Jaspar Mandaville's Post

On February 1^st, 2012, fans of the Egyptian soccer teams Al Masry and Al Ahly turned upon each other after an unexpected outcome for the game. In Port Said, Egypt, there was little debate that the win would go to Al Ahly. However, fans of both teams were shocked when Al Masry defeated Al Ahly in a 3-1 win. As some of the more dedicated fans, known as “ultras,” gloated and mourned over the game results, things escalated quickly and turned ugly. Ultras from both teams rioted on the field, the stands and in the exit corridors. Over the next couple hours, over 70 fans suffocated or were stabbed to death while trying to flee the angry ultras. This incident marks the most deadly soccer related case of violence worldwide since 1996.

There has been a great deal of debate and controversy concerning the Port Said police’s lack of intervention during the riots. Mohammed Abu Trika, one of the players, said: "People here are dying and no-one is doing a thing. It's like a war. Is life this cheap?" Others went even farther, saying that the police didn’t intervene for a reason. After resigning, Al Masry's manager  Kamal Abu Ali said: "This is not about soccer, this is bigger than that. This is a plot to topple the state.” The speculation over the reasons for the police and security not stepping in continued; “the security forces did this or allowed it to happen. The men of Mubarak are still ruling. The head of the regime has fallen but all his men are still in their positions. Where is the security? Where is the government?" said Port Said parliament member, Albadry Farghali. In their defense, the Port Said police department claimed that when they involed themselves in the past, they only ended up “smasing the skulls” of the rioters and eventually getting blaimed for the aftermath of the riots. However, the plice chief and prime minister of Port Said province both ended up resigning shortly after the incident.

Personally, I believe that the police should’ve intervened. It’s their job. In America the police are meant to “serve and protect,” and I imagine the police in Egypt are intended to follow a similar set of principles. Whenever the law enforcement falls short of that standard, it’s police negligence. However, I am undecided as to whether or not the government actually didn’t step in, in order to spark panic. It’s certainly possible, although it seems pretty drastic for a major nation’s government. However, the government in Egypt is in the middle of an immensely tormentous time and is certainly liable to intense episodes of corruption.   

Grace Benesutti's 4th Post

American Airline Changes

                I stand for American Airlines making job cuts to save their airline.

Back in November, American Airlines filed for bankruptcy and are recently creating plans to save more than $1.25 billion a year. They announced that they would cut up to 14,000 jobs out of the 88,000 overall employees of American Airlines.  They will be reducing their management by 20%. If this change is not made, American Airlines can go completely bankrupt or would have to figure out a way to make $800 million a year in profit. Other ways to earn back money for American Airlines would be to ground many older planes and buy newer ones in order to save fuel and restructuring debts and leases. In addition to all of the job cuts, the airlines need to be patient waiting for the results of changes in rules at work, such as longer days for crews. American Airlines is the third largest airline in the U.S. and wants to keep its status.

I believe that these job cuts will be best for the Airline. Thomas Horton said, “We will end this journey with many fewer people. But we will also preserve tens of thousands of jobs that would have been lost if we had not embarked on this path.” The point Horton is trying to make is that if they hadn’t decided to make these changes, the entire airline could have been lost. These changes, yes, will be unfortunate for some people, but many jobs will be kept as well. My family usually travels with American Airlines and they have always been a good airline to travel with. I am personally very glad they are making these efforts to keep the airline and I do hope that the people who lose their jobs will become fortunate in other ways.

 http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/01/news/companies/american_jobs/index.htm?hpt=hp_t1

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-amr-cuts-20120201,0,6689054.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/business/american-airlines-proposes-20-cut-in-salaries.html

Noah Hughes' New Article

I Stand For

            Last year, the Supreme Court elected that corporations have the same exact constitutional rights as a people have. I do not stand for this. Corporations are not people. This is ridiculous for this to be true. Even Republican candidate Mitt Romney approves of the Supreme Court’s decision only because he was a very influential businessman. The reasons I believe this is because these corporations are all about the money and they have a higher influence than us real people. Candidates only look to corporations to get the money necessary for there campaigns, therefore corporations aren’t real people, because we non-corporate people are the ones that make the real decisions through our votes and our lives. This is why we organize things like the occupy protest because we feel that our voice has been overthrown by these corporations. Giving corporations the same first amendment rights as us normal citizens only makes them stronger and gives them more of a foothold in our country. A group called Move to Amend is leading the push to having the Supreme Court remove the right they gave to corporations to have these rights.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/24/corporations-are-people-argument-rejected-most-americans_n_1228301.html

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/01/lp_citizens_united.html

http://www.montereyherald.com/ci_19794264?source=most_viewed

Harly Ryder's New Article

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has confirmed that they have shortened the pullout date for the soldiers to 2014. The NATO organization believes that the main objectives are reachable in two years and if they stay for longer it will provoke more issues overseas. Evacuating the soldiers would begin mid-2013 and continue until all NATO forces are out of Afghanistan. I strongly believe that pulling the troops out this rapidly is not going to be a good choice, due to the fact that there will be another power vacuum like the one that occurred in the 80’s with Russia. This power vacuum was formed because Russia was the only true force controlling the people of Afghanistan, and when they left, it left room for terrorist organizations to take over such as the Taliban and Al Qaeda.  To prevent this we need to complete all missions big or small to ensure that history does not repeat itself. Of course the main objective in the war is to eliminate the threats, but there is much more to this particular event. In order to win this war there needs to be a solid educational system, and the youth of Afghanistan need to learn that America and all NATO countries are not bad. If NATO does stick with the 2014 pullout date there will not be a solid enough base for a sustainable independent country to form. When and if NATO decides to proceed with this plan all we can do as Americans and surrounding countries is hope that Afghanistan can build their own base to form a more successful country.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jan/30/nato-sticking-to-2014-pullout-date-for-now/?ap

http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/5196-top-nato-official-confirms-2014-withdrawal-date-

http://newsok.com/nato-sticking-to-2014-pullout-date-for-now/article/feed/341773?custom_click=pod_headline_europe

Steven Schroeder's 4th Post

Hackers intercept call between FBI and Scotland Yard about Hackers

            I stand for these hackers named “Anonymous” expressing their honed skills and support of the public. They show themselves in public wearing Guy Fawkes masks from V for Vendetta, and support things such as the Occupy Wall Street Movement. They consider themselves “Hactivists” showing the public the corruption that flows throughout our government. Their most recent actions were concerning a call between the FBI and Scotland Yard about hackers like them, they decided to intercept the call and post it on one of their sites as a 16 minute conference call between the two police forces. The irony in this is that this call was recorded by the very people they are trying to catch. Oddly enough no FBI systems were breached, but the information was for law enforcement officials only and was obtained illegally and that the FBI has issued a criminal investigation. Anonymous did in fact edit out names of suspected hackers in the video but there was a 15-year old, under the alias of Tehwongz, that Scotland Yard had caught who had presented a written statement saying how he had become a hacker and what he’s done, which involved hacking into a gaming site with over 32,000 users and gathering their financial information. In my opinion that pretty impressive at the age of 15, just as long as I don’t become a victim of their actions and get my information taken. However the FBI and Scotland Yard were actually trying to track down a loose-knit hacking group called Lulzsec, not Anonymous.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/03/hackers-claim-to-have-intercepted-call-between-fbi-scotland-yard/

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/03/10309707-hackers-we-intercepted-fbi-scotland-yard-call

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57371039/hackers-we-intercepted-fbi-scotland-yard-call/