How to use this blog

This started as an experiment that I’m pretty happy with, so I’ve decided to continue using it and I’ll be enhancing it as time goes on.

Simply put, I use it as an electronic scrapbook of ideas I have, news articles I read, and internet sources that I find that make good examples for the material I cover on these merit badges:

Citizenship in the Community

Citizenship in the Nation

Citizenship in the World

American Heritage

Down the right side are categories that will get you to the information you’re looking for quickly.

“Categories” breaks down the posts into the merit badge requirement(s) they relate to.

“Tags” are keywords identifying what the subject of a post is about.  For example, if you’re looking for my posts on speeches for the Citizenship in the Nation speech requirement (requirement #6), click on the word ’speeches.’

“Requirements” are links to merit badge requirements listed on the net, also some of the merit badge books themselves and worksheet packets.

“Resources” are links to websites that have broader interest and can help you with information you need to complete requirements.  For example, links to the National Park Service or list of Washington, D.C. embassies.

Happy hunting!  Stay and browse awhile!

 

The Future of Terrorism

What could the next major terrorism attack against America look like?  A congressional commission analyzed that question and issued its report in December, 2008.  Unfortunately, they concluded that we are not well-prepared for what may likely come.  The Commission’s website is here.

The commission concluded that the terrorists are more likely to use biological weapons than nuclear weapons and that the United States is not prepared for such an attack.

In one scenario envisioned by the president’s Homeland Security Council, the commission reports, terrorists driving a truck with a concealed sprayer would infect five different U.S. metropolitan areas with anthrax in two waves of attacks conducted two weeks apart.

“The Commission believes that unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013,” says the report.

“The Commission further believes that terrorists are more likely to be able to obtain and use a biological weapon than a nuclear weapon,” says the report, which is entitled, “World at Risk.”

….

The commission released a scenario put together by the president’s Homeland Security Council that described how a terrorist group—such as al Qaeda—could launch a devastating biological attack on the U.S. Homeland.
 
The Homeland Security Council’s scenario, printed on pages 5 and 6 of the report, unfolds as follows:
 
“This scenario describes a single aerosol [anthrax] attack in one city delivered by a truck using a concealed improvised spraying device in a densely populated urban city with a significant commuter workforce.  It does not, however, exclude the possibility of multiple attacks in disparate cities or time-phased attacks (i.e. ‘reload’).

I think the most difficult challenge for us to understand is that defending against terrorism is different than economic or security threats posed against us by other countries.  Terrorism knows no boundaries; Al Qaeda operates throughout dozens of countries.  Its identity is hidden in anonymity; though it has a command and leadership structure, it has no visible government, boundaries, or offices.  No capital, no buildings by which it can be identified.  Think about that, and ask yourself how any government should defend their citizens against terrorism.

 

Hyperinflation!

I’ll see your 50 billion and raise you 50 billion.  Eh…not really; I’m only into high stakes poker, not chump change games.  Anyway, Zimbabwe has just started issuing $50 billion notes, which is just enough money to pay for a loaf of bread over there.

Governments can’t just print money, or else it becomes worthless like this.  When you and I need extra money, we get a loan from someone.  Governments don’t take out loans, they issue bonds to individuals.  I guess Zimbabwe thought they didn’t need to bother; it’s easier to just keep printing the stuff, right?

Zimbabwe is grappling with hyperinflation now officially estimated at 231 million percent, and its currency is fast losing its value. As of Friday, one U.S. dollar was trading at around ZW$25 billion.

When the government issued a $10 billion note just three weeks ago, it bought 20 loaves of bread. That note now can purchase less than half of one loaf.

Now that everyone understands that their currency is worthless, no one wants to use it and the government is making it legal to open certain shops that sell items in foreign currency.

In order to attract foreign currency, Zimbabwe’s central bank has, since September, licensed at least 1,000 shops to sell goods in foreign currency. All mobile phone service providers are now licensed to accept foreign exchange for airtime and other services.

John Robertson, an economist in Zimbabwe, said he’s puzzled by the introduction of the $50 billion and $20 billion notes.

“I am not really sure what these notes would be for,” he said. “No one now accepts the local currency. It is a waste of resources to print Zimbabwe dollar notes now. Who accepts a currency that loses value by almost 100 percent daily?”

If you owned a shop, would you accept money that was worthless?  Of course not.

I remember the first time I read a story about hyperinflation in Zimbabwe.  January 17, 2008 – just about one year ago.  I’m copying from the article (my pre-blog days):

“…a hamburger in an ordinary cafe in Zimbabwe costs 15 million Zimbabwe dollars.

“Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono said in a statement 10 million Zimbabwe dollars notes will be issued tomorrow along with 1 million and 5 million Zimbabwe dollars bills.

“The highest existiong note, introduced last month, is for 750,000 Zimbabwe dollars.

15 million for a hamburger to 50 billion for a loaf of bread in one year.  Do the math and see how far they’ve fallen.

 

 

Before you write a letter on Global Warming

…please do a little background research here.

Being  INFORMED about issues and current events is an important part of being a good citizen.  I see a lot of letters from scouts who are concerned with the dire effects of global warming.  What concerns me is that the viewpoint is almost always the same, and it’s always extreme. 

I think it’s important for you to understand that there are different points of view on global warming, and the issue has many different factors that need to be considered before taking a stand.  So, here are a couple of links to sites that provide opposing viewpoints on the topic.  Please browse through them before writing your letter.

The World Climate Report offers thoughtful opinion, plus well organized categories down the right side of the page.  It should be easy for you to find entries focusing on the topic of your choice: rising ocean levels, polar bears, hurricanes, etc.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is a little more political (what else would you expect from the Senate?).  Nonetheless, its minority members have this blog where they post news articles sympathetic to their opposition of many global warming claims and political maneuvers.  The statements on the blog tend to the political, but the links are factual.  Click on the red “(more…)” to see the details.

 

What will the world look like by the time you’re a parent?

How old will you be in 2025 and what will you be doing?

Believe it or not, by that year you’ll probably have gotten married and started a family.  You’ll worry about what’s going on in the world and what your children will inherit.  The problems, the promises, the realities of a world that has been formed by decisions we adults make today.

The National Intelligence Council has issued its newest report, “Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World.”  It’s detailed, so you might not get through the whole report, but take the time to a least read the summary on pages iv and v.  Check out the table of contents, find a topic that interests you, and read that section of the report.  Some interesting predictions on issues like:

What country would benefit from global warming?

Will the U.S. remain the world’s economic superpower?

What will the influence of the U.N. be around the globe?

What’s the possibility of nuclear conflict?  Where might it occur?

…and many other factors for consideration.

The report says, “The international system – as constructed following the Second World War – will be almost unrecognizable by 2025 owing to the rise of emerging powers, a globalizing economy, an historic transfer of relative wealth and economic power from West to East, and the growing influence of non-state actors.”

 

Types of Governments

Here’s one type that’s not typically discussed – a country with NO GOVERNMENT.  I confess that I hadn’t really considered this an option until I started learning about the recent outburst of Somali pirating.

Somalia has no functioning government, and the warlords in the various regions do not have the capacity to deal with stopping piracy. Somalia needs more help from the United Nations and the African Union “to try to deal with some of the economic and governance problems that lead to the pirates,” Morrell said.

When your country has no functioning government, security becomes a really difficult issue.

 

Pirates – Part 3

Stumbled into EagleSpeak, a blog that’s focusing on the pirate issue.  We live in a great world where someone can dedicate their talent and time to a blog that focuses almost exclusively on maritime security!  He’s got some great posts; interesting news and information on all angles of piracy.

I really like this Google map he linked to that is updated to track all piracy incidents around the globe.

Anyway, since piracy on the high seas is probably the best example of where international law applies to something real in our modern world, I’m making the effort to highlight the issue through interesting articles and posts that I find.  This post about pirates and the law is a good summary of how international law is applied in the real world, and lays out what works and what doesn’t work.  Clicking on the headline links to the Wall Street Journal editorial further discussing international law.

Read EagleSpeak’s post and I’ll give you credit for World 4a.  Read the WSJ editorial and I’ll probably give you credit for another requirement.  Read EagleSpeak’s blog for an hour and I may sign you off on the whole badge.  If I’m in a good mood.  The information you’ll gain is worth it.

 

Pirates – Part 2

Continuing from my previous post, let’s see why piracy is justifiable in the minds of the people committing it.  First, I’ll say up front that I don’t agree with any justification of piracy, and I have the sense that the argument that others are polluting sounds more like an excuse, but I think this is a good illustration of the impact that an impoverished country can have on other countries and the world’s economy and security.

Bob Crow, [the Rail Maritime and Transport union] general secretary, said: “There are clearly deep economic and social problems in poverty-stricken countries like Somalia that are feeding the piracy problem, and they, too, require international co-operation because they are also a result of the global economy.”

Clearly, as long as there are riches afloat on the high seas, there will be pirates out there to plunder them.

Robbing thugs or Robin Hoods?

THE pirates of Puntland, the northern breakaway area of Somalia, are unapologetic about their trade.

Their spokesman, Januna Ali Jama, based in the port of Eyl, where scores of hijacked vessels are anchored, argues vehemently that the increasingly professional pirates are the Robin Hoods of the sea, righting numerous wrongs against Somalia.

“Our country is destroyed by foreigners who dump toxic waste at our shores,” Ali Jama argued in an interview with the BBC Somali Service.

Huge waves that battered Puntland after the Asian tsunami at Christmas 2004 killed 300 people, destroying thousands of homes and stirring up tonnes of nuclear and toxic waste illegally dumped offshore in the 1990s. The United Nations Environment Programme reported many unusual illnesses in the region following the tsunami. It said European companies were involved in the dumping, but there was never any accurate assessment of the extent of the problem.

Abdullah Elmi Mohamed, a Somali academic studying in Sweden, said that the European companies charged “approximately $8 per tonne (for dumping off Somalia], while in Europe the cost for the disposal and treatment of toxic waste material could go up to $1,000 per tonne.”

With Puntland unrecognised internationally, little diplomatic pressure can be put on the region’s authorities, which say piracy also grew after international “sea robber” fishing fleets plundered and wrecked its fishing grounds. The UN estimates fish worth at least £50 million a year has been taken illegally from Somali waters by Spanish, South Korean and other foreign boats, which also raided Somali fishermen’s nets and used destructive techniques that have wiped out tuna shoals, destroyed fish eggs and caused havoc with the marine environment.

Most of Puntland’s pirates are former poor fishermen with no particular political ideology who have turned to more lucrative work, plying the seas in search of ransom targets, travelling in light speedboats from at least two mother ships far out at sea.

The pirates are heroes in a shattered land. Millions of dollars in ransoms are being paid by desperate ship-owners – more than $30 million so far this year, one and a half times the annual budget of the Puntland authorities – and once-impoverished ports like Eyl have become boomtowns.

 

Pirates? Yes, Pirates!

Here’s a current event that also touches on the concept of international law.  Individual countries, and their navies, don’t control the world’s oceans, and that spells opportunity for modern pirates off the coast of Somalia, who are making a fortune off of hijacking, terrorizing, and robbing defenseless ships and crews. Though this has been happening for years, the incidents are escalating and reached a new high (low point) this weekend, with the capture of the Sirius Star, a supertanker fully loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil.  This is the largest ship taken to date, and is raising concerns and headaches over how to deal with the problem.

 

Welcome to the world of 21st-century piracy, where attacks are launched from GPS-equipped speed boats by gangs armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rockets and grenades.The modern-day brigands are also amassing hauls like never before – in multi-million-pound ransoms rather than gleaming treasure.

Up to $1 million (£660,000) per vessel is being secured, with the pirates’ total loot estimated to have reached some $30 million.

This issue touches on a lot of Requirement 3 and 4 issues, such as geography.

 

Somalia, on the Horn of Africa, has become the global piracy hotspot, fuelled by a combination of desperate men in a lawless country and its proximity to one of the world’s major trade routes through the Suez Canal and Gulf of Aden – known as “the gates of hell”.

****
The supertanker is the largest vessel yet hijacked, and it was much further out to sea – 450 miles – than previous attacks in the region. The incident would suggest any merchant vessel, however far offshore, could fall prey to pirates. The total area of “dangerous waters” is now estimated to cover some 2.5 million square miles.

The International Maritime Bureau’s director, Captain Pottengal Mukundan, explains the problem:

“This major international seaway requires immediate increased protection and naval intervention. The increased frequency of piracy and heightening levels of violence are of significant concern to the shipping industry and all mariners.

 

“The types of attacks, the violence associated with the attacks, the number of hostages taken and the amounts paid in ransoms for the release of the vessels have all increased considerably.”

 

What to do?

 There are no easy – or cheap – answers. Ship operators are already diverting vessels on to longer routes to avoid the Gulf of Aden and Suez Canal, and multinational security patrols are being stepped up. A coalition of international navies established a maritime security patrol area around the Gulf of Aden in August.

But, Cyrus Mody, of the IMB, said armed guards aboard ships could spark an arms race between predators and prey.He said pirates often fired indiscriminately during an attack but did not aim to kill or injure crew. He said: “If someone onboard a ship pulls a gun, will the other side pull a grenade?”

Commodore Keith Winstanley of the Royal Navy, the deputy commander of the combined maritime forces in the Middle East, said: “It’s inconceivable that the coalition can be everywhere. The pirates will go somewhere we are not. If we patrol the Gulf of Aden, then they will go to Mogadishu (the Somali capital], and vice versa.”

****
Arming ships is seen as no panacea either, despite that idea being welcomed by the United States Navy. Consultants said it could prompt pirates to open fire more readily, putting crews at greater risk.
****

Not being able to control this problem will increase prices for the products you buy.

BGN Risk, a London-based corporate security risk firm, said piracy in the Gulf of Aden could increase insurance and transport costs by $400 million (£260 million). It said the special risks insurance levy for crossing the gulf had rocketed from $500 (£330) per voyage last year to $20,000.Liam Morrissey, a partner with the company, said: “This dramatic rise in piracy impacts the entire global supply chain by interrupting deliveries and escalating costs.

And questions of interational law come into play.  Who prosecutes? How?  What should the penalties be?  Does the international community have to do more than just law enforcement to put an end to piracy?

Another problem is what to do with the pirates once captured. OB Sisay, an Africa specialist at risk consultancy Exclusive Analysis, told the shipping journal Lloyd’s List: “While the UK could prosecute the pirates under the UK criminal offence of piracy, Royal Navy officers on anti-piracy duties currently have no law enforcement powers and therefore any evidence that they produced in the event of a UK prosecution would be likely to be thrown out.”The Rail Maritime and Transport union, which represents seafarers, has called for international action against piracy, which should include tackling Somalia’s problems.

 

Click on “Pirates Part 2″ to read about how piracy relates to the global economy.

 

 

What are your obligations as an American citizen?

An obligation is a requirement to take a course of action.  In terms of politics or government, an obligation may be a requirement that must be fulfilled.

Common obligations of citizens include a requirement to participate as a juror if called upon and to pay taxes, which is seen as being in return for the right to participate in the electoral process and receive financial and physical protection from the state. Another example, though not a common law obligation, is the US Constitutional requirement to participate in a census every ten years, which, like many legal obligations, often incurs a fine if not fulfilled when the time is right.

Thanks to Wikipedia for that.

 

What are your duties as an American citizen?

A duty conveys a sense of moral commitment to someone or something.  This commitment results in action and is not simply a passive feeling.  It requires some sense of sacrifice of self-interest.

So, duty as an American citizen starts with a sense of pride, commitment, or love for your country.  That motivates a desire on your part to “return the favor;” to try to do something positive for your country. 

Expressing your individuality when honored to sing the National Anthem at a sporting event (had to mention that, it’s fun to watch these videos).

Running for elected office

Serving on a government committee

Working for a campaign or getting involved in an issue that impacts your community

Volunteering for service in the military

Working for a charitable or community organization to improve people’s lives

This is one of the reasons scouting places such a high value on volunteer activities.  The service project you must organize and accomplish to become an Eagle Scout will help you appreciate the difference you can make in your community.  Every eagle scout I have known has gained an enormous sense of pride in what he accomplishes, and you will too!  As you move on in life, use that same spirit and initiative to be an involved citizen – to do your duty as you best see fit.