I am Christophre Dennen, a high school student in the Class of 2016. I love art of every kind be it paintings, architecture, music, graphic art, or whatever else it may be. I am an amateur photographer and artist myself, and try my hand at every new medium I can find. I'm one of the kids from the newest generation that were practically thrown into a world of vastly expanding technology and find it all fascinating.
The United States gives the country of Israel over 3 billion dollars annually, and yes that is a lot of money.
Why, though, do we give so much of our wealth and resources to the country of Israel? There are a few answers. In my personal experience, there are two arguments in particular I find absurd.
The first of the two is that "the Bible says to always stand by Israel". Statistically speaking, if you are reading this, odds are you are Christian. So let me assure I have no intent on offending. However, not only is America not centralized around any religion purposefully, but if we based our laws off what the Bible said we would still live in a time period much like the Medieval Period. I'll say it, I don't want to live in the Medieval Period. We would have made no further progress, society would be corrupted (i.e. Last time we let the Church make laws and children were forced to revolt, only to be sold into slavery by the Church.)
The other argument I've come across is that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and because of that it is our job to go to every extent to make sure they prosper. At first sight this probably sounds reasonable. Do I agree? No.
As a matter of fact, I believe it is the opposite of just that.
Israel is not popular in their region of the world, and are actually one of the most notoriously hated countries in the world. (Probably not a coincidence) However, Israel is a small nation and although it's army is strong, people aren't attacking it, and it's clear as to why. The United States is all that stands in the way of the destruction of Israel by the entirety of the Middle Eastern section of the world.
So, America fights on in defense of the little nation despite the fact that they mock and humiliate the United States (The Prime Minister of Israel, Netanyahu is popularly quoted saying:
"I know what America is. America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right way. They won't get in our way."
The constant battle between Israel and Palestine has shown the world that any humanitarian does not side with Israel, and deep down, everyone wants to be that humanitarian. So people hate Israel, right? I'll kill it before it happens: it's not because they're Jewish, it's because they treat other humans like second-rate garbage. So it is the United States' job to protect and influence democracy in the Middle Easy (which it's not), but at the same time, the one state we protect and influence more than any other is the most notoriously hated country in the region? Meanwhile, Great Britain and Sweden have both (along with other countries) recognized Israel's personal firing range, Palestine, as it's own independent country. With the falsely-pretended invasion of Iraq, the lack of education for our children, and supporting the wrong side of every fight, we make democracy look terrible. A new Google Survey shows that the majority opinion of United States citizens think we provide far too much aid to the country of Israel.
So if most people don't support the country's financial aid, it doesn't benefit us, and it makes our system look flawed and corrupted, why bother sending them the money? That's a lot of money! It could go to schools! It could go to public health! It could go to libraries, or homeless shelters! Instead it is going into the pockets of Israeli officials so that they can use it to create more weapons and missiles (which we also give them). And it's all because our Congressmen are too scared to lose their jobs to make any pushes what-so-ever. I pray to the people who have the power to change this, the voters, the politicians, and the leaders, please make this change. It's not our job to push for the defense of a country that provides us nothing in return. That's all for today, I'll be back Monday with another post! "When you tear out a man's tongue, you're not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world you fear what he might say." -Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin
I am going to keep today's post short, sweet, and straight to the point. If you don't pay much attention to politics, then you may not be aware, but the mid-term elections are coming up soon, and it's on the mind of every newsman around. It is about this time in America that we see that political split between people. Right v. Left, Red v. Blue, Rich v. Poor, and the Powerful v. the Powerless. However, as Jim Hightower said, politics is not truly about right against left. It is inevitably always about the top versus the bottom. Money is the root of all politics, politics is the root of all evil. The fact is that the people who are running the country aren't really the ones who represent you, and your neighbor, and your parents. You are the one who represents you, and we must never forget that. We elect all these "representatives", but we cannot ever forget that we as a society represent ourselves and each other individually. If we want to express our views, we can't sit back and rely on our congressmen and women to express our views for us. We have to take action and be the citizens who fight. If we don't, then we are no better than any other country on this planet, and need to quit declaring ourselves as such. With that said, the mid-terms are still upon us, and we still need to talk about them collectively. As of now, the Republican Party is estimated to take over the Senate. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is trying to catch up and take both Houses for their own, as is the usual race. The odds are, that many of the same representatives will get re-elected for their 119th term in Congress. It has become an unfortunate occurrence that people blindly vote to re-elect their past representatives in fear of change. Personally, I don't love the idea of the Republican Party controlling the Houses, however, I also do not love the idea of the Democratic Party controlling the Houses. What has ended up happening to our great system is that we have the Republicans, who favor the rich. There is the Democrats, who speak to the Middle Class. However, no one speaks for the poor. No one pleas to them for support and fights for their necessities, yet we are still surprised as a nation when the lower class moves to desperate measures like crime and violence to survive. So what I ask is that although the mid-terms are coming, and although there are many pressing issues that we as a country and a people must attend to, don't forget that your Civil Disobedience is the only true power that runs this nation. Thomas Jefferson once said that every generation needs a new revolution, and he wasn't speaking softly for some back water journalist quote. He believed that for us to succeed and prove our strength, we would have to be defiant and disobey, and yes it is easier not to. Yes, people get hurt and it is a dangerous life. However, if you are looking for safety, you can go to prison. There's three meals a day, constant guard protection, and a guaranteed daily routine. However, there is one thing missing, and that is freedom. That's all I have for today, I'll be back again tomorrow! "But who prays for Satan? Who in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most." -Mark Twain
One of the greatest quotes that I've ever heard was by Hubert Reeves. He said;
"Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and slaughters a visible nature... without realizing that this nature he slaughters is this invisible God he worships."
I can't begin to explain how much I agree with this.
Modern people tend to associate environmentalists with eco-terrorism, or the typical hippie, pot-smoker.
We have to leave that kind of mentality though, not just individually, but as a whole society. Just recently, Chevron was ordered to pay 19 billion dollars in environmental damage costs and they weren't the first. No doubt, if you were paying attention in 2010, you remember the BP Oil Crisis. That event alone woke up many sleeping giants in the Eco-Activist Community. We fail to realize the true destruction of some of our actions. Every single gallon of gas that is burned in our cars produces 19 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. There's the impression that since we breath out carbon dioxide it can't be that bad for us. Well, if you lock yourself in a room without vents, windows, or air circulation what-so-ever, you will suffocate. Every minute that passes, Americans dumps 15 tons of sewage into the oceans of the world. Over 100 million Americans live in areas with air pollution considered harmful by the United States government. The point that I am trying to carry with this is the necessity for these fixes. Free-reign capitalists and hard-set conservatives will often tell you that environmental reform necessity is "stupid", or is a myth.
However, you cannot argue with facts, and that fact is that the system we have is unsustainable. The reason people side with this sort of logic is that, although the reform is needed, it likely will hurt the economy in ways that unlimited, free-market supporters would kick and scream for. We, as humans, often treat our planet as if we've got a different one to go to when this one dies. Alas, that is not the case. I do hope that as a species we can see the damage we are causing and take the actions necessary for our kids and theirs after that. That is all I have for today, I'll be back tomorrow with another post! "The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies, standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five." -Carl Sagan
There is a large amount of well deserved controversy surrounding the subject of Guantanamo Bay and the known torture of people in the site.
If you aren't aware of the debate, what the argument simplifies down to is whether torture is okay or not even if it does help the United States with intelligence.
If you ask me, the answer is no, torture is never okay. I know not everyone agrees with that, but it's no mystery that with the over-empowerment of the United States president he is given the power to determine a domestic terrorist without congressional attention, and without trial if he sees it necessary, on account of the Patriot Act.
Yes, the President can throw Americans into a terrorist prison, without trial, for life, on his own will. I do have a lot of problems with that, as does anyone with any sense.
Also, I do not think that there is a situation where torture is ever okay. It is just seemingly inhumane and, honestly, evil. A lot of people believe that it is okay as long as the American government uses the information to promote good, but we as a people need to understand, we are not always good guys.
There is no good or bad nation, I would argue. Each nation is independent and is merely working toward their own personal goals, but that does not make them better or worse than anyone else.
America has not always shown it is on the good side of history, and has often been on the bad side. For instance, in 1993 the FBI, ATF, and Texas ARNG were all involved in the bombing of a religious sect and what later became known as the Waco Siege left 91 dead and 16 wounded in the town of Waco, Texas, including innocent civilians. Then there is the firebombing of the MOVE radicals in a Philadelphia ghetto, killing 11 people and destroying 65 homes in 1985. They also injected unsuspecting black men with an uncommon disease, at the time, to test the effects and made Syphilis a worldwide issue.
The fact is, we aren't always fighting for good, and we have to come to grips with that as a society.
So to say we should make the judgement call of right and wrong for the usage of torture seems mildly absurd to me.
It seemed absurd to the 12 Nobel Peace Prize Winners who wrote an open letter to Barack Obama yesterday as well. The letter read;
"President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
The open admission by the President of the United States that the country engaged in torture is a first step in the US coming to terms with a grim chapter in its history. The subsequent release of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence summary report will be an opportunity for the country and the world to see, in at least some detail, the extent to which their government and its representatives authorized, ordered and inflicted torture on their fellow human beings.
We are encouraged by Senator Dianne Feinstein’s recognition that “the creation of long-term, clandestine ‘black sites’ and the use of so-called ‘enhanced- interrogation techniques’ were terrible mistakes,” as well as the Senate Committee’s insistence that the report be truthful and not unnecessarily obscure the facts. They are important reminders that the justification of the torture of another human being is not a unanimous opinion in Washington, or among Americans as a whole.
We have reason to feel strongly about torture. Many of us among the Nobel Peace Prize laureates have seen firsthand the effects of the use of torture in our own countries. Some are torture survivors ourselves. Many have also been involved in the process of recovery, of helping to walk our countries and our regions out of the shadows of their own periods of conflict and abuse.
It is with this experience that we stand firmly with those Americans who are asking the US to bring its use of torture into the light of day, and for the United States to take the necessary steps to emerge from this dark period of its history, never to return.
The questions surrounding the use of torture are not as simple as how one should treat a suspected terrorist, or whether the highly dubious claim that torture produces “better” information than standard interrogation can justify its practice. Torture is, and always has been, justified in the minds of those who order it.
But the damage done by inflicting torture on a fellow human being cannot be so simplified. Nor is the harm done one-sided. Yes, the victims experience extreme physical and mental trauma, in some cases even losing their lives. But those inflicting the torture, as well as those ordering it, are nearly irreparably degraded by the practice.
As torture continues to haunt the waking hours of its victims long after the conflict has passed, so it will continue to haunt its perpetrators.
When a nation’s leaders condone and even order torture, that nation has lost its way. One need only look to the regimes where torture became a systematic practice – from Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany to the French in Algeria, South Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge and others – to see the ultimate fate of a regime so divorced from their own humanity.
The practices of torture, rendition and imprisonment without due process by the United States have even greater ramifications. The United States, born of the concept of the inherent equality of all before the law, has been since its inception a hallmark that would be emulated by countries and entire regions of the world. For more than two centuries, it has been the enlightened ideals of America’s founders that changed civilization on Earth for the better, and made the US a giant among nations.
The conduct of the United States in the treatment of prisoners through two World Wars, upholding the tenets of the Geneva Convention while its own soldiers suffered greatly from violations at the hands of its enemies, again set a standard of treatment of prisoners that was emulated by other countries and regions.
These are the Americans we know. And believing that most Americans still share these ideals, these are the Americans we speak to.
In recent decades, by accepting the flagrant use of torture and other violations of international law in the name of combating terrorism, American leaders have eroded the very freedoms and rights that generations of their young gave their lives to defend. They have again set an example that will be followed by others; only now, it is one that will be used to justify the use of torture by regimes around the world, including against American soldiers in foreign lands. In losing their way, they have made us all vulnerable.
From around the world, we will watch in the coming weeks as the release of the Senate findings on the United States torture program brings the country to a crossroads. It remains to be seen whether the United States will turn a blind eye to the effects of its actions on its own people and on the rest of the world, or if it will take the necessary steps to recover the standards on which the country was founded, and to once again adhere to the international conventions it helped to bring into being.
It is our hope that the United States will take the latter path, and we jointly suggest that the steps include:
a. Full disclosure to the American people of the extent and use of torture and rendition by American soldiers, operatives, and contractors, as well as the authorization of torture and rendition by American officials.
b. Full verification of the closure and dismantling of ‘black sites” abroad for the use of torture and interrogation.
c. Clear planning and implementation for the closure of Guantanamo prison, putting an end to indefinite detention without due process.
d. Adoption of firm policy and oversight restating and upholding international law relating to conflict, including the Geneva Convention and the UN Convention against Torture, realigning the nation to the ideals and beliefs of their founders – the ideals that made the United States a standard to be emulated.
The partnership of these kind of people are what empowers the good in the world. When artists come together in society, just as they did in Italy during the Renaissance, and Harlem during the Modernist movement, they harmonize with each other. So I do, from the bottom of my heart, hope that the President takes the path of progress and heeds the advice of his peers. It is the right thing to do and I would say any other option is the wrong one. That's all for today, I'll be back again tomorrow with another post! "Once you realize what a joke everything is, being the Comedian is the only thing that makes sense." -The Comedian, Watchmen
In today's entry I'm going to be addressing two different things that are affecting my own hometown of Huntsville, Alabama. Both stories are locally directed, however, if you are someone who reads my blog outside Huntsville, there's no reason the stories don't apply to you. There is universal messages to be taken from them and I know that the kind of things that are happening in these stories are not just local. I would also like to start off by making the point, I am not pro-AEA, I am not Pro-School Board, I am not Pro or Anti Casey Wardynski (pertaining to the second matter, at the bottom of this post), and I do not care about Right Wing or Left Wing. I type, and write, and preach what I believe is right both morally and logically.
These kinds of things are happening all over the United States and it is our job as the citizens, not the police's, not the government's, and not the courts'. It's ours.
The first story is of a 19 year old kid that was in a Madison County jail. He was arrested for using a counterfeit 100 dollar bill in July of 2013. He argued that he didn't know the bill was counterfeit, which seems perfectly reasonable to me. Unless he was somehow involved inn a deeply-rooted, conspiracy-esque counterfeit system, odds are he had no idea.
It is a very common thing to happen in our society. However, the system was not merciful because a month before he had been caught stealing Star Wars DVDs.
When Deundrez Woods first arrived at the prison, he was in a perfectly normal state of health. However, as time progressed, he began hallucinating and was becoming unable to communicate. It was stated he had a "severe and sudden change in mental functioning".
He had a harsh infection in his foot that had become gangrenous, but was not treated properly, and, for the most part, not at all. To quote Challen Stephen of the Alabama Media Group;
"Instead of receiving treatment, the suit states, Woods was placed in a 'medical observation cell' on Aug. 6, 2013. He had no access to water after Aug. 12. There is no record of him eating after Aug. 14. No nurses visited him after Aug. 14."
His rotting foot began to stink severely, however, all guards did (instead of giving him proper medical attention like any sane person would) was drag him out of the cell, spray him down with water, and put him in a different cell. The official complaint read;
"Woods went from normal, to aggressive and disruptive, to barely responsive, to all but dead as correction and medical staff watched."
Three times last year similar obstruction of medical attention happened in Madison County jails. Nikki Listau received a broken femur after she had fallen from her bunk but was denied medical attention. Tanisha Jefferson died of an ignored bowel obstruction. All these deaths were perfectly preventable with easy, east steps. However, Madison County jails have withheld as much medical necessity as they could to preserve funding. That sickens me. Jeff Rich is the attorney for Madison County and said that all three cases were being "vigorously defended". I hardly believe that Jeff Rich believes that it was acceptable for these people to be left dying helplessly on a jail-cell floor. However, he is getting paid so why does it matter what's right?That, readers, is why I ask you never to leave justice up to lawyers and judges. They can be corrupted with money, personal sway, and any other imaginable factor. Justice is not swayed by money and politics though. That is why it must be carried by the people. The next topic falls into a category which I have talked about previously, and did have some backlash from the aggrieved. Casey Wardynski. If you don't know who Wardynski is, I previously described him as a "militarized, power-flexing, dictator-like superintendent with disregard for any sense of individual rights or privacy". This past week, students in his district have been warned the superintendent's wishes to crack down on cell-phone policy. A mass email was sent out to the local teachers, which I was given a copy of. It stated this;
"Allowing students to bring to school electronic devices, including, but not limited to, cell phones, pagers, or other audio/video devices, is a privilege afforded by Huntsville city Schools. Use or visible possession of any such device during school hours is strictly prohibited except by permission of the Principle or in the case of devices issued to students by the District for educational purposes. In addition, students may use devices for instructional purposes with the specific permission of their teacher. An acceptable use form, including instructions and conditions, will need to be signed and additional restrictions may apply. The use of electronic devices may not disturb or impede extracurricular activities.
The Board permits restricted and conditional access to, and use of, its technological resources, as well as personally-owned decides for instructional purposes only and not for personal use. Students may use only accounts, files, software, and/or other technological resources that are assigned to, provided, or approved for him/her.
The Board reserves the right to place conditions on, restrict, or prohibit the use of personally-owned technology resources, including all electronic devices ans storage of media on its property. School officials may read, examine, or inspect the contents of any such device upon reasonable suspicion that the device contains evidence of an acted or suspected violation of the law, Board policy, the Code of Student Conduct, or other school rules, provided that the nature and extent of such examination shall be reasonably related and limited to the suspected violation."
First off, Huntsville City Schools, no one still uses pagers. Also, if you didn't quite follow all that, don't worry. That's because the entire statement is full of vague and multi-interpretational bureaucratic lingo so that the people in charge can demand they have a broad-spectrum range of power, when they don't. It's not news that the current-ruling generation doesn't approve of technological progression in their schools. Wardynski tries to show his ability to adapt to modernism by flashing the flag that he gave his students personal laptops. However, the reality of that move was that it was purely for the superintendent to try and get his spotlight time. Which he did receive, despite the fact that dramatic transition was narrow-spectrum, poorly executed, and mercilessly restricted. The reality is, he doesn't approve of the age of technology any more than his peers. Once his successors come into office, over time, cell phones, like many other banned-electronics, (based off my own prediction) will be widely accepted in schools. So for now, we will continue to see more recent technology be rejected by schools. I had a very brief email conversation with the author of An Army of Davids, How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths, Glenn Reynolds about the introduction of educational reform through technological advancing. I asked Mr. Reynolds if he thought we would reach a point where the people needed and wanted this change, but educational leaders would refuse to make it and create a problematic era of education. He said;
"Yes I do, and it's beginning to happen. But there is a massive resistance."
That is the situation that they have now created for us. So let me act as a median for my fellow students. We, as students, cannot insist that they do not have the power to search us, deny us full access to information access, and ignore our own rights to education and privacy. However, we can insist they should not have these powers. We have the power to make change, and we should be the ones making it, right? We are the only ones it truly affects! Next, though, it will be our kids, and our kid's kids. So, do not individually mumble under your breath that they do not have the right. Instead, collectively, and wholeheartedly civilly disobey, because that is our job and our right as the next generation. Encrypt your phones, set your passwords, and fight back against dictators like Wardynski and the like. And when they demand you give them access to everything, look them dead in the eyes and say no. That applies to everyone. Not just Huntsville students, not just children, but to everyone who has ever found themselves powerless. Civil disobedience is the way out. That's all for today, and I'll be back against tomorrow with another post! "Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Life seems harsh, and cruel. Says he feels all alone in threatening world. Doctor says: "Treatment is simple. The great clown - Pagliacci - is in town. Go see him. That should pick you up." Man bursts into tears. "But doctor..." he says "I am Pagliacci." Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains." -Rorschach, Watchmen
It's not exactly a mystery that within the past few months or years the topic of whistleblowers has become a bigger and bigger topic. There was the Private First Class Chelsea (Bradley) Manning who leaked. This is a confusing story in itself without the details so let me briefly explain. Chelsea was diagnosed with Gender Identification Disorder and has, ever since she was a child, self-identified as a girl. However, biologically speaking she is a man. For respect of her decisions and individual freedoms, I will refer to her throughout this as her self-identified self, Chelsea Manning. So, Chelsea was in charge, as a Private First Class, to often deal with and handle many classified United States military documents. She said that she noticed extremely upsetting things throughout the files that she couldn't believe no one cared about. She noticed we had committed serious war crimes. We had committed crimes that violated morals and human rights in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries we had been. Finally, one day, she couldn't take it anymore, and handed every file she could over to Julian Assange, who founded WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks is a website that posts any and all leaked files for anyone to view. One of the most shocking of these leaks was this video: Warning: Video contains mild violence.
The video is rather long so you don't need to watch it, but this Apache helicopter fired on a group of innocent, unarmed citizens in Baghdad killing every one and insisting they had RPGs (which were actually cameras). As if this wasn't bad enough, then, when a investigative team showed up, they ran the bodies over with their car and proceeded to laugh with the Apache pilots that shot the citizens about it. If you aren't a clinical sociopath without any sense of a moral compass, obviously you understand the true disgust in this sort of thing. Chelsea was arrested almost immediately after the files were done transferring. Then, there's Julian Assange. His sight WikiLeaks has been under constant political fire for quite some time now. However, no government has the right or ability to take his sight down. It's perfectly legal, since he didn't take the documents he posts himself. It's all just journalism at that point. It is his sight that hosts the document leaks from Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning. Which brings us to Edward Snowden. Mr. Snowden was a National Security Agency worker originally. When he realized that the Untied States government was illegally spying on every citizen inside and outside the United States, he leaked every document he could find to the public and was chased out of the U.S.by Government Agencies and has now been granted asylum in Russia. The U.S. Government demanded that Russia give him up to the authorities, but Russia refused them, and still does. His leaks have spawned a whole new privacy movement against the United States and has caused the upbringing of multiple difference action-organizations. The reason I talk about all these whistleblowers, is because they are a very sensitive topic. However, I feel like it should be pretty straight forward for us at this point. The men and women who rule over us are demanding that we surrender the rights of the people over to them. They claim it's for safety, and for our protection, but we must see past that. These people are fighting and living in solitude and misfortune to show us what the true matter of it all is. They are trying to show us truth, and it's no coincidence that the government says they are liars or criminals. So I am, as always, on the side of the people. We must never forget who out true enemies are. It is not Republican vs. Democrat. It is us against them. That's all for today, I'll be back tomorrow with another post! "The greatest country in the world would be the one that spent as much money on education as the U.S. does on war." -Malcolm X
You might have heard, considering it was everywhere in the news, but yesterday there was a more-than-unfortunate incident in the Parliament of Canada.
At 9:52 gunfire erupted in the area of Parliament Hill and one guard was shot in the leg. Before long the Canadian Sergeant-at-Arms confronted the shooter and gave him a fatal shot to the chest.
That guy.
The RCMP was praised for their great response on removing the Prime Minister from the situation as soon as possible.
The Prime Minister later had this to say about the people responsible;
"They will have no safe haven. We will remain vigilant against those at home or abroad who wish to harm us."
There are speculations as of now that this was an act of organized terrorism, however, as of now there is no stone-set evidence of this yet.
Shootings are always a terrible thing to see happen in the world, no matter where it is.
Tragic events like these, I do believe, should open way for serious and mature discussion amongst the people of every country, as well as my own, about what we should all do to prevent these things
We tried to install gun control, and that did not work. We tried to abolish gun control, and that did not work. We have tried to buff up police and their response, and that just created more problems.
It is time that we start to explore new ways of thinking about how to go about fixing this problem, because it's not going to stop. That would be purely against the nature of people.
It is pretty widely accepted that you cannot solve a problem with the same way of thinking that was used to create it.
So, what I ask is that we all keep an open mind about suggestions as to the solution of these problems, and not cross out any options in our minds, because then we will not be able to find an answer once and for all.
That's all god today, I'll be back tomorrow with another post!
"Politics is not about left versus right. It's about top versus bottom." -Jim Hightower
I was more than overjoyed to hear that the FBI has officially been told by United States Congressional member Darrell Issa that FBI Director Coney's propositions about forcing companies to decrypt phones has a "zero percent" chance of passing.
I have talked about this issue before, but I thought I would rehash the topic and give a little further insight into the matter for the people who don't quite understand what's so important about it.
If you weren't aware, FBI Director James Coney was infuriated by iPhone and Google's new default encryption services and says they have gone "too far". He publicly stated that Apple was putting privacy over the law.
He stated that criminals used encryption to throw off investigations and that law enforcement is "struggling to keep up" with criminals who use technology.
But we already won this battle, Coney. He knows it, and odds are if you were born before then, you remember the Crypto Wars of the 1990's.
We, the people, won in the courts, in Congress, and in public approval.
You see, the fact is that the FBI believes they should be able to access anything and everything to push progress. They do not even minorly care if that means you have to sacrifice your rights as a citizen.
See the problem? It is a big one.
Coney has gone on a massive campaign against encryption to try and sway the public in his favor, but it isn't working for him.
He told companies if they didn't fix this issue, Congress would have to force them to stop using encryption.
This is where Congressman Issa comes into the picture. On October 17th, the California Republican released a string of tweets including quotes such as these;
"Americans have watched their government mislead the public about data collection and resist necessary oversight."
"To FBI Director Comey and the Admin on criticisms of legitimate businesses using encryption: you reap what you sow."
" The FBI and Justice Department must be more accountable-- tough sell for them to now ask the American people for more surveillance power."
I'm happy to know there are still some sane proposals out of Congressional members.
We have to demand our rights as a people, and never let the people ruling us tell us what our rights are. That is not freedom, that is dictatorship.
So I'd like Director Coney to know, we don't encrypt because we're all committing crimes. We demand privacy because we're allowed to demand our privacy. The American people won the Crypto Wars once and we can win them again, and if we don't the first time we will keep going after you until we do. That's what we do as Americans. You can say that it helps spread crime (which, for the record, is the same logic that criminals will follow gun-control laws) but it is not worth sacrificing the rights of the people for you to catch a small amount of the never-ending criminal population. As Americans we cannot bend to the will of authorities every time they say it will help protect us, because that is not what this country was founded on. We as a country accepted over 200 years ago that we must sacrifice some of our safety for justice and freedom. If we don't are we truly any better than any other country in the world? I wouldn't say so. That's all for today! I'll be back tomorrow with another post. "Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." -George Orwell
Marijuana legalization has been a very popular topic for the United States in the past few years, especially with the successful legalization in Colorado and Washington, with many states (and the District of Columbia) heading down the path as we speak.
Marijuana has, for a long time now, been known to not cause any real medical issues, and is known to relieve vast amounts of pain for even the most painful of diseases.
It has been used for thousands of years by humans and was outlawed based on government-controlled myths to bend the American public's opinion.
So why is it that Marijuana is still illegal, then? It has so many benefits to the public, with no real danger, so shouldn't this be a closed-case?
In truth, there's no solid grounding as to why. People are still worried it's addictive, has "no accepted medical use", and some older generations still associate the substance with oppressed minority groups, as it often was decades ago.
I, however, am a strong supporter for this movement for a vast number of reasons.
The first of those reasons is that I have, personally, seen the benefits of someone with crippling painful disease have their unimaginable suffering eased with the use of marijuana.
That pain, which could not be helped by any amount of hydrocodone, oxycontin, and any other harmful, destructive drugs, could be helped by the use of a drug with no legitimate down-sides except that our noted elderly Congress (average age of 57 in the House and 63 in the Senate) refuses to accept thattimes have changed. Information about the legitimacy of Marijuana is now publicly available thanks to modern technology.
So why on earth would we not legalize Marijuana so a body of old people can keep from damning youth, if the consequences are unnecessary pain on innocent citizens.
Also, I do not ever support the continued tolerance of pure ignorance because it satisfies tradition. The fact is, over time we have accepted things as a society over time that are purely false, just because they have been passed down repetitively.
That is exactly what we have done with the criminalization of Marijuana.
So I ask my own state, like all states, to make Marijuana legal once and for all because it's what is right, it's what makes sense, and for once we could enforce a little more open mindedness in America.
That's all for today, I'll be back tomorrow with another post!
"It is forbidden to kill. Therefore, all murderers are punished, unless they kill in large numbers, and to the sound of a trumpet." -Voltaire
It is becoming an undeniable fact in this country that we need a serious educational reform. Being a child in the public school system, I, like almost every child in this system, recognizes the need for active change in the education program.
Many people seem to want to blame the necessity for public education attention to Common Core. We like to blame every problem we have on President Obama, which often is illogical, but is still excusable in our society for whatever reason.
The fact is that schools have become about the teachers and less and less about the children. I'm sorry teachers, but that's not what is important!
The economy is hard, life is hard, but if you are ripping a hole of ignorance through the minds of the next generation, and getting paid to do it you need to be fired!
Speaking from personal experience, there are many teachers in my school alone who should have been fired years ago but instead scrape by and destroy the education of the students that come through their classes.
For example, I am in an elective Art History class at my school with a teacher who I have learned an exceeding amount from and I thoroughly enjoy his class and every lesson we have in it.
I would easily say that I've learned more in the half a semester I've been in his class than any regular history teacher throughout my entire K-12 education. He finds morals and lessons in his teachings and it is still thoroughly enjoyable.
Meanwhile, I am also enrolled in a default 11th Grade History class on American History from the Indian Revolution to the present. The amount of fascinating things that have happened in that time are infinite, but I along with my classmates are yet to learn a single thing in the class.
As a matter of fact, we used up about half an hour of class time having the teacher read us a love note she found on the floor and proceed to talk about it and make fun of the situation for 30 minutes. Then, in her 10th Grade History class, she wasted an entire day of class having her students write their own break-up love notes and reading them out loud to the class, only to further humiliate the students involved.
That teacher, who was only recently hired, has shown on many occasions her inability to teach her class and is practically undeserving to be called a teacher, since she doesn't teach.
Yet, the teacher will keep her job, most likely, for years to come and will only make the children's education hamper further and further.
Also, there are people trying to misshape the lessons to bend to the morals the overly-politically-correct government would have you learn.
For instance, just recently there has been an issue where a group of Colorado kids are now in a mode of civil disobedience over the fact their school board intended to change the AP History program to reflect more patriotism. For the record, we do not learn the most important historical and societal lessons from illustrations of America's successes. We learn from failure.
