World Affairs

Greetings, and welcome to the World Affairs section of this 7th Newspaper Edition. As always, I certainly hope you're in the mood for interestingly informative material, because this is the place where you shall find it. Up first is Doddsy1992, with his article on the various Smoking Bans that have taken effect in different nations. Following that, Adam? offers his opinion regarding what he refers to as The Curse of Technology. Last but not least, Natus Lumen writes about the recent, abrupt Japanese Prime Minister's Resignation. So be sure to show your support, and prepare yourself to read these excellent articles.

-Kyle

Smoking Bans - By: Doddsy1992

On the 1st of July in England & Wales the smoking ban came into action. This ban prohibited people from smoking in any enclosed public area. This included pubs, work places, nightclubs, restaurant and all public transport in which smoking wasn't already banned. There was an incredible amount of controversy over this ban, from both smokers and non-smokers alike.

The arguments for both sides were strong, but debating the matter was futile as it was already on the way to law and there was no one left to veto the law, not that the House of Lords would anyway. The law was put forward as it is a commonly known and acknowledged fact that passive smoking is more destructive than inhaling the smoke through the actual cigarette. All pre-rolled cigarettes now, by law, have a filter which removes some of the impurities and poisons in the cigarette smoke. Everyone else in the nearby surrounding must take the full force of the cigarette's potency. The smoke contains over 4000 chemicals, including cyanide and many carcinogens, and is known to lead to the death of thousands of innocent people every year.

The main arguments against the ban were about the rights. Many smokers believe that they should have the right to smoke wherever they want. Many smokers believed that this ban was discriminative and infringed on their human rights. The smokers may have had a better chance of defending their habit if they hadn't continually claimed that their human rights were being violated. As soon as human rights were involved the counter arguments were too strong. The basic human right is the right to life, and there is a virtual certainty you were shortening other people's life spans and therefore taking away their right to life. That was the main reason to argue against the smoking ban and it seems to have swayed the debate into the favour of banning it. Nearly everyone now appears to be happy with ban and hopefully, there will be a decrease in the amout of people dying from passive smoking.

England was one of the first ‘Western' countries to ban smoking in all enclosed public places, other countries are also heading in this direction. The United States of America ( USA ) is heading in the same direction but due to the way in which American laws works it will take longer than in most countries. The USA is, as most of you know, made of states that can pass laws specific to that state. This means that unless a smoking ban is passed as a federal law no state has to comply. The states that have complied have shown that all the predictions of what a smoking ban would do to the economy of bars and restaurants have shown to, generally, be false. This means there is no reason for the rest of USA to go with the smoking ban unless an example occurs.

As well as the USA, Canada is now starting to move in the right direction. Canada has had a rule instated in most provinces which prohibits smoking in indoor workplaces and public places. What is different about Canada from the USA is that they are currently deciding on whether to introduce a new nation-wide ban on smoking. This bill will probably go through the same level of debating as the British bill did so it cannot be expected anytime in the direct future.

Australia's ban is at the same level as the British, but a slightly bit more lax. Federal law has banned smoking in government buildings, public transport, airports (international and domestic). It is then up to each province to decide whether they ban smoking in other places. Currently all provinces except the Northern Territory have banned smoking in bars, restaurants and workplaces under 18's have access to. Even though the Northern Territory has no actual ban in smoking in public places it says that the smoker and the non-smoker should have the same amenities.

[ Back to top ]

The Curse of Technology - By: Adam?

"When you were young, what did you dream of as you fell asleep? Space travel? Visiting different realms? Or did you dream about a magic screen you could take around with you where ever you go. Where you could hold all of your favorite music, your favorite videos. Well thanks to the power of (phone company), that wish came true."

That quote was taken from an actual commercial detailing a phone from Sprint. (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=czfWx0V-Wm0) Now, you will no longer need to be bothered by human contact, as technology increases, interaction with fellow humans decreases. Thank God we can carry around a little screen everywhere we go. When we do not have access to a computer or a television, we can just pull out our iPod video or cell phone and watch some videos with that.

The saddest part about this is that the commercial was targeted to us. Us! As humans, we are supposed to be intelligent beings, yet these commercials seem to be targeted to our most unintelligent aspects. It really is sad, to think that the commercial is trying to tell us that we always dreamed of being able to avoid other humans. Technology is the one to blame.

Don't get me wrong, technology is a great thing, but do we really need all of this crap? We want bigger houses to fill with crap, we want the crap to become smaller for room for even more crap, we want more memory to have crap run faster, and we want to have our cell phone to be everything for us. Cell phones, iPods, laptops, the internet, gameboys, game consoles; these things we can scarcely imagine living our lives without. Obesity is running rampant, especially in children, because you now can be entertained at any time, anywhere, without having to put any thought into it. Progress that is detrimental to the human race is not even progress at all.

Cell phones and the internet provide great means of communication, and make things a lot easier. They are almost a necessity to life in our world. The problem is when iPods and other devices like them are also considered to be a necessity. When will we believe that functioning in our world is possible even if we cannot stare at a screen constantly?

This basically sums up my entire point. We watch TV in our houses, and then when thrust into the real world, we create our own. A world where no one else is there, and the only point of it is to rot your brain while providing meager entertainment.

We can combat this. Go outside and play, talk to people instead of hiding your face in your digital device, and don't place so much value on the items we use for recreation. These items are meant for entertainment, but do not surround yourself with them. Every thing, big and small, is a part of your life, it all depends on how much importance you put on it.

[ Back to top ]

Japanese Prime Minister Resigns - By: Natus Lumen

On September 12, 2007, Japan's Abe Shinzo announced his resignation from the office of Prime Minister, after which he was immediately rushed to a hospital. The resignation takes effect on September 23, 2007, when a new Prime Minister is elected by Abe's party, the Liberal Democratic Party. Abe was the first Japanese Prime Minister to be born after World War II, as well as the youngest to be elected since that event. Abe held office for less than 12 months.

Politically, Abe is a strong conservative, taking a strong hard-line stance on relations with North Korea, as well as supporting the broadening of the Japanese Constitution's Article 9 to allow for Japan to maintain some armed forces as a matter of de jure. He also supports the use of Japanese personnel in Afghanistan. However, in apparent opposition to his conservative position, he acknowledges the need for better relations with the People's Republic of China, and believes that those relations should not be based on emotions caused by past transgressions, and, unlike his predecessor, he has not visited Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine in an official capacity. The Yasukuni Shrine itself is a strong point of contention in other East Asian nations, as the Shrine is dedicated to Japanese war dead, including those convicted of war crimes after World War II. This causes other East Asian countries to fear a resurgence of Japanese militarism whenever a Prime Minister visits the Shrine.

There is some question as to why Prime Minister Abe resigned so unexpectedly, but some reasons are fairly apparent. His health has been an issue recently. Few details are known, but it has been confirmed that he is under what was referred to only as “strain.” Also, since his election on September 26, 2006, a number of scandals have marred Abe's cabinet. His first Agricultural Minister, Matsuoka Toshikatsu, committed suicide on May 28, 2007, hours before he was due to be questioned over the unusually high expenses of his office. This event dropped Abe's approval to below 30% for several months. Soon afterwards, Abe's Liberal Democratic Party suffered a strong electoral defeat and lost control of the upper house of the Japanese legislature, the Diet. After the election, another of Abe's Agricultural Ministers, Akagi Norihiko, was involved in a funding scandal and resigned from his position. After creating a new Cabinet on August 27, yet another Agricultural Minister, Endo Takehiko, was forced to resign only a week later over a subsidy scandal. Abe himself also stated that his unpopularity was interfering with the passage of certain important legislation, including the anti-terrorism bill that allows Japanese personnel to remain in Afghanistan.

The most likely candidate for Abe's replacement is Fukuda Yasuo, who is currently a representative in the lower house of the Diet. The previous Prime Minister, Koizumi Jun'ichiro was asked to run again, but refused. Fukuda is backed by the Liberal Democratic Party's largest faction, and even his opponent Aso Taro has acknowledged the likelihood of his victory. Fukuda has stated that he would like to end ministerial visits to the Yasukuni Shrine. Fukuda's election will likely result in better relations for Japan with the East Asian nations that fear a resurgence of Japanese militarism.

[ Back to top ]