http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2013/06/why-edward-snowden-is-a-hero.html

Summary Coming Soon

AT&T and Verizon Assisting NSA Spying

AT&T's fiber optic cable system was supposedly a breakthrough. It provided faster internet, better phone connection, and smoother television broadcasting at a cheaper cost. To the normal customer this seems awesome; however, according to an article "The US government, with assistance from major telecommunications carriers including AT&T, has engaged in a massive illegal dragnet surveillance of domestic communications and communications records of millions of ordinary Americans since at least 2001". Everything I have done has been recorded. Apparently AT&T has created a splitter that forms copies of all phone calls and files and sends them to the NSA in the form of metadata. This is an invasion of my privacy and I feel it is necessary to hold the government accountable. Their argument is that "if we have nothing to hide then we shouldn't worry about hiding it." Well, now they're the definition of hypocrites. Why did they hide this so long? Because it's illegal. It's a complete disruption of our Bill of Rights. The article also highlights how the government demanded Verizon to hand over all the phone calls information. After a court case, Verizon was forced to hand over the information. If we let this go, what's next? Our freedom of speech? I can't express how irritated this makes me. We're moving away from a government of the people to a government controlling the people. I suppose you'll tell me it's for "my safety", just like the war in Afghanistan was to prevent terroristic attacks. The war in Afghanistan was solely for oil and this whole dragnet garbage isn't for my safety. I can't trust what the government is doing. I'm at a point where I'd consider a complete restructure of the system. President Obama is nothing but a figure head; no, I'm not displaying my political views, but he doesn't make the choices. Big businesses tell him what to do. Money is making the choices and there is no ethics behind it.

https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying
"NSA Spying | Electronic Frontier Foundation." Electronic Frontier Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

Questions Pertaining to Edward Snowden Article.

 Eric raised some serious debate regarding the NSA.
-- Were his actions worth while?
--Will he be seen as a martyr or a trader?
--Are you willing to give up your privacy for more protection?

According to a CNN article "Pleading for asylum after spilling American secrets, Edward Snowden told Ecuador's government that he fears inhumane treatment or even death if he's handed over to face U.S. espionage charges, Ecuador's foreign minister said Monday."
The government classified this as an act of terrorism, but in all reality he was keeping the government in check. We the people are apart of the checks and balance system. This man felt insecure about the fact our government was invading our right to privacy and is now facing possible inhuman treatment. --At what point is patriotism taken too far?

Digital Story Annotated Bibliography (6 sources)

Annotated Bibliography

Slaves, Free The. "Several Types of Slavery Linked to Congo's Mining Industry." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 02 Sept. 2010. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

This article provides insight regarding the types of slavery in the Congo. It also talks a little about the metals that are required and how the rebel groups desire the illicit profits. It even talks about another non-profit organization that helps the standards of the Congo.

"Intel and Conflict-Free Minerals." Intel. http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/corporate-responsibility/conflict-free-minerals.html.  N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

This is Intel's statement regarding the use of conflict mining. It shows that there are big businesses with an equal desire for social justice.

Gettleman, Jeffrey. "Conflict Minerals." The Price of Precious. N.p. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/conflict-minerals/gettleman-text. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

A truly unique article regarding first hand experience in the Congo. Talks about an encounter with the leader of a rebel group and sight of the slave workers. Also provided insight to companies with a similar view for social justice as well as other organizations.

"Blood in the Mobile." Blood in the Mobile. N.p., n.d. Bloodinthemobile.org. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

This was my first encounter with this topic after talking with Patrick. On the main page is a snippet of a documentary that deals with mining in the Congo. The video is one I plan to watch in the near future to better my knowledge.

"Learn Adobe Premiere Elements 10." : Getting Started and Tutorials. N.p., n.d. http://www.adobe.com/support/premiereelements/gettingstarted/ .Web. 17 Nov. 2013. This is Adobe's website for Premiere Elements 10 so I can teach myself some video editing techniques for my digital story project.

"Adobe Premiere Elements 10 - Tutorial | Getting Started." YouTube. YouTube, 16 Apr. 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncOTr_aWvR0&list=PL5EEC30E50DA29119 .Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

This is a video tutorial to work with Adobe Premiere Elements 10. The creator "MightyMaster123" has many tutorials to do many different things in Adobe. He is very resourceful

August Runyon, Foster King, Justin Twarog, Matt Collard

Digital Story Proposal

My digital story starts with me as a high school student eager to better myself. I felt as though technology would play a huge role in this, after all, there are many things that can be accessed through the internet. I loved technology and began doing self-research about it. I taught myself all of the software and hardware in various devices to find the best one. I loved video games and the graphics, I loved cell phones for their abilities, and I also loved computers for what they allowed me to accomplish. I fell in love with technology for its abilities. I was completely blind to the horrors that were happening in modern society. As I grew older and came to college I was granted the gift of an international student for a roommate. His name is Patrick Bucyana. Being the child of two UN officers Patrick was able to travel to many places. He became informed of many areas of society and dove into research as a political science major. Patrick is the one who showed me the dark side of technology. During a late night discussion in the dorm room Patrick asked if I had ever heard about the Congo or the resources in it. Strictly being an American with no insight to what was going on I stated my ignorance and he elaborated. He began preaching of blood diamonds and gold mining, but one thing that particularly caught my attention was the mining of Coltan. He spoke of the slavery and the civil war in the Congo and then talked about the uses of Coltan. He was a firsthand reference to the dark side of technology. Patrick’s parents are from Rwanda (a neighboring country to the Congo that has had many genocidal attacks and fighting). Patrick told me he lives in Mozambique but still has family Rwanda. He talks about how Rwanda used to be extremely unsafe. Even in modern day there are armed soldiers roaming the streets to protect its citizens. This insight has been wonderful and is the reason why I started my social action project. Also through my first year seminar class my professor, David Shutkin, has enlightened me of the waste produced by electronics. My view of electronic technology has changed, I’ve gone from someone who ignorantly believed technologies sole purpose was to better the lives of its users without care for other humans in society; to a firm believer in finding proper disposal methods and an advocate to stopping slavery and the use of conflict minerals in the Congo. While my efforts have not made an impact yet, I feel I can make a change through proper education of others.  While Patrick was the source of my inspiration I began researching the topic, reading every article I could find. It is a mere understatement to say that I am “interested” in this topic. I love this stuff, every article has information that shocks me, and it always breaks my heart to read about children held at gun point or citizens raped by armed rebel groups. It’s a situation where everything I read makes me more curious. I’ve read articles from CNN, Huffington Post, ABC, small bloggers, and National geographic. While I was unable to find the stories of other people like me, I know my story is not one of a kind. I know that every person apart of the “Walk Free Foundation” had a similar experience. One day while reading the article from National Geographic I realized other people apart of big businesses share my experience. Companies like Intel have made efforts to better their company, not from an economic standpoint but rather a social justice standpoint. I believe my story has a large message and I am extremely excited to share it via social media. However, I feel this becomes a source of irony. I, being someone who opposes the use of conflict minerals am going to share my story via electronics that typically use these minerals. Maybe I can concoct a way to share my story using the equipment that is conflict mineral free, that to me would be something of a success.

Annotated Bibliography

 

Slaves, Free The. "Several Types of Slavery Linked to Congo's Mining Industry." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 02 Sept. 2010. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

This article provides insight regarding the types of slavery in the Congo. It also talks a little about the metals that are required and how the rebel groups desire the illicit profits. It even talks about another non-profit organization that helps the standards of the Congo.

 

"Intel and Conflict-Free Minerals." Intel. http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/corporate-responsibility/conflict-free-minerals.html.  N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

This is Intel's statement regarding the use of conflict mining. It shows that there are big businesses with an equal desire for social justice.

 

Gettleman, Jeffrey. "Conflict Minerals." The Price of Precious. N.p. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/conflict-minerals/gettleman-text. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

A truly unique article regarding first hand experience in the Congo. Talks about an encounter with the leader of a rebel group and sight of the slave workers. Also provided insight to companies with a similar view for social justice as well as other organizations.

 

"Blood in the Mobile." Blood in the Mobile. N.p., n.d. Bloodinthemobile.org. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

This was my first encounter with this topic after talking with Patrick. On the main page is a snippet of a documentary that deals with mining in the Congo. The video is one I plan to watch in the near future to better my knowledge.

Rebel Group "M23" Announces It's Disarm

"He noted that dozens of armed groups fighting over complex issues have killed more than 5 million people in the past two decades in the region". 5 million people! That number is huge, but we do finally have a step in the right direction. The rebel group, M23, declared their disarm on Tuesday November 5th, 2013. The leader Bertrand Bisimwa announced this via Facebook after having talks with the Congolese Government in Uganda. The group says "it would immediately end its rebellion and pursue, by purely political means, a search for solutions to the profound issues that led to its creation." The Congolese government says that it is trying to find out whether this announcement is valid. However if this is true then it will be huge. The M23 is one of the largest rebel groups in the Congo. On a more shocking note, the Government says that it believes most of people of this group will be able to reintegrate back into normal life in the Congo. This last statement is shocking, a group responsible for so much death and destruction, and only members who committed war crimes or crimes against humanity will not be given amnesty. Every member of this group has committed war crimes or is responsible for slavery, death, and abuse. I'm glad to see this group giving up but I would like to see heavier sanctions put on them, even death. I truly believe that an eye for an eye is the only way people will understand their actions. By allowing these citizens to reintegrate will only allow for formations of more rebellious groups. The members say they were wronged by the government. While there have been no changes in the Congolese government I believe there will be no changes in certain members of these groups. I'm disappointed in the actions taken but I am excited to see groups giving up their power for the sake of humanity.

Staff, CNN. "Rebel Group to Disarm in Democratic Republic of Congo." CNN. Cable News Network, 05 Nov. 2013. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

Personal Literature Review

            The article by Jeffery Gettleman is an interesting article that appeared on the National Geographic website. It talks mainly of his experience through the Congo where he visited a rebel lead mine. The whole article starts with his journey to the mine where he encountered several children that he estimated to be around 14 or 15. He said these armed children were satisfied with cigarettes and a couple dollars. Jeffrey also talks about the immense amount of resources sitting just below the soil in the Congo and he also discussed the history of the Congo. He talks about the wars that lead the country devastated. The devastation lead to a takeover by rebel groups which is now where the Congo is currently. Once Jeffrey gets to the mine he is immediately accused of spying and taken under arrest. Later in the article, an officer from the UN states “Those guys in Bavi (a village in the Cong) didn’t want you seeing what they were up to.” He later goes on to say that because of all the illegalities of the conflict mining it’s a situation where rebel leaders are trying to obtain as much of a certain resource as they can before leaving. Gettleman ends the article with his discussion with the UN officer which reads “When we asked him what it would take to fix Congo, he looked down at his polished shoes for a long time. “There’s no easy solution,” he said. “And I’m not even sure there is any solution.” To completely ban mines from central Africa would damage what little income the “green mine” miners make. It’s a horrific situation, but something has to be done. The article was eye-opening and a good insight to the Congo.

Gettleman, Jeffrey. "Conflict Minerals." The Price of Precious. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Nov. 2013.