***Being in college is one of those stages in life where pretty much anything can happen at the drop of a dime. That being said, yesterday was pretty rough in terms of the workload on my plate. As a result, the daily updates of the "What's in the News?" section had to be postponed. Today's edition of the article will feature both the news of yesterday and today. Again, sorry for the inconvenience, hope you enjoy.
With yesterday morning's edition of the Philadelphia Metro, some truly frightening news from China has been brought to light. According to the publication, researchers in Canada and Britain have discovered a network of spying that may have roots in China. The system, dubbed GhostNet, operates through the Internet and utilizes web-cams and microphones to spy on unsuspecting individuals.
The researchers have said that the attacks launched by this network are not only "devastatingly effective," but also that "few...could withstand such an attack." In addition, it is suspected that as many as 103 countries may already be targeted by GhostNet. On its own, that is an incredibly alarming possibility.
With this recent investigation, it only sheds on light on what the researchers know now. The fact that it is unknown exactly how long this has been going on is the scariest part of it all. It turns out that this string of cyber-espionage was first discovered when the Dalai Lama has suspicions that he was being monitored. The Chinese government later accidentally revealed that it had access to his personal e-mail account.
In the end, this is a practice that needs to be halted as soon as possible. Any unauthorized access to an individual's computer and personal files is illegal. It doesn't matter who is doing the investigating, without a warrant of some kind, it is still an invasion of privacy. But, some will argue that unauthorized espionage of this kind can help to protect a nation. It truly is a slippery slope argument, so it will be interesting to see how both parties will react to this situation.
As many would expect, there is already drama stemming from the White House. Luckily, it is not being derived from the President himself or his cabinet. Like the Bush twins before her, now Ashley Biden, daughter of Vice President Joe Biden, is the subject of scandal.
In this particular instance, a woman resembling Biden is seen in a video snorting lines of cocaine at a party. The ironic part, as Metro reports, is that "Vice President Joseph Biden has been active for more than 30 years in anti-drug campaigns, and been credited for coining the term "drug czar.""
Whether this actually turns out to be Ashley Biden or not, what needs to be done is to stop this rampant drug use among teens. It's turning out to be a much bigger problem as time goes on and we simply cannot have the youth of our country falling prey to these deadly drugs. Like GhostNet above, this is a practice that needs to be stopped.
To close out the article, I'd like to shed some light on a remake of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Well, it's a remake with a slight twist on the story. The new novel, written by Seth Grahame-Smith, is entitled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Yes, you read that right. Zombies.
This is easily one of the strangest concepts I've heard of lately, yet, I find myself slightly intrigued by it. According to Metro, Grahame-Smith "simply slipped in some new scenes and details, transforming the uptight Elizabeth Bennet into a zombie-slaying, ninja-battling mad woman."
The funniest part about it all, is that Grahame-Smith had a relatively easy time incorporating the flesh-eating undead into the story. "People are always walking here or riding there alone on country roads," Grahame-Smith stated. "So it's just like, let's add some hungry zombies."
It just goes to show that the limits of the imagination are never-ending and it's good to see something like this pop up now and again. With that in mind, I hope to check this book out soon and maybe have a review up in the near future. If interested in purchasing, please check out Quirk Books, it currently is out of stock, but sells for $12.95.
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Who am I?
My name is Mike Revak, a Journalism major at Temple University. For more info, please click the About Me tab at the top of the page. Other than that, this is my website, I try to update frequently on a variety of topics, so check it all out and let me know what you think! CategoriesArchives
April 2009
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