Commentary on my classmate's blog

The whole situation with Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sgt. Crowley was blown out proportion. To make the situation worse, President Obama fired up some racial tension with his comments on the situation. " Are the American people turned off by the way President Obama handled this controversy? According to a poll by the Pew Research Center, yes, 41 percent of those polled disapproved of the president's handling of the arrest, 29 percent approve, 30 percent don't know." Most people believe this whole situation would not have become so popular, let alone reach the President's level, if race was not involved. It is very interesting reading about the story from two totally different news websites. For example FOX news reports that, "The officer who arrested him, Sgt. James Crowley, said Gates became belligerent and called him a racist after he asked for identification. Gates accused police of racial profiling and called Crowley a "rogue cop." CNN website steps back and reports that, "But within all that time and coverage, there is still one question that is yet to be asked: Why didn't the conservatives support professor Gates? Think about it. If this truly were a post-racial America, as so many of my conservative friends tell me, then wouldn't Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and the likes have flooded the airwaves in support of professor Gates?" My classmate reports on the comment made by Office Barrett, which was totally inappropriate. "Morano states that, "Officer Barrett did not call professor Gates a jungle monkey or malign him racially... he said his behavior was like that of one. It was a characterization of the actions of that man." Whether his behavior was that of one or not, to compare Gates to a "jungle monkey" is completely offensive and does immediately offer the suggestion that Barret is a racist." I strongly agree with my classmate that the whole situation was bad and to add on, there was a racial comment. My classmate also brings up a very good point that, "Whatever the outcome is, the comment was inappropriate and Barrett deserves a punishment." His comment was unnecessary and he need to realize that we are a post-racial nation.

Commentary on my classmates

"One approximation of the annual number of homeless in America is from a study done by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, which estimates between 2.3 and 3.5 million people experience homelessness. According to a study released this month by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, an estimated 744,313 people experienced homelessness in one night in January 2005. Some 56 percent of them were living in shelters and transitional housing and, 44 percent were unsheltered." My classmate's blog about the effect of homeless people in shelters is very true and thoughtful. I really think cities should set aside money to take care of people living in shelters. With our current economy, people are losing their jobs and homes left and right. Fox news reports that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is doing the exact opposite, he is buying homeless people a one way ticket to another city. "Families have been sent to 24 states and five continents, mostly to Puerto Rico, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. City officials say none of the relocated families have returned to city shelters." I strongly agree with what my classmate says, "Some homeless people have a mental illness or addiction, or both. The government should serve to help the people, just like we let the government govern us. We cannot just abandon these people." Homeless people are people too, sometimes they just need a little help.

Obama Sets Immigration Changes for 2010

"The total number of immigrants per year (including illegal immigrants and refugees) nowadays is somewhat less than it was in the peak years at the beginning of the 20th century when U.S. population was less than half as large as it now is. The rate of illegal immigration is agreed by all experts to be about 250,000 to 300,000 per year. More than half of illegal aliens enter legally and overstay their visas and permits. "Less than half of illegal immigrants cross the nation's borders clandestinely. The majority enter legally and overstay their visas." Obama has faced many challenges recently, including health care and unemployment. NY Times brings up a good point that Obama is faced with an another issue, immigration into the U.S. "Mr. Obama predicted that he would be successful but acknowledged the challenges, saying, “I’ve got a lot on my plate. But in the most detailed outline yet of his timetable, the president said that he expected Congress, after completing work on health care, energy and financial regulation, to draft immigration bills this year. He said he would begin work on getting the measures passed in 2010." Obama brings up a good point, that most American forget, when he says that everything wont be fixed right way if he snaps his finger, it takes work and time. A huge factor Obama has to take into a fact is all the trouble surrounding drug cartels, including 4,200 deaths. Obama and his administration need to continue talks with other nation leaders and resolve all the current problems.

Classmate's Blog

The Wall Street Journal writes, "President Barack Obama tried to step back from the contretemps over the arrest of African-American scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., saying he "could have calibrated" his words differently when he said police had "acted stupidly" in handling the situation. The racial firestorm surrounding the country's first African-American president came as a shock to the White House, which had spent the prior two days dismissing it as a media creation." My classmate's blog about all the media hype over Obama's reaction to Gates is right on point. "It is not wise for a public figure, such as the President of the United States, to make a comment that might fire up racial tensions." When President Obama make a nerve-racking comment on the situation involving Gates and the police, it became like a giant elephant in the living room. I strongly agree with what my classmate said, "What I do not understand is how come this issue became so big that the president has to be personally involved." This whole issue should not have turned into such a huge deal, in my opinion. The media blew this incident up to something it wasn't. I also strongly agree with my classmates point she brings up, "Critics think that the president is being vocally involved way too much." Overall my classmate wrote a very good and thought provoking blog that I strongly agree and side with. "There is nothing to be gained by encouraging the media. Hopefully, from now on, the president will choose not to make comments on these kinds of problems and just focus on the real issues of our country."

Driving while texting

“Each year, 21% of fatal car crashes involving teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 were the result of cell phone usage. This result has been expected to grow as much as 4% every year. In 2002, the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis calculated that 2,600 people die each year as a result of using cell phones while driving. They estimated that another 330,000 are injured.” The statistics on texting while driving will make you cringe and make you think it’s a no-brainer for Senator Schumer from NY Times to ban texting while driving. Fourteen states, including Alaska, California, and New Jersey, have banned texting while driving, a large number of states are not complying, but they are beginning to think about it after learning what will happen if they don’t. “States that do not ban texting by drivers could forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars in federal highway funds under legislation introduced Wednesday in the Senate. Under the measure, states would have two years to outlaw the sending of text and e-mail messages by drivers or lose 25 percent of their highway money each year until the money was depleted.” Recent studies found that texting while driving is more dangerous than talking on the phone or driving drunk. Another study done by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that, “truck drivers face a 23 times greater risk of crash or near crash when texting than when not doing so.” The legislation to ban texting while driving was based on the past legislation on raising the drinking age. “Mr. Schumer said that the legislation was essentially based on the drinking age law.”
http://www.edgarsnyder.com/auto-accident/auto/cell/statistics.html

The role of government and NRA

I agree with the controversial topics the blogger brings up in this article, from the left-leaning blog Huffington Post, on the United States gun policy. The point the author brings up, “I accept the NRA slogan that: "Guns Don't Kill People; People Kill People". But, call me crazy, I think a person who did not have a gun would have difficulty shooting anybody”, is a really good point and makes you think. I strongly oppose all the current action on the gun policy and I don’t think hand weapons should be easily accessible. “The irony to me in this argument is that the danger caused by the vast prevalence of weapons in this country has been caused, or at least encouraged, in large measure by the acts of the NRA and its advocates. It is their policies which have made guns so accessible and available.” The point the author brings up, “I have read the arguments that restrictions do not work, that gun deaths are down; that restrictions only affect the law-abiding not the criminals, etc., but the numbers of dead and wounded from guns seem to be irrelevant. I read statistics that 30,000 die each year and about 70,000 are wounded by guns, many of whom include children”, hits the argument center in the head; nothing compares to someone’s life. The author’s intended audience is left-leaning adults who oppose NRA. The creditability is legitimate because the author is Judge H. Lee Sarokin, who retired in 1996 after 17 years on the federal bench.

My Thoughts On The Waiting Game

I really agree and understand what the author is saying in The Waiting Game. I think it is very important that you know what is going on and what needs to be done in our economy. The points of interest that the author points out are very important ones. "It is true that more time is needed to show results for policies that are currently in place, including stimulus spending, foreclosure relief and the bank rescue. But it is also clear that joblessness and defaults are worse now than was assumed when those policies were formed. So the need for more federal help is all but inevitable, as are political fights over renewed aid. President Obama may want to avoid those battles until health reform passes, but he still should lay the groundwork in three main areas: Stimulus Spending, Foreclosure Relief, Bank Rescue." I think the intended audience is mostly unemployed, people who have lost their homes to for closure, people in the baby boomers years, and the people who elected Obama to office and are wondering what he has and hasn't completed in office. Also the author's claim proves and brings up a good point, "So why exactly is the Obama administration waiting to act?" This article makes you look back and think about the promises made in the policies and how many of them have been fulfilled. The author brings up a good point about how Obama is waiting till the heath reform passes, but while it's a waiting game, shouldn't the Government be preparing for the next challenges?