Well I guess this is it

During this semester as a first time college student I absorbed a whole lot of knowledge. In this class specifically I learned a lot about myself and also what is going on around the world. In this class I learned a lot about foreign affairs. I learned a lot about the dispute over land between the Jews and the Arabs. I knew that there was always a war going there over land but not much else. I knew the feud has been going on for basically ever but never really understood it in its entirety.
In this class I feel like I learned the skill of journalism. Every time we had to write a blog I felt like I was writing it for a newspaper or website. Feeling like this makes me pay more attention to what I'm reading. It makes me feel like im spreading my newly acquired knowledge to potentially the world or anyone that lands on my blogger page. Knowledge is power.

In this class I also learned a lot about myself. I always say myself as a neutralist because I never really cared about politics until this last election where Obama was re-elected. I found out that the political pert I agree with the most is the Democrats and I am a liberal. I never really thought about anything like this until this class and it had me very interested in the election. Although I did not vote I was very happy Obama won because some of Romney's plans were ridiculous. Well at least in my opinion. As a student I really learned to manage my time. Since it was an online class I always saved it for last but i always made time to do it and do it properly.

For the most part the class was amazing. All the topics were great but this blogger really grinds my gears. It was cool in the beginning because it was new and different to me then it really started to glitch on me. The whole reason I'm passing this in late is because it wouldn't publish so hit save tried refreshing it and poof, gone forever. If i could change on thing it would be the way these blogs are done because it is the most frustrating thing in the world when you lose all your work after working so hard on it.

 The best thing that I got from this class is taking the time to look at both sides of an argument. I was always very stubborn when it came to arguments and even if I knew I was wrong I would not admit it. Thanks to this class I now take the time to pay attention to both sides f everything and do more research as well. I find this really useful because it makes me seem more educated if I have more to say about both sides of any story. This will most definitely be my most used skill in future classes.

Im the guy in the middle!

We had a lot of great topics to write about throughout these fifteen weeks but my favorite was definitely the one about finding our political identities. This topic was particularly interesting to me because I wasn't sure where I stood politically. Since we went over this during election time it was even more interesting and i really enjoyed writing about this. 

I thought drones were only in Call of Duty

I think most males within my age group know what drones are from the very popular "Call of Duty" games. Just from playing the games I know that they can locate enemy position and even shoot missile to take out the enemy without putting one of our troops in danger. From what I have learned drones can be very useful in a lot of different ways. They can help gather enemy movements that can then be sent to ground troops so they know what to expect and where to expect it. Just that alone has the potential to save thousands of lives. Another thing that will save lives is the fact that there is no pilot on board for these drones. This means that if the drone is shot down or it malfunctions no lives would be lost. 

 Another great advantage of using drones is the ability to take out enemies without putting any of our troops in danger. Yes the missile can also take out a few civilians while taking out the enemy but at least the target is down. I know that sounds horrible but in war time im sure civilians are being killed regardless especially in a guerrilla war like the one we are facing now. Enemies can easily disguise themselves as regular civilians and do tremendous damage if they wanted to. The pros clearly outweigh  the cons. During war the thing that people worry the most about is obviously loved ones that are risking their lives every day to protect our country. If drones help keep death rates low wouldn't they be a great choice? 

Call of Duty screen shot of a drone missile 

I feel like a lot of the people that are against drones are the ones that dont take their time to actually do some research on them. Most of the articles that I have read always talk about how Obama isn't talking too much about them so they dont like it. Just because the president doesn't talk about them too much doesn't mean that you cant take the time to do a little research to see if drones are actually helping. People against drones say that drones are terrorizing children with the missile strikes which is really sad but I am sure that those humanitarian people that care about the innocent being affected care even more about our troops overseas. In reality there would be no real way to satisfy these people because its terrorizing people either way. Again I dont want to sund heartless and I know I am but during war we should only care about our country and ourselves.

If other countries can get their hands on this technology they too can see how beneficial drones can be. I know the damage that can be done with these drones so it would be scary if other countries had this power but other countries have nuclear arms that are way worse and we all seem to be doing fine with that. It is worth it to keep using this technology because everyone wold rather see drones die than troops.  Just like in Terminator drones can be good. 

In conclusion we should keep using drones until it is clearly proven that they are either good or bad. 

Until they are proven bad I will keep backing them up.

Syria-slee

Syria, A great country with great people is going through one of the worst crises our modern world has ever seen. This country is going through a civil war between what mostly everyone calls a terrible man Bashar al-Assad, and the Syrian Resistance group. This revolution started due to simple want of change from the Ba’ath party and dislike of their new leader al-Assad. Protests started to break out all over syria instigating change in the government so what the government decided to do was answer back with military power. The Syrian army started bombing different cities in order to stop this uprising but that just created the FSA (Free Syrian Army) to try and stop this terrible inhumane way of life in Syria.

FSA logo

There has been great controversy here in the United States weather or not we should intervene in the “Syrian Uprising” and both sides have really great points but I just don't think we should get ourselves involved in a war that isn't ours. Yes we have done it before in countries like Korea and that was successful but what if it was another Vietnam? The only real reason the United States wants to intervene is for oil and to establish democracy around the world. But is it worth potentially loosing thousands of American troops for some oil? To some the answer is yes but to me its no. If the United States intervenes it would just make more enemies and most likely end up loosing thousands of troops over a war that has nothing to do with us. 

Although it would help end the war in Syria in my opinion its just not worth it. If in fact this war ends up spreading into other countries like an article on Spokesman.com says might happen then maybe U.S. involvement would be necessary but only if close allied countries are involved. There are great benefits if involvement in Syria goes as planned like improve relations with Turkey and Qatar or If the U.S. trains the FSA we could have some one to fight Al Qaeda with us but what if things go wrong? 

We are just recovering from a recession and a debt worth over ten trillion 

We are just recovering from a recession and a debt worth over ten trillion dollars. The U.S. simply cannot afford to intervene in Syria’s civil war. The intervention in Libya cost over a billion dollars and an intervention in Syria could cost much more. We can’t afford to spend money we don't have on something that may or may not be for our benefit. We just got done with the longest war in American history (which really wasn’t a complete success) and we want to involve ourself in another. When U.S. forces were sent to Lebanon in 1982 they were quickly pulled out in 1983 because of the bombing of the Marine barracks. That was the day with the highest death toll in a single day for the U.S. since the end of the Vietnam War.

In conclusion the united states should not intervene in Syria for not only American deaths but also economically we cannot afford it. We are dealing with too much here at home that should be settled first before we get involved in other countries business. If anything the we should move into Syria after the FSA gains power only to help rebuild the country and help establish a democracy. Any allies that can be gained if we intervene immediately will eventually become allies regardless unless a third world war breaks out which is highly unlikely.

works cited

Rubin, Trudy. "Trudy Rubin: U.S. Involvement in Syria Is Risky - but May Be Necessary to end war." Spokesman.com. The Spokesman-Review, 07 Nov. 2012. Web. 8 Nov. 2012. <http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/nov/07/trudy-rubin-us-involvement-in-syria-is-risky-but/>.

Boot, Michael Doran And Max. "5 Reasons to Intervene in Syria Now." The New York Times. The New York Times, 27 Sept. 2012. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/opinion/5-reasons-to-intervene-in-syria-now.html>.

Brooks, Mo. "U.S. cannot afford to intervene in Syria's civil war." Thehill.com. 25 July 2012. 08 Nov. 2012 <http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/239971-us-cannot-afford-to-ntervene-in-syrias-civil-war>.3

Katulis, Brian. "A Syrian Intervention Need Not Be Military-Focused." US News. 2 Feb. 2012. U.S.News & World Report. 08 Nov. 2012 <http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-the-us-intervene-in-syria-with-military-action/a-syrian-intervention-need-not-be-military-focused>.

2012 Presidential Election

The 2012 election that just passed was projected to be a really close call for both candidates. 

Representing the Democratic party was President Barack Obama. His policy goals include free trade with a few South American countries like Panama and Colombia. He also wants to invest more in green energy to help protect the planet. And lastly he wants to rebuild alliances with other countries to meet some of the challenges that we face today.

Mitt Romney was the Republican nominee for this election who happened to lose the election as well.

Some of his policies included putting an end to abortions, birth control, or any type of contraception.

He wants to increase the size of the military and also get rid of Obamacare.

Although it was a close race, a clear winner was elected an Mitt ended up losing the election but not by a complete landslide like some reporters have said. One of the main reasons Romney did not win was because of his unpopularity between the Blacks, Latinos, and all other minorities. The White vote went from being at 76.3% of the total vote count in 2008 to it being 72% in 2012 which may not seem like a lot in percentage but by head count is actually a huge number. Another huge reason that most likely contributed to Romney's defeat is the fact that Obama has started to shape the economy. Although its not perfect.  

President Obama won the elections for many reasons. According to Fox News exit polls President Obama was the clear winner between most voters. He had the majority of the youth votes which is around 19% percent of the electorate which gave Obama a big boost against Romney. He also had the majority of Female votes which were very important like said in the articles (The Week). And lastly most Americans  believe that the auto industry bailout was very helpful to the economy and still think things are going to turn around.

I'm glad Obama won the election. I think that the extra 4 years in office will really be helpful to the rebuild the economy. Our economy was the worst that most of us have seen in our lifetime and it just started to turn around so how could we stop it and put it in the hands of someone who wants to turn most things around. Obama is also working on strengthening alliances with foreign leaders so in the long run this election can actually be good for the world.

The Energy Crisis

The energy crisis is an issue that is not only an issue that affects our country but the whole world. Scientists and politicians all claim they have a solution but some are more useful than others.

There are some that claim that finding more natural gas is whats going to solve this energy crisis and some that say mor oil is going to solve it. In short term they are all very good possibilities but in long term they do run out and have also been proven to harm the environment. 

I am for green energy so the political party that opposes me would be the Republican party. They dont believe in green energy as a good investment because it doesn't give profit or make a huge difference right away but in the long run it does. The Republican party wants a quick noticeable change so they are for things like fracking for natural gas and potentially ruining water supplies and harming the environment. Obama has always promoted green energy and still does in this current election. The Republicans just simply dont think its a good solution to our energy crisis and rather harm our environment to find a better way.

       I think the right step to take is to start to focus mor on green energy. Although it may take quite some time to see real results money wise, it is the best step to take not only for our environment but for our economy.  Either way we go the economy will be helped but natural gas and oil can and eventually will run out so the jobs created will eventually end. With green energy being unlimited because its powered by the sun or wind or water current there will always be job opportunities. Some may say what if everywhere in the country green energy was used and there was no need to build more. Well technology advances and communities would want what newer and more efficient in the way that it will help more. If that isn't true than we would still be driving cars from the 20's.

Think About It.

September Eleven Two Thousand and One

          On the morning of September 11 2001, Three terrorist attack were taken out on the World Trade Center  in New York City and in The Pentagon over in Washington D.C. These attacks were planned out by a group of radical taliban muslims called the Al-Qaeda. These events changed not only our country but the world. It was a huge shock to have been attacked on american soil. This attack made americans more patriotic than ever changing the names of french fries to "freedom fries" and other things like it. This event also started a lot of racism not only with Muslims but everyone that was not a born American. President Bush and the government declared a war on Iraq and a "war on terror" 

          Im sure there are people everywhere that dont think the U.S. over reacted to the attacks of 9/11. There are folks out there that are totally fine with this war being the longest war in the history of the country which is crazy. Since airport security has gone way up I'm sure there are some people that think we are way safer than we were 11 years ago but terror doesn't have to strike from and airplane. A perfect example of a terrorist attack that didn't need an airplane was the Batman shooting in Colorado. Just because our airports are safer doesn't mean we are.

          I think the U.S. tremendously over reacted to these attacks. I agree with them on going to war to stop the Al-Qaeda but they did it to over throw a government, allegedly. This has been the longest war in American history and for what? Yea our country and innocent people were killed but the 11 year war is just too long for three buildings. When Pearl Harbor was attacked much more people were killed and valuable Navy ships were lost and some fighter planes too and The U.S. stayed less in that war than this one. We are still living in great danger. People in other countries must see the U.S. as an invading country that just wants things their way and they are kind of right. There was no real need for the U.S. to over throw Saddam. What we needed to do was stop Al-Qaeda. Although our airport security was greatly improved, there is still probable terrorist attacks. There are crazy people everywhere in the world and we shouldn't worry only on outsiders. There can be threats from anyone that is already in the country and they dont need a plane to do take action. 

Back To High School

picture of my old high school  

For this weeks assignment we had to do an interview with some one that we looked up too. I chose one of my favorite teachers of my high school career and his name is Mr. Miranda.

I decided to conduct this interview of him because he always talked about his morals. Every time anyone did something he would always talk about his morals and how he thought things should be everywhere. 

His political identity is completely based on his morals. Although no one besides him really know what they are its what really symbolizes him.

When I had asked any specific things that influenced his political identity he just answered with anything that helped the middle class since he was middle class all his life.

Mr.Miranda

When i asked if he considered himself a liberal, conservative, or independent he answered with "Although im registered as independent I consider myself to be "logical"." He claims that he is not an extremist to any particular party but he sides with whatever is better for the future. He sides mostly with the liberals but there are still a few things that he likes from the conservative party to vote. One of these is The whole going green thing. during our discussion i asked why he doesn't think its necessary and he said " the government is spending millions of dollars on something that we aren't 100% sure of", he says he'd rather have that money spent on education since its the future of our country. Mr. Miranda also hopes that Obama gets re-elected so that " we can actually see a change, because personally i dont think one man can change a whole country in 4 years."

The fact that i want to be a teacher and i have always been middle class makes me side as a liberal. Another thing that has influenced me greatly has been all the deportations and immigration laws. My family and I are immigrants Just like everyone in this country once was but thankfully we never had to go through those hard ships because we came here legally. It still troubles me thinking "how can a country that was such a melting pot and full of immigrants be doing this now?" To me these are the most important issues that i truly care about. Education for our future, A strong middle class to stimulate the economy, and an immigration reform to help people that really need help.

What I learned from this experience is that mostly EVERYBODY that votes for anything is just for greed. I might not be right on this but i feel like people only vote to see what benefits them as soon as possible. there can be other things that will benefit them but it might take longer so they dont want it. People pick if they are liberal or conservative not only on similar beliefs, but also on the benefits of what each party offers. My views have been confirmed by this experience, We both had very similar beliefs and i think its because he influenced me that way. although I didn't have him all 4 years of highschool and only 2, I was greatly influenced and very thankful for it.

QUESTIONS I ASKED

1.  How did you vote in the last election?  Why?
2.  Do you consider yourself a liberal, conservative, or independent?
3. What life experiences have shaped your political values?
4. What key issues are most important to you, when it comes to US policy?
5. Who will you likely vote for in the future?  Are you happy with your party?
6. Being a teacher, have any budget cuts actually affected your class resources or your pay?
7. What are your stands on abortion?
8. are you for or against an immigration reform?
9. which presidential candidate do you think will better shape the economy in  their 4 years in office
10. who will you be voting for this november and why?