There was recently threat of an attack on the capital building. Christopher Lee Cornell is a Cincinnati resident that called the plan "ISIS inspired." He planned to set off an explosive in the Capital Building and shoot politicians in the chaos.
There is no question this intent to kill American leaders and attack the capital deserves major punishment the challenge however is what can he be convicted with. Since Cornell never got to take action and had no co-conspirators that based on the evidence there isn't really a sentence severe enough that can be given to him. Treason requires action so Cornell can't be tried for it. Shouldn't Treason cover more ground, how could intending to kill many people not count as treason especially when it's an attack on the capital.
Friday, January 16, 2015
Thursday, January 15, 2015
The Benefits of Costco
Over Thanksgiving I wrote a post about a food drive Walmart was holding for its own employees. This is attested to Walmart's low wages for its workers in order to get low prices for their customers. The question I asked was would America sacrifice the low prices of Walmart for better worker treatment. Recently I decided to check executive compensation for Walmart and some competitors. One of Walmart's biggest rivals is Costco and comparing the executive spending was somewhat telling. Turns out rather than sacrifice the lower ranked employees, the executives seem to be making much less.
Walmart's executive compensation is 77 million dollars while as Costco's is 21 million. The 56 million dollar difference is one factor in the differences between working conditions lower on the totem pole. Costco offers health insurance for its employees while Walmart is notorious for avoiding the extra cost of health benefits by restricting employees hours. I'll revise what I said before, Walmart doesn't need to raise it's prices to improve treatment of workers, the company just needs to shift priorities from the white collar executives to the blue collar workers that keep the company alive.
Walmart's executive compensation is 77 million dollars while as Costco's is 21 million. The 56 million dollar difference is one factor in the differences between working conditions lower on the totem pole. Costco offers health insurance for its employees while Walmart is notorious for avoiding the extra cost of health benefits by restricting employees hours. I'll revise what I said before, Walmart doesn't need to raise it's prices to improve treatment of workers, the company just needs to shift priorities from the white collar executives to the blue collar workers that keep the company alive.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
I am Charlie
On January 7th there was an attack on a french satirical newspaper centered in Paris called Charlie Hebdo. The newspaper is famous for its satire of major political and religious leaders around the world, but some extremists didn't take some of these jibes lightly. The paper has a history of violent retaliation to their publications (a history seen in detail here) however the most recent attack on the paper has been the worst.
January 7th 12 people at Charlie Hebdo's offices were killed including 2 police officers and an editor, likely in response to this cartoon-
The man in white is saying, "I am the prophet Mohammed and the Man in black (supposedly a member of the Islamic State Group) is beheading him and saying "Shut up infidel." The cartoon is touching on the fact that the so called "Islamic State" is hurting the image of the islamic religion internationally by taking that name but not representing the majority of Muslims around the world. The cartoon is not propaganda. If anything it is making an effort to defend Muslims not represented by ISIS's radical views. An editor for Charlie Hebdo, Gerard Biard said in response to the attack, "I don't understand how people can attack a newspaper with heavy weapons. A newspaper is not a weapon of war." Contrary to its evident intention to attack Western ideology, this act of terrorism is an attack on freedom of press internationally. In the attack on Charlie Hebdo in one of the worlds most major cities, terrorists are threatening the press internationally. This attack parallels the decapitation of journalists in September of 2014, also by IS. Even if, like this cartoon, the argument is in favor of the non-violent and the majority, the press is now afraid to slight the Islamic State. The world has to treat this threat as it did before, not with fear but with strenth.
January 7th 12 people at Charlie Hebdo's offices were killed including 2 police officers and an editor, likely in response to this cartoon-
The man in white is saying, "I am the prophet Mohammed and the Man in black (supposedly a member of the Islamic State Group) is beheading him and saying "Shut up infidel." The cartoon is touching on the fact that the so called "Islamic State" is hurting the image of the islamic religion internationally by taking that name but not representing the majority of Muslims around the world. The cartoon is not propaganda. If anything it is making an effort to defend Muslims not represented by ISIS's radical views. An editor for Charlie Hebdo, Gerard Biard said in response to the attack, "I don't understand how people can attack a newspaper with heavy weapons. A newspaper is not a weapon of war." Contrary to its evident intention to attack Western ideology, this act of terrorism is an attack on freedom of press internationally. In the attack on Charlie Hebdo in one of the worlds most major cities, terrorists are threatening the press internationally. This attack parallels the decapitation of journalists in September of 2014, also by IS. Even if, like this cartoon, the argument is in favor of the non-violent and the majority, the press is now afraid to slight the Islamic State. The world has to treat this threat as it did before, not with fear but with strenth.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Would You Invest in Human Insecurity
Last year Yik Yak was allowed at New Trier High School for 3 days. It was used to bully, harass, and anonymously intimidate students. The app has now been banned at high schools, but it is huge at colleges. The app is used for similar things, the only difference is the lack of a ban on the app for use by college students. Due to the popularity of the app on college campuses Sequoia, a Private Equity Firm, invested 61 million dollars in the company.
What does this investment say about human nature and evolving social climates? Not only is the app primarily used for negative messages but it is also totally anonymous. Sequoia has invested a huge amount of money in the hope that Yik Yak will grow, that there will be more insults to give, more pessimistic observations, and more intentionally provocative questions to ask--all of these messages passed through a phone: no identity, no problem.
The investment is not just accounting for the app updating and getting better, but it is also accounting for the growth of negativity and lack of confidence in our opinions as individuals. 61 million dollars was just invested in human insecurity, will Sequoia get the return they want?
What does this investment say about human nature and evolving social climates? Not only is the app primarily used for negative messages but it is also totally anonymous. Sequoia has invested a huge amount of money in the hope that Yik Yak will grow, that there will be more insults to give, more pessimistic observations, and more intentionally provocative questions to ask--all of these messages passed through a phone: no identity, no problem.
The investment is not just accounting for the app updating and getting better, but it is also accounting for the growth of negativity and lack of confidence in our opinions as individuals. 61 million dollars was just invested in human insecurity, will Sequoia get the return they want?
Why the Indictment Process Doesn't Work
There are a lot of things to think about following the grand jury decision not to indict the officer who killed Michael Brown. People are primarily focused on racism and biases of white police officers, police brutality, abuse of power and the impact it has on certain groups. What isn't being talked about is the inherent flaw in the structure and use of the grand jury system and how it will continue to fail our society in these types of cases.
The grand jury system forces local prosecutors to present the facts of these cases and seek indictments against the very officers that they work side by side with to prosecute all other criminal matters. The legal community in which criminals are prosecuted is small. Prosecutors have relationships with many officers and if not direct relationships they likely know their partners, colleagues or managers. This is not only a conflict of interest, but likely awkward and ineffective as well as giving an unfair legal advantage to police officers. This will happen regardless of whether the prosecutor intends it to -- it's human nature to give an advantage to the person you know and work with.
This is another bias, seemingly parallel with the racism that causes these crimes of police violence. Both biases are unfair and dangerous to the public, racism of police leads to deaths like that of Michael Brown and Eric Garner while lack of indictment lets racist and overly brutal officers free to kill again.
When we think about racism we usually isolate the idea, but maybe we should try to think about it as one of many biases in the context of the legal system, one of many things that makes a less equal world for our citizens in the United States.
The grand jury system forces local prosecutors to present the facts of these cases and seek indictments against the very officers that they work side by side with to prosecute all other criminal matters. The legal community in which criminals are prosecuted is small. Prosecutors have relationships with many officers and if not direct relationships they likely know their partners, colleagues or managers. This is not only a conflict of interest, but likely awkward and ineffective as well as giving an unfair legal advantage to police officers. This will happen regardless of whether the prosecutor intends it to -- it's human nature to give an advantage to the person you know and work with.
This is another bias, seemingly parallel with the racism that causes these crimes of police violence. Both biases are unfair and dangerous to the public, racism of police leads to deaths like that of Michael Brown and Eric Garner while lack of indictment lets racist and overly brutal officers free to kill again.
When we think about racism we usually isolate the idea, but maybe we should try to think about it as one of many biases in the context of the legal system, one of many things that makes a less equal world for our citizens in the United States.
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Are Low Prices Worth Low Wages
Recently Walmart employees in Oklahoma City started a food drive for their coworkers at the store. The food drive has generated some controversy and made some people question Walmart as a company. Do Walmart employees make enough to put food on the table, to stay above the poverty line?
The poverty line for 2014 was set at $23,850 a year for a family of four. According to the CEO of the company, the majority of Walmart employees make less than 25,000 dollars a year. A large number of Walmart employees are on monetary aid programs, like food stamps and welfare because of the low wages. Public assistance costs for the companies employees last year added up to 6.2 billion dollars.
The wages are kept low to keep Walmart's prices lower than the competition's, but if the wage that an employee is being paid is not enough to get food on the table for Thanksgiving maybe the low prices--and wages--need to get a little higher.
The poverty line for 2014 was set at $23,850 a year for a family of four. According to the CEO of the company, the majority of Walmart employees make less than 25,000 dollars a year. A large number of Walmart employees are on monetary aid programs, like food stamps and welfare because of the low wages. Public assistance costs for the companies employees last year added up to 6.2 billion dollars.
The wages are kept low to keep Walmart's prices lower than the competition's, but if the wage that an employee is being paid is not enough to get food on the table for Thanksgiving maybe the low prices--and wages--need to get a little higher.
Do We Value Sleep Enough?
Last week William Deresiewicz gave a talk about the the disadvantages of elite universities and on the flaws in the current college admissions process. His essay titled, "The Disadvantages an Elite Education" despite many generalizations really spoke to me ut when he was speaking to my class his discussion of the flaws of the college admissons process seemed more reasonable and more connected to my life.
Deresiewicz talked about the lack of free time and the need to stack extra curriculars and extremely time consuming AP classes to get into the elite institutions of today's university system in the United States. He talked about this need for free time but what he never mentioned was the need for sleep. The National Sleep Foundation says that for a teenage mind to stay active and healthy many people need 9 hours and 15 minutes of sleep and some can properly function with 8 hours 30 minutes. I can't speak for my classmates but I don't remember the last time I got close to 8 hours on a school night while still completing my homework and going to extra-curriculars. Even on weekends I find myself loosing sleep because I have such a strict structured schedule.
Deresiewicz talks about mental health being sacrificed, about free time and fufillment of life being sacraficed, about social time being sacraficed, but does he spend enough time talking about the sacrifice of sleep and the dangerous conditions it can cause. In an article in Time Magazine titled "The Power of Sleep" the issue of sleep deprivation and the benefit of a good nights rest is explored. The article talk about what the brain is doing while asleep--things like maitaining hormone balance and cleaning the brain of toxins that can build up without rest. The question I ask is do we value these education programs that are supposed to make us better thinkers over the health of the brain itself?
Deresiewicz talked about the lack of free time and the need to stack extra curriculars and extremely time consuming AP classes to get into the elite institutions of today's university system in the United States. He talked about this need for free time but what he never mentioned was the need for sleep. The National Sleep Foundation says that for a teenage mind to stay active and healthy many people need 9 hours and 15 minutes of sleep and some can properly function with 8 hours 30 minutes. I can't speak for my classmates but I don't remember the last time I got close to 8 hours on a school night while still completing my homework and going to extra-curriculars. Even on weekends I find myself loosing sleep because I have such a strict structured schedule.
Deresiewicz talks about mental health being sacrificed, about free time and fufillment of life being sacraficed, about social time being sacraficed, but does he spend enough time talking about the sacrifice of sleep and the dangerous conditions it can cause. In an article in Time Magazine titled "The Power of Sleep" the issue of sleep deprivation and the benefit of a good nights rest is explored. The article talk about what the brain is doing while asleep--things like maitaining hormone balance and cleaning the brain of toxins that can build up without rest. The question I ask is do we value these education programs that are supposed to make us better thinkers over the health of the brain itself?
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