Nadia Leon
Soc122 Wed:3:30-4:45
Democracy Now
1. Feb. 24: One of the sections of an episode that I watched this week of Democracy Now was about how the author Luke Harding who was in the process of writing the book The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the Worlds Most Wanted Man witnessed paragraphs from his own document to disappear. He stated that his curser was moving around without his control and sections from his writing would be deleted. He suspects that is was the National Security Agency (NSA) that had hacked his computer and did not want these things that he was writing to be shared with the public. The sections that he wrote that began to delete themselves were about how he felt that Snowden had “damaged U.S. tech companies.” Edward Snowden was considered a NSA “whistleblower.” He tells how the government tracks everything and that no one truly has anytime of privacy. The government has placed trackers and cameras everywhere and also attached them to everyone. Harding believes that he was not the only target. He states that there must have been multiple journalists that were targeted due to Edward Snowden’s leak was not too soon before this. In order to keep certain information safe the government had to regulate and ultimately “spy” on citizens. Within this text that Harding was writing he was speaking down on the NSA and this may also be a reason he was targeted. Once he mentioned this incident in a newspaper interview in Germany he noticed that this suspicious activity stopped.
Link: http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/24/the_paragraph_began_to_self_delete
2. Feb. 25: The episode of Democracy Now that I watched included the story of how the army is spying on peace activist and anti-war groups. There was an email from a member in the army which made it clear that they were spying on these specific groups. Another story that was covered was about how a Pakistani military has conducted air strikes on North Waziristan. This attack that took place killed 30 people. This area that had been strike is a common target for US drones as well. Another story covered was one that involved an anti-gay law that was passed in Uganda. This law made it so that citizens are required to report homosexuals, homosexuals could also do time in jail for gay acts. Obama administration is urging those who passed this law to repeal it so that the rights of a LGBT’s are preserved. Steve Martin, who is a state Senator for Virginia, has made a statement that has offended many. The statement in which he made included calling pregnant women “hosts” of children. He made this comment in response to a post on Facebook that a pro-choice group made. After many made it clear that this statement was offensive he them went and change the word “host” to “bearer of the child.” In New York City there is an issue with the homeless within the subway stations. They are fighting to remove these individuals with a sweep. Many are standing up to this plan and are against it. One protester explains how the subway is somewhere someone who is homeless can stay warm in the cold nights and days of New York. He also appeals to those who live check to check and who are on the verge of being homeless. One of the last stories covered was about the NSA and how they believe that senior German officials are now being spied on.
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