Sydney Siege

On December 15, 2014, seventeen staff members and customers were held hostage in the Lindt Cafe in Sydney, Australia. The incident began when witnesses saw a man with a bag and gun walk into the chocolate shop.

Lindt said about ten employees and thirty customers were thought to be inside at the time. Nearby offices were evacuated and police asked people to remain indoors and away from open windows.

The gunman, named as Man Haron Monis, forced some of the hostages to hold up a black Islamic banner at the window of the cafe, which reads: "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger."

Television footage during the siege showed distressed people inside the cafe pressing flags to the window. Several hostages managed to flee from the building shortly after 2:00 local time on Tuesday.

With the end of the sixteen-hour siege at 2:48 as the cafe was stormed by commandos, two of the hostages were found dead: Lindt cafe manager Tori Johnson, 34 and lawyer Katrina Dawson, 38. The gunman did not survive the siege.

Monis, already well-known to Australian police, was on bail for being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife. He also faced more than 40 sexual and indecent assault charges, and has been convicted of sending offensive letters to the families of deceased Australian soldiers. Monis received political asylum in Australia in 1996 and was on bail facing a number of charges.

The devastation caused by the deaths of the two hostages created a ripple of compassion and empathy in the Australian community, as well as concern for the general safety of others. Unsurprisingly, there also has been a renewed burst of Islamophobia due to the actions of one jihadist individual. Hopefully, no hate crimes will ensue this devastating event.

Sources: BBC News, BBC News, NY Times, USA Today

The Yearly Ritual Channeling of my Hard-Earned Funds Towards Christmas Presents

(Co-written with Daniela)

We both love Christmas, but what stresses us out most about the holiday season is the prospect of shopping for gifts. The impending holiday provides a strict deadline for us to acquire the perfect presents for our friends and family.

Even though we love and are very close with the people for whom we are searching for gifts to give, we have the hardest time picking out appropriate presents that they would appreciate.

With seven friends in common, we struggle to pool together enough money to satisfy the demands of our high maintenance squad.

For everything to come out perfectly we must correctly time our online purchases so that they arrive at our homes in a timely manner for us to be able to wrap them up properly.

As we approach winter break, the desperation to get a good deal on purchases heightens, leading to the long lines of Black Friday sales. Black Friday sales tend to involve extreme amounts of glaring and shoving, and thus are not pleasant. But this is the only way to find a present to appease the disastrous mayhem crew I swing with. I swear, they thrive off of money, mishaps, and pure chaos.

Well, to say the least, purchasing presents for Daniela is such a thankless labor. She's so demanding and a complete nightmare. We're a dream team duo.

All in all, despite the holidays being an absolutely draining experience, it's a task I'm willing to take up to repay my thanks to the cool folks who are my friends.

God forbid any of them should find this article. They can't know I said nice things about them.