News #12

China offers wedding cash to boost birthrate

                After the 500+ project in Poland in order to encourage people to have children, we now see China of all places trying to do the same. I was quite surprised with this news as the previous policy of Chinese government allowed for only one child per family. Now officials have noticed the dramatic fall in the number of new citizens and so they decided to have them produced. Hence, all the couples planning a wedding can apply for financial support in order to pay for such things as: alcohol, cars, flats, bridal dresses, banquets and honeymoon travels.

                In my opinion it is ridiculous how our life plans get changed by the rulers of this world. I think that politics shouldn’t interfere in our daily life, not to mention family plans. I hate how those reforms make me think about people. We are treated as objects. The intentions might be good but the way they are put into action is callous.

Sources:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/world/china-offers-wedding-cash-to-boost-birthrate-slb6r5cgv

News #11

A Nation Answers a Sobbing Boy’s Plea: ‘Why Do They Bully?’

              Keaton goes to the local school outside Knoxville, Tennessee where he experienced bullying. One day when his mother had to collect him from school earlier as he was afraid to go to lunch they recorded a video and published it on social media. Keaton talks about what had happened to him, his fear and depression. The video is really heart-wrenching to watch. The boy cries in it and describes the situations that nobody would like to go through.

  A number of celebrities supported Keaton saying he was a real hero and offering help. Also some funds were collected for the boy. Unfortunately, somebody decided to dig into Keaton’s mother’s past activity on social media. They revealed some suspicious looking photos with the Confederate battle flag and some tweets that were supposed to be racist. In this way her credibility was questioned.

In my opinion, all the considerations about Keaton’s mother are beside the point. The real issue here is that this boy was afraid to go to school like so many others in our country as well. Keaton might have got support from celebrities inviting him to red carpet events but what about the problem of bullying? Does going to a baseball match or a movie premiere really solve it?

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/us/bullying-video-keaton-jones.html

News #10

Barbie comes out in support of same-sex marriage 

                Just after the same-sex marriage in Australia was legalized we hear some very uplifting news from Barbie. Mattel posted on Instagram an image of Barbie and a doll version of Aimee Song, a fashion designer, both wearing t-shirts with “Love wins” slogan. It was in support of Pride month for which the t-shirts were prepared. The money earned on them will go to support LGBTQ youth. The post on Instagram became very popular and collected mostly positive comments. A lot of people understood it that Barbie was shown as queer and that the whole action was in support Pride movement.

                As I see it, this is a little bit of an overstatement. Barbie was employed to promote a certain t-shirt: true. The t-shirt is a part of the LGTBQ campaign: true. But, I don’t think that a conclusion that Barbie is queer because of sitting next to another doll-girl wearing this t-shirt makes any sense. People like looking for conspiracy theories everywhere. The same happened a few years ago when a Polish MP had a problem with Tinky-Winky‘s gender.

Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/nov/29/barbie-comes-out-in-support-of-same-sex-marriage

News #9

Anorexia is narcissism, says Joan Bakewell

                I have just read an article which made me see red. The woman believes that anorexia is an outcome of having too much choice, too much time and being overindulgent. She cites situations in Syria and in Britain during the war as examples of times and places  when and where people don’t have this problem. As far as she is concerned, when there is a lack of food, you don’t suffer from anorexia. What is more, she believes that in the olden days people had different problems rather than preoccupation with body image and shape. She blames social media among others.

              To my mind, Ms Bakewell just doesn’t get the problem. First of all, she bases her point of view on tell-tale and not on serious research. No results are known as far as the number of people suffering from anorexia during the war and “we have never heard about it” is no proof that it didn’t exist. Also she doesn’t seem to understand the reason of the problem. I think it’s lack of acceptance and a need for control when you don’t have any rather than boredom and shallow need for looking nice. She is a flagship example of stereotypical thinking, indifference and the lack of need to understand.
 

Sources:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/anorexia-is-narcissism-says-joan-bakewell-0bz5qrr6r

News #8

Android given Saudi citizenship has more rights than women

                The news of Sophia the robot being granted Saudi citizenship has appeared quite a time ago. Since then I have been thinking about it. It seems my doubts are quite similar to those who spoke out on the subject. Many Saudi women are upset because Sophia is the only “woman” who doesn’t have to wear a headscarf. She also doesn’t need any consent from her mahram to go out or travel. That’s a lot more than Saudi women are entitled to. The same goes for people who want Saudi citizenship. It is very difficult to obtain, and Sophia got it only because she is a very expensive piece of machinery.

                To me this situation is beyond my understanding. How can people out of their own free will consider a robot a person? What is more, give more rights to this “person” than any living woman has? This will definitely lead to some tragedy in the future. It might not be the same as in “Terminator” but the moral dilemma has already been born. Now we have to cope with it.

Sources:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/android-sophia-given-saudi-citizenship-has-more-rights-than-women-cc96f7tgk

News #7

 

Facebook asks users for nude photos in project to combat revenge porn

 

   I have recently come across a new kind of crime: revenge porn. Many people take nude pictures of themselves and share them with partners. However, partners are changeable- a person once loved might become your enemy later. They may decide to shame you by public sharing of the pictures you previously sent in good faith. A new technology has been developed in order to prevent this. It’s called PhotoDNA. And, it has recently been tested by Facebook in Australia. You have to send the picture you are concerned about to yourself on Messenger and let Facebook authorities hash it. In this way it is marked and will never be uploaded again.

   I think it is terrific that Facebook is taking some action against abuse. No one deserves to be publicly exposed and shamed. Especially if you take into account people who might lose their jobs because of this: teachers, politicians and civil servants. However, the whole process takes a little bit of trust to Facebook Administration. After all they can share your photos too. Therefore, the best option is not to take them at all- it’s kind of creepy.

Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/07/facebook-revenge-porn-nude-photos

News #6

Glow cat: fluorescent green felines could help study of HIV

Looking for something light to read I came across this article about an experiment on animals. This time the experiment was on cats. Apparently, the scientists were able to produce a glowing cat. As bizarre as it might seem, the experiment was not to produce a funny-looking animal but to help investigate HIV. The glowing cat is a genetically modified organism (GMO) and the ability to glow in the dark comes together with FIV. It is an equivalent of the HIV virus in humans. By the use of this technique the researchers will be able to make some developments in the HIV study.

                As far as I’m concerned, experiments on animals are cruel and in many cases pointless. In this case, I cannot say that the cat’s suffering is pointless. Its life will definitely benefit humans. On the other hand, I just feel sorry for it. What is more, there are other diseases, like malaria, killing enormous numbers of people in the third world countries. And nobody is doing anything about it.

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/sep/11/genetically-modified-glowing-cats