Sara Inoue

     James VI of Scotland became the king of both Scotland and England. As England became bigger and stronger, he gradually shifted towards business that benefited the UK. Even though the two regions were not a union, Scotland was dragged into England's wars with other countries. This left the Scottish people unhappy and disconsolate. Until in the 1680s, James married a catholic wife, which lead to the fight between William, who was not catholic. It was quite difficult to catch up regarding the disputes between members of the royal family, but the main point of Mr. Patersons' talk was that the Scottish and British have been hostile for decades.      England and Scotland continued as two separate states sharing a monarch. I was shocked to find out how the 1979 election completely broke the purdah by changing the rules last minute. Even though there was 38% of voters wished for the independence of Scotland, it had to be more than 40% in order for it to go thr...

 Ranked 5th in GDP ranking for 2021 was the UK, and they were able to maintain their economic rank due to Scotland's resources.  95% of the UK's oil, gas, and fishing, 100% of the wave power of the UK is in Scotland's waters. Other resources such as coal and forestry are also provided from Scotland. If Scotland became independent, it would be one of the richest countries, kicking out the UK in GDP rankings. In addition, they would have the right to take back the sea boundary that the UK has been moving ever since the order in 1987 (Picture below) . The only setback is that the British government has been mobilizing the media to get Scottish people to vote against their interests.        From previous classes, I knew that BBC was owned by the British government and presented heavily biased content. Yet, I was still shocked about the weather map used in their weather reports. Even though the two areas in Scotland, Stornoway, and Edinburgh are 200 miles a...

     After watching yesterday's documentary, I realized how much the knowledge I gained from previous terms, had affected the way I viewed the documentary. For example, snippets of news reports were included when giving evidence of media manipulation. Before taking Mr. Paterson’s lessons, I would have conceived every information as trustworthy. Not only did I see the media as a platform to rely on facts, I was completely unaware of the fact that there was also deceitful information. Before the internet, people were informed through newspapers and radios; which were owned by rich people who had the money to buy the radio and news companies. Due to this, wealthy people were able to control the media and the information put out to the audience. Net Neutrality is the idea that internet service providers, must treat all internet communication equally, allowing individuals to put out information freely. We looked at websites such as Indymedia, information clearinghouse, and fai...

     "War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death" is a documentary about the manipulation of the US government and their view towards war. Norman Soloman, the author of the book and creator of the film attempted to expose how the American government was controlling the audience through media. Officials have explained and justified operations to the American people, by withholding crucial information about the actual reasons and potential costs of military action. Their purpose was not to inform but to generate and maintain support for the war.      Throughout the documentary,  every president has claimed that they are against wars and desire peace, even while ordering military action. The contradiction between their statements and actions is obvious; however, people like George W Bush have gained enough trust and credit to have a great impact on the audience. I was shocked to see the political news filled with lies, deception...

     Not many people know how GAP is one of the most detrimental sweatshops. Their manual workers are employed at very low wages, with poor environment, and most importantly they are children. Protestors would go up to GAP stores and demonstrate until they became more creative and started to approach from different ways. People would go up to cashier counters as "customers" and ask questions like "were these made by children?" and by continuously doing so, they were able to keep the cash corner out of business for an hour. They were able to do this with only 10 people, and without breaking any laws. Moreover, a group of people also succeeded in passing a law to stop food chains to sell unhealthy products. Although their wish to get rid of already existing chains did not supersede, they were still able to bring about change.      I was astonished to find out about the copyrights once put on neem plants, and basmati rice. Both of them were produced and tradit...

     "The people who decide on war should be the first people who have to go to war." is what Smedley  Butler claimed in his book, War is a Racket.  600 congressmen decided on the Iraq war, yet only one person had a family member who was going to fight for the war. He strongly believes that war would disappear overnight if people who make the decision, go to war instead of the poor. Tanks, ships, and guns are destroyed in wars, and new ones are made by corporations. Furthermore, newspapers have more to report and sales go up for news companies, meaning the money goes up during this time.       I didn't necessarily think these corporations "like" war, but they definitely do benefit from all the ravage. The luxurious lifestyle that politicians had in the clip, made me furious after seeing all the demonstrators struggling. Something I also found interesting was the northern Scottish accent used in a commercial. According to a late 19990s survey,...