The Mental Youngs

Hi again! Recently, there has been a sensational news which shook the entire world, a South Korean murdered 32 people with his guns and later committed suicide in a university in America. The effects are devastating, innocent lives are lost and it brought about many harmful chain effects to the community living there and around America. Students were afraid to attend school for fear of facing the same situation, parents are paranoid when sending their children to school.

In this entry, I shall discuss on the signs of a mental child. The South Korean man was clearly not in his right state of mind to take the lives of people. There was evidence since the past few years and yet people surrounding him ignored it and some continue to alienate him, resulting his problems to snowball into the recent event. This is a good wake up call to schools and communities around the world to take action and improvise to help these mental students.

Furthermore, I also feel that he, along with those he killed, is a victim. He has suffered so much pain and agony and yet nobody is around to understand his problems and lend a shoulder for support. What happened is partly because of the influence of the surroundings on him, examples are the class he is in, the school he is in etc. From what I have read, I know that he is much isolated in his school and many people dislike him. This is also partially their fault, how could they treat him unequally and show him disrespect like any other human beings? Is this fair to him? Would they be responsible if he one day has his revenge on them? Of course a normal human being would feel infuriated and want to get back on those people. Therefore I feel that they are partially responsible.

However, I feel that he is responsible for his own plight too. He did not want to seek help from the school councilors and teachers and kept everything to himself. He thought that no one was there for him but he did not know that his teachers were very much willing to help. If he has turned to help, this situation will cease to exist.

Sadly, whats done cannot be undone. What we can do now is to learn from the past mistakes and correct them so that this would not happen in the future again.

Is the use of torture ever justified in dealing with criminals and terrorists?

After reading the articles from TIME online, I feel that the use of torture is not really justified in dealing with criminals and terrorists. From the first article, the writer questions the real purpose in moving the detainees to other US base in Guantánamo Bay. He also states that there are not enough evidence to bring them to court and feels that the US government has a lot of hidden transparencies in the job of questioning detainees. They do a lot of cover up for their unknown real intentions. This will undermine the moral and real purpose of committing such acts which is to find justice for those innocent victims. The writer states that the government is using it to fulfil its desire for more power in the region and also for control.

Secondly, the writer also mentions that the use of torture is too harsh. Citing evidence from the article, the 9/11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (K.S.M.), who, according to senior intelligence officials, was told his children would be hurt if he didn't cooperate. Furthermore, some detainees really could not provide answers and yet the interrogators continued to pursue methods of harsh torture. This is unfair to the other party even though they have committed heinous crimes. Prior to this, I feel that governments should revise their way of interrogating detainees, some leeway should be granted even though the detainees were culprits. However, I stress that no leniency should be given to them when meting out the punishment. They certainly deserve their punishment for the wrong doings.

Also, in public sense, I hope they could have a better understanding of the whole picture instead of a narrow view. They could ask questions about the intentions of government organizations and pressured them into providing them with more transparencies and answers so that they know what they are supporting for is morally right.

New Media – Power to the people or threat to stability?

Hi again! This week i will be discussing on the development of media in the current society. This will include the pros and cons of the issue. I feel the answer to this question is depending on the individual who uses the media, how they use it to fulfil their purpose. Is it to spread news and information? Or is it to spread terrorism or undesirable things?

It can be of good intention to educate the public. For example, people can read instant online news and find out recent events happening around the world. Or they use it as a place to communicate with people around the world instantly, through emails or online chat rooms. Recently, there is also introduction of blogspot where it gives users a chance to air their opinions and views on certain matters. This is in conjunction of the allowance of freedom of speech practised by many countries around the world.

However, people could abuse it this privilege too. Some people misuse the blogspot to express their displeasure, some in the form of insulting people or making racial remarks which are devastating to a country's stability. This may lead to serious consequences like racial riots, internal wars so on. Even modern day terrorists use this media to spread their idea of terrorism across the globe, brainwashing many innocent people to follow their cause. These acts can cause alot of instability in countries, for example, more people will tend to terrorism and more acts of terrorism will occur. Inter-racial riots can also happen and lead to the distortment of the country society.

In conclusion, I restate my point that the media is a place for people to use. It is a privilege. Whether people make full use of it or abuse it, it will solely depend on the individual's mindset and choice.