LCS Wrap up

This class has taught me about the power of information and the role of our media. The way that we view the world is ever changing. We all have different beliefs, thoughts, ideas, interests and experiences that can influence our beliefs and thought process, and as such we have a duty to ourselves to not just rely on what  we’re told, instead we need to be able to think for ourselves and formulate our own opinions by reading between the lines. This class gave me a better understand of who super PAC’s are and their role in our elections, it’s also made me more aware of the Stand Your Ground Laws giving residents “the right to shoot in defense of their life, if they believe that their life is in danger” and the negative effects this can also have on the public, making it difficult for people in these states with the law to seek help from others for fear that they may be mistaken as intruders and get shot when all they’re trying to do is seek help.

I've learnt to identify the different political viewpoints in reporting which allows me to look at the news in a more objective manner by separating the liberal and conservative viewpoints and concentration on the issue, because of this I've come to realize that although the media can be used as a tool to educate the public it can also be very biased in its reporting. It’s changed my views of journalists, it’s made me realized that I have to start looking at them as people who are not always able to leave their opinions out of their articles and it’s up to me to filter out the facts from their opinions

In terms of politics I've learned that I’m more in line with the independents. There are certain issues that I agree with on both sides of the political spectrum like women’s and gay rights, I believe women should have a right to do whatever they want with their bodies, while at the same time I believe people have a right to protect themselves but think we need better gun control laws.  This class has also taught me that there is a difference between news and the power of information.  News is the presentation of facts as it relates to an event or incident that has taken place whereas information is more general, it’s unfiltered and not necessarily important. Everything can be viewed as information but the stories that are beneficial to the public or that’s considered important is news

There isn't anything necessarily about this course that I would change, except maybe setting a time for each person to post his/her initial post on the discussion board. This would make responding to posts easier instead of having to check the discussion board daily only to have to wait until Sunday night to respond and even then you have to keep your fingers crossed when you log on that two other people posted so you can post your response.

This class has taught me the importance of looking at the big picture, that there are many sides to an issue and it’s up to me to decide which viewpoint I believe in. It’s shown me the importance of research, especially on those issues we don’t understand or believe in, because they can offer us new insight which can reiterate or change our viewpoint. It’s also shown me how blogging can be used as a self-portrait of our own experiences; it can be used as an outlet where we can put our most personal thoughts and feelings.

The topic on global warming was one of my favorite topics to write about. It made me realize that we as a society no longer sit outside and gaze at the stars anymore; instead we’d rather sit inside and watch TV or use the computer and text on our phones. It’s made me realize that we need to take a few moments out of our day to enjoy nature as a whole. It also reminded me of when I was younger and how my cousins and I would chase fireflies in the summer, and it made me realize that I haven’t seen any fireflies in a long time; which made me wonder if global warming and pollution is the cause for this.

Drones

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or Drones can be remotely controlled by a pilot who mans the drone’s activities or they can be pre-programmed to carry out certain missions without human piloting on a computer. Predator drones have been effective in eliminating “suspected terrorists, Taliban leader and Al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, Yemen and Afghanistan”. They can record video, capture images and follow militant vehicles, record terrain for the men on the ground, and follow suspects to their safe houses where upon confirmation of identity they can eliminate the enemy with the push of a button by deploying a bomb or missile. They offer a safer alternative to troops walking into ambushes on the battlefield by attacking the enemy remotely. Drones may be changing the face of warfare and how wars are fought but the same people are dying; it may be a weapon of precision, but it still endangers the lives of our innocent men, women and children.

Supporters of drones argue that they can fly unnoticed over and into enemy territory, can monitor and track the enemy and carry out precision attacks all without endangering the lives of military personnel. Drone attacks can be timed and their missiles diverted if any civilian causalities become a factor. Operators are required to verify that the target is in fact an enemy before launching the drone missiles, they must also take the necessary precaution to minimize any civilian losses and ensures the “attacks do not cause disproportionate incidental loses”. Removing fighter pilots from combat zones eliminates the threat to our soldiers’ lives and allows operators to make better targeting decisions without the fear for their own safety.

Supports believe drones offer an alternative to putting our men and women in the military in harm’s way and they’re just as lethal in combat as our fighter jets. They argue that even though these strikes can cause collateral damage in the form of civilian lives and property damage, the same can be said about traditional warfare and air strikes.  Even though drones can effectively eliminates their targets, they also hurt and kills innocent civilians as well, leaving the people in these nations in constant fear of other drone attacks, thereby creating more enemies for the U.S. These countries may decide to retaliate with their own drones, putting more innocent people at risk thereby perpetuating the cycle of violence.

Supports argue that the risk to civilian and military causalities is minimal, but we need to take into consideration the effects it can have on those who supply the information about potential targets, or the innocent civilians in the area around the target. Even though drones can be operated remotely, and there is little personal risk if it is shot down, there’s still a risk to those informants on the ground who gathers intelligence about these so called terrorists targets and their movements. These men and women risk their lives to supply information that can be used to carry out these drone missions, and even though they’re not the ones carrying out the elimination, they’re still subject to physical or psychological risk and despite our best efforts to limit civilian causalities, civilians are always at risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

By sending unman drones into other nations without their knowledge, the US is in fact infringing on these nation’s sovereignty, they’re using these unmanned drones to fly into Pakistani airspace without permission and are carrying out targeted aerial assignations often at the expense of innocent civilians.  These drone strikes may result in the death of the targeted suspect, but their “explosion can also kill neighbors, children, animals, and by-standers”. These drone strikes may be taken as an act of war against these nations, leading to an escalation in violence and more bloodshed. It can also be used as a recruitment tool by terrorist groups which can lead to more insurgent wars.

Drone attacks is easy and cost effective, but drone strikes can also “create backlash that feeds blow-back”, facilitating the killing of innocent civilians. “This type of warfare is fundamentally dehumanizing and reduces to almost nothing the value of innocent life that happens to be in the vicinity of the target”. The lives of these people have been reduced to the push of a button or the programming of a computer. The men and women operating these drones who view their action on a monitor can become desensitized to the fact that they’re taking another person’s life, thereby reducing their targets and other causalities to those of a character in a video game. By killing the target, we’re eliminating any chance we have of gathering additional information from them through interrogation,

 Facts:

• Predator drones have been effective in eliminating “suspected terrorists, Taliban leader and Al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, Yemen and Afghanistan”
•  “attacks do not cause disproportionate incidental loses”
• drone strikes can also “create backlash that feeds blow-back”
•  Their “explosion can also kill neighbors, children, animals, and by-standers”
• “This type of warfare is fundamentally dehumanizing and reduces to almost nothing the value of innocent life that happens to be in the vicinity of the target”

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Israel and Palestine has been engaged in conflict since Israelis were able to reclaim the land promised to them by God. The Jews who were enslaved, persecuted, tortured, murdered and exiled from their homeland at different times throughout history by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Romans and Nazis, but despite these hardships they still dreamed of one day returning to their homeland and were willing to accept the partition. The Palestinians refuse to acknowledge the Israeli people as a race and so fighting broke out between these two groups over sovereignty of their people in the Middle East. Rather than accept the proposal of two separate sates, one for Jews the other Arabs, the Palestine’s declared war on the Israeli people with the aim of eliminating “Zionism in Palestine”. In war, there’s always two sides, with each side believing that they are fighting for a cause, to right some wrong they perceived the other side committed against them, and Israel and Palestine is no different, each side has a different version of events leading up to the conflict and in their beliefs that they are being wrongly persecuted by the other.  Society teaches us to hate those whose views we oppose, but too often we forget the real victims in our conflicts are the innocent men, women and children who just want a chance for change.

The Palestinian and Israeli people have been engaged in conflict for many years. Both sides lay claim to the ancient “holy land of Israel” and are fighting over the rights to control this land. The city of Jerusalem, considered a “holy city” by both Jews and Palestine Arabs, has been a major source of the conflict as both sides wants control of this city.  Israel which is considered to be the “historic land of the Jewish people” has been considered sacred by both ancient and modern cultures. Although Jews were exiled from their land over the centuries, some Israeli’s remained in areas in the Middle East and they still dreamed of one day returning to their home. The Ottoman Empire, who had been ruling Israel for centuries, was defeated during the First World War and during the Second World War both the British and French started dividing up the areas along in the Middle East, as a way of creating allies within the region which they later colonized for oil. It wasn't until 1917, after 1,878 years of being exiled, that Jews living in Britain began lobbying politicians to help establish “a Jewish national state in the holy land” then called Palestine”.

 Many Jewish people began immigrating to Palestine and began living among the Arabs who has made the Holy land their home. Outraged and appalled by the abuse Jews suffered at the hands of the Nazis many people wanted to help create a state where Jews would be able to live peacefully, away from the dangers of anti-Semitism they were facing, so after World War two the U.S and the British aided the Jews in their fight of reclaiming their sacred land, the land they believed was promised to them by their God, thereby angering those Palestinians that had made the land their home during the centuries the Jews were exiled and as well as the surrounding Arabs. Today most of the conflict arises over Palestine’s refusal to acknowledge the Jewish people and their rights to the “holy land”, border disputes, security because "Israel controls checkpoints and trade in Palestinian territories", water rights, control over the city of Jerusalem, Israeli’s control over international aid into Gaza and Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories.

Israel has had to defend its people and their borders from attacks in the years since it reclaimed its land, they continually face threats against its people from the Arabs who oppose their existence.  Supporters argue that Israelis want peace and hat the “two state solution is a threat to Israel's security, since it will allow the Palestinians to encroach on their land, thus making it harder to defend Israel if any of its neighbors start another war”. They argue that the Jews just want to reclaim their home after centuries of exile and persecution, a place where they can live freely. Israel believes that it needs to maintain strict sanctions when it comes to Palestine, since many of their allies are Israeli enemies who can attempt a coup at any time. Israeli supporters also believe that Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas attacks, since this group hates all Jews and would like nothing better than to eradicate them.

Palestinian supporters argue that the Palestinians have a right to live on the “holy land” since they have been occupying that land for over two thousand years. They argue that they no longer have a voice, their lands are being confiscated by the Israeli’s, their people forced to live in poverty and "continued military occupation and confiscation of privately owned land in the West Bank, and control over Gaza” has left Palestinians feeling oppressed and so has launched rockets and sent suicide bombers into Israel.  Supporters argue that Israel has continued to push its way into Palestinian territories, and has continued to build settlements on land promised the Palestinian people. They've “imposed sanctions on territories where supply is needed” thereby forcing many Arabs into poverty. They believe that the greed of the Jews has forced the Arabs to retaliate to these injustices through the only way they know how, and that’s through what the Jews refer to as terrorism and that the Israeli army which is far more superior to their own has killed far more innocent Palestinians than Israeli’s killed at the hands of the Arabs.

After the Jewish settlement in 1947, many Arabs fled for fear of Jewish rule; today Jews continue to acquire territories by taking lands promised to the Arab people forcing “millions of Palestinians into exile and poverty”. Israel has a state of the world army, compared to the Arabs who depend on terrorist groups such a Hamas to aid in their cause and help defend the Arab people. Terrorism can be a loaded word, used to instill fear in us by those in authority, to arouse our anger towards those we deem a threat and often triggers memories of pain and loss. Terrorists fight for and are loyal to their cause; they go to war with an enemy they perceived had wronged them.  So why are the actions of the Israelis who have a “very strong military retaliates with heavy-handed assaults, which kill many civilians including children” right and the Arabs, who have no army and is also fighting for their cause wrong? Just like the Israeli’s, the Arabs are also fighting for their freedom from persecution and their own perceived injustice against their people. Like the Jews, the Palestine’s fight to have their voices heard; they believe they’re fighting injustices committed against them and their people.

Instead of sharing the land that has so much value to both the Israeli and Palestinian cultures, they each want sole ownership of the land. The Palestinians refuse to “recognize Israel  to exist as a Jewish state” or their importance to the land while  the Jews are trying to push the Arabs out by taking over their lands, refusal of any Palestine state West of the Jordan and restricting their access to supplies.  This conflict will continue with innocent losses on each side, unless both sides can come to a compromise about the land and with each other’s culture.

Facts:

• Palestine’s declared war on the Israeli people with the aim of eliminating “Zionism in Palestine”
• The Palestinians refuse to “recognize Israel  to exist as a Jewish state”
• Israel has been known as the "historic land of the Jewish people”
• “a Jewish national state in the holy land” 
• "Israel controls checkpoints and trade in Palestinian territories"
• “two state solution is a threat to Israel's security, since it will allow the Palestinians to encroach on their land, thus making it harder to defend Israel if any of its neighbors start another war”
• Israel  has "imposed sanctions on territories where supply is needed”
• "continued military occupation and confiscation of privately owned land in the West Bank, and control over Gaza”
• “millions of Palestinians into exile and poverty”
• Israel has a“very strong military retaliates with heavy-handed assaults, which kill many civilians including children”