Blog 7 Obama changed his mind -__-

I feel that the gay marriage thing has gone completely out of hand. I am not a lesbian but I personally do not care about what other people are doing with their relationship. This shouldn’t even be an issue that the government should be involved with .I think that this ban on multiple states is really sad. Why should the government be the bend in anyone’s personal relationship? How does the government feel about the transgendered? It’s not okay to be in a relationship spend your life with someone you love but the government is okay with the transformation of genders. If someone has changed their sex, will they be able to legally marry someone of the opposite sex who is technically the same sex? It all contradicts itself, and in reality is just another discrimination case. We have more important issues to deal with, rather than getting involved in people’s relationships and personal issues.

When President Obama announced that he now supports gay marriage. Was he trying to make a point, and stand out or was this his last try at grabbing extra voters? Either way, given that the majority of America does not support gay marriage, Obama is asking to be out of office. This was an extremely risky thing to do. It makes me question whether he initially always supported same sex marriage, or did he lie to keep Americans on his side.

America lacks individuality, and our government is a total reflection of it. The citizens and what we live by are completely replicated by other countries and structure. Americans claim to have so much pride and like one of my peers stated, “America was a country founded on the principles of compromise, but in today's modern government I see so no willingness to compromise.  Our politicians refuse to even agree on policy change that majority of the general public wants.  Many politicians seem to have this winner take all attitudes.  This unwillingness to compromise is only hurting the people.” I agree completely. As American citizens, our voice as individuals is not heard effectively and all the chaos in our country is a result of our government. Politics, I feel are decided amongst those who have wealth and power, and it has always been this way. The only way to get the citizens voice out is to force our voice out , by any means necessary .

The War on Drugs, Really?

The War on Drugs, Really?

     The War on Drugs is a clear example of one of America's worst handled polices. According to drugsense.org the U.S. government, "spent over $15 billion dollars in 2010 on the War on Drugs, at a rate of about $500 per second."  Now to me this seems like an outrageous amount of money for a failing policy. The war on drugs is no doubt failing. If the purpose of the war is to completely eradicate the presence of drugs in America, then it is most definitely failing. There have already been 416,408 people arrested for drug law offenses this year alone and 214,874 people have been arrested for cannabis law offenses this year. This means that roughly half  of all drug arrest this year were for a virtually harmless drug. Lets be honest people, weed is not a dangerous drug. In fact there has never been a recorded death due to an overdose of marijuana. But thousands of people die yearly from alcohol overdoses. Yet alcohol is legally available at almost every corner-store. 

     If the government had the people's best interest at heart they would rehabilitate drug offenders who are users and not just incarcerate them. There is a revolving door for drug offenders in America's current criminal system. By this I mean that people who are arrested for drug offenses are very likely to end up in jail again for the same offenses. The problem is that these people are addicted to drugs and locking them up is not a means to help them kick their habits. Addicts need to be rehabilitated in order to have any chance of recovering from their addiction. Also when people are convicted of drug offenses their permanent record is negatively effected. Thus making it harder for those individuals to find a decent job that can help them be a productive member of society. This may force them into a life of crime and eventually behind bars yet again.

     GreenWellness blog post best describes the War on Drugs when stating,

I think we can all say that the “War on Drugs” seems to be some what of a disaster. Millions of citizens are irresponsible put through the court system, Billions of dollars are pumped into the fighting Marijuana’s “dangers” from reaching our neighborhoods, but still crack, heroin, and disease run ramped in most slums around the the country, not to include the huge increase in our youth getting hooked on pharmaceutical drugs.     

We Want Safe Sex !

Face it, sex is just what is on everyone’s mind. To persuade someone into abstinence could work but the chances are slim. We have hormones; controlling desires are difficult when we are constantly reminded of sex in the media. Since that won’t change society needs to stay protected.  Contraception awareness should be available to the public if not mandatory then easy to locate and receive. Contraception comes with variety, either barrier or hormonal. Barrier contraception would be along the lines of condoms or anything that involves creating a barrier between the sperm and fallopian tubes. Hormonal contraception involves some sort of pharmaceutical substance that alters the hormones in a women’s body. These two types of contraception’s are among the more common to society. The debate is whether or not these services should be provided to individuals. I believe that this would be absolutely the best decision to make contraception free. So many children are being brought into this world from parents who cannot provide for infants and are not properly educated in taking care of kids. For some as teenagers, we are taught sex education. This could help in reducing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases also along with accidently pregnancies .I feel if the resources were given to those able to conceive that the pregnancy rate would drop significantly .With this number being smaller you could infer that abortion would be less likely to occur because pregnancy would be even more preventative.

Being in a democracy I feel as if it is the government’s duty to provide the services for safe sex. It has become an ongoing problem that’s eventually going to get out of control within society. Every student should have to complete a sex education course before being given a diploma. At local clinics and gynecologists barrier and oral contraceptive should be government funded. Whether it is provided at a discount or entirely free it should be available. Surveys should be given in order to evaluate what the people need. Also knowing which form of contraceptive is more effective. Although this will not fully solve the issue, this will definitely give people an option of having safe sex.

"We're all the same color when we turn out the lights"

In Steven Hayward’s blog “Forecasting the Obama Collapse”, Hayward discusses a conversation held his pod cast with   Ben Boychuk and Joel Mathis. The conversation consisted of whether or not Obama were to be considered Americas “first affirmative action president…” In Hayward “[is] doubtful that Democrats would have nominated a first-term U.S. Senator with such a thin record if he was white.  And just as Obama’s mixed race helped him in 2008, it may still be a factor in why his approval ratings have held up higher than they ought to given the objective conditions of things.”  Later Hayward sides with an opinion on how the 2012 election could turn out as he agrees on a comment made by Jim Geraghty of National Review’s “Morning Jolt”:

“It ties to a theory I’ve had for a while, that most apolitical voters desperately want to avoid concluding that the first African-American president of the United States is a failure, on par with a second term for Jimmy Carter. As a result, they will give Obama until the very last minute to demonstrate an ability to get the job done, to demonstrate that he can generate tangible improvements in their lives. But, if around October 2012, people don’t see tangible improvements in their lives, well, the bottom may fall out of his numbers. He’ll still have his loyal base, but the vast majority of independents will decide he just can’t get the job done.”

The intended audience of this particular blog would be directed towards the democrats; reason being for Obama and his political background are democratic. According to Hayward, Obamas ethnicity had a huge impact in the 2008 elections. He believes along with Jim Geraghty that if any major results are not seen by October 2012 that Obama will not be reelected for presidency. I would have to say I agree to a certain extent but I also do not agree with an opinion Hayward has. In the 2008 the minority count in the election voting increased almost drastically. More people that were indeed black or Hispanic did vote for Obama strictly based on his race. This fact I don’t agree with people should be voting based on the candidates’ values morals and plans for the country. Though this factor did help Obama, I feel that the country is put him on a standard because of his race. We as Americans have not gotten over the racism if it does not exist publically are definite behind closed doors. People feel look as if they are waiting for Obama to make a mistake based solely on his race. I think if there was not any racism that, yes Americans would be patient and more understanding of Obama. Being that he is black he is going to and is continuing to have a hard time keeping support from our nation. I think that without progression from the most ignorant issues regardless whether it is race gay marriage abortion etc. that America will never be achieve anything. Why are we making a big deal about the pigment of skin and ethnicity of a person when our previous president has put this burden on our current president to fix? We havent moved foward. Do we really comprehend or understand and how much effort it is going to take to bring America back up? Definitly not in four years

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/03/forecasting-the-obama-collapse.php

All Americans in the middle class can agree that money is hard to come by. The inflation in the economy has really taken its toll our pocketbooks. Unfortunately, the crisis has been more difficult for more than most. Some people who don’t have support financially alone, depend on the government assistance such as food stamps and public housing programs etc. The author is making the audience more knowledgeable of how the government is planning and hoping to raise the monthly minimum rent per month for that using public housing assistance. The audience is intended to for the citizens in need of the assistance. I agree with the author that making housing more expensive will become an inconvenience to some people. Twenty five dollars may not be a lot to someone who works and supports themselves. To someone who is whose main support is the government twenty five dollars is half of rent. Budgets will be adjusted and throw off many people. I don’t feel the author was all that credible. If the author explained the raise in rent or the full in depth plan the government has it would and could have been more put together. The editorial is straight to the point. I didn’t get a lot of background information. I couldn’t really distinguish what side she was taking; I assumed she had taken on the side of not raising the monthly rent. I personally think that the rent should remain where it is. In order to get into a situation where you cannot afford to keep a roof over your head how can anyone think that making it more expensive will do anything but put someone in an even worse situation??

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/opinion/keeping-the-poorest-in-housing.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Gay Marriage Unconstitutional

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday declared California's same-sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional, putting the bitterly contested, voter-approved law on track for likely consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that a lower court judge correctly interpreted the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court precedents when he declared in 2010 that Proposition 8 was a violation of the civil rights of gays and lesbians.

It was unclear when gay marriages might resume in California. Lawyers for Proposition 8 sponsors and for the two couples who successfully sued to overturn the ban have repeatedly said they would consider appealing to a larger panel of the court and then the U.S. Supreme Court if they did not receive a favorable ruling from the 9th Circuit.

"Although the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently. There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted," the ruling states.

The panel also said there was no evidence that former Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker was biased and should have disclosed before he issued his decision that he was gay and in a long-term relationship with another man.

The ruling came more than a year after the appeals court heard arguments in the case.

Proposition 8 backers had asked the 9th Circuit to set aside Walker's ruling on both constitutional grounds and because of the thorny issue of the judge's personal life. It was the first instance of an American jurist's sexual orientation being cited as grounds for overturning a court decision.

This article brought up a question for me .That if one state finds the ban of gay marriage , every state would doesn't allow this marriage unconstitutional. It would take one couple to sue the state to reverse the law in the state they were hoping to be married in.Also the fact that the judge was gay and also had a long term relationship with the man. Did this have something to do with the ruling of this case ?http://hosted2.ap.org/txdam/54828a5e8d9d48b7ba8b94ba38a9ef22/Article_2012-02-07-Gay%20Marriage%20Trial/id-24f1d36d612c433a955fd352b916c2fc