NY Times Log: October 17-20th

Monday, October 17: 

I’m not finding much in today’s paper that interests me.  The one article at the back that especially catches my eye and draws me in is the one about Occupy Wall Street, and the questions that the article inspires.  Namely, is it possible to get anything done if you are running a true democracy?  Is anyone in Occupy Wall Street going to be able to get any of their demands satisfied, or are they even going to be able to come up with demands?  Is the democratic process they are practicing have too many voices to make enough of a dent or effect the change they wish to see in the United States. 

“Demands are disempowering since they require someone else to respond,” said Gabriel Willow, a protester.  “It’s not like we couldn’t come up with any, but I don’t think people would vote for them.”  Many people would ask what the point of such a mass protest without demands, and many more would question the efficiency of the ‘true Democratic’ process that the protestors were using.  “A two-thirds majority would have to approve each proposal, and any passionate opponent could call for the entire vote to be delayed.”  This attempt at pure democracy, however admirable, completely delays the move for real change, thus sabotaging the movement altogether.  Some protestors see the protest process as their message and the whole point of the movement, but as a college student as disillusioned as they are with our current political and economic system, I’m doubtful that this method can actually work.

Tuesday, October 18^th:

Strange stories to keep the paper interesting today, including the one on men from an Amish sect who are forcibly cutting the beards of their peers who they perceive as ‘enemies.’  Many in the Amish community view these attack simply as revenge and retribution for an altercation between the sect’s leader, Sam Mullet (a man with a name that could prompt an infinite amount of funny hair jokes).

I was very interested in the article on the Obama administration’s deliberation on whether or not to use cyber warfare in the opening salvo against Libya.  I thought the article did a very good job exploring the different logistical arguments against using cyber warfare against other countries, and agree that computer hacking as a weapon could be incredibly damaging if major powers such as China and Russia started using it against the United States (or vice versa).  I think that this is a very effective but very dangerous route to for the U.S. to go down, but I don’t necessarily know if Congressional limitations will stop them from using it in the future.  If cyber warfare is implemented, it could bode very ill for all of us.

Thursday, October 20^th:

Lots of interesting and varied news mostly centering on the United States today, most crazy and sad of which is the story of the escaped exotic animals in Ohio.  I am still unsure of how exactly someone could have a preserve with so many wild animals, especially after multiple accounts of abuse to said animals.  Especially compared to some of the other articles I had read on the subject, I appreciated the personal nature of the Times article, which featured more quotes from those directly involved, especially Terry Thompson’s wife, Marian.  Ms. Thompson, the Times reported pleaded with officers to not kill the animals, saying, “Please don’t take my babies.”  This added some perspective to a story that otherwise seemed completely nonsensical.  It was fairly awful from any perspective, but I appreciated that the Times showed a little bit of personal emotions from the estranged wife of a seemingly crazy owner of the animals.  I’m not exactly sure how a shared love of exotic animals could translate into wanting to keep dozens of dangerous lions, tigers, and bears on one’s property, but then again, there is a lot I don’t really understand about this story.  I would have liked to see the Times talk a little bit more about the reactions of neighbors and town residents to the situation.  I feel that for a preserve this size, packed with wild animals, some of which had previously escaped; residents of the town must have vocalized their unease or have tried to stop the preserve.  There was no coverage on that in the article.