RE:

In response to Amazing Hair Mat:

It's really an ingenious idea. Human and animal hair stuffed in pantyhose to soak up the oil. That disaster is the worst oil related disaster this country has ever seen. No doubt there will be damage to the surrounding ecosystems and wildlife. One quart of oil can contaminate up to a quarter of a million gallons of water. People are losing more jobs because of the spill, in a time in our history were jobs are important as ever. Maybe this is a sign we need to start moving to alternative fuel sources. But firstly I have to agree with you we need to save the Gulf.

More oil drilling....

Do you think it's time to start looking more into renewable energy sources? I do. In spite of recent events in the Gulf, Shell is moving ahead with drilling in Alaska for oil. According to the New York Times exploratory drilling for oil could begin as soon as this summer. Many people are stressing their concerns about this. On one hand you have enviromentalist not wanting another disaster, like the one in the Gulf, to ruin this sensitive enviroment. Natives are also concerned that the oil drilling will effect their main source of food. On the other hand, we have a growing nation that runs off of crude oil. It seems to me that the government needs to step in and solve this problem. The technology to live independently from crude oil is there. The government needs to stop investing so much into oil and start finding alternatives. Let's face it, oil is a limited supply, which we are running quickly out of. If we continue to rely on oil, we have a grim future ahead of us. More time and effort needs to be dedicated to where our future energy sources will come from. Nuclear energy seems to be the most viable option now. France gets something like 90% of their energy from nuclear sources. Our government needs to start researching future energy resources before we fall behind the rest of the developed world. Like I said, the technology is there, it's just a political battle now. Money definetly plays a big role in this issue, and there's still a lot of money to be made from crude oil. But what's the cost? Enviromental degridaion and more disaster will still be a major problem. And how will that effect future generations? We still have time to fix this and our government will play a big role in the longevity of our future.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/us/08alaska.html?hpw

Maybe it is time to just cut our losses and start to pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan. You have some very good points for your position but just like you said there hasn't been much improvement on finding Osama Bin Laden. The fight in Iraq is still continuing too, without much progress. I'm not saying that giving up and going home right now is the answer but we should be thinking about an end to this war. This article I read earlier made some very good arguments about the US pulling out of Iraq. One argument he makes is American Military forces in Iraq are harming US interests in the Arab world. He advises that pulling out now will save us a lot of grief later. Maybe it's time to look into some alternative options.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2005/07/15/afx2140520.html

Ranting

I've personally never even really thought about politics or government too much before this class. There are just so many topics and issues, it's hard to pick one thing I really care about. I also hate having to take sides on issues, because personally I think most of the time both parties have really good points, I'm a very undeceive person. One thing I've always relied on and cared about were crimes and punishment. I firmly believe the punishment should fit the crime, simple as that. I'm not educated very well on the legal system, how it works, and it's loopholes, so all my assumptions and opinions are based on past experiences, news articles I've read, and testaments from well-trusted friends. Over the years I can say, for the most part, I'm worried/disgusted with how our legal systems handle people who commit crime. I really began questioning our legal system a few years ago, after an incident that really hurt me emotionally. A few years ago, one of my good friends car broke down on the highway around midnight, as he was tending to his car on the side of the road a drunk driver hit him and ended his life. He just turned 18. The drunk driver served one year in jail, and had 10 years of probation. Another friend of mine was caught spray painting graffiti and was sentenced to two years in prison, with another 5 years probation after that, not including a hefty fine. That isn't right in my opinion. Someone who spray paints a wall should not have to do more time in jail then someone who took another persons life. I understand graffiti can be a problem, but having to serve time in prison for a non-violent crime? That seems a little unjust. And not to mention child rapist being able to make parole after a few years in prison, most sex-crime offender have a past in doing those types of crimes but yet they still keep being released into the public to wreck more peoples lives. Drug laws seem to be getting a little out of control too. Billions and billions of tax paying dollars spent on the "War on Drugs" and really nothing to show for it. A lot of the money is spent on keeping non-violent drug offenders in jail, why? I would think they should be sent to a rehabilitation center instead of being kept in prison full of violent criminals. I just think that our government really needs to start re-looking into how and who runs our legal system, and make punishments that fit that actually fit the crime, and keep dangerous people in prisons where they belong. I'm just ranting on what bothers me with our government, I know other people might think those punishments are perfectly just. Like I said it's just an opinion I've formed over the years.

Criminal Government

I just read a blog from Glen Greenwald called "The Criminal NSA Eavesdropping Program," and I have to say, it made me a little worried about our national government. Basically the blog is pointing out how our former and current President's (Bush and Obama) committed felonies and other misdemeanors. Not only did they both commit crimes, they're able to escape and under mind our legal and court systems. Overall, I think the article was well written, there were a number of sources cited and he looks like a serious blogger with a good reputation so he just might know what he's talking about. He presents a good argument, basically he doesn't believe that they should be able to get away with these types of crimes. Here's a little piece from his blog that sums up his argument way better than I could; "If we were a country that actually lived under The Rule of Law, this would be a huge story, one that would produce the same consequences for the lawbreakers as a bank robbery, embezzlement or major drug dealing. But since we're not such a country, it isn't and it doesn't." I can't say that I totally disagree with that, why should the elite in this country get away with whatever they want? The government is suppose to work with the people, not against them. There are tons of article he cites that, not including the federal judges that found that these President's are committing crimes right in front of our eyes. He seems to be generally concerned and wants to reach out to whomever else might be outraged by this. At first I thought this blog might lean a little more to the liberal side, but as I read I thought that this guy might just be generally disgusted with these crimes and how nothing is being done about it. According to the blog even three different federal judges found that both of these Presidents have committed crimes that should be punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each crime committed. This article is definitely worth reading, our government should not be able to do anything they want and get away with it. No one is above the law.

Torture Lawyers?!?!

I just read an interesting article from the New York Times called "Torture Lawyers." It was basically about how the Justice Department "ethics watchdogs" is recommending a disciplinary review for two government lawyers that helped President Bush get away with torturing prisoners shortly after 9/11. The article is a pretty interesting read, it talks about the corrupt politics and brings up good questions about the ethics in out government and how The American Bar Association needs to address these issues. There isn't a author for this article but he or she seems to have a more liberal view and also seems to be worried with how much our government can get away with. The article is reaching out to anyone who is concerned with how corrupt out government can get and what should be done. I definitely agree with this article, the author wrote a well crafted argument. The two lawyers in question are John Yoo and Jay Bybee. They were accused of helping President Bush ignore any laws under the conduct of war. The first investigations were overruled by a higher official in the Justice Department, It goes on about how it was part of the investigation were covered up and how with this new recommendation to re-open this investigation should bring some disciplinary action. Ethics seems to be the elephant in the room with article. The thought of a government official manipulated the law to basically get away with anything he want is a little disturbing. Overall, I really think it's a good article and worth checking out.

Gun laws, are they preventing the people's protection?

So I just read a article from The Associative Press about three officials that were killed in a Alabama campus shooting today, and the first question that came to my mind was could it have been prevented? A woman opened fire in a faculty meeting and killed three faculty members and critically injured two more. No students were involved in this shooting. First I would like to give my condolences to the families of the victims, we shouldn't have to worry about our safety at any school. With that said I would like to discuss my view on the touchy subject of gun laws. In the past 20 years there have been way too many school shootings, and every time the governments answer seems to be tougher and more constricting gun laws. But are those laws actually causing more harm than good? Let's face it, someone with the intent to harm other people and possibly commit suicide is not going to care about the penalties and consequences about having a gun in a "No Gun Zone." It doesn't matter how strict the law, or how many signs you post in front of a school, a person with that mind-set will still do it. It seems to me the only people those laws are harming are the people who might be able to stop these tragic events, or possible stop it before it gets worse. After I read this article I immediately thought of the Luby's massacre of '91. In Killeen, Texas George Jo Hennard drove his pick-up truck through a Luby's restaurant and opened fire on everyone, killing 23 people and wounding 20 others then commited suicide. During the massacre the shooter walked up to Suzanna Gratia Hupp and her parents, Suzanna's father tried to subdue the gunman but was shot down and killed. Her mother was also shot and killed. Suzanna actually had brought her handgun with her that day but left it in her car a 100 feet away because of a law forbidding citizens to carry a weapon in a public place. Her later testimony revealed she regret abiding by that law because she lost her only chance to save her parents and other people's lives. I realize there are excellent arguments for both sides of gun laws, but while we are arguing about it shootings are still happening. The U.S. Government needs to find a way to stop these massacres at places where you shouldn't have to worry about the safety of your life. Maybe stricter gun laws aren't the answer to this tough question.

Here are the links to the articles I referenced:
Statesman
Luby's Massacre

Check them out, maybe your views on gun laws, if any, will change.