Hit Mexico's Cartel With Legalization

In the past 10 to 20 years the gang and drug related crimes in Mexico have sky rocketed. Journalist Ioan Grillo has taken up interest into interviewing and investigating Mexico’s cartel seen. Grillo stated that in his interviews he’s had with Mexican Cartel killers they all appear sane, even though they describe some of the most brutal violence towards people. He believes that there has to be something else, than insanity that would get people to do such devilish work. With his investigation he thinks it has more to do with America than one would think. With American people abusing drugs namely marijuana illegally for decades it’s estimated that drug cartels are making anywhere from 30 billion yearly. Drugs have a mark up of 2000 percent that get many Mexicans interested in joining this black market business. However, when Colorado and Oregon legalized commercial use of marijuana the cartels are going to get hit financially very hard negatively. Mexican cartels often us the surplus of money given to them to buy high trained assassins and very high power weapons. With the decrease of marijuana trade with the cartels, their main currency support is going to begin to decline. The cartel won’t disband over night but it will be on a decline.

I knew the legalization of marijuana would happen in my lifetime, I just wasn’t expecting for it to happen so soon.  I never thought of the illegalization of marijuana directly reflects the crime rate in other countries. I’ve always heard about the Mexican cartels and their illegal trades to America, I just never put two and two together

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/opinion/hit-mexicos-cartels-with-legalization.html

Syrian Rebel Video Surfaces Blog 10

In Beirut, a video has emerged that appears to show Syrian rebels killing a group of captured soldiers. These killings took place on Thursday during an apparent assault by the rebels in the town of Saraqeb, which has been a scene of heavy fighting over the past few weeks. Tension has risen between rebels and the forces of President Bashar Assad’s regime.

In the videos the rebels are spraying them with bullets while the soldiers are on the ground helpless. It shows them in crowded areas in the town, where screaming erupts. It also shows the men on the ground, some dead and others shaking from the bullet wounds, and the crowd after the shooting takes place. It’s reported that twelve soldiers were killed.

Other than this video being disturbing and the fact that lives were lost, certain Human Rights groups are warning that the gunmen may have also committed a war crime. This video raises a lot of concerns over the brutality among these rebels, because Washington has been hesitant to give support to the rebellion. With this video surfacing, they are questioning themselves.

Now the rebels are in full control of the town Saraqeb after the regime troops pulled back during Thursday’s fighting. This gives the rebels a higher strategic point that the rebels have been working to capture for months.

Other accounts of videos showing these rebels and their brutality have been reported in the past. Reports of rebels pushing prisoners against walls, and shooting them have also been found. Right now the authenticity of the video is in question, and is being worked on. Groups of people are trying to find out if videos like these are real, or if they are a fabricated show.

Events like these bring human rights into question, along with the authenticity of the videos. Soldiers and innocent lives are being taken away by this rebel groups. Now that the rebel groups are in complete control of a city and a major strategy point, one can only wonder how many more lives will be taken away.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/11/02/activist-groups-says-armed-men-have-apparently-executed-detainees-including/

Blog #10 U.A.E. Moves Toward Paperless Classrooms

-->

Sara Hamdan wrote this article on October 28. In Dubai, a student talks about how he’s now using his ipad now for classes, instead of just games. He also uses it for his art class, instead of using paper. “Last year, the United Arab Emirates decided to turn a product that was already popular with students into an academic tool. So when school began in September, 14,000 tablets were handed out to all first-year students in the country’s three major higher-education institutions: United Arab Emirates University, Zayed University and the Higher Colleges of Technology.” (Hamdan, “Paperless”). The school system thought that since that it was such a popular product among students that why not use them for school. The main goal of using it is to have more students succeed in all their classes, while keeping a green environment. “Education experts hope that the tablets will help raise low test scores; bridge the gap between classroom learning and practical workplace skills; and promote more diverse fields of study in a region where students are often pushed into subjects like business.” (Handam, “Paperless”). Not only is it benefitting the older students, but also younger students are using them too for their studies. “At $750 an iPad, it is a less-expensive alternative to laptops that cost an average of $1,200. Local U.A.E. students attending public universities generally do not pay for tuition or textbooks, though they are required to buy their own laptops. The introduction of iPads will reduce that cost by nearly half, though in the U.A.E., which has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, few schools reported problems with families that could not afford the technology. Teachers were “panicky” before they realized how easy it would be to use the device educators were now working directly with Apple to develop their own apps and create their own reading material as e-books on iBook’s Author. By reducing paper use and waste, the iPads also promote environmentally friendly values. “ (Hamdan, “Paperless”).

            This article has to do with education because it talks about how students are using ipads to help them succeed better in their classrooms, and to have more students attend schools. It’s a great idea because its so much cheaper than having to go out and buy all of these textbooks, paper, binders, and writing utensils. For I pads you can just download the textbook for the fraction of the cost, and save paper. All schools need to do this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/world/middleeast/29iht-educlede29.html