Current Event: Another Big Hit To Al Qaeda

The 2nd in command of Al Qaeda, Al-Libi, was killed by a drone strike that also killed 15 other Al Qaeda members. He was one of only 2 real leaders left in the area. To read more go to: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/05/world/asia/pakistan-drone-libi/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 .

While I, obviously, don't support terrorism, I think this whole ordeal has been elongated so much that it can't even really be called a "thing". After Osama's death we had won, they had no leadership left to speak of and really no way of threatening us, especially with the Department of Homeland Security working its heart out. While I agree that this is a victory for liberty, when we start pulling leaders out of a hat that no one has ever heard of it looks like the United States Government is some large child that hit all of his friends because one of them spat I his ice cream. This has become ridiculous. I thought we were pulling out of the Middle East, not making them more pissed and killing people that get their power from YouTube in countries with very little access to YouTube.

Senior Reflection #3

Early on in life I had an art teacher that talked about how some people are right or left minded. When I asked her if she thought I had a more artistic mind she laughed at me-- I was heartbroken. I really was a terrible artist: there is no doubt about that. Yet, I was more stubborn than I was terrible at art, so I did everything I could to become better at art. Through art classes in middle school and a whole lot of time spent honing my skills, I became a good artist and I knew that someday I'd become some sort of artist. Because of that teacher, I picked up music and pursued it, I wrote songs and stories, and even looked into a job as a home designer or an architect. Where am I?

Though that teacher was horrible for telling a young child what they couldn't be, if it weren't for her I'd probably never have realized how much I loved music. It's funny to think that because of her I will never be quitting music.

Current Event: Venus Transit 2012

A CNN blog post, Star-crossed: how to see Venus cross the sun, came out detailing an event that won't happen again for hundreds of years. However, people can only see it without damaging their eyes though the use of welding goggles. For more go to:http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/05/star-crossed-how-to-see-venus-cross-the-sun/?hpt=hp_c1 .
In a way I was tempted to just go on youtube some time and watch it. We see one of these events every year it seems. In fact, there is some rare event of a lifetime happening every day... so unless our lifetime is only a day long I'd think that they were making a small deal about all this. But, now that I think about it, by collecting such rare events and experiencing them, you could become one of those cool old guys that always has some story to tell. Sure, people might go on and on about how marvelous or enchanting the celestial event was that so happened to grace their vision... but that really isn't true. A black dot on the sun, I think I'll make something more out of it than it really is, and I'll tell the story to some youngster while he chews his bubble gum. Oh, and if you live in Alaska, you get to stare at it ALL DAY!

Senior Reflection #2

                One lesson my dad taught me early on in life was to treasure and hold on tight to your friends. As the son of a commander in the Navy, my father had to move all over the country to various schools. He met many, many people along the way that he became great friends with, but never thought to keep in contact. Now he has been trying to contact some for years but has yet to do so successfully.

                The first thing I hope to do this summer is make plans to hold onto my friends, because I have already lost a friend before that had to move and learned the hard way what my father had learned. As much as I might tell people I can't wait to go to college, I can't tell them just how much more I want to keep in touch with my friends. No one reads this, but if you do try to keep in touch with your friends, because no matter how much you might be fed up with them now, you will kick yourself for separating from them.

Current Event: Vatican Crackdown on American Nun's

This CNN blog post details events on June 5th when the Vatican reprimanded an American nun. According to the article, the Vatican has been cracking down on free spirited American nuns for years, but why should this nun be big news? This nun so happened to be one of the nation's leading religious authorities, a fact which seems to have brought CNN analysts to the conclusion that the Vatican may targeting her merely for her American background. Nonetheless, they had a reason: she'd written a book about Christian love in which she neglected to harp upon homosexuality and masturbation. To read more go to: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/05/vatican-intensifying-crackdown-on-american-nuns/?hpt=hp_t3.

I think the whole direction about the Vatican holding biased angst towards Americans seems a little childish. However, the blog post was interesting to me because of the Vatican's reasons for the reprimand. They only gave reasons in which they talked about what she hadn’t done, not what she had done. I'm not a Catholic, rather a Methodist, but as a Christian I see nothing wrong if she merely didn't talk about something. Even if she didn't pull out the axe to chop off the heads of all of the homosexual and perverted Americans out there, I don't see how they can reprimand an American citizen for not saying something in a book published on American sols. If she had been harsher, well America might be halved in size for all the not so Christian people out there. In any case, Christianity is about forgiveness, and this whole ordeal sends the wrong message to everyone about Christians, because the Catholic Church is seen by many as the head of the whole of Christianity. In any case, America is a very different land with much more freedom than Italy or the Vatican. I’m glad I live in a country where people are allowed to act as they wish to.

Senior Reflection #1

Out of the past 6 years senior year has probably been the best. Although the course load was much more intense, my teachers were awesome and they understand that we're supposed to have fun this year. I did a whole lot more things outside of school this year even though I had less time to do so last year. Last year, I felt like I was constantly working, and that was true. In senior year you realize that you can do as good in everything you do if you don't worry about them. I suppose some people don’t feel the same way, but senior year more than any I really felt like I had a family or a community to come to in school and that everyone around me felt the same way. I think it would be hilarious to put a freshman or a sophomore into the shoes of a senior for a day. They would FREAK OUT and try to work so hard. The happiness around them would probably drive them to the breaking point. No one reads these blogs, but if you read it respond and share your thoughts!

Ballots in Iran

Ballots were cast on Friday for Iran's parliamentary elections. These elections could show whether or not President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad still has power or not. Surely the whole world will be looking attentively at Iran and the outcome of the elections to see whether or not a resolution to the nuclear problems there can be reached. In any case these elections have a high probability of decide ding the Iranian president's future.

Final February Blog Post: Chinese Changin'?

            According to http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204520204577249080648933136.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Chinese specialist are urging major reforms in state run business. The biggest opponent?-- the Chinese Communist Party. China is an interesting clash between communist regime and a gradual move towards market based economy. In the spirit of this gradual change experts have constructed a plan in order to make minor victories that will get the ball rolling towards tearing apart some of the state run businesses.

            My first reaction to this was surprise. I knew that China had been making minor changes in their economy, but this change would seem to be very out of character. I believe, however, this initial reaction is not misled. The Communist party in charge of the People's Republic of China may be willing to make minor changes, but definitely won't completely change or erode economic philosophies at the heart of their regime's beliefs. So, I don't see a bright future for these recommendations. Although some of the most minor ones will probably be accepted, the fundamental ideas that are being suggested will be brushed away. If enough support is gathered behind the ideas the government will probably restrict freedom of expression and recentralize for a brief period as they have been doing periodically as more and more opposition towards the communist party grows, no matter how minuscule.

Scottish Independance: Pulling Big Sway in the UK

Cameron has been getting more and more publicity recently. Though this is not necessarily a good thing. With recent breakdowns within his leadership there may be a vote coming up soon to restructure parliament. Given that Cameron doesn't want to lose his seat in parliament he is going to need to create some sort of plan to secure his seat. This plan will most likely have a central issue addressing the devolution of power down to Scotland. Top Scottish officials have proposed the "devo plus" which, as the name suggests, is a plan for devolution of power to Scotland. Meanwhile, Cameron also has to worry about his plans to create new mayors and introduce more localism "fit for the 21st century." With many domestic policies clogging up his agenda he will need the votes from the Scottish people to aid him in upcoming votes. I believe he is going to be forced into accepting at least portions of the "devo plus" if he is to reform the Tory party and maintain his position he will have to make some concessions to Scotland.

U.K. current event: Osborne Goofs.

In response to "Tory tax U-turn: Married couples 'will NOT get break in next month's budget' " by Jill Reilly, (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2100032/Tax-breaks-married-couples-ruled-Osborne-sparking-anger-Conservative-MPs.html,) it is hard to make a decision. As a short overview Osborne, a conservative MP, supported and passed a budget that doesn't contain tax breaks for married couples, something most UK citizens and the Tories (conservatives) want.

            On the one hand, which actually played out, denying this measure to provide tax breaks to married couples gets rid of the current political issue of what is a married couple and whether 2 men or 2 women may be a married pair. Finally, this budget decision could result in equality among pairs and lonely people.

            However, there is a lot more to be considered here. Osborne is a conservative and this decision is very much a liberal one. So, Osborne just made a major political mistake. Additionally, most people will, at some point, be married and given the fact that England has been dwindling behind other countries recently supporting marriage may be something they should look into to possibly boost the number of births and thereby, the scale of the country. Finally, all other European countries have similar budget appropriations in terms of taxes to aid married couples and failing to join the other countries can be seen as a failure to proceed and progress.

            In the end I think that Osborne really goofed. Politicians should generally never agree with their enemies because it shows political indifference. Additionally, I believe a small tax break for married couples would be important for the progress and development in the UK.

Response to: NHS reforms still does not get support <-Top News in the UK

http://topnews.co.uk/218646-nhs-reforms-still-does-not-get-support

            The linked article by Mahendra Bahal reflects a major bill regarding the health sector in the United Kingdoms. The bill not only seems to have a great deal of importance in the Health Sector, but also in the political as most people, even those that would benefit from the bill, oppose it fiercely. The college of General Practitioners even sent a letter to the Prime Minister declaring their outright opposition.

            The Prime Minister in the United Kingdoms has received some troubles in passing laws as of late and could be taken as an ineffective prime minister. Certainly this opposition from his intended beneficiaries couldn't help his chances at staying in office at all.

            The UK legal system is very interesting to me as a U.S. System. The Parliamentary System based upon previous rulings and traditions rather than formally written laws such as the U.S. constitution is very versatile to say the least. This versatility even allows for the easy replacements of Prime Ministers at any time should public support diminish and the Minister proves to be ineffective. This is easily contrasted with the strict 4 year terms of the presidency and 8 year total cap on years in office.

            So, these recent developments could indicate a possible loss of support for the Prime Minister. This would of course lead to the possibility of new elections to replace the current one. It will be interesting to see how all this will play out. What will the Prime Minister do to keep his claim in office? How will his enemies respond to him?

Cartoon of the Week: Birds of a Feather

In this cartoon by Bill Day the major icons are Mitt Romney and a vulture roosted atop his smiley-faced head labeled vulture capitalism. The vulture in connection with Mitt Romney's happiness connects the vulture with Mitt Romney. It is obviously a response to Mitt Romney's tax report detailing his close to 15% tax rate over the course of a year which he manages to maintain, even being worth hundreds of millions of dollars, through investments in the stock market and other similar means which have reduced tax rates. Thus, the vulture depicts Mitt Romney as a scavenger trying to pick up as much cash as he can possibly obtain from the economy. This isn't anything new. While Newt points out the low tax rate as does Bill in this cartoon, low tax rates upon the top 1% of the American People is not uncommon. In fact the economy was made in favor of those that already had money. The economy is oriented in this way because the framers of the constitution as well as the majority of congressmen have worked towards "keeping the status quo." Bill is obviously displaying his resentment for Mitt Romney by associating him with a vulture due to his substantially low taxes.

Political Cartoon of the Week: Newt Occupies SC.

This cartoon, Newt Occupies SC, by Rick McKee features Newt Gingrich, a tent, a sign, and what appears to be two republicans as the major items. The Tent and the sign behind it connect Newt with the occupy movement, something Newt is openly against, saying that he is willing to wait in south Carolina and bring himself down to bring down Romney. Newt is made out to be a chubby, baby-like figure showing that he is being a baby about the results thus far in the election and the sign he is holding states that Romney is a capitalist pig, connoting that Gingrich isn't a capitalist which, in a capitalist country, is a bad thing to be. The two republicans in the background are stating the obvious, he's desperate. The cartoonist obviously hates or at least disdains Newt Gingrich. He is calling him a hypocritical, communist old fat guy whom doesn't even have the support of his own party and has become desperate for attention to pull down Romney. While this is all a bit extremely, the carton merely functions to show the cartoonists view that Newt is not the right guy for the presidency.

First Semester

The first semester of my senior year of high school was not what I'd expected. The seniors from the year before had made it seem as though it would be a lot easier than junior year. In reality it is the hardest year of High School. Coming in with the wrong mentality i soon realized I would have to put in some effort. Although I hadn't not put in nearly the amount of effort as I had in previous years, I found a pretty good rhythm. My grades dropped a little bit, but that isn't saying much given they were already high and having the extra time to enjoy senior year is definitely worth it. The teachers are easier to connect with in senior year and the first semester was definitely the happiest semester I've had so far. I just hope the second year is as good or better. I guess there is only one way to describe the first semester: Awesome.

Political Cartoon: Early Primaries

The main symbols in this, Daryl Cagle's cartoon New Hampshire is First, are New Hampshire, a chubby old lady with a whip, and Uncle Sam representing the USA voters. The cartoon satirizes the fact that just because Iowa and New Hampshire go first they have way more sway than any other primary on the minds of the USA voters. We take the first two primaries/ caucuses and base the rest of the nomination around them as they were being forced to. That seems to be the view point that Daryl is trying to express. I agree because people look less and less at the actual candidates and more and more at whether or not they’d so happened to be up in the polls.

GOP Nominee prediction

The GOP Nomination won't be a big surprise in my opinion. At the moment Mitt Romney is without a doubt the person I'd put my money on. Sure Iowa was a close race, but Romney has been working for months and has so many resources and general appeal to republicans that the other candidates don't have much of a chance. I'd say at this point it is probably between him and Ron Paul. However, given that Americans generally tend to base their votes upon the polls, and currently most polls state that Romney has the best chance out of all the candidates to defeat Obama. I'd say Romney will win the GOP nomination. Currently Perry is going to drop after South Carolina and Newt is simply into too much a hole to really dig himself out. Perry is the most straightforward candidate in the GOP Nomination.