world. All I, along with many others, can keep wondering is, When will enough be enough? Here are five stories from this week: 1. On Tuesday, we had  the midterm elections.  This year, there were a lot of races to watch. In the end, we had a pretty historic night. While the GOP was able to hold onto a majority in the Se

Spooky season has officially ended this week, so let the holiday festivities begin! A vigil was held at Minnesota Hillel, and the community lit candles to remember the victims of the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh. (taken from Minnesota Hillel Facebook page) Here are 5 stories that you missed if you were too busy focusing on Halloween: 1. Saturday, a man entered the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Penn. and opened fire,  killing 11 people  and wounding six. The suspect was charged with 29 counts. This horrific event, which was immediately labeled a hate crime, is the deadliest attack on the Jews in the United States. “This was the single most lethal and violent attack on the Jewish community in the history of the country. We’ve never had an attack of such depravity where so many people were killed. . . . When you go into a synagogue, saying ‘I want to kill all the Jews,’ that’s a hate crime.” - Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti

This week has certainly been a stretch! A picture of the sea-crossing bridge, taken from CNN.com  Here are five stories to keep you in the loop: 1. In the middle of the week, pipe bombs were sent to CNN,  resulting in the evacuation of the Time Warner Center building. Pipe bombs were also sent to the Obamas, the Clintons, and philanthropist, George Soros. Later on, bombs were also sent to Robert De Niro and Joe Biden. 2. China opened the world's longest sea-crossing bridge,  which connects Hong Kong to the mainland. The bridge cuts travel time across the delta from several hours to 30 minutes. The bridge cost $20 billion, and took around 10 years to build. 3. The Queen, along with other members of the British royal family,  hosted a state dinner  for King William-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands during their visit of the UK. Since it was a formal event, the royal women were seen wearing fancy gowns and tiaras. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were present

It was another eventful week of news! I thought that we were going to see less big news with the royal family, but boy did we get a surprise! Harry and Meghan kickstarted their tour of Australia, but they also announced they are kickstarting their family! The palace has confirmed that the Duchess of Sussex is pregnant, and the baby will be born in spring of 2019. To add on to the royal baby news, the Duchess of Cambridge's sister gave birth to a baby boy, making Kate and William an aunt and uncle for the first time. Hopefully we will hear about the baby's name soon. Princess Eugenie shared this photo on her Instagram account of her, Jack, and their bridal party in a more relaxed moment. (Instagram account: @princesseugenie) There's also been some more serious stuff going on. The President has made threats to Mexico that he will send military down to the border and shut it down, so I don't know if we should be concerned about that or not. Also, Canada just legali

Princess Eugenie and now-husband, Jack Brooksbank, exit St. George's Chapel this morning as a married couple for the first time. (Photo by: Steve Parsons/AFP/Getty Images and taken from Forbes.com) The Brett Kavanaugh hearings have finally come to a close at the end of last week, and the verdict is in. He was approved to be a Supreme Court Justice. This decision is historic, considering Kavanaugh will now be on the Supreme Court for years to come, which will certainly impact court cases. There was also a lot of craziness going on throughout the week. Hurricane Michael became the next big hurricane to hit the U.S., and boy was he treacherous! The hurricane grew from a Tropical Storm to a Category 4 hurricane in almost two day. The Florida Panhandle got hit hard, with the storm weakening after making landfall. Also this week, an arrest has been made in a deadly limo crash that took the lives of 20 people, becoming one of the deadliest transportation accidents in the U.S. since

This week has mainly been a continuation of last week. Right now, we are still waiting to hear more about the Brett Kavanaugh nomination. Throughout the week, the FBI has been investigating the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh. While this has been happening, tensions have clearly been rising throughout the country, and soon we will know whether or not there is enough concern to not appoint him to the Supreme Court. In addition to Kavanaugh, there's been even more news recently. Earlier, a Chicago cop was convicted for a high-profile murder that took place three years ago. And, there is now a possible salmonella contamination that certain parts of the country have to watch out for. The week wasn't all sad and gloomy, there were some pretty positive moments too. Last week, I spoke about how the Duchess of Cambridge's first official appearance since March was announced, and this week she carried it out! The palace has also announced more upcoming events for the

This week has been quite chaotic here in the U.S. One of the biggest news stories making headlines has been the sexual misconduct allegations about Brett Kavanaugh. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford recently testified about the alleged sexual assault, and many have come out to show their support for her story. Not only has this hearing drawn attention about sexual assault, but this week has had some other key stories involving sexual assault as well. While the Kavanaugh hearings have been occurring, celebrities have been telling their stories about why they didn't report being sexually assaulted. The new #WhyIDidn'tReport movement has started, and not only have celebrities been sharing their personal experiences, but other sexual assault survivors have come out as well. And, while we wait to see how the country handles these allegations of sexual assault, we finally saw justice for survivors who have been assaulted by Bill Cosby, as he has just been sentenced to jail. The whole wee