Blog 10: Mass. bombing suspect portrayal

A 17 year old teenager who participated in the Boston Marathon, is terrified to go outside of his home after being portrayed on the internet and on the front page of New York Post as connected to the deadly  Boston Marathon bombings. Photos of Salah Eddin Barhoum, 17, and friend Yassine Zaime were posted on websites whose users have been scouring marathon finish line photos for suspects. The two were also on the Post's front Thursday with the headline: "Bag men: Feds seek these two pictured at Boston Marathon." 

It was later reported on the New York Post that the FBI has identified two other men as suspects involved with the bombings that killed 3 people and injured more than 130. But Barhoum, a high school track runner, said he is convinced some people will blame him for the bombings, no matter what because of his skin color. He said he was so fearful on Thursday that he ran back to the high school after a track meet when he saw a man in a car staring at him, talking into a phone. He said he won't feel safe until the bombers are caught.

Barhoum said there are only two reasons he's been labeled a suspect: his bag and his brown skin.

Barhoum said he was at the marathon with Zaime, a friend from the running club,  and they were hoping to run a portion of it behind the official field. Barhoum's bag was for his running gear. On the way to the race, the pair got the address wrong for the race and ended up at the finish line instead of where they wanted to start the race. Barhoum said they decided to stick around to see the top runners, finish up and then left.

Barhoum said that late Wednesday, friends started flagging the online photos and commenters started their work on them. He said he was so upset, he visited police early Thursday to clear his name. He said they advised him to not go on his Facebook account or deactivate it.

When the Post published the photo later Thursday, a bad situation got worse, Barhoum said.

"It hurts because the person who did it must be happy right now, looking at the people who are getting blamed," he said. "And I'm one of them."

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/04/teen_stunned_at_portrayal_as_mass_bombing_suspect

Kayla Gammie

4/19/13

2:36 pm

Blog 8: What’s That Red Equal-Sign on Facebook All About?

What are these red equal signs that are popping up on social networking new's feeds? This is an action of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), an organization that is in support of gay marriage. These equal signs, which are two exactly, indistinguishable bars with regards to orientation, are shown as being the same in a multiple of ways.

 This spread of profile picture change was asked by the Human Rights Campaign for the word to be spread, and hopefully gain much more support, as the Supreme Court discusses the issue of gay marriage legalization over the next two days. The exact post on Facebook was, "paint the town read", wearing red in their wardrobe as well on their Facebook pages, changing profile photos over to the HRC "=" logo. The idea has even spread to some members of Congress seeing as 13 members displayed the symbol as their Twitter avatars.

Another discussion about the attempt at spreading support was, what is the profile changing going to accomplish? In short, the goal of the equal sign was to spread the word. Comedian Dana Jay had an answer and hopeful look to this question, "Seeing all of the people who support can inspire people to take MORE action – small change. I’d much rather see red equal signs than pictures of Grumpy Cat and ironic self shots." This comment sums up, in essence, the hope and drive for human equality.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2013/03/what-is-that-red-equal-sign-on-facebook-all-about/


Kayla Gammie
11:31 PM
3/28/13

Blog 7: Poverty Around The World

What does it mean to be poor? How is poverty measured? Third World countries are often described as “developing” while the First World, industrialized nations are often “developed”. Just because one lacks material wealth doesn't mean that they are deprived or poor. This also means that a country with a strong economy in a developed nation with the majority of the population is struggling to survive is not worth much either. "Successful development can imply many things, such as an improvement in living standards and access to all basic needs such that a person has enough food, water, shelter, clothing, health, education. A stable political, social and economic environment, with associated political, social and economic freedoms, such as (though not limited to) equitable ownership of land and property;" This means overall that various institutions in the government need to be in charge of providing these basic needs to people who can't do this for themselves.

For a variety of reasons, these “full rights” are not available in many segments of various societies from the richest to the poorest. Accounting for the increased population between 1981 and 2005, the poverty rate has, however, fallen by about 25%. While this at least sounds encouraging, it masks regional variations, and perhaps most glaringly the impact of China. While poverty alleviation is important, so too is tackling inequality. Inequality is often discussed in the context of relative poverty, as opposed to absolute poverty.
That is, even in the wealthiest countries, the poor may not be in absolute poverty (the most basic of provisions may be obtainable for many) or their level of poverty may be a lot higher than those in developing countries, but in terms of their standing in society, their relative poverty can also have serious consequences such as deteriorating social cohesion, increasing crime and violence, and poorer health.


http://www.globalissues.org/article/4/poverty-around-the-world

Kayla Gammie
3/22/13
4:54 pm

Blog 6: Lesbian couple holds first same sex wedding at Tokyo Disney

On March 5, 2013, last Friday, the first gay marriage in Tokyo Disneyland resort was held.
Koyuki Higashi, who is a stage actress turned gay rights activist, had been blogging about the wedding since May 2012, when she first enquired to Tokyo Disney about the possibility of marrying Hiroko there. Tokyo Disney responded that it would allow gay couples to hold weddings in its grounds, following a Walt Disney Company policy that has been in place since 2007.

Higashi wed her partner Hiroko in front of about 30 guests at the popular theme park and resort. The two women who were married were told at first that one of them would have to wear women's clothing and the other would have to wear men's clothes and look like a 'man'.

A staff member said a same-sex wedding would create “repercussions” among visitors if both brides wore wedding dresses or both grooms donned tuxedoes. But just few days later the resort operator got back in touch to say their initial response had been wrong and gay couples were free to mix and match their attire.

Although the wedding itself was purely symbolic seeing as same-sex marriage does not have legal standing in Japan, the bride noted, "We may not have a law that applies to us, but when someone congratulates us for the wedding, I will proudly say, "Thank you!""

Earlier this year, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates praised the Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, after the resort welcomed its first openly gay president, George Kalogridis. Kalogridis, 59, has been with the Walt Disney Company since 1971, when he landed a job bussing tables at Disney's Contemporary Resort Hotel.

In a country where homosexuality is still a taboo, and saw its first openly gay politician elected last year, the wedding was greeted with enthusiasm by local gay people and activists. This is a huge movement for LGBT rights and shows that inequality is becoming a little less unequal with every gay marriage that goes through.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/05/tokyo-disneyland-lesbian-wedding_n_2811588.html
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/05/lesbian-couple-holds-first-same-sex-wedding-at-tokyo-disney/

Kayla Gammie
3/8/13
4:35 pm

Blog 5: World food injustice - the facts on a plate

One in eight of the world's people goes hungry every day – that is 868 million people. This article features families from around the world with their weekly food supplies.  Oxfam, the Food For All campaign, says there is deep injustice in the way food is grown and distributed. The people range from Akavumu, Rwanda, where the Nyirazina family grows sweet potatoes, beans, sorghum grains and cassava shrubs to survive, and Vavuniya, Sri Lanka, where the Kumarapar family prepares meals of vegetables, rice and chicken, to Tower Hamlets in east London, where the Kerrs receive non-perishable items by their local food bank.

The world's poorest people spend 50-90 per cent of their income on food, compared with just 10-15 per cent in developed countries. The World Bank estimates that 44 million people fell below the poverty line in the second half of 2010 due to high food prices. 

This campaign was launched because figures were published that up to half the world's food was being wasted.  The Institution of Mechanical Engineers report Waste Not, Want Not, while about four billion metric tons of food is produced globally each year, 30-50 per cent of it "never reaches a human stomach".

And it's not just rich countries such as the UK and the US throwing good food away; it is also being wasted in poor countries in the developing world. While food languishes uneaten in fridges here, in developing countries it goes to waste because of poor harvesting, storage and transport. In Vietnam, for example, 80 per cent of rice is lost between the field and the table.  "The world produces more than enough food to feed everyone," says Kate Raworth, senior policy researcher for Oxfam. "Meeting the calorie needs of every person living with hunger would take less than 3 per cent of today's global food supply."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/special-report-world-food-injustice--the-facts-on-a-plate-8449312.html

Kayla Gammie
3/2/13
9:10 am

Blog 4: Singapore Companies Brace for Labor Curbs After Protest: Economy

After a public backlash against the influx of workers led to the biggest demonstration in more than a decade, Singapore will probably force companies to further reduce their reliance on foreign labor in the 2013 budget. Thousands of people gathered in a rare political protest about concerns that foreigners are taking jobs from locals and driving up housing costs. In 2012, Singapore's economy only grew 1.2 percent, the least in three years. This shows that the island is in a "new phase" of growth, where it must adjust to a smaller pace of expansion. The prime minister has stated that the hiring constraints are among the reasons for last years slow down.

The rising number of foreigners has contributed to competition for jobs, congested public transportation and surging home prices. The resulting public discontent contributed to record opposition gains in the 2011 general election, and caused Lee’s (prime minister) party to lose a parliament seat in a January by-election. The protest was against a population policy that may see the number of people on the island rise to 6.9 million by 2030 from 5.3 million now.

The inequality demonstrated here is the case of hiring foreigners or the local people. The foreigners are helping businesses and corporations by getting labor for cheap, but it's hurting the economy and locals by not allowing the money to circulate. The government took action by in 2012, they cut the proportion of foreign workers that companies can hire, and increased levies for employing them. Which resulted in 8 out 10 companies with manpower shortages.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-21/singapore-companies-brace-for-labor-curbs-after-protest-economy.html

Kayla Gammie
8:42 pm
2/24/13

Blog 3 Global Inequality Skyrockets

Reports show that the top 1% has increased wealth by 60%.“Globally the incomes of the top 1% have increased 60% in twenty years. The growth in income for the 0.01% has been even greater.” While inequality has grown over the past couple decades due to major institutions, the focus has been on ending only half the problem, and that's extreme poverty. To tackle inequality completely, you need to look at both sides, so that means ending extreme wealth as well.

Oxfam, an anti-poverty group, laid out a few reasons why extreme wealth is the problem. Extreme inequality is economically inefficient, as "they limit the overall amount of growth, and... that growth fails to benefit the majority." Inequality also has a dangerous authority in politics. Massive amounts of

money means massive amount of political power, which will definitely affect the outcome against

people with less means.

Oxfam also noted that massive inequality leads to environmental destruction.  “Those in the 1% have been estimated to use as much as 10,000 times more carbon than the average US citizen,” the report states. “Increasing scarcity of resources like land and water mean that assets being monopolized by the few cannot continue if we are to have a sustainable future.” And lastly, Oxfam argues that inequality is unethical.

Solutions to stop this problem include decent work for decent wages, free public services, access to quality education, and regulation and taxation. In a world with scarce amount of resources, inequality is the most important thing we need to get under control.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/global-inequality-skyrockets-report-says-top-1-have-increased-wealth-60-over-last

Kayla Gammie

6:40 pm

2/15/13

Inequality Is Holding Back the Recovery

This article was about the re-election of President Obama and the inequality within us that is causing troubles to our economy. With inequality at its highest level since before the Depression, a healthy and strong recovery will be difficult in the short term, and the American dream — a good life in exchange for hard work — is slowly dying.  The article also discussed four reasons why inequality is squelching the recovery process. 

The first one being that the middle class is too weak to support the consumer spending that had been before, driving the economic growth. The second reason being that the hollowing out of the middle class means that people in that class won't be able to invest in their future. The third reason is the weakness of the middle class is holding back tax receipts, especially because those at the top are so adroit in avoiding taxes and in getting Washington to give them tax breaks. And the fourth reason is that inequality is associated with more frequent and more severe boom-and-bust cycles that make our economy more volatile and vulnerable.

All in all, with Obama is having a hard time keeping up with unemployment and other lingering affects of the recession. Recent studies have also proven that this is affecting the younger generation of adults because student debt can almost never be wiped out. So while incomes are falling, tuitions are soaring. The article also discussed that we could have made sure that every young person was either in school, in a training program or on a job. Instead, we let youth unemployment rise to twice the national average. The inequality among our social and economic classes is what's really hurting our growth and recovery to get out of this recession. 


http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/19/inequality-is-holding-back-the-recovery/

Kayla Gammie
4:36 pm
2/8/13

Blog 1: Should prostitution be legalised in France?

This article is mainly about France wanting to decrease prostitution while making it legal.  In the early part of the article, it discusses why prostitution is such a problem.  It's because prostitution has grown from being a profession "freely exercised", to a forced job.  Pimping is the growing cause of this forceful increase in statistics. This article also discussed how the women involved in prostitution are mostly victims, since a study showed that 8 out of 10 are controlled by prostitution networks.

I think this issue is related to my topic of inequality because of how women are being treated.  Prostitution i snow being viewed as a violent act against women due to the face that many of these women are foreign, undocumented, and threatened with crime.  I feel as though this is a problem of inequality between men and women because their relationship is characterized by the domination of men over women.

So really the fuss about legalizing prostitution is due to the fact that France wants to do it on the down low.  Prostitutes are allowed to work but the measures against them are making it harder to be a prostitute.  IN al it's essence, its okay to be a prostitute but they can't say so otherwise it's soliciting.  So opposing women who want to earn a living being prostitutes goes against their fight for women's rights.




http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2013/01/should-prostitution-be-legalised-france

Kayla Gammie
2/1/13
12:56 am

Inequality

I chose this topic because inequality is shown in many aspects of global issues and I would like to address this problem through many subjects including women rights and athletics.