Is Big Brother watching us?

June 25, 2009 by Leave a comment

By Emma Brooks

My attention was recently drawn to a new document released by the UK government called “the Interception Modernisation Program”. This document suggests an improvement on the collection of communications information, in order to protect us better. This got me thinking about the possible threats we are surrounded by, and also how many tools we have at hand in order to achieve what we want. Nowadays we have so many means of communication at our disposal it seems that we could stay connected to the whole world 24/7 if we chose to, and some people do. What with landlines, mobile phones, computers, the internet, 3G, GPS, all of these millions of facilities to make us easier to be reached and found, communication is definitely much faster and much easier than it was before. But how does this affect us? Read more of this post

Filed under Current Affairs

The EU needs an image makeover

June 18, 2009 by Leave a comment

By Emma Brooks

With the results of the latest European elections being slightly disappointing, and turnout reaching a new low in some countries (such as the UK with 34.48% or 28.22% in the Czech Republic) it’s possible to wonder whether it might be time for a new publicity overhaul for the European Parliament (EP). The main problem that we have been faced with in these elections is that they have been turned into a matter of national politics contests. Therefore, the voters use these elections to show their discontent with the current government and vote in the opposition. Many said that in England, the vote mirrored the feeling of the voters towards the EU. I would say that to a certain extent that was wrong, and that it actually mirrored the feeling of the voters towards the current government, who amid scandals and resignations is struggling to keep together. Read more of this post

Filed under Current Affairs

Is Obama risking the Israeli/American relationship?

June 11, 2009 by Leave a comment

By Emma Brooks

It is hard to find fault with Obama’s friendliness towards Muslim countries around the world. Indeed, he is making a clean break from the past and trying to get rid of the negative image of the US George W. Bush managed to spread around the world. One can only give him credit for this and hope that he succeeds. Relations between the US and Muslim countries of the world have been particularly tense ever since 9/11, and for a country that aspires to hegemony this is not good news. Read more of this post

Filed under Current Affairs

Improving Protest Policing

June 8, 2009 by Leave a comment

By Emma Brooks

The recent events of the G20 in London have once again drawn my attention to the seemingly ongoing battle between the police and the people. Ever since the G20 took place, the behaviour of the police has been criticized, and investigations into the regretful death of Ian Tomlinson have started. These events made me wonder why it is that there always has to be confrontation between the police and the people, and why the police feel the need to act violently. Read more of this post

Filed under Current Affairs

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 605 other followers