Digital Story

My take on how the internet can make us better people.

http://fosterking6.wix.com/digitalstory

Snowden

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/09/edward-snowden-patriot/ Obama began the news conference by announcing a series of reforms meant to increase the transparency of, and the constraints on, the National Security Agency's surveillance programs. They included reforms to Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which enables the collection of telephone metadata; changes to the powerful surveillance courts to ensure "that the government’s position is challenged by an adversary"; declassification of key NSA documents; and the formation of "a high-level group of outside experts to review our entire intelligence and communications technologies." "What makes us different from other countries is not simply our ability to secure our nation," Obama said. "It’s the way we do it, with open debate and democratic process." If that's so, then Edward Snowden should be hailed as a hero. There's simply no doubt that his leaks led to more open debate and more democratic process than would've existed otherwise. Obama reluctantly admitted as much. "There’s no doubt that Mr. Snowden’s leaks triggered a much more rapid and passionate response than would have been the case if I had simply appointed this review board," he said, though he also argued that absent Snowden, "we would have gotten to the same place, and we would have done so without putting at risk our national security and some very vital ways that we are able to get intelligence that we need to secure the country." As Tim Lee writes, this is dubious at best. Prior to Snowden's remarks, there was little public debate — in part because the federal government was preventing it. When Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked for a “ballpark figure” of the number of Americans whose information was being collected by the NSA last year, the agency refused to give the senator any information, arguing that doing so would violate the privacy of those whose information was collected. In March, at a Congressional hearing, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper answered “no sir” when Wyden asked whether the NSA had collected “any type of data at all on millions of Americans.” We now know his statement was incorrect. That was the state of the debate prior to Snowden: The Director of National Intelligence went before Congress, was given an opportunity to give the American people a clear and balanced picture on some of these programs, and basically lied. And no one from the Obama administration came out that day, or the next day, or the next week, to correct the record. It was only after Snowden's leak that Clapper apologized. Obama allowed that "those who have lawfully raised their voices on behalf of privacy and civil liberties are also patriots who love our country and want it to live up to our highest ideals." But most all of those people would say Snowden strengthened their hand immeasurably. Obama's frustration with Snowden is that he interrupted what could have been "a lawful, orderly examination of these laws; a thoughtful, fact-based debate." The White House believes Snowden's leaks — and the drip-drip-drip way the Guardian released them — left the public misinformed. And at times, that's certainly true. The initial reports on PRISM, for instance, clearly suggested that the program was wider in scope than it actually is. But the White House could have led that thoughtful, fact-based debate, and despite Obama's protestations to the contrary, they didn't. They prevented it. If this conversation, and these reforms, are as positive for the country as Obama says they are, then it's hard to escape the conclusion that Snowden did the country a real service — even if the White House can't abide crediting him with it. This article found on the Washington Post is in favor of Snowden and claiming him as a Patriot. The article is set up as a rebuttal to the idea that the concepts that Snowden brought to life in his information he exposed. President Obama claims that the information he outed was already being looked at and would have been solved in due time. This however is not true because before this incident the information he exploited was classified and the citizens had no knowledge of anything of this sort going on. Without Snowden the information would have never gotten to the people and it is because it got to the people that the government is now under pressure to make changes. Without this pressure fro the citizens this would have been over looked and not taken into account. The face that the President is claiming that there was already measures in place to solve the issue shows that the government views him as a traitor because there is no evidence that anything would have been without Snowden.

Gender Codes

Foster, Justin, Matt, August Gender Codes

Discussion Questions - You Soup

1. Have you ever been stereotyped? And do you think that this stereotype was accurate? Explain the scenario and describe how you felt. (judged, attacked, etc.)

2. How do you think people become who they are? Do you believe that people are born with traits that make them develop into who they are today, or do you think that the situations people are placed help develop them? Give an example from your life on how you think that you came to be who you are today.

3. How do you think that judgement and prejudice affects minority groups that are stereotyped today? Do you think that stereotyping will ever go away? If not explain how you think it will change in the future.

4. Do you yourself think that you stereotype? Who or what do you stereotype, and why do you think that you do this?

Social Action proposal

                Electronic waste is classified as any obsolete phone, computer, camera, or any other type of technology that needs to be disposed of. Due to the increase of technology from the information-age, electronic waste makes up the largest amount of waste in the United States. The reason that disposing of electronics is a problem is because the chemicals and elements contained inside of the devices can be extremely dangerous to the environment and even to people if exposed. The common chemicals are : lead which is found in cathode ray tubes, arsenic which is found in older cathode ray tubes, mercury which is found in switches, anatomy trioxide as a flame retardant, cadmium in circuit boards and semi-conductors, chromium in steel as corrosion protection, cobalt in steel for structural strength, and the list goes on and on. The reason that these materials are used instead of environmentally friendly ones is because the factories that assemble the machines and devices are made to use these already so switching materials would be costly. It is also pricier to purchase the eco-friendly materials because they aren’t as abundant. If the materials are so toxic then why wouldn’t we just recycle them safely? This is the question that is maddening to me because we choose to export our waste to other countries knowing fully well that they are causing harm. We send our waste to third world countries for a price that is much cheaper than disposing of the waste correctly. As long as the choice is in the corporations’’ hands there will be tons of E-waste.

                The social action method that caught my eye guerilla art. This is the method of using art as a form of advertisement to inform the people about the issues at hand. It has been used in many ways but the most notable guerilla artist is Keri Smith. She has used art in many forms to get her message across. The most risky being graffiti. She would tag buildings leaving her beliefs and message behind informing anyone who walked by. I myself do not plan on defacing any building, but I think that there are many other types of forms that I can utilize in order to convey my message. I think that if I use sidewalk chalk to inform the students at John Carroll to not discard of their electronics dangerously my message could be heard. I plan on writing it in front of all of the major buildings and making posters that will inform the students about a safe place to discard phones and cables, printers, etc. I would write in chalk a saying asking the students if they know where their waste is going, and then also write the location of the disposable for them to discard their waste. The reason I think this could work is because personally I have learned about a lot of events from people writing  with chalk on the sidewalk and the posters will also be effective because if they are placed by the cafeteria where people stand in line it will give them a chance to be read by students. 

Third Blog (Workinghands.com)

Since it was created, Lynkedin.com has been the most popular way for people seeking work to post their resumes for companies to see, list their work experience, get in contact with potential employers and update their profiles to make themselves seem as good employees. This resource however is more aimed towards the white collared crowd. Employers that use the site are those of business, IT, political science, etc. There is a disadvantage for blue collared workers attempting to find work because the employers that they need to get in touch with are not using the site. So this is where workinghands.com comes into play. This website  is aimed towards blue collared workers in an attempt to help them find work easier. Now all the plumbers, electricians, and carpenters will be able to use the same site to find work. This is involving social justice because the site is using technology to reach out to the middle class potentially. This is an attempt to help out the majority of workers in the United States to help bring down the unemployment rate.

Comic Strips