The Story: Nowadays people use a lot of plastic like plastic bags, boxes, bottles and other things. In shops everything is in a plastic too. Vegetables and fruit are sold packed in plastic bags, boxes and foils because it is very convenient and easy. Plastic waste is a big problem. Some states put waste into the ground and some states throw the waste away into oceans. It´s not good for the environment or animals. Scientists have found a plastic bag on the bottom of the Mariana Trench. The biggest problem is in developing countries, in these countries we can see a lot of plastic waste in the ocean. Two surfers in Bali have started to solve this problem. Their names are Alex Schulze and Andrew Coope. These guys set up an organization in 2017 and started to clean the ocean in Bali. The organization, called 4Ocean, cleans oceans and coastlines. They have picked up 2,300 tons of plastic waste till today and they make bracelets from this plastic which you can buy and support them while you are at home. They promise that all your money from buying a bracelet will be used for cleaning the ocean.
Hot Take! But this isn't the only one way you can help our planet. You can reuse your own drinking bottles or reuse bags for your shopping. When you are on summer holiday you can pick up some waste from coastlines or if you are at home and go for a walk you can pick up some waste around your house. Maybe you are not sure if it has some importance. However, it does! Even a little step is good, because if everybody does a little step, it is a big step together.
Article 11 & 13
By Klara & Tom March 28, 2019
The Story: The voting about “article 13” and “article 11”, also known as the copyright law” or “the law that will take memes away from us”, took place in Strasburg, France, on March 26, 2019. Originally, the vast majority of representatives was in favour of the law passing. Eventually, the general public reaction played a major role in the final decision. Although the public pressured the matter significantly, the politicians made their decision, and the law passed as valid with 348 in favor and 274 against. This voting went hand in hand with the elections for European parliament, which are to be held in April this year.
Hot Take! So, are we banned from posting any original content from now on? The answer is no, at least for now. The law will become valid in about two years time, which gives creators and freelance business owners time to adapt to its conditions, even though they are very restricting. Even though all individual countries of European Union are allowed to adjust the law to their conditions, it still takes away a significant part of our freedom of speech on all major websites.
Tragedy in New Zealand
By Tom March 20, 2019
The Story: More than 50 people were killed during a mass shooting in New Zealand on March 15. An Australian citizen opened fire in two Christchurch mosques in an anti-Muslim rampage. The government encouraged media not to share the attacker name as it could make him infamously known for such a horrible crime. New Zealand government took immediate gun control action to restrict assault rifles.
Additional Comments: According to witnesses the attacker was repetitively shouting: “Subscribe to PewDiePie”. This encouragement regards Youtube controversy known as Subscriber war between him and Indian channel T-Series. This was obviously done just to attract more attention as the “Subscribe to PewDiePie” meme has gone viral over the last few months. PewDiePie distances himself from this type of behaviour and expresses his condolences to the families of the victims.
Czech PM Babiš Visits US President Trump
By Alex March 8, 2019
The Story: Washington has a new visitor in town! For the first time in eight years, an upper official from the Czech government will be visiting the White House. Some speculate that this could mean a warm rekindling of Czech-US relations.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš flew to the United States yesterday to meet with the nation's president, Donald Trump. The two had a meeting where they discussed cyber-security, issues of trade between the US and European Union, tensions in the nation of Syria, and plans to bring more nuclear energy to the Czech Republic. There was also talk about creating an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centre in Prague. In addition to his meeting at the Oval Office, PM Babiš was invited to meet with officials in the Central Intelligence Agency (the details of which will not be made public). PM Babiš is the first Czech head of government to ever visit the CIA headquarters.
The internet is flooded with articles from all sides of the political spectrum commenting on the meetings. Some articles focus on the Czech PM's comment that he hopes to "make the Czech Republic great again", a play on Trump's controversial campaign slogan. Others sources center on the personal lives of both leaders, which hold many scandalous similarities, rather than the details of the meetings. A quick online search of "Andrej Babiš and Donald Trump meeting" will reveal just how biased news sources can be. It is important to pay attention to how the story is being told and find information from multiple sources to try and get the true, unbiased facts.
Below is the audio version of an article from Czech Radio that we feel presents the important and factual details of the meeting between the national officials without partisanship.
All credit for the article from Czech Radio/Praha Radio goes to the author Daniela Lazarová
The US Government Shutdown
By Alex and contributors January 18, 2019
The Story: It is day 27 of the U.S. government shutdown. If it sounds strange for a government to be "shut down", well yes, it is. However, this is not a new phenomenon in the U.S. A government shutdown occurs when groups in the American government do not agree on a budget for the upcoming year. Because there is a disagreement about how money will be spent, the government stops or restricts spending until the parties come to an agreement. The longest shutdown prior to the current one happened December 1995 - January 1996 under President Bill Clinton. At this time, the majority Republican Congress did not agree with the then Democratic president about how the country should spend money on healthcare, education, and environmental protection. In today's shutdown, the tables have turned and the majority Democratic Congress does not agree on key spending issues with the Republican president, Donald Trump. Trump has asked for increased border security in the form of a "wall" that would physically separate Mexico from the United States. The wall is estimated to cost $5.7 billion (127,054,140,000 czk).
Because there is no money moving within the government at this time, many government workers have not been receiving paychecks for their work. This includes airport security workers, FBI agents, NASA employees, Food and Drug regulators, and many other professions. About 800,000 people have gone without a paycheck during this time.
This will be the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Hot Take! Czech students on our staff pointed out that Europe worked so hard for years to tear down its walls -- metaphorical barriers as well as the Berlin Wall --, while the U.S. is trying to put up a wall. Edit: The US government shut down ended "temporarily" on January 25, 2019, lasting 35 days.
Brexit
By Alex December 14, 2019 The Story: "Brexit". You may have heard this word being thrown around on the nightly news, but what exactly does it mean? The word Brexit refers to the United Kingdom leaving the European Union (Britain + exit). In 2016, the people of the UK voted on whether or not they should stay with the EU and by a very small margin, the result was a push to leave or exit. British Prime Minister, Thresea May, is in favor of a "Brexit deal" which would be slightly different than a total quick and clean cut from the EU. This so-called Brexit deal would slow the process of the UK removing itself from the EU and is often referred to as a "soft Brexit". The nation is scheduled to leave the EU in March of 2019. However, there is an unrest in the British government, with many officials against the Brexit deal. May must get backing from the parliament in order for the Brexit plan to be implemented smoothly. However, the vote was postponed by May and the situation for Brexit still remains unsure.
Hot Take! As a person who is not well versed on the nuances of the current political situation in the UK, I can only speak from a very surfaced and possibly naive perspective. It appears that the current sanctions were born partially from a place of nationalism (a common theme in today's world). Although I understand many countries want to embrace their culture and peoples, I believe that we are all able to stand stronger together. In a world filled with talk of border security, patriotism, and a general "them vs us" mentality, I think the UK has failed to be a positive role model, but rather, they have succumbed to the rising feelings of animosity.
Edit: As of January, May held a vote of "assurance" from the British Commons. She lost the vote by a massive margin, 230 votes.