Stuff YOU Should Know
Wikipedia Blocks Congress
Photo Credit: US National Capitol. tupungato/Getty Images.
A prankster within the United States House of Representatives offices has caused quite a stir by creating what are being called, “disruptive editing” on Wikipedia. The popular online collaborative encyclopedia allows users to make changes to any page, but those edits are monitored by volunteers, who have the authority to reverse blatantly false entries. Some of the flagrant posts include claims that the Cuban government was responsible for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, sexist accusations against media company Mediate, and a biographical statement calling former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as an “alien lizard.”
While the edits have been made anonymously, they have been traced to an IP address within the U.S. House of Representatives. They were discovered when they began to show up on the automated Twitter account @congressedits that links all of the changes made to Wikipedia by both Senate and House staffers. In response to the misuse of the website, Wikipedia issued a ten-day ban on the entire IP address, which affected an estimated 9,000 employees in the House. There is no indication that any of the “rogue edits” were made by any elected officials.
What Do You Think? Check the news to see if anyone has been identified. If someone is, what do you think should happen to him or her? Why?
Celebrating Our Friends
Building strong bonds with others is important to our personal development. The United Nations believes that it is an important way to inspire peace efforts between countries. Adopted in 2011 as UN resolution A/65/275, the International Day of Friendship complements another UN resolution, The Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace (A/53/243) adopted in 1999. The latter resolution laid our eight major areas of creating a culture of peace, including education, development, human rights, gender equality, tolerance, the free-flow of communication, and promoting security. The International Day of Friendship is now observed all over the world with celebrations and special events.
While the UN-sanctioned recognition is a new development, Friendship Day has been celebrated in some countries (especially those in South America) since 1958. While the concept of a specially designated day can be traced back to the founder of Hallmark Cards as a way to fill a gap between bigger, gift-giving holidays, the modern notion of promoting peace when there are many neighboring countries embroiled in conflict may be just what the world needs.
What Do You Think? Who are your closest friends? How did you meet and why do they remain important to you? How do you think friendship, “creates a culture of peace?” Explain your answer.
Commonwealth Games
2014 has been a big year for big sporting events–the Winter Olympics, the World Cup, and most recently, the Commonwealth Games. Dating back to 1930, the latter is a 12-day, multi-sport event made up of athletes from the 71 territories that make up the Commonwealth of Nations. Like the Olympics, it is held every four years and takes place in a different host country. This year’s games took place in Glasgow, Scotland. Nearly 5,000 athletes competed in 261 events across 17 different sports.
In the UK, the Commonwealth Games are very popular. This year, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry attended many events, including hockey (men’s and women’s), gymnastics and boxing. England ended up as the top medal winner in this year’s Commonwealth Games. There are some sports that are played at the Commonwealth Games that you won’t see at the Olympics–Lawn Bowls, Netball (think basketball but with no dribbling), and Squash.
Dig Deeper Check out the official 2014 Commonwealth Games website linked above. Pick one event, team or athlete that catches your attention. Write one paragraph about what you discover.
Group Seeks Asylum in Australia
On June 28, two boats carrying more than 150 refugees from Sri Lanka (called Tamils) were intercepted by Australia’s border patrol in the Indian Ocean. After being held by customs officials, many were released back into the custody of the Sri Lankan government. A small number of those who have remained have filed a legal challenge to the High Court to prevent their return. They say that if they are returned they face persecution at the hands of police because of their suspected association with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist militant organization.
The human rights organization Amnesty International have made a statement saying that, “Everyone has the right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution regardless of the method of arrival.” Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has made a statement that the Tamils will not be allowed to settle in Australia due to a strict policy forbidding it. Instead, the country will continue to utilize offshore detention centers in Papua New Guinea and the island of Nanru. This strict law is an ongoing hot-bed issue in Australian politics, greatly dividing political parties.