Gate's Humanitarian efforts taken advantage of

A program funded by the Gate's foundation pays third world countries $20 for every child that receives vaccination from several diseases. This program has had a huge effect on the children of countries like Niger, Mali, Cambodia, Sierra Leon, and Uganda. A study conducted by another Gate's funded organization showed that these countries where over reporting the number of children vaccinated to make more money off of this generous effort made by the Gate's foundation. The study showed that many developing countries were receiving 140 million dollars more then they should have been. This article from the Seattle Times explains this issue more in depth.

Cell phones now used for financials in Kenya

A fellow classmate of mine presented on one of the cell phone services provided in Kenya today. M-Pesa is a system that allows cell phone users to transfer money, receive payments, make deposits, purchase items, and get cash all with the use of the text feature on nearly all cell phones today. Not only was it a great presentation, but this new technology is doing wonders for the citizens of Kenya. This service is offered by the cell provided Safaricom. This service also allows money to be sent from countries like the UK to people in Kenya even if the person outside of Kenya does not have Safaricom, there is just a small fee. This article by the BBC explain this further.

Polish Street Racing

In the city of Lodz Poland street racing has been booming in popularity. With Poland's Economy doing better then it has in years and the joining of the European Union the importation of foreign cars has dramatically increased. The need for speed has been felt among Poland's youth and now that the car market has grown tremendously that need is being fulfilled. For a while street racing was a big problem in the city of Lodz, but now the Police commissioner and other city officials have set up sanctioned races by barricading streets and setting up drags strips for special events. The events take place quite frequently and are relatively inexpensive to compete in. This forward thinking on the governments part has reduced driving accidents and fatalities dramatically in the city. In the united states the there are very few options for fulfilling ones desire for performance driving, one can either take the risk and do it on public roads, or pay large amounts of money to attend track days at a race track, or buy a membership to a driving club with access to one. Something like what has been pioneered in Poland would be a great thing for the car enthusiasts int the United States.

More Tragedy in Zimbabwe

Cholera has swept through Zimbabwe and is now making its was to other surrounding countries. An estimated 16,000 have gotten it and nearly 1000 reported dead. President Mugabe has done nearly nothing to solve this problem and declared the epidemic over right around the same time the World Health Organization said that over half the countries population is in danger. This article by the New York Times Address the Cholera epidemic and other tragedies in Zimbabwe that are a direct result of extreme corruption and horrible governing.

Piracy

With piracy of the cost of Somalia now getting international attention from the media, and governments concerned with protecting its citizens and products it is surprising how little seems to be being done to defend against pirates. In the past week an American cruise ship in the Gulf of Aden was attacked by two pirate skiffs but managed to escape. The major difference between this attack and other is that the cargo was people, not oil or military hardware like the recent attacks that have been in the media. To a pirate a cruise ship offers a vastly more profitable catch then a cargo ship. People are much more likely to pay high ransom demands when the things they are buying back are families, not just goods. Taking people hostage on a ship also provides more people to make the demands too, instead of just making demands to the ship owners, loved ones of people taken hostage could also pay. It does not seem like many precautions are being taken to defend against pirate attacks, and cruise and cargo ships still sail in what are considered pirate infested waters. This Article from the New York Times speaks more to piracy and the near capture of the American cruise ship.

Photos From around Campus

Here at Fort Lewis in Durango, CO we live in a very beautiful place. The mountain setting gives us something pretty to look at regardless the season. I tried to take some photos to try to show my friends and family back home just how nice it is here. I did not manage to fully capture the beauty of this place, but I tried, and here are some of the photos.

Holidays

Many Holidays in the United States and around the world have strayed far form their original intent, especially if the people celebrating them are not religious, like my self. Thanksgiving for instance was created as a coming together of different people to celebrate prosperity. Now Thanksgiving is celebrate mostly in groups of people that know each other well, like family and friends. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I believe that Holidays serve a new purpose in society today then they did 50, 100, or even 1000 years ago. An example of this would be what I believe to be the new purpose of Thanksgiving. Several hundred of years ago when Thanksgiving was just starting to be celebrated families in the United States where probably much closer, they spent more time working together because of a mostly agricultural economy, and in those times, it was difficult to survive on this continent with out a close group of people that could trust and depend on each other. Now days families do not spend nearly as much time together and it could be argued that many are not as close. What I think to be the new purpose of a holiday like Thanksgiving is to take the time for people to get in touch with the important people around them and the ones who are not, it is to reinforce the community that can be lost in modern society. No aspects of our society are left behind as it develops as a whole.

FInale Presentation

My finale presentation for this class was about Joseph Goebbels Influence on Modern Campaigning and Propaganda. I thought I had an alright presentation but it did not turn at nearly as well as I had hoped. My main point that I failed to mention was... Joseph Goebbels was able to convince millions of people that the Nazi's where right in their actions and beliefs, it takes an incredible amount of skill and knowledge to be able to be that effective of a communicator and have that kind of influence over a nation. The Focus was supposed to be on the genius of Goebbels techniques not the actions of the Nazi Party.

Link TV

Link TV is a non-profit organization that brings world news to Americans over the Web and through satellite TV. They provide news castes from other countries both censored and not. Link TV is a great way to get new perspectives on what is currently happening in the world, and educate ones self without the interference of US censored media and only American opinions. I encourage everyone to check it out and see it for yourself. Link TV

Afganistans President Meets with Terrorist

Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai agreed to guarantee safety to Mullah Mohammad Omar, leader of the Taliban is Mullah Omar if would be willing to come to peaceful terms. The worsening violence in the country and the United States' hold loosening as the Taliban grows stronger has called for new tactics to be considered. The U.S. Nation Security Council is skeptical and says that Mullah Omar has yet to show a willingness to talk and end Taliban violence and break ties to Al Qaeda. Hamid Karzai said that the western nations supporting him must agree not to compromise the safety of Mullah Omar, and if they disagree they must remove him from the presidency. Here is the full article from the New York Times

Election night

As I sit here watching the CNN election coverage I am pleased to see Obama's success, but I am disappointed by the way it is covered. The head lines claiming which states go to which candidate long before the actual, if any numbers are in. although the information that these estimates is based off of is very accurate, I feel that the coverage is set up to much to excite and make viewers have to watch in the lest amount of time.

voting

This election was the first I have been able to vote in, and what a good one to start with. My parents sent me my Washington state ballot in the mail and once I had filled it out I sent it to election services. I thought it was fun to vote, and to know that I could have an effect on the outcome of the election. My favorite part of voting was voting on local legislation, things that I will see change at home in the next year or so. What I learned from voting was how many parties put forth presidential candidates, I thought it was much less. I also noticed that the green party was the only party that both the presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate were both women.

Russia

Recently Russia conducted its biggest war game since the fall of the Soviet Union. There was no enemy in the exercise but tens of thousands men and thousands of vehicles and airplanes where spread across most of Russia in what was a defense of the southern border. Critics in Moscow say they were enacting a American and NATO led attack. At the end of the exercise 4 intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear war heads were launched, one flying a total of 7100 miles. The Russian President declared that a rebuilding and modernizing of Russia's military would begin and by 2020 they would have new ships and aircraft, along with missile and space defense systems. A weapons deal with Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela, was announced, and said to be over 1 billion dollars.
Full Article

Raise in Afghanistans Opium Production

Afghanistan has always been one of the biggest opium producers in the world, and a very important part of the global drug trade, which was estimated to have the 3rd largest GDP of all the economic systems in the world, it was only topped by the U.S. and Japan. Since Afghanistan has been occupied by the U.S. and NATO the opium production has increased vastly. This article is about the U.S and NATO's plans to take action against opium production in Afghanistan.

The Final Debate

Tonight is the final presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain. The debates have been entertaining so far but both candidates are spending most of the time preaching their ideas and campaigning and not answering the questions that are being posed to them. Being the last debate, tonight's should be good. Here is an article about what to look for in the debates.

Bike Race

The collegiate mountain bike races were held here at Fort Lewis this weekend. They were a lot of fun and the riders From Fort Lewis did very well, finishing first in almost all the events. Although it did start raining during the downhill and continued to rain hard through the dual slalom it was still a great time. Here are some Photos.

17 Chinese Muslims released from Quantanamo

17 men were released from Guantanamo Bay after being held indefinitely for 7 years with out being charged. The men were part of a ethnic group Uighur. The men were released because they are no longer considered enemy combatants. Here is the full article.

Quilt

Lt. Michael W. Pigott, the man who gave the order to taser a mentally ill man who fell to his death, was found dead in a Police locker room after committing suicide. Lt. Michael W. Pigott was a 21 year veteran of the police force and was put on an assignment with out a badge or gun after the incident occurred. He left behind and wife, two sons, and a daughter. Here is the full article from the New York Times.

Tragedy

In New York City a emotionally disturbed and mentally ill man fell to his death after being hit by a taser. NYPD said that the correct procedures had not been taken by the Emergency Services Unit that responded to the call. The main error made that resulted in the mans death was that nothing was in place to catch the man when he fell. Police officers are also not suppose to use tasers when the person they are tasing is near an edge or drop. Here is a link to the New York Times article.
Here is a video of what happened, it contains graphic content, so please watch at your own discretion.

Tattoo

One of the things I noticed when I came to Fort Lewis was the amount of tattoos you can see around campus. Fort Lewis is definitely a good example of how tattoos are now becoming a part of mainstream culture. Tattoos are no longer a sign of being a rebel or a part of the counter-culture, they are now just a way of personal expression, and ever developing art form, and many other things to many different people. The New York Times posted an article on tattoos that I enjoyed, here is a link.

Pakistani Troops Fire at U.S. helocopters

While two American helicopters were flying along the Afgan-Pakistani boarder offering air support for ground patrols they were fired at by small arms from an Pakistani boarder check point. The U.S. military claims that both helicopters were in Afgan air space when the shooting happened. Pakistani officials says that one of the helicopters flew into Pakistani air space while the other stayed in Afganistan. Warning shots were returned from the helisopters, and hit a hillside far from the Pakistani soldiers. Here is the full article from the New York Times website.

Congratulations Sam Blenkinsop

19-year-old New Zealander Sam Blenkinsop won the UCI world cup final in Schaldming. Sam is the first New Zealand native to win a DH world cup final in the history of the sport. Here is a video of his winning run, the announcing and editing is questionable, but it does show just how fast and talented Sam Blenkinsop really is.

Social Responsibility

The New York Yankees have a new stadium, across the street from the old one... The new one is the most expensive baseball stadium in the history or major league baseball (around 1.8 Billion). Not only is it completely unnecessary but it was also built on top of a public park which was used by nearby schools for there athletic programs and was a very important part of the community. Here is a link to a New York Times article about the stadium. The stadium is being built using a large percentage of tax dollars taken from people who can not afford to go to a baseball game, and who lost their park because of it. Here is an ABC news article about the funding for the stadium. I encourage anyone reading this to do more research and try to find the ABC nightly news video about this, it is very discouraging, and gives a view into the corruption of elected officials in the U.S.

Iraqi Constitution

Its been in the news for a long time now, but do you know what it actually entails? If you are curious, here is a link to a copy of the Iraqi Constitution.

Hybrid Hype

Hybrid Hype

With the ever rising prices in gas, fuel efficient cars are becoming more and more popular. The increasing popularity of this type of vehicle has manufacturers constantly developing and releasing new models onto the American car market. Hybrids have been around for years, but it wasn't until the last several that they have become very popular and somewhat trendy. Some people believe that when you drive a hybrid car you are doing the environment a great favor, that this somewhat new technology makes the driver environmentally conscious. Are the drivers of hybrid cars correct? Are they in fact going to save the world with their battery filled auto's? Or are they simply caught up in a fad that means well but in reality does not really fix anything? This article, published by CNN money in 2005 states facts proving otherwise. There are many options to avoiding high numbers on the pump, but buying a hybrid car just isn't one of them.

This video also offers good information about the hybrid hype.