Hong Kong Protests

Around 20 years ago, Hong Kong was a British Colony, and then in 1997, the city was returned to China with two conditions. It was a policy known as one country, two systems, where Hong Kong became a part of China, with some exceptions. There are many more rights for the citizens than on the mainland, and Hong Kong also has its own government. Citizens of Hong Kong are allowed freedom of speech, freedom of the internet, and freedom of assembly, privileges the Chinese mainlanders do not have. China promised these laws would stay in place until at least 2047, but already some Hong Kong citizens feel as though their freedom is slipping away. 

Throughout June this year, there have been many peaceful protests on the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong citizens. The protests were started out of anger with the government and Hong Kong citizens are trying to preserve their diminishing freedom. 

Some protests are working, such as ones on June 9th: The government was going to pass a bill that would have allowed Hong Kong criminals to be sent to the mainland, but they withdrew it after protests on June 9th. However, in the months leading up to today, some protests have begun to turn violent as the government is stubborn to bend to the will of the protesters. Some protesters believe violence is the only way the government will listen to them, and their actions have been followed with severe police brutality, including one man who was set on fire.  

Neither the protesters nor the government seem to be willing to back down, even with thousands of arrests, and most do not know how this will end. 

Read this article to answer these questions:

1. Should the United States get involved with this issue? If so, who should they defend?
2. Why do you think the Chinese government wants to take away the rights of Hong Kong citizens?
3. Imagine if Boston was part of the United States but had more freedom and different rights that the rest of the country. How would you feel about that?
4. Would you participate in the protests if you lived in Hong Kong, even with all the violence from other protesters and the police?

“Why Are People Protesting in Hong Kong?” The New York Times, 13 Nov. 2019, www.nytimes. 

com/2019/11/13/world/asia/hong-kong-protests.html?searchResultPosition=2. Accessed  14 Nov. 2019.

Are Military Dogs Training and Treatment Humane?

          On October 28th, 2019, one of the most successful U.S. military raids in history went down. A military dog, Newsweek is calling Conan (has not been officially released), chased the leader of Isis, 

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, into a tunnel where Mr. al-Baghdadi ended up killing himself. Here is a link about his death The President himself, took great pride in Conan's actions and tweeted a picture of the dog and captioned: "We have declassified a picture of the wonderful dog (name not declassified) that did such a GREAT JOB in capturing and killing the Leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi!” This dog's actions, although courageous, can be interpreted as cruel. This event brings up the question of whether dogs should be trained to detain someone. Conan did not return unscathed from Mr. al-Baghdadi's bomb vest suicide. Fortunately, Conan was tended to and is currently fine.   

          Standard military dog training starts when the dogs are just puppies. The pups begin in boot camp and are raised to be obedient towards authority, and scarily aggressive towards enemies. They are also trained to sniff through doors for any sort of suspect, bomb, or dangerous machine or substance. San Antonio Lackland, Texas, is home to the 341st U.S. Airbase. f San Antonio Lackland also has a dog training facility where about 300 dogs are raised per year. After they graduate the training, dogs serve 6-8 years in the military. To put it in perspective, the average life expectancy for a dog is 10-13 years, meaning their military service takes up half of their life minimum. Whereas humans who only serve have to serve for 4 years have an average life span of 80 years, which is about 5% of a human lifetime.

          These dogs take human type risks, like jumping off a plane with a parachute.  “To me, they’re the first line of defense,” said Ron Aiello, president of the United States War Dogs Association. He is referring to the fact that dogs (and handlers) lead the way to sniff out landmines, snipers, any sort of trap, which makes them like test dummies. 
          Military dogs are not like other dogs. Their strict training makes it hard for them to adjust after retirement. They are territorial and aggressive. After retirement, they need to learn how to be a dog again, which should never happen.

         
1. How do you feel about military dogs being trained to take down or even kill someone?
2. Are military dogs necessary in the military with all the new technology available to the U.S?
3. Do big dogs off-leash scare you and why?
4. What would you do if your dog had been trained to attack anyone who you did not welcome (If you do not have one... IMAGINE)?

“Trump Shares Photo of ‘Wonderful’ Dog in ISIS Raid, but Not a Name.” The New York Times, 28 Oct. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/us/politics/trump-baghdadi-dog-conan.html. Accessed 1 Nov. 2019

Ward, Alex. “The US Military Dog That Helped Take down ISIS Leader Baghdadi.” Vox, Vox, 28 Oct. 2019, www.vox.com/world/2019/10/28/20937045/isis-baghdadi-dog-trump-twitter. Accessed 1 Nov. 2019.

Texas, in. “They Look Adorable but Are Trained in Texas for Dangerous Situations.”  

ABC13 Houston, 30 Oct. 2019, abc13.com/they-look-adorable-but-are-trained-for-

dangerous-situations/5658848/. Accessed 1 Nov. 2019.

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