EOTO - Carrier Pigeons

For those that are unfamiliar, a carrier pigeon is a homing pigeon that has been bred and trained to fly from point A to point B delivering a message. They would fly with a canister containing a rolled-up message from the sender. But how do they work? How do they know where to go?

It is a lot simpler than one might think. the pigeons are born and raised at a house. They then associate the house/coop with being their home. Pigeons have a natural homing instinct: the desire to return home to where they were raised. They have heightened senses of vision, smell, and hearing, that help them direct their way home. Pigeons have an amazing internal magnetic compass near their eyes and nose. They use this with Earth's magnetic field and the sun's location to direct to a general region. (https://www.historydefined.net/how-carrier-pigeons-work/)

If you wanted someone to be able to send you a message via carrier pigeon, you would send them a pigeon of yours (in a cage by carriage). Whenever they want to send you a message, they will attach a letter to your carrier pigeon and your pigeon will come home. First by finding a general region and then using man-made or natural landmarks to find your specific home. 

Pigeons were first used to relay messages during the Roman Empire. Beters would place their bets and once the race concluded, pigeons would be sent to them with their winning results (776 BC). Strabo, a Greek geographer, made note of messenger pigeons flying across the Mediterranean coastline reporting on the movements of fish (63 BC - 21 AD). 

Carrier pigeons were the better option over horseback or foot letters/mail. Those other methods of messaging had problems with dishonesty, accidents, delays, and lack of confidentiality. The pigeons are the better option because they are docile and easy to deal with, easy to capture and reproduce, reliable, and have a reputation for being great navigators. 

Carrier pigeons were most famously used in the 1800's and war times, specifically in World War I. Tanks were designed with a hole in the side to release a pigeon with a message. Ships would carry pigeons during war and if they were attacked the bird would be released with the coordinates of the ship and often times the crew was able to be saved. 

During the Siege of Paris 1870, 409 pigeons were used. Before switching to messenger pigeons, they would send messages floating down the river in mental containers. This was ineffective because it was unreliable and the messages were being intercepted. Six days after the Siege began, La Ville de Florence (a hot air balloon containing three pigeons and one pilot) sent out three pigeons at eleven in the morning and returned by five in the afternoon which is much faster than the river method. After the war ended months later, four hundred and nine carrier pigeons had been used and 79 had returned safely. These pigeons were facing cold, fatigue, Prussian bullets and falcons that were trained to intercept the pigeons. 

After the telegram was invented, carrier pigeons were used less and less. Today they are almost never used, with a few exceptions. In recent years carrier pigeons have been used in the Middle East to smuggle drugs across borders, bypassing security. There was an instance as recent as March 2023 where a carrier pigeon was used in London to fly drugs into a prison courtyard. Besides these one-off instances, carrier pigeons have been beaten out by modern technology. 

Values of Free Expression

Out of the eight values of free expression, I believe that stable change and protecting dissent are the most important. These two values go hand-in-hand with one another. Stable change is the theory that when people are allowed to speak their minds, they are likely to feel more heard and less likely to use violence as an answer. The citizens of the US should be able to freely speak their minds about political issues and complain about problems they find. This is better for individuals but also for the government. With stable change, the government is able to gauge the feelings of citizens and be cautious of warning signs that people may resort to violence or attacks. 

The second value I find most important is to protect dissent. It is the speech theory that all opinions are protected, especially if it is in the minority. The theory states that every individual has the right and duty to disagree with the government. If everyone just went along with what the government said and the laws that they put in place, the US would no longer be a democracy. We would have a country of people all believing the same exact things, or going along with everything that the person in power says. Criticizing government is where our nation was born, fighting for the rights of the people over the government.

The value of free expression that most resonates with me is the marketplace of ideas or discovery of truth. This theory is the belief that when truth and falsehood are allowed to freely roam together, truth will always prevail. With the US becoming more and more politically polarized by the day and millions of people spreading 'facts' online to prove their beliefs, it is nearly impossible to find the truth. While the truth might not come right out and hit you in the face right away, over the years the truth will prevail. For example, years later we are finding out truths about Covid-19 and what really worked and what did not. The truth always prevails, but it can be hard to see the bigger picture in today's foggy political climate.

In my opinion the most prevalent theory today would have to be individual self-fulfillment or self-actualization. Through this theory, individuals are allowed to express themselves and create their own identity. The majority of the country today is all about autonomy. "You can't tell me what to do". I hear that phrase from all points on the political spectrum. Nobody wants to be told what to do, everyone wants to have their own beliefs, autonomy, and identity. 

Citizens should be able to formulate their own beliefs and express those as they connect to their individual identity. Which is a belief that all eight values of free expression uphold. All of the theories are important and they could not exist without each other nor without the First Ammendment. I believe that it is immperative for every citizen of the US to know and understand their freedoms and know how to use them, otherwise they are useless.  

SCOTUS History

Before reading the article and watching the video, I did not know that Supreme Court Justices could be impeached, as was the case with Samuel Chase (1805). I had assumed that once a Justice was sworn in, they were there for life. I also did not know that in the Constitution there are technically no qualifications required to be a Supreme Court Justice. 

The most important information that I will be taking away from the article/video is that the process to become a Supreme Court Justice is a very long process. It also involves many different branches of government and people questioning, giving their opinions, and finally voting on the nominee. It gives me more faith in our system that we have the right checks and balances in place so that many opinions are heard and there is no executive decision made by one person or a small group of people. 

The First Supreme Court

It was surprising to me, and funny that the first case the Supreme Court ever heard was about a financial dispute between a farmer and a family he owed a debt to (History.com - Supreme Court). This put into perspective for me, how far we've come as a nation. We have created a well-thought-out system that delegates itself, checks and balances itself, and runs itself. 

The video showed me that the Supreme Court does not all agree on everything. I appreciate that the justices can debate topics and feel differently about cases. As a citizen, it can seem that the Supreme Court would just agree on everything and could pass laws without having a proper debate. 

This video and article reassured me that the government was created in such a way as to benefit each citizen, town, and state. I believe in the more opinions the better, and clearly so did the Founding Fathers.

News & Information Sources

 Decision paralysis occurs when an individual is presented with options and they cannot decide between them, so they either choose a third option or do nothing at all. Today will millions of news sources and a very politically polarized nation, many can feel decision paralysis. I have tried to cultivate a list of news sources for myself that I find reliable and the least biased I could. 

The news source I use most frequently would have to be Instagram. Here, individuals, businesses, organizations, and news outlets can post their ideas, beliefs, updates, etc. On Instagram, I follow people I have met before or people I have mutual connections with. 

A lot of these people post about news, events, and their political beliefs. This exposes me to multiple sides of one story. I would rather have discussions with people and hear individual opinions than get biased stories from political organizations. 

My second most used news source would have to be The Daily Wire, via Youtube. The Daily Wire is a right-leaning news website and media company, launched in 2015 by Ben Shapiro. They release podcasts, YouTube videos, documentaries, and articles. 

I stumbled upon this news source while browsing YouTube. I particularly listen to Brett Cooper who is a 22-year-old girl who has a YouTube channel through the Daily Wire, as well as a podcast. I enjoy listening to Brett because she is around my age, and she takes politics seriously but has fun with her videos and podcasts. For me, she is easier to relate to and listen to than someone older than me. 

I am currently a Legal Studies Minor at High Point University, so I am enrolled in law classes. In these law classes, such as this one, we often discuss current events relating to politics and law. This educates me on current happenings and where the law comes into play. I am able to learn about politics from an unbiased point of view, as most professors do not want to state their political affiliation. 

These classes as a news source will be useful in my political literacy as I advance in my career.

As many humans, I have a close group of friends and family whom I am in constant communication with. I make my best effort to surround myself with likeminded people in values, but have a diverse group of ideas and opinions (especialluy political). This group consists of my immediate family (mostly right wing) and my friends (made up of a rough 50/50 split of political views). 

These people challange my ideas and opinions in a friendly and caring way, as I do theirs. This forces me to rethink my ideas and ask myself the 'why?'. Why do I believe what I do? Am I blindly following these beliefs or did I come to this conclusion on my own?

My final news source is WCVB Channel 5 Boston. This is my local news station when I am home on breaks and during the summer. This news station is on every morning in my household. They often report only on local news stories. These stories are often about education, politics, weather, and local stories. This keeps me in the know about local happenings so I can better vote for local officials, make daily decisions, and hold conversations with others.