China Cracks down on Middle East-inspired Protests

Last week, the Chinese government moved to disperse protests that had been organized across China, calling for democratic change in the country. Hoping to imitate the "Jasmine Revolution" that toppled Tunisia's authoritarian government early in January and has since sparked a successful uprising ousting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and inspired numerous others across the Middle East that are still ongoing, the demonstrations were arranged by activists via online social networks. 

The government responded swiftly through force and increased censorship. In Beijing and Shanghai, the police broke up fledgling protests. Protesters, western journalists covering the scene, and even passing shoppers were dragged away by the police and arrested. The Internet also faced further censorship as all references to the event, including the word jasmine, were blocked on search engines. Elsewhere across the country, human rights activists and other dissidents were either detained or warned by the government to stay away from such events. 

Source:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/27/us-china-protest-idUSTRE71Q0TF20110227

US Federal Agent Murdered in Mexico

Jaime Zapata

Two American federal agents were ambushed by gunmen in central Mexico on Tuesday, leaving one dead and the other wounded but currently in stable condition. The deceased was Jaime J. Zapata, an agent with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. Zapata was a native of Brownsville, Texas, had been with the agency for four years, and had been on loan from the agency office in Laredo, Texas. The two agents had been attached to the US embassy in the capital Mexico City at the time of the attack.

Map of San Luis Potosi

Zapata and the other agent had been driving from Mexico City toward the city of Monterrey in northern Mexico when they were ambushed at a "narco-blockade" a fake roadblock commonly used by drug traffickers. The attack occurred in the state of San Luis Potosi, located in central Mexico, around 3 pm. While the pair were driving on the highway, they were forced to stop due to vehicles placed by the gunmen across the road. The gunmen then shot at both agents, mortally wounding Zapata, who succumbed after being discovered, and wounding the other agent with gunshots to the leg and arm. The assailants have not yet been identified, but are most presumably members of a drug cartel. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that, despite the attack, the US remained committed to supporting Mexico in its fight against drug cartels.

Columbia's Civil War: The Fight Against FARC

Flag of FARC

For the past several decades, the Columbian government has fought a prolonged war against the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Columbia; Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia), a left-wing insurgent group. FARC was originally founded in 1964, in the midst of the Cold War, as the militant branch of the Columbian Communist Party. FARC advocated for agrarian rights, representing itself as a supporter of the peasant majority against the wealthy Columbian elite that controlled the government. The group is described as the "oldest, largest, most capable, and best equipped" of all the Marxist insurgencies that sprang into being during the Cold War period.

Beside guerrilla warfare tactics against the Columbian army, FARC has employed a number of brutal tactics. Kidnapping, extortion, bombings, and other forms of terrorism all were widely during the height of the FARC's power. These tactics were used against the military, government officials, and civilians. The FARC was based out of rural areas, but also had centers and training camps in neighboring Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. In the 1990s, the FARC became involved in the drug-trade as a means to secure revenue. According to a 2006 report by the US Justice Department, about 50% of the world's cocaine was supplied by the FARC.

At it's peak, FARC consisted of 16,000 combatants. However, the number now is believed to be around 8,000 and 9,000. This is mainly due to the military campaign launched against FARC by then-president Alvaro Uribe after taking office in 2002. This campaign, backed by the US, succeeded in significantly eroding the power of FARC, killing off major rebel leaders and pushed back it's territory significantly. The FARC is believed now to be a shell of its former glory and is recently engaged in negotiations with the Columbian government, mainly over the release of hostages still held by FARC. Nonetheless, the war against FARC continues to be a thorn in the side of the government, and though many wish for a resolution in the near future, there is no clear end in sight.

Sources:
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/farc.htm
http://www.nctc.gov/site/groups/farc.html
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/farc.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11400950

A Study in Hinduism

Hindu Symbol

Hinduism is one the most ancient religions in the world, so ancient in fact that there is no recorded date to the exact foundation of the religion. It is the dominant religion of South Asia, most notably in India, where Hindus make up 80% of the nation's population. Hinduism has around a billion followers worldwide.

Shiva "The Destroyer"

Like many other religions, Hinduism teaches how to make yourself a better person. However, unlike other established religions, Hindu teachings do not strictly adhere to written rules or scripture. Instead, most of the religion is based off of religious, philosophical and cultural ideas, traditions and customs that are all closely related. Because of these diverse principles, there is no "true" form of Hinduism. Themes that are always present in Hinduism, however, are Dharma, the important duties and ethics in life, Karma, actions to take which reflect well upon you, Reincarnation, the belief in rebirth after death, and Nirvana, the release of the soul after a series of cycles of rebirths. Hinduism also has an estimated 330 million gods and goddesses. The most important god is Shiva, or "The Destroyer" seen as the "supreme god" of all of the Hindu gods.

Ganesha, patron god of arts

There are some very attractive features of Hinduism. If offers simple yet complex ways to "cleanse" the soul of sin, with ways like daily baptism. Also that anyone can have their own interpretation is quite appealing. The most confusing aspects of Hinduism are that there are so many different traditions and customs that make up the religion. Among these are he ideals revolving around sin, which I feel are not made quite clear.

Sources:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html
http://www.religionfacts.com/hinduism/overview.htm
http://hinduism.about.com/od/basics/p/hinduismbasics.htm
http://contenderministries.org/hinduism/hindubeliefs.php

The Strength and Weakness of India: Population Growth

As India emerges in the 21st century as a world power, there is considerable analysis and observation regarding whether it will be aided by its strengths or deferred by its weakness'. Among India's factors, I believe that the most significant sign of progress and a potential sign of limitation for India is the country's inflating population.

India Population Pyramid

Last year, as of July 2010, the total population of India was estimated to be 1,173,108,018. This makes India the second most populated country in the world, second only to another rising power, China. The population of India makes up about 17% of the global population. India's massive growth could be beneficial to the future of India's progressive rise. More people born means more added manpower to the country's workforce, spurring the growth of the number of jobs, and therefore a growth of the national economy. A rising economy in turn raises the standard of living in India and cause the creation of a middle class in India equivalent to the United States.

The downside to India's rising populace is the strain that such a growth will have on Indian society. Rising population will mean the increase of the number of impovershied in the country, a problem India has always struggled to deal with. Currently, about 25% of the population lives below the poverty line. In case of economic depression, high unemployment would result, putting a potential and severe strain on the Indian government. Harvesting natural resources would also have to increase in order to support such a large population. Therefore a great strain would be put onto the environment of India and possibly could upset the the country's natural ecosystem.

Sources:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html
http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/indiapopulation.htm

India Reviews 2005 Space Agency Deal

The government of India recently stated that it is reviewing a deal made by the Indian Space Research Organization in 2005 that reportedly gave a private company free usage of S-band Radio bandwidth for 20 years. Such a use could mean the loss of $44 billion in revenue. Bandwidths are the differences between the lower and upper levels in sets of frequencies and is usable in many fields, including radio communications, and through electronic data transfer. The government has not yet reached a decision regarding whether to allocate bandwidth either to Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO or Devas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd, the private company.

The original deal, according to a report in the Daily Line newspaper, was that the ISRO would launch two satellites for Devas against required payments and would also give the company free use of the agency's bandwidth. This report comes at a time in India when the majority party in Congress is facing a series of allegations regarding massive corruption. The government so far has made some "preliminary queries" and has stated that the space agency will reply to them. The Company Devas responded with its own statement, calling the report inaccurate and that it had received no communications from the Indian Space Agency. The company also said that it had approval to lease satellite transponders from the agency. India's Central Bureau of Investigation (the equilvalent of our FBI) is probbing the report. So far the Bureau has estimated that the government could lose up to 4.8 billion dollars in potential revenue. An arrest has been made last week in relation to the investigation. Former Telecom minister Andimuthu Raja and two aides were taken into custody by the Bureau for allegedly showing favortism in  rewarding licenses of the use of bandwidth.

Original article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704364004576131721837728418.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Other sources:
http://searchenterprisewan.techtarget.com/definition/bandwidth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandwidth_(signal_processing)

Egypt in Chaos: Government tries to Assuage Demonstrators

On January 25, 2011, about 200,000 demonstrators filled the streets of Cairo, Egypt in open protest of President Hosni Mubarak, who has led the country for 30 years. The protests were aftershocks of a successful uprising in Tunisia on January 15, which ousted the country's president who had been in office for 23 years. The demonstrators were mostly young people, who used online social networks, like Facebook, to organize the protests. As these protests drag on, their ranks will be swelled by the lower and upper classes, the unemployed, opposition figures, and radical Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned fundamentalist group. The demonstrations are meet with force by Cairo police, who use such methods as tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd. As clashes between protesters, law enforcement, and pro-Mubarak groups grow, Cairo descends into a state of anarchy, as the government employs the army to act as peacekeeper. 

Vice President Omar Suleiman

Over the weekend, any signs regarding the future of the uprising remains unclear. According to The New York Times, representatives of opposition groups have stated that they will increase pressure on President Mubarak to resign, even as the newly appointed vice President Omar Suleiman has begun discussions with opposition groups. Key figures in the ruling party, including Mubarak's son, have stepped down, possibly to show that the government is genuinely interested in reform. Meanwhile, the United States has also been working behind the scenes to convince the government to accept concessions and adopt reforms. Vice President Joe Biden made a phone call to his Egyptian counterpart urging the Egyptian government to act with restraint when dealing with the protesters.

Sources include:

http://www.counterpunch.org/asfour02012011.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/world/middleeast/07egypt.html?_r=1&hp

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/02/03/egypt.protests.timeline/index.html

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/latest-updates-on-day-13-of-egypt-protests/?hp