Weed

Recently, one of my classmates wrote a blog post titled “Legalize Marijuana?” in this post she told of Colorado and Washington D.C. passing laws legalizing Marijuana. She goes on to show the negative effects from using Marijuana, while also showing, yes Marijuana, in some cases can help the overall health of a patient, but also showing that all of these effects can be achieved through legal prescription drugs. I couldn’t agree more, I don’t understand why it is necessary for it to become legalized, ever. Although, legal or not, if people want to smoke weed, they are going to do it no matter what the case may be. I also wonder if Marijuana was legalized how many people would actually do it? I feel like some of the reasons, at least for teens, is because it is illegal and they want to rebel. 

Privacy? A thing of the future?

Fox News released an article titled “Senate panel approves bill requiring police to get a warrant to read emails”. In the article it says “The revised Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee will now move on to the full Senate for a vote. Passage would be a victory for privacy advocates, who say current privacy rules have been left in the dust by technological progress.” If this law were to be passed, it would mean that law enforcement agents would first have to obtain a search warrant before they were allowed to view personal emails, it would also put restrictions on the private files allowed to be obtained from websites. Stated in the article “Under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986, police only need a subpoena, issued without a judge's approval, to read emails that have been opened or that are more than 180 days old.” The article states, “The Justice Department and other law enforcement agencies have resisted the changes over concerns that investigations could take longer due to the new requirement in response to these issues.”

            Over the years our rights have slowly been taken away, this being a good example. The government can tap into your phone calls whenever they feel necessary, not having any reason at all. Although not explicitly stated in the constitution, some people feel that privacy rights are implied through out the constitution. “A key Senate panel approved legislation Thursday that would require police to obtain a search warrant from a judge before they can read a private citizen's emails, Facebook messages or other electronic communications.”

Government, a fancy way to spell "Joke"

One of my fellow classmates wrote a blog post titled “Dissent and Coercion”. The way the author wrote and described his view on U.S. Government was very intriguing. I think he defined our government perfectly, stating “Government – a corrupt, double dealing, thief, stealing from the poor and the middle class to make their rich buddies richer, passing crippling and invasive legislation that contradicts and disposes of the constitution, all the while lying to the American Public to promote its own agenda of greed and world domination.”

            If we, as a nation, would come together and rise up to once again pursue our morals and rights, things would drastically change. Each day it seems that we, American people are loosing more and more of our rights and freedoms. Laws are passed that go against our morals, greater than that, our constitutional rights. So, why don’t we do anything about it? I think it is well said in “Dissent and Coercion”, that “We Americans have all but left our senses at the door and fallen head first trusting in the government whole heartedly. Which is not surprising in the least, the government teaches us what to believe without us even realizing it. Public school, what a joke, we allow our kids to be taught whatever the government wants and don’t even second guess what their learning.”

            I don’t have much faith that our founding fathers would even be able to recognize the United States today. We have so drastically changed our beliefs and morals over the years. In closing, one sentence really stuck out at me, I believe this is the only way we will get America back on track, “We must follow the example of true patriots of this country…who believe in the constitution and will spend their lives fighting the tyranny of our corrupt government.”

What a joke.

Earlier this week the New York Times published an editorial in which the author calls President Obama’s 2.0 GDP a “’Slow but Steady Improvement’ and at this pace there’s enough momentum to keep unemployment, currently 7.8 percent, from getting much worse.” We will find out if the unemployment rate goes up or down on Friday when the October job reports comes out. Twenty years before this, the New York Times also published an editorial in which the author calls then President George H.W. Bush 2.7 GDP, greater than Obama’s 2.0 GDP, a “’Gross National Letdown’ and that it almost certainly exaggerates the health of the economy, which continues to creep along at a painfully slow pace.”

Both of these articles were published within a week of each candidate facing the presidential elections. Fox News Channel, Bret Bair, added during his Tuesday night show: “The New York Times seems to be changing with the time when it comes to interpreting the country’s economic outlook.” I think that the New York Times is a very bias newspaper, and has this to run off of that assertion, among many other instances. This is also just another example of how the media doesn’t just report the facts; they all have to add their own propaganda. When Bush had a better GDP rating that Obama, he was criticized and it was reported negatively, I’m not saying that he shouldn’t of been criticized, I am saying that Obama should have had the same criticism and negativity reported when he had a lower GDP than Bush.

Shining Light on Obama

In a recent post by Ann Coulter called OBAMA AT HOFSTRA: RELATIVELY ALERT, ERGO BIG WINNER, Coulter took quotes from both President Obama and Mitt Romney and shared her own opinion on the things that were said during the Presidential Debate. Coulter speaks directly to potential voters who are interested in the outcome of the upcoming election in her blog. Coulter brings light to all of the issues that were invalid during the debate, and gives examples that contradict his statements. Throughout the blog, Coulter quotes Obama on key issues of which he spoke during the debate. For example “He explained that the price of gasoline was $1.80 when he took office because the economy was in the toilet. Apparently, prices have spiked to more than $4 a gallon because all Americans are back at work now and making big bucks!” Coulter makes many arguments and sarcastic, witty remarks in response to his ludicrous lies. Even if you do not agree with Coulter and her stance on political issues, she remains not only a credible and entertaining political writer, but also a former lawyer, conservative social and political commentator who has a strong conservative ideology and defends the issues that are at hand. I agree with the stance that Coulter hast taken and her commentary of the debate. I think that Obama needs to be called and challenged on the issues at hand, instead of giving excuse after excuse, when Obama has failed to do much of what he promised during his presidential campaign.

Who's Next?

In a recent blog post titled, “We recommend Mitt Romney for president”, put out by The Dallas Morning News. Mitt Romney is being endorsed for president by the newspaper editors.  The author(s) of this post is addressing the people who plan on casting a ballot in the upcoming presidential election. The author(s) point out the promises that Obama has failed to fulfill and the national debt crisis, which is now at over 16 trillion dollars with Obama having added 1 trillion dollars each year while in office. Just to put into perspective, here Is a link to a diagram that shows just how much money one trillion dollars is. Obama also warned of unemployment rates as high as 8 percent without stimulus spending. Even with stimulus spending, unemployment rates have been over 8 percent for forty three consecutive months and counting. The newspaper is a credible source for information, as they have been in existence since the mid eighteen hundreds and currently hold over two hundred and fifty thousand subscribers. In the closing of this article, the author(s) also pointed out a quote from Obama himself where he said that if the economy wasn’t repaired within three years of him taking office, he would be a one term president. Romney's flaws were also pointed out in this article, but the authors then went on to say that overall Romney Is a better overall choice.  I agree with the author(s) of this article to a certain extent. I think we (as a country) need a leader that cares for the country and who actually fulfills his/her promises. Politicians make so many promises that are never fulfilled, most of which are never even acted upon.

Failing Uprising

I found alarming statistics from The Broad Education Foundation:  that seventy percent of 8^th graders in the U.S. cannot read at their grade level, and most will never catch up, by the end of these 8^th graders year, they are two years behind in math being studied by peers in other countries. Who is to blame for this? I think teachers are very quick to blame us (the students).

September 10th, 2012—Fox News reported on Chicago teachers suspend strike, classes to resume Wednesday after teachers walked out of the third-largest school district, leaving 350,000 students unable to attend classes. Why did the teachers walk out? Money. It’s always about money. I feel like we no longer care for what’s the best for our children’s education, we just want what’s best for us. Another major reason for the strike was teacher’s evaluations and their job security. I think this article is worth reading because it shows readers how teacher unions are a major cause to why our public school system is in such a mess. Public education has become more about teachers, or lack thereof in my opinion, wanting more and more perks and less responsibility and accountability, rather than actually teaching students.