The Finale

     In the subjects we have covered in this class I’ve learned new information. I’ve learned that there are special printers that can mold weapon parts. This is a very revolutionary thing, but at the same time its dangerous because it’s almost accessible to anyone with a computer. Its actual called a 3D printer and it is not just for making weapon parts it can also be used to mold things like art work. The 3D printer is a great tool for letting the mind have a platform to create, but because it is a truly advance way creativity there going to be a person that will use it for other advance ideas good or bad. Another piece of information I’ve learned about was unmanned aircrafts called drones. This idea of making war safer by having these pilots operates these advance aircrafts with a computer is really brilliant and at the same time scary. These machines do save lives, but also are still machines. This means that war fare is evolving and possible that means terrorism might as well if our enemy decides to build machines like these of their own. There is one more thing I’ve learned a little about and that is the Israel-Palestine conflict. This conflict is to me about power for one side and about standing up for another. This is my opinion when I say that the Israeli are the victims. They are placed in a situation where they have multiple enemies that are well organized and all Israel really want is to be recognized as a state. I believe they are entitled to that since they have documented claims to the land their own.

     In this class I’ve learned how to make a blog. I’ve never knew what a blog really was until this class and it’s a great way to share your opinions across the world even though some may disagree. But this is still a good way to start a dialogue about subjects people might not agree on other than Facebook. I mean FB is a great way to connect with people, but blogs are for a more mature crowed. It’s for people who have real opinions and care about a topic rather than just say it’s stupid because it’s not a popular view. I’ve also learn to be a better writer on topics. I’ve learned how to give more detail in what I’m writing than just giving facts. Facts are good, but I’ve learn to express more in a topic through explaining the facts through my point of view and words.

     The things I have learned about myself is that I’m a better writer than I thought. Everything I say is not crazy but just another perspective and there are people who have similar beliefs. I’ve also learned I’m not entirely liberal either. I can be either or when it comes to politics. I think I can be a better student than I actually believed.

     I think I wouldn’t change too much in this class. This class got me to express myself with others on how I view topics no matter how different my answer was. I like that my professor called to see if I really understood the material and offered to help when he could. I like that the material was interesting and that the questions that where asked weren’t yes or no. The questions made you take a deeper look into politics and other day to day things that happen in the world. I felt the material challenged me unlike high school. The only thing I didn’t like was that some of the videos didn’t work on my computer and maybe there should be an independent website for this course so video can been seen even if it’s taken down somewhere else.

     I will carry the confidence that I know have in my work and opinions into future jobs. I will also carry my new found political beliefs with me as well.

     One topic that wasn’t my favorite, but stayed on my mind was the Boston Marathon Bombing. It was so unreal that it happen that to be able to share what I felt about it through a platform where I felt was mature for the topic was helpful. There were a lot of kids I knew who commented on Facebook about it, but I didn’t really feel that what I had to say would have been as important as the person who posted pictures of the event for some likes. I felt that blogging and discussing the topic with peers whose view seems relevant to me would be more appropriate. In that what it was the topic that I am really glad we talked and blogged about, but at the same time it wasn’t my favorite if that makes sense?

   

Where was I When Terror hit Boston?

   

     I was at home when I heard of what happen at the marathon. I live in Dorchester making in not that far from where it happened. It’s only a five minute ride from where I live. To be honest I was asleep when it happened. I remember me thinking that I had a day off and I wanted to sleep because that yesterday was exhausting. When I woke up the phone was ringing and it was my uncle Al. I answered and he asked me if I was ok and I said yeah are you? He then told me that there was explosions and I said don’t worry. In my mind I remember seeing commercials about Fenway and I thought there still building it even though it was strange that he heard an explosion in Boston when he lived in Richmond, Virginia. But he told me to look at the news and then I saw what had happen. I was stunned and couldn't believe it happen in Boston. I know that’s crazy to believe that Boston couldn't be bombed, but to me Boston seemed like the last place for something like that to happen. I’m not saying MA is perfect because there is crime like robbery, shootings, and other stuff but it’s just an act of terrorism seemed like the one crime we wouldn't have. I would expect a snow storm or blizzard but not this. My first reaction was to call my mom because I just felt the need to know she was ok and I’m glad she was.

    

      The thing we need to learn that terrorism can happen anywhere and especially in your home town. Ever since 9/11 there is nowhere that this couldn't happen and we need to be prepared for change because nothing is going to be the same.

     We shouldn't just move on we should digest what happen and think of way to prevent this from happening. For now we should let the police take care of it because I really think we were caught off guard and it’s not fair to say what they could have done better. My experience with this whole thing is sometimes what events we see happen in the world on the news no matter how far away we should think about it.We should always ask are self what would I do if this happen? We should ask ourselves are we prepared if it happens. Even in saying that i'm still very proud how my city acted in the face of terror. There were runners who helped other runners who were hurt and that's something that Boston is known for. Helping other Bostonians.            

who is the victim in the middle east?

   In WWI the British and French alliance defeated the Ottoman Empire by carving up the Middle East. The defeated the Ottoman Empire with the allies they gained. The British and French made promises and one of those promises were not held. The British made the promise to establish the Israelis as a Jewish nation but even today the Israelis are not getting that recognition. I believe that even though the British and French were the ones who pitted Palestine against Israel that Israel is the true victim.

     

 

     Some may argue for the Palestine that Israel has pushed their way into Palestinian and forced millions of their people into exile stuck in poverty. Israel wants take over the Holy Land and continue to build settlements to house their growing population. The land that the Israel is building on was promised to the Palestine in the Two State Solution. Hamas the largest and most influential Palestine militant organization has been denied imports by the Israelis. Also the people of Gaza are unable to developed and prosperous under the Israelis. Although this makes the Israelis seem like bullies there is another side to this conflict.

     The Jewish people have lived in Jerusalem and everything surrounding it for nearly 1000 years. They were thrown out by the Romans and then almost their whole race was killed in the Holocaust. They have been looking for a place to settle where they were free from anti-Semitism and violent oppression. The state of Israel brings peace but has enemies and that’s why they have a strict trade on the Gaza. Many allies of Palestine are enemies to Israel and may try to import weapons. Hamas is a terrorist organization and has made attacks on the Israel innocents that include suicide bombings. Hamas has refused to recognize Israel as a state and has sworn them off as an enemy. Israel is only defending themselves. Israel is the true victim.       

who else deserves blame

     Rape is a series crime especially ones that happen with underage girls and It is unforgivable. Two drunken young football players, 17 and 16, sexually assaulted a six-teen year old girl at a party in Steubenville, Ohio. They dragged the six-teen year old girl while she was unconscious by her hands and feet. With no fear of the consequences the two young football players mock and then raped her in front of multiple witnesses. I do blame the two football players for this heinous crime but even more I blame the adults and peers who give these kids this superiority complex because the play sports.

    

     Most people believe everyone is responsible for their own actions which in ways are true. Poppy Harlow a reporter from CNN said that it’s hard to see the two young men with “promising futures” to have their lives destroyed. That sounds like he blames the victim for the rape and people like that gives these young adults the belief that what they did is not their fault. People like this if they could they would try to cover up this crime because they believe what these young men do on the football field is so important. But when crimes like these get swept under the rug it affects them when they become men. When these young men go on to have families of their own they still have the ideals they had in high school. Their sons become rapist, their daughters believe they can belittle others, they might rape women and other underage girls, or their daughters might even get abused by their fathers. “Rapists rarely feel like they’ve done anything wrong.” (PARA rape facts).

     
     There are people in this world who do bad things and for those actions there should be consequences. In some crimes there is an accomplice and depending how much they were involved they are punish accordingly. What determines who’s an accomplice and how they should be punished in this case? Dose an accomplice just have to be the ones participating or the ones who did nothing which made the boys believe it was accepted and make the victims feel they are wrong for reporting it? According to a national survey of college women, less than 5% of completed and attempted rapes were reported to the police. (Fisher, Cullen and Turner, U.S. Dept. of Justice, 2000).Dose an accomplice just have to be the ones who dragged the young girl by her feet and arms or could they be the ones who call the convicted rapist heroes?   “Persons under 18 years of age account for 67% of all sexual assault victimizations reported to law enforcement agencies.” (Snyder, 2000). There are people who do bad things but the people who tell these people what you did was okay are bad people. 

       

How We Fix US

     Gun control is a very big issue in the United States. There have been multiple killing sprees and a lot of mass shootings in Americas past and present. Most recently there have been two heinous events that touch on this topic of gun control. One is the murder of Trayvon Martin.

 Trayvon Martin was killed because a man named George Zimmerman thought he could get away with murdering a 17-year old black male under the law. Sad to say he was successful in doing so. Another horrible event that had happen was the Sandy hook massacre.

 A 20-year old man having some anger issues at home killed his own mother. He continue going on a spree of killings in the Sandy Hook Elementary school. He shot and killed the principle, psychologist, and four other teachers as they try to stop him. He slaughtered 20 first grader students with semiautomatic rifle and two hand guns. He fired 3 to 11 bullets per student. He then took his own life. I believe that these horrible acts could have been prevented if social behavior was taken more seriously as a nation.

     Republicans believe guns are what keep us safe and Democrats believe that we as a country won’t be safe until we have better gun control laws. It has been known in most mass shooting cases the killers use guns that were obtain legally for example the Columbine High School massacre. The guns used by the gun men were 9-mm semi-automatic hand gun, carbine rifle, sawed-off pump-acton and double barrel shotgun

. There was a ban in Australia on all semiautomatic guns and it also requires purchaser to register all weapons under name. this ban gave a 59% dropped in gun related deaths. “This is not Australia, this is America, where our Supreme Court has upheld an individual right to bear arms” said by Nick Gillespie(editor of Reason.com and Reason.tv).       

     I personally believe there both wrong in a way. Guns are dangerous, but so is any other tool we use day to day. For example hammers are great for building, but can also bludgeon someone in the head to death. A box cutter is best when opening packages, but it can be used to slice someone’s throat. The internet is a great way to connect with the world, but the internet has also been the playground for cyber bullies which have cause the suicide of people like Megan Meier. 

In the end they are only as deadly as who is using them. That’s why instead of solely focusing on gun control we should focus on our socially skills and not just ways of getting by, but on how we survive as one nation. We have to kill the hate we have because someone is different in race, sex, and/or  sexually preference. We have to be able to get along with all and I don’t mean best friends just friendly.

 We also have to work on how home life is managed with families. This includes parents being better parents, children being better sons and daughters, siblings being better brothers and sisters. 

Its ok to disagree but hate has to die in order to prevent crimes like these.          

the solution to our engery crisis

      In the middle ages someone discovered that coal was better than wood for fire.

 To get coal you must dig for it which is hard if the tunnels you dig keeps flooding. This situation solution was the steam engine. The steam engine was the beginning of the first industrial revolution. After this revolution we had other inventions powered by coal.

 This made things a lot easier, but it also started us destroying earth. We have grown so dependent on that we've build our world around it. It’s given us ways for transportation and to harness electricity which now a days everything uses electricity.

 It nearly impossible for us to give even though it destroys are planet, but if we find another power source or a way to manage the source we have better than there’s a chance for earth.

     When bush was president we had a war with Iraq and many at first believed this war was over the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. The truth is George W. Bush had his own motives and I personally believe it was for oil. Oil is a valuable trade as money its self in America and money is power. Republicans won’t let power slip out of their hands if they don’t have to. While George W. Bush was president he wanted to lift ban on offshore oil drilling that stood since his father was president was president. Things like off shore drilling causes oil spills.

     I believe that the energy crisis can be solved, but time is needed and the need of power has to be set aside. “Living in natures budget” (  http://www.youtube.com/user/ZMisrael?feature=watch , 300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 seconds) is the key to using coal without destroying earth, but it won’t help expand the economy. We will have to find other ways in doing so. This is what is needed to be done and not fracking.

If your drinking tap water at this moment I would advise you to dump it back in the sink now!

 Water mixed with sand and chemicals is injected in the ground at high pressures to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas. This sounds smart and it’s an alternative to digging up oil offshore, but there is a problem with this method. One gas well needs 400 tanker trucks to carry the water which holds around 8 million gallons. That’s a lot of countries without enough clean water to supply it's people and there are no trucks to try to help them,

 but that’s not even the worst part. The water is mixed with sand and around 40,000 gallons of chemicals and still that’s not the worst part. The chemicals that are used are lead, uranium, mercury, ethylene, radium, methanol, hydrochloric acid, and formaldehyde (www.dangersoffracking.com ). 

That’s only some of the chemicals used and those eight are extremely dangerous to the human body. These chemicals are being pumped near are water supply. Even though it’s being pumped through a tube these chemicals leak out in to our drinking water supply. We have two choices use what nature gives us when it gives us instead of digging up the earth

 or be the cause of destroying earth.

 One other possibility will be to find a source of energy, but that will be the more difficult choice.                  

Are we recovering from 9/11?

     On September 9, 11 four planes were hijacked from the United States Airports by terrorist. 10 years Prior bush declared war on Iraq. Al-Qaeda operatives retaliated. They wanted to send a message to the U.S. and the president of the U.S. at the time George Bush. Flights eleven and one seventy-five hit the world trade center. Flight seventy-seven struck the pentagon in Washington DC. Next flight ninety-three crashed in a Pennsylvania field. This attack changed America forever.

    

     I believe declaring war in the same month as 9/11 was not the appropriate time. I think it would've been best for bush to let the country grieve by building memorials. After the country has had some time to morn for their loss then the U.S. should have talk with the United Nations. Talk about what would be the best way to deal with this terrorist threat. Bush believed 9/11 as an opportunity to have reason to attack Iraq. George W. Bush had an agenda to attack Iraq before 9/11.

  The question to “Are we safer” is no. We were attack on the day’s date that is the same as our emergency hot line! Then not to have full confidence in the government that protects us because they have a personal agenda doesn't make me feel safer. I don’t feel as we are winning the war on terror because it requires us to give more freedoms to the government. We have to be searched nearly naked by the airports which at times can be demeaning if it’s in front of our families.

 The government can listen to personal phone calls if they believe it’s necessary.

 I know these are sacrifices for protecting love ones and because of that I feel we are doing what’s best against these terrorist but this isn't “Winning”.