THE US GOVERNMENT

As normal citizens of our country how much do we actually know about our government? Its a scary thing to wake up everyday and think about what our government is really up to? Who really runs our country, how many government agencies are there that the public doesnt know about? Is there a cure for aids, cancer, or any other virus's and diseases? Are they hiding the finds for population control? What are your thoughts?

Jason Spiewak
POS1041
T/R11:35

Obama Asked to get rid of his Blackberry

When President Barrack Obama took office one of the first things the secret service had to ask him to do was hand over his personel Blackberry Cellphone. The president did not want to hand it ove because it was his way of communicating with the people outside of the White House, family and friends etc. This was one issue they were worried about but the main thing they were taking it from him for was because of the gps in it and someone being able to triangulate our president at all times, which we could say would not be good? Do you think he should be able to keep his phone?

Jason Spiewak
POS1041
T/R 11:35

The Subway 5dollar Footlong

So our economy is obviously in a very hard time right now and there isnt much alot of american households can do. Subway came out with the 5 dollar footlong and is now completey running the "sandwich market." There CEO and employess are all benifiting off the poor economy, and there buisness is booming! Can other resturants afford to do this? Why dont they?

Jason Spiewak
POS1041
T/R 11:35

Obama Banned Torture

President Obama promised in his campaign that if eleceted he would ban the interrogation method that many were using TORTURE! He then released memos that were left from the Bush administration that gave legal guidelines to the executive branch on "enhanced interrogation techniques." After releasing them he had stated that he was not going to prosecute any of the people who drafted these memos, but then later got convinced into changing his mind and plans on trying any body that broke any law using these memos..... The CIA feels betrayed that he released this information what are your thought?

Jason Spiewak

POS1041

T/R 11:35

Just Say No

Of late, it appears that no one in America has the ability to just say NO any more. Everywhere you go you hear that the government has bailed out another company, that banks have lent to those they no can't repay the loan, or that the government is dishing out handouts left and right to those who don't really need them. I feel that everyone needs to relearn that word that our parents taught us. NO. Government, instead of bailing out the business, just say NO. NO you cant have money when you ran your company into the ground, No Mr. bank I won't buy your WORTHLESS assets. And more than anything, NO to the individuals in America. NO more free cheese. NO you cant have a check because you can't get off your but and find a job. NO because four generations of your family have been relying on government handouts. And as individuals, Americans need to start saying NO to homes we can't afford, NO I'm not going to buy that because i can't afford it. NO I'm not taking your money because I can work hard and get there myself. The power of NO. our parents knew it. We need to relearn it.

Nicholas Conlin
POS1041
T/R 11:35am

Discrimination claim appears to divide high court

A divided Supreme Court took up its first examination of race in the Obama era Wednesday, wrestling with claims of job discrimination by white firefighters in a case that could force changes in employment practices nationwide.
The case from New Haven, Conn., pits white firefighters, who showed up at the court Wednesday in their dress uniforms, against the city over its decision to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results.

This is truely unfair to those white fire fighters. It is not that fault that there is not enough minorities to fill those slots. They should not be punished for doing their jobs and qualifying for what they deserve because there's not enough minorities to meet a quota. I do feel that they have a valid case and it deserves serious consideration.

Hagins, Jonathan C.
pos1041
1135

torture....

I am literaly so sick of hearing people whine about torture. Now it comes out that Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice gave the CIA verbal permission to waterboard some big name terrorist. I honestly do not see what the big deal is about that. If it gains useful information then what is wrong with using it? If it saves ONE American life, then what is wrong with using it? It is in a controlled environment. No one is going to literally drown the terrorist. How else is our military supposed to get through to people who willingly blow themselves up to make a point?

Robbie Schmalfuss

CPO 2001 T/R 1:05

100 days of NO

Obama will 'celebrate' his first 100 days in office on April 29th. What is the significance of that anyways? What is 100 days compared to 4 years? I guess it is significant in that in the first 100 days he has passed the largest spending bill of all time, driving our debt up to $12 trillion. It is funny that the DNC made a 1 minute video called "100 Days of No", and in it they highlight the fact that no republicans voted YES on the presidents budget, all but 3 voted NO on the stimulus bill, etc. They say all these things that make republicans look horrible, but they dont tell you exactly why they voted that way. Typical....

Robbie Schmalfuss

CPO2001 T/R 1:05

U.S., Europe Weigh Next Steps on Iran

Top U.S. and European diplomats met Wednesday to plan a way ahead in dealing with Iran's suspected nuclear program, just hours after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad indicated he was willing to build a new relationship with the United States.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana met for talks on Iran just hours after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he was open to finding new ways to deal with the United States. Ahmadinejad said he is preparing new proposals aimed at breaking the impasse with the West over his country's nuclear program.

I get the whole point of talking and trying to figure out things with Iran, but are we just ignoring N. Korea? I am truely misunderstanding this they are telling us that they plan to launch a long range missle that could have nuclear capabilities. Not to take from Iran but N.Korea is what we should be focusing on.
Hagins, Jonathan C.
pos1041
1135

We Are Not Alone...

Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell said yesterday that aliens are definitely real. He claims that he knows for a fact that we're being visited and that the U.S. government knows about it too. He is calling upon them to release information proving this or else he and his colleagues will. I think that is is hilarious because I believe there is no such thing as aliens and this is all one huge conspiracy. 

Robbie Schmalfuss

CPO2001   T/R 1:05

6 States OK'd to Write Education Laws Outside 'No Child'

Six states are getting the OK to write their own prescriptions for ailing schools under the Bush administration's signature education law.
It's a softening from how No Child Left Behind currently works — with schools having to take certain steps at specific times for missing math and reading testing goals. Critics have complained that the approach is too rigid and treats schools the same regardless of whether they miss the mark by a little or a lot.

I believe this is why our schools are doing so horribly, because we look for any excuse or reason to place blame on the problem. The real problem is that the parents are to busy and the teachers are over worked and under paid. That leads to the only individuals truely suffering being the childre trapped in our education system.
Hagins, Jonathan C.
pos1041
1135

Russia to Korea: "No Nukes"

Apparently, Russia is sending a diplomat to N. Korea to talk about disarming their nuclear program. I don't really understand this one at all. Russia at the same time has an alliance with Iran and is supplying Iran with materials and personnel to get a nuclear program up-and-running. Russia does not like the U.S. and neither does N. Korea, so I would think they'd both want each other to have nukes, unless it is a regional power grab for Russia.

Robbie Schmalfuss

CPO2001 T/R 1:05

Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick Jailed for Violating Bond Order

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was jailed Thursday for a bond violation in his perjury case, his pleas for leniency rejected by a judge who made it clear the mayor would get no special treatment.
Kilpatrick, charged with perjury and other felonies over his testimony in a civil trial, apologized and acknowledged that he made a mistake when he visited Windsor, Ontario, minutes away from Detroit, for city business last month. But District Judge Ronald Giles was not moved, saying he needed to treat the mayor like any other defendant.

I guess he thought that the law only applied to common folks. It is nice to see our judicial proceess actually working to make justice equal. Although we all know there are always holes in the system. It is still nice to say for once that the law applies to others than just myself.

Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
1135

Palin in the news again....

So Palin is in the news again. Only this time it is about her daughter, Bristol. Apparently, she is not letting the father of her baby, Levi Johnston, see their son. Honestly media, who cares? I think it is about time that the media get off of the Palin's backs about this kind of crap. They took a bad enough beating during the election. Come on people.

Robbie Schmalfuss

CPO 2001 T/R 1:05

Elementary Kids...and Saving Money???

I don't get it, Wakulla Bank went out to Kate Sullivan Elementary school and educated the students there on ways to manage money, and save money. I understand it, but I don't see the relation in teaching an elementary student to save money, had they wanted to do so they could have chose middle school students but according to me their prime targets should be high school students, who already work or are about to work and start paying bills. I think they need to be the ones knowing about it. What do you guys think?

Jigar Patel
TR 11:35
POS 1041

Obama invites mideast leaders.

President Obama said he plans to invite top officials from Egypt, Israel, and Palestine to talk peace and how the United States can strengthen and deepen its partnership with them . Dates for the meeting have not been disclosed but each official will meet with the president separately. I think that this will be a great start to peace in the Middle East. Israel and Palestine really need to stop fighting and start talking they cannot keep on being so stubborn with each other. What they need to understand is that no one is going anywhere and they need to learn to live together.

Alex Suarez
CPO 2001
TR 1:05

Cash-Strapped Postal Service Seeks Help in Cutting Costs

WASHINGTON -- The post office will run out of money this year unless it gets help, Postmaster General John Potter told Congress on Wednesday as he sought permission to cut delivery to five days a week.

The agency lost $2.8 billion last year and is looking at much larger losses this year. Reducing mail delivery from six days to five days a week could save $3.5 billion annually, Potter said.

How come this so called economic bail out did not include the postal service? What are we going to do with out the mail service? I know that we can e-mail and all but there are just somethings that have to be mailed.
Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
1135

Athletics, something we hold so dear

With the town hall meeting yesterday, which i did not attend, hosted by the president of FSU in his reasoning behind the cuts to FSU educational programs, I really wanted to ask him could any of those programs have been saved if Bowden had retired as was planned and we did not need to pay $4 million to the guy that was to replace him?

I have heard that he, the FSU president was going for shock value, which was true, but he also need something of shock value he could cut and not lose his job over cutting. If he had called out athletics, football for example, toget a cut to its budget, he would probably get drawn and quartered if he were lucky, hate to think of what unlucky would bring.

Isn't it sad when we are having people with no job, needing to go to school to get a degree or training in a new field or brush up on skills learned in the past but no longer as fresh in their memory as needed, to cut funding to education across the board while at the same time keeping athletics at the same ammount, which is great but I don't see how kicking a football is more important than training a science teacher.

Michael Desilets
CPO 2001
T/R 8:35

Virus Vials Missing

In Frederick, Maryland at Fort Detrick three vials containing samples of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis were misplaced causing the Military to begin a Army criminal investigation. This Encephalitis causes sickness in horses and can be transmitted to humans by mosquitos. When in contact with humans the strand can cause death. Should the U.S. be doing more to protect these viruses from being stolen. After all, we are the ones that might come in contact to it one day.

Michael Orta

CPO 2001

T/R 8:35a.m.

same sex marriage

For or against? Is it really anyone's buisness who people decide to marry. I feel like there are so many more important things going on in this world today occupying peoples time with wondering if a law should be passed allowing same sex marriages. The bond two people decide to make is a special and private matter and it should not be such a controversial matter.

Lauren D'Lando
CPO2001
T/R 8:35

Pakistan into terrorist hands?

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that Pakistan is in danger of falling into terrorist hands because of failed government policies. The Taliban has taken a district only 60 miles away from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. Clinton said that the United States should be very worried about this because Pakistan has nuclear weapon capability. She also says that there has not been enough of a show concern from the people of Pakistan, she said that they have to start pushing the topic forward to the government. In my opinion this is very important we do not want the Taliban to take another country over. This is another reason on why America should be in Afghanistan patrolling the border with Pakistan we cannot have terrorist using safe havens in both countries, we also need to open talks with Pakistan and see how both the United States in Afghanistan and Pakistan can combat this problem.

Alex Suarez
CPO 2001
TR 1:05

Guantanamo Bay prisoner rights

The question that has been asked by many in these times of war is why the prisoners that were held in Guantanamo Bay did not have a right to a fair trial if they were being held in a U.S. prison by U.S. law. The men held at Guantanamo were sent lawyers but the lawyers by law were not allowed to discuss the case the U.S. was building against them. They could not even see their own file the U.S. made on them. Why should these men not have the right to a fair and speedy trial as mentioned in the Bill of Rights.

Michael Orta

CPO 2001

T/R 8:35a.m. 

MLB steroids solution?

In recent years the rise and falls of many baseball players has been witness by Americans and most all the cases involve steroids. The government can punish athletes who lie on the stand but should they be able to do more? I believe that since MLB is a billion dollar industry that the government should get more involved within the field of testing players for performance enhancing drugs. This could help out Americas favorite pastime so that it will remain Americas favorite past time.

Michael Orta

CPO 2001

T/R 8:35a.m.

Government Sponsored Monoplolies (GSMs)

GSMs, what are they? Exactly what it sounds like. The government contracts out to a private company, a service or utility, in an area, locally the lad line and cable system. This makes sense in a way, instead of ten different phone companies running lines to the same places, like each and everyone home, only one company does. This makes it so that a requirement to run a line to every house isn't a rule to fight but one to endorse. Where they come to be a problem is when they are mostly unregulated such as with the cable industry.
Mostly unregulated as far as the cable industry isn't exactly true, there are many shared regulations like that among phone providers, but with the growing use of broadband, cable is faster than DSL, the use of VOIP (voice of ip, or the internet), more regulation is called for.
A key piece of regulation would be something similar to what is required of telephone operators, that being where one phone company provides local service, and that company only, but outside companies can compete to provide long distane service, those commercials from the past with 10 cents a minute calleing with MCI, before that became MCI World Com and went belly up. If cable companies were required to allow outside companies to provide broadband services in much the same way, a reduction in cost would occur, as competition demands lowering of cost, and an increase in quality, quality of the service itself but also of the customer service.
As of now this won't ever happen. The idea of net neutrality is getting thrown out the window as the refusal to release documents on ACTA, an internation traty about the internet, against court orders, and the fact that the ones informing congress about issues relating to net neutrality harken from the companies wishing to get rid of it.
What would a cable company do with the removal of net neutrality, well one thing that is already taking place is charging by the gigabyte of data transferred. This may seem like it makes sense, but the refusal to show data relating to how they are unable to make money on broadband, when corporate profits are rising, with all the upgrades they need to do to keep up with demand.
This will end up stifling development in one of the few area the US is a leader and that is information technology, take Netflix for example. They offer a service where you can stream Hi-Def films over your computer so that you don't have to wait, or if you want the environmentally conscious view point, so that you don't have to have a disc sent to your house, wasting gas and paper and everything else. That is 5 gigs for a single movie, this company has a 2 gig a month trial run now, after those 2 gigs you pay a dollar a gig. Did they feel competition to their On-demand service?
Government Sponsored Monopolies can be a good thing, think telephone service or utility service, but don't forget those are heavily regulated, and sometimes regulations my hurt one businesses bottom line, but it can help you, and help far more people, creating for more job opportunities.

Michael Desilets
CPO 2001
T/R 8:35

Missile failure

There has been an ongoing timeline between North and South Korea, United States, Japan, China and Russia concerning nuclear weapons and missles. In recent months North Korea has accused South Korea of "hostile intent" and revoked all military and political agreements with Seoul. Just recently has North Korea stated that there "missle launch" was no more than a peaceful launch of a satellite.

Lauren D'Lando
CPO2001
T/R 8:35

Missile failure

There has been an ongoing timeline between North and South Korea, United States, Japan, China and Russia concerning nuclear weapons and missles. In recent months North Korea has accused South Korea of "hostile intent" and revoked all military and political agreements with Seoul. Just recently has North Korea stated that there "missle launch" was no more than a peaceful launch of a satellite.

Afghanistan Sex Law

I saw a video online of woman last week protesting a law past in Afghanistan that allowed husbands to demand sex from their spouses once a week. Not only is this extremely wrong in the view of civil rights but it is practically rape. I am glad i live in the U.S. because even though woman do not receive all the respect they deserve, there are treated better here than in other places on Earth. They should honestly rethink this law.

Michael Orta

CPO 2001

T/R 8:35a.m.

Talks between North and South Korea end quickly

For the first time in over a year North Korea and South Korea had a government to government talk. The meeting was supposed to be about business deals about a company that both countries run but soon turned sour after the south brought up a topic about a South Korean detainee. The detainee was supposedly telling a worker at the company to defect to South Korea and criticized the government of the north. When the south asked for him back the north refused to talk about it saying he was not on the agenda. The talks soon after stopped after twenty-two minutes. I guess you can say that it went pretty good, North Korea actually having talks with another nation there usually the hermits of that region. I think that any talks with North Korea are good but this one went sour pretty quickly. The North Korean government should not give back the detainee if he was breaking the law in North Korea than he should be tried in North Korea, he should not have been talking like he was. There are certain countries that you go to that you cannot do certain things and you have to learn before hand on what is right and what is wrong.

Alex Suarez
CPO 2001
TR 1:05

Government systems

Is our government system too forgiving and generous? There are people commiting murders and crimes daily and our streets are still filled with criminals. The death penalty needs to be heightened incases such as the capturing of one of the Somolia pirates. Not only is he going to get a taste of American prosecution but he had a big smile on his face on national television because he knows he is going to be provided with clothes, food, and a place to sleep each night. Our system needs to really give what some of these people deserve.

Lauren D'Lando
CPO2001
T/R 8:35

Political Corruption in Latin America

Venezuelan courts, ordered by president Hugo Chavez, called for the arrest of opposition leader Manuel Rosales recently as he fled the country seeking asylum in Peru claiming he is a "victim of persecution,". No one can truly know whose innocent or guilty here, but it is well known that Chavez has been in opposition of the United States on many aspects of foreign affairs and has assembled quite a following of leftist leaders in Latin America. Rosales appears to be legitimate in his will to seek asylum in Peru and certainly does not pose any direct threat to Chavez if he is not currently in Venezuela.

Tom Huber
CPO2001 8:35am Tues/Thurs

Time for a change across seas

Our nation was attacked and it has forever haunted American's that we will be attacked again. When Bush declared war it gave Americans a sense of peace that their nation was being protected and fighting for a reason to remain a free nation. Obama comes into office and address's the nation that he will removing troops from Iraq by 2010 and that our war over there will be shifted to "supporting the Iraqi government and security forces." Does this make our nation more vulnerable to attacks demonstrating that we are weak and can not finish what we have begun?

Lauren D'Lando
CPO2001
t/R 8:35

Democracy, it's irrelevant

Jimmy Carter and his group at the Carter Center go are known for going around to different countries and watching voting taking place, and seeing if they are legit or if they are rigged. He has said, live on air, that in the Palestinian territories, from the very first election held there to the most recent, they have been some of the fairest of any he has ever seen.
Now if we, a democratic nation, one that believes it is our duty to spread democracy around the world like conquistadores spreading chritianity, do we constantly work to undermine democratic socieities? Keeping with Palestine, HAMAS won the election. We call HAMAS an terrorist organization, which they are, but they are also a political group who has done more for Palestinians of late than Fatah, has decreased curruption, got rid of much crime, provided services which the Palestinian Authority was to have provided but was to busy taking what little money provided for the citizens and spending tidy sums of it on themselves.
Other places where we have said democracy doesn't matter has been places like Iran, we didn't like the elections there so we brough the shah back and look how that turned out. Ultimately democracy doesn't matter to the USA unless it is democracy that agrees to work for us, otherwise we will love to have a dictator, it is easier doing business with one of those instead of somone who needs to keep his people happy.

Michael Desilets
CPO 2001
T/R 8:35

Verizon, Sprint, Time Warner Cable Agree to Block Internet Child Pornography

Internet providers Verizon, Sprint and Time Warner Cable have agreed to block access to child pornography and eliminate the material from their servers, New York's attorney general said Tuesday.
The companies also will pay $1.1 million to help fund efforts to remove the online child porn created and disseminated by users through their services, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said. The changes will affect customers nationwide.

It's about time that something is being done to stop the online child porn. It's about time that someone has shown some concearn about the exploitation of children.

Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
1135

Eminem attacks woman in new song

Popular T.V. personality Bill O'reilly lashed out on rap artist Eminem for his lyrics in his new single, We made you. In it Eminem discusses taking Sarah Palin to dinner then fornicating with her. O'reilly then called rap the U.S. lowest form of entertainment and said women rights activists were livid about the song. Do you believe that Eminem was out of line or are his lyrics within the First Amendments rights? I personally believe that his song is within the freedom of speech and is ok. 

Michael Orta

CPO 2001

T/R 8:35a.m.

Banks falling out

The economy is in a steady decrease. Money is not flowing in or out from anywhere and many small buisness's are being affected. It has been stated that our furture social security will no longer exist and yet once our banks begin to bailout a large sum of 700 billion dollars appears? Why hasn't the money been distrubted earlier?

Lauren D'Lando
CPO2001
T/R 8:35

United Nations stresses urgency of conflicts in Sri Lanka

The United Nations is concerned that the rebel group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and even the government of Sri Lanka are in violation of international law. Both sides of the conflict are shooting at the civilians held hostage between the two forces. According to international law the LTTE must allow the UN to oversee the safety of escaping civilians and the government should aid in protecting those who have made it out of the war zone. I feel the UN holds the right view on this conflict but needs to act quicker in stepping in and preventing further loss of innocent civilians.

Tom Huber
CPO2001 8:35am Tues/Thurs

Florida and Democracy

Anyone ever heard of the lass size amendment? It restricted the sie of classrooms so that one teacher wasn't lumped in with 40 or 50 students to teach at once, causing any number of difficulties including but not limited to one kid acting out taking time out of the class so that if the other students had questions, good luck getting them answered, and just even more basic than that is getting kids questions answered, let alone many others.
Well in Florida, parents and voters, often one in the same, decided that they wanted to give a better learning environment for students, one that could possibly bring us out of the gutter of state rankings, maybe put us at the edge of the gutter. They took things into their own hands, removed it from the state legislature, and passed an amendment to the state constitution, something which really ticked off the legislators. Now they have found an opportunity to try to destroy an act of democracy which they don't like in the name of funding issues. This is after the lack of proper funding already had it behind schedule, and so they are sending it back to us, so that with the cuts to education and raiding of trust funds set up for things such as programs for child health care, to scare us into agreeing with them against our own long term interest. Now if you are against the amendment in the first place then this is good news, but if you are for it, as it is obvious that I am, then this rejection of the will of Florida voters finally having a chance to work, is a shameful showing of what our lawmakers think of their constituents.

Michael Desilets
CPO 2001
T/R 8:35

Pentagon Hit by Unprecedented Cyber Attack

The Pentagon has suffered from a cyber attack so alarming that it has taken the unprecedented step of banning the use of external hardware devices, such as flash drives and DVD's, FOX News has learned.

The attack came in the form of a global virus or worm that is spreading rapidly throughout a number of military networks.

How vunerable are we becomming? Are we the modern day Rome? it's scarry to think that our great nation is falling apart at the seams. What Next?

ANC leads elections early in South Africa

The African National Congress (ANC) is off to a head start in South Africa's elections with 60 percent of the votes so far, followed by the Democratic Alliance with 21.4 percent and the Congress of the People at 7.6 percent. Although ANC leader Jacob Zuma promises to crack down on crime, AIDS, and the dwindling economy, these are issues the ANC failed to address in its past occupation. Additionally, Zuma was just recently dropped of charges concerning a corruption case. Without any information to back up my opinion, I have always felt that anyone that allows themselves to be in a position of being accused of corruption is most likely not far from it.

Tom Huber
CPO2001 8:35am Tues/Thurs

Social Capitalism

Ok, so I have an idea...

Communism didn't work, Capitalism isn't working, both had great ideas but were fundamentally flawed. Communism didn't work according to capitalists because it didn't allow for the concept of competition, a very basic human instinct, to be incorporated into its economic structure. Capitalism isn't working according to communists because of it's incorporation of competition into every aspect of society, encouraging neighbor to undermine neighbor in the ultimate goal of increasing personal monetary capital, ultimately ignoring the concept of cooperation, a very basic human instinct.

Lets mix the two.

Capitalism that works for the common good. Capitalism that's based off of human capital instead of monetary capital. If a country's GDP and GNP were altered to be based off of the Human Development Index, it would increase competition among nations and institutions both public and private to achieve a higher rate of literacy, a lower rate of poverty, a higher standard of living, and so on...

Just a thought...


Eric Pate
CPO 2001
T TH 8:30

PBCAC and you

More classified information is being leaked out of different government departments, and it is the fault of P2P software. Well, at least that is what the Oversight and Government Reform Committee is reopening an investigation into the spread of personal and sensitive information over P2P services. The committee has failed to recognize the work of different groups who make P2P software, Lime Wire have worked directly with the committee, to inform people about the risks of the software and potential for mistakes that they might make.
PBCAC stands for problem between chair and computer, and that is where the problem lies, not with the software. The programs are designed so that the only files shared are the ones you decide to share, by putting them in a special folder or by selecting them in another way, and the fact is that people goof up. Wouldn't it be much easier to just make it so that putting programs such as this on government computers against the rules, and if you do put it on there, well go find another job? This to me sounds like the start of another round of attempts to get rid of file sharing, going from a direction that hopefully will get enough credibility to work, which will make few people happy and a great mass upset.

Michael Desilets
CPO 2001
T/R 8:35

Official: North Korea to Test Missile That Can Reach U.S.

North Korea plans to test a Taepodong 2 missile that is capable of carrying nuclear weapons and reaching the continental United States in the next three weeks, a senior US defense official with access to the latest intelligence told FOX News.

"They appear to be serious. This is no bluff," the U.S. official said. "It could look like an attack on the US, but it won't be."

So, I am hoping that after they launch this missle at the U.S. Obama will be over the whole diplomacy thing that he was feeling about N. Korea because they obviously see us as weak and insginificant. The time for diplomacy was definitely yesteryear.

Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
1135

U.S. Drops Blackwater's Iraq Deal

The State Department will not renew Blackwater Worldwide's contract to protect American diplomats in Iraq when it expires in May, a senior U.S. official said Friday.

The official told The Associated Press that the contract will expire because of the Iraqi government's decision to deny Blackwater a license to operate. The Iraqis informed the State Department last week of the cancellation, which was made amid lingering outrage over a September 2007 shooting in Baghdad's Nisoor Square that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

It's funny because thses guys do the jobs that the soldiers can't. They have no rules of engagement the fire and then ask questions later. Their lives are not protected nor backed by the military. They fight when and where we can't. Iraq is denying their contract because of a single incident but the terrorist are killing the innocent every day, so what since does that make?

Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
1135

D.C. Council Votes to Recognize Gay Marriages Performed in Other States

WASHINGTON -- The D.C. Council has voted to recognize gay marriages performed in other states.

Lawmakers say Tuesday's unanimous vote moves the city a step closer to eventually allowing same-sex marriages to be performed in the nation's capital.

This can't be real. What is our world falling apart and turning into? What happened to the strong moral values that our country was founded on. The next thing you know we wont be sending child molesters to prison just rehab.

Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
1135

U.N Racism Conference

Obama decided to not attend the U.N conference on racism next week, April 20-25th. There is final document that will be discussed at the conference that may single out and offend Isreal. This choice was made because recent hard feelings between Isreal and U.S. Hopefully this action taken by the U.S will show Israel that we do respect them.

Hallie Barrett
POS1041
T/R 11:35

Kids involved in global warming

So one in ever three kids are scared of global warming. Would this have anything to do with kids turning on Nickelodeon and being told that their parents should stop driving cars. So in the past five years our kids have been completely brainwashed over man made global warming. Informing kids in acceptable forcing them to watch Al Gore's video is nonsense. Wast of classroom time.

Olivia Chapman
POS1041
T-Th 11:35

12 year old boy charged with murder due to babys death

In Houston a 12-year-old was charged with murder due to baby's death. The boy had been suspended from school from fighting and was at home with more than one of his siblings but authorities are not sure just how many were present during the incident. The little boy was witnessed throwing the baby and then called his mother and told her that the baby was not breathing. First off I do not agree with the fact that the mother left a 12-year-old at home to supervise a baby, I think that the mother should get charged with an accomplice to murder and the boy that did it should defiantly be charged as well. What do you think?

Lisa Petty
POS 1041
T/R 11:35am

Progressives have your back!

Contrary to popular belief, liberals aren't opposed to prayer. They're only opposed to praying to Jesus. If you want to pray to an Arabian moon god popularized by a blood-thirsty pedophile warlord during the Dark Ages compleatly fine David Hamilton, has been appointed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and had decided to make a ruling that made it okay to offer public prayers to Allah but not Christ.Apperently the word Allah means God, so the term is "nonsectarian." Now really!!!

Olivia Chapman
POS1041
T-Th 11:35

ENERGY

In honor of earth day Barrack Obama gave a speech in Iowa; describing America moving into a new era of energy exploration. Obama stated that America needs to look to produce natural gasses domestically as well as focus on renewable energy. Obama made it clear that clean renewable energy is going to be the most beneficial environmentally and economically. I think all Americans can agree that we could benefit from being more careful about our use of energy. Simple little things that individuals do to use less energy can add up to benefit America environmentally and economically short term/long term. I feel that America depending less on foreign energy will also turn the tides positively as well.
Cody Chivas
POS 1041
T/R 11:35

Ohio Governor Pledges Free College For Veterans

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is opening his state colleges' doors to veterans, who will be able to attend Ohio universities free starting Aug. 2009, The Columbus Dispatch reports.

Strickland, a Democrat, announced the plan Tuesday, catapulting off Congress' recent passage of a new GI Bill to increase college benefits to veterans and their families.

Strickland said he supports veteran recruiting to potentially increase the number of skilled workers in the state, and believes it is a means to repopulate areas of the state hit by large military deployments, the paper noted.

Finally someone notices that we as veterans' deserve more than just a pat on the back. 80% of this countries homeless population are veterans. It's funny to see that a democrat is making strides in assisting the veterans of America. If this policy was to spread throughout the rest of the states it would be a huge step in the direction of rehabilitating the ones that protect the rights and freedoms of this country.
Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
1135

Good Science or Bad Manners?

Researchers are finding out that if overweight people eat less it may save the earth. Because food production is a major contributor to global warming, a lean population, such as that seen in Vietnam, will consume almost 20 percent less food and produce fewer greenhouse gases than a population in which 40 percent of people are obsese, close to that seen in the USA today. Transport emissions will also be lower because it takes less energy to transport slim people. Now this is science!!

Olivia Chapman
POS1041
T-Th 11:35

Watch out America...Aliens are Real??

According to the Washington Times, an Apollo 14 astronaut told a group of UFOlogists Monday that aliens are not a myth and called on the government to disclose its findings. Edward D. Mitchell the astronaut who took the longest walk on the moon in history told a conference that it’s time to unveil the truth and tell everyone about the "alien presence". I myself don’t know what to think? I take the Washington Times seriously with its reporting but until there is an alert from Obama himself I won’t be looking out the window for E.T. anytime soon!

Lisa Petty
POS 1041
T/R 11:35am

Are overweight people destroying the earth?

Recession softens crime laws

In the past America has been a "stickler" on crime, and have stuck to their guns on all issues. With the concern in the economy, and prisons busting at the seams crimes are easier to get away with. Certain states are loosening their low-level offenders, to hopefully turn away stays in prison, which saves the nation millions of dollars each year. With all things considering- I am biased in certain ways I do not find DUI's or being caught with marijuana offensive enough to land you in the slammer, so I see that as a positive - but also I may be young and find the use of those drugs "normal". But it is scary to think that because of the economy we are potentially allowing felons to get away. With all this economy talk I never thought I would see the day it could affect my safety!

Melissa Oglesby
POS1041
Tuesdays & Thursdays 11:35

Crown Controversy

An openly gay judge asks Miss California if she supports gay marriage. Did she lose the Miss USA crown after saying she believes marriage is between a man and a woman? I think it is great that she stood to her grounds and I applaud her for that. In a sense it is a little out of line for the judge bring this kind of conterversal topic into a beauty pagent. Its almost like asking one of the girls how they feel on abortion. All around, it should have not even been mentioned.

Olivia Chapman
POS1041
T-Th 11:35

Castro Corrects Obama!

Obama has been told by Cuba’s former president Fidel Castro that he misinterpreted his brother Raul’s message. Raul said that Cuba was going to meet with the U.S. to discuss everything. Obama and America took it as Cuba was ready to negotiate a forty eight year old blockade. But once Obama called on Cuba at the Summit of Americas to reduce taxes on their people and release political prisoners; Castro enlightened Obama that his little brother was referring to the principles of the revolution not negotiating. I feel that Raul really does believe in talks with the U.S but has to abide by the way of Castro out of respect of honoring him with the presidency. Once Castro passes will be when America and Cuba can move forward.

Cody Chivas
POS 1041
T/R 11:35

Extended Jobless Benefits

Considering the economy, and the thousands left unemployed- the rate of unemployment benefits is on the rise. Considering everything; living in America has always had its benefits but this one may need to go. With the rise of unemployment, and being in a recession at the same time causes a monster problem- that is continous vicous circle. With some over using, and or applying for extended benefits the government may have to entervien. With everyone searching for jobs, it is quite unexcusable that it is not one of the governments main concerns right now, instead of leagalizing gay marriage or plan b ( WHICH ARE IMPORTANT- dont get me wrong) all of our time needs to be focusing on one of the leading problems in America today: unemployment. Once we get America families back on their feet we can continue with social issues at hand.

Melissa Oglesby
POS1041
Tuesdays & Thursdays 11:35

The first of more to come??

In Nashville Tennessee a former financial advisor, Gordon Griggs will plead guilty to charges fraud in dealing with nations Federal Bailout Plan. Charged with four counts of mail fraud and four counts of wire fraud he was using the bailout as means of luring investments. With this much money circulating there are bound to be cases like these, however aren't people like Griggs possibly going to be the ones that take us from a sustainable recession to an all out depression? We have to question what other investigations are being drwan into to prevent such a fatal disaster?



Matthew Tucker
POS-1041
11:35am T/R

17, 18... What's The Difference?

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The "morning-after pill" will be available without a prescription to women 17 and older, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. The minimum age has been 18.
http://us.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/22/plan.b.age/index.html

The federal court has made the decision that the 'morning after' aka plan B pill will be made available over the counter to women 17 and older. Before this, the minimum age had been set at 18. I don't think that it is much of a difference. If our government believes that at 18 women are responsible enough to make this decision, I don't believe that the maturity is much different at 17. Now if only they could realize that they give 17 year olds the right to possibly terminate what would be a pregnancy, they could realize that 18 year olds should be allowed to drink alcohol!

Eric Kennedy
POS1041
T/R 11:35

Wind and Water: The New Oil?

NEWTON, Iowa (CNN) -- President Obama marked Earth Day Wednesday by announcing a new initiative to lease federal waters for the purpose of generating electricity from wind and ocean currents.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/22/obama.energy/index.html

Our country is trying out yet another great alternative energy source. This is a great step in the right direction for President Obama. Why this was not done before I am not sure, but better late than never. Actually using natural resources to convert to energy, while opening up more job opportunities, is an example of the amazing developments our country is making.

Eric Kennedy
POS1041
T/R 11:35

Sexting??

Pennsylvania's district attorney is getting suied by the ACLU and parents of kids "sexting". Students are now texting others pictures of themsevels in bathing suits and the ACLU wants to charge the kids with a felony? The ALCU is claiming that this is considered as ponography and the childred should be given an ultimatum, eathier take a required class on this subject or get arrested. This is compleatly out of line and an unrealistic charge. This should be taken as any other inapproprate act, and just take away a privlage of the child. No need to waste time in a class over this. Must less, arrest anyone.

Olivia Chapman
POS1041
T-TH 11:35

A hand shake.........

The Summit of Americas was held in Trinidad and Tobago this past weekend. All Leaders of the Americas met to discuss issues currently facing them. Barrack Obama met with Hugo Chavez the president of Venezuela on the sidelines and shook hands. This caused much controversy in the media as well criticism on Obama’s behalf. I wish the media wouldn’t criticize Obama when he has made it clear that he is going to meet with leaders, even though they may be anti American. Either you agree with him or not he made it clear when he campaigned for this presidency he was going to sit down and try to move forward with Americas so called enemies.

Cody Chivas
POS 1041
T/R 11:35

Plan B Legal for 17 year olds

Federal Judge ruled plan B legal now for 17 year olds, moving the age down one year from 18 today. Following the order, many were quick to point out yet another overturn of Bush's administration. While womans activist groups were estatic, saying it was long overdue- conservatives are disqusted with yet another withdrawl of their control over their teens. I completely agree with conservatives on this one, concluding in the end that 18 years old should be a all around bar set for you to be a legal adult- but also that comes with privledges and responsiblilites. The age to buy cigerettes is now older than putting your own life in your hands medically. I find it unusually distrubing, considering I normally fall on the liberal side to womens rights- but not on this one!

Melissa Oglesby
POS1041
Tuesdays & Thursdays 11:35

NEWTON, Iowa (CNN) -- President Obama marked Earth Day Wednesday by announcing a new initiative to lease federal waters for the purpose of generating electricity from wind and ocean currents.

Our country is trying out yet another great alternative energy source. This is a great step in the right direction for President Obama. Why this was not done before I am not sure, but better late than never. Actually using natural resources to convert to energy, while opening up more job opportunities, is an example of the amazing developments our country is making.

Eric Kennedy
POS1041
T/R 11:35

Waterboarding: Tough? Yes. Effective? Absolutely

I saw on the news recently that Dennis Blair had been talking about the interrogation (torture) techniques that were used during the Bush administration to obtain information from terrorists. I personally believe that the what some might call 'torture' techniques were used purely in order to keep our country safe. They also worked. We obtained much valuable information from what was done. Some may not have been the nicest techniques, but I'm all in favor of living in a safe country if that is what it takes.

Eric Kennedy
POS1041
T/R 11:35

What happened to Morals??

I understand we live in a new age and we are in some ways expected to keep up with the times, but some things should be left to adults! In recent news, it has been cleared for 17 year old women to purchase or be prescribed the contraceptive pill Plan B or otherwise known as "Morning after pill" . If you can not be responsible enough to act like an adult and keep yourself in adult situations, then this is basically opening a whole new door for minors. If they are that young shoudnt there be some sort of parental guidance to help them make such a major decision??


Matthew Tucker
POS-1041
11:35am T/R

Root Causes of Somali Piracy

Piracy off the cost of Somalia is a complex situation. However, many people around the world advocate for the simple solution of military intervention, with the idea that sooner or later with enough pirates dead, the situation will be solved. At first glance, and with no other prior knowledge of this region of the world, this proposal might be somewhat plausible. But, it's not. The current Somali government is in pitiful shape and holds little influence over Somali territory, especially Puntland, where the majority of pirates are based. The area of Puntland is plagued by an inhuman level of poverty, disease, illiteracy, and corruption. The future is literally hopeless for Somalis in this region. People will resort to drastic measures to feed their families. With little agricultural infrastructure, Somalis in this region have historically relied on fishing to provide a meager income and food for their families.
Beginning in the 1990's and throughout the Somali civil war, because of the lack of any enforced restrictions or guidelines on maritime issues, fishing fleets from around the world flocked to this region to take advantage of the lack of enforcement on the amount of fish a fleet could catch. Thus over time drastically reducing the local fish populations, the last reliable source of food for people on the coast of Somalia. Also beginning in the early 1990's, the cost for disposal of both toxic and nuclear waste in Europe was around $1000 per ton. However in the anarchist environment of Somalia in the 1990's, corrupt politicians looking for foreign support and to fill the power vacuum in Somalia offered to turn a blind eye on the disposal of this waste for only $2.50 per ton. Somali waters soon turned into an international illegal fishing and toxic and nuclear waste disposal site without any regulations.
The toxic and nuclear waste eventually found its way to shore and has been causing the outbreaks of many diseases and helping to devastate an already devastated ocean ecosystem.
Without much choice, a number of Somali's have turned their fishing boats into pirate ships and have begun to hijack vessels in the lawless seas off the coast of Somalia. Leaders of different pirate groups are seen as heroes on shore in their villages, they claim to be vigilantes taking law into their own hands and demanding ransoms to help pay for the environmental damage their region has suffered from the outside world. In their minds they are completely justified, they are only guilty of trying to survive in this region of the world. If anyone else was in their position, they would do the same.
The solution to this problem will take increased regulation of international maritime laws in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, for now this is where the military involvement should be until an international policing effort is created or the Somali government has the ability to govern its own waters. The overall focus of solving the piracy situation in Somalia should be on the root causes of conflict; poverty, education, disrespect of human rights, and corruption. Until these problems are addressed, and yes they can be addressed with enough political will, there will always be conflict.

Eric Pate
CPO 2001
T TH 8:30

Innocent Until Proven Guilty?

DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- A Colorado man was convicted of first-degree murder and a bias-motivated crime and sentenced to life in prison for killing a transgender teen he met on an online social networking site.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/22/transgender.slaying.trial/index.html?iref=hpmostpop

Murder is such a senseless crime in my opinion. No one deserves to have their life cut short by another human being's actions. The question that comes to my mind in this situation though, is would this man have gotten such a harsh sentence had the teen not been transgender? Also, would the media have jumped all over this story if it were just a regular teen it had happened to? Finally, was it really possible to find a 'jury of peers' with no bias for a case like this? As despicable as this crime was, it just makes me wonder if our courts claim of "innocent until proven guilty" really exists for everyone.

Eric Kennedy
POS1041
T/R 11:35

Will It Ever End!?!?

Breaking news has hit within the United States media as Taliban militants have seized an area close to the capitol of Pakistan. This could ultimately end in tyranny and terror in the city of Islamabad. We can only guess how long until fingers start pointing at the United States for intervention. When is enough, enough !?!? The United Nations has to come to some sort of concensus on how this things can be chnaged to stop the shedding of innocent blood!! All we can do is wait and watch.

Matthew Tucker
POS-1041
11:35am T/R

Trust the news?

Nearly every time we turn on our TV. to listen to the current news we are fed a biased and saturated picture. People of America turn to their news station hoping to get the truth on current events currently regarding our nation. More often than not the current event is spun in way to benefit the station presenting it for either their personal political beliefs or monetary gains. A recent poll found that 3 out of 10 Americans felt FOX was to critical of Obama. It’s hard for people to trust the message presented by the media when they know it’s slanted one way or another. Is the viewer ever going to be able to turn on CNN,FOX,MSNBC, OR CBS and really feel confident about the message their hearing and seeing? I sure hope we will.

Cody Chivas
POS 1041
T/R 11:35

UN Security Council Nations Agree to Condemn N. Korea's Rocket Launch

UNITED NATIONS -- Key Security Council nations reached agreement Saturday on a statement that would condemn North Korea's rocket launch and toughen U.N. sanctions against the reclusive communist nation.

The five permanent veto-wielding members -- the U.S., China, Russia, Britain and France -- and Japan reached agreement after Tokyo backed down from a demand that the Security Council adopt a new resolution, the strongest response the U.N.'s most powerful body can give.

I didn't think or feel that this should have even been a debate. Launching a long range missle into unathourized air better yet over countries. I guess politics will always be politics and everything has to be handled in some sort of diplomatic manor on way or another.

Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
1135

More Than 17,000 Troops Headed to Afghanistan

President Obama will dispatch more than 17,000 troops to Afghanistan, the White House announced Tuesday.

"This reinforcement will contribute to the security of the Afghan people and to stability in Afghanistan," Obama said in a statement. "I recognize the extraordinary strain that this deployment places on our troops and military families. I honor their service, and will give them the support they need."

Obama said the deteriorating security in Afghanistan made the troop increase necessary, adding that the country has not received the strategic attention or resources it needs.

I knew that the new administration could not be that simple minded to think that they could remove the troops out of that region. It would make no sense at all to them or anyone else. I think that he should do just like he did in the pirate situation and let the military minded individuals handle what they do best. Fight wars!

Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
1135

Earth Day: Obama announces energy plan

Appropriately on earth day, President Barack Obama announcement of the newest plan to make clean energy. The plan is to lease federal waters for the generation of clean energy in return cutting down our dependence on foreign oils. The plan also follows with jobs for the factories distributing the materials to follow through with the plans. I absolutely have not met one person not willing to be all for the going green revolution today in America. I believe if we all make a change in our personal lives, and work together as a country to pursue a more green world we could all live a lot more healthier.


Melissa Oglesby
POS1041
Tuesdays & Thursdays 11:35

Official: Pentagon Report Defends Guantanamo

The Guantanamo Bay prison meets the standard for humane treatment laid out in the Geneva Conventions but could use some changes in how it handles its more dangerous or less compliant prisoners, according to a Pentagon report.

The report was prepared for President Obama, who has ordered the terrorist detention center at the U.S. naval base in Cuba closed within a year.

The recommended changes include an increase in group recreation for those prisoners, according to a government official familiar with the study. The report also suggested allowing those prisoners to gather in groups of three or more, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the report has not been released.

These are not prisoners like jail birds they are terrorist locked up for trying to take away lives in the most horrific manor possible. They don't care about their lives or those that they kill. Why don't people understand that. They get a free place to sleep and free food to eat and bathrooms to use. That is more then they would ever receive in their own country. If we don't get the vital information that we need from them we will pay the price.

Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
1135

There shouldn't even be a case.

I saw on the news that there was a big deal being made out of an all white jury. The defendants are white and the victim is a illegal. When do Americans start getting charged with committing a crime when the victim was illegal. The victim was breaking the law being over here.He was stealing in my view.By useing our resources without paying tax dollars.If i see a man breaking into a bank and shoot him will i get charged with murder?? This is a load of bull. These defendants are kids and having there lives destoried because of a illegal.

Avery,Michael
CPO 2001 8:35 Thurs/Tues

Texas boy, 12, charged with murder of thrown baby

HOUSTON — A 12-year-old suspended from school for fighting killed a 10-month-old baby by throwing him to the floor at a home where several young children were unsupervised, officials said Wednesday.

Who is to blame in a case like this the mother of nine or the 12 year old left home to watch them? Children don't understand their actions and what the consequences lead to, but even still by that age we all no right from wrong. Could this be a learned behavior? The abused often act out in violence, he was home suspended for fighting. Could he be to blame or was he just acting out the only way he knew how?

Hagins,Jonathan C.
Pos1041
1135

All-White Jury Chosen in Pennsylvania Hate Crime Trial

POTTSVILLE, Pa. — An all-white jury has been seated in the trial of two Pennsylvania teenagers in the fatal beating of an illegal immigrant from Mexico.

This is just an outrage what is going on with the youth of today? They should be charged as adults. Anytime you commit a crime of this magnitude you should be punished to the full measures of the law. If you are man enough to beat a man to death then you should be man enough to face the consequences that follow. To add insult to injury a all white jurry. We know how this is going to turn out.

Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
1135

FSU Scare tactics

Recently, Florida State University announced all the budget cuts that will possibly be coming into affect within 2009-2010. FSU may be cutting more than 20 majors and many professors will be leaving. Also, they announced that this may be the last summer session for classes ever. I don't think they will fully follow through with this budget cut. This is Florida State University's way of scaring people and seeing if the legislater will provide them with money.


Hallie Barrett
POS1041
T/R 11:35

Iran the world's new Terror

I heard today that Iran welcomes the idea of "constructive" dialogue but will not stop its nuclear activities.This is very scarey. Iran bullies all the other middle eastern countries around knowing that the U.S. can't do to much with most of it's force in Iraq. The U.S. should use all means possible to stop them from having nuclear weapons.

Avery,Michael
CPO 2001 8:35 Thurs/Tues

STOP! stepping on the little guy

Many small banks around the nation are being affected negatively by the recent debacles of the big banks. Small community banks are being scrutinized more so by the federal regulators then the big banks. The smaller firms feel they had a minuscule contribution to the economic crisis of present compared to what has developed from the freeloading of mortgage loans by big firms. The federal regulators should not be scrutinizing the small community banks, but encouraging the little banks to loan to get our economy back on track. The federal regulators should have all there man power focused on making sure the big firms are using the 700 billion dollar bailout correctly. Obama needs to keep true to his words of change so our country may one day stop penalizing the smaller businesses of America.

Cody Chivas
P0S 1041
T/R 11:35

Mexico it's time to take blame.

Many don't know about the drug wars that are going on in Mexico.They have gotten really bad over the past year.The Mexican Police have pretty Much lost control.While this was happening Mexican government was blaming us.Saying 90% of the guns came from the U.S. We even sent money over there to help them out. Last week they came out with the real facts. 17% of guns being used were from the U.S. Once again the U.S. gets blamed and its not even our fault. It's time other Countries start taking there on blame and stop blameing us.

Avery, Michael
CPO 2001 8:35 Thurs/Tues

Keep it classy CNN and MSNBC

Tax day this year many Americans across the country Protested the amount of "BIG" spending by having a TEA PARTY. Some protested, some sent tea bags to the WHite House. Many American cannot afford the tax raise obama is going to put on the middle class. The left wing media CNN and MSNBC decided they would make fun of this and call it "TEABAGING" we will not go into details but this is not what i want my kids (when i have them)hearing on t.v. This just shows the kind of class CNN and MSNBC have.The sad thing is it doesn't suprise me.

Avery,Michael
CPO 2001 8:35 AM Thurs/Tues

Where is the Bailout money???

I Saw that GM is closing its U.S. Factories for 5-9 weeks in the summer.This is very upsetting on many levels.1.Where is all this tax bailout money going if there closing down??? 2.The U.S. Goverment gave them a bailout with our tax dollar, then they shutdown the factories in the U.S. Obama should make sure his bailout is going to work and who he is giving it too before he gives our tax money away. I fell both parties are too blame we cannot forget this next time we buy a car or go to vote.

Avery,Michael
CPO 2001 8:35 Thurs/Tues

Obama Taking the Right Step

Obama has recently reached out to America's hemispheric neighbors. He has began reconciling with them from past U.S conflicts. Also, Obama sat in a confrence with them listening to their complaints about the past, and how to better the present and future. This a great step for America, and a smart move on Obama's part. America's relation with many countries have been wavering since our invasion of Iraq and past actions.

Hallie Barrett
POS1041
T/R 11:35

Healthcare Reform

A popular issue in America right now is healthcare reform. Many are just focusing on Obama's Universal healthcare plan, but Americans need to know that there are many other plans being discussed and looked over also. Obama's also isn't completely finished because many of the aspects of the plan are vague and in the process of completing. Americans need to know there are other possible plans of healthcare that may be put into action and should be informed about all of them before standing behind just one.

Hallie Barrett
POS1041
T/R 11:35

Justices hear arguments over school strip search

The Supreme Court seemed worried Tuesday about tying the hands of school officials looking for drugs and weapons on campus as they wrestled with the appropriateness of a strip-search of a 13-year-old girl accused of having prescription-strength ibuprofen.

Savana Redding was 13 when Safford, Ariz., Middle School officials, on a tip from another student, ordered her to remove her clothes and shake out her underwear looking for pills. The district bans prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

Wow, this is just a little to extreme. I thought that this is what police are paid to do not school officials. I understand that minors are not protected the same way adults are when it comes to rights but there has to be a point where a line is drawn, and I feel that it was definitely crossed with this case.

Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
11:35

McDonald's 1Q profit rises nearly 4 percent

McDonald's Corp., which has been thriving during the economic downturn, saw its first-quarter profit climb nearly 4 percent as more customers worldwide came to the Golden Arches for a cheap meal.

Sales of chicken, breakfast and beverages were particularly strong, McDonald's said.

The nation's No. 1 hamburger chain said it is capturing a bigger bite of the market in nearly every part of the world as consumers cut back on their spending and look for a less-expensive alternative to sit-down restaurants.

I think that people are not paying attention to what they are doing. It is cheaper to stock up on groceries and eat in. Never has eating out been cheaper then cooking your own meals. The price for a family of three to eat at a fast food chain is at least 20-25 dollars multiply that by 3 that's about 60-75 dollars now do that for seven days and you have now just paid for a family of 10 or more. It makes no sense and it goes to show that we are still not watching our money
Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
11:35

Colleges push tuition aid for illegal immigrants

Wading into the politically charged immigration debate, a group of colleges and universities is urging Congress to give illegal immigrants tuition aid and a path to citizenship in light of efforts in several states to block them.

The College Board, made up of 5,000 schools and best known for its SAT college admission tests, released a report Tuesday that cites a need for federal legislation that would open up in-state college tuition, financial aid and legal status to many illegal immigrants in the U.S.

How is this fair by anymeans? This is the problem with our country we are always so worried about everyone else that we forget to take care of our own. College for most of us is hard enough to get into, now they are going to make us compete for financial aid. What country can we go to and get finacial aid let along get into a college?

Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
11:35

Maersk's Revenge.

One of the pirates was recently captured and turned over to american forces from the Maersk, a ship hijacked off the coast of Africa on April 20th. I believe that Navy should have acted faster and took the situation more seriously. The message being shown around the world is were willing to negotiate in events of terrorism. The suspect being question should be questioned fiercely in order to prevent further occurrences and to save American lives.




Kyle O'Neill
POS 1041
11:35 T/TR

Health Care

In this day and age many people are pushing more and more for a nationalized health care system. Just recently there have been made provisions for the start of a nationalized health care system passed by the Obama administration. However, Government sponsored health care is not the answer. The answer to making health care affordable to all is to privatize health care. Private companies independent from the government for support, would compete amongst each other for your business driving costs down. The individual can then freely shop around from company to company much the same as car insurance. In order for this to work, the government would have to completely remove itself from the system. No government subsidizing, no regulation on care or quality, as well as no regulatory laws on practice.

Nicholas Conlin
POS 1041
T/R 11:35am

Interrogation Mercy ?

The recent interrogation techniques used by the government have been scrutinized saying they are too tough. When is interrogation too tough when the suspect could yield information that could save american lives? When is it too tough when at a time of war, when the suspects are committed to killing americans. The techniques being used provided much useful information. Im not saying to push people to a point of human indecency, but why play nice when were americans are getting their heads cut off ? Im not encouraging torture, but the government cant play nice when we as a nation look weak.



Kyle O'Neill
POS 1041
11:35 T/TR

Banks still in distress, Geithner tells overseers

America's banks are still broken despite all their bailout billions, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told impatient rescue overseers Tuesday as they pressed him on when things will get better and how much it will cost. A bleak new report estimated U.S. banks and other financial institutions could lose a stunning $2.7 trillion in all. So, after $700 billion the banks are still struggling, so what is going on and what's happening to our money? If all of the banks are losing so much money still then why are these CEO's still aloud to keep all of these bonuses and still flying around in private jets and so on? If the banks are not rebounding back then how are they going to pay the money back? If they can't pay the money back then how can those of us who pay our bills and have managed our credit get loans at fair rates and when we need them?

Hagins, jonathan C.
POS1041
11:35

Keep Your House !

The recent homeowner affordability and stability plan put into effect by president Obama is a great way to offer assistance to more than nine million bleeding americans. People who give "good faith" payments are able to keep their house in hope of refinancing their home. I personally relate to this topic because i'm in the process of losing my home. Helping one another is times of trouble is one way for the government to give back all of what its citizens do for this country. You have to give a little to get a little in this world. I think the loan companies are starting to realize this. If they just foreclose on every house they would lose money than trying to negotiate with people on payments until they are back on their feet.



Kyle O'Neill
POS 1041
11:35 T/TR

Cheney's Hypocritical Side

I find it extremely hypocritical that former vice president Dick Cheney, is criticizing president Obama's economic policies. I find this hypocritical because how can Cheney question his tactics when the Bush administration put the economy in a recession. The Bush administration started the snowball effect of the economic downfall. One shouldn't criticize the tactics of another until especially since his tactics put the country in the worst economic situation since the great depression. Spending money right now seems to be one of the only ways to save the economic structure of America.



Kyle O'Neill
POS 1041
11:35 T/TR

Cheney: US gained information from interrogations

Interrogations are a very unique tool in gathering valuable information. The interrogation tatics the we use are constanly under attack by the very people who's live's it saves. It surprises me how easily we forget about the 9-11 tragedy and the lives that were lost or the thousands of lives that we have lost during the current Iraq and Afghan war. If it were not for these intricate tactics that we use there would be many more lives to add to those tolls. Information doesn't just fall in the laps of government officials, information is gathered meaning there is much work to be done. The next time you think you want to ask these terrorist questions in a nice manor, go on youtube and look up the beheading of that innocent contract worker, or the mutilation of soldiers who's bodies were already burned and dead. Then ask yourself how can I get throught to t hem in a nicer way.

Hagins, Jonathan C.
POS1041
11:35

Misleading Tactics

President Obama apparently misunderstood the Castro's willingness to start talks between the United States and Cuba. The political prisoners being held by Cuba are apparently not ready to be released by the Cuban government until their people, who were convicted of spying were released. I find this troubling since president Obama has made great strides with Cuba recently. Obama has recently lifted all restrictions of visitation and money transfers between american and cuban relatives. I find it ludicrous that Castro is criticizing Obama for for doing more to lift the trade embargo. Progress happens overtime not overnight.


Kyle O'Neill
POS 1041 T/TR
11:35

FDA to Approve Plan B for 17-Year-Olds

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Plan B for 17-year-olds without a doctor’s prescription. Also known as "the morning after pill," Plan B is an emergency contraception that contains a high dose of birth control drugs and will not interfere with a person who is already pregnant. If taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, Plan B can reduce a woman's chances of pregnancy by as much as 89 percent. If the person is already pregnant Plan B will not hurt or disrupt the pregnancy. This has always been a controversial idea, should we give it to younger kids to prevent pregnancy or should we keep it for doctor’s prescription only and give it to adults 18 and over?

Lisa Petty
POS 1041
T/R 11:35am

Personal Responsibility

Lately it seems that anyone or any company can do as they please regardless of the consequences. Banks will lend to people with no credit, people with no income are buying houses they cant afford, and the government is bailing them out. The government will buy worthless assets from companies that have practiced recklessly. where is the personal responsibility? When can a company who has been reckless pay the consequences? Where are the people restraining themselves from buying things that they cannot afford? Where are the banks that lend to those who show that they can repay the loans? What has become of the responsibility that our parents taught us?

Nicholas Conlin
POS1041
T/R 11:35am

Where Parties Stand

It has long been stereotyped that the Democratic party has been the champion of the poor, the minority, the working class. It has also been stereotyped that the Republican party champions the "Big Business" or the white collar workers. in essence the rich. Now it seems that the common belief of people is that party politics is bad. Why? because they are power hungry, power grabbing, and will do whatever it takes to remain in power. Based on these assumptions does it not make sense for the success of a party, they must have a larger party base. therefore the Democrats to receive more power, there must be more poor and working class people, and for the Republicans to have more rich or white collar working people? And in order to maintain power the Democrats would have to make more people poor and keep them poor, and for the Republican party to make more people rich and keep them rich? which would you want to be?

Nicholas Conlin
POS1041
11:35am

Flat Tax

As it stands, the United States uses a progressive tax system. This means that the more money you make, the higher percentage of that money you must pay to the federal government. The same is also true in that the less you make, the lower percentage you pay in taxes. This sounds fair, however is far from that. A flat tax would solve this problem. If there is a flat tax of lets say 10% then someone making 30,000 dollars a year pays 3,000 dollars in taxes. If someone makes more say, 100,000 dollars a year they pay 10,000 dollars a year in taxes. One can see that the more you make the more you pay, just like in today's tax system, however it is the same proportion of ones income as someone who makes less. This tax system would lower taxes (yes i know it makes less revenue for the government but lets face it, its not their money), make filing taxes exponentially easier, and stimulate investment. What do you think?

Nicholas Conlin
POS1041
11:35am

Miss California

Miss California was recently asked if she supported same sex marriage by Perez Hilton at the Miss USA beauty pageant. Hilton is openly gay. She answered the question honestly. She believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman. She has since been attacked by liberals in the media including Hilton. Is this woman not entiltled to her own opinion? Why do liberals think that she should have answered the question in a politically correct fashion? Why should she lie about her own beliefs to make everyone else happy?
Thomas Austin
CPO2001 8:35am

University of Notre Dame

Barack Obama will be speaking to the 2009 graduates of the University of Notre Dame. The University of Notre Dame is a Catholic university. There is much controversy about Obama speaking at the University of Notre Dame because of conflicting views of abortion between Catholics and Obama. The Catholic church argues that abortion is murder and Obama stands behind the idea that abortion is the right of a woman to choose. This pertains to the class POS1041 because it is about the conflicting ideas about whether abortion is a right in the United States. My opionion is that Obama shouldn't be chosen to speak at the University of Notre Dame if the Catholic church disagrees with where he stands on abortion.

Hallie Barrett
POS 1041
T/Th 11:35

Nieve Administration?

The Obama administration has recently released CIA interrogation reports which descibe the methods our government used in order to obtain information from captured terrorists. Many people descibe these methods as torture and believe they are a violation to human rights. However, these interrogation methods have been successful in obtaining useful information in the war on terror. I agree that methods such as waterboarding are cruel and inhuman. However, they are absolutly neccessary when dealing with an enemy whose logic is insane. If the terrorists' goals were political, the U.S. might have a chance of reaching some sort of peace agreement. Unfortunately, their goals are 100% religious. The U.S. cannot reason or compromise with such an enemy.
Thomas Austin
CPO2001 8:35am

The Future of the Republican & Democratic Party

The Democratic Party is quickly outnumbering its counterpart the Republican Party. Throughout our history the two parties have shifted power back and forth. They have also changed their views on some of the major issues of the day in order to stay in power. The Democrats are becoming a much more main stream party not because their views have drifted towards the middle, but because they have broadened their base. It has always been the party of the minority, but now the American minority is rapidly becoming the majority. Unless the Republican Party begins to bring in some of the minority it will lose almost all of its power. Neither party will be able to cater to its base and win from now on. The days of using the fear tactics to rally the base and win seats for their party are over.

Life without Parole

In this country we have had our ups and downs about the death sentence, but we love to give people the sentencing of "Life without Parole" by doing so we are just using our tax dollars to give these criminals a roof to live under, food to eat, and a decent way of life. When ultimatley we have Full families homeless and starving on our city streets. What can we do?


Jason Spiewak
POS1041
11:35

Where is the logic?

A hard working middle class family is paying over $1,000 a month in healthcare premiums. When presented with the idea of a national health care plan that would be much more affordable that was suggested by Obama, they were against it! Their reason was even if they had to pay more they couldnt trust the government to get it right! How sad.

Lisa Petty
POS 1041
T/R 11:35am

Flavoring Tabacco Products?

So people have there addiction to cigarettes and cigars, but now the companys have been comming out with flavored cigars and flavored cigarettes. Flavors ranging from Strawberry, cherry, Grape, Etc.... Who are these companies targeting? How do we keep kids away from these things if they advertise the flavor as a plus? What do you think?

Jason Spiewak
POS1041
T/R 11:35

Obama to troops: Iraq mission to end in August 2010

According to President Obama he announced in front of 2,000 marines and broadcasted to the rest of America that he was going to pull out the 90,000 troops from Iraq in 2010...I am glad to be hearing this from a new president, I would hope for this but I don’t know if it’s going to be possible...and is this a bad thing that he broadcasted the time that he wants to withdraw our troops?

Lisa Petty
POS 1041
T/R 11:35am

Is Walmart Taking Over?

Even though the economy is rough, Walmart still shines. I see small business close down and new Walmarts come up. Walmart provides what small businesses try to supply, only to beat out the small businesses by convenience and mass marketing. Walmart offers jobs and benefits that small businesses struggle to support. Since the economical declination, Walmart still stands strong. Will it be one of the only companies standing in a few years? Mass marketing has been deemed a success by the people who profit from it, but what about the small businesses it is beating out?

Jennifer Gordon
CPO2001
1:05 pm

Cigarettes: The increase in price and the increases to come

Cigarette prices have gone up to over a dollar more and they are about to be raised another dollar. Of course this raising price may discourage people to smoke less, but will it really benefit in the long run. People who smoke cigarettes are not going to quit because of the raise in prices. The price raise is only going to encourage the increase in debts that people already have. Taking a legal addiction and taxing it is going to only hurt people more than it helps. May this addiction be affordable or not, people are just going to go to further lengths to sustain it. Soon there may be people robbing gas stations for something as small as a carton of cigarettes. Addictions are bad, but to increasingly tax something that is legal and sustainable like cigarettes is wrong. I believe the freedom to support this legal addiction is of ones own choice and should not be manipulated by the government.

Jennifer Gordon
CPO2001
1:05pm

What has become of Real Estate?

With the economy so pathetic right now, the real estate business has really taken a plunge. I am sure many people have family who are part of the business and have experienced first hand the declination of this business. Surprisingly, some people have held their own. With houses being almost impossible to sell, real estate agents have barely been able to make ends meet. Even when the economy does better, will this business that has declined so far be able to pick itself up in time? The real estate business is directly related to the economy when it comes to how profitable to business can be. How will people who have chosen this career be able to make a living at a time like this? How do other people feel about the depletion of this business?

Jennifer Gordon
CPO2001
1:05 pm

Obama and the media...

Obama has been a person the media loves, but is he really controlled by the media. Obama has become a face that many in society can look up to and see hope in. The fact that he is half African American has really been a positive aspect in his election and appearance to the public. The fact that Obama had little experience makes me wonder how he got to be president. Before the election, I have heard nothing about this man and my research on him only makes me skeptical on how he was chosen. I believe that Obama may be controlled by higher powers and profits because of his qualities the media would jump on. There are conspiracies on this, which is why I decided to ponder about this subject. Is there someone else making the decisions behind the curtain? Who could this person, or people, be? Is Obama president for his image or his beliefs?

Jennifer Gordon
CPO2001
1:05pm

When do people stop pointing fingers?

The economical crisis we are in now cannot be blamed on one person. Many people say it is all Bush's fault. In many aspects it is his fault. The war is a big contribution to the still dropping economy, but is the war Bush's fault. Of course it was his decision to declare war, but it was it was not his fault for the terrorism that lead to it. Some people trace the problems back to Clinton. Some people blame it all on Bush. I think that we need to stop worrying about who is to blame and start worrying about how the problem will be fixed. Until people stop dwelling on the past, we cannot make way for a bright future.

Jennifer Gordon
CPO2001
1:05pm

Taking it to the Sin Taxes

In such a time as this, a lot of people want to drown in their own sorrows and drink their problems away. The reality that has come as a result is the increase in sin taxes such as alcohol and tobacco. It has even trickled down to those states who have forever lobbyed to keep these very taxes from being imposed, such as Kentucky has been the long standing state that provides almost all the bourbon and whiskey that are consumed by Americans, as well they are the majority leader in producers of tobacco found in cigarettes. While most people would agree with this type of taxation, is there reason to think this could come as a backlash as times grow harder? Time will tell, but in the mean time we are sure to see a rise in the prices of these alcohol and tobacco products!

Matthew Tucker
POS 1041
T/R 11:35am

The First Hundred Days

Under the eye of a struggling Nation, President Obama has been very busy in his first Hundred days in office. He most recently has reached out to the Cuban government in talks of being open for diplomacy between our countries. This could be exactly what our country needs right now, with our global economic standing. But could something like this type diplomacy end up biting us in the rear? How do you think the President has faired during the first hundred days?

Matthew Tucker
POS 1041
T/R 11:35am

Networking or "Not"working??

In current news there is a story a med student in Boston, Mass. whom has been arraigned without bail due to the slaying of a woman whom he had made contact with through a Craigslist ad. Craigslist of course is the free networking and advertising website that is open to public use. In this time and age when we are so fascinated with our Facebook, or Myspace or maybe even posting a Craigslist ad like in this case, are we opening a door for crime? Or are these type people like the girl whom was slain, just not protecting themselves well enough?


Matthew Tucker
POS 1041
T/R 11:35am

New Found Nation

President Obama spoke at Georgetown University about where the economy is now and where he wants to take it. Obama’s speech was to give Americans a realistic picture of what’s going on that will help the economy. The president addressed that it is going to most likely get worse before it can get better, some of the actions being taken include… the $787 billion dollar recovery act and his plans to stop foreclosure… hard times are far from over but were seeing some hope from where we stand! Sadly it was mentioned that unemployment will be one of the last areas to improve and that there will be many more months with hundreds of thousands of jobs lost. I hope that America can make a quick turnaround.

Lisa Petty
POS 1041
T/R 11:35am

Obama Apologized...

America has made allies and enemies due to former presidents in history...Some people wouldn’t agree with some of the things that have happened in former presidential terms, so do we change it or accept it? According to Dick Cheney, President Obama went overseas and apologized for past actions that America had made in order to make new ties...Cheney quoted that he was "disturbed" by this...how do you feel?

Lisa Petty
POS 1041
T/R 11:35am

Mexican Immigration Reform

Why can't we just get over ourselves already. Pretty much everybody in this entire country besides the Native American Indians were immigrants here. And even over on the west coast and Texas, that land was Spain and Mexico and even Russian settlements long before we fought a bloody war over it largely led by a blind faith Manifest Destiny. It is pretty hypocritical not to give them a path to citizenship, they are our neighbors, not something to be feared. They aren't taking any job you would want to do anyway, and we caused their immigration ourselves by not regulating businesses that paid them under the table for the past 20 years.

Joe Kennedy
CPO 2001
T R 8:35

New Military Strategies

It has become very apparent that special force tactics are quickly becoming the new art of warfare. We are starting to shift from the standard gigantic military forces to the smaller more mission specific force. The majority of the new threats to America have been smaller terrorist organization rather than another country’s military. This takes not only a new mindset, but also new tactics to fight it. During the last eight years we have started to implement the first major change in tactics since the Vietnam War. The only thing that is for sure is that the military that we currently know will not be the military of the future.

Justin Ford
CPO 2001
T R 1:05

Fair and Balanced

The media controls the minds of many American citizens who believe everything they see or read. Fox news and cnn often report on the same issues. However, the context of the reports between the two are usually opposite of one another. I wish the media would state the facts and allow the reader to develope their own opinion.
Thomas Austin
Cpo2001 8:35am

Spreading the Wealth

President Obama wants to tax the rich in order pay for plans that would make life financially easier to citizens who are less fortunate. Most wealthy Americans are successful because they work hard. I don't think an ambitious person should have to pay for a lazy one.
Thomas Austin
Cpo2001 8:35am

Health Care

President Obama's health care plan would make health insurance affordable to all Americans. Our nation's health as a whole would reap the benefits of this. However, wealthy citizens would be paying for this plan with their increased taxes. I personally do not think this is fair. Why should successful Americans have to pay for people who are less fortunate?
Thomas Austin
Cpo2001 8:35am

Marriage: Just Marriage

I'm not talking about heterosexual marriage or homosexual marriage or even "marriage as an institution". I'm just talking about plain marriage with no special additives or preservatives. With all this hype about whether gays should be allowed to marry, I've begun to ponder about marriage. The divorce rate in this country is incredibly high. Couples who are trying to make it work might have to suffer long hours of marriage counseling with no promise of improvement. Lack of communication, rushing into marriage, and adultery are among the many contributing factors to divorce. So I pose the question,"why do people get married?" Do we get married to symbolize a bond of love between ourselves and our spouses? Or do we get married to secure ourselves financially and receive government benefits for our marriage status? Do we formalize our unions with love, dedication, and trust? Or do we make a party of it all and hope that in the end we come out all right? It is apparent that marriage has become a show rather than a formal union between two people. Men and women should show more respect to themselves and each other in order to maintain strong, unbending bonds of marriage.

Suicide terrorism

After the gruesome September 11 attacks on the United States, people everywhere were educated about the radical relatively new wave of terrorism: Suicide Bombings. People were scared. Our government officials were scared. They had good reason. It is said that suicide terrorism is the best counter to counter-terrorism efforts. These attacks frequently occur in random and unpredictable places. Common targets are areas with large crowds of people, and minimum security such as transportation hubs, malls, big cities, and business buildings. A suicide terrorist is an individual who intentionally causes his/her own death with the aid of explosive devices in order to also cause the deaths of many other people. Typically, civilians and non combatants are targeted by suicide bombers. It has been a strong topic of debate as to whether or not these terrorists are sane individuals. I adamantly oppose the idea that any terrorist is capable of logic or reason, no matter what the ideological, religious, political, or emotional cause.People who resort to terrorism have psychological inclinations to do such. Terrorism is a method of social control used by those individuals who see no other alternative. Predispositions to murderous and suicidal behavior can result from fear, anxiety, narcissistic rage, depression, or some other facet of the mind. There is no logical rationalization of sacrificing one's life or the lives of others in order to create mass murder in the name of religion, politics, or ideology. Suicide terrorists are convinced that by sacrificing themselves, they aid in a greater worthier cause.

The Obama Campaign Experience

I started working within the Democratic Party because of my experiencing throughout the Kosovo and the Iraq War. From that point on I knew that I had to take a personal stake in the political decision that are made within our county. We so often disconnect ourselves from the effects of our political decision outside of the United State, because it always easier to turn the television off instead of doing anything about it. I truly believe everything that happens in our lives is for a reason. This has not only changed the direction of my life, but it has also giving me the drive necessary to accomplish anything that I set my mind to. My journey has led me to believe, if you give someone a cause worth fighting for they will give there all. This election is beyond the continuation of the presidency of the United States of America. This election is nothing less than a movement which will be ingrained in our history books forever. The people of America have decided to stand up for what they believe in. We have shown the world that the true definition of a patriot is having the strength to see the problems of the world and to fix them no matter the consequence. The creation and progress United States of America has never been an individual effort. It is dream that a few good men and women made a reality. Millions of people have once again joined in a cause that’s worth fighting for. We will no longer accept what is giving to us, but instead fight for what we think can be achieved. People from all different walks of life, color, and age have joined together to fight for something larger than themselves. Barack Obama has once again put the power of the people over the power of propaganda. I have never felt closer to a cause than I do right now. I finally feel like I have given back some of what has been giving to me and even some of what I have taken from others. After we win this campaign we will be able not only to say that we made history, but we will also be privileged enough to say that we made a difference. Barack and the people who fight with him will have left the America better than we have found it to be. We will once again be the beacon of light that has started to fade away during the last eight years. This campaign will not end with Election Day. It will proceed on in the lessons we have learned. This campaign has shown us that the impossible is no longer impossible. It is only another movement away.

Justin Ford
CPO 2001
1:05 T R

The Almost-Adult: a Feature of American Hypocrisy

Adults aging from 18 to 20 years can do a lot of things. They can smoke cigarettes and chew tobacco until they die of cancer. They can buy a house or a car, enter into a contract, and have careers. They can get a sex change operation, and donate their organs and blood. They can have consensual sex and choose to make more human beings. They can gamble all their money away, or they can invest it. They can get as many tattoos and piercings as they want. They can star in porn flicks and girls-gone-wild videos. They have to pay the government taxes. They can be tried as adults and be sent to prison for their crimes. They can join the armed forces, fight and possibly die for this great nation. Yet, not a single one of them can legally drink alcohol. No, not even at their weddings. Of course the fact that they can't doesn't stop them. But I digress... The greatest country in the world is engaging in hypocrisy. They have created the "Almost-Adult": 18-20 year old men and women who hang in limbo between child and adult, and the thread that they hang by is the ability to buy and drink alcohol. Does any one see how ridiculous this is? It is really quite confusing for the Almosts. "I am 18 and I am adult, but not really because I still can't drink." The law is more harmful than it is helpful. Its intended to prevent deaths due to drunk driving. Yet it causes teens and young adults to pursue their forbidden fruit like children climbing to reach the sacred cookie jar. If the government wants us to all act like adults, and insists that we are as such, then they should lower the drinking age to 18 and trust us.

Pirates and the Horn of Africa

Alex Suarez
CPO 2001
TR 1:05

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this week that she was "deeply concerned" about piracy in the Horn of Africa. This, following a hijaacking of a ship carrying 21 Americans. In my opinion, I agree with the Secretary of State this is a very big problem that the world has to fix. I say the world because the countries in that region do not have the sufficient funds to patrol their waters. There has been hundreds of pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden and millions of dollars payed in ransoms, unless they start putting military personnel there it will not stop. It would be a great dissapointment to see piracy and illegal activities like this thrive in a region so ravaged by poverty and oppression.