february 2012
news
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Courtesy of China Post
Cold front sweeps
through Europe
By: Carl Yin
An extreme cold wave has
been ravaging Europe, bringing
many parts of the continent to a
standstill. Temperatures as low
as -31 degrees Fahrenheit and as
much as 5 feet of snowfall have
been recorded.
These extreme conditions
have persisted for several
weeks and continue to trouble
Europe. So far, the death toll has
exceeded 450; meanwhile tens
of thousands of rural villagets
in mountainous regions are still
trapped by severe snowfall.
However, the group of
people most affected by the
cold front is the homeless.
With temperatures repeatedly
dropping to the negatives each
night, national governments
have had to provide emergency
housing and supplies for the
homeless.
In spite of these emergency
measures, the homeless make
up the majority of the death toll.
In Turkey, the situation
is even direr. With a recent
earthquake having left over
140,000 people homeless, the
government can only provide
shelter to a very small group
of citizens. Temperatures in
the quake zone of Turkey have
dropped to as low as -4 degrees
Fahrenheit, which, when
combined with nearly a foot
of snow, has made life for the
homeless in Turkey especially
difficult.
The cold front has even
affected parts of Africa. In
Algeria, a blanket of snow
covered grounds and led to
chaos in various roadways
around the region.
Rivers and lakes across
Europe have also frozen over
due to the severity of the cold
wave. The Danube River, which
flows across Central Europe and
is key in the transportation of
goods, has frozen over for the
first time in 25 years.
This has cost shippers
Protests delay
Internet piracy
legislation
By Jaret Dawson
millions of dollars, as the
shipping of goods has been
curtailed by the frigid winter
weather. In parts of the Danube,
shipping has even been
completely halted. Transport
by train and car have also been
affected, as snow has made
many roads dangerous and
inaccessible.
It does not appear as if
the cold front will be ending
anytime soon. More damage is
caused everyday by the front.
However, conditions in Europe
seem to be improving.
Temperatures have been
rising, but only marginally
Countries across Europe await
the end of this cold front,
as supplies are diminishing.
Forecasters predict the cold
front to weaken, as a gradual
rise in temperatures has been
projected for Europe over the
next 10 days.
For now, Europe can only
hope that these predictions
hold true.
The Stop Online Piracy
Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP
Act (PIPA) met considerable
online protest on Jan. 18,2012,
causing Congress to delay the
vote on the two acts.
Many major websites went
inactive during the “blackout”
across the nation, including
Wikipedia, Reddit, and
Craigslist. Google was also one
of the major supporters, asking
visitors to its home page to sign
an electronic petition opposing
the two bills.
SOPA and PIPA are the
House and Senate versions,
respectively, of a bill that was
conceived to end copyright
infringement on the Internet.
A copyright
holder would
be able to
seek a court
order against
an infringing
Free-speech activists both
nationally and internationally
supported the blackout. The
main concern of these activists
was the wording of the bill.
Entire sites could be shut
down for just being associated
with copyrighted material. In
particular, social media sites
could be at risk due to just one
link posted on the site. This
would mean the shutdown of
sites such as Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, and Google.
Top computer scientists
have spoken out against Domain
Name System (DNS) blocking,
the proposed method for closing
off websites. DNS blocking
would work on some of the
most fundamental levels of the
website that, if granted, would
immediately shut the website
down. Not only would the
infringing content be removed,
but the website itself would be
entirely shut down.
The shutdown of a website
would involve termination
of payments to the website,
the removal of the website
from search engines, and the
website’s Internet Service
Provider (ISP) no longer hosting
the website. All ofthis could be
done without a defense from the
website itself.
Internet, disconnecting URLs
with their associated website.
Randall Munroe, author
of the webcomic xkcd, former
NASA employee, and avid
programmer, included a hidden
message in his January 18 xkcd
strip that warned Congress, “If
you break this Internet, we are
not making you a new one.”
Following the massive
online protest, many
Congressmen revoked their
support for SOPA and PIPA.
The votes on the two bills
have been postponed back
indefinitely.
Republican candidates vie for nomination
By Jordan Harrison
With the North" Carolina
Republican primary election
only three months away, the
Republican candidates are
vying for public support.
During an election year,
it is more vital to be informed
about life outside the bubble,
even if you can’t vote or aren’t
voting in the primary.
Ron Paul
Paul represents the 14th
Congressional District of Texas
and, known as the libertarian
candidate, advocates for limited
constitutional government.
Paul plans to cut one
trillion dollars in spending by
cutting five cabinet positions—
the Departments of Energy,
Education, Commerce, the
Interior, and Housing and
Urban Development—, the
TSA, repealing ObamaCare,
and stopping foreign aid and
foreign wars.
Paul would also abolish the
estate tax and extend Bush-era
tax cuts.
Paul says he is pro-life
as a result of his experiences
as a practicing obstretrician/
gynecologist. He wants to
end birthright citizenship and
more strongly enforce border
security.
Paul also supports the gold
standard and reform of the
Federal Reserve. He believes
that the states, not the federal
government, should enact
laws concerning marriage
equality and the legalization of
marijuana.
Adapted from www.
ronpaul2012.com
Mitt Romney
Former Massachusetts
Governor Romney also
supports ending the estate tax
and extending Bush tax cuts.
Romney believes taxes
“should be lower for all
Americans”, he wants teachers
unions to have less power, and
he opposes any cap-and-trade
legislation to reduce global
warming.
Romney “supports a
constitutional amendment
that would define marriage as
between a man and a woman”,
. but would recognize domestic
partnerships.
As governor, Romney
signed into law private health
care reform that mandates
everyone in Massachusetts to
have a minimum level of health
insurance.
Adapted from www.
mittromneycentral.com and
The Huffington Post
Rick Santorum
Santorum, who recently
won the Missouri, Minnesota,
and Colorado primaries, is
a former Senator from
Pennsylvania. .
Santorum supports drilling
for natural gas and would
remove bans on drilling for oil,
both onshore and offshore.
Santorum wants to bolster
the economy by passing a
Balanced Budget Amendment
to the Constitution that caps
government spending at 18% of
gross domestic product (GDP),
simplifies the tax code, and
cuts the corporate income tax
from 35% to 17.5%, making
the business industry more
competitive.
Santorum would eliminate
funding for Planned Parenthood
as he is strongly anti-abortion,
having worked on legislation
outlawing partial birth abortion
earlier in his career.
Santorum also plans
to repeal ObamaCare and
substitute a market-based
health care bill for the American
people.
Adapted from www.
ricksantorum.com
Newt Gingrich
Gingrich, former Speaker
of the House, has a plan called
the “Day One” plan, in which
he will issue executive orders
intended to create jobs starting
on the first day of his presidency.
These orders will come partially
from suggestions made by the
American people.
Gingrich’s plans for
immigration reform intend
to control borders, institute
a more efficient visa system,
create a “path to legality” but
not citizenship for immigrants
already here illegally, and
encourage immigration of
highly skilled professionals.
This goal differs largely from
the view of the other Republican
candidates.
Gingrich’s energy
proposals include lifting the
ban on oil shale development,
funding cleaner energy research
with new oil and gas royalties,
and replacing the EPA with
an agency less focused on
regulating energy prices.
Gingrich would reinstitute
the “Mexico City Policy”,
which prohibits tax dollars
from going to support abortions
overseas.
Adapted from wwvv.newl.
org