State Dept. contractor allegedly paid by Chinese agent to spy on Americans – yet no charges filed

Fox News

     Xiaoming Gao, a translator for the US government was under investigation by the Bureau for allegedly being paid thousands of dollars for information on US persons and US government employees by a spy for the Chinese government. She admitted that she would attend meetings with the spy at a hotel in China and provide information about her "social contacts" in America. The man she was meeting with went by the name of "Teacher Zhao." She worked for the department of Language and Services for four years
     Gao lived for a period of time with a state department employee for free. This employee designed high security embassies with top secret clearance. At first she claimed he did not discuss his job with Gao but later on she changed her story. Emails and phone numbers listed on the internet as Gao's employers have also gone unanswered since the scandal was revealed.

     "It's not clear to me, based on the court files that were unsealed, how a prosecution of this person could possibly have compromised U.S. intelligence gathering," Thomas Dupree, former deputy assistant attorney general under the George W. Bush administration, told Fox News. "If it jeopardizes or threatens to disrupt relations with another country, so be it. That you have to draw the line somewhere, and that we need to send a message that this sort of conduct and activity simply will not be tolerated."  

OAH Magazine of History

     We received two documents in class the other day which both were in reference to Dr. Martin Luther King and his comparison between American civil rights and the events of the Vietnam war. 

     Document number one which is called ""Dr King's Error" New York Times, April 7th 1967, 36." This is the article that was published in the times that explained what Dr. King had said. These writers claim that King unjustifiably compare the Vietnam War to the Civil rights movements happening in the US. They say that linking the two will cause nothing but confusion. They are both two very difficult and complex situations that should never have been compared. It has been stated that this was just for his own personal opinions. They also talk about how harsh and unjust it was to compare what the Nazi's did to our own US government and the use of their new weapons. 

     Document 2 has two parts to it. It is called ""Letters to the Editor of The Times," New York Times, April 12, 1967,46." The first letter is titled "Dr. King Backed" and is a letter written in by someone who supports what Dr. King has to say. He agrees that These two issues can be compared to each other and must be stopped. This person believes that colored people all over the world must speak out against this unequal treatments as whites. 

     The second part of document 2 is called "War Stand Rejected" and this one opposes everything King was saying. He would like to make it clear that his points are not the same as Kings and that he does not share the same opinion. He believes it is necessary to support the Vietnam war, especially with a son who is fighting in it. Simon, the submitter of this commentary believes that King does not have he ability to think clearly. 

     In my opinion this is a topic that can be very sensitive in both directions. War and equal rights are two of the most controversial topics even to this day. I do believe it was a little extreme to compare the American Government to the Nazi's 

Boko Haram kidnapping of 200 Nigerian schoolgirls, a year later

CNN News


     It is a year later since the 200 Nigerian school girls have been kidnapped by the Jihadist group in Nigeria. These girls were taken right from their own school. Although this campaign against Boko Haram is still going strong, much has not changed. There are still parts in the northeast of Nigeria where Haram still controls. He is still killing at a large number and abducting women and children. Some people in Nigeria began to believe that this was just a political stunt.
     All over Nigeria there has been protests with the campaign "Bring Our Girls Back". There were speeches and marchers that were held by protesters of the girls and people completely unrelated. This was a devastating experience for many. How could it be that school girls sitting in their classroom waiting to take an exam have been abdudcted and even a year later still have not been found. On Tuesday a hashtag on twitter began to trend that said "#BringOurGirlsBack."
     Within hours more and more people across the world knew about the situation at hand. Millions of people began to use this hashtag and there was even a picture of first lady Michelle Obama with the "Bring Back Our Girls" sign. It is amazing that an issue across the world, without the access we have had so quickly become known.
     This is one example of a way where social media can be used in a positive way. So many people have access to these types of websites and can spread awareness faster than anyone can imagine.

Michael Slager Charged With Murder of Walter Scott in South Carolina

CBS News 

     Father of four Walter Scott was brutally murdered on Saturday morning by a police officer Michael Slagger in South Charleston, South Carolina. The Victim was a black man and the officer who shot him was white. A cell phone video was taken by another person in the park that was then released after the attack. Scott was pulled over for a broken tail light. The video Shows Scott clearly running away from the officer while he was shot in the back eight times. He the walked over calmly and shot him in the back. He died on the scene.
     Slagger is now arrested and faces up to 30 years to life in prison even the death penalty. Officer Slagger claims that Scott grabbed for his taser and he then feared his life. However there is no part in the video that shows him doing so. This case is bringing up many other incidents such as the Ferguson case, Cleveland and Staten Island NY.
     Scotts attorney claimed that he ran from the officer because he owed child support. He had no violent offenses on his record as well. Other officers in Slaggers unit state that he was in no way a reflection of the unit as a whole. Lawyers for the family are looking to file a civil lawsuit against the unit.
     I don't always consider these types of cases to always be a total wrong against the cop. There have been incidents where I feel as though the cop is not always wrong. However in this case I feel as the cop was completely out of line. This man had done nothing wrong. This is just a case of a racist white man attacking a black man for no reason at all. The cellphone video proves this.

An Afghan nightmare: Forced to marry your rapist

CNN

     Afghan women Gulnaz was barley 16 when she was raped by her cousins husband, Asadullah. Because her attacker was married, Gulnaz was then jailed for adultery. She became pregnant in jail with her rapists baby. Gulnaz was then issued a pardon and released from jail. Upon her release instead of a new beginning she had to marry her attacker. Her brothers would no longer accept her back into the family after what had happened so for a life of comfort she had to marry the man who raped, ending up with a child and many more to come.
     Through out the entire interview she remained shy and would not look her husband in the eye. Gulnaz says that they are traditional people and "would rather die than have a bad name." The two later went on to have six more children.
      As an American we can all ask ourselves, "how could this be?" It is hard to understand that there are societies that where if a women gets raped by a married man, she will be jailed for adultery. Gulnaz attorney said that she had a lot of pressure on her from the government to marry her rapist and carry on with her life. She was told that her and her daughter would not be safe without them. She is now trapped in a home with the man who raped her.
     It is unbelievable to see how other countries handle situations like this. Sometimes in America rape victims aren't treated as they should be but to see a situation like this is outrageous. This woman did nothing wrong. She was raped and then jailed for it. Once she got her freedom she was still trapped. She must die with this man being his second wife.

Why Finland won't be teaching 'math' and 'history' anymore

Yahoo News

     Ever since our first day of kindergarten we have been learning conceptual things and subjects such as math, history and science. Every year of schooling the topics get piled on and the ideas get harder. This is the basis for the American schooling system. Believe it or not this is not the only way of schooling in the world.
     In Finland they never had a standardized test system. That is always something that set them apart. Now there has been a shift in the way the Finish School system would like to educate their students. They have created a system called "Phenomena" teaching. This focuses on more topics and less subjects that will be based on each individual person.
     How this works is each student will decide on an overall topic that they would like to learn about. The example in the article is "cafeteria services." The student will study some degree of math, even foreign language to talk to foreign customers. They then would take courses in communication skills and writing abilities. There would also be options for students who want to be on a more academic track. For example they could take classes on  "The European Union." This would include history lessons, economics and foreign language.
     The Finish want to change their education system to adjust to modern society. They want to prepare their students for the working world. In Finland, getting a job as a teacher is a very difficult job to obtain. All teachers must have masters degrees and are compensated far better than teachers in America. Before this change, they already have a lot of room for independence on how they would like to run their class.
     For a long period of time Finland has served as a model for other countries on how to reform their education systems. There has been models proposed in the United Kingdom and in the United States to follow in how the Finland education system is. However in the US any models based off of Finland were rejected due to the fact that it clashed with the American Public schooling system. Students in America must be required to reach a basic level of knowledge before moving on to the next and with the Finish model the students must have a wide extensive range of knowledge that teachers sometimes struggle to generate assignments that pinpoint students certain interests.
     The schooling methods success rate will be primarily based on what the teachers have to offer to the students and "Phenomena" teaching.