operation fix Syria

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/22/world/middleeast/in-moment-of-unity-security-council-endorses-plan-to-halt-syria-conflict.html?ref=world

So.. finally some good news? After months of back and forth, the UN Security Council is finally going to try and end the Syria conflict, aid the victims, and have a political transition towards democracy. Mostly it took forever because Russia and China would not back the plan.

Kofi Annan, former secretary general, had come up with the plan that would “facilitate a Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system, in which citizens are equal regardless of their affiliations or ethnicities or beliefs, including through commencing a comprehensive political dialogue between the Syrian government and the whole spectrum of the Syrian opposition.”

The statement is not entirely figured out and set in stone, and has caused some disagreements between Western and Arab countries, against Russia. Russia had been a major supporter of the president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, but lately has been growing impatient with him due to his many mistakes and refusal of negotiation. So now, the security council can take a “pragmatic look” at the situation and reach some sort of conclusion, because Russia and China are more on board.

How long do you think it will be until Syria reaches some sort of democracy? Will it work?

mexican art project to stop crime

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/22/world/americas/mexican-art-project-puts-faces-on-crimes-toll.html?ref=world

In this article I found, in Ecatepec, Mexico, the Murrieta Foundation has been putting up giant photographic portraits of crime victims on the concrete walls in the community. Their goal is “putting a face on the statistics” and showing people the serious victimhood and crime that goes on in Mexico.

Although the group is frustrated with the lack of transparency in their government and insecurity, they’re mostly trying to speak out to their own neighbors and people of the town that don’t understand the damage that all the crime is doing.

The leader of the organization, Marco Hernandez Murrieta, said it was an effort to crime prevention, to open people’s eyes to the real issues in Mexico. “he hoped the images would cause people thinking of committing a crime to reconsider, while also provoking Mexicans to challenge friends or relatives involved in gangs or drug trafficking.”

Crime problems in Mexico are partially due to lack of transparency in the judiciary, and that reform is the only good solution, but Mexicans are used to just trying to stabilize instead of really changing anything.

Do you think this kind of photography and visual display will ever help crime at all, at least in this community? (It hasn’t shown to make any improvements yet) What would slow the crime? Is it enough to speak out to the government?

"U.S. Seeking Use of Funds to Aid Russian Democracy"

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/world/europe/to-aid-russian-democracy-us-seeking-use-of-funds.html?ref=europe

For over a year now the Obama administration has been planning to put $50 million in aid in order to promote democracy and civil society in Russia. It is said to be used as an effort to "advance rule of law, to advance accountable government and to strengthen civil society."

Vladamir Putin had accused  the American officials of attempting to cause unrest in Russia, causing conspirac rumors about what the money is supposed to do. Many people became fearful of the US interference in Russia's private sector, while others thought the money would be welcomed.

This kind of investment of "enterprise funds" are not new, ie. the SEED Act in 1989 and the US-Russia Investment Fund. They have proven to have impacted development in  the private sector as will as positively influenced the Russian civil society. They're also evidence in addressing human right concerns.

The US officials have claimed that they have nothing to hide in terms of where the funding  for Russia is going."

"Abuses in Burma Despite Reforms"

 

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2109481,00.html

Now I don’t know anything about Burma, but I saw this article and it seemed pretty crazy. So until last year, Burma had been a military-run nation, and now it has a president named Thein Sein that has attempted (and failed) to make and implement reforms.

“A feared army attacking civilians indiscriminately, razing homes and raping women while the government prevents international aid from reaching tens of thousands of displaced survivors.”

To me, that sounds like there are some obvious problems that need to be worked out. The government is also preventing UN agencies to help, as well as any other aid groups to send food or supplies to the starving civilians. Children, all the way up to elderly people are being abducted and forced to do labor or become soldiers. Women are taken to become sex slaves.

The reforms are looking to have no immediate effect on civilians, and won’t benefit people for a long time.

I don’t have much background on Burma, why is all of this going on?

"Hong Kong's non-election.."

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2109397,00.html

Since we’re learning about China, I chose an article I found about…. Yes, China.

Hong Kong is one of the world’s biggest financial cities, tied up with the US as the leader in business. It is held back from becoming a greater democracy, by Beijing. The people cannot directly vote for their chief executives, which gives Beijing and the 1200 member Election Committee all of the power.

Both candidates have committed some sort of offense, making neither of them a good choice for China. Henry Tang, “59, a former local cabinet member and the wealthy scion of a Shanghai-born industrialist” admitted to committing adultery. While the other candidate, “57-year-old C.Y. Leung, a professional surveyor who has long had close ties with the mainland” is being accused of actually being a closeted communist that plans to take away Hong Kong’s freedoms.

The widest wealth gap among developed societies lays within Hong Kong, where one-fifth fall below the poverty line. “Other hot-button issues include pollution and more and better schools and hospitals, areas in which the government has shown little leadership even though it has plenty of money to throw at the problems”.

Beijing says that in 2017 there will be a direct election for chief executive, but the people are still skeptic and waiting for real political change. Beijing fears that Hong Kong will take it to streets and riot.

How can China improve tighten the wealth gap? If democracy doesn’t work (there’s way too many people for that anyways), then what will work?

"The Invisible War"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/the-invisible-war_b_1205741.html

As I was watching the news earlier, I heard a story that disgusted me to say the least. “One of our country's most shameful and best kept secrets”, rape and sexual assault within our own military. Women are more likely to be sexually harrassed or raped by their own fellow soldiers than to be killed in combat. Men are also subjected to assault, but much fewer cases are reported.

A film called “The Invisible War” is a documentary that will premiere later this month, that focuses on the crimes committed in our own army to innocent soldiers. It will show true stories of men and women that were victimized in the military. The numbers reported to people are much less severe than they are in reality.

“Estimates indicate that anywhere from 8 percent to as high as 37 percent of the victims of sexual assault and trauma cases reported last year were men. The Pentagon believes that fully 80-90 percent of assaults (of men and women) are not reported. Only 1 in 15 men report assault, versus 1 in 5 women.”

How awful is our society and government if this kind of thing is still happening with very little punishment or change? People look up to soldiers as heroes, yet there is this hidden crime that not many are aware of, and not much is being done to fix it? Soldiers shouldn’t have to fear being victimized by their fellow soldiers, they should be trying to protect the country.

How do you feel about this article/trailer? What can be done to stop this injustice?

Modern Day Titanic?

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2104511,00.html
As most people have probably heard, on Saturday January 14, an Italian cruise ship called Costa Concordia ran aground off the west coast of Italy. It had 4,200 people on board, and the current death toll is 6 people, with 16 still missing.

This disaster looks as if it was a scene right out of the Titanic. Passengers on the ship frantically evacuated, being taken ashore by lifeboats and rescue teams. The captain of the ship is currently under investigation for suspected manslaughter, as well as allegations about abandoning ship before passengers were safe. Passengers said that crew members showed no signs of urgency and did not let them know the severity of the problem. (I think I'd want to know if the cruise liner I'm on is capsizing...)


The ship had passed all of the safety tests and met all of the regulations prior to departure. This led authorities to want to investigate why the captain would have steered so dangerously close to shore, hitting a reef. Not only was it dangerous to the people, but the 500,000 gallons of fuel in the ship could be dumped into the ocean if it continues to shift.

"Costa ships have their routes programmed, and alarms go off when they deviate, the chief executive said in a press conference. "This route was put in correctly. The fact that it left from this course is due solely to a maneuver by the commander that was unapproved, unauthorized and unknown to Costa," he said."
 
Do you think this was a secret plot by the captain of the ship? In this day in age, with such sophisticated technology, how could this kind of accident even happen?