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matthew says this is important

I found this article very interesting not because it necessarily went along with or opposed my beliefs, but rather because it made me wonder how true their information really was. This piece describes the injustice in the lack of privacy of the American. Since the 9/11 attacks, FISA (foreign intelligence surveillance act) has put measures in place intended to "protect" us citizens. The article states that in this new era of "hope" that Obama advocates, it is surprising and unnecessary that our freedoms continue to be suppressed. This I agree with. Although I understand the idea from which this act stemmed, I do not think it is effective in either gathering information or protecting attacks. However, the article continues to describe the secretive nature of this group and how they advertise that we should all be transparent because if we are good we have nothing to hide. Though this may be true, this FISA interjection does indeed serve as a loophole to our constitutional right to privacy. The way the article presented this issue makes me interested in pursueing more information on the topic so that I can be better informed and understand to a great extend what is going on. I'm sorry if this sounds really dumb. I'm half falling asleep

While Ukraine has been able to use social media to their advantage by spreading information, increasing awareness of the problems they face, and pressuring companies and governments to aid them, Russia has been fighting back with national and international and propaganda campaigns. This struggle has caused a different kind of war to rage on between them, a cyber-war.

Because of how strict much of Russia's information laws and restrictions have been even before the war, getting accurate information about the conflict from inside Russia is nearly impossible. Along with that, it is extremely easy for misinformation to spread across social media and news outlets.

Interesting observations, Subby, Juliana, Slava and Matteo. Add to this the fact that under Vladimir Putin's iron hand, censorship within Russia is intense. Opposition to Putin's government has been effectively silenced within Russia, and is being replaced by shows of strength and prosperity. Good article about this in Monday's NYT here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/06/world/europe/moscow-war-ukraine-mood.html

This article has a lot of information about the Ebola virus and its impact on the world. I chose this article because many people are completely paranoid about Ebola in the US. The article explains that Ebola spreads slowly, and it is not extremely contagious. Many people are scared of Ebola because of the horrific things it does to your body, but it is important to stop and realize that in the US, it is extremely unlikely to effect a large amount of people. You have to have to exchange bodily fluids with someone showing symptoms of the virus. There are only 2 cases of Ebola in the US (as far as we know), so there is no point in being concerned about becoming infected with ebola.

I love how informative that article was. It gets straight to the point. Although I was never too concerned with the virus to begin with, I do feel a little less afraid of it, like Max. It's really interesting to know that the virus most likely originated from bats though!

Thanks for posting this. There is a lot of good information in this article. With the people's skepticism and the high risk of infection, it must be very difficult to be a health worker in this outbreak.

. Directly, this article is a psycological analysis scientists have done about how misinformation affects peoples actions and decisions, but I also think that it plays a role in the election, foreign relations, and the turns the economy takes.

Super interesting article; ties in to the week's big themes; I highly recommend a read.

I found it very interesting that the poorest in a given year, are not necessarily the poorest for their entire lives. As well as the point that income is distributed over one's lifetime, versus given in one particular moment--> which helps redistribute wealth, instead of letting it go stagnant.

Super interesting how little effect cutting or expanding government benefits has on long term poverty.

This is a great follow up to our discussion in class about how closed off NK might or might not be. Can any country actually maintain a wall that is impermeable to information? This suggests not. Good find, Catherine! Quotes follow: "Conventional wisdom holds that the people of North Korea are trapped in a world of rigid conformity, totalitarian discipline and complete isolation from the rest of the world. But increasingly another picture is emerging: North Koreans are far more aware of the outside world, according to evidence provided by North Korean refugees, South Korean humanitarian aid workers, Chinese traders and others. "One of the most underrated realities about North Korea is its very dynamic relationship with China, and the amount of information that flows across that border. Students; business people; it's a continuous stream of traffic," he says. With that traffic come thousands of DVDs, CDs, cellular telephones, used computers and videotapes - many of them from China and South Korea."

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This article made national news last week when it reported alleged ties between Hunter Biden and a Ukrainian gas company. It was written by the New York Post, which has a somewhat conservative bias. There are still a lot of question marks about its findings (for example, it recovered emails from a laptop delivered to a repair shop in Delaware that was never picked up) and it seems like an attempt by conservatives to stir up controversy right before Election Day.

Also, the Post is owned by Rupert Murdoch and is rated "mixed" by https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/new-york-post/ "These media sources are slightly to moderately conservative in bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes) to favor conservative causes. These sources are generally trustworthy for information, but may require further investigation. See all Right-Center sources. Overall we rate the New York Post on the far end of Right-Center Biased due to story selection that typically favors the Right and Mixed (borderline questionable) for factual reporting based on several failed fact checks."

I think the article powerfully explains the sad problem women are currently facing in Afghanistan. It is unfortunately not surprising but it is important to be well informed on what is happening.

I agree, Lexi, about the importance of being well-informed, even on this difficult topic. If all Afghan women were allowed to express their opinions on their own futures, I wonder what they would ask for. And if what they asked for was education and drivers' licenses and the opportunity to work for pay, would the men allow them these things?

The state run public distribution system collapsed in North Korea in the 90s, forcing people to work in informal markets such as bribery. Right now, reporters asses that bribery (typically to state officials) seems to be the number one way that people are accessing their food, healthcare, shelter, and work. Due to the constant threat of possible arrest, some state officials are able to extort extra money and favors as well. Women are also being found to be more vulnerable to abuse, brokers, and traffickers.

I'm not surprised at the amount of corruption that has been uncovered. I'm mainly interested in how they are able to control the public image of the government so well. I'd like to know more about how the information about all of the North Korean government's shortcomings is kept under wraps.

See this article from 2018: "Inside A North Korea That Is Changing - But At Its Own Pace" NPR https://www.npr.org/2018/10/01/652037944/photos-inside-a-north-korea-that-is-changing-but-at-its-own-pace

It's truly a waking nightmare in the RF right now; it has not been this bad since WWII. There's no way to encapsulate all the information in a comment like this, or even in an article like the one attached - that's just an overview. Russia is in a de facto total mobilization. There are no rules, every man 18-"50"(70) is eligible so long as the recruiters have quotas to fill. People are being detained and drafted at their jobs, homes, on public transportation and at the border. The number Vladimir Vladimirovich touted was 300,000 recruits; it's looking more like several million, from a nation of officially 140, believed to be 120 million people. Prisoners have been all offered freedom if they fight - no need to worry about the long term consequences after they come back. Needless to say society is in a state of collapse, but that does not at all imply the state is. The state is doing a-ok, barely bruised by the riots. State operatives will continue to perform their duties, because the second they slip up their replacements will send them to the front with the rest. What is Putin's goal? Who knows! The most sensible answer is that he's actually just having fun in his own degenerate way. I was born during the most democratic and economically promising period in recent Russian history. Putin and his court have brought it all the way here.

Your comment is powerful, Slava, and your inside perspective on Russia is so informative. Thank you for posting this article and commenting so thoroughly.

This article gives an Arab perspective on the vice presidential debate. There are some interesting choices in words to describe Biden's apparent victory over Ryan Thursday night: "feisty vice president Joe Biden came out swinging" "clashed sharply" "savaged surging" "crackling showdown" "Passionate and adamant". This type of language demonstrates the writers bias toward The democratic party. They also illustrate their bias through their explanation of the mixed post-debate polls. They explain that Ryan's good looks distracted viewers from Biden's stellar points.

I think this site posts very biased articles in general on this election. After the last debate, the report on that seemed incredibly biased towards Republicans, so I think maybe they just go with whoever "won" the debate. It's interesting how the only evidence used in the debate shown in this article is about foreign policy and terrorism, and I agree that it would be interesting to look at something from Iran or the likes.

Good find, Sam! Even if the source shows overt bias, it's good to know what's out there being said about US politics!

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are tying to do whatever they can to avert the attention from Ryan losing the Vice Presidential debate. The main area of contention is whether or not the US Embassy in Benghazi asked the American government for extra security before the attacks on September 11th that killed 4 Americans. Biden claims that he and the president were not asked to enhance security measures, while sworn testimony from the staff of the embassy said that they asked for more protection. In my opinion, there is a lot of ad-libbing in the debates, therefore to put a candidates word choice under so much scrutiny is pointless. Mitt Romney's camp seems to be jumping on biden's every word to make up for the insufficiencies in his own platform.

Its unfortunate that the campaign race has become something of a food fight of gossip and rumors. It has gotten to the point where no one can tell who is telling the truth or not. Romney seems determined to portray the President as incompetent especially his comparison between Joe Bidden and Paul Ryan.

Although I agree with both Matt and Rory, I would like to point out that the criticism of the campaign is very much focused on the Republican party. I think it's important to note that perhaps Biden did, in fact, distort the truth in the debate; saying that he didn't know about something if he did is not a simple slip of the tongue. factcheck.org put Ryan's falsehoods at 6 and Biden's at 3. Although it is clear who lied more, this is a disgusting statistic: the candidates lied NINE TIMES during their debate. Although there is a lot of information they have to cover, I think that one must hold Biden as responsible for his lies as one does Ryan.

This is interesting because even though the computers have changed so much it is fairly rare to see it used as a weapon. Apparently there have been lots of cyber attacks and counter attacks between the US and Iran and defense secretary Leon E. Panetta said that the US was at risk of a "Cyber Pearl Harbor". This raises the question of whether cyberspace could be a new front for warfare.

This article demonstrates the threat that cyberattacks pose to governments, economies, and even the people. Throughout middle school children like me we were warned of the seriousness of cyberbullying and how it could truly damage the feelings of others. However, the threats of a Cyber world war could be drastic to people all over the world. While there is no hard evidence that the latest attacks have been sanctioned by the Iranian government, the attacks have increased the disdain between Iran and the United States. In many ways the conflict does resemble bullying. Iran wants to prove that they have some power over the United states by attempting to damage our economy. They are using this entirely new medium of cyberspace to let out this aggression. The question is whether we are on the brink of a cyber war and what the consequences will be to the economy and freedom of information.

Uncover and compare facts about different countries (the link I put up compares 3, and you can change them to whatever countries you want). Discover in-depth information about the government, the state of the economy, and much more.

Links to database of u.s. laws

I find it very interesting that the Damascenes' opinions on U.S. intervention seem to differ based on socio-economic status, but yet the majority of them all agree that Obama should be more decisive about his plans for or against invasion. In general, this article surfaces a lot of interesting points to ponder surrounding the conflict in Syria.

The article makes a very important point. U.S. engagement is not aimed at overthrowing Assad and establishing a new political government or regime, rather American involvement is serving as a deterrent for the prevention of chemical weapon usage by other countries. Such reasoning undercuts the moral virtue of American involvement in Syria and will serve to fuel greater anti-American sentiments in the region.