Weekly Debrief - Edition the First

It's hard to keep up with news now a days. With work, family, school, and a host of other things keeping the average person preoccupied for the majority of the week, it can sure be difficult to keep current with trending topics and current events. Beyond the distractions of everyday life, the greater majority of news never reaches the general public. There is simply too much material fighting for the attention of the viewer. In order to keep informed and up to date, here are some interesting and informative articles.

Article #1: “Is Anonymous Meddling in the North Korea Standoff?” from The Week

With North Korea actively threatening to wage war with the United States and its southern neighbor South Korea, the “hactivist” organization Anonymous has launched a war of its own. Anonymous claims to have hacked into North Korea's internet, and is threatening to wreak havoc on North Korea's cyber infrastructure if it goes through with its declarations of war. While there is a great deal of skepticism in regards to the claims made by Anonymous, one thing remains clear, the “hactivist” community is taking notice in international affairs, and they are making demands and proposing ultimatums in an effort to make instill change. Whether that change is for better or worst is yet to be determined.

http://theweek.com/article/index/242213/is-anonymous-meddling-in-the-north-korea-standoff    

Article #2: “Could China and Japan See a Spring Thaw in Relations?” from The Christian Science Monitor

Historically speaking, China and Japan haven’t always gotten along. From the Age of Imperialism to this day, the Chinese and the Japanese have had a relatively rocky relationship. Over the last six months, tensions have been escalating between the two nations, over a small group of islands that both nations claim to have dominion over; in a way, China and Japan are still living in the days of Imperialism, with much lower stakes. Like siblings fighting over a cookie, China and Japan continue to bicker over who rightfully owns the said territories in question. With each nation unwilling to relinquish claim over the islands, things have escalated to the point where both nations are threatening to engage in armed conflict. In order to ease tensions between the two nations, a host of diplomatic activities are planned to be undertaken with one simple goal in mind: easing Sino-Japanese relations.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2013/0402/Could-China-and-Japan-see-a-spring-thaw-in-relations?nav=88-csm_category-storyList   

Article #3: “‘Illegal’ Is Now Illegal at the Associated Press” from the Los Angeles Times

    

There are certain daily events that seemingly become reality while maintaining a certain level of stealth and undetectability. The world around us is constantly changing and there are a great number of alterations that we do not perceive. The article mentioned above sheds a brilliant light on an occurrence that otherwise would have gone unnoticed by the majority of readers.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-illegal-immigrants-ap-20130403,0,59769.story

Article #4: “Climate Science, a Sensitive Matter” from The Economist

The topic of climate change is something that is heavily discussed in modern political, social, and economic landscapes. Whereas there is a developing wave of activists pushing for humanity to transition to a greener and more environmentally sustainable state of being, there is an equally powerful counter movement, with its own set of activists. Like all intensely controversial matters, people are expected to choose one side or the other; they rarely have the option of taking a centralized or neutral stance. With topics like abortion, you are either pro-choice or pro-life. You will seldom be heard if you stay in the middle, neither siding with either faction nor declaring either faction to be invalid or wrong. The legalization of marijuana is another topic that has this yay or nay dichotomy. 

For the most part, climate change has suffered from the same bipartisan fractioning that all controversies suffer from; you either believe in climate change and concepts such as global warming, or you believe them to be false. Thankfully, science has come to the rescue and created a definitive grey area upon which centrists and neutralist can lay claim to. Climate change may not be as bad as we thought, and at the same time it may be as bad as we think it is. 

The bottom line is initial speculation is under review, and there is a surprising amount of new data that has left some questioning whether or not climate change is a problem. 

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21574461-climate-may-be-heating-up-less-response-greenhouse-gas-emissions

Article #5: “Multiplying the Old Divisions of Class in Britain” from The New York Times

Almost everyone in the world is familiar with the standardized three-tier class system of upper-class, middle-class, and lower-class. According to a new study conducted by sociologists in Britain, the standard class system may have to be reformed in order to accommodate more tiers. In fact, the standard class system may have to be scrapped altogether due to its overly simplistic nature. The newly proposed class system takes into consideration a host of both ever-changing and constant variables that were previously ignored. Whereas, the article above is exclusively focused on Britain, the concepts mentioned can be employed on a worldwide scale.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/world/europe/multiplying-the-old-divisions-of-class-in-britain.html?_r=0

     
Article #6: "Flea Circus Wiped Out By Freezing Weather" from Time

Global warming is a cold killer who knows no mercy.
Adding to the long line of polar bears and coral reefs fallen victim to climate change is... a flea circus. Performing fleas in a traveling troupe in Germany actually froze to death in their transport box due to unusually cold weather. The loss of 300 talented performers has left performing flea circus enthusiasts across the world, all two of them, absolutely devastated. It is unclear whether or not a civil lawsuit will be filed against circus director Robert Birk for worker negligence and abuse. If convicted, Birk may be forced to go out and get a real career.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/31/german-flea-circus-_n_2988834.html

Please leave a comment if you liked this post or any of the articles included.