Be Gay Be Marry

            In AndreaCrosser's latest blog she discusses the issues with legalizing same sex marriage in America. More specifically she point out that many states are beginning to legalize gay marriage at the state level; however the national government is not giving them to same credibility.  Crosser then goes on to discuss the issue with religion and same sec marriage.

            America was founded by white aristocratic Christian males, why would those same people want to legalize same sex marriage today? Yes, there are senators, governors, and other political figures that have gay sex behind closed doors and they may have even paid for a transgendered escort from time to time, but that's behind closed doors-(apparently that is completely acceptable).

            Another argument from the national government is that same sex marriage households are completely dysfunctional, which is completely false.  For example this student from Iowaspeaks about his accomplishments, while being raised by two women. Also, I have had several friends in the military that were raised by two men-- and yes they loved women.

            Crosser continues by stating that " On May 9, 2012 President Obama put his support behind same sex marriage ". This may have been an attempt to gain more votes from more minorities. Actions speak louder than words, so it will be interesting to see how President Obama's support for gay marriage will change the national law in the years to come. 

I D.A.R.E You to Read This.

                       Remember when we all wore graphic backpacks to school, had our own cubby, colored in every subject, and had an hour to play outside because we couldn’t sit still for more than two hours at a time? I do. For many of us when we hear the words “elementary school” we think about square pizza and swing jumping contest; however I think about two things, peeing my pants in the first grade because I just couldn’t hold it and D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). A Police Officer would come in every Thursday to discuss the importance of not drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana, but as my classmates began to grow out of their elastic jeans they also turned to those very substances. So why are kids consuming marijuana and alcohol when the government is dumping millions of dollars into programs like D.A.R.E?

            Programs such as D.A.R.E are not effective, because the information being forced into the minds of children do not match up with their reality. Children are being told that alcohol kills people, which is true, but then they go home and watch their parents drink and their older siblings smoke—and they’re living and well. This depletes the validity of the information that the Officer is giving, so why not tell the truth?

            Police Officers are forced to stay on track of a specific teaching regiment created by D.A.R.E officials whom the government pays. They force Police Officers to show kids clips of movies that send the same message as Reefer Madness. The truth is that alcohol and marijuana have health benefits, but they shouldn’t be used by children until they are of age and are able to use them responsibly.

            I do not believe programs like D.A.R.E should be cancelled, but I believe they are sending the wrong message. I believe that the government is using these programs in order to fulfill their own political agenda instead of doing what is actually best for our youth. Spending millions of dollars to spread invalid information is just unethical. We owe it to our youth to give valid information.

Apples to Droids

            Robert Nguyen is a fellow colleague and always has reason to his speech. Nguyen is one of the few people in my GOVT 2305 class that covers interesting, relevant, and important topics. In Nguyen's latest blog, he discusses droids operated by trained professionals via remote. Nguyen continues to discuss how using droids is a safer and more efficient alternative than other combat methods; I agree.
            Locations such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran have many terrain features which are not easily to captivate in land combat. Securing key terrain features on mountain tops in order to gain an advantage over an enemy is not always as easy as Hollywood has made it out to be. Having 32(a platoon) lives at stakes while carrying out an operations order is a lot more time consuming and dangerous rather than flying a drone or using other types of droids; However are they more accurate than a soldier with an M-4 (issued guns soldiers use overseas/smaller version of M-16)?
            Many soldiers deal with problems not only overseas, but when they come back. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has affected more soldiers when they come back home from deployments then actual physical injuries. Many soldiers will go overseas and be under unstable leadership who believe in killing for numbers. Squads will kill innocent civilians and carry drop weapons ( a weapon carried incase of an accidental killing, so that is seems that the civilian was attempting to shoot). The soldiers at the time will feel that the decision made was okay, but when they leave that hostile environment they are able to see their wrongs.
            Due to the statistics shown by my colleague, I believe that droids should play a much larger role in the U.S. military than it does as of late.

Who's in Charge?

“Who is your Daddy and what does he do?”, these famous words were spoken by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the hit film Kindergarten Cop. In the United States we tend to look at our presidents as our countries Daddy, but what does he do? The President has, but is not limited to the following powers: Commander in chief of the armed forces, Power to commission officers in the military and to grant reprieves and pardons for federal offenses, Call Congress into special session, Receive ambassadors from other nations, Faithfully execute the laws, Appoint officials, Make treaties and appoint ambassadors, with consent of the Senate, Sign or veto legislation. So why are so many Americans upset with the President when the National Government isn’t performing up to the public’s standards? This answer is simple; we don’t know what the president is and is not capable of due to lack of interest.

But what does the American public expect from the government? Health Care benefits, safety, individual rights, social security, equality, freedom, and fair taxing—unfortunately this sounds a lot like the communist manifesto, and due to American ignorance we choose to fear and criticize the word communism.  But what if, in order to meet one of our standards, the government decided they needed to violate one of our rights?

In 2001 George W. Bush decided to increase national security in order to maintain the countries safety, but in the process he violated our 4^th amendment.  His new increase in national security allowed the national government to violate our privacy by having the ability to view our Internet files and listen to our phone conversations. So how did he receive all of this power? We gave it to him.

The national government derives its powers from the people, so whether things are going bad in America or good, we are to blame.

           

Does Romney Support Abortion or Not?

The blog that I will be writing a review on is Michelle Goldberg.

                Are traditional values being ignored by young America, or is there a new culture forming in America with new-age values and beliefs? In the above blog Michelle Goldberg attempts to clear the air for Governor Mitt Romney’s policies on contraceptives and abortion; this would allow Romney to close the gender gap of his political party.  The mass majority believes that Romney is completely against contraceptives and abortion; however “Romney doesn’t oppose contraception at all. In fact, he thinks abortion should be an option in cases of rape, incest, or to save a mother’s life.”--  but how many women get abortions under such circumstances?  Not many, but this allows Governor Romney to gain votes from traditional conservatives and the new-age republicans.

                Governor Romney is able to appeal to traditional republicans and the new generation of republicans by being pro-abortion (under certain circumstances). This provides a safety net for young republicans and voters that are undecided. During the past two presidential debates Governor Romney has stayed clear from religious arguments about contraceptives and has not discussed his past ideas of cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood. This allows Governor Romney to appeal to the new generation by giving more rights to an individual.

                The blog written by Goldberg is objective. Goldberg stays clear of biased and uses facts. Goldenberg is attempting to reach out to voters that are undecided and republicans. Goldenberg does want the audience to think about Governor Romney’s sudden pivot on the subject of contraceptives and abortions, but she does not attempt to bash either party.  Goldenberg’s argues that his pivot would benefit those against abortion, because he would eventually be able to make abortion illegal at the state level and later the federal level. I believe her argument is valid, but overall abortion should be legal. Religion has hindered technology advances for thousands of years and Christians aren't the most holy spirits around—hasn’t anyone ever read about the crusades? Probably not.

Four Years to Fix Decades?

This Editorial from the Dallas Morning News Is Written By Oliver North

             
                Face it; America hasn't been the number one country for a few decades, but to say that a country headed in the wrong direction for decades should have been well put together within a short four year term is offensive. The following article gives credit to President Obama for being the first African American president—that’s it. I’m a Republican, but I am not oblivious. Everyone in America(Legal citizen, Registered Voter, Illegal Immigrant, non-registered voter) contributed to where the country is now. The rich are not willing to share their fortune with anyone and the poor are unwilling to work as long as they are able to ‘get by’ with the help of the government.

                So is it really all up to one Person and the entire middle class to get America on the right track? No. Large corporations need to quit laying off hard working Americans, so that they can save a few thousand dollars a year by hiring ‘Steve’ half way across the country. The poor need to work—legally.  Poor people should be given help if they actually need it, but the majority of them don’t. Welfare and medical care given by the government should not be determined by the amount of hours an individual works in a month; rather it should be based off of annual income.

                During one of my GOV 2305-016 lectures the question of “Who’s driving if Our country was on a road trip?”. My answer is as follows: We are driving in a Cadillac Escalade. Our driver is the National Government. Elites and Interest Groups are riding Shot gun and holding the Tom Tom. The middle Class is a seven year-old riding ‘Bitch’. The upper middle class is the Older sibling working on homework, and the poor is the Family dog that is slowly digging a hole into the gas tank.

                The article is written in a conservative newspaper which receives a large following by Republicans, but I found this editorial more offensive than informative. 

47%

On September 19th 2012 ABC news gave Governor Mitt Romney a chance to 'roll with the punches', but it seems that his comments about the 47% of Americans that are dependent on the government for an income has got him down for the count.I have watched the edited versions of the video from many news stations such as ABC,CNN,PBS, and FOX-- then I decided to watch the full video. Governor Romney makes it clear that his father was not a stranger to calloused hands and sun damaged skin. He was an owner of his own construction business in Mexico and decided to come to the U.S where he learned that in order to succeed you cannot be afraid of failure. Governor Romney goes own to explain that being American is like being born with a silver-spoon; and I agree. To be born in America is a great blessing, because there is so much opportunity; however opportunity does not present itself to those who are not willing to work. After receiving heat for belching, "47% of Americans are dependent on the Government and will continue to vote for Obama", Romney goes on to say that these are the people that will choose not to vote Republican-- I agree. Before I get tons of 'hate mail' and random cyber-jabs, I would like to point out that the majority of those 47% are not paying taxes-- is that fair? A portion of that 47% are Illegal immigrants-- are we okay with this? Another portion are in poverty and working under 100 hours a month in order to keep their welfare coming in--is this how America was made? No. It's been known that 'handouts' are able to make an individual lazy. Thomas Jefferson was able see this but no one ever criticized him ;rather he was praised for his outspoken bravery. Jefferson saw the benefits to slavery in the economic arena, but he saw it made rich white men extremely lazy. Jefferson voiced his opinion and people hated him, but he was right. Being dependent on anyone or anything except for hard work and consistency is against the American way of life; at least it use to be. I have nothing against immigration if immigrants do not cut any corners and decide to take the easy way out. Many of my friends from the military were the first generation to be born in America. Their parents came from all over the world from many countries that are extremely different than the U.S Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Mexico, Trinidad, and many more. Their parents came here the right way, with the right vision, and the right mind set "hard work+consistency= results". Many of their families were wealthier than my own and many of them did better academically than kids whose parents were born in America-- I guess the apple does not fall too far from the tree after all. I guess optimism is just a side effect of being American. I use to see the world as pure as my mothers apple pie, but as I have grown I have become disgusted with a large portion of America's population. I am not saying we should not help this 47%, but maybe they shouldn't vote.

Lastly I would like to share with you all one of my role models, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold came from Austria and wanted to be Mr.Olympia (best bodybuilder on earth) at the age of 15. When Arnold was 19 he won the competition and proceeded to do so until he was 27. After that he wanted to become a movie star, but many directors told Arnold that "he was too muscular or that his accent was too thick". Arnold proceeded to work hard and eventually starred in more blockbuster films than anyone in Hollywood. Arnold then went to school at the University of Wisconsin and later became governor of California. Arnold had dreamed of coming to America since the age of 10 and he did everything the right way, so why can't we do the same? Six secrets to success