Virtual Training: Field Application

                                    

    Since its inception 10 years ago, the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action has been recognized anally by the UN since 2006. In cooperation with social media conglomerate Instagram, Mine Awareness featured a simple and familiar game on Instagram where users can play the mine game that is in many was similar to the popular PC game Minesweeper. Though the game might not be teaching people how to be mine proof, it is raising awareness about the problem many nations face due to left behind, war time mines that plague civilians all over the globe. Once a user loses the game and reveals a mine in one of the squares the mine reveals a larger image behind the rest of the panels and the images vary among different mine victims, most of whom are missing limbs. A baby step maybe, but I feel this is a step in the right direction in terms of raising awareness and bringing this problem on a global platform by making it available to all on Instagram.
 http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/8/11393056/un-land-mines-instagram-minesweeper

U.S. and Israel in Yemen

    Earlier today The Jerusalem Post made a small but to the point article in their a waves about a recorded speech made by the current Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi. In his televised speech, which the article notes was in memory of the previous leader's death, he calls out out the country of Israel, who receive's aid from the U.S. claimed that the neglect shown thus far to the conflict in Yemen is to the benefit of Israel and America. The Post quotes him saying something next to near, the neglect evident in Israeli, American media is used as a vacuum, preventing the conflict in Yemen from coming to an end. The article was short but did indeed seem to unbiased report the claims made by the Houthi leader who explains that the country in which Jerusalem is a city in, and the U.S. have a hand in the on going civil war in Yemen. I thought the coverage of this story was concise and unbiased but unfortunately due to the latter it was incredibly short, it would have been nice to read a bit more on the subject and when I tried to click on the link that would take me to the televised delivery of the speech I was attack by a virus from the news website. So, readers beware! Below is a picture of the surviving Houthi leader blowing his whistle on Israel and the U.S. for their turning a blind eye on Yemen in their own best interests.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Houthi-leader-Israel-participating-in-the-aggression-against-Yemen-452963

Antiseptic World Views

   In the begginning of last month, a British newspaper, the Observer, published an article regarding statements made by the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon who was justifying the stabbing of Israeli settlers at the hands of Palestinian extremists saying something close to, it was understandable that the stabbings had occurred in lieu of the fifty years of Israels occupation of Palestinian lands. The article is quite biased in quickly reducing the contention coming from the prestigious title of the Secretary-General to the U.N.to mere antisemitism as if to reduce the potency of his words. In doing this they shroud Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian lands in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Instead of raising awareness of the oppression of Palestine and the conflict in Israel which should be considered a civil war, to no surprise the Observer is victimizing Israeli's neglecting the occupation and asserting that the stabbings were simply out of hatred for Jews existence. This comes by no surprise because the United Kingdom is in trade with the U.S. and due to the burning desire of American media to appear involved in Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands the Observer waters down the larger issue at hand by claiming the allegations are racist and strike down the speakers credit. Below is a picture of Israeli's protesting the, at the time, recent stabbing attacks orchestrated by Palestinian extremists.

   (Photo: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images)

http://observer.com/2016/04/the-big-lie-anti-semitism-and-the-occupied-palestinian-territories/