SCOTUS

 The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of U.S. Constitutional or federal law. The court holds the power of judicial review, Invalidate statutes that violate constitutional provisions. It also has the power to repeal presidential directives.

I think this is an institution that protects the country and the constitution, and makes the final judgment when the constitution is questioned and threatened. And the impeachment trial of the president. It is a legal institution that maintains order in America.

Many Supreme Court justices are different. This surprised me a bit.

• Chief justice John Marshall——He defined the relationship between the judiciary and the rest of government in a tenure of more than 34 years.
• chief justice Charles Evans Hughes——Wrote landmark opinion on free of expression and press

Judges are nominated for office by the President of the United States but must be approved by Congress before taking office. Once judges are approved, they are eligible to serve on the Supreme Court for life. Unlike members of Congress or the president, Supreme Court justices don't have to run for office. This is also very surprising to me. Life tenure and no need to run for office, this kind of treatment even surpasses that of the president.

links:

•  Supreme Court - HISTORY
• The 5 Things You Should Know About the Supreme Court (informationstation.org)

Eight Values of Free Expression

  Eight Values of Free Expression

• Discovery of Truth
• Participation in Self-Government
• Stable Change ("Safety Valve")
• Individual Self-Fulfillment (Self-Actualization)
• Check on Governmental Power
• Promote Tolerance
• Promote Innovation
• Protect Dissent

What resonates with me the most is the first point, Discovery of Truth. This value was first suggested by Milton, who first suggested that when truth and falsehood are allowed to freely grapple, truth will win out. 

I grew up in China. There are many cultural differences between China and the United States, different laws, and different government management systems. In China, freedom of speech does not exist. When you pollute the government or the president of the country, the police have the right to arrest you. Similar to disturbing the peace.

The issue of Hong Kong independence remains a very important issue. The Chinese government rejected people's protests and demonstrations, and even suppressed the crowds by the police. I will not comment on this event. But in the United States, marches and protests are allowed, and people even gather in front of the White House to express their protests.

                                                               

The Hong Kong independence movement, the war in Ukraine, these are all happening. These things cannot judge its correctness. Everyone has their own considerations and judgments. As a Chinese, I hope my country can be unified without the possibility of internal division. But as a bystander, I will judge the benefits and risks before evaluating these cases.

The question is whether people can protest, whether they can have their own opinions. No matter what the final result is, nothing can limit a person's thoughts and opinions. This is like the tiger in the forest and the tiger in the zoo. As time goes by, the tiger in the zoo will slowly lose its wildness. Tigers will definitely miss that freedom, the forest, the vastness without limits. But is there really any benefit to being in a zoo? of course not. They don't have to worry about food, there is no risk of being killed, and they have a dedicated medical team. Offspring are more likely to survive.

Links:Why is freedom of speech important? (pacificlegal.org)

Privacy, Online & Off

 The Internet is undoubtedly an essential part of modern life, it brings endless benefits, but it also comes with some risks. In recent years, Internet fraud and telephone fraud have become a very hot topic in China. As well as some information you post on social software, the information in a photo is far beyond your imagination. Your identity information, monthly income, and address all have the risk of privacy being violated.

What I feel the most is that I registered certain information online or in some places, including my mobile phone number. Since then, I have frequently received some harassing calls, and even calls from overseas. Although I never answer those harassing calls, Ren has had a terrible impact on my life. (I receive at least 10 harassing calls or text messages a day). Even more troubling, through my phone number, my parents' phone numbers were leaked as well, and they received similar content as I did. The content I registered is a community or a web page needed for some work, and there is a high probability that they use my privacy to gain benefits.

In China, there is now a mobile app called "National Anti-Fraud App" 国家反诈中心_百度百科 (baidu.com). It is a state-founded application, run by the police, and a dedicated agency has been set up.  What it does is there is a system of logging suspicious numbers that anyone can report in real time in the app. When the official confirms that the call is risky, when you receive a fraudulent call, it will remind you that this is a suspicious number, or that this number has been reported by many people recently. And after you find out that you have been defrauded, you can directly file a case in the app, which can help you solve these problems more quickly. 

For ourselves, avoid disclosing important information about yourself in public. The part of the photo related to the address can be mosaiced. Do not register your personal information in suspicious webpages; websites; applications. When these situations happen to us, don't panic, you can ask the police for help.

My five News Sources

 

I read News from my phone and PC. I am come from China, so I read news from China.

Like:

1.WeChat, It will send me some news that happens in China everyday. WeChat - Wikipedia

WeChat is the most used social software in China, including its WeChat Pay, which has become a part of people's lives. There is no doubt that it makes our life more convenient, no need to carry cash when going out, and no longer bothered by too much change. And now WeChat has added a TikTok-like function (short video).

 

2.WeiBo, most of Chinese use WeiBo to get information. Especially those people who follow stars. It's just like Instagram, all big stars are there, you can chose to follow them.  You can read it immediately When they update new things. There's also a interface that shows top research, If you are interest in anything, you can click on it to read news. 

3.Bilibili, This is the application I use mostly to get news. It's just like TikTok. The difference is I can choose what I want to watch, it's not just shows everything, I need to scroll down to find some useful information. From Bilibili, each video have title and pictures. If I am find something interest, I will choose to watch that one. It's more convince. 

4.I also use Instagram, I followed some of my friends and Stars, like Dwayne Douglas Johnson: Ryan Rodney Reynolds. 

5.Last one that I read news is from Edge. When I open Edge, it will show much news. I need to use search engine many times every day, it will update serval times each day. 

Of course, there must be more other ways to get news. For example, newspapers. With the progress of the times, newspapers are slowly being replaced by technology. But some people still enjoy the feel of paper. It's like why some people prefer to read paper books instead of e-books.

But electronic devices have the advantage of being more convenient. Whether you are taking the subway or traveling, you can use your mobile phone or computer to follow the information of the times all the time. And a mobile phone includes various functions such as reading, chatting, and news.