Army-Navy Game

Every year, I always try to watch the Army-Navy football game. However, this year, I did not really expect to see it because of the shutdown. Due to the shutdown, all of the games that the military service academies' athletic programs would participate in were threatened to be cancelled, because the service academies use federal money to help pay for games, which was rightfully considered a nonessential expense. As we all know, a temporary budget agreement was reached, the shutdown ended, and athletic events carried on as normal. This week, a bipartisan budget deal passed the House and is expected to pass in the Senate. This deal would ease spending caps and lessen across-the-board spending cuts, and would prevent another shutdown for at least 2-3 years. Some Senators are against this bill, and the bill will either be narrowly passed or narrowly defeated. Hopefully, this bill is a sign of more congressmen being willing to work together, and the beginning of more bipartisan deals to come. But, by looking at the history of this Congress, this bill may pass just because midterm elections are coming and congressmen are doing anything to keep their jobs. Either way, if the bill passes, this game would not be in jeopardy for another couple of years.
In the meantime, in the words of my grandfather... Go Navy! Beat Army!

Obama Shakes Castro's Hand

On Tuesday, while attending Nelson Mandela's funeral, President Obama shook Cuban President Raul Castro's hand, and created a media firestorm. Many politicians and prominent media attacked the move, saying that it was a sign of Obama backing down against Cuba, and that Obama should not have shook hands with Castro because he was a "thug" and was denying Cubans basic freedoms. While I agree that Castro either needs to change many things about the way he runs Cuba or be put out of power, I cannot comprehend why the handshake was such a big deal. They were at a funeral, where you're supposed to put aside your differences for a short while to celebrate someone's life. It's not like they were agreeing on anything, they were just being polite. Also, they were at the funeral of Nelson Mandela, a man who devoted his life to fighting for basic freedoms and for reconciling his country. To bring up disagreements and to fight at the funeral would have been hugely disrespectful to Mandela's legacy.
The media and many politicians are forgetting about the times where US presidents shook hands with dictators and terrorists, like Nixon did with Fidel Castro, or when Reagan shook hands with Spanish dictator Generalisimo Francisco Franco. Honestly, a handshake is a way of greeting someone, and it shows that you are grown up enough to at least show some respect, and are not childish enough to bicker and not put aside differences for a short while. A handshake does not mean that you support someone or agree with what they are doing. All of this talk is just distracting people from what's really important: coming together to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela.

Six Year Old Suspended for kissing classmate

In Colorado, a six-year-old boy has been suspended from school for kissing a girl in class. This is just another example of political correctness gone way too far. The school has a zero-tolerance policy for unwanted touching; however, considering that the boy was only six, and that neither the girl nor the girl's parents complained to the school, or to anyone else for that matter, the school had no right to suspend him at all, much less for several days. While I understand the need for a strong policy for what to do in case of, as the school put it, unwanted touching, there should be some discretion on the victim's part, and on the parents' part. Also, the boy was only six, yet the school administrators were discussing charging the boy with sexual harassment, again without any say so by the girl's parents, and all the boy did was kiss his "girlfriend", as he put it, on the hand when they got in a group for reading time. The boy had no idea what sex was! He is now questioning his mother about what sex is, what harassment is, and other questions that no six year old should be asking. Schools in general nowadays are overstepping their bounds in order to protect their students from not-so-serious threats, and are doing more harm than good by trying to stay politically correct and sticking to rules exactly, without using any logic whatsoever, and this story is a perfect example of that trend.

McAdory High School Football Banner

Last week, like every week, cheerleaders at McAdory made a banner for the football team to run through before their playoff game. However, this week, what they wrote was very controversial, and has been called extremely racist by many people. The sign read, "Hey Indians, get ready to leave in a Trail of Tears". Many people have said that cheerleaders being punished for the sign, which was never approved by any faculty member because the cheer coach was on maternity leave, is just political correctness gone too far. On the other hand, many other people and groups are crying foul, because, to them, the sign mocks the Trail of Tears that Native Americans went through, which, for those who do not know much about it, was very similar to what the Nazis did to Jews during the Holocaust. I tend to side with the critics of the banner, because it is making fun of a very horrible time for Native Americans, and was very tasteless. However, I can see the validity of some of the points made by the other side, that the cheerleaders meant no harm and that to them, it was just a joke.
In response to this controversy, all McAdory history classes will have a unit covering what actually happened on the Trail of Tears, and how it affected Native Americans. McAdory, as well as the Jefferson County school board, have released a statement apologizing for the banner. What do you think about the reaction to the banner? Is the sign truly racist, or is the reaction just an example of political correctness gone too far?

Immigration

Today, Speaker of the House John Boehner said that he will not allow formal compromise talks to take place between the House and the Senate about the Senate-passed immigration bill, which would create a path to citizenship for over 10 million illegal immigrants, while at the same time tighten border security. While I understand the House Republicans' desire to create their own, streamlined, bill, I wish that they would at least talk once with the Senate to see if they could come up with a compromise. Illegal immigration is a huge issue in this country, and I do not understand how the same House that voted and re-voted more than 30 times on Obamacare is not willing to schedule any more votes on immigration.
Also, I heard a pro-path-to-citizenship argument that has probably been around for a while, but I heard for the first time last week that I wish Congresspersons would hear: Superman, one of the greatest American superheroes, is technically an illegal alien, with heavy emphasis on alien. Would you rather deport Superman for being here illegally, or would you try to find a way for him to stay here? This current House has made clear that, given the Superman scenario, they would rather deport Superman than vote again on the issue of illegal immigration.

The Evil Obamacare

A lot of things that politicians have been saying about the Affordable Care Act are really ticking me off. While I am certainly not a huge fan of the ACA, I still think that many politicians are somewhat overreacting to it, with 2 things that are especially getting on my nerves.
1. While in Virginia last week, Ron Paul said that nullification is the only thing left to do to stop this apparently extremely evil bill. You know, nullification, the thing that partly led to the civil war, and has been defeated time and time again because of the Supremacy Claue. While I understand Ron Paul's desire to increase state power in matters regarding Obamacare, I still cannot believe that he suggested nullification as a legitimate answer. Here's the article: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/ken-cuccinelli-ron-paul-urges-nullification-virginia-governor-2013-election-99358.html#ixzz2jk9QygjO
2. Many Congressmen (Ted Cruz, Michelle Bachmann, etc.) have called the ACA the worst and vilest law to ever exist in the US. Again, I understand that they really hate Obamacare. While they may not like Obamacare, it is definitely not the worst law in the history of the us. They are forgetting and/or ignoring slavery, the forced relocation of American Indians, internment camps, and a long list of other laws which were far worse than trying to create universal healthcare.
So, while i may agree partly with some of what these politicians are trying to say about the ACA, I cannot support this ignorance and, at times, stupidity.

School Shootings

Monday, students returned for classes at Sparks Middle School in Sparks, Nevada , where last week a student shot 2 students and killed a teacher before fatally shooting himself. Gun control advocates are using this as yet another sign that gun laws need to change in the US. I somewhat agree. Something has to change. Recently, there have been many shootings in schools, theaters, and even our nation's capital. It has gotten to the point where we as a country just treat them as yet another shooting. Some of these shootings could have been prevented had there been some sort of background check or other minor law. However, in the case of Sparks Middle School, I don't think that any law could have prevented the shooting. The student took a gun, which his parents legally possessed, from his house unbeknownst to his parents, brought it to school, and shot 3 people, all without any obvious motive. No law could have stopped this kid. There was nothing suspicious or odd about him before the shooting. Restricting the sale or ownership of guns would have done nothing, because his family legally owned the gun. One could see this as the parents' fault because they did not do enough to keep the gun away from the student. However, in their defense, there was probably no way they could have seen this coming. So, while I agree that either the states or the federal government needs to come up with something, like a background check requirement, I disagree with gun control advocates who are using this shooting as a reason for new laws.