Afghanistan Suicide Bombing

                On Monday there was what reports are saying a Taliban bombing in the middle of an Afghanistan street that tragically killed nine and wounded 29 people. The bombing killed a police man which is supposedly the alleged target and civilians that were standing nearby, diplomats and officials were also killed in the bombing. They say that there was no specific target which is what makes this case so unique and is why they is still an ongoing investigation. They think that the Taliban (if that is who did it) was targeting the public as well as the police because they are trying to influence the oncoming election.

                When I first read this article I was confused as to why these bombings keep happening. This has just got to stop. You would think that the people of the Taliban would start realizing that these bombings are not getting them ANYWHERE! It is ridiculous! You have been trying for years and it hasn’t gotten you anywhere except a bad rep and innocent dead people. I am so incredibly sick of constantly hearing about places being bombed and innocent civilians, police and army men being killed. My god this has got to stop there is absolutely no point! It is not getting you anywhere and it sure as hell isn’t helping anyone else. I also think the government needs to be more involved in getting the Taliban to stop and stopping the spread of the Taliban beliefs. I understand that it is easier said than done but something has got to be done if so many innocent people are dying. They need to be put in their place. Give them a taste of their own freaking medicine and stop the retaliation they will be planning before it happens. I am just really sick of hearing about innocent people dying over something as trivial as politics, it shouldn’t and doesn’t have to be going this damn far. (323)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/world/asia/suicide-bomb-pakistan.html?ref=world

Assassination Attempt of Syria's Prime Minister

                On Monday Syria’s Prime Minister was almost assassinated by a car bomb while visiting Mezze. The Prime Minister was not hurt because he was in a few buildings down but it was close to his convoy and one of his body guards did unfortunately pass away in the car bomb explosion. This has not been the first attack on higher government in Syria; there was an attack at gunpoint on the higher chief of coordinator of emergency aid distribution to civilians who was killed. Is this a coincidence or are the people of Syria really getting sick of their government so much that they are willing to assassinate many or all of the higher government until they find someone they want to run their country.

                When I read this article I was surprised to hear that there was an attempt to kill the Prime Minister only a week after they had killed another high government official. I think that Syria needs to start worrying about their own country before going and starting war with another. Obviously the people of Syria are not too enthused by their government otherwise they would not be trying to assassinate so many of them. It is not normal two hear of two attempts of assassination over the span of a few weeks, one of them being successful. Maybe it was one person, if they haven’t caught the person who killed the chief coordinator but maybe they should be keeping a better eye on the civilians then. They should not be worrying about war with other countries or bombing other countries when they cannot event control their own country or the people in their country. I think this shows a huge missing piece in the government and law in Syria. It sounds like the people aren’t satisfied so maybe they should be worrying about that then then the other people around them. (316)

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/world/middleeast/syria-war-developments.html?ref=world

Cargo Ship Crash off the Coast of Greece

                Recently in Greece there was a collision 80 miles away from the city of Methoni between two cargo ships. There were 17 crew men on the one ship and 16 on the other. The mysterious thing about this entire collision is that 7 of the crew members are missing after the ship sank 7 minutes after being hit and no one knows what really caused the collision in the first place. The crew members from the other ship have all come out to be okay and even helped the Greek coast guard to find the missing men, kind of sounds suspicious to me…

                When I first read this article I was surprised especially about how this happened in the first place. It is not very often that you hear about cargo ships hitting each other, let alone for no apparent reason? They reported that the seas were very calm right after the crash and have been for the past few days which makes this story sound even more suspicious. I cannot imagine what were to happen. Was it on purpose, crashing into each other? If so why? Were they secretly feuding? Was it really just two boats crashing into each other because they were on the same track? If they were on the same track how on earth did that happen? Don’t they track the way they are going and have communication systems for who is out at sea so things like this do not occur? This story just does not sound right; I think they need to find out what was going on and how they crashed into each other. These cargo ships should not have crashed into each other if they were following the right tracks that they were supposed to be on. I hope that Greece investigates and finds out what really happened on the water that day. (311)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/world/europe/ship-collision-off-greece.html?ref=world&_r=0

Greece's Economic Crash

    In the past five years Greece’s economy has dropped by 20 percent and the unemployment rate is at 27 percent which is the lowest currently in Europe. This leads up to what has been happening recently in the schools at Greece, the children are coming to school starving and are rummaging through trash to find extra food to eat. They have interviewed a principal at one of the schools and even he sees the changes in the students at the school he can even recall a student who doubled over from the hunger pains he was experiencing. Parents are having a hard time in this new and lowering economy and are struggling to hold down jobs. Some have gone through they are saving and are living on next to nothing currently.

   This is such a sad story to read, and what makes it even worse is that it is happening in places all over the world. So many countries are going through hard times right now economically and now children are suffering, going hungry, so bad that they are digging through the garbage to find food! Not only is this affecting the hunger of the children but their family life as well. Some parents have found that at this moment they cannot take care of their children properly and have to take them to care centers where they can be fed every day and where they are well taken care of. This not only hurts the children but the parents of the children because they feel bad for having to give up their children and not being able to take care of them while the kids don’t understand why they cannot be with their parents at this time. They need their parents in their life, but currently they can’t afford it and that is so terribly sad. I hope that soon Greece’s economy will rise so the parents can give their children back and so the kids do not have to suffer any more. (334)

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/15/world/europe/greece-economic-orphans/index.html?iref=allsearch 

Chinese Gang Kills 15

                This past Tuesday in China, 21 people were killed because of a Chinese gang. Fifteen of the people killed were forced into a house at the force of a sword by the gang and that house was later set on fire with all of them inside. The rest of those killed were part of the gang that were killed after fighting with police and security guards after they were caught with what they were doing. According to this article this region where this incident occurred is very prone to violence and it has gotten worse over the past two years.

                When I first read this story I was shocked and I was angry that this happened in the first place. The fact that there is a group of people in this world who are willing to burn 15 innocent people alive just for sheer pleasure is just sickening to me. Not to mention they lost their own lives because they thought they were in the right and were not willing to pay their consequences. This is ridiculous. If things like this and other violent acts are currently happening in this part of China then why hasn’t the government more involved. This should not be happening period. Group massacres of 15 people? And the government isn’t getting super involved in this part of town. They should be police patrolling the streets constantly and anyone who is associate with the gang should be incarcerated, they are witnesses and in the case of legal action acting “blind” to the situations going on. That is illegal and they should be put in jail for it. Maybe if they start cleaning up one of the other gangs this will help decrease at least some of the gang activity that is constantly going on, this has got to end. (304)

Boston Bombers Mother Speaks Out

                Recently after the Boston Marathon Bombing the parents of the bombers have spoken up about their sons being accused. The mother of the bombers has said that she never saw her sons act out violently and will never believe that her sons were capable of bombing the marathon. She also has stated that her sons were never apart of a religious extremist groups that would have done such a thing. The mother and the father have also shared their opinions about American conspiracies and how this may have caused her sons to be accused.

                When you thing about the Boston bombing there is nothing else to feel but sadness and anger for the people who killed the runners who were running for a good cause. There is absolutely no excuse for the people who murder 2 and wounded almost 300. That being said I can understand that the mother of these two kids is going through a lot right now, one of her children is dead and the other is most likely going to jail for the rest of his life, and they could be responsible for all those killed and wounded. I understand that she may be going through a tough time right now and that she should not be written off but that is no excuse to be making excuses for her kids. If there is any possibility that they have done this then she should not be acting out so rudely toward all of the police officers and boisterously stating her opinion about everything. It was a tragedy what happened and it is a tragedy for her family as well, but no excuses should be made. People are dead because of this and many are wounded, it is just another reminder of 9/11 and to prevent both of those events from happening again they need to be as cautious as they can. We need to find out who did it and who they are affiliated with so these tragedies don’t keep reoccurring.  (335)


http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/25/world/europe/dagestan-boston-suspects-family/index.html?iref=allsearch 

Children Kidnapped and Taken to Egypt

                About 10 years ago a man named Michael Shannon had sent his four year old son and his 10 month old son to visit their mother in New York. Unfortunately he did not know that he would never see his children again. Their mother had actually taken his children to Egypt and because the United States has little to no jurisdiction in Egypt he has not been able to see his children for about 10 years.  They have tried to get his kids back to him but the Egyptian government just laughed at them. They have not signed any documents pertaining to international child abduction.

                When I first read this story I was seriously shocked that anyone could ever do that to a person that you had children with.  This woman has literally kidnapped her children. They were originally in the father of the children’s custody and she took them away from him, he hasn’t seen his children in over 10 years. I don’t understand how someone could do that to another person. His kids could have been his entire world, you have no idea and she just took that away from them. What I also do not understand is why it isn’t that easy to get his children back. I don’t get why the hell Egypt doesn’t have any laws against international kidnapping. It just goes to show how much the world doesn’t really care about each other. For all we know the mother could be a complete psychopath, not to mention her behavior of taking them away to Egypt kind of makes the statement above more believable. I think that they need to make laws against international kidnapping for the sake of children across the world. This is a rare case but who is to say that something like this won’t happen again? I can almost guarantee that it will happen in different countries as well and they need to change it for the well-being of the children across the world. (333)

 

 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/12/world/kidnapped-to-egypt/index.html?hpt=wo_mid

Canadian Gang Rape Victim Passes Away

                Recently in Canada a 17 year old girl named Rehtaeh Parsons died after being taken off life support 3 days after attempting to hang herself. Rehteah tried to hang herself because previously in 2011 four young boys decided to gang rape her then take a picture of them having sex and send it to several of her classmates. She was under much scrutiny and ridicule for the past few years which contributed to her death. This has affected Canada so much that even the prime minister has become involved and made an appearance at her funeral. He himself has a teenage daughter and could not imagine the pain the family is enduring at this moment.

                When I first read this article I was completely outraged. This girls life was ruined by four jerks that thought it would be a good time. I am incredibly upset that the police were not as involved as they should have been and the fact that none of the boys had any type of criminal charge for the affair even though it was documented. It just completely baffles me that this type of bullying even occurs. They took away this sweet, animal loving girls innocence away from her and then made her life so incredibly miserable that she wanted to end her life. That is just incredibly sick to me and makes my stomach turn. What also shocks me is that she even received any ridicule for these pictures! She was forced to do those things, and a horrible crime was committed AGAINST her so why in the world would ANYONE make fun of her! I literally cannot wrap my head around it, why wouldn’t anyone stand up for her against something that was committed AGAINST her not committed by her! I can guarantee that she did not want to lose her virginity that way. It honestly sickens me that anyone would rape someone if the first place but the fact that people made fun of her for being raped and had few people stand up for just angers me to absolutely no end. This girl did not deserve any of this and in no way should she have ever been ridiculed to want to end her life. (373)

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/13/world/americas/canada-teen-suicide/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

Dharavi- Asia's Largest Slum

                In India, one of the world’s largest slums, Dharavi, has also become one of the world’s largest recycling centers. They have acquired many skills to help recycle the materials, so much that these skills have accumulated over one billion dollars last year. These skills include melting down soaps from five star hotels and mixing them together to make a new kind of soap and as a new idea maybe they could mold them into different shapes to expand their business. Along with being Asia’s largest slum it is also known as a great business center because of all the new and creative ways they have thought for recycled materials. Out of the 19 million people that live in Dharavi some are even title as entrepreneur and they have built a certain social class. Despite being the largest slum they have a social system or a higher class within the streets. The entrepreneurs are most likely of the higher class or the people who have become complete experts when it comes to recycled materials.

                I think that it is fantastic that this slum has become the main source for recycled material and that they have come up with new and innovative ideas for the materials. They have become so good at it that they are in the long run helping out Asia’s economy. My question is why are they still poor? They have so many ideas and they are very creative with the materials why are they still titled as the slums of Asia? I assume that they have become very good at this recycling thing because of all the material that they were forced to use because nothing else was available so they became skilled at recycling and making another trash another man’s treasure, which is now treasure for the whole country to take advantage of. But that still raises my question as to why they are still called the slums and why do they live in such horrible conditions when they can accumulate 1 billion dollars in a year? Is it truly necessary for Asia to have slums? Is that what makes their economy go round? I just think that the people who are helping boost the economy should be living in better conditions then they are living in currently. (381)

 

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/mar/04/india.recycling

 http://worldhumanities.wordpress.com/

New Project in Africa

     Currently in Africa children are in the streets performing acrobatic flips and kicks with each other compared to their normal day in the slums. There is a new project that has come to Africa to engage the children in new and creative activities to jump start their creativity and peak their curiosity and hopefully they will pursue them to follow their dreams and find jobs that they would love to do every day. This could also make them forget (at least for a little while) about their possible troubling lives that they live.

 

    I personally think that this is a great idea; this project should be pursued in slums across the world. It could inspire kids across the world creatively and personally, to pursue what they want to do in life and hopefully inspire them to work hard to get where they want to be later in life. This program could not only inspire children in slums but all of the children across the world, those who have more in life too, by seeing the children who have close to nothing pursue their dreams and be successful in life. I believe that they should make more programs like these across the world because they do nothing but good for children across the world. This program is especially great because it keeps the children of Africa away from the terrible dangers on the streets in Africa, including drugs and gangs. This gives them healthy and creative influences and can inspire them to be whatever they will want to be when they are older. This program also keeps them out of trouble so they can live better lives when they are older instead of spending their adult life in jail for something they did as a child and regret doing. I think that this program should be incorporated though out all countries around the world to help their kids with better influences and inspire them to be better. (326)

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/04/world/africa/barefeet-theatre-street-children/index.html?c=world

France and Uruguay Thinking About Same Sex Marriage?

Lately the news has been booming over the controversy of legalizing gay marriages here in the US but the United States is not the only place that is debating over this, France and Uruguay are also debating this as well. Uruguay has just passed the equal rights bill and France is now trying to pass a law that legalizes same sex marriage and allows the couples to legally adopt children. There is much controversy in France though, because they are primarily Catholic there are many people who are against the bill. There are also people who have been protesting in Paris to pass the bill, allowing same sex marriage.

                My opinion on same sex marriage is that it should be allowed. The fact that they are deny people of their right to marry someone that they love is just wrong. I hear others who justify denying them their right by claiming that it was made for man and woman and that they would be ruining the entire idea of marriage. What I say to this is that the people who get married to each other for money or on a drunken night in Vegas aren’t ruing the legal right to marry and the right to be with the person they love for the rest of their life but two people of the same sex are? If anything they are making it stronger because they truly love each other, which shows everyone that no matter what their love can get through anything which inspires more people do be with the person they truly whether they are the same gender or not. How is against Gods way to love each other? He made all of us in his image, we are what he wants us to be and if that means loving someone of the opposite gender, so be it. We should accept everyone for who they are and not discriminate them because of who they love. (325)

 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/04/world/same-sex-marriage-next-country/index.html?hpt=wo_c2