Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
About Me
- MC Santana
- I am a positive person with a lot of energy. I like to meet different people and enjoy learning about other communities and places. I love to travel. I usually travel abroad once or twice a year.
The week of June 17th? I'm a bit confused with the date. Also, this means our news analysis can just be one large blog post instead of turning in a hard copy (I assume we just post the news link the comment too)? I turned in a hard copy, but this would be much more convenient if that is the case! =D
ReplyDeleteFor this week, I chose to write on the U.S. bombing in Yemen that killed over 50 civilians. On the 17th of December 2009, "a cruise missile attack killed 55 civilians, of which 21 were children." The U.S. has become highly involved in Yemen, spending "70 million dollars over the next year, to train counter-insurgency forces, as well as increasing the presence of U.S. special forces." Under the "guise of the war on terror, the U.S. has been fighting a secret war in Yemen, to dispose of forces opposed to imperialism in the Middle East." It has now been discovered that the U.S. and Yemeni allies launched the attack supposedly fighting Al-Qaeda militants, of which the survivors and those killed had no connection to. A photo by Amnesty International shows that remains of a "BGM-109D Tomahawk cruise missile, which can be launched from a warship or a submarine, carries a payload of 166 cluster submunitions (bomblets) which each explode into over 200 sharp steel fragments that can cause injuries up to 150m away. An incendiary material inside the bomblet also spreads fragments of burning zirconium designed to set fire to nearby flammable objects." Missiles such as these have been banned under the Convention of Cluster Munitions due to their link in massive civilian casualties, however, both the U.S. and Yemen have refused to sign this convention. The United States military has also began "stepping up Predator drone attacks in Yemen to kill anti-imperialists." With all this money being spent on covert war and civilian murder, "one in three people (7 million) in Yemen are starving, while another 2.7 million are classified as food insecure." I felt that it was important not only to bring awareness to a terrible violation of human rights, but to also make people aware of the covert and inhumane wars the United States military is waging across the world.
ReplyDelete"How can you make a war on terror, if war itself is terrorism?" - Howard Zinn
http://www.fightbacknews.org/2010/6/8/us-responsible-missile-attack-killed-dozens-yemeni-civilians
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/caught-tape-cop-punches-girl-10927572
ReplyDeleteMy article of analysis this week is on the alleged police brutality which occurred in Seattle, Washington. Maybe this is my inner oblivious ignorant coming out, but why is the video being so overly dramatized? I know as an African-American female, and activist I should be all “on board” behind the Seattle NAACP’s call for this particular Chief Officer to resign for his actions, but I actually am siding with the Seattle Police Department on this one.
The first female was resisting authority and arrest for something as simple as a conversation or $15 ticket concerning jaywalking. For one minute within the actual video the officer spends his time trying to calmly subdue the jaywalking nineteen year old woman. Then steps in the underage seventeen year old “victim”. She proceeds to involve herself in the one-on-one altercation, by intervening and using physical force on the officer. She places her hand on the authority in order to free the original unruly jaywalker. Was this at all necessary? My parents have taught me to respect (and to some degree fear) the law and law enforcement. If I we in that situation I would have NEVER thought to intercede in this incident. She made the conscious decision to place herself in harms way, knowing the potential consequences, and in her act of civil unrest, the officer countered this action with a punch to the face.
With all of the training law enforcement conducts, I do not fully justify his actions of punching her. He could have easily called for backup (especially a female cop), used pepper spray, taser gun or millions of other actions to subdue her in lieu of punching her in the face. But what if that incident went differently? In being two people against one, what if the 17 year old girl grabbed for his gun? Then would we be calling this an incident of racially motivated police brutality?
I have very mixed feeling on this case. I feel like the officer should be reprimanded, but this is not worth him resigning or losing his job. He was technically following protocol.
I was trying to find an article from a source that I normally don’t go to so I could see what the other side is saying. I searched the Drudge Report website and found an article titled “DEMS FLIRT WITH BACKING ‘JUDAS’ CRIST” though when I clicked on the story it took me to Politico’s website. The title of the real article on Politico was “Democrats flirt with backing Charlie Crist” leaving out the Judas. It seems like the Drudge Report website provides links to articles from different cites while adding a conservative twist.
ReplyDeleteThe article was not at all about how Crist abandoned Florida republicans but instead reported on the 2010 United States Senate race from the democrat’s point of view. It states that Governor Crist has sided with Florida’s left minded citizens more in the last couple of months. But from what I follow he has always been a fairly center leader though he has appointed very conservative judges to the bench throughout his Governorship. The article states that he might be about to get elected by using the platform of I’m not Marco. Marco Rubio is the republican candidate and a tea party ultra conservative so anyone who considers themselves a liberal or democrat wants very much for Rubio to not prevail.
The article mentions Rubio though does not focus on the republican side of the race. More so the author discusses that the democratic nomination is not yet decided and if Meek does not win then the party will not be united and many democrats will end up voting for Crist because he is the lesser of two evils.
Coming from Politico.com the story was not made to lean any direction or take sides in my opinion. It was interesting to see what is going on in our very own state and it will be exciting to see what happens with the Senate, Governor, and many state representative races.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38590.html
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/16/bp.refinery.reaction/index.html?hpt=Sbin
ReplyDeleteFor my article analysis, I have chosen to post about an article concerning the BP gas leak. I feel that this is a huge global catastrophe, and that the following consequences of such an event illustrate the pitfalls of the American character.
The name of the oil well that has exploded is the Deepwater Horizon. A very basic fact that I am sure a majority of the American people do not know. A common thread of approach for this catastrophe is an attitude of obvious "hate" for what has happened, and stubborn yet solid refusal to bring oneself to actually learn about the event, and the current, real catastrophic consequences. "I just get to mad/upset" is a common justification for ignorance of the oil spill, and the legal responsibilities of the corporation behind it.
In choosing an article, I selected purposefully the first I saw, which is currently showcased on the front page of CNN.com, and it happens to 'report' on the operation (BP) behind this oil disaster.
"BP documents highlight PR strategy after deadly Texas blast "
The article proceeds to explain how an oil-related accident killed fifteen of the employees working at the site of the occurred explosion. Documents were found noting e-mails and held meetings instructing BP executives to allow this to blow over and that with the weekend the news would thin out and re-focus on larger national crisis.
The article does not, however, acknowledge the scope of international business powers that practice such public relations motives, and instead attempts to label BP as an unusually unethical business structure.
I believe that by doing so, corporate responsibility will not be affected as one company's unethical practice is spotlighted and isolated from the international powers of large business.
Also, by seeking dramatic news stories, the essential facts and issues in need of solution are lost in the vision of the media and are therefore rendered ignored and acknowledged by the self-ignorant.
This is an issue, that free speech itself has now become a trapping of the capitalistic system that has allowed this oil catastrophe to come to fruition in the first place.
I am missing Kevin P., Ana, Debbie, Maddie and Peter on this assignment.
ReplyDeletehttp://community.feministing.com/2010/06/inspiration-in-puerto-rico.html
ReplyDeleteThe article speaks of the protest that have been going on at the University of Puerto Rico. I know that there have been some news articles about this event in the past few weeks but I feel that this article really spoke to me. It talks about how the media is either not giving coverage or giving negative coverage over the protest. The protest are students and others that have successfully shut down the University due to the increased tuition that has occurred that will make it impossible for 60% of their students to attend the university. Before this article I had only read one other article and it was from an alternative news source which I thought was interesting because in my mind it seemed like a larger issue. I had heard about conferences being cancelled because of the protest but when I talked to friends or family they seemed to know little information. After reading this article I now understand how the media can hide a story that is of importance and how it can shift the understanding/intentions of a group.
I felt that is a common situation where the media does not cover stories done by activist and often times acts in favor of the government or the elite. When there are news stories done the protesters are shown as deviants, instead of showing the students as strong and standing up for their rights, they are referred to as “terrorist”. It just shows that there is a system in place that makes that makes it very difficult to achieve a goal when it is something that is undesirable to the government or the people in power. The university was traditionally a way for students in poverty to raise up and achieve more, now it is being turning into an institution that furthers the inequality among the people in Puerto Rico.
"Republicans Apologize, Grovel to BP"
ReplyDeleteThe article is a stinging indictment of Republicans who have shamelessly defended BP even as their negligent actions continue to devastate the gulf and cost taxpayers billions of dollars. Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi, tried to minimize the real damage of the spill and was worried that the escrow account set up between the White House and BP would cut into the companies’ profits. These types of things reveal the true nature of their ideology, which is quite straightforward: government = bad and evil; corporations and big business = good. There is no gray area or nuance; it is almost like a religion to these people. However, to be fair, most if not all of them are in the pockets of the oil industry, and so they are just acting like the shills they were paid to be.
The latest example of someone groveling before the oil giant is from today. Rep. Joe Barton actually had the audacity to apologize to the CEO of BP, Tony Hayward, because the company had to pay $20 billion to help cover the damages. He described it as a “shakedown” by the administration and a “tragedy”. Really? You’re going to apologize to the people responsible for the environmental damage? The only “tragedy” is that there are people silly enough to continue to vote for Barton and his ilk. Perhaps this oil spill can wake them up out of their coma…one can only hope.
Conservatives and Republicans love to lecture others on personal responsibility and self reliance, especially when the individual is poor or economically disadvantaged. But when giant corporations make a huge mess, all that changes. They barely blink an eye when the taxpayers are forced to foot the bill and stamp their feet if anyone considers making the responsible party pay for it.
Source: http://www.alternet.org/news/147245/republicans_apologize%2C_grovel_to_bp_?page=1
Sound Strike!
ReplyDeletehttp://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0617/sound-strike-rage-kanye-refuse-perform-arizona/
In an attempt to force Arizona to reconsider the law it recently passed, Zack de la Rocha, the vocalist for Rage Against the Machine, has decided that he and his band will no longer play their music in Arizona. De la Rocha began the Sound Strike on May 25th when he wrote a letter saying that the law "legalizes and sanctions racial profiling." Rage Against the Machine is not the only group of artists that have decided to stop touring in Arizona. Other major artists include Kanye West, Massive Attack, Joe Satriani, Cypress Hill, and Sonic Youth. Even filmmaker Michael Moore has signed on board.
I think this is important because it shows that even people who aren't necessarily affected by this law are taking a step to show Arizona lawmakers that they need to make a change to their recently passed law. These artists are doing more than just advocating for change. They're losing potential profit from their tours, because they feel so strongly about this issue. I think it's great that they are willing to sacrifice their money in order to make a point. This strike is only one of the many efforts/boycotts made against the state of Arizona.
Arizona, however, seems to be rather unaffected by this boycott, as they have yet to announace any changes to the law that they passed earlier this year. This is particularly distressing, because after numerous boycotts, they seem to be unwilling to alter their law which encourages racial profiling.
Constantine, Caitlin. "Tweeting Choice: The Abortion Diaries." Bitch Summer 2010: 8. Print.
ReplyDeleteFor my news analysis this week I chose an article in issue 47 of “Bitch” Magazine entitled “Tweeting Choice: The Abortion Diaries”, written by Caitlin Constantine. I figured this article was a very appropriate choice seeing as we’ve been discussing the health care debate all this week. This article tells the story of a woman named Angie Jackson, who decided to tweet on Twitter about her choice to have an abortion. She tweeted and made video blogs telling of her process she went through while having an abortion and the events leading up to after the abortion.
I found the act of her tweeting about such a hard experience to be very moving. I know a girl who has had an abortion so I know through her what it’s like after an abortion. It takes a lot of courage to tell the world about an experience that most women prefer to keep private. Because of this simple act Angie received all kinds of responses, both good and bad. The Pro-Life supporters were sending her all kinds of hate mail, telling her she’s a heartless being and even threatening to kill her and her son. The Pro-Choice supporters were commending her efforts but also stated that her casual way of talking about her abortion only added fuel to the Pro-Lifers argument.
It’s amazing to see an act that’s so small as tweeting or blogging about a personal experience being taken to such high levels of reactions and responses. It really goes to show that even the smallest acts of activism can have a big impact on a cause. Because of a few simple tweets and video blogs women everywhere were shown that they’re not alone and they’re not evil for choosing to have an abortion. Many women are also receiving the answers they’ve been looking for the questions they’ve had for a long time but were too afraid to ask. Whether or not Angie Jackson was looking to make a big impact she did.
Overall, all of you did very good this week. This particular analysis was well written, with insightful comments and relevancy.
ReplyDelete