5th Blog entry

Argentina's President-elect Macri lays out new course

Argentine President-elect Mauricio Macri said he would correct "mistakes" made by the outgoing administration, such as currency controls.

Mr Macri won Sunday's run-off election by a narrow margin over Daniel Scioli, who was backed by outgoing President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. He said one of the key problems was the lack of accurate information about the state of Argentina's economy.Mr Macri campaigned on a promise of change for Argentina.

Image copyrightEPA

Image caption
                                                                                                                                                                        Mr Macri says he wants more transparency

Independent analysts have been critical of official inflation figures since 2011, when the government changed the way it made its calculations.Some accused the government of President Fernandez of trying to mask the real numbers by changing its methodology.Mr Macri said that between now and his inauguration on 10 December, his team would try to ascertain "the real state of Argentina's economy".

From my point of view, Macri's ideas are very neoliberalistic. He is going to use the Neoliberal economic system.This system was used from 1970 to 2003. In the 2001, Argentina suffered in the flesh consequences of this economic system. At that time, several factories shut down and the "corralito" took place because the country went into default. Those problems led to Argentina to be in a devastating economic crisis. When Nestor Kirchner assumed the presidency, several economic issues were overcomed and the crisis started to diminish. Although still there are economic problems, we can consider that Argentina counteracted the crisis. But people choose a lider that would use the same model that led Argentina to its downfall. Another thing that I don't get is that middle class people voted a man who doesn't know what is poverty and the worker's need. He seems to lack of cultural background due to the fact that he has even talked about robots working as medics in hospitals and questioning about why the goverment has opened many univerisities. This man clearly cares about the big companies needs instead of middle and low social classes needs. I hope that Mauricio could make this country to carry out without bringing financial problems. 

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-34899227

4th blog entry

Facebook adds French flag filter for profile pictures

Less than 24 hours after coordinated, simultaneous terrorist attacks rocked Paris and left at least 127 dead, Facebook is looking to make a statement with a new French flag filter for your profile picture.

The filter goes over the photo of your choosing and is meant to be a symbol of solidarity with the French people.

“Change your profile picture to support France and the people of Paris,” an update from Facebook says.

Aside from the filter, Facebook has also acted as a medium for people to check in with loved ones and make sure they are safe. The Safety Check feature was introduced in October to allow for those in or around disaster or crisis areas to check in when cellphone service may be limited.

From what I've observed, several facebook users across the globe have been showing their solidarity with people in Paris by overlaying their profile pictures with the colours of the French flag. From my point of view, It would be wrong to just follow Paris attacks. Although I feel terribly sad for what happened there, I won't change my facebook profile to the french flag. if i do this for every attack in the world, I will have to change my profile everyday several times a day. Which is curious is that facebook doesn't allow us the option to change to Palestine, Syria, and other countries flags whenever these countries are attacked. This give us the evidence that these countries are relegated to be considered as unimportant. The truth is that we are all human, we bleed red blood and we breath the same air so in the end no one else is better than anyone else. I also believe that we shouldn't judge people regardless their culture, race, religion or origin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUHZQ5i8MHY

I have a nagging pain in my chest whenever I watch these news. My brother who is studying Psychology told me that humans are the cruelest beings on earth . I hope someday we change this world of inequality and make a better place to live. 

Source:http://national.suntimes.com/national-world-news/7/72/2124375/facebook-adds-french-flag-filter-profile-pictures.