Identifying fake news.

http://www.bbc.com/news/education-39272841

          Every thing today is mostly technology based and young people spend their time on social media regularly. However, they need to determine what is right and wrong from what they read and watch. Adding on to this, social media is not enough for helping them know all about the world. Going out of social media, young people should know how to navigate through falsified news. As Mr. Schleicher said, "Students need more places to "exchange ideas". He also says that being aware that there is something like fake news, questioning, and thinking critically is a very important task. Young people these days should be careful not to take in all they read and hear on the internet. They should be aware of what is reliable or not. He also talks about making multi-ethnic and multi-religious countries into "mono-cultures". He explains that people can best relate to each other when they are similar. As people move around contrasting different ideas, and concepts, they might come to one conclusion and relate to each other better.
          I think that when people come to one conclusion, it would be easier to determine what is wrong. Since everyone has similar thoughts, when an idea out of their ideology spectrum comes forth, people would know that it is not similar to their thoughts and would consider it as a falsified idea. Also, it depends on how much an individual hears, watches, or reads news. Most of the articles or videos are similar and mostly those that are similar are true articles, but not always. Young people should determine false news by experience, and also from peers' opinions, not just believe what is written, but being aware and thinking critically if it is true or not.

Kenya elections unrest

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/1c13aae0-042b-11e7-aa5b-6bb07f5c8e12

Kenya now has another election this year. Many people fear that the violence,  that happened during some elections of the past, might occur again. Some areas of Kenya like the Rift Valley are currently being affected by the elections negatively. People say that the police are taking away their property, wealth, food, and burned their homes. It happened before, but it is happening again. Many farmers are losing their cattle rapidly, and they think that cannot be an act of the bandits, but and act of politicians who have power. Politicians seems to be appeasing their own voters, and encouraging invasions against the opponent's supporters.
I think that this is very immoral and unfair. People who have their own lives to live are being affected by one ballot. One single vote can determine their fortune. This doesn't seem moral to me. The politicians are too arrogant and greedy that they are not willing to accept defeat. Their arrogance are affecting innocent people even though they didn't do anything wrong, but to vote for one person. These violent acts only bring a negative connotation about the person, and won't do any good to them. I think that to be a good leader, they should be willing to be wrong, and listen to other opinions instead of being simple-minded. Jesus was a good example of a leader. Even though he wasn't wrong, he was willing to listen to others, and tell them where they are wrong at. Similar to this, a president should be able to persuade people that the right choice is to vote for him, not by violence, but using persuasive words and nonviolence.

whaling in Japan

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-38606557

A photo is taken by anti-whaling group, Sea Shepherds, and it shows that the Japanese are whaling in the Antarctic waters. The water where the Japanese are whaling appears to be close to Australia since they are bothered about it. The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd released images about the Japanese whaling and the Australian government is disappointed that the Japanese are whaling for scientific reasons. Japanese people who practice whaling think that it is reasonable for people to kill whales because their population is large enough. One day, the anti-whaling group's helicopter spotted a Japanese vessel with a dead whale. The Japanese "scrambled" to cover the whale. This shows that the Japanese know that what they are doing is not right and it also contradicts their reason that they are whaling for scientific reasons because they wouldn't be ashamed or afraid to an extent that they would cover the dead whale in a cunning and quick manner. By this, we can know that there is another reason why the Japanese are whaling which is not shown in this news. Also, due to the lie from the Japanese words and actions, Australia would not believe or trust Japan. This could bring about some conflicts. This news probably is directed to the Australian anti-whaling group and Australians because it brings up a point that they have to do something about it and that Japan is not a trustworthy country. This is similar to the Cold War because the Soviet Union planted bombs in Cuba while the US in Turkey. They were neutral allies, but from those actions, their trust fell and the whole Cuban Crisis happened. I hope that a war doesn't arise from this small spark of conflict.

Kenya's deforestation

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1192784.stm

This site is a short news article about the deforestation plan in the foot of mount Kenya. This was long before about in 2001 before the elections. After the deforestation the government would plan on putting settlements there for the people to live. However, this plan was criticized and died out eventually. The fact that this plan was made before the elections shows that the government needed support from people about the upcoming elections and this act was not actually for the people. Also, the Minister who came about with the plan was not apologetic and said that he was doing what should have been done ten years ago. This adds on to the point that he had no intention to conserve and protect nature, but only minded in the upcoming elections and the support from the people in Kenya. He even added on by saying that the plan was a way of protecting the forest. I really don't see how deforestation in a way of protecting the forest. This is so hypocritical! This article shows that the Kenyan government was unstable at that particular time and that some people were depending more on the short-term benefits rather than the long-term benefits because they were looking to cut down trees for settlements instead of using them for fresh air reducing the carbon in the atmosphere, which China needs a lot.

Environment in New Delhi

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/world/asia/indias-air-pollution-rivals-china-as-worlds-deadliest.html?_r=0

This article almost continues my other blog post about the pollution in China. It has lots of opinionated quotes about the pollution in Asia, Europe, and America. The author seems to be positive about the environmental control in America and Europe, however, not in Asia. Europe and America are improving in keeping the environment safe and sound, but Asia is somewhat unstable in controlling pollution. First, pollution was at its highest in China but it seems like the problem of pollution has shifted to India as well. However, China is improving in keeping the environment clean now. Also, the Indian people are using China's method of reducing the pollution by restricting fireworks or using them only at certain times. China used to be the most dangerous place to be because of pollution, but now it changed to New Delhi. It seems like the government of India aren't organized enough to enforce the essential laws that would improve the health of the people in a highly polluted place. It also seems like the people don't follow the law, even though they are enforced by the government since it says that the burning of crops, which was banned by the government, still continued. It doesn't seem like an organized country and it seems like the people don't care. From this I learned that if people are ignorant of pollution now, they will be ignorant in the future too. Just like in some places in Africa, people throw trash out car windows and there is trash everywhere. Just like a habit becoming character, this might bring hardships later on with pollution in Africa. It would be best if we stop it now not then.

China's football league

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/01/football/china-european-transfer-deadline-day-football/index.html


This site talks about the Chinese Super League and how the Chinese spent millions of money just to win the World Cup. The Chinese president is supportive to this and he is the main character that put this plan into play. China's president Xi Jinping is wanting his country to be a football superpower. I think this is similar to the arms race because countries are competing with each other about how good they are and are wanting to be the superpower. Except that this is a more safer and is not competing with weapons or anything, but their abilities and football skills. I think competition is a good thing but China has crossed the line to where they are too desperate to win and are making discreditable choices. This site says that China used more that $100 million signing big Brazilian names like Oscar and Hulk. I think that this was not necessary and it is shameful in a way that China's president thinks that the Chinese players are not good enough to win the World Cup and he is recruiting overseas players for that reason. This would be outrageous to the Chinese players because they are giving their best and recruiting overseas players degrades the Chinese players quite a bit. All this spending wasn't necessary and it would have been better if the president used that money to rebuild China and make it a better place to live.

Pollution in China

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-01/28/content_28069369.htm

This site talks about fireworks in China are not being sold off as well and is addressing the Chinese to reduce the use of fireworks because it causes pollution. People in China think that they are preventing pollution through this and the Chinese celebrated their New Years with a decreased number of fireworks. There are still some fireworks being used, but many of them are being restricted. The government even restricted the people from firing fireworks due to the pollution it brings. Also, fireworks give a lot of impact on events, but due to its reduction, the impact of the New Years celebration has decreased.
I think that it is a good idea to restrict something if it is too much, but I don't think fireworks can be a big problem. I understand that starting from the little things is a good step, but I think it doesn't have to be completely restricted. I think that it should be allowed for some special occasions like: Independence Day, New Years, and so on. Fireworks can give a little more impact on the people about how important that day is. There could also be festivals in place of fireworks, but some people might not be able to participate it or maybe people could be avoiding crowds. For those who don't like being in a large crowd, fireworks can be a refresher for them.

Plastic surgery

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2017/01/116_222203.html

Many people can agree that the plastic surgery rates in South Korea are high. Probably, Korea has the highest plastic surgery rate. When I went to Korea, I could see a bunch of plastic surgery hospitals. They are very noticeable and are very common. This site has quite a lot of surveys that were taken relating to the Korean people. These surveys are targeted upon the people who took plastic surgery. The author says that the people who got plastic surgery even had their personalities changed. Mostly, they got more courage. Koreans get plastic surgery because they are dissatisfied with their appearance. Also, they wanted to prevent aging. I think that wanting to prevent age is the same as faking their age. I feel  like this is just dishonest. I understand why people do plastic surgery. Korea is becoming a society that values appearance rather than the hard work or any other effort. If the appearance is absent, then they are not worthy. It is an unfair country. I feel like people in Korea are becoming more dishonest and insincere like the president of Korea right now. The stereotype of Korean people will be more of a negative. Just like the previous blog I posted about the dwarfism, I think it is reputable and admirable that the person with dwarfism can just live his life without judging his appearances. We need to be more sincere and true to ourselves and to be who we are without covering the true selves. 

Judgments and confidence.

http://www.bbc.com/news/disability-38528816

My fear of dating as someone with dwarfism

This article looks depressing by the look of the title, but it is much more encouraging and profound. This article talks about a person named "Pani Mamuneas" who has a special condition of dwarfism. This person was bullied until he went to college because of his height. He had a depressing life where most girls in his school avoided him or either ignored him. He had no girlfriend, but this didn't let him down. He says that even though some people don't see him as a 'normal' person, some would consider him as a good partner. He pushed through his hard life and with the help of a TV show about dating, he gained confidence in talking to girls. This article is profound for this student with a special condition didn't matter about the judgments of his friends and strangers and didn't lose hope for what others said. This teaches me that I am myself and no one can be me. Every man is special and one is oneself. Mamuneas accepted the fact that he had dwarfism and didn't care to be like someone else. This shows that he didn't conform to the world where people look on the outward appearance, but rather he went on showing what he has and who he is, not manipulating himself. This shows the dark side of the world where people look mostly at the outward appearance. I wish the world can be like this person where they accept how they look and not be discouraged.