Just this week, French officials passed a law that makes it illegal for anyone other than professional journalists to film real-world violence and distribute the images on the Internet. The supposed purpose of the law is to put a stop to a new fad in France called “happy slapping.” While the name implies something less than violent, the reality is that “happy slapping” is the act a bunch of thugs and gang members going around and assaulting random, innocent people and filming it for distribution on the web.

While it is admirably that they wish to put a stop to such heinous acts of violence, the manner in which they are trying to accomplish this is severely hampering free speech. Sure, it bans the filming and distribution of “happy slapping”, but it goes much further and would make it illegal for a non-journalist to film, for instance, the recent riots in France or even videos of police brutality.

Imagine you witness a horrible police brutality on the streets of France, and you just happen to have a camcorder with you. Under old law, you could have filmed it and the victim would have some visual proof that would surely help their case. But now, under the new law, France discourages and even punishes citizen journalists for taping such acts of violence. Sure, an eyewitness testimony is helpful in such cases, but nothing beats visual proof.

This new law is troubling. I doubt it will stop the violence from occuring; the gangs will still go about beating random people, and they’ll probably even still video tape it. But what they might not do is share it with people through sites like YouTube. However, just because we can’t see the crimes happening, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. It just means that now police will have a harder time tracking down the videos and finding out who is involved in the crimes. While the law makes it harder for cops to track down the criminals, it does make it easier for them to commit acts such as police brutality and penalize those who try to expose them.

What is commonly referred to as the Iran-Contra Affair was actually made up of two separate aspects: The sale of arms to Iran, a contravention of American Policy and Law; and the funneling of the profits from those sales to the anti-communist Contra resistance movement in Nicaragua.

Even though the affair happened more than 20 years ago, it is still pertinent to today’s world in that similarly immoral and illegal covert operations are allegedly being run by the current administration all over the Middle East, some say toward the end of provoking a military confrontation with Iran.

( http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060417fa_fact )

What was the Plan?

The plan, concocted by members of the CIA, the state department, and the armed forces, was to sell weapons to Iran in order to gain their help in securing the release of 30 American hostages being held by terrorists inside Iran. As the plan developed it was decided that profits from these sales should be funneled to the Nicaraguan Contra resistance fighters who were fighting a CIA directed battle to oust the Communist Sandanista Government.

The CIA was heavily involved with funding and training resistance movements in any South American country feared to be leaning toward communist governance, which would have bad results for American companies wishing to gain access to resources and markets. There are numerous atrocities that were committed directly by the CIA all over South American such as mining harbors and bombing airports (see Bob Woodward’s book: Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987 ). As knowledge of these acts spread through the senate action was taken to try to bring the CIA under control. This led to the Boland Amendment that outlawed financial support for the training of the Contras. Thus need to get money from other sources.

Who were the major players?

The main actors in the affair were CIA director William Casey, National Security Council (NSC) aide Oliver North, and National Security Advisor William Poindexter. Although President Ronald Reagan was shown not to have had knowledge of the affair by the Tower Commission he was criticized for not having better control over the NSC and the intelligence services.

Scandal and Aftermath

News of the affair broke after a Lebanese newspaper reported the sale of weapons to Iran in exchange for hostages. The resulting nationally televised senate hearings resulted in indictments for North, Poindexter and others. But through presidential pardons and legal technicalities none of those involved with the planning of the affair were actually sent to prison. William Casey, the CIA director who was a driving force behind the whole CIA South America anti-communist policy, conveniently died as the hearings began.

The treatment of the United States’ war veterans is beyond appalling. Despite the billions and billions of dollars that is being spent on the war in Iraq, soldiers have faced equipment and food shortages, and have seen their benefits cut. And then while they’re doing the honorable thing serving in Iraq and come home after having been wounded, soldiers face deplorable conditions in military hospitals.

In recent weeks, the Washington Post revealed the truly disgusting state of affairs at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Soldiers who stayed there in the past have spoken up, as have visitors to the center, and even some staff members.

Walter Reed is often the first stop for many American servicemen returning home with war-related injuries. You would assume that the medical center would be a top-of-the-line treatment facility with all of the best rehabilitation and treatment available. However, such an assumption was proven to be entirely wrong as Walter Reed was revealed to be a place where soldiers endured filthy and unsanitary environments, rampant drug use, and less-than-adequate medical care. Upon hearing this news, the nation was shocked, and at the same time embarrassed.

What makes this even more worse is the fact that top officials were informed of the problem and did absolutely NOTHING to stop it. It disgusts me that this country would send these soldiers into war expecting them to risk everything, and then upon their return having been injured, they are treated like low-life scum. Instead of supporting the troops, the government turned their backs on them, and for that they should be ashamed and punished.