Blog Prompt: The Strauss Kahn Case

This case is about the alleged raping of a chambermaid by Mr Strauss-Kahn, the now fired IMF chief and who is running for the French presidency. He was sued by a chambermaid for attempted rape. According to the chambermaid, she went into his room to clean it, but then saw him standing inside, naked. According to her, she apologized, but he replied to her that she had no need to be sorry. Then, she forced her into his bedroom, saying that she was beautiful. Inside the bathroom, he forced her to her knees and made her engage in oral sex, holding her head so 'hard' that it hurt.

One must note that the above is the chambermaid's account of how things happened, and may not necessarily be entirely true. To have a clearer and unbiased view of things, one has to carry out an investigation into the backgrounds of both Mr Strauss Kahn and the chambermaid herself.

Firstly, we will look into the background of the chambermaid. Not much is known about it, except that she is from Guinea, is colored and has a sexual history. It is important to note the that the chambermaid is colored. This will greatly affect the decision by the court as the case is held in the United States, where most people are stereotyped against those who are colored. Also, since she has both a shady background and a sexual history, it makes it more difficult to believe the her story that she has been raped. Instead, it is easier to believe the testimony of Strauss Kahn's lawyers that she had consensual sex with Strauss Kahn. Also, she lied in her application to the USA. Even worse, her reason for immigrating to the USA is to seek asylum, meaning that she had done something wrong in her own country, which is why she has to seek asylum in the US.

Lastly, we shall look into the background of Strauss Kahn. Firstly and most importantly, he is a man of power and absolutely loaded with money. Hence, he is able to hire an army of top lawyers to help argue his case so that he will be acquitted regardless of whether he committed the crime. Also, he can also use his money and influence to destroy evidence, bribe or coerce with other key personalities to help clear his name. And this has happened in the past. Strauss Kahn has a history of sexual assault, but he has not been charged even once because every time, evidence has mysteriously been destroyed and hence there is insufficient evidence to convict him of any crime.

Therefore, the ultimate question comes to whether everyone is equal in the eyes of the law. Undoubtedly, the court will side with Strauss Kahn because of three reasons: he is a white and she is colored, and because they are stereotyped against her, Strauss Kahn has the advantage. Secondly, the court is made up of males, and therefore they will side with Strauss Kahn's lawyers' claim that because she was scantily clad, Strauss Kahn would want to have sex with her. This would also givve Strauss Kahn an advantage. Lastly, Strauss Kahn has money to hire the best lawyers in the world. He can also bribe and destroy other pieces of evidence. On the other hand, she is a chambermaid seeking asylum in the US. Hence, Strauss Kahn's story would be more believable in court and therefore there is a much higher possibility that he will win. This also brings us to the conclusion, which is: Justice and mercy lies with those who wield the power and money,

"Help, I'm in debt"

This article is taken from the Straits Times. It is about the rising number of people who are calling the Samaritans in desperation about gambling debts or harassment by loan sharks. Sixty percent more callers reached out for help between April last year and March this year as they were being plagued by illegal moneylenders. The number of those driven to call over gambling debts rose by half compared with the figure in the same period a year ago, according to the annual report by the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS). The report also showed that 352 people called in with loan shark problems between April last year and March this year, up from 218 cases in the same period a year ago, and 196 called in with gambling debt issues, up from 132. However, the good news is that the suicide rates fell from 401 in 2009 to 353 last year.

I think that these two results are inter-related. This is because it is likely that it is because more people are calling the SOS for help on their money-related problems, and hence fewer people die as their problems are shared with and hopefully solved by the SOS. However, according to a Today article, the number of calls received by the SOS are still worrying. This is because those with such financial problems usually possess "medium to high suicide risk" and hence even thought the SOS can get in touch with them, they are still very likely to commit suicide anytime and their conditions are extremely unstable. Furthermore, the SOS also said that the callers are also "particularly difficult to engage because their urgent need is for fresh funds to service their loans". Therefore, that is their main aim, not to seek comfort and encouragement. There is not much that the SOS can do to help them. In the end, the SOS still has to refer the callers to other community resources for additional help.

Again, this is the common lesson that is taught all over and over again but no one seems to listen. "Once bitten, twice shy" does not seem to apply to anyone anymore.

"Counterfeit lenses sold in shops"

This article is taken from a Times magazine and the Straits Times. It is about some counterfeit lenses being sold in shops. These lenses are imitations if "Freshlook ColorBlends" by CIBA Vision and have been found to be unsafe and of poor quality. Lab tests by the HSA, the Health Science Authority, have found colour pigments deposited on the interior of the lens rather than on the exterior, which causes the pigments to be in direct contact with the eyes. Also, a bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which causes a serious eye infection, has been found in the storage liquid of the lenses. Using these fake lenses can result in serious complications like eye infections, corneal ulcers that open sores in the outer layer of the eye and blindness. After some investigation, various differences have been found between the real and counterfeit packaging of the corresponding lenses. Here is a list of the differences:

1) There are typographical errors on the counterfeit packaging. For example, commas in the real packaging may be replaced by full stops in the counterfeit packaging.

2) The fonts on the packs should have a clearer and more defined outline. On the other hand, counterfeits tend to have blurry text on the boxes.

3) Colour pigments on the real lenses are on the exterior of the lenses while the counterfeits have the pigments on the interior

I think that whoever producing these lenses are very inconsiderate and should be extremely ashamed of themselves. This is because to make money for themselves, they are putting the health of others at considerable risk. The bacteria found on the lenses are very dangerous and may even cause blindness to those who unwittingly buy them. I do not know whether these people know that the lenses that they are manufacturing contain the dangerous bacteria or not. If they really have no idea, then I would suggest that they first check what their products contain in explicit detail before putting them into market. This way, it would be better for consumers as their health would not be at risk and also the producers themselves, because if the products are safe, then the police would not be coming after them for selling not only counterfeit but also dangerous goods, as is happening right now.

However, if the producers of the counterfeit lenses do know that they are selling lenses which contain such a dangerous bacteria, then that would make it even worse. This is because doing so simply means that they are crooks who harbor evil schemes, either to harm as many people as possible because of their perverted minds or even to land CIBA Vision in trouble. Either way, if what I am saying is true, then I have no sympathy for these people and will dearly like to see them end up in jail.

'The Pessimism Index'

This article is taken from a Times magazine. It is about the overall pessimistic feeling in the United States through a series of questions asked to a number of people in the U.S. The poll confirms that the country is going through one of its longest sustained periods of unhappiness and pessimism ever, According to the article, teenagers hardly remember a time before the 9/11 bombing, the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq and constant economic upheaval. Baby boomers, the generation known for continuous reinvention, are filled with worry and doubt about their future and the future of their children. Even though the U.S usually bounces back after a few years of difficulty, such as the Vietnam War, Watergate or recessions, but the forces now aligned against the American people seem much more formidable than those which were surveyed; instead, the poll uncovered the minds of attitudes seen among Europeans during the decade after World War II.

The poll uncovered some unpleasant results among the American citizens. Here are some examples. Firstly, a poll asking whether the past decade has been progress or decline for the U.S as a country, 68% of those asked replied that the U.S was on a decline. Another question asked was how does the past decade compare with other decades in the past 100 years. 47% replied it was one of the worst, 32% said it was about the same while a measly 13% said it was one of the best.

I think that these pessimistic views show that this is the start of the fall of America. If the citizens are always so depressed, how then can they be motivated to work harder and produce better result so America can improve. Furthermore, if even the youth also are so pessimistic about the future of America, it is very scary thinking about how the next U.S president will be like. If he is so afraid and pessimistic, he will very likely bring down America into the slums instead of leading them up the road to improve.

"Long night of questioning for 80 youths"

This article was taken from an edition of the Straits Times.

Basically. the article is about 80 youths, aged between 12 and 21, who were alleged to have been helping a loan shark syndicate by distributing name cards and pamphlets advertising illegal moneylending services. The youngsters have since been released on bail. The youths were being paid $14 for distributing 1000 pamphlets and $16 for distributing the same number of name cards. The instructions given to the kids was simple: distribute the pamphlets and name cards for three days before being paid. The father of one of the kids who were arrested said that his son had responded to an advertisement on classified website Gumtree and did not even know that he was working for a loan shark syndicate.

I think that the kids should not be blamed as doing so would only be unfair to them. After all, they are youngsters and are hardly as mature as adults. Most of them, like the boy mentioned above, probably responded to the advertisement and took up the job because they wanted some extra pocket money and anyway, they also had nothing to do during the holidays too. Additionally, the youngsters also did not know that they were working for the loan shark syndicate. Hence, they should not be blamed.

On the other hand, I think that the loan sharks are really cruel to do things like that. They are adults, hence their thinking is more mature and also, they know the minds of children as they themselves have also been children before. Hence, when they posted the advertisement, they were taking advantage of the inmature thinking of children as they knew that the children just wanted extra pocket money and hence would sign up without question. Therefore, it can be inferred that these loan sharks are really despicable.

Blog Prompt 5.7.2011

The question for today was: Should the US have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan in World War II?

The dropping of the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to the deaths of many innocent civilians. The next generation of civilians was also affected by sicknesses such as radiation poisoning. However, was the dropping of these two atomic bombs really necessary?

First of all, the dropping of the bombs were the reason for the end of World War 2. The bombs completely decimated the two cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. According the the pilot who was instructed to fly there to survey the damage, a scar in the land which was still burning and a great plume of smoke was all which remained. Animals, humans, buildings had all been seared to nothing. Why was it necessary for the US to bring about such an extent of destruction on a city in Japan, which was already on the losing side. Moreover, the US has already been bombing 67 cities of Japan, so why should they suddenly drop the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Furthermore, was not the decimation of Hiroshima and the deaths of about 90,000 to 166,000 people cruel and tragic enough? Why the second bomb on Nagasaki?

Well, the answers will all be explained here. It was most probable that even the U.S, the creator of the atomic bomb, did not know the extent of its power as no other country has ever created an atomic bomb. Hence, it is highly possible that the bombing of Hiroshima was both a so-called test drive for the atomic bomb and also serve as a warning to Japan of the destruction the U.S could cause and therefore maybe get Japan to surrender. Therefore, it is not necessarily fair that the U.S had meant to cause such destruction in Hiroshima. On the other hand, the second bomb on Nagasaki was dropped because before that, the U.S had already issued an ultimatum to Japan that if Japan did not surrender, the U.S would then actually drop a second bomb on Japan. However, because of the fighting spirit of the Japanese, they would not surrender no matter what. Hence, the second bomb was then dropped on Nagasaki. Therefore, these pieces of evidence show that the U.S did not necessarily mean and want to cause so much damage in the two cities.

Another reason why the U.S dropped the atomic bombs on Japan might be a show of power by the U.S. It is important to note that the U.S entered the war more out of revenge than of peace. It had all the high technology weapons and hence it was more satisfied to sit back and make money out of selling those weapons to other countries needing them. However, then came along Japan, who had already signed a peace treaty with the U.S. Japan bombed the U.S's Pearl Harbour. U.S was probably extremely angered by this betrayal and entered the war to defeat Japan so as to take revenge. Thus, it could also be said that the Japanese actually brought the disaster upon themselves.