Monday, February 4, 2013
Scandal! (and space)
In the UK, scandal forced a high ranking MP to resign. Meanwhile, a Nigerian MP stands accused of accepting bribes and the state media in China is prosecuting Tibetan monks for 'inciting self-immolations.' Also, the release of French citizen Florence Cassez stirs controversy in Mexico. On another note, Iranian President Ahmadinejad wants to be the first Iranian astronaut. Which of these stories sparks your interest? Click on the country to go the article! Comments encouraged below!
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The Iranian article is newsworthy because it demonstrates that the state has the ability to carry out technological plans. They might even be able to use this technology for military efforts, to the concern of many western nations.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the Iranian one and McCains comments. However it is interesting to me because Iran has yet to make it to space with a Human, yet we accomplished it many years ago.
ReplyDeleteThe British story was interesting because the MP was forced to resign for something as small as a speeding ticket. However the Nigerian MP resigned due to a huge bribery charge. I think the differences in the two crimes shows the differences in the nature if the two countries
ReplyDeleteI love how this big leap for Iran is flipped around into a whole other issue of regarding nuclear weapons. Let the people fly their worms and monkeys!...and president...
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article on Iranian President Ahmadinejad offer to go to space on behalf of the Iranian space programs causes me to wonder whether he wishes to use this as a patriotic ploy or if he is actually interested in exploring the unexplored, the Final Frontier as many would call it. However, US Senator John McCain's tweet on this subject was probably not the most professional. In today's era, any thought expressed through social media is difficult to decipher. The meaning of a sentence can change quite easily just by where the speaker stresses certain words (does that make sense). Someone will always find offense on something said on the Internet, especially if you are or once were a part of politics.
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese article on Tibetan monks is newsworthy because of the geographical disagreements and government intervention by the Chinese government on the Buddhist way of life.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.transparency.org/cpi2012/results
ReplyDeleteI found this sèems helpful to compare perceived coruption of china to others. It was linked to bbc.
great link. An illustration of the effect NGOs and freedom of information can have on global perspectives.
DeleteThe Mexican article thoroughly upsets me because I feel like Cassez is being treated like a hero back in France when really I think she is a criminal, because there is no way she just had no idea that people were being held hostage right next to her and her boyfriend is a gang member. I think she needs to be held accountable for her actions in France. Just because the Mexican court system isn't very legitimate doesn't mean Cassez should get away with crime.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think that the Iranian article was as newsworthy as others- it seemed like more of a comment on McCain's twitter humor than anything else.
ReplyDeleteHuhne made a huge mistake by lying about who was driving the speeding car. Not only did he lose the public's trust in himself, but in the government in general. People will begin to wonder who else is lying about things. After all, if such a highly ranked MP can lie, what are the other MPs capable of?
ReplyDeleteI think this really reflects the problem with ANY sort of perceived untruths in an advanced democracy. This shows that the people of an advanced democracy will not put up with this and hold their MPs accountable. So much so that he resigned before the investigation was really carried out. A very different story when you compare it to the Chinese corruption mentioned in the article above.
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