Balanced... as all things should be

I know, I know, please don't cringe at the title. It's still relevant. Right?

But actually when you think about it, it is really kind of deep. I am confident that Marvel and Disney were like, "This is going to be awesome wiping out half of the population," but I mean there was probably some thought behind it.

I'm not here to talk about the quote in regards to its movie though, of which I thought was a bit overrated, but that's for another time.

I'd like to discuss what it means to be balanced. But not in a deep, methodical, or analytical sense at all. Just on a surface level. Because at some point in everyone's lives, they look back at an event or anything that happened just 5 minutes ago, yesterday, or even years ago and wonder: "What was I thinking? How did I live my life like that?"

I'm confident there is some scientific name for this, but I couldn't tell you to be honest. However, what I can tell you is that every night, right before I fall asleep, all of these awkward and painfully wincing memories come to haunt me. And the worst part of it is that I dwell in these memories. Probably not a great thing to do, but it's because I wonder, "How could this have gone any better?" Maybe I was talking to someone and said something completely out of place, or just straight up stupid. Or maybe I just played an awful game of League of Legends and figured that I could probably have done something more productive.

You're probably wondering, "If it was in the past, just learn from it and move on." And you're completely correct. I should just move on, and never, ever, ever dwell on it. But I can't. For example, when I was a senior in high school, my Pre-calc teacher (that's right, I was in pre-calc because I can't do math) told me at the end of the year, "Peter, have a great time in college!" Very typical, and completely normal. Like my response should have easily been like a simple "Thanks," or "I will!" But instead my mind went to the races. I got sweaty palms and said, "Thanks, you too..." Hmmm. After saying this, I realized that I had done a big mistake. I mean it wasn't rude or anything but I was just like, "That last interaction could have gone better." Luckily she just smiled and I quickly walked outa that room.

So. This is why I dwell on these memories. I mean to be honest, I mostly just thing about how to counter someone's point if they come at me, but that's not any fun. Going back to that story, I could have said something better and I have yet to make that mistake again. I mean sometimes when the waiter says, "Enjoy your meal," I almost slip and say "You too," but I refrain from even moving a lip.
I've learned from this mistake and in a very surface level sense, became more balanced. Okay, honestly, this had nothing to do with being balanced, but more of a life lesson. Sorry for the clickbait if you made it this far... but the moral of the story kids is that it's not wrong to dwell on the past, as long as you can make up for it in the future. Okay, not even that, but as long as you learn from it and are able to accept that the past is just the past. Until next time.

Pope calls for the removal of the death penalty

Pope Francis calls for world 'free of the death penalty'

ROME- Pope Francis called for a world “free of the death penalty” in a video message supporting the sixth World Congress against capital punishment, currently being held in Oslo, Norway. He said the practice brings no justice to victims, but instead fosters vengeance.


“Indeed, nowadays the death penalty is unacceptable, however grave the crime of the convicted person,” Francis said on the message released on Tuesday.

“It is an offence to the inviolability of life and to the dignity of the human person; it likewise contradicts God’s plan for individuals and society, and his merciful justice,” the pope said.

The pontiff defined growing opposition to the practice as a “sign of hope,” saying that it’s not “consonant with any purpose of punishment.”

“It does not render justice to victims, but instead fosters vengeance,” Francis said in Spanish.

The congress is being organized by the French ONG Ensemble contre la peine de mort and the World Coalition Against Death Penalty. It began on Tuesday, and will continue until June 23.


According to the World Coalition’s website, the three-day gathering unites members of civil society, politicians, and legal experts to elaborate abolitionist strategies for the years to come at the national, regional, and international levels

It also aims to send a message to the world: “Universal abolition is essential for a world where progress and justice must prevail.”

The previous congress was held in Madrid in 2013.

In the video, Francis also said that the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” applies both for the innocent and to the guilty, adding that the Jubilee of Mercy is an occasion for promoting more evolved forms of respect for the life of each person.

Earlier in the year, he had proposed Catholic government leaders “make a courageous and exemplary gesture by seeking a moratorium on executions during this Holy Year of Mercy.”

As he has done several times before, the Argentine pontiff also called for an improvement of prison conditions so that they respect the dignity of does incarcerated. Rendering justice, he said, “does not mean seeking punishment for its own sake, but ensuring that the basic purpose of all punishment is the rehabilitation of the offender.”

According to Francis, the system of penal justice must allow the guilty party’s reinsertion in society, because “There’s no fitting punishment without hope!”

“Punishment for its own sake, without room for hope, is a form of torture, not of punishment,” he said.

Over 1,300 participants from 80 countries are participating in the congress, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland.


The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that the traditional teaching of the Church “does not exclude” recourse to the death penalty when it is “the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor.” It adds, however, that today such cases are “very rare, if not practically non-existent.”


In 2015, at least 1,634 prisoners were executed across 25 countries, and 1,998 people were sentenced to death across 61 countries, a record for the past 25 years. In that landscape, the advance of the abolitionist trend still encounters great resistance across Asia and the Arab world.




Statistics show that Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran were responsible for 89 percent of the recorded executions last year, but these figures don’t take into account China, where information in this issue is classified as a state secret.




Of the 195 independent states recognized by the United Nations, 103 have abolished capital punishment for all crimes, six retain it for exceptional circumstances, such as crimes committed in wartime, 49 retain it but haven’t applied it in at least ten years, and 37 retain it both in law and practice.




The United States is one of two countries in the Americas where the death penalty is still practiced, with the other being St. Kitts & Nevis, a dual-island nation situated between the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.






Works Cited


Martin, Ines San. "Pope Francis Calls for World Free of Death Penalty." Crux. N.p., 21 June 2016. Web. 21 June 2016.




Response:

At first, this article comes at quite a surprise, because it's another thing that the Pontiff is trying to change in this world. Whether it's about religion, or human rights, and now even politics, Pope Francis is not holding back on trying to reform the world. The argument that the Pope tries to convey makes considerable sense, however I'm not sure to what extent I'd agree that there should be no death penalty. Honestly, if the judge deems that the crime was worthy of punishment, for example death, then it should be carried out. I'm also not sure if I would use the Bible in a debate that involved people who had no faith either. It's an interesting debate topic that would be interesting to see where people stand and to see why they believe what they believe.

Referring to bias, I think that there is some definite bias towards the Pope's views, and against the oppositon.

No ceasefire over Ramadan

Syria civil war: 224 killed in first week of Ramadan

Fast Facts
At least 224 people killed in first week of Ramadan in Syria, says monitor
Syrian and Russian air strikes caused majority of deaths, according to activists and monitor
Recent deaths include 41 killed in Idlib, with women and children among the dead

At least 224 people were killed in the first week of Ramadan in Syria, with the majority of the deaths resulting from bombings by Syrian and Russian warplanes, according to a monitor.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said on Monday that between 6 and 12 June - the first week of the Islamic holy month of fasting - at least 148 civilians, including 50 children and 15 women, were killed as helicopters dropped "explosive barrel" bombs.

It added that at least 12 people were killed in shelling by rebels and fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group. At least one man was executed by ISIL in the same period, the Observatory said.

"We ... renew our condemnation of the international community for its continued terrifying silence about the crimes committed against the Syrian people," the monitor said.

The death toll includes casualties from air strikes on a market in Idlib city, in which at least 40 civilians died on Sunday. Activists say most of those victims were women and children.

Several monitoring groups, as well as Turkish authorities, accused Russia of conducting the air strikes in Idlib, but Russian authorities denied any involvement.

The area is controlled by a coalition of rebel groups called The Army of Conquest, which includes al-Nusra Front. The coalition is not included in a partial ceasefire, which was negotiated in February.

The Observatory report comes as hundreds of civilians are fleeing the ISIL stronghold of Manbij in northern Syria and as fears grow for the thousands who remain trapped in the city, which is besieged by US-backed Kurdish and Arab forces.

The Syrian conflict, which began with peaceful protests in March 2011, has escalated into a multi-sided civil war.

The death toll has risen to more than 280,000 people, while half the country's population have been forced from their homes, according to UN estimates.



Source: Al Jazeera and agencies




Works Cited



"Syria Civil War: 224 Killed in First Week of Ramadan." - News from Al Jazeera. Aljazeera, 13 June 2016. Web. 14 June 2016.




In my opinion, it seems a bit ironic that during the holy month of Ramadan, people continue to be killed in the region where it seems that there should be at least a little peace for this holy holiday. Although it doesn't surprise me that IS continues to strike back and gain ground. I remember watching a movie where there was a ceasefire on Christmas and I don't know why the Muslims don't do that. On another note, after reading this article, it didn't even seem like that Russia was being very productive with the bombings and that they were bombing Idlib. It seems that the Russian involvement in the war doesn't seem to be helping the cause of the war either.



Concerning bias, their might be bias against the Russia forces, but other than that, there doesn't seem to be much else bias.

Is Bernie out for good?

Sanders campaign calls out AP for declaring Clinton win

ROAD TO THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION
The AP count includes superdelegates who will not pledge their votes until the Democrat convention in July
Superdelegates are unelected officials within the Democratic party who can vote at the conference
Excluding superdelegates, Clinton has 1,812 elected delegates and Sanders has 1,521
Superdelegates can and have changed their minds in their past

The Associated Press news agency has been criticised for declaring Hillary Clinton the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee for the 2016 US presidential election.

Clinton has 1,821 pledged delegates but the AP's survey of so-called superdelegates gives her the 2,383 votes needed to secure the nomination.

A spokesman for the Sanders campaign called the move to declare a presumptive nominee a "rush to judgement". Speaking to MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show on Monday evening, Michael Briggs said superdelegates can and had changed their minds in previous contests.

"It counts superdelegates that the Democratic National Committee itself says should not be counted because they haven't voted and won't vote until the summer," Briggs told the show.

The campaign was still seeking to convince senior Democrats that Sanders was the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump in the US election in November.

"In poll after poll here in California and across the country, Bernie does far, far better than Secretary Clinton in match-ups with Donald Trump."

US election: AP says Clinton wins Democratic nomination

Supporters of Bernie Sanders argue that the timing of the announcement before a crunch primary in California on Tuesday adversely affects their candidate's chances of winning the state.

Many expressed their anger online that AP's count included superdelegates, who are not directly elected during the primaries and are not pledged to vote until the Democratic convention that starts on July 25.

Reactions to the AP tweet announcing the winner drew condemnations of the news media as a whole and surprise about its timing.

Clinton, who leads Sanders on pledged delegates, has cautioned that she would not "get ahead of herself", but analyst Bill Schneider from the University of California, Los Angeles said it was "impossible" to imagine Sanders winning the race now.

"The only way he could do it is with superdelegates but he's complaining that she's doing it with superdelegates ... she's ahead with elected pledged delegates and that's very democratic," Schneider said.

The winner of the Democratic primaries will likely face off with the Republican party's presumptive nominee Trump, whose populist campaign has seen him defeat party favourites such as Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.

New York: Primaries, politics and the press - The Listening Post

Source: Al Jazeera



Bibliography:

Works Cited

"Sanders Campaign Calls out AP for Declaring Clinton Win." - News from Al Jazeera. Aljazeera, 07 June 2016. Web. 07 June 2016.



Response:

The AP has publicly announced Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee and the Bernie Sanders camp didn't support the supposedly rash actions. This message from the AP has received much criticism as many people believed that it shouldn't have also counted the super delegate vote as well as that not all of the primaries have finished yet. Also the argument says that the super delegates don't actually have a part in the primaries at all. However, there is also the fact that many people believe that Bernie Sanders is separating the party by continuing to run, when it seems almost impossible that he'll win. Personally, I have a slight preference towards Bernie rather than any other candidate in the race, but I still wouldn't want a divided democratic party.

Concerning bias, the source is Aljazeera and I don't think they are inclined or swayed towards any direction, and also they presented both sides pretty well.

President Barack Obama Visits Hiroshima as the first seated President to do so

President Obama to Make Historic Visit to Hiroshima
Barack Obama will become the first serving U.S. president to visit Hiroshima during a trip to Japan later this month, the White House announced Tuesday.

The historic visit will "highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons," it said in a statement. He will travel to the site where America dropped the atomic bomb during World War Il in the company of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as part of a wider trip that will also include Vietnam.

Abe said that the visit was a "very big decision" for Obama, and said he welcomed the president 'Trom the bottom of my heart. " "Seventy years ago, so many people were mercilessly killed by the dropping of the atomic bomb," he told reporters. "I would like this visit to be an opportunity to honor all the victims in Japan and in the United States.

He said Japan had "consistently called for the abolition of nuclear weapons." "By having President Obama visit Hiroshima and see the realities of radiation exposure, and by having him communicate his thoughts and feelings to the world, I believe this will lend great power towards a world without nuclear weapons," Abe added.

Secretary of State John Kerry last month became the to visit Hiroshima, laying a wreath and describing the museum there as "stunning" and "gut-wrenching." Former President Jimmy Carter toured the site in 1984, and Nancy Pelosi visited in 2008 while Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing an estimated 140,000 people, on Aug. 6, 1945. Nagasaki was hit three days later.

Many Americans believe the atomic attacks were justified and hastened the end of the war. However,
Japanese survivors' groups have campaigned for decades to bring leaders from the U.S. and other nuclear powers to see Hiroshima's scars as part of a grassroots movement to abolish such weapons.
Obama's Japan visit coincides with his final G-7 Summit meeting in Ise-Shima.
Excerpted from President Obama 'o Make Historic Visit to Hiroshima - NBC News



Works Cited

Yamamoto, Arata. "President Obama to Make Historic Trip to Hiroshima." NBC News. N.p., 10 May 2016. Web. 10 May 2016.

Response:

Before opening the link to this article, I was taken aback a little after reading the title. I'm surprised that no other president of the United States has ever visited Hiroshima, Japan. Not only does this show progress, healing, and peace, but it symbolizes a possible future end to atomic weapons. President Abe of Japan in the interview stated that this could be the beginning of the end of atomic weapons. Although this trip was controversial, I think President Obama made the right decision in visiting this desolated place. The bias is hard to define in this article, however I think because it was a controversial move for Obama to visit Hiroshima, the article seemed to favor him in going to Hiroshima, rather than not visiting the place at all. Keeping in mind that this is not an apology from the United States, it makes me wonder why Obama is even visiting the place though. I assume that that is why the decision was a little controversial.

Greenpeace's Unrest

Greenpeace publishes confidential U.S.-EU trade deal documents
BERLIN A sweeping free trade deal being negotiated between the European Union and the United States would lower food safety and environmental standards, Greenpeace said on Monday, citing confidential documents from the talks. 

But the European Commission said the documents reflected negotiating positions, not any final outcome, and the EU's chief negotiator dismissed some of Greenpeace's points as "flatly wrong."
The U.S. Trade Representative's offlce also rejected them. While it would not comment on the "validity of alleged leaks," a spokesman said "the interpretations being given to these texts appear to be misleading at best and flat-out wrong at worst. " 

Greenpeace opposes the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), arguing with Other critics that it would hand too much power to big business at the expense Of consumers and national governments. 

Supporters say the T TIP would deliver more than $100 billion of economic gains on both sides of the Atlantic. Greenpeace Netherlands published 248 pages of "consolidated texts" for 13 chapters, or about half, of the deal on the website TTIP-leaks.org on Monday. They date from early April, before a round of meetings in New York last week. "We've done this to ignite a debate," Greenpeace trade expert Juergen Knirsch told a news conference in Berlin, adding that the documents showed the negotiations should be halted.

"The best thing the EU Commission can do is to say 'Sorry, we've made a mistake'. " European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom called the leak a "storm in a teacup" and told an audience in Geneva the EU would not compromise its principles just to get a deal before U.S. President Barack Obama leaves office in January 2017. "If it is not good enough we just have to say 'Sorry but we have to put this on ice' and wait for the next administration. Obviously we lose time and momentum but we cannot agree to TTIP-lite or something that's not good enough," she said.

Greenpeace said the documents showed differences had become entrenched between the two sides of the Atlantic. Malmstrom said it was "not very dramatic" to say there were disagreements and the EU was being as open as possible about the negotiations. Knirsch said the texts showed the United States wanted to replace Europe's "precautionary principle" - which prevents potentially harmful products from coming to market when their effect is unknown or disputed - with a less stringent approach.
Malmstrom said the precautionary principle was part of the "acquis" - the laws binding the EU together - and Greenpeace's assertion was not true.

Malmstrom called on EU governments to do more to explain TTIP's merits to their populations.
NO CHANGES ON GMOS
In Europe, there is widespread opposition to allowing more imports of U.S. agricultural products due to concerns about genetically modified foods. In Brussels, EU chief negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero dismissed Greenpeace's comments on the precautionary principle, adding: "We have made crystal clear that we would not agree on anything that implies changes of our regulatory regime on GMOs (genetically modified organisms). " The negotiators aim to have "consolidated texts" by July, when a 14th round of talks is due to be held. They would then try to settle the thornier issues in the second half of 2016. A survey published last month by the Bertelsmann Foundation showed waning support for a TTIP deal in both Germany and the United States after three years of negotiations. 

A spokesman for the German government said it was still working to complete a deal. An Economy
Ministry spokeswoman said Germany would not accept lower food safety standards.
(Additional reporting by Phil Blenkinsop in Brussels, Tom Miles in Geneva, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Andrew Roche and Andrea Ricci)

Works Cited:

Copley, Caroline. "Greenpeace Publishes Confidential U.S.-EU Trade Deal Documents." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 02 May 2016. Web. 02 May 2016.

Response:

Greenpeace, being respected internationally and even acknowledged by the UN, is attempting to try to cause commotion and stir a movement as it sees various deals potentially dangerous not just to the EU, but to the world. The TTIP, a very controversial trade agreement, is one of the main components of Greenpeace's argument and it appears that they disagree with the GMOs being traded from the US to the EU, and they also are against the amount of power national governments and large businesses are given through the success of this trade agreement. It surprises me that Greenpeace would publish leaked documents on a website like ttip-leaks.org, and not publish them on a more open forum. I find it interesting how these documents from this trade agreement are leaked when the US government supposedly published the full document on one of its sites. Of course it must be difficult to navigate, but it shows the secrecy of this trade agreement, and beckons the question of what is actually happening behind closed doors?

Concerning bias, I would have to say that the bias is leaning on the side of Greenpeace and against the opposition from the EU and US.

Wake up call in Bangladesh as another Gay right activist is killed

Gay rights activist killed in Bangladesh in suspected Islamist attack
(Adds details)
DHAKA, April 25 Suspected Islamist militants hacked to death a leading gay rights activist and a friend in an apartment in the Bangladeshi capital on Monday, police said. The attack came two days after a university professor was killed in similar fashion on Saturday in an attack claimed by the Islamic State. Five or six people went to the apartment of Julhas Mannan, an editor of Bangladesh's first magazine for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community "Rupban", and attacked him and a friend with sharp weapons, Dhaka city police spokesman Maruf Hossain Sorder said, quoting witnesses. Mannan previously worked at the U embassy. They also wounded a security guard, who was undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Witnesses said the attackers shouted "Allahu Akbar" as they fled the scene. The Muslim-majority nation of 160 million people has seen a surge in violent attacks over the past few months in which liberal activists, members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups have been targeted. Five secular bloggers and a publisher have been hacked to death in Bangladesh since February last year. A group affiliated with al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the killing of a liberal Bangladeshi blogger earlier this month. Islamic State has also claimed responsibility for the killings of two foreigners, and attacks on mosques and Christian priests in Bangladesh since September. The government has denied that the Islamic State or al Qaeda groups have a presence in the country and said homegrown Islamist radicals are behind the recent attacks. At least five militants have been killed in shootouts since November as security forces have stepped up a crackdown on Islamist militants looking to establish a sharia-based Muslim state. (Reporting by Ruma
Paul, Editing by Richard Balmfofth) 

Works Cited:

Paul, Ruma. "Gay Rights Activist Killed in Bangladesh in Suspected Islamist Attack." Reuters. N.p., 25 Apr. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Response:

In a world where the number of individuals claiming to be LGBT is consistently growing, the fashion in which they are treated, and the way that we respond to them as individuals is always going to be critical in the way future generations will treat them. In the case of this article, terrorist groups such as al Qaeda or the Islamic State will always be persecuting people or groups that oppose their ideas and ways. However, with 6 reported attacks within the last year against LGBT people and allys, this is definitely an increasing number that is subject to grow exponentially. I'm not saying that when the Bangladeshi government claims to have no presence of terrorist organizations in their country that they are wrong, but the way in which they can handle the situation can be approached differently. Now the article doesn't mention what Bangladesh did if anything to prevent further attacks, but based on the data, most likely not much. Tracing back to my original thought, if the Bangladeshi government continues to sustain these attacks whilst not doing anything to help their people, then the cause for a government that protects its people is lost. The way they handle this situation right now, will affect the way future generations will handle similar if not the same situations in future conflicts.

Referring to bias on the article, the article does seem to appear more liberal in its views, making conservative groups and their affiliations appear to be more primitive and less intelligent possibly.