OTM 2: WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS

WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS


I chose to talk about this because, well, I just got back from Paris. If you haven't been, I recommend it 10/10.


This OTM starts out with a quote from Trump saying "We're going to cancel the Paris Climate Agreement and stop all payments of the US tax dollars to UN global warming programs." Well, he can't necessarily cancel it, but what he CAN do is sign an executive order that basically eliminates President Obama's "climate legacy" by not meeting it's carbon emission goals set in Paris. And he did that. This week. He claims he did this in order to lift the restrictions on American energy so that America can do whatever America wants with Americas energy (also an act of reversing "government intrusion").


What is the Paris agreement, anyways? Technically, it's never been into effect. It's been held up in court for over a year. Obama declared this a "turning point for the world." It's an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020, so the agreement is a sketch of a fuller deal that would take place later (in 2020). It's basically a way to limit the amount of greenhouse gases being produced into the air, otherwise quoted as a "binding process in which countries individually pledge to change course from business as usual on carbon dioxide and other gases and also deforestation." Essentially, 187 countries would cut their emissions to help global warming.


If anything, it's there as a goal. It's something to strive to achieve. But let's be real, we are NOWHERE near the advances to completely "decarbonize," right? But we need to start somewhere. I personally think the fact the Trump does not want America to play a part of this as ridiculous. People. WE CAN NOT DENY CLIMATE CHANGE. IT IS REAL. IT IS PRESENT. AND IT IS FACTUAL. And the fact that we have a current standing president who continues to deny this is truly and honestly disheartening. We HAVE to take these steps towards eliminating these emissions if we want to save the planet that we live on. I don't understand the logic/inconsequential nature that stands behind this. So, that's where I stand. We need this treaty, we need to participate in it, and we need to strive towards these goals.

WELL INFORMED - RACISM 2.0

Let's not play dumb - we all know that racism is still alive. It always has been, it is right now, and I hope and pray that eventually it will end. Will it ever? I'm not sure. I can't speak on behalf of experience, because I've never felt victimized due to my skin color. I've never felt at a disadvantage for a career or felt uncomfortable with any type of law enforcement - ever. But I do know one thing... we are all human beings who deserve to be treated as such. Although I can't relate to it, that doesn't mean I don't fully support anti-racism.


Did you know that it wasn't until 1967 that congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1695, which outlawed poll taxes, literacy tests, and other things that disallowed black people from voting? Did you know that it wasn't until 1989 that the US government issued $20,000 and a formal apology to each of the 60,000 WWII internees of all the camps within the US? Did you know that in 2001, congress passed the controversial USA Patriot Act that gave the federal government the power to detain suspected "terrorists" for no given amount of time? Without access to legal representation/a lawyer? Do you realize that these events have only happened within the span of 50 years? People, that is NOT that long ago.


Racism is an unfortunate and longtime existing form of judgement. Can we all truly say we have never had a racist thought, or made a racist joke, or even applied subtle racist judgement without realizing it? The truth is, I can guarantee that almost every single one of the people who are reading can't say that they haven't. It's everywhere. It's on TV. It's all over social media. It's in the movies. Racism has become a subtle norm, has it not? I know I've heard Jimmy Fallon made a "how are you Asian if you're not good at math?" joke before. It's things like this that we don't think about.


Honestly, I don't know if this will ever go away completely. After hundreds and thousands of years of a certain mindset that being different is viewed in a negative light, it will take a lot of reform. Although, I might say that this is the generation that will put forth the greatest effort to do so. I have seen more anti-racism slogans, phrases, and campaigns in the past couple of years than I have ever seen before. I think if everyone changed their mindset just a little bit, perhaps one day we could all let go of this judgement.

OTM - WHEN THE PRESS SUES OVER FAKE NEWS

OTM 1 - WHEN THE PRESS SUES OVER FAKE NEWS

It’s evident there is a lot of controversy in the news in regards to our government-every single day. “Fake news,” has turned into something that Donald Trump has used to label or attack on story in the mainstream that essentially didn’t agree with him or went against him in any way. CNN’s Don Lemon said it best to one of his guests on the show, “please stop it with that stupid talking point that is a fake news story. If you don’t want to participate in the news story on this network, then don’t participate, but don’t call them fake because you don’t agree with them.” The term fake news has really taken a new meaning in the last year or so.

The speaker states that in the age of Trump, the press should consider the option to sue. If you are a news organization falsely accused of fabrication, at the expense of your reputation for liable. Jay Seaton, Colorado’s state senator, accused The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (a small newspaper in Colorado) of reporting fake news. It started with the newspapers writing about the state needing to open up state records. There is a bill that should allow citizens to have access to documents requested in their original form, and this bill has come to a halt for unclear reasons. Something that we haven’t really seen, this newspaper company has decided to do something about that and retaliate -- with a lawsuit.

Personally, I think the fake news accusations are utterly ridiculous. The entire purpose of a free press is to allow people to voice opinions from different perspectives. If we didn’t have a free press, like some country, we would be confined without freedom under one or two opinions (that perhaps only the government could approve). When I think of “fake news,” I think of the news articles that have pictures of aliens on them with poorly photoshopped images… not news that our President of The United States doesn’t like. Journalism is a beautiful thing. It allows different ideas, opinions, perspectives, etc. to be heard. When someone with such great power takes that beauty and freedom away, how can we stand for this? It’s truly one of the most shameful things I’ve seen thus far.

I think sueing in the name of your reputation is a good idea. As cliche as it sounds, we can’t allow bullies with higher power to step all over the media whenever they feel. It’s ridiculous, and it’s happened way to frequently. If I were a news organization, I would absolutely sue over this. It’s time to take a stand for what’s right, and not what’s mainstream.