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.

Not So Mysterious Roma Children

     This week in Greece, a girl named Maria was removed from a Roma family, because there was suspicion that the child was only being used to collect insurance money. The child was blonde, while her "parents" were both Roma, and DNA has proved that the child is in fact not their daughter.      
      Later, in Ireland, 2 children were removed by the authorities from their respective families, because they were blonde haired and blue eyed while their families, who are immigrants, were definitely of Roma descent. Both families protested that the cases of their children and of Maria were not related whatsoever, and claimed that the children were in fact theirs. Today, DNA has proven them correct, and Irish authorities will return the kids to their families.
     This disturbs me greatly. While I understand that protecting children should be an utmost priority, there should be undeniable proof that the children are in danger and are not actually biologically part of the family. The Irish police should have checked, I don't know, DNA FIRST TO DETERMINE THE CHILDREN'S PARENTS BEFORE TAKING THEM AWAY. A representative of one of the families says that their child and her siblings are having nightmares about this experience, and that the parents have not been able to sleep since the child was taken. There is sometimes a time and a place to act first and ask questions later, but that time is not when the situation concerns removing children from their families who are in no eminent danger. The least the police could have done was to monitor the family to make sure they did not run away while checking the DNA. If the children seemed to be in danger or had been reported missing, then yes I would agree with the police. However, as neither of the above was true before the case, I cannot back the police on this.
     The thing that disturbs me the most about these cases is that they sound like they could easily happen here in the US, with other immigrant families who do not have the right paperwork because they just moved here. As long as the children do not seem to be in any danger, police should wait and collect an airtight argument for removal before actually removing the kids.

Washington Redskins Name Change

Recently, the NFL team Washington Redskins has come under fire for their controversial name, which is seen as derogatory or offensive by many people. Owner Dan Snyder has dug his heels in and  announced that he would never change the name. While I respect his right to name his team whatever he wants, I do think that that the pro- name change people have a point. The name has been compared  to other racial insults, and is considered offensive by many Native Americans. I personally do not have a problem with the name, but I know a few people who do, and if so many other people have a reasonable problem with it, I think that Snyder should consider changing the name. I view this issue like this: I don't have a problem with people using swear words in public, but I do think that sports teams at least should not be named after them.
Also, the NFL owners are holding a meeting soon to discuss this issue and to decide whether a name change is warranted or not, which is a step in the right direction. I hope that Synder seriously considers changing his team's name.

Congress and the Federal Shutdown

Recently, I learned that during a shutdown of the federal government, Congress, the ones who caused the shutdown in the first place, would still be paid, while thousands of federal employees would be furloughed until the end of the shutdown. This is completely unfair, and honestly makes no sense. Congress is getting paid the same salary, which is a ridiculous amount to begin with, while every other federal worker is either working without pay or is on a forced, unpaid vacation. The shutdown is the result of congress members not doing their jobs correctly. In our world, if business leaders refuse to come up with a way to work together, they get fired or at the very least lose some of their money. In Congress's case, however, they get to make everyone else stop what their doing and wait on a compromise.
Another problem I have with Congress, besides it not doing its job, is that they are making innocent people who had no part in this shutdown suffer. For example, one of the programs that was hit the hardest by the shutdown was the food stamp WIC, or Women, Infants, Children program, which provides additional assistance to pregnant women, new mothers, and children. The WIC part of the food stamp program will not receive any additional funding, so the families that are part of this program will have to somehow manage without additional assistance until the shutdown is over. Also, the annual Naval Academy-Air Force Academy football game may not be played, and the rest of the service academies' athletics may not be able to participate in any more intercollegiate competition until the shutdown ends, because upperclassmen are considered military personnel and are subject to the restrictions associated with the shutdown. Both of these are examples of innocent people, not involved at all in the shutdown, being punished for Congress's incompetence.
While I know that the shutdown is not the end of the world, and that different factions of Congress are more responsible for the shutdown than others, I do have a problem with Congress disconnecting itself from the shutdown so that the members are hardly affected by it. Congress caused this shutdown, and they should at least feel some of the consequences of their actions. If the Canadian parliament gets to the point where they cause a federal shutdown, parliament is dissolved, and a general election is held to replace or reelect the members. I feel that this is a good idea for the American Congress: it did not do its job, and therefore it should have to answer for its incompetence immediately.

Secession From States

Recently, I have heard a lot about counties in California and Oregon wanting to secede from their respective states and form a new state, the state of Jefferson. This was really interesting to me, because it's not everyday that a new state joins the US, and I decided to look up more about the issue. Apparently, many counties across the United States are discussing secession. In Colorado, counties have set dates to vote on whether to pursue secession or not, while in Northern California, 2 counties have officially voted to pursue secession from the state. Momentum is growing for counties in southern Oregon and western Maryland to do the same. While the secession attempts are almost certain to be rejected, as Congress and the state legislatures both have to approve the move, they do draw attention to the divide between conservative and liberal parts of some states. Almost all of the counties attempting secession are conservative and feel underrepresented and ignored by the far away liberal state governments. But, there is always the chance that Congress and the respective states do feel that the counties are right and that the states are too big to so their job correctly or that he counties are too disconnected from the rest the state, so the 51st state may not come from Puerto Rico or another place outside the country, but instead from inside the continental US. It is another example of how divided the US as a whole is. If individual states are feeling the split between liberal and conservative ideologies to the point where people are trying to form their own state, how far will the divide in the United States go?

Gun Control Laws

While I was watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart the other night, I agreed very much with one of the segments about gun control and the Navy yard shooter. Stewart talked about, in a depressingly funny way, how the shooter had been discharged from the navy for gun incidents, and had called the police a month earlier saying that his microwave was talking to him. This shooter is the ultimate example of how poor our federal gun laws are. While I don't think that the federal government should have all the power with gun laws, I do think that there should be at least a cohesive national background check system. If nothing else, can we at least make the gun laws to where the man with 10 years of documented, serious mental illness, 2 prior gun incidents, and a phone call a month earlier to the police explaining how he can hear his microwave talking to him, cannot get a gun?
Here is the video:
http://m.comedycentral.com/tds_video.rbml?id=depressingly-familiar-post-tragedy-analysis   
* disclaimer- slight liberal bias present.

Man in the Red Bandana

Yesterday marked the 12th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. I have heard and read articles and documentaries of what happened from eyewitnesses' perspectives and experts who have tried to explain exactly what happened and why. In the midst of all of this, it is easy to just pay attention to the evil that happened that day, which is rightfully so: 9/11 was one of the worse days in our nation's history, and we should never, ever, forget what happened, as well as always remember the thousands of innocent lives that were taken that day. I came across a ESPN documentary on a former Boston College lacrosse player who was working in the South Tower that day. It goes on to describe his heroic actions that day, and how he sacrificed his life to save the lives of others. This man, Welles Crowther, exemplifies the good that is inside humanity; how even in the days when our world is collapsing around us and when there seems to be no hope left, the good in people can stand out and help others, no matter the sacrifice they have to make.This weekend, fans are asked to wear red bandanas to the Boston College- Central Florida football game in Orlando, in honor of Welles Crowther and in remembrance of those who died that fateful day.

Here is the link to the video: 
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/colleges/post/_/id/1008/video-the-man-in-the-red-bandana

Baby Messiah Name Change

This week, we have been talking a lot about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Reading and hearing about the amendments and the original Constitution made me remember a news story from Tennessee about a judge forcibly changing a baby boy's name from Messiah to Martin, because, according to the judge, there is only one individual deserving of that title. I have several problems with this decision.This judge asserted her own religious beliefs into a very personal and private matter, the naming of one's child, which I think a judge should have had no say in to begin with. She went against the ideas and rights of Freedom of Speech and the Separation of church and state, both key parts of the Constitution, and at the same time, she violated the very basic rights of that child's parents. A parent should be able to name their children whatever they want, and the government should have no say whatsoever in it. This judge violated those parents' first amendment rights to freedom of speech by restricting what they could name their children, and the right to the government not pushing religious beliefs onto its citizens by basing her decision solely on her personal religious beliefs. While I may not agree with the parents' choice of a name, I believe that they should at least have that opportunity to name their child what they want, without any level of government interfering.

Education In The USA

I thought the discussion we had in class about the affirmative action policy in American universities raised some very interesting points. One of the recurring points that were was made was that universities needed to consider the fact that different students had different educational opportunities in school, because in today's society, the education one public school provided can be absolute junk compared to the education provided in another school. Also, I had conversation with a woman I work with today, who said that she was homeschooling her kids now, because of how horrible the teachers and schools were where she lived. She also kept mentioning how lucky I was to be going to Hoover, and that my parents and I did not have to deal with what they passed off as education where she lived. This difference in the quality of education is completely unfair to all students, and is dragging down the whole educational system. As most people know, the United States' educational system has been falling behind the rest of the world for years, and desperately needs to be changed. I think that the US should look to Finland as an example. It may come as a surprise to some people that Finland has consistently been rated with the top educational system in the world. However, in the 1960's, this was not the case. Finland's educational system was a mess, and the quality of  the education it proved showed it. In the late '60s, the Finns decided that all of their schools and school systems needed to not be competitive with each other, but to be equal. Finland completely reformed its educational system, so that every school was as close to equal as possible , and that child was given the same education and same opportunity for success. 50 years later, that system, which completely goes against the American theory that schools should be competitive, has proved itself to be the more effective.
While I know that it would never be possible for every public school in the country to be completely equal, I think that the states should at least try to give every student the same opportunity for success. For example, in Alabama, along with many other states, the schools with the higher test scores are rewarded, either with more money, more equipment, or both. While this system is great for improving competition between schools, it does little to help the schools who are not as good. The schools who need to be improved so that they can be competitive are the ones that really need the money, so with this system, they can never improve, because the money they need is given to the schools that are better than them. This is just one example of the way our educational system is flawed today, among the many others out in our country.
Instead of being obsessed with competition, like America is today, we should focus on improving every school, instead of rewarding the ones who are already ahead and leaving the rest behind. America should put education as one of its top priorities, because education is nothing but preparing our country and its citizens for the future. College admissions cannot be truly equal until every student has the same opportunities to be admitted, which will not happen until all of our public schools are improved, either by actually receiving the funding it needs to improve, hiring teachers who know what they're doing, and anything else that needs to be done in order to prepare children for the future.

Post 4

Lies My Teacher Told Me had several strengths and very few, if any, weaknesses. One if its strengths was that it took topics that were commonly misunderstood by high school students, and explained each individually with plenty of sources to back up what it was saying. Lies also made a point to explain that what historians know about history is not concrete, meaning that our understanding of what happened in history is always changing, and that things accepted as fact one day could be disproved the next. It also did an excellent job of trying to explain history from other points of view besides the Europeans'. For example, it explained parts of Native American history before the Europeans arrived, and how they were affected, instead of just portraying the view that Europeans just discovered the New World and were basically the first ones there. Loewen obviously did his research. He read over 12 US history textbooks to help prepare him for this book, and consistently cited them. Loewen used both primary and secondary sources in this book, but he used primary sources mostly to back up what he was saying about secondary sources, which were mostly textbooks. He was not biased at all throughout this book. He tried to say the truth about whoever he was writing about, no matter how bad it was. He also stuck to his basic purpose if showing where textbooks have gone wrong and suggesting ways for them to get better. So, overall, Lies My Teacher Told Me was a very interesting and well researched book, and I would recommend it to other readers. It enhanced my understanding of politics in America, because it showed how both intentionally and unintentionally biased many politicians are, all because of their misunderstanding of American history. It also helped me understand more about how history has shaped the way American politics work today.

Post 3

In the second half of  Lies, Loewen still picks many examples of themes and time periods that history textbooks have gotten wrong and tells why the textbooks are wrong. However, in the last couple chapters, Loewen explains why textbooks are published with all if this misleading information, and what the effect of the lies in our nation's textbooks have on students.
Loewen describes how the textbooks are mostly written by knowledgeable historians and authors, yet the textbooks are continually taking the view that America is always the good guy and never made any mistakes, which is a view that no decent historian could support with real facts. The reasons why historians write these blatantly wrong textbooks is because in order for them to make money, the textbooks have to get approved and adopted by school boards. This means that the school boards have to like what they read, and talking about how social class plays a huge roll in history or how the US may have made a mistake in invading Iraq would not be much liked by nationalist school boards and therefore not approved.
Loewen also describes the effects that these textbooks have on students. One of the most obvious is that students are learning incorrect information about history. The other is that since these textbooks are written to be absolutely without a doubt, and that most textbooks want a straightforward plot line of history and will do a lot to get one, the textbooks are just boring, and are a huge reason why history is consistently rated as the least favorite class among students. 

Post 2

      So far, I have read half of Lies My Teacher Told Me, and it has been fairly interesting. It has jumped time periods from Helen Keller, to Columbus, to slavery, and so on, but it has been able to connect all of these seemingly random topics to an overall theme of how teachers and textbooks only teach the feel-good, nice side of history. For example, almost everyone knows the story of how Helen Keller, a deaf and blind girl, overcame all odds with the help of her teacher Anne Sullivan and learned how to live with her disability. Teachers everywhere preach, "Look what she accomplished," yet, they forget to actually tell what she accomplished. Loewen reminds his readers that Helen Keller became a radical Socialist, and supported poor and oppressed people everywhere, because she identified with them as a result of her being deaf and blind. She heavily supported the communist USSR, and at the time, was a very controversial and at times notorious public figure. Loewen explains how the public view of Keller, like many other people in American history, was altered and hero-fied by the media, textbooks, and teachers to the point where no one knows the true story of Helen Keller's life; all they know is some vague, feel-good story of how a girl overcame serious disabilities, and nothing about her radical views or what she fought for after she graduated college.  
     Loewen also describes how the perception of other parts and figures of American history have been twisted to fit into a very Euro-centristic view. He points out how most textbooks show a very European view of the first Thanksgiving: that the Pilgrims provided all the food and were dressed in their very best attire, while the Native Americans showed up barely dressed and provided the bare minimum. He also shows how some textbooks take such a Euro-centered view that they say that slavery was good for the slaves. His main focus during the first half of the book is how the perception of history has been altered to show the Europeans as the good guys, no matter what, and the Native Americans and Africans as almost second class human beings. Textbooks and teachers are making excuses for European actions instead of actually telling students the truth.
    I predict that the second half of the book will be much like the first half: that Loewen will continue to identify specific instances in American history that have been extremely skewed and altered in textbooks that are in the classrooms, and use real evidence and clues to show the flawed reality of history instead of the fairy tale version that shows all American heroes as flawless, amazing people.

Post 1

     I have decided to read Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James W. Loewen, for my Summer Reading Assignment. Many reasons went into my choosing this book. One, the title sounded very interesting. Honestly, I like being able to prove people wrong whenever I think they are saying something that is incorrect or maybe just dumb. So, this book made sense for me to choose, because the title suggests that after reading the book, I would have the knowledge to prove wrong some of the false things people say about the past. Also, the back cover of Lies drew me in and intrigued me to the point where I wanted to read what the book had to say. I agreed when the back cover said that "Americans have lost touch with their history", but I did not really know to what extent that statement was true, and I wanted to discover how true it was. Finally, I decided to pick this book, because of the reviews I heard about it from people who read it last year. They all said that it was worth reading, because it gave them a new perspective on American history in a way that was very interesting and made them want to keep reading. So, between the title, the back cover, and reviews from my friends, I expected to learn a lot more about American history, and more specifically, where our society has gone wrong in their understanding of how America really developed.
     The author, James W. Loewen, seems qualified and trustworthy.  He has a PhD from Harvard University, has taught at 3 universities over the past 30 years, and has written many books and won multiple awards his books, including the American Book Award and the Oliver C. Cox Anti-Racism Award of the American Sociological Association for just Lies My Teacher Told Me. Loewen was also able to successfully defend his textbook, Mississippi: Conflict and Change before a US District Court after the Mississippi Textbook Purchasing Board rejected it for use in the state school system because it focused on racial issues in a way that was considered too controversial. This case was considered by the American Library Association to be a historic First Amendment Case. So, Loewen has authentic expertise, and I expect the book to be unbiased. Loewen has proven that he is not afraid to talk about things that seem too controversial, and that he will not sugarcoat any issues in history to slant the readers to inaccurately favor one side over another.