Edward Snowden leaked information about the United States' intelligence agency in June of 2013 and reveled that the NSA collects data on all Americans. Snowden fled the United States and went to seek asylum in a different country, one option was Venezuela, but Snowden got trapped in the Moscow airport when he was switching planes and the United States revoked his passport. Since then he has been granted one year of temporary asylum in Russia, but it is not the ideal place for a whistle blower to be staying at.
Russia, under Vladimir Putin, president of Russia and his administration are notorious for using internet and telephone networks to spy on their own citizens.
Every year Putin holds a call-in meeting with, where the nation gets to ask the president of Russia their questions. The meeting happened this year on the 17th of April and a special guest popped up to ask the president a question. Edward Snowden called in to ask Putin if the Russian government collects the communication data of its citizens, like the United States does. Putin quickly dined the accusation, by saying that their special services are restricted by law and that Russia does not have to money to conduct these operations, like the United States does.
These statements are not true, as pointed out by Andrei Soldatov, a investigative journalist and an expert on Russia's security services. According to Soldatov, Russia has had a program like PRISM, since 1995, called SORM. Putin said that the FSB, the successor to the KGB, needs a warrant from the court in order to preform surveillance, but the warrants don't need to be shown and internet and phone providers can not view the warrants.
Putin does a very good job of keeping up his persona of a cold and cut throat man, but he is not the best at hiding the things his government does when asked the tough questions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/edward-snowden-asks-vladimir-putin-about-russian-spying-on-its-citizens/2014/04/17/bdbdcbdc-c62b-11e3-9f37-7ce307c56815_story.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/04/17/putin-told-edward-snowden-that-russia-doesnt-use-mass-surveillance-on-its-citizens-heres-a-reality-check/
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Vaccines
Do to medical advances we have been able to wipe entire diseases like small pox and soon enough polio. But because of misinformation across the world it becomes hard to wipe out these dangerous diseases. This misinformation is from ignorance to learn what the vaccines do. From groups that believe that vaccines cause other disabilities, like autism, or that people believe that the vaccines would taint them. Many groups in the world believe we should not use vaccines, from small villages in India to even celebrities like Jenny McCarthy here in the United States. Because of people spreading misinformation like Jenny McCarthy or people not educated about vaccines. Many countries across the world require that school children are vaccinated before enrolling into the school. Vaccinate young so that it can be stopped sooner and to stop of what ever disease it is.
Recently in Western Canada has been facing an outbreak of measles, which is a illness that can be prevented by getting a vaccination. The school board has asked more than 100 students and a few teachers to stay home because they have not received the measles shot. Because they have not received the measles vaccine they are very vulnerable to catching measles. If everyone was vaccinated there wouldn't need to worry about people catching an easily avoidable illness.
Making sure the world is vaccinated to preventable diseases is goal that should be easy to achieve. Children who are vaccinated have a 90% to 100% chance of acquiring immunity to the disease. The measles vaccine was listened in 1962 and since then the number of cases in the United States has dropped from 400,000 cases a year in 1962 to below one thousand in 2007.
Polio has almost been eradicated in the world do to the hard work of many organizations informing people and providing help like the WHO (World Health Organization). And we need to continue to this effort to on many other diseases so that they can go the way of smallpox and no longer be a threat to humanity.
Jenny McCarthy on Vaccines
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/03/17/3414061/vaccine-truthers-autism/
Vaccination Policy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccination_policy
Measles in Canada
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/04/07/measles-calgary_n_5094004.html?1396889949
Vaccines
http://www.vaccines.gov/basics/effectiveness/
Recently in Western Canada has been facing an outbreak of measles, which is a illness that can be prevented by getting a vaccination. The school board has asked more than 100 students and a few teachers to stay home because they have not received the measles shot. Because they have not received the measles vaccine they are very vulnerable to catching measles. If everyone was vaccinated there wouldn't need to worry about people catching an easily avoidable illness.
Making sure the world is vaccinated to preventable diseases is goal that should be easy to achieve. Children who are vaccinated have a 90% to 100% chance of acquiring immunity to the disease. The measles vaccine was listened in 1962 and since then the number of cases in the United States has dropped from 400,000 cases a year in 1962 to below one thousand in 2007.
Polio has almost been eradicated in the world do to the hard work of many organizations informing people and providing help like the WHO (World Health Organization). And we need to continue to this effort to on many other diseases so that they can go the way of smallpox and no longer be a threat to humanity.
Jenny McCarthy on Vaccines
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/03/17/3414061/vaccine-truthers-autism/
Vaccination Policy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccination_policy
Measles in Canada
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/04/07/measles-calgary_n_5094004.html?1396889949
Vaccines
http://www.vaccines.gov/basics/effectiveness/
Who are the Bad Guys?
When watching action movies or playing a video game with its setting in modern times there needs to be a bad guy for our heroes to compete with. An American movie or video game set in the Second World War will have our heroes facing the Nazis and Imperial Japan. Move into the cold war and the arch villain of the hero will be the Soviet Union. Now in post-9-11 America the primary enemies in movies and games are terrorist organizations. But are these movies and games reflective of who are actually are enemies or do they just re enforce that idea.
It is not a question that Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, the Soviet Union, and terrorists organizations were and are enemies to the United States. The Soviet Union and Russians in general have been used in numerous games, movies, and books as the arch enemy of the United States even after the fall of the Soviet Union. Most military video games today use Russia as the counter to the United States. Many might see Russia as the bad guy today, especially with the chaos happening in Ukraine. But entertainment has been using Russia as the villain years before this event. I have personally don't see the United States and Russia going to war, but because of the movies and games I have experienced that take place in our modern world, I can't imagine any other generic bad guy to use.
There is another generic bad guy that is rising, China. If the Russia is used in a game or movie as the villain, the next candidate is China. Tensions between China and the United States have had some strong tensions in the past and in recent times, but act more like competitors then arch enemies. Many are fascinated by China's large army and aggressive attitude toward their neighbors and outside influence from the internet and it makes them easy to paint as the main aggressor staring the United States in a game or movie.
The last main enemy of our nation that many movies or games use are terrorists organizations. The heroes of the story fight these groups all across the globe and try to stop the spread of fear in the world. These groups will be found in some developing nation that most people don't know where they are on the map.
Looking at the generic video game and movie bad guys of one nations entertainment, it is interesting, and you can see what a majority of a population sees as our "enemies" and what they might be in the future.
It is not a question that Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, the Soviet Union, and terrorists organizations were and are enemies to the United States. The Soviet Union and Russians in general have been used in numerous games, movies, and books as the arch enemy of the United States even after the fall of the Soviet Union. Most military video games today use Russia as the counter to the United States. Many might see Russia as the bad guy today, especially with the chaos happening in Ukraine. But entertainment has been using Russia as the villain years before this event. I have personally don't see the United States and Russia going to war, but because of the movies and games I have experienced that take place in our modern world, I can't imagine any other generic bad guy to use.
There is another generic bad guy that is rising, China. If the Russia is used in a game or movie as the villain, the next candidate is China. Tensions between China and the United States have had some strong tensions in the past and in recent times, but act more like competitors then arch enemies. Many are fascinated by China's large army and aggressive attitude toward their neighbors and outside influence from the internet and it makes them easy to paint as the main aggressor staring the United States in a game or movie.
The last main enemy of our nation that many movies or games use are terrorists organizations. The heroes of the story fight these groups all across the globe and try to stop the spread of fear in the world. These groups will be found in some developing nation that most people don't know where they are on the map.
Looking at the generic video game and movie bad guys of one nations entertainment, it is interesting, and you can see what a majority of a population sees as our "enemies" and what they might be in the future.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Overlooked News
Following the news is how people keep up with current events happening in our local community, in the country and around the world. But a lot news tends to get overlooked by the media here in the US if it doesn't concern the country directly. Last year the Syrian Civil War was a hot topic in the US, because of the possibility of chemical weapons being used and the news outlets in the US were constantly reporting on it. Stories from witness and the UN investigators. When the investigators were done, most of the news outlets switched to other hot topics and would barely mention the civil war happening in Syria, which still is going on to this day. Another example is Ukraine and Thailand. For the past couple months the world has been watching if Russia and Ukraine will exchange blows over the Russian occupation of Crimea, but at the same time the nation of Thailand is split between those who want to expel the current prime minster and those who want to hold and election instead. Most know of the situation in Ukraine, but it seems the news here has covered very little on the situation in Thailand. News outlets like CNN right now are hopping all over the report about the missing Malaysian airplane, but what about the various civil wars happening around the world.
I'm not saying that we need to be constantly getting news everyday about the civil war in Syria, or cover every corner of the world in popular news, because that would be very hard task to accomplish. But it does seem that the news tends to jump all over one subject while, also important issues get ignored. There is also an effect if you only have a few sources of news. After the chemical weapons issue in Syria disappeared from the news, and no major news outlet continued reporting, it felt as if the war in Syria was over.
Important events are always happening around the world and since we are not there it has little relevance to us.
Important events are always happening around the world and since we are not there it has little relevance to us.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Maintenance to Live
Living in 21st century United States of America costs a lot of money to maintain an decent life. Most people would agree to live comfortably you need food, water, shelter, clothes and some other basic hygiene products, but now to live to most peoples standard of being comfortable you will need much more. Getting running water is essential to most Americans, but since the 20th century electricity has also entered the mix. Most of us would not be able to live with out electricity in our homes and has become another thing we must pay for in order live well.
Most American houses will have 2 big ticket items that are considered essential. First is the home, this is undisputed, and any one is okay with paying monthly rent or payment till it is payed off in order to have shelter. The second is the car. Most American homes will at least have one car, that they use to get work, school, or just to go out. We pay for our cars monthly too, but on top of that we have gas to worry about.
Products and goods have also entered in our sphere of items we need in order to live comfortably. Many Americas own a TV to watch shows and the news and many would consider it an essential item in the home. You could just keep the basic 2,7,9 channels but that is not the way to live. You need more channels, the sport channels, the dramas, the reality TV, and now this adds up to what we need to live our definition of well. Computers have also entered the scene, as most Americans need them to work, for school or to entertain themselves. Having no internet or TV means being disconnected to what is going on in the news and what is popular, so we are willing to pay for these monthly in order live well.
We pay for many physical things in order live comfortable, but there is also the things we pay for monthly for things that are not right in front of us. We pay for insurance on many things. We insure our homes and cars, just in case something bad were to happen to them, even though we don't if any thing were to happen to them, but we still protect them. We have to pay for life insurance, to help our families if we die.
As time as gone on, we need to spend more money in order to live what is considered well and comfortable in America. And who knows what other things we will pay for in the future in order to live well, that will add to our maintenance to live.
Uniting Korea
For over 50 years Korea has been divided and the North and South are drastically different politically, socially, and to some degree culturally. South Korea is highly advanced compared to North Korea and the standard of living in the south is incredibly high when compared to the north. For many they would like to see these two nations come together and finally end the reign of North Korea's crazy dictatorship. But reuniting these two nations will be a very difficult to do.
First off if the two come together, who becomes the leader, most people in the international community would agree that South Korea's government would become the nation's leader, but these would not go over well for the current leaders in North Korea and to much of the international community and South Korea, having North Korea's government take control of a united Korea is unacceptable. Having a combined leadership would also cause problems, because both sides would clash consistently.
On top of choosing who leads the new united nation, there is the problem of what to do with a more important issue, what about the people. South Korea is highly advanced, the people are fed well and make more money, while in North Korea the people are improvised and starving. A goal of uniting Korea, would be getting the north to the standard of living of the south. These would be an insanely hard and long process to get the north up to the south's standard. Another problem would be that the people in North Korea do not have the same skills that the people of South Korea would have. The newly integrated North Koreans would have a difficulty of finding jobs and would end up finding cheap work, while South Koreans would be on the top and could create a social divide among North and South Koreans.
There are many other problems that come at when considering a united Korea. A united Korea may be difficult to achieve, but not impossible. Not long ago Germany was divided between east and west and when they united they faced similar problems, but now they have one of the strongest economies in the world, all it takes is determined people in charge to have the two become one again.
First off if the two come together, who becomes the leader, most people in the international community would agree that South Korea's government would become the nation's leader, but these would not go over well for the current leaders in North Korea and to much of the international community and South Korea, having North Korea's government take control of a united Korea is unacceptable. Having a combined leadership would also cause problems, because both sides would clash consistently.
On top of choosing who leads the new united nation, there is the problem of what to do with a more important issue, what about the people. South Korea is highly advanced, the people are fed well and make more money, while in North Korea the people are improvised and starving. A goal of uniting Korea, would be getting the north to the standard of living of the south. These would be an insanely hard and long process to get the north up to the south's standard. Another problem would be that the people in North Korea do not have the same skills that the people of South Korea would have. The newly integrated North Koreans would have a difficulty of finding jobs and would end up finding cheap work, while South Koreans would be on the top and could create a social divide among North and South Koreans.
There are many other problems that come at when considering a united Korea. A united Korea may be difficult to achieve, but not impossible. Not long ago Germany was divided between east and west and when they united they faced similar problems, but now they have one of the strongest economies in the world, all it takes is determined people in charge to have the two become one again.
International Laws don't Matter
If look you look at the news, you will see many people say that the Russia's actions in Crimea are breaching international law. The US and tons of other counties have also been accused of breaching international laws. But if all of these nations break these laws, and there is little to no punishment for breaking them, then what is the point of having them in place.
There is no authority that can enforce these laws on of the nations of the world. Even in warfare there is no one authority that can enforce the laws of war the Geneva Convention. People can call out the actions of governments all they want, but the governments or people in the government will not be punished until the most powerful nations step in and punish them. But the most powerful nations can not act as the authority of international law either.
If the most power or influence nations in the world were the head authority of international law, they could exempt them selves from having to follow international laws. These can be seen by how nations follow the Geneva Convention. It has been in war, what ever nations that wins does not have answer to the war crimes they had committed during the war, while the loser of the war has face trials. A great example is the Second World War. Both the Allied and Axis powers committed war crimes and atrocities during the intense fight, but Axis powers, mostly Germany had to answer to the crimes they had committed, while the United States and the Soviet Union, who also committed war crimes, did not have to answer to war crimes, because to many they were seen as the good guys and what they did was justifiable.
So if no one can enforce international law and people are willing break them many times for their advantage, then do they actually matter. The UN or any other international organization can set up an authority that will look over these laws and try governments that break them, but will they be able to enforce them. For some people might equals right, and they won't listen to people that have less firepower then, because they are not a threat.
The only easy fix is that when it comes to international law is that people in governments are are more loyal to the law then they are to their own nation.
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