America At Its Best

Equality in the Hospital!!!

2010-04-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

Is it right for gays to not to be able to make a decision for his or her loved one when he or she is faced with death? Many people may argue yes, but i believe gays should have the right for that. Obama is trying to make that happen, but is it going to be enforced enough so that justice can be served to the homosexuals. One-fourth of hospitals don't have policies that protect patients from discrimination based on sexual orientation. That's a lot of hospitals that don't have policies on that considering that there are lots of homosexuals in the United States.In Bakersfield, Calif., for instance, in a state where domestic partnership is recognized, only the biological mother was allowed to stay at the bedside of a child running a high fever. Her partner the child’s adoptive mother was told to stay in the waiting room, even as fathers and mothers were allowed to visit their children together.In many cases, same sex partners will not be informed of doctors of his or her partners condition. In many other cases, if it was a man and woman relationship there would be no problems concerning the information given to the partner.The concern to most homosexuals is being denied to visit a partner that his sick and being informed of information about his or her partners condition. This may seem as a little problem, but this problem is arising all over the United States. It really needs more attention brought to hospitals about their policies among these same sex marriages because no matter what's a person sexual orientation is, he or she should still have rights to support a sick loved one in a hospital regardless and it is strange that a nurse can even deny the person of visiting his or her loved one. Where's the sympathy?

Baghdad Bombings!!!!

2010-04-05T08:02:00.000-07:00

Suicide attackers detonated three car bombs in quick secession near foreign embassies in Baghdad on Sunday, killing more than twenty-five people in coordinated strikes that Iraqi officials said were intended to disrupt the efforts to form a new government. The bombings followed the execution-style killings of twenty-four villagers in a Sunni area two days earlier, a spike in violence suggests insurgents are seizing on the political uncertainty after the recent election to try to destabilize the country as U.S. troops prepare to leave. Officials blame the Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. Whenever there is political disagreement as the one Iraq is facing because they are about to form a coalition after the March 7 parliamentary election, Al Qaeda tries to conduct terrorist operations so that Iraqi politicians can blame each other for the chaos. The bombings on Sunday were the first coordinated attacks in Baghdad since January when three downtown hotels were bombed. The bombings were simply to try to influence a new formation of government. It seems as if the Al Qaeda is never going to stop. Is the war on terrorism getting worse? It seems that way to me. The Al Qaeda is a very large group willing to do whatever to get their voice heard.A fourth bombing was attempted at the offices of the governments embassy, but police men shot and wounded the driver. He was driving a mini bus packed with m,any explosives. People died from the three explosions, but at least some lives were saved. The man was seventeen years old.The war on terrorism is going to take decades to resolve.They have influence young people to engage in terrorist acts, and that is not including the advanced terrorists who have been a part of Al Qaeda for years. My grieve and sorrow goes out to Iraq. They have long fight before ending terrorism in their country with the presence of a government that is going to make mistakes.

Is Health Care a milestone or a mistake?!

2010-03-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

I'm very happy that we finally have health reform because of the many people with very life-taking diseases that were constantly denied coverage from their insurance companies. I'm also happy for it because it finally seems as if we are taking a step to become a better nation. On the other hand, there are many disadvantages that come along with the health care bill. First, there are 14 taxes in the bill. Just to name a few, there are going to be taxes on drug-makers,on higher incomes on companies that are going to be well off in result of the bill,and a fine if a person does not have health insurance. Many tax payers are worried that their tax money is going to pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies, and the major concern I've been hearing is that the bill is going to make tax payers pay for abortions which is very unconstitutional.Also, there are many false claims on the reform that shows no resemblance to what was voted on. According to CNN, many political scientist believe that it is simply a government take over and not democratic at all. 11 attorney generals are willing to fight the reform because they say it is an individual choice to get insured and that is unconstitutional. There are many disadvantages to the bill, but there are also many advantages. The health care bill is taking a giant step towards socialism, and it's a victory for the American people. Many children can piggy back with their parents on their insurance plans until the age of 26, a tax break for families, medicaid expansion for lower income families, and most importantly it changed the mind of the great representative Bart Stupak (D) Michigan. Of the 11 attorney generals that are fighting the reform, none of which are democrats so that's a winner. I'm totally for the health reform. It's not right to look at one side and not the other, and that's why i gave the disadvantages and the advantages. It's a long term plan that needs to get into every house hold so that we can have a healthier nation.

Executions in Iran

2010-03-15T13:05:00.000-07:00

According to an article in the NY Times,six protesters caught the death penalty today for protests in December.The protesting they did was an annual tradition called feast of fire that goes back thousands of years to Zoroastrian times. That tradition was banned by the Iran government for decades because it's said to have UN-Islamic roots. Two men that were involved in the December protests were executed last month. That's very harsh to me and makes me thankful to be an American citizen. The United States may be corrupt in certain ways, but I do not understand getting sentenced to death because of a protest. Isn't that freedom of speech? Law is law. I guess. In Iran's case, you either have to fear the government or die. The protesters should have gotten punished. No doubt about that, but I think death was too cruel in that situation. I've never lived in Iran, and I'm not too familiar with their law and order system. It's not like the protesters were robbing stores and killing innocent people. The tradition includes jumping over fires followed by an Iranian version of trick or treat in which young people cover themselves head-to-toe in a chador and bang spoons in pots as they knock on neighbors’ doors for candy. I don't understand the cruel and harsh punishment for that, but law is law.

Democrats on Health Care Bill

2010-03-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Obama is trying his best to get 13 of the 40 democrats who opposed to the health care bill to support it.The campaign as already spent 11 million this month focusing on law makers.It's expected that there is going to more spending before they vote on it this weekend. Obama is going to ohio this week to close the act of the health care debate.Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House, is very confident that they are going to suceed in passing the health care bill.Democrats who support the health care legislation have struggled to compete with the opposition.the theme that the when the insurance company wins, you lose. I believe that the health care bill will not only help democrats but will also help the replublicans. It's a bill that this country needs to pass. Of course, it's going to take a lot of money and may even increase the national deficit, but in the long run, it's going to be beneficial.It has been a difficult year for the democrats as they struggle to push for little laws and bills.Moveon.org, the liberal advocacy group, took a vote of its membership last week and found that 83 percent said the House should pass the Senate bill. The health care bill is clearly going to save a lot of American's lives. In the middle of the recession, health insurance is clearly another expense that is going to get a lot people behind on their rent so many people simply go without it. When a person becomes sick and can not afford the insurance to cover the problem, a big issue arises and that is when the health care bill should sweep us off our feet. Americans need this health care bill and it's a shame that even democrats are declining the health care bill.

Ordinary vs. Extraordinary

2010-03-05T08:43:00.000-08:00

Today's class discussion in my POLS 2101 class was very interesting and it clearly opened my eyes about the Nazis. Before today, I was so into the thought that every branch of the military involved in the holocaust was very responsible for many deaths of the Jews and non- Jewish people. The fact of the matter is that the soldiers were just following orders. They can't necessarily be totally responsible as the men who gave the orders, but they could stand for what they thought was right. Many of the soldiers were really for the extermination of Jews. Only a few felt that in their heart that it was wrong. Those people cannot be blamed for being afraid to say what was right because their life and their family’s life were going to be in danger. I believe that if some soldiers would've stood up and said that it was wrong. Then some more soldiers would've followed. The ones that opposed it would have died, but it would have been for a great cause. It would have prevented the loss of thousands of lives. If I was in that case, I would've just disobeyed the choice at hand and got killed. I'm the type of person that is willing to die for a good cause. I would rather stand up for something then to fall for anything. I seriously would've given my life. It probably wouldn't have changed as much or stopped the killings immediately, but it would've made a great standing point. In that time period, it would have only taken a few hundred people to die for the good cause to drastically change the outcome of a lot of people lives being taken.A few leaders in that type of situation would've made a big change, but people were scared to die over their moral values.

The Panopticon

2010-02-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

In my political science class, we had a great discussion on the term panopticon. A lot of my classmates gave their personal views and opinions on the subject. By establishing an effective panopticon, there has to be some certain level of fear in the citizens. I'm not saying that it has to be complete fear in the citizens of a state or country for the government to control and monitor every one's behavior according to their laws, but there has to be some fear for the citizens to stay in line and abide by the rules. I believe that the concept of pounding citizens with a little bit of fear is a good thing to keep the government from being over thrown. A lot of people believe that pounding the citizens with fear is the wrong thing to do and it's liable to cause a revolution. If the citizen are scared to break the law, they are going to be even more afraid to over throw the government. If the punishment is severe, there is going to be lots of order and control in that certain area. Many people are going to despise the government because of the harsh and crucial punishments, but they are going to have high level of fear and respect for the laws. On the other hand, if a government is too nice and lenient, people are going to run over your legal system because they are being acquitted of serious charges and that is going to lead for every one to think that their actions are not going to have consequences, which is going to cause a lot of law breaking. Proper consequences allow people to think thoroughly about their actions. No severe punishment is sincerely going to lead to a revolt. Fear is needed to an average not major extent.

Generation Gap

2010-02-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

In my political science class, my classmates were talking about many clashes of civilizations in their household, in the world, and many more. Many people's parents don't totally agree on their son or daughters beliefs because they were brought up differently. My sister's husband grandfather sincerely hates my beliefs on the Vietnam war. I believe that it was totally unnecessary and that the United states were wasting their time in Vietnam trying to train the Vietnam soldiers so that United States soldiers could return home, but that sincerely didn't work. My grandfather-in-law argues me down to the ground every time he sees me. He really hates my opinion on the whole situation because he thinks I'm a young punk and don't know what is the basis of the United States history of war. My point is that the generation gap is such a problem facing among the same civilizations and different civilizations. In a stretch of time, many things can be changed. China is,what i would say, expanding. They are not losing their culture. They are expanding and opening up to new things. Many people generations before me would disagree, but it's my opinion and my view upon things as i see it in today's world.

Proportional Representation

2010-02-05T08:53:00.000-08:00

In my political science class, my instructor brought up a very interesting question concerning whether or not should the United States have proportional representation. I think that we(considering I'm a citizen of the United States) should not have that type of system. People in the same party can barely agree on policies together, so i doubt if many parties can come together and agree on serious issues. With a system like proportional representation, it strongly involves a coalition and I sincerely don't see that happening now-a-days. I don't think we should have the dominance of just two parties neither though. I believe the United States focus should be on developing a new effective system of democracy. The people of the country should severely decide on many decisions, but then there is the fear that the people don't know how to accurately decide on critical policies in the country. My question is what the use of a democracy if the people don't get what they want and need? The main focus of the government is to serve it's people and make life more comfortable for the citizens. How is that true if we cant decide on policies? Many people don't understand that an administration is not going to be perfect in every aspect and that they are going to fail every once in a while, but I truly believe we should consider a new format of government that is more appealing to more audiences.

Haiti Situation

2010-01-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

The earthquake in Haiti was horrible. Many people have lost their lives and homes. Many Haitians that are in America can't even get in touch with their family to see if they're fine. This is a horrible disaster and they are indeed of some kind of assistance. President Barack Obama is sending Haiti 100 million for all the damages and to restore many buildings that were destroyed by the earthquake. My political science class recently discussed how America is so fast to help international problems but not the many domestic issues taken place right in America. I feel as if Barack Obama is doing the right thing. Its not as if a terrorist in Haiti has destroyed and killed innocent people. This was a natural disaster of mother nature. This is more than just an issue to Haiti. It's an issue to all of our man kind. A disaster can frequently ruin any country, but we have to come together and help each other. I know many American people are upset that it took many days to come rescue New Orlean natives from katrina, but we can act abrubtly to a situation that is not a domestic isssue. My main point is that America can not hold grudges, but we do need to address some problems that are happening right in America fisrt priority than somewhere else.