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–Florida State Representative Kionne McGhee believes that South Dade should be served by a new rail line like it was promised back in 2002.
–In an op-ed video for RISE NEWS, McGhee lays out why he believes that state leaders and Miami-Dade Transit have failed the people he represents.
——Here’s Something Completely Different: ——
Newly Reopened To The Public, Miami’s Iconic Freedom Tower Has Positioned Itself As An Ideas Hub
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Dozens Of Boats Filled With Dead Bodies Keep Washing Up On The Japanese Shoreline
By Erika Hills
Something very strange is washing up on the shores of Japan. Dozens of old boats, filled with dead bodies keep finding their way to the coastline of the world’s third largest economy.
According to The Japan Times, it has become a yearly occurrence for wrecked ships to drift in the seas near Japan by the dozens.
Between 2013 and 2014, 145 boats were found by officials.
In total, 34 have been found this year, including boats that were discovered within the past two months. These ghost ships are thought to have originated in North Korea.
Most recently, on Nov. 20, officials discovered 10 bodies in three boats off the coast of Ishikawa Prefecture. Just a mere two days later, a fourth boat was found.
Carrying a nearly intact body with the head, six skulls, as well as other bones and remains, there it drifted an hour from the location of the other three boats, at Fukui Prefecture.
“There’s no doubt that the boats are North Korean,” John Nilsson-Wright, the head of the Asia program at the Chatham House policy institute told CNN.
Japanese Coast Guard officials said that for the past two months, 11 fishing boats with bodies on board have been found. They carry equipment, nets, and signs written in Korean, including one saying “Korean People’s Army,” the North Korean army, on it.
WATCH: Japanese TV report on a ship that washed ashore
Coast Guard spokesman, Yoshiaki Hiroto, said the small size and poor condition of the 10-to-12 meter long boats are not typical of South Korea or Japan.
Hiroto told the AP that evidence suggests the vessels are from the Korean Peninsula.
A tattered scrap of cloth on one of the boats also points to where they sailed from, as it looks like it could be the North Korean national flag, according to Japan broadcaster, NHK.
“There’s no doubt that the boats are North Korean,” John Nilsson-Wright, the head of the Asia program at the Chatham House policy institute told CNN.
Upon examining photos of the boats, Nilsson-Wright determined the lettering is Korean or Hangul.
Along with the tattered cloth and “Korean People’s Army,” sign, Nilsson-Wright said it is “very logical” to say the boats are from North Korea.
He believes one possibility is that people are trying to flee the regime, although he added that it is impossible to truly know with the limited information authorities have.
CNN reports that local Japanese media have been indicating that fishing boats under the command of the Korean People’s Army could have fallen victim to Kim Jong Un’s pressure for them to catch more fish.
Experts say that due to this, boats also may have drifted off course, ill-equipped to handle the harsh seas.
Cover Photo Credit: Mario Micklisch/Flickr (CC by 2.0)
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The US Government Has Failed The World On The Ubiquitous Use of Cluster Bombs
In conflict zones spanning the globe, several factions are utilizing various types of “cluster munitions”.
Unlike ordinary explosives, which are a one and done affair, cluster munitions are a type of warhead that is far more insidious. They disperses bomblets, thus peppering an area with the loaded munitions.
This is problematic due to the tendency of some of the bomblets to not detonate immediately.
These unexploded ordinance can later detonate, and shred civilians in their wake.
Laos for instance has suffered heavily from unexploded cluster bombs in the decades since the American war in Vietnam.
As a result the UN passed a resolution banning the use of cluster munitions in 2008.
As is often the case, the United States is not a signatory to the convention, but has desisted from using cluster munitions, and the White House has blocked the sale of cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia, who has been using them in the war in Yemen.
This was after damning accusations by Human Rights Watch, claiming that Riyadh was even using cluster bombs in urban areas.
However, Saudi Arabia is joined by: Russia and Ukraine, the Libyan National Army, Sudan, and Russia and Al-Assad in Syria, who are potentially field testing a new variety of cluster bomb, according to War is Boring.
The American Government, has been largely silent on the use of cluster munitions.
While the sale of cluster munitions blocked by the President was nearly unnecessary due to a close fight in the House, this slight reaction was only triggered following Saudi airstrikes on urban centers.
A slap on the wrist for a customer and ally, but no condemnation for the many other actors who use cluster munitions on civilian centers.
Whilst the United States is not a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Bombs, this would not be the first time the United States has acted to enforce international law it is not a de jure party to.
The dispute in the South China Sea is one largely over the arcane minutia of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), of which the United States is not party to, due to vague arguments regarding sovereignty.
Nevertheless, the United States largely abides by the conditions of UNCLOS, and has demonstrated its determination to not recognize China’s maritime claims, based on the text of UNCLOS.
In the words of the late International Law scholar Lewis Henkin;
“Almost all nations observe almost all principles of international law and almost all of their obligations almost all of the time.”
If the cost of doing business is to adhere to certain laws and norms, then states will adhere to those laws and norms in all but extraordinary cases.
It then should be surprising that the United States has not used either the Convention on Cluster Munitions, or its own invented doctrine of no use in civilian areas, as a rhetorical stick to hit its adversaries hard and often.
Fear of hypocrisy has not deterred the American Government from criticizing bad actors before, and even more so when decades of damage to civilian populations is guaranteed by inaction.
RISE NEWS is a grassroots journalism news organization that is working to change the way young people become informed and engaged in the world. You can write for us.
Photo Credit: Mario Micklisch/Flickr (CC by 2.0)
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For Kobe: The Spirit is Willing, But the Flesh is Weak
Five-time NBA champion and former MVP Kobe Bryant announced Sunday that he will retire at the end of this season.
The 20-year veteran made his decision public with a published piece in The Player’s Tribune. In the post, which reads like a free-verse poem, Bryant thanked the fans, not just of the Los Angeles Lakers, but basketball fans in general for giving him as much back as he gave to them.
However, the poem also contained Bryant’s personal reasoning behind calling it a career saying, “My heart can take the pounding/My mind can handle the grind/But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.”
There is little to argue with Bryant’s self-assessment, as his previous two seasons had been riddled with injuries. He missed the first 19 games of the 2013-2014 season with an Achilles injury, which was followed by a fracture in his left knee which sat him six weeks. This same knee issue kept him out of the final 18 games as well.
Bryant fared little better on that front during the 2014-2015 season. Although he started the first 27 games, inconsistent play led to him being benched for a short time. Then, in January 2015, he tore the rotator cuff in his left shoulder which sidelined him for the remainder of the season.
So far, 2015-2016 has not been kind to the veteran either. Though he has started every game so far this season, he is shooting only 31.5 percent from the field, including a 1-for-14 performance against the Golden State Warriors. This has contributed to the Lakers current record of 2-14, worst in the Western Conference.
Those numbers notwithstanding, it is doubtful that NBA fans will look back on Bryant’s Hall of Fame career and think of his final 82 games.
Instead, they will think of him as the 17-time All-Star and the two-time Olympic Gold Medal-winner. They will think of him as the man who hit game-winning shots. They will think of him as a man who called it a career, not when all the pundits said he should, but when he decided it was time.
Cover Photo Credit: Keith Allison/ Flickr (CC By 2.0)
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