Emily Feldmesser – Page 4

Global Grab: Activists occupy Hong Kong, U.S. leads attacks on ISIL

The Issue: Hong Kong

What started off as peaceful protests in Hong Kong escalated to involve tear gas and riot police on Sunday. Occupy Central with Love and Peace (Occupy Central, for short), a civil disobedience movement proposed by democracy activists in Hong Kong, organized the protests, according to the BBC. They want political reform and democratic elections and plan on protesting the Chinese government’s ruling against open elections in 2017. The BBC reported the group took its name from the 2011 Occupy Wall Street Protests.

The protests turned violent on Sunday when another group, the Hong Kong Federation of Students, organized a sit-in urging students to boycott classes and workers to strike, said the New York Times. Their main reason for the protesting? “The protestors focused their anger at a plan for electoral changes introduced by Beijing last month for the first time would let the public vote for the city’s chief executive, beginning in 2017,” the Times reported.

According to Reuters, Communist Party leaders in Beijing are concerned about these calls for democracy spreading to mainland China. That led to the phrase “Occupy Central” being blocked on Weibo, a Chinese social network. So far, there have been 78 arrests in the protests

The Issue: ISIL

The New York Times reported the Pentagon confirmed it had conducted its first strikes against ISIL targets in Syria, along the Turkish border. “Symbolically, though, the modest strikes around Kobani (the area that was targeted) demonstrated some American and Arab commitment to the direct defense of the Kurds in an area that, village by village, has been falling to Islamic State forces,” the Times reported.

The BBC reports United States-led coalition aircraft have targeted four makeshift ISIL-controlled oil refineries. Along with the U.S., countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates participated in the attacks. There are approximately 40 countries in the coalition, including five Arab states.

On Friday Great Britain, Belgium and Denmark joined the coalition and committed warplanes to its efforts, the Associated Press reported. Denmark is planning on sending seven F-16 fighter jets, plus four operational planes and three reserve jets, along with 250 pilots and support staff for 12 months, according to the AP. Lawmakers there have yet to approve this measure, but it is expected to pass.

Global Grab: Scotland stays, Afghanistan elects new president

The Issue: Scotland

The historic vote for separation in Scotland did not turn out how the separatists wanted. Scotland agreed to stay as a part of the United Kingdom in a close referendum vote: 55 percent against secession and 45 percent for it, according to Reuters. No one was certain of how this referendum would turn out, since every poll had different results.

A few days after the referendum, British Prime Minister David Cameron passed a series of laws to transfer key decision-making powers from London to Scotland, the Associated Press said. Reuters reports that these new powers include taxation, spending and welfare.

Even with these changes, some Scottish nationalist leaders have been saying that British political leaders “tricked” Scots out of independence. These accusations come from Alex Salmond, the Scottish nationalist chief, who Reuters reported is stepping down as leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party. Salmond is accusing “politicians in London of reneging on their promises to hand more power to Scots…that he said played a crucial role in swinging the votes in favor of union in Thursday’s vote.”

Even though this vote for independence failed, other areas interested in secession are using Scotland as an example on how to go about the process. For example, the AP reports that lawmakers in Spain’s Catalonia region voted on Friday to “give their leader the power to call a secession referendum that the central government in Madrid has denounced as illegal.” Other places interested in secession are the Basques in northern Spain, the Corsicans in France, Italians in several northern regions, the Flemish in Belgium and the Quebec province in Canada.

The Issue: Afghanistan

After a tumultuous election, an American-brokered deal finally decided who would become president in Afghanistan. The nation’s election commission pronounced Ashraf Ghani the winner of the presidential election, the New York Times reported. However, the commission did not disclose the total amount of votes won, “despite an exhaustive and costly audit process overseen by the United Nations and financed by the American government.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Reuters reported, “…Ghani will share power with a chief executive proposed by Abdullah (Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister and Ghani’s rival). The two will share control over who leads key institutions such as the Afghan army and other executive decisions.”

This deal was brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, “We support this agreement and stand ready to work with the next administration to ensure its success.”

Global Grab: Obama’s ISIL strategy and Scotland’s independence vote

The Issue: ISIL

The situation in the Middle East has been worsening during this past week. On Wednesday, Sept. 10, President Barack Obama made a speech to the nation, stating his intention to go after ISIL by building an international coalition. The role of the U.S. military will escalate, and Obama will be sending 475 military advisers to Iraq, making the total about 1,700, according to CNN.

CNN also reports that Obama shifted $25 million in military aid to Iraqi forces, including “Kurdish fighters in the north combating the ISIS extremists. The aid could include ammunition, small arms and vehicles, as well as military education and training.”

During the speech, Obama said, “Our objective is clear: We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy.”

On Sunday, several Arab countries offered to carry out airstrikes against ISIL militants, the New York Times reports. According to Reuters, Australia said they would send troops, but Britain has yet to commit.

ISIL released a video of another beheading on Saturday. This time, the victim was British aid worker David Cawthorne Haines. According to the Washington Post, Haines was abducted in March 2013 near a refugee camp along the Turkish border in Syria. British Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain would support the United States, plus assist the Iraqi government and continue to aid the Kurdish regional government, the New York Times reports. However, they have not taken an active military role.

The Issue: Scotland

Many Scots will be heading to the polls on Thursday to vote on whether they want to be their own independent nation, or stick with their British identity. This vote has major implications in the United Kingdom, as the New York Times says, “…shaking the British government of Prime Minister David Cameron, undermining the electoral future of the British Labour Party and making it more likely that Britain will have a referendum on its own continued membership in the European Union.”

Polls as recent as Sunday are still extremely close, Reuters reports. “Out of four new polls, three showed those in favour of maintaining the union with a lead of 2 and 8 percentage points,” according to Reuters But other polls have shown that supporters of independence in the lead with 54 percent to the opposition’s 46 percent. An expected four million people will be voting on this referendum.

On Sunday, Reuters reported, Queen Elizabeth told a crowd she hoped Scots would “think very carefully about the future.”

Global Grab: Ebola goes rural and U.S. counters ISIL

The Issue: Ebola

Ebola is one of the most fatal diseases known to humankind, and it is the cause of one of the deadliest outbreaks in history in Africa. According to the World Health Organization, Ebola has a death rate of up to 90 percent, and is caused by human-to-human interaction, such as bodily fluids.

Currently, the death toll is 2,100 in several West African countries: Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Yahoo News. By some estimates, there are about 3,500 confirmed cases of the disease, with no cure. Approximately 240 health workers in the affected areas have been infected with the disease and several have died, the Washington Post reports. However, several Americans who were infected were flown back to the U.S. and given an experimental treatment.

The Washington Post reports there are now fears that Ebola will be spreading from “remote provinces” to the bigger cities in Africa. The Post also said, “Last week, the World Health Organization warned that the number of cases could hit 20,000 in West Africa.”

The Issue: Countering ISIL

After the recent videos of American journalists being beheaded by suspected members of ISIL, the United States has ramped up their strategy against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Vice President Joe Biden said in a speech, “We take care of those who are grieving, and when that’s finished, they should know, we will follow them to the gates of hell until they are brought to justice. Because hell is where they will reside. Hell is where they will reside.”

And on Sunday, the United States launched a new series of airstrikes against Sunni fighters, which were aimed at ISIL militants. These recent attacks were made to stop militants from seizing and important dam on the Euphrates River and “prevent the possibility of floodwaters being unleashed toward the capital, Baghdad,” the New York Times reported.

President Barack Obama will be making a speech to the nation on Wednesday, which will be used to “make his case for launching a United States-led offensive against Sunni militants gaining ground in the Middle East,” the New York Times reported. President Obama has said this speech is “…not going to be an announcement about U.S. ground troops…this is not the equivalent of the Iraq war.”

The Associated Press said the head of the Arab League “urged its members…to confront Islamic State extremists ‘militarily and politically,’ issuing an apparent call to arms as President Barack Obama prepares to go to lawmakers and the American public with his own plan to stop the militants.”

Global Grab: ISIL rises and Putin moves in

The Issue: ISIL

This summer, a militant group in Iraq and Syria has been making major headlines. ISIS, or ISIL as world leaders call it, has made a name for itself. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is known for its massacres and hostile takeovers of major Iraqi cities.

The increasing violence in the region prompted President Barack Obama to send in American troops, about four years after the last combat troops left Iraq. However, these troops are not on the ground, instead, they are just using air power. Along with airstrikes, the U.S. also carried out humanitarian aid drops, most famously to the Yazidi minority in Iraq, that were trapped on a mountain.

Within the past few weeks, the situation got even more dire, due to the beheading of American journalist James Foley by a member of ISIL. Foley was kidnapped in Syria two years ago, and was held for ransom since. ISIL is claiming they are holding another American journalist who disappeared in Syria in 2013, NBC News reports.

According to NBC News, the United States had tried to rescue Foley and the other journalist, but the mission failed due to a location error. Foley was being held for ransom for about $132 million. ISIL militants have also been accused of killing and holding Lebanese soldiers.

And on Tuesday, many news outlets reported that ISIL beheading the second American journalist in their custody, Steven Sotloff. As of press time, neither the White House nor the State Department could confirm the video of the beheading.

Within the past few days, Iraqi troops, along with U.S. airstrikes were able to liberate the Iraqi town of Amerli, after “a months-long blockade by Islamic State militants that had surrounded the Shiite Turkmen village and raised fears of an impending massacre,” the Washington Post reports. The militants surrounded the town in June.

The Issue: Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin is at it again. After a bit of a lull in the militant fighting in Ukraine, minus the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 by Ukrainian rebels, more trouble is brewing in the region. Within the past few days, Russian troops entered Ukraine. According to the Associated Press, Western countries say Russian troops and supplies went to Ukraine “to bolster the pro-Russian rebels.” Western countries are also alleging Russia has given weapons and fighters to Ukraine. According to AP, NATO says there are at least 1,000 Russian troops in Ukraine.

On Sunday, Putin “demanded that the Ukrainian government negotiate directly with pro-Russian separatists,” the New York Times said. Putin also suggested the issues of “statehood,” the Washington Post is reporting. This call for negotiations, and possible statehood, comes around the time where other European leaders threaten tougher economic sanctions against Russia if the conflict does not end within the next few days.

Even though Putin brought up the idea of “statehood,” he is claiming that “this did not mean Moscow now endorsed rebel calls for independence for territory they have seized,” Reuters reported.

According to the United Nations, the death toll of this ongoing conflict is about 2,600 people.

Editor’s Note: The featured image for this article originally showed a member of an Iraqi militia. The image was changed to a photo of ISIL members.

Supreme Court takes up arms in war on women

In an unsurprising decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby, allowing the craft store chain to deny contraception to its employees based on its religious beliefs. Though I always knew the Supreme Court would rule in favor of Hobby Lobby, a part of me hoped it wouldn’t.

Hobby Lobby said that they feel they don’t need to provide their employees with Plan B (the “morning after pill”) and intrauterine devices (IUDs), because they think they cause abortions. Hobby Lobby is owned by the Christian Green family, and they think providing women with contraceptives under the Affordable Care Act violates their religious freedom. And apparently the Supreme Court agreed. With this ruling, it shows that SCOTUS thinks not only that corporations are people, but that they can exercise religious rights.

There are several problems with this ruling. One is that it creates a slippery slope — if employers can deny certain medications based on their religious affiliations, where will the line be drawn? Christian Scientists don’t believe in blood transfusions and Scientologists don’t believe in anti-depressants, so does that mean under this ruling, they can deny coverage for these life saving treatments?

But the biggest problem with this ruling is that it is yet another attack on women. The Supreme Court decided this verdict 5-4, and those in the majority male. The four dissenters included the three women on the bench. These men in the majority value corporations over women because, as we all know, corporations are people. It’s nice to know that corporations have more rights than I do.

People say there’s no war on women. I ask them to explain why a large section of the public is so against contraception or so adamant against abortion, or don’t even want women to make their own healthcare decisions. Or when Hillary Clinton is asked whether she can be president when she’s a grandmother or if General Motors CEO Mary Barra is asked whether she can perform her job well because she’s a mother

. Remind me the last time a man was asked about how being a father impacts his job performance?

This decision is a result of culmination of feelings towards women. The idea that women aren’t capable of making their own healthcare decision, that women are only seen as vessels for fetuses and that women are less valuable than corporations. The Supreme Court has set a scary precedent for healthcare and women, and the future is uncertain as to what will happen to women next.

I just wish I was a white, Christian male so I would be able to make my own healthcare decisions.

Global Grab: Abbas Un-Denies Holocaust, Progress in Syria and Two New Saints

The Issue: Mahmoud Abbas

The Palestinian president has changed his tune on the Holocaust. Abbas called the Holocaust “the most heinous crime to have occurred against humanity in the modern era,” according to the New York Times.

The timing of this announcement comes before Israel’s annual memorial for victims of the genocide. It also comes at a time during the United States-backed peace processes in Israel. Abbas was also known as a Holocaust denier. According to the New York Times, “…he challenged the number of Jewish victims and argued that Zionists had collaborated with Nazis to propel more people to what would become Israel” in his 1983 doctoral dissertation. The AP says “Israelis frequently claim the Palestinians are not sincere about wanting peace.”

These comments come when Abbas’s political party, the Fatah group, and its rival Hamas are trying to broker a deal to form a new unity government, said the BBC. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not a fan of the comments. “President Abbas can’t have it both ways,” he told CNN. “He can’t say the Holocaust was terrible, but at the same time embrace those who deny the Holocaust and seek to perpetrate another destruction of the Jewish people.”

The Issue: Syria

Though other news headlines capture attention, the three-year long Syrian civil war is still going on, and people there are working toward progress.

The United Nations set a June 30 as a deadline for the total destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons. However, the Syrian government wanted to remove its 1,300 tons of chemical substances by April 27. Al Jazeera reports 92 percent of the arsenal has been shipped out of the country or destroyed.

According to the BBC, most of Syria’s chemical weapons substances exist as separate materials, and become toxic once they are mixed together.

“If Syria completes the process, it would be regarded as a critical step toward demonstrating its commitment to eradicating its entire chemical weapons program by the end of June…” wrote the New York Times.

The Issue: Sainthood for Two Popes

In an historic event, Pope Francis elevated his predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II to sainthood. According to the New York Times, this is the first time two popes have been canonized at once.

The event garnered large crowds in Rome. The Vatican estimated about 800,000 people went to Rome to see the event first hand, according to the BBC. Joining the festivities was former Pope Benedict XVI, the first pope to resign in over 600 years. He stepped down last year due to health reasons.

According to Al Jazeera, John XXIII was pope from 1958 to 1963. John Paul II was pope for almost 27 years, from 1978 to 2005.

Global Grab: A Sunken Ferry and intensified Ukrainian conflict

The Issue: South Korean Ferry

What was supposed to be a fun trip for high school students in South Korea turned tragic when the ferry they were on sank.

There were 476 people on board, including 339 children and teachers from the school, according to BBC.

The current death toll is 64, with 238 people still missing, most of them students. According to Al Jazeera, two United States underwater drones have been deployed to search for the bodies.

The captain of the ferry is being accused of abandoning the ferry while the passengers were trapped onboard. According to Al Jazeera, the captain and two other crewmembers were arrested on negligence charges.

This is considered one of South Korea’s worst maritime disasters.

The Issue: Ukraine

Ukraine has been getting worse. One issue that grabbed major headlines was the leaflet supposedly released in eastern Ukraine that told Jews to register with the pro-Russian militants.

In an address to reporters in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke out against these fliers.

“In the year 2014, after al of the miles traveled and all of the journey of history, this is not just intolerable, it’s grotesque,” he said.

“It’s beyond unacceptable.”

However, Time Magazine said “the flier was more likely part of an ill-conceived extortion plot or a propaganda ploy against the separatists.”

Also in the Ukraine, a mystery has been solved.

For a few weeks, well-armed, professional gunmen have seized Ukrainian government sites in several towns, according to the New York Times.

Ukrainian officials have put the blame on the Russians, but the Russians have repeatedly denied these accusations.

However, it’s been found that the “green men,” as they are called, are in fact Russian military and intelligence forces.

The Kremlin still maintains that there is no Russian involvement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters Thursday that, “it’s all nonsense.

“There are no Russian units, special services or instructors in the east of Ukraine.”

Delaware free store provides resources to poor

A selection of baby clothes at the Common Ground Free Store Ministries. This store provides everything from baby clothes to houseware items to books, all at no cost to those who need them. Photo by Emily Feldmesser

A couple blocks away from Selby Stadium there’s a store that is, for some, considered to be more than a place to get goods.

The Common Ground Free Store Ministries is a free store, which means everything is completely free of charge for the patrons of the store.

“Our mission statement is to share in God’s gifts with the community,” said Sherri Fitzpatrick, volunteer manager.

“We do this by meeting local need for food, household items, clothing, shoes, toys, etc. to whomever needs it.”

They provide free goods to about 21,000 people in Delaware County, according to Lori Falk, the executive director of the Common Ground Free Store Ministries.

They also served more than 18,000 meals in 2013.

Falk said there is a meal served each day the store is open, and the store is open four days a week.

“We serve 100-125 hot meals every day the store is open, making us the largest free community meal provider in the county,” Fitzpatrick said.

The food is provided by the volunteers and cannot be prepared in the organization’s kitchen, so the meals are considered to be “a community potluck,” according to Falk.

“Common Ground Free Store Ministries is a partnership between Delaware County churches, business, civic organizations and caring citizens,” according to the Free Store’s website.

Falk said this organization is faith-based, with over 30 church partners and a synagogue involved.

Falk also said there were over 1,200 volunteers that came through their doors in 2013.

The Free Store gets donations from citizens of Delaware, plus Panera Bread, Kroger Grocery Store and Ohio Wesleyan University.

All the donations are tax deductible, and the organization is a non-profit.

Falk said this free store is the only common ground free store that she knows of.

She said there are other free stores in surrounding counties, but they all cater to different needs.

Some give out mattresses and bedding, while others focus more on home goods.

There are many types of goods that the Free Store gives, ranging from infant clothes to books.

Falk said there is a limit on how many items people can take at one time, and the store has a computer system that tracks the numbers.

Falk also said the average amount people come in to get items is once or twice a year.

According to the February 2014 Ohio Poverty Report, Delaware County was had a poverty rate ranging from 4.7 to 7.9 percent.

According to Fitzpatrick, the Free Store has about 20 families that come regularly to eat that are homeless or what would be considered “transitionally homeless.”

“We have transiently served hundreds more over the life of the Free Store,” Fitzpatrick said.

“They (the homeless) say they come not just because they can get food, but because we are loving and they don’t feel judged,” she added.

Global Grab: Elections and reflections

The Issue: Afghanistan

Nearly 60 percent of the 12 million eligible voters turned out in the Afghani elections, said the New York Times. According to the United States Elections Project, 58.2 percent of Americans voted in the 2012 elections.

Saturday was the country’s first open election, and at least three of the eight candidates were considered contenders to replace current President Hamid Karzai.

During the elections, the Taliban had made threats to disrupt the election. According to the Washington Post, at least 23 people were killed on Election Day and the day before, and those who were killed were soldiers and police officers.

Even with the relative success of this election, it was not perfect.

The New York Times said voting did not take place in many rural districts in eastern and southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban presence is the strongest.

The Issue: Rwanda

This month marks the 20th anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which killed as many as 800,000 people.

Conflict stemmed from the Hutu ethnic group blaming the minority Tutsi group for shooting down the president’s plane, which killed him. According to the New York Times, the French have admitted to its “involvement in arming and equipping the government from 1990 to ’94.”

Today, the Hutus and Tutsis still fight in other African countries, but have actually reconciled in Rwanda.

The Issue: India

On the topic of elections, India is having an unprecedented experience.

This week starts the world’s largest election. Monday was the first wave of voting, according to CNN, by having the rural northeastern states of Assam and Tripura vote.

There are 814 million eligible voters in this election. The current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is stepping aside after a decade in charge, and according to the New York Times, opinion polls have “shown that voters are leaning toward the opposition…”

According to the Washington Post, “About two-thirds of the population is younger than 35. Voters are more urban and connected than ever before, and per capita income has risen dramatically.”

The New York times said the votes will not be counted until May 16.