UB Weavers

Blog #15 : N.Korea Says U.S. 'Red Line' Is Trigger For War

2004-12-07T20:39:00.001-08:00

It is no secret the communist states throughout the history do not hesitate to refuse playing by the rules set by the rest of the world. North Korea, one of the only true ‘rogue states’ in existence, proclaims the “redline” U.S. has proposed will be the trigger to another Korean War (or technically a recurrence of the Korean War that never ended).

In my previous blogs, I have criticized time and again Bush administration’s incoherent foreign policy to disarm other countries from nuclear weapons when they are pushing toward more advanced nuclear weapon developments in the home front. But being a Korean citizen for over two decades and having spent most of my life there, I know a good deal about the North Koreans, which is why I say they are an exception to my notion of fair nuclear game.

These liars can never be trusted or taken seriously, as they continue to prove themselves not worthy with repetitive attempts to terrorize South Koreans, send armed infiltration forces, construct underground tunnels for invasion and instigate military conflicts, all the while denying the accusations for their tyranny. Director of Policy Planning Mitchell Reiss nailed it with his remark: “North Korea cannot expect to be treated as a normal state unless and until it behaves like one.”

It is painfully obvious to anyone they stand no chance whatsoever in an all-out war. Just like in that Chinese submarine case, what they are after is political leverage to extract more money from the free worlds to maintain their military strength, since the embargo placed by U.S. annihilated little what they had that could call an economy. The announcement by the North Koreans is nothing new, with them being the same old pretenders they have always been, and thus does not require any special attention.

Link to the original article : http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=6988307§ion=news

Blog #14 : Florida Kerry supporters meet for group therapy

2004-12-07T14:06:00.000-08:00

The reason they urge you to vote is to make it a fair game where everyone gets represented, and follows the outcome after the elections, whatever the outcome maybe. Quite a few loyal Kerry followers are extremely malcontent with the results, some even to the degree requiring professional medical attention. Being unable to comply with the protocol of agreeing to the result of voting is one thing, but I find this phenomenon very amusing more than anything.

To be honest, I was very indifferent about politics and never tried reading any political news before signing up for this class unless it dealt with technological or social issues I was curious about. Sure, I thought there would be people on the opposite extreme, obsessed with keeping up with news and expressing their political disposition. But little I knew about how deeply concerned some of these people were. The American Health Association even had to come up with a new term PEST, which stands for Post Election Selection Trauma.

Many of these fears seem unfounded or overly exaggerated, the reasons being “a country is being run by fascists”, “the president loves big businesses” or “they will have a draft.” Apparently I am not the only one who finds this ridiculous as the AHA is already mocked by some talk show hosts. But what I am more fascinated by the political attitude of the subscribers to these therapies, the legitimacy or need for these activities aside. It was not like they were forced to register, they volunteered to be medically treated. I am simply awestruck at how serious about politics some of these people are.

Link to the original article: http://www.bocanews.com/index.php?src=news&prid=10324&category=Local%20News

Blog #13 : Michael Moore Urges Democrats to Embrace Hollywood

2004-12-07T06:07:00.000-08:00

This article found at reuters.com gives us Michael Moore’s response to the claims that say he and the Hollywood are one of the reasons for Democratic loss in the elections. Moore argues, on the contrary, it was he and other people in the movie industry that helped the Democrats from more embarrassing loss. I am yet to see that controversial work called “Fahrenheit 9/11”, which is highly acclaimed and passionately despised at the same time. Yet I have heard enough to know the author, Michael Moore, is undoubtedly one of the most influential people in the politics.

I am not exactly sure what Moore was accused for. He says, “"For the last month, we've had to listen to a lot of conservative pundits talk about how Democrats need to run away from Hollywood.” That makes me guess the Republicans must have said something along the line of politically inclined movies like Moore’s doing more harm than good to the Democrats, be it leaning toward left or right. The article briefly mentions it here: “After Bush's re-election last month, some analysts suggested that Moore and other outspoken celebrities on the left had had become polarizing figures who alienated Middle America as much as they galvanized the Democratic faithful.”

Moore claims people are more likely to be influenced by the big figures in the entertainment industry, no matter what their political affiliation is. As an example, he cites Gov. Arnold and former President Ronald Reagan. While I must admit we all love “Ahnuld”, his remarks are extreme and provoking as what he is known for. Somehow I doubt people would be so indifferent and delusional as to blindly follow whatever a movie star tells you to do. Perhaps this condescending elitist attitude of his is one of the reasons that cost the Democrats a victory?

Link to the original : http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=7010015§ion=news

Blog #12 : Final Ohio Vote Tally Shows Smaller Margin for Bush

2004-12-07T05:55:00.000-08:00

It has been some time since the original article of my blog entry #6 was written, and the possibility of recount in Ohio discussed earlier was realized as the Ohio Secretary of State announced a Bush victory. Unfortunately the article does not mention how it was made possible and how exactly they administered the recounting process, failing to answer my questions in the blog #6. In short, the gap was narrowed, but not enough to overturn the result of the previous counting. This is still somewhat interesting, since it proves the skepticism and questions raised about the voting process was not false after all.

I am glad to see this whole recount thing is turning out to be a sound venture headed in a right direction. According to the article, this organization called Democratic National Committee is running some kind of research on the Ohio case. They assure us their task is not to challenge of the outcome, but to improve the polling process through analysis. Their report will touch on agenda like undermanned polling places, inefficient polling process and allegations regarding provisional ballots.

Kerry and his Party should be applauded for not disputing with the results of the recount even when it was a remarkably close race in a dead heat. Magnifying the controversy surrounding the election that ended over a month ago cannot be good for national security and economy, and the Democrats are well aware of that fact, it appears. What I would still like see is the Green Party’s response to the outcome of the recount they were longing for.

Link to the original article : http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=7011495

Blog #11: W.House: Borrowing to Help Fund Social Security Plan

2004-12-07T05:54:00.000-08:00

As I was reading various articles on the current problems and future outlook on the U.S. economy for our group blog project, I have noticed much of the problem stems from the fact that the U.S. government is in huge debt.

To my understanding, the Republicans are telling us the social security system as of now is problematic and will result in either lessened benefits or drastic increase in tax. The democrats, as usual, are taking an opposite stance by stating “privatization” will create an additional burden to already precarious debt situation. McCain and his colleagues claim this reform may invoke some initial expenditure up to just $2 trillion, but will prove beneficial in the long run. The author does not forget to remind us how critical the federal budget deficit is by quoting numbers for the 2004 fiscal year.

Personally, I agree a social security reform of some sort is required after all; however, I tend to agree with the democratic disposition of lessening the role of the government in the social security program. It could be just that I am too paranoid from seeing so many federally controlled and funded welfare projects gone wrong. But there is one thing I have noticed consistent in some of the republican policies like my other blog entry on minimum wage: they like to pretend being more broad-minded and forward-thinking by presenting you some idealistic outlook of distant future to make you turn away from facing problems of the present. Taking care of holes in the social security may appear system may appear to be the priority at the moment, but the seemingly less significant problem of national debt could turn into something more catastrophic if they keep introducing ways to aggravate it.

Link to the original article : http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=7007838

Blog #15 - Farwell English 1101. . .

2004-12-06T10:55:00.000-08:00

This semester has been quite a journey. Coming into this class, I didn't know that it would involve so much politics. I am certainly glad that I got to engage in class discussions and learn more about myself in a political manner. I really got to see most sides of the political spectrum, and have developed my own standpoints and perspectives. I think it was pretty interesting how the elections were held during the course. That also helped me get more involved into politics and reading news. I enjoyed watching Journeys with George, because it really opened up a new face and a new character of President Bush. It showed the many complications and processes of campaigning and also showed a great deal communications and friendships that are involved in campaigning. Also I have dispised doing blogs, but however I am glad that I did do them. It was a great way to improve reading, catch up on news, and enhance writing skills all in one. It was also a great way to express ideas and read other people's thoughts and whatnot. I think that blogging should be mandatory in english classes. It really helps. As for me, if they do not become mandatory, I believe that this may be the last blog I write due to my laziness and my constant writer's block. Have a great winter break.

Blog #14 - Survey: Net file-sharing doesn't hurt most musicians

2004-12-06T09:51:00.000-08:00

A lot of musicians have said that the internet has helped them make more money from their work despite all the free file-trading services online such as kazaa. Recording label companies hired a good amount of lawyers and have sued thousands of individuals who share files through networking. A lot of musician artists were survyed and two thirds of those surveyed said file sharing wasn't a big threat to them and less than one third said file sharing was a major threat. Only about 3 percent said the internet worked against their protection of works. So statistics show that file sharing isn't all that bad. It can't hurt record labels that bad, right? Or am I wrong. I believe that they should allow file sharing because it really doesn't pose a huge threat to anybody. In fact, I believe it to be a better way to publicize music and what not.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/12/06/tech.music.reut/index.html

Blog #13 - Survey: Gas prices fall nearly 3 cents

2004-12-06T08:51:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, a national survey showed gas prices falling again another 3 cents to aveage $1.93 per gallon of self served unleaded. Over the past two weeks thats a 3 cent drop and since October 22, it has dropped a whopping 11 cents. These statistics come from Trilby Lundberg who publishes surveys based on the latest reports on about 7,000 gas stations. Lundberg predicted that the prices of gas would drop more over the weeks. Currently, drives in Tulsa, Oklahoma paid $1.73 per gallon which is the least in the nation, while those in Hawaii paid at most $2.32 per gallon. Well I really hope that the gas prices continue to drop because driving from Marietta to downtown eats up gas. Im sure I use more than a full tank each week, especially because of work. Think about adding up all the gallons you use in just one month. Even three cents can make a difference.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/05/gas.prices/index.html

Blog #12: Frist: Abstinence-only programs need review

2004-12-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

"Abstinence-only" programs recieved approximately $170 million from Congress and teach children and teens te benefits of abstaining from intercourse until marriage. However, they are not allowed to engage in discussion about any kind of benefits from birth control or the use of condoms in preventing the spread of STDS. Republican Henry Waxman found that in 11 of the 13 most common programs revealed misleading information. He stated that the effectiveness of condoms used to prevent pregnancy and transfer of STDS was underestimated. Dr. Frist was called and asked about this issue due to his medical expertise. After the issues were raised, Dr. Frist did say that the programs be reviewed. "Whether it's abstinence or whether it's a condom or whether it is ... washing hands in terms of the flu, all of these are public health challenges," Frist said. This is very true. Every adolescent and young teen should be well informed with the right information pertaining to sexual intercourse and the reliability of the protections that are out there.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/12/05/abstinence.education.ap/index.html

Blot #10 : Paralyzed South Korean Woman Walks Thanks to Adult Stem Cell Research

2004-12-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

This relatively new article posted at "Lifenews.com" really shocked me with the rate medical world is advancing nowadays, that is, if the information presented in this article is accurate. In the article, a South Korean woman who was paralyzed for 20 years is able to walk again, thanks to adult stem cell research. The other good news is that this advancement in stem cell research provides further evidence of the success scientists are having with the more ethical form of stem cells, namely non-fetus stem cells. If what this article alleges is true, I believe that this is one of the most influential break-throughs of the past few decades.

Unfortunately, I believe that this new adult stem cell development has raised more questions about the necessity of embryonic stem cell research, which has yielded little in the way of concrete results. Research using adult stem cells also does not involve the ethical problems posed by embryonic stem cell research, which involves the killing of human embryos. While more than one hundred treatments have been developed using adult stem cells, no patients have been cured with embryonic stem cells after more than two decades of research.

Indeed, if this type of stem cell research and practical use proves to be successful, advancements in this field will surely accelerate for the benefit for all. There will not be political, religious, and ethical issues impeding in the advancements of stem cell research. Therefore, stem cell research can be allowed to continue with out any restrictions.

Blot #9 : Guinea Pig Kids

2004-12-06T08:12:00.000-08:00

Vulnerable children in some of New York's poorest districts are being forced to take part in HIV drug trials. This article implies that children are being exploited as revealed in the following excerpt :

"HIV positive children, some only a few months old, are enrolled in toxic experiments without the consent of guardians or relatives. In some cases where parents have refused to give children their medication, they have been placed in care. The city's administration of Children's Services (ACS) does not even require a court order to place HIV kids with foster parents or in children's homes, where they can continue to give them experimental drugs."

The lack of controversy surrounding this issue makes me read this article with just a grain of salt, and nothing more. If this is true, and I'm inclined to think it is considering the effort put forth to uncover this, that this should be enough to topple every single drug company involved, the ACS, and the entire New York City government starting at the top.

Moreover, this article seems misleading to me. Considering the fact that many of these children are terminally ill and may never live to the legal age of 18, perhaps this is a way for drug companies and the sick children to mutually benefit. The drug companies are able to use promising and experimental drugs to children for free. Children, who under other circumstances would not have a chance on earth to live without these drugs. In my opinion, these children are being rescued and are being given hope, rather than being tortured and exploited.

Link to the original article : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_world/4035345.stm

Blog #8 : Should the IRS hire private tax collectors?

2004-12-06T08:10:00.000-08:00

The IRS is considering hiring private tax collectors in order to increase cash inflows. "Should the IRS hire private tax collectors?" by Jeff Schnepper points out that the government is owed some $13 billion from individuals who would pay if asked or nudged. Unfortunately, it cannot collect the money with its current staff. Therefore, it is proposing to hire private collectors to bring in the cash in, offering them a commission of 25% of what is owed a total of $3.25 billion. In comparison, private tax collection for real estate taxes is practiced today by most jurisdictions in the United States, and a number of states hire contractors to collect income taxes.

On the other hand, all this is just in theory because by law, the IRS cannot hire out its tax collections without specific Congressional approval. But the idea of privatization of tax collection, sometimes referred to as "tax farming" is not an original idea. The article points out that it has been done from society dating back to ancient civilization. First, talks of privatizing social security and now this. Frankly, the idea of privatizing tax collection sounds like a good idea. It would help the IRS to focus on more important matters than accounts payable. But on the other hand, this idea is risky in terms of things going wrong. It would be costly and it could lead to an invasion of the privacy of American taxpayers. The concern is that a private collections agency may engage in tactics that a government agency would not.

Link to the original article : http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Taxes/P53027.asp

Blog #7 : China Launches New Class of Nuclear Sub

2004-12-06T07:52:00.000-08:00

This article raises concern over a new military development by China. It alleges that China has recently launched the first model of a new class of nuclear submarines deigned to fire intercontinental ballistic missiles. It was rather incomprehensible why the article points out the missile will have the ability to reach targets in the U.S. That seemed to be a very random statement, possibly made to grab the reader’s attention. I believe that the statement may have been over the top, if not flat out accusing China of being a direct threat to the U.S.

Furthermore, China is also modernizing its land-based nuclear missile force. Although considered unlikely in the near term, the most likely avenue for conflict between the United States and China is over Taiwan, which China regards as a rogue province. Taiwan is seeking high-tech weaponry from the United States, including diesel submarines and anti-submarine aircraft. This all seems very reminiscent of the arms race during the days of the cold war between the U.S. and Russia many years ago.
In addition, the United States, France, Russia and the United Kingdom all have submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads. I believe that these subs aren't built for actual use, but to influence and deter. At this moment, the US military is unrivaled; however, that may change soon and China would start to flex its muscles in the world political arena. The real goal of these weapons is probably global influence more than anything. Is this nuclear submarine a real threat to the U.S.? Hardly. One would need to put it in the context of a PR maneuver and a deterrent to get the real picture.

McCain criticizes Pentagon on Iraq war

2004-12-06T01:25:00.000-08:00

John McCain told "Fox News Sunday" that more troops probably will be required to protect polling places during next month's elections, prosecute the fight against the insurgency and help reconstruct Falluja, the volatile city where U.S. forces have been conducting an operation. The United States is dispatching an additional 1,500 troops to Iraq and extending the stays of more than 10,000 others to bolster security ahead of January's scheduled elections, the Pentagon said last week. The moves will bring the number of U.S. troops in Iraq from nearly 140,000 to an all-time high of about 150,000, the Pentagon said.

Sen. Joe Biden said U.S. forces in Iraq are still paying an awesome price for the initial failures on policy and refusal to change them of this administration, of going in with too little power and too little legitimacy. However, Biden also said that, after his trip to Iraq, he was less concerned about an outbreak of civil war than I am about the outbreak of civil chaos. He told reporters that he feels the pentagon hasn’t quite figured out exactly what they want to do yet, but will probably come up with a final decision for Iraq in the near future.

Frist predicts intelligence compromise this week

2004-12-06T01:15:00.000-08:00

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist predicted Sunday that Congress will have an intelligence overhaul bill by midweek, even though the chairmen of the House and Senate armed services committees want changes in its current version. Under the new bill, U.S. intelligence that is under the Pentagon's control would fall under a central director of intelligence. He would direct all of the organizations and then make sure that whoever needs the intelligence gets the right information.

One of the big problems is that some of the Senators and Representatives are concerned with the way some of the things will be run. Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia, and Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, say they want the bill to guarantee that those on the war front would get timely information, while other supporters of the bill, Republicans and Democrats alike, say such provisions can wait. The ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jane Harman of California, said that Hunter is misinformed if he thinks that the new bill will disrupt communications between the battlefield and tactical satellites that help commanders target the enemy.

Blog #15 Parting is such Sweet Sorrow

2004-12-05T23:45:00.000-08:00

End of the line, last required entry of the semester! I've decided to write about my adventures in English 1101 and what I have thought of this class. Coming into the class on the first day I remember Dr Tryon saying something about how the class was focused on the election and politics, that very moment I about decided to drop English 1101 this semester and switch to another class or take it later. I have never been into politics and was surely going to fail an English class devoted to it, but something inside me said, I can make it through. So we had more classes and with every class, it seemed to get a little more interesting. Having to read articles and have to care at least somewhat about the election made me get into it. Now I am still not very interested in politics as a whole but I do know what the issues are and I am more informed about the whole politics thing, which is amazing to me. The class setup is pretty good, class discussions could of been a little better, but we are at Tech, so I don't expect student to start outgoing and heated debates. :) Ok so I’m coming up on 250 words so I guess I should wrap this up by saying that the class was cool, I learned a lot about a subject that I didn’t really care for in the begining and I hope I make at least a B!

Blog #14 Ridge steps down as Homeland Security chief

2004-12-04T14:56:00.000-08:00

"There will always be more to do, but today, America is significantly stronger and safer than ever before," Tom Ridge said in his resignation letter from being the Homeland Security Chief. He will hold his office until an adequate successor is found, but who will replace Tom Ridge? Who ever it is will have big shoes to fill. Since its conception in 2001 soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the department of homeland security has one main goal, to protect America against any future terrorist attacks. So far the department has done a first-rate job in keeping America safe and alert. With Tom Ridge now taking a step down, hopefully the department can progress forward with better security by receiving more information of possible threats and alerting citizens of possible future dangers. Supervising a staff of over one hundred and eighty thousand people is no small task, as Tom Ridge probably knows from the first hand experience he got when he was secretary of homeland security. Not just anyone can manage such a immense amount of people and make it work efficiently and effectively as Ridge has done. As the Bush administration tries to find a quality replacement for Ridge, hopefully he can keep the department together enough to cope with the new replacement. Whoever they find to do the job has a hefty task o keeping this country safe, and not just any guy off the street can do the job that Tom Ridge did so well.

New Homeland Security chief faces fight to unify anti-terror efforts

2004-12-02T13:54:00.000-08:00

With Tom Ridge stepping down as Director of Homeland Security, the new person coming in has a big set of shoes to fill. Tom Ridge's successor as chief of the Homeland Security Department will have to unify a sprawling bureaucracy, a deadly serious job where failure could put the United States at risk of another terror attack.

Ridge, who announced his resignation Tuesday, acknowledged the frustrations of working out the kinks in the broadest government reorganization in half a century, a job critics say remains largely incomplete. Ridge said he will remain in the job until February 1, unless the Senate confirms his successor earlier.

There are many choices as Ridge's replacement. Among those cited as potential candidates are Bernard Kerik, Joe Allbaugh, Mike Leavitt, and Fran Townsend. All of these men have worked with the government and large emergency situations before. Ridge is the seventh of Bush's 15-member Cabinet to announce they won't be part of the second term. More are expected, and administration officials said Treasury Secretary John Snow or Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson appear to be next.

Bush taps Nebraska governor for Cabinet

2004-12-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

As Bush is about ready to enter his second term in office, he has had the opportunity to appoint many new people to his cabinet. Just recently a new secretary of state and a new homeland security chief have been appointed. President Bush on Thursday selected Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns, a Republican attorney who grew up on an Iowa dairy farm, as secretary of Agriculture to oversee the nation's farm and food programs.

Johanns, 54, would succeed Ann M. Veneman, who recently announced her resignation despite saying earlier that she wanted to stay. Johanns has spent two terms serving the state of Nebraska as governor. The nomination, which requires Senate confirmation, reflects the administration's desire to focus heavily on farm trade over the next four years.

Bush said that in his second term, he would put a high priority on helping farm families, including keeping taxes low and working to repeal the estate tax. The estate tax, which puts a tax on the amount of land that you own, hurts farmers the most, which count on having lots of land to grow their crops on.

Blog #6 : Recount in Ohio A Sure Thing

2004-12-01T19:19:00.000-08:00

David Cobb of the Green Party is apparently unsatisfied with the whole counting business that went down in Ohio. I am not all too clear what exactly happened, but the following is what the article suggests : “The Ohio presidential election was marred by numerous press and independent reports of mis-marked and discarded ballots, problems with electronic voting machines and the targeted disenfranchisement of African American voters.”
Evidently, the Green Party has no chance to win the elections no matter how many recounts they manage to pull off, which makes one wonder what their true intent is. On one hand, this could be a genuine attempt to improve and revise the voting system sometimes accused of corruption and unfairness. On the other hand, some suggest this is solely due to the fact the Green Party tends to be on the left-wing; they see the republicans as greater evil of the two and want the democrats to win if they had to choose their poison, in which case this whole recount thing is nothing but asinine. Or it could be that they are just out to prove republicans are more fraudulent.

Another question I have is how this recount thing is going to take place. If memory serves me right, they had something similar in Florida four years ago, and their appeal was turned down by the Supreme Court. How is this case different from then? Let’s suppose they succeed to do the recount. How are they supposed prove anything when everything is done electronically? I just hope this doesn’t turn out to be fruitless waste of the supporters’ money, which is where it seems to be headed.

Link to the original article : http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/1115-06.htm

Shots fired as Powell visits Haiti

2004-12-01T15:16:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, Colin Powell visited the capital of the island republic of Haiti, Port-Au-Prince. The former Secretary of State was there because of the recent violent outbreaks that have been happening there. The gunfire erupted shortly after Powell entered the palace for a meeting with interim President Boniface Alexandre and other Haitian officials. It was unclear whether the shooting was directed at the palace.

Security guards around the palace returned fire and soon several armored vehicles showed up and surrounded the place and patrol the surrounding streets. Hours later, Powell said the solution to violence on the Caribbean nation is the continued rapid buildup of United Nations troops. He believes that the answer is more UN troops in the area to combat the violence, such as the attack earlier that morning. Powell also promised continued aid to Haiti for hurricane recovery and economic development and said he is confident the country can move toward elections next year.

Blog #5 : Bush's nuclear plan bombs

2004-12-01T13:26:00.001-08:00

I was just watching the history channel yesterday (the only TV channel I would watch by the way), and they had this documentary on a scrapped STOL aircraft project near the end of the World War II. Not exactly a military buff, but I am a firm believer in the theory that says military researches often lead to a breakthrough in consumer technology unattainable otherwise. In general, every penny spent in a successful R & D is worth more than a million in the future. But this is nuclear weapons we are talking about here, the very same reason why there are War in Iraq and negotiations with North Korea. Anyone with an objective eye would see this as an obvious double standard which makes the allies uneasy and gives justification to enemies for their actions. I am not a subscriber to “Popular Science”, but there has to be a better use of our resources in a more environment friendly project.

Most military analysts will agree that in the contemporary warfare, it is extremely unlikely to see actual nuclear engagement unless things have gone terribly wrong. What it does is that it acts as a powerful deterrent against quantitatively or qualitatively superior foe, resulting in a “power balance”. Nukes of the current generation more than fulfill this role, and the U.S. has no opponent that could give her a run for her money at the moment. Actually, development of relatively weaker tactical baby-nukes could temper this long-established apprehension on nukes and result in more casual and carefree use of nuclear weapons, in the same vein as the concept of “Gateway drugs”.

It is a shame to have the budget cut when the project was about to be finished with just few more month. Even then, I agree with democrats saying : “ the finished weapon would never be used and could hurt U.S. interests in discouraging weapons programs in other nations.” The B-2 Spirit bomber comes to mind – an aircraft costing more than a billion dollars per unit and hardly getting used in actual battle in the fear of losing the top-secret technology that cost the U.S. Air Force so dearly. Kudos for these republicans that stepped up to say no, whatever their true motivation was.

link to the original article : http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~2552825,00.html#

Blog #4 : A gift of gold

2004-12-01T13:26:00.000-08:00

The dollar is dropping like a stone in international currency markets. It has dropped nearly 30 percent since 2001, and is now at a record low. Even without the recent dour pronouncements of Alan Greenspan and Treasury Secretary John Snow, the greenback is likely to fall further.

The article points out that the main reason is because Americans are spending more than they make, falling deeper and deeper into debt. Almost all of the increase in public debt over the last four years, some 1 trillion dollars, has been financed by foreigners who lend Americans the money. The article also warns that although a depreciated dollar may be wonderful for American exporters, everything that gets import will be more expensive in return. Namely, oil in particular. This would undoubtedtly affect inflation and interest rates in a way that would eventually lower the standards of living in America.

What I do not agree with Reich is when he states:
“If I were cynical, I'd suspect the White House had an ideological agenda to starve the government so it can't do much of anything in the future except wage war.” I find that statement to be utterly off the wall. The author is attempting to exagerate and force the audience to agree with him using scare tactics to get his point across. On the other hand, the article does bring to light the alarmingness of the ever increasing debt in America, especially the amount of debt capital that is flowing into America.

Link to the original article : http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=8907

Blog #15 Ridge Steps Down as Homeland Security Chief

2004-12-01T09:24:00.000-08:00

As Americans have realized since the attacks of September 11, 2001, terrorists are constantly planning on future attacks against the United States. In order to guard against such attacks in the future, the Department of Homeland Security was given the task of creating a national strategy to protect the United States from terrorist acts. President Bush then made Tom Ridge the security advisor for the department. Ridge's job included overseeing the 180,000 people that made up the department. Since Ridge began his tenure, twenty-two agencies were added to the department. As a citizen of the United States, I have regained my confidence that America is safe once again due to the ongoing effort by the Department of Homeland Security to maintain the safety of the United States. President Bush agrees as he stated, "His efforts have resulted in safer skies, increased border and port security, and enhanced measures to safeguard our critical infrastructure and the American public." Bush continued to say,"In the fight against terrorism, he has played a vital role in protecting the American people from a real and ongoing threat." The article noted that Ridge's most known move was creating America's threat-warning system which raises from yellow to orange with the threat of terrorism is high. After doing an excellent job overseeing the department, Ridge's position must be filled by an individual as committed to serving the United States. Fortuneately, Ridge will remain the security chief until February 1st when a trustworthy and dependable replacement is ready.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/30/ridge/index.html

Blog #14 Bush thanks Canadians for Post-9/11 Help

2004-12-01T08:51:00.000-08:00

During the hours of chaos that followed the attacks on September 11, 2001, many American travelers were stranded as the airspace in the United States was shut down. Afraid that planes were in danger of hijacking, President Bush closed all airports in the United States. Thus many planes carrying Americans were forced to land in Canada. The article claims that nearly thirty-three thousand Americans were left in Canada. As a result, Canadians, "came to the aid of men and women and children who were worried and confused and had nowhere to sleep and asked for nothing in return." As the Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin would agree, the neighboring United States and Canada must work together in order to achieve practical goals and support each other. The hospitality that Canadians showed Americans in such a time of confusion and worry proved that Canada was a country the United States could depend on in the future. In order to show his appreciation, President Bush traveled to Halifax and spoke to the people on several issues as well as the attacks on September 11th. After thanking the citizens of Canada, Bush explained his decision to invade Iraq as one of someone "who does what he thinks is right and will continue to do what I think is right." It is widely known that Canadians are against the war on Iraq. Bush also discussed America's reason for banning Canadian cattle. Despite Prime Minister Martin's belief that the United States should lift the ban, Americans are concerned after a case of mad cow disease was found in Washington D.C. Overall, President Bush's visit to Canada help mend the ties between the two countries. Ties which had been damaged only a year before.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/12/01/bush.canada/index.html

Blog #3 : General says U.S. military isn't overextended

2004-11-30T23:48:00.000-08:00

There are certain things that carry a different level of meaning when uttered by an individual of important rank and position. General John Abizaid urged ‘terrorist states’ not to mess with the best in his interview with “USA Today”, by stating the obvious: U.S. is the king of the hill at the present time. Sure enough, no one would refute what the general said. However, this coming from the commanding general of the U.S. Central Command, may well be taken the wrong way. I can see how other governments or countries could take it as ‘rubbing it in’ with arrogance, or even indirectly threatening them.

Especially, the part where he talks about the nuclear capability does not bode well for the nearly solitary efforts of the U.S. Government in keeping the rest of the world nuke-free. Take the case of Iraq war for instance, Bush & Co. said “the hell with IEAE” and proceeded with the war to invade Iraq first, and then look for traces of alleged WMDs, which resembles the pattern of “plant and bust” strategy employed in War on Drugs. I am not entirely denying the possibility of the WMD threat being real; rather, the point I am trying to make is that no matter what the outcome of the war or WMD search is, even some of the allies see the U.S. as the dogmatic nation that wants to reign over others by monopolizing nukes.

As a patriotic South Korean citizen concerned about the well being of the homeland, I certainly do not appreciate hearing about any nuclear weapons projects those hostile communist may have up their sleeves, much in the same vein as U.S. not allowing the Iraqi nuclear weapons program. But at the same time, I simply cannot come up with a valid argument when confronted with questions like: “Why is U.S. so obsessed in meddling in nuclear programs on other parts of the planet while she boasts the strongest nuclear military presence?” General Abizaid remarks sound like the missing link to the answer : “Because when you have nukes, you are feared. This is what nukes are for. So that’s exactly why we don’t want others to have them”

The bottom line is, a military personnel of such echelon assumes the responsibility behind his speech, even if he is not a diplomat highly trained in rhetoric. War on terrorism may have been seen unavoidable by the administration, which I fully understand. Seemingly careless comments such as the one by General Abizaid, on the other hand, serve no purpose other than stirring up more of already rampant anti-U.S. sentiments. As they always say, some things are better left unsaid.

Blog #13 PR Meets Psy-Ops in War on Terror

2004-11-30T21:59:00.000-08:00

With the wish to use information from the media to its advantage, the Bush administration has begun to create false stories in order to view the reactions of its enemies. While this tactic has been used by many armies throughout history, the United States most recently used it on October 14, 2004, when it spread the message that the attack on Fallujah was set to begin. As many people later realized, the attack would not occur for another three weeks. Although many Americans are angered by the incorrect information, it is beneficial to the army to gain an understanding of the enemies preparation for a future attack. Incorrect information is also being given to the people of Iraq through Arabic television channels. Despite the great benefit of misinforming the media, several American officials disagree with the new campaign. A senior defense official stated, "The movement of information has gone from the public affairs world to the psychological operations world. What's at stake is the credibility of people in uniform." Although I understand point of the last comment, I believe that this campaign is worth the risk of losing credibility. In fact, I believe that the statement, "Information is part of the battlefield in a way that it's never been before. We'd be foolish not to try to use it to our advantage," is the most important in determining whether or not to continue the use of incorrect information. Although the media informs Americans of important events around the world, I believe that it should avoid informing individuals of the military's future plans. Such information would allow enemies to gather together and prepare for a battle.

Bush Tries to Mend Fences With Canadian PM

2004-11-30T21:33:00.000-08:00

Over the years, an understood uneasiness has formed between Canada and the United States. However, earlier this week, Bush met with the Canadian Prime Minister to discuss and try and mend these problems. Even as thousands of Canadian protesters showed up to protest Bush, he pushed aside the suggestions that his decisions early in his first term had hurt ties with Canada.

One of the most important things on the agenda was the recent ban of Canadian beef by American conumers. The beef ban is a leading irritant in a relationship that has suffered during Bush's presidency, and the issue loomed large in Bush's first official trip to Canada. The ban has been in place since 2003. However, The Bush administration has since opened its border to some Canadian beef, but live cattle remain prohibited. Canadian ranchers are desperate, estimating they have lost more than $2 billion.

Eventually, Bush and the Prime Minister of Canada want to come to some sort of agreement about the beef. Bush wants to be able to allow cows across. Yet a resolution is months off. Bush is facing much opposition back home. The Office of Management and Budget has three months to study a rule that would allow into the United States boxed beef and live cattle younger than 30 months; the deadline for completion of the study is mid-February. Then Congress has two months to scrutinize the proposed rule, a senior administration official said.

Blog #15 Academic Liberals

2004-11-30T20:22:00.000-08:00

While browsing the website of the local newspaper of my birthplace ("The Orange County Register"), I found an incredibly interesting question posed as well as some rather striking answers. The question is "Why do liberals end up in academia?" I have noticed in my years of schooling that I have had many great teachers who were very liberal yet for some reason I have never considered why education is so attractive to liberals. Is there an attraction to liberal ideals in the entire academic world or is this simply an event that I have noticed in my extremely isolated educational experience? My humble opinion as to why this is true is that the liberal ideas are built on critical thinking. The modern education focuses on this idea and therefore I believe that a truly critical thinker is more attracted to the well thought out and critical views of liberals. Conservatives on the other hand would not be recognized as the critical thinking group because their platform is much more free form and many times not even supported factually but only by morality. My opinion is of course, as I stated earlier, is formed on only a sampling of people involved in academia but I do believe that if you performed research on the issue you would find that some of the most highly educated individuals in our nation are critical thinking liberals, while many middle class workers are morality driven conservatives.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2004/11/30/sections/commentary/(note that this was not an article but simply an interesting question posed)

Blog #14 Wal-Mart and America

2004-11-30T19:27:00.000-08:00

Bruce Bartlett is the author of the editorial entitled "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" and it addresses some rarely discussed issues. Bartlett explains how a show on PBS entitled "Frontline" portrayed Wal-Mart and its power over the American economy. The problem with his editorial is that is seemed that he has too much of an emotional attachment to the situation to portray the facts in a persuasive and effective manner. Bartlett mentioned that he was interviewed for the special and only received "3 seconds" of airtime. In addition to this negative emotional attachment he started the article off by sharing that he did not like "Frontline" at all because of its liberal stance on issues. While the article does possess a fair amount of interesting facts about Wal-Mart influence and ironic control over the economy I found Bartlett's persuasion techniques to be so faulty that I was distracted from the article's topic. There are many rhetorical strategies and persuasion techniques that should be used to create an effective article yet Bartlett seems to ignore all of these rules. Despite the faulty writing, I would like to discuss the issue. Wal-Mart is a daily asset to many Americans. Without Wal-Mart we would all be inconvenienced in very many ways, especially monetarily. I realize that there are problems with the increasing power of Wal-Mart but with every pro there is always a con to accompany it. People are simply forced to consider whether they want to surrender economic control to a company and receive lower prices or if they want everyone to receive equal power and pay higher prices. I know what I prefer. How about you?

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/brucebartlett/bb20041119.shtml

Ridge steps down as Homeland Security chief

2004-11-30T19:14:00.000-08:00

Tom Ridge, the director of Homeland security, recently announced that he is stepping down from his office. Ridge was the very first Homeland Security cheif. Before that he was governer of Pennsylvania. Ridge resigned Tuesday, but he will remain in the post until February 1 unless a successor is confirmed sooner. A successor has not been confirmed yet.

President Bush hailed Ridge's efforts as the nation's first-ever secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, overseeing its 180,000 personnel. Bush said in a statement thatRidge has made the skies safer, increased border and port security, and enhanced measures to safeguard our critical infrastructure and the American public. Ridge accepted the job of homeland security adviser to Bush just days after the September 11 attacks, and stepped into the job of secretary in January 2003 as 22 government agencies were blended into the Department of Homeland Security.

The department was charged with developing and coordinating a national strategy to protect against terrorist threats in the United States. Ridge's biggest claim to fame is the creation of the color coded alert system for the nations terror threat. Ridge has won praise for tackling what was widely regarded as an exceedingly difficult job. But many outside observers say the department is falling short of delivering what it should and could.

Blog #13 Children Searching For The Person to Give Them Candy

2004-11-30T17:24:00.000-08:00

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/11/30/MNGVNA3PDV1.DTL

Recently there has been some more debate over the issue of same sex marriage in Massachusetts. The court has ruled, once again, that same sex marriage will be legal in Massachusetts. Rona Marech explains all of the problems surrounding the issue extensively in her article entitled “Justices decline battle over gay marriage Opponents lose bid to challenge Massachusetts law.” All of her facts and stats simply cause me to think about the bigger problem that surrounds this issue. The root of the problem with Massachusetts allowing gay marriage is the disunity that is causes in our great nation. The situation that this parallels is one that I am sure everyone has experienced as a young child. If you wanted something like a piece of candy for example, you would go to your dad and ask. If your dad says no then you would go to your mom just to see if she would say yes, and if she did there would almost always be a problem. There is suddenly a question of superiority and absolute truth. Who is right and who is wrong? This is a significant problem that must be fixed. I am not in any way stating that I support a constitutional amendment but I do strongly disagree with the picture that is being portrayed by the disagreement of the different entities of the whole body. This issue is causing Americans to act like young children searching for the person who will give them the answer that they desire. This is simply not acceptable.

Blog #12 Students and their study Habits!

2004-11-30T16:58:00.000-08:00

I am responding to an article that I found posted by Dr. Tryon on the main course blog. It concerns college students and their work ethic. Personally I found all the information in the article to be true of many colleges but not of Georgia Tech. While I know that this is rather cliché to say that Georgia Tech is harder to receive pity from students in other schools, I have found through experience that this is true. We all just recently returned from Thanksgiving break. Fortunately I had managed my time well and was not incredibly overwhelmed with work and so I was able to spend some time with friends who attend other colleges. When they were talking about school I really thought that they must be joking! Who really has time to watch television and attend parties every night? I feel truly blessed when I have enough time to sleep. The article's fascinating and believable statistics support what I have thought all along. College has become so much less of what it used to be. Nearly everyone is going to college because it is "what you do" after high school. It is scary to think that someone with a college degree could be someone who was just smart enough to show up on exam days to take a multiple guess test and be saved by the curve. When I am reminded of how many other colleges function, other than Georgia Tech and a select other few, I ponder exactly why I am here. Why have I chosen the harder road? In the future will this suffering really get me somewhere that another student’s enjoyment won't? I surely hope so!

http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.phpid=9s9c2pnhni7yfcnc0b6015u2n3gm78v

Blog #11 The Loser Republicans

2004-11-30T14:42:00.000-08:00

Editorialist David Limbaugh questions the Democratic Attitude towards Republicans in his latest article. Limbaugh states, that he believes Democrats are accusing the Republican Party of being boastful and pushy simply because they would like to be the winners. This observation has been quite similar to my own. In the aftermath of the November election is has been a constant bashing of the Conservative leaders. The bashing seems to be irrelevant, ineffective, and driven by jealously. This is in no way a form of constructive criticism. There is no effectiveness in simply pointing fingers at the opponent. As Limbaugh points out, there is obviously something that the Republican Party is doing correctly if they have won two consecutive elections. The problem lies in the fact that the Democrats have not yet accepted their defeat and are still enraged at the Republicans triumph. What they don't realize is that acting like children on the playground does not reflect well on them and their chances of winning in 2008. My question is, when will this stop? When will the Democrats accept that they lost and for four more years a Republican will be in charge of this country? Once we have chosen a leader it is time to come together and fight for the common good of our nation. There is no victory in name-calling and finger pointing and there is no reason that the Republicans should be acting like losers when they clearly won.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/davidlimbaugh/dl20041130.shtml

Blog #12 Board Accepts Nuclear Vow by Iranians

2004-11-30T08:40:00.000-08:00

The International Atomic Energy Agency passed a resolution on November 29 allowing Iran's total freeze of a portion of its nuclear program. While thirty-five countries make up the I.A.E.A, it appears as though the United States is the only country displeased with the resolution. This resolution will allow Iran to avoid a meeting with the United Nations Security Council which could have led to censure or sanctions. Jackie Sanders, head of the American delegation, declared that, "Iran's assertion that it wants to produce only nuclear energy, not bombs, is untrue, and that Iran has a clandestine nuclear weapons program that poses a growing threat to international peace and security." Although the existence of a nuclear program for Iran worries me, I believe that little if any danger exists as the United States is the only country alarmed. Countries such as Britain, Germany, Russia, and China believe that the recent resolution was correct and that no meeting with the Security Council is necessary. Thus the United States should lessen its worries regarding a nuclear threat from Iran. Interestingly, the resolution does criticize Iran for failing to fully cooperate with the I.A.E.A. However, the resolution allows Iran to continue its right to develop peaceful nuclear energy. Currently, several nations are questioning the operation of nearly twenty centrifuges which can enrich uranium for a bomb. One Iranian official answered stating that the centrifuges had been stopped thus showing that uranium enrichment was frozen. Although I support the decisions of President Bush, I believe this issue has been improved upon with the resolution.

Blog #11 Bin Laden Aide Vows to Continue U.S. Fight

2004-11-29T19:04:00.000-08:00

A new video presenting Osama Bin Laden's right-hand man was released to the United States on November 29, 2004. In the video featuring Ayman al-Zawahiri, the "brains of al Qaeda," it was stated that he and his followers would continue to fight the United States until the country changed its policies regarding Muslims. Due to the comment, "You can elect Bush, Kerry or Satan himself, it doesn't matter to us," it is assumed that the video was created before the presidential elections on November 2nd. The United States was not the only country mentioned in the video. In fact, al-Zawahiri mentioned Egypts human rights policy, Saudi Arabia's role in allowing planes to launch from its airports, and Pakistan's role in helping foreigners kill Muslims. Through al-Zawahiri's message, it is apparent that al Qaeda and other terrorists are continuing their planning of future attacks upon the United States. Unfortunately for the terrorists, the United States will continue to follow their policies and ignore the requests of the terrorists. However, the lack of compliance by the United States will not end the quest of the terrorists. al-Zawahiri stated, "We are a nation of patience. And we will resist to fight you, God willing, until the last minute." Currently, al-Zawahiri is wanted by the United States for conspiracy in the 1998 bombings of the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The FBI is also after al-Zawahiri and has offered a twenty-five million dollar reward for his capture. The United States must continue to thwart acts of terrorism for many years to come.

Blog #10 High Court Appears Hesitant to Endorse Medical Marijuana

2004-11-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

On November 29, 2004, the Supreme Court became involved with the debate concerning medical marijuana. Although patients possessed doctor's recommendations, the court continued to debate whether or not to endorse the drug as medication. Currently in the United States, ten states allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes while the state of Arizona permits prescriptions for the drug. In 1996, the state of California passed the Medical Marijuana Law which allows people to "grow, smoke, or obtain marijuana for medical needs with a doctor's recommendation." Despite the views on this issues in these eleven states, the Supreme Court is considering whether sick people in these states can legally obtain the marijuana. In the case of Ashcroft vs. Raich, Angel Raich, an adult possessing a brain tumor among other illnesses, tried dozens of prescription medications before finally relying on marijuana to ease the pain. Individuals siding with Raich are arguing that "people with the AIDS virus, cancer, and other diseases should be able to grow and use marijuana." The argument continues to say that these sick people need marijuana not only to ease the pain, but also to survive. While this is a valid argument, the people opposed to medical marijuana are claiming that its use would allow drug trafficking to continue with less danger of arrest, increase the overall amount of marijuana, and promote the idea that illegal drugs are beneficial. It is also being noted that more than twenty thousand people die of drug abuse each year. Although I am strongly against the use of marijuana and other illegal drugs, I believe that individuals suffering from deadly and painful illnesses should be allowed to use medical marijuana only if a prescription is given by a doctor.

Blog #11 - Studying at Georgia Tech

2004-11-29T09:05:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons why students come to Georgia Tech is to recieve a great education and pursue a great careeer afterwards. Another reason is because college is "what you do" after highscool. I found an article that dealt with college students and their work ethic, which happened to be true about most colleges. As for Georgia Tech students, college isn't really about partying everynight and going out. Maybe I'm being too pessimistic but, attending Georgia Tech means doing homework and studying everynight. And unless you're in a fraternity or a sorority, I think campus life is really stagnant and redundant. This article showed statistics that showed that college has become less than what it used to be. Ninety percent of full time college students said their college experience is either "good" or "excellent". I guess the students at Georgia Tech make up the remaining ten percent. How come is it that Georgia Tech is different than most colleges. Do other college students really have to spend their whole day AND night studying? Or are they really about meeting people and partying? Because if it is, I'm definately not living the college life.

http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=9s9c2pnhni7yfcnc0b6015u2n3gm78v

No compromise yet on intelligence bill

2004-11-28T18:09:00.000-08:00

An intelligence reorganization bill appeared no closer to passage Sunday than it did on November 20, when objections from Republican committee chairmen led to it being pulled from the floor. This bill would prohibit states from distributing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Democrats believe that a similar bill is what is needed, but that this current one is not all the way correct. They are looking for a similar bill that will do close to the same thing.

This bill includes many of the things that the committee that investigated 9/11 came up with, including the creation of a new post, the National Intelligence Director. After the bill went through another committee, which included many compromises, the bill finally passed almost unanimously in the senate, with a vote of 96-2.

Many people are concerned with how much power the National Intelligence Director would have. Others are concerned on how the government will pay for it. The millitary is scared that it will decrease their amount of operations and budgets to the intelligence sector. Both sides agree that a new security bill is needed, but neither side can compromise on what they want.

Blog #2 : US 'alienating' world's Muslims

2004-11-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

A BBC article named “US 'alienating' world's Muslims” quotes a study by a Pentagon advisory panel, pointing out the current U.S. diplomatic and military policy is what turns Muslims in the Middle East against the U.S. The message found in the article is clear : the hatred and disgust most Muslims display toward the Americans ultimately stems from overtly pro-Israeli and anti-Palestine policies. Also mentioned in the article is how most local powers U.S. has been promoting are the tyrants and the ones to be liberated from in a Middle Eastern Muslim’s view.

As Pentagon officials have proudly proclaimed time and again, the red threat has died out, and the Cold War is officially over. It was a natural choice back then for the U.S. to support Israel as a proponent of free world, with opposing Arab nations being on the Soviets’ side. Fast forward 2-3 decades, the picture has changed quite a bit; yet U.S. continues to provide arms and money to Israel.

I will refrain from getting into Arabs vs. Israel argument since discussions of that nature tend to be extremely scandalous. One thing I would like to mention though, I have heard way too many lame excuses like “Oh, they hate us because we want to bring them our ‘free culture’ like sexual equality”. Well, I would not be surprised a single bit if the Arabs became the best allies of U.S. with a dramatic change in the American foreign policy favoring the Arabs to the Israelis. Then again, we all know this would never happen with American politics and economy heavily influenced by Jewish population.

There is nothing wrong with acting in the best interest of own in the diplomatic realm. However, it becomes quite repulsive when these acts of self-advancement are justified and disguised in the false names such as ‘liberation’ or ‘freedom’. Some go far as to compare the recent U.S. military actions in the Middle East to the crusades of the middle ages. Preemptive war on terror may get the job done with just a tad bit more anti-U.S. sentiment around the globe, a couple more hundred billions of dollars, and some collateral damage. But there is got to be someone in the White House bright enough to figure out why these terrorist are spawning left and right in the first place. Let’s hope this invaluable conclusion of Defense Science Board does not go unheard.

link to the article : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4040543.stm

Blog #1 : A Smarter Way to Use our Troops

2004-11-26T13:33:00.000-08:00

While I agree huge overseas U.S. military installations such as USFK/JSFK are a legacy from cold war days, certain examples Feith brought up in “A Smarter Way to Use Our Troops” made me question the validity of this article.

With U.S. death toll in Iraq for the month of November topping 100, now it is even suggested the U.S. really is not winning the war and could be being dragged into another military nightmare repeating the history of Vietnam. Witness the major combat of Operation Iraqi Freedom last year? U.S. Forces did win most of major battles in the Vietnam War, yet we know what the outcome was after a prolonged war.

I was mildly disturbed when the author claimed, “Though aware that the changes will cause some dislocations, our allies have voiced support, indeed enthusiasm, for the realignment.” Having served in one of the biggest headquarters of the Republic of Korea Army, I can tell you this is either a blatant lie or a typical lack of intelligence the U.S. military command groups seem to suffer all the time.

It is not so much of nuclear warheads the Koreans are worried about; the prime concern for them are 170mm artillery and 240mm rocket launchers placed right above Seoul. The capital of South Korea is well within striking distance of these conventional weaponry, and the only way to neutralize this threat is preemptive strike which will inevitably escalate into a full scale war. The situation in Korea is quite complex, but at least the Korean government or military is NOT voicing any support for troop realignment in Korea by any means. It is a well known fact that mere exposure of U.S. Forces to these threats served as a strong deterrence against recurrence of war.

Modernization and relocation of troops sounds like a sound idea, but the examples given in the article did more harm than good in terms of credibility.

Blog #15: A downside to advanced cell phones

2004-11-25T21:28:00.000-08:00

It is shocking how far our technology has gone in the past decades. Who ever would have thought that we could take pictures and video tape from a cell phone, or use the internet at the touch of a button- from a cell phone. No matter how advanced our phone technology has gotten, and will continue to get, every man-made object has its bad side-effects. Recently, there have been numerous complaints of cell-phone batteries blowing up and catching fire. Angela Karasek, Marcelino Gonzalez, and Michael Sathre are only a few of many faulty cell phone explosion victims. One article in CNN highlights the dangers of exploding cell phone batteries. Carl Hilliard, president of the California-based Wireless Consumers Alliance, says that the problems with the batteries go beyond “bad batteries making their way to the market.” He thinks that cramming more power into every new cell phone is like making a “small bomb.” I completely agree with him. If cell phone manufacturers insist on cramming in more features into a battery that becomes smaller and smaller (with the demand of consumers for a smaller and more efficient phone), only time will tell how much further they can go. With the increase in awareness, the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) “is providing tips for cell phone users to avoid such accidents and has stepped up oversight of the wireless industry.” The commission announced battery recalls from Kyocera Wireless Corp. and Verizon Wireless. These companies are taking steps to fix their battery problems and improve the safety of their cell phones.

Blog #14: A Thanksgiving to remember our troops

2004-11-25T20:50:00.000-08:00

Today, Thanksgiving day, we feast with our closest family and friends, reminiscing about good times and enjoying each other’s company. Unfortunately, those who are serving our country in Iraq and giving us a reason to be thankful couldn’t be with us. Many of the troops were able to get in contact with family today and enjoy some turkey and gravy. An article written for CNN sheds light on the rough journey our troops have sustained. One Lt., Sven Jensen, found today an appropriate time to treat 40 troops to a Thanksgiving meal with turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce and soda at a chow hall. Not only were there troops from Falluja at this feast, but many US soldiers based in different parts of the world, from Kyrgyzstan in the former Soviet Union to Kosovo in the former Yugoslavia. It was a time for the soldiers to spend time with the friends they had made in their journey, the closest thing they have to home. Although the troops have endured the worst pain, both physically and emotionally, this Thanksgiving dinner gave them a chance to forget about the horrors they had encountered in Falluja. Even though I don’t have a family member overseas, and I cannot begin to understand both the anxiety and longing that families have to see their loved ones, I, too, have felt the effects of the war. Recently, I found out that my good friend, which I have been keeping in contact with during his basic training, is being shipped to Iraq in January. Despite my worried feelings, I can tell that he wants to do this above all. I can only sit back and admire his courage and pride. Now, more than ever, I encourage everyone to pray for the safety of our troops and their families, especially on this day.

Blog #13 Morals More Important?

2004-11-19T01:15:00.000-08:00

It seems as if voters for the 2004 election were more concerned with their own beliefs and morals when they went to vote on November second. It seems as if the war in Iraq, the economy, and other important political topics took a backseat to individual voters morals and beliefs as stated in Faith Factor by Barbara Eherenreich. In her Article, Barbara points out how voter’s religious beliefs and faith played a major role in this years election. So much so that Candidates in the upcoming 2008 election will have to change some of their campaign “game plans” to suit the needs of the faith inspired voters. In addition to the already large number of faith inspired voters, they are growing in popularity every day. Not only are they getting stronger by more people visiting the churches and conforming to their beliefs or religion and politics, the people who are helped by the churches services are following the same beliefs as well. I mean can you blame them, here are these wonderful people who come and help you in your time of need, you don’t think they are going to listen to these peoples religious and political views. If someone was to help me when I hit rock bottom, I would sure like to know what made him or her do it. All said and done, I see future elections are going to have higher advertising towards faith-guided voters.

Blog #12 Do Students Study Enough?

2004-11-19T00:12:00.000-08:00

Well it’s a known Fact at Georgia Tech, If you don’t study, you don’t make it, period. Georgia Tech is ranked as one of the best Universities in America. In fact, one of Georgia Tech’s “slogans” is, “Georgia Institute of Technology is an academic powerhouse, this is why it is called a Institute and not a University.” When I came to Georgia Tech, I did not expect how much work it was going to be, which coming from a high school where I did no work and still got A’s, was a shock to me. Never having to study, or rally try at homework and other assignments made it hard for me to adjust to the workload of an incoming freshman to Georgia Tech. Looking back on my first semester, what I have gotten through so far, the work load was not all “that” much, but to me it seemed like a truckload compared to my high school experiences, in my first semester so far I think I have had to put forth more effort then all 4 years of high school combined, and I’ll be very luck to get a 3.0! I believe I could have worked harder as I have had some problems adjusting to the work load and college in general, so to some point I agree with the article that college students don’t do nearly as much work as they have to, but I can see myself in the future spending way more then the 25 hours a week suggested by the article.

Blog #11 Perverted, God-Hating Frenchies vs. Inbred, Sex-Obsessed Yokels

2004-11-18T23:49:00.000-08:00

"Why Can't Liberals and Conservatives Get Along? Because They Fundamentally Misunderstand Each Other"

I found the article Perverted, God-Hating Frenchies vs. Inbred, Sex-Obsessed YokelsI by Steven Waldman to be a very good read on the differences or should I say similarities of Liberals and Conservatives. Bringing up a touchy subject of religion in politics is a hard to do as so many people have so many different beliefs of religion, to through all of those beliefs in with opposing political views is just asking for trouble. Nevertheless, Waldman seems to have classified liberals and conservatives in a way that shows each of the parties in an equal manner, not a nice manner, but a blunt and equal manner. He commented that both parties are just as moral and smart as the other. He described liberals as mostly religious, They Believe History Is On the Side of Tolerance, Most Support Separation of Church and State to Protect Religion, and Family Values Are Revered. He also described the conservatives as They Don't Want a Religious Dictatorship, The Pro-Life Position Is Born of Compassion, They Feel Under Assault, and They Believe American Culture Has Become An Insult to God. I feel these generalizations are, for the most part, true. As always there are people that don’t fit th Stereotypical Liberal or Conservative, but liberals seem to follow close to the points made by Waldman in addition to the conservatives seem to stay true to their traits described as well.

Blog #13: Adderall: The new ‘grade boosting’ drug

2004-11-16T13:01:00.000-08:00

It is absurd to hear that students in public schools around the nation are turning to Adderall as their choice of drug to boost their grades in class. Adderall, a pill that’s meant to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is being used as a “quick fix for studying,” says an ABC News article. Students are also using the pill for concentration during standardized tests, like the SAT. But where are they getting this prescription drug if they don’t have the disorder that it treats? The article states that some students just get it from peers that have the drug for their condition, and some simply find a doctor to fill out a prescription for them. Dr. Eric Heiligenstein, head of psychiatry for the University of Wisconsin health services, says that many people believe the drug is safe to take because it is FDA approved, but there are very serious side-effects that come from taking the drug if one does not have the symptoms that call for it. “Doctors say it can increase heart rate, affect blood pressure and cause insomnia,” states the article. To me it sounds like one of those cheesy commercials trying to sell you a flu or cold pill and then lists all the side effects: diarrhea, stroke, etc… things that are far worse than the common cold or flu. Heiligenstein says that one parent asked him one time if they should give their child the pill, since the student was doing poorly in the class, and his response was “the answer is no… it is cheating with a capital ‘C.’” He compared it to taking steroids in the athletic realm. It is looked down upon and seen as cheating and poor sportsmanship. I completely agree with Dr. Eric Heiligenstein and I hope something is done in the school systems very to prevent the distribution of this prescribed pill among students.

Blog #9 Bush Goal: Keep WMD's from Terrorists

2004-11-16T09:03:00.000-08:00

As September 11, 2001 showed the world, terrorists have the ability to attack using any means necessary. The use of airline planes as missiles proved that bombs and nuclear weapons were not the only items that terrorists needed in order to carry out an attack. However, in President Bush's statements on November 15th, weapons of mass destruction are the largest threat to the safety of Americans. Thus Bush is looking for help from other nations to prevent the creation of new weapons, stop black-market sales, and to dismantle existing weapons of mass destruction. Bush believes that, "The greatest threat before humanity today is the possibility of secret and sudden attack with chemical or biological or radiological or nuclear weapons." As Bush has said that terrorism is a global issue, he is asking other nations to prevent countries such as Iran and North Korea from creating nuclear construction programs. The article, "Bush Goal: Keep WMD's from Terrorists," states that the United States is requesting aid from South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan to stop North Korea while asking for help from France, Germany, and Britain to end Iran's development of weapons. While Bush believes that Iran and North Korea are the only present nuclear threats, some analysts believe that Pakistan is the biggest threat to the United States. Regardless, President Bush's initial plans for making America a safer country have been focused on ending the development of nuclear weapons as he believes they are the biggest threat to mankind.

Blog #8 Kerry:Will Move Fast on National Security

2004-11-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

The main issue in the 2004 Presidential Election appears to be national security as both candidates have spent great amounts of time preaching their views. In a recent article, "Kerry: Will Move Fast on National Security," it was written that Kerry's approach to the issue of national security will be strong and quick. Although John Kerry would not provide specific plans, he said, "If the American people make me president Tuesday, they will see a flurry of activity and leadership with respect to our national security interests that they've never seen, but I'm going to wait until I'm there." Bush Despite using the phrase "if...make me president" in his statements, Kerry feels confident that Americans wish for change for the next four years. This statement comes after President Bush had stated that Kerry was not enough of a leader to make America a safer place. Bush believes that the leadership he has displayed throughout this war with Iraq and the attacks of September 11th gives him far more credibility regarding national security than Kerry. However, Kerry believes that his plans will be successful as he said, "I'm going to make America safer and I have some very strong and real steps to take quite immediately to make that happen." If Kerry is elected as president on Tuesday, it would be the first time since 1968 in which Americans chose a new president during wartime. With the election only a few days away, Kerry also commented that the electoral college system was beneficial to the election process as it gives smaller states a voice.

Blog #10 - Journeys with George

2004-11-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

Alexandra Pelosi, a journelist, decided to make a documentary called Journeys with George about the 2000 presidential campaign. This documentary was very interesting because it focused on the president and how he ran his campaign. It gave me another perspective on campaigning as it allowed me to see another side of our president. For once, I saw President Bush as a normal person. On television, he's always so serious and diligent. On the documentary, it showed that even Presidents do have humor and the characteristics alike normal human beings. The whole documentary was like a process from being Governor Bush to becoming the president of the United States. Throughout the whole documentary Alexandra Pelosi and President Bush communicated often and it very well seemed like they had a good connection. As the campaigning got more serious for President Bush, he talked less with Alexandra and released less information regarding to this plans. It was very interesting to see how intense campaigning got; eating the same sandwiches everyday, following the candidate around everywhere and making signs for kids to hold up and what not. If you are a Bush fan, I reccomend that you watch this documentary. It's certainly better than Farenheit 9/11. Muahahaha.

Article

2004-11-14T13:08:00.000-08:00

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/14/iran.nuclear/index.html

Blog #10 Journey's with George

2004-11-11T22:21:00.000-08:00

The Documentary Journeys with George by Alexandra Pelosi was very informative about the 2000 presidential campaign and presidential campaigns in general. Alexandra took her audience deep into the campaign, which allowed us to see another side of our president, the then Governor of Texas, George Bush. I liked how she put the documentary together in a way that we were able to see every aspect of the campaign process from a pressperson’s point of view as well as showing how the candidate she was following, George W. Bush, was dealing with the campaign. Her relationship with the now President of the United States seemed genuine, but I couldn’t decide if we got to see the “real” side of our beloved president, or if he was acting for the cameras, which he has to do for a living. Either way, I was very interested in the whole escapade that the press went through on the campaign voyage. From working at the rallies to the parties in the back of the airplanes, to eating turkey sandwiches every day! The documentary seemed to capture the essence of the whole rat race that was the press, not only that but also the adventure of a presidential candidate on a campaign around America. I would like to rent or buy this Documentary and watch it again to see all the little things that I didn’t catch the first time, the documentary is a very interesting watch and I suggest everyone to watch it.

Blog #10 Democrats Lose and Respond

2004-11-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

An article entitled “Democrats Vow to Hold Bush Accountable” discusses Kerry’s reaction to his recent loss in the election for the President of the United States. When Kerry vows to continue fighting for the policies that he endorsed during the campaign, I read his statement as a sign that Kerry has yet to fully accept his defeat. He sounds as if he still fully believes that he will be able to make huge political decisions as a Senator. While he does have significant political power as a Senator, it is unreasonable to say that the position of a Senator is even comparable of that to the President. There is no need for Kerry to continue making promises to the people because the reality of it is that he did not win and will not have the huge influence that he so badly wanted. Another issue that was addressed in the article was the possibility of Kerry running again in 2008. Kerry’s reaction to this recent gossip was very upright. He gave the typically pleasing answer by not saying whether he would or would not. I found this to be very smart seeing as he has no idea where the world will be in 2008 and whether or not he would even be privileged enough to be the Democratic candidate again. This article definitely brings about mixed emotions towards Kerry for me. The fact that he is acting as if he was not defeated is rather annoying but it is respectable that he is not stretching his boundaries too far into the future.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37999-2004Nov9.html

Blog #9 Democrats Have No Values?

2004-11-09T09:03:00.000-08:00

I recently came across an extremely controversial article describing why one conservative columnist, Dennis Prager, believes that the Democratic Party is consistently tagged as the party with no values. The article entitled “Why Democrats Are Tagged as The Party With No Values” was a post Presidential election article in which one democratic governor posed the question why the Democratic Party is always tagged as having no values. Prager took this question and ran with it. He began outlining exactly why he thought that this statement was true. He discussed gay marriage, Michael Moore, abortion, and Hollywood influence, among many other issues. While I admittedly agree with many of the stands that Prager takes on the issues, I found his article to be absurd and offensive. The entire write up is plagued with generalizations about a huge group of people rather than taking into account the views of individual democrats. I would dare to say that even Prager, who obviously supported Bush, did not agree with every single move that the Republican Party made in the recent election. Therefore, it is not fair to group all democrats as immoral people who agree with everything that their candidate does. It is a shame that many people find themselves generalizing in many different situations. Prager should be ashamed that he assumed the immorality of everyone who voted for Kerry simply because he personally disagreed with the Democratic Party. It is imperative that we begin to rely on our own beliefs and also understand the diversity of other people’s beliefs in order to have a political influence now and in the future.

Link to this article:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/dp20041109.shtml

Blog #12: “Bush to Seek Gay-Marriage Ban…”

2004-11-07T20:11:00.000-08:00

In an article published today, November 7, Reuters says that Bush will be pushing the amendment to ban gay marriage in his new term. Last year, Bush tried to call for an amendment ban gay marriage bust didn’t pass in Congress. With an abundance of support from the Christian community Bush gained more of a chance to pass the proposed bill this time around. Reuters says that “the amendment would face a steep hurdle winning the needed approval of three-fourths of the states.” Even though Bush firmly approves this amendment he leaves civil unions and other parameters that go along with it, such as visitation rights, beneficial rights, and right to inherit, open for states to decide. I think this is a good decision made on Bush’s part. He is protecting marriage as a term and concept while still giving the states the liberty of deciding the elements that go along with civil unions. Another issue on Bush’s “agenda” is the issue of abortion. Some people are concerned whether or not he will appoint judges that are hard-core anti-abortion to the Supreme Court vacancies. However, Rove, one of Bush’s top aides, says that the President is not going to “litmus test” the potential judges. He said that “Bush wanted his judicial nominees to be ‘impartial umpires’ who would strictly interpret the law and Constitution.” This is obviously a fair approach to the situation, but I’m sure the pro-abortion supporters are following it closely to see if what he says is true.

Blog #8 My Voting Experience

2004-11-03T22:36:00.000-08:00

Seeing as I am only eighteen I felt honored and privileged to be allowed to vote in a Presidential election so soon. Considering the fact that my English class is entitled "Democracy Matters" I have found myself rather involved and informed in the months before the election. As Election Day approached I was secretly becoming interested in what was to come and who was going to win. Unfortunately, my excitement seemed in vain as my voting experience actually neared occurrence. I found that I would not be able to make it home in order to vote and so I got an absentee ballot. I filled out my form and sent in my vote with plenty of time for it to be counted. I was satisfied and I felt accomplished, until later. I was telling some people over breakfast that I had turned in my absentee ballot and many of them began to tell me about how absentee ballots are really not counted and so I should be ashamed for not going home. Comments like that alone can make an experience far less thrilling. But, in addition to that, when November 2nd arrived I felt extremely left out. It may sound foolish but everyone was united by the one task that they had to do that day and by the silly stickers that they wore on their shirts. The little things like having no sticker got me down and made me wish that I had joined people across the nation and made a trip to the poll. So my first voting experience was rather disappointing but I will just take it as a reminder when 2008 comes around.

Blog #11: November 2nd: My first time voting!

2004-11-02T22:18:00.000-08:00

My first time voting today will be an experience I probably won't forget! Before today, I can honestly say that I wouldn't have made such a self-assuring choice, given that I hadn't learned so much about the candidates and their views over the course of the semester. I never thought that I would have felt so excited about politics until today. At first, I was excited about voting (it being a few days before Election Day). As the day drew closer and closer, my excitement turned into anxiousness. I was ready to plunge into the 'voting scene' where I would have to wait in a three hour line, observe the drama with the broken machines, and watch the other voters as they left their polling booth with a smirk of satisfaction on their face. To my dismay, however, I arrived at my designated voting precinct (my old middle school- Rising Starr Middle in Fayetteville) like around 5:30 and walked right in the door with no waiting line in front of me, and I left within seven minutes. Although it wasn't the vision I had conjured up in my head, it was still a great experience and I felt great after I did it. I encourage everyone to go vote!! And for those who cannot vote yet, I encourage you to look into what the candidates’ stands are on the issues that matter to you most. That way, you will feel more knowledgeable and secure when you go to make your decision at the polling place.

Blog #9 : Not Registered to Vote... Again

2004-10-29T16:49:00.000-07:00

Last year in highschool I was given the registration form to vote. My government/economics teacher strongly suggested that I vote due to my standpoints and perspectives on politics. However, over the summer I didn't read the news and didn't follow up on politics. I forgot to register and upon entering english 1101, I came in lacking in political knowledge. Therefore, I did not know much and didn't vote. If I think about it, even if I was registered to vote, I am not sure if I would actually vote. A reason why is because I think I am still not sure what party my views associate with. A lot of people lack knowledge about politics and the election but vote for a specific candidate just because they seem more popular. I was talking to one of my close friends about the election coming up. He told me that he hated Bush and I questioned him. He said, "because of the war", yet he had no reasons or any kind of opinion to back it up. A lot of people that vote today are either politically wise or politically dumbfounded. When times comes for me to vote, I want to be able to back up my standpoints and believe in something that I know of, rather than just voting for somebody that looks more manly. Maybe perhaps I will grow politically and vote during the next presidential election.

Blog #9 Why I am Not going to vote

2004-10-28T23:36:00.000-07:00

Not Vote?? What am do you mean not vote, you can’t just not vote! This is what I hear every time I tell someone I choose not to vote in this election. They just cannot believe that someone would give up their right to vote. But yes I will not be voting in this years election. Why? Because I don’t think I have enough experience with politics to make a good judgment on either of the two candidates. To tell you the truth, this class is the only reason I even know there is an election. I have never been interested in politics what so ever, not that I am in anyway head over heals for them now, but I am more knowledge able after taking this class. Having a whole semester dedicated to the election kind of makes it hard to just ignore it, as I used to do. I understand more about politics now and will maybe be interested enough to gather enough information to vote next year, but for this year, I will exercise my right not to vote, because contrary to what people big into politics believe, you have to the right to vote, but you also have the right not to vote, which being a citizen of the United States of America I have the right to make that decision, and considering how I feel about the election and my knowledge of it, I am making the right decision for myself, plus I forgot to register. :P

Blog #8 - Kerry Uses Outsourcing to Discredit Bush

2004-10-28T04:22:00.000-07:00

To discredit Bush, Kerry brings up outsourcing to Asia and other countries as a threat to American economy. Kerry promises that if he becomes president, he will give the tax benefit to the companies in the US, expand their operations, and also create more jobs for the unemployed. To his advantage, fourty of the fifty states threaten to pass around two hundred laws to prevent exporting of US jobs. Also, governors of eight states have already set strict rules on exporting jobs to other countries. With all of these facts and promises, a citizin might think that Kerry is the solution to it all. However, statistics show that no matter what, outsourcing cannot be eliminated; even Kerry said so himself. Also, in the past decade, there have been more job opportunities produced than lost. Kerry also wanted competition within companies in the United States, but because of outsourcing certain jobs, companies are able to reduce their consumer prices, focus on creating better jobs, and become more competitive. Although it may be true, that many jobs are lost through outsourcing them to other countries, it seems like it's not a major problem that we face today. But the question that we must ask ourselves is that even if Senator Kerry becomes president and follows through on his tax changes to benefit work done in the United States, will it even be effective against outsourcing? Can it create more problems in our economy?

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/afp/20041011/bs_afp/us_vote_asia_economy

Blog #7 A Possible Increase in War Funding

2004-10-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Increase in War Funding Sought
By Jonathan Weisman and Thomas E. Ricks
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
With the re-election of George Bush as President of the United States, the total war costs could reach 225 billion dollars. This after the Bush administration intends to ask for an additional 70 billion dollars in emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of the 70 billion dollars, the Army is expected to need around 36 billion dollars for combat activity in Iraq and repairs for damaged equipment. It is obvious from the need of increased funding that the Iraq war has been far more expensive as well as lasted much longer than the Bush administration had first believed. One reason for the increase in war costs comes from the fact that officials have been forced to maintain nearly 130,000 troops in Iraq. Initially, military officials were hoping that a great number of troops would have returned home by this time. The Bush administration can blame the intensity of the Iraqi insurgents for that. Few people believed that the insurgents would fight for this period of time with this amount of intensity. Thus the amount of troops in Iraq has remained the same for months now causing the necessity of additional funds. Along with paying the wages of the volunteer force and contractors, the military has had to pay for dozens of bases. Maintaining the amount of high-tech equipment and paying for communications gear and weaponry costs a large amount of money as well. Unfortunately, the length of the Iraq war has surprised the entire country. As a result, the nation should brace itself for a large increase in military funding.

Blog #6 Dissapearance of Explosives in Iraq

2004-10-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

"Disappearance of explosives in question"
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
by CNN's Jamie McIntyre, Suzanne Malveaux, Elise Labott and Liz Neisloss contributed to this report
The Presidential Campaign has gained a new topic of concern for the two weeks that remain before election day. In early October, 2004, it was discovered that nearly 380 tons of explosives which were located in Iraq were missing. It is believed that the theft occurred due to a lack of personnel guarding the stockpile. As a result of this event, many people, especially John Kerry, are blaming President Bush. In his speech in Green Bay, Wisconsin, John Kerry stated, "Despite devastating evidence that his administration's failure here has put our troops and our citizens are in greater danger, George Bush has not offered a single word of explanation." This comment was made in response to a question that President Bush decided to ignore. However, this statement from Kerry is true only to a certain degree. It is known that the question was shouted from a reporter at his stop in Richland, Wisconsin. Interestingly, the Bush campaign did make a statement regarding the fact that the stockpile may never have existed. According to the Bush campaign, a reporter working with the American troops that visited the site of the "stolen stockpile" on April 10, 2003, the day after the fall of Baghdad, never saw a stockpile of explosives. While the debate continues between the Democrats and Republicans, Russia has called for an investigation by the U.N. Security Council. The Russian Ambassador to the U.N. wishes to discuss whether U.N. weapons inspectors should return to Iraq. Overall, John Kerry hopes to gain any possible advantage in the election by placing blame on Bush's administration.

Blog #7 Why is Everyone Allowed to Vote?

2004-10-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/nealboortz/nb20040924.shtml

Neil Boortz is the author of the article entitled "Asleep at the Wheel." While many of the ideas presented within the article are exaggerated for effect the basic theme of the article is something that should be considered. Boortz asks his readers to consider why everyone has the right to vote. He uses statistics such as the fact that "less than one-fourth of Americans can name the two Senators from their home state. The majority of Americans can’t tell you who the Secretary of State or the Vice President is." This is a terrifying thought when you consider that these people who have no idea what is going on to the nation are going into the polling places and voting for the Commander and Chief of our nation. Boortz lists some extreme measures to draw attention to his cause, including a statement that people on welfare should not be able to vote. Though his ideas were far fetched it was apparent that the goal of the article was to challenge people to educate themselves about the election or to not even show up at the polling place. I challenge you to consider what you think about this issue. Should every American be allowed a vote simply because they are a citizen or do you think that we need to take measures to ensure that America’s voters are educated on the issues?

Blog #10: "Ky.'s Bunning says foe spreads rumors"

2004-10-24T19:57:00.001-07:00

In a report from CNN.com this past Thursday, Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning accused Democrat Daniel Mongiardo on Wednesday of spreading rumors about him, referring to him as an incumbent that is mentally incompetent. The ex-hard thrower (during his famous baseball career) fired at his opponent saying that his comments were “disgusting” and low. In an effort to maintain his credibility, Bunning sent out two doctors’ reports saying that he is in excellent health. Bunning did not just sit back and take all the punches though, he gave some punches to his opponent as well. He once compared Mongiardo’s appearance to Sadam Hussein’s son and alleged “Mongiardo's staffers assaulted his wife at a political picnic, leaving her ‘black and blue.’” Mongiardo denied all the accusations. Despite the bitter rivalry between the two, Bunning held his place with a lead on Mongiardo in last month’s polls (posted by Courier-Journal). Mongiardo claims that the race has tightened since then. In my opinion and probably in the opinion of others, this he-said-she-said rivalry that we’ve been seeing all throughout this campaign with the Presidential candidates is a poor and childish approach to winning voters. People that really care about the election are not concerned if Mongiardo looks like Sadam Hussein’s son, but are more concerned with the issues that concern them at this very moment. The candidates should take their focus off these childish games and put their attention on the questions that matter.

Blog #9 Kerry: 'Speedy Gonzales'

2004-10-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

In the Washington Post article, “Kerry’s Need for Speed,” author Laura Blumenfeld describes Kerry’s way of rushing and hurrying and how that will have an effect of the outcome of the elections in a few weeks. The author explains how he has always shown a speedy and restless side of himself to the public. Even at birth he was in a hurry to enter the world. With his father’s government pay wage, and his aunt’s financial help, Kerry was put through good schooling. In his youth, he always had felt like he needed to prove himself to his friends and family. Kerry wrote a mission statement around the time he had graduated that said, “Life is divided into two sides -- those who make it, and those who put their mark on it. . . . It is the challenge to make a mark that I strive for." As a grown man, he still finds freedom in speed. He finds sports like skiing, sailing, motorcycling, and windsurfing to be liberating. In his attempt to come out on top throughout his life, many have seen his actions and manners to be demeaning. “He was seen by some in the military as a medal digger, in the antiwar movement as an opportunist and in the Senate as a dilettante,” says Blumenfeld of Kerry. Kerry himself admits that living a hurried life has its drawbacks; he is not as good of a friend to those closest to him as they are to him. Yet, despite what some may call a flaw, his actions have also worked in his favor. In the Democratic primaries, he basically came up from behind. Only the November second elections will determine if his timing was right for President.

Blog make-up Written Debate Analysis

2004-10-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

The third Presidential Debate was formal in structure but the candidates offered many personal remarks which made the debate rather interesting. The interaction of the candidates throughout the debate appeared rather tense. This tension stirred in some quick remarks made by both candidates. For example, Kerry brought up Vice President Cheney's lesbian daughter to prove one of his points. Using this fact, which Cheney has no control over, made Kerry appear very insensitive to a tough situation. Bush also said some rather insensitive comments about Kerry. One example being, Bush flippantly noted that Kerry was exaggerating. These two snide remarks that I listed above are only small pieces of a large display of bickering among candidates. The debate seemed to be less focused on the issues than it was on humiliating the opponent. This changed the candidate’s purpose and made the entire debate nearly sickening to sit through. Many viewers may have enjoyed seeing the candidates take jabs at each other but I found it as a waste of time. Another problem that I have with the way that the candidates interacted is that even though many facts were stated and many issues were discussed, because there was so much mudslinging occurring I was unsure as to what the truth was and what was another shameless attempt to make one person look better than the other. It is definitely only fair to mention that there were some very valid points made and some extremely beneficial issues discussed it is just that the tense overtone really made the entire debate less effective.

Blog #6 Kerry's Education Plan

2004-10-12T19:46:00.001-07:00

A large majority of people are very familiar with Bush's education initiatives and the No Child Left Behind plan but Kerry's plans are rarely talked about. In Ronald Brownstein and Maria L. La Ganga's article they lay out exactly what Kerry has planned for the future of the nation's education system. Kerry would like to up the education budget $20-billion dollars. This money would go towards teacher's salaries and the improvement of teacher's which he firmly believes will positively affect test scores. One of the main ideas behind his plan is to make the responsibility of the parent and the student greater. The author's of this article also seem to be stating that Kerry is using much of his time insulting Bush's No Child Left Behind Act without offering concrete solutions for how to improve the situation. While this image comes across in the latest presentations of Kerry's plan, his platform provides solid plans that seem to provide obtainable goals that can greatly improve the education in the United States. The article provides a clear description of the plans and the author's keep a rather unbiased view. I found this article very informative and helpful because I have not heard much about Kerry's plan for education and I consider education an important issue in the next election, seeing as I am a full-time student. I urge anyone who feels like education is an important issue in the election to read this article and discover whether they support Kerry's education plan or Bush's.
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=614f56b7ec74c7d7d8e180d400b26ff2&_docnum=1&wchp=dGLbVzb-zSkVb&_md5=72fe7d569e1b66c13d02db8fafa0a273

Blog #4 Bush criticizes Kerry about health care plans

2004-10-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/12/bush.tuesday.ap/index.html

In this article, Bush criticizes Kerry about his health care plans for the next four years. According to Bush, Kerry plans to improve health care for everyone, but in doing so, he will severely increase taxes on the middle class. Bush continues to say that his plan will not put a dent into the federal budget. Bush has improved health care since his election, stressing the need for better health care facilities and improved health care for senior citizens. He continues to criticize Kerry, saying that "With a straight face he tried to tell Americans that ... The government has nothing to do with [healthcare]". Bush has also released two new television advertisements that repeat this accusation. Kerry retorts with accusations that Bush's claims have been made on false data and calculations. The article moves on to look at close states for the election. Colorado, which has voted republican 9 times in the last 11 elections. One poll has Bush ahead, while another has the two men very close. Kerry is campaigning heavily in Colorado to make up for lost states in the south.

Blog #5 The Truth in Advertising

2004-10-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/11/politics/campaign/11RBOX.html

One is the issues that the Bush administration has been trying to avoid talking about is the job situation in the United States right now. There is a definite net job loss that has occurred during the Bush administration but new ads are trying to take the situation and describe it in a way that makes it sound better that it really is. The ads repeatedly state that Bush has created nearly 2 million jobs and has made 2 million people happier. At first glance this statistic is encouraging, but when you dig deeper into the facts you will find that Bush truly hasn't done an incredible job with the economy. Though the job numbers have gone up recently there is still a deficit of jobs since Bush took office in 2000. The hopes of this ad campaign are high. The idea is to make it look as if Bush is not afraid to talk about the economy while portraying Kerry as pessimistic about the economy in his negative ads about Bush. This article basically is a statement being made about the ineffectiveness and lack of substance found in advertising. If anyone were to watch a commercial stating that Bush had created 2 million jobs it would most likely be viewed as an extremely positive thing. The problem is that the general population takes no time to discover the entire truth past the surface. Don’t fall into this trap as you watch campaign coverage. Challenge what is said and take the initiative to find out for yourself what is occurring before you vote for who you want to run this country.

Blog #5 Bush Taking the Offensive

2004-10-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/11/politics/campaign/11letter.html?oref=login

Following his speech on Wednesday, it appears that President Bush has taken an offensive approach to his election campaign. This new strategy for the final stretch of the campaign is in response to John Kerry's accusation that Bush is "not telling the truth." Interestingly, in his speech, President Bush decided not to use several of his most popular sayings. Such past statements that were used in his speeches included, "transformational power of liberty, the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world, and someday an American president would sit down with "a duly elected leader of Iraq" to talk about how to keep the peace in the "greater Middle East." Despite his decision to remove this statements from his speech in Wilkes-Barre, PA, Bush's campaign officials claimed that the president was not abandoning his popular lines. According to a Republican close to the campaign, the change in Bush's speech was made because of a recommendation from Karl Rove, Bush's chief strategist. Rove explained with the statement, "It's resonating with voters more than the language about the bigger issues and bigger goals of a Bush presidency. You know it from polling, you know it from focus groups." Overall, the change in President Bush's strategy shows the importance of this final stretch to election day. Using statistics from polls, Bush's campaign is changing in order to gain the most support possible. Thus Bush has decided to take a more offensive approach to his campaigning.

Blog #8: How to Rescue Education Reform

2004-10-10T16:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/opinion/10sun1.html?8br
The author of this editorial emphasizes the importance of the education reform and the new plan of the No Child Left Behind Act. As of a few years ago, America was the leader of high school graduation rates world wide. Our nation has dropped to 14th, with France, Germany, and Japan ahead of us. The author states that “we have tumbled even further when it comes to student achievement in reading, math and science.” Also, the college-going rate has plateaued overall and seems to be decreasing among the poor. This is a major problem- and the author makes it obvious that something needs to be done about it. To support his standing he explains that “the G.A.O. found that the Department of Education had failed to provide written, state-specific instructions that made it clear how states could win full approval of their plans… the department has blithely accepted bogus graduation rates and unrealistic progress schedules, and simply rolled over for plans that depict teacher preparation as just fine - when the whole country knows that the teacher corps, especially in poor areas, is riddled with unqualified and inexperienced people.” The No Child Left Behind Act is potentially the best thing for the education reform, but the author believes that the government agency in charge of it lacks the "capacity, courage, and leadership" it needs to do the job. He feels that Congress will watch the education reform give way unless they stand to their word and provide the states with money they promised and “build the capacity and authority that the Education Department needs to further reform.”

Blog #8 Myth of the Vanishing Swing Vote

2004-10-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

No more swing voters? That is what the press has been trying to tell us, that each and everyone in America have chosen a side. Well I can tell you at least one swing voter, me. I am not sure whom I want to vote for or even if I want to vote in this year’s election. So to say there are no swing voters is pretty ridiculous. Mark J. Penn must think so as he wrote the article Myth of the Vanishing Swing Vote. Penn states, “The reality is that for months about a quarter of the electorate has been unsure of its choice for president, and despite the hundreds of millions of dollars of partisan advertising and rhetoric, that quarter remains in play. The recent controversy over how many Democrats or Republicans are in public polls has obscured the fact that the largest party in America is no party -- a plurality of American voters self-identify as independents, and they are the voters who will decide the election” which I believe is very true. It’s the swing voters who will decide this lection for the most part and to say that none of them exist is pure lack of common sense. There will always be swing voters, I’m sorry but some of us are not cut and dry when it comes to politics, some believe in picking the right person for the job, not picking a person because they belong to the same party we do. This is one of the reasons I refuse to be considered as part of any certain party.

Blog #7: The Presidential Debate (9.30.04)

2004-10-04T01:18:00.000-07:00

I felt like the first Presidential debate did not do a good job of swaying the audience in any certain direction. Personally, I thought it was like watching a couple of kids bickering over who is right and who is wrong. Though I'll have to admit, Kerry's public speaking abilities are exceptional. He did a good job of stating his points in a sophisticated and professional manner. However, I felt like he wasn't using the little time he had in rebuttals to address the question fully. It seemed like he was just interested in getting all that he could say about his theories and plans for the future in without addressing the question fully and including any details. The upset was not all on Kerry though. Bush had a poor and disappointing speaking etiquette, yet he had an impeccable way of catering to his audience. Although Bush stumbled with some of his words and struggled with some awkward silences, he did a good job of persuading his audience with what he did say. At one point Bush mentioned that his administration had committed two-hundred million dollars worth of aid to the Darfur region of Sudan, but how are we, the audience, supposed to know if the Bush administration should be giving more, or if it is an increase in the past years. In this way, he makes it sound like the administration is giving all that it can, whether it really is or not. I look forward to watching the other debates to see if they shape-up and get out what we really want to hear.

Blog #7 - The First Presidential Debate

2004-10-03T07:41:00.000-07:00

For some reason I never get really pumped up to watch presidential debates. In a matter of fact, I have never once seen a presidential debate. Well, not until a couple of days ago. During the debate, I noticed that both candidates got a little annoyed with each other. It seemed much more like arguements rather than debating. It seemed like each candidate was doing their best to persuade the audience that he was the right one and the other was wrong. President Bush seemed a little hestitant at times and would stut-stut-stutter his words. He also talked in a manner that made him seem unsure or less poweful? However, he did bring up good points and seemed to win the audience. As for Senator Kerry, I thought he was a great speaker. He did a good job speaking, but it seemed like he dragged out issues a little too much. As for the the context, I was clueless about half of the time. I got the main ideas, but once they started going into detail, I just lost focus. I have to say that it was entertaining to see two presidential candidates get mad and bicker back and forth though. I enjoyed it.

Blog #7 First Presidential Debate

2004-10-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

The 2004 Presidential Debate that took place on September 30th was the first debate for the election as well as the first debate I have ever watched or even heard about. Being a virgin to presidential debates I felt I was getting more out of the debates then others who have previously watched them. I noticed that Kerry seemed to be a better speaker then Bush, and that I did not really learn anything about the issues from the debate. It seemed to m that all they did was point fingers and not give any reasons as to why. It seemed as they were just throwing insults at each other the whole time, this is not Jerry Springer it is supposed to be a debate. A debate is where 2 parties discuss their views and in the case of a presidential debate, explain their policies and what they are going to do if they get elected to office. I was very dissapointed on how th canidates handled themselves and hope that the other debates are not anywhere near as insulting as this debate was. My hope is that the other presidential debates are conducted in a more civilized matter and that they talk about the issues and that the give America a little insight on their ideas and plans for America.

Blog #6: Vince Keenan Presentation

2004-10-01T17:52:00.000-07:00

Vince Keenan is the founder of a website and came to speak with Georgia Tech students about information on voting. His website called http://www.publius.org/ is center online for registered voters and people who have questions pertaining to politics and the election. The website contains many answers to those people who don't know how to vote, where to vote, and how to even register to vote. In 1996, he told us him and his friends would look for a database online to help them answer questions related to the election. Unfortunately, the websites they found charged them a load of money so then they decided to build their own method of using the internet to help voters make better decisions and have better knowledge about election. Their project was called The Publius Project. This website is a database with great information to voters. It is easy to explore and search within the websites so that everybody can use it. Michigan and Keenan have worked together to form a database based on The Publius Project structure. It would also be great if other states could use this website as a base structure as well, because it does help out a lot.

Blog #6: Vince Keenan

2004-09-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

Vince Keenan is the founder of http://www.publius.org/, an online information center for registered voters. The website contains answers to questions many people ask themselves when the time comes to vote, whether it be regarding their first time voting or information on voting precincts if they have moved. It answers questions like “how do I register to vote?,” “am I already registered to vote?,” and “what do I need to bring to vote?” In 1996, his friends and him decided to look for an answer to the question many people ask themselves when election time comes around: "What precinct am I in?" In their search for a decent database to start their website, they had both failures and successes. One place wanted to charge them over two-hundred thousand dollars for information! Finally, they found someone who charged them only one-hundred sixty-seven dollars for the same information. Hence, they began The Publius Project- a method of using the internet to help voters make more informed decisions in upcoming elections. Over the course of years, the website page changed based on feedback from the public. In 2003, The Michigan Secretary of State partnered up with Keenan to make its own website using Publius as its base structure. Vince Keenan and his colleagues that have made this happen have helped in so many ways those who care about what the government is doing and those who want to be a part of deciding what is best for the future, but don’t know where to begin their research.

Blog #6 Kerry's campaign focuses on college voters

2004-09-29T23:39:00.000-07:00

Kerry has been recently seen visiting many college campuses around America lately. As said by Carly Okyle, “Kerry's focus on young voters may be strategically well-placed. According to a nationwide survey conducted by Harvard's Institute of Politics (IOP), 62 percent of college students have been paying attention to political news stories and 61 percent -- up 10 percent in the fall of 2000 -- say they will make sure to vote in November's presidential election.” I believe he his right in trying to focus on college students, as seen 61% plan on voting, which is not a small amount by any means. Also I agree with Jenna Dreher who says, "Kerry recognizes that college students are the future of America. Kerry's attention to the college population is well deserved and forward thinking. By showing interest he generates a reaction by students in return.” I believe that if Kerry can be accessible to college students that he will be heavily rewarded with their votes. If one of the candidates came to Georgia Tech, I would all over the opportunity to meet them and ask them questions and get an answer directly from the source. I think that Kerry has the right idea in going to colleges and seeking votes as it just makes sense as a presidential candidate to look at America’s future for votes.

Blog #5 Vince Keenan

2004-09-29T21:56:00.000-07:00

As the founder of http://www.publius.org/, Vince Keenan is the person to thank for this page which helps Michigan voters with almost any qustion they have on voting. I knew nothing of Vince’s website or what he has created with it until he came and spoke. It was very cool how he went from asking the typical questions of voters to actually doing something about get the answers and then helping the thousand’s of other voters who had the exact same questions. Voters can now log onto http://www.publius.org/ and find out how to register, where to vote, information on canidates, and even the results of elections. Its amazing that one person could say, “I am going to not only figure out the answers to my questions, but I’m going to make them more accesible to the general public, so they can know the answers to their questions as well.” Another great thing about Publius is that it has evolved based on user feedback. So if there are certain questions that are not answered on the web page, with enough intrest, it will be answered for future users to be even more informed. I think Keenan did a great job with his website and hope that the trend catches on, can you imagine if every state had a site similar to Publius?

Publius Lecture Blog 4

2004-09-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

Many people around the United States have wished to create sources of information for voters. Along with several of his friends, Vince Keenan successfully achieved this through the use of the internet. The birth of publius.org took place in 1996 when technology concerning the internet was limited. As the years passed, many improvements were made to the site such as allowing people around the state of Michigan to find out where they were supposed to vote. Publius made a great impact on the state as nearly two hundred thousand people would use the site for information regarding the upcoming election. After running the website for years without funding from the state, Vince Keenan and his partners managed to gain the attention of the Secretary of State in Michigan. Thus publius.org attained funding which proved the importance of Keenan's work. While the site continues to be improved, the current site is easy to access and operate. As a result, registered voters in the state of Michigan can receive information regarding the upcoming election and avoid any issues or concerns they may have.

Vince Keenan Lecture

2004-09-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

The Vince Keenan Lecture about the new electronic voting database and website in Michigan was very informative. He started the company with a few friends back in college. They thought that the state needed a complete database so people could find out where they were supposed to vote and just make the entire voting process easier. They first had a lot of trouble finding a complete database for a reasonable price. They eventually found a Qualified Voter File and put it into a database, and then added it to their website. They worked for a long time with the Secretary of State for Michigan, trying to make the website complete and make it available and useable for all of registered voters. The current website is easy to navigate and gives a lot of useful information to voters. Other states may use this website as an example for their states.

Blog #4 The Upcoming Debate Sparks Debate

2004-09-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

The 2004 Presidential debate is rapidly approaching and a plethora of editorials are being written. Each author is giving their forecast about the many different events that can occur in the debate. One specific article is written by Ken Herman and entitled "Bush's style: No longer an outsider, he must defend record." This article examines how Bush is going to need to change his debating tactics since he is the incumbent in the debate. Herman believes that Bush was successful in portraying a personable image in the debate last year which led him to a victory over Gore. The issue that concerns Herman is that Bush may attempt to use these tactics again which may prove unsuccessful. Herman discusses how this may be a problem when he states that "Bush debated Al Gore three times in 2000. In those clashes... his strategy included a heavy dose of outsiderism, offering himself as a change from the established order and portraying his foe as a poster child for the status quo." There is no benefit in using the same approach this year. Bush has 4 years of experience and the nation is in the middle of a war. Another issue that Herman discusses concerning the debate is how it may be possible for the style that Kerry and Bush use to be more persuasive than the substance debated. In this case Herman stands firmly on a belief that Bush will prevail in the debate due to his experience and History of an emotional connection with his audiences. It is frightening to consider the fact that something as illegitimate as presentation can overrule actual issues when someone is voting for a President. As frightening as it may be, Herman is unafraid to address it as a real issue that can win the votes of uneducated and undecided voters. Herman stands strong on his predictions of what may occur in the upcoming debate. He is also successful in creating a presentation of what Bush must do in order to appear better in the debate, but also make it clear that he is pro-Bush. His article is carefully written and presents a clear description of his opinions on how Bush can achieve success.

Blog #3 An Unorganized Article Proves Extremely Ineffective

2004-09-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

The effectiveness of an article is held within the hands of the writer. Their opinion can be expressed in a persuasive and efficient manner or the point of the article can be easily missed due to unorganized thoughts. In a New York Times article by Ron Fournier there is no clear focus within the article. The piece is entitled “Kerry StakesOut Opposition Stance on War." Firstly, the title does not provide much insight, if any, of the writer's direction for the article. Fournier uses many direct quotes from both Kerry and Bush in the article. These quotes could be efficient in proving a point if they were more strategically organized and presented. For example, Fournier quotes Kerry as saying that "[i]nvading Iraq has created a crisis of historic proportions and if we do not change course there is a prospect of a war with no end in sight." This quote would be a good piece of evidence if Fournier was attempting to support Kerry, but in addition to this quote Fournier quotes Bush saying that Kerry "has taken so many different positions on Iraq that his statements are hardly credible at all." By using these two completely contradicting quotes and no concrete support of distaste of either one, Fournier simply is offering his audience a summary of what has been stated rather than what he believes concerning the issue. A more efficient approach would have been if Fournier had offered the reader some logical or emotional appeals concerning why he believes what he believes. Instead of doing this he simply states unorganized information. An effective article uses appeals to the audience and builds the credibility of the author. Fournier's article does not even state an opinion; nonetheless appeal to the audience as to why his opinion is worth believing. According to what I believe makes an article influential, Fournier's article is a disaster.

Blog #4 Kerry’s Speech at New York University

2004-09-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

Kerry’s Speech at New York University
In Kerry’s speech he stated, “This election is about choices. The most important choices a President makes are about protecting America… at home and around the world. A president’s first obligation is to make America safer, stronger and truer to our ideals” which I believe is an important choice but not the most important. The most important choice a president has is how to guide his people in the direction of a better country. But to get back to Kerry’s speech, he talked about how we have to destroy terrorism and he will do anything he can if he is elected, never does he say what he will do or what exactly his plan is. He then talks about how we have lost so many troops to the war in Iraq, which sad as it may be, its what happens in war. Although I do not totally agree that the war was the best thing to do, something had to be done and we cannot just back down now. He then goes on to bash everything Bush has done pertaining to the war yet does not say how he could do anything better. This is the only problem I really have with Kerry is that he will say how Bush did something all wrong and doesn’t finish the comment by stating how he would do it, or when he is speaking about what he is going to do when he is president, he does not go into detail on how he will do it, which leaves me and the rest of America guessing as to what it is he is going to do.

Blog #5

2004-09-23T17:38:00.000-07:00

In the article “Kerry calls Iraq war ‘profound diversion,’ from the Washington Post, writer Stephen Dinan criticizes Kerry’s views on the war in Iraq. He implies that Kerry is contradictory in statements he gives to the media. He explains his four-point plan to “convene a summit to garner the international support in men and money that he said Mr. Bush had promised but not won; re-evaluate reconstruction and draw up a new list of priority projects; and take steps to ensure elections are held next year.” However, Dinan explains how at another time during his campaign, Kerry said that the situation on Iraqi ground is so unstable that he cannot say how possible it will be to withdraw in January- the month he would take office if he were elected. At another point in the article Dinan describes how Kerry, in October of 2002, had voted to approve the invasion of Iraq. So why is he so against it now? Kerry says that at the time he felt his vote was right because “he had expected the result of the resolution to be the reintroduction of weapons inspectors, not necessarily war.” So does this make Kerry truly contradicting in what he says, or is he simply redefining what he has said in the past? It is obvious that the author of the article is trying to show the nation that a President with wavering ideas and flaws such as the ones described in his article is hurtful to the administration if he is elected.

Blog #3 Kerry's Iraq Policy

2004-09-22T18:04:00.000-07:00

In the article "Kerry: Bush's Iraq policy has endangered U.S.," the author discussed Democratic candidate John Kerry's Iraq policy. According to the article, Kerry recently made a speech accusing President Bush of making a huge mistake when he declared war on Iraq. Kerry went on to claim that Bush has weakened the nation's security and provided several steps that he believed would have the troops home within four years. After being accused by many for failing to maintain a consistent policy on the war issue, Kerry explained the course of action he would have taken following the attacks on September 11, 2001. He said he would have "concentrated all our power and resources on defeating global terrorism" and capturing Osama Bin Laden, and he would have "tightened the noose" on Saddam in a way that would not have alarmed the countries near Iraq. Thus America would have less of a reason to worry about future threats. Kerry later spoke of his four-point plan. He stated that Bush should first assemble the world's major powers and Middle-Eastern countries to claim that they have made a positive contribution to financial aids and troop contributions. Kerry's second point said that Bush "must get serious about training Iraqi security forces." Kerry's third point called for the completion of a reconstruction plan. Finally, Kerry's fourth point said that Bush "must take immediate, urgent, essential steps to guarantee that the promised elections can be held next year." Kerry's four-point plan explains his policy on the war in Iraq. He believes that the United States should follow his plan in order to allow U.S. troops to return home within four years. The article finished by stating Kerry's belief that President Bush does not have a strategy for resolving the war. According to the article, Kerry does have the necessary strategy.

Blog # 4 + 5: September Project

2004-09-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

During election time, many people argue back and forth between politcal parties. When it gets down to the last couple of months, each party will bring up past events and review the history of candidates. At the September Project, Paul Loeb, author of Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time and The Impossible Will Take a While spoke of many controversies in the politcal debates. He mentioned that during the time of election, more people get caught up with stories drawing the focus on petty things. For example, Paul Loeb talked about the Swift Boat Veterans for Kerry against the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Both sides were so strong in their beliefs and it got to the point where people would argue over what was "true" and what was "not true". Drifting away from the main idea, people would get so caught up in these debates that it was neverending. Therefore the election process would bring nothing but two sides with strong beliefs that wouldn't give in to the other side.

Sarah Shalf also came and spoke about First Amendment cases involving rights to protest. She shared a lot of information and spoke of many protests. Although I didn't understand, it seemed like she was strong in her beliefs. She also talked and questioned the Supreme Court cases dealing with the suspension of Habius Corpus on Hamdi, Padilla, and Rasul.

During the September Project, I learned more about political matters, but because I lacked knowledge in the political area, I was unable to keep up with everything both speakers were talking about. However, I was able to learn more about the First Amendment and I've gotten more sources to which I can refer to for political matters. For students who are involved in politcal matters, this is an event that is a must. It was an experience worth the time and effort.

Blog #4: A Definition Argument

2004-09-15T22:30:00.000-07:00

In “Grokster and the Information Exchange,” an editorial in The New York Times, the author makes a point on the recent debate about file sharing on consumers’ PCs. He indirectly argues over the definition of theft when it comes to file sharing. It is illegal to share copyrighted materials through a central server like Napster or Kazaa. But the question arises on a similar issue: is it illegal if independent internet users can access each other's computer files through other means? Grokster software, an advanced peer to peer file sharing program that enables users to share any digital file (including images, videos, etc.) and publish one’s own work, is at the crux of this debate. The author states that “Grokster can certainly be used to swap music illegally. But it can also be used to exchange electronic copies of books already in the public domain,… [and] other legitimate types of information.” The point he makes is that it is impossible to sue Grokster, and other software alike, for illegal file sharing without also bringing down its capacity for legal activities (like accessing libraries that can be just as easily accessed on the internet by a user). Personally, I think that it should be legalized because of the point the author makes above; if it is ok to access copyrighted material such as documents and books online, why does it make downloading copyrighted music illegal? In the end, it is up to Congress to decide the result to this tricky issue. This is a perfect example of a definition argument, in which the author attempts to clarify the difference in meaning of ‘sharing’ and ‘stealing.’

Blog #3 Andrew Cline Essay

2004-09-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

An abundance of people today are influenced by the advertising of 527 groups. The 527 groups consist of people that advertise during the election season to advocate certain politcal campaigns. Although they can make contributions, these groups cannot coordinate with parties or campaigns. In his blog, Dr. Andrew Cline argues that if the press and media do their jobs, problems with 527 groups would disappear. First, he states that political reporting is useless if it comes from a misunderstanding of objectivity. He states what objectivity is, giving readers a clear understanding that objectivity in political reporting stands very weak. He explains that there is no such journalism or report that comes "as it is". Everything is carried on by one's own experience and emotions. Dr. Cline also explains the fairness bias of journalism, which he presents as totally opposite of the "he-said she-said" stenography. Dr. Cline tells the audience what the press is doing right now and what they should be doing to prevent problems. By explaining different kinds of journalism and reporting, Dr. Cline reinforces his main arguement. If the press operates with a discipline of verification and report the results of that verification as news, the problems and damages of 527 advertising vanishes. This way, citizens of the United States will not face the problems of 527 groups. Instead they will be able to figure everything out by reading the news.

Blog #3: By the Word of a Journalist...

2004-09-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

Andrew Cline makes an argument in his essay about biased, or subjective, writing among journalists today. He states that the he-said, she-said approach that many journalists use in their writings on political issues is unprofessional, partial, and barely a report at all. He indirectly incorporates social appeals to the audience in his argument to strengthen it and make it convincing. He establishes credibility, or ethos, as a person by sharing concern with the audience. He understands that the somewhat childish rivalry is not what the reader wants to hear. He knows that the audience wants the issues at hand addressed directly and made the point of focus. In this way, he keeps his readers’ interests in mind. This is evident when Cline states that journalism has failed to fulfill one of its “long-held missions… to give citizens the information and knowledge necessary to exercise citizenship.” Cline also illustrates good reasons, or logos, for his argument. He states that the misunderstanding of objectivity comes from the he-said, she-said shorthand writing that journalists come to accept as reporting. Emphasizing that objectivity, or impartiality, is not a “stance” but a “process,” Cline states that objectivity cannot promise journalism that reports events as they are at the moment. He suggests that if the press simply report the news as it is, people will not get the false message. His ability to understand and embrace the concerns of the people, while still making logical facts to support his argument, allows Cline to make a successful argument.

Blog #3 Just the fact’s Ma’am

2004-09-10T18:41:00.000-07:00

Just the fact’s Ma’am
Andrew Cline’s Blog Essay has to be on of the best opinion reads I have seen in a while. As stated in the article, “The politically useless he-said, she-said stenography that passes for so much political reporting is only possible when the press misunderstands objectivity” is so true I hard to read it again to make sure I really comprehended that someone finally said it! The very reason I have not been into politics is because I hate reading articles or watching certain television channels that total for one side or the other and do not do what journalist are supposed to do, which is write as neutral as hey can so the public can form their opinion, not so they can shove which candidate they want to win down our throats. As Cline put it, “The fairness bias of journalism dictates that journalists should get "both sides" of the story--a laudable goal for the most part. The fairness bias combined with objectivity-as-a-stance dictates that journalists should write down whatever happens or whatever is said and relay it without comment. Checking the facts and reporting the results of such checking is considered by many journalists to be commenting on events or what was said. Such journalists believe it is up to citizens to figure it out.” Can we all just say Amen to this writer? Its like he has gone through my brain and relayed exactly what I have been think about the election and how its not what the candidates say, but what the press tells you the candidates said.

Blog #2 Bush's military record

2004-09-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

An article from CNN illustrates a few problems in Bush's military record that have become concerns for the campaign and the Republican Party. New information found in military records states that Bush was put on the "no flying" status while he was trying to be transferred to an out of state unit. Memos between superior officers have indications that Bush may have been put on no flying status only because he requested it, not because of an inability to perform his duties.

Supposedly, Bush wanted the transfer so he could work on a campaign in Alabama. In most military records, Bush was suspended for not showing up to a flight physical, but these recent documents indicate that Bush may have missed the physical on purpose and with consent of some superior officers.

Democrats accuse Bush of misleading the American people about his time in the National Guard. They agree that bush transferred to Alabama simply because he could work on campaigns, while being in a unit that did not fly the same airplane, the F-102, that Bush was trained in.

Blog #2 Schwarzenegger’s Speech

2004-09-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Republican National Convention speech was very inspiring to say the least. He told America about his story of being a young boy from Communist-run part of Austria and how the United States made Austria a safe place once again. This all tied into his main point of the American Dream and how he has lived the American Dream. From coming to America in 1986 with no money in his pockets but a handful of dreams to being the big time movie star and now Governor of the state of California. Governor Schwarzenegger's incarnation of the American dream, that you can achieve anything if you're willing to work hard for, sent out a very powerful message to everyone who was watching. He then began to talk about how Nixon’s speech was like a breath of fresh air and how Nixon was the reason he became a republican. He also stated how republicans are open to anyone, despite what beliefs and differences people have. He then went on about how to know if you’re a republican and listed what republicans stand for. All in all, Governor Schwarzenegger's speech was very well thought out and presented in a way that showed true compassion and everyone who watched him give that speech could tell it was coming from heart. He let us all feel that America is the best place to be and as long as you work hard, you can achieve anything, such as he has done in his life.

Blog #2 : Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Remarks

2004-09-02T07:28:00.000-07:00

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5879467/print/1/displaymode/1098/

Through the use of rhetoric, Governor Schwarzenegger delivered an effective speech advocating the Republican party and the leading role of President Bush. In his speech, Schwarzenegger effectively appealed to the audtience through pathos. He identified himself with the audience in a way that appreaded to their emotions by sharing his own life stories. By coming to the United States, he explained that he was able to experience the American Dream. This kind of appeal made him look successful as an American and his testimony also served as an example identifying himself with immigrants of the United States. Also, the facts and evidence Schwarzenegger presented builded his logos. In his speech, he used his life experieences and solid facts to support the beliefs of the Republican Party. By simplifying the definition of a Republican, Schwarzenegger stated that it was okay to think one way about an issue and still be a Republican. It is obvious that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is a Republican. He was able to open up to his audience thro pathos and logos, using testimonies and good reaons throughout his speech.

Blog #2

2004-08-25T17:42:00.000-07:00

In order to make an effective argument, people need to support their claims with reasons. In many cases, reasons do not provide enough support for claims. Thus evidence is needed to give additional support to an individual's claim. Along with reasons and evidence, several factors should not be found within one's argument. Such factors include fallicies such as hasty generalization, polarization, and name-calling. In "NYC errs in playing nice with protesters" by Bernadette Malone, the argument possesses several examples of these three fallacies. Rather making an argument supported by reasons and evidence, Malone uses far too much name-calling. Several of the names she creates in the article are Republican-haters, mice-releasers, pie-throwers and AIDS-spreaders. Judging by the creativity of the various names she used for "Republican-haters," one might think that Malone spent too much time producing interesting names rather than gathering evidence for her argument. Hasty generalization appears in the article when Malone states that people against Republicans will terrorize the convention using various disgusting methods such as releasing swarms of mice. Malone's use of mice-releasers, pie-throwers, and AIDS-spreaders also fall under yet another fallacy, polarization. Malone is claiming that all people that possess AIDS will spread their diseases to the Republicans. This is extremely unlikely and an obvious fallacy. Thus Malone is assuming that anyone against the Republicans will accept the role of causing chaos at the convention. Although the goal of the protests are aimed at reducing the number of possible Republican voters, the means of achieving this goal were not written in the article. Through the various names she created and terms such as hate, Malone views these protests negatively.

Blog#2: Bernadette Malone

2004-08-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

It is obvious from reading the article that Malone, former editor of The Union Leader, is bitter towards the Democratic protesters at New York City’s NRC. She couldn’t get past the first sentence without letting the reader know her feelings on the issue. Verbs like “hate,” and “terrorize” are included in the first phrase to describe the intentions of the protestors. She uses fallacies in her argument against the protesters. Not only does she use name-calling to degrade the protesters and make a fool out of Mayor Bloomberg, but she also polarizes most of the article. She refers to the activists as “mice-releasers,” stating that they plan on releasing swarms of mice in New York City to scare off delegates to the NRC. She also refers to them as “pie-throwers” and “AIDS-spreaders,” declaring that they will throw pies at Republican visitors and seduce them with the help of AIDS infected prostitutes. I think all of this menacing behavior is extremely unlikely, considering the fact that the protesters don’t want to lose not only republican voters but voters on their side. Malone is satirical when she mentions Bloomberg’s plan to bribe the protesters with gift certificates and free tickets to various entertainment venues. She tries to show that the insensitivity of most of these protesters leads to the attempt to intimidate higher officials to get what they want. They are even complaining about the FBI showing up at the rally to generate their own intimidation. Where has our sense of morality and manners gone to?...

Blog #2 Name calling

2004-08-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

One of the most important aspects of an effective argument is not dismissing the opposing view. When a writer is passionate about the subject it can become common to observe them dismissing the opposing side by using logical fallacies. Whether the writer’s uses of logical fallacies are purposeful or accidental they almost never have a positive result when you are attempting to let the opponent see your outlook.

In the editorial by Bernadette Malone entitled “NYC errs in playing nice with protestors” a major problem with her argument is the overuse of fallacies. While name-calling is not the only fallacy present in the article, it is overwhelmingly abundant and often distracting from the argument being presented. Malone creatively throws insults at the democrats who are planning to protest at the Republican National Convention. Some examples of Malone’s name-calling fallacies include calling the protestors “swarms of mice,” “junior terrorists,” “mice-releasers, pie-throwers, and AIDS-spreaders.” These harsh and unnecessary names will have no positive effect on anyone planning to protest. In fact, this type of insult can often brew new anger towards the entire Republican Party.

In conclusion, Malone’s editorial had some essentially respectable arguments but her name-calling causes the case to be weakened. Without the names, the point that she was trying to make about the absurdity of the mayor’s plans and the irrational nature of the protestors intentions would have been much easier to comprehend. Malone’s editorial is hard proof to what an abundance of logical fallacies can do to a perfectly reasonable argument.

BLOG #1

2004-08-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

invitation screwed up, so here's my first blog:

Blog Entry 8/21/04
Dustin Stevenson

The article, Babies and Bath Water, tries to convey that the campaigns against Bush are pushing the level of maturity to an all time low. The author of Babies and Bath Water seems to be bias to the conservative party. Babies and Bath Water seems to brush up on some of the ideals in the article by George Lakoff, How Liberals and Conservatives Think. Lakoff describes how campaign ads are very one sided and only portray what the political parties want the voter to see/hear to get them to vote for their party in the elections. In Babies and Bath Water, the author describes how the liberals try to compare Bush to a third grader or as childish in everyway. The author states that not only are the ads one sided; they also belittle the people who voted for Bush, instead of making a good argument to swing their votes towards Kerry. It is quite ridicules that these ads do nothing but take cheap shots at each other instead of making good arguments supporting the decisions to vote for one candidate over the other. The author of Babies and Bath Water also states when the liberals try to label Bush as childish, it just gives an excuse to try to justify why Bush has done what he has, in the matter he has done it. In conclusion, the author of Babies and Bath Water is reiterating what Lakoff describes in How Liberals and Conservatives Think.

Blog #1 A Smarter Way to Use our Troops

2004-08-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

Feith employs the use of Logos, or supportive clauses, to appeal to his readers. He starts out in the second paragraph, by expanding on the ideas he introduced in the first paragraph. He later supports his claim of this new posture being the end of the cold war by describing the new ways in which our forces can be moved and deployed. He makes claims that moving some of our troops out of South Korea is the next step in improvement. He supports this idea by saying the troops are now out of range of North Korean artillery and now they are being put into efficient hubs.

Feith also uses Ethos, or putting the best interests of the reader at heart. The first few paragraphs introduce the idea of our troops coming home and the rest being moved out of dangerous areas. Ethos is prevalent again when the subject of South Korea arises. Troops moving out of the capital are not only good for the troops, but also benefit the South Koreans by giving them more freedom and a sense of patriotism. Feith later employs ethos by saying that the new posture will improve the quality of life for all of our troops living abroad.

Finally, Feith uses Pathos, or the engaging of readers into the subject matter. The first paragraph catches the reader’s eye by using very positive phrases about the topic. The paragraphs are also quite short and can hold the readers attention. Feith also goes quite in depth about some of the subjects and lends credibility to himself. The footnote further gives Feith credibility by informing the reader that his occupation is relevant to the subject matter.

Blog #1 Carson and Lithwick

2004-08-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

In life, there are always going to be two sides to everything. For example, opposition arises in debates, elections, and even the simplest arguements. This brings about competition on which side is "right" and which side is "wrong". Most of the time, when people tend to think they are "right", they simply bash and ridicule the opposing side's thoughts and ideas. However, there are some people out there today who can understand both sides and still be persuasive in their arguements. Two great examples of this are Rachel Carson from Good Reasons, and Dahlia Lithwick from The New York Times.

In "Babies and Bath Water", Lithwick writes about how those that are against Bush bash and criticize him as "childish". She first introduces the issue by pointing out a part from "Fahrenheit 9/11" which gives the impression of Bush being confused and glazed during the second attack on the World Trade Center. She also mentions anti-Bush commercials that use kids to criticize the president for unsophisticated thinking and an infantile worldview. Lithwick also stated that by criticizing the president and condemning him as "childish" and "unsophisticated", Bush voters, supporters of Bush, and even the United States as a nation are also being condemned.

Similar techniques are used both by Carson in "Silent Springs" and by Lithwick in "Babies and Baby Water". In "Silent Springs", Carson starts out by writing a short fable about a small animated town that suddenly starts withering due to pesticides. Both writers do not introduce any type of major thesis or list of facts and ideas. Instead they use a story or an example that allows us to get an understanding of what's going on. Also in "Silent Springs", Carson states that the pesticides used to kill unwanted insects not only killed insects, but harmed everything else as well. This is similar to Lithwick and her understanding of "Bush-bashing"; if we criticize the United States' President Bush, we are criticizing everybody that is under him.

Both writers designed their writing so that it would be effective. They did not use any kind of lecturing, but instead they pointed out certain things and gave clear examples of what was going on. They did not use any kind of verbal attacks, but instead they used facts to back up their points and beliefs. They questioned the audience in what was "wrong" and what was "right". After reading some of "Silent Springs" and "Babies and Bath Water", one can say that both Carson and Lithwick are alike in writing effectively.