Blog #5: War

 

Dissent plays a role in America today. Dissent is defined as, "difference of opinion or sentiment; disagreement." This leads to what our first amendment protects, which is freedom of speech. However, two websites reveal that in regards to war, freedom of speech is not very welcomed. The American Conservative and AntiWar.com reveal things the government has tried to hide in regards to war efforts. 

One example of our government not telling us the truth in regards to things like war, can be seen with Iraq. In this article entitled The Lies We Believed (And Still Believe) About Iraq we hear about how  "President George W. Bush and seven of his administration's top officials made at least 935 false statements about the national security threat posed by Iraq." This lead to our nation going into war under false pretenses. One of the false lies half of America believed to be true was that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Going back to AntiWar.com we see how it exposes our government once again for making false claims in regards to Russia in order to give an excuse for going to war. These websites are much needed to shine light on our government, though their have been many efforts by our government to hide the truth. 

What happened to what our first amendment protects? Our first amendment protects free expression, but as we just stated our government is trying to hide things, and stop people from expressing the truth. The American Conservative and AntiWar.com are valuable to us, and Americans should be using these website to stay up to date on what our government is truly doing. Our first amendment protects websites like these, and we should not have to hide from the truth. These websites of course are not promoted and many Americans do not know about them. Looking back in history, we see why we have to careful. In 1918, Eugene Debs voiced his opinion, "The working class have never yet had a voice in declaring war,. If war is right, let it be declared by the people - you, who have your lives to lose." Papers were published on Debs opinion on war and how he spoke up about ending the war. Debs was soon arrested. This prime example shines light on how freedom of expression has its consequences. Yet, if we want the truth, and we want to stand up for our rights, it is a risk we must decide if we are willing to take. 

Blog #6: Netflix

YouTube is a fairly new platform. It came out in 2005. When it was first in the process of being created, the creators Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, intended for it to be a dating platform. Of course, today we know YouTube to be the best place to like, watch, and share videos. YouTube is also owned by another popular platform we all know, which is google. The idea of YouTube came about, as the creators saw how it was difficult for people to share videos. Thus, YouTube was invented to solve that problem. 

YouTube has had a huge impact on our world today. For the creators of YouTube, it has made them a big sum of money, as YouTube has been valued at more than $150 billion dollars. Not only are the creators of YouTube making money, but users on YouTube can make a profit as well. YouTubers, as they are called, can produce their own video content to share on their own page. Once a YouTuber has at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in one year they will get paid. Thus, this platform has produced many jobs for many people. We know of YouTuber's like PewDiePie, the Paul brothers, and Jenna Marbles who are making millions of dollars from their YouTube videos. This site has quickly become one of the most used platform for watching video even the TV network falls behind YouTube. Everyday more and more individuals log on to watch and create content, leading YouTube to continue to expand. It has had many impacts such as allowing individuals to communicate through video, to make money, to learn how to do things, and so much more. YouTube is more than just an entertainment site, it expands our knowledge. My own personal use with YouTube, has lead me to be able to learn how to use some different adobe editing softwares. When I am not sure how to do something on a platform, I go to YouTube and find a video showing me how. Thus, YouTube has had a huge impact in teaching individuals how to do things. Many log on to learn how to cook, paint, draw, edit, design, and so much more. Like every platform, though, YouTube does come with its disadvantages. Within the platform if you post anything, it is public to everyone, even those who do not have YouTube. YouTube also allows any advertiser to put ads on your video, wether you like or agree with the ad. Copyright can also become an issue when posting content. Thus, YouTube has some of its disadvantages, however the advantages of YouTube as we saw earlier far more have an impact on us today. YouTube continues to grow and is continued to be used by many everyday to help expand our knowledge and to give us entertainment. 

   

Blog #4: Email

 Email has long been one of the greatest ways to communicate that still exist today. Wikipedia dates it back to the early 1960s. Wikipedia states, "Computer-based mail and messaging became possible with the advent of time-sharing computers in early 1960s , and informal methods of using shared files to pass messages were soon expanded into the first mail system." 

All though the first email is dated back to the 1960s, there is still some controversy on who came up with the email system. Shiva Ayyaduari was given recognition on August 30th, 1982. Shiva was known for having also

coming up with "a full-scale electronic emulation of the interoffice and an inter-organizational making system that consists of Inbox, Outbox, Folder, and many more features." Shiva was known to have written over 50,000 codes while working for University of Medicine and Dentistry. Although, Shiva was credited in 1982 for email, Ray Tomlinson got initial credit. Ray was an American computer programer. He worked on ARPANET to try and create the email system on there in 1971. He invented the TENEX operation system which allowed him to create a system called CYPNET which transferred files. Thus, files then could be transferred through ARPANET. After Ray's death is when many believe Shiva to have " began his work on the email system and got it copyrighted as his software "Email." Even though Shiva is credited for the system of email, Ray still gets credit for the @ symbol.  However controversy still lies in who came up with features such as: CC, To, From, BCC, Subject, Body, and Attachments. 

Though, confusion on who created email, one thing we are certain of is the wide impact that email had and still has today. When email first got invented it was used immediately by the military and educational systems. Soon businesses were using it as it was known for its simplicity, speed, and extreme low cost. Email soon replaced ways of communicating via paper. In this article, it states that all across the countries, businesses use email for "communication, data transfer and collaboration." Email has been known to be an effective resource in helping aid businesses to be more productive and email has proven to increase data reliability. This new way of communicating dating back to the 1960s forever has an impact on the world today, as businesses, educational systems, military, and many more organizations still use email to communicate today.

Even, though email has had a huge positive impact on how we communicate today, there are still negative side effects. In the business world email is constantly used to communicate for business purposes. However, employees began to abuse email at work, and began spending some of their time sending personal email chats, rather than working. This made some businesses have to set up policies to regulate employees's use of email to monitor and make sure that at the work place only business emails were being sent. Thus, although email has made businesses more productive it also has made employee's easily distracted. Like every new social media platform, it comes with many advantages and disadvantages. 

Blog #3: Free Expression

 

Freedom of Expression is defined as, "Freedom of speech, of the press, of association, of assembly and petition." This is protected by our First Amendment. The Supreme Court also values and protects freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is what allows we the people to have there right to vote. 

However, freedom of expression has not always been that easy. For example, war has caused national panic and freedom of expression of course stood the ultimate test. People at a point in time acting on their first amendment rights ended up taking a risk, as some were thrown in jail or fined. In an article I read on Freedom of Expression they used the example from WWI where people were thrown in jail for giving out anti-war leaflets. Of course, from this our First Amendment law developed and our Country today is still the most speech-protected country. 

When looking at the eight values of free expression, the one that resonated most with me was individual self-fulfillment. What I value most about our country is the right we have to individually express our own beliefs and opinions. I feel this is important as the United States is a democracy and in a democracy, freedom of speech is key. The power is given to the people and not one individual, thus the freedom to express opinions and values are important in developing our society. Thus, to make sure our freedom of speech is protected, the United States has put together laws in order to make sure each individual is free to express themselves. That is why the First Amendment is so important as it protects our right in freedom of speech. This individual self-fulfillment to express ourselves is very important and personal to me, as because of our speech being protected in America we are able to worship freely. I grew up in a christian family and have attended church all of my life. The freedom to express our beliefs is very important to me. I value being able to state what I believe and share that with others.  

                                                                            

However, this freedom to express what we believe is sometimes limited. In this article I have attached it gives examples of how. The article says that "The Supreme Court has said the federal government may limit religious freedom." This limit that the Supreme Court has stated has to do with protecting "the common good and limit people's ability to harm others." Current cases today of this have to do with discrimination. The Supreme Court thus has had to reconsider how to go about dealing with if florist, photographers and bakers can deny service to same-sex weddings or celebrations that go against their beliefs. 

One example of being limited on expressing your belief has to do with a baker named Jack Phillips. In this article Jack express how he is not discriminating he will bake for anyone, but he does not want to go against his beliefs and write or give off a message that he disagrees with. He wants to express what he believes and hold true to his values. This article is about how Jack was asked to create a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding. Jack voiced his opinion on this matter. Another case where Jack expressed his beliefs was in regards to baking a birthday cake for a trans woman. Jack refused and was fined $500 for going against the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act. In this article it goes over how in 2018 that the Supreme Court decided that the "Colorado Civil Rights Commission showed hostility toward the baker based on religious beliefs." The Court said this in regards to the wedding cake Jack refused to bake. Yet, in both cases we see that freedom to express has its limits and can cause trouble for the individual. Jack voiced his opinion in regards to the wedding cake and was heard by the Court and was heard by many citizens. That lead to the next scenario where he was asked to bake a birthday cake. This individual had heard his opinion on the wedding cake and wanted to see what he would express in regards to the birthdays cake. Thus, the freedom to express can be dangerous, yet it important and valued by many. Jack wanted to express and stand for what he believed. That is what I value as well. Jack valued his individual self-fulfillment of freedom of speech, and even with being fined he was still able to express what he believed which is important as our First Amendment is to protect that right. Again, the United States is a democracy, thus our right to express should be protected. Yet, as we see in this case with Jack, freedom of speech is changing and can come with a cost. 

Blog #2: Supreme Court

Above the main entrance of the Supreme Court is the statement "Equal Justice Under Law." This is what the Supreme Court is to aim to uphold. The Supreme Court holds the most authority as they have the say on all cases and controversies arising under the Constitution of the United States. The Supreme Court makes sure that the laws are upheld and that neither president, congress, or anyone in the government goes against the constitution. One example, where the Supreme Court stepped in and stopped the President from making a law was with President Biden. The Biden administration wanted to enforce vaccine or test requirements for large private companies. The Supreme Court blocked this mandate. This example really shows what power the Supreme Court has in governing laws. 

I am not very familiar with the Supreme Court, so learning how much power they have was something I did not fully realize. In the article it summarized the supreme court by expressing the power the court has. For example, the Supreme Court is the highest federal court in the country. It is in charge of the judicial branch of government, and it has control of all laws in the United States. I think the take-away about the Supreme Court is that this power they have leads to them being able to check actions of the other two branches of government. The other two branches of government being the executive branch of the president and legislative branch of Congress. Thus, the Supreme Court ultimately has the most authority in our government. 

Something that surprised me while reading the article, was that the first meeting conducted by the Supreme Court, was held on February 2, 1790, but no cases were even held in the first term. This surprised me, but as I read the article it was explained that this was because in the first term of the Supreme Court, meetings were held to work on organizing procedures. In the video one procedure that the Supreme Court does, is that they shake hands. As Justice Sandra Day O'Connor spoke in the video she pointed this out as she stated that they do this as they are less likely to "hold grudges." This emphasized to me how each individual is there to try to do what they think right for our Country, and shaking hands shows this, as it reminds each of them that, they all are here for the same goal. That goal is what is written on the building "Equal Justice Under Law." They will do whatever it takes to uphold that statement. 

Post #1: 5 News Sources

Many might think Instagram is just a place to post pictures and keep up to date with friends, but Instagram has turned out to be much more than that. For me, Instagram is not only a place to stay in touch with family and friends, but it is also a place to learn about current things happening in the world today. Instagram has a section called search where it post current things happening in the media today. I recommend using instagram not only to stay in touch with friends and family, but to keep up with what is going on in the world. This platform is really a way to connect, to individuals, and to current events. 

TikTok is one of the best apps to hear about news in the world today. There are many people who post videos talking or showing things that have happened and their opinions on the topic. TikTok also has an algorithm that keeps track of what kind of videos you watch and then based on that sends certain videos to your for you page. Because I watch some political videos, TikTok then sends me videos on current events. Thus, this is one of apps that I get most of my news from. I recommend it if you are interested on watching short clips on current events and news going on in the world around us.

One of the best places I get my news from is friends and family. Most of the time I hear about what is going on in the world around me from word of mouth. There are many people who will see or hear things before I do and share them because they are very vocal about expressing their opinion. This leads to great conversation on different view points. I recommend asking people face to face what they have heard about current events happing today and their viewpoints on it. 

Our iPhones automatically have apple news on them. Thus, many times I will get my news from apple news as it will send notifications on current events. One good thing about apple news is that it has several publishers and thus several different view points. It also takes some of the top stories and sends them to you through the day so you can stay on top of what's going on. I recommend apple news as it has proven to be a reliable source and fact based and not biased. 

Television is another place I keep up to date with current events. I think Fox News provides good sources of information in more of a conservative way, while still stating the facts. Fox News likes to brake down the "fake news" of the day and point out the truths and the lies going around in our country. This is a different approach to many news sites. Thus, I recommend Fox News if you want to hear a conservative viewpoint and what news might be "fake news."