Government Shutdown: Cause and Effects

by Jazmin Daley and Paul Friedmann

Since December 22, 2018 the federal government has been shut down and 800,000 government employees have been without pay. The government shut down because Congress couldn’t agree on a spending bill, which shuts down the government. The major disagreement in the bill passing process is the amount of funding for a border wall. President Trump has been trying to achieve the physical United States/Mexico border wall the since his campaign. The President is saying he will not agree to any spending bill that does not include 5.7 billion dollars for the wall. On the other hand, Democrats in Congress are unwilling to spend that much money on the border wall. The proposed placement of the wall is 1,954 miles long. Only about 654 miles some sort of man-made barrier already in place, most of which were made after 2006.

The shutdown has also affected airport security (TSA) and air traffic control. People who work for TSA (Transportation Security Administration) are not getting paid. Airports are having trouble functioning due to many people calling out sick. Because of TSA workers not showing up, the security checkpoints are not functioning efficiently, therefore the airport lines are much longer than usual. Air traffic control is another victim of not receiving pay. Air traffic control workers sit in a control center and monitor the air traffic. They watch where the airplanes land and take off. They make sure everything is okay and notify the pilots where they should land. Without air traffic control if makes the flying experience more stressful and possibly more dangerous, as the workers won’t be getting paid.

The shutdown has also affected border patrol. Border patrols job is to prevent terrorists and immigrants from entering the United States. Border patrol patrols 6,000 miles of Mexican and Canadian borders plus 2,000 miles surrounding Florida and the island Puerto Rico. Now, these men and women hard at work are not being paid to do a vitally important duty to our safety and national security.

Al-Shabaab

By: Hendrik Kingo & Caleb Smith

Using information from December 14th

Several people are reported to have been killed in southern Somalia as violence Broke out following the arrest of former al-Shabaab commander set to contest regional elections.

At least 11 people, including soldiers and civilians, died in Baidoa during clashes involving supporters of Mukhtar Robow, sources told the BBC. The Authority and the government are accusing Mr. Robow to be a very high security threat to the nation. He is trying to go into presidency of the South West State in this week’s election. Due to his level as a high security threat and the fact that he was running for Presidency, Mr. Robow has been arrested early Thursday of last week. This triggered street protests in Baidoa the regional capital. A Somali radio station tweeted images of roads that were full of burning tires and rocks as well as cement blocks that littered them due to this. Among the people that had been killed during these protests was a member of Regional Parliament. Baidoa elder Saleh Isak told Reuters for news agencies of this incident. An African Union peacekeeping force known as Amison is in Somalia as of this moment to help the government combat against the al-Shabab, an Islamist militant group. Last Friday afternoon, Baidoa residents gave accounts of the city being in an almost pre-war state, where the city was calm, but you could feel something in the air. Shops closed down and most residents had stayed indoors. “The Amisom’s armoured vehicles came into the town for patrol,” said one resident named Halima Mohamed. “They moved from the area after they saw that the town was calm and that residents had blocked some of the roads with big stones”. The BBC’s Ibrahim Adan whom was in the capital, Mogadishu stated, “That the nationality of the soldiers who were killed is not clear. Ethiopian troops, who form part of the Amisom force have a base here in the city. That might explain the more frequent amount of patrols”.

Who are the Al-Shabab

Al-Shabab means “The Youth” in Arabic. They emerged as the radical youth wing of Somalia’s now-defunct Union of Islamic Courts. These courts originally controlled Mogadishu in 2006 before being forced out by Ethiopian forces. There are multiple reports of foreign jihadists entering Somalia to assist this group from neighboring countries. Some are even coming in from the United States and Europe. They are banned as a terrorist group by both the UK and US. The group has an estimated number of fighters roughly around seven thousand to nine thousand. The Al-Shabab advocate for the Saudi-inspired Wahhabi version of Islam, while most Somalis are Sufis. Wahhabi is imposed as a stricter version of Sharia in areas under their control. This means that there are harsher punishments for people that commit wrongdoings. These things include things like stoning to death women accused of adultery and amputating the hands of thieves are seen in these areas.

U.S. Airstrikes Kill 62 Al-Shabab Militants

Four airstrikes on Saturday killed 32 Al-Shabab militants and two more killed another 28 on Sunday. These are said to be some of the deadliest airstrikes made by the U.S. in Somalia since November 2017. Ever since President Trump took office, there has been a sharp increase in both airstrikes and casualties made in Somalia. A tally by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism shows that at least 400 Al-Shabab Militants have been killed by these air strikes since the beginning of 2017. Luckily, none of the casualties caused by these airstrikes have been civilians.

Status of the Forest Fires in California

by Jazmin Daley and Paul Friedmann

The California Wildfires that started on November 8th and killed 97 civilians and six firefighters are still burning. This most notorious fire is known as Camp Fire and has killed 86 people and burned 20,000 acres alone. Whole communities have been totally and completely annihilated, leaving just rubble behind. At this point in time, the Camp Fire is one-hundred percent contained.

forests.” He tweeted on November 10th that there is absolutely no reason for these fires to occur apart from the terrible management of the forests. He also threatened to cut government spending on the matter if they do not solve the issues somehow. “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!” He also avoided attributing these fires to climate change on November 11th by saying that the way to stop the forest fires in the future, is to improve with the management of them. “With proper Forest Management, we can stop the devastation constantly going on in California. Get Smart!”

President Trump’s statement attracted widespread backlash from many firefighting organizations. One of these was the IAFF. Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters said that his statements were “ill-informed, ill-timed, and demeaning to those suffering as well as the men and women on the front lines.”

U.S. Government Backs Venezuelan Opposition Leader For President

By Hendrik Kingo and Caleb Smith

The announcement from the U.S. Government that they supported opposition leader, Juan Guaido, came minutes after he declared himself the acting leader of Venezuela in the capital city, Caracas, on Wednesday. This declaration comes amid the mass protests against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro who is being held responsible for the hyperinflation, power cuts, shortages of basic items, and the economic freefall of the country. The inflation in Venezuela has been so bad, that according to the National assembly, the inflation rate has been %1,300,000 in the 12 months to November 2018. All of these factors have been driving millions of people out of the country and he has been sworn into a second term even though there was a boycott of the vote. The re-election of President Maduro has brought about mass accusations of vote fraud against him.

Although the U.S. is not the only country to support the opposition, (other countries include Brazil, Colombia, and Peru), President Maduro is accusing the U.S. government of attempting to govern the Venezuelan government themselves. The U.S.’s support for the opposition caused diplomatic ties to be broken off with Venezuela as President Maduro gave U.S. diplomatic staff 72 hours to leave the country.

While there have been some smaller scale rallies in the favor of President Maduro, the majority of the country is in favor of Juan Guaido. Earlier on Wednesday, Juan Guaido raised his right hand and swore to “...formally assume the national executive powers as acting president.” At his protests, he claims that he will not stop “until Venezuela is liberated.” He has also called upon the armed forces to disobey the government and join the people of Venezuela, but the government has been able to maintain control of its armies. President Maduro has been able to accomplish this through giving officers key government posts and offering “lucrative oilfield services contracts to military-linked firms.” However, two day prior to Juan Guaido proclaiming himself the president of Venezuela, it was reported that 27 National Guard soldiers revolted against the government with the people of Venezuela.

Mike Pompeo the Secretary of State also rejected Mr. Maduro’s move to release ties with the United States. Saying that the U.S. would not recognise him as a leader and would instead conduct “through the government of interim President Guaidó”. Mike Pompeo had also urged Venezuelan military to support the actions of the U.S. and restore democracy and stated that the U.S. would back Mr. Guaidó in his effort to re-establish democratic government control in the country.

Who is Mr. Guaidó? He was a relatively unknown person until he became president of Venezuela's opposition controlled parliament earlier this month. After taking the role, he’d stated it was a constitutional right to assume the presidency until elections were held. During his earlier years in life Mr. Guaidó led protests against the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez of Venezuela who’d hand picked his successor Mr. Maduro. HIs appointment as the leader of the National Assembly were it had energised the opposition held. The opposition had won parliamentary elections in 2015, although in 2017 Mr. Maduro had set up a seperate body. The assembly, which has now taken over legislative powers again.