Note: Originally Published on September 3rd 2017

Today, North Korea went too far. Look, they’ve been testing missiles and nuclear weapons for a long time now, and there seems to be no way they’ll back down from their testing anytime soon. And sure, the UN has put sanctions on what they’re doing, and many countries have spoken out against North Korea, condemning the weapon tests, inclusive of the US and Australia. But the rogue country will not listen, they will not back down. And the individual of high concern is leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un. The fearless leader of NK is unwilling to back down from any missile testing, any nuclear weapons testing, despite the sanctions handed down by the UN. The real problem is, he just doesn’t care. He couldn’t care less what others say, what others think. He only cares about himself and his missiles. And in some aspect, that really does make him a dangerous leader. He’s practically leading a brainwashed nation of North Korean civilians who will follow his rule without question. There is no rebellion, because if there was, if anyone even tried, they could be locked up or even killed. It’s a terrible place to live in.

But let’s get to what makes it all so relevant, so much worse as of today. Now sure, North Korea have threatened the US with missile attacks, more recently on Guam, and have also launched missiles in the direction of Japan, with threats being made to them and South Korea as well. Even Darwin, Australia has come under threat, as Australia has been aiding the US in terms of military. But now Kim Jong-Un and his weapons testing have gone too far. They’ve taken it to a whole new level, a height that should never have been reached. Because today, they’ve claimed to have successfully tested something else. A weapon ultimately more destructive than any other that has been tested in their history. A weapon that could ultimately wipe out millions if dropped. The ultimate weapon of mass destruction. North Korea have a H-Bomb.

The H-Bomb. A fearsome weapon that could wreak major havoc on any area on which it is dropped. Hopefully it never will be dropped. Here’s a run down on what exactly this weapon is. A H-Bomb, or Hydrogen Bomb, is an explosive which uses regular fission atomic bombs as their primer charge. The heat, the pressure, and the radiation from that prime explosion acts as a detonator in itself, setting off a second charge which compresses the hydrogen isotope fuel and creates what is referred to as a fusion reaction. The bomb derives its energy through the fusion of atoms. Now let’s be honest, most of us probably wouldn’t understand any of what I just said. And in all honesty, I don’t even know what it means. In reality, only a chemist or the like would actually understand what in the world any of that means. But I’ll put it in simpler terms for everyone else, who, like me, cannot understand it. Basically, the H-Bomb is an explosive which creates a big explosion wherever it is dropped. In even simpler terms, massive BOOM. And when I say massive, I mean an explosion of immense proportions. And to demonstrate the effect it could have, I’ll talk in terms of an explosion that’s already happened. Hypothetically, a 1 megaton hydrogen bomb, if detonated on the Earth’s surface, the blast power would be 80 times that of the one which resulted from the 1945 Bomb dropped on Hiroshima. This would create a 200 foot (60.96 metres) deep crater, 1000 feet (304.8 metres) in diameter. So in all perspective, it would literally be one of the worst case explosions the world would ever see.

Now that North Korea have claimed to have successfully carried out tests on a H-Bomb, it should be the top priority on the agenda of all world leaders and their governments, in particular those within close proximity, and those in range, of North Korea and its weapons. This is, in reality, a threat to the world. It is an international emergency. One which has an impact on some more than others, but still one which impacts the entire world. Something needs to be done. All countries should be cutting off any ties they have to North Korea. The country should ultimately be left in isolation. In all honesty, other than that, I really don’t know how they can stop Kim Jong-Un and his nation from doing what they’re doing. I really do hope that nothing happens, that no bombs are dropped, especially a H-Bomb. All we can do is just hope that Kim Jong-Un sees the light, that he finally has some sense, because if he doesn’t, the world could feel the effects.

JJ

Note: This was Originally Published on September 23rd 2017

Ok, it’s time for me to come back from out of the shadows. It’s been a while, but I feel I need to come back now to discuss a matter that’s taken Australia by storm in the last few months. And so it’s time for me to get involved in the Same Sex Marriage debate. Now let me say one thing, I will be taking an unbiased side to this issue. It may at times seem like I’m arguing for one side or another, but let me be clear, I’m just doing what any good reporter would do. I’m going to try to keep this just and fair, because I’m a good person and a good reporter (hopefully). I honestly just feel like it’s time for me to write about this.

Ok, let’s do this.

The Same Sex Marriage debate began a long time ago. In fact, no one really cared about any of this until John Howard altered the Marriage Act to make the statement that marriage is between one man and one woman. That was the moment that really began all of this. It set the pretence for what would occur in the next decade and beyond. And so, over the next decade or so, many attempts were made by various politicians to change the act to redefine marriage so that it could account for all types of relationships. And every single attempt made, all 22 of them, were swept aside. The last attempt had no traction at all, with only Bill Shorten supporting it. And so, inevitably, a 23rd came about. This year, the pendulum began to swing yet again. And it hasn’t stopped. A postal survey was decided upon after the Labor Party, the Greens and the Crossbench Senators all voted against a parliamentary vote (kind of ironic per say), and the survey, at a cost of $122 million of the emergency fund given to Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, after being passed through the High Court, was sent out. And so began the debate, one that quickly and inevitably turned into a mess of a fight.

Before we get into the whole mass debate that has swept the nation, let’s just take a minute to have a look at the potential reasons for why this is all happening, and something that actually happened back in 2008. The reality is that this is all happening so that Same Sex couples can be recognised, and so that they can gain the same rights as all other married couples in Australia. But there’s one thing that’s wrong with that. Back in April 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd wanted to give more recognition to LGBT rights in Australia, and so made and announced reforms to the recognition of same-sex relationships in taxation, health, employment, superannuation, aged care, and other areas. The reforms were made, so why argue over this whole thing still today? Maybe it’s because same-sex couples want the right to marry, and to adopt children. They want equal rights, and in some aspect that’s fair enough. But they have got a lot of the same rights as other married couples. But anyway, let’s continue.

And now onto the debate itself. Now the Yes campaign has been going all out. There’s been advocation everywhere: signs, door knocking, rallies, support on social media, and the list goes on. And the No campaign, somewhat started by Cory Bernardi and his Australian Conservatives Party, has also been doing a few things too, with Bernardi himself speaking out, the Party creating a banner for people to use on Facebook that states ‘It’s OK To Vote No’, just like the banners for the support of same sex marriage created for the Yes campaign. And there have been a few incidences over the past couple of weeks that have changed the way it’s all playing out. First, there were a few students at Sydney University running a stand advocating the No vote about a week and a half ago. And that’s fair enough, they have every right to express their opinion. So they had signs, they were selling food, and just expressing their opinions as is their right. But then things turned ugly when people who were against the No campaign, other students, went over to the stand and trashed it, smothering food over the posters, throwing food at the people running the stand, and it just devolved quickly. Then, earlier this week, an 18 year old girl was let go from her job as a party entertainer by her female boss, who believed the girl was a homophobe after she applied the ‘It’s OK To Vote No’ banner to her profile picture on Facebook. The boss, Madlin Sims, posted to Facebook saying she let her go because of the issue, labelling her as a homophobe and stating it would be bad for business and that she shouldn’t be near children if she was going to be a homophobe. But again, the girl, named Madeline, had every right to express her opinion as a Christian, and being fired because of her opinion is way over the top, especially when her boss wrote in her post to ‘Vote Yes’, expressing her own opinion. What is going on? And then, the AFL and NRL went and changed their logos to say YES, and were absolutely blasted for it before taking it down the next day. And as if that wasn’t enough, it all crossed the line today. The Yes campaign finally went too far. I’m honestly really sorry if I’m sounding biased right now but this is a really serious matter. The line has been crossed. Tonight, and I witnessed it myself, the Yes campaign decided to send out text (SMS) messages to all those people eligible to vote on the electoral roll, saying ‘The Marriage Equality Survey forms have arrived! Help make history and vote YES for a fairer Australia.’ They also attached an email address to the Vote Yes campaign website, which I will not be attaching here because this is an unbiased article. Now the manager of the campaign Alex Greenwich spoke out and said that ‘The campaign is using every resource available to make sure fairness and equality are achieved for all Australians. The campaign has a responsibility to encourage every Australian to post their survey and we have done this through door knocking, media, advertising, social media and SMS messaging. It’s so important to reach as many Australians as possible and remind them this is a vote about fairness and ensuring every Australian is equal under the law.’ Ok, so it’s fair enough that they’re encouraging people to vote in the survey, but they’ve crossed the line by actually telling people how to vote. And the major problem with this method of advocating opinion is that it’s a massive invasion of privacy. People do not want these messages. The Yes campaign is being killed by what’s been occurring this week. Reporter and analyst Andrew Bolt made a great comment this week on his show, The Bolt Report, when he said that the one thing he has heard so often this week is this ‘I was going to vote yes, but then I heard/saw this and now I’m voting no.’ It’s just going too far. The entire thing is a mess. We all know that even if the vote is a no, the Marriage Act will be changed if Bill Shorten comes into power in the next election anyway. So why waste $122 million on all this?

Look, this is what I think. I think that no matter what, love is something that’s so amazing, so spectacular, so special. Why fight over love? There is so much more to love than just marriage. So there really is no point continuing to argue over this. In all respects, love is a wondrous phenomenon that is a part of humanity, and we all hope that we will find love in our lives, in all its many forms. *Just a bit of a tangent and an advertisement, I am currently in the midst of writing a book all about the natural wonders of humanity itself. I’ll keep the loyal followers of this blog up to date, but yeah, it’s still in the works, hopefully to be completed soon.* So leave love alone. Don’t argue and worry about something that doesn’t affect so many people. I hope everyone can find love in their lives. I hope everyone has that wonder. Because it really can have a major effect on human life.

JJ

Note: Originally Published on June 13th 2017

Currently the world over, we are seeing a wide spanning range of political differences and instability. Now, each country that is dealing with these instabilities of sorts each have their own reasons for how it has come to be this way, but there seems to be some commonalities between countries in which changes are occurring. The most prominent of these is the increase in the number of individuals, in particular younger individuals, who have decided to undertake that occasional task that is voting. Each country is obviously different in some way in how they go about the process of voting and all that follows, however, each and every one of them (well, bar the dictatorships) is the same in that a leader is elected by the vote of the people. And in recent years, moreover recent months, we have see a surge in the amount of young people who have turned out to polling booths all over their respective countries to vote, and their votes have somewhat changed the leadership environment of the country in which they inhabit.

Two countries in particular have caught the world’s eye more recently; that is the U.K. and of course the United States of America (or divided states to some). The UK has more recently had their vote, only last week, and yes, there was a significant increase in the amount of people who turned out to the polls, particularly the younger individuals. Now the two major parties are those of the Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Theresa May, and the Labor Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn. Now, in May’s idealisation, she thought that calling an election three years early with an extended campaign was a good idea, primarily because she thought it would bring some stability to the government of the United Kingdom. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? She sounds like someone else a bit closer to home, right? Maybe even someone who has the same initials as herself, just switched around. TM the opposite way around is MT. That’s right, you guessed it! Malcolm Turnbull. Mr Turnbull, similarly, decided to call a double dissolution, also with an extensive, three month campaign, for the basic purpose of cementing his place and gaining some increase in stability. And they each faced a very similar outcome; a severe loss of seats in parliament and an increase in instability. And a fun fact; each of their respective campaigns were managed by the same individual. My advice: I would not go hiring that guy if you want to keep your government in tact. Right now, the Labor parties on both countries are waiting for their chance to seize power, and it may not be all that long for some.

Meanwhile, over in the US, we’ve seen some months of increasing uncertainties, since the election of Mr Billionaire Businessman, Donald Trump. Trump has, in some senses, created some division between individuals in the US, and even in other countries. This has come about stemming from a variety of purposes, such as his unique policies. For example, the immigration restrictions on those who come from Muslim nations, of which the policies, or the movements of which have been created for them, have been barred by judges at least twice. What this has created is somewhat of a prejudice within the so called ‘United’ States of America, which has become more of a divided nation. Not to say that this prejudice hasn’t been around for a greater period of time, it has just become even greater more recently. The current issue with the US, however, is that Trump, who has become overly used to firing people in the past, has now taken it to a whole new level, firing the Director, or former Director, of the FBI, James Comey. The reason behind this was never stated, but now it appears, through Comey’s testimony and statements, that there was something else going on that Trump wanted hidden from the world. And coupled with his tweets, he’s really not doing himself any favours. I think some would agree that he himself didn’t realise how much harder this job would be than he realised. And does anyone know what ‘covefefe’ means yet? All I’ve managed to come up with is that he’s coding something, or this may in fact be the nuclear codes. Anyway, Trump still has some work to do, and, doubtful though it may seem, impeachment is something on many minds. It’s not entirely impossible, but highly unlikely due to the majority of all levels of government in the US comprising of Republicans over Democrats. However, it could still happen, although with some major work in persuasion from the Democrats. Who knows what’ll happen in America these days?

So there you go, a bit of a commentary on the politics of the world at the moment. Hope you got something out of it, and if there’s any suggestions for future articles/commentaries or even ideas on what ‘covefefe’ means, let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading!

JJ