Stuff YOU Should Know
The Latest in Syria
btw has been reporting on the on-going violence in Syria between President Bashar al-Assad and those who oppose him. The latest development concerns allegations that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against its own citizens. On August 21, a gas attack on the town of Ghouta (near Damascus) left 1,300 people dead and many more injured. President Obama issued a warning a year ago that the United States would intervene if chemical weapons were used. President al-Assad has denied the accusation, saying he would only use such weapons for an external attack.
The Obama administration has attempted to avoid an armed response against Syria. Some international experts now believe that the only way to stop al-Assad is through some sort of military intervention. Some of the options that President Obama and his military advisors are considering may include: authorizing limited military action against a specific target, establishing a No-Fly Zone above certain parts of Syria, providing arms to the rebel group Free Syrian (which is already happening, but some fear the arms will end up in the hands of extremist groups), or non-military action like more humanitarian aid or sanctions.
Dig Deeper U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry gave a recent address saying that an “international norm cannot be violated without consequences.” What action do you think is likely to be taken and what are the consequences of each?
Manning Found Guilty of Espionage
Bradley Manning, a former Private First Class in the U.S. Army, was found guilty of leaking hundreds of thousands of secret military documents to activist Julian Asange. Asange published them on his website, Wikileaks. This public release of classified documents is considered the biggest leak of such material in U.S. history. Manning was originally charged with 23 offenses. He eventually admitted guilt or was found guilty of 17 of those 23 charges, including multiple counts of embezzlement, fraud, failure to obey military orders, and espionage. A count of Aiding the Enemy (which carries a potential death penalty sentence) was ultimately withdrawn.
Stationed in Iraq in 2010, Manning worked as a junior intelligence officer with access to a large amount of sensitive documents. The types of documents included battlefield reports and diplomatic cables. In a statement given after his arrest, Manning said that he leaked the documents as a way to spark a public debate around U.S. policy in the Middle East. Manning initially contacted both The Washington Post and The New York Times newspapers, neither of which were reportedly interested in the story. Many say that Manning’s actions threatened military efforts in Afghanistan and damaged relationships the U.S. created with allied countries. Others consider Manning a “whistle-blower” who exposed military wrongdoing and should be pardoned.
What Do You Think? Make a chart of those who support Manning and those who oppose him, listing five examples for each side.
Atlanta Administrator Thwarts School Shooting
Antoinette Tuff, a bookkeeper at the McNair Discovery Learning Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, talked would-be shooter Michael Brandon Hill into surrendering his weapon and giving himself up to the police. On August 21, twenty-year-old Hill walked into the elementary school carrying an automatic weapon and extra ammunition. He took two front office workers hostage, including Tuff. She told police that Hill said he was sorry for what he was doing. Tuff realized he was a “hurting young man.” So she started talking to him, telling him her life story, including a failed marriage and the difficulties she encountered opening her own business. She told him everything was going to be okay. Eventually, due to Tuff’s courage and grace under pressure, Hill surrendered to authorities.
No one was injured, but Hill was ultimately charged with many offenses, including aggravated assault on a police officer, terroristic threats and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Police were unable to determine Hill’s motivation, as he had no clear ties to the school besides living nearby. However, Hill had reportedly stopped taking medication for mental health issues. In the days that followed the attempted shooting, Tuff has been hailed as a true hero, using compassion and a clear head to save the 870 students of McNair from tragedy. She was not even supposed to be there that day; she was on vacation but filled in for another worker. Twitter lit up with supportive tweets from all over the world, including celebrities and politicians.
What Do You Think? Do some research and find out what experts say you should do in such an emergency. Create an informational brochure with instructions that could be used in a school setting.
Giving Directly to the Poor
Charities are looking for new ways to provide aid to those in need of help. One charity hopes to leave the decision-making in the hands of the people that need the help.
Traditional charities typically operate by providing goods and services to those in need. Paul Niehaus, an assistant professor of Economics at the University of California at San Diego, thought he would eliminate the middleman and give money directly to those in need. He founded GiveDirectly and became its unpaid Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Niehaus came up with the idea in 2008, while working with government officials in India. They found a way to streamline that country’s Public Distribution System (PDS), which was subject to corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies, by making direct cash transfers to people’s cell phones. It is currently only in effect in Kenya.
How it works: People donate money to GiveDirectly through its website. The charity then does research through Census and other data to identify and register families in need of assistance. Money is sent directly to the recipient’s cell phone through a method called M-Pesa (M for “mobile” and Pesa which means “money” in Swahili). Those without cellphones are given SIM cards that allow them to get the money from a M-Pesa agent.
This no-strings-attached method has made a lot of people skeptical. If you allow people to do what they want with their money, what will keep them from wasting it on non-essential items? The findings suggest most people are using the money to buy food, land, livestock and upgrades to their homes. But even in instances that people don’t use the money wisely, the cost is not as much as a charity with high overhead costs. 90 percent of money raised goes directly to the recipients, which makes it more efficient than other organizations. Givewell, a nonprofit organization that evaluates the effectiveness of charities, currently rank GiveDirectly at #2 on its list of recommended charities.