I was bored the other day and since my internet didn’t work, I decided to make a few things in Adobe Photoshop CS5. Took about 15-20 minutes for each one. Enjoy 🙂
Freedoms vs Privacy: The NSA Strikes
The power and influence of government agencies is truly astonishing. How is it that an entity within a nation’s government is able to get away with monitoring the private information of it’s citizens without probable cause? Is there any reason as to why the NSA needs so much information? Are there 120 million  “suspected terrorists” in the world that could pose a threat? This kind of government influence within private citizen’s daily lives is truly becoming sickening.
The biggest problem, is that everybody is now a target. It doesn’t matter what someone does, they’re being watched. Companies such as Yahoo or Google are now trying to take extra measures to encrypt customer information, although time will tell if it will work. Organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation are launching lawsuits in response to the NSA allegedly violating the privacy of innocent citizens. Even foreign governments such as Germany, France, Spain, and Italy are also being monitored by these intelligence agencies and they aren’t very pleased about it. Now people might think “Oh! I’ve done nothing wrong. Why should I care?” Think of this, if they have even one little bit of suspicion that you’ve done a crime, even if someone is completely innocent, they, the government, will use their database collected to prosecute them in a court of law. It’s highly doubted that anybody who pays taxes would be amused to know their money goes towards monitoring them for “suspicious activity”. As it seems everybody’s a target, and since everybody pays taxes, taxpayers are therefore targets.
Obviously the legitimacy of the NSA’s actions is something to be questioned. Isn’t there something called a constitution? Or a charter of rights? Something that protects a private citizen’s rights to privacy and freedom of speech? Well, it must be fictional as the government agencies don’t seem to know about it. Really though, monitoring millions of people’s information and now that people such as Edward Snowden found out and are telling the public, they’re trying to prosecute him and charge him with treason? That’s not treason, treason is whenever you betray your own country. The National Security Agency should be the ones charged with treason for violating the constitution of the United States. Spying on a nation’s citizens and then trying to silence whistleblowers, that’s a crime against the foundation of democracy and of their government. The NSA can’t even live up to their own self-inflicted restrictions, it’s truly unbelievable. What next? Monitoring foreign neutral countries in Latin America? Oh wait…Canada and the United States are already monitoring Brazil and Mexico. This is supposed to be illegal on a federal and international level but unless people start kicking up, nothing will happen.
Hopefully things will start changing for the better but it’s not looking good. Edward Snowden contributed such important documents to our new common knowledge of the NSA’s spying activities which will hopefully impact how the agency is operated. I am not against national security, but when national security starts to infringe on god-given rights, a line needs to be drawn. If nothing happens, then things can only get worse, developing into a form of tyranny.
Works Cited:
Roth, Kenneth. “The NSA’s Global Threat to Free Speech.” nybooks.com. The New York Review of Books, 18 November 2013. Web. 19 November 2013.
Gjelten, Tom. “Who Gets The Blame For NSA Spying? NSA Says Not Us.” npr.org. NPR, 13 November 2013. Web. 19 November 2013.
Techstring. “Yahoo to encrypt all products in light of NSA spying revelations.” techstring.wordpress.com. Tech String, 20 November 2013. Web. 20 November 2013.
Nicks, Denver. “Supreme Court Declines to Stop NSA Surveillance.” swampland.wordpress.com. TIME Swampland, 18 November 2013. Web. 20 November 2013.
Gastaldo, Evann. “NSA Copped to Breaking Spy Rules – Over and Over.” newser.com. Newser, 19 November 2013. Web. 20 November 2013.
How Facebook Facebook Makes Us Unhappy
The global need to interact and stay connected is a big part of our daily lives, but like all things, has it’s positives and negatives. Consider the influencing roles that Facebook plays in today’s society and we can begin to realize how truly depressing some of our online activities can be. Although social media isn’t necessarily bad, it can have devastating effects on our mental state of mind according to an article known as “How Facebook Makes Us Unhappy” by Maria Konnikova. It’s time to explore the deep connected world of social media and find the effects it has on society as a whole.
Social media tends to allow users to have better access to their friends and family, but this also increases the need for attention which often results in posts and/or photos that many would prefer to as foolish. The primary problem with Facebook and other social media websites, is the increasing amount of drama and attention seekers. Why would someone want to put a photo of themselves on Facebook, holding a bottle of vodka, smoking a bong, and begging for likes? Or even making statuses where they are intentionally trying to start arguments? It doesn’t make sense in the real world. Reason being, when they’re publicly expressing their desire for drugs and/or alcohol, for their family, friends, and some creep from another country to see, it can get them into serious emotional, legal, and monetary problems. Most people, it is assumed, would prefer to avoid that. Those who don’t end up “ruining their lives”. Although in the world of social media, if it’s somewhat important, to gain likes (basically attention), people will post pretty well anything.
Sometimes, social networking can be too addicting and may cause a society to become too network minded. In a world where social networking websites achieve hundreds of millions of users, it’s bound to become part of everyone’s daily life. However, when people become hooked on it, they start to lose the treasured communication of face-to-face conversation. People start missing out on this, which starts to reduce their verbal communication skills and their appreciation for the beautiful nature that the world provides humanity. They are too worried about the latest tweet from a celebrity, or the latest Facebook argument about John’s relationship problems. Overall, this constant state of mind and need to feel connecting can be hard on the brain due to the intense multi tasking and constant flow of information which can lead to stress. Although this can be a useful tool to humanity, sometimes the addicting smartphone needs to go away to appreciate life at it’s fullest.
Overall, the article was a very entertaining read and really acts as a true wake up call to the better things humanity could be doing with the time that they have. If more people realized that Facebook and social media isn’t always good to have 24 hours a day, maybe society would be happier and less stressful. By far, humans have a long way to go to perfect the art of balancing communication and happiness, and this article proves it.
The Appeal – John Grisham (Book Review)
The financial effects of a simple lawsuit can have a huge effect on a business. The novel known as The Appeal by John Grisham is a perfect example of that. The story starts out as a law firm known as Payton & Payton wins a large lawsuit against chemical company Krane Chemical for contaminating the drinking water. The story goes back and forth between many different perspectives as Krane Chemical tries to build up an appeal against the lawsuit to avoid their business from going bankrupt. However, in business, honesty doesn’t always exist.
We start out with two main characters. We have Carl Trudeau, the Chief Executive Officer of Krane Chemical, and we have Mary Grace, a lawyer representing her clients on behalf of Payton & Payton (which her husband runs). Upon reading the first few chapters, you already begin to realize that both Carl and Mary are very aggressive, sneaky, and determined. They both want to win the lawsuit and will each do whatever sneaky tricks possible to achieve a verdict in their favor. Throughout the story you see Mary Grace start to become a more hopelessly upset and angered character due to the threatening appeal from the chemical company. Whereas Carl starts to become a worried and scared character at first, but slowly turns into an evil mastermind. Although often their personality and physical appearance can be quite unclear, we know for sure that Carl and Mary will do anything to destroy each other’s business and they’re persistent in doing so.
As things start to unfold, we begin to see a some major problems for Mr.Trudeau. He is faced with a major problem, his company is facing bankruptcy and he needs to protect confidence from investors. With share prices dropping from $40 down to $19 in a matter of hours, the company needs to win their appeal to ensure that they’ll be able to continue operating and be able to please investors. Thanks to Payton & Payton for suing them for the deaths of many people, they find themselves in this desperate situation. However, Carl starts to think of something geneous. If he buys all the shares in his business while they’re low, pay a few million to get the federal judge he wants, and then win the appeal, he’ll be able to not only save his business, but profit tremendously in the process. Throughout the course of the novel, they train the federal judge so that finally they can be rid of the annoying law firm that’s suing them for millions and killing their market value.
This novel’s focus on the sneaky ways of business is quite something. It really makes a person wonder if corporations in real life actually buy members of the government to benefit themselves or what corporations are really getting away with. It’s hard to know but truly makes someone want to find out. This is what make’s the novel interesting. This can very easily happen in real life and there’s probably been scenarios similar to it, but hopefully not. It’s the kind of book that starts making a person rethink their whole view on governments, politics, and the court system.
Overall, this book was a very satisfying read. If there wasn’t the switch between two different scenarios and if it focused more on one central character, it might have been easier to understand but that’s just my opinion. It has a large foundation of law, economics, politics, and business which are subjects that I happen to take an interest to. Upon reading this, I feel as though I have a better understanding of the court system and of business as a whole which is what I aimed to get out of this book. That makes me happy and if you like the kind of things that I like, you’ll love it too!
Quote from John Grisham
“In life, finding a voice is speaking and living the truth. Each of you is an original. Each of you has a distinctive voice. When you find it, your story will be told. You will be heard.”
— John Grisham
Quote from Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson
These quotes are in relation to a documentary I originally wrote about and these quotes from Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, both former U.S. Presidents, could apply in regards to the global economy if inflation were to continue.
“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”
— Abraham Lincoln
“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent they conquered.”
― Thomas Jefferson
Although I am not American, the United States is a world superpower and is the economic capital of the world. If the United States economy is destroyed through inflation, it will have a domino affect and heavily damage Asian, Canadian, European, and other economies internationally due to how closely reliant those economies are on the American economy.
Monetary Inflation: Disaster Waiting to Happen
Monetary Inflation: Disaster Waiting to Happen
Although it may not be evident to some people in other countries like Canada, the American economy is going into a downward spiral. Although many people are unaware in regards to what’s happening in the global financial system, after watching the documentary “Money As Debt” by Paul Grignon, there is definitely a ticking time bomb created by the inflation of currency by central and private banks, which can be considered very alarming. The inflation and devaluation of the currency is something which needs to be addressed as a global issue before it affects the lives of millions or potentially billions of people in North America and worldwide.
What that many people ask is this, what is inflation? Well, inflation is whenever there is a nation which has a treasury or central bank creating more currency for the same amount of goods. This is a common sense logic, since there’s more of a currency compared to something such as gold, the value of the currency decreases. This explains the reason that, according to the Bank of Canada’s Inflation Calculator, $20.52 in today’s money can buy the same amount of goods that $1.00 could buy in 1914. Although the manufacturing of goods might be increasing, the primary reason for this, is the printing of money. Typically, this just simply means that more currency is flowing through the economy and as long as everybody’s wages increase at the same rate of the inflation, it will balance out, just that a unit of currency will buy a smaller amount of goods. This can strongly affect the life-time savings of many people if inflation rates are higher than the interest rates on those savings accounts. This is truly what inflation is and as it goes more in-depth, then it will reveal some of the devastating effects it can have on the lives of millions of people, depriving them of their wealth right in front of their eyes.
Inflation is so bad it can cause complete wealth inequality within society causing a select group of people to becoming extremely wealthy while depriving a nation of it’s true wealth. The United States of America is a good example of what happens when a government does not properly monitor and control the printing of money. What they have done instead, is they have given control of printing and issuing currency to a private bank that is not directly controlled by the American government. known as the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is simply a collection of private bankers who will inflate and deflate the currency known as the United States Dollar to their very will. The Federal Reserve, in return, has used its authority and monetary power to strengthen the power of banks. This should be evident considering how unbalanced the American economy is. The average American family is starting to have trouble putting bread on the table and making payments on their house. Meanwhile, banks are starting to create multi-billion dollar towers within some of the world’s most expensive cities. This is because they assist in the creation of new money and profit from the credit and debt created along with it. This is a perfect example of the evil effects of inflation that are eating away at the American and global economies.
Now many people are probably thinking, okay, inflation is horrible, but how does it occur and how bad is it? Well, this is how it happens. First, somebody makes a deposit at the bank for approximately $1,000. Afterwards, due to how lenient the United State’s monetary policy is, they can use that as a 9:1 reserve to loan out upwards of $9,000 in new money legally created literally out of thin air from the borrower’s promise to pay the money back with interest. This is allowed as the depositor’s money will not be lost unless all depositors want their money back at the same time, which is called fractional reserve banking. The cycle continues whenever the borrower deposits the money at their bank and it becomes a reserve there for even more loans. Imagine how interest the banks make off of these loans? Imagine all of the money created in this process? It’s a huge part of the growing inflation within both the American and global economies and it is virtually creating new money out of nothing in return for physical assets. This is truly the biggest scam ever invented and it means that all money within an economy is actually equal to a debt owed by somebody else. Also, there will never be enough money to pay down all debts owed along with the interest so more money has to keep being created to sustain the economy or the system will come crashing down. This may be very hard on the brain, but when you think about it, it’s a giant debt bubble waiting to be burst. Why do you think banks are so tremendously rich with governments, corporations, and people all in debt at the same time? Why does the price of everything continues to rise as each dollar buys less and less? It’s because of how this ugly form of inflation is being created.
This may be very frightening to many people in the United States, but Canadians might be wondering, “Why should I care about another country’s economy when I live in Canada?” Well, it’s because of how easily it can happen to the Canadian economy, and how closely connected Canada rely on the United States. Canada’s monetary system and the Canadian dollar do not inflate anywhere close to how badly the American dollar inflates, but if the American economy collapsed, it would cause a global recession and would largely reduce trade between Canada and the United States for quite some time which would damage the Canadian economy tremendously. This reduced trade would cause many job losses in Canada and would cause American businesses with locations in Canada to go bankrupt. Although Canada might be able to survive this collapse, the United States will have to develop a new economic system and their government, which borrows from private banks, would likely have to default which would kill it’s credit rating and destroy millions of jobs and businesses.
This is a perfect example of what can happen when you allow there to be unregulated creation of money, which can completely destroy a country’s wealth. This likely will not happen for many years, but with the recent shutdown of the American government and the constantly rising debt ceiling, there is fear it could happen soon. When it or if does, it could be the worst economic disaster the world has ever seen.
Quotes from Eragon
Upon reading Eragon a long time ago, these two quotes have always stuck with me as being two of my favorite.
“Keep in mind that many people have died for their beliefs; it’s actually quite common. The real courage is in living and suffering for what you believe.”
― Christopher Paolini, Eragon
“First, let no one rule your mind or body. Take special care that your thoughts remain unfettered… . Give men your ear, but not your heart. Show respect for those in power, but don’t follow them blindly. Judge with logic and reason, but comment not. Consider none your superior whatever their rank or station in life. Treat all fairly, or they will seek revenge. Be careful with your money. Hold fast to your beliefs and others will listen.”
― Christopher Paolini, Eragon
“Glendale District Says Social Media Monitoring Is for Student Safety” – Tom’s Point of View
The internet is vast network of tools and resources and should be treated as such, but with millions of users interacting every single day, what are the laws governing it’s usage? Where is the line drawn between privacy and monitoring? Free speech and bullying? An article known as “Glendale District Says Social Media Monitoring Is for Student Safety” by Stephen Ceasar really brought up a lot of really interesting points in regards to this, some of which I would like to discuss. Overall, this has given me mixed opinions, but, I have my own proposal for how this system could work, which would be effective in protecting rights as well as students.
To start off, perhaps we should address the worry of invading on the freedom of speech or privacy. From my personal experience as both a supporter of freedom of speech and a victim of bullying, we don’t necessarily have to monitor private details and personal conversations, although I applaud Glendale in their efforts. Rather than monitoring all social media accounts owned by students (which would cost millions of dollars considering the terabytes of data that we, teenagers, use every day), why don’t they just enact legislation which would give educational institutions and/or police forces the right to seize the data for specific accounts? This would work similar to the way a warrant would work for a house arrest, instead, it can be a warrant to seize a Facebook account. I’ve personally been a victim of cyber-bullying multiple times in the past, and I assure you, it’s not fun to check Facebook and see a status posted saying “If you hate Thomas Burleigh, say I” along with multiple other inappropriate, vulgar, word. Again, it doesn’t mean we have to resort to extensive monitoring of everybody’s private conversations to stop it. Warrant systems are a fair way of handling the situation on a case-to-case basis while at the same time, protecting the rights to freedom and privacy of the average user, both of which are important.
There’s an interesting point I’d like to bring up as well, what’s going to stop people from continuing? Personally, as a student, whenever I’ve had bullying innocents, the situation was silenced once the school took care of it. However, in many places, this is not the case and the situation continues to escalate further simply due to the school’s lack of punishment for bullying. Schools need to increase the punishment for cyber-bullying as many schools just offer a “tap on the wrist” or a 1 day in-school suspension. Although some people may stop after the first warning, some will continue to bully and harass people resulting in continuous 1 day suspensions which have no effect on the student. What we need, for those involved in cyber-bullying, they need counselling. People who try to bring others down behind a computer screen clearly have problems they need to sort out, and a counselor can do that for them and hopefully cause them to avoid bullying in the future.
To summarize, I feel this school district and many others have the right idea. Many things including a warrant system to seize an account and perhaps improved counselling services can see the rates of suicide and depression among teenagers decrease. This is a big change but I feel it’s in the right direction. Again, I applaud Glendale for their efforts and I hope to see a further crackdown on cyber-bullying in the future while protecting the rights of the average social media user.
“Secrets of the Most Successful College Students” – Tom’s Point of View
   College is a very big step between high school and the workforce and as such, it can have it’s many challenges which you’ll need to overcome. However, with the assistance of an article known as “Secrets of the Most Successful College Students” by Annie Murphy Paul, there are many ways you can make this terrifying stage in your life, seem so much easier.
   The first thing I noticed about this article, was the difference between high school and college. Honestly, in high school, you wouldn’t be “content with failure” or “pursuing passion ahead of As”. In fact, that’s what you would be pursuing. It seems though that in college, at least to my understanding, the focus is more on being dedicated to your dream career and it isn’t based so much upon the numbers. If that’s the case, then I definitely agree, focus on the important things, the things that will matter in the future when you go to pursue opportunities outside of college. Pursue your dream job, your dream career, focus on what will get you there, and if you come out with good grades, then I suppose that’s a bonus.
   Another thing which I noticed, was how this article was focused on thinking big. They want you to ask big questions, create goals and then reach them, as well as to actively read and think. This makes perfect sense to me as it trains the brain to get deep into thought and to have objectives to overcome, which is usually quite important considering the positive motivation completing your goals can give you. If you can find a way to set studying goals for yourself, it can really help you do well. For example, on your first day, study for 10 minutes, then 15 the next day, 20, etc. until you’re at your desired time. As far as thinking big, like they suggested, think outside the box. Think about things as big as the nature of consciousness, or like they said, “Why do we have life, and what is it’s nature?” Ask yourself these questions, it really challenges the brain to think deep. I know it helps me when I think deeply like this and it will probably help you. I’m glad the author brought up the thinking big suggestion, because I find it to be very effective.
   Overall, I was very satisfied with the article and the assistance it gives to college students. Again, college can be a very terrifying time to go through. But if you keep these simple little tricks in mind, perhaps it won’t seem so frightening. I advise more students who are considering taking college, or are already taking college, to read this article as it’s a true asset as far as ways of thinking.
Thomas Burleigh 