World Events and Protests (11/26/14)
Please tell me if I haven’t added something, am wrong or using incorrect terminology, or need to clarify. This list is in alphabetical order, but please not it may be in constant change with improvements. I am not an expert on any of these matters, and I may add more. This is version 1.
Canada’s Missing Native Women
Reason for Protest: Hundreds, possibly thousands, of First Nation or Indigenous women have gone missing or been murdered.
About: Racism, particularly towards Natives, and sexism.
Who: First Nation women and girls
Notable Symbols: #Will I be Next?
Place: Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and recently in Mali
Event: Inadequate help for people dying from the disease Ebola.
About: Disease Care and Prevention, empathy for others
Who: Center for Disease Control, Medecins Sans Frontieres,
Many criticize hypocrisy: those in well developed countries are concerned about ending Ebola because it could spread to them, but things like starvation and dehydration can’t, so they don’t care.
A vaccine is being produced, but it takes a month to grow within a tobacco plant. Also, because not much money would be made off of the vaccine, companies don’t want to produce it.
Many politicians have called for shutting down flights from Ebola-ed countries to the US, but that’s illogical: there are no flights from Ebola-ed countries to the US, you have to go through Europe. Shutting down European airports would be disastrous.
Place: Ferguson, Missouri, United States
Reason for Protest: Controversial shooting of Michael Brown, a black 18 year old, by police officer Darren Wilson. As of the 24 of November, 2014, Officer Darren Wilson has not been indicted.
About: Racism, police brutality, media
Who: Mainly black people appalled at the shooting of Brown and various other police shootings of black people. Mother of Michael Brown, Lesley McSpadden
Notable Symbols: “No Justice, No Peace”, “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot”
What actually happened has been incredibly vague, made up of hearsay, and some of the “factual evidence” is likely lies.
The social outcry has been incredibly strong. Some riots have taken place, but media has misrepresented and exaggerated them. Most protests are peaceful, but police respond with tear gas and rubber bullets.
To figure out what happened that day, take everything you read with a grain of salt. You don’t know what’s true, what’s false.
Version of the story favoring Darren Wilson: Darren Wilson heard about a robbery, saw the mentioned suspect, and came up in the police car. Michael Brown hit him and tried to grab his gun, was shot in the thumb, then ran. After running 25 to 35 feet, Brown turned around and charged back at him. At this point Wilson was firing in self-defense, while Brown keeps coming forward. Brown is killed.
Version of the story favoring Michael Brown: Darren Wilson, not knowing about a robbery, saw Brown jaywalking, and got out of the car. Brown ran far, over 100 feet, and was shot. He turned around in surrender, hand coming up, falling forward, but was shot in the head.
The true story is likely a mix of these two. I suspect there was some tusseling, but far from multiple hits, and Brown ran. Brown turned around to bullets, was shot and falling forward in surrender, was killed. But that’s just speculation.
Example of Police Brutality 1 (tw)
Example of Police Brutality 2 (tw)
Interview with Brown’s Mother
Event: This Islamic Sunni extremist group ISIS is extremely violent, preforming suicide attacks and mass murders. Their goal is to tear down government and create an extremist Sunni state with a caliph as their leader. As such, they commit genocide on all who don’t fit their view: Kurds, Christians, Shia Muslims, etc.
Explaining: Sunni is a branch of Islam, a caliph was a historical leader of the religion (think the Pope). There has not been a widely recognized caliph for at least a hundred years.
ISIS used to be connected with Al-Qaeda, but ISIS proved too brutal for them and they cut ties.
The US is drone striking them as the Kurds fight ISIS in Syria. This fighting can be seen from Turkey.
Map of Middle East (note where Turkey, Syria, and Iraq are)
Place: Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China
Reason for Protest: The only people available to vote for were people specially selected by the Chinese government, not those chosen by the people.
About: Fair republics and democracy, police brutality
Who: Mainly young people led by Occupy Central
Notable Symbols: Arms crossed above head
Occupy Central urges people to block entrance to Hong Kong’s financial district in hopes of getting universal suffrage (right to vote).
So Many Protesters (80,000)
Reason for Protest: 43 students were kidnapped by police and given to a gang which apparently murdered them. People have attempted to look for their corpses, but have found different ones instead. The question is who are these unknown corpses and where are the student’s bodies. Protesters want the incompetent Enrique Pena Nieto to relinquish his position as president. Also, Mexico’s lower classes are not cared for, and it’s incredibly dangerous.
About: Corruption, Gangs, and Drug cartels
Mexican Drug War and Drug Cartels within Mexico
Opinion on whether Pena Nieto will be ousted
Nigeria’s 276 Missing Girls
Reason for Protest: 300 girls were kidnapped by the Islamic extremist organization, Boko Haram.
About: Religious extremists, discrimination against women, whether governments should compromise with terrorists or not
Who: 276 Nigerian girls, Boko Haram, the Nigerian Army
Notable Symbols: “Bring Back Our Girls”
Boko Haram sort of translates to “Western Education is Forbidden”
Boko Haram has killed thousands, but only recently recieved media attention
Reason for Protest: Corruption in the government, “a large bureaucracy, a possible constitutional amendment, pardons for such corruption, polarized people (rich/poor, north/south, urban/rural), hatred of the current president, royal and military involvement in politics, anti-Thai government thought” (paraphrased from Wikipedia)
About: Democracy and Corruption
Who: People’s Democratic Reform Committee, Royal Thai Army, National Council for Peace and Order
Notable Symbols: the Mockingjay salute, which has been outlawed
Current government which did the coup. They repealed the constitution and imposed internet regulation.
stay critical and educated
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