Bravo! Little Gavroche of the Day: Anybody know who plays Gavroche here? Kid is brilliant.
Reblogging because he’s been identified as Oliver Gilmartin. Still amazing!
Bravo! Little Gavroche of the Day: Anybody know who plays Gavroche here? Kid is brilliant.
Reblogging because he’s been identified as Oliver Gilmartin. Still amazing!
New York Times, March 28
I was skeptical of Obama’s intrusion on Libya at first because I do not know what America is after in Libya, like how Bush has invaded Iraq and Afghanistan for other purposes before. Libya is now on the brink of a revolution, however with both sides of the Gaddafi regime firmly on their respective sides, this revolution has given way to more warring and more violence. The anti-government are tired of Gaddafi oppression because they are not happy that Gaddafi has taken away their freedom of government all these years, and the recent uprisings in Middle East has also saprked this aspriation to fight for their own country for better quality of life. The pro-government, however, have a strong stance as they regard Gaddafi with a Kim Jung Il -type of admiration. It worried me that Obama was adding more salt to wound by declaring open fire in Libyan skies, and further stirring the confusion and violence already occurring.
However, after reading the speech it gives me a peace of mind that Obama is a calculated person who does not risk the lives of American troops and peace for nothing. America does have their reasons as stated in the speech: “And as President, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action.” This particularly struck me as we are all one world, and we should care about what is going on in Middle East simply because they are part of where we live in, and that their democracy and peace is important to us not because of ulterior motives but because humanitarianism can rise above the selfishness in the world. America claims that they are in Libya because they want to help, and I hope very much that they and all the other countries that are involved are telling the truth.
Lastly, Obama ended with the story of a military miscalculation where a plane malfunctioned over Libya, yet when one of the airmen parachuted to the ground, a young Libyan who came to his aid said, “We are your friends. We are so grateful to these men who are protecting the skies.” It pains me that we live in a world where violence can only be stopped by violence, but sometimes it is the only way. We have no choice but to trust those in power to make the right decisions. I am glad that America is pulling out and transferring the power to NATO, and letting Libyans make their own choices. I believe Obama is making the right decisions as of now to be the first to rise up and help the Libyan citizens, who are making a plea. I hope their story continue to stay in the news and I hope they can get their wish of peace, and a better life.
Magazine: TIME March 28 (Japan’s Meltdown) Article: Fear Goes Nuclear
The Japan earthquake has spawned a even more serious problem than the earthquake and tsunami itself, and that is the problem of the radiation leak at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant due to the earthquake. The nuclear plant had prempted earthquakes as Japan is always rocked by such earthquakes, up to Richter scale 8.5 however the 9.0 earthquake was out of their expectations. The fuel rods at the reactors are heated up through reactions and control rods help regulate the temperature. As the earthquake occured, the reactors went out of power and the control rods failed to cool down the reactors. The water that submerges these rods will boil and evaporate, leaving exposed fuel rods that are cracking and melting, and this causes minor explosions that leak radiation. Even though repeated reassurances are given by the Japan government, the radiation is already severe enough to expose the workers at the reactors to cancer risk.
Japan has been no stranger to nuclear power, since the first usage of it has been utilised to end WWII by blowing two Japanese cities apart. Just as the world is more accustomed to the benefits of nuclear power, the news of these explosions are alarming the world population (people are even taking iodine pills as iodine from pills cancel out the iodine isotopes in radiation exposure). It has been tried to use a mixture of carbon and seawater to calm the heat given off, however this will permanently damage reactors as sea water can create rust. The Japanese have no choice but to destroy generations of fuel and decrease their power independency because of the damage done due to the earthquake.
This also brings up new talk of alternative fuel power sources given how nuclear power is susceptible to such catastrophic results. However, why is it taking us one oil spill and nuclear explosion after another to realize this? We need to stop harming our environment and our people and take steps towards cleaner, healthier fuel sources.
Food Fights: Rising global grocery bills are hitting the poor and causing political unrest TIME February 28, 2011
The source shows a chart of the world, illustrating the percentage of money each country is spending on food. The yellow parts are sepnding 6-15%, orange 16-25%, green 26-35% and purple 36% and above. The spike of commodities in the recent months have forced more developing countries to spend more on their food, with many households in the middle east (especially recently struggling countries like Egypt and Tunisia) spending nearly half their income on food. This is a worrying trend because expenditure on food means that these people cannot spend their money on other necessities such as healthcare. The expenditure on food is directly related to the wealth of a country, as in America where poor spend 16% of their money on food when the rich only spend 11%. If food inflation cuts badly into the agricultural systems, both the producers and importers will suffer, as food prices rise gradually. Again, food distribution is a rising problem as lack of communication between the rich and poor is increasing.
An important point to note is that recent revolutions in Egypt and other countries comes from the fact that commodity prices have been rising and also low standards of living (more money to spend on food (need) means less money to spend on wants). This is a direct impact of rising food prices, which is social unrest. When people do not get the food they so desperately need for themselves and their families, they turn to the streets to protest about their conditions.
Food prices don’t merely affect the prices of what we eat - they affect the social landscape and now, even the political landscapes of the world.
Recently, Republican Scott Walker, governer of Wisconsin has come under fire for initiating his plan that the normal working class should pay more insurance and pensions, decreasing their takehome pay by 7%, and also decrease bargaining rights of worker’s unions on such matters. There have been public demonstrations on both sides from those who support the bill and those who don’t, especially from the opposing side as this means these working people have less takehome money, and spending their salaries on the healthcare and pensions of others isn’t what they wish (even though they will be benefiting from it in the future). The basis behind this is that Wiconsin is broke, and deficits are amounting to $137 million. To patch that hole, the bill has been passed 54-17, and there have been many protests such as a schoolteacher lamenting that she loves teaching, but has to quit her job to find one with better pay (state employees pay more).
Due to the nationalwide US deficit, such drastic measures are employed everywhere in the country and it has been angering a lot of worker’s unions. Personally, I think that the governments are taking too much a risk for this bill even if it’s for the greater good. There could have been a less steep climb towards making workers pay for their healthcare and pensions, and they should build a curve of taxes so that people who love their less well paid jobs (teaching) can still continue to work. The governor does have very good reasons for this change though, and I applaud that they are helping themselves to change to survive rather than wait for the federal government to step in once the debt is out of hand. However, I do agree that the workers have a right to complain and bargain, and such rights should not be taken away. Even though the workers can take this right for granted and complain about a problem that if left unpatched can bite them in the back, this channel of communication between unions and governing bodies should be kept open.
1 Madman and a Gun
This article in the TIME magazine made me cry, mostly because the first part is written in the point of view of Christina Green, an eager schoolgirl attending Represensitive Gabrielle Gifford’s (who was pro-gun before the incident) constituent meet-and-greet. Green later died at the event, which would become the location of the Arizona Tucson shooting that killed six and injured eighteen. It brought back the gun debate, as to why guns are still allowed to be bought and used by ordinary citizens in the US. Guns were introduced as a means of self protection, but it has done more harms than good: less than 1% of gun deaths are during self defense, the rest are in shootings, suicides and assaults, and states with stricter gun laws suffer less from such gun violence. The perpetrator, Jared Laughner was also suffered from mental illness in university but instead of being sent for help by the school, he was forced to drop out. This also brought debate of how troubled students should be treated, as very little colleges actually have a resident counsellor.
But what really heartens me after this debate is not the re-emergence of the gun debate, but because of the few Americans that stood up to the gunman, not with guns, but with guts (one man shielded his wife of 40 years from two bullets, and another apprehended Loughner until help arrived, despite being injured himself). So perhaps American’s gun laws aren’t perfect, and change would be slow, but it’s heartwarming to see such action in the midst of inaction among everything.
**The army spokesman said the military was “aspiring to guarantee the peaceful transition of power within the framework of a free democratic system that allows an elected civilian power to rule the country, in order to build a free democratic state.” **
The most important question after a political revolution is who to lead the newly revolutionized country, and after Mubarak has finally stepped down after 30 years on February 11th, I’m glad to hear that the military is stepping up to lead the country temporarily. Democracy can lead to corrupt governments, but with the military in place, given the Egyptians’ attitude towards the military (during the protests, the military, despite being owned by Mubarak actually sided with the citizens) this arrangement is probably for the best as the military can help enforce order until elections can be held. I hope that even after Egypt has finally successfully overthrown its leader, the world will not stop keeping watch of this Egypt because newly democratic countries are often vulnerable, and after Egypt, likely many other Middle eastern countries will do the same. especially countries with oppresive leaders and bad living conditions like Sudan, where Omar hassan al-Bashir has been in power for 21 years and highly unstable especially with the Darfur genocide and a poor standard of living. Although I don’t wish to see such violent protests, sometimes it’s the only way and Egypt’s protests worked for them, so I hope other oppressed countries will work towards removing their corrupt leaders even more parasitic than Mubarak.
