International
The Good: Canada Legalizes Recreational Marijuana
Canada made history akin to the Prohibition Era as it followed through with the biggest legislative change the Country has seen in nearly 100 years. Wednesday, Canadians were officially allowed to recreationally carry, use, and share up to 30 grams of dried marijuana as well as possess up to 4 marijuana plants per household. It still remains illegal for citizens to sell marijuana and lawmakers have expressed a potential need to amend the law as the new social and legal change plays out, however the change is predicted to have positive effects on Canada’s financial, cultural, and social agenda.
Long lines at dispensaries, a surge in online weed orders, legalization parities, and the first ever “toking ticket” were among the first things seen as Canada ushered in it’s new ratification creating an equally exciting and cautious air to the social and political climate. With some hailing the new laws as some of the smartest changes Canada has madem in decades, others are hesitant about joining in on the joviality.
British Columbia’s Minister Of Public Safety answered questions regarding marijuana legalization saying: “Legalization of cannabis is the largest public policy shift this country has experienced in the past five decades…” later adding: “It’s an octopus with many tentacles, and there are many unknowns…I don’t think that when the federal government decided to legalize marijuana it thought through all of the implications.”
Despite warnings from concerned specialists such as members of the Canadian Medical Association Journal claiming the unseen impact of the legalization could have negative effects on the development of youth and citizens suffering from addiction or mental health, stores were packed as eager buyers combed through hundreds of different strains and nearly emptied most dispensaries’ in just a few hours.
Currently, not all Canadian provinces have the same legal Marijuana rights. Only citizens above 19 may legally use marijuana; other substances containing cannabis such as edibles will not be legal until next year.
The Bad: Saudi Journalist Killed
The world continues to express frustration and outrage after it was discovered that Saudi journalist and public Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi went missing and was later confirmed tortured and killed.
After entering into the Turkish consulate to receive divorce documents, video surveillance indicates Khashoggi never returned to his car or his fiancée awaiting his return. New audio spread through the media this week as proof of the brutal killing which Saudi Arabia denied having involvement with. The audio clearly replays Khashoggi’s interrogation, dismemberment, and eventual death after 15 suspected men kidnapped Khashoggi moments after he entered into the building.
Nations across the world are all calling upon the Saudi government to execute an investigation into the incident, however some are not convinced an accurate report will be produced since Khashoggi was a public critic of the current Saudi regime led by his son Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
Jamal Khashoggi fled the country after Salman was elected and began to criticize the government after witnessing a repeal of freedoms and the arrests of innocent people who disagreed openly with the regime. Before heading to Istanbul, Khashoggi spoke off air with a BBC journalist saying he felt he may never be able to return home to Saudi Arabia.
President Trump recently signed a $110 billion dollar arms deal with Saudi Arabia which has recently come under fire after Khashoggi’s killing. The American public along with free press activist groups have condemned Trump’s continued support of the deal which Trump says “will only hurt ourselves.” if we back out. Analysts predict China or Russia will likely pick up the bid if The United States backs out of the deal.
Despite Trump’s protection of the deal which he says will provide jobs across the country, he says there are other ways to punish Saudi Arabia.
Health
The Good: Oval Blue Pill Succeeds In Reducing HIV
Since the outbreak of HIV/AIDS in the early 1960’s, doctors have struggled to understand, treat, and prevent the illness. However new medical advancements have successfully reduced the spread of the virus with a simple blue bill.
The report which studied the effects of Truvada among sexually active gay and bi-sexual men suggests the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP helps reduce new cases of HIV among men by ⅓, the lowest scientists have seen since HIV surveillance began in 1985. Members of the U.N. agreed to successfully end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 in an 2014 agreement calling on nations across the world to make efforts to educate citizens in an effort to prevent infection as well as engineer an effective preventative medicine to be made widely available.
“The speed of the decline we’ve seen in new HIV infections in gay and bisexual men is a world first,” said Andrew Grulich, head of HIV epidemiology and prevention at the Kirby Institute of the University of New South Wales. Grulich later added: “While we’ve known for at least three or four years now of individual-level efficacy of PrEP, there has been some reticence around the world by policy makers to properly fund the roll out of PrEP because the population impact hasn’t been shown — and that’s what we set out to do,” Grulich said.
The Bad: UN Predicts 13,000,000 At Risk Of Starvation
This week the United Nations continued to unveil uneasy predictions about the war ravaged region of Yemen which has been entrenched in a civil war since 2015. Between 10,000 and 50,000 lives have been lost since the bombing began with millions more lives on the line as starvation begins to sweep the region. At least 13 million citizens suffer daily from a lack of food as bombings and attacks prevent airdrops of food, and simultaneously destroy the infrastructure needed for supplies to be brought into the country. Some analyst’s even suggest the cutting off of basic resources may be a tactic for the government to seize control of power from the rebels.
“In the early months of the war, the targets were primarily military,” wrote Professor Martha Mundy of Tufts University in Medford, Mass. “From August 2015 there appears a shift from military and governmental to civilian and economic targets, including water and transport infrastructure, food production and distribution, roads and transport, schools, cultural monuments, clinics and hospitals, and houses, fields and flocks.”
So far at least 2 million people have been displaced since the war ensued, combined with relentless bombing and limited medical services unable to attend to everyone, the Yemen citizenry has all but collapsed. While nearly 13 million suffering daily, another 22 million are in need of some type of food assistance, nearly three quarters of the population.
Despite ongoing reports of brutal bombings and attacks on women and children, most major nations have halted on intervening on a military level due to Saudi Arabai’s ties with The United Emirate Allies which include major player, Russia.
Education:
The Good: MIT Pledges 1 Billion To New College
As the future of Artificial Intelligence dawns upon us, the gap between educated creators, experts and analysts and the onset of coming technologically based jobs continues to grow. This week, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced it would be making a billion dollar commitment to correcting the gap and investing in the future of education.
With two thirds of the billion dollar goal already raised and donations from CEO of Blackstone Stephen A. Schwarzman, the college is slated to open in September 2019. The interdisciplinary hub will serve the next generation of AI, data and computing experts, however President of M.I.T. L. Rafael Reif has also expressed an interest fostering interdisciplinary education, a foreshadowing of A.I.’s impact on every area of human life. Students who are studying physics, biology, history and other disciplines who know how to apply computing skills will be able to use the resources the new facility and experts can provide.
Although the pledge is most seen as a good investment into the education of the future, detractors who warn of the artificial intelligences’ impact on human lives was addressed in Reif’s Press Release assuring the public that ethics and the consideration of human impact would be the driving force behind educating it’s students.
“As computing reshapes our world, MIT intends to help make sure it does so for the good of all,” said Reif in a press statement. “The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing will constitute both a global center for computing research and education, and an intellectual foundry for powerful new AI tools. Just as important, the College will equip students and researchers in any discipline to use computing and AI to advance their disciplines and vice-versa, as well as to think critically about the human impact of their work.”
The Bad: New Reports Reveals 114,000 Students Are Homeless
“The number of students who are homeless in New York City would fill Yankee Stadium twice,” said Kim Sweet, executive director of the Administration of Children and Families after data from the 2017-2018 school year was released by the Department of Education this week.
“While the City works to address the overwhelming problem of homelessness, it must take bold action to ensure that students who are homeless get an excellent education and do not get stuck in a cycle of poverty.”
Statewide the number of homeless students including charter school students has swelled to just over 150,000, an increase of 4,600 from the 2016-2017 data.
Currently district 10 in the Bronx holds the most homeless students. There is approximately 1 social worker per 1,660 homeless children, and the city has failed to connect an overwhelming majority of the students with resources needed to find homes near their district. So far New York’s initiative to solve the homelessness problem has connected 200 families with local schools.
More Things You Should Know:
- President Trump Threatens To Cut Funding To Several South American Countries
- Israeli Supreme Court Allows Student To Stay And Study Despite Boycott
- Jamaica Women’s Soccer Team Qualified For The First Time
- Steve Penny, former USA gymnastics President Arrested For Witness Tampering
- Diddy and Cassie Allegedly Break Up
- Pusha-T Claims “OVO 40” Responsible For Info Leak
-
Make sure to stay up to date on this weeks top stories here at EMCEE!
