The Outbreak and Rise of ISIS

The Middle East has always been in conflict and the new big threat of late has been ISIS (Islamic State of Iran and Syria). ISIS knows no bounds and considers itself the all powerful ruler of the Muslim world. The group has been constantly crossing boundaries and has a presence in over 10 Middle Eastern countries. 

ISIS is a very extremist group whose main goal is to create a pure Islamic state by any means necessary. It advocates jihad, which is "religious war", and has committed many crimes against humanity.  ISIS has beheaded a plethora of journalists and has broadcasted these killings worldwide as a means to intimidate other countries.

Their inhumane acts do not stop there. In their most recent killings on February 16th, ISIS beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya (CNN Staff). As is custom with a majority of their murders, this was captured on video. ISIS's ruthless executions have prompted many nations from NATO, the EU, and the CCASG to speak out and condemn the organization. 

ISIS's weapons are mostly old stockpiles left behind by Saddam Hussein and have played a major role in its territorial occupation up to this point. ISIS does have nuclear materials, but has not transformed them into any sort of atomic bomb at this point.

ISIS mainly utilizes social media in its propaganda and recruiting tactics. Until August 2014, Twitter was ISIS's main means of communicating and sharing its agenda and propaganda. The group also has an online magazine titled Dabiq, which exists in a variety of languages including English. ISIS has actually succeeded in recruiting some radical Americans to join their cause.

Even with its Twitter account shut down, ISIS continues to broadcast and boast in the many atrocities it has committed. Some of ISIS's infamous crimes include:

• Killing over 9,347 civilians and wounding over 17,386 ("'Terrifying' UN Report Details ISIS War Crimes in Iraq.").
• Execution of over 1,500 Iraqi soldiers ("'Terrifying' UN Report Details ISIS War Crimes in Iraq.").
• Horrendous treatment of women that has resulted in 150 single girls and women being sold as sex slaves ("'Terrifying' UN Report Details ISIS War Crimes in Iraq.").
• Destruction of various cultural and religious locations that ISIS's doctrine condemns ("'Terrifying' UN Report Details ISIS War Crimes in Iraq.").
• The displacement of over 1.8 million Iraqis who have fled from their homes ("'Terrifying' UN Report Details ISIS War Crimes in Iraq.").

This report was written in October of last year, so this list does not even include what ISIS has done in the last three and a half months. There are also a majority of other accusations against ISIS that have not yet been verified. 

ISIS may not be an imminent threat to the United States, but I feel that something is in the works. If the USA continues to let ISIS operate in the Middle East without punishment, then another attack of 9/11 proportions may be on the rise. ISIS has claimed it wants to raise the flag of Allah over the White House and it is only a matter of time before somebody makes a move.

ISIS will definitely not take over the world due to the fact that is has angered so many countries. The group does not have the manpower to essentially take on the whole world in what would be a World War III type of scenario. The group adheres to no law and strongly believes that its violent actions are what the Islam religion calls it to do. Honestly, these radicals have taken Islam to the ultimate extreme and will not be around much longer to see their "world domination" if they keep messing with the wrong countries, especially the United States of America.

Sources:

         CNN Staff. "ISIS Releases Video Claiming Beheadings of Egyptian Coptic Christians - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/15/middleeast/isis-video-beheadings-christians/>.

          "'Terrifying' UN Report Details ISIS War Crimes in Iraq." - RT News. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. <http://rt.com/news/192692-un-isis-war-crimes/>.

India's Particpation In World War II

When World II struck, the world was thrown into turmoil. For most colonies, the undertook the responsibility of fighting for the nations that controlled them. For India, a nation that had been under British rule since 1849, their allegiance would be with the Allies. Despite being right next to Japan's gigantic Pacific Empire and the Soviet Union, India never faced the threat of invasion. India's biggest conflict, instead, would be fighting for the very same people who oppressed them for years.

For most Indians, they asked no questions and suited up to fight for the Allies. Over two and a half million Indians fought in Africa and Italy during World War II. 36,000 Indian troops were lost in these battles with another 64,354 obtaining injuries. Many were honored for their valiant efforts as 31 soldiers received Victoria Crosses (awarded by the British) with 4,000 troops receiving other awards (Sherwood).

However, there was a dark side to the Indian National Army. Some radicals were not happy that they had to fight for the British after all these years of oppression. This faction split off and formed a lesser Indian National Army, which had no significant impact on the war as a whole despite having Japanese support. It is, although, responsible for a very egregious act in India's history (Sharma).

In 1942, 40,000 Indian soldiers were taken as prisoners of war (PoW's) and told to join the radical Indian National Army or face imprisonment. 30,000 joined while the other 10,000 stayed true to their nation. What happened to the 10,000 is nightmarish for me to even think about! Basically, they were beaten constantly, starved, used for target practice, humiliated on a daily basis, and some of them were eaten! That is right, the Japanese ate some of the Indian prisoners! 5,500 Indian soldiers came out alive and even then they still remained true to their country (Sharma).

In 1947, India would get its wish and become independent of British rule once and for all. Although not discussed too much in the history books, India did play an important part in World War II and unfortunately was victim to some of the many horrors that occurred throughout it.

Sources:

          Sharma, Manimugdha S. "Japanese Ate Indian PoWs, Used Them as Live Targets in WWII - The Times of India." The Times of India. Web. 13 Feb. 2015. <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Japanese-ate-Indian-PoWs-used-them-as-live-targets-in-WWII/articleshow/40017577.cms>.

          Sherwood, Marika. BBC News. BBC. Web. 13 Feb. 2015. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/colonies_colonials_01.shtml>.

Internet Censorship In China and North Korea

Both China and North Korea are notoriously known as communist/militant nations that have tight grips on all media systems within their respective countries. In addition to the heavy censorship of all news outlets, the Internet in both nations is subject to major governmental control.

I'll begin with China. In China, if one was to look up terms like "tiananmen", "Tibet", "Tawain", or "toilets", there would be no search results. This is because these words paint a negative image of China that the government does not want its people to know about. In addition to censoring search terms, social websites like Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress, Flickr, and Google are blocked in China. Even G-Mail is not allowed! The reason none of these sites are allowed is because they are all blocked by China's "Great Firewall" (Jacobs).

To the east of China lies North Korea, a country that is even more controlling of its Internet than the Chinese. North Korea owns every media entity within its borders and allows limited Internet usage to only a select few. North Korea has even gone as far as to create its own "Intranet" that is limited to certain groups and also subject to censored content. Every piece of literature, media, or cinema is utilized as a means to promote the stature of the Kim family (Sedaghat).

Both examples of China and North Korea make me appreciate the freedom I have to access any site on the Internet here in the United States. I could not imagine living in a country where I could not blog or research any topic I was interested in. I do feel, however, that China is getting a bit more lax with its Internet restrictions and should be making progress towards a more accessible Internet for its people in the years to come! For North Korea, I see no unrestricted Internet access in the imminent future as long as the Kim family retains power and the country remains totalitarian.

Sources:

          Jacobs, Andrew. "China Further Tightens Grip on the Internet." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 Jan. 2015. Web. 5 Feb. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/30/world/asia/china-clamps-down-still-harder-on-internet-access.html?ref=topics&_r=0>.

          Sedaghat, Nouran. "North Korea Exposed: Censorship in the World's Most Secretive State | CJFE." North Korea Exposed: Censorship in the World's Most Secretive State | CJFE. 17 Mar. 2014. Web. 5 Feb. 2015. <https://cjfe.org/resources/features/north-korea-exposed-censorship-world’s-most-secretive-state>.

Power Distance in Germany and Russia: Then vs Now

The element I will be discussing is power distance. Power distance can be defined as how much members of society expect and accept that power is unequally distributed. High power distance means people are accepting of the hierarchical structure and low power distance means that the people want equality in power distribution and for injustice to be addressed.

Two countries' whose power distances interest me are Germany and Russia. Both had infamous pasts with extremely high power distance levels. This was only the case because the governments at the time were totalitarian and created a hostile environment through sheer force and fear.

I'll begin with Germany. During the Nazi Regime that lasted from 1933-1945, the German people were brainwashed to hate Jews and other "subhuman races". The hierarchical structure of this era was that blue-eyed, blonde hair people of Aryan descent were the best in the land. Germans were expected to believe and adhere to this untrue principle or risk being imprisoned or killed ("Nazi Racism.").

I do not have specific empirics on Germany's power distance during the Nazi Regime, but I am pretty confident the numbers were fairly high. Looking at Germany nowadays, however, the story is quite different. Having put the Nazi Party and East/West Germany behind it, the Fatherland now measures a modest 35 on the Power Distance Index Scale (Hofstede).

Compared to their ancestors of World War II, a new generation of Germans has grown up believing that people should be treated equally in all aspects of life. This is an amazing turnaround for a country that was systematically trying to kill off an entire race and take over the world approximately 76 years ago.

Now I am going to take a look at Russia. Similar to Germany, Russia operated on brute force and fear ever since the Bolsheviks took over and made the country into a Soviet state in 1917. When Joseph Stalin ascended to power in 1924, the power distance of the country was through the roof! Stalin killed millions of Russians ruthlessly! One callous act of Stalin's involved him starving and killing over seven million Ukrainians simply because they sought independence from the Soviet Union ("The History Place - Genocide in the 20th Century: Stalin's Forced Famine 1932-33.").

Russia's communist government at this time did tell people they were all "equal", but of course this was not exactly the case. Russia did not approve of Nazi Germany's antisemitism policies, but did embark on some antisemitic endeavors of its own. No matter how much the Russian people disapproved of Stalin and the direction he was taking Russia, they knew they could not speak for fear of imprisonment or death. The power distance of Russia was most likely equal to that of Germany's at this time.

Nowadays, Russia is fairly different than the bloodthirsty, nuclear-driven world power it was during World War II and the Cold War. The people, however, are still fairly accepting of a government that is slowly trying to poke some trouble with the United States and other parts of the world. On the Power Distance Index Scale, Russia has a 93 (Hofstede). Whether it is the government or the way the generation has been raised, Russia's people find no problem with their government and their place in it.

Both these countries have troubled pasts and I would say if anything that Germany has made significant process. The people of the Fatherland are much more inclined to support equality according to the scale and also demand justice for those it has barred from. Russia, on the other hand, needs some work. It was only a bit over 20 years ago that communism fell in Russia, so maybe the people are still trying to cope with this concept of economic freedom and being able to move up in society through hard work.

Though the power distances differ tremendously, both countries have come a long ways since World War II and hopefully neither of these two nations will be causing any more global conflicts in the years to come (even though Russia has been dabbling these last couple of years).


Sources:

          Hofstede, Geert. "THE HOFSTEDE CENTRE." Germany. Web. 30 Jan. 2015. <http://geert-hofstede.com/germany.html>.

          "Nazi Racism." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council. Web. 30 Jan. 2015. <http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007679>.

          "The History Place - Genocide in the 20th Century: Stalin's Forced Famine 1932-33." The History Place - Genocide in the 20th Century: Stalin's Forced Famine 1932-33. Web. 30 Jan. 2015. <http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/stalin.htm>.

Media Systems in Romania

The country of Romania is located in Eastern Europe. Its government is a republic that is unitary semi-presidential. Out of the seven media dimensions, the ones that I will be talking about within Romania are its government system, the media's freedom, and the media ownership (Hitchins).

Until 1990, Romania was a communist nation that was a part of Russia's Eastern Soviet Bloc. After the fall of communism in 1990, Romania's government system transformed into a free nation with most of the power being invested in the government rather than the people. Even though all of the power resides in its government, Romania does not have that tight of a grip on its media (Hitchins).

Unlike the United States, who has the Federal Communications Committee, Romania has no distinctive regulatory agency. Instead it has the National Broadcasting Council, whose's main objective is to protect the public's interest. Even with the presence of the NBC, Romanian media is mostly free to do what it pleases (Ulmanu).

Newspaper and print media in Romania still sells, but like everywhere else in the world, these sales are declining as the Internet becomes more and more popular. Romania's radio stations are mostly private. There are more privately owned radio stations than public ones. The main radio networks are Radio Zu, Kiss FM, ProFM, and Radio 21. All of these are privately owned (Ulmanu).

The most popular form of media in Romania is television. Since it is the most popular media, public television is heavily controlled by the government. In addition to that, television receives a plethora of funding from ads, TV taxes, and the state budget. Although Romania allows its media to express free thoughts and opinions, the government plays somewhat of a watchdog role with control over television. In terms of the Internet, the Romanian government does not bar its people from any particular websites (Ulmanu).

As I mentioned earlier, a majority of Romania's radio stations are privately owned. However, there are still some publicly owned stations which make Romanian radio a blend of both.  Television is publicly owned and operated by the government. It is strictly in the public sphere of ownership. The traditional media found in newspapers and magazines is also a blend of publicly and privately owned media outlets (Ulmanu).

Once a communist country that censored its press entirely, Romania has come a long way since its Soviet years. The country is now free, for the most part, as power lies mostly in the government. The people are free to do and speak how they want. The media, except for television, is free from government interference and allowed to act how it wants. The ownership of media also varies and is fairly split between publicly and privately owned entities. Romania, as a whole, is a country that promotes various media interests and allows its media outlets to say and report what they want to say.

Sources: 

        Hitchins, Keith Arnold. "Transportation and Telecommunications." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 22 Jan. 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/508461/Romania/42850/Transportation-and-telecommunications>.

        Ulmanu, Alexandru-Brădut. "Romania - Media Landscape | European Journalism Centre (EJC)." European Journalism Centre (EJC). Web. 22 Jan. 2015. <http://ejc.net/media_landscapes/romania#link_422>.

An Introduction to Zack Gonzalez

My name is Zachary E. Gonzalez and I am currently a sophomore here at the University of Florida. I am from Coral Springs, Florida, which is about five hours south of Gainesville. Most of my media experience stems from my dealings with my website, ZackKnowsSports.com

I started the website at the beginning of my freshman year at UF and I constantly maintain and update it with stories and pictures from Gator athletic events I attend or see on TV. It is a good amount of work, but I greatly enjoy doing it!

I have only been abroad once. During my sophomore year of high school, my Latin class took a trip to Italy where we visited Rome, Vatican City, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and a few other historic cities. I enjoyed the trip, but I feel like I would have a much better appreciation of Italian culture and history if I was to go back as the grown adult that I am now.

I am currently majoring in telecommunications with a track in media and society. I can already tell that this class is going to be both interesting and very important as I will learn how communications vary from country to country.

Upon graduating from UF, I plan to stay in Gainesville and attend law school at UF. After graduating from law school, I plan to open up a law firm with my father with the intention of representing athletes and many others involved in the sports world.

I have many hobbies that I love to do when I'm not studying. They include: working out, playing intramurals (mostly softball and football), playing video games, blogging for my website, hanging out with my friends, biking, downloading and listening to music, browsing through videos on YouTube, and watching TV. Most of my interests are in anything sports-related. I am an avid sports fan and am usually on top of everything that is going on in the sports realm.

The final item I will share is the link to my website: http://www.zackknowssports.com/. It is probably the favorite of all my hobbies and I am very proud of the progress it has made in its year and a half of existence!