Twitter's Anti-Semitic Controversy

 In January, a French court ordered Twitter to hand over information of users that tweeted racist or anti-Semitic things. They also asked that Twitter reveal the identity of any user in the future who tweets anti-Semitic or racist things to the police. This problem started when the hashtag #unbonjuif, "a good jew", started trending on the website. Surprisingly enough, Twitter did not comply. In response, the Union of French Jewish Students (UEJF) sued Twitter for €38.5m or $50 million. On top of this, for every day that Twitter doesn't comply it will owe another €1,00 or $1,298. Twitter based its refusal on the 1st Amendment's freedom of speech. But is it really right for Twitter to withhold the user's identities? Why is Twitter trying to protect the hate being spread by its users? I disagree with their decision. It is not right to hide behind the 1st Amendment so you can say hateful things. This is exactly what the Westboro Baptist Church does and I hope Twitter sees the wrong they're doing. What do you think? Is it okay for Twitter to hide these peoples identities?

Problems with Paparazzi

The majority of you, myself included, have never had to deal with swarms of people surrounding them snapping pictures and asking questions. This is part of the lavish life that celebrities live. Usually the paparazzi's constant pestering is harmless and they are just doing their jobs. But in some rare instances the paparazzi may get more than they bargained for and cause a lot of harm. Recently in the news was the story of pop star Chris Brown who accused the paparazzi of causing him to crash his black Porsche into a wall. Another story is that of the paparazzo who was killed by oncoming traffic whilst taking pictures of Justin Bieber in his car. How far is too far for the paparazzi? Are these pictures even necessary? To me, no. I do not need to know what is happening in the life of celebrities and I don't think anybody else needs to know either. Paparazzi are part of the reason celebrities are even called "celebrities", without them celebrities would be able to live out their extravagant lives in peace. I'm not saying that every paparazzo deserves to get hit buy a car, I'm saying tone it down as to not cause any serious damages like the previously stated ones.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/10/showbiz/chris-brown-crash/index.html?hpt=hp_inthenews
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/02/showbiz/california-bieber-paparazo-death/index.html

Super Bowl XLVII

Like a usual Sunday, countless American tuned in this Sunday night to watch to watch the events of Super Bowl XLVII (47) unfold. The San Francisco 49ers will face off against the Baltimore Ravens in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Super Bowl traces its origins all the way back to 1920, when the game was still relatively new. Since then, the Super Bowl has been a great time for family and friends get together and enjoy the American game of football. The Super Bowl even holds the second largest date of food consumption in the U.S., behind Thanksgiving! As I am typing this the game is going on so you will have to see the outcome yourself.

North Korean Missile Launch

For a long time now North Korea has been experimenting with Nuclear weapons. Until recently most of their nuclear rockets have failed. Although, they have yet to master long-range, multi-stage missile technology, this December the Unha-3 rocket was launched from North Korea. Although, they have yet to master long-range, multi-stage missile technology.They have claimed that the missile was only a satellite.  Some consider the launch of this missile to be a publicity stunt or a commemoration to Kim Jong Il  as their missile testing does not usually happen in December. Others see this as a real threat. They believe that North Korea may have gotten external help in accomplishing this missile launch. In response to this launch, the U.N. condemned the rocket launch and increased the sanctions on North Korea. As of yesterday North Korea stated there may be "strong physical counter-measures" against South Korea due to these increased sanctions. In response to the safety of the U.S., Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said "They have the capability, frankly, to conduct these tests in a way that makes it very difficult to determine whether or not they are doing it," and the U.S. " is fully prepared" to deal with any attack. I am not really sure what to think about this. North Korea could simply be testing missiles, or they could be readying a threat. Both seem possible. As of now, we will have to wait for this story to develop to be sure.

Algerian Hostage Crisis

The crisis that started on Wednesday in Algeria was ended over this weekend. For those who do not know what happened in Algeria, a terrorist group consisting called Al-Mulatahemeen ("Masked") consisting of 11 Tunisians, two Canadians, and nationals from Egypt, Algeria, Niger, Mauritania and Mali seized a natural gas facility in the small desert town of Amneas and took a large number of hostages. The assault was believed to be organized carried out by militant leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar because of France being able to use Algerian airspace for an offensive against militants Mali. At least 37 hostages died in this ordeal and about 29 terrorists. One thing I find strange about this is that Mokhtar Belmokhtar was sentenced to death in 2008 for murdering 13 custom officers. I am unable to find any details as to why he has is still alive, but this interests me. This is in no way the Algerian government's fault as they have every right to give up their airspace to France in order to fight against militants in Mali.  I feel that there was no other way in dealing with this situation and guns and death had to be involved to save many more people.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/21/world/africa/algeria-hostage-crisis/index.html?iref=allsearch

About Me

My name is Sean Tate and I have a twin brother name Ryan. I also have a little sister named Olivia, she's pretty cool. I am Irish and Belizean. My dad was born and lived in Belize his whole life until he married my mom and moved to the U.S. I am a competitive swimmer. Swimming is time consuming and hard and sometimes fun. I like turtles, cake, and America.