More Dead in Venezuela Protests

Ongoing Protests Against President Nicolas Maduro Ending in More Deaths 

April 19, 2017

Two Venezuelans were shot dead Wednesday after pro-government forces clashed with opposition groups.

The protesting in Venezuela is the result of President Nicolas Madura slowly creating a dictatorship within the country. After discovering that the opposition was the majority force during the parliamentary elections of 2015, Maduro delayed all future elections.

In March 2017, the Supreme Court dissolved the legislative branch of the government, effectively making itself both the law-maker and interpreter. Once the populace discovered that two branches of the government were being run by the United Socialist Party, more protests began to emerge.

While protests have been going on in Venezuela since 2014, there has been a noticeable uptick in the severity of the protests since March.

Maduro, who is calling his opposition "terrorists" as been arming militias at an alarming rate. His harsh, undemocratic rule is causing anger among his people.

Many Venezuelans are living in fear and simply want to be free and prosperous again.

"We have to protest because this country is dying of hunger. There are a lot of people in the opposition and they are full of courage," said Alexis Mendoza, Venezuelan protester.

If a country wants a democracy, they deserve a democracy. Justice for Venezuela.

Reuters
CNN
The Guardian

No World War III in 2017

President Trump Says the U.S. Will Not be Going to Syria 

April 12, 2017 

After a major chemical attack in Syria on April 4, the world watched in horror as pictures and videos of children and teenagers dying and choking surfaced all over the web. 

In response, Trump launched nearly 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Syria, targeting the base that housed the weapons and planes that carried out the attack. 

Because this attack was an unconstitutional declaration of war, rumors that the U.S. was initiating World War III (along with other conspiracy theories) began to surface. 

Policy makers seem to be torn between what factor weighs more in this situation. On one hand, Trump acted reasonably in response to a horrific act. On the other, this is an unjustified declaration of war that should not go unpunished, as the future implications of allowing such a response could be disastrous. 

Unfortunately, there will always be two sides to this story and there will never be a day where the world agrees in a unified manner on whether this attack was wrong or right. However, despite the backlash from both sides of this equation, Trump has announced that we will not be going to war with Syria. 

When we go to war, everyone loses. So whether you side with Trump or are against Trump in regards to this attack, the reality of it is that if we aren't going to war, it's impossible to miss the silver lining. 

Now that this attack happened, maybe Trump will open his eyes to the reason why Syrian refugees are seeking asylum into the U.S., and open our doors to them once again.  

At the end of the day,  regardless of the color of our skin, our religion, or our political affiliation, we are all human. We all deserve to be loved. We all deserve to be safe. We all deserve to be treated fairly. 

http://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/2017/04/11/trump-exclusive-were-not-going-into-syria.html

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/446633/donald-trump-syria-strike-unconstitutional-declaration-war

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/06/politics/donald-trump-syria-military/

Russian Hacking Larger Than the Presidential Election

The Russian Hacking is Larger Than the U.S. Election, it's a Threat to National Security 

Erin Worley 

April 4. 2017 

The Trump Administration has repeatedly implicated that the Democrats' accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election is illegitimate and a way of trying to shift the blame of the election loss. However, according to former FBI agent Clint Watts, the problem is much larger than the U.S. election. 

Last week, Watts testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee where he explained the way Russia spread fake news during the presidential election by using armies of Twitter bots disguised as swing-voter Republicans from the Midwest. He explained that the profiles of these socially engineered bots perfectly mimic the targeted people.

Watts explained the way these bots will attempt to connect with the administration by responding to tweets the president puts out, and broadcasting stories that are false, manipulated, or conspiracies. 

The example Watts used was that of President Trump's accusation that President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower. These bots will react to such accusations by putting out more conspiracy theories about the accusation, thus amplifying the problem. 

This issue, which Watts has been tracking for three years, undermines the cyber security of the entire U.S. 

As a country that relies on the internet for e-commerce, national security, and day-to-day life, refusing to properly delve into this issue because of the political polarity of it puts the entire country at risk. After all, if Russia can get in, who else does that open up the doors to? And what is the extent of what Russia has done? It's time to stop looking at this as a Democrats vs. Republicans issue, and begin looking at it as a threat to national security. 

According to the 2016 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community, Cyber and Technology was the number one threat of 2016, as cyber security is becoming an increasingly complex issue. Furthermore, Russia was listed as the number one regional threat actor of the year due to its, "assertive cyber posture based on its willingness to target critical infrastructure systems and conduct espionage operations even when detected and under increased public scrutiny. Russian cyber operations are likely to target US interests to support several strategic objectives." 

It's time to focus on building up our country by focusing on our collective safety as a nation, not continuing to view this issue as a political one.

NPR Article on Russian Hacking
DNI Threat Assessment 2016