North Korea: A serious issue...

Chad Gagnon
CPO 2001
T R 1:05

We tend to forget about the dangers of North Korea and there nuclear capabilities becuase of the middle east, Iraq and Afganistan. Also the current economic crisis is also keeping our minds off the issue. North Korea has plans on sending a satilite into space around the time frame of April 4th to the 8th. This is very soon and something that we should definately keep a very close eye on. Many people believe that this is not a satilite and what they are really trying to do is test a ICBM. What should the United States do and the many other countries that are in the United Nation?

Blog Notes

Reminders: Students may not post anonymous comments or posts on the blog, nor can they use fake names.

As a point of clarification, regardless of your party/ideology or what you think of a particular politician or his/her policies, referring to a black male as "boy" is unacceptable language for class or on the blog.

Ideology as an "intellectual straight-jacket"

How can we as citizens determine what is best for our great nation? We are but common people. Many of us do not hold great status, or possess great wealth. And those of us that do only hold so much influence in the grand scheme of things. How can we really make our voices heard? How can we make "every vote count"? Before we can even dream about changing the future, first we must change ourselves. Yes, the people must alter the nature of themselves before implementing any new effective policies for the future. We must be educated, and be willing to educate others. We must use our privilege to vote, and encourage others as well. As of now, our leaders' eyes are clouded by their own ideologies. "Ideologies have become intellectual straight jackets...an excuse not to think" says writer Leonard Pitts of the Miami Tribune. Politicians and peasants have both become too focused on being right. It seems that doing what is right for this country is no longer our first concern. If the people want a better future, the power achieve such is in their own hands.

CPO 2001 t/r 8:35a.m.
Kendra Essig

Abortion the 1# one issue vote

I have heard almost every reason why people didn’t vote for President Obama. The one issue that comes up more than anything is abortion. I been told over-and-over again that they agree with almost everything he stands for but abortion. Then they go to the polls and make their vote on that one issue. Will someone please explain to me why that one issue is worth throwing every other issue out window?

Justin Ford
CPO 2001
1:05 T R

Capitol Punishment Please!

Many studies have shown that the action capital punishment is given peremptorily and issues with giving lethal injections has left the state courts and legislatures to contend with the law or stop executions altogether. To me, that is not a problem at all. When a person is sentenced to death, they have did something very wrong. What about all the pain that they have caused the victim of their crime. That is pain that they have to live with for the rest of their lives, which I believe is way worse than dying with them. Capitol Punishment, is a form of punishment that needs to stay in exsistence.

Kiara Hall
CPO2001
T R 1:05

Death Penalty for Child Offenders? Humm...

The ruling of the Supreme Court that the death penalty for children that are under the age of 18 when they commited their crime is cruel and unusual, is a ruling that I agree with, but under one circumstance. In order for that to be cruel and unusual to me, the child must undergo several test to test their knowledge and the level of their thinking. It is one thing for the child to be incompetent on more levels than one, but generally, children have mastered the skills of whats right and wrong around the age of 13.

Kiara Hall
CPO2001
T R 1:05

I want to speak to DNA!!!

DNA can be used to determine whether a person is guilty or innocent in majority of the cases that come about in the criminal systems. Still today, the flaws in that system has caused many innocent people their lives and the guilty set free. But what I don't understand is that if DNA has the power to answer the question of whether a person is innocent or guilty, why is it not always used. What's the problem. Some would argue costs, yeah that could be an issue, but wouldn't it cost the government more to pay the wrongly convicted for the years that they spent in jail?

Kiara L. Hall
CPO 2001
T R 1:05

Warrantless Wiretapping

In the event of the september Terrorist attacks, Former President Bush, executively ordered the NSA to wiretap communications between U.S. citizens and suspected terrorists. If Bush did anything right as the president, I would say that was it. Doing that will not completely prevent terroists attacks, but it will help assist in keeping them less likely to happen. If we decided on that before the attacks on the World Trade Center, I believe that we could have prevented those attacks, but since we din't, I think it is still better now than later.

Kiara L. Hall
CPO 2001
T R 1:05

I Pledge of Allegiance, Every Morning!!!

Because of the September 11, attacks on the United States, and the more patriotism, the legislation brought about something that would make it mandatory for the Pledge of Allegiance to be stated every morning before class starts. For me, this is something that I totally support. Even though as a child some of my teachers already did this, I experienced some who did not. Making it mandatory would teach children to be more patriot as well as give them some type of basic knowledge about the country that they live in, and I feel as though that is exactly what they need.

Kiara Hall
CPO 2001
T R 1:05

Marijuana Laws

Marijuana laws are something that needs some serious reconsidering by our wonderful law makers.
First of all, you have to remember that if marijuana were legal, not everyone would use it. Only a sector of society would use it, and not all of them would be frequent users. So the thinking that America would go down the tubes because everyone would be baked and have no work ethic or motivation is far from the truth.
Furthermore, the potential revenue from not only the harvesting of the buds to smoke, but the products that can be made from byproducts of the plant (i.e. hemp) can help us have a more “green” society (no pun intended) by outdating other products that are more expensive to mass produce. Also, assuming that it would be taxed in a similar way to alcohol and tobacco, the money that would come from a simple law change is mind blowing. Not to mention the thousands of jobs that would be created, which would help our economy out in these down times we seem to have encountered.
In 2005, more than 21,000 Americans died from alcohol overdose excluding motor vehicle accidents, whereas there have been no documented deaths from a marijuana overdose ever. A lethal dose of marijuana would be at a ratio of 1:40000. That means you would need to smoke 40000 times the amount of marijuana that it would take to get you high. The lethal ratio for alcohol is between 1:4 and 1:10.
Last, since 1965 more than 12 million Americans have been arrest on marijuana charges. This causes these people not only to have to pay a lot of court fees and whatnot, but also gives them a criminal record which haunts you for the rest of your life. This has the potential to ruin your life, not allowing you to get more than a menial job, which eliminates the potential to be a financially successful person and for many people would lead to misery and depression.
Basically, I believe that the marijuana laws in effect now are ridiculous and need to be done with. There are no valid reasons for making it illegal. Alcohol was illegal in the 20’s, and it changed so maybe there is some hope on the horizon.

Alex Gramovot
CPO2001
T-R 8:35

DVD's?

Apparently, the exchange of gifts between the United States' president and Great Britain's prime minister is a big deal. Historically, the gifts exchanged have been symbolic of our past, present and future friendship. Therefore, the gifts have been thoughtful and representative of something significant, rare and meaningful both to the U.S. and Great Britain. It is my understanding that Obama must not have gotten the memo regarding the significance of this gift exchange that was to take place during his most recent visit with Great Britain's Prime Minister Brown. Brown gave Obama a first edition of a biography or autobiography of Churchill (I think)and a rare token or coin of some kind that holds all kind of significance and symbolism. Obama gave Brown 25 American DVD's. Yes, movies! Movies that you and I could go to Walmart or Blockbuster and get! Was this an act representative of his inexperience or unawareness or was he trying to send another message? I'm not sure. I just know it concerns me. What do you think?

Deana Davis
POS1041

Activism

I would like to take this chance to challenge all of you to do something political. I have found through my own experiences, that most of the people that study political science and other related fields never really do anything political outside the classroom. Of course, this statement does not apply to everyone. Most of us talk politics with our friends and families, but what do you put your name on the line for. When is the last time you joined a campaign and went through the scrutiny of the general public to push something you believe in? Have you taken a stand on an issue that you knew most of the people in the same room as you would disagree? Have you volunteered your time without ever wondering what you would get out of it? If everyone one put action behind their words we would have a much more politically involved public. It doesn’t matter what party you are a part of, or what ideology you might have. I challenge you to make a difference.

Justin Ford
CPO 2001
T R 1:05

Army Suicides

I was just watching the news and saw a report that shows suicides amoung our enlisted troops are up as of January. This increase is attributed to longer tours in one or both of the wars that we are engaged in. My brother is in the Army and served almost one and one half years in Iraq with only one two-week State-side vacation. He missed his wife's entire pregnancy with their first child and just did make it home for his birth. I thank God that his timing was such that once he made it State-side it was time for him to consider re-enlisting. He was able to re-enlist into a position that guarantees him domestic service for at least the first two years. This will thankfully give him ample time to re-coop from his prior tour so he isn't faced with the increased stress that too many of our service people are facing today. I hope we can find a solution to this problem FAST.

Deana Davis
POS1041