Today's lesson focused on current events. Cabo reviewed newspaper articles based on current events. He discussed issues about Florida redistricting zones and the challenges surrounding the new districts. Cabo discussed his understanding of voting districts.

Ben and I spent our session diving into some current events! We took turns sharing events. Ben found some interesting events such as a woman winning $10 million after pushing the wrong button on a vending machine and Pink Floyd - fugitive flamingo on the run for seventeen years spotted in Texas. I shared a new species of glass frogs spotted in Ecuador.

We discussed what similarities, if any, existed between the Ukraine, WWI, and WWII, and what the U.S. should do.

Sam has a good wealth of understanding about events in the news. We discussed plans to remove all Confederate monuments and, upon researching it learned that nearly 100 Confederate monuments have been removed in 2020, virtually in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing. Sam shared his thoughts and opinions freely and demonstrated interesting observations and insights - especially regarding the current situation in NYC with recent attacks against police and his opinions of former Mayor DeBlasio. It was an animated, engaging, and interesting discussion.

Mercer and I discussed events in the news. He selected articles in which he was interested and we read and discussed them together. Several ethical issues arose in our conversation, as did the punitive consequences of actions and whether or not we agreed if the punishment fit the crime. Mercer was reflective and did not hesitate to ask questions in order to clarify his understanding. He expressed his opinions freely and was able to effectively defend his point of view and explain his rationale. Of most interest was an article about a heart transplant patient who was the recipient of a pig's heart, the first of its kind. However when it became known that the patient had committed an egregious crime in the past, medical and legal issues came to light and controversy over whether he deserved to be the recipient while others of more moral character were overlooked. Mercer demonstrated keen critical thinking skills and an astute ability to synthesize, integrate, and analyze information to enable him to form valid arguments in defense of his opinion.

Discussion of political situation in Taiwan. Does it belong to Russia? Is this a pattern of attempts at taking over what had been sovereign states and incorporating them into the Russian state? What, if anything, should the U.S. and its allies be doing?

We discussed the aggression of Putin and what could, and should, be done about it. Is this a symptom of increased nationalism? How is the U.S. expressing it? What can we do to cool down what appears to be more than mere rhetoric?

Since Bobby and I always discuss the latest news about important national and international events, we decided that we would talk about the cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Since these have been so politicized, we agreed to approach the issues carefully, making sure that we would approach all the cases as apolitically as possible. As always, it was a really good discussion.

Today's discussion focused on global immigration due to war, famine, dictatorship, inability to find work to support a family, and if, then how, to adjust immigration policy, taking into consideration the effects on American citizens. What has been the historical position on immigration, how has it changed, and why?

Discussion of the pandemic, efforts to curtail it in Western developed countries, and the lack of vaccine reaching developing countries, especially in Africa.