Since the majority of us are involved in using social media I am sure you have probably seen or at least heard about the leaked footage from the new movie A Dogs Purpose.  In the footage it shows the dog Hercules, who plays Bailey in the film, firmly resisting against being submerged into the man made river they are using for the movie. After a while of the crew forcing and Hercules struggling to escape, you finally hear someone behind the camera say “Throw ’im in!” After being thrown in Hercules is violently pushed along by the powerful water until he hits the wall at the bottom. At the end of the footage you can see him struggling to stay afloat due to the pressures of the water and you see a crew member swim over to help. Within a day this footage had gone viral. Not only did this footage create a bad reputation for the production company and movie itself, but as well brought about a full investigation for the animal handling malpractice on the set from Industry Watchdog. Shortly after the video went viral, Josh Gad the star playing the voice of “Bailey” otherwise known as Hercules, posted “While I do not know all the details and cannot speak to the level of care and caution that went into this moment (as I was never on set for the making of this film), I am shaken and sad to see any animal put in a situation against its will.” Sitting watching the footage you can feel the complete and utter helplessness and fear that dog has in his eyes. No matter what the end result of the case is anyone can see what happened on that set is inhumane to say the least.

http://www.salon.com/2017/01/21/a-dogs-purposelessness-alleged-torture-on-the-set-of-a-dogs-purpose-is-disgusting-but-unsurprising/

https://youtu.be/Qw1aPW6pYi8

Not long ago on January 20^th 2017 our forty-fifth president of the United States of America was sworn in to office, Donald Trump. Like many years before, the traditional inauguration speech was given addressing the estimated over one Million people at the western front of the United States Capitol in person and the thousands of others watching at home. According to White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, this crowd was said to be “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe.” This speech was roughly around seventeen minutes long during which he spoke about what is to hopefully come during his term as president. Personally the speech seemed to be different from his previous ones. President Trump spoke of unity and our country sticking together. About America coming first and yet remaining in good terms with other nations. He continued to use the words our and we, to let the people know he is with us. That although he is in charge he is going to do his best to get America back to what it used to be and to let everyone know he is in this with us.

After watching and listening to President Trumps Inauguration speech I went online and read two analyses, one from CNN and the other from FOX News. These two news companies are widely known for having completely opposite views on politics. For one CNN definitely is more Democratic and leans towards the liberal side of politics, while Fox news sides with the conservative side otherwise known as the Republicans. Of the two CNN is the more neutral in their news reports. There were plenty of similarities and differences in the news stations analyses on the Presidential Inauguration. The main difference with the two articles is that FOX News offered a great deal of admiration towards President Trump, while CNN stayed a smidge more unbiased. As for the similarities both sites recognized his willingness to do everything he can to benefit the people of our nation and making sure they get put first.

After 146 years of shows the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus announces it’s final shows before closing forever this year on May 21st 2017. For years this family business has brought memories and fun times to families from all over the world. Known as The Greatest Show on Earth to the majority of the population, this circus is shutting to due to ticket sales greatly declining because of the removal of their elephants, which were the main stars of the show and what the people came to see. As well the operation costs have become way to high to maintain. Come May at least 400 cast and crew members will lose their jobs. while this may be sad news for many people, for animal rights activists it is a big sigh of relief. For years organizations such as PETA or People for Ethical Treatment of Animals have been protesting against this show. On Saturday January 14th the organization posted an excited statement about the company shutting down, saying it was ” the end to the saddest show on earth.” I would be lying if I didn’t say I am sad to see such a long tradition and family business come to an end, but on the other hand I am very happy to see the animals finally free and being able to live their lives the way it was intended.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/14/us/ringling-bros-and-barnum-bailey-circus-closing-may.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FRingling%20Bros.%20and%20Barnum%20%26%20Bailey%20Circus&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=1