News in a kawaii Nutshell (Issue 4)

Mar 31

Hey there! Welcome back to International News with Kawaii Riot Kei here!

Sorry about missing last month—I'm being Murdered by Midterms—but I hope you’ve all been well.

I wanted to take the time to mention that I am aware of the violence being committed against the Asian community. It’s heartbreaking and has to stop. Please check on your AAPI communities. They really need our support.

Here are some things you can do to help.

Hate is a Virus

https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/community-action-fund

Asian American’s Advancing Justice

https://secure.donationpay.org/aajc/

Discrimination against Asians has always been an issue in the U.S. and globally to varying degrees. The pandemic has exacerbated the issue to a critical point where we must confront the violence that is being committed against them. We can’t allow it to continue.

Now that you’re updated on this, let’s get to Covid.

If you’d like to get more detail on the numbers for Covid-19 with live updates:

COVID-19 Map - Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center

500,000+ people have died from Covid-19 in the United States—for the love of God, we need to take this thing seriously. That’s a higher death toll than American soldiers in WWI which stands at 291,557. That’s a lot of people.

2.59 million deaths and still counting for Covid. 117 Million cases in total.

With vaccinations underway, it’s still not a good time to relax on keeping the virus at bay. Some vaccines require double doses and take up to two weeks to be fully active in your system. Stay diligent just for a little while longer.

Here are live updates and statistics on the vaccination rates by nations.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccinations - Statistics and Research

The end of this nightmare is in sight.

America

UBI—you better invest! jk. It stands for Universal Basic Income.

It’s something a lot of nations are considering right now since automation, the replacement of human labor by machines, has expanded. The cultural misconception of “welfare queens” and “lazy slobs” receiving checks from the government prevents access to this legislation, and people have to support it in order for us to see UBI come to fruition. The major question is, “Will they?” Hopefully, the pandemic has shown us that basic income is necessary, and having things like food and shelter might actually be a good thing.

Japan

March 11, 2011: A natural disaster rattles Japan, causing panic over at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. A decade later, the population seems wary of nuclear energy. Although the government has tried its best to reframe the reputation surrounding nuclear energy, the task has proven to be extremely difficult. With nearly 900 tons of melted fuel (from failed reactors) still needing to be disposed of properly, the harmful side effects are hard to ignore. As nuclear waste takes an extended amount of time to clean up, upwards of 50+ years depending on the grade of the Uranium, it is easy to imagine the strain.

North Korea

Human rights are difficult to discuss when it comes to North Korea. Covid-19 has made the transition of information more challenging, especially on the topic of updates for recently established prison camps. Having travel restrictions everywhere in the world exacerbates the problem further. Prison camps were already difficult to keep track of since North Korea is a well-insulated nation with strict rules that don’t allow for much leeway. Prisoners that have managed to escape the camps were the main source of information for human rights groups to monitor situations. Retrieving information in the future will be difficult.

Syria

March 15, 2011: The start of the Syrian civil war that has not reached a conclusion. President Bashar al-Assad has not followed through with taking care of the needs of his people and when they protested he tried to crush the movement with violence. Since there are multiple nations—Turkey, America, Russia, and Iran are heavily involved— it is likely that Syria will be fragmented by the end of it.

The Good News